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stakeholder centered coaching

The Leadership Challenge: Judgement

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The Point: What type of judgement do you have as a leader? Is it sometimes good, sometimes bad? And in those judgement-times, how do you go about deciding which way to choose? After all, there is a “right” way and a “wrong” way when it comes to judgement (especially when you consider the outcome of your decision making!) We started thinking here at The Javelin Institute and Tip of the Spear Ventures, how are we using judgement to the fullest capacity when it comes to our leadership? So, in this post we’ll explore the leadership challenge of judgement… Enjoy!

You Will Be Judged on Your Judgement Abilities

Larry was a mid-level leader working for a Fortune 100 organization. We were assigned to conduct one of our Centered Executive Coaching initiatives with him (Specifically, our Stakeholder Centered Coaching engagement). Part of our Stakeholder Centered Coaching engagement consisted of conducting a 360-degree assessment, whereby Larry and Larry’s Stakeholders (Those he reported to, his peers, and those that reported to Larry) would all gage his effectiveness as a leader. The 360-degree assessment was conducted, and the results were in… and they were not pretty!

It turned out that Larry’s opinion of how effective he was as a leader differed dramatically from the opinions of his stakeholders. While there were a lot of potential reasons for these differences of perspective being present when it came to Larry, it turns out that the primary culprit for his stakeholders ranking him lower was his judgement (or his ability to accurately judge a situation, assignment, personnel, etc.) Larry was being judged based on his abilities to judge!

The Single Most Important Judgement Topic

I’ve seen a lot of leaders from a consulting perspective. One question that I used to ask a lot (and am considering bringing back out on the road with me) is “What keeps you up at night?” When I asked Larry this question, he had the following to say:

“What keeps me up at night as a leader is my ability to properly judge a candidate regarding when it’s not working, and we need to make a ‘should they stay, or should they go?’ decision. In my mind, this is the single most important judgement topic.”

 It turns out Larry is not alone. According to an Inc. Magazine article, roughly 70% of leaders are concerned about their ability to hire and then effectively decide if they should fire personnel. Most leaders would rather err on the side of “stay” and prove to themselves, as well as their stakeholders, that they did everything they could to keep the individual (Apply resources, provide training, etc.) before sending them packing.

I worked with Larry to not only establish judgement criteria which would significantly alter his success rates, but also revamped their hiring/onboarding process as well. The results were that he soon had less turnover, but the turnover he did conduct was done in a logical/objective manner.

SUMMARY

In this post we’ve explored the leadership challenge of judgement. We all are going to be faced as leaders with those moments where we have to decide. It’s the outcome of these judgement decision-moments that others will look to gage our success/failure rates. Insuring that you have a logical/objective methodology when it comes to applying judgement is crucial to your success as a leader.

Sam Palazzolo

PS – 2020 will be here before we know it, and I see some disturbing Leadership-trends taking place. If you’d like to receive a white paper I wrote on “5 Ways Your Leadership Will Fail in 2020” CLICK HERE.

PPSS – As we hit the halfway point of 2019, I’m launching my most aggressive initiative to date. It’s a 501(c)(3) structured nonprofit that provides Executive Education and Coaching to allow you to become the BEST leader possible (NOT Good, NOT Better… but BEST!). Launched in July 2019, I’m allowing 10 people in my network to “test-drive” the offering. If you’d like more information, contact me at info@javelininstitute.org.

The Leadership Challenge: Shutting Up

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The Point: Time is a very valuable commodity these days. And with what seems like less time on your leadership hands, you’re probably compelled to speak more than listen. After all, as a leader contended this week during an executive coaching session, how else would he be able to give direction to his troops! However, what exactly are you attempting to accomplish in such leadership moments? Granted, the leadership challenge of “getting things done” should always be forefront in your agenda. So it’s within these “shutting up” moments that we’ll examine if you’re a leader looking to succeed by simply dolling out orders, or if you’re a leader looking to identify direction and let your stakeholders identify orders and priority therein… Enjoy!

The Leadership Challenge- Shutting Up

I Listen… Don’t I?

