What You Don't Know Will Hurt You: 3 Top Skills Leaders Need To Learn Today

By Marcel Schwantes

Principal and founder, Leadership From the Core@MarcelSchwantes

In my line of work, I will admit that not all leaders and owners have reached a visceral understanding of the potential of people. But those that do see it as their responsibility to help others grow towards their full potential.

Exceptional leaders shine the spotlight on their people by developing them -- a key retention strategy that will give you competitive advantage.

But how? I can think of no better way to developing your own tribe than implementing these simple strategies as soon as you can:

1. Provide opportunities for learning and growth.

What you'll find in most healthy organizations is a high commitment to growing their employees.

If you happen to work in such an environment, you'll probably notice a strong bond between top leadership, training and human resources functions working together to:

• Identify their employees' gifts, talents, and strengths for the best job fit so that they can reach their potential.
• Champion a "learning spirit" within the organization, sending a clear message that "growing our people is one of our highest priorities."
• Give meaning and purpose to the employees' work, adding further motivation.
• Provide ongoing training, coaching and mentoring opportunities that are aligned with job purpose, performance measures, best-in-class customer service, and fulfilling the organizational mission.

2. Build up others through encouragement and affirmation.

Gallup Organization researchers spent decades accurately measuring employee engagement, which resulted in their Q12 Engagement Survey. They have interviewed more than 25 million employees around the world to find the core of a great workplace.

The 12 questions are designed to be posed to employees. And from the perspective of the employee, many of the questions, I will submit to you, point to the principles of encouraging and affirming employees to be the best they can be.

The results can also be boiled down to 12 "look-in-the-mirror" questions that every leader can ask to understand how their companies measure up on the key elements needed to keep their most talented employees.

If you're a manager, and your employees were asked the following about you, how would you do?

• In the last seven days, have I received recognition or praise for doing good work?
• Is there someone at work who encourages my development?
• At work, do I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day?
• In the last six months, has someone at work talked to me about my progress?
• This last year, have I had the opportunity at work to learn and grow?

The research also makes a strong business case for growing leaders in management roles.

Employees who responded more positively to these questions worked in business units with higher levels of productivity, retention and customer satisfaction.

The opinions formed by employees pointed to their immediate manager as the critical player in building and maintaining a great workplace.

Once again, as the old saying goes, people leave managers, not companies.

3. Have honest conversations during the onboarding process.

First of all, if you're new to onboarding, we're not talking about an HR orientation during the first day or week of hire. Effective onboarding is a management responsibility that can extend three-to-nine months after a hire date, sometimes longer.

Research is saying that a typical employee's mind isn't made up about staying or leaving a new company until month six!

I want to bring out some key questions that every leader should ask to find out if you are doing the things that lead to a great new hire experience.

These questions are meant to trigger a response for you to be more intentional about having conversations that lead to high employee engagement during those crucial first few months.

• Do you as a leader/manager engage your new hires in "How can we/I help you with your professional development interests?" conversations in the first month?
• Do you as a leader/manager engage new hires in conversations about what motivates them within the first 1-2 weeks of employment?
• Do most of your employees have development plans? If so, do these plans get discussed periodically one-on-one?
• Are you, as leader/manager, actively helping employees to advance their plans by talking with them?

5 Keys to Inspiring Leadership, No Matter Your Style

Forget the stereotypical leadership image of a buttoned-up person in a gray suit hauling around a hefty briefcase. Today, standout leaders come in all shapes and sizes. She could be a blue jeans-clad marketing student, running a major ecommerce company out of her dorm room. He might be the next salt-and-pepper-haired, barefoot Steve Jobs, presenting a groundbreaking new device at a major industry conference.

"Our research indicates that what really matters is that leaders are able to create enthusiasm, empower their people, instill confidence and be inspiring to the people around them," says Peter Handal, chief executive of New York City-based Dale Carnegie Training, a leadership-training company.

That's a tall order. However, as different as leaders are today, there are some things great leaders do every day. Here, Handal shares his five keys for effective leadership: 

1. Face challenges.

Great leaders are brave enough to face up to challenging situations and deal with them honestly. Whether it's steering through a business downturn or getting struggling employees back on track, effective leaders meet these challenges openly. Regular communications with your staff, informing them of both good news and how the company is reacting to challenges will go a long way toward making employees feel like you trust them and that they're unlikely to be hit with unpleasant surprises.

"The gossip at the coffee machine is usually 10 times worse than reality," Handal says. "Employees need to see their leaders out there, confronting that reality head-on." 

2. Win trust.

Employees are more loyal and enthusiastic when they work in an environment run by people they trust. Building that trust can be done in many ways. The first is to show employees that you care about them, Handal says. Take an interest in your employees beyond the workplace. Don't pry, he advises, but ask about an employee's child's baseball game or college graduation. Let your employees know that you're interested in their success and discuss their career paths with them regularly.

When employees, vendors or others make mistakes, don't reprimand or correct them in anger. Instead, calmly explain the situation and why their behavior or actions weren't correct, as well as what you expect in the future. When people know that you aren't going to berate them and that you have their best interests at heart, they're going to trust you, Handal says. 

3. Be authentic.

If you're not a suit, don't try to be one. Employees and others dealing with your company will be able to tell if you're just pretending to be someone you're not, Handal says. That could make them question what else about you might be inauthentic. Have a passion for funky shoes? Wear them. Are you an enthusiastic and hilarious presenter? Get them laughing. Use your strengths and personality traits to develop your personal leadership style, Handal says. 

4. Earn respect.

When you conduct yourself in an ethical way and model the traits you want to see in others, you earn the respect of those around you. Leaders who are perceived as not "walking their talk" typically don't get very far, Handal says. This contributes to employees and other stakeholders having pride in the company, which is an essential part of engagement, Handal says. Also, customers are less likely to do business with a company if they don't respect its values or leadership. 

