Month: March 2012

Last fall I wrote a blog on connecting that struck a chord with one read who wisely noted:

“Being connected may just be the tip of furthering anything, even with ourselves…the real work comes in relationship.

Do you suppose that the connectivity is the driving force/thread that maintain the relationship with our groups/teams? What is beyond connectivity?”

What great questions! To reconnect with the conversation, remember that it arose from the idea of replacing Tuckman’s teaming concept (Forming-Storming-Norming-Performing) with one more suited to today’s turbulent and interdependent world: Connecting-Engaging-Acting in the context of Continuous Performance. This model is built on the work of organizational psychologists Kenwyn Smith and David Berg[1].

Connecting is very personal, an experience of your “self”, the “other” person(s), and the “link” that connects you. Out of this the first concept of systems arises: Systems emerge from the dynamic relationships and interactions between their parts (people).

Becoming aware of the whole system, the team, and how “my self” is impacted by it is the first challenge of connection. Every member has a choice to connect or remain detached during every interaction with others in their team. We normally don’t recognize our interactions as discrete choices; we just experience the dynamic of connecting. Over time, and with each team member, we establish a degree of connectedness or detachment. Looking at the whole, this is the team’s “culture.”

This continuous interplay forms the process of connecting, a process that both initiates the “teaming cycle” and completes it (each culminating Action creating a deeper sense of connection within the team). As Smith and Berg note:

The paradox of involvement explores the relationship between involvement and detachment, observation and experience. … Can there be involvement without withdrawal, or do the two spring from a common source of what it means to belong?”

Let’s look deeper into this dynamic to understand what is required when we give up part of our individual freedom to merge with the collective.

I took this concept to the Knowesys[2] team, a small idea incubator, for reflection. We structured our conversation as a polarity map,[3] first asking what our Greatest Hope and Deepest Fear was when facing the polarity of involvement and detachment.

• Greatest Hope: That diverse contributions will fuel the emergence of startlingly creative outcomes!!
• Greatest Fear: There is no reason for the collective (ie team) to exist!!

With this as context, let’s further explore the dynamic of involvement-detachment to help us manage the connecting phase of teaming. Remember in polarities you always have both poles operating and as leaders our responsibility is to manage the dynamic flow, both positive and negative, between them.

So that we can end on a positive note, let me first present our understanding of the negative aspects of this polarity. When involvement and detachment are taken to extreme they both produce attitudes and actions that can, and will, lead to dissolution of the collective. If we are overly attached as a team, groupthink replaces group thinking, a subtle but critical line in the sand that leaders (and team members) need to watch out for. When that happens we become too emotionally invested in the ideas of the collective and closed to the individual diversity that generates high-performance. Blind spots, increasingly critical attitudes, becoming unwilling to listen to each other, and rigid boundaries drive the dynamic away from involvement and toward detachment.

On the other hand when team members are overly detached, forcing the team to the negative aspect of this pole, there is a lack of commitment to the group’s decisions that stalls progress. When no one feels accountable to the collective, passion dissipates, outcomes become WIIFM, and focus is lost.

We can all agree that these are two places in the dynamic we want to steer clear of. But what are we navigating toward? The positive aspects of the two poles are where, in the words of Smith and Berg, both “personess” and “groupness” show up, where the parts and the whole are experienced. This then, explains the Third Concept in systems thinking: The whole is greater than the sum of the parts, often far greater.

What do these two poles contain? When we are involved we are passionate, engaged, and learning. Distributed leadership moves the team forward and the role of the self (personess) is to drive team action – we think of this as generative ego involvement. In this context, the team is willing and able to take appropriate risks as a collective; no one is out on the skinny branches alone.

In addition, positive detachment ensures that independent thinking is valued and there is a general openness to alternative ways forward. With greater participation, the team can leverage its diversity – making lateral associations, sensing weak signals in the environment, and then using these to synthesize new ideas and paths forward. With this increased ability to reframe the situation, the group can be “startlingly creative.”

As Smith and Berg observe: “When one learns how to deal with one’s groupness, the importance of individuation fades, and, through its fading, individuation is realized. …members learn to accept their groupness and the group learns to accept the importance of its members.”

How is that for a paradox?? Next time more on connecting.

---

[1] Smith, KK and Berg, DN. Paradoxes of Group Life: Understanding Conflict, Paralysis, and Movement in Group Dynamics. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 1987.

[2] Knowesys is composed of consultants Julie Denomme, Tom Woodman, Cindy Weeks, Don Johnston, Bruce Flye, Tom Roy, and myself.

[3] Barry Johnson, http://www.polaritymanagement.com

---

The saying that “people do not leave their jobs, they leave their bosses” is overused, but true. In employee exit surveys, the most frequent employee complaint is about their former supervisor’s communications skills—too little, too much, too ineffective.

