Great leaders surround themselves with great people. Lone ranger leadership is doomed to fail, there is no one great person that is going to transform an organisation it takes a strong team and a great leader. If you look at the life of anyone who has achieved success, such as Jack Welch, Bill gates and others, you’ll notice that they surround themselves with great people. But! It’s not that easy, the trick is to known what great looks like, "How do you know the great people when you see them?" An article by Peter Carbonara from Fast Company provides help for leaders looking to identify and select the right people for their team.

The proposition is undeniable: you can’t build a great company without great people. But how many companies are as rigorous about hiring as they comfortable evaluating job candidates as they are deciding on an investment proposal? The all-too-common reality, in far too many companies, is that hiring processes are poorly designed and shabbily executed.

Of course, making the commitment to hire great people raises an even more basic question: How do you know them when you see them? Over the last few years, a number of companies have asked themselves that question. They’ve analyzed what separates their winners from their losers, good hires from bad hires. These companies compete in a wide range of industries — from airlines to steel, computers to hotels — but they all arrived at the same answer: What people know is less important than who they are. Hiring, they believe, is not about finding people with the right experience. It’s about finding people with the right mind-set. These companies hire for attitude and train for skill.

The article proposes that by using the following four principles you can improve your chances of selecting the right person…..

1. What You Know Changes, Who You Are Doesn’t – Popeye was right: "I y’am what I y’am." The most common — and fatal — hiring mistake is to find someone with the right skills but the wrong mind-set and hire them on the theory, "We can change ‘em." Davidson’s response? Forget it. "The single best predictor of future behavior is past behavior," he says. "Your personality is going to be essentially the same throughout your life." As evidence, he points to U.S. Air Force research on personality types that began in the 1950s. For decades, researchers tracked their subjects by observing their behavior and interviewing their families, friends, and colleagues. The conclusion? Basic personality traits did not change, Davidson says. "Introverts were introverts, extroverts were extroverts. The descriptions were constant."
2. You Can’t Find What You’re Not Looking For – Bill Byham, perhaps the world’s foremost authority on hiring, is president and CEO of Pittsburgh-based Development Dimensions International (DDI) . He’s also the father of a hiring methodology that goes by many names ("Targeted Selection" is the most popular) but revolves around a simple idea: the best way to select people who’ll thrive in your company is to identify the personal characteristics of people who are already thriving and hire people just like them. In the Byham model, companies work to understand their star performers, identify their target behaviors and attitudes, and then develop interview questions to find people with those attributes.
3. The Best Way to Evaluate People is to Watch Them Work – A few companies take this rule literally — none more so than steelmaking giant Nucor. In many ways, Nucor is to steel what Southwest is to airlines: innovative, fast-moving, eager to break the rules. One of Nucor’s best sources of new steelworkers are the construction workers who build its plants. Managers monitor their construction sites, look for plumbers and electricians who demonstrate the work habits they value, and then hire them. At Nucor, the dirty and dangerous task of building a steel mill is one long interview for jobs running it.
4. You Can’t Hire People Who Don’t Apply – Companies that take hiring seriously also take recruiting seriously….. Companies that hire smart usually start their recruiting efforts close to home — with their own people. SGI’s Lane estimates that 65% of his company’s new hires began as referrals from current employees. It makes sense: it takes a certain kind of person to thrive at SGI, and those people tend to spend time (personally and professionally) with people like themselves.

One of the central tasks of leaders is the selection and development of people and teams. Leaders tend to recruit too hastily and take too long to remove those who are under-performing. The key to recruiting great people it to be clear about what you’re looking for in others. What are the characteristics of people who succeed in your team? Do you actively look for those characteristics in the people you’re looking to hire?

Technorati Tags: Teamwork, Selection, Talent, Recruitment, Leadership, Teams, People, Management, Business

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A leader is likely to be challenged by a number of leadership transitions as they develop and grow their careers. These transitions may be from team member to team leader, from manager to divisional leader or from director to CEO. Other difficult leadership transitions can occur as leaders move between companies or even between industries. Research reported in Management-Issues, conducted across 18 industries and 11 countries by the Institute of Executive Development and Alexcel Group found that the

"ramp-up time for new external hires is worryingly long. Around a third of those questioned said that it takes between six and nine months while a further quarter of respondents said it takes more than nine months… Ramp–up time for those making transfers within the same organization was less, but not by a huge margin. The most commonly cited period was between three and six months, with a quarter saying it takes longer than six months…. Moreover, one in five (21 percent) of executives who make internal transfers fail to meet expectations in first two years."

Given these findings and the risks associated with leadership transitions, it’s of critical importance for leaders, to learn how to transition effectively between different leadership roles. Some great advice on making an effective transitions is provided by Dan Ciampa and Michael Watkins in their post discussing the transition of Vikram Pandit, to become the new CEO of Citigroup and provide the following guidelines to help leaders make manage their leadership transitions.