5. Stay curious.

Good leaders remain intellectually curious and committed to learning. They're inquisitive and always looking for new ideas, insights and information. Handal says the best leaders understand that innovation and new approaches can come from many places and are always on the lookout for knowledge or people who might inform them and give them an advantage.

"The most successful leaders I know are truly very curious people. They're interested in the things around them and that contributes to their vision," Handal says.

Gwen Moran

Gwen Moran is a freelance writer and co-author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Business Plans (Alpha, 2010).

The Four Cornerstones of Effective Leadership

What is a leader? Throughout my career, I have had the opportunity to see many styles of leadership. I have known people who were great leaders, and I have known great people who were not leaders. I have watched and studied those who are successful leading people and have taken note of those who are not.

In your career, you will have opportunities to lead. This is obvious if you are in a supervisory or management position, but everyone has opportunities to lead. Everyone. Maybe you will lead a small team on a project. Maybe you will lead your peers with your skill and professionalism. Maybe you will lead your boss by taking action, solving a problem, and enabling him or her to make decisions.

Leadership is a philosophy. It is the study and discipline of influencing others. My personal leadership philosophy can be broken down into four elements. I believe that these four elements are the foundation, or cornerstones, of effective leadership. If these four cornerstones can be fully realized, then the framework of a good leader can be constructed.

Looking

"Where there is no vision the people perish."

— Proverbs 29:18

Leadership begins with looking. To be a successful leader, one must first be a successful follower. Much can be learned from watching others who are effective or ineffective leaders. Looking also encompasses watching our peers and subordinates. Leaders must watch for shortcomings in order to correct and prevent; leaders must watch for signs of stress in order to support and assist; leaders must watch for success in order to praise and encourage. Finally, Looking refers to vision. Leaders must be visionary. They must be goal-oriented and be acutely aware of the proverbial “big picture”.

Listening

"The ear of the leader must ring with the voices of the people."
— Woodrow Wilson

Listening can be an attitude as much as an action. It entails more than just hearing words that are spoken. Leaders listen for unspoken things, read between the lines when necessary, and carefully examine what they hear before jumping to conclusions. A good leader listens to supervisors and subordinates, to others’ ideas and opinions. They seek both sides of any situation and hear with their hearts as well as their heads.

Learning

"Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other."
- John F. Kennedy

The framework of a leader is never truly complete. It is constantly under construction. A strong leader is forever on a quest to learn more; about their job, about the people around them, about leadership itself. A good leader learns from their mistakes and learns from their successes. They learn to adapt, to manage their time, to manage stress. They seek wisdom rather than knowledge. True leadership utilizes experience but is not limited by it.

Living

“Never separate the life you live from the words you speak.”
- Paul Wellstone

Finally, a leader must live what they believe. They must lead by example and inspire through their own contagious convictions. A leader avoids hypocrisy and double standards at all costs. They invite challenge and rebut mediocrity. They are satisfied only with excellence, in themselves and in others.

What is a leader? It is someone who leads, and others cannot help but follow.

 Posted by:Jamin Casselman

I am still learning

How GE Gives Leaders Time to Mentor and Reflect

It is 6:00 a.m. David is starting his first day as the “leader in residence” at Crotonville, GE’s global leadership institute, with a jog around the running trail with a couple of twenty-somethings who are half his age and might be five levels below him on an org chart. Their run is companionable; their discussion, candid. It is a serendipitous moment of connection that the three will always share.

David is one of our top executives, and he has stepped out of his day job as the head of a major GE business to make another kind of investment in the future of the company: He will spend this entire week teaching, coaching, mentoring, and learning with about 250 participants — high-performing managers and individual contributors who have come to campus from around the world. David and others who rotate through the position are helping to achieve the purpose of Crotonville: to inspire, connect, and develop GE’s talent.

The leader in residence position epitomizes our belief that a great leader is a great learner.

It models both our cultural value of expertise, which encourages a deep knowledge base as well as a passion to develop others, and the GE leadership philosophy, which holds that when one person grows we all grow, and together, we all rise. And it allows David and other senior managers to take the time to reflect on their own leadership styles — an opportunity that they rarely get in the regular rhythm of their jobs.

After his run, David rushes off to a breakfast meeting where he talks to a group of first-time managers. At 8:30, he attends a session on the neuroscience of success with a group of mid-career high-performers. At 10:30, he hosts one-on-one coaching sessions, each about 30 minutes long. In the afternoon, he teaches a class on values, offering his take on the blueprint for leadership at GE. He then conducts “speed coaching” sessions with about 10 early career leaders:  intense, five-minute discussions centered on a few focus areas such as personal brand and navigating the organizational matrix. By late afternoon, he is involved in brainstorming about next year’s curriculum, providing the faculty with a unique view into future business requirements. He tops off the evening with a live video meeting on customer focus with a group of leaders in a training program in Singapore. At the end of the day, he heads to the campus bar, where he spends the next hour chatting with all the participants.

Launched in 2010, the Leader in Residence program is emblematic of a broader shift from prescriptive to collaborative learning taking place at Crotonville and elsewhere. In a complex environment, learning comes from a combination of discovery, dialogue, experience, reflection, and application. At Crotonville, we bring people from all over the world and from different businesses and contexts. We have to create the opportunity for each person to teach and learn, simultaneously, enhancing everyone’s perspective. David, like other leaders, uses this as a listening post — a venue to capture what’s happening around the company and the world in an encapsulated way…with Crotonville providing the opportunity to listen, test, validate, and absorb on the one hand, and to share, push, elaborate, and support the students on the other.

