Bill George is the best-selling author of the 2003 book Authentic Leadership: Rediscovering the Secrets of Creating Lasting Value. He has followed this with a guide to authentic leadership True North: Discover your Authentic Leadership (2007). Having read George’s first book, I was certain that his next offering would be anything but the regular leadership ‘fare’.
Considered an ‘academic’ now (professor of management practice at Harvard Business School), George established himself as a management and leadership icon as the chief executive officer and chairman of Medtronic (the world’s leading medical technology company). He engineered an incredible 11 year run; growing Medtronic’s market capitalization from $ 1.1 billion to $ 60 billion, averaging 35 % per year. He continues to serve as a corporate director for a number of notable companies, including Goldman Sachs and ExxonMobil.
George sets out to demonstrate how anyone who follows their internal compass can become an authentic leader. George, supported by colleague Peter Sims, undertook interviewing 125 leaders (ranging in age from 23 to 93) that represent a truly diverse group of women and men from different backgrounds. These leaders (including Andrea Jung of Avon and Howard Schultz of Starbucks) were chosen as a result of their reputations for being authentic and achieving success. Distilling George’s message to its base element, when you are aligned with who you are, you find alignment between the story of your life and your leadership… Authentic Leadership.
The Five Dimensions of an Authentic Leader
• Pursuing purpose with passion. Without a true sense of purpose, leaders are at the mercy of their egos.
• Practicing solid values. Leaders define their values; they are not determined by others. Values are a personal.
• Leading with heart. Truly authentic leaders lead with heart and head.
• Establishing enduring relationships. Authentic leaders develop lasting relationships.
• Demonstrating self-discipline. To produce results authentic leaders understand the need for a consistently high level of self-discipline.
George posits that leadership is not a destination, rather a continual journey that travels through stages until you reach the pinnacle of your leadership. George describes the stages as:
Phase I – Preparing for Leadership. This is the first 30 years, preparing for leadership, character is being developed and people become individual contributors or lead teams for the first time.
Phase II – Leading. The next phase is characterized by the accumulation of leadership experiences and opportunity, reaching a peak in the 50’s.
Phase III – Giving Back. Leaders share experiences with numerous groups, mentoring and coaching new or young leaders.
George shares that on occasion people with excellent potential get derailed. This is often linked to two critical questions - ‘What motivates me to lead?’ and ‘What is the purpose of my leadership?’ If the answer is power, prestige and wealth then the leader will be cornered by external gratification and never reach their full potential. In addition, leaders that avoid risk will not be prepared to manage the many increasing challenges that come with executive level positions.
A critical element of authentic leadership is the transformation from “I” to “We”. This is a shift from the leader attending to personal needs and focusing on the development of others. Only then can the leader provide the motivation to assist people in reaching their maximum potential. This transformation appears to be a critical ‘go’ or ‘no go’ in achieving authentic leadership.
George devotes a great deal of his book to discovering your authentic leadership and, in particular, knowing your authentic self. It only makes sense that you ensure you are clear on the direction (your compass) if you desire to be successful on your journey.
In an effort to know your authentic self it will be critical to become self-aware. It is often difficult to see ourselves as others actually view us. We need to open ourselves to colleagues in order to uncover our blind spots and provide an opportunity to explore new ways of doing things. Knowing and accepting yourself are essential in achieving your personal True North.
The author also highlights the importance of clearly understanding what motivates you to be a leader. There are two types of motivation – extrinsic and intrinsic. Extrinsic are measured by the external world, while intrinsic motivation is derived from a personal sense of the true meaning of your life. Moving away from external validation of your achievements is very difficult. We are used to successive ‘wins’ (as defined by our supervisors or the street) and it takes a real dose of courage to shift to a focus on intrinsic motivation. But there is good news! George found that the leaders that focused on the intrinsic (an example would be turning down a lucrative pay cheque in order to pursue the roles they enjoy) still came out ahead in the end in both compensation and satisfaction.
An aspect of leadership that receives less attention is the support system that a leader needs to establish and maintain in order to effectively maximize your development plan. So what exactly is a support system/team? Essentially, it is a consistent nucleus of resources that can act as a ‘sounding board’ for you. They can be trusted advisors, mentors or a professional support network of peers within and from outside your organization. The key is that we all need that person(s) that we can trust so that our greatest fears and challenges can be discussed without risk of inappropriate disclosure. This kind of real-time feedback is essential to the leader’s development.
