1. 05.2015
Essentials of leadership
development,
managerial effectiveness,
and organizational
productivity
Vol.32 No. 05
The Standard of Global Leadership Development
Presented By
1 SCENE + 2 LENSES = 4 LEADERSHIP LESSONS
“Be the change you wish to see in the world”
Michael Belcher
2110
Leadership Coaching
Getting the most out of it
3024
Invest With Trustworthy
CEOs
How to do that?
Leading With
COURAGE
Understanding the
foundations of self-renewal
Servant Leadership
The case for the best
leadership philosophy
2.
3. 05 Education & Training Impacts
Environments
An APU graduate makes a difference in Africa
Tatiana Sehring interviews Morris Koffa
08 1 Scene + 2 Lenses = 4 Leadership
Lessons
“Be the change you wish to see in the world”
Michael Belcher
10 Leadership Coaching
Getting the most out of it
Gregg Thompson
14 Lead With Your Heart
Why leaders need to love
Brandon Smith
15 Excellence In Practice
A reflection on leadership
Meghan Seybold & Pragashini Fox
16 Authentic Leadership
Great leaders provide feedback
Al Goodman
17 Leading With Responsibility
It’s all about influence and stepping up!
Dina Sainato
21 Invest With Trustworthy CEOs
How to do that?
L.J. Rittenhouse
22 Results-Based Leadership
Putting employees first before customer and profits
Prof. Sattar Bawany
24 Leading With COURAGE
Understanding the foundations of self-renewal
Joan Marques
26 A Culture Of Strengths
Is your culture built on a weak foundation?
Jim Clemmer
28 Leaders Can’t Keep An Open Mind
3 reasons why
Brian Ray
30 Servant Leadership
The case for the best leadership philosophy
Marcel Schwantes
32 Leadership Courage
It is contagious
Mike Hoff
34 Fight For Pretty Things, Not Petty
Things
Achieve your leadership excellence
Prof. M.S. Rao
36 Staying Grounded
Self-leadership in a time of rapid change
Renée Gendron
38 Facilitating Win-Win
You can’t lead if you can’t follow
Sharon Drew Morgen
39 Three Minute Leadership
On gratitude
Prof. Michael M. Reuter
1 Scene + 2 Lenses = 4 Leadership Lessons
To transform the world or even a small part of it, a leader must be transformed. PG.08
“Be the change you wish to see in the world”
The Standard of Global Leadership Development
Presented By
05.2015
Essentials of leadership
development,
managerial effectiveness,
and organizational
productivity
Vol.32 No. 05
2110
Leadership Coaching
Getting the most out of it
3024
Invest With Trustworthy
CEOs
How to do that?
Leading With
COURAGE
Understanding the
foundations of self-renewal
Servant Leadership
The case for the best
leadership philosophy
5. 5leadership excellence essentials presented by HR.com | 05.2015 Submit your Articles
The ability and
innate willingness to
help others is a unique
gift. Morris Koffa is
a special individual
who has this gift. He
helped establish a non-
profit organization,
Africa Environmental
Watch, whose purpose
is to educate African
citizens on environ-
mental issues such as
toxic waste, commu-
nity school aware-
ness, and beyond. In
this conversation, we
speak with American
Public University
graduate, Mr. Koffa about his group’s work with the local govern-
ments in Africa to provide better education and resources for its
citizens and help prevent events such as the current Ebola crisis.
Q: What is the Africa Environmental Watch and what’s your
role within the organization?
Morris: I am the co-founder of the Africa Environmental
Watch, which was formerly the Liberia Environmental Watch.
Our initial purpose was to deal with the post-war environmental
issues following the 14-year civil conflict ending in 2003. There
were many serious environmental and humanitarian issues in
Liberia, and today, this includes the current Ebola contagion.
We also include issues impacting the entire African community,
and we’re continuing our mission by providing environmental
expertise on protecting human health and the environment
through educational awareness. It’s our hope to create, lead and
maintain safe living environments and a sustainable future for
all of Africa’s citizens.
Based on our longevity in leading awareness in the region,
we’ve received support from Liberia’s Environmental Protection
Agency. What we didn’t realize at the time is that the agency
was very much incapacitated. Rather than see it as a barrier,
we felt there was an opportunity to provide leadership. So we
started by arranging international environmental conferences.
The last one we held, we hosted many leading environmental
organizations including the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency. As a result, some tangible results were strategized and
then delivered to Liberia.
Q: Tell us about your personal background and what inspired
you to help others?
Morris: I graduated from the University of the District of
Columbia with a civil and constructing engineering background.
After that, I decided to enroll at American Public University to
complete my master’s in environmental policy and management
degree and then another in emergency and disaster management.
I developed a strong interest in my studies, and just at that
time, the crisis in Liberia developed. I was selected to go with
a Liberian delegation to travel to West Africa to participate in
a conference and I saw many environmental concerns. I asked
myself—is there something I could do to make a difference?
After I gained more knowledge about the issues while attending
American Public University, my experience, and my professors
motivated me even further. And we founded the Liberia Envi-
ronmental Watch. Since then, the issues we’ve addressed have
developed into a broad scope of environmental activities. Then
the Ebola crisis hit and we are currently working toward resolv-
ing the efficacy issues that surround the Ebola outbreak. I’m
also working toward my Ph.D. as public policy administration
doctoral candidate at Walden University, currently covering
the efficacy of emergency and disaster management in Liberian
protocols as my dissertation topic.
The Ebola virus outbreak is a crisis that has risen to a level
that no one was fully prepared to manage on. Historically, Ebola
originated in 1976 from areas of South Sudan and what was
Zaire, which is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
It then subsided to the point that no one paid much attention
to it. Last March, in an area near the Guinea and Sierra Leone
border—the virus developed spreading into Liberia. The model
of transmission between humans is through contact with bodily
fluids and secretions. When this happened, it was caused by a
lack of education. People were not following the right procedures
to contain the virus. The virus was spreading due to an African
tradition in that when someone dies, everyone tries to touch
the body. That’s how it got disseminated through many com-
munities. In the broader scope, the death toll and the growing
numbers of cases is alarming.
From an environmental perspective this is also a serious
concern. When someone passes away, the body is supposed to
be cremated, but because Liberia doesn’t have the capacity to
do this properly, they conduct mass burials. When the multiple
bodies buried near wetlands decompose, it poses a serious threat
to the water sources. More than 75 percent of the population in
Liberia has no means of getting water except from natural creeks
or wells, which now may be contaminated. So when people drink
the water, it’s a major environmental concern. Though medical
science will not agree that Ebola is an airborne disease—it has
all indications from the environmental perspective that there is
some linkage to it being airborne. If there’s someone infected
with Ebola, when he sits in a confined area and sneezes, then the
droplets go into the air. If someone inhales the droplets, there’s
a possibility he can get infected. It’s a very dangerous situation
so we engage in educational awareness in these communities.
From an emergency perspective, the efficacy of the emergency
management protocols in Liberia from all indications was not
previously accepted. Only recently did Liberia enact the law
that gives power to the Natural Disaster Commission to imple-
ment the work of properly managing protocols. The issue then
becomes, instead of having been proactive, Liberia was reactive.
And you find that’s very common amongst the impoverished
countries, because they don’t take into consideration the latest
issues that can develop quickly and have a greater impact. I had
a meeting with the Vice President of Liberia, and we raised the
issue that the Natural Disaster Commission must receive all the
Education & Training Impacts Environments
An APU graduate makes a difference in Africa
Tatiana Sehring interviews Morris Koffa
Interactive
6. 6 leadership excellence essentials presented by HR.com | 05.2015Submit your Articles
support and resources it needs to operate effectively in terms
of policy, issues, and regulations to make sure that the agency is
able to not just respond or recover, but to prevent or remediate
before these outbreaks take more lives. Liberia declared a state
of emergency to try to curtail the disease. It’s very unfortunate
that Ebola has stricken us, but the crisis will not define Liberia.
We will get through it by making sure the right procedures are
in place so that it never rises again.
Q: What is your approach to leadership and what’s the impact
you’ve experienced as a result of your work?
Morris: When I meet with leaders, I share a clear sense of
direction and leadership—much of which I learned during my
studies at American Public University. I find there needs to be
passion for your work. Passion inspires them to make a dif-
ference, therefore driving protocol, which is how you create a
level of connection with the people and the causes you support.
Leadership is about how effective you are in creating new rela-
tionships and building upon established ones to bring together
the science, policies, procedures, and awareness that’s needed to
solve problems. So I talk about the need for creating partnerships
as well as for education to driving worldwide impact.
I emphasize education, because there is a deficiency. Working
with the Liberian EPA, I found that, of the agency’s 150 em-
ployees, about 90 percent had less education than a high school
graduate. It’s difficult to solve technical issues with this lack of
training. We volunteered our time to educate people, starting
with how to do an environmental impact assessment (EIA).
That worked well, but we also wanted to ensure the next step
was addressed, which was leadership training.
