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The Leadership Challenge: Passive Aggressive Stakeholders

June 5, 2015 By Sam Palazzolo, Managing Director

The Point: As a leader, you’re faced with all kinds of challenges… How to increase revenue, keep expenses in check, etc. Global domination is within reach, until… Until your stakeholders that you perceived as previously “with” you turn out to actually be “against” you! In this post, we take a look at passive aggressive stakeholder, why they are the way they are, and what you can do about it to overcome the leadership challenge… Enjoy!

Where Does Passive Aggressive Behavior Come From?

Robin was a team leader in a Fortune 100 organization looking to improve her team’s output (i.e., Sales). While they were the top selling team in the organization, Robin was convinced that in order to stay at their perch, some fine-tuning was in order. Rather than dictate new policies/procedures, she collaborated with her team in presenting problems/opportunities and having them as a whole come up with solutions (That’s a good method, right?)

If you’ve ever been in Robin’s seat you know firsthand that this is no easy task. In executive coaching conversation after executive coaching conversation, I’ve heard a variation of this scenario play out in a variety of industries/organizations over the years. And unfortunately, a side effect of these “we have to do more” moments is when one, or a group, of the stakeholders dissents in a passive aggressive manner.

I’m NOT Passive Aggressive, I’m Politically Savvy!

Passive Aggressive Behavior can be exhibited in any of the following situations:

Stakeholders appear on the surface-layer to be supportive, however behind the scenes backstab, bitch, and look to burry.
Stakeholders use the “T” word (Trust) as in “You can trust me!” However, putting trust in them is nothing more than a career death wish.
Stakeholders use the “L” word (Love) like it was water coming out of the faucet, as in “I simply love the direction we’re going in!” If this is love, I’d hate to see them hate!
Stakeholders have no loyalty to you or fellow stakeholders, as they’ll easily “back up the bus” and run over anyone/anytime (As in “I am fully supportive of our new processes, but you know Susan…”)
Stakeholders use a deadly cocktail of sarcasm and humor to disguise their disgust (Read that as it’s awfully hard to get an accurate “read” on them).
Stakeholders withhold specific information to leverage their bargaining power and/or make them appear smarter than other stakeholders.

At the heart of this passive aggressive behavior is commitment (As in lack thereof). When commitments are questioned, typically these stakeholders either shrug it off as a misread on your part, deny that they would ever conduct themselves in this manner, and on the rare occasion boast that they have acted so. One such stakeholder who admitted their passive aggressive behavior proudly proclaimed “You’re wrong. I’m right. What is there to talk about?” Apparently the leadership development program they went to covered such honest moments under the Politically Savvy Transparency section of the program!

So What Can You Do About Passive Aggressive Stakeholders?

It’s important for a leader to “inspect what they expect” when it comes to performance, and even more so with stakeholder behavior. Instead of getting into an emotional turmoil state (no matter how warranted it might be), look to gage stakeholder behavior.

If stakeholder behavior is not in alignment with expectations, then the leadership challenge at hand can be dealt with straightforward according to goals established, SMART criteria developed, and/or company policies and procedures. As a last result, however a result that should be concluded quickly, a stakeholder may be released from the organization. Collaboration, harmony, and unity should describe your stakeholders, NOT passive aggressive behavior!

SUMMARY

In this post we’ve taken a look at the leadership challenge of how to effectively deal with passive aggressive stakeholders. While passive aggressive behavior can take many shapes and forms, this doesn’t mean that as a leader you should accept it. Establishing expectations, with associated consequences should align the organization and remove this petty (NOT politically savvy) behavior.

Sam Palazzolo

The Leadership Challenge: Evangelism

May 27, 2015 By Sam Palazzolo, Managing Director

The Point: In the May 2015 Harvard Business Review (HBR), Silicon Valley’s “Entrepreneur Expert” Guy Kawasaki wrote an article on Evangelism, and the power that leaders have in proclaiming “good” news about their organization. So we asked ourselves… “What if the concept of “evangelism” isn’t in your DNA? What then?” So in this post, we’ll take a look at three (3) key acts Kawasaki points towards to accelerate your evangelism efforts… Enjoy!

Evangelist: To Be OR Not To Be?

So there you are… The leader of an organization (be it a startup, or an existing organization where you act as “intrapreneurial” leader). If you can’t evangelize about your organization, who will? But what will you evangelize about? And who will you evangelize to/with?

In the May 2015 HBR article by Guy Kawasaki titled “Managing Yourself: The Art of Evangelism” he takes a look at how you can “proclaim good news” about your organization (The literal translation of evangelism). In other words, how will you share with the world how your organization’s product/service makes the world a better place, and without it there would surely be a void. He points to three (3) specific areas that you, in an effort to overcome the leadership challenge, can put to work on the road to evangelism (and global domination!)

