CGI - The New Face of Leadership

Managing Conflict and Crises

Thu, 17 May 2012 06:40:00 CDT

Too often, conflict in the workplace hides like a smoldering fire, waiting to burst into a roaring inferno with the addition of just the tiniest bit of fuel. Everyone can feel the tension, but no one wants to address it. Eventually the conflict begins to affect performance, morale, and employee retention. If this sounds like your workplace, then you have experienced a potential crisis situation! Understanding how to manage this type of situation is the basis of conflict resolution.

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Women CEOs - Bold Enough To Be A Woman? by Birute Regine

Wed, 09 May 2012 08:21:00 CDT

Women CEOs: Bold Enough to Be a Woman?

Virginia M Rometty, new CEO of IBM, joins Meg Whitman, CEO of Hewlett-Packard, and Ursula Burns, CEO of Xerox, to be among the elite 2 percent of women who hold CEO positions in Fortune 500 companies. We still have a long way to go, but now that we see more women in positions of power, the question is: How will they use their power? Will they fulfill the late congresswoman Bella Abzug's prediction that in the 21st century, power will not change women; women will transform the meaning of power? Will they dispel the testosterone cloud of aggression and domination that has driven companies to ruin as well as success? IBM and HP have been bitter rivals throughout their history; will the king of the mountain battle become a cat fight?

Studies from McKinsey to Catalyst continually find that that companies in the US and Europe with the most women on their boards, and who have a higher number of executive women, perform better organizationally and financially. This is obviously not always the case: Carly Fiorina is an example, whose tenure ended in acrimony when she was forced out in 2005 over disappointing financials.

However, the 25 Fortune 500 companies with the best records for promoting women to senior positions have 69 percent higher returns than the Fortune 500 median for their industry.

The results of a McKinsey Global Survey in 2010 found 72 percent of executives "believe there is a direct connection between a company's gender diversity and its financial success." The study showed that the companies that had the highest levels of gender diversity also had higher returns on equity, operating results, and growth in market valuation than the averages in their respective sectors.

Research from other organizations, such as Catalyst, support these findings.

So what exactly do women bring to the table that makes such a difference? Recent research on collective intelligence sheds some light on the issue.

Social scientists, such as Christopher Chabris at MIT's Center for Collective Intelligence, Anita Williams Woolley at Carnegie Mellon University, have recently begun to systematically examine what they call the "collective intelligence" of groups. Collective intelligence is a measure of how smart the group is, as a whole. Chabris and Woolley's paper, "Evidence for Collective Intelligence Factor in the Performance of Human Groups," was reported in the journal Science in October 2010.

What they discovered in their research completely surprised them; it was not something they expected or were looking for. They learned that collective intelligence is not tied to either the smartest person on the team, nor to the average intelligence of the members of the team.

Rather it is something that is greater than any individual contribution or the sum of contributions. It is an emergent property that results from the interactions among the people in the group. What emerges is almost magical: something greater than the sum of its parts. You can call it evolved thinking.

Complexity science shows us that in complex systems, which human groups are, for a positive emergence to occur there must be conditions of mutuality and a level playing field, diversity, and trust. If not, the potential for collective intelligence can easily devolve into group think, where everyone dumbly follows the boss's lead.

The current research on collective intelligence gives us two key results. The first is that the phenomenon is real, that groups can indeed perform at a higher level of creativity than any single individual. We knew this intuitively, of course. It is the second result that is the surprise, and this has to do with the one single predictor that a particular group will have high collective intelligence: at least half the chairs around the table should be occupied by women.

What do women bring to the table that catalyzes evolved thinking? According to Chabris and Woolley it is a superior social sensitivity in reading non-verbal cues and other people's emotions, and a fairness in turn taking.

From my research on women in business, I would characterize their "secret" as the possession and use of what may fairly be called feminine skills. By this I mean relational intelligence, emotional intelligence, holistic perspective, inclusion, empathy, intuition. All those skills that have been largely marginalized or dismissed as "soft" in the business world are really powerful for facilitating the emergence of collective intelligence. Such skills are not exclusively held by women, of course. But on average they are more developed in women, and women are generally more willing to use them.

When we think of leadership it is often masculine-infused, rewarding behaviors like decisiveness, goal-directedness, linearity, and performance-orientation. I don't think Rometty, Whitman or Burns could have attained this level of power without demonstrating these abilities two-fold. I'm sure they have proved they are man enough for the job.

