leadership development

The Leadership Challenge: Why HR Isn’t Developing YOU as a Leader

April 9, 2015 By Sam Palazzolo, Managing Director

The Point: Ever wonder why you’re not being developed as a leader in your organization? After all, we’ve probably all heard the corporate “urban myth” of the modern organization that grew from startup to legitimate industry contender (Think Apple, Facebook, or any tech company that’s publicly traded). These organizations are typically replete with employee perks (coffee barista’s onsite, ping pong tables, nap pods, etc.) And the coup de tat is that they not only recognize leadership talent, but reward it by sending them off to leadership development training. In this post, I’ll take a look at why your Human Resources department isn’t developing you as a leader. I know you’ll be as surprised as I am (but then again, maybe not so much!)… Enjoy!

You’re a High Potential Employee, Right?

I’ve spent a lot of time on leadership development engagements in an attempt to put together a high potential team of what you could consider “up and comers” for organizations. Some organizations look at this identification process for high potentials with scientific rigor, complete with key performance indicators, data collection methodology, and elected cross-functional boards to sift through/select final candidates. Others, typically leave it up to the Human Resources (HR) department. After all, the logic goes, who knows our people better than Human Resources? They did bring them into the organization!

So if Human Resources is selecting your organization’s future leaders, what could go wrong? Korn Ferry, the self-described “preeminent authority on leadership and talent” released a global executive survey that found gaps (significant gaps) in leadership development opportunities for Human Resources professionals (I’d have you CLICK HERE to see the study, but they don’t have it on their website as of this writing – They do however link you to their “Aligning Business and Human Capital Strategy” advertisement).

I’m in HR, Therefore We Develop Others (But Not Ourselves!)

The Korn Ferry survey of some 700+ executives (functional expertise omitted) finds nearly half (47%) work at companies that don’t offer leadership development for Human Resources staff. That’s quite the leadership challenge! Of the 53% that do offer leadership development for HR, two-thirds (66%) say the development isn’t as “rigorous” as is needed/should be when compared with leadership programs outside the HR function. In other words, if you’re in IT you can look forward to one great leadership development program. However, if you’re in HR the program will not hold similar qualities.

On top of it all, respondents said that Senior HR talent doesn’t receive relevant developmental opportunities critical to perform optimally (58% say so). So if leadership development is a crucial cornerstone to organization performance (Read that as you’d better have a succession plan), then why is there so little development taking place within the HR function? After all, isn’t this where the majority of talent development initiatives stem from?

The Leadership Challenge: Developing Tomorrow’s Leaders Today

I’ll be the first to recognize that developing leaders is a tall order for any organization. It is an especially tall order for those organizations where HR does not share a seat at the C-Suite Table. When I read these results I happened to be having a conversation with one of the leaders that I work with. In reviewing this with them, it came as little/no surprise at all. Her direct quote was “What about this surprises you? Most organizations deem Human Resources to be a worthless function.” Scandalous!

I think the aspect of this study that concerns me the most is that this is perhaps just the “tip” of the leadership development ice-berg. I’ve worked with Korn Ferry before, and find the quality of their work second to none (except my team’s!) What concerns me is the study was conducted with executives from their database, a database that no doubt is loaded with HR Leadership.

So if a study is conducted on HR Leadership Development with HR Leadership, how many actually called their own organizations “out” on not developing leaders in the HR function? My guess is that the majority hedged-their responses with a positive bias. Even if the minority answered the survey accurately (full truth disclosure), the results are mind-boggling.

SUMMARY

In this post, we’ve taken a look at leadership development within the Human Resources function, and why it is that you may not be receiving such development opportunities as a result. Unfortunately, the news as reported through a Korn Ferry survey is not good! So what should be Human Resources response to developing tomorrow’s leaders today, within their own function? Nothing less of best in class leadership development of course!

Sincerely yours,

Sam Palazzolo

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

Sam Palazzolo is the Managing Director at Tip of the Spear Ventures, an agile Venture Capital and Business Advisory Services firm specializing in Executive Coaching, Leadership Development, and Communication Skills Training for Leaders.

Communication Skills for Leaders – Part III: Presenting

April 8, 2015 By Sam Palazzolo, Managing Director

In this three part series we’ll look to cover one of the most feared skills that a leader can possibly look to exhibit: Communication. Get communication skills for leaders right, and the world can be your oyster. Get communication skills for leaders wrong, and you’ll get nowhere near the results you could have achieved (Read that as NO oysters!) In Part I, we took a look at planning your presentation, in Part II we delved into proper practice/preparation you should undertake, and lastly here in Part III we’ll tackle presenting… Enjoy!

