• “true believer” types, who genuinely want to do what’s best
• deluded by their own grandiosity and think their way is the best way
• think and act in a way that conveys the message: “I know better than you so get out of my way because I’m doing what’s best for the company.”
• can’t put themselves in other people’s shoes and imagine how their actions are impacting others
• believe they have a license on brilliance
• oblivious to how arrogant they appear.

Unintentional versus True Jerk

Several years ago, I was considered for a coaching gig to help a very narcissistic CTO. Unsurprisingly, he chose a different coach when I told him that I would require him to acknowledge to his peers that he had been difficult to work with. I advised his boss that they were wasting their money investing in him. Later, I learned that he quit two months into the coaching process …again, no surprise.

Unlike that CTO, unintentional jerks feel remorse and want to have a good relationship with others, but they need help. If they are committed to changing, and can make the changes, they are likely to be very grateful and even more committed to your company’s success.

You might ask, “Why bother? Why not just fire the executive?” If the executive is someone who has risen through the ranks, you’ve invested a great deal in their development already.

On the other hand, if the executive is fairly new (less than one year on the job), it’s probably better to cut your losses and cut them loose.

The Demands on You

Assisting your unintentional jerk is a tedious process because you have to:

• provide real time examples,
• help the executive understand how their behavior impacts others
• work with them and model new behaviors
• cover the same territory over and over to help them see the similarity between behaviors/incidents, other people’s interpretations of their actions, and the repercussions
• be patient

What is the Unintentional Jerk thinking?

Most have a challenging time generalizing what they have learned from one situation and applying this to something similar. Each incident/example seems entirely unique.

Keep in mind that changing long-standing behavior takes time. Generally, it takes a minimum of six to twelve months to make the necessary changes.

Therefore, it takes significant patience on the part of the coach and key stakeholders…especially the stakeholders because they will continue to experience problems as the coachee repeatedly takes two steps forward and one step back.

Key Suggestions

When working with and helping unintentional jerks:

1. Don’t assume ill intent or you’ll set them up for failure. They will never be able to overcome your prejudice.
2. Provide specific examples … in detail.
3. Clearly explain the repercussions of their actions on others. Don’t assume they can connect the dots.
4. Have them team up with a good role model; someone who is more “interpersonally adept” and can provide real time observations and suggestions.
5. Monitor their performance and reward successive approximations to the desired behavior. Don’t just wait to reward them when they hit the ultimate target because they won’t do so on the first dozen attempts. They will inch closer if given useful feedback and encouragement.
6. If they don’t make the attempt to change or simply aren’t able to learn after repeated coaching (6 months max) . . . move them out of a leadership role or out of the company.

If this executive cannot develop, the cost to you and your employees’ morale will be too significant to retain them in their existing role. Their so-called productivity/creativity will likely not offset the toll they will take.

The post How to Deal with the Unintentional Jerk Executive appeared first on Advanced Leadership Consulting.

• the catalysts that cause companies to fail,
• reasons why companies fail,
• and why interventions are sometimes misplaced.

I recall attending a seminar a few years ago where I had the good fortune to hear Dr. Jagish Sheth speak. Jag, as he likes to be called, is the Charles H. Kellstadt Professor of Marketing at the Goizueta Business School of Emory University, and the author of several books including “The Rule of Three: Surviving and Thriving in Competitive Markets,” and most recently ‘The Global Rule of Three: Competing with Conscious Strategy.’

The Rule of Three

Jag Sheth has conducted extensive research into the factors that contribute to building great companies. He contends that usually three major players will dominate every market – the generalists. The Coca-Cola Company, PepsiCo and the Dr Pepper Snapple Group are good examples of rule of three generalists. 

I bet it’s hard to think of other soda producers except those in your neighborhood. These smaller, niche companies are specialists. However, any company caught in the middle will be swallowed up or destroyed. 

According to Jag, good companies successfully emerge in the first place by being in the right place at the right time. He found that most successful companies start opportunistically….by accident, not by some brilliant design where people chart out their futures. Frequently, one key customer discovered the company, and the entrepreneur/leader took advantage of the situation. Microsoft’s ‘luck’ with DOS and their IBM negotiations is an obvious example. Humble beginnings…usually by accident, rather than by design.

