DDI’s Talent Management Intelligence

Yes, Of Course it Matters

This was excerpted from a guest blog Rich Wellins wrote for Great Leadership.

By Rich Wellins, Ph.D.

Does the quality of leadership matter?

Put 10 people in a room and ask them how they define leadership. Chances are, you’ll get a lively debate but not a lot of agreement. The word “leadership” can mean very different things to different people. Some believe that a leader’s key responsibility is to nourish and cultivate team members, while others believe that it is to drive growth and innovation. The reality, of course, is that both perspectives are true. Still, no matter how they define leadership, those 10 people will probably agree on one thing: Leadership makes a difference.

The difference between the impact that a top-performing leader and an average leader has on an organization is at least 50 percent, according to leaders participating in DDI’s Global Leadership Forecast 2011. In fact, this research demonstrates that organizations with the highest quality leaders were 13 times more likely to outperform their competition in key bottom-line metrics such as financial performance, quality of products and services, employee engagement, and customer satisfaction. Specifically, when leaders reported their organization’s current leadership quality as poor, only 6 percent of them were in organizations that outperformed their competition. Compare that with those who rated their organization’s leadership quality as excellent—78 percent were in organizations that outperformed their competition in bottom-line metrics.

In this study of 1,897 HR representatives and more than 12,000 leaders from 74 countries some of the global findings are . . . Read the entire blog on Great Leadership.

Rich Wellins, Ph.D., is a Senior Vice President at Development Dimensions International (DDI).

Horrible Bosses…the Movie and the Reality

By Aviel Selkovits

Friday night I saw the new movie “Horrible Bosses.”    If you are not familiar with the plot, the movie is focused on 3 friends – each of whom is a model employee with a less than ideal leader. The level of disgust these individuals have with their boss rises to such a level that they actually conspire to find a way to kill them.  And just for the record, we are not recommending it is a good way to deal with workplace difficulties! But it got me thinking…

There is a reality to the movie that is somewhat unnerving. For how many hours we spend at work, our leaders can have a significant impact on how we are in the rest of our lives. It is not always so easy to leave work “at the door” and shrug off whatever stress we experienced during the day. How many times have you had a bad day at work and then snapped at a spouse or child? Or perhaps you were so exhausted and disenchanted that you decided to stress eat, or skipped out on exercise? The fact is, who leads us at work matters in more ways than just our career. Leaders are in a great position of power to influence how we interact with others, and feel at the end of the day.

It has often been reported that the number one reason people leave their job is because of their boss.  However voluntary turnover was much lower in the past two years, mostly due to an extremely tight job market as a result of the Great Recession. In 2009, DDI conducted a survey of non-leaders called Pulse of the Workforce and we found that 55% of individuals said they would leave their organization as soon as the economy improved. So what does that say about the state of leadership in our organizations? Have our leaders been “coasting” or have they stepped up as well to ensure their teams are engaged, motivated and empowered in their jobs?

Looking at more recent research, DDI’s Global Leadership Forecast 2011, the answer would be no. But it isn’t that we have bad leaders – leadership development has not been delivering on its promise. When we interviewed individual contributors, we also asked what skills they wish they could change in their boss. Communication, listening and feedback rose to the very top. These skills are the basics, and are essential to success as a leader. If  a leader cannot master these, they will never be able to master more difficult competencies such as influence, conflict resolution or coaching.

So how can you ensure you are developing leaders that inspire their teams, rather than have their teams conspire against them? Well for one, take stock of who you have. Where are your leaders’ current skills gaps? What strengths can they be leveraging? What kind of development do they need? And from a team member side, what opportunities can your leaders provide them to ensure they are growing and developing personally and professionally at work?

So have you ever left a job because of a bad boss? Have you ever stayed somewhere because of a good one? What did your best boss do that made her or him the best? 

Aviel Selkovits is a Senior Consultant at Development DImensions International.

The Important Leadership Conversation That Often Doesn’t Happen…

By Mike Hoban

There’s an old saw in politics you likely have heard which can be paraphrased as “If nominated, I will not run; if elected I will not serve.”  It’s called the Sherman Pledge (named after the Civil War general) and it’s about publicly declaring one’s intent to not pursue a particular office. Unfortunately, in business there are sometimes talent management decisions made without first testing assumptions about someone’s aspirations and intentions to see if there is a personal Sherman Pledge that needs to be revealed. That can make for an awkward situation, a poor talent decision and some egg on a few faces. 