Communication Skills for Leaders – Presenting Your Presentation

When was the last time you witnessed a presentation and you had to actively think about what the speaker was saying? If you’re like most of the leaders that come to a “Communicate with Influence” workshop as part of their leadership development training, you probably can’t remember (sigh!) The reason why this is unfortunately the case is that most presentations are better cures for insomnia than they are for providing you with actionable information.

So what does it take to convey/share/discuss actionable information? The answer lies in asking questions. Let’s take a look at three (3) different types of questions you can ask your audience to keep engagement levels high and results-focused.

Ask a Rhetorical Question

A Rhetorical Question is a figure of speech in the form of a question that’s asked in order to make a point, rather than to elicit an answer. There are times when rhetorical questions are so repugnant that a question mark doesn’t need to end the statement (Remember, it’s implied).

Here’s a great question that was asked at a recent communication skills training for leaders session: “Can you imagine a world that never had been touched by Steve Jobs?” The question in and of itself opens itself up to multiple interpretations, and as such requires each of the members of the audience to ponder their own response. Better yet, each member is awaiting what/where you’ll go next (High engagement).

Polling Questions for Instant Feedback

I love polling questions, and it’s a good thing! When I was pioneering webinars I found that a virtual audience is much more vocal than one that is sitting in a room with you. Why? I have a lot of hypothesis from these early communication skills training for leaders examples, but the one that I keep coming back to is the nature of the polls and the medium through which they communicated (i.e., the computer).

Important to remember here that you must establish ground rules regarding how you want participant responses (“Raise your hand if you…” if live and “Use the Chat area to tell me…” if virtual).

The great aspect of polling questions is that you get feedback immediately from your audience. Important to note that you should consider all variations of answers when preparing your presentation, or have facts on hand regarding how population segment at large answered similar questions which you can share.

What? Where? When? Who? and How? Questions (But NEVER Why?)

In my executive coaching sessions, I fall back on my training with Marshall Goldsmith and the International Coach Federation. It was drilled into my head that I should never, never, never begin a line of questions that began with the word “Why?” The logic for this, and try it for yourself as a leader, is that when asking a question with “Why?” will drive the participants to think logically, and absent of all emotions. As a result, think of the next time when you are about to use “Why?” and substitute it with any of the other W’s and the one H.

5 Presentation Habits that Should Be Avoided

While I’ve tried to present you with focused/results-oriented content here, I’d be remiss if I didn’t share some habits that will simply ruin your presentation. Stay away from these five bad habits:

Ummm – Toastmasters counts them, and so does your audience in a presentation. Say one and you may be Ok depending on who’s in the audience. Say more than one, or allow them to be periods between your verbal sentences and you will lose your audience!
Hands – If you’re like me, you are passionate when you speak. As a result, you not only move your hands, but your entire body! Do your best to limit movement of your hands. Keep the “I’m a Little Teapot” nursery rhyme in mind regarding what not to do.
Braggadocios – Keep bragging to a minimum… You’re audience will immediately hate you if they catch on (and yes, they are smart enough to catch on!) I once was an audience member with someone I really respected. They began the presentation with the “I got in late last night as a result of speaking in another city on the other side of the country and catching the last flight in…”Spare me, and your audience.
Slang/Jargon – If no one knows what you’re referring to when you speak in acronyms, then don’t! I know as well as you do that each company needs their own Rosetta Stone to decipher their own jargon, but please keep these comments to a minimum especially when dealing with external agencies to the organization.
Q&A – I could write an entire blog post on answering questions (If you’re interested, drop me a line). Here’s the bottom line when it comes to questions: If you’re going to open yourself up to taking them, you’d better have considered all that will/could/are asked of you. If you don’t prepare not only the questions, but most importantly the answers to each of them in advance you are setting yourself up for disaster!

SUMMARY

In Part I of this communication skills for leaders presentation series, we took a look at planning your presentation. In Part II of this series we looked at proper practice/preparation you should undertake. In the final part of this series (Part III) we’ve tackled presenting. We investigated asking rhetorical questions, how to leverage polling questions for immediate feedback, effective ways to start your questions (What? Where? When? Who? and How? Questions… But NEVER Why?), as well as 5 presentation habits that should be avoided.