Predictably and unfortunately for many, as cultural or economic situations change, a maturing company must evolve. If an organization is either unable or unwilling to change its culture, processes, systems, and structure accordingly, it is likely to fail.

Catalysts for failure

Research suggests at least six major external contexts that become catalysts for failure or transformation:

1. Customers– customer needs change,
2. Technology– technology advances force a change in direction or add complexities,
3. Competition– competitors forge ahead,
4. Globalization– expansion into new markets increases complexity,
5. Capital markets– interest rates go up or down, for example, and
6. Regulation – the government deregulates or adds regulations.

Effective leadership is all about anticipating and adjusting to these external contexts and events.

10 reasons why good companies fail

Jag identifies ten causes for failure. To survive for the long run, your organization must develop a culture that is adaptive and constantly monitors and responds to these ten factors. 

1. Status quo management – senior management doesn’t want to rock the boat and change how things have always been done.
2. Success breeds failure – management becomes arrogant and complacent, potentially alienates its’ customers or doesn’t understand the changing market demands.
3. Neglect of emerging markets
4. Non-traditional competition – niche players create new markets for example.
5. Internal conflicts – executive level conflicts adversely affect the ability of the executive team to work effectively together.
6. Cost inefficiencies
7. Regulation barriers
8. Rapid technological advances
9. Rapid deregulation
10. Unexpected events – of which we are becoming quite accustomed.

Of the ten, dealing with ‘the cultural mindset’ or people factors are the easiest with which to work because people are quite capable of adapting quickly. Changing government regulations, for example, can take years.

However, cultural change requires three key transformations occurring simultaneously; what Jag calls the “Tripod of Transformation.”

Mindset – Organization – Rewards

Jag’s tripod balances Mindset Change, Reorganization and Reward Transformation. Most executives, however, only focus on one of the legs of the tripod.

Mindset Change – Most executives believe that communication and education is sufficient to change an organizations behavior. How often have you heard, “Here is our new vision, mission and values”?

Reorganization – The other common tactic is to reorganize the leadership team, hoping that new leadership will create needed change. “We’ve just hired Barbara from MegaStar as our new CEO,” and she’s going to save us…along with the crew of executives she will bring in.

Reward Transformation – Very few executives focus on the reward system although, generally, it is the most effective strategy in bringing cultural change.

People will do that for which they are rewarded. If you reward people more for selling X product/service and you want them to sell Y…good luck! If you fire people for speaking up…people will keep quiet and not rock the boat, but the boat will surely sink. If you tolerate people who abuse others because they achieve results, no matter how much you extol “people are our greatest asset” values, you will be sending a strong message that it’s ok to run over others on the road to success. Or, if your incentive systems use performance rankings where the top individuals receive the bulk of the rewards, you will promote a “me first” vs. teamwork culture.

You can see that building an effective reward/incentive system is complicated. The key to building an adaptive organization is that you need to attend to all three legs of the tripod.

Changing too late

Now for the most interesting piece of his research in my opinion…Most organizations don’t change until they are in pain…on the verge of dying. Very few are truly proactive and adaptive.

The post Why Good Companies Fail: Catalysts, Reasons & Interventions appeared first on Advanced Leadership Consulting.

What causes conflict?

No two human beings – not even identical twins – are alike in every aspect. Our individual uniqueness, and inherent differences, mean that in relationships we bring different:

• Wants and needs
• Values and beliefs
• Assumptions and interpretations
• Degrees of knowledge and information
• Expectations and cultural norms

When smart people interact, they will have inevitable differences in opinions but that does not need to become destructive. One of the main reasons people end up in conflict is that differences in ideas are taken too personally.

It then becomes exceedingly difficult to discuss and evaluate the ideas or “opinions” objectively because we end up defending our “selves” rather than debating the merit of the ideas. You know someone is taking it too personally if it feels like they are fighting for their life.

Clashing styles

Another reason for conflict is that people think and communicate differently – they have stylistic clashes. For example, we all know people who are analytical thinkers, who think in a linear fashion. Then there are more intuitive people, who develop ideas that simply don’t appear to make logical sense.

Entrepreneurs, for example, tend to be more intuitive. This can be a plus when working to capture the emotional interest of investors. However, the same entrepreneur will have to share a logical business case to successfully raise funds.

