Embracing the Right Tensions

Every business faces the opposing forces of the pull for more growth against the pull for more profitability; the demand to show profit today against the need to invest in the company’s future; and the call for optimizing the whole against the tendency of individual parts to maximize their own performance. The three performance tensions — growth versus profitability, short term versus long term, and whole versus parts — provide fundamental energy that can be harnessed to deliver superior, sustainable results. The ability of the board, CEO, and executive team to navigate these tensions largely determines their company’s ability to both create wealth and serve society.

1.      Profitability versus Growth. John Sunderland, the former CEO of Cadbury Schweppes, often responded with a parable when an executive argued that the business could increase either margins or sales, but not both. Sunderland would remind the executive of a time when people lived in mud huts and struggled to get both light and heat: Put a hole in the side of your hut, and you let the daylight in, but also the cold; block the opening, and you stayed warm, but sat in the dark.

The invention of glass made it possible to have both light and heat. He would then ask, “Where is the glass?” He wanted them to look for ideas that would expand both their margins and their top line. By demanding both growth and profitability from the company’s strategies, Sunderland purposely added tension for his executives. He found that it created more energy and raised the quality of thinking and debate.

2.     Short Term versus Long Term. Norman Bobins was the chief executive of LaSalle Bank (now a subsidiary of ABN AMRO) in the 1990s and early 2000s, when it was one of the most successful middle-market banks in the United States. He tells this story about how he turned the short term versus long term tension into a productive tool for driving performance: “One of my managers came forward and proposed a [US]$180 million profit plan. I had in my head that $200 million should be possible. The manager’s response when I challenged him was, ‘Just tell me what you want and I’ll deliver it.’ I said to him, ‘You don’t get it. It’s not what I want; it’s how I want it achieved.’

The quality of earnings is as important as how much earnings are produced. It would be easy to achieve $200 million just by lending more to customers with poor credit histories. That’s why in the budgeting and negotiating process with my managers, understanding how earnings will be generated next year is as important as how much earnings will be generated this year.”

Bobins’s approach was a masterful example of using the tension between short term and long term to improve the quality of management. He neither let the manager off the hook nor left him alone to sort out the tension for himself.

3.     Whole versus Parts. Soon after Matthew Barrett became chief executive of Barclays PLC in 1999, he purposely introduced tension into a meeting of his executive committee (Exco), which included the executives who led different parts of Barclays. Barrett had become frustrated with how everyone put his or her part of the bank first. “When I’d been at Barclays about six months,” he recalls, “I took the Exco out for an away-day. Over dinner the night before, I said, ‘I’ve got some good news: I’m disbanding Exco.’ There was a stunned silence around the room. Then the question: ‘Why?’ I said, ‘I’m really respectful of your time, and it’s not good for any of us to have a series of bilateral meetings with an audience.’ They all objected. No one wanted to lose the status of being a member of Exco. So I said at the end, ‘You either persuade yourselves that your first job is the co-management of the group and your second job is managing your piece, or I’m disbanding Exco.’ I wanted to create a sense of ownership for the [group’s most important] issues wherever they sat in the organization. It really turned things around. [They] understood I was serious.”

Barrett created a right fight over one of the most important tensions that exists in any large, complex company: how to make the whole more than just the sum of the parts. He used tension deliberately, aiming it squarely at improving the team’s effectiveness in driving the bank’s performance.

These CEOs have in common a focus not just on the right tensions, but also on using them in the right way: to move things forward, to energize, to spark new thinking, to wake people up! This is how they transformed their companies into great performers.

Clearly, every organization must face the intricacies of these 3 performance tensions. I found the examples of how each CEO handled these tensions, very interesting.  

Servant Leader……

The program consisted of 5 straight days of intensive training, coaching and role playing. Our class consisted of over 40 senior level leaders from well known organizations such as Cisco, Amex, Siemens, Conoco, British Petroleum, Eli Lily, Medtronic, Booz Allen Hamilton, PepsiCo and Target.

One of my “aha moments”, came during our discussion about soliciting and accepting feedback from others. As leaders, we’re all very opinionated. We want to take charge of situations and are often a little resistant to the ideas of others. 

The idea of soliciting feedback from peers, direct reports and even managers – is just not something we’re comfortable doing. Often we feel that the feedback is tainted by that persons questionable goals or warped ideas about how we should lead, manage or resolve conflicts.

Personally, I think I’m the best thing since sliced bread – anyone who can’t get along with me, must have serious problems. After all, I’m easy to get along with, I always consider everyone’s opinion and I’m open to different points of view. it’s just that, most times – I’m right and everyone else is wrong.