Sincerely yours,

Sam Palazzolo

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

Communication Skills for Leaders – Part II: Practice/Preparation

April 7, 2015 By Sam Palazzolo, Managing Director

In this three part series we’ll look to cover one of the most feared skills that a leader can possibly look to exhibit: Communication. Get communication skills for leaders right, and the world can be your oyster. Get communication skills for leaders wrong, and you’ll get nowhere near the results you could have achieved (Read that as NO oysters!) In Part I, we took a look at planning your presentation, here in Part II we’ll delve into proper practice/preparation you should undertake, and lastly in Part III we’ll tackle presenting… Enjoy!

Communication Skills for Leaders – Presentation Practice/Preparation

Think back to that presentation you participated in as an audience member that was fantastic… Think about what it was that made it fantastic. Got it? If you’re like most of the leaders that come through a “Communicate with Influence” workshop you identified “engagement” as the that key to success.

So if you know that engagement is the key in your presentation, how will you practice, or prepare? Your engagement goal is (should be?) to get your audience if sitting to creep towards the edge of their seat (front edge that is). If they are standing, for them to get on the balls of their feet leaning forward. In order to accomplish this, you’ll want to vary your presentation pattern.

Variation of Sights, Sounds, and Content

If members of your audience are like typical audiences we prepare for in communication skills training for leaders, they have a certain threshold at which their attention span deteriorates rapidly. Typically, you have twenty (20) seconds to grab your audience’s attention from the beginning of your presentation. Thereafter, every three (3) minutes you should recapture their focus (Otherwise, they’ll get distracted, and a distracted audience is one that has “left the building” along with Elvis!)

Varying your speaking volume and rate are other techniques certain to engage your audience. Speaking from a position of passion can also further your variation. But how you relay content should be from the audience’s perspective (In other words, what is it that the audience desires in order to fully understand/act on what’s being presented? Again, this should be accomplished through their desires, not what you like or how you like it!)

Your PowerPoint Sucks!

We typically spend no less than an hour in communication skills training for leaders discussing the do’s/don’ts of PowerPoint presentations. While “death” by PowerPoint is never a desired outcome, unfortunately this typically is the destination for many a leader… and deservingly so! When was the last time you were an audience member and saw firsthand a PowerPoint presentation that was engaging? If you’re like most of the leaders I encounter, your slides are so chock-full of information/data that there is little/no whitespace left on the slide!

So what’s the poor leader to do but create slides that have a plethora of data so as to choke the slide, and leave the audience member reeling because not only can they not read the slide but have little/no recourse thereafter? The answer is to create a PowerPoint slide with simply a title and an image… That’s it!

How to Practice Your Presentation

They say that practice leads to perfection. However, what if you are practicing wrong? Only “perfect” practice leads to perfection. I bring this up because there typically is little/no practice involved in the majority of leadership presentations (and that’s a HUGE mistake!) So if you’re going to practice, at least make an attempt to practice with the goal of perfection.

So what is perfect practice? Consider it a mental exercise where you will see the presentation from front to back, then back to front, and finally diagnosed from a side-angle. In Part I of this series (Planning), we discussed planning out your introduction/conclusion statements and simply putting together a bullet-point list of body content. At a high-level, practice your presentation by seeing those structured moments front to back, then back to front. Seeing your presentation from this perspective will allow you to effectively navigate (or develop) your strategy effectively from your audiences point of view. Viewing your presentation from a side-perspective allows you to detail not only what you will say, but how you can be most persuasive in delivering the message.

Let’s Get Physical!

I’d be remissed if I didn’t mention the primary medium of communication, that being you and your body. Before you say a word, your audience has already judged you. Yep, that’s right… Before you say word one your audience has already determined the outcome of your presentation. If earlier I mentioned that you have 20-seconds to align your audience around your message, you had better look the part as a leader before you even begin.

So what does it take to effectively communicate by looking the part? The majority of audiences want their leader to have confidence (think of this as communication content on steroids). In addition to this key mental characteristic, audience members will also diagnose how you are dressed as well as your physical presence. While dressing for success can largely offset some of these physical moments, it’s important to do the best you can with what you’ve got. Whether you like it or not, we all have a choice (read that as in you’re in CONTROL) of how we look and what we eat. Choices that look to leverage your leadership persona should be carefully considered.