The real question is, are they woman enough for the job? Will they take this opportunity to wield the power of those feminine skills, by demonstrating a more collaborative style of leadership? In a world begging for a different kind of leadership, will they depart from the lone ranger model of leadership that reveres those qualities of independence, individuality, and autonomy? Will these women transform the meaning of power by distributing power rather than holding onto power for themselves, by engaging people rather than dictating to them, and by seeking to bring the best out in people rather than focusing on themselves as center stage heroes?

If they do, Bella Abzug's prediction will be fulfilled, and a much needed new era of cooperation has an opportunity to be realized.

7 Signs Of A Dysfunctional Boss By Steve Tobak

Sat, 05 May 2012 09:48:00 CDT

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say the word "dysfunctional" probably describes more people than the word "normal" does. When it comes to CEOs and executives, it's almost certainly true.

You see, leadership dysfunction is far more common than you might think. Not only that, but it's not necessarily a bad thing. Here's a story that I guarantee will get you thinking.

The scene is a psychologist's office in Long Beach, Calif., circa 1990. The "couple's therapy" had turned into a "one-on-one" two sessions ago.

"If I'm so compulsive and dysfunctional," I said, "Then why hasn't it affected my career?"

"Are you kidding?" the shrink laughed, "It's practically a prerequisite for corporate executives!"

Yes, that really did happen. Looking back on it, being dysfunctional actually did affect my career in many ways, both good and bad. Exploring its nature, however, has been all good. And therein lies an opportunity for professional growth that few take advantage of, probably because delusional people all think of themselves as normal. It's ironic, I know.

Over the years before and since that fateful day, I've worked with loads of top executives -- CEOs mostly -- that I would describe as more dysfunctional than not. And what I've come to understand of their nature is this: Their "issues" -- for lack of a better term -- helped them in some ways and hindered them in others.

To be more specific, I think it helped them achieve initial success, eventually tripped them up and ultimately proved a barrier to reaching their full potential. That's what makes identification so important. To that end and with all due humility, I give you a composite of all those wacky and colorful executives: 7 signs of a dysfunctional boss.

The game has rules, but the rules keep changing. It's a relatively common but insidious game I call "chaos and control." If they sense you becoming disloyal, too comfortable, or too powerful, they'll want to knock you off the pedestal they've put you on. By bringing you down, it boosts their position relative to yours. One day you're the golden boy, a trusted advisor who can do no wrong. The next day you're a bumbling idiot.

Major focus on minutiae. One Fortune 500 CEO was obsessed with my clothes and appearance. He wasn't alone in that peculiarity; it's a sign of a controlling person. And whatever details get their maniacal attention, whatever the object of their obsessive compulsion, it's really just a way to distract their brains from facing their own sadness, fear or depression. That's why it's often triggered by stress and bad news.

A "man of the people." I just saw "The Last King of Scotland" about Uganda's former President Idi Amin last week and nearly fell off my chair at how common that particular mantra is among dysfunctional leaders. In reality, they thrive on attention and adoration from the masses to feed their deep-seated insecurity but are rarely capable of any true emotional connection with others.

Hypersensitive and vindictive when rejected. Everything's about them -- you're just a tiny little asteroid revolving around their planet-sized ego. Anything you do that they perceive as rejection, even if you're just not letting them be the center of attention, is a personal affront. There will be repercussions. Some are direct, bullying or verbally abusive; others are more subtle, underhanded or passive-aggressive.

Failure is not an option. They're always pointing fingers, making excuses, and blaming others because they can never really be wrong in their own eyes. They will say they're not perfect, that they make mistakes, but you'll never get them to admit to one in real time. To do so would potentially fracture that fragile facade of being special and Godlike. Deep inside, they're really frightened children, which is why the pretense is so critical to maintain.

Loves distraction, hates surprises. They revel in the tiniest distraction. They can be entertained or even entertain themselves with surprisingly silly diversions. Anything to take them away from the depressing reality of boring, mundane, day-to-day life that mere mortals must endure. But surprise them with serious news, especially bad news in front of others, and you're in big, big trouble.

Sees conspiracy everywhere. Since the world revolves around them, they see conspiracy in coincidence and deep meaning in incidental remarks. That's why they so often overreact or even panic over what appears to be nothing. Little things become life-threatening. Why? Even though it's stressful for them, it also affirms their self-importance and makes them feel big. Grandiosity is often a response to depression.

