ExcellenceLEADERSHIP OCTOBER 2006

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

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

“Reading Leadership Excellence each month is an exceptional way to learn and then apply the best and latest ideas in the field of leadership.”

—WARREN BENNIS, AUTHOR MANAGING PEOPLE IS LIKE HERDING CATS

ManagementBy BaseballLearn From the Pros

High-ImpactLeadersGet Teams Clicking

Reflect on ExperienceWhy Lead?

KEN SHELTON

Best of LeadershipWho is the best atdeveloping leaders? ........2

PHIL HARKINS

High-Impact Team LeadersCreate blueprints to achieve goals................3

WARREN BENNIS

Why Lead?Reflect on yourmany experiences ............4

KAREN KATEN

Do Well by Doing GoodBusiness is not just about money .............6

MARSHALL GOLDSMITH

Ask Questions DailyBe accountable togoals or standards ...........7

MARGARET J.WHEATLEY

Real LeadershipEntrust people withneeded resources .............8

BRUCE LARUE

Developing Action LeadersUse reviews to reinforce desired behaviors . . . . . .9

WILLIAM A. SCHIEMANN

High EngagementBe satisfied with your job and company............10

BEVERLY KAYE AND

SHARON JORDAN-EVANS

Boomer BailoutKeep productive people ..10

MARCUS BUCKINGHAM

Bucking the SystemAre you using yourstrengths at work? .........11

JEFF ANGUS

Management by BaseballAll of your people canperform like stars ..........12

DAVID ALLEN

Overtime All the TimeYou need to escape the busy trap ..................12

DORIS KEARNS GOODWIN

Emotional StrengthLincoln cultivated eight strengths ...............13

LAWRENCE M. MILLER

Virtuous Self-InterestYou can choose both virtueand self-interest .............14

CLAYTON CHRISTENSEN

Seeing Patterns Customers hire products todo a job for them ...........15

BRAY J. BROCKBANK

The Future Is NowYou can create a culture of innovation ..................16

TOM CRUM

Become a ‘Funatic’Feel more enegetic and powerful..................17

MICHAEL WINSTON

Don’t WaitProactively anticipatefresh opportunities ........18

COLIN TIPPING

Leadership EnergyIs your field toxic or healthy?......................19

ALAN R.YUSPEH

Ethics LeadershipStart living your code of conduct..............20

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

V O L . 2 3 N O . 1 0 O C TO B E R 2 0 0 6

LEADERSHIPExcellence™

The Leader’s Domain

This bull moose, like the aging boomer-generation leader, delights in one last leisurely stroll in the diffused sunlight filtering through the trees and dancing on the water —a final show of strength and energy before a long winter sets in.

MO S T L E A D E R S H I Pdevelopment pro-

grams are passive anddisconnected from business realities;hence, most developed leaders are notready to step up and actually lead out.They are blown away by the harsh,tough, competitive realities of busi-ness. In fact, when they get close to thefield of action, many opt out.

We need to find new ways to developleaders who are prepared to take thehelm and hit the ground running. Theweekend seminar or leadership confer-ence alone is not enough. Leaders needjust-in-time learning that theycan apply, test, and refine inpractice. Action-learningteams (ALTs) among leadersin development are the bestway to develop real leadersin real time for the realitiesthat face your company.

Action-learning teamsare charged with develop-ing specialized capabilitiesto close process gaps or gen-erate new capacity. Action-learningteams tend to be cross-functional andcross-organizational, drawing togetherindividuals with specialized knowledgeto collaborate on the development andapplication of new forms of knowledge.

The ALT process is designed toenhance current leadership develop-ment initiatives. The knowledge work-ers and executives who remain in thecore of today’s firms require significantdevelopment to keep up with theincreasing pace of change, heightenedcompetition from emerging economies,technological complexity, successionplanning, and shifting demographics.

Five Principles of Integrating ALTsALTs can be integrated with any

existing leadership development pro-gram using five principles:

1. Connect the dots. If learning is tomake a difference, it has to be put intopractice. Have participants work ingroups to identify specific high-leverage challenges they face at work,

DevelopingAction Leaders

and organize family gatherings. Why dowe need a lot of formal leadership?”

