By Tom Myette

Technology is ubiquitous and when understood and properly leveraged, executives can use advanced technologies to effectively lead, manage, and execute their responsibilities. Does this technological revolution require a new leadership style? Without question, today’s technology enables leaders to communicate more broadly and quickly and to hear from many points of contact at one time. Leaders can also effectively teleconference — but, as Jim Champy, author of Reengineering Healthcare, A Manifesto for Radically Rethinking Healthcare Delivery (will be released in June), has observed, remote communications does not always work well with people you do not know. He notes, without hesitation, that he is a better leader because he is more current and knowledgeable thanks to technology. However, he worries more that the world of web 2.0 — and what comes after — will distract, not add, from the skill of leaders, make them more, rather than less, remote.

Technology, in the hands of unskilled leaders, can create distance, and even a false sense of security. A person may believe that they are "connected", but that connection may be superficial. Of course, a very skilled communicator can reach and inspire thousands of people through electronic medium. The great televangelists come to mind. Now their messages can be propelled by Twitter,YouTube, and Facebook. But leadership is not proselytizing. Real leadership requires relationships and personal engagement. Nothing Champy sees in technology has yet to replace these qualities; he believes that technology will enable new business models, but not "new leadership". Do you agree with this opinion?

 

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By Tom Myette

A recent Amazon search reveals over 60,000 books on the topic of leadership. However, there are still huge gaps in our understanding of leadership. As is common with subjective evaluations of a human ability, it is still unclear if leadership is more about traits, attributes and competencies, or about what followers need. Consequently, organizations in the public sector do not have enough good leaders, as evidenced by the repeated results of workforce surveys. To enhance our understanding of what consitutes good leadership, neuroscience research is helping fill in critical gaps. David Rock, a consultant and contributing author to HBR, notes that while it is still tricky to scan a leader's brain while running a meeting, we can study some of the building blocks of what leaders do — making decisions under pressure, solving complex problems, negotiating a transaction, or trying to persuade others.

There are some big surprises in the research. For example, we've long known that stress affects performance, but only recently could we look into the brain to understand why our emotional regulation strategies worked (or, more often, didn't work.) Studies by Matt Lieberman show that the brain has just one main 'braking system', sitting behind the left and right temple, which is used for all types of braking — mental, physical, and emotional. The bad news is this system has limited capacity and tires remarkably easily with use. The good news is this system appears to be quite trainable, which explains why many leadership programs involve people 'surviving' strong emotional events: emotional (but safe) events give people a chance to build their braking system.

When the brain's braking system is activated, emotions become less intense. This is a good thing, as strong emotions reduce the processing power needed for deliberate thinking — and inhibit insights too. Studies show that the braking system is activated when one labels an emotion in simple words. The trouble is, people prefer not to talk about emotions, and suppress them instead. However, other studies show that suppressing an emotional expression backfires, making the emotion more intense, affecting memory, and creating a threat response in others. In short, our intuitive strategies for regulating emotions (don't talk about them), do exactly the opposite of what we intend, leaving us less capable of dealing with the world adaptively. Leaders, who deal with intense emotions all day, could do well to develop techniques that truly keep them cool under pressure.

As someone with an interest and background in Psychology, I agree with David Rock who believes that neuroscience research will be a significant factor in reshaping how we define leadership, select leaders and design leadership development programs. There is already a journal focused on the neuroscience of leadership, post graduate education, and an annual summit about this field.

 

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By Tom Myette

Scholarly journals and business publications are fraught with accounts of organizations transitioning from traditional bureaucratic structures to new, adaptive flatter forms. Deborah Ancona, the Seley Distinguished Professor of Management at the MIT Sloan School of Management, and Faculty Director of the MIT Leadership Center, suggests that this shift requires new leadership practices that rely less on the individual efficacy of a few "great men" and more on the collective efficacy of formal and informal networks--a shift that, in the words of CISCO CEO John Chambers, you could almost call "as revolutionary as the assembly line."

Not surprisingly, however, the leadership literature has not kept pace with this evolution. In a review of recent leadership articles in top-tier academic journals, researchers at the Harvard Business Review found that roughly 85% persist with a hierarchical leadership structure. Yet, new research into "distributed leadership" — incorporating what others have termed "shared", "collaborative", or "complexity" leadership — has shown that:

1) Leadership functions can be spread across multiple individuals and teams — even to those outside the firm

2) Leadership can be taken on by those not in formal leadership roles — in one organization almost 60% of employees self-identified as leaders

3) Change can be driven from the bottom up-at Southwest Airlines, for instance, front-line employees took the lead in devising new ways to reduce turnaround times and developing electronic ticketing.