Yet, there is an easy solution – you have a conversation. But I get ahead of myself…

I’ve personally experienced situations like the following: Rebecca, a results oriented supervisor, is seen as having the potential of being a mid-level leader and perhaps higher and is designated to be on the high potential list by a talent review committee. Or Ben, the supervisor of a software team, is seen as ready for promotion to middle management and there is an upcoming opening because of a retirement. Their respective managers then sit down with them and describe the good news opportunities and expectations and oops…        

Oops, as in “I’m happy that I’m highly regarded, but, um, that’s not really what I want to do, at least right now.” For someone like Rebecca, she’s knows that the hi-po track almost always means a relocation and different assignments in order to learn other aspects of the business. It’s a good principal for development, but Rebecca is active in her community, has an aging parent in town who is having health problems and has a husband who has recently started a Ph.D. program at the state university. Oops…

In Ben’s situation, the issue isn’t anything about a possible relocation, it’s about his passion for the work he is currently doing – he loves his job. The job he has. Ben has been writing software since he was in junior high and is a gifted coder. He was promoted to supervisor after three years as a software engineer for the company and he likes very much not only leading his team and providing technical guidance and coaching, he also carries several projects which allow him to do hands-on work. He sees the next level up role as more managing and less “doing,” and moving him further away from the kind of work that he gets jazzed about. Oops… 

The Rebecca and Ben situations are not purely about the classic performance vs. potential issue nor are they purely about the individual contributor track vs. management track. They are hybrid situations and suggest that peoples’ aspirations and values - perhaps today more than ever - are nuanced and don’t necessarily conform to the conventional wisdom guidelines that have served us well in the past. Work-life balances and values have shifted and upward mobility does not always have the allure it might have had traditionally.   

What’s the solution? On some regular basis, managers need to ask their direct reports about their aspirations and about what drives them so they, the managers, can accurately represent those goals and values in talent discussions so that the right opportunities can be identified and person/role mismatches can be avoided.  It seems simple but I’ve been in talent reviews where managers articulated just general impressions about what they think a well-regarded individual wants in his/her career. And someone at the table will ask, “Have you asked her about her specific career goals?” You can guess what the response often is. “Well, not directly…” Due diligence is part of the process, so managers need to have a safe but probing adult conversation about aspirations and career interests. It aids not only in development but in retention as well.     

Of course, some employees will give the safe answers or party line in a career conversation (“Yes, I’d like to be considered for other opportunities to contribute to the company…”) so they don’t get labeled as unambitious and get black-balled for opportunities down the road. The employee needs to trust the boss and the company.  Still, the time for that conversation is before one gets put onto the hi-pot list or before one’s name gets put into the hopper for a promotion, not after.      

It’s common sense but for various reasons it’s not common practice.

Mike Hoban is a Senior Consultant for Development Dimensions International (DDI).

Hollywood’s Cynical Take on Executive Integrity

By Mike Hoban

Did you see the movie “Unstoppable” about the runaway freight train and which starred Denzel Washington?  A fun and action packed popcorn flick for sure, especially as a $1 Redbox rental, but there was a brief scene in it which pandered to a jaundiced view of what corporate CEOs are supposed to be like. It was about integrity. It was blatant and snarky. And it was unnecessary. Yet, many viewers likely accepted it as a plausible and maybe even a probable way of how things work in the corporate world.

In the scene, several options to stop the runaway train are identified to prevent it from careening off the tracks into some fuel storage tanks in the middle of a downtown area.  Many lives and many dollars are at stake. The CEO is called to make the final decision (so far so good…).  Um, where is the CEO?  Playing golf, of course, with some other well-heeled golfers. His key question to his lieutenant, himself an archetypical “suit,” has to do with the share price implications of the options. Of course, he opts for the choice that minimizes the stock price downside. 

Granted, the job of a CEO is to balance stakeholder interests, which includes being the enterprise guardian for the equity of stockholders, the true owners of the company. But the scene was not about how business leaders have to courageously manage competing interests or wrestle with the grey space or navigate through institutional dilemmas. To this viewer, it was about painting the business leader in one dimension, as only caring about the money and probably his own stock options. It was Gordon Gecko clutching a three wood.

