Talent Management

Earlier this week, I wrote about the importance of talent management particularly as we seek to grow our organizations into global companies. Recently, when working on a project related to leadership development, I reviewed my notes from the book by Bill Conaty and Ram Charan called The Talent Masters: Why Smart Leaders Put People Before Numbers, Crown Business, 2010. In this excellent resource, the authors point out that “if businesses managed their money as carelessly as they managed their people, most would be bankrupt.” They further explain that “in the fast-changing global marketplace, the half-life of core competencies grows shorter.... Only one competency lasts. It is the ability to create a steady, self-renewing stream of leaders.”

I agree whole heartedly and believe more and more this fall that talent management must move to the front burner in more and more strategic planning meetings. One way to do this is to embrace the core principles in Conaty and Charan’s book. They are the following:

1. An enlightened leadership team, starting with the CEO who really “gets it” and sees talent development as a competitive advantage.

2. A performance-driven meritocracy, a willingness to differentiate talent based on results as well as the values and behaviors behind those results.

3. Explicit definition and articulation of values, citing strong company beliefs and expected behaviors.

4. Candor and trust, leading to better insights into people’s talents and potential, focusing on development needs to accelerate personal growth.

5. Talent assessment/development systems that have as much rigor and repeatability as systems used for finance and operations.

6. Human resource leaders as business partners and trustee of the talent development system with functional expertise equal to the CFO’s.

7. Investment in continuous learning and improvement to build and continuously update the leadership brand in sync with the changing world.

If you are grooming key people in order to expand their leadership potential for 2013 and beyond, then this is an excellent book to read. 

If you are ready to commit to talent management, then now is an excellent time to sign up those key people to participate in the 2013 From Vision to Action Leadership Training. Here is a link for more information about this unique learning opportunity: http://www.chartyourpath.com/VTA-Leadership-Training.html

If you don’t have time to read the above book, then I encourage you to read the following article by Jay Freeman, Senior Advisor to the Gallup Organization, called “You Don’t Know Where Your Company’s Going” which can be found in their on-line Gallup Business Journal. Here is the link:  http://businessjournal.gallup.com/content/157718/don-know-company-going.aspx 

This is a very good, short article for leaders who want to grow and change their company, i.e. improved performance and profitability.  In order to prevent a “destination disconnect,” a symptom of weak cross-organizational communication, the author maps out a series of steps to create better clarity and focus. I particularly enjoyed his comments about metrics.

Talent management, strategic planning, and organizational communication and clarity are all inter-related. Now is the time to keep learning about how to do them better.

Geery Howe, M.A. Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer in Leadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational Change Morning Star Associates 319 - 643 - 2257

Four Emerging Trends and Two Solutions

During a recent dinner meeting, I was asked what are the emerging trends that I  am paying attention to at this time period. Upon reflection, I shared the following.

First, more and more organization are attempting to grow their business but are experiencing the challenges of how to scale up successfully. The desire is present amongst those in leadership and management positions but the capacity to do this in a thoughtful manner is not. I believe the problem is happening because many companies are designed to only serve their current customers in their current markets. There is no room for scaling up in their business because the daily work is trumping the work related to growing the business. Furthermore, the skills sets to serve new customers in new markets is also not present in the work force. In short, status quo is beating strategic thinking and change.

Second, issues related to being more efficient are not going away. In fact, they are becoming more and more important. Companies are wanting more efficient systems so they can be more successful. However, many are learning that their internal operational infrastructure is not designed for growth. Instead, it is dedicated to preserving the way business is offered to the current customer base. I suspect we will continue to see many companies optimize key systems for efficiency but the best companies during the next three to five years will focus on building an infrastructure engineered for greater efficiency, focus, flexibility and growth.

Third, we all know that customers are changing. Look at how much we are changing as leaders. Yet, few companies are proactively researching their customers. Years ago, we often talked about the VOC, the voice of the customer. The question now is how well do we know our customers and are we taking the time to listen effectively. And how well are we monitoring how fast they are changing. During the coming years, sophisticated market intelligence will become more and more important. We will continue to need to hear their voices. We also will need to know how fast they are changing even when they may not know the answer themselves.

