Leadership Post : Management and Intergenerational Leadership Coaching, Employee Engagement, and Performance Management Training

“Better Ideas Through Failure,” is the title of an article in a recent Wall Street Journal. Those of us in human resources have known for years that people can learn from mistakes and that innovation comes from taking risks and making mistakes. Yet when someone does make a mistake they are made to feel bad rather than patted on the back for trying.

I agree with Judy Estrin, a founder of seven high tech companies and author of a book on innovation when she says, “Failure, and how companies deal with failure, is a very big part of innovation.” I’m happy to see that companies such as Grey New York are handing out “Heroic Failure” awards to employees who try something that was worth trying and fail and learn from their failure.

For Baby Boomers like myself, trying something new was not encouraged – in school, especially Catholic school, or in the workplace. If you made a mistake it was usually the blame game rather than owning up to it.

For me, the younger generation – the Millennials and those coming up behind them – have learned to embrace failure from the day they were given their first computer or iPhone on which they could play games. James Gee, a professor at Arizona State University believes that a well-designed game allows players to explore and try new things. In fact, as Gee says, “in a game, failure is a good thing.”

Organizations could learn from playing games and lower the cost of failure and encourage employees to explore and play with ideas. To quote Gee once again, “that type of learning – risk taking – can’t happen if the cost of failure is too high.” So, corporate America, perhaps it’s time to starting playing games!

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Below is a post I was going to post a few weeks back and didn’t. I don’t know why.  Now that The King’s Speech won the Academy Award for best picture I’ve decided to resurrect it. I’ve reread it and like it.

Peggy Noonan in her article, The Captain and The King in The Patriot Post, talks about the lack of maturity rampant amongst leaders today.

I agree with Ms. Noonan. We live in an age where anything goes and being seen, as a “one of the guys or gals” is more important than showing authority and leadership.

The example Ms. Noonan gives is the relieving of the captain of the USS Enterprise, Owen Honors, of his duties because of his “lewd,” “raunchy,” “profane,” and “ribald” behavior.” Honors is a man who couldn’t distinguish his role from those he led, acting more like a deck hand than a leader.

Ms. Noonan cleverly contrasts Capt. Honors’ despicable behavior with the glowing reviews being given to the movie “The King’s Speech.” The movie portrays King George the VI unselfishly showing the ultimate in maturity as he reluctantly accepts the throne when his brother abdicates. With war impending, this is a time of crisis and England needs maturity.

A shy man with a hopeless stammer, in the movie King George sobs, “I am not a king;” he is by training and nature, a naval officer. Although not groomed to be king, throughout his reign, he was the symbol of leadership.

Here are some lessons learned on acting mature and as a leader from the notebook of King George VI.

He led by example by remaining with his wife at Buckingham Palace throughout the war despite nightly German bombing raids.

He did not have a personal agenda. He gave up the private and personal family life he would have preferred for the well being of his country.

He kept morale up by sharing the same deprivations – food rationing restrictions - as everyone else.

He was a role model and showed indefatigable determination by visiting citizens throughout England and was seen as a symbol of national resistance.

He remained optimistic by letting the people of Britain know that he believed in them and their ability to withstand hardship.

He communicated often and directly and plainly never shielding Britain from the realities of war. He began one message with, “The decisive struggle is now upon us” and ended it with, “It is life or death for all.”

He showed courage and that you can be “one of the boys” yet remain a leader by visiting Allied armies on several battle fronts and toured the home front extensively showing symbolic leadership in Britain which was crucial during WWII.

So, let’s hear it for King George and what it means to be a true leader!

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Performance reviews are getting a poor review from the very people who run them.  According to a survey by Sibson Consulting and WorldatWork, "58% of human resources executives graded their own performance-management systems a C or below."   Three of the reasons given caught my attention and I’d like to respond to them.

HR professionals say they’re frustrated that managers don’t have the courage to give constructive feedback.