In all, the program has enabled some 75 of our top leaders and thousands of participants to connect on a human level and to reflect on work, self, and career in a way that would never be possible in either a traditional classroom or office setting. By giving leaders access to deeper levels across the organization, and, in turn, providing participants access to senior leadership, we have created greater cohesiveness throughout the company. We have never had a problem filling out classes even during the most trying of times. Based on the success of the program, as measured through participant surveys and feedback, we recently launched a global version (74% of Crotonville experiences are delivered outside the United States currently).

In fostering a learning culture and deepening connections among leaders at all levels, we have found that we can drive better outcomes that accelerate individual growth and strengthen the talent pipeline.

Raghu Krishnamoorthy

Raghu Krishnamoorthy is GE's vice president of executive development and chief learning officer.

To Get Honest Feedback, Leaders Need to Ask

by Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner

"The only way to discover your strengths,” wrote Peter Drucker, “is through feedback analysis.” No senior leader would dispute this as a logical matter. But nor do they act on it. Most leaders don’t really want honest feedback, don’t ask for it, and don’t get much of it unless it’s forced on them. At least that’s what we’ve discovered in our research.

We have the benefit of rich data thanks to the more than seventy thousand individuals who have completed the Leadership Practices Inventory, our thirty-item behavioral assessment, over the years. The point of this tool is to help individuals and organizations measure their leadership competencies and act on their discoveries. Looking across how all observers of leaders have filled it out, one descriptor got the absolute lowest rating – and even across the leaders’ own self-assessments it comes out second to lowest. It is this statement: “(He or she) asks for feedback on how his/her actions affect other people’s performance.” 

When we related this finding to the director of leadership development for one of the world’s largest technology companies, he admitted the same was true for his organization. The lowest-scoring item on its internal leadership assessment was the one on seeking feedback.

Further validation comes from a recent survey conducted by Jack Zenger and Joseph Folkman and discussed in a recent HBR blog. Not only did they find that “leaders often don’t feel comfortable offering [constructive criticism].” They also discovered that the individuals who are most uncomfortable giving negative feedback are also significantly less interested than others in receiving it.

Why is this? Sheila Heen and Douglas Stone offer this answer in a recent HBR article. “The (feedback) process strikes at the tension between two core human needs — the need to learn and grow, and the need to be accepted just the way you are. As a result, even a seemingly benign suggestion can leave you feeling angry, anxious, badly treated, or profoundly threatened.” For us, this resonated with something that author Ralph Keyes once wrote about his craft: “As authors discover, all the other anxieties — the many courage points of the writing process — are merely stretching exercises for the big one: feeling exposed (in every sense of the word).” A friend of his, he reports, “compared writing novels to dancing naked on a table.”

What’s true for writers is equally true for leaders. Leaders aren’t eager to feel exposed — exposed as not being perfect, as not knowing everything, as not being as good at leadership as they should be, as not being up to the task. And subordinates are even more reluctant to suggest that the emperor is wearing no clothes.

So what’s a leader to do?
It won’t be enough to increase your receptivity to others’ input. It’s highly unlikely that your direct reports, or peers, are going to knock on your door and say, “I’d like to give you some feedback.” If you want a genuine assessment of how you’re doing, you’re going to have to make the first move and ask for it. That’s what leaders do, by the way: Go first.

That’s exactly the approach taken by a vice president we met at a leading Midwest financial services company. He knew the value of direct personal feedback for his own and others’ growth and development. Yet for his team members, the whole topic of feedback “had a big negative tone to it.” He decided it would help if he reversed the traditional process. “We’re going to do things a little bit different,” he told the group. “Instead of me giving the evaluations, you’re going to start by doing one on me.” After a brief orientation, he left his team to evaluate his performance in private. They were reluctant at first, and the process was initially very challenging. But eventually the team completed it, and then, at the vice president’s request, the team delivered their feedback to him face-to-face.

“The feedback that I received was kind of hard to hear,” he told us. But then he added: “And that was really one of the benefits to the group. To take that personal risk — to model for the group that it’s okay to place yourself at personal risk and take that honest feedback. What I hope the team members would come away with was a sense that it’s okay to be in that environment, that feedback is necessary for growth, and then to see how you accept that feedback and then what you do with it.”

This executive provided the proof of how vulnerability can build trust. Because of his ability to ask others for help, his team gained a newfound respect for the feedback process — and so did he.

Feedback Framed as Learning
Getting valid and useful feedback is essential to learning. And learning is the master skill. Over the years we’ve conducted a series of empirical studies to find out if leaders could be differentiated by the range and depth of the learning tactics they employ. The results of these studies have been most intriguing. First, we find that leadership can be learned in a variety of ways. It can be learned through active experimentation, observation of others, study in the classroom or reading books, or simply reflecting on one’s own and others’ experiences.

What is more important, however, is that regardless of their learning styles, those leaders who engage more frequently in learning activities score higher on The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership (our evidenced-based model of effective leadership) than do those who engage less frequently in learning. The truth is that the best leaders are the best learners.

Feedback is too often viewed through a frame of evaluation and judgment: Good and bad. Right and wrong. Top ten-percent. Bottom quartile. These frames raise resistance. But when you frame feedback as an essential part of learning, it becomes less about your deficiencies and more about your opportunities.

The late John Gardner, leadership scholar and presidential adviser, once remarked, “Pity the leader caught between unloving critics and uncritical lovers.” No one likes to hear the constant screeching of harpies who have only foul things to say. At the same time, no one ever benefits from, or even truly believes, the sycophants whose flattery is obviously aimed at gaining favor.

To stay honest with yourself, you need “loving critics.” These are people who care about you and want you to do well — and because they care about your wellbeing, they are willing to give you the honest feedback you need to become the best leader you can be.

Appoint your own circle of loving critics. Turn to them regularly for an honest and caring assessment of your strengths and what you need to do to get even better. Listen to them with the same care they have for you. And when they give you their feedback, your only job at that moment is to say “Thank you.”

Good Employees Make Mistakes. Great Leaders Allow Them To.

