Leadership, Power and Ethics – Huh?

So by now we’ve all heard about the scandal with retired general and former head of the CIA, David Petraeus. Some of my European colleagues have balked that we can be a bit uptight in the U.S. when it comes to mixing business and personal – and that may be the case. However, as that is the culture in which we live (and lead) - those in positions of power need to conduct themselves within certain boundaries. Obviously someone failed to have this conversation with David Petraeus or former Lockheed Martin CEO, Christopher Kubasik.

As an organizational development and leadership practitioner - I often work with C-Level executives and Military and Civilian leaders. Sometimes the work is focused on them - leadership development and coaching - though often it is focused on the organizations they lead and helping them to improve in one way or another. Regardless, I often stress to leaders in positions of power that their actions, ethics, values, and behaviors have a direct impact on the attitudes and behaviors of those they lead and thus on the organizational culture. Those impacts can be positive or negative.

As Ken Hultman and Bill Gellerman say in their book, Balancing Individual and Organizational Values, ethics are standards of good/bad or right/wrong behavior, and morals are standards for avoiding or minimizing harmful or bad behavior/wrong behavior. Thus, a moral is also an ethic, but not all ethics are morals. They are internal to a person. Organizations as such don’t have values and ethics, but since they are comprised of human beings, their cultures are shaped by the values and ethics of those human beings. If those human beings at the top – leadership – commit unethical behaviors - what kind of message does that send to those they lead?

In the recent cases of David Petraeus and Christopher Kubasik - did their unethical actions have a negative impact on their respective organizations? Kubasik’s actions “did not affect the company's operational or financial performance," the company has stated. Though damage control has already begun, I think time will tell. I do give Lockheed credit – they have a written code of ethics for employees, when they found out their leadership violated this code, they forced his resignation. The CIA and the government on the other hand, have been a bit slower in taking corrective actions.

"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely” - Lord Acton

As an OD practitioner I was once told something by a mentor that still sticks with me today, you may not be able to make people change their values; however, you can help them see the wisdom of changing their behaviors.  As Cameron & Quinn state “An organization’s culture is reflected by what it values, the dominant leadership styles, the language and symbols…” Interviewing 1709 CEOs from 64 countries and 18 industries, (from September 2011 to January 2012) IBM identified that the top organizational attribute to draw out the best from their workforces was ethics and values (65%). So what does it say about the culture of an organization when those selected to lead it have somewhat sketchy values and ethics?

Values and ethics are important, and apparently power does corrupt.

“Values (and ethics) are the fuel which drive the engine of desire to make vision a reality…” – Broholm

What kind of reality do you want for your organization?

About Scott Span, MSOD: is President of Tolero Solutions - an Organizational Improvement & Strategy firm.  He helps clients to facilitate sustainable growth by developing people and organizations to be more responsive, focused, productive and profitable.

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CEO to Commander in Chief: Do The Same Skills Apply?

Achieving the leadership status and title of the Commander in Chief – President of the United States of America - is the highest appointed leadership position one could achieve.  Sure – being a CEO is also a great achievement and the role is also intricate and complex. But leading a group of employees is much different than leading an entire nation.

I mean…they don’t call the President the Commander in Chief (CIC)  for nothing!

With an election happening next week, leadership qualities are coming to the forefront.  One candidate was a former CEO. So - putting on my organizational development practitioner hat - politics aside, left or right or red or blue, this raises an interesting question.

Just because someone was a CEO does that mean they have the leadership skills to be Commander in Chief (CIC)?

Some may argue that good leadership is good leadership –- whether you’re managing kids at home, serving as the CEO of a company, or as the Commander in Chief of a nation.  (for more on our take on good leadership, feel free to see some previous articles on the topic  including  one relating to politics)

Can CEOs run the U.S. equally or better than a candidate with a traditional political background?  Various articles and studies have been done on this topic. The reality is, that though many leadership roles do require similar traits, they may also require different decision making processes and application of those skills and traits. Just because you may have certain skills and traits to be a success in one leadership role doesn’t necessarily mean you have the skills and traits to be successful in another.  Even if you do - can you execute actions using those skills and traits in a way that will contribute to success in the same way for  two different roles.

“…. 56% (of CEOs surveyed) also believe maintaining voter confidence is more difficult than securing the support of shareholders and directors as CEO.”

– Korn/Ferry CEO Survey Aug. 2012

Let’s take a look at some key leadership traits, and considerations, from the perspectives of CEO and the Commander in Chief:

Accountability

• CEO – CEO’s and the CIC often have a different view on accountability. Though CEOs are hired, they are not often elected to serve the people, but to serve the shareholders. Since CEO’s are mostly accountable to boards and shareholders, decisions can often be driven by money, and not what is in the best interests of those they lead.  A CEO is often more accountable for balance sheets than the welfare of their employees.  This can often prohibit them from putting the interests of their people ahead of that of finances.

• CIC – Though the balancing of financial matters and people matters is a shared struggle to an extent - the CIC is elected by all the people, not just appointed by a select group of peers - and thus is accountable first and foremost for the well being of those who elected him/her.  One could argue that level of accountability includes commitment to balance sheets, though, when looking at financials, the CIC is most often doing so from the perspective of what is best for the people.  In addition, the CIC is required to make life and death decisions, not just financial decisions. The CIC is accountable to serve the people who elected him/her, and not shareholders, in financial matters and matters of life and death. Most CEOs are not.

Transparency

• CEO – CEO’s don’t often see a need for transparency. They very rarely share personal information – which they may not want to share publicly. The job of a CEO doesn’t require corporate citizenship or social responsibility in leadership. Though more CEOs are making the choice to be socially responsible - it is not a mandate of the job.  Besides very specific legal mandates and policies - nothing requires that a CEO be transparent (though those that are not will most likely see a negative  impact on performance.) The CEO’s leadership often tends to be extremely secretive as CEOs often think personal information is not in the domain of those they lead.

• CIC – The CIC knows that not even the most intimate moments are off limits. The CIC is required to think through decisions, beyond profit and loss statements, and to consider all available points of view. When communicating his/her decision, the CIC is often required by law to do so in a transparent manner. Of course politics is politics, scandals are scandals. Not every CIC chooses to be or can be transparent about every decision -whether personal or legislative – however, the expectation of transparency tends to be more prominent both from the CIC perspective based on the expectation from constituents. The general public, as often supported by law, can demand much more transparency from the CIC than employees can from a CEO.

