I’m a firm believer that as a leader you are only as good as the people you surround yourself with. Surround yourself with great people (who are a good fit to your culture and environment) and you are on the road to success. Yet, I regularly see leaders who want to be the center of it all. They feel like they need to be the smartest ones in the room. Instead of sharing information, they withhold it thinking it gives them power. They let their egos and/or insecurities get in the way. They fail to invest in their team because they are afraid that that if their team members look too good, they will look bad (e.g., stupid, not knowledgeable, less skilled). As it turns out, they end up “looking bad” because the team isn’t as successful as it could be. And they only have themselves to blame.
Who Surrounds You?
Author: Diane Hamilton, Date: 8/18/2011
Who cares how many hours you work – Maybe you’re inefficient
Author: Paul Dillenburg, Date: 8/9/2011With all the recent talk surrounding the number of hours the typical American worker is now putting in, I was reminded of a talk I attended that brought together some of the country’s most successful leaders. One of the presenters was Jim Goodnight, CEO of SAS, a premier business analytics software company serving 45,000 customers and 92 of top 100 companies on the FORTUNE Global 500® list. Jim has led the privately-held company since it began in 1976. While SAS’s business success is impressive, the culture Jim has created is awe inspiring.
3 Areas for Development
Author: Paul Dillenburg, Date: 6/28/2011As individuals grow in their roles and responsibilities their developmental skill set should expand from technical competence, to managing self and others, to leadership expertise.
- Technical competence may include professional certifications, continuing education, or professional skills training (e.g., software training, writing skills, presentation skills).
- Managerial competence could include performance management, giving feedback, delegation, team building, managing conflict, communication skills and developing others.
- While enhancing managerial skills is a key development need that may continue throughout a career, top talent with potential for future senior-level roles need to develop additional leadership skills. These skills may focus on industry knowledge and exposure, organizational strategies, managing relationships through internal and external networks, influence without direct authority, resilience, and executive presence.
Developing Leaders On-the-Job
Author: Paul Dillenburg, Date: 6/7/2011A couple of months ago, I was involved in a group discussion focusing on building capabilities in young managers. One of the points of emphasis within the group was that new managers (and some senior leaders) thought of development as a formal program designed and delivered by the organization (e.g., mentor programs, training). Given the budget cuts many organizations are facing, group participants wanted to know what they could do to develop young talent.
Where Will Your Key Talent be in 12-months?
Author: Paul Dillenburg, Date: 5/24/2011If you’re like many organizations…
…your key talent is thankful to have a job– but how long will that last?
…your key talent is over-producing – but how long will that last?
…your key talent is OK with not being developed or groomed – but how long will that last?
…your key talent doesn’t have many other employment options – but how long will that last?
Talent for Today
Author: Paul Dillenburg, Date: 2/1/2011Many people think about talent management and leadership development as something “you do for the future.” While the future leadership of an organization is important, can we really predict who those future leaders will be? Ultimately, how much control does the organization have over an employee’s decision to stay? Organizations certainly can influence the decision, but no amount of influence can guarantee your ‘star’ employee will stay.
This does not, however, imply talent management, succession planning, and leadership development should be relegated to the back-burner. On the contrary, these initiatives should be front-and-center on the minds of your leadership team now and the reason is a simple “numbers game.”
Accountability Defined
Author: Paul Dillenburg, Date: 12/7/2010Interested in finding out if your organization struggles with accountability? Pose this question from the book Influencer (Patterson et al) to your co-workers, “What does it take to get fired around here?” If the responses you hear are not performance-related, then what are employees telling you they are accountable for? What examples are given? Are the responses consistent with the mission, vision, and values of your organization? What are employees rewarded for or punished for? What message does a lack of punishment send to poor performers or those that violate the mission and values of your organization?
Making the Tough Call
Author: Diane Hamilton, Date: 11/23/2010I recently facilitated a leadership series with a group of high potentials. As part of the overall program, we invited the company’s CEO to present. One participant asked the CEO what he had learned over the years in his various leadership roles. One of his responses was, “Don’t be afraid to make the tough decisions related to your team. Develop people, train them, coach them…and, if they aren’t a good fit, find a place that is or make the tough decision.”
Play to Your Team’s Strengths
Author: Paul Dillenburg, Date: 9/7/2010Not long ago, I re-read an article written by Jim Collins, author of Good to Great (and other thought provoking books). In the article, Jim paid homage to one of his mentors, Peter Drucker. Peter, of course, has had a huge influence on the world of business and the subject of leadership. One point Jim highlighted was that Peter Drucker always felt results came from building on a strength versus putting all your energy into shoring up a weakness. As I thought about this point, I began to think about how managers often spend an inordinate amount of time on their weakest team members. Think of all the energy that goes into feedback, coaching, corrective actions, performance reviews, and performance plans. Are you focusing on your team’s “weaknesses”? You yourself may be in charge of a team member that can’t seem to “keep up” to the standards you have set. How much of your time is spent with this individual in any given week or month? How much of your “face time” with team members is spent with your poor performers? Is all the time you are spending making your team better? Is it making your poor performer better?
Beyond the Jargon – A Blog by Calibra
Author: btj-admin, Date: 7/13/2010Welcome to “Beyond the Jargon,” a blog by Calibra. Over the years we have provided coaching, training, and consulting to thousands of leaders and managers at all levels in organizations—senior level executives, mid-level managers, and frontline supervisors. We have learned as much from them as they have hopefully learned from us. What many have told us is, “this stuff should be so simple” (meaning the concept of leadership; providing vision and clear direction; the basic principles of communication; giving candid feedback; and, coaching openly and honestly). Then, they add, “but, it’s not easy!”
