Leading from the Driver’s Seat

Leading From The Drivers SeatOne of my favorite quotes about change comes from psychologist R.D. Laing. He said “We live in a moment of history where change is so speeded up that we begin to see the present only when it is already disappearing.” I’m not sure when he made this observation, but since he passed in 1989 it was at least 20 years ago. However, his words still ring true, especially today when the pace of change continues to get faster.

Let’s think about what Laing said, especially “we begin to see the present only when it is already disappearing.” Picture that. It’s like driving your car but instead of looking at the road right in front of you, you only look through the rear view mirror. So you only see things after you have already passed them! Fortunately nobody drives a car this way – but many people do drive organizations this way.

Looking at the past is something business leaders have been trained to do. We look at the previous quarter’s earnings to see how business is doing. We look at annual performance for the previous year to see how well the organization met its goals, and then we plan for the future based on information from the past. Of course, it can be helpful to learn from the past, but this should not be the extent of an organization’s learning and planning efforts.

When you look behind, you can see what has changed. But how much does that really help you plan for the future? When you’re driving, it’s not very helpful to see that the light you just went through is now red, especially if the one in front of you is turning yellow and will be red before you reach it. You might see that a car is following you too closely, but if all your attention is focused on that car you might go through a red light, or miss your turn, or even crash into a car in front of you. When you are driving, it’s important to be aware of all your surroundings, but the most important area for attention is what is in front of you – immediately, as well as down the road. Your destination is also important, unless you like driving around without going anywhere in particular.

The same is true for organizations. You have to have a specific destination, or goal, in mind. You have to drive the organization toward this goal, watching out for obstacles in the road in front of you, and anticipating issues that may come up further down the road. You have to be mindful that conditions might change, and you have to be ready to react quickly to those changes. As the organizational leader, you are in the driver’s seat. You can think of everyone else in the organization as the vehicle that gets you there, but without your direction they won’t know where to go, how fast or when to change course.

I see many organizational leaders that are too focused on the road behind them, or looking out the side window to see whether the competition is passing them. But it is only by looking forward, sometimes far ahead, will they see not only obstacles but also opportunities that can lead to new value creation and innovation. Like a surprise shortcut or a rewarding side trip, these opportunities are only seen by those who are looking for them, and looking forward.

This ability to look forward and see opportunities is the process of “strategic foresight.” Strategic foresight helps you identify the global drivers and industry trends that are driving change, as well as how customer behavior is changing. With this information, you can plan for different scenarios – instead of merely reacting to change – and foresee customer needs before the competition does.  It’s a skill that all organizational leaders must have if they hope to grow their organization organically through innovation.

Connect with Kamal Hassan: Website | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

International Leadership Blogathon – Day 15 Recap

Leadership BlogathonSince March 1st, I have had the privilege of having some of the very finest leadership experts from around the world, write guest posts on A Slice of Leadership as part of the International Leadership Blogathon. I been inspired, uplifted, and filled with ideas and thoughts that have opened my eyes to a greater understanding of leadership, additionally I have made some friendships that I expect will last a lifetime.

Here is a recap of the articles. I highly recommend you click through these and read the leadership insight collected here from around the world. Tomorrow we will start fresh again with more experts for the remaining days in March. Please come back each day for more international leadership wisdom.

Day 1 – Andy Phillips from Columbia
Does Your Leadership Style Need To Change When Leading Internationally?

Day 2 – David Lapin from the USA / Canada /South Africa
Leadership Re-Imagined – Why the lessons of the Past Are Not Enough!

Day 3 – Hans Balmaekers from The Netherlands
Leaders in Beta: Testing What Works

Day 4 – Kimunya Mugo from Kenya
Lessons of Leadership & Culture From Kenya

Day 5 – Colleen Jolly from the USA / UK
Belief: The Underpants Gnomes Method of Leadership

Day 6 – Lora Crestan from Canada
Leaders …Let Go!

Day 7 – John Wenger from New Zealand
Leaders Hold The Power to Engage

Day 8 – Kimberly Bordonero from the USA
The Leadership Brand: How to Discover Your Personal Brand Persona

Day 9 -Oscar Capote Agudo from Spain
The People Will All Say, “We did this ourselves!”