Optimizing Leadership Effectiveness
George recommends that every leader be very clear to ensure that their use style and power be consistent with the situation that they are facing. In considering your leadership style and power, consider the following:
• Is your leadership style consistent with your leadership principles and values? Is it ever inconsistent? Believe, your colleagues will be the first to notice!
• How do you adapt your style to the situations that you are addressing and to the specific competencies of your team?
• How do you get the most of your personal power in leading people?
• When you have used your power over others inappropriately how did they respond?
• How do you respond to powerful people who use their power with you?
The author feels that the more power that an individual accumulates the less often it should be used. Powerful leaders use persuasion rather than force to build consensus. In demonstrating the link between leadership style and power, George identifies five different styles that convey your sense of power:
Directive Leaders – Create dependent relationships with their subordinates, who faithfully complete their orders and respond to their demands.
Coaching Leaders - Create interdependent relationships.
Consensus Leaders - Use power in subtle ways to reach agreement without offending others or isolating people with a different perspective on an issue.
Affiliative Leaders – Readily accepted by others for their empathic approach to relationships.
Expert Leaders - Believe knowledge is power and it is better to be right than develop relationships.
The lasting message woven into True North: Discover your Authentic Leadership is that authentic leaders are more effective at realizing superior long-term results than others. This is achieved through a clear understanding of their own moral compass and a commitment to building/developing their organization. The authentic leader can take comfort in the realization that they will get superior performance from their team.
Next…..
Stay tuned for a piece on the unique challenges that women face in their leadership quest!
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Monday, September 3, 2007
You Just Never Know Where you are Going to Learn about Leadership….
While waiting for a flight, I was browsing the magazine offerings in departures when I noticed a magazine called Scientific American Mind. This magazine had a number of interesting articles, including an article by Stephen D. Reciher, S. Alexander Haslam and Michael J. Platow entitled The New Psychology of Leadership. Given the incredible depth in which leadership is covered today, it is helpful to have the definition of Leadership that is being referenced. The authors’ reference to leadership is defined as ‘the ability to motivate people to act in concert – something that requires an internalized social identity.’
The authors challenge the notion that charisma, intelligence and other personality traits are the key ingredients to being recognized as an effective leader. The authors suggest that an entirely new framework of leadership exists. This framework is anchored by the notion that effective leaders must strive to comprehend the values and opinions of those that they lead. This approach represents a much greater emphasis on a collaborative/cooperative model rather than the ‘command and control’ leader focus.
This new approach resists the temptation to try and hold out fixed personality traits as an assurance of good leadership. It is the authors’ position that that the traits required will be dictated by the make up of the group(s) that is being led. Rather than relying on matching the perfect leader with the right challenge (or opportunity), the successful leader will be one that has the genuine ability to be recognized as a true team member that shares the same interests as the group they serve.
The article references the concept of the ‘social identity’ (a term that was minted by Henri Tajfel of the University of Bristol in the 1970’s during his work on groups) as an important component of the new psychology of leadership. Tajfel defined social identity as the part of a person’s self that is defined by a group. This allows people to identify and act together as a group. The authors state that leaders and followers must be connected by a shared identity and a plan to utilize that identity as a strategy for action.
Issues such as favoritism and high salaries (examples of things that can set the leaders apart from the group) can quickly derail the effectiveness of the leader. Failing to treat subordinates with respect will undermine the leader’s influence and credibility.
How to Lead
A new psychology of leadership suggests that effective leaders must understand the values and opinions of their followers – rather than assuming absolute authority – to enable a productive dialogue with team members about what the group stands for and thus how it should act.
According to this new approach, no fixed set of personality traits can assure good leadership because the most desirable traits depend on the nature of the group being led.
Leaders who adopt this strategy must try not only to fit in with their group but also to shape the group’s identity in a way that makes their own agenda and policies appear to be an expression of that identity.
The authors challenge the notion that charisma, intelligence and other personality traits are the key ingredients to being recognized as an effective leader. The authors suggest that an entirely new framework of leadership exists. This framework is anchored by the notion that effective leaders must strive to comprehend the values and opinions of those that they lead. This approach represents a much greater emphasis on a collaborative/cooperative model rather than the ‘command and control’ leader focus.
This new approach resists the temptation to try and hold out fixed personality traits as an assurance of good leadership. It is the authors’ position that that the traits required will be dictated by the make up of the group(s) that is being led. Rather than relying on matching the perfect leader with the right challenge (or opportunity), the successful leader will be one that has the genuine ability to be recognized as a true team member that shares the same interests as the group they serve.