In DL organizations employees have an "I can" mindset and feel free to redesign their own jobs or even the company. But these organizations go beyond individual empowerment. First, successful DL companies work not only to increase the voice of front line workers, but also to inject more lateral and external voices into the generation, vetting, and selection of ideas. P&G, for instance, augments its internal R&D with its "connect and develop" program, which invites suggestions from networks outside the company to boost innovation and find new markets. Second, successful DL companies do not leave collaboration to the predilections of individuals, but build it into structures, reward systems and HR practices. At Cisco, cross-functional councils and boards were created to quickly make strategic decisions and respond to new opportunities. In addition, a significant portion of senior managers' compensation is based upon peer ratings of how well they collaborate. Third, successful distributed leadership companies take steps to protect their collaborative cultures. In one company a leader successfully turned around a division, but was let go because he used a command-and-control style. And when Google went public, its founders issued a letter to potential investors explaining that the company would not adopt the "standard structure of public ownership" and had instead designed a distinctive structure to protect its culture of creativity and challenge. It is clear, however, that leadership will entail a new balance between networks and individuals, personality and practices, and freedom and control.

 

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By Tom Myette

After reviewing reading lists on the web, comparing reviews, and referencing my own experiences…here are the Top 5 Leadership Book Classics for 2013 that all developing leaders should become familiar with:

1. The Leadership Challenge by James Kouzes and Barry Posner was originally released in the 1980s, and has been regularly updated (Fifth Edition in 2012). It is a big book, based on over 25 years of research, but is easy to read and very practical to implement. And to make it even more useful, the book is written such that “…there is no sacred order to the book. Go wherever your interests are.”

2. Good to Great by Jim Collins is the second in his trilogy (Built to Last and Great by Choice are the first and third) but definitely the best. Published in 2001, this is another research-based book covering down-to-earth discoveries which are still very relevant today. If you have heard the expressions “hedgehog concept,” “right people on the bus,” “confront the brutal facts” or “turn the flywheel,” this is the book they came from. If you do not understand these concepts, you definitely must read this book.

3. The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey was first published in 1989 and has sold more than 25 million copies in 38 languages. Covey invites the reader to read the habits in any order they like, choosing the habit(s) they most need to develop first. The habits start with creating “independence or self-mastery,” move through developing “interdependence” and conclude with “renewal.” While this book is focused on personal development, all seven habits are imperatives for leaders to understand and demonstrate.

4. The Oz Principle by Connors, Smith and Hickman was written in 1994 and Revised and Updated in 2004. The authors use the story of The Wizard of Oz as an analogy to unpack accountability and apply it to leaders and business. Many business leaders are looking for management “wizards” who can solve all of their problems, only to discover that success lies within. Learn how to demonstrate personal accountability and develop a similar culture in your business.

5. Crucial Conversations by Patterson, Grenny, McMillan and Switzler was first published in 2002, and released as an Updated Second Edition in 2012. The authors describe a crucial conversation as one where “the results could have a huge impact on the quality of your life.” The book is packed with “aha’s” about why seven simple conversations often go so wrong, along with tools to avoid the common pitfalls.

I believe if you only read these 5 books in your business career, they will give you all of the basic structural, cultural and communication tools you need to succeed.

Did I miss one that should be on a “Classics” list? What are some of the strongest leadership reads that you have come across so far?

 

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By Tom Myette

If you were asked what one item from the list below was the most important to focus upon if the goal was to create a winning spirit in your team, which would you select?

1. Put the customer at the core of everything we do

2. Share customer success stories

3. Build shared vision and aligned plans

4. Ensure clear roles and responsibilities

5. Provide inspirational leadership

6. Maintain relentless focus on execution

7. Provide open, honest, immediate feedback

8. Recognize and celebrate examples of winning mindsets

According to the research, about 25% select “Provide inspirational leadership”. So it is clear that some strongly believe that inspirational leadership is the right answer and I tend to agree. Leaders must lead a diverse group of people with different needs, backgrounds, aspirations, skills, perceptions, biases, ambitions…and on. And leaders must lead each so as to fully release, then harness, their full potential. And if great leadership is hard, inspirational leadership is even more challenging. Yet it’s clear that inspirational leadership is the goal. With it, people are well led, motivated and even inspired. They’ll persevere, drive for success, and actively demonstrate a winning spirit, and, by extension…win! They deliver the promised results consistently, and often much more.