As a business leader, I found that one of the scariest things to do was to give your people the freedom to make mistakes. While mistakes allow individuals to learn and grow, they can also be very costly to any company. Scared as I was, I knew that truly great leaders found ways to allow their people to take these risks, and I genuinely wanted to be a great leader. I wanted to help my employees to grow. So I set out to discover how to accomplish this without placing my company in jeopardy.

“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.”  - Meg Cabot

I quickly discovered that the first step was to determine the areas of the business where a mistake could take place without causing too much damage. I took careful attention to make sure that any areas where we would damage our clients and the trust they had placed in us were off limits for significant risk without serious executive involvement and oversight. I identified other areas where I could feel more comfortable allowing people the freedom to experiment on new and better ways of doing things.

The second step was to communicate to the employees that we were setting an official company policy:  Making any mistake once was OK, so long as it was an honest mistake made while attempting to do what they felt was the right thing. Making any mistake once was OK, but repeating that same mistake a second time was NOT OK. The hard, fast rule was that if you made any mistake for the first time the entire team would have your back in fixing that mistake if anything went wrong. However, if you ever repeated the mistake a second time, then you were 100 percent on your own to face the consequences.  This rule applied for every first-time occurrence of each new mistake you made.
 

We all make mistakes. Every one of us. If we aren’t making mistakes, then we likely aren’t trying enough new things outside our comfort zone, and that itself is a mistake. That process is the best way to learn and grow as a person.  As John Wooden once said, “If you’re not making mistakes, then you’re not doing anything.” Mistakes are the pathway to great ideas and innovation. Mistakes are the stepping stones to moving outside the comfort zone to the growing zone where new discoveries are made and great lessons are learned. 

Mistakes are not failures, they are simply the process of eliminating ways that won’t work in order to come closer to the ways that will.

Great leaders allow their people the freedom to make mistakes. But good employees are those who when mistakes are made 1. Learn from them, 2. Own them, 3. Fix them, and 4. Put safeguards in place to ensure the same mistake will never be repeated again.

1.       Learn from them:  Good employees recognize that they have, in fact, made an honest mistake.  They do not get defensive about it, rather they are willing to look objectively at their mistake, recognize what they did wrong, and understand why their choice or actions were the wrong thing to do.

2.       Own them:  Good employees take accountability for their mistakes. They admit them readily.  They don’t make excuses for their mistake, rather they acknowledge that yes, they made a mistake and they express openly what lesson they have learned from that mistake. They go on to express steps 3 and 4 below.

3.       Fix them: Good employees do what it takes to rectify their wrongs. They are willing to do whatever they can to fix the problem and make it right. Certainly there are times when the damage is done and recompense cannot be made, but good employees do their very best to repair whatever damage has been done to the best of their ability. They always establish a timeline with follow up for when the problem will be fixed and make sure that progress is communicated throughout the process so everyone feels the urgency and care with which they are correcting the problem.

4.       Put safeguards in place to ensure the same mistake will never be repeated again: This is the most critical step in the learning process. When a mistake has clearly been made, the most important thing anyone can do is figure out what safety nets and roadblocks can be carefully established to ensure that this same mistake will never take place again. Document this step so the lessons learned and the safeguards setup can always go beyond you. Do everything in your power to help others learn from your mistake so they don’t have to experience them on their own to gain the lesson you’ve learned.

The steps to correcting mistakes apply to any area of life. Whether it’s business life or home life or personal life, the principles of apologizing remain the same. Good employees make a lot of mistakes, and truly great employees are those have mastered the art of apologizing for those mistakes:

Great People Practice The Six A’s of a Proper Apology:

• Admit - I made a mistake.
• Apologize - I am sorry for making the mistake.
• Acknowledge - I recognize where I went wrong that caused my mistake to occur.
• Attest - I plan to do the following to fix the mistake on this specific timeline.
• Assure - I will put the following protections in place to ensure that I do not make the same mistake again.
• Abstain – Never repeat that same mistake twice.

People who implement the Six A’s will find that the level of trust and respect others have for them will grow tenfold. People who implement the Six A’s will find that others will be quicker to forgive them and more likely to extend a second chance. It’s not the making of a mistake that is generally the problem; it’s what you do with it afterward that really counts.

Amy Rees Anderson, Contributor

Five key leadership traits for 2014

JOE NATALE

No different than during the advent of the printing press, the steam engine and electricity, we’re living in a time of fundamental change. The unprecedented pace of technology adoption and its limitless capacity to redefine how we solve problems, entertain, educate, transact business and form social connections is nothing short of revolutionary.

The telecommunications industry is on the vanguard of this change. When I look to my leadership team, or consider promoting new leaders, there are five key capabilities that are important to me, and, I would argue, universal to business. Regardless of industry or company size, I believe they set exceptional leaders apart from average ones. They are:

1. The ability to zoom
A former boss was fond of saying: “From 30,000 feet, a bear and a possum look about the same.”

Leaders need to be forever running a filter in their minds: What is truly important, and what is truly important for them to focus on intensely. The distinction between these two is essential. There are some important things they should focus on, and other important things someone else should focus on.

Leaders have to choose the places where they can have the biggest impact. They need to decide on key areas of focus, and then zoom in on those specific issues or projects, moving from overseeing to being more hands-on and working in closer proximity to the core team.

And then they need another essential ability: to zoom out when it’s time – yet still support the team in moving forward.

2. The ability to lead in a complex environment
Telecommunications is inherently complex. It’s a network business, a solutions business, an entertainment business, a communications business, a security business, an outsourcing business, a retail business – I can keep going.

Any organization in this environment must live in a matrix structure and function well with both internal and external partners. A “command-and-control” structure, in which a leader simply sets the direction and controls execution, is a relic of the past.

We look for leaders who are good at getting things done without direct authority. Do they have good ideas? Can they build support for their ideas? Can they marshal resources from those who don’t work for them directly?