It’s not that managers lack the courage; it’s that they don’t know how to give feedback.

Managers should be trained on how to give feedback.

I agree that they should be trained but not “speed” training. When I was in HR at Citibank in the late 80’s, all new managers had to go through an intensive five-day training program on the fundamentals of managing people, which included giving feedback.

Today, it’s unfortunate that many companies have reduced five days to three days to one day. Even worse, they are packing 100+ employees into virtual classrooms with one instructor or giving them the option of online e-learning.

Unless they see training as an investment in developing future leaders, we are doomed.

This topic requires further attention, which I will address in future posts.

HR does not have total control over the review process.

According to Samuel Culbert professor of management at University of California HR is like the KGB – keeping files on people causing fear and intimidation regarding the process and should be eliminated altogether.

HR is not the KGB and they shouldn’t control the process. The responsibility rests with senior management who should own it, support it and ultimately hold managers accountable for developing their employees.

I do agree with professor Culbert in one respect and that is that perhaps performance reviews should be eliminated altogether. Why? If managers gave constructive on-going feedback throughout the year, there wouldn’t be need for an annual review.

If an employee finds out during their review that they are not performing then their manager should get a C.

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“If you want to be incrementally better: Be competitive. If you want to be exponentially better: Be Cooperative.”                                                                                   - Unknown

A client recently raised the question of how a company’s culture can shift from being highly competitive internally to being more collaborative without taking away the competitive “edge” which has helped with their success in the marketplace.

An interesting question and one for which I didn’t have an answer at the time. It intrigued me enough to spend time reflecting on it and, I think, coming up with a reasonable response.

Collaboration according to Webster means to share, work with one another, cooperate and assist. While to compete means to outdo one another for acknowledgement, a prize, supremacy, or engage in a contest to compete in business.

In my opinion you can do both successfully because the end goal is the same - to innovate and strive to be the best through competition and to collaborate by working in a competitive way in order to innovate and be the best.

How To Do Both

Allow Risk Taking

Encourage friendly collaborative competition amongst employees and allow them to take risks and make mistakes. Use mistakes as “teachable moments” rather than penalize employees for trying something new.

Hold Employees Accountable and Reward Them

Collaboration doesn’t stand a chance when employees have separate agendas. To prevent that, hold employees accountable and reward them for collaborative behaviors.

Introduce Corporate Social Networks

Use corporate social networks to encourage collaboration and foster innovation. Forward thinking companies such as Microsoft, Qualcomm, Booze Allen and Agilent all use social media tools such as messaging, wikis, blogs, etc. to encourage communities of sharing and learning.

According to Jane Hart, CEO for the Center for Learning and Performance Technologies, “Christopher Goh, Agilent’s director of global learning and leadership development, believes leveraging on such social networks allows his company to ‘facilitate collaborative learning and knowledge sharing’ amongst its employees, especially the younger generation. “

So, yes I believe you can collaborate and yet continue to compete.

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The debate as to whether or not there will be a talent shortage rages on. In my opinion, it’s inevitable and it will be huge. Many companies have their heads in the sand and don’t or won’t see the ball rolling toward them. Let’s take a closer look by separating perception from reality.

Perception
The high unemployment rate has resulted in a large talent pool to draw from.

Reality
There are available bodies so companies believe, rightly or wrongly, that they are in the driver’s seat.

The reality is that there is complacency among employers. The economic downturn has caused many companies to fall into a malaise when it comes to talent. Once the economic downturn is over, the first to get jobs, as usual, will be the most talented; the very same employees companies have chosen not to down size. Most of these people have been worked liked race-horses and are just bidding their time to jump ship.

Perception
The economic downturn has caused the Millennials (born 1977-1997) to mellow.

Reality
The Millennials, known for changing jobs every two years, have been forced, due to a lack of job opportunities, to remain with their companies longer than they expected. They have also not been as vocal regarding their wants, needs and sense of entitlement.

