Archive for the ‘Team Building’ Category

How to Coach a Future CEO February 21 2012

If you’ve been reading this blog for awhile, you know I’m a fan of Ford CEO Alan Mulally.  He started in the top job at Ford about five years ago and, he has led the company to quarter after quarter of profitable growth.  He’s accomplished that through any number of ways.  Probably one of the biggest is by changing the culture of the company’s leadership team.

Of course, you change a culture by inspiring people to think, feel and act differently.  It’s a process of winning hearts and minds.  As the New York Times reported this past weekend, Mulally just turned 66 and is expected to retire in the next couple of years.  The front runner to succeed him is an executive named Mark Fields who runs Ford’s business in the Americas.

In reading the story on Ford and Fields, I was struck by the evidence that Fields has changed his style as a leader over the past five years.  Of course, that’s concurrent with Mulally’s time at the company.  Prior to Mulally’s arrival, Fields was a high flier (literally and figuratively) who had gotten himself in trouble when it was revealed that he was using Ford’s corporate jets to fly back and forth to his Florida home at the same time that he was cutting thousands of jobs at the company and shutting down manufacturing plants.

As Fields himself said, “There was a ‘dead pool’ about me.  People were saying, ‘When is Fields going to get shown the door?’ ”  Five years later, however, he’s a poster dude for what great coaching and role modeling can do to turn an executive’s career and life around.

Wondering ‘Am I a Good Leader?’ Take the Sheryl Sandberg Test February 10 2012

Ever wonder if you’re a good leader?  If so, I have a simple three question test that will help you answer the question.  I call it the Sheryl Sandberg test.

OK, I know that some of you are thinking “Is it really fair to compare myself to the COO of Facebook  - the same woman who spoke at the World Economic Forum in Davos the week her company did an IPO that took her net worth past $1.6 billion?”  I’ll be the first to acknowledge that there aren’t many of us who can compete with Sandberg’s calendar and bank account.  That said, there’s a lot that leaders of any station can learn from Sandberg.

When Sandberg left Google to join Facebook in 2008, the social networking site had 70 million users and no profit-making business model.  At the end of 2011, Facebook had over 850 million users, revenue of over $3 billion and profits of just over $1 billion.  It’s not too big a stretch to conclude that Sandberg has some leadership skills that might be worth emulating.

Over the past six months I’ve read a number of profiles on Sandberg and, based on what I’ve learned about her, have come up with three questions that can help determine if you’re a good leader:

• Do I have followers?
• Do I have a cause bigger than myself?
• Do I get stuff done?

Here’s a bit on how Sandberg has answered those questions and what you can learn from the answers.

Rypple’s Nick Stein, on How to Deliver Better Feedback February 2 2012

Rypple is a web-based social performance management platform that helps companies improve performance through social goals, continuous feedback and meaningful recognition. I recently spoke with Rypple’s Nick Stein to learn more about the company and get his tips for giving – and getting – effective feedback. Here’s an edited version of our conversation.

Scott: Is it fair to say a quick description of Rypple would be Facebook for feedback?

Nick: I think that feedback is certainly a very important part of it. But I’d say that the feedback should be focused around aligning people within the organization so that they feel empowered and that people who lead your organization feel confident that everybody is moving in the same direction. So it’s feedback, but it’s feedback that leads directly to business results.

When it comes to feedback, how much is enough?

When most of us think traditionally of feedback within an organization, we think of the performance review, which a lot of companies still use and they do them once a year. And they’re backward-looking and have really morphed into this thing that’s much more about compliance than it is about performance.

When we look at feedback, we hear from our customers and tons of research that’s been done out there that employees are craving feedback, and as much of it as they can get. And I think that’s particularly true for the Millennials, who really have grown up around the idea of getting constant feedback that they can then use to get better at what they do.

What are your top tips for making the feedback useful? For somebody who wants to be really effective in providing feedback, what are two or three things they should always keep in mind?

Is Being the “Go-To Person” Holding You Back? January 31 2012

A big part of my work as a coach involves working with high-potential leaders in workshops, keynotes and webinars. One of my favorite questions to ask these audiences is, “How many of you think of yourselves or have been referred to by others as the ‘go-to person?’ ” Usually, about every hand in the room goes up. I asked that question as a flash poll in a webinar recently, and 98% of the 400-plus managers and executives on the line affirmed that they are the go-to people.

It’s not surprising, really. Most people who end up in leadership roles have built a reputation for being go-to people.