If they are able to make good things happen by engaging teams from customer service, to sales and marketing, to IT and Web strategy, to human resources, then they have one of the most important attributes of a leader. Today, everything is integrated and interdependent.

3. An exceptional ability to communicate
Someone once told me that as a senior leader you actually don’t have a lot of direct authority. It’s a provocative thing to say. But it’s true.

You can redraw an organization chart, you can hire and fire. But what truly has an impact on a company’s culture are the cues or symbols people take away from you because they reflect what you believe is important. And I believe unequivocally that generous, strategic and heartfelt communication is a leader’s most important tool.

Look at Churchill, one of the greatest communicators of the past 100 years. I think about his task during the Second World War, giving hope to a whole nation in the middle of an incredibly fearful and tumultuous time.

Churchill would sit in his tub and dictate speeches while his assistant sat outside the bathroom on the floor. The prime minister was a bit of an odd duck, but that didn’t take away from the fact that he gave such consideration and weight to his words of encouragement that were meant to elevate people who were going through daily bombings and facing fear that we can’t imagine. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1953 for a reason.

Communication is important because it sets the tone, it tells people what is important, it can galvanize. How to do it well is a challenge for people to trying to get to the next level. Those who can master it tend to see greater results as leaders, and in their careers.

4. The ability to learn and to teach
Most leaders know their business. They live it, breathe it. They can stand up and talk about it, strategically, tactically, financially, operationally. This is table stakes.

Today, leaders have to absorb information quickly because the environment changes so fast. One technology decision, one regulatory decision, a critical customer experience issue, and your business can change dramatically. Unless you’re able to learn and adapt, you’re going to struggle. Leaders must have an unquenchable thirst for deeper insight. They must be natural teachers and draw satisfaction from sharing what they know.

5. Be authentic
You can call it integrity or “values-based leadership,” but the essence of humanity is authenticity, the ability to be straightforward, to act and speak without guile, to consistently act with awareness, kindness and compassion.

Authenticity is the No. 1 quality I value in the people around me. They are self-aware, humble and stay true to their values regardless of the challenges at hand. Without authenticity, your team is like a house with a poor foundation. It won’t stand the test of winds or time.

Leaders hire slowly and carefully, and surround themselves with only the best. Great talent with the wrong values will be like vampires on your team, and will drain your corporate culture. Talent in combination with the right values will create an enviable culture and results for your business that your competitors can’t begin to copy.

Leadership Is About Emotion

Meghan M. Biro, 

 

Make a list of the 5 leaders you most admire. They can be from business, social media, politics, technology, the sciences, any field. Now ask yourself why you admire them. The chances are high that your admiration is based on more than their accomplishments, impressive as those may be. I’ll bet that everyone on your list reaches you on an emotional level.

English: Robert Plutchik’s Wheel of Emotions (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This ability to reach people in a way that transcends the intellectual and rational is the mark of a great leader. They all have it. They inspire us. It’s a simple as that. And when we’re inspired we tap into our best selves and deliver amazing work.

So, can this ability to touch and inspire people be learned? No and yes. The truth is that not everyone can lead, and there is no substitute for natural talent. Honestly, I’m more convinced of this now – I’m in reality about the world of work and employee engagement. But for those who fall somewhat short of being a natural born star (which is pretty much MANY of us), leadership skills can be acquired, honed and perfected.

Let’s Take A Look At Tools That Allow For Talent To Shine:

Emotional intelligence. Great leaders understand empathy, and have the ability to read people’s (sometimes unconscious, often unstated) needs and desires. This allows them to speak to these needs and, when at all possible, to fulfill them. When people feel they are understood and empathized something, they respond PERIOD and a bond is formed.

Continuous learning. Show me a know-it-all and I’ll show you someone who doesn’t have a clue about being human. Curiosity and an insatiable desire to always do better is the mark of a great leader. They are rarely satisfied with the status quo, and welcome new knowledge and fresh (even if challenging) input. It’s all about investing in yourself.

Contextualize. Great leaders respond to each challenge with a fresh eye. They know that what worked in one situation may be useless in another. Before you act, make sure you understand the specifics of the situation and tailor your actions accordingly.

Let Go. Too many people think leadership is about control. In fact, great leaders inspire and then get out of the way. They know that talented people don’t need or want hovering managers. Leadership is about influence, guidance, and support, not control. Look for ways to do your job and then get out of the way so that people can do theirs.

Honesty.  Not a week goes by that we don’t hear about a so-called leader losing credibility because he or she was dishonest. Often this is because of pressure to try and “measure up” and it’s not coming from a place of being real – often this relates to fear of not being accepted for your true self. We live in age of extraordinary transparency, which is reason enough to always be true to your core – your mission will be revealed, your motivations will show by your behaviors. But it goes way beyond this. It’s an issue that sets an example and elevates an organization. If you have a reputation for honesty, it will be a lot easier to deliver bad news and face tough challenges. Are you inspiring people from your heart? 

Kindness and respect. Nice leaders (people) don’t finish last. They finish first again and again. Ignorance and arrogance are leadership killers. They’re also a mark of insecurity. Treating everyone with a basic level respect is an absolute must trait of leadership. And kindness is the gift that keeps on giving back. Of course, there will be people who prove they don’t deserve respect and they must be dealt with. But that job will be made much easier, and will have far less impact on your organization, if you have a reputation for kindness, honesty and respect.

Collaboration. People’s jobs and careers are integral to their lives. The more your organization can make them a partner, the more they will deliver amazing results. This means, to the greatest extent possible, communicating your organization’s strategies, goals and challenges. This builds buy-in, and again is a mark of respect. People won’t be blindsided (which is a workplace culture killer) by setbacks if they’re in the loop.

