LE 0908 copy - Leader Connections

Excellence 

L E A D E R S H I P 

THE MAGAZINE OF LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT, MANAGERIAL EFFECTIVENESS, AND ORGANIZATIONAL PRODUCTIVITY 

Jackie Freiberg 

Leadership Consultant 

w w w . L e a d e r E x c e l . c o m 

SEPTEMBER 2008 

Lead Like 

a Sherpa 

Create a Culture 

of Urgency 

Link Learning 

and Performance 

Manage the 

Innovation Journey 

“Leadership Excellence is an exceptional 

way to learn and then apply the best and 

latest ideas in the field of leadership.” 

—WARREN BENNIS, AUTHOR AND 

USC PROFESSOR OF MANAGEMENT

Excellence 

L E A D E R S H I P 

THE MAGAZINE OF LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT, MANAGERIAL EFFECTIVENESS, AND ORGANIZATIONAL PRODUCTIVITY 

VOL. 25 NO. 9 SEPTEMBER 2008 

JOHN KOTTER 

Shared Urgency 

Create a culture of 

urgency in six ways . . . . . 3 

JIM CHAMPY 

Great Companies 

They share five traits. . . . .4 

NELSON SOKEN AND B. 

KIM BARNES 


Take a proven path 

through five phases . . . . . 5 

WARREN BENNIS, 

DANIEL GOLEMAN, 

AND JAMES O’TOOLE 

Candor Killers 

Identify what impedes 

transparency. . . . . . . . . . . .6 

DENNIS A. KELLEY 

Are You a Leader? 

Sense of Urgency 

Having eagle eyes for early 

opportunities is just the first 

part to the excellence equation. 

You must then exercise your 

ambition by modeling urgent 

behaviors, thus hunting ideas 

for innovation and seizing the 

magic of the moment. 

To find out, answer 

seven questions. . . . . . . . .7 

RON CROSSLAND 

Leadership Itch 

This is a poor way to 

develop leaders. . . . . . . . .8 

BILL GEORGE, ANDREW 

MCLEAN, NICK CRAIG 

Compass Center 

Build self-awareness 

and self-acceptance . . . . . 9 

MATT SCHUYLER 

Future of Work 

Current trends shape it. . 10 

MARK ALLEN 

Wisdom Management 

Apply four principles . . .11 

MARSHALL GOLDSMITH 

AND PATRICIA WHEELER 

Coaching for Growth 

The best advice has four 

recurring themes . . . . . . .12 

KEVIN AND JACKIE 

FREIBERG 

Lead Like a Sherpa 

Everyone must embrace 

the summit goal. . . . . . . .13 

JOSEPH MICHELLI 

New Gold Standard 

Look to Ritz-Carlton 

for service excellence . . . 14 

KIM MARCILLE 

Create Momentum 

Amplify possibilities 

into realities . . . . . . . . . . .15 

DANIEL R. TOBIN 

Action Learning 

Make it part of your 

leadership program. . . . .16 

DEBBE KENNEDY 

Leading High Performance 

Leadership influences 

positive outcomes. . . . . . 17 

RAM CHARAN 

Leadership Potential 

Learn how to spot a leader 

at different stages . . . . . .18 

GARY HARPST 

Strategy Execution 

Grow your capacity 

to execute strategy. . . . . .19 

HOWARD M. GUTTMAN 

Onboarding Tips 

Learn from leaders who 

have met the challenge. .19 

MARY JO HUARD 

Creative Leaders 

Ideas are now the 

currency of success. . . . . 20

E 

Top 100+ People in LD 

. D . I . T . O . R’S N . O . T . E 

The field is ripe and ready to harvest. 

by Ken Shelton 

FOR EIGHT OF OUR 25 YEARS, 

we’ve published a list of 

top leadership development 

(LD) programs, but failed to mention the 

designers, directors or drill sergeants of 

these programs as top practitioners in the 

field. In this issue, we are naming names. 

Our selection is based on three criteria: 

1) These individuals led a LD program in a 

for-profit company, or had a key role in the 

design or implementation of the program; 

2) They prepared participants for and 

placed them in leadership positions; 3) positive 

business outcomes accrued to the organization 

as a result of the LD program. 

I was also influenced by a report by Kortny 

Williamson, CorpU Research Analyst, on “Six 

Personalities of a CLO.” With some irony, she 

writes: “Organizations need more leadership 

for the learning (LD) function.” Otherwise, 

“LD teams tend to focus more on delivering 

training programs than developing strategy, 

driving performance, and contributing to the 

bottom line.” She suggests assigning the task 

of LD to “seasoned executives who have 

strong business and relationship skills, and 

can leverage LD to achieve business results.” 

She notes that six competencies identify 

the CLO’s roles and responsibilities: 

Alan Malinchak - ManTech U. 

Alex Stiber - Schwan 

Alicia Mandel - USOC 

Alysa Parks, Maureen 

McDermott - CDW 

Andrea Johnson - Home Depot 

Andrew Noon - Mutual of Omaha 

Angella Rosata - St. Thomas Health 

Anne Nagy - Nationwide Ins. 

Arlene Ferebee - GlaxoSmithKline 

Audrey Goodman - Medco 

Barbara Amone - UBS 

Beau Parnell, Irada Sadykhova - 

Microsoft 

Beverly Momsen - Chevron 

Beverly Saunders - Atlantis Resort 

Bill Robinson - Ontario Power 

Bret Skousen - Black & Decker 

Brian Wallace - HSBC Bank 

Bryan Murphy, David Clark - 

Farmers Group 

Camille Mirshokrai - Accenture 

Carol Birt - Boise Cascade 

Carol Pledger - Goldman Sachs 

Cathy Gorman - Interstate Batteries 

Cedric Coco - Lowe’s 

Cherlz Franz - Pfizer, Inc. 

Chip Chesmore - John Deere 

Christa Centola, David Letts - 

Raytheon 

Clark Handy, Marianne Langlois - 

Convergys 

Claire Schooley - Forrester Research 

Cynthia McCague - Coca-Cola 

Cyrus Devere - Panda Resturants 

D'Anne Carpenter - Trinity Health 

Daisy Ng - Darden Restaurants 

Daniel J. Stewart - Kohls Corp. 

Dave DeFilippo - Bank of N.Y. 

Mellon Asset Mgt 

Dave Roberts - Western Union 

David Clark - Nike 

Deborah Exo, Elizabeth Rohlck - 

Herman Miller 

Denise Smith-Hams - Genetech 

Dermot O'Brien - TIAA-CREF 

Diana Oreck - Ritz-Carlton 

Diana Thomas - McDonald’s 

Eileen Rogers - Deloitte 

Elizabeth Vales - Allstate 

Technology & Operations 

Eric T. Hicks - JP Morgan Chase 

Fabio Tonolini - Tenaris Univ. 

Faye Richardson - Steelcase 

Franklin Shaffer - Cross Country 

Healthcare 

Gary Fisher, Peter Marchesini - 

InVentive Health 

Greg A. Lee - Motorola 

Heather Bock, Lori Berman - Howrey 

Horacio Rozanski-BoozAllenHamilton 

Janet Baker - Aflac 

Jayne Johnson, John Lynch - 

General Electric 

Jeannie Milan - InsureMe 

Jerry Moran, Tina Grove - 

Mohegan Sun 

Jim Brolley - Harley-Davidson 

Jim Heinz, Tim Fennell - Lockheed 

Martin 

1) Visionary—draws a blueprint how the 

development of leaders will create a competitive 

advantage; 2) Strategic Alliance Architect 

—LD requires many suppliers to provide 

training programs, technology, and services 

that meet business needs and serve its purposes; 

3) Master of Communication—heightens 

awareness of the strategic importance of LD 

and facilitates more purposeful communication, 

presenting a few key objectives that are 

easy-to-understand, and aligned with the 

company’s core values and strategies; 4) 

Relationship Engineer —builds relationships 

with internal and external partners, understands 

business issues, appreciates the cultural 

and environmental issues that impact 

performance, and influences other executives 

on the value of performance consulting; 5) 

Extreme Innovator— drives performance higher, 

using creativity to analyze problems and performance 

challenges, determine root causes, 

assess the cost of not intervening, and apply 

effective intervention tools; 6) Performance 

Consultant—meets with business unit leaders 

who know where the business is heading and 

its key strategies and priorities, understands 

where performance gaps exist and uncovers 

root causes of those gaps, and measures the 

costs and benefits of closing these gaps by 

applying resources to resolve problems. 

Here’s our list of the top 100+ players in 

the growth field of leadership development: 

Jim Phelan, Kathy Koressel - 

Merck 

John Christman - Genworth Financial 

John Congemi - Best Buy 

John Donnelly, Kathleen Goldreich - 

Citigroup 

John Rooney - U.S. Cellular 

John Schlembach - Aramco Services 

John Shepherd - Mars 

Jonathan Amy, Martha Brophy - 

Pricewaterhouse-Coopers 

Jose Conejos - Nokia 

Judi Affek, Vickie Canon - 7-Eleven 

Judith Edge - Fed Ex 

Julie-Ellen Acosta - Boeing 

Justin Lombardo - Northwestern 

Memorial Hospital 

Karie Willyerd - Sun Microsystems 

Karen Gay - Cirque du Soleil 

Kate Martine, Lanny Hoel - Trustmark 

Ken Kenner - BJ Services 

Kenny Kinder, Mark Searcy - 

Coverall Cleaning Concepts 

Kevin Peterson-ArcherDanielsMidland 

Kevin Wilde - General Mills 

Kimberly Kelly, Susan Berg - Paychex 

Ky C. Lewis III - Sharp Healthcare 

Leon Ronzana - American Honda 

Leslie Young - Bank of America 

Lesley Hoare - Kimberly-Clark 

Lisa Northup - Americredit 

Linda O’Connell - Mayo Clinic 

Lynne Zappone - InterContinental 

Marc Reed, Shawne Angelle - 

Verizon 

Marian Anderson - Washington 

Mutual 

Martha Soehren - Comcast 

Matt Schuyler, Capital One 

Matthew Bertman - Pulte Homes 

Michael Trusty - Rolls Royce 

Mike Stafford - Starbucks 

Moheet Nagrath - P&G 

Nancy Brennock - Trexton 

Pam Bilbrey - Baptist Health Care 

Pat Crull - Time Warner 

Patricia A. Bradford - Unisys 

Pru Sullivan - Green Mountain Coffee 

Ralph Schiavone - Malcolm Pirnie 

Randy Krug - Hormel 

Ray Stevens - Staples 

Rebecca Ray - Mastercard 

Richard Ames - Carnival 

Robert Russcoe - Unisys 

Ronald Glaser - Intl. Trade Admin. 

Sally Levell - Tenet HealthSystems 

Sari Brody - Ikea 

Sharon Smart - Mattress Giant 

Sherry Makely - Clarian Health 

Stephen Hadlock - Wheeler Machinery 

Susan Muehlbach - Northwest Airlines 

Susan Skara - Watson Labs 

Susan Suver - U.S. Steel 

Suzanne Scott - Cisco 

Tamar Elkeles - Qualcomm 

Tamara Patrick - Whirlpool 

Teresa Roche - Agilent 

Tim Galbraith - Yum!Brands 

Vicky Jones - GM Global LP 

Vicky Rogers - Jet Blue 

Volume 25 Issue 9 

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2 September 2008 Leadership Excellence

PERFORMANCE URGENCY 

Shared Urgency 

Make it part of the culture. 

by John Kotter 

SUCCESSFUL CHANGE 

follows a basic pattern, 

starting with creating 

a sense of urgency. In fact, the biggest 

challenge leaders face in causing 

change comes right at the beginning— 

in creating a strong sense of urgency. 

Most leaders struggle to meet this 

challenge for two interrelated reasons: 

First, they miss important information. 

Most information is filtered before 

it gets to them, and much good information 

never gets to them. So, they 

don’t see the complacency that resides 

two levels down, or in a branch office. 

They can’t believe it, because they see 

their margins slipping and clearly communicate 

urgent priorities. They don’t 

understand why everyone doesn’t 

share a sense of urgency to deal with 

the dilemma or seize the opportunity. 

Some leaders remain out of touch 

because they’re overwhelmed with 

work, have a thousand messages coming 

at them daily, are internally 

focused, or have succeeded in the past 

and become arrogant. 

Second, they mistake 

energy and activity for real 

urgency. Top execs often 

see enormous activity: 

they see people running 

around, holding meetings, 

and starting projects, and 

so they look at me and say, 

“Look, we have a sense of 

urgency!” I find frenetic 

activity, usually driven by 

anxiety, but no sense of shared urgency. 

When people have a shared sense of 

real urgency, they tend to be extraordinarily 

alert. They move faster, launching 

initiatives that address the problems 

and opportunities they face. They listen 

better and cooperate more. When their 

agenda starts to fill with new tasks 

because they must run the current 

operations and leap into the future— 

they identify the low-priority items and 

either cancel them off their calendars or 

delegate them to others to free up time 

to handle new, more important tasks. 

They think, “This change may take us 

three years to complete, but every day 

we’ll make progress. We’ll redirect con- 

versation to the real issues and cancel 

unnecessary activities.” 

UUrrggeennccyy OOppttiioonnss aanndd MMiinnddsseett 

In effect, people face three options: 

Option 1: Complacency and anxiety. 

Many people believe that things are 

not perfect, but for them, they’re doing 

the right thing. At a feeling level, they 

are content with what they’re doing, 

even complacent. In fact, they may be 

critical of highly productive people. 

Their complacency is manifest in their 

behavior, as they continue doing what 

they did yesterday. They tend to postpone 

or procrastinate new behavior. 

Option 2: False urgency and frenetic 

activity. This is what many leaders 

often mistake for real urgency. False 

urgency is manifest in anxiety-driven, 

frenetic, unproductive behavior. 

Option 3: Real urgency with process 

and progress. At a feeling level, this is 

driven by a determination to move 

now, to win now. At a behavioral level, 

it’s seen as hyper-alertness to what’s 

happening on the outside (in the market), 

focused on the real issues, getting 

up every day with a commitment to 

make progress on those 

issues, without getting 

burned out, which happens 

if you fail to get rid 

of the junk and delegate. 

