Gifted Leaders

Three Universal Human Needs – The 3 E’s

2009-11-09T07:10:00-07:00

By exceptionality I mean that every human being is an exception to the rule - no one has ever been born quite like you and no one in the future will ever again be quite like you. We all have a basic human desire for essentiality, we want to be recognized as essential to any human group we belong to. Finally, I think all human beings in every group they are a part of feel some sense of equality, especially equality of voice. We all have a desire to share without censorship, our hopes and visions of the true, the good and the possible. - David Cooperrider

Here’s a bit more on the 3 E’s from the Thin Book Publishing web site:

Several management theorists have identified three human universal needs. We share David Cooperrider's view. He believes that each person has the need to:

Have a voice and be heard;

Be viewed as essential to a group; and

Be seen as unique and exceptional.

We've found when people in organizations become frustrated or cynical, it is always because the organization is not fully respectful of the three universal human needs. In our experience, most organizations will tell you they practice these principles, but in reality they do not. They are deceptively simple. You can make a difference by monitoring who you listen to and who you ignore and asking yourself why. What assumptions have you made about people or their positions that cause you to listen or tune out?
One person can begin to change the culture of his or her organization because honoring the three human universals begins with you. You can make a difference in creating a more constructive culture at your organization by:

Being curious about how every other person sees the world;

Respecting each person's perspective of the world as unique and essential to the group's success; and

Making sure every person has a chance to speak and be heard.

Ultimately, if you ensure all three needs are met, you will be successful as a leader. If your organization works at meeting all three needs, your organization will be more successful.

Investment Advice: Pay Attention to Soft Skills

2009-11-02T07:01:00-07:00

Organization culture is driven by leaders. Leadership is successful only when leaders are open to new information, new configurations of information and the willingness to apply that to decisions and actions. - Sue Annis Hammond

In a recent e-Newsletter, Hammond commented that organizational culture is "the softest of the soft concepts" and therefore rarely gets respect in business schools. This is a huge oversight since poor organizational cultures are to blame for the recent collapse of companies like Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers.

Bottom line: If arrogance and hubris are at the top of an organization, it will ultimately fail. Her advice is that "If you want to invest in a company, find out how the leaders of the organization behave." Here are a couple of questions to consider:

Do top leaders exhibit admirable behavior that honors the 3 human universal needs (everyone is unique, essential and exceptional)?
Do they demonstrate humility, openness to learning, and a willingness to admit a mistake and do something different?

It's that simple. If the leaders do not behave this way, don't buy the stock. Sooner or later, that inept leadership will destroy the business.

How do you stack up as a leader? How would others answer these questions about you?

You Have to Engage to Engage

2009-10-26T06:16:00-07:00

Try not to be a person of success, but a person of value. - Albert Einstein

Few people would dispute the value of employee engagement in the workplace. According to Susan Scott, author of Fierce Leadership, the challenge is that employee engagement and inclusion isn’t a cognitive issue, it's an emotional issue.

The overriding theme of studies on employee engagement is "a heightened emotional connection that an employee feels for his or her organization, that influences him or her to exert greater discretionary effort." And all studies, all locations, and all ages agreed that the direct relationship with one’s manager is the strongest driver of employee engagement.

Here’s where Einstein’s advice applies ...

The problem is that we, as managers and leaders, want employees to be engaged and feel included, but we ourselves are detached, distracted, disengaged, and focused on our own "To Do" lists. If we want others to bring that elusive, coveted "discretionary effort" in the door with them, then we had better make the time to engage in the kind of conversations that could enrich our relationship with them.

How can you engage to engage?

The Top 7 Steps to Develop Leadership Skills

2009-10-19T06:10:00-07:00

As someone who has devoted much of his life to the study of leaders, I find myself talking about transparency and trust whenever I talk about leadership. - Warren Bennis

In his online article by the same title, author Akhil Shahani says that successful management requires more than just assigning tasks to the team. It calls for a leader who can inspire team members to achieve their full potential. Here’s Shahani’s checklist:

Test the waters: Find out what people think about your style of leadership. This could be a real eye opener, and the key to making changes to become more effective. Ask for feedback from your team members and peers. A relaxed and open environment will help draw out their honest opinion.
Listen hard: GREAT LEADERS ARE GREAT LISTENERS!!!!!
Connect: Take complete responsibility for how you are heard. Effective communication is a fine art and takes practice.
Be a people’s person: Learn to respect your team’s capabilities. Let team members make decisions. Trust them with their work; don’t be a watchdog.
Lead by example: Your team must believe that you really mean what you say. Be prepared to put your money where your mouth is.
Share leadership: Distribute tasks and responsibilities among group members based on individual strengths. You become a better leader by involving more people in the leadership process.
Evaluate your success in tandem with that of the team: Focus on building their skills as this will enhance motivation and team performance. Remember, their success is yours too!

Which of these steps will you focus on to improve as a leader?