Partner with your people. As I said above, people’s careers are a big part of their lives. That seems like a no-brainer, but leaders should have it front and center at all times. Find out what your employees’ career goals are and then do everything you can to help them reach them. Even if it means they will eventually leave your organization. You will gain happy, productive employees who will work with passion and commitment, and tout your company far and wide. This an opportunity to brand your greatness.

Leadership is both an art and a science. These tools are guidelines, not rigid rules. Everyone has to develop his or her own individual leadership style. Make these tools a part of your arsenal and use them well as you strive to reach people on an emotional level. Be Human. This Matters.

5 Keys to Inspiring Leadership, No Matter Your Style

Forget the stereotypical leadership image of a buttoned-up person in a gray suit hauling around a hefty briefcase. Today, standout leaders come in all shapes and sizes. She could be a blue jeans-clad marketing student, running a major ecommerce company out of her dorm room. He might be the next salt-and-pepper-haired, barefoot Steve Jobs, presenting a groundbreaking new device at a major industry conference.

"Our research indicates that what really matters is that leaders are able to create enthusiasm, empower their people, instill confidence and be inspiring to the people around them," says Peter Handal, chief executive of New York City-based Dale Carnegie Training, a leadership-training company.

That's a tall order. However, as different as leaders are today, there are some things great leaders do every day. Here, Handal shares his five keys for effective leadership: 

1. Face challenges.

Great leaders are brave enough to face up to challenging situations and deal with them honestly. Whether it's steering through a business downturn or getting struggling employees back on track, effective leaders meet these challenges openly. Regular communications with your staff, informing them of both good news and how the company is reacting to challenges will go a long way toward making employees feel like you trust them and that they're unlikely to be hit with unpleasant surprises.

"The gossip at the coffee machine is usually 10 times worse than reality," Handal says. "Employees need to see their leaders out there, confronting that reality head-on." 

2. Win trust.

Employees are more loyal and enthusiastic when they work in an environment run by people they trust. Building that trust can be done in many ways. The first is to show employees that you care about them, Handal says. Take an interest in your employees beyond the workplace. Don't pry, he advises, but ask about an employee's child's baseball game or college graduation. Let your employees know that you're interested in their success and discuss their career paths with them regularly.

When employees, vendors or others make mistakes, don't reprimand or correct them in anger. Instead, calmly explain the situation and why their behavior or actions weren't correct, as well as what you expect in the future. When people know that you aren't going to berate them and that you have their best interests at heart, they're going to trust you, Handal says. 

3. Be authentic.

If you're not a suit, don't try to be one. Employees and others dealing with your company will be able to tell if you're just pretending to be someone you're not, Handal says. That could make them question what else about you might be inauthentic. Have a passion for funky shoes? Wear them. Are you an enthusiastic and hilarious presenter? Get them laughing. Use your strengths and personality traits to develop your personal leadership style, Handal says. 

4. Earn respect.

When you conduct yourself in an ethical way and model the traits you want to see in others, you earn the respect of those around you. Leaders who are perceived as not "walking their talk" typically don't get very far, Handal says. This contributes to employees and other stakeholders having pride in the company, which is an essential part of engagement, Handal says. Also, customers are less likely to do business with a company if they don't respect its values or leadership. 

5. Stay curious.

Good leaders remain intellectually curious and committed to learning. They're inquisitive and always looking for new ideas, insights and information. Handal says the best leaders understand that innovation and new approaches can come from many places and are always on the lookout for knowledge or people who might inform them and give them an advantage.

"The most successful leaders I know are truly very curious people. They're interested in the things around them and that contributes to their vision," Handal says.

Gwen Moran

Gwen Moran is a freelance writer and co-author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Business Plans (Alpha, 2010).

"In times of change, the learners will inherit the earth

The learned will be well equipped to deal in a world which no longer exists."...Teacher

How Technology Is Changing The Way Organizations Learn

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

People used to be valued for knowing a trade. Then came the industrial revolution and those skills became devalued.  Machines took over physical labor and most people either did simple, repetitive tasks or managed those who did.

By the late 20th century, a knowledge economy began to take hold.  Workers became valued not for their labor, but for specialized knowledge, much of which was inscrutable to their superiors.

 Successful enterprises became learning organizations.

Now, we are entering a new industrial revolution and machines are starting to take over cognitive tasks as well.  Therefore, much like in the first industrial revolution, the role of humans is again being rapidly redefined.  Organizations will have to change the way that they learn and managers’ primary task will be to design the curricula. 

First Principles vs. Experience
Knowledge, strangely enough, has been a source of fierce debate for over two thousand years, beginning with a disagreement between Plato and his most famous student, Aristotle.

Plato believed in ideal forms.  To him, true knowledge consisted of familiarity with those forms and virtue (which, in a modern terms would have been closer to ability than to morality) was a matter of actualizing those forms in everyday life.  Plato would have felt comfortable as a factory manager whose workers carried out instructions to the tee.

Aristotle, on the other hand, believed in empirical knowledge, which you gain from experience.  In contrast to Plato, we can imagine Aristotle as a Six Sigma black belt, constantly analyzing data in order to come up with a better way of doing things.

Both methods, the indoctrination of principles and the collection of data have played a role in learning organizations.  The difference now is that much of the learning is being taken over by machines.

How Machines Are Learning To Take Over
Not so long ago, we depended on human knowledge for many things, such as setting up travel itineraries, trading financial instruments and buying media that are highly automated today.  As we progress, new areas, such as making medical diagnoses, legal discovery and even creative output are becoming mediated by computers.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the algorithms blend Platonic and Aristotelian approaches just like humans do.  Initially, their thinking is driven by time honored principles supplied by human experts (sometimes called “God parameters”).  Then, as more information comes in, the computer begins to learn from its own mistakes, getting better and better at its task.