SUMMARY

In Part I of this communication skills for leaders presentation series, we took a look at planning your presentation. Here in Part II of this series we’ve taken a look proper practice/preparation you should undertake. We investigated your variation of Sights, Sounds, and Content, how to avoid having your PowerPoints suck, effective ways to Practice your Presentation, as well as how to get the Physical Edge when Communicating. In the final part of this series (Part III) we’ll tackle presenting.

Sincerely yours,

Sam Palazzolo

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

Communication Skills for Leaders – Part I: Planning

April 6, 2015 By Sam Palazzolo, Managing Director

In this three part series we’ll look to cover one of the most feared skills that a leader can possibly look to exhibit: Communication. Get communication skills for leaders right, and the world can be your oyster. Get communication skills for leaders wrong, and you’ll get nowhere near the results you could have achieved (Read that as NO oysters!) In Part I, we’ll take a look at planning your presentation, Part II we’ll delve into proper practice/preparation you should undertake, and lastly in Part III we’ll tackle presenting… Enjoy!

Communication Skills for Leaders – Planning Your Presentation

Think back to your last communication moment as a leader and ask yourself the following questions:

What was my point?
How effective was I at delivering that point to my audience (scale of 1-10, 1 being “I didn’t” and 10 being “I’m a regular Dale Carnegie!”)
What action did my audience take based on our conversation?
What should I do different next time I communicate with the same/different audience?

If you’re like most leaders, the pursuit of perfection is never complete. The perfection “carrot” is perpetually dangled ever so close, but always out of reach. When it comes to communication skills for leaders, consider yourself as a participant in a two-way interview. On side one (1), you are the interviewer loaded with your interview questions and on the other side two (2) you can play the role of interviewee.

What is Your Point?

Important to identify is what you want to discuss. Your focus on this primary point(s) can tighten your conversation. Typically, in executive coaching session after executive coaching session, I hear leaders mention that their communication isn’t driving results that they intended. When I ask them “What was your point?” they typically begin rambling. “No wonder!” is my response. If you can’t surmise your communication point into a Twitter Tweet (140 characters) then your audience will probably be lost.

If That’s Your Point, What Do They Need To Hear?

After identifying what the point of your conversation is, you need to identify what your audience will need to hear in order to do three things: (1) Understand, (2) Identify direction that should be taken, and (3) Know what successful implementation looks like (or the end destination you intend to arrive at).

With these three points in mind, craft your presentation so that you deliver on what it is that your audience needs to hear with an outline for your presentation. Important to now regarding the presentation strategy is to fully write out what you intend to say as an opening/closing statement(s). Keep these paragraphs tightly focused around your point! The body of your presentation should act so as to support the point you are delivering, provide direction, and share successful implementation. Body discussions should be captured with short/bullet-point lists (No need to fully craft exactly what you are going to say, instead look to capture the essence of the points as well as pro/con stance on them if necessary).

Audience Emotions – Will They Care?

After you’ve knocked out your communication skills for leader presentation planning outline, you’ll want to identify what emotions your audience will have from three (3) perspectives: (1) What is their emotions heading into the conversation, (2) What emotion do you want them to have at each section of your presentation, and finally (3) What emotion do you want them to have as they depart towards implementation/execution?

Typically leaders do a lousy job of not only identifying intended emotions audience members should/will have, but emotional perspective is often off-base (i.e., wrong). No this much, if you’ve never planned the emotional angles for a presentation, this will come as a strong, sometimes confusing aspect of your presentation. If you mess/miss this aspect, your presentation is likely to miss the mark!

Structure Your Presentation

If you go into a conversation without any direction, any outcome will do. However, if you properly structure the conversation your audience members will have a greater chance of retaining the information relayed (Some studies show that audience members retain upwards of 40% more content when the presentation is conducted in a structured manner, and that manner is explained/discussed at the beginning of the conversation).

Here are a few presentation structures that you may want to experiment/explore, keeping in mind your point (message) as well as audience:

Problem – Solution
Pros – Cons
Chronological Logic (Past, Present, Future)
Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?
What’s Wrong? What’s Right?
If – So – Then

SUMMARY

In Part I of this communication skills for leaders presentation series, we’ve taken a look at planning your presentation. With proper identification of what your presentation point is, focusing what your audience needs to hear, considering emotions for your communication, and properly structuring your presentation you will be able to lay the groundwork for an effective presentation. In Part II of this series we’ll take a look proper practice/preparation you should undertake, and lastly in Part III we’ll tackle presenting.

