Organizational Culture Insights to Strengthen Leadership and Drive Change

Courageous Communications, Part 3: Preparing for the Tough Conversations Actor and director Stephen Moyer says, “Conflict is drama, and how people deal with conflict shows you the kind of people they are.” Having worked with and observed thousands of leaders over the years, how they deal with the conflict inherent in difficult conversations is one of the critical distinguishing characteristics that separates average leaders from great leaders. But how do you go about holding the uncomfortable conversations that are likely to produce conflict and drama, in the interest of moving your organization forward? How do great leaders handle what we call Courageous Communications differently from other leaders? In this post, we’ll discuss how the most effective leaders prepare for their Courageous Communications. In our next post, we’ll discuss how to handle those conversations as effectively as possible. As you read this post, it might be helpful to think of a real issue you might be facing with someone you work with – your manager, a peer or someone who reports to you. At the end of this post, there will be a few questions to help you think through how well you are prepared to tackle the courageous communication that is necessary. PREPARATION IS KEY The most effective leaders prepare on at least two levels for their courageous communications. Thinking Differently about Conflict First, they “think” (their assumptions, beliefs, perceptions, etc.) differently about taking on conflict than less effective leaders do. They know they will need to hold the difficult conversations and are fully comfortable with that responsibility…even if the conversations themselves might be extremely uncomfortable. Previously, we’ve discussed the Thinking-Action-Outcomes model. Effective leaders’ “thinking” recognizes that conflict, handled well, is a positive force, not something that should be avoided at all costs. When choosing to act, they also recognize that they ultimately are trying to engage people in the journey. Less effective leaders shy away from the conflict. They may “think” that “conflict is bad.” Or, they want to be liked and are afraid that holding the difficult conversations will erode their “likability.” Hence, they avoid it, which paradoxically creates more of the disruption they were trying to avoid in the first place. Effective leaders also create trusting environments in which effective conflict can occur.  One of the best performing senior executives I’ve had the opportunity to work with operates by what he describes as the Hippocratic Oath for Leaders: “I mean you no harm.” He feels his role as leader is to help the organization and every individual be the best they can be. So, his team – including managers, peers and direct reports –get tough feedback, but always from a caring/trusting perspective. They know he has their best interest, and that of their organization, at heart. (And, is the living embodiment of what we think is one of the great paradoxes of great leaders: Tough AND Caring. More on that in some future post.) It’s no coincidence that organizations that deal with conflict and courageous communications most effectively, also have higher levels of trust and trustworthiness. They treat tough conversations as a natural part of who they are and not something to be avoided. And, because the environment is positive, and non-respectful behavior isn’t tolerated, you see less of the horrific behavior representing years of systemic abuse that have been so prevalent in the news the last few weeks. In strong cultures, people know that disrespectful behavior by anyone at any level will be dealt with and not covered up. And, senior leaders embrace their roles as stewards of the organization’s values, not the worst offenders. Acting Differently The second level of preparedness is about how more effective leaders act as they prepare for a courageous communication. More effective leaders prepare for difficult conversations by addressing three questions: 1. Does this conflict need to be addressed? A colleague of mine once worked for a manager whose catch phrase was, “That’s not a battleground we want to die on.” The problem was that there were NO battlegrounds he ever wanted to die on. Or, even suffer a minor wound. As a result, the guests his team was responsible for servicing didn’t get the best of what the resort could offer. People on his team didn’t get the feedback they needed to be their best. His team felt unsupported. Team members weren’t held accountable for results. Ultimately, they under-performed. On the other hand, not every issue needs to be confronted. Early in my career, I worked for one of the worst bosses ever. We could do a full book chapter, maybe even a full book, on his efforts at wreaking havoc within his organization. He would absolutely fit the definition of “asshole” as Stanford University professor Bob Sutton described in his classic book, “The No Asshole Rule.” The bad bosses’ catch phrase was, “You just need to go kick more ass” which he did on a regular and frequent basis. No issue was too small for him to confront. While he rarely turned his ire – bordering on insanity – toward me, he regularly wore out my peers about trivial details. As a result, everyone avoided him as much as possible, and did what they could to just get by. No one was even close to fully engaged in the effort to drive the division forward. So, when do you choose to confront? It’s hard to give an explicit list, but here are a few questions to provide a starting point: Is someone behaving outside your organizations values? Is performance below an acceptable level, or below what someone is capable of? Is someone’s behavior disrupting the ability of the team to perform their best? How would you feel if a story about the situation appeared on the evening news, or the front page of the newspaper, and you were portrayed as not taking action to intercede? 