What is critical for any organization, agency or country as
a whole, is that you have to overcome the lack of training and
education. Then you must provide the right leadership skills to
actualize the training into results. When you have trained well-
qualified people, who know exactly what they must do, only
then, can you achieve the greater goal. It’s through education,
training and effective leadership communication that we can
bring change in the traditional protocols to eradicate this crisis.
We’ve helped to create a level of heightened awareness that
never existed before. Today, no company does business without
first conducting an environmental impact assessment. We’ve
also added a corporate social responsibility clause which ensures
that corporations provide incentives for the communities in
which they operate including employment, schools, clinics, and
more. It’s all about development through education, training
and opportunity. We hope to build on the progress that is un-
derway in hopes we can reach a level in Liberia so it’s no longer
considered a country of misfortune, but instead, a country of
hope and to inspire positive changes toward worldwide social
and environmental impact.
Q: Is there a person who inspired or mentored you in a way
that helped influence your role as a leader today?
Morris: There are a lot of people who I emulate in terms of
their leadership. However, the person who most inspired me as
a leader was my dad. He always wanted to see the best out of
me, in spite of the fact he didn’t always have the means to let me
get what I wanted. Throughout my life, I’ve always tried to live
up to his expectations. I feel obligated to ensure that the best
comes out of me. When I look at myself, I see the opportuni-
ties that have come my way. And when I look at Liberia, I see
people who have not had the same opportunities as me, and are
suffering because of other issues they had nothing to do with.
So, then I must ask myself—How can I be of help, so that we
can bring about a social change? What can I do to lead them to
see that there is light through the tunnel—to give them hope?
Those are the thoughts that inspire me every day. Even with my
children or the ones I mentor, I have to be a role model. I can
see that I have to inspire them and that I have to let them see
something positive through me that hopefully changes lives. I’m
not perfect, but I’m doing the best I can to make a difference.
Morris Koffa
Featured Guest
Morris Koffa has a B.S. in Construction and Civil Engineering
from the University of the District of Columbia (UDC), District
Government in Washington, DC. He is also the co-founder and
executive director of the Africa Environmental Watch (AEW),
formerly the Liberia Environmental Watch (LEW), a non-profit
organization established in MD in 2004 and a registered Non-
governmental Organization (NGO) in Liberia. AEW today
provides environmental expertise geared towards improving the
quality of life in Africa through educational awareness, behavioral
change communication and an action plan that would lead to
a safer environment, empowering and giving hope for a cleaner
living environments; as well as to foster policy and improvements
in all facets of the environment, as it relates to public health,
sustainability, safety and longevity. Morris Koffa has a Bachelor
Science (Bsc) in Construction and Civil Engineering from Uni-
versity of the District of Columbia (UDC), a Master’s of Science,
Environmental Science and Management and a Master’s Art in
Emergency and Disaster Management, from American Public
University. He is also a Doctoral candidate of Public Policy and
Administration with concentration in Emergency Management
at Walden University.
Education & Training Impacts Environments
Tatiana Sehring has 10 years of experience in corporate partnerships for lead-
ership, talent and professional development, serving as the director, corporate
and strategic relationships at American Public University System. She also
serves as an editor for Inspire – a thought leadership series to inspire indi-
vidual and workplace transformation. Tatiana has been featured as a subject
matter expert in conferences and related venues for human capital manage-
ment professionals, including Human Capital Insights, and E-Learning, Chief
Learning Officer and Training magazines.
Tatiana can be reached at tsehring@apus.edu. Learn more or subscribe at
www.GreatLeadersInspire.com
“What is critical for any organization, agency or coun-
try as a whole, is that you have to overcome the lack
of training and education. Then you must provide the
right leadership skills to actualize the training into re-
sults. When you have trained well-qualified people who
know exactly what they must do, only then, can you
achieve the greater goal.”
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8. COVER ARTICLE
8 leadership excellence essentials presented by HR.com | 05.2015Submit your Articles
Dance first. Think later. It’s the natural order. ~ Samuel Beckett
SCENE 1
By now you’ve seen the Dancing Guy. Not the computer-
generated Dancing Baby that launched the Internet age, but
rather the Dancing Guy, the unidentified “shirtless guy” ca-
vorting on a hillside at an open air concert1
. If you haven’t, you
should immediately. Entitled, First Follower: Leadership Lessons
from Dancing Guy, the video is easily found. Simply type “Dancing
Guy” into your Internet browser and launch one of the hundreds of
copies. But, be forewarned: Stop searching before you reach the Fat
Russian Guy Dancing in a Speedo video. It’s a sight you won’t forget
and can’t miss.
Amazingly, at the same time the same scene was filmed from another
point of view and a markedly different perspective.2
Satirically entitled
Dude on a Hill, the video is just as easy to locate, but with far fewer
copies available. Again, be cautious. If your search leads you to Drunk
Man Tries to Walk Up a Hill, you’ve gone too far.
Since first posted in 2010, the Dancing Guy has become an Inter-
net sensation and a comedic cornerstone of leadership development
workshops everywhere. His antics are as enlightening as they are
amusing; provoking learning as well as laughter. In mere minutes, he
demonstrates the leadership behaviors needed to transform doubters
into doers and a crowd into a celebratory cause.3
While both videos
faithfully record the moment, neither fully captures the leadership
magic that occurs. For those lessons the viewer must pull-back and
pan between both videos.
LENS 1: The Dancing Guy
Shot in a grainy, cinéma vérité style, the First Follower video opens
with the Dancing Guy flailing wildly to the booming beat emanat-
ing from a distant stage. Initially he dances alone, unashamed of his
outrageous antics and unaware of those who look on in disbelief.
Undaunted, he displays the courage to stand alone and look ridiculous
while urging others to join him. Soon a young man runs to his side
and joins the dance. Eventually, another joins the fray, then another,
and then more still until in less than three-minutes a crowd has formed
and a movement has started.
The narrator, Derek Sivers, describes the process as it unfolds.
In his scripted comments, he explains how an individual must risk
looking like a “lone nut” to enlist his “first follower.” By publically
embracing the “lone nut,” the first follower transforms him into a
leader and incites others to join the movement. “If the leader is the
flint, the first follower is the spark that makes the fire” Sivers argues.
The lesson, he contends, is that “Leadership is over-glorified. When
you find a lone nut doing something great, have the guts to be the
first person to stand up and join in.”
LENS 2: The Dude on a Hill
Like the first, this Dude on the Hill video records the Dancing
Guy gyrating frantically as the videographer and his friends casu-
ally comment on the scene. However, this time the video shows
the “shirtless guy” engaging numerous potential partners. Rejected
and ridiculed multiple times, he endures the humiliation with good
humor; undeterred in his quest to find the perfect partner. Not until
the sixth “first follower” approaches does he meet his match. But,
once he does, within seconds, the seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth
followers race to the scene, igniting what one astonished bystander
calls a “dance-dance revolution.”
LESSON 1: Persistence
Viewed in tandem, the two videos focus on the same scene, but
convey widely different lessons. The first lesson is persistence. By
abbreviating the sequence, Sivers’ presents the first follower as the
crucial element in initiating the change. However, by widening the
aperture on the day’s events, the second video exposes the true hero.
The first follower’s arrival is a tipping point; the magic moment when
“an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads
like wildfire.” But, while the follower may be the fulcrum, he is not
the force which propels the cause to the precipice. That honor and
the hard work it entails belongs to the “lone nut.”
The first video portrays a traditional model of a leader, a charis-
matic figure whose compelling manner and narrative draw followers
to his cause. Conversely, the second video shows what researcher Jim
Collins defines in his book Good to Great as a Level 5 Executive, a
leader who “builds enduring greatness through a paradoxical blend
of personal humility and professional will.”4
The broader view reveals
the “lone nut” to be a leader who channels his ego away from himself
and into his cause. Sustained by pure passion and a sense of purpose,
he perseveres in the face of ridicule. He endures the slights inflicted
1 Scene + 2 Lenses = 4 Leadership Lessons
“Be the change you wish to see in the world.”
By Michael Belcher
9. 9leadership excellence essentials presented by HR.com | 05.2015 Submit your Articles
on him by nearby naysayers as well as the sheer exhaustion imposed
upon him by time and effort. Persistence, not pride, enables him
to prevail. He demonstrates that a major change initiative is more
a marathon than a sprint with victory going to the steady, not the
swift. In fact, any student of movement (or movements) could easily
see it is his devotion, not his dance; his steadfast determination, not
his style which eventually attracted followers to his side. He is such a
selfless servant to the sounds that there is little doubt that should his
allies not arrived, the “lone nut” would still dance.