However, developing truly inspirational leaders is almost as difficult as being one. According to the research, it requires a disciplined focus on three things:

1. A step-wise curriculum that begins with first-time leaders and ends with career executives.

2. Integration of content along each step, so principles are taught, not just practiced. The application of these principles – like ethics, integrity, foresight, and commitment – then need to be illustrated at each curriculum step.

3. A link to succession planning is required, so not only functional competence is assess when moving people up, but also an in-depth look at leadership competence, and potential.

 

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By Tom Myette

I came across a quote recently, “Anyone who has been great at anything got there because they wanted to win their own approval, not someone else’s.” I began thinking about how often I have been motivated to be successful to impress someone else. I realized it has happened throughout my life. On the athletic field to impress coaches and scouts. In the working world to impress my superiors or clients. Even in my social life to impress friends and the opposite sex. I began to weaken as I considered how often my aspirations were misguided. Where else have I been coming up short in my own life because I am limiting myself with the goal of impressing others? Where else have I been preventing myself from breaking out of the proverbial box? To create greatness in your leadership world, you need to take the equivalent actions required to reach that level of greatness. To start, identify how you may be getting in your own way.

Here are a few key principles offered to help you overcome your perceived limitations:

1) Understand and leverage your potential - be open to personal transformation. Until you, as a leader, are prepared to analytically assess your strengths and weaknesses, you will not be able to scale to transform the organization (or your domain). The bottom-line is constant - in order to transform an organization (or your domain), you must first be willing to transform yourself.

2) Work backward from your imagination, rather than forward from your past. It is critical to understand that a limitless future does not happen as a result of continued education and an enthusiastic dream. It comes as a result of your ability to see what will make a difference, take a stand for that opportunity and have the courage to set talented people in motion to make radical innovation happen.

3) Remember that whatever you can imagine, you can accomplish. Ask yourself some revealing questions. Knowing your customers, and understanding the need for continuous change: 1) What is an enormous strategic opportunity? 2) What would change your business and their business forever? 3) What is missing that, if provided, would truly make a difference?

Above all, know that achieving a limitless future goes beyond stretch goals and general improvement programs. Removing your own boundaries is not just about self-satisfaction and self-empowerment - it is about inspiring and empowering others to also be everything they can be - it is all about unleashing human potential.

 

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By Tom Myette

Research has continued to unveil the leadership talent shortages spanning industry and public sector organizatinos. For example, nearly 60% of companies are facing leadership talent shortages that are hindering their performance and compromising the organization’s ability to grow and expand. In addition, another 31% expect a lack of leadership talent to negatively influence their performance in the next several years. Yet, in 2009, U.S. companies spent an estimated $12 billion (24% of their overall training budgets) on leadership development programs and services. By any reasonable standard, what we are currently doing to grow and develop future leaders is not working. Sue Ashford of Harvard Business Review offers five critical attributes that are believed to be necessary for developing the leaders of today and the future:

1.The best learners make the best leaders. We must teach people how to learn leadership from life experiences. In their paper, "Power to the People," they argue that learning leadership is a function of how people approach, go through, and reflect on developmental experiences — a process labeled "mindful engagement." We need to stop teaching leadership theory in a vacuum, and start teaching people how to learn leadership from real-world experiences.
2.Leadership as a set of principles. Business education is largely geared toward teaching an important but narrow set of technical knowledge and skills. Leadership training needs to expand to encompass a set of leadership principles that can be holistically applied across situations. Consequently, leaders will build an adaptive capacity that enables people to more effectively lead in today's complex and dynamic business environment.
3.Reward leadership development. All companies pay lip service to the importance of developing people, but how many companies actually reward (with any significance) the development of people? Answer: very few. Also, how many companies penalize managers for hoarding key talent? Answer: almost none. Yet, managers often do everything they can to avoid losing key talent to other opportunities because, as one executive put it to us the other day: "I can't afford to lose my best people."
4.Leadership development at all levels. Leadership is not about position, yet why do most leadership development programs focus on senior executives? The authors content that we need to expand our focus to figure out ways to efficiently and economically develop leaders throughout the organization.
5.Keep it simple. Leadership is complex, but leadership development cannot be. We must provide key talent with clear metrics and development priorities that provide a straightforward roadmap for realizing their leadership potential. Unfortunately, that is not the case in most companies. One Fortune 500 company that we are working with developed a leadership competency model that specifies 54 distinct competencies across 15 different leadership skills. The result? Employees are confused, and assessment data are poor. Instead, identify the three or four competencies that really differentiate top performers across different levels of the organization, and then reward and promote based on those competencies.