Unfortunately, we often miss the benefits in this range of thinking styles, dismissing other’s thinking style in pejorative terms. Analytical people may call intuitive thinkers “flakey,” while being thought of as “dense” by spontaneous thinkers.

Dealing with conflict

Most people handle conflict in one of four ways:

1. Victim. They do and say nothing directly, act powerless and then complain to others.
2. Avoidance. They keep away from the conflict.
3. Change. They change their own opinion either because they found sufficient reasons to do so or simply to avoid continued confrontation.
4. Assertively confront. They address the issue openly, candidly, and objectively by communicating with the other party.

Confronting conflict head-on is one of the hardest things for people to do.

“Most people believe that conflict is caused by difficult, quarrelsome people who simply can’t or won’t change; that successful teamwork requires a conflict-free environment; that people can’t separate disagreements over business issues from personal attacks; and that confronting another person or group always leaves bad feelings.”

Howard Guttman, from “When Goliaths Clash,” 

So, with this backdrop, most people avoid confronting assertively. They feel there is no point, and it will be fruitless.

Strategies for senior teams

To address conflict management, Howard Guttman identifies four distinct areas where senior teams must be aligned:

1. Strategic and operational goals must be clear, specific and agreed-upon.
2. Team members’ roles must be carefully defined so each member knows exactly what he or she is responsible for and what he or she is authorized to do.
3. Ground rules must be established to guide group behavior.
4. The broad range of personal styles that team members use when interacting with one another must be understood and managed.

1. Strategic and operational goals

If there is no clear goal ahead, people will tend to wander where they please. This is why strategic plans are needed, even if you have to adjust them as market demands change.  By clarifying where the company is headed and being clear about the main business goals, you’ll reduce the tendency for quarrelling over direction. People can then focus on their role in achieving the key objectives.

2. Team members’ roles

Ask your team:

• How clear are you about your role and accountability on the team?
• How clear are you about your role and accountability in the organization?

Teams in destructive conflict will often be unable to answer those questions well. Discuss what is expected from one another. Helping people understand each other’s roles and clarifying who has decision making authority helps reduce conflict. It also allows people to say with authority, “This is my call.”

3. Ground rules

You need clear behavioral ground rules, both within and without your team. These will be your procedures for resolving conflicts.
Some examples are:

• Resolve internally

It can be tempting to bring in a third-party referee (triangulation), but this removes responsibility from the parties to resolve the matter themselves. Try to coach from the sidelines and only get involved directly if they simply cannot work it out themselves.

• Keep disagreements private

Some people try to win others over to their side, rather than working to resolve the issue. This makes private disagreements public and ups the stakes.

• Time limit

Employ a time limit. If the combatants cannot resolve the issue by the deadline, they must drop the issue and move on. This can reduce the chance that the issue festers and grows, spreading negativity throughout the team and often down through the organization.

• Everyone present

At a team meeting, if someone raises an issue that involves an absent team member, the discussion should stop immediately. The team owes it to the missing team member to postpone further debate until he or she can be present.

4. Personal styles

Developing the capability to understand and respond to differing personality styles is particularly important but easily mangled. You may have participated in personality typing trainings such as the DISC or Myers Briggs (MBTI).

Those tools are helpful mostly because they highlight the fact that people are different. You should adjust your communication and management styles to accommodate those differences.

However, do not fall into the trap of pigeonholing each other based on categories. This will just blinker you and limit your colleagues.

Summary

As a psychologist, I am constantly surprised as to how hard it really is to understand others, but also how these differences bring pleasantly surprises.

I’ve been most successful at working with others when I’ve followed Mark Twain’s aphorism, “The smartest man I’ve ever known is my tailor. He measures me anew each time he meets me.”

Do your best to really get to know your colleagues so that you can understand their unique talents, needs, and desires. Then look for ways to align those three ingredients with yours and those of the organization.

If you can understand the other person’s agenda, you’ll be better able to navigate the inevitable conflicts that arise by finding mutually beneficial and acceptable solutions.

The post Conflict at Work: an advantage appeared first on Advanced Leadership Consulting.