Day 10 – Paul S. Allen from New Zealand
Leadership: It is not about you! Get over it.

Day 11 – Janne Othonen from Finland
Achieving Success with Personal Leadership

Day 12 – Amy Beth Miller from the USA
5 Ways Leaders Botch Communication – Without Saying a Word

Day 13 – Sandro Da Silva from Te Netherlands
Leadership: Do You Practice What You Preach?

Day 14 – David Hain from The U.K.
Lessons on Leadership and Life from a Football Match

I know each of these writers would love to hear your comments and connect with you. You can do so on each of the pages above.

Lessons on Leadership and Life from a Football Match

Cardiff City Footbal - LeadershipLosing a game is heartbreaking. Losing your sense of excellence or worth is a tragedy. ” ~ Joe Paterno

——————

I’m a big football fan, season ticket holder at Cardiff City, my local team in the UK.   We’re a good side, among the best in England’s second tier league.  3 weeks ago we played a national cup final, at Wembley Stadium, against Liverpool Football Club, arguably the most famous team in the world.  They’re pretty close to the top of the Premier League, which we’re battling to get into.  Their team on the day cost £450m, the most expensive player £35m.  Our full team, including seven substitutes, was pieced together for £4 million.

You could have made a lot of money with a winning bet on Cardiff. Every pundit agreed – if Liverpool turned up anywhere near their best, we had virtually no chance.  The game was watched live by 90,000 passionate supporters and broadcasted live across the world.  It was set to be a valediction for Liverpool.

They duly won, we lost.  So why did it mean so much to me that I’ve chosen to tell the blogosphere about it?

A result is just a measure – it doesn’t tell you anything about the game.  And in the game, there were many lessons for life and for anyone, like me, who studies and promotes leadership. As I trudged 4 miles back to my car and spent the next 4 hours driving home on the same road as most of the 35,000 defeated fans, I had plenty of time to reflect on the day.  And what started as a journey into depression ended up as a triumph of inspiration that I thought might be worthy of sharing.

Lesson 1 – When you win, do it with class

The match was lost in the most dramatic, heartbreaking way possible.  After full time and extra time finished all square, there was a penalty shoot-out and we lost 3-2. When we missed the critical penalty, in the pandemonium of victory celebrations, 3 of the Liverpool players went straight to our side to commiserate the guy who missed and congratulate the entire Cardiff team on the way they played the game.  Classy winners who stayed humble in the hubris of victory, they recognized how fine the line is between winning and losing

Lesson 2 – You can lose, and still win

Every single Cardiff player gave his last drop for the shirt. In the last 10 minutes of extra time, when many of them were going down with cramps, they somehow found the strength and belief to equalize with two minutes to go.   They must have been completely dispirited to lose having given so much and been so close.  But their manager talked to the world about losing with dignity, giving credit to the winners, and learning lessons to draw from in their next battle.  And with these words he re-framed losing into something much more meaningful which resonated with millions across the world who could reflect on their own battles.

Lesson 3 – The team is the most powerful vehicle that we have as human beings

Last year we had a team with a few stars who were capable of great things, but when the chips were down, they put themselves first.  This year, under a new manager, we have a team with no acknowledged stars, but whose spirit and willingness to fight for their colleagues means that they regularly exceed the sum of their parts.  And very quickly, the fans spotted the difference and became an even more passionate ‘twelfth man’.  The ‘one for all’ attitude they can see on the pitch transmits itself far beyond the white lines to inspire greater support for the cause they can see the players so obviously believing in.

Lesson 4 – We all need role models

Our new manager has quickly, by example, fashioned a group in his image through what he demands of and rewards in others.  When asked about how he would console the poor guy who missed the critical penalty, he replied that the team was more important than individuals and they would all take care of that.  You can see the way he behaves transmitting itself to his players.  And you can see examples of his leadership values all over the pitch.  This year we have leaders throughout the team – people who take responsibility not just for what they do, but for challenging each other to dig deeper.  Resilience is so much easier if you know others will give you all they have, while demanding everything you have got. And a leader has to somehow convey values that are demonstrated especially when he has no immediate control.

