Leadership

6 Authentic Leadership Tips For Overcoming Your Fears

By gothamCulture
Published at In Category Blog Tags:
authentic leadership tips

Do you lead authentically? If you’re not sure, you’re not alone. Many leaders are beginning to question themselves, especially when tough situations force them to act in ways that don’t align with their true beliefs. When they must juggle different personas across different settings and boundaries, they can start to feel deceptive.

As a leader, you may feel like you’re walking on a delicate tightrope, with your true self on one side and the responsibilities of your position on the other.

The key components of authenticity (self-knowledge, self-awareness, authentic behavior, and self-regulation) mean you have to know who you are historically, be aware of who you are in the moment, align your behavior with your values, and know when and why you deviate from those values. We all like to think that our true self is behind every action, but many leaders don’t do a great job of leading authentically — mostly because practicing authenticity is easier said than done.

I recently teamed up with Taylor Peyton Roberts, Ph.D., and Crystal Dujowich, Ph.D., managing partners and co-founders of Valencore Consulting, to deeply examine this topic. They’re both experts on leadership authenticity and have developed an online assessment called the Role-specific Evaluation of Authenticity in Leaders, or REAL. Their valuable insight into the dangers of inauthenticity and how to be a genuine leader has influenced my own leadership style.

Why Is Authenticity So Hard?

Before we can get into how to be an authentic leader, we have to first understand why authenticity is so difficult to maintain in the workplace.

There are many fears that keep leaders from striving to be their authentic selves, such as exposing a real or imagined weakness, losing respect, or even missing out on an opportunity. To make matters worse, workplace culture, professional subcultures, industry cultures, and even national cultures all exert enormous pressure on leaders to conform. If your views differ from the cultural norm, you may hesitate to express them.

It takes some rock-solid confidence to be able to stick to your guns when they aren’t readily accepted. No one wants to be viewed as “different,” but failing to act authentically has a pretty big downside, too. You may have trouble creating trusting relationships, experience a loss of self-respect and respect from your co-workers, or even get dragged into corporate corruption and scandal.

Tips For Leading Authentically

Leadership is complex work. You’re managing multiple stakeholders with competing values and demanding respect from your team. If those people can’t sense what you stand for as a leader, they’ll lose trust in you. This is especially true in leaders who switch values and decisions based on whomever they’re interacting with at the moment.

If you’re struggling with leading authentically, ask yourself, “What are my core values, and what is the priority of my values?” Once you understand your values, test out these six strategies for authentic leadership:

1. Find a peer with whom you can be fully authentic. Compare your authentic interactions with someone you’re comfortable with to your inauthentic interactions with others. Once you can identify the differences between the two, it will be easier to close that gap.

2. Seek out exemplary leaders in your industry who model authenticity. Having an authentic role model is useful because you can observe how he or she behaves genuinely, then you can incorporate those strategies into your own leadership skills.

3. Take authenticity to a new level by encouraging others to be real. Create a safe environment for others to have a voice. Let employees know you value their opinions. Demonstrate unconditional acceptance by saying things like “I enjoy working with you, and nothing you say to me right now could change that.”

4. Don’t let “being authentic” become a cop-out for individual and professional growth. Always reflect on your behavior in high-pressure situations, and ensure your response was reflective of your “ideal self and highest values.” Challenge yourself to strive for growth.

5. Learn to speak your truth in a positive way. When you’re facing a difference in values, be diplomatic and concise and strip any frustrated emotion out of your voice. One-on-one settings are usually best for delivering feedback on sensitive topics. Follow up afterward to make sure respect is maintained.

6. Accept that 100 percent authenticity isn’t the goal. Total and complete transparency doesn’t always ensure success. In fact, boundaries often help people feel safe. Tune in to your moments of inauthenticity, and learn from them. Build your self-awareness around when and why you’re disingenuous so you can recognize these situations, and experiment with new behaviors when appropriate.

It can be difficult to know when and how to be your authentic self to ensure that you can lead those around you most effectively. When your values conflict with others (or when you have a lot to lose), you may unintentionally do more harm than good by expressing yourself authentically. Still, as a leader, you need to give honest, timely feedback to shape the system you’re in.

Leading authentically isn’t simply about being yourself and living up to your values; sometimes it also means developing the ability to adapt. Understanding true authenticity means that if you need to shift your views and values, you must consider letting go of some aspect of your past self and learn to be authentic to your future self. The quest for authenticity is a long and challenging one, but like any worthwhile goal, you won’t come out of it unchanged.