LESSON 2: Patience
The second lesson is patience. Sivers’ video leads the viewer to believe
that the “shirtless guy” accepted his first “first follower.” Not so. The
second video discloses the Dancing Guy evaluated six first followers
before selecting the right partner. Approached by six candidates, he
warmly welcomed them all, affectionately embraced several, and
generously taught dance moves to a select few. He even entertains a
malicious interloper sent down and spurred on by his friends to disrupt
the dance. Gently and graciously, the shirtless guy attempts to teach
the imposter to dance and is mocked for his efforts. Realizing the
follower is unsuitable, the Dancing Guy physically distances himself
from this recruit, prompting his rapid retreat.To succeed, the Dancing
Guy realizes he needs the patience and judgment to find the right
colleague, not just the first. His judicious actions reflect researcher
Jim Collins’ admonition in his book Good to Great that “People are
not your most important asset. The right people are.” He implements
Collins’ first practical discipline for being rigorous in people decisions:
“When in doubt, don’t hire – keep looking.”5
Dubious of the first five
followers’ commitment to the cause, he dutifully dances on alone,
looking for number six.
LESSON 3: Perspective
The next lesson is perspective, and comes from observing the
videographers, not the video. The Sivers’ video is shot from across
the hillside on an equal plane with the Dancing Guy. The scripted
narration respects the subject even though it lightly chides him for
his antics. The tenor of the video is professional, not personal. It is
meant to educate as well as entertain.
Conversely, the second video was filmed from a higher vantage
point, looking down – literally and figuratively -- on the shirtless guy
cavorting below. As the scene unfolds, the second cameraman and his
crew of friends become increasingly aware of the dancer and increas-
ingly derisive. They make caustic remarks about the Dancing Man’s
affectionate acts. The tone is personal, not professional; the humor
hurtful, not helpful. Tellingly, they taunt the shirtless guy until the
moment the movement blossoms, and then they quickly change their
tune. “See what one man can do,” one says and to which another replies
“One man can change the hordes,” and another pleads “I want to go
down!” As the crowd amasses, the second cameraman and crew fall
silent, awed by the uprising the “lone nut” has unleashed.
LESSON 4: Potential
The final lesson proceeds from the last lesson, and is about poten-
tial. Two cameramen viewed the same hilarity from the same hilltop.
Yet, while their angles varied slightly, their perspectives varied widely,
resulting in dramatically different outcomes. The second videographer
watched a shirtless guy dancing on a hill and chose to belittle him both
on the scene and on the Internet. As a result, he produced a humor-
ous video that has been viewed roughly 723,000 times on YouTube.
On the other side of the hill, Sivers observed the same scene, but
saw significantly more. He perceived patterns and lessons invisible
to a viewer with a narrower mental lens. Choosing to respect, rather
than ridicule his subjects, Stivers was able to explore the unique
relationship between the leader and his followers. To do so, he first
made sense of the situation for himself and then made meaning of it
for others. Alert, adaptive and artistic, he uncovered the leadership
lessons hidden in amidst the madness. As a result, he produced a
video viewed over 4,000,000 times on YouTube, and showcased in
countless classrooms around the world. Perceiving the possibility
in the moment made Sivers an Internet celebrity and TedTalk star.
Where one cameraman saw parody, the other saw potential. Where
one saw lemons, the other made lemonade.
The Biggest Lesson
Near the conclusion of Sivers’ video, he asks “The biggest lesson...
Did you miss it?” If you did, you will not find it in his video or his
assertion that “Leadership is over glorified.” The biggest lesson isn’t
in either video, but rather in the space between them. It is exposed in
comparing the videos and contrasting the roles of the leader and fol-
lower as well as the attitudes and actions of the cameramen. Whether
in front or behind the camera, the biggest lesson is that to transform
the world or even a small part of it, a leader must be transformed.
He must develop:
• Persistence to prevail despite obstacles and objections
• Patience to find the right follower, not merely the first follower
• Perception to sense patterns amidst chaos and make-meaning
amidst craziness
• Potential to act when opportunity arises.
This lesson is echoed in the words of another “shirtless guy,” another
“lone nut” who challenged the world. Commenting on the need for
personal transformation to precede social transformation, Mahatma
Gandhi said “If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the
world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does
the attitude of the world change towards him...We need not wait to
see what others do.” Or put more succinctly: “Be the change you
wish to see in the world.” LE
The views and opinions presented herein are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent
those of OPM or the Federal Government.
Notes
1 Derek Sivers, First Follower: Leadership Lessons from Dancing Guy, (sivers.org/ff, 2009), Accessed on
10/10/2014 at http://youtu.be/fW8amMCVAJQ.
2 Guy Dancing on the hill at Sasquatch! Full Version! Santogold Unstoppable (Checkitoutmusic.com,
2009), Accessed on 10/10/2014 at http://youtu.be/nU7dxkIz1Vs.
3 The Dancing Guy employs the four transformational leadership behaviors described by Bernard Bass
and Ronald Riggio in their 2005 book, Transformational Leadership, specifically 1) idealized influence,
2) inspired motivation, 3) intellectual stimulation, and 4) individual consideration.
4 Jim Collins, Good to Great (New York, NY, Harper Business 2001), p. 20.
5Ibid. p. 63.
Michael Belcher is the Faculty member at Federal Executive Institute, OPM.
He joined FEI as a senior faculty member in May 2013 after successful careers
in the public and private sectors. His interests include classic and contempo-
rary leadership theory, professional ethics, leading change, strategic planning
and complex problem-solving.
Email: michael.belcher@opm.gov
1 Scene + 2 Lenses = 4 Leadership Lessons
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10. While coaching is a highly effective way of accelerating your
development as a leader, it also represents a significant investment
of time and money. Here are fourteen ways to get the most out
of your leadership coaching experience.
1. Craft a bold new future. Challenge yourself to move up to a
whole new level as a leader. Don’t waste this opportunity by settling
for minor changes and fine-tuning. Spend time early in the coaching
process crafting a picture of the most ambitious future possible for
you as a leader. When this picture both excites you and scares you, you
will know you have the right one. Expect great things from yourself
and the process.
2. Drive the process. Unlike most other learning and development
processes, you are responsible for setting your own learning objec-
tives, crafting session agendas and structuring the coaching schedule.
This is your show. Take charge. And be very, very selfish. For once,
it really is all about you.
3. Steel yourself for a rocky road. If the changes you need to make
to really lift your game as a leader were obvious and easy, you would
have made them already. Prepare mentally for the rigorous tasks of
self-assessment, learning and personal change. Think about what
you are willing to learn, invest, risk and sacrifice to become a better
leader. Recognize that leadership development is impossible without
Leadership Coaching
Getting the most out of it
By Gregg Thompson
10 leadership excellence essentials presented by HR.com | 05.2015Submit your Articles
11. 11leadership excellence essentials presented by HR.com | 05.2015 Submit your Articles
personal development.
4. Seek out new sources of feedback. Invite the perspectives of
others, especially the stuff that is hard to hear. Pick six people who
regularly see you in your role as a leader, tell them that you are involved
in a leadership development process, and ask them how you can better
use your leadership talents to have a larger influence on others.
5. Prepare well for each session. Before each coaching session,
spend 15 minutes in quiet private contemplation creating an agenda
for the coaching dialogue. What are the most important leadership
issues facing you at this moment? How have you fared since the last
coaching session? How can you best use your time with your coach?
Spend another 15 minutes quieting your mind from the frenetic pace
of day-to-day organization life. Do what you need to do to get yourself
ready to explore new territory, challenge your current thinking and
experiment with new leadership practices.
6. Be at your best. Schedule your coaching sessions for times
when you are rested; not at the end of the work day when you are
drained, tired and out of gas. Coaching is often an intense, arduous
process and will be most rewarding when you are at your physical
and emotional best.
7. Focus on outcomes. Great leadership is measured by one thing:
The impact that you have on others. It is not about being popular
or easy going. Keep asking yourself one question: “What can I do to
help others on my team or in my organization become more aligned,
engaged, committed, productive and innovative?” You are the instru-
ment of leadership but are measured by how others perform.
8. Hold on to the important stuff. Use the coaching process to
get exceptional clarity on those principles and aspirations that are
most important in your role as a leader. Resolve to hold on to these
at all costs. Significant, sustained change can only happen when it is
rooted in your closely-held personal values.
9. Let go of the unimportant stuff. Use the coaching process to
identify the assumptions, behaviors and habits that no longer serve
you well and are best left behind. Think about this process as aggres-
sively pruning your approach to leadership so that you can blossom
into a much stronger leader.
10. Always move forward. Leave every coaching session with at
least one specific action that will advance your leadership in some
way and commit to completing this action before the next session.
This will include things such as experimenting with a new practice,
having a difficult conversation, redesigning how you invest your time,
restructuring your personal strategies or acquiring the resources you
need to meet your goals. As the Spanish proverb says: “Habits are like
cobwebs, and then they become cables”.
11. Reflect on and generalize your learning. After each coaching
session, take 15 minutes of private time to reflect on your progress,
crystallize your new learning and insights, and determine how you
can apply these to other areas of your work and leadership.
12. Use your coach well. Don’t waste time trying to impress your
coach. Your coach assumes that you are a very talented, committed
leader with the potential to make a much bigger impact on your team
and organization. Your coach is not your personal advisor, counselor
or therapist. You will get few recommendations and answers. Your
coach, however, has great faith in your ability to chart your own
future as a leader and will challenge you, encourage you, confront
you, affirm you and provoke you…always in service of your learning
and development.