Lesson 5 – Moments of small, quiet heroism happen all the time

From the defender who literally put his body on the line in front of a certain goal, to the cramping midfielder who played the last 15 minutes on one leg, there were moments of heroism all over the pitch.  Each one seemed to inspire another – acts of courage were contagious and the more one player gave for the team, the more the team as a whole responded. It struck me that I should register these moments more often in other areas of my life and let people know that I have noticed.

Lesson 6 – It won’t take the recession to end to give people back their pride

Wales had 3 big sporting moments that weekend.  Our rugby team won an acclaimed prize by beating the national nemesis (England) away from home. Our champion boxer and Britain’s only world champion retained his title. And Cardiff City lost – with pride, courage and dignity.  Yet in many ways, theirs was to my mind the most inspirational achievement of all.  People where I live were walking slightly taller that morning after the game – somehow they found a common inspiration, even from those who don’t follow the team every week.  Glorious failure has ignited a common sense of civic pride, and when the hangovers cleared, productivity wilrose again.  How many opportunities do we have to engender that pride (in a smaller and less public way) every day?

Final lesson – Disaster, like triumph, is an opportunity if we chose to see it that way

The regular season has 11 games left, all against teams less endowed than Liverpool.  If Cardiff can harness the spirit generated at Wembley, promotion to the Premier League and untold riches can really be ours.  If the players believe in what they did, recreate the resilience formula and inspire generate even 80% of Wembley’s support from fans, they can truly achieve the ultimate goal.  The manager knows that and has already begun to refocus the team and the Cardiff public on the next game, using glorious failure as inspiration for eventual triumph.  Isn’t that just like life?

A legendary Liverpool manager voiced the quote below.  I realized yesterday that I’ve always undervalued it.  Today, as a leader and being in the business of inspiring leadership in others, it means more than ever.

“Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I assure you, it’s much more serious than that.” ~ Bill Shankly 

 Connect with David Hain: WebsiteTwitter | LinkedIn

Leadership: Do You Practice What You Preach?

Leadership ValuesBeing a leader is certainly not an easy job. As a leader, you have to deal with high levels of responsibility and pressure. Expectations are very high, no matter where they come from.

Take the expectations of those who you lead, for example: they expect you to motivate, inspire and guide them. They want you to be courageous, wise, fair and credible. They turn to you when no one knows what to do. They look up to you and hope you are the one who does the right thing. It may sound like a lot, but that’s what for them – justifies your high salary.

If you fulfill those expectations, chances are that the influence you exert is big. And influence is crucial in gaining your team’s willingness to coordinate their efforts towards organizational goals. As I write this article, Harvard Business Review coincidentally posts an article written by Linda A. Hill is the Wallace Brett Donham, which links trust to influence, and reinforces what I have just said. (This synchronicity scares me, by the way)

If you were a leader in the 1990’s, I’d probably present you a list of motivational and inspirational techniques to help you better influence your team. Times have changed, though. These days, your team has read the same books you’ve read (or even more!). Information has become more accessible, and workers more independent and emancipated. They know the “tricks” and don’t fall for them anymore.

Nowadays, your team looks much more at who you are and what you do. They observe how you make your decisions and pay attention to the choices you make. They judge your behavior, evaluate your performance and decide for themselves whether you deserve to be followed or not. And while they may agree with you in public, they might disagree with you once you turn your back and leave the meeting room.

If tricks don’t work in this emancipated and extremely demanding work environment anymore, what is it that makes your team follow you and dedicate their time and effort in helping you achieve your company’s organizational goals? How do you get all the vectors to point to the same direction? How on earth do you win your team’s commitment?

This is when your company’s Core Values play an important role. Core Values are, in our ever changing and demanding times, a constant which you can use to guide you in your behavior, your choices and your decisions. Core Values are the laws that rule every employee in the company, from the receptionist to the C-level executive like you.

But how exactly do Core Values help you? Here’s one example: instead of making decisions based on a pros-cons equation, try letting your options be guided by your company’s Core Values. Ask yourself which course of action complies with those Values. Or try to see which action those Values ask from you in this situation. When you finally see that your choice agrees with those Values and translates them, take it. Otherwise, leave it.

Using your company’s Core Values to guide you makes your job a lot easier. It helps you put an end to your dilemmas, prevents you from making bad choices and from letting your own personal interests play a role in your decisions. Consequently, your team sees you as a trustworthy, fair, reliable, credible and consistent person. They become more open and approachable, and more willing to cooperate.