Strong leaders often dread the idea of soliciting feedback almost as much as they hate reading it.

If you’re like me – here are a few things to consider, next time you’re working through your professional development plan and reviewing your 360 degree results.

First – it’s only feedback. Take note of the key messages which your colleagues and reports are sharing with you. Take note of the differences between your perceptions of yourself and those of others around you. Sometimes, as a Leader – your job is about managing others perceptions about your leadership style and behavioural tendencies

Ultimately, feedback is always a gift. It helps you identify recurring themes which may highlight blind spots. Sure, some of the information you receive may by biased – however, it’s still useful.

I wasn’t happy about everything that my peers and reports said about me – but perception is often reality.  I paid particular attention to the insights from my Manager and his peers – because managing up is such a key part of any leaders work life.

If you haven’t solicited feedback from your co-workers over the past year, I encourage you to do so. Continuous learning is key to your development as a leader – and a key part of the at learning is getting to know yourself through others.

Servant Leader …..

I’d like to share with you – a blue print for getting to the top, and staying there. It’s based on a well established framework – known as the PIE Model.

 P – stands for Performance

Performance relates to the actual work we do, the results we deliver on a day to day basis. I work for a large company – every year we write commitments, which basically outline our key objectives, the things we’re going to do and performance indicators which indicate who well we performed. For many of us, our career trajectory has much to do with our overall performance. Performance drives results – and we’re often measured on results.

 I – Image

Next – there’s Image. Image has much to do with your personal brand, how you carry yourself or position yourself in the work place. Your reputation will be enhanced or not – by your image. What will people say when asked to describe you – your strengths and areas of opportunity for improvement. What perceptions do people have about you? What impressions do others have about you in general – and your overall performance, in particular.

 Lastly, there’s E – Exposure

Who knows you?  Who do you know? How strong is your network? Are you being presented with high visibility opportunities at work? Do you have a network of supporters who will speak for you? Whose wearing your T-Shirt? What do people know about you – your performance, your image, your brand?

Here’s a box chart that I’ve created to illustrate the relative importance of the various aspects of the PIE model.

        I.            Ave Players: Most of us over index on performance, in the belief that our managers, will reward our hard work with promotions and greater opportunities. In my experience, hard work and a strong performance gets you into the conversation, but that’s it.

      II.            Mid level Mgrs: After a time, some of us wise up and start to spend a little more time on how we position ourselves -  but still rely too heavily on our performance, our results

    III.            Strong Contenders: In many ways, working smart is about being efficient and effective with ones time – those in this “strong contender” category – are of that mold

    IV.            CEO Material: If you’re in this bucket – you’re probably already a senior leader in your organization, destined for the C-Suite

Make no mistake about it – If you want to get to the top, you must learn how to manage up, to manage the perceptions of your peers, managers and skip level managers.  You also need to seek out opportunities which provide you with visibility across your organization.

And that’s my  blue print for getting to the top, and staying there.

Servant Leader

1.      A strategic thinker: able to grasp the big picture and think long-term.

2.      Socially venturesome and self-assured; forms new relationships easily and works to maintain them.

3.      Comfortable asserting authority and using power.

4.      Able to think critically (define a problem and determine the information needed to solve it; understand unspoken assumptions; form and test hypotheses; and judge the validity of conclusions).

