HOW LEADERSHIP AWARENESS CAN HELP YOUR TEAM TRANSFORM BUSINESS PERFORMANCE UNDER PRESSUREBY DR. NICK MOLINARO, P.C.

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One of the basic building blocks of business leadership development is awareness under pressure—and it’s a skill that you and your key performers

can benchmark and sharpen. That’s why I offer CEOs and key members

of their teams testing and coaching services that start by benchmarking

individual levels of internal and external awareness. From there, I help them

toward positive performance gains with awareness as a type of mental

barometer. But first, let me explain the importance of enhanced awareness.

There has been much research in the field that’s garnered interesting results.

For instance, a 2010 leadership study authored by Green Peak Partners

and Cornell’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations proved, as its title

indicates, When it Comes to Business Leadership, Nice Guys Finish First. Its

findings upset conventional wisdom regarding the value of the “hard-as-

nails” boss and demonstrated that executives can win bottom-line results

with sharp people-skills developed with a sense of awareness of how they’re

perceived by others.

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Green Peak Partners and Cornell researchers assessed 72 executives at

public, venture-backed, and private equity-sponsored companies ranging

from $50 million to $5 billion in revenue, across a variety of industries. One

summary quote in particular stood out:

“Interestingly, a high self-awareness score was the strongest predictor of overall success. This is not altogether surprising as executives who are aware of their weaknesses are often better able to hire subordinates who perform well in categories in which the leader lacks acumen. These leaders are also more able to entertain the idea that someone on their team may have an idea that is even better than their own.”

Notice the author’s emphasis on the positive impact of self-awareness at it

relates to the successful business leader’s interaction with team members.

It makes sense when you think about it. A strong sense of self-awareness

can help you honestly appraise your own strengths and weaknesses,

recognize what employees, clients and vendors really think, and alert to

shifting attitudes before valued executives quit or clients lose interest.

To examine in greater depth what we mean by awareness, let’s unpack its

importance as a foundation for leadership success.

THE ATHLETIC MIND

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Think about a group of people I’ve spent a lot of time counseling: athletes—

particularly golfers and quarterbacks. Both cohorts score highly in awareness

testing, and it’s no wonder. Although the sports are dramatically different,

successful golfers and quarterbacks must be able to perform to the best of

their abilities under pressure situations and stay keenly aware of their own

performance and all obstacles that stand in their way.

Quarterbacks must understand the positions, assignments and skill level

of ten co-workers as well as eleven bruising competitors lined up against

them. They must be able to instantly “see the field” and take action based

on multiple data points—in about 2.5 seconds, on average.

As for golfers, they don’t have 280-pound foes trying to slam them to

unconsciousness, so decision speed isn’t so critical, but it’s still a high-

pressure situation. They must always be aware of their own positions in

space. Think about all the data you must analyze before you take a swing

if you’re even a scratch golfer. What kind of club are you using? How are

you lined up? Is your grip right? You must “see” your stance, scrutinize your

swing and follow-through and visualize the trajectory of the ball. Outside of

your immediate focus, you need to understand such external influences as

the wind, the lie, distance to the hole and the proximity of sand traps.

Regardless of the sport, high-performing athletes are adept at shifting

awareness from an external to an internal point of view at a moment’s

notice. Consider basketball players who must retain a 360-degree mental

snapshot of the court, anticipate the decisions of opponents and the angle

and movement of teammates as they race up and down the court.

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Then the whistle blows and everything comes to a halt when a foul is called.

One teammate must instantly transition to a new kind of reality and a

different kind of awareness at the foul line. The challenge might take place

in enemy territory, with antagonistic fans screaming for their failure. There

might only be seconds remaining in the game and the score close. Players

on the line must narrow their focus and shift awareness from what’s going on

externally, with teammates, opponents and fans, to an internal awareness—

his or her own actions. Lining up, dribbling, holding the ball, eying the rim

and shooting. All awareness narrows to player, ball, rim and shot. Everything

else must be temporarily zoned out.