However simple it may sound, do not be trapped by the illusion that this is easy. It’s not! Just to give you an example, imagine Respect is one of your company’s Core Values. If you choose to act accordingly, you must show Respect in everything you do and say, continuously and repeatedly – every day. Core Values are not something you set and achieve, they are something you practice.

You may even realize that you must reprimand or punish someone’s behavior if it contradicts your company’s Core Values – fire someone who has been disrespectful to his secretary, for example. You must act like a sentinel, who protects and defends your company’s Core Values, and makes sure they are practiced at all levels. So above as below.

Are you ready to be a personalization of your company’s Core Values? Are you ready to practice what you preach?

Connect with Sandro Da Silva: Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

5 Ways Leaders Botch Communication – Without Saying a Word

Leadership CommunicationLeaders who focus only on what they say to employees—through speeches and written words—overlook one of the most powerful ways they communicate: their actions. Without saying a word they can hinder productivity and kill morale.

Check whether you are guilty of any of these five mistakes:

  1. Failing to communicate. When is the last time you had a conversation with an employee? How often do you talk with employees who are two rungs or more down on the organizational chart? Often leaders talk with everyone except their own team members. They give orders, but they don’t engage in dialogue.
  2. Blindsiding employees with change. Leaders wonder why it is so difficult to convince employees to adopt changes that an executive team has spent months debating and designing. The problem is that they have left out a key part of the plan: the employees who will be responsible for making the change. The frontline workers don’t understand why the change is necessary, and they see obstacles that the executives overlooked.
  3. Sending them on goose chases. Employees drop everything to work on a new, urgent priority, and then their work seems to disappear into a black hole. The leader never explains what happened, whether the idea has been dropped, revamped or rescheduled. The next time one of those assignments comes along, the employees think “No need to put much effort into this. It’s just the ‘Idea of the Day,’ and it will pass.”
  4. Ignoring what employees say. When an employee tells you about a problem, what happens? Many organizations proudly tout their 360-degree evaluation programs and open-door policies, but the employees learn that voicing concerns about a manager or another problem just pegs them as troublemakers. If leaders don’t listen—and act to address problems—employees stop speaking up.
  5. Failing to keep commitments. Do you deliver what you say you will to your team members, on time every time? Do you treat an appointment with an employee the same way you treat an appointment with an important customer, showing up on time and devoting your full attention to that employee? If you keep the employee waiting, reschedule multiple times and multitask while you are talking, those actions send a clear message to employees that they are unimportant.

To be a trusted, respected and effective leader, pay as much attention to what you aren’t saying as you do to your speeches and memos. Ask yourself: What are my actions telling my employees?

Connect with Amy Beth Miller: Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook

Achieving Success with Personal Leadership

Personal LeadershipThe world is full of recipes for success, but many times we forget that success comes from within ourselves with work that we do. I would even claim that success is mainly about attitude. When you have the right attitude, you focus on the right things, obstacles are there to overcome, you feel better and work more efficiently. I am sure you know what happens if you have a bad attitude: nothing seems to work at that time. Here are some questions for you to ask to become more successful through your own attitude towards other people and life. Even though you may not have answers to every one of them, thinking about these matters will already take you towards your personal success.

Am I sure that those I love, feel loved by me? 

Love is the all-healing force of the world. Too many couples go days, weeks or even months without showing each other their love. Everyone wants to be loved, but even more everyone wants to love.  Any bad day will become better when you love someone so that it shows. And do not limit your love just to your spouse; tell your parents, best friends or to any other people that you love them and see the difference in your personal success!

Do I feel grateful every day for having whatever I have or get today?

Every day when I go to bed I thank for at least three things. It really lifts up your spirit to be grateful for what you have or you got that day. And do not limit it only that; thank for what you are going to get also! You can be brave and thank beforehand for what you are going to get. Try it out for one week and see how it changes your thinking. When you face hard times, it is much easier when you are thankful for other things that you already have. And if those hard times will not kill you, they will make you stronger and that is something to be grateful! Thanking beforehand for what you will get will set your mind towards getting that thing.

Have I done my best to avoid unkind acts and words?

