Terry Murray, founder and Managing Partner of Performance Transformation, LLC™, discusses Equine Facilitated Leadership Development and the lessons in leadership he was taught during his service in U.S. Naval Intelligence, in today’s print edition of The Investors Business Daily. You can access the press release and full article from the Investors Business Daily by visiting Leadership Development and Team Building.
© 2012, Performance Transformation, LLC™.
Filed under Leadership
Key Concept ~ Small businesses need a competitive edge to win in the marketplace. In today’s world, people are the source of competitive advantage. Large firms may enjoy economies of scale, high brand equity, and bloated marketing budgets, but they consistently continue to miss the mark in leadership, leadership development and associate engagement. This is the soft underbelly of corporate and a place where small firms can outperform the multi-nationals.
The Chartered Management Institute in the UK recently released a major research study titled, “The Business Benefits of Management and Leadership Development”. The study surveyed nearly 4,500 mid-level to senior level managers in the United Kingdom seeking to find if there were any correlations between management and leadership development programs and organizational performance. The study also delved into the types of developmental programs that are perceived as valuable and the types of programs that deliver skills that are actually used on the job. Some of the key findings of the study include:
~ In low performing organizations, 39% of line managers were rated as effective. Sixty-one percent of line managers were rated as ineffective.
~ In high performing organizations, 80% of line managers were rated as effective. Twenty percent were rated as ineffective.
~ In low performing organizations, 30% of associates reported being highly engaged.
~ In high performing organizations, 83% of associates reported being highly engaged.
No real surprises. The findings in the UK parallel the findings of other U.S. and international studies that have been published in the last several years. I believe this is the sixth study released in the past two years from highly respected global consultancies, universities, and institutions that underscores the state of leadership in business today. In fact, the 30% highly engaged figure for low performing organizations nearly mirrors Gallups findings that peg associate engagement levels at 29%. The question that begs to be asked is whether or not senior leadership is listening, and if so, what are they doing about it?
I believe some are, as we can see the much higher levels of management effectiveness and associate engagement levels in companies that are deemed high performing. What was really interesting from this study, and should resonate with small business owners, was the misalignment between what business managers perceive as effective leadership development and what programs actually deliver the skills and tools they require to lead. Nearly 90% ranked a business graduate degree program as the most effective approach for leadership development while only 10% of what they learned in an accredited graduate program was actually being used, day-to-day, in their managerial roles. Programs that delivered credentials were perceived as being more effective but consistently delivered applicable skills well below the perceived level of value. Programs that were perceived to be lower in value (i.e. workshops, short courses on leadership, conferences, on-the-job-experience, and internal knowledge-sharing networks) actually delivered consistently higher levels of applicable skills than the formal, accredited programs. Lower cost training, coaching, and educational workshops actually deliver more relevant skills than the high-priced, accredited programs.
Another interesting finding was the effectiveness of professional coaching. The report stated, “Coaching, either by line manager or external practitioners, appears in the top five most effective types of MLD (management and leadership development) for women but not for men. Coaching by external practitioners is identified by over half of CEOs and senior managers as something they wish they had received earlier in their careers.” The report went on to quote a woman that had just finished an intensive, six month program as saying, “it provided me with many ‘eureka’ moments and genuinely changed my life and my expectations for my career… It had a massive impact on my competence at work.”
The conclusions of the report were clear. Companies that out perform their competitors value leadership development. They invest in it, senior leadership supports it, and these firms align their HR strategies with it. This is an area where small businesses can compete on a very level playing field with major corporations. You need not send your sales manager to Harvard to get an MBA. Lower cost workshops, seminars, coaching, and training are available, and it is these types of programs that deliver applicable leadership skills. Small businesses may not be able to out-muscle corporations, but they can out-lead them! Leadership development, when properly aligned and supported, was found to explain as much as 32% of the variance in people performance and 23% of the variance in organizational performance. Here are some of the recommendations from the study’s panel:
~ Value behaviors: coaching by both line managers and external practitioners was especially valued by senior managers, and something they would have appreciated receiving sooner in their careers.
~ Provide sufficient resources and commitment to development, even during tough times. Development is a long-term strategic investment that feeds the leadership pipeline for years to come.
~ Provide role models at the highest level with CEOs and senior managers demonstrating their personal commitment to learning.
~ Ensure managers are able to have effective career conversations to help align personal aspirations with the organization’s goals and values.
