Power-crazed leaders are not what we need ...

So the Work Foundation has just discovered what we have known for some time – power-crazed leaders are not what we need (The Guardian, Saturday 16 January 2010). The trouble is that’s exactly what we’ve got (I’m exaggerating to make a point).

Our global benchmark data for leadership behaviours explains this very dilemma.

The high performance benchmark level for each High Performance Behaviour (HPB) is indicated by the horizontal purple line.

Ideally what we would like to see is for all HPBs to be developed above the benchmark line. Clearly that isn’t the case. What we see is a skewed profile of HPBs across the world.

The well developed behaviours on the left side of the diagram are those needed to run a unit in a more traditionally structured organisation. This is characterised by people who are good at planning, can solve problems, they have good presentation skills and are able to build confidence in others and make things happen. These skills are important, but the Work Foundation claims that these aren’t so important today.

According to the Work Foundation what we do need is “a much more subtle, people-centred approach to leadership.” We agree, but if that’s what we want them we’ve got to do something about developing the behaviours on the right side of our diagram. Three HPBs in particular (empathy, team work and conceptual flexibility) are critical in building relationships and fairness, but as the diagram above shows they tend to be poorly valued and developed.

Without urgent attention on these HPBs in particular – and we’re talking reliable individual assessment to identify gaps and then tailored development to address them – the new, ‘people-centred’ leaders that we urgently need, will fail to materialise.

“Where are the Oscars for us mortals?”

The news coverage associated with the Oscars underlined a lesson for effective leadership in times of economic dislocation. It makes one think "Where are the Oscars for us mortals?"

Kate Winslett, Sean Penn and Danny Boyle were recipients of much more than a small, gold statuette. They got something money can't buy - recognition.

In fact, it's something we all crave. As psychologist Frederick Herzberg found, satisfaction does not come from pay but from challenging work, responsibility and ... recognition. Maybe the business world can learn something from Hollywood in this challenging economic environment.

Pay cuts are becoming more commonplace than pay rises. If a salary and bonus ever could help you keep your talent, it's doubtful it could today. Recognition need cost nothing - assuming you don't go for the Vanity Fair party - yet too often it is forgotten. The issue has everything to do with two leadership behaviours identified by CHPD as crucial to high performance leadership - 'building confidence' and 'developing people'.

Dr Tony Cockerill, CHPD founder and expert in leadership, explains: “There are 12 behaviours that have been identified as making the difference between average and high performing leadership. Two of these are clearly linked to recognition; ‘building confidence’ ties in with the public or external recognition of good work, while ‘developing people’ links to the one-to-one feedback that you give people about their performance. As a manager, if you have strengths in both behaviours, you are likely to have staff who feel recognised and valued for their contribution.”

Strengths in both behaviours necessary for recognition can be rare. In a recent snapshot of results from years of assessment of leaders in the UK, we found that, on average, leaders were under-developed when it came to ‘developing people’ (diagram below).

CHPD both assesses leaders against these 12 behaviours and then helps them achieve a higher level of performance through training and coaching. To find out how your leaders stack up against the key benchmarks, email info@chpd.com. In the meantime, try the following tips to boost the satisfaction of your people:

• Be specific with your recognition – don’t just say ‘you do a great job’, tell someone exactly what they did that has been appreciated. This way you not only make them feel valued, but they are also clear about what great behaviour looks like and what they need to focus on in the future.
  
• Try a handwritten note – something that stands out from a regular email and that you’ve put some effort in to
  
• Don’t combine praise and criticism – if there are issues with performance raise them separately from the praise, otherwise the recipient with only focus on the criticism not the praise you’re trying to impart. People are wise to the ‘feedback sandwich’ now – good thing, bad thing, good thing – and can be waiting for the ‘bad’.
  
• Present your own Oscars – why not get hold of a few statuettes or certificates to hand out to worthy winners. Having them around the office and pinned to notice boards can stimulate positive conversations and ensure that colleagues know why someone has been recognised.

After all, if it’s good enough for Kate, Sean and Danny, it’s good enough for you!

For more information on CHPD's leadership behaviours email info@chpd.com or visit our website http://www.chpd.com/

Down We Go

At last Dick gets the respect he deserves from his underlings

A fascinating article appeared in the Sunday Times In December giving an insider's view of the decisive contribution Dick Fuld made to the eventual collapse of Lehman Brothers. From our perspective, it is the clear deficiencies in some key High Performance Behaviours that is helpful in understanding how he went from hero to zero. The list includes; negative Information Search as Lehman executives filtered out all information except that which confirmed their inflated estimates of the company' worth, negative Influence as Fuld and his inner circle demonised anyone who challenged their view of events and negative Teamwork, with business units forced to become isolated or combatitive. Used aggressively in this way by a dominant boss, the negative behaviours became a destructive force.

When the downward spiral accelerated, Fuld's last resort was to berate the US government for not bailing the firm out, abdicating responsibility to the very end. Disagreeable even by the standards of the financial world many will be hoping to never see his like again on Wall Street.