Business Books

Lead With Purpose

Lead With Purpose
John Baldoni
AMACOM, 2011

From the Book: Ask any leader: What would you give to have an entire company full of committed employees willing to go the extra mile? For all your people to work together as a unified force, knowing exactly what they do, and why they do it? Featuring illuminating stories, interviews, and profiles of leaders from a variety of fields, Lead with Purpose shows readers how to take their organizations to the next level with renewed focus and improved direction.

Self Confidence

Self-Confidence: The Remarkable Truth of Why a Small Change Can Make a Big Difference
Paul McGee
Capstone, 2010

From the Book: Have you ever wondered how different your life would be if you increased your confidence by just 10%? Paul McGee has. And in his latest book, he explains what confidence is, where it comes from, why it’s important, and how to develop it in yourself and others. Not only does the book deal with confidence in business, romance, social situations, and all areas of life, it explodes common myths, including why ‘over-confidence’ and ‘under-confidence’ are both harmful. Loaded with practical tips on bouncing back from a setback and feeling confident in challenging situations, this inspiring, upbeat book will help fill you with life’s X factor.

As I’ve trained and coached new managers over the years, one area I try to focus some attention on is connecting the “manager” to the “individual.” So often we are forced to wear the “manager” hat at work. The “manager” cares about what gets done. The “manager” is interested in the assignment of tasks, the completion of projects, and the quantifying of results.

But what about the “individual?” We as “individuals” care about the why. The “individual” wants to find the connection between who I am as a person and who I am as a manager. The “individual” asks questions like, “Why did I become a manager?” “Why should others follow me?” “Why do I do what I do?” “Why am I putting in so much effort?”

Unfortunately, for most of us, we are controlled by the what – assignments, tasks, deadlines, projects, budgets…My charge to you is to step back and ask why. A great resource to connect to the why is reading Bury My Heart at Conference Room B which provides a depth of information about why employees engage with their work. After reading the book, consider completing a values assessment which will give you insight into your personal why.

“We always admire the other fellow more after we have tried to do his job.”
–William Feather (1889 – 1981), American author and publisher

An age old problem in business is how individuals work together. I’ve had several leaders say to me, “If we didn’t have to deal with all of this stuff, we could concentrate on running the business.” The “stuff” in question is human dynamics—what makes individuals and teams work; and, what most definitely gets in the way of productivity and performance.

One way to begin to address many interpersonal conflicts is to help people walk a mile in the shoes of the other party. While this can be accomplished through job shadowing, it can be time-consuming to get a full appreciation of what the other party contends with on a regular basis.

Another approach is to facilitate a dialogue between the two individuals (or even teams). The goal is to better understand (and appreciate) what the other party contributes, the value they add, and the challenges they face. It is helpful to remind everyone that it is beneficial to listen and understand the needs of the other party first (Covey’s “seek first to understand”). This is accomplished by increasing an understanding of what is/isn’t working from the other parties’ perspective.

The following questions (while not all inclusive) are useful for both parties to ponder as a way to prepare for the conversation:

1. What are your biggest challenges to being as successful as you can be?
2. In this conflict, what are the core needs of the other party? What is important to them?
3. What are your core needs? What is important to you?
4. What do you value about the other party? Appreciate?
5. If you could change one or two things that would impact the overall effectiveness of how you work with the other party, what would they be? (Be sure to focus on what you can do, not just what they can do.)
6. What are one or two first steps you can take that will help you move in the direction just outlined.

When you hear the word “leader,” what images pop in your head? Often it’s the gregarious, outspoken, energetic, showman, whose personality seems larger than life – someone who is able to rally and motivate employees with their words. But what if you are not gregarious, outspoken, or a master presenter? Can you be a leader that others will follow?

According to the new book, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, a reserved leadership style may have its advantages after all. For one, an introverted leader works better with a driven, proactive team because their style encourages initiative-takers to offer suggestions. Since an introverted leader is a good listener and not interested in dominating social situations, they are more likely to hear and implement the ideas without the need to put their own stamp on each suggestion. As a result, proactive team members are even more likely to provide additional suggestions for improvement since the leader is receptive to ideas.