The urgency mindset is 

this: “There are great 

opportunities and hazards 

out there, and we must 

deal with them.” There’s 

enormous determination 

to make something happen 

now and win. And determination is 

different from frenetic activity, anxiety, 

contentment, and the complacency of 

showing up and doing the same thing. 

CCuullttuurree ooff UUrrggeennccyy 

You may find a sense of urgency in a 

person or a pocket with a company, but 

rarely do you find it through an entire 

culture. As a leader, you need to instill 

(not try to install) a sense of urgency in 

the culture. If you start building the 

best practices into your systems and 

structures, urgency will eventually seep 

into the culture. You need to identify 

and implement methods that increase 

urgency and build momentum. Soon 

these urgency practices become “the 

way we do things around here.” 

When I consult, I talk about two 

kinds of change—episodic and continuous—and 

ask, “What kind of change 

are you facing?” Historically, most leaders 

report facing episodic change—an 

IP changeover or new strategy implementation 

in Division X. It’s a specific 

thing that comes and goes. Now, more 

executives are facing continuous 

change. And I can’t imagine how they 

will cope, unless they can build a sense 

of shared urgency into their culture. 

The leaders who do this best tend to 

be leading medium-sized and smaller 

companies. Some big companies that 

once had a shared sense of urgency now 

have arrogance and complacency. Even 

after being whacked hard by the competition, 

they are mostly engaged in frenetic 

activity—people are running around 

in circles like rats in a maze—not building 

a shared sense of urgency into the 

systems, structure, and culture. 

SSiixx WWaayyss ttoo PPrroommoottee UUrrggeennccyy 

A shared sense of urgency is not 

always the consequence of tough competition 

or harsh external conditions. 

Proactive leaders and lower-level managers 

create urgency in four ways: 

1. Bring the outside in. People on the 

inside tend to become disconnected 

from the world. Great leaders maintain 

a sense of urgency by reconnecting 

people with the outside world—by 

bringing the outside in, bringing information 

and outsiders in, at the right 

time and in the right way, realizing that 

change is a head/heart thing. It’s not 

just about how people think, but mostly 

about how they feel. And that means not 

hiring a big consulting company and 

having them dump a logical report on 

people at the wrong time and place. 

That practice only creates anxiety. The 

leader has to say, “Let’s look at the 

facts—we’ve got to move, now.” 

2. Send scouts out. One CEO told a 

high-potential employee that he wanted 

him to enroll in a university’s leadership 

development program, and 

then said, “Let me explain why. I think 

you have potential, and this program 

will accelerate your development. You 

will learn what’s going on and leave 

wanting to come back here and help 

others develop that same sense of 

urgency—to share with them in a way 

that captures their minds and hearts 

what you’ve gone through. That’s my 

primary objective.” So, sending a scout 

out is another way to bring the outside 

in and create a sense of urgency. 

3. Listen to your front-line sales and 

Leadership Excellence September 2008 3

service employees. Tell them, “You’re 

not only selling products—you’re supplying 

vital information about what’s 

going on.” And don’t send this information 

up seven levels of hierarchy or 

write meaningless reports. Senior leaders 

should seek these people out. Sam 

Walton would fly around in his prop 

plane, talking to store managers and 

staff associates alike, constantly asking, 

“What’s up? Don’t just tell me what 

people are buying—tell me when they 

smile, or frown. What are the trends? 

What cars are in the parking lot now?” 

His aim was to bring the outside in, 

and not do it in a dry, factual, everybody-forgets-it-in-15-minutes 

way. 

4. Find opportunity in crisis. When 

a crisis looms or appears, pause for a 

minute and ask, “Is there an opportunity 

here to help us get out of complacency 

and start feeling a strong sense 

of urgency?” Don’t assume there will 

be. In many cases, you must get in 

there and bail out the boat. But cultivate 

the mindset of looking for opportunity 

in every real or potential crisis. 

5. Behave urgent every day. Once at 

Harvard I met a CEO who bragged 

about one of his Indian managers who 

had become a beacon of urgency. He 

was constantly talking about what was 

happening in the industry and company, 

how their past success meant nothing, 

how they had to move faster, and 

then modeled moving faster. If holding 

a meeting was a low priority, he’d canceled 

it; if he held it, he would end 

every meeting by saying, “Next week, 

I’m going to do A, B and C as a result 

of this meeting.” He’d turn to the guy 

on his left and says, “How about 

you?” He tapped into their aspirations 

to do something great and win. 

6. Deal with the No-Nos. These are 

people who have some power, usually, 

who hate all change, and who won’t 

admit it. They present themselves 

appropriately, but they are relentless in 

keeping complacency up, creating fear 

and false urgency. When you find 

these people, you need to deal with 

them so they’re not in the way. 

To inspire a strong sense of shared 

urgency, you’ve got to win over the 

hearts and minds of people. Creating a 

sense of urgency is a life-and-death 

issue. If you don’t get your act together 

quickly, somebody will buy you up 

and then slice and dice you out of existence. 

If that image doesn’t engender a 

sense of urgency, nothing will. LE 

John Kotter, HBS professor, is best-selling author of Our Iceberg 

Is Melting and a new book, A Sense of Urgency. Visit 

JohnKotter.com; for training call Greg Kaiser at 919-618-9955. 

ACTION: Create a sense of urgency in your culture. 

LEADERSHIP GREATNESS 

Great Companies 

What are five shared traits? 

by Jim Champy 

FOR YEARS I’VE 

searched for great 

companies. Like many 

objectives, greatness is in the eye of the 

beholder. It’s an honorable aspiration. 

I’ve looked at over 1,000 high-growth 

companies and found many good ones. 

My search is driven by a desire to 

find companies that have new business 

models, delivering new products 

and services to customers and executing 

in new ways. I’ve written about 

my discoveries in Outsmart!. Although 

I could find no single formula for what 

creates a great company, I did find six 

shared characteristics. 

1. Culture. My ultimate test of the 

quality of a company is whether I 

would like to work there. The good 

news: I see many high-growth companies 

where I would work. 

One simple test for a great 

culture is how a company is 

experienced by its constituents—its 

customers, 

associates, owners, and 

business partners. The best 

companies treat all of their 

constituents well and, in 

their own unique ways, 

aspire to greatness. 

2. Ambition: The leaders 

of great companies have a great ambition 

for the company—one that 

addresses an unmet customer need. 

The ambition is not one of personal 

greed—it’s about building a company 

that delivers on its promise and does it 

with a unique quality. My experience 

is that it takes a great ambition to create 

even a good company. I’m inspired 

by the company Minute Clinic, whose 

ambition is to change how healthcare 

is delivered, for the benefit of everyone 

involved in the system. 

3. Customer: Every good company 

begins by meeting a customer need. 

That need is often deeply understood 

by the founders because they, themselves, 

experienced the need—and saw 

how that need was not being well met. 

Sometimes the founder delegates the 

management of the company to someone 

who operationalizes the idea. But 

that wasn’t the case in the example of 

Sonicbids, a company that saw the 

unmet needs of thousands of independent 

musicians and performers and 

whose founder has led the company to 

a unique position in the music business 

for independent performers—a $13 billion-a-year 

market that no one saw or 

organized until Sonic bids came along. 

4. Focus: Good companies stay 

focused on what they know and can 

do well. When companies search for 

new ideas, they often drift into 

unknown territory and get in trouble. 

Good companies just keep growing 

and expanding into familiar territory. 

Shutterfly is a wonderful example of a 

company that’s growing by expanding 

within the social expressions business, 

helping communities of people share 

photographs in hundreds of ways. 

Niches can be very large markets. 

5. Execution: Satisfying a customer 

requires relentless attention to execution. 

Building a company’s capability to 

deliver makes the difference between 

turning a great idea into a business or 

failure. But execution is not just about 

delivering a product—it’s also about 

service. Over the years, I’ve observed 

that technology companies are bad at 

recognizing and responding to the service 

needs of their customers. 

Counter-intuitively, 

high-tech requires a lot of 

high-touch. Partsearch is a 

company that knows what 

it’s doing with customer 

service, helping customers 

find what they need in an 

ocean of millions of parts 

and accessories for consumer 

electronic products. 

6. Inspiration: Smart 

companies engage all of their associates 

in building the business, from idea creation 

though delivery. Ideas may come 

tops-down, but they also come bottoms-up 

and from every other direction. 

Everyone in the company feels 

that they own a piece of the action and 

are accountable for performance. The 

inspiration for a company starts at the 

top, but good leadership drives that 

inspiration deep into the company by 

engaging people broadly in decisionmaking. 

People are more than mechanical 

parts of the enterprise, and the 

more they see customers, the better 

their business sensibilities. 

These six traits are common in great 

organizations, smart companies operating 

quite brilliantly. LE 

Jim Champy, author of Outsmart! Reengineering the 

Corporation, X-Engineering, Reengineering Management, and 

The Arc of Ambition, is Chairman of Perot Systems’ consulting 

practice and head of strategy. Visit www.jimchampy.com. 

ACTION: Become a great organization. 


CHANGE INNOVATION 


How can you lead and manage it? 

by Nelson Soken and B. Kim Barnes 

SUPPOSE THAT YOU’VE BEEN ASSIGNED 

to “accelerate innovation” and 

given a free hand to develop the strategy 

and operational plan. Where do 

you start? How can you achieve it? 

Leaders are under pressure to meet 

or exceed market expectations each 

quarter. Different approaches are touted 

as the road to success. Methods 

such as Six Sigma and Lean Sigma 

deliver results by improving bottomline 

performance through operational 

efficiency and effectiveness. In contrast, 

innovation, seen as a key means 

to achieve competitive advantage, 

delivers results by generating organic 

growth to the company’s top line. 

Innovation requires tapping people’s 

creativity and imagination and 

cultivating a culture that stimulates 

and supports innovation. Innovation 

is not the result of imposing specific 

processes and disciplines, but is an 

inherently human activity that 

requires a broad understanding of 

how people think and behave. 

Innovation differs from development 

efforts because it requires a degree 

of uncertainty and challenges to 

the status quo. Often, processes that 

drive improvement require repeatability 

and minimize variability. Innovation 

is about increasing variability and 

encouraging expansive and divergent 

thinking. Rather than the “drive for 

results” leadership that seeks quick 

alignment and efficient execution, 

innovation leaders ask people to look 

at problems from different perspectives, 

take unfamiliar positions, identify 

and test their assumptions, and take 

risks. Such leaders make room for 

experimentation, mistakes, and failures 

while requiring focus and discipline. 

JJoouurrnneeyy tthhrroouugghh FFiivvee PPhhaasseess 

We describe innovation as a journey—adventure 

travel with twists and 

turns, dead-ends, retracing of steps, 

accidents, surprises, dangers, and pos- 

sible failures. Success may seem like 

the result of good luck or timing; however, 

consistently successful innovation 

is not random. Effective innovation 

leaders and managers use a consistent 

pattern, moving through five phases. In 

the program Managing Innovation, we 

use the concept of avatars to describe 

personae that represent the mindsets 

and skill-sets that support each phase. 

Each avatar is an archetype—an embodiment 

of a set of qualities and skills. 

1. Searching: Hunting and gathering 

ideas and opportunities for innovation. 

In this phase, the Seeker is far-sighted, 

outward looking, curious, and ardent 

in looking for ideas and opportunities 

for innovation. When Searching, look 

inside and outside your organization 

and industry for ideas. Diversity of 

thinking is the mother of innovation. 

2. Exploring: Examining and testing 

ideas to discern their potential value. In 

this phase, the Alchemist is tireless, 

discovery-oriented, skeptical, and logical 

in exploring and investigating ideas 

when it is time to focus on those that 

are most promising. When Exploring, 

encourage constructive debate. Provide 

a forum where members of your team 

can challenge one another’s thinking in 

a respectful and productive way. 

3. Committing: Making clear decisions 

and commitments on how to 

move forward. In this phase, the Judge 

is wise and prudent, but also decisive 

and bold in making commitments to 

invest time, talent, and other resource 

in specific innovation efforts. When 

Committing, be prepared to kill ideas 

that are not chosen or are outmoded in 

order to provide resources for innovation. 

Do so skillfully and with compassion, 

but don’t hesitate to do it. 

4. Realizing: Delivering the innovation. 

The Director drives the innovation 

to completion; he or she is team-focused, 

results-oriented, and requires discipline 

and politically savvy to move toward 

implementation. When Realizing, be a 

“buffer” to protect your team from interference 

while they are driving for results. 

5. Optimizing: Maximizing the value 

created by the innovation. In this phase, 

the Magician—optimistic, creative, 

entrepreneurial, generous—makes the 

most of the innovation, creates maximum 

value for the team and the organization, 

even if the specific innovation 

fails (as many do). When Optimizing, 

ask, “How else can we use, improve, 

extend, or scale this idea” before moving 

on to the next big thing. 

TThhee LLeeaaddeerr’’ss RRoollee 

Leaders play a critical role in guiding 

innovation. As in any journey into 

unknown territory, fear and risk should 

be minimized. The traveler is more likely 

to succeed with a professional, seasoned, 

and prepared guide to facilitate 

the journey. As Louis Pasteur said: 

“Chance favors only the prepared mind.” 

Strong leaders help provision people 

for their journey. They communicate the 

vision of a strategic destination while at 

the same time leaving room for passion, 

excitement, spontaneity, and responsiveness 

to circumstances and opportunity. 

Innovation leaders deliberately 

manage the journey with its inevitable 

variability in a way that optimizes the 

outcome while maintaining focus on a 

timely arrival at the destination—even 

if the destination changes en route. 

Such leadership and management 

demand high flexibility. Each phase of 

the journey requires different mindsets 

and skill-sets, though many skills are 

useful in more than one phase. Most 

people are more comfortable in one or 

two of the phases of the journey and 

tend to stay in their “comfort zone” 

longer than necessary. Leaders and 

managers must either learn how to 

“morph” from one to another or identify 

others who can represent and call 

forth the required mindsets and skillsets 

at each phase. Since innovation is 

an untidy process, you need to know 

when to move back and forth. 