So what’s wrong with that? Nothing at all when you’re on your way up. Being the person who’s known for getting stuff done is a great way to build your reputation and career. Chances are, though, that you’re eventually going to reach the point at which operating as the go-to person is simply no longer sustainable. The scope of work gets too broad and complex for one go-to person to take things over and heroically save the day.

To grow as a leader, you have to let go of being the go-to person and pick up the profile of being the person who builds a team of go-to people.

What Do People Want From Work? January 9 2012

Other than the basic requirements – food, shelter, health care – on the hierarchy of needs, what do people really want from their jobs?

Last week I attended a presentation from Peter Cappelli, a Wharton professor and thought leader on talent management, where he addressed that question. Based on a study he cited, these are the top five things that a large group of people say they want from their work:

1. Friendly environment
2. Chance to use my skills
3. Chance to do something worthwhile
4. Feeling respected by coworkers
5. The opportunity to learn something new

Is there anything on the list that’s really that surprising? If you stop and think about it, you probably want those things from your own work.

Here’s the catch on the data that Cappelli shared. He presented it in the content of a talk on managing the older generation of workers and the data comes from a study that AARP conducted on what older workers want.

Is the list really that different that what workers of any age would want? My experience and observations tell me no. People want to work in an environment where they feel respected and appreciated, where they can learn and do their best work.

What does your experience tell you? What’s on your short list of the most important things that leaders can do to create a place where people want to work?

You Can’t Lead Through Text Messages December 19 2011

Last Thursday night, I had the opportunity to moderate a panel discussion on leadership at a celebratory dinner for Eagle Scouts past and present.  The panelists were all accomplished people and had a lot of interesting reflections and insights to share.

One comment from the dinner that I’ve kept thinking about came from retired Rear Admiral John Butler who’s now an executive with Lockheed Martin. The last question I asked the panel was, “What do you think has changed in the practice of leadership over the past 10 years? What changes do you predict in how leadership will be practiced in the next ten years?”

Looking back at the past ten years, Butler has noticed the emergence of what he calls a “kinder, gentler” approach to leadership. His recollection of the 1980’s and 90’s was that it wasn’t uncommon for leadership to be about how loud you could yell and how close you could get to somebody’s face while you were doing it. He’s noticed that the practice of leadership has become much more collaborative over the past ten years and believes that’s a good thing. (See Tom Friedman’s recent column in the New York Times for a similar point of view.)

Looking ahead to the next ten years, Butler is concerned about a lack of human connection in the practice of leadership. While text messaging is the preferred form of communication for millennials (replacing the email that Gen X and Baby Boomers have preferred), it’s not a great leadership tool. As Butler said, you’re not going to convince a young soldier to lead a dangerous assault through a text message. Or, for that matter, you’re not going to get a team fired up and committed to do something challenging at work through a text either. Leadership in both situations requires voice if not face. To do difficult things, followers need to hear and, preferably, see the credibility and commitment that their leader is bringing to the table.

If I were to sum up the Admiral’s points on his look back and look ahead about leadership, the common denominator is connection.  The practice of leadership is evolving from the top down, do it because I tell you to do it model to an approach that engages followers (collaborators may be a better word) mentally and emotionally. You can’t do that through a text message.

What about you? What do you think has changed about leadership in the last 10 years? What do you predict about the practice of leadership in the next 10 years?

What to Do When Your Boss Says Something You Regret December 9 2011

There’s an interesting article in the New York Times today for anyone who has ever had to improvise madly when their boss makes an unexpected public commitment. The subject is Dan Akerson, who’s been the CEO of General Motors for 15 months. Akerson is not a “car guy.” He made his bones in telecommunications and came to GM from the world of private equity investments.  He’s had a lot of successes in his career and is fond of speaking his mind. That’s not what they’ve been used to at GM the last couple of decades and he’s shaking up the company’s culture.

The latest example is when some potential problems developed with the battery in GM’s showpiece hybrid, the Chevy Volt. Here’s how Bill Vlasic of The Times described Akerson’s response to the Volt situation:

“The problems with the Volt are a case in point. A few days after the conference call, Mr. Akerson went well beyond the discussion that day and told The Associated Press during a visit to New York that G.M. was willing to buy back Volts from concerned owners. Back in Detroit, company officials scrambled to explain the offer as a gesture of good will to its customers, denying that Mr. Akerson was setting policy on the fly.”

That’s a pretty interesting response on the part of the company officials.  It sounds like they placed as much emphasis on the fact that their CEO wasn’t setting policy on the fly as they did about generating good will with customers.

If you’re a senior manager or executive in your organization, perhaps you’ve been in a similar situation where your boss says something that you regret. How do you handle that? My thoughts might surprise you.