Terry was a successful C-Suite leader that had been successfully running the operations department of a Fortune 1000 organization (He was Chief Operations Officer – COO). Engaged in a classic Marshall Goldsmith Stakeholder Centered Coaching initiative afforded us the opportunity to not only engage him in leadership development and executive coaching, but also his stakeholders (peers, superiors, and subordinates) in feedback moments regarding his progress. While Terry was successful in accomplishing project after project thrown his team’s way, there was a bit of a “rip current” running within his department.

Turns out Terry, despite all of the accomplishments and accolades bestowed upon him wasn’t a very good listener according to his stakeholders. The reasons for these poor listening moments runs the feedback gambit:

  • Always in a hurry
  • Never really paying attention to feedback
  • Providing detailed direction with little interpretation necessary
  • Not engaging his stakeholders in meaningful dialog
  • Goal accomplishment “his way” was paramount

Two Ears… One Mouth!

If Terry’s plight sounds familiar, it should. We’ve all either seen a leader that behaves this way, or perhaps are guilty of conducting the leadership behavior identified ourselves. In leadership development and executive coaching sessions, leaders describe their least favorite leadership moment as those involving the broadcasting of message/direction with little chance of engagement/meaning being available for the tasks at hand. So if we know that one-way communication channels such as these aren’t preferred, why do we engage in them time and again?

“Listening is hard work” Terry told me. Of course it is! It’s even harder work when you don’t ask good questions. Think of all the questions you’ve asked your stakeholders in the most recent week… What were they? If they bordered on the “light” leadership scale (meaning they were pretty weak, superficial, and/or placated your stakeholders), then you missed a great opportunity to learn from them. If you have all the answers all the time, then perhaps a team isn’t necessary. If you want to get buy in for the job at hand, you should consider asking your stakeholders questions.

How to Shut Up as a Leader

So exactly how can you ask better questions to put yourself in position to listen? The task is hard, but not impossible to shut up. Here are a few tips/techniques we reviewed:

  • Open dialogs with stakeholders with an open-ended question (One that requires an answer in more than a one word answer)
  • Listen for the “hidden” meanings in stakeholder’s response
  • Explore those meaning with follow-up, or drill-down questions (Again, open-ended works best)
  • Seek input/feedback on how to perform the project at hand
  • Listen!
    • Put your finger to your lips to keep your mouth closed
    • Take a deep breath while listening
    • Criss cross your hands
    • Blink with heavy eyelids
      • NOTE: Don’t do all of these simultaneously… You’ll look like you’re not paying attention – That’s worse than not listening!
    • Keep on-time/on-target objectives for feedback (Getting their feedback is not an opportunity for complaints!)
    • Confirm your understanding of what has been said
    • Chart future course together!

SUMMARY

In this post, we took a look at the leadership challenge of shutting up. Some leaders excel at asking questions (One I worked with used to call it out ahead of time by saying “Now I’m going to ask you a provocative question…”) and then listening. If you find that you are not getting the results you want in the time period desired, perhaps there’s an opportunity for you to do a better job of listening, instead of talking all the time as a leader. Remember, leadership isn’t that hard… but is sure can be difficult!

 

Sam Palazzolo

The Leadership Challenge: Saying “Thank You”

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The Point: As a Marshall Goldsmith Certified Stakeholder Centered Coach (SCC), the executive coaching process typically revolves around stakeholders providing feedback to the leader on the specific behavioral actions. At the center of this feedback process, which could be good, bad, and/or ugly, is the response that the leader is to provide to those stakeholders for their “gift” of feedback… The leader is instructed simply to respond with a “Thank you” for the gift. While it appears to be a sincere moment (especially considering how some of the feedback could be far from positive, and perhaps a more belligerent response warranted), we started wondering this week how often as the leader you say “Thank you” to those you work with? More importantly, what outcomes would you receive if you included such words of thanks more frequently into interactions? So in this post, we set out to identify those “Thank you” moments, what rewards you could potentially reap from implementation, and lastly (and certainly not least), hurdles you may have to overcome in order to pull off a successful “Thank You”… Enjoy!

The Leadership Challenge- Saying Thank You

“The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant.”

— Max DePree

Leadership 101: Your Manners Count!