It’s easy to understand the role of awareness to this group of top performers,

but how do we know that business leaders and their key performers must

possess similar skills?

For starters, members of both groups face the same need to perform at

the top of their abilities under even the most high-pressure circumstances.

Both are competitive and highly motivated to win, whether they’re besting

a competitor, setting new team performance records or improving their

own personal best. So it’s no wonder that many top business leaders have

athletic backgrounds and are still active, for instance, as golfers or runners.

Or they hit the gym or bike or play pickup basketball or work up a sweat in

their own way well into middle age and beyond.

Since the most striking point of comparison between athletes and business

executives is their need to make split decisions based on their understanding

of the situation before them and their place in the environment, I start my

work with members of both groups with one critical assessment tool. It

measures their ability to react with awareness under pressure.

TAIS ASSESSMENT

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The Test of Attentional and Interpersonal Style (TAIS) assessment is a

144-question and about 20-minute, self-reporting questionnaire developed

by Dr. Robert Nideffer, used to help identify and improve performance skills

under pressure in corporate, sport, and military settings.

TAIS has been used by Navy SEALS, SWAT teams, the NFL, the NBA and

other organizations where performance under pressure is critical. The test

measures the concentration and interpersonal skills necessary for effective

decision-making, and for the coordination of mental and physical processes

in high-pressure situations. In addition to evaluating your own leadership

style and skills, the test can similarly assess your team members’ performance

tools. Are they in the right positions and making the most of their abilities?

Should they be moved to responsibilities that better suit their instincts and

talents? Can their skills be sharpened to improve performance? These are

some of the questions that can be addressed through TAIS testing.

Below is the before-and-after TAIS Scale Report as scored for one of my

business clients, an executive recruiter for high-level positions at leading

universities and Fortune 500 corporations who we’ll call Mr. Smith.

Mr. Smith came to me originally as an avid golfer and one of my sports

psychology clients. He was so impressed with the gains he made on the

links that he asked me to help improve his executive performance.

Mr. Smith’s area of weakness was easy distractibility. As you look at the TAIS

report, you’ll see his 2014 benchmark scores, his 2015 scores after one

year of coaching, and “Norm” scores—the average of participants in his

normative group, which is business executives.

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AWARENESS 82 98 68

EXTERNAL DISTARACTABILITY 89 18 46

ANALYTICAL/CONCEPTUAL 85 85 88

INTERNAL DISTRACTABILITY 68 42 39

ACTION/FOCUSSED 23 92 58

REDUCED FLEXIBILTY 52 29 15

ADDITIONAL CHARACTERISTICS 2014 2015 NORMS

TAIS CEO PercentileCore Comparison:Family Business:2014-2015

PROBLEM AREAS

PROGRESS

ADDITIONAL WORK NEEDED

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INFORMATION PROCESSING 91 93 90

ORIENTATION TO RULES AND RISK 99 70 62

CONTROL 92 98 89

SELF-CONFIDENCE 89 99 89

PHYSICALLY COMPETITIVE 91 97 61

DECISION MAKING STYLE 47 33 18

EXTROVERSION 66 93 78

INTROVERSION 36 53 33

EXPRESSION OF IDEAS 62 93 75

EXPRESSION OF ANGER 78 70 44

EXPRESSION OF SUPPORT 87 91 80

SELF-CRITICAL 31 31 35

FOCUS OVER TIME 43 22 45

PERFORMANCE UNDER PRESSURE 48 87 78

CONFIDENCE 90 98 90

ENERGY 89 93 87

COMPETITIVENESS 94 99 86

EXTROVERSION 75 99 78

CRITICAL 86 98 79

ANXIETY 73 28 27

DISTRACIBILITY 93 30 47

BEHAVIOR CONTROL 2014 2015 NORMS

INTERPERSONAL STYLE

PROFILE PATTERNS

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When we look at Mr. Smith’s 2014 score we can see that, while his Awareness

score is high compared to his group, he had serious External Distractibility

issues. In other words, he saw everything, which made him lose focus and

block action.