13. Develop the habit of being direct and candid. Use the coach-
ing process to expand your ability to give feedback and constructively
confront others. Start with your coach. Let your coach know what is
working for you, what isn’t and what you would like changed.
14. Celebrate your performance breakthroughs. While coach-
ing is often an arduous process, it can also be a wonderful adventure
replete with amazing insights and great personal victories.
Take time at each session to talk about your wins, no matter how
small, and revel in your progress. Enjoy the journey. It will likely be
one of the most rewarding times of your career. LE
Leadership Coaching
“Challenge yourself to move up to a whole new level as a
leader. Don’t waste this opportunity by settling for minor
changes and fine-tuning. Spend time early in the coach-
ing process crafting a picture of the most ambitious future
possible for you as a leader.
Gregg Thompson is President of Bluepoint Leadership Development and
author of several books, including “Unleashed: Leader As Coach”.
Email greggthompson@bluepointleadership.com
Visit www.bluepointleadership.com
Would like to Comment? Please Click Here.
“Leave every coaching session with at least one specific
action that will advance your leadership in some way and
commit to completing this action before the next session.
This will include things such as experimenting with a new
practice, having a difficult conversation, redesigning how
you invest your time, restructuring your personal strategies
or acquiring the resources you need to meet your goals.
12.
13.
14. Lead With Your Heart
Contrary to popular belief, LOVE is not a four-letter word in
the workplace (I’m sure many of my HR friends are cringing right
now, furiously composing a rebuttal). And yet, it is a rare workplace in
which I encounter a leader comfortable enough to embrace the power
of love (shout out to Huey Lewis) in how he or she leads.
Emotional distance is safer. As one leader recently shared with me,
“I keep a safe distance with all of my direct reports because I may one
day have to let them go. It is much easier to have those conversations
if I don’t know anything about them personally or don’t have a deeper
connection with them.” No doubt, arms-length leadership is the safe
play, the legal play. But arms-length leadership is neither inspiring
nor compelling leadership.
For the purposes of this post, consider the notion that “leaders must
love to truly gain the commitment of others.” Love is a powerful form
of positive energy, and simply put, leadership is all about pumping
energy into a system in order to drive alignment and progress. Whether
we are talking about inspiration or instilling urgency, leadership is
all about energy.
“Leaders must love to truly gain the commitment of others.”
Consider the following leadership loves that I would argue great
leaders possess:
Great leaders…
• Love the mission and purpose of the organization. They feel
an emotional connection to the “why” of the organization and are
comfortable sharing that passion with others.
• Love the customers they serve. They care about their custom-
ers enough to be curious about their customers’ needs and how the
organization might be able to make their lives better.
• Love their employees. They feel a deep commitment and care
for the people they lead.
• Love their jobs. They consider themselves blessed to have the
privilege to touch so many lives and lead others to something better.
Their role brings them joy and a personal sense of purpose.
Leaders that have these four leadership loves inspire others. They
have the ability to lead others through difficult change. Followers
and customers alike give them the benefit of the doubt in times of
uncertainty.
Leading with love is a long-term strategy. It is rewarded with
loyalty and commitment from others. Arms-length leadership is a
short-term strategy and is rewarded with temporary commitments
until something better comes along (something better always does
seem to come along).
So what are you waiting for?Time to stop playing the field and time
to get serious. Take a chance and lead with your heart. LE
Why leaders need to love
By Brandon Smith
14 leadership excellence essentials presented by HR.com | 05.2015Submit your Articles
Brandon Smith is an executive coach, culture consultant, professor, media
dude and workplace superhero. He’s curing workplace dysfunction one office
at a time
Email brandon@theworkplacetherapist.com
Visit www.theworkplacetherapist.com
Would like to Comment? Please Click Here.
15. This short video features one of HR.com’s industry experts and Leadership Advisory Board member Meghan Seybold (Senior
Manager of Diversity Initiatives of RBC Group) interviewing her colleague Pragashini Fox, (Vice President of Talent Development at RBC
Group) who has shown exceptional innovation and leadership in her chosen field. Pragashini is accountable for the overall Integrated
Talent Management strategy, approach, processes and tools ensuring talent management remains an organizational strength and
competitive advantage. She is primarily accountable for talent strategies for Executives and High Potential talent, including leadership
development and succession planning.
There are so many factors that go into effective leadership. If you could give a young, aspiring leader one suggestion or idea that
would help them to become an even better leader, what would that suggestion be? Ever came across such situation? This video gives
you a real-world insight into different leadership programs and the leaders themselves.
Meghan Seybold is Senior Manager, Diversity Leadership Initiatives at RBC
Connect Meghan Seybold
Pragashini Fox is Vice President, Talent Management at RBC
Connect Pragashini Fox
Company: Royal Bank of Canada
Excellence In Practice
A reflection on leadership
Video
Leadership
Presents
leadership excellence essentials presented by HR.com | 05.2015
16. 16 leadership excellence essentials presented by HR.com | 05.2015Submit your Articles
Whether you call it good leadership or effective manage-
ment, most of us in the workplace respect a senior management
team that demonstrates credibility and behaves in an authentic
manner. The Chairman at FMC used to tell his middle managers
“don’t just listen to what we say, watch our feet.” In 2008, Pepsi
Co’s Chairman & CEO Indra Nooyi implemented a leadership
imperative called, “Taking Others With You” which in addition
to creating an inclusive culture, builds talent, motivates employ-
ees and creates a collaborative environment in the workplace.
Looking at PepsiCo’s current employee engagement number
today you have to admire a 74% score especially when most
companies are scoring around 30%. Employees respect a tone
from the top where the management directive encourages open
communication, robust dialogue and honest employee feedback
for self-development. Could that collaborative environment
help your managers get over the hurdle of the annual per-
formance review?
In baseball and soccer we get immediate feedback on our per-
formance. You quickly see the number of runs scored or goals
made in a game. Unfortunately, it isn’t the same for most of us
in our professional lives. While you’re in the game, your coach
is observing and assessing every play and letting you know how
you did and what to do next time. But in the working world, it
could take weeks or months to find out how you’re performing
on the job. Don’t wait to dump all your feedback in one review,
coach your employees all year long.
Annual performance reviews are necessary, but they should
not become a surprise. From the research conducted by Marcus
Buckingham and Curt Coffman in “First Break All the Rules,”
we know what the world’s greatest managers do to give the most
effective feedback to their direct reports. This work is based on
Gallup’s in-depth interviews with 80,000 managers and 400
companies. The golden nuggets they found for performance
management were:
• The routine is simple; they do not want complex appraisal
schemes. A simple process to communicate with employees
during the entire year.
• Frequent interaction between the manager and the em-
ployee. More than one or two meetings per year. The secret to
helping an employee excel lies in the details: Individual recogni-
tion needs, relationship needs, particular identified goals and
talents/non talents.
• A routine that is focused on the future. Spend the first
ten minutes talking about past performance and the rest of the
meeting setting goals and expectations for the future.
• The employee keeps track of his own performance and
accountabilities though self-discovery.
(Buckingham and Coffman 1999)
Why not manage your feedback to employees with an 80/20
mindset? Our 80/20 perspective says if we were to assign a
weighting percentage for a managers potential to maximize
feedback 80% would be assigned to ongoing communication
throughout the year and 20% would be assigned to the annual
performance review- with no surprise endings. The critical learn-
ing here is that you are much better providing ongoing feedback
in smaller chunks; and provide those comments while the infor-
mation is still fresh and relevant to the quarter or time period.
The most difficult aspect of managing people, and one of
the most overlooked, is giving performance feedback. There
is a fear of providing straight and honest feedback. It may be
more of a psychological avoidance, but most managers do not
like doing this part of their job. The best solution is creating an
ongoing relationship between supervisor and employee. In this
special relationship, the supervisor can share the good and the
opportunity for improvement with their direct reports. Most
employees appreciate a boss who is genuine. Think of the people
in any level of management you most admire?
In all of these examples, honest and sincere communication
from the supervisor is very powerful for higher performance.
It demonstrates authentic concern and honest feedback for the
individual employee’s growth and/or development. The best
managers understand they will get the return on recognition when
they invest an extra minute of time each week communicating
with their most important assets. LE
References
Buckingham, Marcus, and Curt Coffman. First Break All the Rules. 1st ed. Simon & Schuster, 1999.
Copyright: 2015 Albert James Associates, L.L.C.
Return-On-Recognition™ www.returnonrecognition.com
Brandman University’s School of Extended Education – www.brandman.edu/exed
Authentic Leadership
Great leaders provide feedback
By Al Goodman
Al Goodman is an instructor with Brandman University’s School of Extended
Education and president of Albert James Associates, LLC, a firm whose pri-
mary focus is in the area of facilitating management development and maxi-
mizing individual potential in the work place. Goodman has over 25 years of
global corporate experience working for companies where he developed an
expertise and passion for maximizing human resource development. He’s now
taken his collective experiences, lessons learned and best practices and created
an innovative methodology called ROR-Return On Recognition®.