1. “Working with Emotional Intelligence” by Daniel Goleman
2. “Group Versus Individual Performance” by G. W. Hill
3. “Group Intelligence: Why Some Groups are Better Than Others” by Wendy Williams and Robert Sternberg

The post Parlay Collective Intelligence: Through Engendering Trust & Accountability appeared first on Advanced Leadership Consulting.

• Generate a multiplicity of different perspectives about your subject until you find the perspective you want. Genius often comes from finding a new perspective that no one else has taken.
• Generate a large quantity of alternatives and conjectures. From this quantity, retain the best ideas for further development and elaboration.
• Produce variation in your ideas by incorporating random, chance, or unrelated factors.

Five steps to fostering fluent thinking

If you’re lucky, from the plethora of ideas you generate, one or two will be worth something. So, if you want to increase your luck…produce more ideas. Yes, more is better.

Remember that most of Edison’s patents ended up pretty worthless but, that one about the tungsten light bulb sure paid off. Therefore, the more ideas you generate the more likely you’ll come up with your light bulb.

To enhance the production of new, creative, fluent ideas:

1. Defer judgment when looking for ideas
2. Generate as many ideas as possible
3. List ideas as they occur and keep a written record
4. Constantly elaborate or improve on ideas
5. Allow your subconscious to generate ideas by incubating the subject (based on Michalko’s delineations, in Cracking Creativity)

1. Defer judgment and keep the creative juices flowing. The moment you say to yourself or your team… “Dumb idea,” is the moment you, or your team, stop producing those so-called dumb ideas. Wait to decide which ideas are worth pursuing until you’ve generated lots of ideas…no matter how stupid or unrelated to the problem they may initially seem.
2. Generate as many ideas as possible and fill the well. The more ideas, the better the odds that you’ll find something novel that actually works. Accept that most of these creative ideas will end up on the cutting room floor, but all you’re looking for is one or two good ones.
3. List ideas as they occur and keep a written record. Creative ideas are flighty. They can disappear from your mind the moment you get distracted by the routines and distractions of life.

Importantly, creative ideas often don’t look creative until combined with other, often dissimilar, ones. By writing down your ideas and musings you won’t lose them. Then you can mix, match, reshuffle and recombine them and see what comes out down the line. Leonardo da Vinci kept dozens of journals and often referred to them years later to find ‘that something’ that he hadn’t seen the first time round.

In addition, there are numerous methods that you or your team can use to connect the apparently unconnected. Try creative thinking tactics and games to discover the unusual and novel within the obvious or mundane of your cataloged ideas. For example, having different work groups (say, marketing and finance) look over a list of ideas generated by the other group, will often generate different, innovative, and unpredictable connections. And integrate the teams, as an added bonus.

4. Constantly elaborating or improving on your team’s ideas helps generate novel combinations, mutations, and surprises. Creative people look for alternative ways to think about a subject, even when the old ways work well. Look for and entertain different perspectives and ways of doing things.
5. Allow your subconscious to generate ideasby incubating on the subject. Einstein is often quoted as saying, “Why is it my best ideas come to me while taking my morning shower?” Your subconscious mind is constantly working but cannot be forced to produce.

Innovative ideas need time to incubate. So, work on a problem, generate ideas, then walk away and do something completely different. Take a walk; sculpt, paint, or sing; play ball; play with your kids…mix it up, as much as COVID-19 restrictions allow. Don’t think about the problem for some time. Give your mind subconscious thinking time. Then return to the problem and try the four preceding steps again, and see what creative ideas emerge.

To close

This is a vast subject and we’ve only scratched the surface here. But try playing with these five steps and see what happens.

The post 5 Steps to Creative Thinking appeared first on Advanced Leadership Consulting.

Those you can co-opt and bring on board

What’s In It For Me?

This individual is very invested in the status quo and has a stake in continuity. Their current point of view is threatened by any change.

You need to demonstrate that stonewalling, or attempting to derail the change, will only meet with their defeat. Help them appreciate that it’s better to be part of the future than be left in the past.

Do this by showing them that:

• your proposals will improve their situation while lowering risk
• the current conditions are untenable.

By supporting the change, they have some say in the future. The change will happen, and they’re better off involved.

The Wheeler-Dealer

The Wheeler-Dealer is looking to professionally gain from the initiative. They are showing simple resistance, but rather, are primarily interested in extracting some type of quid pro quo for supporting your efforts.