Think only positive. There is nothing to gain by revenge, doing bad acts, saying bad things or even thinking bad things about anything. You are what you think, so if you think well, you are good. And people judge you by what you do, so if you do unkind acts, people think you are bad. So, do yourself a favor and avoid all bad acts, words and thoughts. That will promote your personal success by being the person, who everyone wants to hang around with.

What can I do today to make the world better place?

All of us can do something to make this world better place for everyone, every day. What have you done or what are you going to do today? As you well know: what goes around comes around.

Have I helped anyone less fortunate?

You can read this, so for sure you are doing better than many other people in this world (many of them cannot read, do not have Internet, etc.) so what can you do to help less fortunate people? Giving is the start of receiving process…

Have I done and reviewed my personal success plan?

Better tomorrow is earned today. So, have you done and reviewed a good, sound personal success plan for better future? You have very limited time in your life, so you better use it wisely. Have you written personal mission statement? Have you set goals for this and next year? Have you identified your roles in your life? And did you write all that down and review it regularly so that you stay on the track?

What worthwhile I have yet to accomplish?

What is your dream? Are you working towards it? Did you know that only difference between a dream and a goal is that are you working towards it? What is out there something that you really want to accomplish? Have you done a road-map and are you walking along it? Many dreams can come true if you just work persistently towards it.

What wonderful memories do I have?

If you want to dwell in past, you should then dwell only in good memories. Get rid of bad memories by writing them down, learning whatever you can from them and then forgetting them. Enjoy the feeling of good memories and make bad memories tools for learning and getting over them. Only good memories are of value to you (bad memories have value in teachings, not in memories itself).

Does my integrity hold as well in public as in privacy?

Are you living a double life? If yes, then quit it. The reason is that if you live your life by any other rules than by your internal ones, you will have conflicts and loose energy in thinking what should you do in each situation. Establish yourself ground rules that you can live by in every situation. And review those rule, if needed. Deny those activities that do not suit your integrity and go full with the ones that are in inner peace with you.

Each of these questions are big ones and you can easily find many books to help you on your journey. Only thing you need to bear in mind is what you really want to achieve and keep on working towards it and one day you will succeed for sure!

Connect with Janne Ohtonen: Blog | Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook

Leadership: It is not about you! Get over it.

LeadershipLeadership is not just a title; and a leadership title, does not necessarily make someone a leader. There are many unsung people in every organisation who exercise the attributes of a leader everyday without the recognition of title. These are the ones who take ownership for their own area of the organisation. They do the best they can to fulfill the cause or vision.  They are often un-thanked, forgotten, and overlooked.

What a leader needs to remember is that they are not the most important person in the organisation. A great leader is more concerned with the vision and cause of the organisation than their own position.

A great leader does not want or need people to think like them, but rather to be able to freely think for themselves. The Japanese poet/philosopher, Matsuo Bashō 1644–1694 says, “Do not seek to follow the footsteps of men of old.  Seek what they sought!”

This is a great lesson that is often overlooked. Do not wish to be like the leader, rather seek the vision that they have and own it for yourself. The difficulty begins where there exists an egocentric leader in charge. The egocentric leader will see the up-and-coming leader as a threat to their own position and will do all they can to alienate and disempower the new leader.

Failure to train, empower, and trust up-and-coming leaders within the organisation will ultimately lead to the failure of it to set or achieve long term societal changing goals. By not establishing clear succession plans the organisation may be doomed to disappear.

The focus of any organisation is to fulfill the vision that has been set. The role of the leader is to see that it happens. When the leader forgets about the cause to focus on the position then it is like a ship out of control heading for danger.

There are risks in leadership, tough decisions need to be made at times and someone will be accountable for them. For the leader to be so engrossed in their own stature and direction that they forget to listen to and trust subordinates is a disaster waiting to happen.

Leadership requires trust in a team of people, people who are like-purposed not like-minded. For there to be great decisions made, great debate must take place. There should be differences of opinions, clashes of wills, and challenges faced.

An egocentric leader will surround themselves with like-minded people, dare I say “yes men”, who will just blindly follow the leader wherever they go without questioning them. This is a highly dangerous situation and I would suggest if you find yourself in that situation look for the exits now.

