Emotional Intelligence

October 31st, 2009

There’s been some debate recently on whether Emotional Intelligence can be classified as an actual intelligence – ie something that you have to a lesser or greater degree. Or is it a skill and a competence that can be learned and developed? We believe that emotional intelligence lies within all of us but can often be further developed through effective mentoring.

But leaving this debate and the semantics to others, we do see that emotional awareness – of oneself, and of others – is an essential ingredient in the leader’s toolkit. If we do not pay sufficient attention, then our own emotional and personal history, or perhaps the cumulative effect of the stresses and strains of everyday life, have an impact on our judgement, on our relationships with others, and our effectiveness in our leadership role.

For more insight into this area, why not read our article Keeping your head in the present

Leadership and Courage

October 26th, 2009

We believe it’s important to encourage leaders to exchange and share their experiences. So we hold regular informal dinners where we invite our clients to come and engage in conversation, develop their network, and listen to other perspectives. The speaker at one of our recent dinners was the Financial Tmes columnist Stefan Stern.

He initiated a conversation on leadership – and the need for courage.

At the fundamental level this must manifest itself in the courage to guide and steer the organisation, but as the conductor of the orchestra, creating the space and place in which other people do the performing. This indeed takes courage where the leader has built their success on being a star performer. And this courage will develop out of the skill and practice of deep listening.

HR needs to take the initiative

October 5th, 2009

HR must take the initiative

Following on from my previous post, I notice that Douglas Ready warns (from research of 40 companies worldwide) that ‘a large proportion of the HR professionals said that they were worried that the progress made in leadership development and talent management … might be wiped out as a result of excessive short-term thinking and non-strategic cost cutting‘.

He too is concerned that this is evidence that many senior executives still see talent management and leadership development as activities for ‘good times only’. He also is concerned that HR is not playing the role it should – or could – to champion the business case for ongoing leadership development for the future.

HR of course is closely involved in delivering HR services to the business. And indeed, these services are always stretched at times of change and restructuring. But just as leadership generally needs to manage the short term and the long term, so too HR Directors need to step up to the mark and deliver their equally essential mission of delivering appropriate talent for the business both today and tomorrow.

Clevers and Smarts

September 28th, 2009

I’ve just been reading the article by Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones on ‘How to harness the special talents of clever people’, Management Today September 2009 . They add their voices to others who warn that there are organisational challenges in these difficult times that will be critical for success in the future, which have to be attended to.

This is the retention, management and leadership, of talent. Headcount reduction, cost cuttings, reorganisations have already led to a significant loss of organisational knowledge and wisdom. It’s evident that a critical focus of the organisation has to be survival today – but it cannot be at the cost of the leadership health of the company in the future.

It is critical that today’s leaders continue to create, protect and provide the enabling, flexible, challenging and adaptable environment that enables talent – especially ‘the Clevers’ – to flourish. Do read this article – it gives some useful guidelines on how to lead and get the best out these talented, clever people. If all you provide is a siege mentality they will respond by taking their talents elsewhere. You can’t afford to lose them. Because how will you replace them?

Hiring is down. Training and development budgets have to be justified in terms of immediate return on investment. Many graduate trainee programmes have been shelved or postponed. So protect and develop the talents and leadership you already have.

Reading this article also reminded me of the complementary and fundamental challenge that we are engaged in – actually ensuring that leaders do develop and learn. This was expounded so well in the seminal work of Chris Argyris published in the Harvard Business Review in 1991 ‘Teaching Smart People how to Learn’. While Goffee and Jones show us that organisations need to combine a demonstration of high affinity/empathy for the Clevers with clear discipline, we have to make sure that we are also providing a learning environment where talented people are encouraged to admit to uncertainty and failure and to learn to learn from it. Then we will be ready for the future upturn.

Leadership development for uncertain times

September 18th, 2009

Leadership is difficult at the best of times. It’s much more difficult in today’s world because it’s not always clear – to anyone – what direction is needed. The purpose of a leader is to steer the ship. There has to be someone in control – whether on the bridge or in the control room – to ensure that we avoid the icebergs and forge ahead safely towards our destination.

Leaders have to inspire the confidence in others so that everyone can make their proper contribution to the collective endeavour. However, today’s burning issue is that leaders are as unclear as their followers as to what to do.

Successful leaders recognise that they don’t have all the answers – particularly in difficult times – and need to involve others in conversations around issues of uncertainty. This is often a problem, because our model of leadership is based on the assumptions that the leader knows everything.

Linda Holbeche, director of Research and Policy at the CIPD wrote in May 2008 about Developing leaders for uncertain times , arguing the case that “ maintaining and growing the investment in developing leaders will produce significant payback and enable organizations to build differentiation and competitive advantage”.