The article references the concept of the ‘social identity’ (a term that was minted by Henri Tajfel of the University of Bristol in the 1970’s during his work on groups) as an important component of the new psychology of leadership. Tajfel defined social identity as the part of a person’s self that is defined by a group. This allows people to identify and act together as a group. The authors state that leaders and followers must be connected by a shared identity and a plan to utilize that identity as a strategy for action.
Issues such as favoritism and high salaries (examples of things that can set the leaders apart from the group) can quickly derail the effectiveness of the leader. Failing to treat subordinates with respect will undermine the leader’s influence and credibility.
How to Lead
A new psychology of leadership suggests that effective leaders must understand the values and opinions of their followers – rather than assuming absolute authority – to enable a productive dialogue with team members about what the group stands for and thus how it should act.
According to this new approach, no fixed set of personality traits can assure good leadership because the most desirable traits depend on the nature of the group being led.
Leaders who adopt this strategy must try not only to fit in with their group but also to shape the group’s identity in a way that makes their own agenda and policies appear to be an expression of that identity.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
The Leadership Brand
The July/August edition of the Harvard Business Review features an article by Dave Ulrich and Norm Smallwood entitled Building a Leadership Brand. Ulrich’s and Smallwood‘s underlying message is that companies must look to move from focusing on building the abilities of individual leaders to creating a general leadership capability, which they label a leadership brand.
Possessing a growth mindset, companies like General Electric, Boeing, Goldman Sachs, Johnson & Johnson (and many others) emphasize developing leaders with a very explicit set of competencies that are focused on meeting the needs of customers. These companies have established a brand promise with consumers and focus their leadership development on building a leadership brand that encourages employees and managers alike to deliver on this promise.
The authors share that far too many organizations have focused their energy on individual leadership development that is not clearly linked to their brand promise. Typically, organizations have a very generic set of competencies; so generic that you often see the exact same set of traits represented in a pharmaceutical company as a financial services company. So what can you do?
The first step is to ensure that the organization possesses the fundamental leadership elements (which Ulrich and Smallwood term the Leadership Code):
Strategy: developing a point of view about the future and positioning the firm for continued success
Execution: building organizational systems that deliver results and make change happen
Talent management: motivating, engaging, and communicating with employees
Talent development: grooming employees for future leadership
Personal proficiency: acting with integrity, exercising social and emotional intelligence, making bold decisions, and engendering trust
Too many companies identify requirements that clearly fall into the personal proficiency component (demonstrates integrity, willingness to learn, and consistency) rather than a development model that encompasses the full range of the Leadership Code. Once an organization has successfully incorporated the Code into their organization, they can move on to designing their leadership brand.
Ulrich and Smallwood identify four principles that help companies to build the capability to develop leaders that embody the promises that your organization makes to your customers. They are:
Connect Executives’ Abilities to Your Desired Reputation
Decide what you want your firm to be known for, then link those brand attributes with specific leadership skills and behavior.
Assess Leaders Against Your Leadership Brand
To ensure leaders are living up to your leadership brand, regularly assess their actions and accomplishments from an external point of view. Invite key customers, investors, and community leaders to periodically evaluate your leaders through surveys, interviews, and focus groups.
Let Customers and Investors Teach
Incorporate external expectations into your leadership-development efforts by:
• Giving customers a voice in training-program design
• Making sure customer expectations inform every aspect of leadership courses
• Using customers and investors to observe training sessions and to offer feedback about the content’s relevancy or act as expert faculty for certain training programs
• Giving managers assignments that demand a customer “lens”
Track the Long-Term Success of Your Leadership Brand
A strong leadership brand translates into superior financial performance. Evaluate the success of your leadership brand by considering how much confidence investors have in your future earnings (as expressed by your company’s price/earnings ratio) and how much customers value your brand (as expressed by market share).
Why do it?
The strategy in creating a leadership brand is to clearly differentiate your organization from your competition. This will require commitment from all levels (the authors suggest that the CEO must function as the “brand manager” and be the catalyst in building programs that foster brand leadership). As leaders learn the Leadership Code and the crux of the leadership brand, they will also begin to participate in the enhancing the value of their organization.
A nice feature of the article is the inclusion of a Leadership Brand Assessment that will help you to determine where your organization scores in relation to leadership branding capability.
Possessing a growth mindset, companies like General Electric, Boeing, Goldman Sachs, Johnson & Johnson (and many others) emphasize developing leaders with a very explicit set of competencies that are focused on meeting the needs of customers. These companies have established a brand promise with consumers and focus their leadership development on building a leadership brand that encourages employees and managers alike to deliver on this promise.