In a disaster, where quick response isdemanded, formal organizations areincapacitated by the means they use toget things done—chains of command,designated leaders, policies, procedures,plans, regulations, and laws. We can relyon human compassion, but we need todevelop the means for official agenciesto support and work with rather thanresist the self-organizing capacity of peo-ple. Leaders need to have the freedom tomake intelligent decisions based on theircomprehension of the situation, not theirunderstanding of policies and proce-dures. The formal leader’s job is toensure that the resources they controlget to local groups as fast as possible.Leaders need to trust that people willinvent their own solutions, that they’llmake good use of the resources theyprovide. And leaders need to expect andvalue the unique and inventive respons-es created in each community.

These radically different behaviorsrequire that we free official leaders toact wisely and that they trust people toself-organize effective responses. Theonly way to restore order out of chaosis to rely on people's intelligence, love,and capacity to self-organize to accom-plish what they care about.

We also need to entrust local peoplewith the official resources of moneyand materials for the rebuilding. Whenrebuilding is left to governments, out-side contractors, and large non-profitorganizations, progress gets mireddown in regulations, time drags on,people's needs aren't served, and noone from the local community is satis-fied with the results. Supporting initia-tives where local people do the worksustains local cultures, recreates com-munity cohesion, and is accomplishedat amazing speed.

This capacity to create solutionswithout hierarchies or formal leader-ship is found in all communities.

As leaders, we can rely on humancaring, creativity, and compassion. Wecan rely on bundles of potential figur-ing out solutions, learning quickly, andsurprising ourselves with new capaci-ties. We can rely on people to self-orga-nize quickly to achieve resultsimportant to them. Together, people actcreatively, take risks, invent, console,inspire, and produce. LE

Margaret Wheatley is president emerita of The BerkanaInstitute, a charitable foundation serving life-affirming leaders,and is the author of four award-winning books includingLeadership for an Uncertain Time. Visit www.margaretwheatley.com or www.berkana.org, or call 801-377-2996.

ACTION: Enable people to achieve results.

by Bruce LaRue

L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e 9

Leadership Development

Tie rewards to outcomes.

and to create an action plan that outlineshow they will apply what they learn.

2. Create the ALT. Action plans arenot implemented in a vacuum. Parti-cipants should identify any individualor group whose input would be neces-sary to succeed in their initiatives, orwho would be significantly affected bythe proposed changes. These stakehold-ers should be contacted early in theprocess in order to gain their input. Keymembers of this stakeholder groupshould compose the ALT. Key cus-tomers, members of other functionalgroups, vendors, suppliers, and one’sboss should all be members of the ALT.Some stakeholders will become activemembers of the ALT, while others willengage the process at critical touch-points. Including these stakeholders willensure that you receive valuable inputwhile addressing the concerns of thosewho could otherwise resist the change.

3. Follow-up action-coaching.Participants should be paired with acoach or mentor whose job it is to sys-tematically follow up with them to helpthem overcome any challenges that

arise. The coach shouldhave data from recentleadership assessments,address behaviors mostrelevant to the success ofthe initiative, and focus onthe context in which inap-propriate behaviors mayarise. Using specific initia-tives as pilots for testingnew approaches to leader-ship makes development

more relevant.4. Tie rewards to outcomes. Let par-

ticipants know up-front that theirwork in the ALT process is important,and compensate them accordingly. Ifthey think they are just checking a box,they will trivialize the ALT process.Use performance reviews and bonusesto reinforce appropriate behaviors andsuccessful implementation of action-learning initiatives. Tie rewards to thesuccessful outcome of the initiative,and not for just doing one’s job!

5. Integrate lessons learned. Too often,what is learned from these initiatives isnot disseminated. This leaves future ALTsvulnerable to reinventing the wheel.Honestly evaluate what went well andwhat could be improved, and integratethis into core processes and future initia-tives in your company. LE

Bruce LaRue is a leadership consultant and co-author withPaul Childs and Kerry Larson of Leading OrganizationsFrom the Inside Out (John Wiley & Sons). Call 253-576-7100 or visit bruce@brucelarue.com.

ACTION: Integrate ALTs into your leadership.