2. What issue do we need to confront? Better leaders focus their attention on the issue that creates the most leverage or is the most critical to address. And they recognize that the issue that needs to be addressed may change over time, even within a single conversation. Here’s the classic example: you’ve got somebody on your team who has shown up late for work a few times recently. As a result, he’s under-preforming and other team mates have expressed their concerns about it. You address it with him. He owns his behavior and promises it won’t happen again. All good. Then, two or three weeks later he shows up late again. What issue do you address? If you thought, “Talk to him again about being late,” raise your hands. Yeah, I thought that’s what you might say! You have a new problem to confront: now it’s not about his tardiness, it’s the much deeper and more complex issue involving his commitment to you to “not be late again.” The critical issue has shifted to his failure to honor his commitment to you – an integrity-related issue, not whether or not he makes it to work on time. 3. How do we create a safe environment in which to confront the issue? As noted above, creating a safe environment for Courageous Communications actually starts well before the conversation itself. It’s difficult to have a truly effective, tough conversation with someone if you haven’t built an environment of trust and respect or if you no relationship with the other person. Presuming you’ve built the proper foundation, then, generally establishing a safe environment means finding a place to have the most productive conversation possible. The old adage, “Praise in public, criticize in private” generally holds true. A few questions to spur your thinking and reflection: To what extent are you holding all the courageous conversations you need to be holding with others? Have you been avoiding any? If so, why? What would it take to hold the conversation? How well have you created an environment in which difficult communications can take place? If you think you’ve been holding courageous communications with others, but not getting the results you intended, why do you think that gap exists? I’d love your thoughts and feedback. In our next post, we’ll discuss how to make those conversations go well. Intrigued by what you’re reading? Download our white paper on converting strategy into execution and learn more about us by visiting our website . WhiteWater International Consulting, Inc. helps organizations understand the challenges they face and helps enterprises achieve and sustain outstanding performance through unleashing the passion and capabilities of its people. Because an organization is only as good at the people who power it.

Questions to Jumpstart Your 2018 Happy New Year! I hope you finished 2017 on a high note and are and getting ready for a great 2018. In that spirit, we’ve pulled together a set of “reflection” questions that we often pose to the leaders we work with. They may help guide your thinking as you trudge through the cold and snow and head back to work this week. If you have thoughts on any of these and how they apply to your organization, please share them in the comments section below. 1. What are the Top 3 Goals for your organization for 2018? How well does everyone on your team know them? (Here’s a quick test from our Strategy-to-Execution white paper: Play 3-on-3: Have each member of your team write what they think the top 3 goals are for  your team and/or organization. Compare your list to their list…how did you do?) How will you measure success in achieving those goals? What are the key activities you need to undertake to achieve those goals? What needs to change about how you spend your time to accomplish those goals? 2. What are the primary barriers you’ll face in achieving those goals? How will you deal with them/overcome them? 3. What are the key capabilities you need to build in your team to accomplish those goals? You might look at Leader as Organizational Architect, Part 1 for some ideas. 4. What capabilities do you personally need or want to build in 2018? 5. What “thinking” (mental models, assumptions, perceptions, beliefs) do you need to change or challenge to achieve your best? You might find Leaders Challenge Their Own Mental Models a useful starting point. What do you think? What questions are you considering as you start 2018? What would add to the list? I hope these questions help you prepare for a great 2018 and beyond. Intrigued by what you’re reading? Download our white paper on converting strategy into execution and learn more about us by visiting our website . WhiteWater International Consulting, Inc. helps organizations understand the challenges they face and helps enterprises achieve and sustain outstanding performance through unleashing the passion and capabilities of its people. Because an organization is only as good at the people who power it.