The authors share that far too many organizations have focused their energy on individual leadership development that is not clearly linked to their brand promise. Typically, organizations have a very generic set of competencies; so generic that you often see the exact same set of traits represented in a pharmaceutical company as a financial services company. So what can you do?
The first step is to ensure that the organization possesses the fundamental leadership elements (which Ulrich and Smallwood term the Leadership Code):
Strategy: developing a point of view about the future and positioning the firm for continued success
Execution: building organizational systems that deliver results and make change happen
Talent management: motivating, engaging, and communicating with employees
Talent development: grooming employees for future leadership
Personal proficiency: acting with integrity, exercising social and emotional intelligence, making bold decisions, and engendering trust
Too many companies identify requirements that clearly fall into the personal proficiency component (demonstrates integrity, willingness to learn, and consistency) rather than a development model that encompasses the full range of the Leadership Code. Once an organization has successfully incorporated the Code into their organization, they can move on to designing their leadership brand.
Ulrich and Smallwood identify four principles that help companies to build the capability to develop leaders that embody the promises that your organization makes to your customers. They are:
Connect Executives’ Abilities to Your Desired Reputation
Decide what you want your firm to be known for, then link those brand attributes with specific leadership skills and behavior.
Assess Leaders Against Your Leadership Brand
To ensure leaders are living up to your leadership brand, regularly assess their actions and accomplishments from an external point of view. Invite key customers, investors, and community leaders to periodically evaluate your leaders through surveys, interviews, and focus groups.
Let Customers and Investors Teach
Incorporate external expectations into your leadership-development efforts by:
• Giving customers a voice in training-program design
• Making sure customer expectations inform every aspect of leadership courses
• Using customers and investors to observe training sessions and to offer feedback about the content’s relevancy or act as expert faculty for certain training programs
• Giving managers assignments that demand a customer “lens”
Track the Long-Term Success of Your Leadership Brand
A strong leadership brand translates into superior financial performance. Evaluate the success of your leadership brand by considering how much confidence investors have in your future earnings (as expressed by your company’s price/earnings ratio) and how much customers value your brand (as expressed by market share).
Why do it?
The strategy in creating a leadership brand is to clearly differentiate your organization from your competition. This will require commitment from all levels (the authors suggest that the CEO must function as the “brand manager” and be the catalyst in building programs that foster brand leadership). As leaders learn the Leadership Code and the crux of the leadership brand, they will also begin to participate in the enhancing the value of their organization.
A nice feature of the article is the inclusion of a Leadership Brand Assessment that will help you to determine where your organization scores in relation to leadership branding capability.
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Mindset - The Psychology of Success
A colleague recently recommended Carol Dweck’s book Mindset as a fresh take on the psychology of success. I strongly recommend this book as a ‘must read’ for any of you that are actively involved in coaching or guiding performance (that probably covers the majority of reviewers). You can even do an assessment that allows you to test your own mindset
Dweck has spent decades researching achievement and success and is the Lewis and Virginia Eaton Professor of Psychology at Stanford University. Dweck posits that there are two different kinds of mindset:
Fixed mindset
Growth mindset
People that have a fixed mindset believe their basic qualities (intelligence or talent) are fixed traits. You have them or you don’t. Their belief is that you have talent and this talent will create success. The most interesting belief held by those with a fixed mindset is that this success will come without any effort.
People that have a growth mindset believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedicated effort and hard work. They see possessing brains and talent as table stakes, rather than the ingredient that dictates success. The embrace life long learning and relish the opportunity to grow through challenging opportunities that stretch their ability.
Dweck dedicated a chapter to mindset and leadership as it relates to business. Dweck emphasizes that the key factor that led to implosions and misdeeds by corporations like Enron and WorldCom was their ‘talent mind-set’. Essentially, these companies suffered from an integrity gap as a result of an over emphasis on talent within their corporate culture. When a company places a very visible emphasis on talent, they are at risk of experiencing situations where employees may compromise ethics to maintain an appearance of dominant talent within the organization.
I found Dweck’s comparison and contrast of some very well known leaders very interesting. Dweck looked at a number of high profile CEO’s, comparing their mindsets. She profiled Albert Dunlap (known as ‘Chainsaw’ Al for his prolific slashing of staff during his assignments), Lee Iacocca, Kenneth Lay, Steve Case and Gerald Levin. The common denominator with this group was their emphasis on their own brilliance and talent. Their fixed mindsets resulted in underperforming organizations that suffered while these leaders attempted to build a legacy that would honour their achievements. These leaders were very ego based and far less concerned with the ongoing development of their people.