~ Align MLD to organizational performance measures to support the development of hard evidence of return on investment (ROI).
~ Create a rich organizational learning environment.
~ Provide coaching for all levels of management.
~ Build coaching capability within the organization at all levels through ‘leader as coach’ programs and accrediting internal coaches.
~ Create a culture of learning across the organization by encourage forums that facilitate knowledge-sharing, idea creation, collaboration, cross-functional working and debate.
~ Smaller organizations may need to network with other organizations to co-commission MLD and share best practice.
Once again, no real surprises. Things that even our small firm has been speaking about for the past four years. But as a colleague I respect once said, “Just because it is common sense doesn’t mean it is common practice.” The great news for small business owners is there’s some low lying fruit waiting to be harvested right within your ranks. Competitive advantage is there for the taking, and it doesn’t have to cost a fortune to implement.
© 2012, Terry Murray.
Filed under Associate Engagement, Leadership
Key Concept ~ Starting your own business can be life-consuming. There’s always something more to do, another fire to extinguish, another opportunity to capture. But what are the long-term implications when entrepreneurs abdicate their personal time?
As we work through our Strategic Planning process for 2012, and specifically on our Competitive Landscape assessment, we came across an interesting perspective. One of our more traditional competitors in the Leadership Development field released a video in which the President of the company empathically stated leaders must recognize they cannot ever achieve life/work balance. He added there was no way to delegate, assign, or plan one’s work well enough to have personal down time with one’s family. In addition, he commented that leaders have to learn how to serve their families from the office and the business from their home.
That’s quite a statement and position to take. One I’ve lived first-hand during my executive stints in Corporate America. Eighty to hundred hour work weeks, along with more than 100,000 air miles per year, was typical during those years. I was willing to invest whatever it took to succeed. Prior to migrating to the startup world in 2001, I went five years without taking a real vacation. I received one hell of an eduction, but it was an expensive one personally. Even Winston Churchill said, “There’s never a good time to take a vacation. Take one anyways.” If one of the greatest leaders of the 20th century saw the importance of self care, even during a world war, shouldn’t we heed his advice?
One of the concepts we teach during our Transformational Leadership Workshop is the bio-physiological state called coherence. The research behind this very positive condition, triggered by our biochemistry in response to our emotional state, indicates the critical nature of this phenomena lowers stress, improves communication and engagement, elevates self and social awareness, kindles empathy, and delivers presence and rapport. It also brings us into a psychological state called flow. Research by Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi indicates when our emotions are positively stimulated we enter into this state of high creativity and performance. Dr. Csikszentmihalyi studied athletes, musicians, scientists, and other professionals and was able to document optimal performance when in this state of flow. His research also demonstrated that if the stimulation went beyond the optimal level, performance would fall off precipitously as stress emerged.
As a leader, and perhaps more importantly, as an entrepreneur, practicing self care is mission critical for top performance. As entrepreneurs, it doesn’t count to just show up and walk through the motions. We must be fully present and engaged. The quality and focus of our work is of greater significance than the amount of work we accomplish or the amount of time we spend at the office or on the road. Our performance evaluation is driven by results, not politics or somebody’s opinion of us. When we, as entrepreneurs, abandon self care, we unconsciously move away from being able to sustain coherence and attain a state of flow.
I think I side with Mr. Churchill on this one.
© 2011, Terry Murray.
Filed under Leadership, Productivity
Key Concept ~ We’re witnessing a meltdown in corporate leadership that is opening the door for innovative, mindful entrepreneurs.
In just a little over a year, some sobering research has come to light regarding the effectiveness of contemporary, executive leadership. In a time, quite literally defined by economic uncertainty, the quality and importance of business leadership cannot be overstated. Yet, what is coming to the surface through the research of truly world class consultancies and institutions is nothing short of unsettling. For entrepreneurs, this opens the door for unprecedented opportunities to seize competitive advantage, even against the mightiest of corporations. A simple canvasing and triangulation of several recent studies reveals a meltdown in corporate leadership:
1.) In the most recent edition of The McKinsey Quarterly®, an article entitled, “Do You Have The Right Leaders For Your Growth Strategies?” combined two independent databases to evaluate and correlate leadership competencies with high growth, high performing organizations. The study identified the dearth in excellent leadership. Only 1% of the executives in the combined sample database (based upon 5,560 executives at 47 companies) achieved a competency score of 6 or 7 out of a possibility of 7 in eight key leadership attributes. Only 10% had an above average score of 5 out of 7. Ninety percent of “C” level, and one level down executives, score below average in critical leadership competencies that drive performance.