Engagement

• CEO – Engaging in authentic communication is an imperative trait for any great leader if they wish to have supportive and trusting followers.  Though it is important for a CEO to be a tough, no-nonsense, competent negotiator, it is also easy for a CEO to take a ‘my way or the highway’ view. This view will often alienate followers, not engage their support. If someone doesn’t like what the CEO is saying, then as the head honcho, it’s often too bad. CEOs don’t often invite disagreement. They can feel little need to explain or justify their thoughts and decisions and this view can often negatively impact followership engagement.

• CIC – Can the CIC also take a ‘my way or the highway’ view to communication and decision making?  Sure they can.  However, they will often get little accomplished in doing so (particularly reelection). It is often the support of the constituency that helps the CIC drive their agenda through the legislative process. The CIC needs to take a different view on engagement if they intend to govern in the best interest of the people. This view not only includes being a competent negotiator, it also includes a certain leavel of diplomacy and the ability to engage with those they serve to gather varying opinions and information, and adjust decisions accordingly. These are skills many CEOs don’t often choose to exercise as they often see no need.

Now – to be clear I’m not saying that it’s not possible that leaders of corporations can make good leaders of government and vice versa. And I'm also not saying that all CEOs and all CICs are the same. What I’m saying is they tend to look at things a bit differently, thus even if sharing the same skill set, they often take different actions motivated by those different views and experiences. It's less about the debate of having the skills (assuming one does) and more about the ability to apply them in a given situation. Thus, being a good leader at one job is not necessarily synonymous with being a good leader at the other.

Leadership ability is often the deciding factor as to whether something succeeds or doesn’t – in business and in politics.  Whether you’re debating who to vote for or who to work for – take a hard look at their leadership skills as related to their work, and ask yourself – do they have the skills to succeed in this role? Am I ready to follow their lead?

NOTE: This article is not intended for political debate and does not endorse a specific candidate. It is simply to raise the question of leadership qualities, and if in fact they translate from one position to another, using a real time example of such an instance.

About Scott Span, MSOD: is President of Tolero Solutions - an Organizational Improvement & Strategy firm.  He helps clients to facilitate sustainable growth by developing people and organizations to be more responsive, focused, productive and profitable.

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Do I Really Want To Work Here? What Are You Doing To Keep Me Engaged?

Many of us have experienced that moment - that moment when the excitement of a new job or new role begins to wane and we feel less than enthusiastic about going to work every day – the engagement decline.

When you get that “Ugh, I so don’t want to come to work today…” feeling, often the catalyst can occur for many different reasons.  It could be changes within the organization, or the impact of outside environmental factors. Perhaps a lack of feeling challenged due to poor skills to role match, leadership changes or managerial style played a part, or maybe a technology or cultural change was the catalyst. Regardless, employee engagement has begun to decline.

“Employees who believe that management is concerned about them as a whole person – not just an employee – are more productive, more satisfied, more fulfilled. Satisfied employees mean satisfied customers, which leads to profitability.”
~ Anne M. Mulcahy, former CEO of Xerox

So – what can be done about the decline in engagement before it gets worse?

Building a successful business requires more than just saying you value employee engagement – it requires creating a culture of high engagement. If you want people to be engaged they need to feel valued, heard, and appreciated. They need to see where they fit into the organization, feel that what they are doing is making an impact to overall organizational performance, and feel as though the opportunity exists for ongoing learning and development. Simply put – they need to enjoy coming to work every day (ok, almost every day) and be inspired to give 100%.

So how do you prevent that moment when the excitement begins to disappear - the engagement decline – and show those working within (and with) your organization that you do in fact have a culture of high engagement?

High level – we’ll offer a few qualities that may trigger an engagement decline and a few that help create cultures of high engagement.

Low Engagement	High Engagement
Unclear performance goals and expectations	Clear performance goals and expectations
Non merit based pay and promotion	Merit based pay and promotion
Lack of leadership interest in employees	Leadership takes interest in employees
Minimal opportunities for learning and development	Ongoing opportunities for learning and development
Un-collaborative environment	Collaborative environment
Not all people feel equal and valued	All people feel equal and valued
Poor communication and feedback(voices not heard)	Frequent feedback and open communication (voices heard)
No recognition for performance	Recognition for performance
Lack of alignment of values and culture	Alignment of values and culture
Minimal interest in customer satisfaction	Concerned with customer satisfaction

Organizations are quickly recognizing that having a strong and committed workforce is a key success factor for creating a high-performing organization. Yet many are still uncertain about where to start designing employee engagement and recognition programs.

So how do you create an organization of high engagement?

For starters, here’s a thought – ASK YOUR PEOPLE! Many organizations have not actually elicited employee feedback regarding these types of programs. What do your people think – have you surveyed the workforce on their thoughts? Successful engagement and recognition programs require employee input. If you’re a leader, have you asked your employees what motivates them? If you’re an employee, has leadership in your organization asked what motivates you? If yes, has the organization taken your feedback and turned it into actions?

Short answer – use the 3 steps below to develop and excel in the “High Engagement” qualities listed above.

• Ask your employees what they want, listen, and take action. What types of knowledge and learning opportunities can help them better perform their jobs? What types of knowledge and learning opportunities make them feel challenged as individuals?  Why are the highly engaged so engaged? Why are the low engaged not more engaged? What would make them more engaged? Collect the data and act on it. Offer options based on employee input. One of the quickest ways to increase performance is to increase engagement. One of the quickest ways to increase engagement (or at least so we’ve found) is to make sure your employees feel heard, valued, and appreciated.

• Provide opportunities for learning and development. Brown bag lunch and learns, webinars – take advantage of various formats available for employees to share knowledge and interests with others who may benefit– to challenge others and feel challenged. Providing employees the opportunity to transfer knowledge increases an employee’s communication skills. This is an easy way to provide recognition, which contributes to making employees feel valued and heard, increasing engagement.

