Tag Archives: Books

Leadership competency: understanding what drives outstanding performance

Developing as a leader, Developing leadership across your organisation, , ,

I’m just back from a couple of days out of the office and catching up on e-mails.

One e-mail is a request, from a member of the Training Journal Daily Digest, for templates and ideas to support the process of identifying soft skills needed across the organisation as the basis for a Training Needs Analysis. I offer a super-simplified description of the process I would often go through with a client:

– I use either in-depth interviews or focus groups to elicit data about the behaviours shown by effective and outstanding performers. Either way, this involves a process of understanding what effective and outstanding performance look like in a particular job (often leadership or sales) or across a whole organisation;
– This process elicits mountains of data! So I look for themes across this data. (In my case it helps that I have a specific training in conducting this kind of research. Still, if you have the skills to discern themes and if you also have the skills to be alert to the difference between behaviours that lead to effective or outstanding performance and “nice to have” behaviours which don’t affect performance, this is a process that you can go through within your organisation);
– I have a specific process or way of describing behaviours so that they can then be used as the basis for the kind of gap analysis my correspondent describes. I include a definition of the competency: what is it all about? What are the intentions that underpin it? I look for levels of competency – what is the most common manifestation of this competency? Then what additional levels are shown by increasingly successful performers? Some organisations like to include contra-indicators – what do people do who lack mastery of this competency?
– Gathering data allows me to describe competencies in the language of the organisation I am working with, whilst drawing on much wider research. For anyone conducting this research (whether as a third-party consultant or in-house) it helps to validate the competencies and competency descriptions, e.g. by asking your management group for feedback.

I view this as a highly specialist process – and of course I would, because I have that specialist knowledge! So I know that organisations do work in house that I look on with horror – and still it’s a great step forward for their organisation! Maybe the heart of this process – the core question – is to be asking: What behaviours differentiate effective from outstanding performers in our organisation? Unless research is strongly anchored to performance it is unlikely to benefit the organisation.

Of course, there are also a number of books out there to draw on, including:

Goleman: Emotional Intelligence at Work
Mitriani, Dalziel and Fitt: Competency Based Human Resource Management
Spencer and Spencer: Competence at Work: Models for Superior Performance

As I write I am only too aware that my description reflects my training and experience as a consultant with the Hay Group. This in turn reflects the Hay Group’s relationship with Professor David McClelland whose pioneering work in this area provided both the basis for the Hay Group’s approach and the underpin of work done by many other organisations and consultancies.

For my part, I am immensely grateful for my long and deep apprenticeship in this methodology. As a consultant I continue to draw on this work, to help organisations to describe the competencies that drive outstanding performance (especially amongst their leaders) and as the basis for assessing candidates for senior leadership posts. As a coach, this understanding also informs my work so that I work with senior executives with the understanding that the patterns of behaviour they adopt will determine the outcomes they achieve. It is so simple – and yet so often overlooked.

The Immune Power Personality

Emotional Intelligence,

I wrote my recent newsletter whilst I was reading Henry Dreher’s book The Immune Power Personality: Seven Traits You Can Develop to Stay Healthy.

First published in 1995, Dreher draws on cutting edge science in the emerging field of psychoneuroimmunology or PNI. PNI is the study of the interaction between psychological processes and the nervous and immune systems of the human body, also referred to as “mind-body science”.

As the book’s title suggests, Dreher outlines seven traits which have been proven by scientists to boost the body’s immune system. These are strengths which help people to cope with hard times. They are also traits which have an impact on individuals’ physical well-being and immunity.

Dreher addresses each trait in turn, identifying the scientist who has studied this trait, summarising his or her research, making links with other scientific research or wider (for example, religious) traditions and offering suggestions on how to develop the characteristics identified. Dreher is meticulous and highly effective in translating deep science into a highly readable and practical book.

One experiment described in the book intrigued me more than any other and has resonance in our times. In it, scientist James Pennebaker divided sixty laid-off workers into three groups and had one group write, for five days, about their deepest thoughts and feelings about the loss of their job. Another group kept a time management record and the third wrote about trivia. After four months Pennebaker called off the experiment. 35% of those people who wrote about their feelings had found jobs compared with none of the members of the time management group and 5% of the group who had written about trivia. This experiment was part of a wider body of research which suggests that the capacity to confide supports strong immunity.

overall, The Immune Power Personality is a valuable and thought-provoking resource for anyone who wants both to understand why certain traits provide immunity during hard times and to further develop those traits.