1. Identify the critical alliances. "To transform their organizations, new CEOs must gain the support of powerful internal and external constituencies. Influential players must perceive it to be in their interest to help realize your goals. You must therefore begin to identify them and at least begin to gain their support during the transition."
2. Get the right top team in place — fast. "Like most new CEOs, you will inherit a group of senior executives. Some will have the knowledge, skills, and background needed to drive the business forward. Others will not….. The decision to remove a senior-level manager is among the most serious and complicated that any leader makes. But among the most common regrets CEOs have is not replacing senior-level people once it becomes clear they are not the right fit for the situation and for the CEO’s style or vision."
3. Secure early wins. "To create momentum, you must secure some early wins. …. This means marshalling resources to focus on issues that meet three criteria: (1) they yield tangible financial benefit, (2) they address issues that employees understand to be important, and (3) results can achieved early in the new leader’s tenure. New CEOs secure early wins by identifying substantial problems that can be tackled in a reasonable period of time and whose solutions result in tangible operational and financial (not just behavioral/attitudinal) improvements in performance."
4. Lay the groundwork for effective communications. "New CEOs prepare for derailment when they fail to get their messages about priorities across, to convey the values that they hold as important, or to clearly define expectations. As a result they create vacuums of understanding and emotional connection that undermine their effectiveness. ….. Everyone is parsing your actions and words closely and critically, hunting for signals of direction, purpose, motives, and, especially, for the answer to “who is this person?” Leaders lay the seeds of their own destruction when they fail to gain control of the communication processes of the company. As a result, do not effectively get their messages across to the people whom they most want to influence; nor do they shape the mood or morale of the organization."
5. Shape your vision. "…. What we mean by vision is a vivid mental image that depicts your view of the desired future state of the organization in an inspiring way. It is not a statement of mission, a set of objectives, or a list of values. It is a picture of what will be seen, heard, and felt when the organization fulfills that mission, and achieves those objects….. If it’s not inspiring, for the leader and for key people in the organization, then it’s not a vision."
6. Build and use a balanced advice network. "…Finally, and perhaps most important, you have to build and use the right kind of advice and counsel network. No leader is an island. …. So its essential that you find ways to accelerate learning about markets, products, technologies, organizational capabilities, team, politics and culture. Identifying and leveraging the best advisors — internally and externally — is the most effective way to do this."

This useful list of guidelines can assist in your leadership transition and compliments a previous post "5 tips on making a successful leadership transition". Another great resource for planning a successful leadership transition is the Harvard Business Review book "The First 90 Days" which I’ve previously reviewed here. Before jumping into a new role or hastily accepting that new leadership position take some time to plan your first 90 days and thereby increase your chances of success……!

Technorati Tags: Leadership, Transition, Business, Management, Planning, Change, Career, Success, HBR

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“Take my 20 best people, and virtually overnight, Microsoft becomes a mediocre company.” – Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates

Great leaders are always of the lookout for talent and recognise the contribution and importance of other people in their success. Talent Management has a great article titled “Taking the Talent Pulse: What Drives High Potentials?” discussing the 2007 Talent Pulse study by global HR consultancy Hewitt Associates. The study surveyed and interviewed nearly 750 high potentials and their managers in seven Fortune 500 companies. The research identified the following six key motivators that drive the performance and engagement of high potentials:

• Motivator No. 1: Job Fulfillment/Challenge: “High potentials are most driven to work on projects they consider challenging, intellectually stimulating or strategically impactful….. Underutilization frustrates them.”
• Motivator No. 2: Total Compensation: “…Hewitt found achievement-driven high potentials place great value on how much money they make…. Talented employees expect their pay to accurately reflect their level of contribution, personal effort and to differentiate them from average performers. For them, total compensation also serves as tangible proof they have accomplished, if not exceeded, their goals.”
• Motivator No. 3: Opportunities for Advancement: “High-potential employees continually feel the need for upward mobility. They recognize that progression goes hand in hand with development, learning new skills and having new experiences, and they expect a steady stream of opportunities in the near term, not years down the road.”
• Motivator No. 4: Good Work-Life Balance: “According to high potentials, a good work-life balance includes much more than simply the number of hours logged at work. It extends to the amount of travel required, the extent of sacrifice of personal life for professional success and the degree of flexibility in terms of how and when their work gets done. There is a constant struggle between maintaining quality of life with the drive to achieve, an aspiration that frequently results in a highly demanding and stressful work schedule…. The message to leadership is: ‘Honor and respect work-life balance; give us a chance to breathe.’”
• Motivator No. 5: Being Linked to Business Results: “Top performers want to play a key role in the organization. They want projects that yield high impact on the business. High potentials yearn to understand how their efforts contribute to the success of the business and its customers.”
• Motivator No. 6: Integrity: “Still affected by the corporate governance scandals that have plagued big business in recent years, high potentials said they want no part of any organization that even hints of acting in an unethical fashion. Their rationale is simple: If they are expected to throw their heads, hearts and souls into their work, the company’s leaders should be willing to be open and transparent about their conduct.”