5.      Adapts easily to changing situations and is able to adopt new approaches when necessary.

6.      Impact & Influence: Can influence and persuade other people, even without direct authority.

7.      Knows how to get things done within the political framework of an organization.

8.      Picks up new ideas and processes new information quickly and easily.

9.      Action-oriented: makes sure that decisions are implemented.

10.  Able to defend a point of view and to confront others appropriately when necessary.

11.  Empathy: Can see things from other people’s points of view.

12.  Discernment: Judges Ideas and people on merit alone, without bias or favoritism.

13.  Organized: Able to juggle many projects and responsibilities at once.

14.  Comfortable and effective in relating to people from many different backgrounds and cultures.

15.  Sensitive and tactful: promotes an atmosphere of good feeling and mutual consideration.

16.  Analytical: Skillful in using quantitative analysis to understand business issues.

17.  Respectful of other people’s points of view, as well as their time and priorities.

18.  Decision Maker: Able to make decisions even in ambiguous situations and without full information.

19.  Accepts critical feedback without getting defensive.

20.  Projects self-confidence, even in uncertain and difficult situations.

21.  A team player: cooperative, works well as part of a group.

22.  Able to think creatively, generating new ideas and approaches to situations.

23.  Doesn’t get discouraged and give up on things easily.

24.  Takes risks when appropriate, isn’t afraid to innovate and experiment.

25.  Clear and patient when explaining things; a good teacher.

26.  A skillful public speaker, good at presenting ideas and plans in a persuasive manner.

27.  Has a strong work ethic, willing to make sacrifices to achieve important goals.

28.  Able to be effective in an environment where strong and opposing views are being expressed.

29.  Understands how to motivate different kinds of people to do their best work.

30.  Listens to other people in a way that they feel understood.

31.  Recognizes new opportunities and acts to take advantage of them.

32.  Does not act or speak impulsively; does not easily lose composure.

33.  Comfortable taking a leadership role.

34.  Inspires other people’s trust.

35.  Delegates appropriately and effectively.

36.  Able to compromise when the situation calls for it.

37.  Handles pressure and stress well.

38.  A good writer expresses ideas and positions clearly.

39.  Urgent vs. Impt: Takes good care of the day-to-day aspect of running things.

40.  Makes tough decisions: Able to make decisions that are in the best interest of the organization, even though they cause individual people distress.

The Art of listening

The act of listening is probably the most powerful tool you have as a leader. There are many ways to listen; the most obvious is with your ears. The act of listening is carefully paying attention to sounds, not just to words. The pace, breath, tone, and inflection of the voice all combine to provide you implied meaning, intentions, state-of-mind, and needs of the speaker.

When listening carefully, other thoughts are put aside for a moment. There should be no judgment, no discrimination, no understanding. Only hearing. Soon our brain, that hyperactive dog pulling on a leash, starts barking in with ideas, assumptions, interpretations, and decisions. If we can hold off that dog for a bit, we can listen with clarity, which leads to insights that were hidden. Insights useful to a leader. Our society acts as though listening is the same as hearing. But listening is a skill, which like any other skill is mastered through practice.

Five Steps to Listening Meticulously
1. Breathe. Find a quiet place. Sit still and comfortably with good but relaxed posture. Close your eyes. Breathe as fully and slowly as you can. Settle down.

2. Relax. Now open your eyes and look down toward the ground or to the table in front of you. You want to be awake and present while listening. What do you hear? Can you hear traffic? HVAC air blowing through a register? Birds chirping? People talking nearby? Your heartbeat? A dog barking in the distance? The blood rushing in your ears? A clock ticking? Your breath? Your mind is like a puppy. Let it roam around and listen to everything around you one-by-one, but keep your eyes open.

3. Concentrate. With your eyes still open, now count your breaths from 1 to 10. Every time your mind wanders away from this exercise, just come back to counting your breaths from 1 to 10. You will still be able to hear very well despite counting breaths. Now you are concentrating on one point amidst all the noise around you. Just breathe and count. You are training your mind puppy to sit instead of letting it roam around.

4. Wake up. You may get bored with counting to 10. You might get frustrated that you don’t get past 4 without ending up in a daydream. You might feel antsy. You might realize you are hungry. Whenever you notice that you are not counting anymore, you have a spark of awareness – you just woke up. Use that awareness and just come back to counting each breath from 1 to 10. Practice patience. Practice calm control. Practice staying present. You are training your mind puppy to come back on command, gently.

5. Practice. Do this for at least 5 minutes every day. If you enjoy it, do it for 10 or 15 minutes every day or do it several times a day. After 2 weeks, apply your newly honed concentrated attention on to the person speaking in front of you. If your mind wanders, or starts to get bored, or starts coming up with ideas while that person is speaking, use that same spark of awareness to come back to the person speaking. Come back to their voice, just like you came back to counting breaths from 1 to 10. With practice, you will notice that you aren’t drifting as much.

Leadership is a long term relationship. Listening builds relationships and makes you a more effective leader. When a person is heard fully and completely, without interruption, without debate, they are more likely to feel trust in you. They are far more likely to be receptive to whatever ideas you would like them to consider – whether it is a request you are making of them or whether it is an opinion you would like to share with them.

It doesn’t take much to practice this. If you start now, in a few weeks you will already be a more skilled listener than the majority of people on the planet. Keep practicing and people will notice. Soon you will be a more effective leader. Are you listening?

Michael Schutzler

One key theme which resonated with everyone – was the desire to understand key leadership traits of great leaders. Here are the 4 key traits which Michael defined and explained. All great leaders are Great Listeners, Great Storytellers, Great Negotiators & Great Judges of people/character.

Great Listeners – I cover this trait in more detail in my next post. However, here are some ideas to think about:

        I.            The average attention span of your colleagues in corporate America is less than 60 seconds. The “always on” nature of  electronic media has helped drive down attention spans in the U.S and around the world.

      II.            Try to increase your attention span by actively listening to others – active listening will give you an edge over other leaders.