Courageous Communications, Part 4: Holding Tough Conversations This post continues our series on courageous conversations. In Part 3, we discussed how to prepare for one. Now, let’s talk about the talk itself. A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away (Yeah, gratuitous Star Wars reference), I worked with two leaders at roughly the same time. They worked for different organizations, but I was struck with how similar they were. Both had a great sense of the strengths, weaknesses and potential of their respective organizations. Both had a great feel for their groups’ strategy and relative position in the marketplace. Both understood financial issues. Both had earned a great deal of respect from their peers, managers, direct reports for their intellect, knowledge and understanding of the business. They differed in several ways, but one critical aspect really distinguished them: their willingness and ability to carry out courageous conversations. “Samantha” would initiate the courageous conversation whenever when she saw something that needed to be addressed. She had no problem confronting anyone when it was necessary – boss, peer or direct report. In every conversation, she made sure they understood her point of view. And, (again, when appropriate) she actively sought out their point of view on the conflict rather than dictating her point of view. More on this idea later. “Dave” took the opposite approach. He was just as perceptive as Samantha, so he knew when he needed to address a problem face-to-face. But he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Worse, in his frustration, he would occasionally discuss the lingering problem – but with another colleague, not the person who needed the feedback. He simply lacked the courage to confront others directly. I probably don’t have to tell you that Samantha’s career has continued to progress. Dave’s career plateaued. This is not an isolated case. We have seen dozens of otherwise talented leaders hit the proverbial career wall because they lack confidence and/or capabilities to gracefully manage the courageous conversations. How can you be more like Samantha? Frameworks not Scripts First, we don’t believe in scripts. Memorizing a few key phrases – whether you’re greeting guests in a restaurant or holding a tough conversation with a peer — isn’t genuine or effective. Courageous conversations are interactive. They require deep listening to what your conversation partner is saying and feeling and really “hearing” the message behind their words. If you’re working from a “script” and the other person is not – and they won’t be – the conversation will be off-script from the start. You’ll either not hear or process what your partner is saying, or you’ll be following your script, but ignoring him or her. That’s a monologue, not a conversation. We prefer frameworks…outlines of the key principles that apply. Having a solid framework allows you to fully engage in the rich dialogue that tough conversations require. So, let’s talk about a framework for holding effective courageous communications. Master the First 30 Seconds You must get to the point quickly. You’re having the conversation because you want one or two specific things to change, and you know how you think they need to change. So say that. Define the problem. Think of the problem as a gap between what is actually happening and what needs to happen. Describe that gap, and clearly explain what you believe your coworker needs to change. Then, usually, listen to your conversation partner’s point-of-view. If you stammer, fumble, muddle your words, or are not clear in any way, you leave much room for confusion and misinterpretation. Which can make the situation worse, not better. To master those first 30 seconds, you may need to practice what you’re going to say. And, sometimes, it makes sense to practice with a practice partner who can give you the feedback you need to make sure your message is completely clear. What if you have more than one or two specific things that need to change? If that’s the case: That’s a pretty good sign that you’ve waited too long to hold this conversation and You probably need to have more than one conversation. If you bring up a laundry list of issues, your coworker is likely to feel like you’re piling on and will respond defensively. Pick one or two issues – perhaps the most critical problem, or maybe start with a problem that’s relatively simple to solve so you both can get a “win” under your belts before addressing the next issue – and table the rest. Don’t sugarcoat or turn the conversation into a compliment sandwich A lot of us have been taught the script of “say something positive, give people the critical feedback and then close the conversation with something else positive.” That script is a recipe for communication disasters. Because of the way we filter the information we’re exposed to, most people hear the positive items at the front and back end of the script, and get confused by, or totally miss, the important stuff in the middle of the compliment sandwich. You’re having the conversation because you need to address something important. Starting with language that pretends this isn’t serious, or isn’t on point, just confuses the person who needs to receive your feedback. Besides, the other person very likely knows you’re there to discuss an important problem. If you start the conversation with a compliment, she’s just waiting for the shoe to drop. Engage in Dialogue…most of the time. Adapt accordingly. If this is the first time you’re addressing the issue, you want to check your own thinking and engage in joint problem solving. Why is there a gap? Does the other person perceive the situation the same way you do? If not, why not? And how will you mutually resolve the situation? If this is the third time you’re discussing the same issue, you probably don’t want to spend much time listening to what your coworker has to say. At this point, it’s probably time to tell them what has to be done and explain the consequences to the organization and to the person if it doesn’t happen. Manage the Conversation within the Conversation Tough conversations often involve a significant level of emotion for both you and the other person (or people) involved. Pretty clearly, you need to keep your emotions in control. And, as importantly, be prepared for a wide range of emotions from the other(s) involved. Managing the conversation within the conversation means: Deciding if you need to confront any issues or emotional reactions that come up Deciding what you’re going to confront Mastering the opening of that conversation (“Your reaction (anger, yelling, clamming up, etc.) is getting in the way of us having a productive conversation.”) Resolving that issue (if possible within the conversation) And, then, getting back on track with the initial conversation. (Or, making the decision to break off the conversation to let the emotions subside and then getting back together at some clearly defined point in the very near future.) Close clearly Make sure there’s no confusion about the issue, why it’s important, what both you and your coworker are committing to change, and what your time frame is to make the change. When will you talk again? What do you think? How well have you handled the tough conversations you’ve had to have with others? Which of the items in this framework do you handle well? Where could you use some improvement? Is there anything that you would add to this outline? Let us know what you think in the comment section below. Intrigued by what you’re reading? Download our white paper on converting strategy into execution and learn more about us by visiting our website . WhiteWater International Consulting, Inc. helps organizations understand the challenges they face and helps enterprises achieve and sustain outstanding performance through unleashing the passion and capabilities of its people. Because an organization is only as good at the people who power it.

