Leadership
In my work as a leadership consultant, clients often tell me that they would welcome 360-degree feedback on their performance. 360-degree feedback is a process where not just the manager but peers and direct reports and sometimes even customers evaluate someone’s performance. The person being reviewed – typically, someone in a leadership position – receives an analysis of how he or she perceives themselves as leaders and how others perceive them. That analysis is used to find opportunities to close the gaps in perception, and improve performance.
Sounds simple enough. Yet, no matter how much my clients think that they would welcome constructive criticism, the initial results can feel like feedback by firing squad. Especially when they get it from multiple raters in a 360-degree review format.
In reality, most people process negative feedback by working through the five stages of grief. They react with the denial stage and try to cling to their preferred reality. Next, they move to anger and look for someone else to blame. In the bargaining stage, they consider ways to negotiate ways out of doing the work to assess reality correctly. This often leads to the stage of depression and withdrawal. In the final stage, acceptance, they recognize that there may be some truth to the feedback, and can resolve to deal with it.
This cycle is partly because leaders tend to have attribution bias. That is, we take too much credit for our successes and assign too much external blame for our failures. It’s a survival mechanism that helps to protect our self-esteem. Unfortunately, it also prevents learning and growth.
If you suffer a setback from negative feedback, you don’t have to get stuck in the grief cycle. Re-read the feedback carefully and mine it for nuggets to help you critically evaluate where you can improve. Talk with others who you trust to get their perspective on your feedback. Use this opportunity to do some serious discovery work, then act with renewed conviction. Move out of the grief cycle and onto a path that will allow you to grow as a leader and be the kind of model you strive to be.
Getting negative feedback about your performance from your colleagues can be an ego bruiser. But, successful leaders know that feedback can shed light on their blind spots, and help them assess reality correctly. Every setback can become a springboard to a comeback if you respond in the right way.
Question: How do you use feedback to grow yourself as a leader?
Driven by the premise that excellence is the result of aligning people, purpose and performance, Center for Executive Excellence facilitates training in leading self, leading teams and leading organizations. To learn more, subscribe to receive CEE News!
![10 Goals for the Manager as Coach by Michael J. Coffey, MA]()
Leadership
This week’s post was written by my friend and Center for Executive Excellence Senior Executive Consultant, Michael Coffey. Michael actually trained me in how to be a more effective leader before Center for Executive Excellence was founded. There are few people who I trust with delivering results for our clients more than Michael. He balances humor and humility with listening and learning to help our clients grow themselves and their team. – Sheri Nasim
Most managers are good technicians. They focus on the pragmatic planning and organizing to get the hands-on work accomplished through their teams.
Yet, many managers have deficiencies in “soft skills” – how to communicate, listen and empathize with those around them. There are important differences between managing and leading people. Leading others effectively requires a mastery of the soft skills necessary to inspire people to work at their full potential and take part in something bigger than themselves.
A symptom of a typical manager is that they take a “task with consequences” approach to their work versus inspiring their team to work for a greater cause. Coaching managers away from the “task with consequences” approach and toward a “boss as coach” model helps bridge the soft skills gap and create alignment. It’s an approach that goes beyond the “what” and “how” and toward the “why” to help team members discover how their individual values and professional goals align.
Here are 10 goals for managers to work on toward building their “manager as coach” soft skills:
1. Articulate the organization’s vision, purpose, direction, strategies, major goals and actions.
2. Involve/include team members to acquire understanding, connection, commitment, passion and ownership.
3. Align team member goals, actions and expectations with those of the organization.
4. Remove barriers and provide resources.
5. Follow up and hold people accountable.
6. Promote feedback, input and idea-sharing from team members.
7. Challenge and inspire team members to stretch for greatness.
8. Develop and grow people through meaningful work.
9. Increase work/career satisfaction and personal fulfillment.
10. Create a positive, productive community of team members who volunteer their best and fulfill their potential.
When the vision, mission and culture of an organization are in alignment with the individual’s values and professional goals, employees are more committed to the organization, more productive, and happier at their job.
Question: As a leader, how do you align individual goals to the organization’s big picture goals?
Our 5 Frame Coaching: Developing the Manager as Coach Program helps managers and senior leaders create a culture of organizational alignment and increased performance through coaching. Interested in learning more about our 2-day training for your organization, including your own copies of our 4 module workbook and reinforcement videos? Contact our VP of Client Engagement Danielle Aguas at daguas@executiveexcellence.com | 877-223-1428 ext. 703.
Employee Engagement
Today’s organizations are fighting a workforce trifecta of facts. Fact 1: There are a million more job openings in the U.S. than workers to fill them. Fact 2: The employee quit rate in the U.S. has hit a 17-year high. Fact 3: Workplace burnout is being upgraded by the World Health Organization in its International Classification of Diseases. In short, managers are trying to get more done with fewer people at a greater risk to their own health.