If you are the leader, take some time out over the next few days to question yourself. Ask yourself “why did I accept this role?” “How important is the vision to me now?” “Is there someone else who could take over from me if I wasn’t around?” Now take action on your answers.

Connect with Paul S. Allen: WebsiteTwitter | LinkedIn

The People Will All Say, “We did this ourselves!”

Leadership - We did it“A leader is best when neither seen nor heard; Not so good when adored or glorified; Worst when hated and despised. Fail to honor people, they will fail to honor you; But of a good leader, when his (or her) work is done; The aim fulfilled; The people will all say: “We did this ourselves.” (Lao Tse).

Lao-Tse emphasizes peace of mind and tranquility of the spirit. He stresses how important it is to be one with nature because it provides positive character. He regards genuineness, sincerity, and spontaneity to be “natural” characteristics which people are born with and possess. Yet, he claims these qualities are destroyed through education and cultural influences.

In addition, he explains how a person is able to dismiss all authority except for the authority of self and a personal God. In this case, God is understood to be everything in nature. Thus, people who know and respect the authority of their inner nature know where they belong.

Leadership is the process of defining a vision and the guiding and inspiring others to reach that vision. Leaders, establish direction, align people and motivate and inspire people to complete the vision despite any obstacles they may face along the way.

In times of change, executives and managers alike make the mistake of thinking that if people are ordered to change, they will. This is a tragic misunderstanding of human behavior and often leads managers and executives to respond like drill sergeants. We, as humans, do not change simply from gaining information, people change because they support and trust their leaders.

Leadership is crucial, core values like integrity, excellence and respect or people are extremely important. To shape, define and sustain a winning culture you need to improve some attributes:

  • Vision.
  • Strategic Direction.
  • Prioritization.
  • Multi-functional Engagement.
  • Teamwork.
  • Accountability.
  • Analysis.
  • Problem solving.
  • Getting to action.
  • Excitement.

To lead effectively is important to do several things well:

  • Listen and understand your people´s needs.
  • Develop them into stronger and better employees.
  • Inspire them from their hearts.
  • Find ways to support them with what they need.
  • Encourage team members to take heart and do the hard things.
  • Recognize their achievements.

To get the best results from your team or from a group of people, a leader has to care about excellence. You have to show the way and help people understand what´s possible. To deliver the highest quality results, a leader has to set high standards and live up to them.

When a team member gives an outstanding effort, a strong leader shows appreciation and says “Thank you”. Give thanks for the moment, and you´ll capture it forever. Imagine how someone would feel if you didn’t. The person might feel that you don´t value for their hard work. So don´t wait, notice the positive thing your people are doing. Tell them how much you appreciate it.

A leader, has a vital relationship with the other members of the team. These people will give their best effort if they know, like and trust the leader. They´ll be loyal to the leader and the team because the leader is loyal to them.

You also need to develop these same factors in yourself, this self-development will focus on two areas: leadership skills, and the personal strengths of leaders, which are two very different things. You aren’t born with personal strengths, you begin developing these behavior patterns while growing up. And you continue to get stronger as you use them throughout adult life to cope with the challenge of work and life.

Connect with  Oscar Capote Agudo : Blog | Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook

The Leadership Brand: How to Discover Your Personal Brand Persona

Personal Leadership brandingAs a leader in your field, it’s particularly important to create an authentic personal brand. When colleagues or potential clients think about you, they should be able to associate you with a certain set of qualities that you exude. Those qualities are your brand persona, and your brand persona should be present in everything that you do in order to give your brand the most genuine impression possible.

To help you discover your brand persona, I have listed twelve of the most common archetypes into which leaders fit and included examples from the 2011 TIME 100 list of leaders. These types vary based on personality, style of leadership and a number of other things.

As you read through these common archetypes, keep in mind that we are all unique and dynamic, so it would be very rare to say that someone fits exactly into one archetype. Instead, you may find that you generally fit into an archetype more so than the others, while still exhibiting traits of one or two other ones. Think of this as if you were wearing a great suit (your main archetype), but you accessorize with a secondary archetype (watch, briefcase, shoes, etc).