Fortunate to be able to move back home, the Millennials are waiting until the economy improves. If anyone thinks that this cohort group has really mellowed they are in complete denial. Their sense of entitlement among other things is part of their DNA. It’s like trying to change a tiger’s stripes. I have heard more than one say, “we’re out of here, once the market picks up.”

Perception
The cut backs in leadership development programs were necessary for survival.

Reality
Perhaps for survival but not for the bottom in the long run. The poor economy has made investing in leadership development challenging. Companies have not only scaled back on these programs but they have also downsized entire training and development departments.  This is a monumental mistake which will come back to haunt those at the top big time.

What compounds the situation even more is that for years companies have traditionally focused solely on developing their “A” players – at the expense of their solidly contributing middle performers – their “B” players. This untapped pool typically makes up 70% of an organization - a sizable force toward increasing the bottom line.

Now companies have also stopped the development of many of their “A” players – their future leaders leaving them with a talent deficiency that will impact them for years to come.

Perception
Companies believe they have a steadily growing workforce.

Reality
Yes and no. The Millennials are as large a population as the Boomers (born 1946-1964) were when they entered the workforce - maybe even larger. Although currently making up approximately 22% of the workforce, Don Tapscott, Growing Up Digital, says that by 2014 the Millennials will represent 47%, with the next generation – known as Digital Natives or Hyper-connected (born after 1997) - coming up behind them. While there is growth, we have to consider a few things:

Inexperienced Workforce
What we are going to have is a large group of inexperienced employees (Millennials) being managed by a small group of Generation Xers (born 1965-1976) many of whom never received the development needed to lead (read my post Career Advice for Generation X for more information about Gen Xers), let alone lead the challenging Millennials.

Aging Workforce
We will have an aging workforce. According to Pew, half of all working adults in the U.S. between 50 – 64 say they will delay retirement and 16% say they will never stop working.

Shrinking Workforce
We also have a shrinking workforce with fertility rates dropping in Europe, Asia, South America and India – resulting in a war for talent.

Taken together this should be a call for action for U.S. companies to rethink strategies for engaging employees and leadership development.  Now is the time to revisit their talent acquisition process and employment brand, so they are prepared to attract the best candidates as the economy improves along with their business needs.

Generational Demographics - United States Census Bureau

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There’s a lot written about what makes a good executive coach but I haven’t seen very much about what makes someone a good candidate for coaching. So, here, in my opinion, are the six characteristics of an ideal candidate.

Introspective

First, they must have the ability to take a long, hard look in the mirror and find out who they are warts and all. This takes work and guts, which many people aren’t up for. The “readiness” level of the candidate should not be overlooked.

Clue: They are ready to discover their blind spots and don’t run from the room when you mention the word coaching.

Accepting of Feedback

360-degree feedback can be hard to take but it’s the beginning of knowing your strengths and weaknesses and a basis for self-awareness and self-management. If you’ve read my other posts, you’ll know that to me knowing your “default” style is critical to personal and professional growth and preparing someone for any situation they may encounter. I can’t help but quote Marshall Goldsmith who was spot on with his book, What Got You Here, Won’t Get You There.

Clue: They acknowledge and take ownership of the feedback – positive and negative. They are not in denial, make excuses or try to figure out who said what.

Active learner

Ideal candidates are active learners meaning they are always actively seeking ways to improve.

Clue: They usually rate their performance lower than others do because in their estimation their performance is never good enough.

Active listener

Good listening skills are critical to the coaching process. Being a good listener and being an active learner go hand in hand. Ideal candidates understand that listening is like throwing a ball back and forth. One person listens while the other talks and vice versa.

Clue: They are more interested in what you have to say than hearing themselves talk. They absorb what they hear and are eager to apply what they learn in the real world.

Dedicated and Passionate

The coaching process takes time and in order to benefit from it the person must put in the extra hours in addition to doing their job. They are committed to spending whatever time is necessary to improve.