As you begin your innovation journey, 

“provision” yourself with these 

insights. Ultimately, innovation is 

about people and psychology, behavior 

and attitudes—not just good intentions 

and well-defined processes. Innovation 

leadership and management give you 

a competitive advantage. LE 

B. Kim Barnes is CEO of Barnes & Conti Assoc. (visit 

www.barnesconti.com) and co-developer with David Francis, 

Ph.D., of Managing Innovation. Nelson Soken, Ph.D., is senior 

manager at Medtronic and facilitator of Managing Innovation. 

ACTION: Lead and manage innovation. 


ETHICS CANDOR 

Candor Killers 

What impedes transparency? 

by Warren Bennis, Dan Goleman 

and James O’Toole 

IN A RATIONAL UNIVERSE, LEADERS 

would embrace transparency on ethical 

and practical grounds, as the state 

in which it is easiest to accomplish 

goals. But that is rarely the case. 

Powerful countervailing forces tend to 

stymie candor and transparency. 

Here are four such forces: 

1. Leaders routinely hoard or mishandle 

information. A common malady 

among insiders is hoarding information. 

This is one way information gets 

stuck and is kept from flowing to those 

who need it to make solid decisions. 

Wholesale classification keeps information 

away from the frontline people 

who actually manage the business and 

serve customers. Small cliques of insiders 

tend to hoard information because 

they want to know things that others 

do not. Some executives seem to take 

an almost juvenile pleasure in knowing 

the “inside dope” and keeping it away 

from their underlings. In some organizations, 

knowledge is seen as the ultimate 

executive perk, not unlike the 

company jet, kept solely for the use 

and delight of the elite. This stance is 

costly in terms of efficiency and morale. 

2. Structure or system impediments 

hamper information flow and bungle 

decision making. The U.S. declaration 

of war on Iraq was largely based on 

seriously flawed data from America’s 

intelligence community. Later internal 

investigations brought a structural 

problem to light. Inadvertently, the 

system of information flow had been 

designed to foster poor decisions by 

depriving key decision-makers of crucial 

data. The main flaw lay in the different 

mandates of two divisions at 

the CIA: the operations directorate, 

which gathers intelligence data from 

around the world, and the intelligence 

directorate, which sifts through that 

raw information to draw conclusions. 

To protect their sources’ identities, 

the operations people did not reveal 

their own assessments of the reliability 

of the source of specific data. As a 

result, sources with low credibility 

introduced information that was later 

found to be wrong. Analysts should 

not be put in the position of making a 

judgment on crucial issues without full 

understanding of the reliability and 

source of the relevant information. 

Businesses tend to operate with less 

openness about mistakes—and fewer 

full-scale investigations—than does a 

democratic government, and so examples 

from government are easier to 

find. But any time an organization 

makes a seriously wrong decision, its 

leaders should call for an intensive 

postmortem. Such learning opportunities 

are often overlooked. Sadly, leaders 

tend to call on the PR department 

to spin the matter, to make another 

inadequately thought-out decision, 

and perhaps to scapegoat, even fire, a 

few staff members. Because most leaders 

cover up their mistakes, systemic 

flaws in information flow tend to remain 

to do their damage another day. 

3. The “shimmer factor” impedes the 

free flow of information. The public and 

precipitous fall of many celebrity CEOs 

has dimmed the once-shining image of 

executives. But despite the discrediting 

of many executives, leaders still tend to 

be perceived by many as demigods. 

And that perception still deters followers 

from telling those leaders essential 

but awkward truths. As everyone 

knows, there’s a far different standard 

for scrutiny of the CEO’s expense 

account from that of a file clerk. In too 

many organizations, one of the privileges 

of rank is a tendency to get automatic 

approval of behavior that would 

be questioned in the less exalted. Many 

leaders encourage this godlike view of 

themselves in countless nonverbal 

ways—from the cost and spotlessness 

of their desks to the size and isolation of 

their homes. We often hear tales of leaders 

who do something outrageous, 

undeterred by those who should be 

watching but who fail to speak up. 

The best antidote to the shimmer 

effect is the behavior of the leader. The 

wisest leaders seek broad counsel, not 

because they are so enlightened but 

because they need it. Power does not 

confer infallibility. There’s a compelling 

reason to become more open to information 

from people at every level: those 

close to the action usually know more 

about what’s actually going on with 

clients, production or customer service, 

than do those on the top floors. 

Effective leaders find their own ways to 

elicit many points of view, believing 

“None of us is as smart as all of us.” 

The CEO of Pacific Rim bank, for 

instance, schedules 20 days each year to 

meet with groups of his top 800 people, 

40 at a time. Aware that isolation in a 

corner office may weaken his ability to 

make good decisions, he regularly seeks 

frank feedback from many sources. 

Beyond asking for the counsel of 

others, leaders have to hear and heed 

it. Reflect on how receptive you are to 

the suggestions and opinions of others 

and alternate points of view. 

4. Sheer hubris hinders the flow of 

information. One motive for turning a 

deaf ear to what others have to say 

seems to be sheer hubris: leaders often 

believe they are wiser than all those 

around them. The literature on executive 

narcissism tells us that the selfconfidence 

of top executives can easily 

blur into a blind spot, an unwillingness 

to turn to others for advice. 

In extreme cases, narcissism can 

cause leaders to refuse to hear what 

others say. Leaders can suffer from 

“tired ears.” The CEO of one international 

organization, for instance, 

decried the lack of an informal pipeline 

within the company—he felt that the 

executive summaries he received daily 

from his direct reports were being sanitized 

for him. Yet he could not imagine 

himself turning to anyone lower in the 

ranks for a private conversation—let 

alone cultivating a nonpowerful confidant—because 

it might be seen as a 

sign of weakness on his part. 

Address these and other impediments 

to transparency. LE 

Warren Bennis, Dan Goleman, and James O’Toole are coauthors 

of Transparency (Jossey-Bass). Visit www.josseybass.com. 

ACTION: Address the candor killers at your work. 


LEADERSHIP TEAMS 

Are You a Leader? 

Answer seven questions to find out. 

by Dennis A. Kelley 

LEADERS TODAY MUST 

balance many 

responsibilities and 

roles. They are pulled in many different 

directions and can get caught 

between what they need to do in 

order to create a winning team and 

keeping all their constituencies happy. 

Leadership requires quick action and 

the need to juggle multiple priorities 

that may cause leaders to lose focus 

on the development of their team. 

One big mistake a leader can make 

is to believe that developing their team 

isn’t their top priority. The best-run 

companies devote much time and 

resources to developing the skill, values, 

beliefs and identity of their team. 

No single person can accomplish 

everything that must be done for a 

business to grow and prosper. That is 

where the team comes in. A leader 

with a strong team will see exponentially 

greater results. A leader has no 

greater responsibility than to recruit, 

train, develop, coach, recognize and 

reward the people who are responsible 

for the success of the leader’s business. 

AAsskk SSeevveenn QQuueessttiioonnss 

To ensure you devote the time and 

effort necessary to build a winning 

team, ask yourself these seven questions 

and see how well you stack up. 

Does your team clearly understand 

your vision? A vision is useless empty 

rhetoric unless the people responsible 

for delivering it through the company’s 

products and services know, 

understand, and live the vision. As a 

leader, you must have a laser focus on 

your vision. You must communicate it 

to the entire team and then reinforce it 

through coaching, at meetings, and 

through your recognition and reward 

programs. Ensure that your vision is 

clearly connected with your strategic 

plan and that a specific cause is tied to 

it. A vision should be connected to an 

action plan that makes the vision come 

to life. When you communicate the 

vision to your team, connect the vision 

to the cause so your team will understand 

how it influences what they do. 

Paint a picture with your words. 

Speak it, write it, even draw it if necessary 

to ensure the team understands it. 

Your team will respond much better to 

the work they do when they clearly 

understand why they are doing it and 

how it helps the company. People want 

to feel meaning in the work they do. 

When they understand the company 

vision and how their job fits into it, 

they will feel connected and valued. 

Does your team have clear, specific, 

measurable goals that support the 

vision? Once you communicate the 

vision and your team understands how 

they fit into it, you must ensure they 

have specific goals to measure their 

progress. Goals enable the leader to 

measure how the team is progressing 

toward the vision. You can reward team 

members who contribute to the success 

of the team, and provide support to 

those who don’t. Goals bring accountability 

to the leadership process. Your 

team will thank you for creating equity 

within the team. It destroys morale and 

frustrates team members when weak 

performers and strong performers are 

all treated the same. Goals allow you to 

easily separate the weak from the 

strong and manage them accordingly. 

Just make sure goals are set fairly and 

equitably, are meaningful and connected 

to the vision. They must be specific 

and measure progress against the goal. 

The more clearly you define the goals, 

the more likely your team will achieve 

them. The goals should make team 

members stretch and grow to achieve 

them, and yet the goals must be achievable—or 

the team may just give up. 

Does the team understand the system 

of rewards and consequences? Strong 

leaders ensure that team members 

understand the consequences of their 

performance. Develop and communi- 

cate clear systems for handling team 

performance. It destroys morale and 

creates mediocre performance when 

team members sense that no matter 

how hard they work—or how little 

they achieve—they’ll be treated the 

same as everyone else. Why work 

harder or do more than expected if 

there’s no reward? Your team must 

understand the consequences—both 

good and bad—to their performance. 

Leaders must communicate the 

reward system in place as well as the 

corrective action systems. Rewards do 

not always have to be monetary. There 

are many ways to reward your team 

that are low cost or no cost. Find the 

right ones for your situation and apply 

them consistently—your team will 

respond. And with poor performance, 

make sure the team understands the 

consequences for not contributing and 

consistently apply them. 

Do you pull the weeds when you 

need to? Your team will respect you 

and perform better for you when you 

remove the weak members from the 

team (pull the weeds). In gardens, 

weeds show up. They start to grow, 

and soon they are choking the flowers. 

As more weeds grow, more flowers 

disappear. When you have a team 

member who does not perform or creates 

conflict you must deal with the 

problem—not pretend it will get better 

or hope the person leaves. One major 

mistake leaders make is to let these 

non-performers pull the team down. 

Strong performers know who isn’t 

performing, and they respect you 

more when you deal with problems. 

Does your team receive regular 

communication, coaching, and development? 

Once you communicate the 

vision, provide clear goals and communicate 

the consequences, you can’t 

kick back and take it easy. Strong 

leaders are also great coaches. They 

communicate regularly as conditions 

change and make adjustments to the 

strategy. The team must be kept 

abreast of updates and issues impacting 

their roles. In your coaching role, 

find out what is working and what 

isn’t. Where they are succeeding and 

where they are struggling. Ask questions 

and listen to what they say. Find 

out how they feel about their performance 

and abilities. Determine if they 

are confident in their ability to 

achieve the goals or if they need 

training or help. When you show you 

care and provide the support they 

need, they will follow your lead. 

Does your team fear the “F” word? 

Teams that fear failure in their attempts 


to become better will become paralyzed 

by that fear. They will fail to 

take action without first checking 

with you, even on trivial points. 

Winning teams do whatever it takes 

to get the job done and take reasonable 

business risks. As a leader, you 

must support this risk-taking. Trust 

your hiring decisions and your coaching 

talents and let them do their job 

with minimal interference. The only 

failure is the failure to participate. If 

they take action and make a mistake, 

they should learn from it and become 

better for it. Your team will achieve 

high success more quickly by failing 

than by always playing it safe and 

running to you for permission or to 

make all their decisions for them. If 

you and the team communicate regularly 

and you are coaching effectively, 

your risk will be minimal, and their 

development will soar. 

Does your team trust you and 

respect you? When customers like 

you, trust you and believe you, they 

will buy from you. As a leader, realize 

that you are selling your team every 

day on what you need them to do 

and why they should do it. If your 

team does not trust you or respect 

you, they won’t buy what you are 

telling them. When you lose their 

trust and respect, you must fight to 

get it back—and it will have a negative 

impact on their performance. Do 

what you say you will do—even if it 

is not popular. Be fair, honest and ethical 

in your dealings with them, and 

they will follow your lead. Never 

compromise your ethics or tell your 

team simply what they want to hear. 

Confidentiality may prohibit you 

sharing everything with them, but do 

not hold it over their head. Deal with 

them honestly and keep their trust—it 

will pay big dividends. 

CCrreeaattee aa SSttrroonngg TTeeaamm 

If you are strong in all seven areas, 

you deserve congratulations—as you 

are well on your way to leadership 

success. If you still need to work on 

some of these areas, make a commitment 

to yourself and your team to get 

started today. As a leader, your primary 

role is to create a strongest team. 

The more successful the team, the 

more successful you will be. Get the 

RIGHT people on your team, doing 

the RIGHT things, and work hard to 

develop your team. LE 

Dennis A. Kelley is President of The D. Kelley Group and 

author of Achieving Unlimited Success. Visit 

www.AchievingUnlimitedSuccess.com. 

ACTION: Ask yourself these seven questions. 

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT 

Leadership Itch 

It’s a bad way to develop people. 

by Ron Crossland 

ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE 

is down or flat. Labor 

relation tensions are up. 

Competitors create new products faster. 

Turnover increases. Wall Street snubs 

you. The C-suite team becomes querulous. 

Factions appear. Satisfaction is low. 

Leadership development is now seen 

as a key strategy for preventing or reducing 

the effects of these ailments and has 

become a standard feature in companies. 

What mistakes do companies make 

in creating a LD strategy? The biggest 

one is scratching the leadership itch. 

Have you ever had an itch that irritated 

you constantly? A rash, hive, or 

bug bite that controlled your attention 

and soured your mood? You want to 

scratch or medicate it until it goes away. 

You get temporary relief, 

but the itch returns, causing 

you to scratch harder and 

longer and overuse the itch 

creams, potions, and tablets. 

Many companies have 

an itch and then focus their 

LD program or process on 

relieving the itch, not on 

maintaining a healthy body. 

Two cases come to mind. 

One company was criticized 

in the media for its unethical behavior. 