This article originally appeared on Forbes.

 

What Makes a Good Manager? 5 Tips For Promoting For Success

By gothamCulture
Published at In Category Blog Tags: ,
what makes a good manager

Have you ever wondered how someone at your company ever became a manager? What is it about that person that made them stand out more than other, more qualified candidates?

Judging from the number of books, papers, and articles written on the topic, you’re not alone.

There are many reasons why so many managers never pan out in the American corporate landscape. Most companies promote based on individual performance; those who work hard get rewarded.  But, this is often an ineffective way of promoting individuals.

We may value hard work and achievement above anything else, but those skills don’t necessarily mean they know how to lead others to be successful.

So, what qualities make a good manager? And how can your organization qualify and support the right people for the job?

Here are 5 tips for finding the right management fit:

1. Find out what their goals are

Not everyone has aspirations for management, and others want to become managers for the wrong reasons. Ask your team who might want to take on those responsibilities. Then, give them a few tasks to see what their real potential is. Natural management skills are not so easy to detect, so you may be surprised to find how their additional responsibilities are handled.

If they excel in those tasks, give more and more gradually. Be sure it doesn’t overburden them while they have to do their regular job, as burnout is a risk.

2. Follow a process

Most corporations don’t have a set process of how leaders are groomed and then promoted. They choose the best ground level employees and reward their successes with a promotion. They think their work ethic will just flow over to their subordinates and everyone below them will follow the behaviors of that individual.

This is rarely the case. Many times these future leaders are not trained in how to effectively oversee a team, and it leads to conflict.

Ensure that you have a process in place to groom your employees to become better managers. This training will help prepare them for success, and cause less friction down the line.

3. Involve them in team building activities

By taking your team on a field trip and run some team building activities, you can often see those have natural abilities to lead others from the way they handle these. Look for those who are not just leading, but nurturing others and encouraging them to do better. These types tend to be the best leaders. Getting people out of their natural settings is a good way to observe their natural behaviors while giving your team a break from their daily routine.

4. How do they handle crisis

When things go wrong in your organization, who can step up and handle the pressure? One key trait of a good leader is to see how well they handle crisis. Many managers spend too much time trying to figure out who to blame or what caused the problem rather than solving it in an effective way. You want a person who can handle stress well.

5. Know when to look outside of your team

There is no perfect science for finding the right managers. In some cases, there might not even be an ideal candidate on the team. It might be best to bring in someone from outside the organization to help manage it. It’s easy to think that the process is personalized that you need someone from the inside or your processes are too complex to bring in a new person to manage. Though, if your process is too complex, it may be a reason in itself to get an outside opinion.

Finding the perfect manager isn’t an exact science, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t some logical steps in the process. It’s important to be open with everyone and let them know when a management opportunity is open. When a manager is selected, it’s important to let everyone know why they were selected and work with the team in their transition. Following these steps will help you promote the right managers and set them up for success.

Don’t Let Your Passion And Values Erode Employee Motivation

By gothamCulture
Published at In Category Blog Tags: , ,
employee motivation

As a leader, it’s your job to help employees figure out what motivates them and link it to their goals and values. But the fact is, you can’t motivate them — at least, not in the way you think — so stop trying.

Recently, I had the chance to sit down with Susan Fowler, author of Why Motivating People Doesn’t Work…and What Does, to discuss motivation. Her work has helped me question the long-held assumption that you can motivate people by imposing your values on them. Rather, you have to try to understand them as human beings.

Chris Cancialosi: Why does trying to motivate employees not work in an entrepreneurial environment?

Susan Fowler: Motivating others doesn’t work in any environment. People are already motivated — just not in the ways you want them to be. The key is to help people understand why they’re motivated in one way or another and help them shift those reasons if need be.

Many entrepreneurs work under one of two fatal assumptions that undermine someone’s optimal motivation:

  • People should share the same values that motivate me.
  • No one can be as optimally motivated as me because I started the company.

As an entrepreneur, it’s important to understand that all employees can experience high levels of motivation, but it will be based on their own values and reasons. Even if employees are motivated by the same values as you, they need to feel like they’re acting from their own values, not ones imposed on them.

Cancialosi: Is there a “best” method to giving startup employees a better sense of purpose?

Fowler: Your employees are your greatest resource, so ask them, “Why are you joining this venture?” “Why do you think it’ll make a difference?” and “Why is it important to be a part of it?”