Staying connected

Emotional Intelligence, ,

Back from my recent visit to Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, I continue to offer thoughts about how to thrive in hard times. It’s hard to prioritise and still it seems to me that we are most likely to thrive when we develop the skill and habit of staying connected. In my recent newsletter I wrote:

Facing the very real possibility that he might lose his job, John felt low. He sought to lower the levels of anxiety he felt by ignoring his feelings. He drank and smoked more and this helped to mask his feelings. At the same time, he started to lose sleep and his general sense of well-being went down.

Over time, the kind of tactics John employed can take their toll. When we ignore the messages conveyed by our feelings and bodily symptoms we fail to connect with our needs and to find ways to meet them. What’s more, the messages continue to be conveyed, becoming louder and more insistent. In time, they may take the form of physical illnesses or psychological distress.

Carl, like many people who are able to thrive even in hard times, is highly attuned to his emotions, gut reactions and other bodily symptoms. He views them as a kind of inner guide and he takes time to tune in to the messages being conveyed. In this way, he is constantly asking himself “what do I really want?” and “where am I in and out of balance?” Responding to these messages is helping Carl to make progress towards the life he is seeking to create.

How do we go about connecting – and staying connected – with the messages supplied by our bodily responses and emotions? Here are some thoughts from me. Some of them echo comments I have already made in the series of postings that accompanies my most recent newsletter:

  • Step 1: Notice your feelings and bodily emotions at different times. You might do this by keeping a diary in which you take time to write about whatever is alive for you at the time of writing. You might do this by staying tuned to your inner responses at the time of an experience (such as a meeting or conversation). You might do this after the fact – as part of your post meeting debriefing, for example. To begin with, you may find it hard to make this connection. Step 2 is designed to help you if you do;
  • Step 2: If you are not experiencing bodily feelings or emotions, notice what you are doing instead. Perhaps you are experiencing your life through your thoughts – thinking about others and maybe criticising them, for example. Perhaps you are taking actions to mask your feelings and other sensations – from drinking and smoking to watching TV. You may be quite happy to mask your experience in these or other ways. Or you may want to give yourself permission to experience your life more fully. If you do, you may find it helpful to seek professional help (see suggestions in Step 5, below);
  • Step 3: Give equal weight to all your feelings. In coaching, I find that many clients sponsor some feelings and sensations whilst suppressing others. Over time, this can mean that they become aware – attuned and responsive – to some areas of their lives whilst blind to others. If you want to become and to stay fully connected, with all the benefits this can bring, let go of judgement and replace it with curiosity;
  • Step 4: Ask yourself what your body or emotions are telling you. What is an emotion or sensation telling you about your needs? You may find all your thoughts are about others at this stage (“he should be doing X” or “I wish she’d do Y”). In this case ask yourself, what would it do for me if s/he did what I’m wanting? This helps you to form connections between your feelings, your desires of other people and the needs that underpin them both;
  • Step 5: Make use of the many resources available to help you to become more attuned to your emotions and bodily sensations. You may want to observe others and to notice how attuned they are to their own emotions – and with what outcomes. You might like to start by reading Marshall Rosenberg’s book Nonviolent Communication: A Language for Life. This lays out, very simply, the role our emotions can play and the connection between thoughts, needs and emotions. You might like to contact me (at dorothy@learningforlifeconsulting.co.uk) to discuss how coaching can support you – and the variety of other sources available to you.

And if you have questions or want to know more, please leave your comments here on the blog – I shall be delighted to respond.

A taste for literature – and food

About Dorothy

Wandering round the Nehalat Shiv’a district on my first evening in Jerusalem I find plenty of places to eat and, at the same time, nothing that appeals. I am not alone – several times I cross paths with a couple who are also wandering disconsolately from restaurant to restaurant in search of food.

My spirits rise when I read restaurant, cafe, bookstore on a sign that guides me into a small courtyard off the Yoel Moshe Salomon Street. It will surprise no-one who knows me that the offer of a book with my food, even when I have one in my rucksack, is one that appeals.

The Tmol-Shilshom cafe comprises two rooms and two outdoor areas including a tiny balcony. The furniture is an eclectic mix of tables and chairs, some decorative miscellania and – of course – shelves and windowsills laden with books. Many are in Hebrew but some are not, including Anita Diamant’s The Red Tent, a compelling fictional account (some have called it “midrash”) of the life of Dinah, daughter of Jacob, who receives only a passing mention in the Bible. Immediately I feel at home.

The menu offers an uncomplicated and appealing selection of vegetarian dishes as well as a programme of literary events. The latter are mainly in Hebrew but it happens that my visit takes place the day before three professors from the Hebrew and Emory Universities are due to read poems by WH Auden in the original English and in Hebrew translation.