Evangelism Act #1: Public Speaking

Once upon a time, I sat on a Board of Directors for a non-profit that had as its main marketing arsenal public speaking. The organization found that it was a great way to share results from research conducted, and if audience participants liked what they heard there was always the potential for turning prospects into clients.

Here are eight (8) leadership development tips for success when speaking in public:

Deliver Quality Content
Omit Sales Pitches
Customize for Audience
Entertainment Focus
Storytelling
Meet Audience Before
ID Controllable
Practice, Practice, Practice…

Evangelism Act #2: Social Media

The opportunity is adrift at sea it would appear when organizations attempt to coral social media. While ROI can be very difficult to ascertain from such efforts, there might be a short cut you can employ with a consistent evangelistic message.

Here are nine (9) leadership development tips for success when leveraging the power of social media:

Offer Value
Make it Interesting
Take a Chance
Be Brief
Be a Connector
Go for Drama
Grab Attention
Hashtag it Up
Stay Engaged

Evangelism Act #3: Network

If you’re only as good as the books you read and the company you keep, you’d better look to continue to expand both of these numbers as you move forward. Shoot to read no less than a book (yes, one – 1 – book per week!) and add no less than 10 members to your LinkedIn Network weekly. To play off Keith Ferrazzi (Ferrazzi Greenight), the leader in the “networking” space who wrote the book on the topic, build your network before you need it (akin to the dig your well before your thirsty advice).

Here are seven (7) leadership development tips for success when networking:

Network – Just Do It!
Questions are King
Don’t Be a Dolt
Follow Up/Follow Through
Leverage Email (and the Phone)
Make Yourself Easy to Connect With
Help Others (They Will Help You!)

SUMMARY

So should you use the power of evangelism to further propel your organization, your product/service, yourself? The answer is a one that should leave you perhaps scratching your head as to why you’re not (But then again, it may be a time management issue, right?)

Sam Palazzolo

The Leadership Challenge: Employee Recognition

May 21, 2015 By Sam Palazzolo, Managing Director

The Point: Gallup reports that employee engagement is at an all time low. The recruiting field warns that the “War for Talent” will become increasingly difficult to wage successfully. With these two signs pointing towards greater recognition of employees, we started wondering why is it then that employee recognition is so difficult for so many? In this post we’ll take a look at employee recognition, and five (5) actions you can take to recognize your stakeholders as a leader… Enjoy!

We Recognize Our Employees (Don’t We?)

Randy was a relatively new team member in an archaic organization whose new CEO screamed “We’re going to change, like it or not! The foundation for this change is going to be our people… The most important asset this organization has” to the press. It was this battle cry that got Randy excited enough to leave his previous organization and sign-up/on with the current company. He was a hard worker, as well as a subject matter expert that participated in several leadership development programs and knew the value of executive coaching firsthand.

So it shouldn’t surprise you to hear that Randy was the pole-position leader on the Key Performance Indicator (KPI) board for the organization. That’s right, although he was new to the organization, he steadily rose through the ranks and in short-order arrived at the top spot.

No Recognition = No Engagement = No Employment

Here’s where things got a little interesting (or at least our executive coaching conversation took a turn towards a very dark place!) You would think that he would have received a few “That a boy!” or “Great Job Randy!” nods from the superiors in the organization, stakeholders, anyone… But you’d be wrong (Dead wrong as it turned out!) To hear Randy tell the story, “It would have been great if someone had reached out to say ‘Congrat’s!’ to me. But no one did. Not at the time the reports were printed. Not after the reports were distributed. Not ever!”

You could imagine Randy’s confusion: Here he was a still relatively new employee in an organization. An organization whose CEO told everyone and anyone that employees are their most important asset. But an asset that received no recognition whatsoever. Needless to say, on top of Randy’s confusion, he was just plain old pissed with the situation. He lasted a few more weeks before he quit. He’s now being successful somewhere else.

I Wanna Be like Randy, Not Mike!

So what can you do as a leader in your organization to properly recognize your employees so as to have engagement levels soar and turnover diminish? The following five (5) actions are recommended from our leadership development and executive coaching conversations:

Action #5: Timeliness Counts

If you see someone doing something great, recognize them right then and there. Why wait for the Friday Staff Meeting or to get back to your desk to send out the email to the entire department? Instead, let them know that you recognize what they did, and more importantly that you appreciate it.

Action #4: Alignment Counts

Recognition hits new levels, and is shared by all, when the recognition comes in the form of alignment with business goals. Imagine our poor friend Randy and his smashing of the organizational KPIs… The alignment opportunities are endless to tout, that is if you actually do measure KPIs that effect your business!