This process continues at accelerating speeds.  Much like the rise of the knowledge economy empowered knowledge workers, because they had expertise that their bosses didn’t, computers are now coming up with answers that knowledge workers themselves can’t understand.  That will prove incredibly disruptive in the years to come.

It also presents a particularly thorny problem: How can organizations empower employees whose skills are being outsourced to the cloud? 

Consequences of An Algorithmic Age
Just as the first industrial revolution transformed business and society, this new algorithmic age will bring not just efficiency, but significant, cultural changes.  While the future is unclear, some of the shifts are already becoming apparent:

Bayesian Strategy:  The knowledge economy coincided with the rising influence of business strategists.  Highly trained executives would analyze business conditions and devise intricate plans for the future.  Managerial performance, therefore, was widely evaluated as a function of their ability to “execute the plan.”

However, good strategy is becoming less visionary and more Bayesian. Strategic plans will play a similar role to “God parameters” that will be honed through an evolutionary process of simulation and feedback.  Strategists, to a great extent, will become hackers rather than planners.

Brands as Open API’s:  One little noted consequence of the knowledge economy is the rise of intangible value, which often far exceeds tangible assets in corporations.  Brands, therefore, became tightly controlled assets that were nurtured and protected.

That’s beginning to change as brands are becoming platforms for collaboration rather than assets to be leveraged.  Marketers who used to jealously guard their brands are now aggressively courting outside developers with Application Programming Interfaces (API’s) and Software Development Kits (SDK’s).  Our economy is increasingly becoming a semantic economy.

Firms ranging from Microsoft to Nike to The New York Times have also created accelerator programs, where young companies get financial, managerial and technical support to come up with new innovations (and potentially, enhance the business of their benefactors).

The Human Touch:  While much of the discussion about the rising tide of technology focuses on cognitive skills, Richard Florida argues that social skills will be just as important.  Many of the fastest growing professions are those which emphasize personal contact.

As computers take over more of the work, the role of humans will increasingly focus on caring for other humans.

Flying By Wire
Pilots don’t fly planes anymore, not really.  Whereas they used to have direct control over the aircraft, now they fly by wire.  Today, their instruments connect not to the airplane’s mechanism, but to computers which carry out their commands, modulated by the collective intelligence gained from millions of similar flights.

In essense, pilots perform three roles: they direct intent (where to go, how fast, when to change course), manage knowledge and (rarely) take over during emergencies.  Professionals in other industries will have to learn to perform their jobs in a similar way.

The function of organizations in the industrial age was to direct work.  The function of organizations in the algorithmic age will be to focus passion and purpose.

Managers, rather than focusing on building skills to recognize patterns and take action, will need to focus on designing the curricula, to direct which patterns computers should focus on learning and to what ends their actions should serve.

 

  The Education Of An Algorithm Greg Satell Contributor

10 Things Inspire Teams to Optimally Perform

 

More and more people feel stuck at work and are looking for validation.    

Not only do they want to be heard, but more importantly they want to know that their contributions are being noticed and not taken for granted.  Not for the sake of attention, but more so because they want to know that their skill sets are still relevant and useful and that they are making a difference to advance the organizations they serve. 

 With professional development budget cut-backs in recent years, employees have had to start investing in themselves as concerns grow about where their capabilities best fit in their organizations and what their futures hold.

At the same time, leaders are trying to make their employees feel more secure in order to keep the ship afloat, aware that if too much disruption leaks out into the workplace, there is risk of losing top-talent that is difficult and costly to replace. In this ever changing workplace terrain, leaders need to think differently about how to keep their teams on track.  They must become more intuitive; diverting from the traditional ways of leading that have become too predictable and uninspiring. 

  

Many leaders are out of touch and disconnected from their employees, focusing solely on their own personal agendas.   This is most evident in leaders that still try to use a “one-size-fits-all” approach to earn trust, build loyalty and stimulate team and individual performance.

 

Leaders must understand that in today’s new workplace, there does not exist a single recipe to encourage employees to perform better.   Rather, it’s about how to maximize the ingredients in order to create hundreds of recipes that are customized and authentic; that provide long-term continuity and impact.    To get you started, here are ten ways to inspire teams to optimally perform. 

 

1. Solving, Not Just Selling

Stop selling your employees about why they need to perform better.  Explain why their contributions help solve problems and contribute to the company’s advancement.  Employees are more inclined to step up their game when they know their work can add-value to the healthier whole.

For example, I would always show my team the outcome of their collected efforts.   We would go to the manufacturing plant and watch a new product on the production line or to the stores to see new label designs  on the shelves.   Inspire performance by connecting the dots of your employees’ efforts.

It’s not only about what you are trying to sell, but also what you  as a team were able to solve along the way.

2. Purpose, Not Just Profit

Employees are inspired by knowing that their hard work  makes a difference beyond profitability.  Employees want leaders who see beyond the obvious and look to create wider reaching impact that extends into the community and influences social causes.  

Look what IKEA did in1995, after they discovered that some of the factories that manufactured and sold carpets to IKEA were exploiting child labor.  Founder Ingvar Kamprad and his IKEA executives immediately took action, addressing the problem from within and taking all steps necessary to ensure that an IKEA product never again would be created by manufacturers that exploited children. IKEA then solidified its commitment to eradicate the problem at its root. The company partnered with UNICEF to create a program to help prevent child labor by changing the conditions that lead to child labor in the first place, namely: poverty, hunger, and illiteracy.  Today, this same program serves more than five hundred villages in India’s Carpet Belt, an area with a population in excess of 1.3 million. 

 

3. Know the Ingredients, Not Just the Recipe

The secret recipe to inspiring employees is to know the “ingredients” of the people you are inspiring.  People want to know that their leaders understand their tendencies, aptitudes and behaviors well-enough to best work-with and motivate them.   The best leaders and coaches always do.

When you spend time with your employees, make it matter.   Don’t just expect your time and title to inspire them.    Employees want a leader that pays attention and genuinely cares about them.