Every move you make as a leader in your organization will be scrutinized by your employees… Not every tenth move, nor one-hundredth… Every single move! In a line straight out of the George Cooney classic “Ocean’s 11” comes the line “Everything is on camera. Everything is being recorded!” So you too should consider the Las Vegas lifestyle as appropriate fodder for yourself as a leader when it comes to the behaviors you exhibit, and most importantly your reactions (verbal/physical).

So if everything is being observed, how can you insure that you are being “seen” as appropriate. While the typical conversation introduction begins “Hello” or “Good Morning” for example, perhaps the appropriate conclusion should be “Thank you”. Another way to think about it would be to consider if your actions were to show up on the front page of tomorrow’s CNN website… What would you want the headline or image to capture? I’m guessing something reflective of your manners, so special consideration should be considered.

The Thank You Leadership Rewards Program

So what do you have to gain in saying thanks to those you encounter? Here’s a brief list (but you’ll get the point):

  • Increased employee engagement
  • A positive work environment
  • Increased feedback of the good/bad/ugly variety
  • The ability to quickly course correct (i.e., change)
  • Better customer experiences
  • Establishing trust quicker/keeping it longer
  • Greater revenue (?)

So saying “Thank you” could very well be a game-changer for you as a leader, department, and organization. If that’s the case, why aren’t there leadership development programs, initiatives to increase communication skills training for leaders, and an overall betterment policy implemented by most organizations? The answer may come in the form of the hurdles you’ll encounter.

The “Thank You” Hurdles (or Mountains!)

Saying “Thank you” as a leader is relatively easy and effortless when times are good. Think about it… You have a great conversation about how profits are up, the sales pipeline is full, and the organization is achieving exponential growth/profitability. Telling those you work with thanks is a no-brainer (It’s simple, effortless, and should roll off the tongue like water off a ducks back).

But what if things aren’t so perfect? What if profits are down, the sales pipeline is vacant, and the organization is going backwards in growth/profitability? I’m guessing that as a leader saying “Thank you” might be at best difficult (That is if you can mutter it under your breath through clenched-teeth!) With blood-pressure skyrocketing, cheeks blushing, and thoughts racing a million miles an hour, I’m guessing that as a leader your vision is anything but clear.

One of the aspects that I’ve really enjoyed in Centered Executive Coaching comes from the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) process of meditating. Specifically, during meditation you’re encouraged to focus on your breath. If I hadn’t participated myself, I’d have little faith that simply focusing on the inhale/exhale exchange could cause me to have tremendously greater focus after meditating. As such, and for our purposes here, perhaps a few meditative moments are in order to hit the proverbial pause button as a leader so that you can gather your composure (and thoughts). Saying “Thank you” in these moments will allow you to do exactly that.

SUMMARY

So in this post on The Leadership Challenge: Saying “Thank You” we’ve covered ways in which you can identify those “Thank you” moments, the rewards available to you from implementation, and lastly hurdles you will have to overcome in order to pull off a successful “Thank You.” Saying it with true meaning counts, so best of luck in your “Thank You” endeavors!

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.

When Leadership Development Fails: Why Stakeholder Centered Coaching Succeeds!

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The Point: Organizations, both for-profit and non-profit, consider leadership development training as something critical to their success. This is evidenced by the time and money (a staggering $14 billion per year as of January 2014) spent on leadership development. Not to mention, courses on leadership offered in educational institutions across the county also cost several thousand dollars each to participate in. Why then do we see leadership development failing? In this post we’ll investigate why this is so, and how Stakeholder Centered Coaching is a better (or best) alternative… Enjoy!

When_Leadership_Development_Fails-_Why_Stakeholder_Centered_Coaching_Succeeds

3 Reasons for Failure

Reason #3: Not Assessing Leadership Needs Accurately 

More often than not, leadership programs are initiated without any clear goal in mind. Ideally, current and future business needs should be the driving force behind coaching programs.

 

Reason #2: No Support from the Executive Team

No leadership development training (Not even Centered Executive Coaching!) can become successful without the support of the executive team. The executive team should be there when the needs and outcomes of the program are being decided upon. This is necessary to further link the leadership development goals to those of the organization.