In further sharpening his awareness, it allowed Mr. Smith to successfully

modify his External and Internal Distractibility, Action Focus and Reduced

Flexibility scores. As a result, he reduced his risk-taking to a more appropriate

level while his Decision Making Style (which measures speed of decision

making) increased.

Furthermore, in just one year Mr. Smith underwent significant increases

in Expression of Ideas and Performance Under Pressure. He also had very

marked improvement in anxiety reduction and distractibility.

From this we can see how awareness serves as the lynchpin to further

personal improvement, and that awareness is an acquired skill, not an

immutable personality characteristic inherited at birth. I work with clients

to gain results in this area, but there are steps you can take on your own to

seek positive change.

W O R K S H O PF O R T H E M I N D

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Some of my business executive clients suspect that their degree of awareness

is set. After all, they might be in their forties or fifties when they meet with

me for the first time, so it’s hardly surprising if they have little confidence in

major core personality changes. They might suspect the same to be true of

their key team members – they’re too old and set in their ways to change.

Ironically, many of these business leaders send their salespeople to expensive

seminars or workshops with the goal of sharpening their sales skills. They

seem to recognize that, while the talent for salesmanship is often deeply

ingrained, it can always be sharpened. No matter what their people can

accomplish currently, their performance can be improved through openness

to training.

So why not workshops for the mind?

Once you’re convinced that awareness is key, and that improvement is

possible, it’s easier than you might think to make dramatic change. The key

here is simply openness to change through drills that are easy to do in your

daily life. In other words, you can work alone at exercising your mind and

improving your internal and external awareness. Here are examples of two

very simple drills that can help you turn awareness into a habit. It’s a little

like habitually starting or ending your workday with a to-do list to nudge

your mind into productive action.

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Put Your Mind on “Notice”

You’ve probably had the experience of driving a familiar route and not

remembering when you passed a landmark. You might ask yourself, “Did I

cross Oakhill Drive?” even though you encountered a busy intersection and

you must have paid careful attention to your surroundings at the time. Or

maybe you’ll see an interesting structure or an odd-shaped tree, seemingly

for the first time ever, though you might have passed that way hundreds of

times.

We accomplish a lot daily in a hypnotic or autopilot state of mind. However,

when you allow yourself to “see” what you’ve previously neglected to notice,

you’ll find a fresh new world unfolding around you – even along familiar

routes. Try it on your drive home tonight. Tell yourself that you’re going to

notice three sights you’ve never seen before—and there’s a high probability

you will.

Close Your Eyes and “See”

You can conduct another awareness-broadening mental drill while in the

shower or before drifting off to sleep tonight. Close your eyes and imagine

you’re in a very familiar space. It might be your living room, office, or a

childhood home, just as long as it’s easy to visualize. Imagine you’re standing

in the center of the room and executing a slow 360-degree turn. What do

you see? Take inventory. If able to, you might even write down every item

you mentally tabulated.

Now close your eyes and do it again. Only this time, you’re going to identify

at least one item you left out of your first mental circuit of the space. This

exercise forces focus. Don’t be surprised—you’ll almost inevitably find at

least one item in even the most familiar space as your awareness sharpens.

These are easy drills to do on your own, but I can help you and your people

benchmark and fully develop your leadership potential. As you sharpen your

awareness skills, you’ll begin to see your work environment and your daily

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challenges with greater clarity and insight.

Let’s work together to improve business performance under even the most

high-pressure situations.

About the AuthorDr. Nick Molinaro is a licensed psychologist and a consultant in sport and performance

psychology working in association with Wiss & Company to bring executive performance

assessment and development capabilities to clients. Dr. Molinaro can be reached at

nmolinaro@wiss.com.