• Hire people who fit your culture and share your organizational values. When hiring people don’t just hire based on skills and experience. Hire also based on cultural fit. All people are different, some may excel in certain cultures and some may not. If you’re a creative entrepreneurial organization that doesn’t have an overly rigid structure, then hire people who thrive on that type of environment, not people who thrive in a more overly structured environment. Values alignment is imperative. Hire people who share the values of your organization not those who may be in conflict with them. Many tools and technologies are available to help in the assessment of cultural fit of new hires.  Once you hire people, who are skills and cultural fit, communicate early and often. Let people know where they fit into the organization, and make sure they understand how and what they are doing is making an impact to overall organizational performance.

• Understand your needs and admit you don’t know what you don’t know. If specific learning and development or organizational changes are requested by employees, and are of value to the organization and customers, and you don’t have the capability in house to deliver then look outside. Partner with other organizations or outside resources on learning and development, organizational communication and change, and leadership development and coaching offerings (not to toot our horn, though c’mon it is our blog, Tolero Solutions can help with designing learning and development programs and delivering employee engagement recognition strategies – contact us for more info)

“You shouldn’t be looking for people slipping up, you should be looking for all the good things people do and praising those.”
~ Richard Branson, founder of Virgin

Here’s hoping that most of you desire to have a culture of high engagement –and strive to create and maintain an organization where people really want to work!  What triggers your engagement decline feelings? What do you think are the impacts, if any, of not focusing on engagement and retention?

About Scott Span, MSOD: is President of Tolero Solutions - an Organizational Improvement & Strategy firm.  He helps clients to facilitate sustainable growth by developing people and organizations to be more responsive, focused, productive and profitable.

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How to be a Boss: Are You a Good Boss or a Bad Boss?

Sounds a little bit like the Wizard of Oz, we know.  Similar to that classic story - what type of boss you are can determine if your people respond to you more like Munchkins or Monkey Soldiers. While we were writing this blog with our marketing partner, Preactive Marketing, we found something interesting while we researched this topic, and it made us raise an eyebrow.  How to be a boss generates roughly 20 million monthly global hits – yet how to be a good boss generates only 33,000 monthly global hits.

A good boss makes his men realize they have more ability than they think they have so that they consistently do better work than they thought they could.

- Charles Erwin Wilson

So why is that?

• We realize it is probably because of many different factors – however we were intrigued that people are not more interested in how to be a good or even great boss. Is mediocrity taking over? Perhaps the reason is people are more focused on searching for the topic based more on the particular role than they are from the perspective of how to excel in that given role. Or maybe it’s because of the uptick in entrepreneurship. Regardless, building a successful business requires more than being a boss, it requires being a good boss – one who can create followership, build trust and maintain engagement.

So what makes a good boss or a bad boss?

High level -  we’ll offer a few qualities that make a good boss and a bad boss.

Good Boss	Bad Boss
Vision	Tunnel vision
Transparency	Secrecy
Inspiration	Pessimism
Authenticity	Disingenuous
Honesty	Dishonesty
Trust	Mistrust
Socialized power	Personalized power
Values equality	Practices oppression
Recognition for a job well done	Ignoring a job well done
Helps other succeed	Only helps themselves succeed

 

So how do you become a good boss?

Short answer – develop and excel in the “good boss” qualities listed above – you can get started in 3 steps.

Feedback: The first step in being a good boss is feedback – soliciting input from those you lead regarding your actions and behaviors and how those behaviors positively and negatively impact them.

Awareness: The next step in being a good boss is having self awareness – taking the feedback on those actions and behaviors that may negatively impact those you lead and making a conscious effort to be aware of when they are occurring and why.

Action: The third step in being a good boss is action – take action to increase your positive behaviors and decrease those with a potential negative impact. Training, coaching, and mentoring are all great ways to increase and develop new skills that can have a positive impact on those you lead.

When the best leader's work is done the people say, "We did it ourselves." - Lao Tzu

Here’s hoping that most of you desire to be good – even great – bosses!  So what qualities or strategies do you think make the difference between a boss, and a good boss?

About Scott Span, MSOD: is President of Tolero Solutions - an Organizational Improvement & Strategy firm.  He helps clients to facilitate sustainable growth by developing people and organizations to be more effective, productive, and profitable.

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You're Fired…But Help Us Anyway! GSK Acquisition Sends Executive Team Packing

GlaxoSmithKline, (GSK) a British drug maker, recently purchased the Human Genome Sciences (HGS) based in Rockville, MD.

Their first order of business - fire the executive team and most of the board of directors - seems they chose the often too typical and sometimes detrimental approach - we bought them so let’s get rid of their people and processes and do it our way. Why wouldn’t GSK take - what I think to be - the smart approach to an acquisition – let’s try and retain the intellectual capital (you know, the people who know stuff) of the company we purchased and explore how to best transition knowledge and merge our cultures and strategy?

Now to be fair, it’s not uncommon in M&A situations for the acquiring company to oust some high level executives and to begin consolidation of certain functions – though there is a way to approach it which can yield a higher rate of long term success.

“Leadership that's reliant on mergers and acquisitions is dangerous leadership.” - John Varley

For one thing, if you’re the acquiring company, don’t replace the entire executive team with your own people – this not only sends the wrong message to employees (which can have a direct negative impact on engagement and retention and thus performance), but you also risk losing leadership with a deep understanding of the culture and politics of the organization. For GSK to purchase HGS - I am sure there had to have been a lot of great work being accomplished by the staff employed by HGS.  These are folks who helped to shape the organizations success, which contributed to why GSK acquired the organization to begin with.

This type of action usually contributes to employee concern - most of the staff is probably hanging by the water cooler gossiping about what took place, updating their resume, or looking at new jobs fearing they'll be next.

It's a common result from something that could have been solved by a little thing called "communication and transition management."

The investment made by GSK (3.6 billion is no chump change) could very well endure months, if not years of work to recoup their investment.  Those executives who were fired couldn't possibly share all of the insider knowledge they possess in 1 month.  When September begins - there will be people, process, and strategy issues to deal with – some that could have been lessened or prevented.