    III.            Actively ask questions that force you into listening mode.

    IV.            93% of communication is non-verbal – active listening is a great way to communicate with others.

Great Storytellers – Leaders who are great storytellers understand how to provide context for how each person’s role provides real value to the entire organization.

        I.            Good leadership is about developing great relationships, communicating effectively with diverse audiences

      II.            You cannot consistently tell great stories unless you truly believe in your ideas, so – be authentic, be creative, report facts

    III.            Be expressive – your body language should tell a story about your passion and your level of engagement with your audience

    IV.            You cannot consistently convince people to go that extra mile for the team, without creating a compelling vision, through storytelling

I’ll address the remaining 2 traits in a few weeks…….

Happy New Year,

Servant Leader

1. What’s the chain of command ?

Often, your manager is the single most important factor in your career velocity. If you’re contemplating a new job, take time to review the new chain of command. How well do you know your hiring manager and his or her boss? What do you have in common with your manager? Do you get a sense that the chain of command truly appreciates what you bring to the table?

Your manager will play a role in providing opportunities for you to develop, as a leader. 3 key characteristics of great jobs are high visibility, a high level of complexity and meaningful, measurable business impact. Your chain of command and especially your manager – will play a major role in positioning you as a high potential performer and providing you with the opportunities to take on more responsibility. Talent, hard work and great interpersonal skills are certainly important – however you’ll need a strong cheering section as well.

So, it helps if you or someone you know – has a great relationship with your hiring manager. Otherwise – it’s a good idea to make sure that you have a very frank discussion with that person regarding your aspirations and her expectations. Many of us seem to forget that our ambitions and our relationships go hand in hand, perhaps even more so than our skills, talents or smarts.

 2. What are you going to do? Are you changing your functional role, your industry, both? 

What’s the real meat of the role? Is it something that you’re passionate about? Are you staying in an industry that you’re comfortable with, or are you breaking entirely new ground? What do you know about the Org Culture in the organization. It’s worth noting that individual business groups within a large organization, will often have fairly distinct org cultures. Do you clearly understand what success means in your new role?  It’s your organizations perception of your performance that matters, and not your own interpretation of how well you’re doing. What constitutes success in the first 30, 60 and 90 days vs. the first year on the job. Trust me – there’s a difference and you don’t get 90 days to prove yourself.

3.   Do you have any transferable skills?

What do you bring to the table? How does your work experience to date, prepare you for this new role. How comfortable are you with the job description and key deliverables of this new job? Do you have the skills required to slide into the new role and hit the ground running. Strong transferable skills can help you build and maintain momentum, in your new role.

As you consider a new role – these are the 3 key factors you need to consider carefully – in order of priority.

By far the most important is the is #1 “the chain of command”. Your manager can be your greatest asset or your worst handicap. If you don’t get along with your manager, he or she is unlikely to present you with the opportunities you need to keep growing in your role.  Sometimes you get along with your manager but she clearly doesn’t think much of your output. If you can’t stand out in the eyes of your manager or your managers chain of command – it may be hard to make any significant headway.

Even if you have a trustful relationship and a strong rapport with your boss – you’ll need to constantly “manage up”. Get clarity on what’s important vs. what’s urgent, prioritize deliverables and proactively manage expectations. Here’s an interesting book, on “managing up”.  I also came across this article – which you may find useful.

Cheers,

Servant Leader

Globalization, Education & Career Choices

What does Globalization really mean?  I’ve heard it’s defined as the constantly evolving process of integrating economies through an International network of exchange or trade – normally this involves foreign direct investment, capital flows, migration, and the spread of technology.

Truth is, it’s one of those words that means many things to many people – depending on who you are, what you’ve seen heard, experienced, where you grew up and perhaps even where you live right now. I was born in Montreal, Canada – to Nigerian parents. I grew up in Nigeria with occasional stints in London, England. When I completed my under grad degree, I moved back to Canada, where I lived and worked for several years, before moving here J.   So, in my case, Globalization represents Opportunity – for me, for my family, my loved ones. Opportunity to accomplish great things – and I know I’m not alone in that mind set.

I’d like to tell you 2 quick stories – just 2 stories, about friends and colleagues, people just like me, from different places around the world, who share my perspective.

Let me start with my good friend Raj – he’s just a little older than me, but looks years younger. He was born in Delhi, India. When he was a boy, he and his friend Anil dreamed of getting a good education and perhaps someday moving to the U.S.A – the land of Opportunity. Everything he’d heard about America indicated that it’s a place where one can get a great education and accomplish great things – do big things. When he was about 15, Raj’s sister met and married a talented computer scientist and they moved to the state of California – his whole family was the envy of friends & relatives, because this was seen as an opportunity for family members to also visit America.  

