Concept Schools Leading from the Heart

The Leading from the Heart Workshop®

2009 Annual Concept Schools Conference

“Employees are assets with feet.”

Press Release, Walker Information

About half of Human Resource professionals

say they are seeing new workers entering the

workforce lacking overall professionalism, written communication

skills, analytical skills, or business knowledge. SHRM: 2005 Future of the U.S.

Labor Pool Survey Report

By 2012, one out of five workers will be fifty-five years old or older.

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

“The Baby Boom is de-booming and soon there will be many more jobs than people available to fill them.”

“Why Retention Should Become a Core Strategy Now”

Harvard Management Update, October 2003

“It may be time to reconsider the ‘they have no place else to go’ strategy of

employee retention.” “Why Retention Should Become a Core Strategy Now”

Harvard Management Update, October 2003

values-based LEADERSHIP

interests common

Values-based leaders enlist employees by identifying

and showing them how that shared vision will satisfy mutual needs.

PERCENT

Less than half of all U.S.

employees trust their senior

leaders.

49

Source: Watson Wyatt’s WorkUSA 2006/2007 Survey

People join an organization.

They leave a manager.

Forget reality. Perception drives behavior.

“ KOUZES & POSNER The Leadership Challenge

WHAT WE FOUND IN OUR INVESTIGATION OF ADMIRED LEADERSHIP QUALITIES IS THAT MORE THAN ANYTHING, PEOPLE WANT TO FOLLOW LEADERS WHO ARE CREDIBLE. ”

Values-based leaders

demonstrate six vital

integrities. They:

! Accept challenges and take risks

! Master both listening and speaking

! Live by the values they profess

! Freely give away their authority

! Recognize the best in others

! Have a vision and convince others to share it

Vital

Integrities

Leadership actions that, when practiced proactively, demonstrate your

organization’s existing values and further establish your credibility as a leader.

vital integrities

[1] Accept Challenges and Take Risks

values-based leaders:

Risk seeking separates values-based leaders from the yesteryear-theory

bureaucrats who sit around supervising the work. Why is that important?

Leadership is proactive, as people can only follow leaders who are moving.

risk Verb: To do something despite danger;

to incur the chance of harm or loss by taking an action.

Risk Seekers …while others seek out opportunities to

lead.

Risk TakersSome people respond to challenges that are presented…

How we assess risk determines

how we take risk.

First, we weigh our chances of success.

Next, we measure the importance of success.

We also gauge how much control we have in the outcome.

We assess our own skill.

A values-based assessment should override all other assessments of risk. That is: does taking this risk demonstrate your adherence to the organization’s values, or not?

Leaders prefer asking for forgiveness rather than begging for permission.

“Each day brings you opportunities to raise important questions, speak to higher values, and surface unresolved conflicts. Every day you have the chance to make a difference in the lives of people around you.”

Ronald Heifetz, Leadership on the Line

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Risk Seeker

[2] Master Both Listening and Speaking

values-based leaders:

The way we communicate with our employees impacts how workers

understand our messages, and what actions, if any, they take in response.

vital integrities

—Boyd Clarke and Ron Crossland, The Leader’s Voice

“”

The biggest problem with leadership communication is

the that it has occurred. illusion

Jargon Jargon

A specialized vocabulary coined by, and intended for, a particular profession or discipline.

J A R G O N

Industrial phrases, buzzwords, and acronyms

are used as verbal shorthand to streamline communication among

colleagues.

“We need to meet our AMO in order to satisfy NCLB.”

“The ADA for our at-risks is twice as high as for

our GATEs.”

“We’re using integrated curriculum to meet the

benchmark for instructional minutes, but its messing

up our PTR.”

“What the…?”

why jargon? Speakers sometimes invoke workplace jargon to impress others, or to establish their membership in an elite faction. Some use jargon to exclude or confuse others, or to mask their own inexperience or lack of knowledge.

JARGON often includes euphemisms

used to substitute inoffensive expressions for those considered offensive.

These actions will “align our resources

with market needs and adjust the size of our

infrastructure.” – Chad Holliday, DuPont CEO

announcing the elimination of 3,500 jobs

20 percent of employees are regularly confused about what their

colleagues are saying, but are too embarrassed to ask for clarification

More than a third admitted using jargon deliberately—as a means

of either demonstrating control or gaining credibility

40 percent found the use of jargon in office meetings both irritating and distracting

One out of ten

dismissed speakers using jargon as both pretentious and untrustworthy

Source: Office Angels

A single voice.

A candid voice.

A genuine voice.

Your voice.

[3] Live By The Values They Profess

values-based leaders:

Now, since the onslaught of corporate scandals, we conceive of business

leaders as justice-obstructing, debt-hiding, earnings-overstating thieves who use company funds to purchase personal

artwork and to put on lavish birthday parties for family members.

vital integrities

“You will be confronted with questions every day

that test your morals. Think carefully, and for your sake, do the right

thing, not the easy thing.” - Dennis Kozlowski, speaking to

the St. Anselm College Class of 2002

“Ex-Tyco Chief Executive Kozlowski Sentenced to 8 to 25

Years”Headline / Bloomberg.com / 09.19.2005

Strong Fundamental Values

“We must demand of ourselves and of each other the highest standards of individual and corporate integrity. We safeguard company assets. We comply with all company policies and laws.”