Clue: Ideal candidates usually ask for coaching or are excited and appreciative when told they are getting coaching. They can’t wait to start the process.

Curiosity

Ideal candidates have an innate curiosity about life and people. Unlike the cat, curiosity has never killed a candidate.

Clue: They ask lots of thoughtful questions.

Finally, if you feel you are not reaching the person, ask them what it would take to engage them in the process. If you get nothing back, they are not ready for coaching.

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“Success is neither magical nor mysterious. Success is the natural consequence of consistently applying the basic fundamentals.”    -   Jim Rohn

Josh Bersin’s blog post, How People Learn: It Really Hasn’t Changed, talks about how L&D professionals need to expand their concept of training and at the same time not lose sight of the fundamentals.

The thought occurred to me after reading his post that the same could be said of executive coaching. The field has changed introducing new approaches and methodologies. Change is good. However, we shouldn’t lose sight of the basics, which are critical to a successful coaching engagement. Bersin refers to 4 “jewels” he wants everyone to keep in mind and I’d like to apply them to coaching.

1. Mastery Means Being Able to Apply Knowledge

Bersin refers to a “master” as someone who does not only know the basic principles and practices of a subject; they also have the ability to apply it among a wide variety of conditions. The example he gives is that of a master carpenter who can draw on what he knows and can build almost anything.

Coaching is similar in that it should help someone become a “master” of their career by instilling the concept of learning to learn and self-management. By helping them have a deep understanding of their “default” style – their strengths and weaknesses – they can adapt to any situation throughout their careers since no single style or behavior pattern is appropriate for all situations.

2. People Learn by Doing

Coaching introduces people to new skills and behaviors, which are reinforced through the full adult leaning cycle – learning, doing, trying out alternatives, reflecting, and continuing to try until one gets it right. Building mastery often means one step forward and two steps back.

Behavior change takes times depending on the competency you are working on. Learning time management skills is quite different from coaching someone to be more strategic.

Unfortunately, many companies have little patience for this process and expect coaching to have immediate results, which is not realistic.

3. Coaches Accelerate Development

Coaches aren't magicians.  They can’t wave a magic wand and change anyone. Coaches can only accelerate the process by aiding in the emotional and intellectual commitment necessary for development.

The “readiness level” of the coachee is what really counts. Someone could be a terrific coach, however, if the person being coached is not ready to change or modify his or her behavior, the outcome will not be a success.

4. Management Drives Coaching

The questions coaches are asked most often are what method does he or she use and what area do they specialize in? These issues don’t matter as much as the amount of support the organization and the manager is willing to give to the coachee, the coach and the coaching engagement.

It has been my experience that the more involved a manager is in the coaching process, the more successful the end result will be. Collaboration amongst all parties throughout is ideal.

And finally, it’s okay to experiment with new approaches but – please - let’s never forget the basics.

P.S. I recently discovered and have become a fan of Josh Bersin whose company Bersin & Associates is a research and advisory firm focused on enterprise learning, talent management and talent acquisition.  Check it out.

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The words management and leadership are often used interchangeable, which makes me crazy. For starters, they aren’t. They are similar, yet different and it’s important to understand the difference for 3 reasons:

1. To clarify roles and responsibilities

Knowing and understanding the difference will help managers and leaders get clarity about what is expected of them so they can be successful in their positions.

 2. Help managers successfully transition to leadership positions

Many managers, when they transition into a leadership role, continue to manage.  Why? They simply don’t understand the difference. So, we have a lot of leaders who continue to manage and not lead. To quote John Kotter, author and Harvard Business School Professor, “most U.S. corporations today are over managed and under led.”

3. To build a leadership pipeline

Understanding the fundamental differences can help a company give potential leadership candidates the exposure and developmental experiences they need to prepare them to assume leadership positions.

So, now that we know the WHY, let’s look at the WHAT.