The company was called a soulless machine 

that concentrated only on market domination 

without regard to means. Its answer 

was to develop a set of values and drive a 

values-based LD process, without placing 

the values in a larger context. 

A second company enjoyed an enviable 

market position. It had no serious 

competitors and had good financial 

returns, but was not growing. It’s 

emphasis for LD was to focus on strategy. 

All other leadership issues were 

either lightly addressed or ignored. 

This itch response is a poor way to 

develop leaders. Senior managers are 

simply viewing the tiers of leaders and 

managers beneath them as functional 

cogs to be focused on current problems. 

They use training and development to 

focus attention. Over time, participants 

realize that many aspects of leadership 

are being ignored and that their development 

is a guise for scratching. 

My advice? If you have an itch, 

scratch it. But treat it as an itch, and 

don’t equate scratching with having a 

healthy LD regimen. When you have a 

healthy LD system, itches occur rarely, 

and you can build the health of the 

company, not just react to irritations. 

There are three things you should 

do that may prevent itching altogether. 

1. Eat healthy, exercise, and get plenty 

of rest. These healthy habits maintain 

physical, emotional, and mental 

health and reduce the odds for suffering 

from many ailments. Likewise, a 

LD process that provides a broad base 

of development across all leadership 

domains is like eating healthy. If this is 

accompanied by job rotation, career 

management opportunities, or frequent, 

rigorous, mandatory training 

programs, you have the exercise component. 

Getting plenty of rest means 

keeping an eye on time for personal 

reflection, conversation, sabbaticals, 

and appropriate work-life balance. 

2. Senior team involvement and 

coaching. No counselor would advise 

parents: “Ensure your kids are well fed, 

do their homework, and get plenty of 

sleep. After that, leave everything to the 

school system, television, 

social networks, and random 

opportunities.” So 

why would you do this 

when developing leaders? 

C-suite leaders and senior 

managers should be 

involved in attending programs, 

teaching participants, 

and touching base 

through conference calls or 

in-class visits, even if for 

only 30 minutes at a time. If all a senior 

manager does for LD is write the check 

and delegate responsibility to HR, then 

kill the program and save the money. 

Coaching can double the impact of 

LD processes. So, to amp up your LD 

process with only marginal financial 

investment, add coaching and train 

your managers in coaching practices. 

3. Raise graduate entrance expectations. 

A good LD program provides 

basic education and coaching for all 

managers. But advanced LD or “highpotential” 

programs should be tough 

to enter and stay in. Everyone should 

have a shot, but invest extra resources 

in those who make the grade. About 60 

percent of VP-level managers don’t 

aspire to go higher. Invest in people 

who do and facilitate their progress. LE 

Ron Crossland is Chairman of Bluepoint Leadership Development, 

and co-author of The Leader’s Voice, and The 

Leadership Experience. Email info@bluepointleadership.com. 

ACTION: Have a healthy LD regimen. 


LEADERSHIP SELF-AWARENESS 

Compass Center 

Build your self-awareness. 

by Bill George, Andrew McLean 

and Nick Craig 

YOU DISCOVER YOUR AUTHENTIC LEADership 

by developing yourself. All 

leaders face challenges in staying 

aligned with their True North—their 

most deeply held beliefs, values, and 

principles—as they cope with the 

pressures and seductions of leading. 

You will need a compass to guide 

you on your journey. At the center of 

the True North compass is the theme of 

this article: Build your self-awareness. 

To the north: live your values. To the 

east: use your motivated capabilities. 

To the south: build your support team. 

To the west: lead an integrated life. 

These five points of the compass 

enable you to stay focused on your 

True North while coping with and 

overcoming challenges. You must take 

responsibility for your own development, 

using this compass to guide you. 

BBuuiilldd YYoouurr SSeellff--AAwwaarreenneessss 

Self-awareness is at the center of 

the True North compass. A compass 

needle orients itself to Earth’s magnetic 

field. To do so, it pivots on the fixed 

point of a tiny fulcrum. Your selfawareness 

is the pivot on which your 

balanced development and your orientation 

to your True North depend. 

With self-awareness, you know 

when something is authentic for you 

and when it is not. You can’t be truly 

self-aware without honest and direct 

feedback from others. So, enlist the 

assistance of trusted peers, mentors, 

and friends, reflect on their feedback 

and explore what changes it suggests 

in your life and leadership. 

When you review your feedback, 

you may find that your self-assessment 

differs from the assessments you 

receive from others. Explore these discrepancies. 

How and why does your 

perspective differ from that of others? 

You can’t be authentic without being 

aware of your core strengths, your 

weaknesses, and your underdeveloped 

areas. You also need to develop 

an understanding of your blind spots, 

areas of resilience, and vulnerabilities. 

We all know inauthentic leaders 

who represent themselves in one way 

and then behave in the opposite manner. 

You may have been guilty of this 

as well. However, authenticity is not 

about being or pretending to be perfect. 

Those leaders who can speak openly 

about their weaknesses, blind spots, 

and vulnerabilities permit others to do 

the same. If you can do this, you create 

deep trust and commitment in your 

relationships. Thus you 

will be living with the 

humble truth of owning 

and accepting all of who 

you are—both the gifts and 

the challenges. 

We each have many 

aspects that we present to 

the world in layered succession. 

Like an onion, we 

have many layers. Outer 

layers are expressions of 

our external identity to the 

world. These are the first signals to 

others about who we are and what lies 

beneath. They are also forms of protection; 

they prevent the world from 

intruding on our core selves. 

Underneath the outer layer are deeper 

layers: our strengths and weaknesses, 

our needs and desires. These are the 

elements from which we operate. 

Deeper still lie our values and motivations, 

the criteria that define our own 

sense of success and fulfillment. 

Most hidden of all are our shadow 

sides, our vulnerabilities and our blind 

spots. We all have them, whether or 

not we’re aware of them or acknowledge 

them. Often others see these 

“blind spots,” even if we do not. These 

deeper layers are difficult to identity 

unless we are brutally honest with 

ourselves or invite others to give us 

feedback about such vulnerable places. 

At the core of our being lies our 

authentic self—our true and genuine 

nature. If we can “own” all aspects of 

who we are, we can live in harmony 

with our authentic selves and present 

our true self to others and to the world 

around us. Our True North comes 

from this authentic place, from which 

we find our calling to leadership. 

Why is the outer skin of our onion 

so tough? For fear of being judged or 

rejected by others, we are understandable 

reluctant to expose our deeper 

layers. We want to display our 

strengths, not expose our weaknesses. 

We want to state our desires, but naturally 

we are concerned about the 

power others gain over us when they 

see our needs. Deeper down, our values 

and motivations are important 

sources of authentic leadership. 

As a result of our fears, we often try 

to cover up the core where our vulnerabilities, 

weaknesses, blind spots, and 

shadow sides reside. We may be so good 

at covering them that we’re unaware of 

them. We may be in denial about them 

until we are forced into situations 

where they are suddenly exposed. 

The paradox underlying the showing 

of only parts of ourselves while 

hiding others is that our 

vulnerabilities, shadow 

sides, and blind spots are 

also the parts of us most 

starved for expression, 

acceptance, and integration. 

When we do not 

acknowledge them as 

being just as critical to 

who we are as our 

strengths, they cause us to 

behave in inauthentic 

ways. Only when we 

embrace these aspects can we become 

fully authentic as leaders and people. 

AAcccceepptt WWhhoo YYoouu AArree 

None of us can be the best at everything. 

Each of us has a set of strengths 

that come naturally, talents we have 

developed over time, and things we 

are never going to be good at. What 

enables us to be authentic and effective 

leaders is maximizing the use of 

our strengths—not focusing on our 

weaknesses—and surrounding ourselves 

with others whose strengths 

complement our own and fill in for 

our gaps. The ability to accept yourself 

as you are is a gift that leads not only 

to self-acceptance but to true freedom. 

Accepting and loving yourself for 

who you are requires compassion. For 

you to acknowledge your weakness 

and shadow sides, you have to accept 

the things you like least about yourself 

as integral to who you are. 

The goal of self-awareness is selfknowledge, 

and ultimately self-acceptance 

as the leader you are and the 

leader you are capable of becoming. LE 

Bill George, Andrew McLean, and Nick Craig are coauthors of 

Finding Your True North: A Personal Guide (Jossey-Bass). Visit 

www.truenorthleaders.com. 

ACTION: Boost your self-awareness as a leader. 


MANAGEMENT TRENDS 

Future of Work 

Today’s trends shape it. 

by Matt Schuyler 

EMERGING TRENDS ARE 

changing the nature 

of knowledge work, 

demanding new options. Business 

cycles create more intensity, complexity, 

and uncertainty—demanding high productivity. 

Also, the balance of power is 

shifting from individual contributors 

to cross-functional, networked teams; 

and technology is accelerating the pace 

and scope of change. Work is more 

complex, collaborative, distributed in 

time and place, less predictable, and 

more demanding. To remain viable, 

leaders need to respond to trends with 

flexibility, speed, and innovative, costeffective 

solutions. 

WWoorrkkffoorrccee TTrreennddss 

Retiring Baby Boomers could soon 

lead to a scarcity of knowledge workers. 

If these retiring workers can’t be 

replaced, more work may be offshored, 

or companies may need to 

bring back retired workers on a parttime 

basis. Also, some companies are 

experiencing a breakdown in the 

employer-employee bond as pensions 

disappear, benefits become portable, 

job sites increase or become mobile, 

and employee churn rises. 

The millennial generation, or Gen 

Y, is altering employee expectations. 

For example, most millennials would 

prefer to work for companies that give 

them opportunities to contribute their 

talents to nonprofits on company 

time. A company’s commitment to 

social responsibility can determine 

whether millennials will accept a job 

offer. And they are more likely to pick 

an area to live that suits their lifestyle. 

Work models and patterns that enable 

people to work when it’s convenient to 

them and when they’re most productive 

are popular. Gen Y expects work to 

mirror the college experience with flexibility 

in work hours. Gen Xers also 

value flexible work hours and locations 

that enable them care for children or 

continue their education. Baby Boomers 

too are vocal about wanting more flexible 

work practices that allows for elder 

care, exercise, or personal growth. 

TTeecchhnnoollooggiiccaall TTrreennddss 

The rate and reach of technological 

change also impact the workplace. The 

infrastructure is now widely available 

to give employees access to information 

anywhere and anytime. Soon, highspeed 

Internet and wireless access will 

grow more robust and ubiquitous and 

become an expected amenity, while 

mobile devices quickly converge into a 

single, fully-integrated tool. Traditional 

brick-and-mortar offices may no longer 

be the focus of work efforts as meetings 

are conducted in cyberspace. 

Technological advances also introduce 

uncertainty and risk. Consumers 

expect faster transaction speeds and 

greater accuracy, while more marketing 

channels make reaching the consumer 

harder. Regulatory compliance, 

information security, and privacy issues 

will create added risk and uncertainty 

for both companies and consumers. 

BBuussiinneessss PPrroocceessss TTrreennddss 

Future enterprises will be more dispersed 

in terms of markets and suppliers, 

and expand their dependence on 

multiple extended partners. Businesses 

will focus on improving productivity 

with shorter product cycles. “Faster, 

better, cheaper” will remain the mantra. 

Uncertainty will drive structure churn, 

while environmental regulations will 

create economic uncertainty. Flexibility, 

adaptability and ideation will be success 

factors. Global risks will intensify 

due to the threat of terrorism, financial 

shocks, and natural disasters. 

TToommoorrrrooww’’ss WWoorrkkppllaaccee 

The workplace will need to be flexible. 

In some cases, companies will 

have to create new spaces to enhance 

concentration and focus, privacy and 

security, and yet allow for spontaneous 

interaction. Workspaces will become 

increasingly diverse, some co-located, 

some virtual, and some both. Web 

2.0—the use of the Internet as a collaborative 

platform to maximize creativity 

and productivity—social networking 

and social computing will be the conference 

rooms and workspaces of the 

future. Employers need to increase the 

usable workspace in the office. 

Tomorrow’s workplace needs to be 

vibrant and energizing, with a focus on 

natural daylight, sustainable healthy 

space, natural landscaping, open space 

to maximize views from windows, creative 

office construction, low panels 

between offices, open desking, and 

glazed walls to make activity apparent 

and expose inefficient use of space. 

Mobile technologies help eliminate the 

need for brick and mortar, or reduce 

costs for energy or real estate. 

TThhrreeee PPhhaasseess ooff CChhaannggee 

The key to coping with change is 

actively managing the change process 

while enabling people to move through 

three phases of the change curve: 

1. Awareness. In this phase, leaders 

build cognizance that change is coming. 

Common emotions include denial, anxiety, 

and shock. Productivity and morale 

may decline. Leaders should help people 

understand the new direction and 

what options are available to them. 

Employees may begin to feel fear, anger, 

frustration, and confusion. 

2. Acceptance. During this phase, 

leaders and employers begin to make 

decisions regarding the new change. 

This is often a stressful period. People 

may engage in approach-avoidance 

behavior—they may recognize and 

even wish to embrace change, but fear 

the negative consequences of giving up 

their old way of working. Morale and 

productivity dip, but will soon rebound. 

3. Adoption. In this phase, employee 

skepticism turns to hope, energy, and 

enthusiasm, and morale and productivity 

are restored. Leaders should help 

employees explore their new work 

behaviors, commit to a new way of 

working, and institutionalize the new 

ways by ensuring that the company’s 

mission, leadership alignment, and 

goals support the desired changes. 

By focusing on trends in technology, 

the workplace and business processes, 

leaders can adapt to the new future of 

work and enjoy market success. LE 

Matt Schuyler is the Chief HR Officer at Capital One Financial 

Corporation. Visit www.capitalone.com. 

ACTION: Adapt to the future of work. 


LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT 

Wisdom Management 

Link learning and performance. 

by Mark Allen 

WE’VE EVOLVED FROM 

from talking of 

continuous learning 

and knowledge work to managing 

and sharing knowledge. So why aren’t 

we seeing more productivity? Why 

does learning have a flurry of activity 

but a shortage of meaningful results? 

