Post-meeting review notes - What go you here, won't get you there

Leadership – What Got You Here Won’t Get You

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PRESENTERS:

Dr Marshall Goldsmith is a top-rated global thinker and speaker on leadership, and a leading coach at CEO level. He has authored 35 books to date; his latest is entitled Triggers. He also currently provides executive education at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, New Hampshire, USA.

These notes summarise some of Dr Goldsmith’s teachings at masterclasses for CRF in London (26 January 2016) and Brussels (28 January 2016). He provided advice on coaching leaders, how leaders themselves should coach, and how to develop ourselves.

SESSION 1 – LEADERSHIP BEHAVIOURS AND COACHING

Three counter-intuitive leadership challenges Leaders run into difficulties when they take these three traits to excess.  Wanting to win Constantly driving to be the best and to triumph at the expense of others can ultimately be selfdefeating, especially in a collaborative environment. Lasting winners – people and organisations – maintain a steady performance over time, rather than always trying to outperform everybody.  Maximising value-add Similarly, constantly pushing your ideas allows no space for others to contribute. Great leaders get the best out of people and are able and willing to attract people who may be smarter than them. This is especially important as the proportion of knowledge workers grows.  Passing judgement Effective leaders help more and judge less. Who says ‘we miss the judgmental you’ – at work or home? And when people propose suggestions or plans, do you regularly say ‘but’ and ‘however’?

Even if unintentional, this can be interpreted as a put-down and implies that your opinion is always better.

Consider how much and how often people (including you) talk about how smart and special they are and how stupid, inept or bad others are. Destructive language slips too easily from the lips of those in power. Wise power brings people up rather than bringing them down.

Consider one behavioural change that will make a really positive difference for you – something you’ll be motivated to pursue through thick and thin. Focus – don’t try to change multiple things. Many leaders would do well to pick ‘humility’! Also, try sharing this with a friend or colleague – this could help you along the way. You can do the same for them too.

Feedforward When we continually bring up the past, we can demoralise people who are trying to change (including ourselves). Whatever happened in the past, happened in the past – we can learn lessons, but it cannot be changed. Focus on a future that can improve in order to achieve positive change.

Leadership – What Got You Here Won’t Get You

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‘Feedforward’ – rather than feedback – involves letting go of the past. Don’t be defensive – you’ll learn more by listening to suggestions without judging and filtering. In coaching others, help as much as you can, using positive reinforcement and leaving your ego out of it.

Developing yourself as a leader and partner – eight things to do more of:        

Ask – don’t be too proud or shy Listen – the first thing ambitious and powerful people do is the last thing they should do – tell people what they think and don’t listen enough Think – especially before saying anything when emotional Thank – often and even when you’re brought bad news (don’t shoot messengers) Respond – when suggestions are made, 360 degree feedback received and surveys completed, explain what is possible to do and not do Involve – invite and win support, share responsibility and credit, and focus on the future Change – keep yourself and the organisation improving and moving forward Follow-up – essential for lasting change. Never assume that everyone has ‘got it’ or wants it.

Marshall referred to comprehensive research underlining the importance of follow-up. For example, frequent and meaningful communication, discussions, feedback sessions, brown bag lunches and surveys. For more information on Leadership is a contact sport refer to: http://www.marshallgoldsmithlibrary.com/docs/articles/LeaderContactSport.pdf

Changing perception, changing behaviour Behavioural coaching, when well done, helps people make a real difference, even at CEO level.

However it is essential that they want to change, the coach can’t make them. Coaching success is about the ‘client’ far more than the coach. Note that: 

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contexts where behavioural coaching doesn’t work include instances where the person doesn’t want to change, where the client has serious ethics and integrity deficits, where the need is about technical knowledge, or the person is in the wrong job or doesn’t fit the company perception can be harder to change than behaviour, there is often a lag and persistence is required to ensure others recognise the change.

SESSION 2 – ‘TRIGGERS’ AND PERSONAL CHANGE

Behavioural triggers A trigger is any stimulus that shapes our thoughts or actions – whether to positive or negative effect.    

Triggers can be infinite in number and often we are oblivious to them The challenge is to learn to identify them and if possible, make them work for us To do that, consider ‘who’s in control’ – internal/self-control, shared responsibility with others or external forces to be responded to, and anticipated where possible Also consider fate – the hand of cards we have been dealt, and choice − how we play the hand

Leadership – What Got You Here Won’t Get You

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Note that it is easier to control ‘self’ than others. However, even that is not always easy, but it really helps to understand personal and external/contextual triggers.