For example, the VP of HR ingeniously claims that it would take months to recruit the extra accounting personnel needed to upgrade your financial systems. But, she might contend, if only you could release additional funding to upgrade her department’s reporting systems, it would speed up the process.

The quid pro quo may be of mutual benefit, and you can consider complying and co-opt their resistance.

If it’s pure ransom, though, then you may need to recruit the assistance of your CEO or Division leader and work around this mountainous island. Put the onus on these leaders, since you’ve hit a roadblock, by intimating that only they can solve the problem.

“I’ve prepared the way for implementation but have encountered one roadblock. It’s one that will require your direct clout to remove, since it’s an issue that involves corporate priorities and funding set from your office.”

Those you need to work around

The Prima Donna

This colleague believes he or she is instrumental in helping the company to attain and maintain its standing.  Success has gone to the Prima Donna’s head.

The most common culprits are the best-performing salesperson, or the developer of the company’s IP or technology. They will invariably point out why your ideas are problematic.

The best defense is to discuss the problematic issues in a group setting (e.g., executive team meeting), where you can marshal the support of others. Just be sure that you don’t publicly humiliate the Prima Donna.  If humiliated, they will unleash their fury (directly or behind your back) to protect and restore their wounded self-esteem.

Be careful that the Prima Donna doesn’t play their trump card. They will argue that they’ve developed priceless expertise over the years. And are far more invested in the company than you, the consultant. This will cause others, including the CEO, to react with caution and potentially spend inordinate amounts of time second-guessing your ideas or developing defensive measures – just in case your initiatives are faulty.

The Prima Donna’s goal is to show intellectual prowess, and thereby enhance their ‘key to the business’ position. Ironically, in spite of their successes, they are insecure.

So, what tactics should you employ?

• Focus on probability and seriousness
• Acknowledge that the Prima Donna’s concerns may have a legitimate basis, but demonstrate that those potential outcomes have a low probability of happening and are non-fatal
• Draw parallels to how the organization has effectively handled other similar risks in the past
• Supply information about how you can address any concerns – preventive and contingent actions – so that others involved in making a decision will realize that there is no need for any delay. 

Above all, don’t get in a fight; just allow the logic of your position to be embraced by others.

The Passive-Aggressive

The passive-aggressive person will use many of the same tactics of the Prima Donna. They will, however, cloak their criticism under the guise of, supposedly looking out for the best interests of the organization. It’s hard to pin anything on them because they don’t come at you head-on. 

The major difference (and challenge) with dealing with them is that, even after you think you’ve resolved their concerns, and received the go-ahead for your endeavors, the passive-aggressive colleague will invariably “forget” to follow through with their end of the deal.

“We’ve been buried and simply haven’t had the time to follow through – We’ll hop right on it.”

Meanwhile, another three weeks go by without forward movement on the project or program.

With the passive-aggressive person, you’ll need to

• assemble the facts and lay them on the table
• cut-off any possible escape.

For example, you might say, “You agreed to provide us with X by last Friday. There appears to be a problem that we can’t resolve.  Let’s discuss this with your (or our) boss.”  They will never admit that they have passively resisted, but they will need to learn that they can’t maneuver around you with the purpose of undermining you. They hate being cornered, but cornering them is a must.

The Worriers – Most Everyone Else

As mentioned earlier, the major source of resistance will generally come from people who are simply worried. They’re not toxic colleagues, they’re just anxious about any change, even positive change. 

Take care not to ignore the worriers as they will easily be swayed by anyone who taps into and exploits their anxiety.

Therefore, the best defense is a great offense.

• Communicate
• Articulating a game plan, even if you know full well that you will be modifying it; you will instill confidence. 
• Show people that you know what you’re doing and have traveled this road before. 
• Begin by communicating to your fellow executives and direct reports, then branch out.

Most people are reassured simply by presenting them with a coherent plan. They just want to know that the person leading the charge has some idea where he is headed.

Keep folks involved by sharing:

• Your general game plan for the next 3 – 6 months
• What results you hope to achieve
• What’s in it for them
• How you plan to measure progress
• What hurdles might be encountered so that they can better prepare
• What recourse they have to ask questions

Obviously, dealing with difficult people is a complex process, especially toxic colleagues, but if you follow these suggestions, you’ll make your life much, much easier.

