How Poor Leaders Become Good Leaders by Jack Zenger and Joseph Folkman

Here is a great post on "How Poor Leaders Become Good Leaders" by Jack Zenger and Joseph Folkman from the Harvard Business Review.

http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2013/02/how_poor_leaders_become_good_l.html


Well worth the read and repost.

Enjoy.

Mike
____________________________

In our previous blog, Bad Leaders Can Change Their Spots, we described a group of 71 leaders who were able to elevate their leadership effectiveness from the 23rd percentile to the 56th percentile — that is, from being poor leaders to good ones. While many readers were impressed that it could happen, many more were curious (and even doubtful) about how it could happen. Admittedly, not every leader can do this. But all 71 of these individuals (who represented three-quarters of the entire group of poor leaders in this study) did accomplish this seemingly Herculean shift. How?

Using 360-degree feedback data over a 12- to 18-month period, we were able to track what, exactly, the leaders who'd made the most significant progress were doing. We found that practically all of them (more than 80%) significantly improved their ability to executive nine particular leadership skills.

1. They improved their communication effectiveness. This was the most common skill that these people improved. Communication skills are highly malleable. For many of these leaders, improvement here was less about learning new skills than about using the skills they already had more often and with more people. (When we talk to groups of leaders and ask, "Who here communicates too much?" we see very few hands rise.) We have also found that when struggling leaders spend time improving presentation skills, the effort can produce an immediately payoff.
2. They made an effort to share their knowledge and expertise more widely. Poor leaders tend to be stingy with information and know-how. By sharing their knowledge more frequently and teaching people what they know how to do they can simultaneously impress and develop their direct reports.
3. They began to encourage others to do more and to be better. Some leaders believe that if they minimize challenges to their team and expect less of their people, subordinates will see them as better leaders. This is wrong! Fewer challenges is the opposite of what a work group or organization needs. When leaders challenge their direct reports to do more and be better they thought they could be, the leaders are actually perceived to be better themselves.
4. They developed a broader perspective. It's easy for leaders to become preoccupied with work demands and internal politics and become oblivious to what's happening in the outside world. Getting leaders to stop and look at the bigger picture can help them see potential problems sooner and focus more on strategic and less on tactical issues. This leads to constructive change and innovation.
5. They recognized that they were role models and needed to set a good example. It frequently happens that leaders unintentionally (or unknowingly) ask others to do things they don't do themselves. This never works. Many of our 71 leaders were surprised to discover that they were perceived as hypocritical. They learned to walk their talk (or at least to "stumble the mumble").
6. They began to champion their team's new ideas. Many of our 71 leaders were also surprised to learn that their teams considered them to be the "Abominable NO man (or woman)." When they shifted from discouraging new proposals to encouraging and supporting innovative ideas and thinking, positive changes occurred.
7. They learned to recognize when change was needed. More generally, our successful leaders were those who learned to willingly support and embrace change, and encourage others to do so, as well. How? Essentially, by becoming more proactive — that is, by doing a better job of spotting new trends, opportunities, and potential problems early.
8. They improved their ability to inspire and motivate others. Practically all of the actions we've already mentioned create a more inspirational environment. In addition, there were two notable things these leaders did to inspire others. First, they did a better job keeping people focused on the highest priority goals and objectives. Second, they made a special effort to stay in touch with the concerns and problems of their teams. When a leader is the last to know that an employee is having difficulties, others interpret that as a lack of concern. Providing support and assistance to an employee in difficult circumstances not only helps that employee, but also reassures others they can expect to receive the same treatment.
9. They began to encourage cooperation rather than competition. Many leaders come out of school believing that work is a zero-sum game that creates winners and losers, and so they compete, in an effort to get ahead. Battles are costly and consume a great deal of resources. In the long run, internal competition causes every participant to lose. When leaders look for ways to encourage cooperation and generate common goals, they become more successful.

As you review this list of what our bad leaders did to improve, we believe you'll agree that what we are describing are common virtues that had not been practiced commonly enough. Our data show that taking these steps are especially effective in increasing the success of leaders who've been formerly regarded as poor, but they can improve all leaders. To us, that means that everyone — bad leaders, average leaders, and even good leaders — can change their spots. So, what's holding you back?

