He also mentions that now more than ever business owners must focus on the emotional intelligence of the company.

To fully understand the phenomenon of emotional intelligence and to create a successful business, Bill George suggests using assessments and 360 feedback on yourself as a leader and your employees.

The Survival Benefits of Social Coordination”

I recently read an article, An Evolutionary View-What Followers Want from Their Leaders, that explains the three characteristics dating back to the ancient tribes that every follower needs from their leader.

Roughly two million years ago, the hunter-gather living style did not have formal leadership roles.  With tribal-warfare being the major cause of death during the Old Stone Age, tribes needed to establish leadership to survive and that’s where social coordination was formed.

“Social coordination is best facilitated by a decision-making process in which one individual initiates a plan and others agree to pursue it…In this way, leadership evolved as a resource for group success and survival”

The following explains the three core qualities that every tribe follower needed from their leader:

1. Choosing when and where to move
2. Peacemaking within the group
3. Defending against rival groups

Leadership still continues to shape around the core values (along with many others) that will create inspiring leaders:

1. Direction: When your followers aren’t sure what path they should go down
2. Peacemaking: When your followers are having issues with other individuals in the group
3. Protection: When your followers are threatened by competition or even bad luck

The article was fascinating because it illustrates that for the past 2.5 million years the needs of followers have not changed.

With these three basic needs in mind, the authors want you to reflect on your leadership values and ask yourself one question: Why would anyone follow me?”

For more information on An Evolutionary View-What Followers Want from Their Leaders: http://www.hoganassessments.com/sites/default/files/What%20Followers%20Want.doc.pdf

* Top down leadership

* It starts at the top

* “With great power comes great responsibility” – Spiderman

* Sh** rolls downhill

They are all true. What is amazing to me is that the “leaders” are usually oblivious to how what they say and do affects their teams (and, ultimately, their business).

We work with a lot of CEO’s, presidents and vice presidents, all successful in their own right. However, there are definitely some that stand out among my favorites. Oh yeah, my favorites happen to be running highly successful, growing companies with happy employees. Go figure.

The top 3 things that I think make great leaders

Great leaders celebrate and dissect wins. They don’t beat the losses (or their employees) like a dead horse.

The really great leaders that I know realize that the learning is in the
good stuff. Why spend so much time beating a dead horse? Don’t we want to
duplicate wins? Smart leaders take time to dig into things that go right.
Duplicate it. Celebrate it.

Great leaders value their people—and they aren’t afraid to tell them.

Leaders that I admire really value their people. They would tell you they
have the cream of the crop. They hire people smarter than themselves to
keep them at the top of their game. Here’s the trick: they actually SAY
these things to their employees. That’s crazy isn’t it?!

Great leaders have a plan—they share the vision.

Remarkable leaders have big thoughts. Big plans. Most importantly, they
share their thoughts and plans with their teams. The team understands how
they fit into the puzzle. Great leaders don’t need to figure out how to
motivate their team to accomplish the vision. Great leaders have teams that strive for the vision as much as they do.

Great leadership in a word: transparency—transparency to your thoughts,
feelings, dreams. Transparency is powerful.

I say “finally” because it seems like he’s wanted to for a couple of years. I watched him say goodbye to Indianapolis (home of The Leadership Institute) and wondered why his lessons of leadership fall on deaf ears.

It would do us all good to hear this guy’s story. To read his book, Quiet Strength. And to study his actions and philosophies.

All the way down to the way he ended it all. His owner (Jim Irsay) and President (Bill Polian) in tears. How many times have you watched a leader leave an organization like that? In business or in sports? Like, … ever?

And if you’ve followed his career, you’ll know that deep down, Tony wasn’t about winning. He was focused on ‘winning the right way.’ And the right way for him was with class, learning lessons and never complaining about things he couldn’t control (officials).

Watch him support local charities. Watch him give credit to his coaches and players. Watch him spend time with his family. Watch him weather the storm of the death of a son. And watch him stand on the retirement stage with two sobbing, grown men.

It’s proof to me that there is a right way to lead. There is a right way to keep your derailing behaviors in check. And there is a right way to “be” in the world. Thanks, Tony Dungy, for giving us all a standard to which to aspire.

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At the Leadership Institute we see that–with virtually every company. In the Hogan Assessment, the skill is called Learning. Even when people rate high for it, it doesn’t mean they are motivated to work on themselves.

The problem comes when the landscape is changing in your market – and your leaders (or you), don’t have a propensity to develop themselves. Consequently, they run companies that get left behind.

An example is new media. Lead generation today doesn’t come from traditional sources. Marketing has changed. Lead generation has changed. Selling has changed. New media (blogging and podcasting) should be a part of your strategy. 

But if your leaders, because of their resistance to learning new things, are doing the same things now they’ve been doing for 20 years, your revenue will stagnate.