And, remember sometimes you need to

“… float like a butterfly and sting like a bee,” Muhammad Ali.

The post Toxic Colleagues: Dealing with Their Negativity appeared first on Advanced Leadership Consulting.

You’ll quickly see that one theme this questionnaire attempts to evaluate is your EQ, or Emotional Intelligence. The late David McClelland, Ph.D., from Harvard, a leading researcher and expert regarding leadership effectiveness, conducted research that found that for executives who were rated high on six or more traits associated with emotional intelligence, their divisions, on average, out performed yearly revenue targets by 15 – 20%! In addition, 87% of those same executives placed in the top third for annual salary bonuses based on the performance of their businesses. Daniel Goleman, Ph.D., the author of the book “Working With Emotional Intelligence,” provides a more in-depth look at this subject for those of you who want more information (available through my website). Goleman draws heavily from McClelland’s research.

The following survey is a self-evaluation tool, so, it’s only as useful as you are insightful and honest about yourself. If you want to up the ante a bit, ask a couple of people who know you and trust will give you honest useful feedback to complete copies of the survey – turn it into a mini-non-validated, 360 multi-rater survey. It’s best not to ask subordinates to complete this mini-survey, because research on 360s indicate that people tend not to give honest critical feedback unless their anonymity is guaranteed and if you are the one tallying the results…there goes anonymity and reliable, useful feedback. The questions come from two sources: my own research and experience working with executives and from the Harvard online ManageMentor course, Leading and Motivating (permission to use was granted by Harvard Business Publishing).

The survey has 24 questions. To complete the survey, click the link below which will take you to its webpage where you can either download or print it out.

• What’s Your EQ? – Assessing Characteristics of Leadership Effectiveness

The post Take a Free Leadership Assessment appeared first on Advanced Leadership Consulting.

If you want your people to be innovative, you have to create the right environment, and here are 8 tips to help you out.

Do you want your employees to be more innovative? Yes, of course. Who doesn’t? However, spurring innovative thinking and action is not easy, otherwise everyone would be creating IPhones, Google, and Post-its.

1. Encourage failure. You know the story about Thomas Edison. In his own words (or close enough), he says ‘I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.’ Truly innovative people don’t have just one great idea that’s a success; they have many failures that lead to innovation, and Edison is the perfect example of that. Encourage failure by allowing room for and rewarding it; the great ideas will come.
2. Eliminate the silos. People are more creative when they’re able to brainstorm with and bounce ideas off other people. A great way is to organize small group meetings with a focus on discussions of issues, trends, opportunities, etc. The design and innovation consulting firm, IDEO, does this by grouping together some of its brightest minds for 60-90 minutes to kick around ideas. The result is not only ingenious thought, but also an energy for follow-through that’s inspirational.
3.  Favor cross-pollination. While small groups are great, bringing in different and new points of view can work wonders. To accomplish this, consider bringing in people from outside the ‘usual’ team by inviting others to join your brain storm from other areas of the company and even partnering organizations or groups.
4. Breakdown hierarchy. Do you have a problem with employees being silent once the ‘boss’ has had his/her say? Establishing ground rules on how creative ideas will flow is a great start. Make sure everyone has the opportunity speak, while facilitated by a moderator who knows how to encourage free flow without stifling creativity.
5.  Make it urgent. Do you operate under the notion that great ideas come after weeks, months or years of internal searching, researching, and pots of coffee? While pots of coffee aren’t a bad idea, tight timeframes actually turn up the heat and the focus, and can result in some pretty great stuff.
6.  Keep detail out of it. Don’t begin with limitations right from the get-go. If you begin a brainstorm by limiting the end product in shape, size, color, and functionality, you limit its possibilities.
7. Get innovative with rewards. Reward participation, effort, and creativity—and do it creatively. Compensation doesn’t always have to be in the form of money. Find out what your people love and surprise them with your own out-of-the-box thinking.
8. Have fun! Creativity comes in different forms. So, have fun while you’re waiting for it. All work and no play does make Johnny a dull and uncreative boy.

What are some of the ways you spur innovation in your team? Send me your ideas!

The post 8 Tips for Spurring Innovation appeared first on Advanced Leadership Consulting.