Research shows that 60 to 90 percent 

of job-related skills and knowledge 

acquired in programs are not 

being implemented on the job. If 75 

percent of the $60 billion U.S. training 

investment is being wasted, we’re 

wasting $45 billion a year! 

This happens because of a failure to 

employ wisdom management—a failure 

to manage how knowledge is used. 

Wisdom management is a planned and 

systematic process for managing how people 

use and apply their knowledge and 

skills in ways that benefit the organization. 

TThhrreeee VViittaall LLiinnkkss 

To cultivate wisdom management, 

make these three vital links: 

1. Link learning and wisdom. A corporate 

university conducts activities 

that cultivate learning, knowledge, and 

wisdom. While most CUs focus on 

learning and knowledge, few cultivate 

wisdom. I advocate that the CU be the 

locus for WM. Beyond giving people 

knowledge and skills—we need to 

ensure that they are being utilized. 

2. Link design and results. It’s not 

enough to ensure that learning takes 

place. Learning without behavior 

change doesn’t affect performance. We 

want people to do things differently. 

And behavior changes should produce 

positive results, not negative 

results or no change. Training is predicated 

on a desire to improve performance. 

To know whether training is 

beneficial, we need to measure performance 

improvement. 

When we know a training program 

will be evaluated (we’ll measure 

whether it improves results), we’re 

more likely to design the training in a 

way that gets us the results we want. 

By building the evaluation in up front, 

we help to ensure meeting our goals in 

the design and delivery phases. Evalua- 

tion is something you build in up front. 

To get measurable results, fist define 

clearly what success would be—articulate 

precisely what results you want 

before you design the training. You can 

then focus on achieving those results. 

Beyond creating a program that delivers 

the learning people need to achieve 

goals, you need to ensure that the learning 

becomes behaviors. 

3. Link learning and action. The best 

programs ensure transfer of knowledge 

and skills to behaviors that enhance 

performance and achieve desired results. 

Of course, approaches to learning 

that try to link coursework to real-work 

aren’t new (action learning is predicated 

on this concept). What is new is the 

idea that all development efforts should 

be linked directly to real-world application—and 

this process should be man- 

aged by the corporate university. 

FFoouurr CCoorree PPrriinncciipplleess ooff WWMM 

For years we’ve excoriated companies 

for not investing in the development 

of their people and growing the 

capabilities of their employees. Even 

worse is when companies invest 

money to develop people, but see no 

return. While the company that does 

nothing gets nothing, at least it doesn’t 

waste money. Companies that do it 

poorly also get little return, but they’re 

also wasting money and time (people 

hate sitting in training classes that 

have no value, and fail to complete 

valueless e-learning programs). 

Wisdom management refers to processes 

designed to ensure ROI in developing 

people. To ensure a successful 

WM application, take these four steps: 

1. Define the developmental needs of 

your organization and its people. I 

often see managers using a shotgun 

approach to training and development. 

They throw a bunch of stuff out 

there and hope that something sticks. 

My ability to evaluate the effectiveness 

of training or development programs 

depends on the answer to the question, 

“What are you trying to achieve 

with this program?” Many people 

struggle to answer this question. If you 

don’t know what you are trying to do, 

I can’t tell you if you succeed. When 

you clearly articulate what you are trying 

to accomplish, you have a much 

better chance of measuring it and succeeding 

at it. If you can’t define it, you 

can’t achieve it. 

2. Determine the best means of giving 

people the required knowledge, skills, 

and experience. People used to think of 

CUs as a catalogue of classes, but there 

are many methods for developing people 

beyond classroom training. Select 

from the menu of choices (the best solution 

may be a combination), and try to 

execute as well as possible. 

3. Translate the development initiative 

into behaviors that impact performance. 

Whether you choose classroom 

training, e-learning, coaching, mentoring, 

job rotation, or puppet shows as 

your means of development, good 

execution means there is some means 

of translating that activity into behaviors 

that matter. Although I advocate 

detailed measurement, the goal is not 

evaluation—it is implementation. By 

specifying the desired outcomes, 

you’re more likely to achieve them. So 

the goal is not “spend three months 

with a coach” or “take a class for two 

weeks.” The goal is, “reduce the number 

of employee grievances to zero” or 

“create a marketing plan that complements 

the strategy.” Clearly stated 

goals with measurable outcomes will 

get you the results you want. 

4. Always ask, What do I need to do 

to ensure this developmental activity 

delivers the behaviors I want to see 

and the results we need to see? If you 

keep asking this question, you’ll focus 

more on delivering the behaviors and 

results and less on activities. The key 

is not designing a great curriculum 

and getting a terrific instructor—it is 

getting results. If you develop this discipline 

and change the focus to this 

question, you’ll shift the mindset to 

one of WM—and consistently achieve 

desired results. LE 

Mark Allen, Ph.D. is an educator, consultant, author, speaker, 

and faculty member at Pepperdine’s Graziadio School of Business 

and Management, and editor of The Next Generation of 

Corporate Universities (Pfeiffer) and The Corporate University 

Handbook (Amacom). Email mallen@pepperdine.edu. 

ACTION: Take four steps of wisdom management. 


PEOPLE GROWTH 

Coaching for Growth 

This is the best advice you’ll ever get. 

by Marshall Goldsmith and Patricia Wheeler 

THE BEST COACHING ADVICE YOU’LL 

ever receive in life comes from a 

wise old person. Listen carefully: 

First, take a deep breath. Now, 

imagine that you are 95 years old and 

about to die. Before you take your last 

breath, you are given a wonderful, 

beautiful gift: the ability to travel back 

in time and talk with the person you 

are today. The 95-year-old you has the 

chance to help the you of today to 

have a great career and a great life. 

The 95-year-old you knows what 

was really important and what wasn’t; 

what really mattered and what 

didn’t; what really counted and what 

didn’t count at all. What advice does 

the wise “old you” have for you? Take 

your time. Jot down the answers on 

two levels: personal advice and professional 

advice. And once you write 

down these words, take them to heart. 

In a world of performance appraisals, 

this may well be the one that matters 

most. At the end of life, if the old 

you thinks that you did the right thing, 

you probably did. If the old you thinks 

that you screwed up, you probably 

did. At the end of life, you don’t have 

to impress anyone else—just the person 

you see in the mirror. 

FFoouurr RReeccuurrrriinngg TThheemmeess 

When a friend once talked with old 

people facing death and asked them 

what advice they would have given 

themselves, their answers were filled 

with wisdom—and four themes: 

1. Take time to reflect on life and find 

happiness and meaning now. A frequent 

comment runs along these lines: “I got 

so wrapped up in looking at what I 

didn’t have that I missed what I did 

have. I had almost everything. I wish I 

had taken more time to appreciate it.” 

2. Look to the present. The great 

disease of “I will be happy when…” is 

sweeping the world. You know the 

symptoms. You start thinking: I’ll be 

happy when I get that . . . BMW . . . 

promotion . . . status . . . money. The 

only way to cure the disease is to find 

happiness and meaning now. 

3. Don’t get so lost in pleasing the 

people who don’t care that you neglect 

the people who do—your friends and 

family. You may work for a wonderful 

company and believe that your contribution 

is important. But when you’re 

95 and on your death bed, very few of 

your fellow employees will be waving 

goodbye! Your friends and family will 

likely be the only people who care. 

4. Give it a try—follow your dreams. 

Older people who tried to achieve their 

dreams were happier with their lives. 

None of us will ever achieve all of our 

dreams. If we do, we will just make up 

new ones! If we go for it, we can at 

least say at the end, “I tried!” instead 

of, “Why didn’t I at least try?” 

When we interview high-potential 

leaders worldwide and ask them: “If 

you stay in this company, why will 

you stay?”, we hear the same answers: 

“I’m finding meaning and happiness 

now.” “The work is exciting, and I love 

what I am doing.” “I like the people 

here. They are my friends. This feels 

like a team—like a family. I might 

make more money if I left, but I don’t 

want to leave the people here.” “I can 

follow my dreams. This organization 

gives me the chance to grow and do 

what I really want to do in life.” 

To make a new beginning in life or 

in your leadership, look ahead to the 

end and then decide what to do. 

GGrroowwiinngg IInnttoo SSuucccceessss 

Why do some people reach their 

creative potential early while equally 

talented peers don’t? We’ve all seen the 

near-misses: people who have talent to 

spare but never quite make it; and 

those, like the tortoise in Aesop’s fable, 

who enjoy eventual success that once 

seemed out of reach to most observers. 

If you believe you are born with all 

the smarts and gifts you’ll ever have, 

you tend to approach life with a fixed 

mind-set. However, those who believe 

that their abilities can expand over 

time live with a growth mind-set—and 

they’re much more innovative. 

As coaches, we encounter people 

who have a stellar track record, off-thechart 

IQ, great technical expertise, and 

a track history of success—but who 

then reach a career plateau. In contrast, 

we work with individuals who, 

despite a rather pedestrian early track 

record, lack of Ivy League pedigree, 

surpass those who appear to be the 

“chosen ones.” How does this happen—and 

what can you do about it? 

This is good news for those who do 

not grow up feeling chosen or special. 

Feeling much more like the tortoise 

than the hare, you may stumble along 

while others seem to sail through life 

easily and successfully—or so it seems. 

In reality, the pampered and pedigreed 

are often the ones who stumble, 

due to adopting a fixed mindset. We’ve 

all seen folks who were tapped as stars 

early in life. Cheered on by doting, 

praise-lavishing parents, they develop 

the sense that their talents are Godgiven 

qualities that they can count on 

for future success. 

What’s the problem with this? They 

feel entitled to succeed and become riskavoidant, 

fearing the embarrassment of 

failure. They deal with obstacles by giving 

up, feigning disinterest or blaming 

others. Or, having enjoyed so many 

early wins, they keep on doing what 

made them successful, despite all the 

changes around them—not a great 

recipe for ongoing success. 

Mark was a bright, results-oriented 

VP in his company and yet he offended 

his peers with his brusque style and 

impatience. His manager doubted that 

he could, or would, change. And Mark 

had no patience with fluff. He needed 

a clear business case for making any 

behavior change. Once he understood 

that listening more and increasing his 

patience would lead to better buy-in 

from others and improve his department’s 

product, he embraced the 

change enthusiastically. Mark implemented 

his development plan diligently 

with great results—to the 

astonishment of his manager. 

What propelled Mark’s progress? He 

embraced a mindset of growth. Never 

a natural star or charismatic presence, 

he’s a regular guy who approached 


challenges with curiosity and saw 

roadblocks as signs that he needed to 

change strategy, increase effort, stretch 

himself, or try new behaviors (high 

emotional intelligence). 

In our early meetings, Mark took a 

learner’s approach to his 360-degree 

feedback. Although surprised with the 

negatives, he didn’t deflect or blame 

his stakeholders. Although a very private 

man, he faced his fear of disclosing 

more about himself to others to 

enhance his leadership. In other 

words, he embraced the possible. 

You can adopt an attitude that 

enables you to grow and change. 

First, listen to yourself—to the 

internal music and lyrics that you hear 

inside your head? Are you telling yourself 

to give up? That your challenges 

are the fault of others, less wonderful, 

less “enlightened” people? Or do you 

tell yourself that you can figure out 

what abilities you need to grow or 

stretch toward to succeed? These belief 

systems are the underpinning of the 

success—and failure—of many. 

Second, create a regular time and 

space to reflect on who you are—your 

beliefs, your vision, your inner dialogue. 

This will be unfamiliar and 

uncomfortable for those who value 

speed and are used to a track record of 

stardom. My advice: do it anyway. 

Third, find a partner to serve as 

“spotter” and dialogue partner as you 

grow. This could be a trusted colleague 

or an experienced executive coach. 

They’ll help you leverage your 

strengths and stay out of the way of 

your blind spots. 

Recently, Mark described how he 

now observed patterns in meetings. 

“Now that I know myself better,” he 

said, “I see how other people use different 

behaviors to manage stress. I’m 

less impatient with them because I 

know what they’re trying to do, and I 

don’t let it get to me.” In fact, Mark 

now uses his new knowledge in developing 

and mentoring others. His 

department is delivering results more 

effectively, and other leaders are asking 

him and his team to participate in 

highly visible and strategic projects. 

So what started out as a simple selfimprovement 

project by an ordinary 

guy has turned into a big win for his 

company—largely because he has a 

mindset of growth. LE 

Marshall Goldsmith is best selling author of What Got You Here 

Won’t Get You There. Visit www.MarshallGoldsmithLibrary.com. 

Patricia Wheeler is an executive and team coach and Managing 

Partner in the Levin Group. E-mail Patricia@TheLevinGroup.com 

or call 404 377-9408. 

ACTION: Cultivate a mindset of growth. 

PERFORMANCE INSPIRATION 

Lead Like a Sherpa 

Inspire your team to the summit. 

by Kevin and Jackie Freiberg 

IF YOU BELIEVE THAT AN ORGANIZATION’S 

success is as much the will of the 

people as it is the will of the leader, 

then we as leaders must do whatever 

it takes to inspire success. 

What plagues most businesses 

today? The data on employee engagement, 

satisfaction, loyalty and commitment 

is shocking! Most people today 

feel stuck, stalled, bored, or frustrated—and 

some are even actively disengaged 

when they come to work. 

Problem: There are far too many 

Dead People Working today. DPWs are 

physically present but psychologically, 

emotionally and intellectually 

checked-out at work. 

This is a big problem because 

DPWs won’t provide 

your company with the 

intellectual and emotional 

capital that you need to get 

ahead and stay ahead. 

Solution: It is time to 

think and act like a Sherpa. 

We learned some powerful 

lessons from the Sherpas 

who skillfully and courageously guide 

teams to summit Mount Everest. While 

preparing for a program for Intel, we 

met Dave Arnett, a Director at Intel, 

who summited Mount Everest on May 

21, 2007. Fewer than 3,000 people have 

made it to the summit of Everest, and 

Dave is one of them. Last year seven 

people died trying, and Dave knew 

four of them. It is a daunting journey, 

even for the bravest of the brave! Dave 

humbly noted that his success in summiting 

Everest had everything to do 

with the support he gained from his 

family, his team, and the gifted Sherpas. 