 

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By Tom Myette

Arguably, an act of innovation can occur at any time when the right ingredients are present. Innovation requires a creative idea, dedication, sufficient resources, and often, a bit of luck. However, today’s work environment requires sustained innovation to stay ahead of the pack. What is the leader’s role in sustaining innovation? Holly Green, contributing author of Forbes magazine, suggests working on developing the following leadership skills to contribute to the organization’s focus on sustaining innovation:

1. Challenge your assumptions - The biggest enemy of innovation is the unspoken attitudes and beliefs we cling to about our customers, markets and businesses. And the more success we achieve based on those assumptions, the more we tend to focus on protecting the status quo versus exploring what could be. To develop the skill of challenging your assumptions, ask: What has changed with our customers, markets, industry, or the world at large? What assumptions are we continuing to make about our business simply because we “know them to be true”? What ideas for new products or services have we come up with recently but didn’t follow through because “that will never work”? Today’s market leaders get ahead by shedding old ideas and ways of thinking faster than their competitors. This can only happen by challenging your assumptions on a regular basis.

2. Change your perspective - The human brain tends to screen in data that proves us right and screen out anything that contradicts our prevailing point of view, a psychological concept known as confirmation bias. As a result, we often filter, distort, or ignore the information coming in, so that we only see what we want to see. Changing our perspective enables the brain to break out of its rigid thinking patterns and see the world in new and different ways. It opens the mind to new possibilities, and focuses attention on what could be rather than what is or what was. It also enables you to spot new patterns and connections that others might not see – a critical factor for successful innovation. Focus on keeping an open mind, communicating with others, fostering collaboration, and introducing research and information from a multitude of sources. The two aforementioned skills also suggest questioning the right answer, or automatic answer. Leverage colleagues’ input to generate as many potential “right” answers as possible. This process also engenders higher levels of engagement and productivity.

3. Ask the right questions – An old adage says, “The right answers come from the right questions.”
Questions offer a powerful tool for opening people up to new ideas and possibilities. Too often, however, they keep people stuck in the past by focusing on the problem rather than the solution. For example: “Why hasn’t your team come up with a new product this quarter? What are you going to do differently to innovate?” These kinds of questions put people on the defensive and shut down creative thinking. Instead, it is recommended to ask future, active, past tense questions that get people thinking and acting like the desired future state is already happening. For example: When we have successfully innovated, what does the new product look like? What problems is it solving for our customers? How is it bringing new value to the marketplace? Imagining that the innovation already exists shifts people’s attention from why they can’t do something to what they did to achieve it. Once this shift has been made, the brain fills in with all sorts of options on how to achieve the goal.

To encourage your team to look for different and/or better solutions, ask, “What underlying attitudes or beliefs are causing us to see this as the best or only solution?” Then solicit alternative viewpoints from people who see things differently. For example, “It sounds like we’re all in agreement on the solution here. Does anyone see it differently?”

Ask “What if…?” questions to look beyond the solution at hand. “What if our ‘right’ answer is wrong? What if there is another way to look at this problem? What if we looked at it from the customer’s perspective; how would they solve this problem?”

 

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By Tom Myette

My background predominantly involves the principles of psychology. The dynamics of individual personalities, diverse perspectives, and organic anomalies, and how they influence the world around us and regulate our interactions has been an interest of mine from a young age. In my current role, I apply my knowledge in this discipline to organizations. During my secondary education, I came across an article authored by Robert Hare (credited with establishing the psychopathy assessment Psychopathy Checklist Revised or PCL-R) that assessed the prevalence of pyschopathy in the leadership ranks of the working world.

It is not the image we like to have when we think of business leaders, but disturbing research indicates that in the ranks of senior management, psychopathic behavior may be more common than we think – more prevalent in fact than the occurance rate of characteristically aberrant behavior occurs in the general population. At first blush this may seem counterintuitive, even outrageous. We tend to think psychopathy is exclusively reserved for the criminal elements of our society. Yet, one of the most dangerous aspects of psychopaths and sociopaths is their ability to manipulate the sensibilities of others. Many exhibit psychopathic traits, but have found alternative, inconspicuous channels for manifesting their more undesirable traits.