Dweck also profiled Jack Welch, Lou Gerstner and Anne Mulcahy. This group of CEO’s transformed their companies by chasing out the fixed mindset and introducing a culture of growth and development. Dweck feels that instead of using the company as a vehicle for their greatness, these leaders use it as an engine of growth – for themselves, the employees, and the company as a whole.
If you need more convincing then perhaps compare the results of the following companies:
Growth Mindset
General Electric (Welch)
IBM (Gerstner)
Xerox (Mulchay)
Fixed Mindset
Enron (Lay)
Chrysler (Iacocca)
AOL/Time Warner (Case and Levin)
Throughout the book Dweck offers directions and tips on growing your mindset. There are a number of great ideas that can be implemented by anyone to move from a focus on ego and control to growth and development.
Dweck has spent decades researching achievement and success and is the Lewis and Virginia Eaton Professor of Psychology at Stanford University. Dweck posits that there are two different kinds of mindset:
Fixed mindset
Growth mindset
People that have a fixed mindset believe their basic qualities (intelligence or talent) are fixed traits. You have them or you don’t. Their belief is that you have talent and this talent will create success. The most interesting belief held by those with a fixed mindset is that this success will come without any effort.
People that have a growth mindset believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedicated effort and hard work. They see possessing brains and talent as table stakes, rather than the ingredient that dictates success. The embrace life long learning and relish the opportunity to grow through challenging opportunities that stretch their ability.
Dweck dedicated a chapter to mindset and leadership as it relates to business. Dweck emphasizes that the key factor that led to implosions and misdeeds by corporations like Enron and WorldCom was their ‘talent mind-set’. Essentially, these companies suffered from an integrity gap as a result of an over emphasis on talent within their corporate culture. When a company places a very visible emphasis on talent, they are at risk of experiencing situations where employees may compromise ethics to maintain an appearance of dominant talent within the organization.
I found Dweck’s comparison and contrast of some very well known leaders very interesting. Dweck looked at a number of high profile CEO’s, comparing their mindsets. She profiled Albert Dunlap (known as ‘Chainsaw’ Al for his prolific slashing of staff during his assignments), Lee Iacocca, Kenneth Lay, Steve Case and Gerald Levin. The common denominator with this group was their emphasis on their own brilliance and talent. Their fixed mindsets resulted in underperforming organizations that suffered while these leaders attempted to build a legacy that would honour their achievements. These leaders were very ego based and far less concerned with the ongoing development of their people.
Dweck also profiled Jack Welch, Lou Gerstner and Anne Mulcahy. This group of CEO’s transformed their companies by chasing out the fixed mindset and introducing a culture of growth and development. Dweck feels that instead of using the company as a vehicle for their greatness, these leaders use it as an engine of growth – for themselves, the employees, and the company as a whole.
If you need more convincing then perhaps compare the results of the following companies:
Growth Mindset
General Electric (Welch)
IBM (Gerstner)
Xerox (Mulchay)
Fixed Mindset
Enron (Lay)
Chrysler (Iacocca)
AOL/Time Warner (Case and Levin)
Throughout the book Dweck offers directions and tips on growing your mindset. There are a number of great ideas that can be implemented by anyone to move from a focus on ego and control to growth and development.
Sunday, August 5, 2007
Last One Out Turn Off The Lights....
As you enjoy your summer time activities with family and friends, achieving that precious balance between family and work, you have probably taken a moment or two to consider the vibrant economy that we are experiencing in Calgary. You do not have to look far to see the prosperity that abounds; new cars, brand new million dollar homes and record energy prices (and until very recently, a very robust stock market).
As you know, not all Calgarians have shared in this abundance and the increasing cost of living (think affordable housing and general inflation) is making it even more difficult for those have-nots in our city. Many of you may not know that thousands of Calgarians rely on the social network for their daily needs. The vast majority of programs that service this slice of society are run by non-profit agencies. There are literally hundreds of agencies and associations that toil day in and day out to bridge the gap for the unfortunate. They provide social, health, counselling, addiction and so many other essential services to a truly vulnerable segment of our city.
We take it for granted that these agencies will continue to reach out to these people and provide those services while we enjoy our lives to the fullest. These agencies are lead by very capable and courageous leaders that demonstrate an above average ability to manage with few resources while facing ever increasing challenges presented by complex social needs.
Now, put on your management or business hat and consider this for a moment: How concerned would you be if you learned that your organization was destined to lose a full 80% of your most senior leadership in the next three years. Would you remain as competitive and innovative as you are currently? Would you even survive? This is the challenge that faces the non-profit sector in our city. Centre Point indicates that fully 80 % of the Executive Directors leading non-profits will retire or leave their positions in the next three years. That is a truly frightening statistic!