Success = Attitude + Habits

SUCCESS requires CHANGE

in ATTITUDE and HABITS

Welcome to 2012!  It's a bright new year, full of opportunities and enjoyment for those willing to embrace new ways of doing things.

The greatest bar to success is the inability to change.  The old saying "If you only do what you have always done, you will only get what you have always gotten -- only less" is absolutely true.

Just as Dickens' Christmas Carol discusses the past, the present and the future, business leaders need to consider the entire continuum of time -- and decide how much they want success.

THE PAST



Your organization's past may not have been as positive as you wanted it.  Many times, organizations fail to understand that they are "over-investing" their energies (as well as their cash) in only HALF of the "KASH BOX".

THE PRESENT

Every day, you have the opportunity to "turn the page" and make SURE that you spend EQUAL time with ATTITUDE and HABITS as well as KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS.

So, how much should YOU INVEST in YOUR ATTITUDE and HABITS? Consider the "TEBOW EFFECT":

"He just wins."  "God doesn't win games for him, his attitude and his hard work are what wins."

A positive attitude -- backed up by total diligence and hard work are what have allowed "a guy who shouldn't be in the NFL, let alone be starting quarterback" to have success. Tim Tebow isn't a "miracle," He just believes he can win and works hard at it.

What's the business lesson here?

Tebow has invested EQUALLY in both halves of his KASH BOX.  He studies the playbook and he practices his quarterbacking skills, BUT he also developed the habit of focusing on a POSITIVE ATTITUDE and being faithful to his HABITS to win.

____________________________________________________________

THE FUTURE
What About the Future?
Is your business running at it's highest "value"?  Not just efficiently or effectively but "valuable"?

HOW CAN YOU TELL if your business is performing at optimal "value"?

Selllability Score

It's Simple  -- Always focus on the "sale" of your business.
Whether you think at the end of your run you want to sell your business or transfer it to family or employees or simply sell off the assets, you need to PLAN to build your business so you can SELL it when you want -- for the amount you want.

If you want to reap the rewards that come from balancing the KASH BOX investments YOU'RE making AND develop a business you sell -- you need to contact LMI Columbus.

We have the tools and the processes to help you not only BALANCE the investments you make in YOUR KASH BOX, we can help you get the FUTURE YOU WANT by enhancing the total ROI from them.

The Cry for Change

What are you doing to change?

“The irony of entrepreneurial leadership is that the very behaviors and habit patterns that lead to success at one stage of growth can contribute to failure in the next stage.”

- Katherine Catlin & Jana Mathews “Leading At The Speed of Growth”

“To go from good to great requires a deep understanding of three intersecting circles translated into a simple ‘Hedgehog Concept.’ Foxes pursue many ends at the same time. Hedgehogs, on the other hand, simplify a complex world into a single organizing idea, a basic concept that unifies and guides everything. Good-to-great companies were all hedgehogs, focusing on one big thing.”

- Jim Collins, Good to Great

The Top 3 Concerns in Today’s Economy

1. Low employee engagement and low productivity 34%
2. Losing top performers 26%
3. Leadership gaps 18%

- Taleo Research

“On average, employees waste 1.44 hours each day on nonproductive activities.”

- Joseph Carroll, Gallup News Service

A study of 3200 companies found a 10% increase in capital expenditures led to only a 3.8% increase in productivity. However, a 10% increase in training and development spending led to an 8.5% increase in productivity.

- Robert Zemsky & Susan Shaman University of Pennsylvania

“A survey of 3000 leaders found that only 4% believed they possessed the necessary mindset or skills to lead the virtual corporations of the 21st century.”

- Economist

“In 5 years, 50% of all executives will retire. The need has never been more urgent to develop key talent and to recognize leadership potential at every level of the organization.”

- Korn Ferry International

"Four out of five companies do not have enough talented leaders to pursue their current or future business opportunities."