Now, before you start playing amateur shrink, running around diagnosing CEOs with serious personality disorders, keep one important thing in mind: The first sentence of the article. And remember that "normal" is a societal mean that defines a behavioral bell curve. Since nobody's dead-center in the middle, that means we're all somewhere on the curve. It's a sobering thought, I know.

Top Ten Ways to Retain Your Great Employees - Why Retention? Four Tips for Employee Retention By Susan Heathfield

Thu, 03 May 2012 07:07:00 CDT

Key employee retention is critical to the long term health and success of your business. Managers readily agree that retaining your best employees ensures customer satisfaction, product sales, satisfied coworkers and reporting staff, effective succession planning and deeply imbedded organizational knowledge and learning. If managers can cite these facts so well, why do they behave in ways that so frequently encourage great employees to quit their jobs?

Employee retention matters. Organizational issues such as training time and investment; lost knowledge; mourning, insecure coworkers and a costly candidate search aside, failing to retain a key employee is costly. Various estimates suggest that losing a middle manager costs an organization up to 100 percent of his salary. The loss of a senior executive is even more costly. I have seen estimates of double the annual salary and more.

Employee retention is critically important for a second societal reason, too. Over the next few years while Baby Boomers (age 40 to 58) retire, the upcoming Generation X population numbers 44 million people (ages 25-34), compared to 76 million Baby Boomers available for work. Simply stated: there are a lot fewer people available to work.

Employee retention is one of the primary measures of the health of your organization. If you are losing critical staff members, you can safely bet that other people in their departments are looking as well. Exit interviews with departing employees provide valuable information you can use to retain remaining staff. Heed their results. You’ll never have a more significant source of data about the health of your organization.

I’ve provided retention tips in earlier articles, but will add ten more retention tips to your arsenal with these top ten ways to retain a great employee.

Management thinkers from Ferdinand Fournies (Why Employees Don't Do What They're Supposed to Do and What to Do About It) to Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman (First Break All the Rules) agree that a satisfied employee knows clearly what is expected from him every day at work. Changing expectations keep people on edge and create unhealthy stress. They rob the employee of internal security and make the employee feel unsuccessful. I’m not advocating unchanging jobs just the need for a specific framework within which people clearly know what is expected from them.

The quality of the supervision an employee receives is critical to employee retention. People leave managers and supervisors more often than they leave companies or jobs. It is not enough that the supervisor is well-liked or a nice person, starting with clear expectations of the employee, the supervisor has a critical role to play in retention. Anything the supervisor does to make an employee feel unvalued will contribute to turnover. Frequent employee complaints center on these areas.

--lack of clarity about expectations,
--lack of clarity about earning potential,
--lack of feedback about performance,
--failure to hold scheduled meetings, and
--failure to provide a framework within which the employee perceives he can succeed.

The ability of the employee to speak his or her mind freely within the organization is another key factor in employee retention. Does your organization solicit ideas and provide an environment in which people are comfortable providing feedback? If so, employees offer ideas, feel free to criticize and commit to continuous improvement. If not, they bite their tongues or find themselves constantly "in trouble" - until they leave.

Talent and skill utilization is another environmental factor your key employees seek in your workplace. A motivated employee wants to contribute to work areas outside of his specific job description. How many people could contribute far more than they currently do? You just need to know their skills, talent and experience, and take the time to tap into it. As an example, in a small company, a manager pursued a new marketing plan and logo with the help of external consultants. An internal sales rep, with seven years of ad agency and logo development experience, repeatedly offered to help. His offer was ignored and he cited this as one reason why he quit his job. In fact, the recognition that the company didn't want to take advantage of his knowledge and capabilities helped precipitate his job search.

Here are six additional employee retention tips. Here are the first four tips and a discussion about why retention is critically important.

The perception of fairness and equitable treatment is important in employee retention. In one company, a new sales rep was given the most potentially successful, commission-producing accounts. Current staff viewed these decisions as taking food off their tables. You can bet a number of them are looking for their next opportunity.

In another instance, a staff person, just a year or two out of college, was given $20,000 in raises over a six month time period. Information of this type never stays secret in companies so you know, beyond any shadow of a doubt, the morale of several other employees will be affected. For example, you have a staff person who views her role as important and she brings ten years of experience, an M.B.A. and a great contribution record to the table. When she finds she is making less money than this employee, she is likely to look for a new job. Minimally, her morale and motivation will take a big hit. Did the staff person deserve the raises? Yes. But, recognize that there will be impact on others.