Sincerely yours,

Sam Palazzolo

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

The Leadership Challenge: Helping Those That Don’t Want Help

April 4, 2015 By Sam Palazzolo, Managing Director

The Point: We’ve all seen those people in organizations that won’t accept help… “Nose to the grindstone!” is their mantra, and attempting to help them receives a negative reaction. Sometimes subtle, sometimes head-jerking, these negative reactions typically persuade those wanting to assist to never (as in NEVER) offer assistance again. In this post, I’ll take a look at the number one (#1) reason why stakeholders in business refuse help, and five (5) tips to overcome such moments for success… Enjoy!

The #1 Reason: Weakness

The number one (#1) reason why someone doesn’t want to accept help is typically because they don’t want to be perceived as weak. Real or imagined, exposing your weaknesses is often not looked upon as very positive, and is typically a very ingrained pattern of thinking (So therefore very difficult to overcome). But what if you don’t have a choice in the matter? What if you are assigned to participate in a team full of those that don’t want/need your help?

In executive coaching session after executive coaching, I’ve seen empirical evidence on the topic of overcoming weak perception with the following five (5) tips.

Tip #5: Get to the Heart of the “Weak” Matter

There are many possible reasons regarding why the individual is reluctant to have help be offered, and it’s important to narrow the field of possibilities down. Some of the reasons identified in executive coaching conversations for this reluctance might include:

They might feel totally independent and don’t need/require any help from anyone/anytime.
Accepting help puts doubt into their level of competency.
They may be frightened of the consequences of accepting help.
The individual could be scared of rejection associated with asking for help and not receiving.
Their status as a “Perfectionist” could be jeopardized.
Overwhelming feelings of vulnerability.
Concern over this being a signal of potential un-professionalism.
Allowing problems to serve as roadblocks on the way to success.
Past acceptance never seemed to work out the way they intended (Hence, they are better off simply doing everything by themselves).
They don’t want to burden others by asking.

Tip #4: Unrealistic Ideals and Wishful Thinking

If the individual puts themselves in a real/perceived position where there are conflicting or reinforced societal “norms” where asking for help is seen as a weakness. Here is a list identified in executive coaching conversations that leaders should pay attention to regarding societal norms associated with such unrealistic ideals and wishful thinking:

There is a common theme that runs amuck in tv shows, movies, social media etc.
The common thought that it is ok or fine to be alone, standing as an individual against all odds/comers by.
Peer pressure of organizational hazing.

Tip #3: Your Bias Actually Feeds the “No Help Required” Flame

By building an invisible individual wall around themselves, sometimes these individuals purposefully are warding off the potential of being hurt. While they might feel a greater sense of safety versus the rewards of collaboration, it’s important to keep the following in mind as a leader identified in executive coaching conversations:

It is both arrogant and conceited to think that you can offer to give, but never receive help (That one’s aimed at you leader!)
The influence/persuasion law of reciprocity are alive and well. Think of how good it felt to not only give/receive help in the past (Or share the potential rewards of what could be).
Their abilities sabotage their thinking. In other words, they are so confident that failure is not an option, that all they can see is success!

Tip #2: Reality Should Rule

Overcoming reasons (realistic ones) as to why help should be expected, coupled with a realistic thought patterns of performance should provide the opportunity to help. Some aspects of reality identified in executive coaching conversations that should be implemented to foster help include:

Learn the pros/cons associated with accepting help.
Flip your trust equation (simply provide it, without question/debt/guilt/etc.)
Act on opportunities to provide/seek/receive help without a second thought (Hurry, do it before that second thought enters your mind).
Start by asking those you trust.

Tip #1: Focus on Solutions

As a leader, you typically have problems (multiple problems?) that face you. In working with those that typically don’t ask for help, you may be able to overcome these obstacles by keeping things focused on solutions, and the short-timeline associated/inherent therein. Considering the individual’s strength, ability to give, and trust can go a long way towards focusing on solutions.

SUMMARY

In this post we’ve covered the number one (#1) reason why we don’t ask for help, along with five (5) tips to assist in overcoming such moments (people!) Important to keep in mind that regardless of which method/tip you chose to implement, there is always an opportunity to provide great leadership along the way (or to simply hire differently in future situations as the need arises).

Sincerely yours,

Sam Palazzolo

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

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