Because of the headlines of recent years, many people are cynical about business leaders and the values they hold.  Yes, there are rogues and book cookers in business and perp walks for executives seem to have high entertainment value. But there are seamy side members of most professions and my experiences and personal optimism lead me to believe that the vast majority of managers and leaders are honest and hard-working. 

Headlines about insider trading or egregious greed are headlines because they represent a deviation from the expected. Does Hollywood really need to fan the flames of some misguided populist thinking which posits that the corporate suites are integrity-free zones? I suppose a story about a CEO with high integrity and a strong moral compass wouldn’t sell many tickets.    

Mike Hoban is a senior consultant for Development Dimensions International (DDI). 

Learning 2.0: Beware the Power Law

Excerpted from "A Practical Approach to Leveraging Learning 2.0" in ASTD's March 2011 issue of Learning Circuits. 

By Aviel Selkovits

The wonderful thing about social media is that it presents a highly democratic space. You can choose to be an active participant in the conversation, building a highly collaborative and creative forum. Or you can choose to be more of a ‘consumer’ of the information, anonymously reading others’ posts and comments.

However there is a dirty little secret to Web 2.0—and thus Learning 2.0, and that is the Power Law. The Power Law, by definition, is a mathematical relationship between two quantities. In the case of social media, it has evolved into a 90-9-1 distribution. Essentially, 90 percent of people using these tools are passive observers, 9 percent are active contributors, and 1 percent are the leaders and creators. While this distribution is perfectly adequate in the world of social media, when it comes to leadership development it can create some hurdles to effective implementation.

The impact of using these tools as part of your learning implementations is that they enable everyone to have a voice and to contribute. As shepherds of organizational development, we have to build accountability around the usage of these tools. The value of the learning activities, and the sense of community created, is greatly improved when everyone joins in the conversation.

Workplace learning and performance professionals need to promote the value of these activities and tools before the learners ever sign online or enter a classroom. As some leaders will be hesitant to be the first to post, consider putting up applicable questions they can respond to, making it less daunting to get the conversation started. Providing meaningful activities and follow-up will build their enthusiasm and accountability, which will drive them to continue practicing and honing their newly learned skill set. But beware: Don’t think if you put these new tools out there that everyone will jump to use them—as with all change, there is an adoption process that has to be managed.

Read the entire article online in Learning Circuits.

Aviel Selkovits is a Senior Consultant in DDI's Learning Solutions.

Leadership Lessons from Dr. Seuss

By Nikki Dy-Liacco

This week would have marked the 107^th birthday of the late Theodor Seuss Geisel, fondly known to all of us as Dr. Seuss. His colorful and best-selling stories Green Eggs and Ham, The Cat in the Hat and How the Grinch Stole Christmas have captured the hearts of kids and kids-at-heart around the world. I still love reading my pop-up book of Oh, The Places You'll Go! and enjoyed the movie adaptation of Horton Hears a Who! from a couple of years ago.

Quotable quotes from Dr. Seuss continue to remind me of important life lessons. As I am currently preparing for an upcoming Leadership Development Program, a little light bulb went off in my head: there is also a lot to learn from Dr. Seuss on leadership! After a quick Google search, I realize that others have had the same a-ha moment. But because I am a big fan, I couldn’t not write this blog. In the spirit of freezy-breeze-made-these-three-trees-freeze-alliteration, here are a few C’s on leadership:

• Camaraderie. The all-time favorite The Cat in the Hat has a great line: “It is fun to have fun, but you have to know how.” Building true camaraderie in the workplace goes beyond just having fun for fun’s sake. I like how the Great Place to Work Institute defines camaraderie as one of their five dimensions; it is the ability to be oneself; a socially friendly and welcoming atmosphere; and a sense of “family” or “team” in the company. Leaders play a critical role in creating and sustaining a culture of authentic camaraderie. Their visibility and accessibility (especially of senior leaders), as well as the way they recognize and reward employees both formally and informally, can make a huge difference in making a company a great (and fun!) place to work.