When an employee is failing at work, I ask the W. Edwards Deming question, “What about the work system is causing the person to fail?” Most frequently, if the employee knows what they are supposed to do, I find the answer is time, tools, training, temperament or talent. The easiest to solve, and the ones most affecting employee retention, are tools, time and training. The employee must have the tools, time and training necessary to do their job well – or they will move to an employer who provides them.

Your best employees, those employees you want to retain, seek frequent opportunities to learn and grow in their careers, knowledge and skill. Without the opportunity to try new opportunities, sit on challenging committees, attend seminars and read and discuss books, they feel they will stagnate. A career-oriented, valued employee must experience growth opportunities within your organization.

A common place complaint or lament I hear during an exit interview is that the employee never felt senior managers knew he existed. By senior managers I refer to the president of a small company or a department or division head in a larger company. Take time to meet with new employees to learn about their talents, abilities and skills. Meet with each employee periodically. You'll have more useful information and keep your fingers on the pulse of your organization. It's a critical tool to help employees feel welcomed, acknowledged and loyal.

No matter the circumstances, never, never, ever threaten an employee's job or income. Even if you know layoffs loom if you fail to meet production or sales goals, it is a mistake to foreshadow this information with employees. It makes them nervous; no matter how you phrase the information; no matter how you explain the information, even if you're absolutely correct, your best staff members will update their resumes. I'm not advocating keeping solid information away from people, however, think before you say anything that makes people feel they need to search for another job.

I place this final tip on every retention list I develop because it is so key and critical to retention success. Your staff members must feel rewarded, recognized and appreciated. Frequently saying thank you goes a long way. Monetary rewards, bonuses and gifts make the thank you even more appreciated. Understandable raises, tied to accomplishments and achievement, help retain staff. Commissions and bonuses that are easily calculated on a daily basis, and easily understood, raise motivation and help retain staff. Annually, I receive emails from staff members that provide information about raises nationally. You can bet that work is about the money and almost every individual wants more.

Take a look at your organization Are you doing your best to retain your top talent? Employ these ten factors in your organization to retain your desired employees and attract the best talent, too.

It's All About the Team (Tip of the Month)

Sat, 28 Apr 2012 13:58:00 CDT

By Ann Lee, CMBA
Lt Colonel, USAF (Retired)

The best advice I ever got as a supervisor was from a very wise flight superintendent. He told me that if I would take care of the people, the mission would take care of itself. He mentioned this to me as he observed me in a moment of insanity frantically trying to figure out how to learn every detail of everyone else's job. It was one of those 'what were you thinking?' moments. There were easily 30-40 people in seven different disciplines and I didn't have a clue what any of them did. I was totally out of my depth. I don't think I cried, but the desperation had to be apparent, because it generated the conversation in which I received such sound wisdom. It wasn't my first leadership position, but it was the first one where I really had to focus on the 'leading' instead of the 'doing'.

Heeding his advice helped me to discover a few key principles that revised my whole perspective about what it meant to be in charge. It worked so well it stuck for the rest of my career. Here are of few of the things I figured out along the way.

1- It's not about you--it's always about the team.
In my experience, the real job of the team leader is to create a productive environment so that the people on your team can shine. They need resources, good guidance, meaningful work and an environment free of unnecessary bureaucracy. A good team leader also actively seeks opportunities for the team to get the recognition and credit for their great work and to grow and advance in their careers. Foster a team culture where one person's success reflects well for the whole team.

2- Be yourself.
Sometimes you just have to do what you can and work with what you have. Example? I'm not much of a sports enthusiast. I don't play basketball, football, or anything else with a 'ball' at the end of it, at least not well. It was scary/sad in an environment where the team morale was impacted by sports competitions with other organizations. Since my playing on any team would only be a liability, I had to use the skills I had available. I couldn't play, but I did know how to watch, support, yell enthusiastically when we won and encourage when we lost. I could help keep score and make sure we had plenty of water. So I did what I could.

3- Show that you care.
Since I didn't have the sports skills to help the team to victory, I had to find ways to provide moral support. I believe that small contribution carried over in a positive way to the work environment. It's been said that people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. That has often proven true in my career.

The bottom line is, take care of the team, whatever that looks like. If you do that, everything else falls into place.

Do you agree? I'd like to hear your thoughts!