One of the fundamental challenges facing many, if not most, organizations today is that leaders don’t lead.  They may guide.  They may supervise.  They may organize.  They may keep people within specific boundaries or to work within prescribed rules, policies and procedures. But, they don’t lead ! And, this challenge is compounded by the host of “Leadership Training” programs inside organizations and available on the open market that don’t actually teach anyone to lead .  They may teach people to set goals, or manage performance or communicate more effectively.  Together, they might provide some of the core skill sets that are necessary for people to lead most effectively, yet they don’t actually teach people to lead. So, what’s it take to Just Lead?  (Hint:  It’s not about the job title!) Over the last 25 years, we’ve found 5 key elements that distinguish true leadership from supervision or management (as effective as those might be): Leaders, as John Wayne said, “Get the herd moving roughly West.” Leaders engage people in accomplishing outcomes that none of those folks could accomplish on their own.  The leaders job in this is to define what “roughly West” looks like and make getting there compelling enough that people want to contribute their best to the journey every day. Leaders Define the Gap To get the herd moving roughly West, leaders define the gap between where the organization/group is and where it needs to be to be successful. Leaders must take off the rose-colored glasses and see the world, not how they think it should be, but how it really is.  And, there is ALWAYS a gap between where the organization is, and where it needs to be to succeed and sustain success.  And, they must be able to effectively communicate this gap to the rest of the organization. Leaders must engage the organization in defining a picture of the future state that is different than where the organization is today.  Whether the timeframe is a week, a month, a year or 5 years from now, everyone needs to share a vision of what the future state looks like, and why it’s necessary to get there.  And, of course, they have to be nimble enough to quickly change direction as the economy, or customers, or competition, or technology change where they need to get to. Intrigued by what you’re reading? Download our white paper on converting strategy into execution and learn more about us by visiting our website . WhiteWater International Consulting, Inc. helps organizations understand the challenges they face and helps enterprises achieve and sustain outstanding performance through unleashing the passion and capabilities of its people. Because an organization is only as good at the people who power it.

Understanding: Change Leadership Our goal is to help our clients achieve long-term, sustainable growth and profitability through continuous improvement and large-scale organizational change. To that end, we provide a broad range of management consulting and training and development services designed to help our clients cope with and take advantage of the turbulence they face in the global marketplace Change is the only constant in today’s operating environment. Being able to adapt and take advantage of rapidly changing circumstances – i.e., thrive in the midst of constant turbulence – is an absolute requirement for long-term success and sustainability. A failure to act quickly leads to acceptance/tolerance of the status quo. A failure to act smartly weakens credibility and leads to frustration and a desire to “return to the old days.” We help our clients answer and then execute against these (and many more questions): WHO will be an effective champion of the effort? WHAT must change about the organization’s are systems, structures, processes, people practices, peoples’ skills and capabilities to achieve the results? HOW will we build a coalition to support the change effort? HOW do we create a series of quick wins that demonstrate progress and help engage others in the effort? HOW will we assess progress? HOW do we sustain and grow energy for change? HOW do we deal with the inevitable roadblocks to sustaining the effort? Our Role in Your Change Strategy WWCG’s role is to act as “lead guide” for devising and implementing the overall change strategy. Our goal is to help our clients identify the priorities, assess alternative action plans and provide expertise and guidance when needed. Ultimately, however, we want to enable our clients to lead the change strategy themselves and not be permanently dependent upon us! Intrigued by what you’re reading? Download our white paper on converting strategy into execution and learn more about us by visiting our website . WhiteWater International Consulting, Inc. helps organizations understand the challenges they face and helps enterprises achieve and sustain outstanding performance through unleashing the passion and capabilities of its people. Because an organization is only as good at the people who power it. Change Leadership

Understanding: Performance-Driven, Values Based Leadership WWCG works with our clients to design and deliver core and custom leadership development programs that help leaders – from frontline supervisors to C-level officers — engage the organization and lead more effectively. Leader Development Effective leadership is THE key above all others to navigating the whitewater. In today’s rapidly changing environment, leaders at all levels must be able to: Define the gap between current reality and what is necessary for success Engage everyone in the organization to move forward Find, recruit and select the talented people necessary to generate success Create an environment which inspires and unleashes everyone’s capabilities Connect strategic and operating goals to the goals and performance metrics of individuals and work teams Provide straight talk – deal with difficult confrontations and situations Make the tough decisions regarding the organization’s values and who is contributing and who is not Constantly Learn, Teach and be Stewards for the organization. At  WWCG , we’ve been helping leaders improve their effectiveness for over 20 years.  We’ve helped leaders at all levels of the organization from frontline leaders in their first formal leadership role to CEO’s.  We’ve helped develop leaders in organizations of all shape and sizes from start-ups to Fortune 100. Intrigued by what you’re reading? Download our white paper on converting strategy into execution and learn more about us by visiting our website . WhiteWater International Consulting, Inc. helps organizations understand the challenges they face and helps enterprises achieve and sustain outstanding performance through unleashing the passion and capabilities of its people. Because an organization is only as good at the people who power it. Performance-driven leadership