Email algoodman@ajassociates.bz
Visit www.ror.bz
5 STRATEGIES TO MAXIMIZE ROR
1. When it comes to employee feedback, be sure the routine is
simple; nobody wants complex appraisal schemes. A simple process
to communicate with employees during the entire year.
2. Frequent interaction between the manager and the employee.
More than one or two meetings per year. The secret to helping an
employee excel lies in the details: Individual recognition needs,
relationship needs, particular identified goals and talents/non talents.
3. A routine that is focused on the future. Spend the first ten
minutes talking about past performance and the rest of the meeting
setting goals and expectations for the future.
4. The employee keeps track of his own performance and ac-
countabilities though self-discovery.
5. Manage your feedback to employees with an 80/20 mindset:
80% should be ongoing feedback throughout the year & 20% should
be assigned for the annual performance review- with no surprises.
Would like to Comment? Please Click Here.
17. 17leadership excellence essentials presented by HR.com | 05.2015 Submit your Articles
I had a conversation this week with one of my friends who
felt pulled between two of her colleagues whose teams were
both part of the same critical project, but absolutely not getting
along. She got feedback from both sides about how terrible the
other was, and felt stuck in the middle. Her team though, had
no direct part in the project; she was just getting the venting.
She asked what she should do.
She could have easily said, “Not my circus, not my monkeys,” but
she did feel compelled to jump in and try to help get this project
back on track.
It’s all about Influence
What we noticed right away is that both teams were entrenched
on their “sides” complete with meetings that fell apart, missed
deadlines, potential budget overruns, venting to those outside the
project to gain allies, and the dreaded IM’ing during telecoms
talking trash about the other side. Both sides had tunnel vision
and both leaders were missing the opportunity to set themselves
apart and lead.
She really didn’t have a “monkey” in the fight, so it obviously
wasn’t right for her to step in and take over the project, but
what did make sense was for her to influence the project leader,
encourage them to swallow some pride and outline a few steps
to save their project.
She was going to call the project leader, let them know she
was seeing their project getting mired, and ask for a meeting to
talk about what might help them. She had a better relationship
with the project lead, and was confident a meeting could happen.
Here’s what she was going to try before the project leader did
Leading With Responsibility
It’s all about influence and stepping up!
By Dina Sainato
18. anything else
1.Define Where You Are on the Project and Where You Need
to Be
Before even meeting with the other team leader, does the
project leader know exactly what they need, from this point, in
order to get the project finished? If not, have them write it out,
in as much detail as possible, with timelines, who needs to be
responsible for each piece, and what the outcome needs to be.
Perhaps the root issue here is that the sides need to know the
plan to move forward.
2.Define the Roadblocks
What is stopping the project right now? It’s important that
the project leader try to keep to the facts here, not delving into
the personal side- which was just going to make matters worse.
What do both sides need to deal with before they could start
moving forward? Is it a trust issue now? If so, it was going to
take time to rebuild that, but a good place to start would be
with this project, with a specific scope and needed outcome.
Working through that may start to rebuild that trust – and the
project lead stepping forward may help too.
3.Define the Priority of the Project
Do both sides know where this project lies in their priorities?
Is it higher on one side than the other? If so, does the project
leader need to work with the next layer of leadership for the
other team to help adjust some of their priorities in order for
the project to be accomplished?
4.Request a Meeting with the Other Team Leader
Once the project leader had all this in place, then it would
be time to meet with the other team lead. But just include the
team lead, not the whole project team yet. It was going to be
key that the project lead start the meeting request with a little
humility, saying that they know both sides haven’t been getting
along, that they want to see this important project through and
get a better relationship, because the teams will need to work
together in the future. Remembering that this is just a start – this
isn’t going to solve all the interpersonal issues at once.
At the Leader Meeting
1.Start with Acknowledging Both Sides are at Fault
This isn’t the time to start hashing out what the other side has
done wrong in the past, but to start at this point, acknowledge
both have been in the wrong, and that they need to work better
together, simply that, nothing more, for now.
2.Lay out the Facts of Where The Project is and Where it
Needs to Be
Again sticking to the facts and this was going to be difficult.
Likely the other lead would start pulling in personal attacks, and
the project leader’s natural reaction would be to throw back. But
they would need to refrain, and steer the conversation back to
the facts at hand. This would need to be a two-way conversation,
where both leads would need to agree on where they need to go.
3.Define What Both Sides Need in Order to Move Forward
Now that the facts are laid out, what do both sides need to
get this project done? Do they need regular updates on a project
plan, more or fewer meetings, different resources, less stress at
meetings, does one side feel they are not being heard? They
both need to come to some level of agreement here regarding
the next steps.
Bring in the Rest of the Group
1.Commit to the Game Plan and Bring the Rest of the Project
Team in
Hopefully the outcome of that leader meeting is at least a
commitment to work on this project, and to stop sabotaging
it, with a few action items in place. Now is the time for each
leader to meet with their individual sides, and recap what they
agreed upon – knowing that there will still be residual frustra-
tion but being hopeful that both sides will stick to the facts
and a commitment to move forward. “You don’t have to like
each other – but you do have to play together in the sandbox.”
2.Celebrate the Small Victories
It’s all small steps from here, and make sure that both leads are
(but likely it will start with the project lead) talking about the
progress and liberally giving out praise. For example, if they get
through a meeting, thank the participants for their efforts; if they
meet a milestone, share that with their next level up leadership;
if someone comments positively about another team member’s
performance, be sure the leaders are echoing and supporting.
We’ll See…
This is a very complex situation, (more complex than I’ve de-
scribed here or been privy to) and I don’t yet know the outcome.
I’m hopeful that the leaders will step up, but that’s the good
and bad about leadership – you can’t control people’s action and
reactions, only your own. After months of antagonistic behavior
and entrenched feelings, it’s going to be a long haul for these two
groups. As I find out more, I’ll check back with all of you! LE
Leading With Responsibility
Dina Sainato-Meneely is an OD consultant. She has over 10 years
professional experience in organizational development, talent/performance
management, front line human resources, leadership development, succession
planning, employee relations, training, eLearning course development and
performance/LMS systems management.
Email: dinasainato@hotmail.com
Would like to Comment? Please Click Here.
18 leadership excellence essentials presented by HR.com | 05.2015Submit your Articles
“What we noticed right away is that both teams were en-
trenched on their “sides” complete with meetings that fell
apart, missed deadlines, potential budget overruns, venting
to those outside the project to gain allies, and the dreaded
IM’ing during telecoms talking trash about the other side.
Both sides had tunnel vision and both leaders were missing
the opportunity to set themselves apart and lead.
19. Phone: 1.877.472.6648 | info@personalexcellenceapp.com | www.personalexcellenceapp.com
As an employer, are you committed to helping your
employees become engaged, better performers and
motivated each and every day?
You should and now you can!
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does this daily: builds alignment, skills, motivation, and much
more within your organization. In your brand, you will be
able to align content and learning objects to the key values
and objects you have set for your organization. Map content
and exercises to your employees that help your organization
achieve its goals while developing all your leaders. In addition,
you will be able to embed custom training and content and
messages that can reach your employees daily, motivating and
inspiring them each and every day.
No software
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Align content with Corporate Values and Mission
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Spend 3-5 minutes of the day3
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Employees choose
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Communicate with
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Brand the app with
your logo.
Conduct polls with
your employees.
20. Do you wake up each
and every day and say:
“Today I am going to work on becoming a better person,
..a better leader,
..a better role model for my friends and family,
..a better coworker!”?
You can do it in 3-5 minutes a day.
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21. Georgia was a successful artist. She had never taken a busi-
ness course in her life, nor picked investments. Her father was
an experienced businessman and did this for her. When he died,
Georgia inherited his portfolio of stocks and hired a manager.
Her new financial advisor, Russell, didn’t waste time and
purchased three gold companies for her portfolio. With the
economy heading south, he figured these investments would
outperform the market. When he called to tell her what he had
done, Georgia thanked him. Then she went to each company’s
website to find their annual reports. After reading the letters to
shareholders in each report, Georgia called Russell back. “Keep
the stocks in two of the companies,” she said. “Sell the third.”
Russell was shocked and asked, “Why?” Georgia replied, “The
shareholder letter by the CEO in that third company isn’t as
candid or informative as the other two letters. It didn’t discuss
the company’s financial results and used a lot of useless business
jargon. It didn’t inspire trust.” Russell assured her that all three
companies were sound, but Georgia was firm. He sold the stock.
Four months later, this company was charged with falsely re-
porting income. Its shares dropped to all-time lows, and Georgia
was vindicated. Did she have insider knowledge? Had she care-
fully analyzed the financial statements? No. Georgia trusted her
instinct that executive candor is a vital clue to investing with
trustworthy leaders.
Perhaps you’ve read shareholder letters that failed to educate
you about the business. Written in PR-speak, they hide the
CEO’s true personality and leadership style. But, not all letters
will waste your valuable time. Georgia’s experience taught her to
invest with leaders who communicate clearly. As annual reports
are released in the spring, read them and look for these three
leadership qualities:
1) Reveals Leadership and Avoids Business Jargon
Consider these sleep-inducing phrases taken from some 2013
financial company shareholder letters in 2014: “the outstand-
ing capabilities of our company,” “the strategy we outlined several
years ago is driving growth,” and “help make financial lives better,
through the power of every connection.” This business jargon fails
to inspire confidence or build trust.