Poor communication does account for a multitude of workplace woes — including interpersonal conflict, wasted money and effort, poor productivity, legal exposure, low morale and high turnover. Most communications difficulties arise from three basic deficiencies:

1. Ineffective relationships and information flow among managers and their employees
2. Lack of the proper systems and infrastructure to enable effective exchange of information
3. Breakdowns in communication by management to employees during tough times.

Everyone is not born a great communicator, but most of us can learn. Here are some of the basic things that we can do as managers and supervisors to refine our skills:

1. Establish clarity.
When you give instructions or discuss a business situation, do not assume that everyone understands you. Ask whether you have been clear or if further information or explanation is necessary. Often, different people make different deductions from the same information, and proceed in good faith to do the opposite of what the manager expected. Good communication results from a two-way process of asking the right questions, confirming what you’ve heard and achieving common understanding. The focus is not on right or wrong but on “are we on the same page?”

2. Give meaningful feedback.
While a well-considered annual formal performance evaluation is a valuable communications tool, do not limit feedback to a once-a-year event. People do not like surprises, and they want an opportunity to develop and improve throughout the year. Provide continuing, constructive, on-the-job evaluations focusing on situations as they arise, while they are still fresh in everyone’s memory. Do not forget to highlight the positive as well as the negative. A great practice is also to solicit feedback from employees. Ask if there is anything that you can do as a manager to make their jobs easier or more satisfying.

3. Find the time.
As managers are busier than ever with their own heavy workloads, it is easy to forget that an important part of a manager’s job is managing. It is critical to carve time out of your schedule for regular one-on-one and group employee meetings. While it is totally appropriate to make employees aware of your time pressures, offer your undivided attention during these meetings. Taking telephone calls or allowing other interruptions will convey to employees that you do not consider their concerns a priority.

Management Success Tip

In this age of electronic communication, far too many managers use email as a substitute for personal contact and interaction. Would you try to arrange and close a deal with a large customer via email? Would you hire a key executive without meeting this individual? Of course you wouldn’t. More direct contact will help create better rapport, better trust and ultimately better productivity.

Do you want to develop your Management Smarts?

• Build your skills with The Effective Manager.
• Sign up for Quick Wins: 101 Management Tips.
• Find performance boosters in the Smart Moves Blog.
• Fast track your leadership. Be part of a Success Team.
• Need a speaker? Get the Edge keynotes-webinars-workshops.
• Copyright © 2012 Marcia Zidle business and leadership coach.

(This is a guest post from Professor Günther H. Schust and is based on his free ebook “Supportive Leadership.”)

More than two thirds of all problems in our society result from a decrepit leadership culture in economy and politics which allows indispensable profound reforms (i.e. climate protection, finance and tax legislation) and “green” technologies for our environment and thus a qualitative (and not just quantitative) growth to only a limited extent. The whole of Europe is deeply in dept. The standards of living and raw materials become more and more expensive. Nature and “deceived” people strike back because leadership elites show a high degree of inertia. Those responsible lack the capability to anticipate in time the necessary processes of innovation and change, to control and implement them.

It is true that companies impart specialized competences, but they criminally neglect the training for key skills like competences regarding change, relations, creativity and leadership. However, it is exactly these skills which ensure a sustainable power of success of an exceedingly demanding society and a flexible employability of its people – even in critical times.

Therefore, the role of tomorrow’s leaders will have to consist in establishing a systematic knowledge and innovation management in their companies and organisations, wherein executives and specialists will become qualified for developing a sense for intelligent and creative (team) work according to the respective situation – just as this is the case in (competitive) sports. Integrated thinking, acting in a way compatible with the environment, permanent learning – also from errors – will then become a part of all our lives.

Let’s start with taking a look at five rules of “supportive leadership”.

Rule no. 1: The employee dialogue

Leading (= leadership) means to anticipate and to lead the way in an exemplary fashion. Management comes from “manus agere” (Latin) and means “to take by the hand, to help solve problems and to build up and cultivate relations”.

The executive in the 21^st century must be able to balance management and leadership and grant them equal status. Most companies, however, suffer from TOO MUCH management and TOO LITTLE leadership.

A good manager does not have to score the goals himself but sees himself as the “coach of a team”, a team with which he agrees on “rules and milestones”, where he takes each individual member of the team along on this challenging “journey of the company” and consistently requires of the team member to make his contribution. In order to change peoples’ established ways of behaviour, thinking and style of play, a constant dialogue and goal-oriented (fitness) training must be carried on, because employees want to play an active role and want to be taken along on the road to the goal. It’s a question of awakening the employee’s enthusiasm for these goals / the desired results and /or visions. Keys for achieving this goal are honesty, openness, determination and constructive feedback.