Family. It’s hard to imagine saying 

yes to an adventure that could leave 

you widowed and all alone to raise two 

young daughters, yet Dave had unconditional 

support from this family. 

Dave’s wife and children were fully 

supportive of this crazy journey. They 

were with him in spirit and prayer 

every step of the way! Is your family 

fully supportive of your journey? Are 

they willing to give financially, emotionally, 

and unselfishly so you can do 

whatever it takes to achieve a challenging 

professional goal, a dream or even a 

personal passion? Maybe you’re not 

trying to summit Everest, but what are 

you trying to summit? A new project, a 

career transition, a personal health or 

wellness goal? Part of our ability to 

accomplish big things is to know we 

have the unconditional love and support 

of our family and friends at home. 

Your team at home must be your 

biggest fans, allies and supporters. 

Team. You cannot climb or summit 

Everest on your own—it takes a team. 

Summiting Everest is about knowing 

and trusting members of your team to 

be there whenever and wherever you 

need them. Do you know and trust 

your team inside and out? Do you 

know who you can count on in a 

pinch? Do you know who provides 

intellectual support when the going 

gets tough, and who provides emotional 

support when things get frustrating? 

Who is willing and capable of 

doing whatever it takes under stress 

and extreme pressure? Is your team 

worthy of your trust? Are 

you worthy of their trust? 

Sherpas. Dave says the 

Sherpas are without a 

doubt tactical experts and 

athletic wonders. However, 

after seeing the Sherpas in 

action, Dave thinks what 

really makes them great is 

their ability to truly understand 

the dynamics of the 

team. Sherpas have to be 

gutsy! There are times when a Sherpa 

has to make a tough call and tell a 

climber that they are a liability to the 

team, and that if they continue the 

team could die. Are you a liability to 

your team? Do you have the guts to act 

like a Sherpa and call out the liabilities? 

DPWs are serious liabilities. If you are 

a DPW or know of one, be a Sherpa— 

remind your team of the importance of 

team and teamwork. 

Every summit, every program, 

every project, every new goal must be 

embraced by everyone! An organization’s 

success is as much the will of the 

people as it is the will of the leader. If 

people choose not to engage, and 

become a liability, everyone suffers. Is 

it time to invite people to step up and 

be players or stop the climb? LE 

Dr. Kevin and Dr. Jackie Freiberg are speakers, thought leaders 

and authors of the best-seller NUTS!, GUTS! and BOOM! Visit 

www.freibergs.com or call 619-624-9691. 

ACTION: Inspire your team to the summit. 


PERFORMANCE STANDARD 

New Gold Standard 

Five factors lead to sustained success. 

by Joseph Michelli 

WHEN IT COMES TO 

refined service 

and award-winning 

hospitality, The Ritz Carlton Hotel Co. 

sets the standard of excellence. With 

unyielding attention to detail, staff 

members consistently create memorable 

experiences for their guests. 

As I studied this company, I identified 

five factors in its sustained success: 

1. Define and refine. Simon Cooper, 

president, noted, “You can’t put the 

veneer of quality on a business that 

lacks a sound foundation. The Gold 

Standards, and the disciplined business 

practices that emerge from them, 

create the platform for our achievements.” 

The Gold Standards can be 

found on a pocket-sized card carried 

as part of the uniform of Ritz-Carlton 

employees. The Standards reflect the 

service values, credo, motto and three 

steps of service each employee is to 

use as guidelines for the care they 

provide one another and guests. 

These values are reinforced daily in 

“line-ups” where all employees hear 

stories of service excellence in the context 

of the mission and culture. Leaders 

define their culture through their Credo 

card, Line-up and Gold Standards, and 

they refine their products and service 

delivery methods in accord with changing 

customer needs. New hotel designs 

reflect the uniqueness of the locale and 

personal service delivery. 

2. Empower through trust. Ritz-Carlton 

leaders have created a culture of trust 

that begins with a methodical selection 

process that assesses and measures the 

talents of prospects against the talent 

levels of high performers. Once selected, 

leaders extensively train new hires 

in the operational aspects of their jobs 

and in the desired outcomes they want 

their employees to produce for customers. 

Once staff members understand 

those outcomes (memorable 

guest experiences and customer 

engagement), leaders step back and 

allow the frontline to create those outcomes 

for the customer. This is evidenced 

in the $2,000 per day, per guest 

authority given to every staff member, 

enabling them to do whatever is nec- 

essary to enhance a guest’s stay or 

recover service without seeking the 

approval of a supervisor. 

3. It’s not about you. Since the 1990s, 

Ritz-Carlton executives looked outside 

their business to drive internal process 

innovation. They sought input from 

other world-class businesses through 

the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality 

Award evaluation process. Ritz-Carlton 

leadership not only benchmarks other 

businesses, but they invest heavily in 

systematic listening to their staff, customers 

and investors. 

Extensive data is secured 

from these sources and performance 

is measured 

against the engagement 

level of guests and staff. 

Leaders understands that 

the more they listen to the 

needs of those they serve, 

the more likely their staff 

will be to listen to the needs 

of the guests. 

4. Deliver WOW. Ritz-Carlton leaders 

define the desired memorable and 

emotional connection of a guest as a 

“Wow” experience. Staff members are 

encouraged to personally affect guests 

in pursuit of this emotional intensity. 

The idea of a “Wow” experience hinges 

on delivering service that appeals to 

both the thinking and feeling aspects of 

the consumer. Twice a week, “wow 

stories” are presented during the lineup 

process. These stories range from 

herculean efforts made by staff to serve 

customers (such as constructing a 

ramp on their off time so a guest in a 

wheelchair could enjoy a sunset on the 

beach) to more subtle or smaller acts of 

care and concern. In all cases, excellent 

service is a reward unto itself. Whether 

a staff member works alone or with a 

team, service gives back to the giver— 

and those acts of giving are held up as 

examples of how well-defined values 

come alive through the efforts of staff 

each day. Leaders celebrate and cement 

culture by the stories they tell. 

5. Leave a lasting footprint. From the 

onset, leaders at Ritz-Carlton sought to 

build a company with an enduring 

legacy. Social responsibility was not a 

trendy add-on but a component of its 

early mission statements. In addition to 

formal giving programs such as 

Community Footprints, The Ritz- 

Carlton has developed the Leadership 

Center to provide training programs in 

quality focus and service excellence to 

individuals from businesses large and 

small. Also, Ritz-Carlton leadership 

partners with hotel guests, vendors, and 

key account reps to celebrate those relationships 

and enable those individuals 

to participate with leadership in community 

outreach programs. 

Consistent application of these leadership 

principles has led to legendary 

customer service and memorable and 

transformational experiences for all 

who come in contact with The Ritz- 

Carlton, thus setting The New Gold 

Standard of excellence. 

SShhrriinnkk NNoott——AAddjjuusstt tthhee SSaaiill 

While cost-cutting may be inevitable 

in tighter economic cycles, 

the leaders at Ritz-Carlton 

avoid a scarcity mentality 

in challenging times: 

1. When consumers face 

economic challenges, they 

often place a greater 

emphasis on value. While 

many customers will 

“pinch pennies” and “clip 

coupons” to address financial 

hardships, they will 

still look for opportunities to “treat” 

themselves. When consumers do 

spend money freely they will want to 

experience true quality and not a 

watered-down or corporately scaledback 

version of quality. 

2. Focused excellence prevails. If cutbacks 

are necessary, companies can 

and should reallocate resources toward 

their core areas of excellence. To be 

“excellent” means resisting the urge to 

overreach into areas where your products 

or service will be mediocre. Doing 

a few things expertly beats doing 

many things adequately. 

3. Inspire staff to focus on purpose and 

outcomes, not fulfillment and procedures. 

All business is personal. While most 

hotel companies that compete for this 

market segment have exquisitely clean 

and well-appointed facilities, the primary 

driver for guest loyalty emerges from 

the personal attention and caring of 

staff. From the onset of their employee 

selection process, leadership at Ritz- 

Carlton looks for underlying talent in 

service characteristics. They then train 

and certify the skills necessary for the 

new hires to do their jobs while constantly 

linking job function to the overarching 

purpose of the business— 

namely to provide for “the genuine care 

and comfort” of their guest. 


4. Empowering the front-line saves 

money. While many leaders talk about 

their empowered workforce, few put 

money behind the hype. Since staff 

members (Ladies and Gentlemen) at Ritz- 

Carlton, are given the authority to 

spend up to $2,000 per day per guest, 

without seeking the approval of their 

supervisors, front-line workers can 

immediately resolve service breakdowns 

for guests or simply engage 

guests by doing something unexpected 

that will make the hotel stay memorable. 

The cost-saving nature of this 

financial empowerment is derived 

from the morale and loyalty of employees, 

the clear cost savings of resolving 

problems immediately, and the impact 

that an empowered workforce has on 

customers. Empowered employees 

transform satisfied customers into 

fully-engaged brand loyalists who 

spend more and refer family and 

friends to the business. 

Rather than contracting or adopting 

a defensive posture during economic 

uncertainty, The Ritz-Carlton leadership 

stays the course. By clearly “defining” 

the core components of the company’s 

values, quality standards, and service 

tradition, Ritz-Carlton communicates 

the path by which a guest’s experience 

can be elevated, how the staff member 

can purposefully add value and the 

means by which the company will 

thrive. By having every staff member 

take time every day at every hotel 

worldwide to participate in a process 

called line-up, Ritz-Carlton leadership 

re-engages staff in a discussion of the 

overarching mission they all share. 

Further, by being attentive to the need 

to “refine” the brand so that it remains 

relevant in changing economic times, 

for evolving customer segments and in 

diverse international markets, leadership 

builds on their well-defined culture. 

The “It’s not about you” principle 

reflects the disciplined practice of listening 

to staff, customers, vendors and 

all stakeholders to constantly assure 

that business does not principally serve 

the needs and preferences of leadership. 

By adopting a penchant for listening 

to stated and unstated needs while 

maintaining a passion for service, great 

leaders produce businesses that 

endure. From the customer’s perspective, 

these businesses are extensions of 

themselves and not commodities. 

Learn from Ritz-Carlton and adjust 

to arrive at your desired destination. LE 

Joseph A. Michelli, Ph.D., is a speaker, consultant and author 

of THE NEW GOLD STANDARD (McGraw-Hill) and The 

Starbucks Experience. Email joseph@themichelliexperience.com. 

ACTION: Set your own gold standard. 

LEADERSHIP MOMENTUM 

Create Momentum 

Amplify possibility into reality. 

by Kim Marcille 

ESCALATING PRICES OF 

oil and gas will have 

a ripple effect. People 

will spend even less, as the price of 

heating their homes, getting to work, 

and buying groceries bite further into 

their stressed budgets. Businesses will 

spend less trying to meet their numbers. 

Are you ready for the ripple effect? 

If not, take heart: By starting now, 

you can prepare—and protect your 

business from future threat—by applying 

the concept of quantum physics 

called decoherence where all possibilities 

are available at the same time. It’s 

the universe’s method for amplifying 

specific quantum possibilities while 

suppressing others, for turning quantum 

possibility into reality. 

The key is in choosing the specific, 

positive possibilities that 

you want to amplify into 

reality—such as filling the 

sales pipeline with quality 

leads—while suppressing 

negative possibilities, such 

as running out of cash. 

How can you amplify the 

positive possibilities and 

suppress the negative? A 

quantum possibility must 

possess specific characteristics 

in order to be amplified into reality. 

Your business possibilities must 

have the same characteristics. 

When applying decoherence, consider 

two main things: 1) the possibilities 

that get amplified are robust, 

meaning a lot of information exists 

about them; and 2) the possibilities 

that get amplified are stable, meaning 

they remain consistent over time. 

The desired possibilities for your 

business must be robust and have lots 

of stable information about them. You 

can create four types of records: 

1. Thought records. Do you have a 

vision for what you would like your 

business to look like by the end of the 

year? In five years? How clear is that 

vision? Define the specific possibilities 

you want to turn into reality. 

2. Verbal records. Whom have you 

told about your vision? Do your people 

clearly understand the vision? 

Sharing the vision will create align- 

ment. Telling associates may connect 

you with resources you might not 

have imagined on your own. Telling 

your family and friends will set their 

expectations and garner their support. 

3. Written records. Now that you 

know where you’re going, do you have 

a written plan to get there? The plan 

will help you break down the achievement 

of your vision into monthly 

goals. For example, how many 

prospects must you touch to develop 

enough hot leads to result in the number 

of closed deals you need to meet 

your goals? Does a new compensation 

plan need to be written for your salespeople 

to drive the right behavior, perhaps 

rewarding them for new 

business? Writing down your vision is 

helpful, as you can refer back to it regularly 

to ensure you and your people 

are still working toward that target. 

4. Action records. If you were to act 

as if your vision was definitely going to 

become reality, how would your day 

be different? Prioritize the actions that 

are focused on the creation of your 

vision. Would you write a business 

plan to raise capital, set an appointment 

with a banker to present that 

plan, speak at more functions, 

buy a targeted list of 

prospects, or seek the 

advice of a mentor. 

Determine which actions 

you can you take today in 

support of amplifying your 

vision into reality. 

Remember to believe in 

your vision and in your 

ability to create what you 

envision. There are two 

places when you may have trouble 

applying decoherence: at the beginning—when 

the fear of commitment 

prevents you from getting started— 

and in the middle—when it sometimes 

seems as if nothing is happening. Once 

you begin your decoherence plan, 

you’re halfway there. By persisting, 

even when it seems useless, you’ll see 

your vision decohere—become real. 

TTaakkee AAccttiioonn oonn YYoouurr PPllaann 

To create stability in your desired 

business possibilities, continue to generate 

new information about your 

vision every day. Get it out there! 

Think about it, write about it, talk 

about it, and take action on it to create 

momentum and ride the wave. LE 

Kim Marcille is a speaker, consultant, founder of Possibilities 

Amplified, and author of Amp It Up! Secrets from Science for 

Creating the Life of Your Dreams. Visit PossibilitiesAmplified.com 

or e-mail Kim@possibilitiesamplified.com. 