I am fortunate to be involved with an amazing group of professionals that provide services to over 200 families/youths in Calgary. The Enviros Wilderness School Association has been providing support for over 35 years and continue to develop programs to meet the needs of their challenging clientele. It can be very rewarding to bring your experience and knowledge to a non-profit organization. I urge you all to give some thought to how you might be able to volunteer with one of the very many agencies in our city. They can use your leadership talents; now more than ever!
Enjoy your long weekend!
As you know, not all Calgarians have shared in this abundance and the increasing cost of living (think affordable housing and general inflation) is making it even more difficult for those have-nots in our city. Many of you may not know that thousands of Calgarians rely on the social network for their daily needs. The vast majority of programs that service this slice of society are run by non-profit agencies. There are literally hundreds of agencies and associations that toil day in and day out to bridge the gap for the unfortunate. They provide social, health, counselling, addiction and so many other essential services to a truly vulnerable segment of our city.
We take it for granted that these agencies will continue to reach out to these people and provide those services while we enjoy our lives to the fullest. These agencies are lead by very capable and courageous leaders that demonstrate an above average ability to manage with few resources while facing ever increasing challenges presented by complex social needs.
Now, put on your management or business hat and consider this for a moment: How concerned would you be if you learned that your organization was destined to lose a full 80% of your most senior leadership in the next three years. Would you remain as competitive and innovative as you are currently? Would you even survive? This is the challenge that faces the non-profit sector in our city. Centre Point indicates that fully 80 % of the Executive Directors leading non-profits will retire or leave their positions in the next three years. That is a truly frightening statistic!
I am fortunate to be involved with an amazing group of professionals that provide services to over 200 families/youths in Calgary. The Enviros Wilderness School Association has been providing support for over 35 years and continue to develop programs to meet the needs of their challenging clientele. It can be very rewarding to bring your experience and knowledge to a non-profit organization. I urge you all to give some thought to how you might be able to volunteer with one of the very many agencies in our city. They can use your leadership talents; now more than ever!
Enjoy your long weekend!
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Is Your Organization a Talent Factory?
The June edition of the Harvard Business Review features an article by Douglas A. Ready and Jay A. Conger entitled “Make Your Company a Talent Factory”. It is an informative article on the subject of identifying and developing next-generation leaders. This is a hot button issue for almost every organization as demographics shift (think baby boomers) and the increasing need for knowledge workers create immense pressure on identifying, developing and retaining the talent that you will need to remain competitive.
The authors reference a survey that they conducted with human resource executives from approximately 40 companies. A statistic that surprised me is that 97 % of those that responded indicated that they had formal processes and procedures in place to identify and develop their talent. Presumably, the size of the companies surveyed would best be described as very big businesses. It has been my experience that small to medium size companies would not typically report the same level of commitment to formal development systems.
Before you panic about the fact that you do not currently have a formal talent identification and development process in your organization, all is not lost! Almost all of the respondents to the referenced survey stated that they did not have the required number of identified high-potential employees to fill their strategic management roles. So, they are currently not stewarding their procedures and processes in a fashion that allows them to mine the talent that they require. You still have time to take the tips and strategies from Ready and Conger and apply them to your organization.
Though the authors highlight two very large companies to make their point (HSBC Group and Procter & Gamble) the main thrust of developing a talent pool is still very relevant to much smaller organizations. Regardless of whether it is a company of 10 or 10,000, the most critical ingredient of a sound identification and development plan starts at the top. The passion to succeed in the talent war must come from top management and quickly become part of a sustained culture within your organization. Unfortunately, many executive teams get side tracked by competing priorities. If the commitment to obtaining and keeping the best people is not a major priority with the key decision makers in your organization then you are in trouble.
Ready and Conger suggest that to be successful an organization must do more than simply manage their talent. Their message is that they need to create a ‘talent factory’ that combines the process that support their objectives and foster the passion and emotion by management to demonstrate the commitment to development through their daily actions. The authors share that the victors in the talent war will marry functionality (processes and strategy that support objectives) and vitality (commitment by management).
Functionality
The following components are seen as key measurements in assessing an organizations ability to meet their talent needs: assimilation, development, deployment, performance management, rewards, engagement, retention and sourcing. In the case of HSBC, they implement a system of talent pools that identify and track high potential employees. They are often given new assignments (rewards/engagement/retention) and involved in regular dialogue, with an emphasis on their specific needs for meeting the challenges they are facing (performance management/development).