If your leaders don’t understand the web, html, autoresponders, internet marketing, email marketing, and new selling models, they will continue to try things that won’t work. 

So you can blame it on your marketing agency. But it may not be their fault. It might be that your leaders are underdeveloped and can’t adjust their view of the world.

This guy we will call Dan.

Good news , it seems that good ol ‘ Dan was responsible for 10% of the companys’ total sales. So for years, the company put up with his improper and demeaning behavior.

Dan Had This Problem That People Overlooked

Dan would typically “bully”, torment, and act in an irrational way especially with people of less stature or power. Along the way Dan kept blowing out his assistants and over FY 2007 had gone through several. Typically his assistant would last 2 or 3 months then quit or get fired.

But Dan was always given a ‘pass’ because he was a rainmaker. 

After replacing several assistants the CEO  was informed of the additional G&A expense associated with Dans behavior. The CFO was quite an enlightened character and he created a report of ole Danny boy. Here is a brief description of what the report showed:

• Direct time spent by others due to Dans inapropriate and irrational  behavior and the direct costs not budgeted for. (This is over a one year period.)
• Time that Dan’s manager spent dealing with these issues…………..25hrs……………$3000
• Time spent consoling Dans victims by HR DEPT………………………..80hrs……………$4000
• Absenteeism of victims………………………………………………………….80hrs……………$3000
• Health issues for victims……………………………………………………………………………..$5000
• Search expense for new hires to replace Dans victims……………………………………..$20000
• Time spent by HR  interviewing potential new hires…………………..   20hrs……………$1000
• Cost of training new hires …………………………………………………………………………….$7500
• Wasted time and lost opportunity to company due to negative impact Dan had on direct reports and other associate he offended………………………………………………………………..$50000

Total estimated cost to company: Approx. $100,000

Now, this doesn’t mean that Dan should have been fired. It only means that you keep or reduce dan with eyes fully open to what Dan costs to employ–over and above his compensation.

And it would mean that if you begin to address some of Dan’s behavioral derailers, you have an automatic budget with which to work. There are Dan’s in every sales force. And most of their errant behavior is ignored because they perform.

But if you want to build a great company, jerks don’t fit in it.

I ask this rhetorical question because it’s a question my firm wrestles with. Are we creating an atmosphere that is ripe for personal growth, creativity, high performance and success?

In my work at the Institute with companies far and wide, I must tell you the answer is typically “NO.” And I know you’ll say, “Well that’s them. That’s certainly not my company.” Isn’t it? How would you know? Are you considered a cool place to work?

As usual, I have a check list — this one very short — of some problems most companies have that make your place ‘uncool‘ and probably not inspiring for the people who work there. And a drag on both your top and bottom lines. No insinuation here. Just asking some tough questions so you can take corrective action. 

1. Too Much Focus On Money

This happens naturally when things get tough. You forget about working on improving the product–and on serving the customer. And you start worrying too much about margin. You ‘old thinkers’ will disagree, but working on the value of the deliverable inspires people–and creates great margin. At your Exec Retreats, how much time do you spend on making the customer experience better? Does your Business Plan for 2009 have a section on Skill Improvement for your people?

2. Too Many Behavioral Issues

This doesn’t mean dysfunctional issues like harassment and misconduct. It means a more subtle form of mis-behavior. It’s when your leaders and managers don’t inspire your people. It’s when working at our company isn’t a blessing anymore. It’s a job. It’s when there’s too much attention on fixing ‘people problems’ and not enough energy on serving customers. It’s when leaders interpersonal sensitivity is so low it creates tedium in the workplace. It’s when triangulation (gossiping) rules.

3. No Personal Development

It’s a shame how much time and effort companies put into professional training and development. Tom Peters, in one of his recent speeches, quotes 26 hours / year on average that an employee spends in training. Managers? You should be working on yourself 5% of the time. (That’s 100 hours/year–8 hours / month).

“But, Bill, I don’t have time for that. I’m busy as hell.” And as my CEO friend Dave Harding says, “We never have time to do it right. But we always have time to do it over.”

Before you make excuses like “not enough time,” ask yourself the question, “Am I undergoing a massive personal growth spurt?” Or, “Are my people coming to me saying, ‘Wow I want more of that training.?’ If not, then you know the answer. You’re not giving your people enough development.

Bottom Line: “Are you a cool place to work?” “Are you creating an atmosphere that is inspiring, creative and motivating?” Check out your top line revenue number. If it isn’t strong, stop blaming outside sources (government, economy, credit crunch). And start looking in the mirror for your best future. It’s there. You just have to look.

“You are talking a lot about leadership competencies and skills in general–but I’m VP of Sales. I don’t feel like I get much attention when it comes to leadership development. So what should I be working on?”