So, as you think about leaders in your own organization, don’t discount those individuals that are more likely to listen rather than talk. They may be just the people your pro-active, go-getters need.

Business Books

Taking People With You

Taking People With You: The Only Way to Make Big Things Happen
David Novak
Portfolio Hardcover, 2012

From the Book: Over his fifteen years at Yum! Brands, the author has developed a trademarked program he calls Taking People with You. He spends several weeks each year personally teaching it to thousands of managers around the world. He convinces them that they’ll never make big things happen until they learn how to get people on their side. No skill in business is more important. And Yum!’s extraordinary success (at least 13 percent growth for each of the last nine years) proves his point. Novak knows that managers don’t need leadership platitudes or business school theories. So he cuts right to the chase with a step-by- step guide to setting big goals, getting people to work together, blowing past your targets, and celebrating after you shock the skeptics.

Managing Coaching at Work

Managing Coaching at Work: Developing, Evaluating and Sustaining Coaching in Organizations
Jackie Keddy, Clive Johnson
Kogan Page, 2011

From the Book: Based on direct experience and a realistic understanding of the scope of influence that many coaching champions have within their organizations, Managing Coaching at Work provides practical guidance on all aspects of making workplace coaching work. It serves as an essential reference for any manager or HR professional looking to bring coaching into their organization and for those seeking to move forward, re-energize or maximize the true potential of their existing coaching investment.

“I would rather be surrounded by smart people than have a huge budget. Smart people will get you there faster.”
— former McKinsey associate as quoted in The McKinsey Way by Ethan Rasiel

I recently conducted some interviews and focus groups for one of our clients. They have been experiencing a lot of change over the past several months. Like so many others, they have faced budgetary cutbacks, downsizing, and trying to do more with less. Conducting this assessment was an opportunity to help them better understand current perceptions and lay the groundwork for managing ongoing change.

The thing that stood out for me during the assessment wasn’t the idea of navigating change; nor, the struggles of budgetary cutbacks or the toll layoffs can have on an organization. Those challenges have been all too familiar over the past several years. The finding that really jumped out at me seemed like a painfully obvious missed opportunity. This is what I heard repeatedly throughout the assessment:

• “They make changes and don’t include those of us closest to the problem.”
• “We’re the ones on the frontline—the ones who are in a good position to solve challenges.”
• “They don’t even know how some of these decisions are impacting other areas of the organization. They are too removed.”

The conclusion…people closest to the problem were not being asked to help solve the problem. Available talent wasn’t being used to address some of the biggest organizational issues.

There are certainly times that decisions need to be made “behind closed doors” and it isn’t appropriate to include a broader array of people. However, involving employees at all levels to help solve organizational problems does several things. For example, it:

• Uses the problem-solving skills of those who deal with the issues on a day-to-day basis
• Creates learning opportunities for employees
• Demonstrates that employees are significant—that their contribution matters

The leadership takeaway? Tap into your talent. Don’t try to do everything yourself. Involve those closest to the issue in resolving the issue. How do you involve employees in solving tough challenges? We’d love to hear from you.

To maintain market share in a tough (but hopefully improving) economy, companies are becoming more creative in defining the scope of their potential service offerings to customers. Offerings not typically seen as a company’s niche in the past are now being considered as innovative ways to expand their customer base. The unfortunate side effect for some companies is that they find themselves “chasing shiny objects” which may take resources and energy away from existing priorities.

To calm the propensity leaders may feel to chase shiny objects, two books provide some needed insight. The first, Rework, offers this gem to those of us with the next big idea – don’t confuse enthusiasm with priority. Individuals can get so excited about something new that this energy propels them forward to action before really thinking about the impact of the decision. The authors’ suggestion is to wait a couple of days [or weeks] and then prioritize your “best” ideas.

The second book, Great by Choice (Jim Collins), outlines the process consistently great companies go through when looking to innovate – firing bullets, then cannonballs. A bullet, to use the author’s language, “is a low-cost, low-risk, and low-distraction test” of an idea. If the idea proves valid, the company can then allocate greater resources and energy to a larger roll-out – the cannonball.

The secret in both approaches is to let analysis and empirical evidence guide innovative decision making, rather than letting emotion and fear lead you astray.