If the only reason they come up with is “for the money” or “for the upside of making a killing by being on the ground floor of a successful venture,” that’s a red flag. Those employees won’t be able to sustain the positive energy, vitality, or sense of well-being required to make it through the inevitable challenges a startup will face. This is doubly true for the entrepreneur.

Cancialosi: If your employees are already feeling alienated by your attempts to motivate them, is there a way to turn this around?

Fowler: Certainly. In my book, I touch on this topic in the story about salon owner Billy Yamaguchi. He hoped his own values and purpose would rub off on people, but when this didn’t happen, it led to frustration for everyone involved.

Now, he has motivational outlook conversations with people to help them identify their own values and sense of purpose in working for his salons. In fact, I just talked to him last week, and he’s still focusing on helping others develop their values and find their own meaning and purpose in their work.

Cancialosi: In your book, you say, “When employees thrive, leaders don’t need drive.” Can you expand on this?

Fowler: Many managers believe the only way to get results is to drive for them. But evidence points to the contrary. How do you drive for results? Create pressure. But pressure can diminish results and limit both creativity and innovation. People simply cannot sustain high-level productivity under pressure.

Your other option is to hold employees accountable, which makes a statement about trust. People want to be accountable, but there’s a big difference between being accountable and being held accountable. When your needs for autonomy, relatedness, and competence are satisfied, you accept responsibility and take initiative. You go the extra mile for the greatest good, and you continually learn and grow.

If leaders feel like they need to drive for results, I would ask them to question why. Is it because they’re asking people to achieve unfair goals? Is it because they haven’t shared a vision that compels people to work toward its fulfillment?  Is it because what’s being asked and employees’ values aren’t aligned?

The quote from my book, “When employees thrive, leaders don’t need drive,” might also be reversed: “When leaders drive, people will fail to thrive.”

Cancialosi: How can leaders in the startup world recognize when a more hands-on approach is necessary? Is there a way to gauge an employee’s internal drive?

Fowler: People can be driven for suboptimal reasons. Either this drive can’t be sustained or it will negatively affect their well-being over time. It’s best not to make assumptions. Rather, leaders need to have conversations with people asking questions, such as:

  • When you step back and reflect, what do you think or feel about your goals or tasks?
  • How do these tasks or goals align with your personal values?
  • How can these tasks or goals connect to your purpose?
  • What makes this project meaningful for you? What makes it not meaningful?

The leader’s involvement also depends on the person’s level of competence. If the person is new to the task and has never demonstrated competence in the past, you need to be more hands-on. But there’s no reason to be hands-on when that person has demonstrated high competence, is confident in his or her capability, and is optimally motivated.

If leaders learn to have motivational outlook conversations and provide the appropriate leadership style to give people the direction they need (when they need it), they’ll create an optimally motivated workforce that’s passionate about work. Everyday motivation is the key to long-term engagement, where everyone benefits.

Your workplace should be a safe place for people to be authentic. As a leader, it’s up to you to create an environment where your employees have a sense of autonomy, relatedness, and competence. When they feel like their individual values align with their work, they will be acting with a noble purpose that they personally relate to. This is the key to more healthy and sustainable motivation in your organization.

This article originally appeared on Forbes

Why Great Leaders Must Tell Better Stories

By gothamCulture
Published at In Category Blog Tags: ,
leadership storytelling

Remember back to when you were a child. Did you get tucked in at night with a bedtime story? Well, I bet you didn’t know at the time that in those moments our guardians were displaying one of the hallmark qualities of a powerful leader.

It wasn’t care. It wasn’t generosity. It wasn’t responsibility. It was quite simply their ability to tell a story.

In fact, storytelling is one of the most important traits that leaders possess. In Howard Gardner’s Leading Minds: An Anatomy of Leadership, the author profiles leaders from all walks of life; rich, poor, educated, uneducated, political, social, organizational, etc. His findings yielded that “leaders achieve their effectiveness largely through the stories they relate.”

To understand why this might be, a cursory review of some ancient history is in order.

The Evolution of Storytelling

Stories have literally been told forever.

Cavemen told visual stories using drawings, the Egyptians told visual stories using etched hieroglyphics and the Greeks and Romans told oral stories in their Forums and Amphitheaters. Native Americans, Australian Aboriginals, African Griots – they all had their own version.