Fourth, recruitment and retention has been the focus of HR for decades. Recently, performance management has become vitally important. However, it is time to look at this subject from a broader perspective. Thomas Friedman in his book, The World is Flat, wrote that you need two things in order to succeed in a globalized world. First, you need an innovative business model. Second, you need access to pools of talent. The challenge during the next two years is not just to find new or better pools of talent but to engage in proactive talent management. While some companies will redesign their entire talent supply chain, others will recognize that they need to embrace a whole new philosophy of talent management. For some, this will be a systems issue. For others, this will be a people issue. The best will realize it is both.  For now, we need to figure out how to manage talented people better, not just manage their performance. 

As we recognize the challenges of scaling up the business and the importance of a flexible infrastructure, plus the need to improve market intelligence and talent management, all of us know that we will need to create more highly effective strategic plans to make this all happen across the entire business. One place to begin the strategic planning process this fall is to read the following article: “Your Strategy Needs A Strategy” by Martin Reeves, Claire Love and Philipp Tillmanns in the September 2012 issue of the Harvard Business Review.  

As the authors explain, “Companies that correctly match their strategy-making processes to their competitive circumstances perform better than those that don’t. But too many use approaches appropriate only to predictable environments - even in highly volatile situations. What executives in these cases need is a strategy for setting strategy.” 

The authors of this article present a framework for choosing the right strategy-making process by asking two questions: How unpredictable is your environment? and How much power do you or others have to change that environment?” Based on the answers to these two questions, the authors explain that there are four broad strategic styles to choose from and each one is particularly suited to a distinct environment. They are as follows:

- Classical Strategy: the one learned in every business school, namely a SWOT analysis, works well for companies operating in predictable and immutable/unchanging environments.

- Shaping Strategy: best in unpredictable environments that you have the power to change.

- Visionary Strategy: the “if you build it and they will come” approach, which is appropriate in predictable environments that you have the power to change.

- Adaptive Strategy: this one works best in unpredictable environments that you can not influence; it focuses on the development of a more flexible and experimental strategic plan. 

This is a good article and for those who are thinking about the future and growth, it will be most helpful. Here is a link for those of you who want to read it on-line: http://hbr.org/2012/09/your-strategy-needs-a-strategy/ar/1

Once we are clear about key choices related to strategic planning, then I suggest you read “Are You Solving The Right Problem? by Dwayne Spradlin which also is in the September 2012 issue of the Harvard Business Review. As this author explains, “The rigor with which a problem is defined is the most important factor in finding a good solution. Many organizations, however, are not proficient at articulating their problems and identifying which ones are crucial to their strategies. They may even be trying to solve the wrong problems - missing opportunities and wasting resources in the process.” To solve this situation, the author proposes a four step process of asking questions and using the answers to create a problem statement. With a clear problem statement, the solutions are easier to find.  

I found the article particularly thought-provoking because the questions are carefully thought through and most insightful.  While I may not embrace the entire four step process, having a better set of questions to ask when problems surface will be most helpful to people in leadership positions. I would urge leaders to read this article so that they discover new questions and so they can educate others on how to solve problems through asking better questions.  Here is a link for those of you who are interested: http://hbr.org/2012/09/are-you-solving-the-right-problem/ar/1

In world which continues to move at the speed of software, and where challenges related to strategic development and problem solving will only get more complex, it is good to know that there are helpful perspectives and articles to guide us through the maze of opportunities and difficulties. Happy reading!

Geery Howe, M.A. Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer in Leadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational Change Morning Star Associates 319 - 643 - 2257

How Successful Leaders Think - part #2

Last week, I explored how successful leaders think and ended my thoughts on how leaders make a decision. Today, I would like to pick-up where I left off.

First, decisions do not matter if nothing happens afterwards. Many leaders think that once they have made a decision they have solved a problem. But as an executive coach, I have to continually remind them that decisions are not action. Decisions do not equal implementation. Decisions are not the mobilization of resources. Decisions do not equal execution. Decisions are empty without action that follows.