It gets worse. A study by Harvard Business School found that more than half of a manager’s time is spent on administrative tasks and only 7% of their time (about 2.8 hours per week) is spent on developing people and engaging with stakeholders. After engaging stakeholders, developing people is likely closer to 1 hour per week. This chronic lack of time spent on employee development is equivalent to the phenomenon known as ghosting which perpetuates both the quit rate and burnout rate. To break this cycle, the role and purpose of today’s managers must change in three fundamental ways:
From controlling to coaching. While the world’s workplaces have been going through extraordinary historical change, the practice of management has been stuck in time for more than 30 years. The new workforce — especially younger generations — wants their work to have deep mission and purpose, and they don’t want old-style command-and-control bosses. They want coaches who inspire them, communicate with them frequently and develop their strengths.
From deciding to delegating. Too many managers don’t let direct reports make decisions for fear that mistakes will take too much valuable time to correct. This tendency restricts employees’ ability to develop their thinking and decision making which is exactly what is needed to help organizations remain competitive. Today’s managers don’t need to be the smartest person in the room. They need to tap into the collective intelligence and draw out everyone’s best thinking.
From ‘what works’ to ‘what if’. Managers often encourage predictability. They want processes in place that can be referred to regardless of who is in the role. The problem with this management style is that it leads to perpetuating the status quo at the expense of what is possible. Today’s managers don’t need hired hands to turn raw materials into products. They need hearts and minds that are challenged to find better ways to operate, to discover ways to grow, and to reimagine how things have been done in the past.
Today’s managers play a critical role in helping your organization adapt to the new workplace demands. Help them succeed by reimagining them as coaches who encourage critical thinking and curiosity.
Question: Do your managers spend more time reporting to senior leaders or coaching emerging ones?
Driven by the premise that excellence is the result of aligning people, purpose and performance, Center for Executive Excellence facilitates training in leading self, leading teams and leading organizations. To learn more, subscribe to receive CEE News!
Uncategorized
“You will work all the time. If you’re very, very lucky you may sleep or eat.”
That’s an actual quote pulled from a review posted on Glassdoor – a site where employees and job candidates can anonymously post pros and cons about your company.
What’s that again?
Like TripAdvisor and RateMyProfessors, Glassdoor is taking advantage of the transparency revolution. It’s a database of company reviews, CEO ratings, and benefits information that lets the world know what it’s like behind the curtain of your organization – from interview to exit.
How big is it?
If you thought that Glassdoor was a small social media platform for people to complain about their jobs, think again. Launched in 2008, Glassdoor has a current valuation of $1 billion. It’s used by 34% of Fortune 500 companies, and has 30 million members from 190 countries who’ve contributed company reviews, salary reports, and photos for some 500,000 companies.
Why should I care?
In today’s market, your job prospects are making decisions about whether to work for your organization based on information provided by your current employees. This year’s Edelman Trust Barometer shows that trust has changed profoundly in the past year with “my employer” emerging as the most trusted cohort – far more than traditional authority figures. It’s part of what Bob Corlett of HR Examiner calls the Amazonification of recruiting.
What can I do about it?
First, you can’t put the genie back in the bottle. Transparency is here to stay. The best employers use Glassdoor as an opportunity to gain a competitive advantage in the market for top talent.
Second, breathe easy. The average company rating on Glassdoor is 3.3 out of 5, and 66% are positive. Glassdoor requires reviewers to provide both pros and cons, and enforces protocols like no foul language and NO REVIEWS IN ALL CAPS.
Third, you can follow these tips to reinforce your reputation:
1. Spring for an enhanced profile. With it, you can add customized content like photos, videos, and job postings. It allows you to put your best foot forward in a way that displays your company’s culture and personality.
2. Encourage reviews. It’s better to be proactive than reactive. Ask job candidates to post a review of the interview experience. Encourage employees to write reviews when celebrating milestone anniversaries with your organization.
3. Comment. Employee and candidate reviews are considered opinion, so take them as such, and respond in a kind and genuine way. Here are some best of examples for inspiration.
4. Reflect. If you get a negative review, take some time for the sting to pass, then reflect. As leadership guru, Ken Blanchard says, “Feedback is the breakfast of champions.” If there is a kernel of truth in the negative comments, use this opportunity to reflect and address the underlying issue.
Finally, provide outlets for employees to vent. If they can speak up at a town hall or on a discussion board, they’ll be less likely to take out their frustrations in public.
Question: What does the concept of transparency mean to you and your organization? Is it feared or embraced?