I agree with Linda that we also need to review the content, focus and method of leadership development to ensure that their development enables them to deliver the job they have to do. Leadership development needs to ensure that as well as engaging and developing the leader’s capabilities to be decisive and to keep their followers focused, motivated and able to handle uncertainty, it also enables the leaders to confront and handle their own uncertainties, their own anxieties and vulnerabilities. “Quis custodiat ipsos custodies” (who guards the guards). Leaders need their coaches and mentors more than ever today.

A thoroughly nice man

September 4th, 2009

I was listening to the radio this morning and I caught the tail end of a commentary on Barack Obama. It got me thinking. I’m actually quite disappointed. He’s been in office now for 9 months – but where is his impact? I don’t get the sense of a strong man in the White House.

At least with Bush – love him or loathe him – there was a sense of a strong presence. He made decisions. (OK we’re not here debating the quality of those decisions).

Barack Obama is a bit like a shadow. He appears as someone who has been in office for only a week or two. He is a thoroughly nice man but nothing seems to happen. Is he vascillating on decision making – is he spending too much time asking for other people’s opinions, and wanting to lead by consensus?

Is this another example of the failure of leadership, where the politician has been all about the journey to become president, and not about his presence and actions when doing the job?

Hmmm – what does this say about leadership in the western world? Do we get the leaders we deserve (Alistair Mant)?

The fencepost tortoise

July 7th, 2009

Talking of fences, this email story has been doing the rounds recently.

While stitching up the hand of a 75 year old Devon farmer, who cut it on a gate while working cattle, the rural doctor struck up a conversation with the old man. Eventually the topic got around to Gordon Brown and his appointment as Prime Minister.

“Well, you know,” drawled the old farmer, “this Brown fellow is what they call a fencepost tortoise.”

Not being familiar with the term, the doctor asked him what a fencepost tortoise was.

The old farmer said, “When you’re driving along a country road and you come across a fence post with a tortoise balanced on top, that’s called a fencepost tortoise.”

The old farmer saw a puzzled look on the doctor’s face, so he continued to explain, “You know he didn’t get up there by himself, he definitely doesn’t belong up there, he doesn’t know what to do while he is up there, and you just have to wonder what kind of idiot put him up there in the first place.”

What a sorry state to be in

June 15th, 2009

In business and in politics, if there is a problem, you have to do something about it. Good leaders have either to develop Talent, or not be afraid of getting rid of poor performers and rotten wood. Unless you have Talent you can’t pursue effectively your aims and objectives or your strategic intent.

What Cameron has begun to understand, and where he has started to take action, is around some of the issues of Talent and Organisation. He has decided what needs to be done and is doing it. Brown is doing the reverse – eg he is living with incompetence. When this happens the rot seeps into other parts of the triangle.

In terms of Organisation – how things are done – Cameron has already begun to describe that in a way that Brown hasn’t started to yet. Cameron is saying – if you want to be an MP, if you want the Whip, you have to fall into line. Brown needs to improve existing Talent, and get rid of the people who don’t measure up. Otherwise he will not be a convincing leader. You can’t do what he is doing and just sit on the fence.

Nor has Brown been good at articulating what his Purpose is anyway, what the strategic orientation of the government is, and the philosophy, the values, the ethics, the aims and so forth. It’s never been on his agenda. His sole agenda was first to get the Role of Prime Minister (not what he was going to do when he was there). And then to make life difficult for the Opposition.

Cameron has to pay attention to Purpose also – because unless he can articulate a story that is convincing to people, however good he is at managing Talent (development or departure – shape up or ship out) or Organisation, it won’t be enough. For effective leadership you have to pay attention to all three.

Brown hasn’t understood what he has to do in order to be seen as an effective leader. Cameron appears to have instinctively understood that certain things need to be done around the triangle, in the way that Brown hasn’t. Brown won’t recover unless he takes this responsibility seriously. There are certain things that good leaders have to do – and Brown isn’t doing them, and is paying the price for it.

Will he have the courage – or the capacity – to do things differently?

MP expenses: a failure in leadership

May 20th, 2009

The recent turmoil in parliament brings to the fore once more what happens when leadership is out of balance.

Why is leadership crumbling? What can be done to get us out of this mess? In our work with organisations we often analyse what is happening around the triangle of Purpose, Talent and Organisation.

A good leadership team and a good leader in particular, will focus on all three points of the triangle. If they fail to do that, then the triangle collapses and we get into the mess we are in now.

Gordon Brown has failed to pay sufficient attention to all three points on the triangle. What is behind each of them?

Purpose: aims and objectives, values, strategic intent, philosophy, ethics

Talent: the talent that is available in pursuit of purpose; need to measure the quality and develop it

Organisation: the policies, practices, procedures, structures and roles; they are the glue that holds together purpose and the talent

When the triangle is out of balance we have a problem. If you don’t pay attention to all three points, the whole thing will collapse. And confidence in parliament – and its leadership – has collapsed.

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