Here is how you can avoid losing money in your acquisition and get the most out of your investment:

• Leadership…leadership of the acquiring organization needs to take time to build relationships with the leadership of the organization they’re purchasing. Those leaders know the culture, the politics, the unspoken rules and processes to get things done. They have built important trusted relationships with employees and stakeholders. Acquiring this knowledge takes more than a 30 day “stay on board and help” plan. If the new organization just swoops in and fires them all then they lose this important knowledge and those relationships.  Lack of knowledge transfer and relationship building can have a negative impact on the ease of transition and the overall success of the acquisition

• Communication…communication is imperative for a successful acquisition.  Clear communication strategies must be implemented inclusive of audience specific messaging. Content, vehicles, and frequencies must be identified for disseminating the right info to the right people at the right time. Leaders, employees, stakeholders and even vendors need to be made aware of what the acquisition means to them and how it impacts their jobs and roles and responsibilities. Once people start assuming the worst and making up their own versions of what is happening, it becomes very hard to reverse the trend. Without clear and targeted communication the rumor mill begins, and this impacts performance and profitability.

• Change and Transition…change is an inevitable part of a merger or acquisition – so is transition. You must have a plan – an actionable plan – in place to address both. Change is never easy. Change is a bumpy process. But why is change so hard? Change is hard because it is an emotional experience for most. An emotional experience, particularly an experience one often has little choice in being part of, creates resistance. Resistance is a natural emotion, though an emotion that can make change even harder.  However, resistance must be managed to harness that energy for positive change. Managing resistance requires focusing on not just change, but also transition. People go through the phases of transition at their own pace, not necessarily at the pace of others or the pace of an organization. People need to be supported in each phase. To ease the difficulties of the change process a focus on transition must run in parallel to a focus on change.

For an acquisition to be successful the organizations must truly merge and become high performing and enable meaningful change to improve their programs, services, products, and processes, to create new value for the organization's stakeholders.

"Plans are nothing; planning is everything." -Dwight D. Eisenhower

Moral of the story – when an acquisition is taking place – don’t take a “my way or the highway”  a “we’re bigger and better” or “thanks now get lost” approach. Take the time needed for leadership (old and new) to build relationships and understanding and create a smooth transition strategy for all involved.  This helps alleviate anxiety – allowing the staff to focus on what they do best and helping to create a new combined success.

About Scott Span, MSOD: is President of Tolero Solutions Organizational Development & Change Management firm.  He helps clients to facilitate sustainable growth by developing people and organizations to be more responsive, focused, productive and profitable.

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Bullies on the Bus – Bullies in the Boardroom!

I’m sure you’ve seen it in the news, or at least heard about it - the bullied bus monitor. A bus monitor, 68 year old Karen Klein, was bombarded with a stream of profanity, insults, jeers and physical ridicule by multiple middle school kids as she rode the bus. I’ll spare the specifics as to the obscenely rude and hurtful remarks uttered by these kids – one, because it really angers me personally and professionally, and two, because you can find what they said in the cell phone video and in various news stories.

Though as an organization development practitioner and trained behavioral scientist, and someone who works with organizations and the people in them – this story did get me thinking, both about today’s youth and tomorrow’s leaders. You see they are one in the same - and that’s a bit concerning to me. Bullies on the bus can become bullies in the boardroom.

"The serial bully, who in my estimation accounts for about one person in thirty in society, is the single most important threat to the effectiveness of organisations, the profitability of industry, the performance of the economy, and the prosperity of society."

- Tim Field

Now, I’m not saying all kids are bullies, and I’m not saying all kids will grow up to be leaders (sorry to all those parents out there giving gold stars for every little thing, but c’mon, seriously). However, I am saying that as these bully kids grow up, and begin to enter into our larger and diversified global business world, they’re going to have to learn some tolerance, respect, and understanding for others– not to mention some self awareness - particularly those who want to become quality leaders!

So a bit of advice on why not to be a bully leader:

• People may do what you want if you bully them, they may be intimidated by you, though they will most likely never respect you. Without mutual respect, you usually can’t have an honest and trusting relationship – the type that is really productive both personally and professionally.

• Bullied people are usually not happy people. Unhappy people are usually not engaged people. Lower employee morale and lower employee engagement contribute to lower customer satisfaction and lower customer satisfaction contributes to decline in profits.

• Reputation is important for a quality leader. If you have a reputation for being a hardnosed, detailed orientated, assertive go-getter who still listens to others ideas and values and recognizes a job well done, that’s not necessarily a bad reputation. Actually,  some people thrive under that type of leadership. However, if you have a reputation for being a self serving, obnoxious, intolerant, tyrannical leader then most likely your bad reputation will precede you. If you have a bad reputation, good luck attracting the best and brightest talent to want to follow you and help you succeed.

Now, we all know bullies exist in the workplace, some may have been bullies on the bus and some may have become bullies as they escalated in their careers. Regardless, I’m sure you’ve most likely encountered one or more in your professional career.

So how do you deal with a workplace bully?

You deal with a workplace bully in much the same way you deal with anyone else who pushes your hot buttons – and for those details, I’ll direct you to our previous article: Are Your Buttons Getting Pushed? 3 Tips On What You Can Do.

 

Though in a nutshell:

• Breathe: Yes, I know we all do that anyway, but I mean really breathe. Just stop and take a few of those yoga style deep breathes.

• Communication: I know you’re probably thinking – well of course I communicate. Yes, we all do, both verbally and non- verbally. We also all have distinctive communication styles and preferences.  In short, if you feel your buttons getting pushed as someone is communicating with you, tell them.

• Feedback: Giving and receiving feedback is imperative to making sure your hot buttons don’t get pushed, and is imperative to helping to not push others – it’s a cycle.  And per these kids who think bullying others is cool – they won’t think it’s so cool when it’s the ones they’re bullying who grow up to be the quality leaders they report to in the workplace!

“The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humor, but without folly.”

~ Jim Rohn

And per Ms. Karen Klein – I certainly hope she uses some of that money everyone’s been sending her to start an anti-bullying non-profit organization – after all she is now in position to help shape some of the future quality leaders of tomorrow, and we can never have to many of those!

* As an update: It seems that the kids involved have in fact received punishment.  As of June 30th, they received one-year suspensions from school and regular bus transportation, they will be transferred to the district Reengagement Center, and will also be required to complete 50 hours of community service with senior citizens and must take part in a formal bullying prevention program.

* As another update: Harassed bus monitor starts anti-bullying foundation

About Scott Span, MSOD: is President of Tolero Solutions Organizational Development & Change Management firm.  He helps clients to facilitate sustainable growth by developing people and organizations to be more responsive, focused, productive and profitable.