Driven by the premise that excellence is the result of aligning people, purpose and performance, Center for Executive Excellence facilitates training in leading self, leading teams and leading organizations. To learn more, subscribe to receive CEE News!
![10 Goals for the Manager as Coach by Michael J. Coffey, MA]()
Leadership
Looking for some titles to add to your reading list this summer? From brand new bestsellers, to stories that reveal the difference between power and true leadership in an increasingly complex, hyper-connected world, here are seven titles that are well worth picking up:
1. Brave New Work: Are You Ready to Reinvent Your Organization? by Aaron Dignan
What it’s about: When fast-scaling startups and global organizations get stuck, they call Aaron Dignan. In this book, he reveals his proven approach for eliminating red tape, dissolving bureaucracy, and doing the best work of your life.
Why pick it up: To learn exactly how organizations are inventing a smarter, healthier, and more effective way to work. Not through top down mandates, but through a groundswell of autonomy, trust, and transparency.
2. The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World by Melinda Gates
What it’s about: This book calls on readers to support women everywhere as a means to lift up society. Gates pulls from her lessons learned through the inspiring women she’s met on her travels with the Gates Foundation, which funds projects to reduce poverty and improve global health in the developing world.
Why pick it up: “Melinda weaves together vulnerable, brave storytelling and compelling data to make this one of those rare books that you carry in your heart and mind long after the last page.” – Brené Brown
3. Sea Stories: My Life in Special Operations by Admiral William H. McRaven
What it’s about: Following the success of his #1 New York Times bestseller Make Your Bed, which has sold over one million copies, Retired Admiral William H. McRaven is back with amazing stories of adventure during his career as a Navy SEAL and commander of America’s Special Operations Forces.
Why pick it up: For an unforgettable look back on one man’s incredible life, from childhood days sneaking into high-security military sites to taking part in some of the most famous missions in recent memory, including the capture of Saddam Hussein, the rescue of Captain Richard Phillips, and the raid to kill Osama bin Laden.
4. Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup By John Carreyrou
What it’s about: The full inside story of the breathtaking rise and shocking collapse of Theranos, the one-time multibillion-dollar biotech startup founded by Elizabeth Holmes—now the subject of the HBO documentary The Inventor—by the prize-winning journalist who first broke the story and pursued it to the end.
Why pick it up: “The story is even crazier than I expected, and I found myself unable to put it down once I started. This book has everything: elaborate scams, corporate intrigue, magazine cover stories, ruined family relationships, and the demise of a company once valued at nearly $10 billion.” — Bill Gates
5. Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World by David Epstein
What it’s about: David Epstein, author of the New York Times bestseller The Sports Gene, studied the world’s most successful athletes, artists, musicians, inventors, forecasters and scientists. He discovered that in most fields—especially those that are complex and unpredictable—generalists, not specialists, are primed to excel. While computers master more of the skills once reserved for highly focused humans, people who think broadly and embrace diverse experiences and perspectives will increasingly thrive.
Why pick it up: Provocative, rigorous, and engrossing, Range makes a compelling case for actively cultivating inefficiency to prepare the workforce for jobs in a complex, interconnected, rapidly changing world.
6. Nine Lies About Work: A Freethinking Leader’s Guide to the Real World by Marcus Buckingham and Ashley Goodall
What it’s about: Strengths guru and bestselling author Marcus Buckingham and Cisco Leadership and Team Intelligence head Ashley Goodall show in this provocative, inspiring book, there are some big lies—distortions, faulty assumptions, wrong thinking—that we encounter every time we show up for work. Nine lies, to be exact. They cause dysfunction and frustration, ultimately resulting in workplaces that are a pale shadow of what they could be.
Why pick it up: Nine Lies About Work reveals the few core truths that will help you show just how good you are to those who truly rely on you.
7. It’s the Manager: Gallup finds the quality of managers and team leaders is the single biggest factor in your organization’s long-term success by John Clifton and Jim Harter
What it’s about: While the world’s workplace has been going through extraordinary historical change, the practice of management has been stuck in time for more than 30 years. The new workforce—especially younger generations—wants their work to have deep mission and purpose, and they don’t want old-style command-and-control bosses. They want coaches who inspire them, communicate with them frequently and develop their strengths.
Why pick it up: Packed with 52 discoveries from Gallup’s largest study on the future of work, It’s the Manager shows leaders how to adapt their organizations to rapid change, ranging from new workplace demands to managing remote employees, a diverse workforce, the rise of artificial intelligence, gig workers, and attracting—keeping—today’s best employees.
Some of the principles in these books are about new ways to approach today’s leadership issues. Others can give you the inspiration you need to tackle your greatest challenges of 2019.
Question: What leadership books would you recommend reading this summer?
Download our infographic with descriptions of these great summer books. Happy reading!