Here’s our recommendation: Go through the list below and check those that apply to your position. Since we don’t know you and can’t attest to your inventory of competencies, you’ll have to rely on your self-honesty as to whether you have those or not.

This work come from Hogan Assessments that we administer to all Coaching clients. We’ve also recommended whether you should be high or moderate on this scale.

This is broken down into Skills and Values. These are not an exhaustive list but will help you check out your own desires.

On the right is a sample from the Assessment so you can get a sense of what is measured.

Adjustment (Skill)

Concerns your ability to maintain stable moods. High in adjustment means you can adapt and maintain calm, even in times of stress. Does it matter if you fly off the handle? Does it matter if you let your stress affect others? You want to be Moderate to High.

Ambition (Skill)

This concerns taking initiative, being competitive and seeking leadership roles. If you’re LOW in Ambition, you won’t exert your influence appropriately. If you’re too high, you’ll steam-roll people. Moderate to High here.

Sociability (Skill)

Concerns talkativeness, social boldness and need to be the entertainment. This is usually the High I (from DISC), It’s the “outgoingness” measure. Someone high in this builds alot of friendships. But could talk too much. Moderate to High.

Interpersonal Sensitivity (Skill)

High in this means you are so sensitive to your words that you may candy-coat things. Low means people are afraid of you–and won’t open up around you. Moderate to High.

Prudence (Skill)

Concerns being conscientious, dependable and rule-abiding. Someone high is very cautious. Low scores reflect extreme flexibility about rules–maybe too much so. It becomes hard for you to enforce rules set on others. Low here. Why? You want to be a risk taker. If you aren’t achieving your goals, it may be because you haven’t taken enough risks.

Altruism (Value)

This is about your need to help others achieve their goals. Chances are, if you’re a sales leader, you have people who report to you. The best leaders are those who help others. You want Moderate to High here.

Commerce (Value)

This is the motivation of money. You want to be high here. If you have budget or P&L responsibility, then you’d best have it as a driver. You want to be High.

Affiliation

This concerns networking as a driver. As VP, you are probably working with others in your company–or in other companies. Today, networking is vital to building relationships that can help you and your business. Should be High.

Here’s the bottom line. You need to be highly aware of your skills and values. If you’re not, here’s what will happen:

1. You’ll get frustrated because people won’t follow you on your mission.
2. You’ll get frustrated because you’ll be unmotivated and won’t know why.
3. You’ll experience stress — remember stress occurs when your skills/values don’t match the requirements of the role you’re in.
4. You won’t bring your best game to the field.

Good luck. Call us if you want an Assessment run on you. It’s quite inexpensive compared to the value it is by knowing more of your personal makeup. We’re at 317.575.0057.

Management Derailment

What is it? And what causes it?

The failed managers had many things in common. They were all bright, were identified early, had outstanding records of achievement, had few faults, were ambitious and willing to sacrifice. The groups differed in that the successful executives had more diverse accomplishments, handled stress with composure and mistakes gracefully, focused on getting people to help solve problems, and could get along with a wide range of people. In contrast, the derailed executives failed for ten reasons:

1. Specific business problems
2. Insensitivity (abrasive, intimidating, bully)
3. Cold, aloof, arrogant
4. Betrayed trust
5. Overmanaging—failed to delegate
6. Overly ambitious
7. Failed to staff effectively
8. Unable to think strategically
9. Unable to adapt to a boss with a different style
10. Overly dependent on an advocate or mentor

The “most frequent cause for derailment was insensitivity to others. Under stress, the derailed managers became abrasive and intimidating.” Indeed, every derailed manager in this sample had relationship problems.

So the question for us all, as leaders, is “Is this us?” Only you can tell for sure. But I thought this list might get you interested in the bigger questions: “Are you the best leader you can be?” And “Does it really matter?”

Leverage–the small change in input that creates a large change in output.

“Leverage” is sort of a bad word today because it brings to mind the negative of stock market collapses, hedge funds, and mortgage meltdowns.

Leverage is All Good All Day.

But leverage is like money; it is neither bad nor good. It is totally neutral.

So here’s how it works.  You have a team that is responsible for results. Those results are a function of effort, efficiency, and OK (a little luck). But lets’ go back to the effort part.

Your people ask their people to put forth the effort to get the required results. But what if you get in the way? What if you, through your behavior/actions, create wasted effort? Don’t think you do? Here’s a list you can check out.

1. Tedious communication. You drone on and on.
2. Arrogance in style. It’s only your ideas that will work everyone else should save their breath
3. Never listen. You talk incessantly, always selling, always controlling
4. Never encourage. You’re too worried about your own ego to have time to inspire another.
5. Control freak. You are in charge…and you’ll make sure people know it.

I just name these because these are some of the distracting behavior that gets in the way for many leaders. Change these a little and you exercise enormous leverage on results. Ignore these and … well, you know what changes: Nothing.