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Leadership is…

Part One in a Summer Series on Creating a High Performing Organization: 

We’ll share our thoughts, though we also prefer to hear from you, so share your opinion !

According to our marketing partner, Preactive Marketing, the phrase “leadership is” has over 6 million global monthly searches.  This indicates there is a growing interest in the topic and in learning to become a better leader.

So, how would you finish the phrase leadership is…

I would finish it something like this:

“Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it."

- Dwight Eisenhower

Thanks for the words of wisdom Ike. Leaders can’t lead without followers - or as I like to call them - implementers and doers. So, how does a leader get someone to do something because he/she wants it done?

• Transparency – Be transparent. People can usually tell when “something is up.” So before the rumors begin flying and productivity is impacted, communicatewith your employees. When making strategic decisions, determining organizational changes, or facing issues that impact employees, successful leaders need to be transparent with their workforce about how these matters arose, their thought process for dealing with them, and how their solutions may directly impact those they lead.

• Trust – Create a safe and trusting environment. Trust is a fundamental behavior for any relationship, both personal and professional. According to a study by the Hay Group, a global management consultancy, there are 75 key components of employee satisfaction (Lamb & McKee, 2009). They found that: Trust and confidence in top leadership was the single most reliable predictor of employee satisfaction in an organization. Trust must be earned. Leaders can earn employee trust by helping employees understand the company’s overall business strategy, informing them how they contribute to achieving key business goals, and sharing information with employees on both how the company is doing and how an employee’s own performance is relative to organizational objectives. It is much easier for employees to trust a leader that shows an interest in them.

• Self Awareness – Be self aware. Successful leaders have a heightened level of self-awareness, they have an understanding of themselves, their behaviors and actions, and how those behaviors and actions are interpreted by, and directly impact, employees. A good example of leadership self-awareness is exhibited in the U.S. Army’s leadership philosophy of “be, know, do.” Be proficient and competent, know yourself and your strengths and weaknesses, and do take responsibility and lead by example. Always be open to further growth and learning. Professional coaching is also a great well to help further develop leader self-awareness.

You see…leadership is a facet of business that is imperative to succeeding.

"The quality of leadership, more than any other single factor, determines the success or failure of an organization."
- Fred Fiedler & Martin Chemers

So be a quality leader – one who people trust, respect, and want to follow!

If you’re looking for leadership training for yourself or for your organization – contact us by Friday, June 29^th and mention this blog - we’ll take 15% off the offering that best fits your needs.

About Scott Span, MSOD: is President of Tolero Solutions Organizational Development & Change Management firm.  He helps clients to facilitate sustainable growth by developing people and organizations to be more responsive, focused, productive and profitable.

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J.C. Penney – During Times of Change – Funny Commercials Aren’t Good Enough!

After a full on rebranding, new strategic direction, and massive organizational changes designed to reinvent the retailer and improve profits - J.C. Penney suffered a dismal 1^st quarter. A lot exists for shareholders and stakeholders to be frustrated about – and much of it relates to organizational development and leadership (or poor leadership).

CEO Ron Johnson did have a vision - to get rid of the nonstop product promotions at the store and move to three kinds of prices (everyday, monthly specials, and clearance). He announced new designer partnerships and a new spokeswoman and advertising star, Ellen DeGeneres. He also introduced a new logo, and new color-saturated advertisements that barely mention price. Within four years, he said, the stores would be completely redone, each divided into about 100 small boutiques with a service center that he called “town square.” Ron has vision - but what he lacks is thoughtful and holistic understanding and execution.

*Update: As of June 18th, 2012 J. C. Penney Company, Inc. ousted its JCPenney brand president, Michael Francis, who oversaw the retailer's merchandising and marketing operations, with a terse statement that "We thank Michael for his hard work at jcpenney and wish him the best in his future endeavors."

Before leaders begin making organizational changes, no matter what successful past experience at other organizations may lead them to believe - it is necessary to collect current organizational data – data from stakeholders, data from employees, and most importantly, data from customers. Change can’t be rushed. It is said by some that a transformational change such as the one Penney’s is undertaking can take an average of 7 years – yup, you heard that correctly. Change isn’t easy folks, and doing it right takes time – just look at Pier 1.

So – just a few things (I have quite a list but I’ll spare all the details for now as I wouldn’t want to sound like a preachy CEO) Mr. Johnson should have done prior to jumping on the “turnaround CEO” bandwagon:

• Data: It’s extremely difficult to turn around an organization for the better if you don’t have a recent understanding of what “better” means. Now I’m not talking about just financial numbers, web traffic, etc. as I’m sure plenty of that was collected and analyzed. I’m talking about direct from the consumer’s mouth data. Before revising pricing methods and slashing merchandise promotions, ask customers how they would feel if prices were lowered all the time across the board. It doesn’t necessarily matter if customers “get” your pricing as long as they’re happy with the price, product, and service. Perhaps some customers prefer the feeling of getting a bargain, maybe they enjoy coupons (as evidenced recently in this case), perhaps they don’t like receiving a large number of promotional e-mails and ads but a few specifically targeted to their personal buying habits…point here is you don’t know what the customer wants unless you ask them – so take the time to collect data on your customers needs, wants and desires and don’t just assume you (cough: the leader) knows best!

• People: It’s imperative your employees have a solid understanding of why changes are taking place and how the changes impact them. Communicate with the workforce.  Not just so they have an understanding of how the change impacts them, but also so you can build their commitment to the process.  Employee commitment is imperative to maintain high performance and customer satisfaction during times of change. Penney’s employees, particularly the sales associates, were accustomed to a certain way of doing their jobs – selling and dealing with merchandise price cuts and promotions and customer service – in certain ways. They learned how to make a commission, when to push items, and when not to.

"Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it."
- Dwight Eisenhower

Personal example – I bought a massage power recliner from J.C. Penney. When I first saw it listed online it was one price, when I went into the store to actually see it in person it was a different price. When I didn’t commit that day the sales associate gave me his card. I called him back a week or so later and the chair was miraculously over $150 cheaper with free shipping – if I came in to purchase that week. The sales associate knew the pricing system, he knew the price would be lowered, and he knew he could offer me free shipping as the price would probably be lowered yet again in a few more days. I felt like I got a good deal, I got my chair same day, and he made his commission of a higher amount. I was a happy customer and he was a satisfied sales associate.