A Closer Look At Management and Leadership

According to Kotter, management promotes stability and copes with complexity and leaders press for and cope with change. One is not better than the other as both are necessary for success.

Management and leadership both involve what needs to be done, finding the right people to do what needs to be done and then finally ensuring that it gets done. Although complementary, they each go about doing things in different ways.

A Look At How They Differ

Management

Management’s focus is on complexity and avoiding chaos by putting things in order. Management does this by developing a plan with an accompanying budget that is in line with the goals of senior management. Their plan is usually short term – a year at most – and outlines specific objectives, due dates and steps to take along the way.

To support the plan, management creates an organizational structure and begins staffing it with qualified people. During this time, managers delegate tasks, coach and develop their people and handle anything having to do with the day-to-day management issues.

Finally, management focuses on controlling and problem solving. They monitor the results of their plan by way of reports, meetings and dealing with problems as they arise. Their ultimate goal is to support leadership.

Leadership

Leadership, on the other hand, begins by setting a direction and developing a vision for the distant future. Leadership is much more strategic and looks toward what could be.

Next, leaders focus on aligning the right people against their vision. They must ensure that they clearly communicate their vision and that it is understood and that people are committed to it.

Finally, motivate and inspire people to ensure their continued commitment to the vision and making sure obstacles don’t get in the way of achieving their goal.

We Need More Leaders

Suffice it to say, that there is a need – even though we are in an economic downturn - for more leaders. Companies need to “walk the talk” and really focus on developing talent by implementing an integrated talent management process.

At the same time, they should keep in mind a warning from John Kotter - that strong leadership with weak management is not good and is sometimes actually worse than the reverse. Kotter fells the real challenge is to combine strong leadership and strong management and use each to balance the other.

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“There are going to be times when we can’t wait for somebody. Now, you’re either on the bus or off the bus.” – from The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe

The morning the news broke about the “rift” between General McChrystal and President Obama, my husband asked me what I would advise the President if I were his coach.

At first I thought this is the President of the United States we’re talking about and not just any leader in a Fortune 500 company.

Then I realized that there is very little difference between the advice I’d give the President or anyone else.

So, here’s my advice to both leaders and followers and, especially to you President Obama, should you read my post. Hey, you never know!

Differing Views

A leader should always listen, acknowledge and carefully weigh what everyone on the team has to say and then make a decision that he or she feels is the best decision based on the information he or she has received.

This process should never be rushed as often happens when leaders feel pressure to respond quickly. Leaders need to make and take time to reflect and stand firm about this.

 On The Same Page

In order for any initiative to succeed – whether it is a war or to do an acquisition - everyone involved has to be on the same page.

They must not only share the same vision, they must be committed fully to its execution – and I mean fully committed. From my perspective it was clear that was not the case between the President and General McChrystal.

 Be Transparent

Once the decision has been made, thank everyone involved for giving input and make it crystal clear (no pun intended) as to why you believe your decision is the best way to go.

Speak individually to those who disagreed. This will make them feel that their input was heard, considered and acknowledged. It’s also an opportunity for you to assess who is really with you or just giving “lip service.” Did President Obama miss the signals?

Don’t Say It Unless You Mean It

If you don’t agree with the decision and know in your heart that you cannot support the decision then you must say so.

As Jim Collins says in Good to Great, “are you on the bus or off the bus?” If you’re not, then you must leave.

Don’t Air Your Dirty Laundry In Public

Followers should never, ever say they support a decision and then do everything they can to undermine the leader and the decision, as was the case with McChrystal.

The most egregious thing the General did was to air his disapproval of the President’s agenda to his troops as well as not stopping them from sharing this information in public and in his presence.

Who Has The Final Word?

In the end, the leader is the leader and he or she makes the final decision whether you like it or not. You don’t have to agree with it, you just have to support it.

It was apparent that General McChrystal had to go and I was not at all surprised when he resigned. He should have done it sooner.

If you are reading this President Obama and you like what I’ve written and want a coach, let me know.

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