Fast forward to 2001, when a gene called FOXP2 (well, technically it’s called forkhead box protein P2, but we’ll stick with the abridged version for now). Scientists have been able to isolate this particular gene as the one responsible for giving humans the neurological skills to be able to string together words and speak them quickly and in sequence. Simply put; FOXP2 is the first gene that’s directly linked to speech and language.

If you buy in to evolutionary theory, then you accept the basic premise that human DNA can actually change if there are benefits to it. Over the course of many millions of years, after listening to and telling countless stories, the human brain has come to become hardwired to understand them.

With evolution in our corner, the pertinent question becomes: How can leaders utilize this natural ability to their organizations’ benefit?

Why Leaders Should Pay Attention

When I work inside an organization, I pay particular attention to the stories that are being told, and it doesn’t take long to pick up on things.

Each of those stories has a place, and tells a message – either of a corporate value being applied or being ignored, about the future of the organization, its past, or the leaders. Sometimes those stories serve the organization well, and other times they don’t.

Either way, stories are the DNA of culture, and they have great power to alter it.

The great responsibility that lies with leaders in organizations is in their ability to change the stories that are being told. Here are a few reasons why it’s important to take this responsibility seriously:

It’s not hard. It doesn’t take too much discretionary effort for leaders to create and tell stories. They often already have access to platforms to speak to their employees, and by paying attention to a few important considerations, leaders can make great use of those opportunities.

It’s memorable. It’s commonly known that people don’t tend to remember facts and hard data, they remember and can relate to narrative.  The more leaders are able to craft that narrative, the more likely their listeners are to retain it.

It’s required. Employees are constantly looking for information, and leaders have the critical responsibility to provide it.

It’s helpful. In order to move an organization forward, everyone needs to be rowing in the same direction. By telling stories, and having them re-interpreted and then re-told by listeners, organizations are aligning the messages of their employees.

It’s powerful. Told in the right way, stories have the unique ability to galvanize large numbers of people around a common goal. They can quite literally change the realities that employees experience.

How to Tell Better Stories

We’ve discussed the usefulness of storytelling, and the neurological capacity we all have to do it. So, what can you do to tell better stories in your organization?

From a practical perspective, here are a few things you can start doing immediately to make your stories more impactful:

1. Be vulnerable and candid

Leaders’ credibility and authenticity are constantly being questioned.  Employees have a strong desire to understand your motivations, so the more you can make them clear, the more likely you are to get your message to stick.

2. Anticipate concerns

You should know what your listeners are going to push back on, and know those vulnerabilities before you begin communicating.  The more you’re able to get ahead of those concerns, the more open the listeners will be to hear your story.

3. Choose your words wisely

Ensure you are sharing the most pertinent information, and letting your audience know what’s in it for them.

4. Practice makes imperfect

Stories are messy, and that’s OK. This is not a muscle that leaders flex too often, so it’s not meant to be a perfect science. Once you start using these skills, you’ll get more and more comfortable with the practice.

The good news is that there are plenty of opportunities in organizations to create and share stories. Think about visioning work, sharing strategy, describing particular initiatives, your personal leadership journey, showing corporate values at work, etc. – all instances in which it would serve you well to consider these skills.

Closing Thoughts

Storytelling is one of the few ways we can effectively connect knowledge with emotion. Stories help us make sense of information through narrative. The best stories are those that can capture the head, the heart, and the hands of your listeners.

There may be no better way to impart information, capture peoples’ curiosity, and most importantly, motivate people to act.

“Stories are the single most powerful tool in a leader’s toolkit.” – Howard Gardner

So, what story do you want to tell?

Build Your Leadership On A Foundation Of Trust

By gothamCulture
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leadership trust

The most effective leaders share a lot of characteristics, but the most important is their ability to inspire trust.

With a solid leadership foundation of trust, team members will act freely and without fear, and they’ll be more willing to take risks, move outside their comfort zones, and explore new ideas. They’ll more readily share information, feeling confident that other members of their team have their best interests in mind.

I asked Dave Bushy, a long-time friend, mentor, and colleague who is a well-known aviation consultant and executive coach, to describe an example where he observed the positive effects of trust. This is what he shared:

“Take my experience at JetBlue, for example. Dave Barger, JetBlue’s president and CEO, is committed to running an organization of respect, empathy, and integrity. His team members trust him as an individual and as a leader, and they want to follow his lead. As a result, JetBlue has achieved brand recognition, respect within the marketplace, and, most importantly, a culture driven by trust.”