It’s the responsibility of leaders to create an environment where people can grow and develop to reach their full potential. The growth and development of people does not just happen, it requires focused attention and constant effort. The key drivers listed above provide a great start for those leaders wanting to create an environment to retain their top talent. Consider the above six drivers:

• Rate how well you are doing on each of the drivers on a scale from 1 to 10?
• Ask some of your top performers to do the same.
• Compare the results.
• What changes do you need to make?

Technorati Tags: Talent, Growth, Leadership Development, Engagement, Retention, Research, Leadership, Management, Business

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Chief Learning Officer magazine has an article “Leadership Development in 2008” that discussing research which found the following six best practices common to highly successful leadership development initiatives.

1. Strong executive engagement: The most important practice of all is to obtain the engagement of top leaders and managers. Their commitment means that the program will be highly regarded, aligned with corporate strategy and focused on the right business issues.
2. Tailored leadership competencies: Successful leadership development programs are based on identified leadership competencies. By isolating and agreeing upon leadership competencies most important to your business, you will have the foundation for leadership development, as well as succession planning, career development and other talent-related processes.
3. Alignment with business strategy: Leadership development is far more than management training. As leaders move up in the organization, their skills must shift from people and project management to strategic business and operations management. Organizations such as Agilent, Aetna and Cisco focus heavily on company-specific business strategies in their leadership programs.
4. Target all levels of leadership: While the term “leadership” may not seem to apply to first-line managers, we find that high-impact programs have elements that apply to every level of management.
5. Apply a comprehensive and ongoing approach: No sound leadership development program consists solely of an instructor-led training event. Programs must include developmental assignments, 360-degree assessments, meetings with global counterparts, case studies, external education and a wide variety of e-learning and other media to give leaders a complete experience. People learn to lead by doing, so the best leadership development programs focus heavily on experiential learning.
6. Integrate with talent management: To build a sustainable leadership pipeline, organizations must implement programs to assess leadership potential (part of the performance management process), identify successors to existing leaders and place these individuals into the right development programs as part of the company’s regular business practices. In fact, one of the biggest indicators of a first-class leadership development program is a set of established practices and a corporate culture that encourages development throughout the enterprise.

These are a great set of leadership development practices to use in your leadership development programmes. As leadership talent becomes more scarce, developing people from within become more and more important. What are you doing to develop the leaders of tomorrow for your team and organisation?

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Spotting a New Leader by Fred Smith provides insight into some of the traits to look for when identifying future leaders, which he describes the following 10 signs of leadership potential.

1. Leadership in the past. "The best predictor of the future is the past."
2. The capacity to create or catch vision. "When I talk to people about the future, I want their eyes to light up. I want them to ask the right questions about what I’m talking about…… A person who doesn’t feel the thrill of challenge is not a potential leader."
3. A constructive spirit of discontent. "Some people would call this criticism, but there’s a big difference in being constructively discontent and being critical. If somebody says, ‘There’s got to be a better way to do this,’ I see if there’s leadership potential by asking, ‘Have you ever thought about what that better way might be?’ If he says no, he is being critical, not constructive. But if he says yes, a constructive spirit of discontent challenges him. That’s the unscratchable itch. It is always in the leader. People locked in the status quo are not leaders."
4. Practical ideas. "Highly original people are often not good leaders because they are unable to judge their output; they need somebody else to say, ‘This will work’ or ‘This won’t.’"
5. A willingness to take responsibility. "Carrying responsibility doesn’t intimidate me, because the joy of accomplishment—the vicarious feeling of contributing to other people—is what leadership is all about."
6. A completion factor. "Dale Carnegie used to say, ‘I know men in the ranks who will not stay in the ranks. Why? Because they have the ability to get things done.’ In the military, it is called ‘completed staff work.’ With potential leaders, when the work comes in, it’s complete. The half-cooked meal isn’t good enough."
7. Mental toughness. "No one can lead without being criticized or without facing discouragement. A potential leader needs a mental toughness. I don’t want a mean leader; I want a tough-minded leader who sees things as they are and will pay the price… Leadership creates a certain separation from one’s peers. The separation comes from carrying responsibility that only you can carry."
8. Peer respect. Peer respect doesn’t reveal ability, but it can show character and personality…. Maxey Jarmen used to say, ‘It isn’t important that people like you. It’s important that they respect you. They may like you but not follow you. If they respect you, they’ll follow you, even if perhaps they don’t like you.’"
9. Family respect. "I also look at the family of a potential leader: Do they respect him or her?"
10. A quality that makes people listen to them. "Potential leaders have a ‘holding court’ quality about them. When they speak, people listen. Other people may talk a great deal, but nobody listens to them. They’re making a speech; they’re not giving leadership. I take notice of people to whom others listen."

We all need to become better at spotting future leaders and this list is a great start. As leaders we need to be on the constant look out for people who have leadership potential. Part of a leaders legacy is to ensure that there are leaders who have been mentored and have caught our vision and this starts with spotting leadership potential. 

Technorati Tags: Leadership, Management, Leadership Development, Future, Development, Mentor, Coach, Legacy

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