Second, successful leaders understand that effective decisions begin long before the actual call. It starts with the ability of a leader to sense there is a problem within the context of service delivery or the context of the service environment. “Sensing and framing, a term defined by Noel M. Tichy and Warren G. Bennis in their great article, “Making Judgement Calls: The Ultimate Act of Leadership”, Harvard Business Review, October 2007, is critical to decision-making as it gives the decision a foundation or reason “why.”

Still, many executives forget that there is an important next step after they make a decision. What I have observed is that successful leaders focus on mobilizing resources, e.g. people, information, technology, etc., to support the decision and to make it actually happen. The key is that successful leaders also stay involved during the execution phase post the decision by helping to define clear milestones or short term wins so people can clarify their progress and be successful.

Third, successful leaders understand that relationships are not linear, especially when it comes to the successful implementation of important decisions. In a linear relationship, a positional leader will approach it from the point of view that more of variable A will produce more of variable B. Successful leaders do not approach people like they are flow charts but instead recognize that the health and effectiveness of the relationship is based on clarity through dialogue. If this level of work is done in advance of the actual decision, the usual challenges with organizational change, e.g. resistance, is reduced and the forward momentum of the organization can proceed without major complications. However, the key is to build healthy work relationships on an on-going basis, not at an episodic level.

In short, when we step back and reflect on how successful leaders think, we realize that they spend significant time and energy teaching others how to think rather than simply telling them what to do. And this is one of the main reasons why they are successful.

Geery Howe, M.A. Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer in Leadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational Change Morning Star Associates 319 - 643 - 2257

How Successful Leaders Think - part #1

I have been reflecting this morning on the following quote by Bill Taylor, co-founder of Fast Company magazine: “Leaders who change the game recognize that success is not just about thinking differently from other companies. It is also about caring more than other companies - about customers, about colleagues, about how the organization conducts itself in a world with endless opportunities to cut corners and compromise values. You can't be special, distinctive, compelling in the marketplace unless you create something special, distinctive, compelling in the workplace. Your strategy is your culture." 

I agree with this quote on so many levels. Given all my travels since the Spring 2012 From Vision to Action Executive Roundtable and given what was shared last week at the Fall 2012 From Vision to Action Executive Roundtable, clearly success is about caring more than other companies about customers, partners, colleagues and the organization as a whole. Furthermore, I fundamentally agree with the idea that “your strategy is your culture.”

Over the last 6+ months, I have been thinking and reflecting a great deal about successful leaders and  successful companies. When I step back from the day to day hustle and bustle of work and look at the bigger picture, I notice the following.

First, we live in an era of nonstop disruptions. Right now, there are continual external disruptions to the established order of how things get done. The impact of this constant lack of continuity from quarter to quarter, year to year in systems, service and production has yielded a high level of burnout and cynicism amongst many employees, plus a general decline in a disciplined commitment to the pursuit of excellence.

Second, we live in a world filled with me-too thinkers, and fast followers. With strategy and competitive advantage being so transparent, any and every idea, service or product is constantly being copied, tweaked and/or slightly customized by the competition. There is very little originality in the world of product or service delivery, and there are very few people who want to take the risks associated with being original or unique.

Third, we live in a period where tunnel vision is epidemic. As many organizations rush to solve pressing operational problems and preserve market share in an unstable or deteriorating market, they often experience a loss of peripheral vision, i.e. strategic awareness and understanding, causing them to loose sight of the true underlying factors that created their success in the first place. Using a Jim Collin’s metaphor, they zoom in rather than zoom out most of the time.

Fourth, we still live in time of arrogant leaders and naive managers. The actions of these difficult people breed false intensity and emotions because they are addicted to the artificial. Their lives revolve around situational ethics and are filled with vanity and ego blended in with biases and prejudices. These individuals waste relationships and resources while simultaneously focusing on uniformity and conformity to their whims. In short, they believe they are above others.

Furthermore, after all we have experienced since September 2008, there still are leaders who believe that they are entitled to success given all they have achieved to date, and how hard they have worked. To them, success is viewed as “deserved,” rather than fortuitous, fleeting, or even hard earned.  These individuals believe that their success will continue no matter what the organization decides to do, or not to do. As Jim Collins wrote in his book,  How The Mighty Fall and Why Some Companies Never Give In, HarperCollins, 2009, these individuals role model an “Undisciplined Pursuit of More.”