My food, when it comes, lives up to the promise (as I see it) of the menu for simple, tasty fare. The service, too, is everything one might hope for in a place of this kind. I wonder about the young men who serve me – students perhaps? I imagine that they are more likely to be lovers of literature than career waiters.

By the time I leave, I know I shall return to hear Auden and to enjoy my evening meal.

Punished by rewards

Developing as a leader,

Today I took a moment to respond to an e-mail from a former colleague asking for examples of successful pay schemes to encourage innovation. Now I’m not in any way a pay guru. Still, I thought I’d throw in some thoughts just for the hell of it.

I am thinking, what about Alfie Kohn’s book Punished By Rewards? This book sums up an awful lot of research which suggests that the carrot and stick approach doesn’t work – and that the carrot is just the same as the stick in this regard.

Simon Caulkin also wrote an interesting column in the observer a while back summing up the arguments against performance-related rewards. You’ll find it at http://tinyurl.com/mcw47v. It’s interesting to note that he mentions Kohn and also our old friend Herzberg.

Perhaps a couple of questions for the pay gurus:

  • What do you want people to do (and how successful is performance related pay in getting them to do it)?
  • What do you want their reasons to be for doing it (and does reward ever have people do things for your desired reasons)?

Perhaps, in brief, it does seem that reward encourages people to do things for reasons of extrinsic motivation and reduces their sense of connection with the power-house of their own deep-rooted intrinsic motivations.

So what if the route to greater innovation were not via pay and reward at all? Oh! Maybe a good resource to explore this is the book and CD When Fish Fly! Lessons for Creating a Vital and Energized Workplace from the World Famous Pike Place Fish Market. The book is much easier to get hold of than the CD . Though I did note that the CD is available from Amazon Japan…

Recession: taking a wider view

Developing as a leader, Emotional Intelligence, , ,

Recently, I wrote in my newsletter, John and Lesley* were discussing the prospect of redundancies in their organisation. For them, redundancy was a very real possibility. As well as thinking about the possibility that they might be made redundant, they thought about the potential outcomes from being made redundant. Their spirits were low.

Carl*, on the other hand, was in a different place. This was Carl’s first experience of a recession during his career. He was excited to learn about how to thrive in business during a downturn and actively looking for opportunities. His spirits were high.

Viktor Frankl, author of Man’s Search for Meaning, famously observed how, even in the concentration camps in which he was prisoner during the Second World War, some prisioners found it in themselves to give away their last pieces of bread to comfort others and pointed to the freedom we all have: to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.

In this posting, I offer some thoughts about what you can do if you want consciously to choose your response to a challenging situation, be it your current circumstances in the recession or any other situation:

  • You might start by noticing the response you have, unconsciously, chosen. What are you feeling about your current situation and what thoughts are leading you to feel that way? This implies owning that it’s your thoughts about your situation rather than the situation per se that’s leading you to feel the way you do;
  • Once you’ve tuned into your current way of thinking and feeling, ask yourself, “what is my positive intention in choosing this way of thinking and feeling?” This is a way of honouring the intentions you are holding whilst recognising that there may be other ways of fulfilling your intentions;
  • Whether or not you have carried out the exercises above, one way to generate alternatives is to brainstorm. How many different ways can you think of to view your current situation? How many different ways are there to feel about it? I invite you to offer yourself some stretch here by including ways of viewing your circumstances that you are telling youself are in some way “wrong”, “inappropriate” or (insert whatever label springs to mind here);
  • Another way to generate different perspectives is to ask yourself questions that invite you to adopt a different point of view. For example, how might you view your current situation in the context of your whole life? How would you like to be able to look back on it in years to come? How might (insert the name of someone you admire or someone you find amusing) view your current situation?
  • It’s possible that you might find it helpful to give yourself permission to choose your way of viewing your current situation. This could open up new possibilities. What way would you choose to view your current circumstances if any way were OK, for example? What way would you choose to view your current circumstances if you wanted to feel (insert desired feeling here)?
  • Finally, you may find it helpful to share ideas with other people before choosing, especially if you are struggling to see things in more than one way or in a way that leaves you feeling comfortable. You may find that talking with a friend or colleague is enough to help you to choose a way of viewing things that works for you. You may find that your professional adviser (coach, therapist or other professional adviser) can give you the support you need to find a way of viewing your circumstances that works for you.

In the end it’s you who gets to choose your point of view. By checking in with yourself, you will know how well your current perspective is serving you.