Beyond Technique: Thinking Action Outcomes Many leadership development programs focus solely on teaching specific skills and techniques, like “listening” or “providing feedback.” While those techniques can be helpful, the key to truly developing leaders’ capabilities is to help them examine the underlying mental models, assumptions, beliefs and perceptions that drive their behavior in the first place. Utilizing our Thinking-Action-Outcomes model, our leadership development efforts are designed to both: Help leaders understand the mental models that drive their behavior and expose them to alternatives that may enhance their effectiveness Provide them with specific skill development when required. Our leadership development solutions include our core leadership program, Just Lead!TM, custom program development, our 360-degree feedback process and options for blended solutions. For more information on how WWCG can help with your leadership development needs to discuss your current leadership development efforts, contact us. Intrigued by what you’re reading? Download our white paper on converting strategy into execution and learn more about us by visiting our website . WhiteWater International Consulting, Inc. helps organizations understand the challenges they face and helps enterprises achieve and sustain outstanding performance through unleashing the passion and capabilities of its people. Because an organization is only as good at the people who power it.

360 Degree Feedback: A Process That Works Different organizations will have a different approach to making 360-degree feedback work inside their organizations. However, there are a few critical steps that significantly contribute to overall success: Step 1: Understand what’s important about your leaders’ performance as leaders. Step 2: Build the survey. The questions you ask must reflect what’s critical about the leaders’ performance as leaders. Step 3: Figure out who you want to collect feedback for. In some cases, it maybe appropriate to start at the top and cascade the survey process down through the organization over a series of iterations. In other organizations, it may be better to involve all leaders right from the beginning. (We don’t think it’s ever a good idea to start at lower levels of the organization and work it up or to ignore the higher levels of the organization completely.) Step 4: Figure out who you want to collect feedback from. Direct reports must obviously be included. In many cases, you’ll want to collect feedback from the participants’ peers and manager. (Though you want to keep the responses separate.) Some organizations have also found it valuable to include feedback form those outside the company – customers, suppliers or key business partners. Step 5: Decide who gets to see the data and in what sequence. The person receiving the feedback obviously needs to be the first person to see his/her data.We strongly believe the people providing the feedback should see the data.Ultimately, we think the leader should also share the feedback with his/her manager. (However, some organizations find it effective to not share the data with the leader’s manager during the first time through the process.)- 2 -lead. learn. change. thrive. Step 6: Actively manage the process after the feedback is collected. The best practices we’ve observed include: The leader reviews his/her feedback and identifies strengths and weaknesses. The leader shares his/her feedback with the people who provided the data(the direct reports are the most important group). During this meeting, the leader can collect more feedback (“Are there any other issues I should be sensitive to?”), work with the group to agree on priorities and map out a plan for improvement. The leader meets with his/her manager to review the data, review the outcomes of the meeting with the survey respondents, make appropriate changes to the plan and agree on any developmental help the leader needs. Step 7: Conduct mid-course correction meetings. About halfway through the 360-degree feedback cycle is a great time for the leader to follow-up with the group.The primary outcomes from the process should be: Getting feedback about whether the leader has lived up to the initial action plans. Identifying any new developmental opportunities.\ Understanding if anything has changed about the priorities. Step 8: Repeat the whole process. To create the best opportunity for success,the survey needs to stay as consistent as possible over several iterations. However, some of the leadership issues facing the organization will undoubtedly change over time. So, the survey process must allow for some level of flexibility while maintaining consistency Intrigued by what you’re reading? Download our white paper on converting strategy into execution and learn more about us by visiting our website . WhiteWater International Consulting, Inc. helps organizations understand the challenges they face and helps enterprises achieve and sustain outstanding performance through unleashing the passion and capabilities of its people. Because an organization is only as good at the people who power it.