In contrast, Charles Schwab CEO Walt Bettinger opens his
2013 letter with a personal reflection about writing a shareholder
letter: Some time ago, a close friend and I discussed the nature of
the annual letters that CEOs write to their companies’ stockholders.
He and I agreed the best approach was to craft the letter as if I were
speaking with a colleague who had been away from the company
for the entire year and to keep it free from spin or corporate-speak.
Bettinger’s language is straightforward and candid. He imagines
what it would be like if he were the reader. His active verbs and
simple descriptions engage us and begin to build connection
that can lead to trust.
2) Provides Context and Explains “Why”
CEOs write a lot about what is happening in their businesses,
and less about why this is important. JetBlue CEO Dave Barger
does both in his 2013 shareholder letter. He is a master of
meaningful context that reveals underlying business strengths
and weaknesses. One such strength is the company’s strategy to
constantly maintain a cost advantage relative to competitors.
Context adds credibility to CEO claims such as the airline’s
14-year old mission to “bring humanity back to air travel” through
the “JetBlue Experience”. What can JetBlue passengers expect
from this experience? Barger cites: “free inflight entertainment,
the most legroom in coach of any U.S. airline…unlimited free
snacks and great customer service.” But how does the company
deliver great customer service? It nurtures an ownership culture
that engages and rewards employees for going the extra mile for
customers. How is this working? J.D. Power recognized JetBlue
in 2013 as “one of only a few companies (and the only airline)”
for service excellence in all of the past nine years.
3) Sets an Example by Reporting Successes and Failures
Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett believes that a
trustworthy CEO communicates candidly with investors – in
just the way he would expect if their positions were reversed. In
his 2013 shareholder letter, Buffett described Berkshire’s wide-
ranging businesses from candy to machine tools and railroads
to windmills. He admitted that while some businesses have
enduring advantages and report growing profits, others “have
very poor returns.”
Buffett took responsibility for these disappointing results. He
wrote: “I simply was wrong in my evaluation of the economic
dynamics of the company or the industry in which it operated.”
In this and in past letters, he shares the lessons learned from
these mistakes and how these helped him to find companies with
sound economics. Like other successful executives and entrepre-
neurs, Buffett continues to perfect the skills of “failing wisely.”
Why does straight talk matter?
As Georgia learned, words are the building blocks of trust.
But not just any words. Only those that shine light into dark
places — a definition of candor. Companies that lack candor
will weaken trust and eventually stumble or fall apart.
To invest with trustworthy leaders, look for executive com-
munications in which the CEO: 1) carefully uses words that
grow revenues and trust; 2) explains the “what” and “why” of
company actions; and 3) candidly sets an example by reporting
on successes and failures. LE
Invest With Trustworthy CEOs
How to do that?
By L.J. Rittenhouse
L. J. Rittenhouse is CEO of Rittenhouse Rankings Inc., a corporate com-
munications company that analyzes gaps in corporate candor to improve
performance. A financial relations advisor and motivational speaker, L.J. has
been featured on CNN and in The Wall Street Journal.
Visit www.RittenhouseRankings.com
21leadership excellence essentials presented by HR.com | 05.2015 Submit your Articles
Would like to Comment? Please Click Here.
22. Putting the customer first has been the mantra of many
companies for a long time. But, however correct the mantra
may be, perhaps it’s time to question the wisdom of it. Some
companies already have, that is, put the customer second, after
employees. The results are surprising and enlightening – engaged
and contented employees and companies cited for their best prac-
tices. Moreover, customers are satisfied. This article presents an
operating model and proven approach for putting employees first.
Steady, long-term competitiveness requires an organization
to be committed to putting employees first and developing
quality training programs that are linked to its strategic ob-
jectives. Without a true commitment to the employees at all
levels throughout an organization, the journey to enhance or-
ganizational performance will be an elusive adventure. Quality
employees equate to organizational success. Unqualified and
poorly trained employees equate to organizational failure.
Putting Customer Second
An organization’s employees have always made the difference
between a truly successful organization and a mediocre entity,
but it’s amazing how often managers overlook or discount this
fundamental recipe for economic survival. Organizations with
cultures that focus on their people and that invest in their future
will in the long-run, be more competitive than cultures that
view employees as mere costs to be reduced in times of trouble.
Extensive published research including from CEE’s own con-
sulting engagement, have resulted in the understanding that the
organization that plans every action around its employees will
thrive in the marketplace.
Results-Based Leadership
Putting employees first before customer and profits
By Prof. Sattar Bawany
22 leadership excellence essentials presented by HR.com | 05.2015Submit your Articles
23. 23leadership excellence essentials presented by HR.com | 05.2015 Submit your Articles
It’s the employees who breathe life into an organization for it’s
their skills and abilities that give an organization its competitive-
ness. It is often forgotten that productivity and the economic
rewards that go with it are achieved through the people of an
organization. A fundamental rule of organizational survival is
to put employees first and develop their abilities and skills by
establishing a quality training environment.
Leadership Styles in Engaging Employees First
Many managers mistakenly assume that leadership style is a
function of personality rather than strategic choice. Instead of
choosing the one style that suits their temperament, they should
ask which style best addresses the demands of a particular situ-
ation.
Daniel Goleman brought the notion of “Emotional Intelli-
gence” (EI) and “Emotional Quotient” (EQ) to prominence as
an alternative to more traditional measures of IQ with his 1995
mega-best-seller Emotional Intelligence. According to Goleman,
“A leader’s singular job is to get results”. But even with all the
leadership training programs and “expert” advice available, ef-
fective leadership still eludes many people and organisations.
One reason, says Goleman, is that such experts offer advice based
on inference, experience, and instinct, not on quantitative data.
Research has shown that the most successful leaders have
strengths in the following emotional intelligence competencies:
Self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and rela-
tionship management. There are six basic styles of leadership;
each makes use of the key components of emotional intelligence
in different combinations. The best leaders do not adopt just
one style of leadership; they are skilled at several, and have the
flexibility to switch between styles as the circumstances dictate.
Each style has a distinct effect on the working atmosphere
of a company, division, or team, and, in turn, on its financial
performance. The styles, by name and brief description alone,
will resonate with anyone who leads, is led, or, as is the case with
most of us, does both. Commanding leaders demand immediate
compliance. Visionary leaders mobilize people towards a vision.
Participative leaders create emotional bonds and harmony. Demo-
cratic leaders build consensus through participation. Pacesetting
leaders expect excellence and self-direction. And coaching leaders
develop people for the future.
Since leaders lead people, the style with which you do it is
important. It must truly represent you, fit with the situation, the
results you wish to achieve and the people you hope will follow
your lead. In truth, having a particular style is not as essential
to being a leader as having a vision of what could exist, being
committed to the vision, bringing great energy to realising that
vision and having people to support you.
How to improve employee loyalty is one of today’s most difficult
problems that troubles business leaders. Research has consistently
shows that by putting employees first you can actually deliver your
promise of customers first. If you do not put the employee first – if
the business of management and managers is not to put employee
first – there is no way you can get the customer first.
We have found that the Employees First approach produces far
more passion than any motivational or recognition program. Why?
Because it proves that management understands the importance of the
work being done by the employees in the first place. It demonstrates
that we are actively helping them in ways that make it easier for them
to do their jobs. It shows that we trust them to do what needs to be
done in the way they believe it should be done. And it shows that we
respect them for the value they bring to the company.
We give them understanding, help, trust and respect–which are the
drivers of employee engagement.
There is growing evidence that the range of abilities that constitute
what is now commonly known as emotional intelligence plays a
key role in determining success in life and in the workplace. Recent
research has uncovered links between specific elements of emotional
intelligence and specific behaviors associated with leadership effective-
ness and ineffectiveness.
Like parenthood, leadership will never be an exact science. But
neither should it be a complete mystery to those who practice it.
In recent years, research has helped parents understand the genetic,
psychological, and behavioural components that affect their “job
performance.” With the latest published research, leaders, too, can
get a clearer picture of what it takes to lead effectively.
Leadership is all about the ability to have impact and influence
on your followers so as to engage them towards achieving results of
your organisation through both Ontological Humility and Servant
Leadership & Level 5 Leadership Styles blended with elements of
Socialised Power/Social Intelligence Competencies. With the latest
published research by CEE, leaders, too, can get a clearer picture of
what it takes to lead effectively. And perhaps as important, they can
see how they can make that happen. The business environment is
continually changing, and a leader must respond in kind.
Hour to hour, day to day, week to week, executives must play their
leadership styles like a pro—using the right one at just the right time
and in the right measure. The payoff is in the results. LE
Results-Based Leadership
Prof Sattar Bawany is the CEO & C-Suite Master Executive Coach of
Centre for Executive Education (CEE Global). CEE offers human capital
management solutions for addressing challenges posed by a multigenerational
workforce including talent management and executive development programs
(executive coaching and leadership development) that help leaders develop
the skills and knowledge to embrace change and catalyze success in today’s
workplace.