Action #3: Authenticity Counts

Ever get one of those fake leadership moments? A moment where you’re not certain what they might have taught in the leadership development classroom, but whatever it was it didn’t work? If you’re employees aren’t getting the “real” you, ask yourself who they are getting? Odds are, if you have low authenticity you have low trust, and low trust moments are never a position of strength to lead from.

Action #2: Quality/Quantity Count

While Randy would have been happy with any recognition, our executive coaching research leads us to believe that the recognition should be in correlation to the business goals (See #4 Action above). Too much and it comes off as Pollyannaish… Too little and it comes off as skating the associate.

Action #1: Recognition Definition Counts

If you are confused as to the identification of just the right amount of recognition to provide, please stop guessing and ask your associates. They will tell you! We typically see leader after leader attempt to either “cookie-cutter” approach recognition programs or provide what they would like to receive. Neither is a good moment. Executive Coaching and leadership development should provide you with plenty of ammunition to overcome the leadership challenge at hand, especially when you ask.

SUMMARY

So there you have it… The problem of employee recognition as told through the saga of Randy and his former organization, along with five (5) actions you can take to insure that you are on the right path.

Sam Palazzolo

PS – You may enjoy several of the other posts I’ve recently written:

The Leadership Challenge: Why Aren’t There More Women In Leadership?

May 21, 2015 By Sam Palazzolo, Managing Director

The Point: According to the Pew Research Center, there are few differences between men and women on key leadership traits such as intelligence, capacity for innovation, being compassionate, and organization. Today women represent only five percent (5%) of CEOs for Fortune 500 companies. So if that’s the case, why are the pipelines to C-Suite opportunities appearing to widen? In this post, we’ll look at four (4) critical lessons women in leadership can undertake to break-through the glass ceiling… Enjoy!

There Aren’t Opportunities Here for Women

Susie was a team leader for one of the organizations that I worked with on an executive coaching/leadership development engagement a few years back. I remember her, because sitting on the high potential selection committee allowed me to see that she was an exceptional candidate on paper, as well as in person. She was not only smart, but extremely extroverted and ready to take on any/all challenges on her desired path to the top of the organization.

So it was surprising for me to learn in a follow-up call that she was going to leave the organization that five years earlier she described as her “dream” company. What could have possibly happened? In our brief conversation I learned that while opportunities were talked of a lot, they rarely materialized in reality. In fact, Susie described the log-jam of women that were doing great things in the organization, but seemed to be bumping their heads against the proverbial glass ceiling. As such… She was moving on.

4 Critical Lessons for Women in Leadership

At the 9^th annual “Women Who Lead” conference lessons are shared regarding leadership from high profile women. Here are four (4) critical lessons presented:

Lesson #1: You Control Your Self Image

Let’s face it, we live in an image-centric world! Constant reminders can be seen on television of “that” family that really doesn’t do anything, yet we’re somehow attempting to keep up with them… It makes no sense!

While it’s an easy trap to fall into, avoid looking at others and attempting to alter who you are by the way you look. While the experts suggested that you determine what your image is, what people not only treat you like, but what they call you.

Lesson #2: We All Must Get Along

Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you look at it, men and women both have to get along and work together. The advantages are numerous, but let me summarize them by saying that after every leadership development program I’ve identified that the perspectives each bring to the table are in fact different. Perhaps not as different as Mars or Venus, but different perspectives will bring about different methodologies that enhance the operation.

Lesson #3: Your Mindset = Your Success

If you have the right mindset, anything is possible. If you don’t have the right mindset, hardly anything is possible! Ensuring that you conduct the proper “check-up from the neck-up” is crucial if you want to continuously drive for success.

I typically have a conversation with executive coaching clients about goals, and ensuing targets along the way towards those goals. Most leaders, female and male alike, can typically rattle off these moments. It shouldn’t surprise you then to hear that when I ask them what their mindset will need to be like in order to accomplish those same goals that most get a confused look on their face… Almost like their mindset is an afterthought, or an outcome of accomplishing goals. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

Lesson #4: Become Risk Verse

What do you value as a leader? In executive coaching sessions I typically hear that most female leaders value a healthy balance of work and life. In the work-life, they value having alignment with the organization. Alignment within an organization specifically along goal, values, and culture components.

But what if you don’t have such alignment? What if you play it safe all the time? Remember, the spoils in life rarely ever go to the losers (and argue with me all you want, business is about winning!) Furthermore, spoils even more rarely go to those that play things safe (Read that as playing within your comfort zone!)