With P&G, high potential employees will move through a series of senior positions that challenge them to acquire new skills and knowledge in managing strategy, size and complexity in different market places (deployment/retention/development).
Both organizations place an emphasis on ensuring that high potential employees are given opportunities to work and live within different cultures (assimilation/deployment).
Functionality, as it is described by the authors, will be a challenge for many smaller organizations. The opportunity to deploy an employee to another division/department or a foreign posting may not readily exist within your group. The important things to keep in mind, while also demonstrating to your team, are:
The authors reference a survey that they conducted with human resource executives from approximately 40 companies. A statistic that surprised me is that 97 % of those that responded indicated that they had formal processes and procedures in place to identify and develop their talent. Presumably, the size of the companies surveyed would best be described as very big businesses. It has been my experience that small to medium size companies would not typically report the same level of commitment to formal development systems.
Before you panic about the fact that you do not currently have a formal talent identification and development process in your organization, all is not lost! Almost all of the respondents to the referenced survey stated that they did not have the required number of identified high-potential employees to fill their strategic management roles. So, they are currently not stewarding their procedures and processes in a fashion that allows them to mine the talent that they require. You still have time to take the tips and strategies from Ready and Conger and apply them to your organization.
Though the authors highlight two very large companies to make their point (HSBC Group and Procter & Gamble) the main thrust of developing a talent pool is still very relevant to much smaller organizations. Regardless of whether it is a company of 10 or 10,000, the most critical ingredient of a sound identification and development plan starts at the top. The passion to succeed in the talent war must come from top management and quickly become part of a sustained culture within your organization. Unfortunately, many executive teams get side tracked by competing priorities. If the commitment to obtaining and keeping the best people is not a major priority with the key decision makers in your organization then you are in trouble.
Ready and Conger suggest that to be successful an organization must do more than simply manage their talent. Their message is that they need to create a ‘talent factory’ that combines the process that support their objectives and foster the passion and emotion by management to demonstrate the commitment to development through their daily actions. The authors share that the victors in the talent war will marry functionality (processes and strategy that support objectives) and vitality (commitment by management).
Functionality
The following components are seen as key measurements in assessing an organizations ability to meet their talent needs: assimilation, development, deployment, performance management, rewards, engagement, retention and sourcing. In the case of HSBC, they implement a system of talent pools that identify and track high potential employees. They are often given new assignments (rewards/engagement/retention) and involved in regular dialogue, with an emphasis on their specific needs for meeting the challenges they are facing (performance management/development).
With P&G, high potential employees will move through a series of senior positions that challenge them to acquire new skills and knowledge in managing strategy, size and complexity in different market places (deployment/retention/development).
Both organizations place an emphasis on ensuring that high potential employees are given opportunities to work and live within different cultures (assimilation/deployment).
Functionality, as it is described by the authors, will be a challenge for many smaller organizations. The opportunity to deploy an employee to another division/department or a foreign posting may not readily exist within your group. The important things to keep in mind, while also demonstrating to your team, are:
- An easily recognizable process and related procedures for identifying high potential employees
- Meaningful opportunities for these employees to advance their knowledge and skill sets
- New and meaningful challenges and assignments
- Regular reviews (involving high potential employees and management team) to assess progress
- Appropriate rewards and recognition that reflect the needs of the individual
It is critical to show high potential employees that there will always be new and challenging opportunities associated with your organization. You may not have the opportunities to offer that the HSBC Group has at their disposal but you must maximize your resources in this area if you intend on retaining your talent.
Vitality
The authors describe vitality as the attitudes and mind-sets of the team members that are responsible for functionality (processes). Simply stated, vitality can be defined as developing a culture that enthusiastically supports the identification and development of high potential employees. This passion must transcend human resources personnel and be visibly embraced by the senior management team. Ready and Conger suggest that the vitality of a company’s talent management process is demonstrated through their collective level of commitment, engagement and accountability.
Regardless of size or available resources, every organization can and should make a visible commitment to their talent management process. Senior leaders or key decision makers must be assessed on their ability to demonstrate that they are actively engaged (hands on and not delegated) in developing the talent that their organization requires. Accountability starts at the top and nothing can be more important than senior management ‘owning’ the talent development process.
In the perfect world, the connection between functionality and vitality would be seamless. The talent management process takes a great deal of commitment at all levels, but it is worth it! Organizations that are capable of putting the right people in the right places have a competitive advantage in their market. Will that be your organization?