Email sattar.bawany@cee-global.com
Visit www.cee-global.com
Would like to Comment? Please Click Here.
“Research has consistently shown that by putting em-
ployees first you can actually deliver your promise of
customers first. If you do not put the employee first
– if the business of management and managers is not
to put employee first – there is no way you can get the
customer first.
24. 24 leadership excellence essentials presented by HR.com | 05.2015Submit your Articles
By Joan Marques
Understanding the foundations of self-renewal
Leading With COURAGE
When I was asked to do a presentation for women in career
transition last year, I wanted to prepare something that would,
a) come from the heart, b) be easy to understand and remem-
ber, and c) would be useful for men and women alike. I believe
that, while there are clear differences in some of the challenges
that men and women face in the professional arena, there are
some overarching themes that are useful to all. I came up with
COURAGE, which is the acronym for seven mindsets or be-
haviors that can make a world of difference in how we perceive
our personal and professional path, and the leadership measures
we take in response to that. Courage is a strong concept in
itself. We need it to make decisions, and leap into areas where
others don’t. Courage is one of those terms that seems to be
self-explanatory when we think about leadership. Whether we
perceive it as an act toward our own behavior or in interaction
with others, leadership requires courage.
With this foundational thought explained against the back-
drop of life’s unpredictable turns and the numerous times we
face unexpected surprises to which we have to formulate instant
answers, I felt confident about developing “COURAGE,” which
comprises Choice, Open-mindedness, Usefulness, Reality-check,
Attitude, Genius, and Education.
Choice
The two most important facts every leader should remember
25. 25leadership excellence essentials presented by HR.com | 05.2015 Submit your Articles
in this regard is that, 1) there is always a choice, and 2) success
often depends on what we do after we made our choice. Re-
garding the first fact: While the alternatives may not always be
attractive, they still exist, so to say that we don’t have a choice
merely means that we don’t consider the alternatives viable. More
important, however, is the fact that we always make choices with
insufficient information, so it’s not the choice itself that leads
to success or failure, but the actions we undertake afterwards.
This entails that even a poor choice can become useful in the
long run, based on our follow-up actions.
Open-mindedness
Leading without an open mind has always been an inhibiting
process, but today it is a downright disaster. Those who want to
remain closed-minded will find themselves fallen by the wayside,
chasing a dream or opportunity that never materializes. When
we practice open-mindedness, we dare to accept options that we
previously failed to consider, because we may have considered
them to be above or below our level, outside our comfort zone, or
against our traditional perceptions. Practicing open-mindedness
means that we regularly have to inspect our principles in order
to find out whether they are built on convictions that matter to
us here and now, or were adopted along the way without deeper
considerations. You would be amazed to find out how many biases
we hold, and how limiting those are to our perceived options.
Usefulness
The best way I can explain this is by referring to Steve Jobs’
Stanford commencement speech, in which he explains how he
discovered later in life what the purpose of earlier experiences was.
He called it, “Connecting the dots”. Jobs referred to a calligraphy
class he took in college without any reason or intention, only to
realize much later that taking this course enabled him to come
up with the idea of multiple fonts on computers, an option we
all happily use today. Leaders should realize that even setbacks
will once turn out to be useful. Once this awareness has sunk
in, they will feel less devastated when things seem to go awry.
Reality-check
We all have our view of reality, influenced by our culture, re-
ligion, upbringing, education, character, and other determining
factors. What we perceive may not be the same as what others see,
even when we look at the same situation. Leaders should keep this
in mind at all times, as it can help them better understand, or
at least try to, where others come from. The difference in views
of reality explains why some people can smile about something
while others feel offended or disinterested about the same thing.
Understanding that we all have our own mental model, which
we call “reality”, can make us more open and understanding to
viewpoints from others, and can therefore guide us to a broader
spectrum of alternatives.
Attitude
Attitude is one of the strongest assets of a leader. Even in the
direst of times, it is the only thing we have in our control. Our
attitude cannot be taken away from us. We have the power to
decide what it shall be. Our attitude is influenced by our mental
models and our choices. How do we choose to look at the things
that we encounter? Do we have a glass-half-full or glass-half-
empty attitude? Do we find a solution for every challenge or a
challenge for every solution? Do we see the clouds before the
sun, or the sun behind the clouds? There are numerous ways
to present this question, but it boils down to one thing:We
cannot change the setbacks that life will present us, but we can
decide what we will do once they have manifested themselves,
because then we can decide whether we want to dwell on them
and wallow in our misery, or pick ourselves up, dust off our
clothes, and move on with a new lesson under our belt and a
stronger backbone.
Genius
Whether you want to accept it or not, there is a genius in
each of us. The only problem we have is that life has beaten
our inner-genius down so many times that we may think it has
perished. Formal education, societal rules, pressure from work
and relationships, they have all curbed our natural inner-genius.
Yet, we can revive it if we choose to do so. It starts with the
realization that our inner-genius exists, followed by the will to
accept and explore it. Open your eyes to the things you have
taken for granted. Every day presents us thousands of miracles,
which we no longer see. Give yourself a break from your com-
puter and mobile device now and then. Do something out of
the ordinary. Go somewhere different. Talk to someone you’ve
never talked to before. Gradually, the well of creative thinking
will resurface and be replenished.
Education
Regardless of the type of education you choose, keep obtain-
ing it. Follow a course, or teach yourself by surfing the Net.
Education is the vehicle for leaders to stay ahead of the crowd.
The more you learn, the sharper your critical and creative think-
ing skills will get, the broader your scope will become, and the
more possibilities you will see and create for yourself. We live
in exponential times, where continuing our education is no
longer considered inappropriate. It is quite the contrary: Failing
to continuously educate yourself will rob you from ceasing op-
portunities that others learn about.
Several of the behaviors and mindsets in COURAGE are in-
terrelated. Education can help you reignite your inner-genius,
which can make you more receptive to the differences in mental
models (reality check). Practicing open-mindedness reveals
more choices, and helps you see the usefulness of experiences
more clearly. And an open mind is also a great foundation for a
constructive attitude, which can encourage you to explore more
choices, and revive your inner genius. LE
Leading With COURAGE
Joan Marques is the author of Courage in the Twenty-First Century: The Art of
Successful Job Transition. She is Assistant Dean and Chair of the BBA Program
and Management Department in Woodbury University’s School of Business.
Email jmarques01@earthlink.net
Would like to Comment? Please Click Here.
26. 26 leadership excellence essentials presented by HR.com | 05.2015Submit your Articles
By Jim Clemmer
Is your culture built on a weak foundation?
A Culture Of Strengths
“To make strength productive is the unique purpose of organiza-
tion. It cannot, of course, overcome the weakness with which each of us
is abundantly endowed. But it can make them irrelevant. Its task is to
use the strength of each man as a building block for joint performance.”
- Peter Drucker, “Making Strength Productive” in his 1967 book,
The Effective Executive
It has taken decades for leadership research to catch up to
Drucker’s leading-edge thinking. Growing evidence from mul-
tiple sources is showing that strengths-based approaches lead to
better parenting, lasting marriages, stronger teams, more effective
leadership development, and peak organization performance.
Pioneering organizations like Zenger Folkman now have a
research body of assessments on over 50,000 leaders by more
than 500,000 direct reports, managers, peers, and others who
work directly with them. As first documented in their ground-
breaking book, The Extraordinary Leader: Turning Good Managers
into Great Leaders, and updated recently in How to Be Excep-
tional: Drive Leadership Success by Magnifying Your Strengths,
strengths-based approaches are 2 – 3 times more effective
than our traditional focus on weaknesses.
Here are the fundamental differences we see in defining a team
or organization’s cultural foundation:
Weakness-Focused Strengths-Based
Command and control
(closed)
Participatory
partnering (open)
Catching people doing
things wrong
Reinforce people
doing things right
Fear and force Courage and
cooperation
Focus on gaps/
weakness/what’s wrong
Build on strengths/
what’s right
Look for the worst in
people
Bring out the best in
others
Push and punish Pull and coach
Wasting Time on Weaknesses
Fixing weaknesses is very deeply ingrained in our practices
and beliefs. Most people dread giving and receiving performance
appraisals because they focus mostly on “areas for improvement”
or weaknesses to be fixed. When coaching or having performance
discussions with a team member, most leaders will quickly gloss
over strengths to address “improvement areas.”
It’s one of the biggest reasons most 360 feedback assessments
and performance management systems aren’t effective. They’re
focused on weaknesses. Unless there’s a serious deficiency that
needs to be addressed, weakness-based improvement plans are
demotivating and wasteful.
Most training needs analyses are really a weakness analysis to
identify the remedial training needed to fix gaps. This is one
reason leadership development programs have had very little
impact in most organizations.
Reversing years of conditioning isn’t easy. But the pay-offs
are huge. And we now have proven methodologies showing
how to do it.