If changes in process and procedures are going to occur that impact the day to day of how employees perform their jobs, then not only do you want to communicate those changes and ask for feedback – you also want to make sure you provide any needed training so they can succeed. Otherwise performance suffers, retention suffers, customer service declines, and shareholders don’t end up happy.

• Accountability: Mr. Johnson seems to be coming off like a stereotypical ivory tower CEO. Not an in touch and transparent leader. From what I’ve seen, his attitude regarding the current earnings announcement was a bit disingenuous. In typical financial fashion, the numbers were manipulated to try and sound somewhat positive. Oh Ron, just own it! Be a grown up, be an honest, transparent, accountable, and authentic leader. Acknowledge that things aren’t going exactly as planned – and don’t whine and make excuses - but let us know you see it too, and tell us the steps you plan to take to reevaluate and improve. That’s what builds trust in a leader - and in my experience trust in leadership can usually be correlated to high performing organization with committed employees, loyal customers, and increased performance (I really should do a study on that, if anyone knows of one please share!)

I do enjoy the new J.C. Penney commercials, but I’d enjoy shopping there a lot more if I knew the retailer had honest, transparent, committed, accountable leadership who elicited and acted on customer, stakeholder and employee feedback – but hey, that’s just me.

"Lead and inspire people. Don't try to manage and manipulate people. Inventories can be managed but people must be led."
- Ross Perot

About Scott Span, MSOD: is President of Tolero Solutions Organizational Development & Change Management firm.  He helps clients to facilitate sustainable growth by developing people and organizations to be more responsive, focused, productive and profitable.

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In Goldman Sachs We Trust…Or Do We?

By now you probably have heard the news about the latest Goldman Sachs incident. Former London-based employee Greg Smith made some serious accusations in a New York Times op-ed piece….and as of late he’s not the only one. His accusations focused around leadership and management practices and the “toxic” culture at Goldman Sachs Group.

This very public vent session by an employee assailing CEO Lloyd C. Blankfein’s management and leadership, and the firm’s treatment of clients, went viral and led to Goldman Sachs losing $2.15 billion of its market value with the stock price dropping 3.4% as of late last week.

A pretty huge public backlash!

Though Goldman Sachs issued a public response (seriously, how could they not) it was too little to late – the damage has been done. Much has been in the media regarding the incident, the supposed reasons for Greg Smith’s article, and the type of environment and culture at Goldman Sachs. Though I’ve experienced my fair share of “toxic” cultures – and I am a firm believer that culture plays a huge part in business success – I attribute the negative perceptions, outcomes and public relations damage at Goldman Sachs to one thing more than others– TRUST!

"Me, I'm dishonest, and you can always trust a dishonest man to be dishonest. Honestly, it's the honest ones you have to watch out for." - Captain Jack Sparrow

Trust is the foundation of any successful relationship both personal and professional, and when it is broken, it is extremely hard to repair.  Even though all specifics weren’t shared with the general public, for the most part, the general public has now lost trust in Goldman Sachs leadership and thus the firm overall.

I am repeatedly asked to make the business case for trust. Other than the usual statements about trust reducing transaction costs, increasing employee and customer loyalty, and shortening the sales cycle, hard evidence seems difficult to find. Well, Goldman Sachs is a real life example.

I would  like to offer a cause and affect view on this breach of trust at Goldman Sachs: without trust within your company and between your company and your customers, employee engagement and morale will suffer. If engagement and morale suffer, customer satisfaction declines. If customer satisfaction declines, revenue declines. If revenue declines too much, business stops.

Trust is one of those in-tangibles, which means that showing a value add and making the business case for trust can sometimes prove difficult – until trust is lost and broken.  At Goldman Sachs, due to the alleged unethical business practices of the leaders, managers and employees, a “…decline in the firm’s moral fiber” permeated contributing to a “toxic” culture that became an acceptable way to do business.

"When a man assumes a public trust he should consider himself a public property." - Thomas Jefferson

Once this information was made public, by someone with an insider view, Goldman Sachs clients, vendors, and the general public were forced to reevaluate if they wanted to continue to be associated with a company that operated in such a way. A company that they feel betrayed them (and in many cases the actions went against their own values), with actions that have fundamentally breached their trust. Based on the ongoing negative financial impacts Goldman Sachs is experiencing, the overwhelming response seems to be – many don’t want to continue to be associated with a company that fundamentally breached their trust.

Now of course many of Goldman Sachs clients and vendors aren’t bothered by this or choose to ignore it, and the firm will most likely recover. However, it will be a slow process to regain public trust, and we may continue to see the negative impacts for some time. This example serves as a simple and tangible business case for trust, one that highlights the importance of increasing trust in the workplace. Noticing the negative impacts that lack of trust and transparency have had on Goldman Sachs, and using this as a real example to facilitate positive culture change and environments of increased trust, seems like a good lesson to me!

Do you feel Goldman Sachs violated the trust of clients? Is trust in a company you do business with important to you? Do you think "toxic" cultures are detrimental?

About Scott Span, MSOD: is President of Tolero Solutions Organizational Development & Change Management firm.  He helps clients to facilitate sustainable growth by developing people and organizations to be more responsive, focused, productive and profitable.

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*All Rights Reserved. Reproduction, publication, and all other use of  any and all of this content is prohibited without authorized consent of Tolero Solutions and the author.

What Is Change Management & Why Is It Important to Your Organization?

As an Organizational Development (OD) and Change Management practitioner I often get asked by leaders – so what does that mean? Why are these things important to my business?  And how can they help me create a high performing organization?

Well…let me explain the executive summary (OK well the sort of executive summary)…

What is change management? 

"If you want to truly understand something, try to change it." – Kurt Lewin

• The definition of change management varies. Many exist, some simple, some complex.  I’ll refrain from getting overly scholarly (you’re welcome).  To synopsize for the busy executive, change management can be defined as a structured approach to transitioning individuals, teams, and organizations from a current state to a desired future state.  It can be applied to situations such as downsizing, growing organizations, or even adding new technology. It is an organizational process aimed at helping employees to understand, commit to, and accept and embrace changes in their current business environment. A part of change management is also managing transition – and though related, change and transition is not the same thing.  Some definitions go even further to define differences between change management and change leadership (in my experience I see them very interrelated – one referring to the tools and technologies and the other referring to those individuals utilizing such tools, technologies and frameworks to lead change efforts.)