(*John, Lesley and Carl are fictional characters used for illustration of the points being made)

Accounting for your leadership style

Developing as a leader, , ,

Arundhati Roy was surely onto the source of all joys when she named her novel (itself a thing of beauty and joy) The God of Small Things. I know I am attuned to this god when the world offers me the opportunity (as it has done in recent days) to rejoice in the small and simple things in life and when, taking that opportunity, I feel both joy and peace.

Recently, I had one such “small” joy. This took place when one of my university colleagues read about my blog in our college review and was moved to take a look and then to drop me a line. I have been enjoying our correspondence, knowing instinctively that we had and still have the potential to enrich each others’ lives.

Last week I came home after running a training for clients in how to interview leaders using a competency-based approach, only to find she had sent me an intriguing question. With her permission I am sharing it with you. She said:

I have an interview in a few weeks and will likely be asked about my style as a leader!! If one isn’t a natural leader but ain’t bad at it, how does one convincingly convey this?! Is it reasonable to say I have observed other leaders I admire and have taken on attributes I feel comfortable with?

This description reminds me of many professionals who progress to take on leadership roles to which they were not initially attracted. Seeking to adapt to the role, some of them will struggle to get excited about work whose results are measured in terms of the work of a wider team – for isn’t “work” something you do yourself? For some, time spent building relationships, managing staff etc. is perceived as time wasted – a distraction from the work itself. Recognising that when you are a leader engaging others is the work itself can constitute a big shift.

It strikes me that my friend is on the right track. Whilst the “born or made” debate continues, it’s often true that we model our leadership style on those whose leadership we admire and seek to adapt it so that we are both effective (maybe even inspiring) leaders and also remain true to ourselves. I am reminded of Daniel Goleman’s book The New Leaders which is so effective in bringing some solid research to a wider audience. What key points might I want to share with my friend ahead of her interview? They include:

  • Research shows leaders use a range of different leadership styles and that each style can be predicted to have a different outcome;
  • Some of these styles build motivation and engagement. They get the best out of people over time. Goleman describes these as “resonant” and identifies them as the visionary, coaching, affiliative and democratic styles;
  • Some of them (coercive/commanding, pace-setting) have their place but need to be used sparingly. Otherwise they tend to reduce engagement and motivation and undermine performance. Goleman describes them as “dissonant” styles;
  • Each style has a place! Knowing when to use which style and being able to adapt one’s style to fit the situation is what makes a truly great leader.

Knowing which style to use when requires both insight and flexibility: the most effective leaders have a command of the full range of styles and know when to use them. Sometimes these are the men and women who seem never to have reflected on leadership but rather to have an instinctive grasp of what’s needed. More often, truly great leaders are great because, over time, they have paid attention to what works and what doesn’t work and, in this way, developed a level of mastery in their leadership.

So, as my friend prepares for her interview I wonder what it means to say one “ain’t bad” at leadership. Teasing this out ahead of time could be valuable interview preparation.

Making friends with power

Coaching, Developing as a leader, Emotional Intelligence, , , ,

It’s a funny thing, power. David McClelland, in his extensive study of human motivation (summarised in the book of the same name) identified power as one of three primary areas of unconscious motivation.

Mention power in many circles, even circles of power and influence, and you’ll find, frankly, that it gets a bad press. It’s easy to see why this might be true, when we have such a long history in the human race of exercising power over others in ways which meet the needs of one person or group at the expense of the needs of another.

Through my studies of nonviolent communication, I have come to a different understanding of power. For whilst we can exercise power over others we can also exercise power with others. We do this when we act from the belief that our needs – everybody’s needs – are important. This belief provides a basis for seeking to find ways to connect with, honour and meet our needs. This same belief provides a basis for helping others to do the same.

A first step on the road to nonviolence is to fully inhabit our own needs – to connect with them, bathe in them, experience the living energy of those needs. Perhaps it’s worth highlighting that when we are truly connected to our needs our primary focus is on our needs. The question of how we might meet them and who might help us in this endeavour becomes secondary. There are so many ways in which different needs can be met.

Now, in my work as a consultant and, more recently, in my work as a coach, I have for some years been helping leaders as they grapple with questions of power. Still, ten days after spending a day with consultant and NVC trainer Gina Lawrie, something she said and has said before is landing with me with a new energy and I recognise just how much I want to embrace the power of my needs fully and in this way to inhabit and live from my full power. Only days after sharing my values on my blog I realise it’s time to revise them and add another. I’m not yet sure I have the words right and still they are good enough for now. I decide that one of my values, a way of honouring and serving life is:

Fully inhabiting and living from my power.