SUMMARY

In this post we took a brief look at four (4) lessons that women can review in order to consider when pursuing leadership positions. Controlling your self image, working together with men/women, your mindset adjustment (if necessary), and accepting risk are all part of the equation. Think of these as mere “starting line” considerations, as the race to attain/sustain leadership positions can be a long one. Equipping yourself with the right foundational strategies for leadership success will ensure that you move in the right direction.

Sam Palazzolo

The Leadership Challenge: Developing Leaders at No/Low Cost – 5 Options

May 19, 2015 By Sam Palazzolo, Managing Director

The Point: Leadership Development can be an expensive proposition. With most options starting at $50k, what’s an organization to do that is looking to generate tomorrow’s leaders today, or for the up and comer who’s organization doesn’t offer any type of development program? (Hint: If you’re at an organization that doesn’t offer leadership development and it’s important to you, you’re probably at the wrong place!) In this post we take a look at five (5) no or low cost options for organizations or individuals that are searching for leadership development options… Enjoy!

We Develop Our Leaders (Don’t We?)

Jim’s organization was a lot like most fairly new ones that successfully had gone through the “startup” moment of ideation, creation, launch pad through lift off. While they were currently in year five (5) of their initiative, annual revenue was now approaching $100M and along with revenue growth personnel increased as well. He was at the point in their organizational growth where they wanted to continue to live in the “startup” moment, but insure that tomorrow’s leaders were being recruited/cultivated/developed today.

However Jim and the organization had the leadership challenge of the century… They had no clear Human Resources department nor any type of leadership development program. With this in mind, Jim and his leadership team setout to develop the following five (5) no/low cost leadership development options.

Option #1: Individual Development Plans with a Leadership Component

Typically, and Jim’s organization isn’t different from most, an organization will establish Individual Development Plans (IDPs) on an annual basis. These IDPs typically consist of the individual’s goals in reference to those of their team’s, department’s and organization’s. Think of it as an “If we need to get there, we need you to do ___” coordination moment.

Where Jim’s organizational IDPs took a hard-left turn was in the implementation of leadership development components therein. In other words, if you want to grow leaders, you need to be able to provide goals to do so that are akin to the goals that you typically establish. More important, these IDPs should be reviewed on a monthly basis so as to avoid the once a year “surprise” that one typically experiences.

Option #2: Free Online Courseware

Isn’t the internet wonderful? As a leader, you probably have some differing thoughts on just how “wonderful” it is. Jim for example was often frustrated by his employees and their ability to engage in non-productive work on sites like Facebook and games like Angry Birds. Recognizing that there still could be some good that comes from the internet and its ability to aid in leadership development moments, we implemented a series of “Leadership Development” courses from sites like Coursera (www.coursera.org). These courses typically are free, and some offer a low fee option to receive certification.

Option #3: Free Executive Coaching

The International Coach Federation – ICF (www.coachfederation.org) offers something akin to the ability for you to get a free haircut at a barber college. The ICF offers a “Coach Referral Source” wherein you can specify the type of coaching you’re interested in (Business Coaching, Executive Coaching, etc.) and begin receiving proposals from coaches across the globe! Sometimes you can secure a free coaching relationship, but just like that haircut from the barber college, sometimes you get what you pay for (Remember, hair will grow back… Your career might not!)

Option #4: Leader as Mentor

Sometimes the best leaders are at your company. If that’s the case, and who wants to admit that you don’t have the best leaders, holding leadership responsible for mentoring a finite quantity of individuals may be just what your organization is looking for.

Keep in mind that most organizations that offer mentoring programs do so in a very ineffective “organic” or “unstructured” capacity. If you’re going to offer a mentoring program, important to keep in mind that this needs to be more than just lunch every once in awhile. Structuring the mentor program around goals/objectives/learning moments is crucial.

Option #5: MasterMind Group

What if leadership development program participants (or leaders for that matter) were able to gather around the table (either real or virtual) to discuss their biggest problems and receive perspective on potential solutions? If the meetings are held in a confidential environment and open/honest feedback is provided, and members held other members accountable for taking action based on what they heard nothing!

From my time at Vistage (www.vistage.com), both as a member and working at their world headquarters in San Diego, I saw firsthand the benefits of such gatherings. At Tip of the Spear, we’re piloting a program next quarter called The Leadership Advisory Board (or “LAB” for short) that has many of the same features, and a few new/unique ones (If you’re interested in finding out more and/or participating, use the CONTACT US page of this website to inquire).

SUMMARY

So you might not have $50k to spend on each leadership development candidate in your organization. I hope in this post I’ve identified five no/low cost alternatives for you to pursue. Remember, your business is no different from the others inasmuch the people will make the difference. Investing in your people today will continue to drive business results tomorrow, but those investments don’t always need to be costly.

Sam Palazzolo

PS – You may also enjoy some of the other recent posts I wrote:

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