Achieving greater self-control has a myriad of benefits for everyone, but especially those in positions of responsibility and influence over others. By contrast, due to not being or feeling in control:   

millions of people around the world are disengaged and depressed many teams and organisations are dysfunctional personal and organisational goals are not attained and desired change doesn’t happen.

Focus is ever harder to achieve nowadays, at home or work, given the distraction and pace of the digital world – emails, texts, social media – with everything and everyone increasingly on-demand.

Don’t delude yourself – get help when you need it Forty years ago, most senior executives would never admit to having a ‘coach’; they knew best and told people what to do.

It’s a different world now. Top executives, like top athletes, need advice and support to achieve and learn in an ever-more challenging environment. So does anyone with a stretching role.

Therefore avoid these classic self-delusions.   

I have the wisdom and courage to evaluate my own behaviour objectively I have enough willpower to overcome all challenges – my will and energy won’t get depleted I don’t need help or structure to achieve my goals.

Winners get help when they need it and, even better, before they need it – losers don’t.

Whether help is from a coach, colleague or manager, don’t be too proud or stubborn to ask. This is not so much about information – as that is so easy to obtain in an era of search engines and YouTube.

More important issues to address include capability, focus, self-awareness, resilience and making good choices.

Lessons from Ford Alan Mulally led a remarkable turn-around of Ford, which had begun to make crippling losses.

Critical to this was developing and embedding a different leadership style, which included:   

no tolerance of bad behaviours – e.g. destructive language leaders as facilitators, not bosses creating an open culture - sharing at all levels, no secrets and focusing on objective data.

The starting point was recognising at the top that there was no shame in not knowing ‘the answer’. (Mark Fields was at first the only member of Mulally’s team with the courage to admit this, and he eventually succeeded him as CEO.) After they began to share, they began to develop solutions.

This is the very opposite of the boss who demands ‘don’t bring me problems, bring me answers’, which invites people to hide the problems and things just get worse.

Leadership – What Got You Here Won’t Get You

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Becoming the person we choose to become The wheel of change (below) provides keys to self-management, based on a clearer understanding of one’s identity – knowing who you are and what you want to become. This does not have to be about driving ambition, but more about being comfortable in your own skin and direction. Marshall suggested you ask yourself where you can make a positive difference, making the world a better place even in a small way, and not trying to be self-important. There are four levers to consider. 

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Creating − visualising the future, dealing with blockages and inhibitions, devising the path as well as the desired outcome.

Preserving − who is the ‘you’ that you want to preserve, traits that are recognisably authentic.

Eliminating − what should you shed or do less of, and what will motivate you to achieve this.

Accepting − what must you school yourself to do and let go of, what limits must you recognise.

Finally, are you willing to make the necessary investment to change – yourself or the organisation?

Daily question disciplines Marshall concluded by recommending a daily question process to help you manage yourself and stay focused on achieving your goals. This technique has proved to be highly effective. He described two disciplines.  

First, ask yourself the hardest daily question you can think of , something you know the answer to and that you think is very important. All you have to do to get a high score is to try!

Second, regularly ask yourself a set of six questions – or get someone else to help by asking them of you – that relate to behaviours that you know are important but that are easy to neglect.

These latter questions should be active i.e. focusing on what you can do to make a positive difference for yourself and the world. This contrasts with passive questions – what the world/others need to do to make a positive difference for you.

Answers sought to these active questions should be brief, preferably yes or no, and you should log your responses to reflect on over time. Here are a few examples (and some of Marshall’s personal questions are shown in the box below).    

Was that (argument, email, aggressive decision etc) really worth it?

How many minutes did I walk today?

Did I prevent myself from making destructive comments today?

What did I do for my family today (instead of the job, the company)?

Leadership – What Got You Here Won’t Get You

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Marshall’s personal question discipline Marshall shared examples of the active questions he uses, which all ask “Did I do my best to…  be happy?  find meaning?  be fully engaged?  build positive relationships?  set clear objectives?  make progress toward my goals?

Try using questions like these to help transform boring meetings into something more productive, for you and others!

Research into using this technique shows that that 37% reported improvement on all six questions, and 89% reported improvement on at least one… and no one reported negative change!

Marshall invited participants to contact him with any queries – he can be reached at marshall@MarshallGoldsmith.com . He may take a few days to respond, but he will reply.

Notes authored by Andrew Lambert, CRF Associate.