Keeper of the Values One afternoon, my two young children were out in the front yard, playing a game of pickup soccer with a couple of neighbourhood kids. Within a few minutes, it became clear that the game wasn’t going well. From inside the garage, I could hear them arguing about the rules and debating the score. This group of kids was not playing from the same rulebook. It wasn’t long before the others took their literal ball and went home. This sort of scenario doesn’t just occur on the playground. As adults, we have these moments, too, although they might play out a bit more subtly (although not always). And if they are happening in your organization, it’s probably a sign that your company values aren’t clear or that there’s a misalignment between the stated values and what’s actually happening at work. Why Values Matter Values are a set of guiding principles that tell people how to behave. Your organization’s values are critical to unleashing the passion and capabilities of your people because they provide clear, consistent signposts not just for what is acceptable but what the organization aspires to achieve. As a leader, one of your most important roles is to be a steward of these values. Setting the right example is paramount: when the team looks up at you, what do they see? What do you tolerate and embody? How do you behave, especially in times of stress? How are you living them? Cultivating Culture Lived values are the DNA of your company’s culture. They set the foundation for so much of what enables outstanding leadership, including the ability to: Attract, retain and grow top talent. Enable the freedom to make decisions, take actions and fully engage everyone to contribute their best. Create an environment where people feel they belong, are valued for their differences and can be their true selves. Openly communicate, to be able to share our perspectives and truths and have others be shaped and influenced by it. Think of culture as your values in action. Now, it’s important to note that values tend to be ideals while life and business are often anything but. But that gap between the ideal and the real is normal. Your role is to make it as small as possible. The Value of Values I know for some leaders, “culture” and “values” might sound soft or fuzzy, something you have to articulate every few years in a strategic planning session, along with your mission and vision, and then promptly move on. This is a mistake. Values are directly linked to results—values equal performance. Well-articulated and consistently interpreted and followed values are the difference between great and merely OK, or even disastrous, performance. That’s because clear, consistent values breed engagement, a psychological and emotional commitment to the organization and its goals. To engage team members your organization must have a cause worthy of devotion. People want to contribute to something bigger than themselves. Put another way: if your strategy is what you want to accomplish, think of your values as how you’ll get there. The what and the how are a potent combination that creates a virtuous cycle. That’s because people who feel like their contribution counts perform better. The organization performs better. And then people feel that their contribution counts. The cycle then repeats itself. When leaders fail to embody and protect their company’s values, the results can range from disappointing to downright disastrous. The Big Lie When values and leadership behaviour are out of step, it doesn’t just damage morale: it jeopardizes performance. It’s the company that says it values respect but allows the hot-headed manager to yell at junior staffers with impunity. It’s the business that claims to value work-life harmony, but team members are constantly getting emails and requests after-hours. It’s the organization that states it values diversity but has a predominantly white, primarily male leadership team. This misalignment is fertile ground for all sorts of harmful elements that can sour your culture. It creates distrust. It sows the seeds of apathy: why bother trying to do my best or do the right thing if bad behaviour is tolerated or even rewarded? It can create a sense of fear, where team members are paralyzed by indecision or afraid of making a misstep because it’s not clear what the right choice might be. This profound disconnection is success kryptonite. Connection is at the heart of values. Strategy + Values Truly engaging people is a high bar. In most organizations, only 15-20 percent of employees report they are fully engaged. Yet, great leaders find a way to connect with people and engage them in the work and close the gap. You can have all the management tools in the world, but without being able to connect with and motivate people to act on strong, shared values, you’ll never lead them to contribute their best every day. I’d love to hear your stories how the values and culture in your organization enable success, or get in the way. Share yours in the comments. And email me directly if you think this approach might be a fit. Want more stories from the leadership and strategy trenches? Sign up here for WhiteWater’s free bimonthly newsletter. http://www.wwici.com

Several years ago, I witnessed a group of kids playing soccer in the street. They started right into the game without discussing where the goals were or the sidelines were (the curb? The first line of bushes? The busted down car in the street?). The game started with a lot of enthusiasm. Within a few minutes, one of the kids kicked the ball very far down the street and started screaming, “Goooooaaaaaaallllllllll!” His teammates were very happy. The kids on the other team started screaming that he hadn’t kicked the ball in exactly the right spot for a goal. Everyone was frustrated. But, they resolved the issue and resumed play. Within a few minutes a kid kicked the ball up into a yard. The kids on the other team said that the ball was out-of-bounds. The kids on the first team said it was still in-bounds and kept trying to play. Again, an argument ensued. This one lasted a little longer than the first argument. Toward the end, several kids wandered off in different directions