The Entrepreneurial Spirit and Your Career

2009-10-12T06:01:00-07:00

All I would tell people is to hold onto what was individual about themselves, not to allow their ambition for success to cause them to try to imitate the success of others. You’ve got to find it on your own terms. - Harrison Ford

In the September 2009 Leading News e-Newsletter, Marshall Goldsmith talks about the importance of being entrepreneurial in how we each approach our own careers. Here are some of his suggestions:

Love What You Do. Years of hard work (which generally precede success) don’t seem so hard if you are doing what you love.
Be Curious. Always be open to learning and on the look-out for potential opportunities.
Find Your Own Market Niche. You can work to develop a special competency that differentiates you from everyone else. Be creative. Look for market needs that everyone else may not have considered. Anyone can do what everyone else is doing. Great entrepreneurs provide products and services that are better or different than what everyone else is doing. You can also do this at your present job: What should be done that isn't?
Become a World Expert. As intimidating as this sounds, achieving serious "world-class" expertise may not be as daunting as you might believe. If you pick a reasonably narrow area of specialization, focus on it, and learn as much as you can, you will start to accumulate serious knowledge within a few years. While you can never become the world authority on everything, you can definitely become a world authority on one thing.
Learn from the Best. As you ponder your career options, ask yourself: "Who do I want to be like in 10 years?" or "Who are the world's experts in fields that are related to my desired area of expertise?" Try to learn from these people's lives. You may be surprised. Some may even go out of their way to help you.
Build Your Own Brand. Peter Drucker once told me that companies should be able to 'put their mission statement on a T-shirt.' The same can be true for individuals. For example, my own mission is to be the world authority in helping successful leaders achieve positive, lasting change in behavior. Your customers (or employers) will respect you more if you do not pretend to know everything about everything but instead have a unique brand.
Pay the Price. It is possible that you may just get lucky and become incredibly successful without having to work very hard. Don't count on it. The successful entrepreneurs - and the successful people - who I know work very hard. The "luck" that they experience is often impacted by the years of effort that have prepared them to take advantage of fortuitous opportunities.

How can you be more entrepreneurial in how you approach your career?

Self-Connection = Fulfilled Potential

2009-10-05T05:52:00-07:00

What a long time it can take to become the person one has always been! How often in the process we mask ourselves in faces that are not our own. How much dissolving and shaking of ego we must endure before we discover our deep identity - the true self within every human being that is the seed of authentic vocation. – Parker J. Palmer

In his book, Let Your Life Speak, Parker Palmer explains that vocation does not come from a voice 'out there' calling us to become something we are not. It comes from a voice 'in here' calling us to be the person we were born to be, to fulfill the original selfhood given to us at birth by God.

Heady stuff to be sure but a recent European consulting study underscores the importance of this idea of being connected to our truer selves in the workplace. Krauthammer International, a consultancy-based training and coaching company, recently reported that the more "self-connected" employees are at work, the better their performance. Interestingly, 66% of employees believe that they need to connect with themselves to fulfill their potential but 33% are not confident that they know themselves.

What opportunities to you have to develop greater self-awareness for yourself and the people you work with?

Who’s Got Your Back? - Part II

2009-09-28T06:38:00-07:00

“The more I work on my own life and help others on the path toward success the more I see the importance of loving relationships.” - Dan Miller

Here are several other quotes from Dan Miller's e-Newsletter on the importance of supportive relationships:

“If a man does not make new acquaintances as he advances through life, he will soon find himself alone. A man should keep his friendships in constant repair.” - Samuel Johnson

“When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares.” - Henri Nouwen

“Oh, the comfort - the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person - having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but pouring them all right out, just as they are, chaff and grain together; certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and then with the breath of kindness blow the rest away.” - Dinah Craik, A Life for a Life, 1859

What are you doing to keep your friendships/relationships “in constant repair?”

Who’s Got Your Back? - Part I

2009-09-21T06:26:00-07:00

“Success cannot be achieved in isolation. It is the result of combined efforts – yours and that of many others around you. Look for ways to strengthen your relationships and your success will soar.” - Dan Miller

Dan Miller shared the following in his 48 days e-Newsletter on July 28 ...

Last Thursday my daughter and I drove down to Atlanta to attend author Keith Ferrazzi's presentation on his new book, Who's Got Your Back?

Keith talked about the critical importance of having 3 deep personal relationships and said that if you have these 3 trusting relationships you are set up to experience a disproportionate level of success. In the research for the book he found that roughly 50% of Americans could not identify one person who has their back.

If you’re struggling, perhaps the next step in releasing your success is not another degree, a guaranteed salary, a bank loan, a secure patent or a winning lottery ticket – but rather a friend you can confide in.

Who's got your back?

Susan Scott Talks Fierce Leadership

2009-09-14T07:21:00-07:00

“If you want to be a great leader, you must gain the capacity to connect with others at a deep level - or lower your aim.” - Susan Scott

In a video promoting her new book, Fierce Leadership, author Susan Scott contrasts the old adage that a leader should ensure growth at all costs with a growing recognition that human connectivity is the primary “means” to drive that growth. Watch the video on the Fierce Leadership web site ...

What's your capacity for connectivity?

Tips for Hiring Leaders

2009-09-07T00:01:00-07:00

“Good leaders need to be able to connect to all of those around them. This is especially true because we have a very team-oriented culture. When I'm hiring leaders, I pay a lot of attention to what their peers and what people who report to them say about them. We want people who relate well with their peers and cooperate in an exchange of information rather than being overly competitive.” - John Mackey, CEO Whole Foods

In a feature last month on Inc.com, John Mackey of Whole Foods Markets shared his answer to the question, “What traits should I look for when hiring for a leadership position?” I really think his response should apply to hiring anyone for any position.

In addition to looking for classic character virtues, Mackey also selects for people with a high degree of emotional intelligence. He says, “For leadership positions, emotional intelligence is more important than cognitive intelligence. People with emotional intelligence usually have lots of cognitive intelligence, but that’s not always true the other way around.”

What are you doing to select for and/or develop emotional intelligence in your leaders? What are you doing to develop your own emotional intelligence?