• Commitment. The Lorax promises, “I speak for the trees. I speak for the trees for the trees have no tongues.” Unfortunately, not all leaders stand firm behind their teams, speak on their behalf, defend their direct reports as needed, or give credit where credit is due. It cannot be stressed enough how organizations need leaders who are committed to their teams and who can be trusted by their people. Through their behaviors and decisions, leaders must earn that trust every day. Their values must be visible through their actions, and they must walk-the-talk, and be both able and willing to be held up as an example to others. “I meant what I said and I said what I meant,” goes the line in Horton Hears a Who! “An elephant’s faithful one-hundred percent!”

• Confidence... not just in themselves, but more importantly, in others and especially in their teams. Organizations need leaders who encourage others to fly high: “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. Oh! The Places You’ll Go! You’ll be on your way up! You’ll be seeing great sights! You’ll join the high fliers who soar to high heights.” In our white paper on Leadership Beliefs, leaders need to coach and set others up for success, to give up the limelight and let others shine—which also mean leaders need a strong, not a big, ego. Leaders who are secure about their own accomplishments and achievements are comfortable to take the back seat and truly enjoy seeing others learn, grow and succeed (98 and ¾ percent guaranteed!).

• Continuous learning. In I Can Read with My Eyes Shut, Dr. Seuss writes: “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” Imagine if all leaders took charge of their own professional development (which goes beyond just reading of course) instead of waiting to be sent to an assessment center or assigned a new project? A client recently shared with me how he wishes leaders would see their and their direct reports’ Individual Development Plans as a fluid process; not just an annual chore or a compliance document with check boxes to tick off, but an ongoing journey to improved performance and better results.

What are your favorite leadership or life lessons from Dr. Seuss or any other children’s book?

Nikki Dy-Liacco is DDI’s Marketing Manager for South East Asia.

Wielding Power over a King

By Bradford Thomas

Months in advance my wife had circled the calendar for the date that “The King’s Speech” opened in theaters—I mean “theatres” since this is an English film. I could say it’s her desire to feel high-brow or to add culture to our lives, but in reality it is because of her infatuation with Colin Firth.

I have to say that this is an inspiring movie which should land Mr. Firth an Academy Award for his portrayal of Queen Elizabeth’s father, King George VI. What made it inspiring to me is the dynamic between the two main characters—King George VI and Lionel Logue, a speech therapist deftly played by Geoffrey Rush.

You see, the King has a debilitating stammer and has turned to Logue for help. Logue’s challenge is to convince a very prideful and assertive King to do some very unconventional and less than royal things—such as wobbling his cheeks back and forth and firing off a series of four-letter words. Logue is effective because he is able tailor his approach with the King. He cuts through the “King and His Subject” relationship by refusing to call him “His Majesty.” Instead, Logue calls the King by his childhood nickname “Bertie.”

In a pivotal scene, Logue casually sits on the ancestral throne at Westminster Abbey as a way to goad Bertie into speaking with a loud and angry voice. What Logue demonstrates with these tactics is a mastery of gaining commitment.

The key to gaining commitment is using interpersonal skills and persuasion to involve and convince others to take action. This is a very difficult behavior for new leaders in particular to master. In fact, DDI found that 52% of frontline leaders aren't as strong at gaining the committment of others as they need to be.

Think about how effective you are at influencing others in your personal and private lives—whether it is your friends or family, your direct reports or manager. Here are a few tips that can go a long way towards gaining commitment:

• Sell them the WIIFM (What’s in it for ME). Help them see how they would personally benefit from your idea.
• Tailor your approach. Everyone has different motivations, perspectives and hot buttons—you need to figure out what these are and adapt your interactions accordingly.
• It’s easier to row with everyone in the boat. People tend to feel ownership of decisions when they feel that they’ve been heard. If you involve everyone in the discussion from the beginning, they will be more likely to be receptive—and even an advocate for your ideas.

If an Australian speech therapist can wield the power of persuasion over a King, just imagine what you could do.

Bradford Thomas is a Product Manager at Development Dimensions International, Inc. (DDI)

Talent Management by the Numbers - 5 Great Talent Losses in 2010

By Mike Hoban

“Leave the world a better place.”  Emerson is purported to have said that and I’ve always found it to be both an inspirational and aspirational principle.  In the year 2010, a number of talented people departed the earth who indeed left it a better place because of who they were or what they did.  What follows is my own short list- in no special order - of mostly well-known people with talent who passed on this year and who made the world and my world specifically a better place and why. 