saying they had better ways to spend their time. What had started out as a highly motivated, high energy group of kids wanting to play soccer outside on a gorgeous day quickly transformed into a case study in dejection and demotivation. The kids all found things to devote their attention to that were personally more motivating than the soccer game. Without any agreement about goals, sidelines or other rules, the game was just too frustrating to play. Leading your team, or a whole organization, is much the same. It is a game. People are more motivated and more able to deliver their best performance when they know how to win and what the rules of the game are. And, if those boundaries are not clear, playing the game is frustrating and demotivating. Think about the last time you started playing or watching a game for the first time whether it was Texas Hold ‘em Poker or soccer. Like most players, you almost certainly wanted to know two things: How do I win? What are the rules? What plays are in bounds; what plays are out of bounds? Inside the organization, one of your most critical roles as a leader is to define the playing field. Whether you’re the CEO or a first level supervisor on the shop floor, the people on your team have exactly the same questions…How do I win? What are the rules? The first question, “How do I win?” is answered by the goals and objectives you set for the organization, departments, teams or individual performers. People want, and need, to know what contribution they must make to be successful and to contribute to the organization’s success. This is the performance-driven aspect of “Performance-driven, Values-based Leadership(tm)” philosophy that WhiteWater Consulting Group is based on. Performance is the goal line. What must the organization accomplish for it to be successful? How do these objectives cascade down to the performance goals and targets of teams and individuals. People want to know how they win, personally, and how they contribute to their company’s or their department’s or their team’s success. These are the results that come from work. What are the rules? Values-based defines the second part of the game. The organization’s values represent the widest parameters within which people can take action. Clearly defining these parameters is critical because: Values provide the autonomy to act. In a “values-based” environment people know they can take whatever action is necessary to achieve the objectives (i.e., win the game) as long as they behave inside the boundaries defined by the values. Values define WHO can be on the team. If teamwork is critical to your organization’s success, then you need people who can work and play well with others, even if they aren’t the best individual contributors. If individual contribution is critical, then you might hire the absolute best individual performers, even if they act like rabid piranhas when working with others. As a leader, some questions to ponder: How well is the playing field in your part of the organization defined? To what extent does everyone in your work group know what their individual goals are? How well do those individual goals align with the organization’s, department’s and work team’s goals and objectives? What are your organization’s values? How consistently do people behave inside those values? What happens when people behave outside the values? Leave a comment about how you think values add to your Game. What have you seen as a benefit for your team when values are established and enforced?  What are the consequences when the boundaries aren’t clear, or the aren’t consistently enforced? Intrigued by what you’re reading? Download our white paper on converting strategy into execution and learn more about us by visiting our website . WhiteWater International Consulting, Inc. helps organizations understand the challenges they face and helps enterprises achieve and sustain outstanding performance through unleashing the passion and capabilities of its people. Because an organization is only as good at the people who power it.

Leaders are responsible for generating results, or Outcomes, as illustrated in the Thinking-Action-Outcomes™ model below.  Those results are determined by the Actions that leaders take.  Hence, most leaders and management development courses focus their attention on technique and actions – more effective ways to set goals, feedback and coaching tactics, how to inspire people or how to hold difficult conversations. Possessing those skills are necessary, but absolutely not sufficient for developing great leaders.  Great leadership requires that leaders challenge their own thinking and mental models – the assumptions, beliefs, values and perceptions that drive decision-making and action in the first place. Simply, we can teach effective listen skills all day long, but if the leader doesn’t give a damn about the person they are listening to, then the leader won’t hear a word…and the other person will know it.  On the other hand, if the leader truly cares about the other person and their point-of-view, then s/he will get the message almost in spite of how flawed his/her listening skills might be. Real leaders are able to examine their decisions and actions to truly understand why they act the way they do, and understand how their own mental models have more influence over the outcomes than the specific actions they took or decisions they made.  Only then, can they fully engage people in the organization and achieve the highest level of results. Combining those 5 elements with effective management practices – like goal-setting, coaching, etc. – result in real leadership that engages the organization and gets the herd moving roughly West. The Duke would be proud! Intrigued by what you’re reading? Download our white paper on converting strategy into execution and learn more about us by visiting our website . WhiteWater International Consulting, Inc. helps organizations understand the challenges they face and helps enterprises achieve and sustain outstanding performance through unleashing the passion and capabilities of its people. Because an organization is only as good at the people who power it. Challenging Mental Models.