Not surprisingly, the research goes on to identify the correlation between executives in high performing companies scored higher, on average, than those in lower performing companies across all leadership competencies.
2.) A Maritz® Research employee engagement poll published in June, 2011 reported that only 10% of employees trust management to make the correct decisions during times of uncertainty. In addition, only a little more than on in ten employees believe their company’s leaders are honest and ethical. Only 12% of employees believe their employer genuinely listens and cares about their welfare. And sadly, only 14% of Americans report their companies’ values are in alignment with their own, personal values.
3.) Gallup® has been conducting research on employee engagement levels on an regular basis for more than a decade. Currently, approximate three out of four employees are emotional and cognitively disengaged from their employer. Only one out of every four employees shows up with passion and enthusiasm for their work. The critical engagement factor is emotionally based. The report goes on to indicate, companies that engage both their employees and their customers on and emotional and cognitive level enjoy a 240% improvement in financial performance.
4.) The 2010 IBM® CEO Study (of 1,500 global CEOs) identified the single most critical attribute they are looking for in future leaders is creativity and the ability to cultivate creativity throughout the organization. In addition, fewer than half of the interviewed CEOs indicated they were successfully handling the growing complexity of the global business environment.
5.) A peer-reviewed study conducted by the University of Pennsylvania, Cornell University, and the Indian School of Business that was published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology demonstrated up and coming leaders that express creative thinking are often passed over for promotion and side tracked from opportunities for greater levels of responsibility. The paper, a culmination of three separate studies and scenarios summarized that, “the negative association between expressing creative ideas and leadership potential is robust and underscores an important but previously unidentified bias against selecting effective leaders.”
Do you see where I’m going here? Clearly, there is a serious erosion of leadership skills that have resulted in mistrust, disengagement, and a growing malaise that threatens future productivity, revenue growth, and the once entrenched competitive advantage of many companies.
This leadership crisis is exacerbated by the fact that value creation in today’s economy emerges from the commercialization of intellectual property. Human talent is the raw material of our age. Single-dimensional, managerial competency (meaning technical management skill) is no longer sufficient for creating value…that began fading away with the passing of Henry Ford, Thomas J. Watson, and Alfred Sloan along with the emergence of our information and technologically based economy. Differentiated performance now demands authentic leadership talent be strategically developed in preparation to take the helm. The mission-critical attributes of market insight, strategic orientation, adaptability, creative thinking, team engagement, and organizational development; grounded in customer-centric, results oriented thinking must be cultivated.
A new perspective must emerge; a perspective of transformational entrepreneurship! A perspective that embraces the value of multi-dimensional, mindful leadership; of developing one’s self as a true generalists that can engage, inspire, and adapt in real time. This is our challenge as entrepreneurs. The fact is, we can seize the day and adopt a competitive mindset that aligns and integrates our leadership with strategy and organizational culture to create a flourishing, preferential advantage in our markets. I encourage you to invest in yourselves, develop these attributes and skills, and leverage the opportunities this fracture is opening for those of us that wish to see a different future for ourselves, our firms, our associates, and communities!
1.) “Do You Have The Right Leaders For Your Growth Strategies”, Katharina Herrmann, Asmus Komm, Sven Smit, McKinsey Quarterly®, July, 2011.
2.) “Maritz Research Hospitality Group 2011 Employee Engagement Poll”, Research White Paper, Maritz® Research, June, 2011.
3.) “Manage Your Human Sigma”, John H. Fleming, Curt Coffman, James K. Harter, Harvard Business Review®, Reprint R0507J, with compliments of The Gallup Organization®.
4.) “IBM 2010 Global CEO Study: Creativity Selected as Most Crucial Factor for Future Success – Fewer than half of CEOs Successfully Handling Growing Complexity.”, IBM® Press Release, May 18, 2010.
5.) “Recognizing Creative Leadership: Can Creative Idea Experssion Negatively Relate to Perceptions of Leadership Potential?”, Jennifer S. Mueller, Jack Goncalo, Dishan Kamdar, Cornell University ILR School, IRL Collection, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, January, 2010.
© Terry Murray, 2011.
Filed under Leadership