Raj and Anil both graduated with honors from Universities in India. Raj moved on to the U.S and secured a job in the Financial Services sector while Anil ended up securing a job working for a U.S based firm, in Delhi. They stayed in touch and after a few years, Anil also moved to America – at the urging of his friend. Now, let’s fast forward 10 years to the year ’07. Raj works right here in Seattle as a Marketing Manager – for a well known technology firmJ, and Anil has a great job with GE, in Atlanta.  Both men became leaders in their own right and learnt how to think and work with a Global mindset. They’ve also visited home on a number of occasions, over the past 10 years – and noticed that “Globalization” had resulted in plenty of new opportunities, back in India.  They’d talked about moving back to Delhi, in order to be close to their family and friends. The prestige of living in America has long since worn off, however the life in America is peaceful, predictable and still bear’s some promise.

However – in 2008, Anil took the plunge and moved back home, with his wife and children. The financial crisis in the U.S affected his organization and he wasn’t seeing the same sort of opportunities that he’d envisioned – just a few years earlier.

He’d heard that he could get up to 75% of his U.S salary, in India and he was keen to test the waters, back home. To his surprise, both he and his wife found local companies which matched their U.S salaries and provided great growth opportunities for them, professionally. Now he calls Raj every week and urges him to come back home.

The winds of change are blowing – globalization has resulted in new career options and a new mind set for many aspiring leaders, around the world.

My final story is a little more personal. It’s about me and a childhood friend of mine – his name is Desmond.

Desmond and I met while we both studied at the University of Lagos, in Nigeria and we became close friends. Growing up in Nigeria – I’d always dreamt of living and working in North America. Unlike me, Desmond had no desire to live & work abroad. He understood the benefits but felt that he wanted to be a big fish in a small pond – and for him that meant working for an Oil Company or a foreign bank. You see, in Nigeria, working for an International Oil Company or a Bank, was seen as the best possible job that in Nigeria. That’s the form of Globalization that still represents opportunities for millions of Nigerians.  It was either go abroad or work for a foreign based company – the pay was better and the trappings of success were very attractive.

Desmond first worked for Nigeria /American Bank, a bank with strong ties to the United States. He soon determined that a foreign degree would provide even more opportunities with these Intl Companies, so he left Nigeria and pursued an MBA at Imperial College, London. He did well and was offered jobs in the UK and Lagos, he chose Citi Bank, Lagos Office – sticking with the mindset that Intl Companies in growing markets/economies, offered the best opportunities. The MBA helped and he did well, moving twice to Mgt positions in other International banks, in Nigeria. Working for a Global Organization helped him develop as a leader; he learnt how to think globally, whilst working locally.

However, over last few years he began to notice a trend. Indigenous companies – banks & oil companies have caught on to Globalization and are aggressively extending their operations to other African & European Countries.  Desmond and several of his colleagues, stifled by the monolithic and increasingly conservative approach of multi-nationals, started looking elsewhere for new opportunities, locally.

They were shocked to find that several Indigenous or local companies offered much more attractive financial incentives than they’d received foreign-based companies provide – something that was totally unimaginable just 10 years ago.  Desmond soon jumped ship to a local bank, where he’s paid almost twice what he was making before and has the autonomy to negotiate big deals and lead increasingly important initiatives.

The winds of change are blowing – globalization has resulted in new career options and a new mind set for many aspiring leaders, around the world.

Clearly, the advent of Globalization has opened doors for aspiring leaders around the world – but that’s not all. One key result of the recent Global Financial Crisis is that large International Companies notably in the U.S have been forced to shed Jobs both here and abroad. Talented, aspiring managers, stunned by recent events are starting to re-examine their options and they’re finding that “first world” nations don’t necessarily offer the best opportunities. 

I’ve been blessed to have a good career so far, first in Canada & now in the United States – however, there are thousands of others like Desmond and Anil who can now afford a lifestyle similar to my own.  Globalization has reached the developing markets, local businesses are increasingly taking their products & services to International markets – that phenomenon will continue to grow, as more and more talented leaders flock to these smaller growth markets.

That’s why I believe Globalization, as I know it – provides some great career choices for aspiring leaders and that’s why I’m happy and honored to be a member of the University of Washington “Leadership” MBA Class of ‘2011.

Thank-you all very much, and enjoy the rest of the evening…..

That said, I’m back in the saddle this week and looking forward to writing a few articles, this month. I’ve also invited a few of my colleagues to contribute write-ups, as well.

Servant Leader