ACTION: Amplify possibilities into reality. 


COMPETENCY LEARNING 

Action Learning 

Use it to develop leaders. 

by Daniel R. Tobin 

ONCE I MET A SENIOR 

partner at a large 

consulting firm. He 

proudly told me about how they planned 

to send 2,000 of their brightest associates, 

in groups of 200, to two days of lectures 

by a leadership guru at a leading business 

school. I asked how they would follow up 

on the training to ensure that people 

applied what they learned to their jobs. He 

said, “Oh, they’re all very bright people. 

They’ll figure is out.” Right! And more 

than $1 million down the drain! 

In building leadership pipelines, 

many leaders spend much money 

providing leadership education to 

selected high-potentials. Some employees 

may be sent to multi-week executive 

development programs at leading 

business schools. Others may be sent 

for a few days or a week to a seminar 

from a training firm. Still other companies 

develop their own LD programs, 

using internal trainers and 

company leaders to provide instruction 

or bringing in professors or consultants 

from the outside. 

Most of these LD efforts don’t give 

participants the chance to try out their 

new skills within a safe environment 

at work. As one executive told me 

after returning from a multi-week program 

at a business school, “I learned 

and changed a lot, but I got back to 

my office and nothing there had 

changed. Plus, I was backed up in my 

work because of my absence. I haven’t 

met with my manager to discuss what 

I learned or how I might apply it.” 

Without a chance to use what was 

learned, the investment in an individual’s 

education may be wasted if it 

makes no difference in the achievement 

of personal and organizational goals. 

What if this employee’s manager 

met with her before the program and 

discussed the outline—what topics the 

manager felt were most important, 

and what she would be expected to 

apply to her work once she returned 

from the program? What if, on returning 

from the program, she met with 

her manager to debrief the experience 

and develop an action plan for apply- 

ing what she learned? And what if 

they together defined an action learning 

project, with a timeline, milestones, 

and a reporting mechanism? 

If these steps had been taken before 

starting the education program, she 

likely would be using what she 

learned. Action learning projects ensure 

that what is learned gets put to use. 

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I once designed a two-year LD program 

for 35 mid-level managers designated 

as having high potential for 

future leadership positions. The program 

had three core components: 

1. A series of two-day educational 

sessions were presented quarterly by 

business school faculty or consultants 

on a variety of topics. 

2. At the conclusion of each session, 

participants were given an actionlearning 

assignment, sometimes as 

teams and sometimes as individuals. 

3. At the beginning of the next quarterly 

session, participants presented 

their results and lessons learned to a 

panel of senior company executives. 

The action-learning assignment 

served three purposes: 1) Participants 

immediately got to apply some of what 

they learned in the education session, 

transforming the information they 

received into their personal knowledge.2) 

Senior executives, in reviewing 

the presentations, got to view a number 

of people who would not normally 

have been in their direct line of sight. 

And 3) The executives were able to see 

who took leadership positions on the 

teams and how effectively participants 

worked as part of the ad hoc teams. 

What made a good action-learning 

project? Since participants all had fulltime 

jobs, the projects could not require 

more than 15 percent of their time; they 

had to be done within the three months 

before the next program; and they had 

to relate to an organizational goal. 

Potential projects came from the 

company’s executive committee members. 

We suggested that they look at 

their meeting minutes from the past 

several years and to identify issues that 

kept arising, but were never deemed 

critical enough to dedicate human and 

monetary resources to solve – these 

were ideal projects for the LD program. 

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When we first proposed the actionlearning 

projects as part of the program 

design, several questions and 

concerns were raised: 

• What if a team member didn’t pull his 

or her weight on the project? We expected 

this to occasionally happen, and 

wouldn’t we be better off discovering 

this about a participant before he or she 

was promoted or given greater responsibility? 

• What if a participant or team can’t complete 

the project in the time allotted? This 

was a test of the participants’ planning 

and project management skills. 

• What if a participant or team tried a new 

approach to a problem and failed? When 

this happened, we asked participants to 

focus their presentation on why the project 

failed, what they would do differently 

if they were to try it again, and 

what they learned from the experience. 

Sometimes, more learning comes from a 

failed project than a successful one. 

When projects were presented to the 

executives, judgments were made not 

just on the success of the project, but 

also on the participants’ roles in each 

project: Who led and who followed? 

Who put in extra effort and who 

slacked off? How well did the team 

work together? What were the attitudes 

of the participants toward their 

projects and their accomplishments? 

In one round of the program, two 

teams presented their projects, both 

with excellent results. At the end of the 

first team’s presentation, the team 

leader challenged the senior executives: 

“Now that we have done all this excellent 

work, what are YOU going to do to 

ensure that this project doesn’t die, that 

the great work we have done gets disseminated 

across the company?” When 

the second team completed its presentation, 

they told the executives: “What 

we have demonstrated in this project 

can benefit the company more than we 

were able to accomplish in three 

months. We have already developed a 

kit of materials so that others can repli- 


cate what we have done in their local 

areas. We have sent the kit to key managers 

worldwide and told them that 

the members of our team are available 

to answer questions and to coach them 

through the process.” 

If you were on the executive panel, 

to which of these two teams would you 

look to fill a vacant leadership position? 

RReettuurrnn oonn IInnvveessttmmeenntt 

When we proposed the LD program, 

one executive team member asked if 

we had done a ROI analysis to justify 

the investment. We said that we had 

not and would not. We reminded him 

of a painful episode in the company’s 

history: two years earlier, a product line 

wasn’t doing well. The senior executive 

who led this product line left the company. 

The CEO promoted a mid-level 

manager, who had built a good track 

record in the two years he’d been with 

the company, to fill the vacancy. 

The appointment was a disaster. The 

person came in “knowing all the 

answers” without asking any questions, 

and wouldn’t listen to the ideas of anyone 

else in the product line. He issued 

orders and wouldn’t abide questions or 

objections. Within a year, several key 

personnel had resigned and market 

share eroded even more. Eventually, 

this high potential individual was fired, 

but the damage was done. 

When asked how we could justify 

the investment in the LD program, I 

asked the executives to consider what 

this errant promotion had cost the company. 

What would it be worth, I asked, 

to be able to test these high-potential 

employees before promoting them and 

to develop their skills before they were 

put into a leadership position? The losses 

to the company from that one errant 

promotion were many times what the 

LD program would cost. 

Whether building your LD program, 

sending individuals to an external 

program, or bringing in leadership 

education session from a third-party 

provider, your chances of success 

improve greatly when you tie actionlearning 

projects to the education 

effort to ensure that what gets learned 

in the classroom gets applied to the 

participants’ work. Action learning 

projects also provide opportunities to 

judge the strengths and weaknesses of 

high-potentials before promoting them 

into important leadership positions. LE 

Dan Tobin is VP of design and development for the American 

Management Association, author of five books on corporate 

learning strategies, and coauthor with Margaret Pettingell of 

The AMA Guide To Management Development (AMACOM). 

ACTION: Tie action learning to your LD program. 

PERFORMANCE DIVERSITY 

Leading High 

Performance 

Diversity accelerates innovation. 

by Debbe Kennedy 

IN EVERY DIRECTION WE 

look, a siren is sounding, 

calling for new 

ideas, innovative thinking, and a 

courageous leadership that brings out 

the best in all of us to deliver higher 

performance, achievement, and contribution. 

The urgency asks for more 

than traditional top-down or bottomup 

approaches. The needs are greater, 

the stakes higher, and nature of our 

organizations has upped the ante. Us 

and them won’t do it. The response 

must be a collective one. We can’t opt 

out as a cynic, victim, or bystander. All 

leaders must show up and step out to 

solve pressing problems. 

Putting our differences 

to work is the most powerful 

accelerator for generating 

new ideas, creating 

innovative solutions, executing 

strategies, and 

engaging everyone. It is 

the renewable source of 

energy—fuel for the engine 

of growth and prosperity. 

The breakthrough is the 

element of diversity, as real 

value lies at the intersection of our differences. 

This encompasses our thinking 

styles, problem-solving methods, 

experiences, competencies, work 

habits, management styles, ethnic origins, 

cultural backgrounds, and generational 

insight. Our differences give 

each of us a unique perspective. 

As Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson said: 

“Innovation is advanced by chance, 

challenge, choices, and informed coincidence. 

It is nourished and powered 

by the full breadth of diversity and by 

the quest for excellence.” 

The magic begins when we come together. 

The secret is learning how, when, 

and where to tap into all the wealth of 

insight, wisdom, and new thinking to 

solve problems, create new products 

and services, and build stronger communities 

that benefit everyone. 

I once visited with 550 leaders at an 

online Leadership Forum to pinpoint 

problems standing in the way of inno- 

vation, change, and growth; address gaps 

between leaders and employees; and 

decide how to put differences to work 

to innovate and boost performance. 

See if these sound familiar to you 

and what other truths you might add: 

• Our culture isn’t open to new 

ideas; process is more important. There 

is little interest in change and innovation. 

Everyone sees the need; no one 

wants to take the risk. 

• Gender, race, and age still play a 

role in acceptance of new ideas. If you 

think differently or ask too many questions, 

you lose the respect of leaders. 

• Senior leaders take ideas and present 

them as their own. The focus is on 

executing strategy; they forget that people 

are leading the execution and show 

little interest in what people have to say. 

These issues prohibit putting our 

differences to work. They erode trust, 

productivity, and achievement. Are 

you leaving similar impressions? 

You don’t want to have members of 

your team thinking this way, but it isn’t 

what you think you are doing that matters—it 

isn’t what you’ve said, think 

you’ve said, or wish you’d said: it’s what 

others perceive and receive from you that 

may restrict them from 

delivering the results, innovation, 

and performance. 

TThhrreeee IIddeeaass ttoo GGeett SSttaarrtteedd 

Today we can all influence 

positive outcomes— 

this is leadership. The 

landscape for how we do 

this continues to expand 

across differences, distance, 

culture, technology. 

Here are three powerful ways for 

leaders to put differences to work: 

• Consciously choose your words. Cut 

the buzzwords and jargon. They are 

empty and meaningless. Be aware of 

your spoken and written words. Aim 

to connect the people you serve. 

• Take time to get to know people. 

Develop a curiosity about people and 

their unique experience, perspective, 

and differences. This knowledge will 

help tap into the talent they possess, so 

they can accomplish great things. 

• Create a perpetual practice of rich 

communication. Make checking in with 

one another a routine way of boosting 

performance. Ask a few questions: 

What’s going well? What isn’t? What 

are we going to do about it? Listen. 

Let’s put our differences to work. LE 

Debbe Kennedy is CEO of the Global Dialogue Center and 

Leadership Solutions and author of Putting Our Differences to 

Work. Visit www.puttingourdifferencestowork.com. 

ACTION: Put your differences to work. 


LEADERSHIP RECOGNITION 

Leadership Potential 

How can you best recognize it? 

by Ram Charan 

EVEN THE BEST 

coaches can’t build 

championship teams if 

they pick the wrong players. So, learn 

to spot high-potential leaders early, 

treat them as such, and be clear about 

the earmarks of leadership potential. 

Do you know a leader when you see 

one? If you have the wrong notion of 

what a leader really is and does and 

focus on the wrong people, all your 

development efforts can’t deepen the 

leadership pool. Brilliant strategists, 

creative geniuses, financial engineers, 

hard workers, and other bright people 

command our attention and respect. 

Unaware of their shortcomings and 

driven to succeed, such experts may 

push for leadership jobs, persuading—even 

intimidating—their bosses 

to promote them. But many lack 

essential leadership traits. And without 

a natural ability to lead, they’re 

unlikely to succeed as high-level leaders 

outside their domains of expertise. 

What do natural leaders look like at 

25 or 45? Attempts to answer that 

question take the form of lists of qualities; 

however, these can be misleading. 

PPeeooppllee aanndd BBuussiinneessss AAccuummeenn 

One way to think about the talent 

or inner engine of a leader is to think 

of two strands of a helix: people acumen 

(the ability to harness people’s 

energy) and business acumen (knowing 

how a business makes money). 

These strands are largely in place in 

individuals by their twenties. After 

that, we can test for people and business 

acumen and expand these capabilities, 

but we can’t implant them in 

mature people who lack them entirely. 

People acumen. Leadership is predicated 

on the ability to mobilize others 

to accomplish a vision, goal, or task. 

Leaders can’t do everything; they get 

other people to do things by managing. 

They increase their capacity—the 

ability to get more done—through delegation 

combined with follow-through. 

They set expectations, get the best people 

to do what needs to be done, and 

oversee relationships to ensure that 

destructive or self-interested behaviors 

don’t subvert the common purpose. 

You know you have a leader with 

people acumen when you see evidence 

that the person selects the right people 

and motivates them, gets them working 

well as a team, and diagnoses and 

fixes problems in coordination and relationship 

with groups of people. 

Real leaders enthusiastically select 

people who are better than they are to 

lift the organization. They motivate 

people and develop them as conditions 

change, retaining those who 

advance the business and 

deselect with dignity those 

who don’t. Such leaders 

show a repeated pattern of 

accurately identifying other 

leaders’ talents, helping 

them flourish, or easing 

them into other jobs where 

their talents fit better. You 

can often identify a true 

leader because the people 

working under that person are of high 

caliber, are energized, and have a natural 

affinity for the leader. 

Leaders with people acumen get the 

most out of their people by setting 

clear goals, then giving feedback and 

coaching judiciously to help them 

achieve them. Most use key performance 

indicators that measure progress in 

quantitative terms and influence 

behaviors. They watch for problems 

that might hinder achieving the KPIs 

and give people unvarnished feedback 

when someone is not up to the task. 

Leaders with people acumen anticipate 

problems. They size up the group 

dynamics, pinpoint simmering conflicts, 

draw them to the surface, and intervene 

when they detect behavior that disrupts 

performance. They also cultivate social 

networks that include not only subordinates, 

peers, and superiors but often 

extend to customers, suppliers, regulators, 

politicians, and interest groups. 

Business acumen. Every successful 

leader understands how the business 

makes money by managing the profit 

and loss (P&L) and balance sheet. 