When it’s time to follow your bliss

Alternative approaches, Coaching, Emotional Intelligence, , ,
The power of coaching lies in its invitation to become increasingly conscious of the dreams we hold for our life and to take steps towards the fulfilment of these dreams. Joseph Campbell, author of The Hero With A Thousand Faces and The Power Of Myth, describes the choice to pursue this journey as “following your bliss”. Because coaching sponsors this journey, whether clients are working with “life”, “executive” or any other coaches, they usually report high levels of satisfaction with their experience of coaching.
This is not to suggest that the road we travel when we act to create the life of our dreams is always easy. Often, clients come up against barriers to progress and need to find ways to engage with these barriers and to overcome them. The most insidious of these are clients’ (often hidden) limiting beliefs. Do I have the resources I need to create the life I dream of? Will my loved ones support me – continue to love me, even – if I pursue my dreams? How will people respond if I fail? Will my gain be at others’ expense? The list goes on and on. Perhaps the mother of all hidden beliefs – the belief that underlies the myriad questions we ask ourselves – is the belief that it’s somehow not OK to live the life of our choosing; the belief, if you like, that it is not our lot to be happy and fulfilled in life.
Today I am reminded of this in my work with one of my coaching clients and I promise to pop a quote onto my blog. The quote is from a book by Michael Berg called The Secret: Unlocking The Source Of Joy And Fulfilment. Michael’s family is prominent in sharing the teachings of Kabbalah. Whilst I am not a student of Kabbalah, my precious friend Rob is. As a result of our sharing over time, I was delighted to read Michael Berg’s tiny book and the quote I share below jumped out at me. I dedicate it to my coaching clients and their various journeys:
One of these lessons needs to be introduced now, for it’s the foundation of everything that follows. This lesson can be expressed in few words: Our true destiny is not the pain and suffering that can seem so pervasive in the world but a joy and fulfilment beyond imagining.
I wonder, what new doors would open up for us all if we were guided in our lives by this belief?

Are we ready for Emotional Intelligence?

Emotional Intelligence,

Every now and then I have what one might call a “mad day”. Today I am experiencing the knock-on effect of one such day, for yesterday I rose at 5.30am and today I am feeling gently tired.

I started the day by listening to Guy Claxton as he addressed the Talent Foundation to talk about matters of education following the publication of his most recent book, What’s the Point of School? Rediscovering The Heart of Education. From there I went on to join Gina Lawrie and her colleagues from Helix Consulting at a workshop in which we explored practical ways to help workplace groups to develop as dynamic, functional emotionally intelligent teams. And then on to hear Lone Franks speak at the RSA following the publication of her book, Mindfield: How Brain Science is Changing Our World, about recent discoveries about the brain and its functioning and the about implications of this growing body of knowledge.

What did I take from my day? Listening to Guy Claxton speak and to our post-talk discussions I was struck, once again, by the disparities between what we measure in our students and what we know to be important. In the workplace, we have come to accept the central role that an individual’s emotional intelligence plays in his or her success at work. In schools we have come to recognise a body of personal characteristics, beginning with the natural curiosity children bring, and their impact on learning and learning outcomes. How is it that, with such knowledge, we do so little to assess and encourage these characteristics and may even seem intent on discouraging them in our school-age children? I confess, I am curious about the role our government plays in this and how our ministers can ignore so much of what research tells us and still wonder why we are not more entrepreneurial as a nation.

With so much to say in her talk, Lone Franks’ evening presentation leaves me to ponder further. For doesn’t the work of our neuroscientists reinforce what we already know by observation about what it takes for people to be happy, successful, and… and… and… And doesn’t this in turn reinforce the gaps between what we know and apply in practice?

In my own work, I continue to enjoy assessing candidates for senior leadership roles, not least because the candidates for such roles are often able and inspiring. These competency-based assessments are focussed on the emotional intelligence of those I assess. My work as a coach is also focused on supporting senior leaders as they develop their leadership and emotional intelligence. You could say, as they explore how to be both authentic and effective in the workplace. And yet, somehow, whilst we understand the importance of emotional intelligence in the workplace, it seems that we still do our best to contain the implications of our understanding.

Working with Gina and her colleagues during the day serves to remind me just how much we can do to develop our emotional intelligence as individuals and teams and yet it’s rare to have the opportunity to work with teams in the depth I am able to work with individual clients. I wonder, are we ready to grapple with the full implications of what we know?

And I notice how much I relish this prospect. I am open for business. And delighted to be open for the business of emotional intelligence.