In August, we will discuss the issue of leadership as a brand, stay tuned………
Monday, July 9, 2007
To Be or Not to Be......
It seems that employee engagement is the one component of an effective workforce strategy that gets very little air time. Now, at least from my point of view, it would seem that a focus on employee engagement would be a great place to start when contemplating the first steps in implementing an effective workforce strategy. Why engagement?
Engagement focuses on current team members (sort of a bird in hand philosophy) and allows the owner/manager to assess the alignment within her organization. Employee engagement can be defined as one’s passion and commitment – the willingness to expend one’s discretionary effort on the employer’s success (see my previous post on a Perfect Storm). So where does your organization stand?
The statistics on employee engagement are not stellar. Even with an improving economy, the level of employee engagement is not improving. A full 17 % of Canadian employees are highly disengaged while the equal amount is highly engaged. The middle group is, at best, moderately engaged or worse. So, what are we looking for when we are assessing the level of engagement that is being demonstrated within our organizations or work teams? Engaged employees …
Engagement focuses on current team members (sort of a bird in hand philosophy) and allows the owner/manager to assess the alignment within her organization. Employee engagement can be defined as one’s passion and commitment – the willingness to expend one’s discretionary effort on the employer’s success (see my previous post on a Perfect Storm). So where does your organization stand?
The statistics on employee engagement are not stellar. Even with an improving economy, the level of employee engagement is not improving. A full 17 % of Canadian employees are highly disengaged while the equal amount is highly engaged. The middle group is, at best, moderately engaged or worse. So, what are we looking for when we are assessing the level of engagement that is being demonstrated within our organizations or work teams? Engaged employees …
- Understand the business/organization and their role in its success
- Trust leadership and believe they are making decisions with the best interest of the business and the people in mind
- Work towards making a difference in their jobs each and every day
- Feel valued and appreciated
For many of you, discussion on engagement will be very new. A starting point for you could be a discussion with your team members (best done one-on-one) to gauge just how effective you are in capturing their hearts and minds. Some things to look for…Are they:
- Motivated
- Connected
- Understood
- Valued
- Developed
- Confident
- Energized and enjoying their work
Perhaps this seems like a lot of effort to you. You are already in fifth gear and barely able to keep up (if you are keeping up) with the demands on your organization and recruiting the people that you minimally need to keep treading water. Well, good news! Highly engaged work groups are :
44 % higher in retention
56% higher in customer loyalty
50 % more productive
33 % more profitable
Clearly, enhancing the level of engagement within your team will have an immediate and significant impact on your organization. Towers and Perrin report that a key piece of engagement is senior leadership interest in employee well-being. I caution you to ensure that you determine whether what your organization is experiencing is employee satisfaction rather employee engagement. Perhaps this is a little confusing (you are saying, I thought I wanted satisfied employees?), you will soon understand why satisfaction is the enemy of engagement.
Satisfaction versus Engagement
When we are considering employee satisfaction, what we are really looking at is the level of sufficiency that they are currently experiencing. Is there enough pay? Are the benefits enough? Are they being treated fairly? Is there enough flexibility in my life balance as it relates to work? The satisfied employee will likely describe their work experience as ‘okay’ or ‘likely better than they might find elsewhere’. Is this what we are really looking for?
Engagement is an indication of how well employees are aligned with their organizations. It is measured by assessing a worker’s commitment, pride, advocacy and satisfaction both in regard to their current job and to the organization itself. Engagement reflects a sense of passion and commitment by the employee. This kind of staffer sees each day bringing new challenges that they desire and when asked will describe their days as ‘speeding by’. This attractive group understands their business and completely understand the functions that they are responsible. They are very enthusiastic about their work and their workplace and this enthusiasm has a tendency to positively impact their co-workers. For this kind of employee it is not about the salary, the benefits or flexibility in work parameters. These individuals are rewarded by the nature of the work they do, the energy within the workplace, engaged colleagues and the opportunity to demonstrate their passion.
The first step is to measure the level of engagement in your organization. There are a number of tools available to organizations including:
- Gallup Organization’s Q 12
- Employee Engagement Survey Program by ITS
I utilize the Workforce Analysis Profile. This comprehensive survey provides a measure of employee engagement and their overall workplace experience. An added piece is the segmentation that is also included in the survey results. This component provides detailed information on the kinds of employees that you have in your organization and specific traits and characteristics. This is valuable information for a key decision maker to have at their disposal.
If you are interested in more information on Engagement, check out Tamara J. Erickson, co-author of Workforce Crisis, as she discusses the issue.
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