Exceptional Leaders aren’t Well-Rounded
Like many training and development professionals I used to
believe that leadership skills development comes from assessing
leaders against a leadership framework or competency model
and developing an improvement plan to round out the flat or
weak spots. But this long-held view is no longer supported by
more recent research. And it fails the common sense test when
we think back on our experience…
Think of the best leader you’ve ever known. What strengths
made him or her really stand out? Typical responses often include
outstanding communicator, superior strategic thinker, exceptional
coach and developer of people, very high trust and integrity,
extremely inspiring and motivating, stretching others to reach
higher, brilliant technical/analytical skills, or excellent team
builder. Often 3 or 4 of these skills done extraordinarily well
lifted this leader to lofty heights.
Did he or she also have any weaknesses? Of course; they weren’t
perfect -- they were human. Responses sometimes include inat-
“When we really analyze the outstanding leaders we’ve
known very few are well-rounded. All have flat spots
or weaker areas. But their strengths were so towering
they overshadowed these weaknesses. We were will-
ing to “cut them some slack” or accept -- and even
compensate for -- their weaker areas in order to be
elevated by their exceptional strengths.
27. 27leadership excellence essentials presented by HR.com | 05.2015 Submit your Articles
tention to details, poor time management, moody, narrow focus,
inflexibility, intolerance, weak technical/analytical skills, not a
people person, or low charisma.
When we really analyze the outstanding leaders we’ve known
very few are well-rounded. All have flat spots or weaker areas.
But their strengths were so towering they overshadowed these
weaknesses. We were willing to “cut them some slack” or accept
-- and even compensate for -- their weaker areas in order to be
elevated by their exceptional strengths. If, however, a weakness
was big enough, it has the reverse effect and this person’s “fatal
flaw” sinks them to the average or even worst leader categories.
It’s time to shift thinking about leadership development from
well-rounded to well-grounded -- in strengths.
Leveraging the Power of the Halo Effect
A leader’s impact on others is dramatically increased by the
presence of a few towering strengths or sharply reduced by one
or two glaring weaknesses. This halo or horns effect was first
documented with empirical research by Edward Thorndike, an
early 20th century pioneering American psychologist. Based on
his research asking commanding officers to rate their soldiers
he found there was “a marked tendency to think of the person
in general as rather good or rather inferior and color the judg-
ments of the qualities by this general feeling.” Thorndike called
this the “halo effect” in his 1920 article A Constant Error in
Psychological Ratings.
“Confirmation bias” has now been well documented as our
tendency to look for supporting evidence that confirms our posi-
tive or negative impressions and overlook contrary indicators. For
example, research shows that attractive people are considered to
be friendlier, more intelligent, and successful. Sports super stars
(when they have a squeaky clean image) sell us cars, watches,
airlines, and other products completely unrelated to their exper-
tise. And the horns effect trashes their credibility when they’re
caught using illicit drugs or embroiled in personal scandals.
The power of the halo effect has huge implications for leader-
ship development.
Traditional development approaches use a model, framework,
or set of leadership competencies as if all leadership qualities
were all equal. The underlying -- and unfounded -- belief is
that improving weaker areas will lead to increased leadership
perceptions and effectiveness.
Without the multiplying bias of the halo effect, that might
be true. Our research shows what really happens:
When a leader has no profound strengths (competencies rated
at the 90th percentile) their overall leadership effectiveness is at
only the 34th percentile. This is average or ordinary leadership
that leads to mediocre outcomes -- average levels of engagement,
quality, safety, sales, customer satisfaction, etc.
The halo effect from having one profound strength almost
doubles his or her overall perceived leadership effectiveness to the
64th percentile! Just three profound strengths elevates the leader
to the top 20% of all leaders and 5 profound strengths makes
him or her an extraordinary leader in the top 10% of all leaders.
Exceptional leaders like Steve Jobs, Kennedy, Churchill, or
Gandhi were far from perfect human beings. The impact of a
few of their towering strengths lit up a halo so powerful it cast
dark shadows over their weakness and illuminated bright new
pathways. LE
A Culture Of Strengths
For over three decades Jim Clemmer’s keynote presentations, workshops,
and management team retreats, and seven best-selling books translated into
many languages, articles, blog, and newsletters have helped hundreds of
thousands of people worldwide. The CLEMMER Group is Zenger Folkman’s
Canadian Strategic Partner. Zenger Folkman is an award-winning firm best
known for its unique evidence-driven, strengths-based system for developing
extraordinary leaders and demonstrating the performance impact they have
on organizations.
Email: jim.clemmer@clemmergroup.com
Blog http://www.clemmergroup.com/blog/
Would like to Comment? Please Click Here.
“When a leader has no profound strengths (competen-
cies rated at the 90th percentile) their overall leader-
ship effectiveness is at only the 34th percentile. This is
average or ordinary leadership that leads to mediocre
outcomes -- average levels of engagement, quality,
safety, sales, customer satisfaction, etc.
Click here to see a high resolution image
28. 28 leadership excellence essentials presented by HR.com | 05.2015Submit your Articles
By Brian Ray
3 reasons why
Leaders Can’t Keep An Open Mind
Let’s face facts, many individuals in corporate leadership
positions have created the illusion for themselves that their ideas
alone are the best and their word on every subject within their
sphere of influence is final, no matter what.
Even though evidence to the contrary can be staring them right
in the face, and/or other people could be shouting the truth at
them all day long, it doesn’t matter to them. They will do what
they want, no matter what, because they are the boss, and to
their line of thinking that makes them automatically correct.
Every professional in business today (regardless of industry)
has at least one story of an encounter with a peer, manager, or
executive that behaved this way, and many professionals unfor-
tunately face this situation on a daily basis.
That brings us to what is one of the most important, yet
difficult to achieve, aspects of management and leadership in
general - keeping an open mind. Unfortunately, this concept is
utterly disregarded by many individuals in leadership positions
throughout the corporate world today.
The reasons for this disregard can be somewhat varied, so
let’s take a look at a few of the major points that feed this issue:
1. The Quest for Glory
Every person in the workforce wants to have shining moments
in their career where they achieved greatness. However, during
the pursuit, many individuals put their blinders on, get caught
up in the chase, and only see what their contributions can bring
to table, pushing everyone else aside so that they themselves can
take center stage.
In the corporate world’s current climate of the “me, me, only
me” mentality, facing the fact that they do not have all the best
answers or solutions is very disconcerting for the person involved
as it shatters the illusion of self-perfection that they have built up
within their own mind. So in order to avoid facing that reality,
they live in absolute denial of the truth, causing everyone around
them to suffer for their delusions.
2. Power Corrupts
As the old adage goes – it’s very easy for the power of leader-
ship go to a person’s head – however, that can only occur if it
is allowed to happen. So, if a professional has their ego in check,
this trap can be avoided.
How? Well, in order to achieve this, a conscious choice must
be made by the individual in question to ensure that they really
listen and contemplate other possibilities when they are pre-
sented. A true leader must continuously bear in mind that just
because they are in a management position does not mean that
they always have the best ideas or solutions. Learning early on
that swallowing the pride and being open to new perspectives
allows a professional to broaden not only their own horizons,
but that of their respective companies as well.
Those that master & maintain this perspective will ultimately
become very formidable individuals, not only in business, but
in life as well.
3. The Fear of Inadequacy
Another major reason many individuals in leadership positions
have difficulty keeping an open mind is quite simply - fear. This
fear manifests itself in the person’s mind in that the manager/
leader feels that if they do not present the best ideas and solu-
tions at all times; it will make them appear weak or incompetent
to their departments, peers and upper management.
However, the reverse is actually true. By being a tyrant and
closing their mind to other possibilities, it makes the leader in
question appear rigid, unyielding, and unapproachable. That
perspective then has a domino effect which spreads like wildfire
amongst other members of the organization. People will begin
to avoid the manager in question at all costs, and/or keep them-
selves at arms-length in every encounter to minimize contact.
Not a very productive scenario at all.
Every person in business should work to ensure that this fear
does not control their thought processes.
Maintaining Perspective
In summary, all business professionals should strive to be
open to suggestions from their peers, team members, and sub-
ordinates. Keep the ego in check by facing the fact that no one
person can know it all, no matter what level their position is
within the hierarchy.
When good, viable options are presented by others, be sin-
cerely grateful for the input and tell those individual(s) who
presented the options that they are appreciated. That action will
demonstrate to the other members of the organization that their
perspectives matter, which has an extremely positive effect overall.
This in turn will also go a long way toward expanding a person’s
own opportunities for growth and advancement. Not to mention
that it will place a professional on the path of true leadership,
and help avoid the self-destruction of egocentric behavior. LE
Brian Ray is a Business and Management Consultant with over 20 years of ex-
perience. He has worked with several of the largest companies in the world on
multiple projects and assignments, from the basic Project level to the Executive
level. Ray is the proprietor of his own consulting company, and is a speaker/
corporate trainer specializing in promoting positive changes in business and
people.
Follow @BrianRay40
Connect Brian Ray
Would like to Comment? Please Click Here.
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