 

Reason #1: No Implementation Plan

This is perhaps the most crucial factor. When a leadership training program is starting, it is easy to get caught up in its short-term impact. The launch is exciting, and you are mentally stimulated throughout the duration of the training. However, if there is no implementation plan on how the positive effects generated through the training are to be sustained, then the whole program would be an exercise in futility.

Why SCC Fares Better?

Stakeholder Centered Coaching proves to be more effective than most leadership programs out there precisely because this system, pioneered by Marshall Goldsmith, avoids the leadership development mistakes listed above. Results are identified in early stages of the initiative, and driven towards throughout.

Furthermore, stakeholders (those active in the organization) are participants in the process, not just passive bystanders. Along with the leader and coach, a lot of emphasis is placed on stakeholder feedback (Hence the name!) These stakeholders are the best “experts” in how the leader’s behavior can improve. The coach then takes a backseat and helps the leader improve their behavior in line with what those around them want.

Long lasting behavior change occurs when a leader’s needs are assessed accurately, and improvement is achieved in a team setting, a team that both recognizes and supports that change. This is what SCC is all about!

Summary

To sum up, leadership development fails because the program is not designed to highlight the real areas that need improvement, and no system is set in place for long-term change. However, when you link direct business results to stakeholder driven changes in behavior, as in the case of SCC, it creates a system where everyone is driven towards the same goal.

To learn more about Tip of the Spear’s Business Advisory Services, including Centered Executive Coaching, use the Contact Us page of this website.

Results from Stakeholder Centered Coaching

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The Point: The demand for leadership training is growing by the day, and there are dozens, if not thousands of training programs out there attempting to meet this demand. But which one should you choose for your organization? In the end, it all boils to one thing: RESULTS! In this article, we are going to discuss Stakeholder Centered Coaching (SCC) and identify real results you can expect if you engage in an initiative with Tip of the Spear… Enjoy!

Results_from_Stakeholder_Centered_Coaching

Stakeholder Centered Coaching: The Basics

SCC works as follows: Under the guidance of a coach, a leader asks stakeholders of the organization to assess his strengths and weaknesses (A 360-degree review). Once results are tabulated/analysis is done, one (1) or at most two (2) areas of “opportunity” are selected to improve upon.

As the leader works towards their goals through executive coaching sessions. Additionally, they ask for regular feedback from the stakeholders on their progress. This helps the leader work towards/accomplish behavioral change. After the coaching engagement ends (the typical executive coaching engagement lasts a year), the same stakeholders assess whether the leadership development goals have been achieved or not.

The program design is simple and it is highly effective. You may be thinking that such centered executive coaching would already be doing rounds in the corporate world, but that is not the case. That is why Dr Marshall Goldsmith’s SCC is truly revolutionary in its offerings.

Purported Results

SCC brings improvements in various leadership development areas, such as:

  •        Communication

You learn to be more articulate, and also more assertive of your opinions. You also learn to become a better listener. Conflict management is also a goal that SCC can help you with. All of this helps in timely decision making that is typically welcomed whole-heartedly by your team.

  •        Mentoring and Disciplinarian

This follows from becoming a better communicator. You learn to manage teams, nurture talent, and use disciplinary measures when needed.

  •        Leadership

SCC ultimately helps you become a better leader as you learn how to delegate effectively, take calculated risks, hold others accountable for results, and deal with performance issues on a timely basis.

Real People | Real Results

But while all these benefits look great on paper, are there any success stories?

As per Marshall Goldsmith’s SCC website, 95% of leaders who pay heed to what their stakeholders have to say experience measurable improvements. The conclusion was based on a survey that involved more than 10,000 leaders from around the world, some of whom have gone on record to testify to the effectiveness of Stakeholder Centered Executive Coaching. Our own results at Tip of the Spear regarding our Centered Executive Coaching mirror such successes.

Summary

The results are in! SCC really helps leaders lead better, provided that it’s done by a certified coach. So, if you want to bring measurable improvements into your leadership behavior (and hence your organizational goals), you need to hire a certified coach right away.

For more information on Centered Executive Coaching, the other Tip of the Spear Business Advisory Services, and/or information on leadership development through our affiliation with The Javelin Institute, use the Contact Us page.