So, given this context, how do successful leaders think?

As Reed Hammans noted at the Spring 2012 From Vision to Action Executive Roundtable, successful leaders understand that “information is not knowledge” and knowing is not doing. From my vantage point, I see more and more people are on bended knee worshiping technology as the solution to all problems. And more and more people are blaming technology for not providing for them the solutions they want. Finally more and more people complain about having too many e-mail and text messages than ever before. But we must understand that being successful is less about technology and more about psychology. Human beings are human beings with all of our frailties and strengths. 

The first step in understanding how successful leaders think is to recognize that they see problems and the future in a holistic manner, and they examine how different elements impact or interact with each other from a holistic vantage point. Successful leaders do not, by default, break down all problems into pieces and work on them separately or sequentially. As Roger Martin in his wonderful article called, “How Successful Leaders Think”, Harvard Business Review, June 2007, notes “Opposable thumbs- opposable minds.” Successful leaders are able to see the same problem from different vantage points.

From what I observe and understand, when successful leaders see problems in a holistic manner and understand the dynamic nature of problem solving, they begin by defining the problem, issue or challenge. The key to this process is that they determine the salience of all the factors related to the problem even if it is not in line with their department or organization doctrine, e.g. a head of finance department that considers a qualitative measure to be as important as a quantitative measure.

Next, rather than discard factors to simplify a problem, they embrace the diversity of factors in a problem, recognizing that not all information is accurate and not all knowledge is current.

With the above in mind, successful leaders also analyze the context, people, the variables, and the language around the problem, exploring linear vs. non-linear causality. For example, direct or linear causality is a straight line and sequential development or cause in a certain situation. On the other hand, in-direct or non-linear causality comes from the examination or exploration into non-linear elements impacting what is taking place, e.g. two people in the work place that are struggling to communicate well, each being impacted by external events like the health of an aging parent or a son getting involved in a prank at school.

Once the above has been done well, successful leaders determine the decision architecture related to a problem or challenge. After better understanding a problem and figuring out the variables involved, they then look to what are the decision-making variables, e.g. who?, what?, when? and how?. Then, they methodically examine the decision-making variables and make a decision. After the decision has been made, successful leaders mobilize people and resources to implement the decision.

We live in tough economical and political times. Understanding how successful people think and work through these tough times gives us a road map to a better way. Now is the time to strengthen our culture and our strategy by thinking better and more effectively.  

Geery Howe, M.A. Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer in Leadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational Change Morning Star Associates 319 - 643 - 2257

Performance Anxiety

With the end of the third quarter just around the corner, everyone is wanting to position their company well during the fourth quarter of 2012 so they can start 2013 off on a strong footing. As a result, there is a tremendous amount of performance anxiety in offices across this country. Some people are worried sick that they will not be able to meet their numbers or the expectations of their manager. The difficulty from my vantage point is that many leaders are not truly prepared to do something about this situation. They want to hit the numbers yet they also do not want to burn out their best people. What typically happens is some kind of superficial change that really does not help. The more difficult decisions are not easy and thus are avoided. I learned this many years ago.

I was working with an executive on a strategic plan when he shared with me the following story about his daughter and a problem she was having at work. Being this was her first job post college, she had called her Dad and told him that she could not keep up with the work load. He reported to me that he had given her the classic “work harder” speech. He told her to put in an extra effort and work more hours. She received this feedback well and worked 12 hours a day to manage all that was expected of her.

He continued this story by telling me that about 30 days later his daughter had called back and reported that she was on average working 60-70 hours a week and still could not keep up. So, he gave her the “work smarter” speech. He told her to prioritize her work, focus on short term wins, and to delegate her work better if possible. He encouraged her to analyze her weekly calendar and to put the “big rocks in first.” Again, she appreciated this feedback.

Finally, he explained to me that she had called back after 30 days in tears. She had worked harder and had worked smarter. She had even gotten a new calendar and had organized her life down to 15 minute, prioritized segments in order to do what was important and not always what was urgent. She had eliminated time with family and friends, plus most of her exercise time in an attempt keep on top of her work load. Still, she was behind.