12 Personal Branding Archetypes for Leaders

1. The Chief

The Chief is a goal-oriented, decisive, hard worker who likely was born to be a leader. These types are confident, responsible and love being in charge of making important decisions. Example: Major General Margaret Woodward

2. The Visionary

The Visionary looks to the future for possibilities and does not focus on the past. They value big picture thinking, innovation, and enjoy strategizing. Example: Ai Weiwei

3. The Confidant

Simply put, the Confidant is the “nice guy” or “nice girl” of the group. You are exceedingly kind almost to a fault, as you go to lengths to avoid confrontation. You are caring and dependable. Example: Colin Firth

4. The Performers

The Performer takes control of a room simply by walking into it. They have big personalities and enjoy drama. They may tend to exaggerate or be melodramatic but they have star quality about them that naturally attracts others and places them in a leadership role. Example: Mark Walberg

5. The Caregiver

If you are the kind of person who others go to with their problems, you may be the Caregiver. This personal brand type is sensitive, compassionate and empathetic, and also quite generous. Example: Gabrielle Giffords

 6. The Truth-Seeker

This is the truth-seeker of the brand types, a person who is reflective and analytical. School likely comes easy for them, as they are natural students, and have an insatiable desire for knowledge. Example: Mark Zuckerberg

7. The Explorer

Explorers crave excitement and get bored with repetition. They seek out new experiences and love to travel or seek out adventures. These people are independent and place a high level of importance on freedom. Example: Reed Hastings

 8. The Combatant

The Combatant is a natural protector, honorable to the bitter end. He or she is noble and has a set of principles from which there is no wavering. Chances are this person will be prone to self-sacrifice. Example: General David Petraeus

9. The Spark

The Spark is playful, spirited, and full of energy. They tend to be bold and are often described as the person that “lights up the room”. Example: Amy Poehler

10. The Revolutionary

The Revolutionary is dedicated to helping people find the good in themselves, acting as a catalyst for inspiration or change. He or she may be spiritual or charismatic, or have a passion for healing. Example: Wael Ghonim

11. The Purist

Happy, trusting and honest, the Purist is a natural people person. They have a type of innocence that attracts people from all over. They are wholesome, forgiving and kind. Example: Kate Middleton

12. The Rebel

Rebels have big dreams and strong ideals, yet can tend to get themselves in trouble with their fearless and revolutionary nature. They are not afraid to break cultural norms if they are doing what they feel is right. Example: Julian Assange

These brand persona’s and the need to define and differentiate your personal brand, knows no international boundaries.

Keep the conversation flowing… which archetype best describes your personal brand?

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Leaders Hold The Power to Engage

Engaged LeaderLeaders Hold The Power to Engage: I recently came across an article in my local newspaper, The New Zealand Herald, entitled 70% of Workers Thinking of Quitting.  In it, a local recruitment company quotes a study they carried out with 10,000 employees in Australia and New Zealand in which 70% of employees say that they are considering moving jobs.  About 60% of respondents also say they feel they deserve a salary increase. The article seems to hint that employee salary expectations and thoughts about changing jobs are linked.  Accompanying the article, the NZ Herald put an online poll, for which the question was “How do you feel about your salary?”  I couldn’t help thinking there was something missing.

For many years, I have read articles and studies that consistently show that salary is not the #1 factor in job satisfaction, nor employee retention.  People want to spend eight hours of their day deriving some kind of meaning and genuine satisfaction from their work.  They want to enjoy their relationships with others and be part of a workplace culture that values connection.  They also want opportunities to learn and grow; not just technical expertise that enables them to be better at their jobs, but also learning experiences that enhance their lives.

The focus on salary in that recruitment survey seemed a little one-dimensional and the link between the two questions seems specious to me.  It is like the person who, when asked why they keep wearing those old hole-y socks replies that it keeps the elephants away and when told there are no elephants around, says, “See? They work.”

The Executive General Manager of the recruitment company who carried out the study suggests that businesses “fine-tune their recruitment strategies to find and retain high-performers who can make the biggest difference to the bottom line.”  All good advice, and to my mind, recruiting and retaining excellent staff is not just about the $$ figure attached to a position.  He goes on to say, “There’s also an opportunity for smart employers to think beyond just the salary and offer attractive, tailored remuneration packages to individual employees.”  Again, to my mind, still something missing.  I don’t want to say that the survey was wrong in its findings, I simply want to suggest that there is lots of information missing before we can come to a categorical conclusion about the reasons for people wanting to jump ship.  To my mind, thinking about keeping staff on board is not purely about money, nor about “creative remuneration packages”.  They certainly help, but they are only part of the big picture and I believe that, even if people have an acceptable salary and are given free car parks and gym memberships as sweeteners, poor management will be a far more influential factor in staff turnover and low engagement.