Source: The Tyco Guide to Ethical Conduct

“We safeguard company assets.” Regency mahogany bookcase, c. 1810, $105,000

George I walnut arabesque tallcase clock, $113,750

Custom queen bed skirt, $4,995

Custom pillow, $2,665

Ascherberg grand piano, c. 1895, $77,000

Chandelier, Painted Iron, c. 1930, $32,500

Pair of Italian armchairs, c. 1780, $64,278

Persian rug, 20 feet by 14 feet, $191,250

“”

We’ve got this idea that business means

anything goes. R. Edward Freeman, Director

Olsson Center for Applied Ethics

Used-car salesperson…slick

Politician…dishonest

Personal injury lawyer…greedy

Insurance agent…pesky

Postal worker…postal

Business leader…fraud

Consistency between an organization’s stated values

and its leaders’ actual behavior is critical to credibility.

a l i g n m e n t Once they feel aligned, individuals can start envisioning their place in supporting the organization’s success.

When there is

between what leaders say and what they do, employees immediately and rightly recognize those leaders as frauds.

discrepancy

Eighty-two percent of workers would rather earn less money at

an organization with ethical business practices than receive

higher pay at a company with questionable ethics.

WH

Y B

OTH

ER?

LRN Ethics Study 2006

Employees are searching for leaders

with integrity who prove their credibility

continuously.

Prove yours!

[4] Freely Give Away Their Authority

values-based leaders:

Why the emphasis on giving away authority? Giving authority to others demonstrates trust in people. Trusted

employees are more effective, creative, and satisfied. And a funny thing happens

when you trust people—they trust you back!

vital integrities

“Hierarchy is an organization with its face

toward the CEO and its ass toward the customer.”

-Kjell A. Nordström and Jonas Ridderstråle Funky Business

Giving away our authority is a personal challenge. It involves

sharing influence, prestige, and applause, while forcing us

to deal with our personal insecurities.

Once you abandon those concerns, you

will recognize empowering others as

its own reward.

“But my employees don’t want to be empowered!”

Common Rebuttal

The bottleneck is at the top of the bottle.

Gary Hamel

“

”

Micromanaged employees “live

down to” the expectations set for them, thereby

perfectly conforming to the micromanager’s views of them.

SAT THEM FURTHER AWAY

SMILED AT THEM LESS

MADE LESS EYE CONTACT WITH THEM

CALLED ON THEM LESS

CRITICIZED THEM MORE

GAVE THEM LESS TIME TO ANSWER QUESTIONS

WITHHELD PRAISE FOR SUCCESSFUL ANSWERS

PRAISED THEM FOR MARGINAL ANSWERS

DEMANDED LESS WORK FROM THEM

TEACHERS & MICROMANAGERS Researchers studied how teachers

behaved toward students for whom they had low expectations. They:

Leaders who consider themselves effective

are less apt to micromanage

and more likely to set high expectations for their

employees.

[5] Recognize the Best in Others

values-based leaders:

Values-based leaders recognize that each person’s talents are unique and that a

person’s best opportunity for growth is in exploiting those strengths.

vital integrities

What prevents our employees from doing what they do best?

Usually, our emphasis on what

they do worst.

Gallup survey

question:

“At work do you have the

opportunity to do what you do best

every day?”

! Strongly Agree (20 percent)

! Strongly Agree

38 percent more likely to work in business units with higher productivity

50 percent more likely to work in business units with lower turnover

44 percent more likely to work in business units with high customer satisfaction scores

Source: Now, Discover Your Strengths Marcus Buckingham and Donald Clifton

achieve greatness

When we force our employees to strive for proficiency in everything, we miss the opportunity for them to

or mastery in something— in the one area where they may, indeed, achieve just that.

Identifying each person’s strongest talents permits everyone the

opportunity to contribute what they do

BEST.

jeff bezos@amazon.com

“I’d rather interview 50 people and not hire anyone than hire

the wrong person.”

[6] Have a Vision and Convince Others To Share it

values-based leaders:

We often describe children as having wild or active imaginations. The best

leaders never outgrow their imaginative gift.

vital integrities

“The age-old secret to generating buy-in is to

strategically design, target, and deliver a story that projects a

positive future.”

Mark S. Walton Generating Buy-In: Mastering the Language of Leadership

Have a Vision

Good leaders have a vision.

They hold in their minds pictures of

what is possible.

Convince Others to

Share It

Great leaders convince others to share their vision by articulating it in memorable and inspirational ways.

The first stonemason replies:

The second stonemason replies:

“I’m cutting stone.”

“I’m building a great cathedral.”

Old story: Two stonemasons are working on the same project. An observer asks, “What are you doing?”

“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long

for the endless immensity of the sea.” ̶ Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

“Before you can inspire with emotion, you must be swamped with it yourself. Before you can move their tears, your own must flow. To convince them, you must yourself believe.”

Churchill

To lead effectively, you must stimulate the behavior you

are seeking.

I N S P I R E

vital

integrities

values-based leadership

! Accept challenges and take risks

! Master both listening and speaking

! Live by the values they profess

! Freely give away their authority

! Recognize the best in others

! Have a vision and convince others to share it

SIX

leadership is a craft, with the best practitioners guided by their

values

The Leading from the Heart Workshop®

2009 Annual Concept Schools Conference