They’re inspirations for the rest of us as we think about what we contribute as employees, bosses, entrepreneurs and citizens of the world.   

Stewart Udall – Udall did as much as anyone in the past 75 years to spearhead both environmental consciousness and subsequent concrete action.  As Secretary of the Interior for two different presidents (Kennedy and Johnson), he oversaw the addition of four national parks, 8 national seashores and many other national monuments, historical sites and wildlife refuges.  As a tireless champion of the environment, he helped pass some of the original environmental legislation which we now take for granted and in his lifetime wrote 9 books on environmental and historical topics.  An interesting - and heroic - side note about Udall.  He forced the integration of the Washington Redskins football team in 1962, because the stadium was federally owned.  For me, he was always an interesting, prescient and thoughtful man and we are a greener planet because of him.   Udall was 90 years old.

John Wooden – Easily the most famous college basketball coach in history, Wooden led his UCLA teams to 10 national championships in 12 years, 1964-1975, including 7 years in a row, an unthinkable achievement these days.  But Wooden was more than a great coach who had great teams.  He was decent; likeable; honorable.  It’s tempting for sports fans to dislike teams who seem to win too much and need some comeuppance (think the Yankees), but Wooden was such a classy and humble individual that I and so many others had nothing but admiration for him and routinely rooted for his powerful UCLA teams.  He also created a series of lectures called “The Pyramid of Success” which was his motivational view of how to succeed not only in basketball but in life itself.

The write-up in Wikipedia provides a touching story about what kind of man he was.   

Wooden was just four months shy of being 100 years young.

Leslie Nielsen – His special talent?  He made us laugh.  I know he made me laugh.  Who could forget the now classic line Nielsen deadpanned in the 1980 movie Airplane:  Rumack (Nielsen):  “Can you fly this plane, and land it?”  Ted Striker: “Surely you can't be serious.”  Rumack:   “I am serious... and don't call me Shirley.”  Creating laughs and mirth surely (oops) qualifies in my book as making the world a better place.  After Airplane established him as a comic actor, he starred in several “Naked Gun” movies, always as a very clueless Lieutenant Frank Drebin who innocently stumbled his way through improbable situations and LOL-quality puns. 

And while his characters spoke clever lines written by others, Nielsen had his own home-grown funny lines as well.  One I like best is “Doing nothing is very hard to do...you never know when you're finished.” His talents will be missed.  He was 84.                     

Ted Sorenson – Whatever one’s political leanings, I think it’s hard for anyone to not be impressed and inspired by Ted Sorenson’s famous words written for JFK’s inaugural address in 1961:  “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.”  It set a tone.  It set a standard.  It established a new voice for America.  As a young boy, I remember hearing those words as the youthful president spoke them on that cold January day for all the world to hear.  Sorenson was 32 years old when he penned those words – pretty heady stuff. 

Sorenson was 82 when he passed on October 31.               

Fred Morrison – Fred who?   Many other talented people passed away in 2010 who made their mark on both the world at large and on my world and it was difficult to whittle it down to five.  But the final slot belongs to Fred Morrison: the inventor of the Frisbee.  It is hard to imagine a world without Frisbees and it was Morrison who designed the first ones made out of plastic in the late 1940s.  It went by the name of “Flyin-Saucer” and in the early 1950s was improved and rechristened the “Pluto Platter.” 

However, it wasn’t until he sold the rights to toy maker Wham-O in 1957, who improved it further (incremental innovation), put marketing dollars behind it and re-named it “Frisbee” that the product, um, took off.  Morrison went on to become a millionaire, and parks, beaches and college campuses have not been the same since.  This innovator was 90 when he died earlier this year.                   

So yes, there were quite a few withdrawals from the world’s talent bank this past year.  We all can’t be presidential speech writers or environmental statesmen or “made-ya-laugh” headliners.   But we all can strive to do our parts in our everyday lives so that when others talk about us when we are gone there are indeed positive legacies that people appreciate us for.  Talent is not just about intrinsic gifts, it is also about what we do about the gifts we have, no matter how modest we think they are.

Mike Hoban is a senior consultant for Development Dimensions International (DDI). 