Without trust, you can’t lead effectively, and your teams cannot reach their full potential. Fostering trust in your organization isn’t an easy process, but it is worthwhile because it will increase functionality across your organization.

One way to facilitate this process is by understanding trust through the use of a model. Not only does that help educate team members about the importance of trust, but it also provides them with a common language that can drive honest conversations.

A Tangible Framework for Trust

One well-known framework is drawn from Jack Gibb’s Theory of Group Development. The theory states that as the level of trust increases, unhealthy dynamics begin to fall away, increasing the functionality of the group and creating a safe space for dialogue, debate, and problem-solving.

This theory centers on the pyramid-shaped “TORI” model, which takes into account the key aspects of a highly functional team. At the bottom of the pyramid rests trust, above that is open and effective communication, next comes realization of common goals, and finally, interdependence forms the peak. Recently, people have started adding a second “R” for respect, which, in effect, makes it the “TORRI” model.

According to Gibb, every group member experiences two lives — his or her own life and the collective life of the group. On the group level, members ask questions about how they’ll work together, who is making decisions, and so forth. As individuals, they wonder if their voices will be heard, how they will fit in, and how they can exert some control within the group.

Put Trust Into Action to Become a Better Leader

As a team develops and faces these and other questions, its members progress through the TORI/TORRI model. Sometimes, team members will have to take a step back to regain momentum, but throughout the journey, the team will experience a number of increasing benefits.

Not only does this model provide a tangible, easy-to-use framework and language for understanding group dynamics, but it also helps group members understand their feelings. Finally, it provides a structure for individuals and groups to ask and answer questions that will clarify situations and build trust. To foster organizational trust based on this theory, start with these three steps:

1. Be intentional about developing trust. Establishing trust is easy, but losing it is even easier. As the leader, you must hold yourself and your team accountable. When team members’ efforts are being put toward flying under the radar and hiding their true feelings, organizational success takes a hit. So make sure that you always clear the air.

2. Use Gibb’s model as a guide. When your team members have a clear understanding of the TORI/TORRI model, they’re better equipped to engage and ask questions in an honest, respectful way that benefits everyone.

3. Serve as the example. Use Gibb’s framework as a means to coach your team on matters of trust, and soon they’ll start navigating issues of trust on their own.

Trust is the foundation of any relationship. In the military, you need to know that the people next to you have your back, and the same goes for the corporate world. When companies adhere to the TORI/TORRI model, great things can happen.

Just look at Buffer. The tech company decided to embrace a culture of transparency and trust in order to help drive teamwork. It discloses employee salaries on its website, a move that took an enormous level of trust. As a result, not only did the company see a big increase in the number of job applications, but it also started receiving higher-quality applicants.

By being intentional about developing trust, using Gibb’s model as a guide, and serving as an example, you can ensure your team is functioning at its full potential. Keep your foundation of trust strong, and as with any well-built structure, your team will stand the test of time.

This article originally appeared on Forbes

Give Employees a Voice by Crowdsourcing Leadership Decisions

By gothamCulture
Published at In Category Blog Tags: ,
crowdsource leadership

As a leader, your title alone might lead you to falsely believe that you have all the answers. After all, others have entrusted you to direct the company, right?

In reality, no one person in a complex organization can ever see the entire picture, and when leaders default to making ill-informed decisions, they slowly etch away at dismal employee satisfaction levels. In fact, a recent survey by TINYhr found that 79 percent of employees feel marginally valued or extremely undervalued at work.

By crowdsourcing decisions in your organization, you can leverage the input, ideas, and diverse thinking of others to make healthier choices. And when both customers and employees are actively engaged, organizations experience a 240 percent rise in performance-related business outcomes, according to Gallup’s State of the American Workforce report.

This year, I’ve made a commitment to crowdsource more of my company’s decisions. And there are plenty of reasons you should, too.

1. You overcome bias. Crowdsourcing prevents groupthink and stops leaders from buying in to their own ideas without thinking through other perspectives. By bouncing ideas off others in your organization, you can stay true to company goals and focus on broader objectives.

2. It invites better ideas. Those closest to an issue often have the best ideas for fixing it. And while most of them want to contribute to company decisions, they often don’t feel comfortable inserting themselves or know where to start. Actively involving employees, customers, and vendors in the conversation will drive better decision-making and make everyone feel connected to your company.