Why is change management important – how can it help?

• If changes are occurring in your organization – strategic changes, tactical changes, leadership changes, technology changes – then those changes are going to have impacts and effects on your people and processes (among other areas). To help minimize those impacts and effects, from having unintended negative outcomes, it is necessary to have “change management” methodologies in place with skilled resources delivering and executing on those methodologies, principles and processes. This helps to minimize possible negative outcomes and increase positive results. Change itself is a process – managing it, leading it, achieving it is also a process and one that should not be viewed and managed with a one size fits all approach. Approaches and actions should be customized to fit your organizational circumstances.

My take - as an organizational development practitioner, I view change management methods as just one of many tools in your toolkit used to help achieve positive organizational improvements.

Feel free to learn more on the Tolero Think Tank.

 

What is organizational development (OD)?

• The definition of Organizational Development (OD) varies even more than that of Change Management. Again, many exist, some simple, some complex.  And again, I’ll refrain from getting overly scholarly (you’re welcome).  To the busy executive, OD is basically the application of tools, methods, frameworks and technologies and processes to make your entire organization (yes, that includes people) more productive, profitable, and innovative. OD is an ongoing, systematic process of implementing positive and effective organizational change. Organizational development is known as both a field of applied behavioral science and as a field of scientific study and inquiry. It is interdisciplinary in nature and draws on many other disciplines such as sociology, psychology, communication, cultural anthropology organizational behavior, economics, political science, neuroleadership and theories of motivation, learning, and personality.

Why should you consider OD initiatives to support your organization in achieving desired outcomes?

“…Think of an organization as all the clothes hanging on a clothes line. All parts are connected. If you pull on the socks the towels move…”

- Arthur Friedman

• One of the distinguishing characteristics of OD is that it is based on collaboration and a “helping relationship.”  OD takes a total system view — the organization as a whole, including its relevant subsystems in the context of the total system. Thus, OD interventions and improvement strategies can focus on the whole system or on multiple levels of the system such as groups, teams, and individuals. OD interventions should be clearly tied to strategic goals and objectives. Parts of systems are not considered in isolation; the principle of interdependency, that is, that changes in one part of a system affects the other parts, is fully recognized. These interventions and improvement strategies can focus on various initiatives within the organization such as change, communications, strategy, culture and process.

So, why should you care about these things?

• Well you want to be successful, don’t you? Isn’t that why you took on organizational improvement efforts to begin with – to innovate, to reinvigorate, to become ever better. To prevent your organization from potentially failing before you even start – understanding and skillfully executing various principles of change management and OD are a necessity to success!

About Scott Span, MSOD: is President of Tolero Solutions Organizational Development & Change Management firm.  He helps clients be responsive, focused and effective to facilitate sustainable growth.

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Goal Setting - Why Bother? Are You Setting Your 2012 Goals?

2012 is literally around the corner. The topic of goals and objectives arises frequently this time of year. Many organizations (and individuals) have begun to update their strategies and create new goals for the New Year, have you? Hopefully you have, and if you haven’t, well – you may want to add it to your ‘to do’ list.

 

"Goals allow you to control the direction of change in your favor." - Brian Tracy

 

So what are goals and why are they important?

A goal represents the “to be” state, not the action of getting to that state. Goals are the most important outcomes that need to be accomplished to achieve and maintain the vision of the organization. Goals are derived from the vision statement and must be addressed through the objectives of the organization and establish the long-term direction for the work within the organization. In short, goals are the desired end result. As Stephen Covey says, it helps to "Begin with the end in mind."

Goals should also decide the results that are wanted/needed and set a time frame for achieving results. Most importantly, goals must build in accountability and consequences for not achieving them. Performance measures are the best indicators of success in achieving goals and outcomes; they should be relevant and practical.

 

 

It helps to ask…do the goals:

• Address improvements in performance of mission?


• Address individual improvements in performance?


• Tie to the strategic objectives?


• Capture the requirements of external and internal customers?


• Emphasize the critical aspects of the organization?

Most leaders know that an effective strategic plan must contain measurable high level goals and objectives, though goals should not only be high level organizational in nature. I am often asked by leaders who have a developed strategy, “why do my people need their own goals – we already have high level strategic organizational goals they are expected to meet?”  My reply, goals tell you as an organization where you want to be and what you want to achieve – they do the same for your people. Employees must have goals and objectives, not only to help support the organization in achieving its strategy, but also to see how the actions they take in executing their roles and responsibilities directly contribute to the broader organization mission and vision.

In developing organizational and employee goals, it is important to ask, “Are we measuring the right things?” Program, departmental and individual employee goals should align to and support organizational goals and objectives. If the workforce cannot see themselves and their actions in strategic goals, then your organizational goals aren’t as likely to succeed. Personal goals, incentives, and competencies should be aligned with the strategy. Without individual goals tied to specific roles and performance, it is difficult for employees to gauge the impact they are making through their work.  It is also more difficult for them to see the WIIFM (what’s in it for me) for achieving high performance - without goals, it proves difficult to measure, evaluate and reward individual performance.

 "My philosophy of life is that if we make up our mind what we are going to make of our lives, then work hard toward that goal, we never lose - somehow we win out." - Ronald Reagan

Clear communication of goals and priorities is necessary for people to see how their goals are contributing to organizational success and why they are being measured and evaluated against them. That creates a win/win for both the employee and the organization. For goals to truly increase accountability, they should include baselines. Baselines are time-lagged calculations which provide a basis for making comparisons of past performance to current performance.  A baseline may also be forward-looking, such as when you establish a goal and are seeking to determine whether the trends show you're likely to meet that goal. Measuring performance at a specific time establishes a baseline and provides the starting point for setting goals and evaluating future efforts and overall performance.

Several questions to ask when developing and defining goals: 

• Does the goal support the mission?


• Does the goal represent a desired result that can be measured?


• Does the goal reflect a primary activity, a strategic direction, a strategic issue or a gap in service?


• Is the goal challenging, but still realistic and achievable?


• Is there at least one key goal for each program/subprogram, but not more than can be reasonably managed?


• Is the goal important to management?


• Is the goal important to the employee?


• Is the goal important to customers and stakeholders?