The relevant research first appeared in psychologytoday.com. The hallmarks of the psychopathic personality involve egocentric, grandiose behavior, completely lacking empathy and conscience. Additionally, psychopaths may be charismatic, charming, and adept at manipulating one-on-one interactions. In a corporation, one’s ability to advance is determined in large measure by a person’s ability to favorably impress his or her direct manager. Unfortunately, certain of these psychopathic qualities – in particular charm, charisma, grandiosity (which can be mistaken for vision or confidence) and the ability to “perform” convincingly in one-on-one settings – are also qualities that can help one get ahead in the business world.

An excellent book, Snakes in Suits: When Psychopaths Go to Work, by Paul Babiak, Ph.D., and Robert Hare, Ph.D., published in 2006, is the foundational work on the subject and offers a comprehensive look at how psychopaths operate effectively in the workplace. To quote a few portions:

Several abilities – skills, actually – make it difficult to see psychopaths for who they are. First, they are motivated to, and have a talent for, ‘reading people’ and for sizing them up quickly. They identify a person’s likes and dislikes, motives, needs, weak spots, and vulnerabilities… Second, many psychopaths come across as having excellent oral communication skills. In many cases, these skills are more apparent than real because of their readiness to jump right into a conversation without the social inhibitions that hamper most people… Third, they are masters of impression management; their insight into the psyche of others combined with a superficial – but convincing – verbal fluency allows them to change their situation skillfully as it suits the situation and their game plan.

So, just how prevalent are psychopaths in the ranks of senior management? In 2010, Paul Babiak, Robert Hare and Craig Neumann had the opportunity to examine psychopathy in a sample of 203 individuals from numerous companies’ management development programs. While these individuals were not yet at the top rungs of their organizations, they were on track potentially to get there. The study’s findings were disturbing, predicated on the large amount of anecdotal evidence the researchers had long been gathering. The research revealed that approximately 3% of those assessed in this management development program study scored in the psychopath range – well above the incidence of 1% in the general population. By comparison, the incidence of psychopathy in prison populations is estimated at around 15%. Psychopathy was positively associated with in-house ratings of charisma/presentation style (creativity, good strategic thinking and communication skills) but negatively associated with ratings of responsibility/performance (being a team player, management skills, and overall accomplishments).

So, what steps can companies take to help prevent costly and damaging hiring and promotion mistakes? Victor Lipman, contributing author of Forbes magazine, recommends implementing a well-conceived internal succession program as the best way to inoculate an organization against a disastrous candidate, as those making promotion decisions will presumably have had years – not hours – to study an individual in action and observe his or her character. Also, focus on verified, tangible results – Since internal candidates are not always a satisfactory option, when hiring externally, focus on real substantive accomplishments that can be verified – more than on personal charm and force of personality. While charisma and persuasive speaking skills are naturally desirable leadership talents, they’re also well within the repertoire of a psychopath. Be sure there’s a solid foundation of actual accomplishment to support all claims.

 

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By Tom Myette

It can be argued that our country’s most effective leaders have shared the value of service. Appropriately serving the greater good can arguably differentiate leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy from our history’s more infamous leaders, such as Hitler. Dr. Max Klau, Director of Leadership Development at City Year, Inc. contends that “dedicating one's time and energy to serving a community or cause greater than oneself shatters cultural, racial, religious, ideological, and geographic boundaries. The commitment to serve others unites individuals who would otherwise never connect, creating the type of bonds, understanding, and insight that can only come from working together side by side in pursuit of the greater good.”

This is the understanding of leadership that informed Martin Luther King's statement that "Anyone can be great, because everyone can serve." King understood that leadership is not exercised by just a few "great men" with formal authority; it can potentially be exercised by anyone, no matter how modest or elevated their status in life. That sentiment is echoed by Robert Kennedy in his assertion that "few will have the greatness to bend history; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation."

King and Kennedy place a widely shared value — service — at the heart of their understanding of leadership. According to Klau, “those who accumulate power and influence on their journey have enhanced their capacity to serve, but make no mistake: it is the commitment to service, not the access to power and influence, that is the essential ingredient of leadership.” Imagine if we used this perspective to evaluate the effectiveness of each of us — from middle school students, to hedge fund CEOs, to elected representatives — as leaders in the 21st century. As global interdependence deepens in the decades ahead, the forces that compel humanity to work together to shape a shared destiny will only grow stronger. Given this reality, leaders must be guided by and appeal to a set of values that unite, not divide. Therefore, leadership is certainly all about values.

 

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