Strengths: Post #6 - Follwers Needs

Followers’ Four Basic Needs: Gallup’s research focuses not just on looking at how leaders behave but also on followers. A leader charging forward without followers is just out for a walk! The good folks at Gallup looked at 10,000 followers and asked two questions: 1) What leader has the most positive influence in your daily life? 2) List three words that best describe what this person contributes to your life. The results were remarkably simple and profound. Here are THE 4 things followers want from their leaders: Trust, Compassion, Stability and Hope. Actually, not far off from what our ancient friend Aristotle said 2,500 years ago—people want leaders to have Ethos (Trust), Pathos (Compassion) and Logos (Stability & Hope).

1. Trust: Employees who trust leaders are much more likely to stay around. Things get done far more quickly in high-trust teams. Respect, integrity, and honesty are the results of high trust. Trust happens through behaviors. And, in high-trust organizations there’s more a presumption of trust than a lot of chatter about it. Whereas on low-trust, struggling teams, there’s a lot of discussion about trust. Remember, trusted relationships will “trump” competence any time. Better to be trusted than be the smartest person in the room!

2. Compassion: People want leaders who care about them. It’s that simple and, for some leaders, that difficult. When 10,000 employees were asked what great leaders contributed to their lives, they said: Caring, friendship, happiness, and love. And when 10 Million (!) people were asked whether their supervisor or someone at work cared about them, the ones who answered yes were more engaged, productive and most likely to stick around (retention). Moreover, not only do leaders have to care, the culture of an organization has to “have a heart.” When that happens, employees do great things and hang around.

3. Hope: While people want stability on a day-to-day basis, they want hope in the future. People in the Gallup survey used words like direction, faith, and guidance. When asked if they had faith in their organization, the 69% who answered affirmatively were the most engaged employees in their companies, as compared to a miserly 1% of those who answered negatively about hope in their company’s future. Just the mere act of initiating something new can offer hope in the future for employees. Such hope and optimism gives employees something to live and strive for. Without hope, despair and paralysis take over. However, most managers work on day-to-day problems rather than hope-filled strategies of the future. It’s easier to take a phone call than to plan a strategy for financial growth into the future. Add to that the quarter-to-quarter mentality of many corporate boards and their CEOs and you see how establishing hope in the future is as difficult as necessary.

4. Stability: No one likes constant chaos. And most people like stability—especially in times of threat or crisis. A steady hand on the rudder of the organization calms people down and allows them to make better choices. Those surveys by Gallup used words like security, strength, support and peace. People want stability and confidence. Those who are particularly confident in a company’s financial future are nine times more likely to stay with the company, rather than jump ship. To ensure financial stability, make the numbers open to everyone….be transparent.

Strengths: Post #1 - Overview

Strengths-Based Leadership by Tom Rath and Barry Conchie (Gallup Press, 2008) reviewed by Steve Gladis, Ph.D.,

Overview: The Gallup folks have used their ability to research and analyze data to produce a book worthy of any team or organization reading it. The basic premises: People perform best when working in their strengths areas, and teams perform best when the team itself has a balanced, complementary set of strengths. The research behind this book is prodigious. Gallup conducted over 20,000 in-depth interviews, studied over one million work teams, considered over 50 years of data on the world’s most admired leaders, and studied over 10,000 followers for insights into leaders. Here’s what that data revealed. First, the most effective leaders are always investing in strengths. Employees who do not work in strengths areas are only 9% engaged in their jobs vs. 74% engagement levels for people who do work in their strengths. Further, engagement has been proven to substantially increase productivity for the company. Second, the most effective leaders surround themselves with the right people and then maximize their team. By nature we all have talents that can be developed into strengths. We also have definite weaknesses. And while no leader is perfectly well-rounded, effective teams must be. Gallup research has developed four domains of leadership strength: Execution (making things happen); Influence (selling ideas inside and out of the organization); Relationship Building (being the glue that holds teams together); and Strategic Thinking (focusing on the big picture and the future). Third, the most effective leaders understand their followers’ needs. The four needs of followers are: Trust (honesty, respect and integrity); Compassion (caring, friendship, happiness and love); Stability (security, strength, support and peace); and Hope (direction, faith and guidance). This book is a team “must-read.” The StrengthsFinder alone is high value; combine that with the research on teams and you have a bible for team development.

Necessary Endings: Post #8--Wise, Foolish,Evil

The Wise, the Foolish, and the Evil: Identifying Which Kinds of People Deserve Your Trust. Wise people are worth holding onto. Even when they are in trouble, they listen, accept, and adjust to criticism. They take feedback in, thank you for it, take responsibility for their performance, show remorse, look toward improving in the future, and don’t let negative patterns evolve. They’re realistic people, whose attitudes will help them improve and adjust. On the other hand, foolish people respond in just the opposite manner. “The fool adjusts the truth so he does not have to adjust to it.” Thus, instead of taking criticism, the fool deludes himself/herself into believing everyone else is an idiot, thus, s/he is not the one with the problem. In the face of criticism, the fool blames others and you (as the messenger), offers excuses, gets defensive, and is completely unaware of the pain they cause others. So, the basic strategy is to stop conversing and start giving directions. Setting clear limits and consequences with such folks is the only way. If they disparage an employee in front of others, they’ll be placed on administrative leave. Finally, there are evil people in the world—folks who are basically and unalterably flawed with deep seated malice. For them, you get lawyers and protection. No hope—there is only defense.