He turned to me and said, “Geery - after giving her the work harder and work smarter speeches, I only had one more speech to give her. It was the ‘work different’ speech. I told her that if she worked harder and worked smarter and still could not keep up that more likely she was working in a poorly designed system. Then her options were limited unless she could change that system. Given she could not, I told her that when harder and smarter do not work, then it was time to work for a different company.”  He ended this story by telling me that she had changed jobs and found a company where hard work and smart work were paying off.

I think of this story during this time of the year and know that some will have to work harder and others will have to work smarter. However, if we as leaders do not confront poorly designed systems, then some will have to work differently.  The choice is ours to make.

Geery Howe, M.A. Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer in Leadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational Change Morning Star Associates 319 - 643 - 2257

Working On, Not Just In

One of the defining characteristics of a good leader is their ability to work on the organization, not just in the organization. While this may sound simplistic, it often is much more difficult than it appears.

Michael Watkins in his recent article “The Big Shift: How Managers Become Leaders” in the June 2012 issue of the Harvard Business Review, explains that becoming a leader involves navigating “a tricky set of changes.”  He calls these the “seven seismic shifts.”  As he writes, “New enterprise leaders must move from being a specialist to a generalist; from analyzing data to integrating knowledge from multiple sources; and from implementing tactics to developing strategies. They also need to transform themselves from bricklayers into organizational architects; from problem solvers to agenda setters; and from warriors intent on beating the competition into diplomats who engage with a full range of stakeholders. Finally, leaders must move out from the wings and get used to living on center stage in the full spotlight.” 

From my experience, to make this kind of transition, managers need to acquire many new competencies, particularly in the area of new knowledge and skills required to execute the business strategy in a holistic manner. One way to do this is to participate in the 2013 From Vision to Action Leadership Training. This year long course is designed to help people become better in the areas of leadership, strategic planning and execution, and organizational change. Through a challenging, interactive curriculum which blends lectures, selected readings, small and large group discussions, and how to skill-building exercises, participants gain critical knowledge and skills which improve their ability to work on the whole of the organization rather than just within the organization. 

For more information on how to enroll in the 2013 From Vision to Action Leadership Training please click on the following link: http://www.chartyourpath.com/VTA-Training-Details.html

Navigating tricky changes may not be easy but with the right set of knowledge and skills it can be doable, resulting in greater outcomes for all involved.

Geery Howe, M.A. Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer in Leadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational Change Morning Star Associates 319 - 643 - 2257

The Organization of the Future

With the end of 2012 just over the horizon and the awareness of 2013 on the rise, everyone is starting to create special task forces and committees to envision the future. Furthermore, most senior executives are waking up to the need for their company to be more customer centric and more innovative. They know they need to compete better externally and collaborate better internally. The result of all this work is the development of many in-depth concept papers which will redesign the entire business from the supply chain straight through to the product and service delivery. 

Whenever one of my clients comes to me and talks about creating a future oriented team which will completely redesign the business, I always recommend we have a good long visit to review some key points.

First, I point out that the desire to change has to be matched by the capacity to change. Improving current execution and transforming the business are not the same thing. They require completely different skill sets and different time frames.

Second, I explain that everything begins and ends with the customer. Many businesses do not know their current customers, e.g. are they a one time buyer, repeat buyer, or loyal user? Furthermore, some companies assume that their customers are not making the right choices. Some do not even know if the relationship with the customer is healthy and whether or not it creates value in the eyes of the customer. 

Third, I remind them of something that A.G. Lafley and Ram Charan wrote about in their book, The Game-Changer: How You Can Drive Revenue and Profit Growth With Innovation (Crown Business, 2008). As they note, “...doing innovation right means developing a repeatable, scalable, and consistent way of converting ideas into results. It requires a degree of standardization so that others can imitate the model and improve on it.” As I have learned over time, most new models for the future are neither scalable or consistent.  Many do not have a degree of standardization.

Building a committee to envision the future is very exciting and noteworthy. And now is a good time to begin. The key this week is to design the process in such a manner that it is successful over time and will result in sustainable organic growth.  This is not easy but it is important.

Geery Howe, M.A. Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer in Leadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational Change Morning Star Associates 319 - 643 - 2257