Tolero Solutions offers various frameworks and methodologies that can provide assistance with strategic planning and goal setting. Just as your final destination is important to your journey, your goals are important to your business and your people. They define your destination and shape what your business will become. So, as you and your organization wind down 2011, give some thought to where you want to be, how are going to get there, and how you’re going to measure success – set goals early and take one step closer to being set for success in the New Year! After all, “If you don't know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else."  - Yogi Berra

About Scott Span, MSOD: is President of Tolero Solutions Organizational Development & Change Management firm.  He helps clients to facilitate sustainable growth by developing people and organizations to be more responsive, focused, productive and profitable.

Email | Website | LinkedIn | Twitter | Blog | Facebook

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*All Rights Reserved. Reproduction, publication, and all other use of  any and all of this content is prohibited without authorized consent of Tolero Solutions and the author.

Lead or Fail: Successful Leadership in Turbulent Times

Guest post written by Scott Span, MSOD for Linked2Leadership on June 8th, 2010

Leadership isn’t what it used to be. The corner offices are slowly disappearing. The days of barking orders and expecting people to blindly follow are over. 

Accountability, responsibility and transparency are on the rise – though someone should tell that to BP CEO. Workforce demographics and diversity are changing. The days of leading like Franklin M. Hart Jr. are over.

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

It Ain’t Easy

This is not to say that being a leader was, or is, ever easy; or that earlier fundamentals should be tossed aside. However, in tough times, remaining a great leader can be even harder.

So what makes a successful leader in turbulent times? First and foremost, the ability to adapt your leadership style to changing environmental influences is key to being a successful leader. Jim Clifton, Chairman and CEO of Gallup says that “in the new normal,” old ways of doing business won’t work anymore.

“The men and women who will conquer this new world will be the ones who best understand their constituencies’ state of mind.” ~Jim Clifton


By state of mind, Clifton is referring to new revelations being uncovered by behavioral economists — starting with the discovery that human decision-making is more emotional than rational. As a leader, Clifton shares a similar mindset to many behavioral scientists and organizational development practitioners.

His view is that one of the most fundamental states of mind that leaders need to understand is the needs and desires of their employees: “…their will to work, their will to live, their will to revolt, their will to follow you.

Another element of state of mind is emotional affect: “how much stress your constituency feels about money, about trying to get to work, about their relationship with their boss.” Clifton believes that to be a successful leader you have to firmly understand states of mind.

In his view, everything important; everything human comes down to states of mind. The leader who is the best at understanding, relating to and communicating states of mind will be the one who wins.

Not that leadership is about winning or losing, however it sure is about winning over those you lead. As an organizational development practitioner and behavioral scientist, I share Clifton’s views; understanding and exhibiting certain human behaviors help to shape great leaders and great organizations.

“Leadership is best viewed through the eyes of the follower.” ~Tom Schulte

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

Behave Yourself!

Here are some behaviors of great leaders during turbulent times:

Transparency

People can usually tell when “something is up.” So before the rumors begin flying and productivity is impacted, leadership should tell employees. When making strategic decisions, determining organizational changes or facing issues that impact employees, successful leaders need to be transparent with their workforce about how these matters arose, their thought process for dealing with them, and how their solutions may directly impact those they lead.

Communication

Being in a leadership position can sometimes be a solitary role. Often leaders make decisions in a vacuum and rely on managers or supervisors to communicate important information downward. Successful leaders lead through two-way communication. Much of it is nonverbal. For instance, when leaders “set the example,” that communicates to their people that they would not ask them to do anything that they would not be willing to do themselves, this only helps to make leaders seem more human to employees. Particularly in turbulent times, people value direct interaction and communication from leaders. This not only helps to show that leaders are remaining committed to the people in organization, but also offers an opportunity for them to step out of the “tower” and build relationships with employees.

Trust

Trust is a fundamental behavior for any relationship, both personal and professional. According to a study by the Hay Group, a global management consultancy, there are 75 key components of employee satisfaction (Lamb & McKee, 2009). They found that: Trust and confidence in top leadership was the single most reliable predictor of employee satisfaction in an organization. Trust must be earned. Leaders can earn employee trust by helping employees understand the company’s overall business strategy, informing them how they contribute to achieving key business goals and sharing information with employees on both how the company is doing and how an employee’s own division is doing relative to organizational objectives.

It is much easier for employees to trust a leader that shows an interest in them.

Compassion

The basis of good leadership is honorable character and selfless service to the organization; compassion for employees and both their professional and personal situations. His Holiness the 14th Dali Lama says, “I call compassion the global staple…for all people in every endeavor.” In employees’ eyes, what leadership does affects the organization’s objectives and their well-being. When a person is deciding if they respect a leader, they don’t think about attributes, rather they see what leaders do. Observations can often tell an employee if a leader is an honorable and trusted person or a self-serving person, one who misuses authority to look good and get promoted. Self-serving leaders are not as effective because their employees only obey them, not follow them. When leaders show compassion and understanding for employees and their situations, it becomes easier for them to notice that their leaders are interested and concerned, and not as self-serving as possibly thought.

Self Awareness

Successful leaders have a heightened level of self-awareness, they have an understanding of themselves, their behaviors and actions, and how those behaviors and actions are interpreted by, and directly impact, employees. A good example of leadership self-awareness is exhibited in the U.S. Army’s leadership philosophy of “be, know, do.” Be proficient and competent, know yourself and your strengths and weaknesses, and do take responsibility and lead by example. Always be open to further growth and learning. Professional coaching is also a great well to help further develop leader self-awareness.


A colleague shared a speech with me given last year by Marillyn Hewson, President of Systems Integration-Owego, Lockheed Martin Corporation on the subject of leadership in turbulent times. To Marillyn, leadership is a set of personal behaviors that set the course and create an environment that energizes people to meet a goal.

Marillyn says “…it’s easy to be a leader when everything is going great. The challenge is how you act when things go wrong. In times of great change… or tremendous challenge… that’s when the leadership fundamentals matter most.”

Most competitive and sustainable organizations have great leaders at the top, and in the ranks!

Do you think you are one of those great leaders? Do you exhibit the best behaviors in the ares of transparency, communication, trust, compassion, and self-awareness? If not, what are your points of struggle? What are you doing to better your daily behaviors to become a person with even greater influence? I ‘d love to hear your story!