Leading Change Blog
Leading Change Blog (119)
Friday, 26 July 2013 11:11
Workplace Diversity – More Than Just A Quota
The ability to appreciate and leverage the value that diverse groups can provide has helped many a leader to be embraced by those around her. In the workplace, diversity in individuals is reflected by the way in which accountability and responsibility are managed. Certain employees will thrive on autonomy and the opportunity to be in control; for others, the idea of shouldering significant responsibility can be terrifying. Alfons Trompenaars and Charles Hampden-Turner, authors of “Riding the Waves of Culture: Understanding Diversity in Global Business” discuss individualist versus community responsibility tendencies with respect to culture. Many western nations, such as the United States, have cultural tendencies towards an individualist responsibility assumption; if a group of Americans are criticised, John might blame…
Friday, 26 July 2013 11:10
Accountability and Project Management
A sure way to de-motivate individuals is to be vague and ambiguous with respect to project goals and expectations. “Winging it” is not a recipe for individual or team success. Effective leaders must be able to clearly communicate project goals, without which, a project can neither be planned nor initiated Without clear goals, a team or individual cannot meet expectations because there are no expectations. An interview with Aracy Streckenbach, President and Chief Operating Officer of Innovative Global Brands, summarised in the “New York Times” on September 1, 2012, explains that clearly defined and measurable goals motivate employees and encourage productive behaviours. A critical step is to define, discuss, dispute if necessary and document the project outline. Do the same…
Friday, 26 July 2013 11:09
Accountability – The Blame Game
Traditional methods of motivation apply the familiar reward versus punishment scenario. Do the right thing and you are rewarded through compensation, bonuses and other rewards; do the wrong thing, make a mistake and you’ll be punished. The ever-present fear of punishment fuels the blame game and discourages employees from stepping up and taking responsibility, let alone take risks (Accountability Leadership 2013). Accepting greater responsibility and accountability requires a degree of emotional maturity. How can we nurture such characteristics in employees while our organisations hang on to outmoded notions of motivation that encourage the exact opposite? To understand why blame is so prevalent in organisations, we need look no further than the lessons of childhood. A significant part of childhood is…
Friday, 26 July 2013 11:08
Leaders: Bullies or Big-shots?
It’s not that successful leaders have an absence of fear. Rather, successful leaders find the courage to move through the fear and take calculated risks; potentially inspiring great innovation and creativity. However, leaders will be unable to truly unleash this potential within their organisations, if they unwittingly crush employee contributions with control and negative consequences. Unfortunately in many corporate cultures, risk taking behaviour is difficult for most individuals who fear the repercussions of mistakes and failure and choose a path that minimises potential undesirable consequences. Unlike leaders, whose power and position affords a level of manoeuvring that can bounce back from mistakes, for employees, there is potentially more at stake, and failure can mean a demotion or termination. How can…
Friday, 26 July 2013 11:07
Leadership: Accountability through Teamwork
Nothing negates effective leadership like autocracy. A more effective approach to management and leadership is to provide employees and colleagues with decision making powers and a sense that their opinions are valued. Encouraging and exploiting the team dynamic can accomplish this better than any rule or procedure enforced through a traditional hierarchy. Given a specific goal or task, a team will inevitably organise itself and establish its own norms and behaviours. These norms and informal rules will vary from team to team according to the task at hand and the members involved. April Shetrone wrote in “Business Week” on May 18, 2011 that possible ways in which to improve employee satisfaction and productivity include providing the opportunity for greater control…
Friday, 26 July 2013 11:05
Leadership: Having the Courage of your Convictions
Effective leadership calls for the ability to motivate others to challenge themselves and to take risks . Leaders who possess the ability to influence in this way, often model that same behaviour in themselves. The individual who can accept personal responsibility but at the same time stretch the limits of personal challenge can encourage a similar sense of ambition and risk in others. An exemplar of this behaviour is Richard Branson. According to recent media reports, notable celebrities that have leapt onto the Branson Virgin Galactic band wagon and who are patiently waiting for a trip into the outer atmosphere include Justin Bieber, Tom Hanks, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ashton Kutcher, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. Richard Branson’s style is direct and…
Friday, 26 July 2013 11:03
Leadership Ego: Friend or Foe
Ego – A person’s sense of self-esteem or self-importance. Oxforddictionaries.com A strong “ego” is likely to have played a part in many a leaders’ upward career progression. Clearly, a certain amount of ego is valuable when it underpins one’s confidence to step up to a leadership role and take on the accountability of more challenging assignments, resource management and employee supervision. Ego also plays its part in assuming the accountability and credit for a job well done. However, it’s all too easy for the “ego” to draw leaders over to the dark side of accountability when personal and organisational results don’t go to plan. The “ego” can rob leaders of the opportunity to admit responsibility and self reflect in times…
Friday, 26 July 2013 10:54
The Storyteller – How leaders persuade and inspire with business stories
Stories are the single most powerful tool in a leader’s toolkit. ~ Howard Gardner, Harvard psychologist Do you know people who can masterfully tell the right story at the right time? Quite often, the best storytellers become our managers and leaders. Even if you have no designs on becoming a CEO or leading a division, you undoubtedly crave more control over your work, ideas, sphere of influence and others’ perceptions. Effective storytelling can help you gain more control, while also building employee morale, strengthening teamwork and defining how problems can be solved. You’ll find it much easier to develop original and effective solutions to everyday challenges. It’s in Our Genes In 1995, two respected economists estimated that 28 percent of…
Friday, 26 July 2013 10:47
Breaking the Habit
“Our desire to take the path of least resistance is so strong that we continue our sometimes destructive behaviour even though we know as in the cases of smoking and overeating, it literally may kill us” ~ Psychology Today Many people believe it takes 21 days to master a new habit. Wishful thinking! Self-help books and motivational gurus have promoted the 21-day myth for at least 50 years, with little research to validate the claim. In a 2009 European study, participants took a full 66 days to adopt a new habit. As much as we’d like to think we’re in control, making conscious decisions, many of our behaviours are automatic. We deny this reality because it’s much nicer to believe…
Friday, 26 July 2013 10:29
Genius or Genius-Maker – How Smart Leaders Bring Out the Best in People
Some corporations have made hiring the most intelligent individuals a core strategy on the basis that smarter people can solve problems more quickly than the competition. But that only works if the organizations can access that intelligence. ~ Stephen R. Covey According to surveys on engagement, most workers have greater capabilities, creativity, talent, initiative and resourcefulness than their jobs allow—or even require—them to use. Other surveys reveal that most workers feel pressured to produce more with less. These results are paradoxical: People are underutilised and overworked at the same time. Fortunately, some leaders understand how to create genius within their teams: They bring out the best in people. They’re “genius-makers.” So, how does one successfully make the shift from genius…