In order to be successful, however, it is of the utmost importance that the ‘team players’ are adequately qualified + trained + motivated to score the decisive goals or, respectively, to put the best ideas / solutions for the customer, the company and the environment into practice. When strategies are constantly changed, GOALS cannot be successfully achieved!

Rule no. 2: The self management

There is only one way to maintain the innovative lead over the competitors: To establish a process of renewal, based on abandoning the habit of following orders and on developing mutual trust. This cannot be achieved without trust between and reliability of the participants. In this context, to play it COOL means:

C = Clearing: To clearly know what one wants to achieve (GOAL). What is especially important (set priorities!). Word the overall task / the topic / the problem / the GOAL (result) realistically and in writing.

O = Obvious sorting: Break down the overall task into obvious milestones. These must be reached and controlled before tackling the next move. Everybody must be familiar with the delivery and pick-up principle.

O = Organizing: Do I see to everything myself or do I look for people who will support me. I deal efficiently with my tasks and I do control the result. Only when I’ve achieved at least 80 to 100 per cent of my GOALS, can I say that I am successful.

L = Learning + solving + changing: The topic/problem must be dealt with/solved as planned, the respective conclusions will be drawn from what was done right or wrong and the required changes will be made. To develop our potential and to grow (i.e. to learn) becomes only possible when we analyze our errors and successfully make changes and face challenges!

Rule no. 3: The supportive leadership

In the end, it will always be the executive’s behaviour which decides whether the company / the organisation have employees who are for or against them.

In this context it is particularly important to create a climate which is motivating and value-oriented, and which has a constructive and acknowledging effect on the performance of the employees / executives. Constant learning from (project) tasks will suddenly become everybody’s goal when dealing with said task. This principle should also be observed by families, because nowadays only every second marriage / partnership lasts longer than three to four years.

If interests and competences of employees are applied in such a way that the highest possible efficiency is achieved, both the company and the team player will profit from this principle. The performance (TO WANT and BEING ABLE TO) will every six months be validated by means of a performance report. This way, it is easier to identify under performers within the organisational units, to ‘take them by the hand’ and to support them. Each performer receives suggestions as to fitness and development, thus creating a WINWIN situation for everybody.

Rule no. 4: Putting a systematic project management into practice

More than two thirds of all problems arising in a company are caused by a lack of capability to realize projects. Only when interdisciplinary learning + mental fitness (of the young + the old) are firmly anchored in the training and the continuing education, a good cooperation can be maintained and changes can be successfully implemented. It is noticeable that many companies which have a successful relationship with their customers also have a strong, employee-oriented culture.

In this context it is important that executives are informed about essential progresses or non-progresses and will then, when it becomes necessary, be able to apply a constructive (not a derogatory!) feedback. This way of proceeding, however, must be based on a canon of values with rules which will have to be complied with when pursuing the common goals.

Conflictive issues of the project will then no longer be ‘swept under the carpet’ but will be dealt with and transformed into positive energy and dynamism. The ‘innovative resources’ will no longer be slowed down, but will be used to introduce new ideas and to put these into practice within the team. Scheming, status-oriented behavioural patterns will be stopped right away and, if necessary, be sanctioned.

A study of the University of St. Gallen / Swiss proves that a chaotic project management entails billions in additional costs. Projects which fail, mainly fail because of a lack of requirements management

Rule no. 5: Investments into personality development

Employees are rarely able to apply new knowledge gained in seminars because there is no demand for such knowledge. A lack of transfer competence in companies prevents the sustainability of seminars + trainings. Companies should not just train people ‘reactively’, but should above all invest into the state-of-the-art personality development of all of the company’s key employees. Only then will they learn to think integrally, to respect themselves and others as well as our badly beaten planet (emotional intelligence).

To ensure that renovation and growth potentials can be recognized + developed, companies and organisations must create a (virtual) campus for knowledge + innovation, where executives and specialists will be qualified and trained for developing a sense of ability to play and present solutions – just as this is the case in (competitive) sports. Acquisition and application of knowledge must be dealt with concurrently, and the focus of the training must be directed to key skills, like competences in relations, change, innovations and cultural skills. The daily, mental challenge on leadership consists of creating a quality relationship with the different personalities of the team. This is the only way to create a competent network culture – with a steep learning curve, wherein people enjoy hierarchy-free solution-oriented work (behavioural branding).

—

This article is based on the free eBook “Supportive Leadership” written by Professor Günther H. Schust and published by bookboon.com. Schust is a German Lecturer in Leadership, Personnel, Project and Innovation Management at the Universities of Applied Sciences in St. Gallen (Swiss), Zurich-Winterthur (Swiss), Kempten, Hamburg and Munich (Germany). Moreover, he is Co-Partner of IHH International Head Hunters Management- und Personalberatungsges. mbH, Munich.