Great leaders take the time to know the ingredients before they can create the best recipe for success.   Employees are most inspired when a leader takes the times to know them and show that they have their best interests at heart.

Leaders that know how to prepare thousands of recipes are those who continually make the ingredients better – and keep them from spoiling.

4. Learning, Not Just Lecturing

Employees are tired of being told what to do.   They are eager to learn and remain relevant.   But they find it difficult to be inspired by leaders who only inflict fear.    In today’s fast-paced world, people don’t have time for lectures; they want continuous coaching and leaders that are paying attention.  Eager to grow, they want objective feedback.

Simplify the process.  Don’t exhaust your employees through complexity and buzz-words.    People seek direction that is too the point.  Remember, most people have mastered the art of execution.  Let your employee do their jobs well by providing the right tools and support to make them better at carrying out their roles & responsibilities.  Be a great teacher, but quickly shift into facilitator mode.   People are inspired when given the opportunity to learn how to do new things. Stop lecturing and start teaching.   

5. Innovation, Not Just Ideation

Employees want to create impact.  Allow them to be part of the innovation-based projects in your company by letting them get their hands dirty.    Ideation is important, but being part of implementing the ideas that come to life can be a more exciting and meaningful growth opportunity for your employees that will inspire them to perform. 

Additionally, provide your employees the resources to be innovative in their work.   Stay close enough to your employees’ activities to know the 2 or 3 tools  and/or resources that  each would require to take their performance to the next level. 

 

When given the right tools and resources, the best employees will instinctively challenge themselves to be more innovative in their work – and will perform better.    That is why incentives inspire performance – but remember that money alone is not the sustainable answer.   Focus on giving your employees the opportunities to elevate their individual value while serving the needs of the company.  

 

Allow innovation to inspire performance.

6.    Significance, Not Just Success

Helping your employees to be successful is important, but not inspiring enough in itself.  People want much more out of their leaders and if you can activate the natural talents of your employees in ways that make them feel more responsible about their jobs, you will be inspiring something that is more significant – and has longer lasting impact.

The next time you conduct an employee performance review, evaluate each performance in two areas:  success and significance.   Let’s say that “sales” is a performance category – and your employee has performed at 90% of plan.  That’s good.   After you discuss what is required to reach 100% of plan, measure the significance of the sales generated.  For example, perhaps reaching 90% of plan generated enough revenue to hire 5 more people or contributed to a particular community outreach plan as a result of a local market push.  You never know the significance of someone’s performance until you measure it; and when you do, it’s an effective way to inspire even greater performance.

7. Ownership, Not Just Accountability

Enforcing accountability is a key component to sustaining performance momentum. However, when you can give your employees “ownership” in the process of defining how accountability is enforced – you inspire trust and a desire to go above and beyond the call of duty. 

Giving your employees ownership means that you have shared and entrust them with your authority.   You are now allowing your employees to “call the shots” based on what they believe is in the best interests of the team and the organization.    For example, create a special project and allow an employee to take ownership of it.   Outline your expectations for the end-result, but allow him or her to take charge of the project.  Agree to meet once-a-week and observe the change in attitude and desire to perform.     Use the results and what you learned along the way about the employee as a means to customize your approach to best inspire that employee’s performance long-term.   Again, this is a great way to learn more about “the ingredients” as noted in point #3.

8. Respect, Not Just Recognition

Beyond appreciation and praise, show your respect and admiration for the work of your employees.  While people want to know they are respected, you must establish the ground rules for how respect is earned.  

 

There are too many recognition addicts in the workplace.  In a world of fierce competition, we have come to believe we are our own best allies. We believe we must rely only on ourselves. We believe we can sell ourselves better than anyone else.  But this attitude puts our long-term careers in danger.

Unfortunately, too many people want recognition because they forgot the significantly greater value of earning respect.   Re-train your employees about the importance of respect and lead them in how to earn it.  When they see the greater impact respect delivers, they will be inspired by your example. 

 

9. Personal Growth, Not Just Responsibility

Historically, leaders have used “increased responsibility” to inspire performance.    While this approach may still have merit, it is when a leader can help foster the professional growth and development of their employees that performance most flourishes.    Leaders must take more time to mentor and / or guide their employee’s development and growth.

Encourage networking opportunities and performance development forums.  If the budget gets cut,– put your money where your mouth is.  For example, purchase copies of a book that you believe will help your employees advance and grow in their work. 

Phil Jackson, former basketball coach of the Los Angeles Lakers and Chicago Bulls, has won 11 NBA championships – the most in history.   Jackson became known for giving each one of his players a specific book that would help the player be a better teammate, decision-maker, leader, etc. on the basketball court.  

10. Trust, Not Just Transparency

Ultimately, it is a relationship based on trust that inspires employees to perform.   When you are mindful of managing and concurrently implementing points #1 – #9 this will certainly jump-start your ability to earn trust with your employees and inspire their performance.  When you trust someone, you believe in them.   People are inspired when they know that their leaders believe in their capabilities to deliver.  

As a young executive, I had a boss that I trusted, not only because he was transparent with me – but more importantly because he believed in me.   He created an environment that helped me grow and prosper.   For example, he assigned the most significant corporate growth strategies to my team and me.   This level of trust inspired us to perform not only for the sake of seizing the unique opportunity that was given to us – but equally to prove to those above my boss that it was the right decision for the organization.    We wanted our boss to earn respect and recognition for the bold decision he made to place such a significant amount of trust on the youngest leader and team in the organization – and not to let him down.

Inspiring employees to optimally perform requires a leader who can see beyond the obvious in people.  Inspiration comes not from something that you turn on and off, but rather   from constant behavior – triggered through multiple ways – that makes your employees feel that they matter and that you genuinely care. 

About Glenn Llopis Contributor