DDI’s Talent Management Intelligence

Networking Green Eggs and Ham

By Ryan Heinl

My son is two years old and one of his favorite books right now is the  Dr. Seuss classic, Green Eggs and Ham. He likes to read it in box, he likes to read it with a fox…you get the idea. I’ve recently moved my family to Atlanta after living in Toronto for five years, and as I was reading this story to my son for probably the hundredth time it occurred to me that this was especially relevant for my situation. Even though a move like this represents an ocean of stressful change and adjustment it also represented a tremendous amount of opportunity in terms of trying new things, especially in networking.

I’ve been working for DDI for more than 10 years now and while that gives me a tremendous depth of knowledge it also puts me in danger of not focusing in a very deliberate way on expanding my business network, and that could not be a bigger mistake given this recent change. Let me hit just a few points on why:

• The danger is that I’ll just assume that my current network will serve me just as well in this new role as it has in my old one, which is likely not true
• It’s a huge opportunity to expand my network and I’ve got something interesting to say about why I might be reaching out to people (Don’t have to manufacture a reason)
• It’s a great opportunity to do a little internal marketing and educate people on my new role

Sometimes networking is perceived as a  lot of “grinning and gripping” to borrow a phrase from a colleague of mine, but really it’s about expanding your knowledge base through people. You can’t know it all, and so you need to think about who will bring you valuable information and how you can also provide valuable knowledge back to them.  Changing my perspective about the purpose of networking allowed me to break down who I should network with into three categories:

1. Personal – These are close mentors and advisors who help to guide you in your career or role, and potentially help you to navigate organizational politics.
2. Operational – These are the folks who help you to get things done on a day to day basis and probably represent the biggest group in your network.
3. Strategic – These are the industry luminaries and other visionary thinkers who challenge and expand your thinking.

This is a great way to audit your people network and to ensure that your connections are providing you with a well balanced diet of information.  So if you are going into a new role or even taking on just a few new responsibilities, (whether you are in a box, with a fox, in a house, or with a mouse,) don’t pass up the opportunity to expand your network, because chances are that the people you know today won’t be the ones who help you to get the job done tomorrow.

Ryan Heinl is a Senior Consultant at Development Dimensions International (DDI).

The Market of One

By Ryan Heinl

IBM just released its Global CEO Study, a survey of more than 1,000 CEOs from around the world. I was particularly interested in this year’s results to find out what CEOs are thinking about the future of business, given our turbulent economic times. One of the leaders surveyed, the CEO of Cathay Pacific Airways, summed up the findings well—“Our customers want personalization of services and products. It is all about the market of one.”

Just consider the complexity that a market of one implies. All the services of an organization must be tailored to fit the individual preferences of millions of people around the world; preferences that change from day to day. It seems an impossible goal, and yet it’s a real one for many organizations.

This new height of customer customization also raises the requirements for organizational leadership and talent to heights yet unimagined. Most of the CEOs surveyed said that they didn’t think their organizations were even close to being ready, and that creative leadership in its broadest possible definition is the key. The report reveals glimmers of this leader’s necessary style and approach—influencing rather than commanding, encouraging experimentation, using an iterative strategy development processes, and the ability to make decisions in the face of paralyzing uncertainty.

These characteristics require significant changes in the way leaders traditionally operate. Leaders will have to fold a ribbon of creative thinking into their cultures (not just within R&D), and set direction based on a complex problem that needs to be solved rather than a clear destination.

If that wasn’t enough, the report also points out that few companies have the leaders and the management practices that can support the continuous leveling up of products, services, strategies and even business models that will be needed to compete in the market of one. This could not be more true. The companies who can quickly take stock of where their leaders stand on these types of capabilities and can close the gap will turn the corner on the recession like a rocket ship taking off.

So, how ready is your organization for taking on the market of one?

Ryan Heinl is a senior consultant for Development Dimensions International (DDI).

How Tying Your Shoes is the Key to Your Long Term Talent Strategy

By Ryan Heinl 

The other day around lunch time I was getting ready to go for quick run on the treadmill and I started to really tune into how I was tying my shoes. It sounds odd, but when was the last time you really focused on tying your shoes (Now that I’ve mentioned it, you will)?  As I watched my fingers dance around the snake-like laces I became keenly aware of how fast and automatically I was doing it.  This made me think of a recent blog post from Mike Hoban on the buildup of research on of the idea of deliberate practice. Books like Outliers, Talent is Overrated, and Talent Code hold up some pretty compelling research pointing to the importance of lots of practice over innate abilities as the critical ingredient for truly talented people. Another key insight from this research seems to be that practice on its own is not enough—you need feedback on your performance which you should improve the next time you practice. I think all of this surfaces some interesting opportunities to consider for talent management strategy.

We need to start finding people very early in their careers that have the ambition, learning agility and discipline to commit to a long-term leadership development program. This program would span over potentially 10 years (or more), which seems to be the length of time that gets you to the magic 10,000 hours of practice, putting you significantly ahead of most other leaders in skill level.  They would also have to submit to constant self-examination and feedback from others in the pursuit of improving interpersonal, leadership, and business skills. As these elite leaders become more and more expert, they would need to be continually confronted with new and more difficult leadership scenarios to overcome—requiring moving geographically and organizationally. As a participant you’d have to be committed…We are talking Chinese gymnastics team committed!

A company that wanted to seriously consider something like this would have to be willing to commit certain resources to each participant over a long period of time and the participants would have to essentially sign over their freedom to the company for a period of time. Sound a bit extreme? Maybe, but it’s really not that extreme or new for that matter. Consider the apprenticeship structure in Florence during the Renaissance where apprentices were committed to master craftsman for many years spawning one of the most creative and productive periods in history. 

With a generation of people entering the workforce and constantly crying out for structured career development and the opportunity for constantly increasing challenges combined with varied experiences, you could quickly use a program like this to make your company THE employer of choice.  I can see it now:  Come work for ABC company can get a chance to be a part of our acclaimed Elite Leadership Development 10 Year Program!

Ryan Heinl is a senior consultant for Development Dimensions International (DDI).