“You cannot antagonize and influence at the same time.” — J.S. Knox

Who do you need to influence and under what circumstances? Perhaps it is a colleague, boss, or one of your employees. Maybe it is a client or customer. There are also many “personal” situations that call for the need to influence (with a spouse, child, or friend).

When faced with the need to influence others, I often see people trying to ‘push’ their position (I have also been guilty of this). We feel compelled to do the talking. “Here’s what I think.” “You’re not listening.” “You don’t understand.” Even if we don’t say these things, we often find ourselves thinking along these lines.

People are open to influence if they feel understood. If we believe this, it changes our approach. Rather than push our ideas forward, we start by trying to understand the other person’s core needs. If we take a listening approach (instead of starting off trying to convince someone that what we have to say is the “right way”) it increases our ability to be influential.

So, instead of “pushing,” start by listening and paraphrasing to increase mutual understanding. When doing so, we sometimes find that we aren’t as far apart as we thought (thereby decreasing the need to be as influential). Or, if we are open to what we are hearing, we rethink our position. And, of course, even if we don’t adjust our opinion, if the other party feels they have been heard and understood, they are in a better position to be open to our influence. Again, people are open to influence if they feel understood.

The next time you find yourself trying to influence someone else, stop…pause…remember to listen first. Take note of how this helps your ability to be influential.

Business Books

The Advantage

The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else In Business
Patrick Lencioni
Jossey-Bass, 2012

From the Book: There is a competitive advantage out there, arguably more powerful than any other. Is it superior strategy? Faster innovation? Smarter employees? No, New York Times best-selling author, Patrick Lencioni, argues that the seminal difference between successful companies and mediocre ones has little to do with what they know and how smart they are and more to do with how healthy they are. In this book, Lencioni brings together his vast experience and many of the themes cultivated in his other best-selling books and delivers a first: a cohesive and comprehensive exploration of the unique advantage organizational health provides.

Great by Choice

Great by Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck–Why Some Thrive Despite Them All
Jim Collins
Harper Business, 2011

From the Book: Ten years after the worldwide bestseller Good to Great, Jim Collins returns with another groundbreaking work, this time to ask: Why do some companies thrive in uncertainty, even chaos, and others do not? Based on nine years of research, buttressed by rigorous analysis and infused with engaging stories, Collins and his colleague, Morten Hansen, enumerate the principles for building a truly great enterprise in unpredictable, tumultuous, and fast-moving times.

One Page Talent Management

One Page Talent Management: Eliminating Complexity, Adding Value
Marc Effron, Miriam Ort
Harvard Business Review Press, 2010

From the Book: You know that winning in today’s marketplace requires top quality talent. You also know what it takes to build that talent—and you spend significant financial and human resources to make it happen. Yet somehow, your company’s beautifully designed and well-benchmarked processes don’t translate into the bottom-line talent depth you need. Why? The authors argue that companies unwittingly add layers of complexity to their talent building models—without evaluating whether those components add any value to the overall process. Consequently, simple processes like setting employee performance goals become multi-page, headache-inducing time-wasters that turn managers off to the whole process and fail to improve results.

Over the last several years, I have noticed a trend in 360 degree feedback that I think should be a “watch out” for organizations taking part in the process.  What I am seeing more and more, particularly from organizations that are new to the process, is a disproportionate amount of attention on the “bells and whistles” of the 360 survey tool.

In conversations with potential clients, I’m asked about our web-based survey, its features, who handles the administration of the survey, what is the technology behind the process, etc.  While each of these questions is valid and important to understand, these questions often come at the expense of the true value of the process – what are individuals going to do with the data? So much attention is placed on the survey tool and not enough attention is placed on the internal processes an organization should put into place to ensure 360 feedback participants are taking the data and implementing some action that will benefit the organization.

Without the connection to and support for the action, the 360 degree feedback process (and the tool with all the “bells and whistles”), will never be seen as anything more than a task to be completed once a year.  For those of you looking to implement a 360 degree feedback process, don’t forget to answer this critical question, “once the data is collected, what are participants going to do with it?”

Related Articles:  360 Degree Feedback: Goals and Philosphy;  9 Best Practices in 360 Degree Feedback