- McKinsey

Now if businesses only had a place to turn for help... :)

Forty Year of Leadership in Columbus

Columbus, OH, February 27, 2009 -- Leadership Management Institute (LMI) celebrates 40 years of service in Columbus.

LMI is based in Waco, TX and offers leadership development across the world helping leaders and organizations improve performance results.

The LMI Columbus region was established in 1969 by Lou Cummins, who led the organization until 2003 when Michael Diercks become the Managing Partner and Regional President. In addition to Lou and Michael, there have been many key contributors who have made LMI a major player in the Columbus business community over the year.

During those 40 years, LMI has provided leadership training and support to a host of public and private organizations throughout the Central Ohio area, including Attorney General of Ohio, State of Ohio - State Highway Patrol, Children's Hospital, Ernst & Young, Ohio Education Association, Ohio School Board, Commerce National Bank, Hopewell Federal Credit Union, Ohio Savings Bank, Winfree, Ruff & Associates, Ltd., Abbot Labs / Ross Products Division, Best Lighting Products, Inc., Equity Real Estate, T&R Properties, Aetna Building Maintenance, Rescue Rooter, Time Warner Cable, AEP, White Castle, Worthington Industries, Key Blue Prints, Liqui-Box Corp., Stouffer Hotels, Kokosing Construction Co., Highlights for Children, Chesrown Oldsmobile, Speer Industries, Midwest Acoust-a-Fiber, Sharper Impressions Painting, US Tank Alliance, Cartridge World, Midwest Electric, PuroClean, Swan Cleaners, Superior Die Tool & Machine, Sterling Process Engineering, Caspan Software, Columbus Port Authority, Safelite Auto Glass, Daniel Logistics, and Rosati Windows.

LMI stands ready to provide benefits to the leaders of any organization. For further information and to discover how your organization could benefit from Leadership Management Institute, please contact the local LMI office at 614-823-8150 or visit us on the web at www.lmi-columbus.com and discover how the forty years – and continuing – of LMI service can help you and your company improve performance.

Change is in the air!

David Byrd, in his book The Tripping Point in Leadership, defines apathy as “A natural, human instinct, common to us all, that consistently encourages us to seek a comfort zone in which nothing ever changes.”

The current economic climate requires us to address this problem every day.

This crisis is causing businesses to make significant changes and we must all go through the various stages of change. Right now you might be experiencing the Panic/Anger stage. This is where everyone thinks the world is coming to an end and all businesses will go bankrupt. When we go through this stage, we become paralyzed, not knowing what to do or how to respond to the change. This stage is very intense and can be very frightening. The good news is that it is usually over relatively quickly. I believe we are only a few short days away from moving on to the next stage.

The next stage is Acceptance/Understanding. This is where we accept the change and begin to understand the implications. We become more comfortable with the change and everything it means. Fear and panic subsides. Things are certainly not a bed of roses, but neither is the world coming to an end. We get back to work and stop focusing on the problem and start looking for solutions.

This stage (according to the book Strategic Selling) creates 4 different responses – Overconfidence, Even Keel, Growth, and Trouble – in the marketplace.

The current economic crisis moves us from Overconfidence and Even Keel responses to the Growth and Trouble responses quickly. Now is the time to start focusing on the Growth response. In the past, you might have been too busy or not ready or, possibly, not seen a need to do things differently. Now, more than ever, you need to find some answers to help you improve the performance of your people, change effectively and improve the results of your organization.

You have a choice to make -

• Do you believe you have all the answers (Overconfident)?
• Do you think things will return "back to the way they used to be" (Even Keel)?
• Do you recognize the need to change because change is happening in the market (Growth)?
• Do you feel like you are serious trouble because you don't see a way to recover (Trouble)?

If you have selected the first two options, best of success to you. If you are feeling more like the third or fourth option, I would love to hear from you.

The difference between good and great organizations is their willingness to face the brutal facts and make the necessary changes to succeed. Are you a good or great organization?

“The greatest enemy to ‘excellence’ and ‘greatness’ is ‘fine’ and ‘good’!”