Starfish and Spider: Post #4

The CEO vs the Catalyst. CEOs run more top-down models and are in charge. Catalysts trust the community to make the best choices. Here’s an interesting comparison chart from p. 130:

CEO Catalyst

The Boss A Peer
Command/Control Trust
Rational Emotionally Intelligent
Powerful Inspirational
Directive Collaborative
In the Spotlight Behind the Scenes
Order Ambiguity
Organizing Connecting

For President Obama from an Executive Coach

Fourth in a series of observations....

4.Lead with trust: “If the people cannot trust their government to do the job for which it exists—to protect them and to promote their common welfare –all else is lost.”

You get what you give, so give trust to get it back from the American public. Be honest, competent, and caring, and trust will always follow you—you won’t ever have to seek it. With trust the government will move quickly, effectively, and efficiently. Without trust, progress will be lethargic, bureaucratic, and frustrating. Consider making the word “transparent” the hallmark of your administration. If people can see what they’re getting and get what they’re seeing, trust will happen and so will rapid progress.

Great Leaders: Good Will (Final Post of Three on Great Leaders)

The third and final characteristic of great leaders is good will. Along with good character, and good sense, great leaders must also have good will toward others. Simply put leaders should have the best intentions for those with whom they are working (colleague or client). What’s more, to have complete trust, great leaders MUST have all three: Good Character, Good Sense and Good Will. Only having one or two will not work….you MUST have all three to be a great leader.

When it comes to good will, I call upon what I call the 5 H’s, based on the word “honor.” Note that I use the word honor and not just respect…one of my favorite leadership words. I think honor implies a degree of humility in respecting another (servant leadership). And the great leaders have that in their DNA.

1.Honor yourself: Staying true to who they are (having personal integrity), is the hallmark of great leaders. They honor themselves by only doing things and making choices consistent with their values, who they authentically are as leaders. Here’s the test: Would what you’re doing make you proud or blush if it ended up on the evening news. This test is called the “red-face” test.
2.Honor others: Leaders get what they give. It’s the simple but ancient rule of reciprocity. Not only do people return what they get, but it happens for both good and bad. That’s not only how great partnerships start but also how wars start. It’s how we can have on the one hand a Martin Luther King or on the other an Adolf Hitler. Honor given first to another always begets honor back. Give before you get and see the results.
3.Honor the company: Honor given to the organization for which you work is both smart for you and the company. While companies need to do the right thing, employees who honor the mission, vision and values of a company will always have a good day at work.
4.Honor the community: We work, live and play in a community that has to be honored and supported if we’re all to be successful. Community is the social glue, just above family, that’s always critical.
5.Honor the country and the world: We are all part of a global society and need to honor both our own county and the greater world. We’re all seeing every day how the environment and the economy are interdependent. By honoring our country and the world, we not only insure our freedom and health for ourselves but for our children and grandchildren alike.

Trust: The Core of Leadership (Aristotle)

The best leadership advice I know started with the work of Aristotle in his book Rhetoric. He said that in order for speakers to be believable, they had to do three things well: Show good character, good sense, and good will. These three elements comprise: Trust. With high trust, there is no colleague or follower you can’t work with and without it none you can work with.

Good Character is all about honesty, integrity and courage to do the right thing. If a client sees that you stand for what you say…say-do, you deliver what you promise, and make things right when you don’t, there’s little they won’t do for you.

Good Sense is basic competency in your business. In short, knowing your business well. To be of value and even competitive, you must know the substance of your craft.

Good Will: Simply put, clients must believe that you have their best interest at heart—you care for them in an enduring way. Trust comes not as a one-shot deal but a sustained relationship that good colleagues and clients want.

To be trusted you need all three of these (Good Character, Good Sense and Good Will)…not one or two. Over the next few posts, I'll discuss each of these three in more depth.

Trust at Work

Every relationship, whether personal or professional, depends on trust. In his new book, The Speed of Trust, Stephen Covey takes a hard look at this principle that is as important today to every leader as it was in the days of Aristotle, who first discussed trust many years ago. Covey discusses the two most important principles of trust—character and competence.

• Character—Does the person have high integrity, consistency, and honesty, and good intent—no hidden agenda—and have the best interest of others at heart?

• Competence—Does the person have capabilities—knowledge, skills and abilities, and does the person get results—a track record for getting the job done?

Covey discusses the cost of trust.

• When trust is low in an organization, it takes more time and costs more money to get things done. He calls it a hidden “tax” on our business.
• When trust is high, speed increases but cost decreases—a trust dividend, as Covey calls it.
  

The book is worthwhile, a readable text with a number of practical steps about how to build trust, and by inference, build a strong and healthy climate in an organization.

Please pass this on to anyone inside or outside your organization who may have an interest.