Leading is Delegating Leading, by definition, is not a solo activity. So why do so many leaders try to go it alone, hoarding their team’s roles and responsibilities and struggling to delegate? In more than 30 years of corporate consulting and executive coaching, I’ve discovered a few common causes. One of the most frequent? The mistaken idea that delegating is lazy. A few years ago, our team was hired by a mid-sized manufacturing company with poor productivity and demoralized staff to help identify the production snags, retain talent, and generally turn things around. We didn’t have to look far for signs of trouble. When I spoke with one of the managers on the floor about how he delegates to his team, his words surprised me. “Delegation? I’m not a fan,” he said. “It’s just getting other people to do my job.” I was taken aback by such a fundamental misunderstanding of his role. But it explained a lot of the challenges I’d seen in the organization. No wonder they were getting stuck. And no surprise, there was rampant discontent and high turnover: no one could do their work. They were micromanaged and felt undermined every day on the job. A variation of that conversation has been repeated many times in my career. And my reply is inevitably the same: there’s a big difference between knowing what’s happening on your team and being directly involved in every decision, meeting, and move. The former is empowering. You know what’s happening, what’s essential, and can make high-level strategic decisions based on that. The latter is a straight path to burnout for the leader and inefficiency and frustration for your team. To be an effective force multiplier, you have to be willing to give up control of how things get done while retaining control of what gets done…keeping the focus on the key priorities and objectives of your team or group. To maximize your impact, let go. Your job as a leader is to be a force-multiplier, to help your team accomplish together what you can’t do alone. If you keep it all for yourself, you're going to hinder results and crush morale. So why do so many leaders still hold the reins so tight? For a variety of reasons. Fear of losing control Let’s start with control issues. Many leaders have a hard time delegating because they know they can do a task better and quicker than their subordinates. They just can’t seem to let it go. This tendency among leaders to want to do it all has an obvious source: most organizations promote the best doers, not necessarily the people with the greatest latent leadership abilities. There’s a pervasive “magic door theory” that somehow, at promotion, they’ll instantly transform into leaders, like Clark Kent emerging from the phone booth as Superman. And most organizations don’t help their leaders build their leadership capabilities, which are different from job functions or management skills (more on that below). It’s more comfortable Sometimes, doing the old job is just more comfortable. We’ve seen this at every level of organizations: leaders are more comfortable working one or even two levels down in the organization than at their level. They know how to do the old job. At some point, it had probably become easy. The new job is different, uncomfortable, probably more ambiguous and abstract than their former role. It’s easy and comfortable doing the old work. Early in my career at Pacific Gas and Electric, a senior director (let’s call him Tom) of a high-level engineering team was the ultimate work hog. His direct reports had little to do besides take legendarily long coffee breaks. Meanwhile, he was buried in his corner office under stacks of manila folders, shouldering a teams’ worth of work. Tom wasn’t only making himself overwhelmed and inefficient–he was depriving his team of the opportunity to develop by not delegating to them. It feeds the ego Along with control issues, some leaders take on all the things because it fuels their sense of self-worth and makes them feel essential. The simplest executive coaching client I ever had, a senior director of a team of 400, had this problem. We weren’t two minutes into our first session when his email pinged, and he immediately spun around to respond before continuing our conversation. This pattern repeated multiple times in the hour that followed. Throughout these ongoing interruptions, he shared the story of his life, which was in a disastrous state. He was on the verge of divorce and had no real relationship with his two teenage kids. He arrived at the office at 5 am, left at 6 pm, and worked at home until 10 when he’d collapse into bed. His sense of purpose relied upon being always-on, ready to respond. Not only was this destroying his personal life, but he was spread unsustainably thin at work. The fix was simple. We put him on an email diet–just 30 minutes at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And, we agreed he wouldn’t work from home and on weekends. He was anxious, but he did it. And it didn’t take long for things at work and at home to improve dramatically. His team was there to step in and step up. They just needed a chance. Fear of failure In most cases, we know that we can do the work better, faster, and with fewer opportunities for mistakes than our team members. So, we fear delegating because their results won’t be as good as ours. Yet, in doing so, we take away their opportunity to learn and grow new capabilities…they never develop the skills they need because we never let them stumble, fumble, bumble, and learn. As a great leader/friend of ours said, “Why should I deprive my team of the development opportunity by doing their work for them?” Up and out, not down and in. There are, of course, practical reasons that make delegation necessary. One person can only do so much. Try to do it all, and you’ll be the proverbial headless chicken, rushing from one task to the next. But there’s a higher reason, too. As a leader, your most valuable resources are your brain and your time. To be most effective, you have to make the best use of both. That’s your real job. And you can’t do it if you’re interjecting into every aspect of the operation. To engage your team, you need to be a performance motivator, coach, and change agent–not a busy-body task hog. Instead of working down into the business, you need to have your head up, looking ahead. Leading. Here at Whitewater, we believe true leaders are learners who challenge their thinking and habits, teachers who educate your team through your actions and statements, and stewards of the values that guide your organization. You show by your words and deeds which behaviors are in-bounds–and which are out. Becoming a leader–learner, teacher, steward–is an ongoing journey that benefits leaders AND your teams and organizations. The bosses I mentioned above were missing a foundational element in the recipe for success: the ability to engage others in the journey–and the courage to let them contribute to something no one could do alone. Leading is Delegating.