Leadership ‘In Treatment’

By Rich Wellins, Ph.D.

It’s tough to find time to watch television. However, my wife and I try to find time to watch two shows together. The one that really rocks our boat is HBO’s “In Treatment”.

In its third season, the series follows Dr. Paul Weston, a psychiatrist who helps three different patients over a series of episodes. There is a fourth “series” where Weston goes to his own therapist. Weston is played (superbly by the way) by Gabriel Byrne.

Psychotherapy and leadership are not one in the same. One big difference: analysts need to keep a personal distance with their patients, whereas leaders can get a bit closer. But this scripted show is one of the best ways to see models of leadership skills available. Here is what you will see by watching just one episode in terms of positive leadership behaviors:

• Listening to understand, not refute.
• Asking questions that create insights around actions and behaviors. Dr. Weston above all is a seeker, not a teller.
• Being non-judgmental. Believe me, if you follow the show, he is treating people this season who are antagonistic at best. It would be easy to judge their behaviors.
• And, he will be directive and tough when he needs to be. In one case, a teen (Jessie), brings his mother (he is adopted) into a session and starts to verbally abuse her. In no uncertain terms Dr. Weston tells Jessie he will not put up with that sort of behavior in is office. It is rare, but is firm when he needs to be.

After each show, I actually try to practice some of the behaviors I have just seen (I have a long way to go).

I also cannot help but wonder: Could I work for this guy? My answer is—I’d love it.

If you’ve watched "In Treatment", I’d love to hear if you think of Dr. Weston as a leadership model.

Rich Wellins, Ph.D. is a Senior Vice President at Development Dimensions international (DDI).

Today’s Leader – A View from the World Business Forum

By Mark Dembo

At the World Business Forum yesterday, one of the ongoing mantras from speakers ranging from Jim Collins to Jack Welch to Charlene Li to Joseph Grenny was that the nature of leadership today is different.  Shifts in the global economy, changes in technology, and generational shifts require a much more open and transparent leadership style than the “command and control” era of days gone by.

One of the best examples of this changing shift was highlighted by Charlene Li, one of the world’s foremost authorities on social media and author of the books “Groundswell” and “Open Leadership.”  While her talk was not about leadership per se, her discussion about how social media is changing the business landscape provides many clues about how leaders need to change and evolve in today’s world.

What exactly is the connection between social media and leadership, you ask?   As Li describes, many organizations and CEOs are scared to death of social media – afraid that if they get involved, or let their employees get involved with Twitter, Facebook, and the like, they will lose control.  She says there’s a prevailing “mindset that says “‘I’ve got to control everything in order to get things done – the resources, the messages, the people.’ But the reality is that we do business today in a very interconnected world. Even inside a company you have to collaborate and coordinate with people who don’t necessarily report to you.  To do this efficiently, you’re much better off opening up all those channels and silos that have traditionally held power, and having smooth information sharing back and forth across the organization.”

Wow – that rings a bell that goes far beyond just how to embrace social media. >It gets at the very fabric of what leaders need to do to create “Great Organizations” as Jim Collins talks about.

Openness, transparency, authenticity, and collaboration – all themes that loomed large today at the World Business Forum.   That’s how work gets done, and how great companies are made.

Joseph Grenny, author of “Influencer” further echoed this point when he said that strategy is WHAT an organization is going to do, and Influence is HOW leaders need to get things done. Influence is not about using a carrot or a stick – it’s about understanding the behaviors that lead people to act in a particular way, and then tapping into personal, social, and structural sources of motivation to guide people to new or different behaviors.If leaders learn to become better influencers they are far better able to affect change in their organizations.

Ah, then so if I’m good at influencing people, then I can “motivate” people, right?  Well, not exactly.  As Jim Collins discussed at the HR Masters lunch, “great leaders don’t spend time motivating people – they spend time hiring self-motivating people.”

If you look at these varied remarks this start to paint a picture of 21^st Century Leadership – open, transparent, influencers who understand the rapidly changing world around them, and who possess a nimbleness to keep changing and evolving to new shifts in economies, technologies, and complexities.

Stay tuned for more updates as the World Business Forum unfolds, and follow our live twitter feeds throughout the day. 

Mark Dembo is a manager for Development Dimensions International (DDI).