Managing the P&L requires leaders to 

consider conflicting factors and incomplete 

or distorted information and 

make trade-offs with the goal of making 

money and generating cash on a 

sustained basis. Leaders intuitively 

understand the connections between 

customers, profits, money they borrow, 

and money they take in. They have a 

knack for making the right trade-offs 

and decisions to keep the cash flowing. 

You can see such acumen in some 

leaders at low levels and in early stages 

of their careers. They sense of how their 

company makes money, what it offers 

customers, and how it compares with 

competitors. They see the relationships 

between the variables, determine which 

are most important, and make decisions 

that deliver clear, measurable results. 

As the scope of a job increases, so 

do the variables, uncertainty, and complexity. 

The leader needs greater mental 

breadth and depth to cut through to 

the fundamentals and make decisions. 

The search for business acumen will 

help keep other traits and skills in perspective. 

Business acumen 

defines the substance of the 

message being communicated. 

Some young leaders 

can excite people to deliver 

on stretch goals, but can 

they define direction? Are 

they decisive? Can they sort 

through alternatives to find 

the right pathway forward? 

Can they use their acumen 

to choose the right goals and KPIs? With 

practice, any leader can improve, but 

some leaders are naturally better at it. 

HHooww ttoo SSppoott aa LLeeaaddeerr 

Look for actions, decisions, and behaviors 

that reveal leadership potential: 

Is her ambition clearly for a leadership 

role? Does she take pride in bringing 

together and motivating others to 

achieve goals? Is she curious about subjects 

outside her area of expertise? Does 

she grasp the business and basics of 

moneymaking? Can she articulate clearly 

the requirements for doing her boss’s 

job well? Is she continually learning? 

Does she deliver extraordinary results? 

Does she like to work with diverse, 

high-caliber people? How driven and 

passionate is she about leading? Is she 

dealing with complex and uncertain situations 

and using occasional failure as 

a chance to learn? Does she continue to 

build new skills and hone her personality 

traits to achieve her dream? 

Finding leaders can’t be left to 

chance or to mechanical processes that 

create false confidence that the company 

is developing leaders and succession 

candidates. To build great leaders at all 

levels, you must first find them. LE 

Ram Charan is coauthor of Execution and The Game Changer 

(Crown Business). Visit www.ram-charan.com. 

ACTION: Recognize your leadership talent. 


PERFORMANCE EXECUTION PEOPLE ONBOARDING 

Strategy Execution 

Go with a complete program. 

by Gary Harpst 

HOW CAN YOU CONsistently 

execute 

your strategy? You need 

a complete program. Piecemeal attempts 

don’t last. Sustainability, the capacity to 

maintain the necessary balance between 

strategy and execution, and doing so 

while overcoming hurdles, requires a 

program consisting of four elements: 

1. Repeatable methodology to drive 

learning and understanding. To balance 

strategy and execution, 

you need to have a welldefined, 

repeatable methodology 

that includes strategy, planning, 

organizing, execution, 

innovation, and learning. The 

purpose is to accelerate the 

continuous learning of proven 

best practices. Without a stepby-step 

approach, learning 

becomes an endless process of missteps, 

trial and error, and firefighting. 

2. Accountability coaching to nurture 

and nudge and stay the course. 

Accountability is required because 

someone needs to be off the field to be 

objective about what’s going on. The 

need for coaching never stops. Coaches 

help people improve the details and 

direction of their performance. 

An accountability coach is trained 

and certified in the repeatable methodology 

and guides its use. The coach 

provides insight on where to start, 

how fast to go, and what to do next; 

the coach also provides encouragement 

and advice, and brings a broader 

perspective, drawing on years of 

experience working with other teams. 

The law of entropy holds that any 

closed system will eventually decline 

or become disorganized unless more 

energy is put into the system. Disorganized 

companies drift into entropy, 

lacking strong self-discipline and a 

systematic approach. They need the 

benefit of some outside energy: an 

experienced, veteran coach who provides 

accountability and perspective. 

Accountability coaching is most 

effective when it’s done face-to-face. 

We believe this is because successful 

coaching relationships are based on a 

high level of trust. This must be someone 

who you believe has your best 

interest at heart and will tell you the 

truth. This kind of relationship is only 

developed over time and in person. 

This view is absolutely contrary to the 

trend in today’s Internet world, 

toward increased self-service, or a doit-yourself 

mentality. 

3. Execution system to engage everyone, 

everyday, in real-time alignment. 

A well-defined approach with the right 

people in the room produces high 

engagement among the leaders. But 

those who are not involved in the 

strategic planning process aren’t nearly 

so engaged. As we experimented with 

ways for increasing total engagement, 

we realized that everyone needs to be 

involved in the planning (to an appropriate 

degree) and connect his or her 

activities with the strategic plans of the 

company. We realized that we could 

use technology to help workers 

make real-time decisions 

about what work they should 

do, in what order, and how to 

prioritize interruptions and 

unexpected requests for their 

time and attention. An execution 

system provides a 

process for marrying company 

plans with individual 

management of daily activities. 

4. Community learning to share and 

reinforce best practices and accelerate 

learning. This element helps address 

the breadth of expertise and the economic 

barriers required for implementation. 

Community learning derives its 

synergy from the other three elements. 

The rate of learning accelerates when a 

group of people share a repeatable 

methodology, use the same terms and 

techniques, and when accountability 

coaches pool their experiences in 

applying the methodology to different 

business scenarios. 

The goal of these four elements is to 

engage every worker, every day, in 

proactively making more aligned decisions, 

rather than relatively fixing misalignments 

later. This, too, is a learning 

objective for the entire company. Each 

function becomes a type of learning 

community inside a larger community. 

Repeatable methodology is a blueprint 

for adopting best-practices. Accountability 

coaching, execution system, and community 

learning are how the organization 

implements and sustains practice of the 

methodology. These four components 

form the complete program for growing 

your capacity to execute strategy. LE 

Gary Harpst is the author of Six Disciplines Execution 

Revolution. Visit www.GaryHarpst.com. 

ACTION: Execute your business strategy. 

Onboarding Tips 

Learn these from great leaders. 

by Howard M. Guttman 

HOW DO YOU KEEP UP 

the momentum for 

high-performance in the 

face of the rapidly revolving door? 

About one in four employees departs 

for other pastures every year—and 

that doesn’t include those who are 

fired. Add to that the number of internal 

transfers and the repercussions of 

mergers and acquisitions, and churn 

becomes a major challenge. 

One way to keep the revolving door 

from spinning out of control is have an 

exciting long-term strategy and business 

prospects, with effective operations, 

and progressive HR policies. Even 

so, you can’t stop turnover, since highperformers 

are targets of headhunters. 

Turnover puts high priority on finding 

the best way to bring in new players 

and integrate them into the culture. 

Onboarding within a high-performing 

culture is challenging. Newcomers tend 

to feel as if they’re entering a brave 

new world in which all the axioms that 

worked for them in hierarchical organizations 

are suddenly up for grabs. 

Alignment is not only about reconstituting 

the performance context— 

strategy, goals, roles, accountabilities, 

and ground rules for decision making—but 

about reshaping business 

relationships. The alignment process 

creates a powerful, shared experience 

in which leaders and players learn to 

show up “for real”: to be candid, 

depersonalize, confront one another, 

and hold one another accountable. 

TTaakkee TThheessee FFoouurr TTiippss 

Here are four tips from leaders who 

have met the onboarding challenge: 

1. Start at the beginning with the 

interview process. Let candidates know 

what to expect. In his initial contact 

with candidates for executive positions 

at Chico’s, CEO Scott Edmonds explains 

the horizontal model and the company’s 

commitment to it. He tells them 

that working at Chico’s will differ from 

their past experience: that they will be 

held accountable by both their leaders 

and peers, that they’ll be expected to 

deliver on commitments or explain 

why they can’t, that a big part of their 


compensation is based on teamwork. 

He then probes for “fit and feel.” 

The mindset of great players includes: 

thinking like a director, putting the team 

first, embracing accountability, and 

being comfortable with discomfort. Use 

these attributes to screen candidates. To 

what extent do they measure up? Does 

their background reveal clues to how 

successful they’ll be? Question carefully. 

For example, ask, “What is the biggest 

mistake you have made professionally?” 

If the answer comes back, “I’m an 

overachiever,” or “My standards are too 

high,” be wary. A candidate who substitutes 

disguised strengths for weaknesses 

may not accept accountability—much 

less hold peers and leaders accountable. 

2. Stay close to new hires by putting 

in place a weekly feedback session to 

answer questions and address needs 

and concerns. Include new hires in 

their team’s reassessment and skill 

development sessions. At Chico’s, all 

employees who have joined the company 

in the preceding half year attend 

an off-site meeting devoted to continuing 

the horizontal integration process. 

3. Role-model. Years ago, a team of 

sociologists studied the behavior of 

straight-out-of-the-academy police 

officers. They were brimming with 

pride and enthusiasm; however, this 

quickly turned to cynicism once they 

joined the police force. The behavior 

role-modeled by supervisors and peers 

was decisive in their change of heart. 

David Greenberg, senior VP of HR 

for L’Oréal, notes: “When you join our 

team and see all members role-modeling 

certain behaviors, you quickly see 

how to do it. You see that everyone 

has a voice, that disagreement is okay, 

that conflict is dealt with by depersonalizing. 

If someone is marching in a 

different direction, you see them being 

held accountable. This sets up and 

makes clear what the expectation is.” 

4. Provide mentors. Mars Inc. finds 

mentoring to be effective in bringing new 

hires into the performance culture. Each 

member is “adopted” by another player, 

who takes responsibility for daily reinforcement 

of high-performing behaviors.In 

another organization, senior 

leaders are paired with up-and-comers. 

Bringing on new talent regenerates 

an organization by importing new talent, 

skills, perspectives, and energy. Harnessing 

these “gifts” early is a challenge. 

Manage this resource-for-renewal effectively 

to achieve standout performance. LE 

Howard M. Guttman is principal of Guttman Development 

Strategies and author of Great Business Teams (Wiley). Email 

hmguttman@guttmandev.com or visit www.guttmandev.com. 

ACTION: Improve your onboarding of new talent. 

LEADERSHIP CREATIVITY 

Creative Leaders 

Their followers say, “Let’s go.” 

by Mary Jo Huard 

PROACTIVE, CREATIVE 

leaders often recognize 

opportunity, step 

into it, use public media, keep the message 

simple, and repeat it often to set a 

change agenda. Leaders don’t merely 

study people—they change their lives, 

mixing them up in new ways, pushing 

them into new arrangements, persuading 

them that they can transcend their limits. 

We recognize their leadership, but 

how do we account for it while recognizing 

their differences? Some are calculating; 

others are free spirits. Some 

seek power; others seeks service and 

experience. Some want to reorder society 

according to their plan; others seek 

to discover societies and learn from 

them. Consider these five principles. 

Principle 1: We recognize leaders by 

their followers. We identify 

people as leaders because 

of how others behave. We 

have seen others falling 

into step behind these leaders—to 

adopt their goals, 

follow their plan, cite their 

ideas as the right ones, and 

make choices for themselves 

based on what the 

leader has said or done. 

Principle 2: Followers 

give permission to lead, not superiors. 

Some leaders aren’t appointed to their 

positions of leadership—they are chosen. 

Their ideas on various subjects— 

culture, learning, change, growth—are 

accepted by those who follow them. 

Principle 3: Since leaders are chosen 

by followers, they may be found anywhere. 

We may find them in any profession 

or occupation. Leaders are found 

not just in managerial suites but anywhere 

one person has a chance to influence 

others. Leadership doesn’t even 

require face-to-face contact: leaders can 

influence through arts and media—television, 

books, music, dance. We must 

help people understand whether and 

how they may want to lead, what kind 

of leadership is needed in a situation, 

and how selected leaders currently perform. 

We can support a chosen or aspiring 

leader in achieving outcomes that 

benefit all of us. We can encourage the 

person, provide feedback, share the 

effort and mentor and offer opportunities 

for the person to lead. 

Principle 4: Leadership needs are met 

to the extent the group capitalizes on 

its own diverse talents and interests. 

The more diverse a group, the more 

likely it is to succeed. When diversity 

is valued, the group openly accepts 

contributions from all members, and 

leading and following are seen as 

equally important roles. 

Principle 5: Putting people first 

means letting people lead. It means 

inviting, recognizing, celebrating, and 

rewarding leadership and followership 

all the time—not looking at leadership 

as a static set of traits or style. The 

“command and control” mentality of 

the pyramid structure is collapsing. 

Until we clearly understand the 

dynamic, relational and multi-dimensional 

aspects of leadership, our “decision-makers” 

will remain barriers to 

developing the effective leaders and 

committed followers. As Warren 

Bennis said: “Management is getting 

people to do what needs to be done. 

Leadership is getting people to want to 

do what needs to be done. Managers 

push—leaders pull. Managers command—leaderscommunicate.” 

WWaanntteedd:: CCrreeaattiivvee LLeeaaddeerrss 

To maintain world leadership, 

you must reconceptualize 

your business. 

Better quality and service 

are essential, but they are 

not enough. Creativity and 

innovation are the only 

engines that will drive lasting 

success. Using a set of proven tools 

can advance creativity and innovation. 

Edward de Bono coined the phrase 

Lateral Thinking, defined as “A way of 

thinking that seeks the solution to 

intractable problems through unorthodox 

methods or elements which would 

normally be ignored in logical thinking.” 

TQM and downsizing—doing more 

with less—are necessary but insufficient. 

You need creativity to find better ways 

of doing things. When you have wrung 

out all the fat, excess, and expense, 

you won’t get any more benefit out 

your efforts without creativity. 

Investing in creativity is inexpensive 

compared to anything else—and the 

results will be dramatic. As Edward de 

Bono said, Ideas are the currency of success 

—they separate you from your competition. LE 

Mary Jo Huard, founder of Southwest Training Institute, specializes 

in team and leadership development. Call 888-978-6632, 

email mjhuard@swtinstitute.com or visit www.swtinstitute.com. 

ACTION: Invest in creativity. 


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