Their Perception is Your Reality December 2 2011

As an executive coach, a big part of my job is helping my clients adjust their behaviors so that they get different results. Since my clients are executives, they are, by definition, dealing with other people. Since that’s the case, it’s not enough for my clients to adjust their behaviors when it would make a difference to do so. They also have to manage the perception others have of their behaviors.

If you’re a leader, the simple fact is this. Their perception is your reality. Whatever the perception is that people have of your leadership effectiveness creates the reality you’re operating in.

Let’s say, for instance, that you’re not a great listener. You interrupt people, talk over people and ignore the input of other people. You get feedback that all of that is killing productivity and engagement. You hire a coach and start working on changing your ways. You become really conscious of not interrupting people and even start keeping score for yourself in meetings about how often you’re doing that. After a couple of months of this routine, your numbers are way down. Then, about a hundred days into the process, you have a bad day. You walk all over your team members in a staff meeting, cutting them off right and left.

So, even though you’ve had 99 days in a row of improving your behavioral performance, what are they thinking on day 100? Here’s what they’re thinking – “Same old, same old.” You’re not going to get much credit for the past 99 days and, even worse, you may have set yourself back with the group by falling off the wagon on the hundredth day.

Is the answer that you have to be perfect once you start on a path of behavioral change and never show any regression? Fortunately, no. It’s not even possible to do that. What you do have to do, though, is help your colleagues change their perception of you while you’re changing your behavior.

Here’s a simple plan for doing that that works for my clients:

Take the Thanks Giving Leadership Challenge November 23 2011

As Thanksgiving Day approaches in the United States, here’s a personal leadership challenge that could have an impact long after the turkey leftovers are gobbled up.

If you’re a leader (at work, in the community, at home – it doesn’t matter where), take up the challenge to give your true and sincere thanks to someone who deserves it at least once a week for the next year. Here’s how it works:

1. Every week identify at least one specific thing that someone did for you or that contributed to the cause.

2. Get clear with yourself about why what they did mattered to you or the organization. Come up with at least two or three points about what they did and how they did it.  Commit those points to memory.

3. Go talk to that person. If the conversation is in person, square up to them, open up your body language and make good eye contact. If they’re on web cam or the phone, do those things anyway – some of the positive energy will come across over the wires.

4. Thank them for what they did and how they did it. Tell them the difference it made to you. For extra credit, don’t just talk about the impact on results; talk about the positive way it made you feel. Don’t be afraid to make a connection.

5. As you close the thank you, shake their hand, pat them on the back or, if it’s appropriate, give them a hug.

When was the last time the designated leader thanked you in such a way that you really knew they meant it? It felt pretty good, didn’t it? You’ve got the power to do that for others.

Taking the Thanks Giving Challenge is one of those leadership moves that is relatively easy to do and highly likely to make a difference.

If you take it on, please share a story in the comments about how it’s going. What difference is it making to you and your organization? What was the most memorable thank you that you’ve ever received?

What Crabs in a Pot Have to Do with Leadership Presence November 21 2011

Last week, I spent an afternoon sparking a conversation on leadership presence with a group of rising leaders in a well known organization. The conversation turned to how difficult it can be to lead change because there are often a lot of structures and norms in place that create massive barriers to change. That’s where leadership presence becomes so critical. Leaders recognize the resistance and figure out ways to move past it. The first step in doing so is not getting pulled back into the churn.

To illustrate that point last week, I told a story that I don’t usually tell in professional settings but it just seemed right at the time. When I was growing up in Huntington, West Virginia, my best friend was a guy named Ty Neal.  One night when we were in high school, we were hanging out in Ty’s basement when his dad, Ted, got home from a meeting at the American Legion hall.  He yelled down and asked us to come upstairs for a talk.

He began by asking if we’d ever seen crabs in a pot getting boiled. We said sure but weren’t sure where he was going with this.  “Here’s the thing, he said, there will always be one crab who gets his claw up on the rim of that pot and is just about ready to pull himself out of there.  And then the other crabs will grab him and drag him back into the pot.  They’re not getting out of there, but they’re going to make sure he’s not getting out either. Both of you guys are smart and talented. You could go places. Don’t let them drag you back into that pot, boys.”

Mr. Neal shared a lot of wisdom with Ty and me back in the day but the crabs in the pot story is the one that I’ve always remembered. One of the big challenges of leadership is not getting pulled back into the pot. It’s about understanding what the current reality is (i.e.  it’s hotter than hell in here and if we don’t get out, we’ll be cooked) and influencing others to come with you to something better while resisting their efforts to pull you back in.