As I read that NZ Herald article, another study, by Dr. Rhema Vaitianathan of Auckland University’s Business School, sprang to mind.  Dr. Vaitianathan produced a comprehensive study in 2011 in which she found that NZ managers were amongst the worst in the world for retaining and promoting good staff.  Her results focused on the leadership failings of NZ managers.  While her study showed NZ managers as being particularly lacking in effectiveness and leadership skills, I note from this article in Human Capital Online that talent management company DDI carried out an international study showing that bosses right round the world are seen as poor leaders.

The director of DDI UK and one of the authors of the report says, “Workers report that managers fail to ask for their ideas and input, are poor at work related conversations and do not provide sufficient feedback on their performance, so it’s no wonder employee engagement levels are low. Leaders remain stubbornly poor at these fundamental basics of good leadership that have little to do with the current challenging business climate.”  Just as I thought, it’s the world over, not just in New Zealand.

The time has come for us to look at our world through a systems thinking lens.  I think if you ask people, “Is your salary enough?” most would probably say no.  It is too narrow a focus, however, to say that employee engagement is therefore linked to salary expectations.  To take a systems thinking perspective means we stop looking at phenomena through a narrow zoom lens, but we use the wide-angle lens and take account of the many factors that influence engagement at work.  Systems thinkers don’t just focus on one dot and try to make meaning of it; they look at the many dots and connect them.  Systems thinkers know that events and phenomena are rarely one-off or disconnected and look for patterns within the whole system, not just one part of it.  So with the issue of retention, a systems thinker will look for other reasons why 70% of staff are thinking of changing jobs, not solely remuneration.

When study after study around the world indicates that, on average, about 20% of a workforce is actively engaged and 20% is actively disengaged (actively bad-mouthing their workplaces), there is enormous potential to tap into the remaining 60% who are not engaged but could be.  As I said, salary is one component, but it is only part of a wider system.  For many managers and organisations, this can come as a bit of a relief in these times of economic austerity.  Even though salary and bonuses are probably the most expensive ways to increase retention, they are sadly the first and only things that many managers default to.  There are ways to generate greater engagement and it is not simply by raising salaries: it is by investing in developing leaders.

In a 2009 study on employee engagement for the UK government, Will Hutton, Executive Vice Chair of the Work Foundation is quoted, “We think of organisations as a network of transactions. They are of course also a social network. Ignoring the people dimension, treating people as simply cogs in the machine, results in the full contribution they can make being lost.”  To me, it follows that employment is not simply a transaction.  To think of a recruitment or retention strategy solely in terms of financial reward is too mechanistic, too transactional.  Employment is a relationship, not a transaction.

In that 2009 study, the authors, David MacLeod and Nita Clarke, state very clearly, the “joint and consequential failure of leadership and management is the main cause of poor employee engagement”.  So in order to ensure that recruitment and retention strategies have any chance of success, they must sit alongside action on leader development.  It’s not a cliché for nothing that people join good organisations and leave bad managers.  MacLeod and Clarke point to four key factors that can contribute to increased engagement: leadership, engaging managers, voice and integrity.  Leadership emerges when leaders at all levels of organisations provide a compelling story and vision that is worth signing up to.  Engaging mangers are those who have developed themselves sufficiently to be able to empathise with staff, provide useful ongoing feedback and are available to provide guidance to people.  Voice is important because in the modern workplace, people want to be heard.  Managers who listen well and regularly act on what they hear have a major impact on morale, and people who feel listened to will also feel valued and trusted.  Finally, integrity comes about when people see managers and leaders act consistently and line with a clear set of values.  They will come to trust managers who do this and trust engenders commitment.

Being mindful of my call to think systemically about things, I am sure that there are other factors that I’m missing and which are also influential in ensuring the further recruitment and retention of good people.  Accordingly, I look forward to hearing from others who wish to add in and expand this conversation.

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