3. It enhances company culture. Crowdsourcing changes a leader’s role from the all-knowing seer who sends commands down the line to an approachable colleague with a robust understanding of complicated situations. This sends a message to employees that what they think matters. It encourages buy-in and creates an environment where everyone’s voice is welcome. And for companies that want to secure top Millennial talent, fostering an open and collaborative environment is a must.

4. You can meet diverse needs. Different demographic groups interact with your brand in unique ways. By crowdsourcing your decisions, you can confidently meet all of your employees’ diverse needs and avoid focusing on the expectations of a single group. This also allows you to engage stakeholders on an ongoing basis, keeping your finger on the pulse of your customers and employees.

How to Start Crowdsourcing Decisions

When you implement crowdsourcing, it’s easy to get in too deep, too quickly. Instead of jumping in with both feet, keep things simple as you try this process on for size. Experiment with methods and tech for collecting information and keeping track of it.

In our company, we start with internal “think tanks.” When we face complex problems, we bring everyone in our company together to discuss, debate, and develop options to solve them. These think tanks allow us to consider everyone’s input, but they require pulling people out of their daily tasks, so we have to use them sparingly.

With modern technology, you can quickly and easily connect with stakeholders around the world, collect and share ideas through data, and discover the most effective solutions to problems. We’re experimenting with a new software platform that lets us launch live feedback opportunities for our stakeholders so we can access input in the middle of strategic planning processes. It helps us understand which processes we need to prioritize and how to improve them.

To capitalize on the benefits of crowdsourcing, you need to lay a foundation of trust. Openly welcome input and feedback, and don’t be too quick to shoot down any idea. If you’re overly critical or unsupportive, employees will hesitate to contribute their ideas in the future.

The people affected by your decisions have a vested interest in the direction of your company. When you leverage the collective mindset of an entire organization, you ensure that everyone’s input has a meaningful impact on your choices. The possibilities are truly endless.

This article originally appeared on Forbes

How Culture and Leadership Pave the Road to the Super Bowl

By gothamCulture
Published at In Category Blog Tags: ,

As we head into Super Bowl 49 this weekend, we at gothamCulture can’t help but think about a professional football team’s culture and leadership that has (or has not) helped teams get to the big game.

Like a corporate organization, NFL football teams’ organizational culture is largely made up of leadership, team members, and the brand. Each of these plays a unique role in a successful (or unsuccessful) team on the road to the ultimate goal every year: a chance to win as world champions in the Super Bowl.

Leadership

Formally, the Coach provides a great deal of the leadership, like the CEO or the Executive Director. He sets the tone along with the team’s General Manager. The owner is usually the one who is most concerned about how well the team is doing and leads the hiring and firing of those two based on the team’s performance.

This might be similar to the board of directors or advisors in a more corporate organization. The Coach and General Manager are usually the first to take the fall if the team does badly. For example, as Owner Woody Johnson of Gotham City’s own 4-12 New York Jets said, “It became pretty apparent during the season the team wasn’t getting better and, as (Bill) Parcells said, you are what your record says you are…It was kind of obvious we had to make the change. It was obvious to me, anyway.”

Former Cleveland Brown’s quarterback Bernie Kosar reinforced the importance of this formal leadership in his recent comments, “When you have a front office that’s really uneducated, and I’m not talking about just the coach, there’s way above him that deserves this, they don’t know how to lead and organize and set a culture to play winning football, to win in the NFL consistently.”

Culture

The Owner, GM and Coach aren’t the only leaders on the team. Fans often hear about quarterbacks “leading” their team to victory. If the quarterback is having a bad day, it’s very hard for the team to do well, and often when quarterbacks are hot, the team is unstoppable.

These are the leaders in the organization who play outsized roles, whose successes and failures have ripple effects across the organization. While quarterbacks may control the game by function or role, and perhaps are the most visible of players, many other roles on the football team are critical to a team’s success.

One such example was during the NFC Championship and the Seattle Seahawks. Jon Ryan and the special teams players made a few critical plays when the team was losing badly to turn the game around. These pockets of action and success highlight the importance of the team coming together; the offense wasn’t the only one responsible for scoring points, just like one division within a company isn’t the only one responsible for making a profit.

And, even for those key opportunities for the special teams to be successful, advanced research was conducted on the opponent Green Bay Packers’ weaknesses, the coach had to be willing to take the risk to call the play, and the players needed to have the skills and focus to be able to deliver.

In corporate culture speak, this involves a culture of creativity, trust, empowerment, risk taking, and thorough market research of competitors.

Fan/Customer Appreciation

The Seattle Seahawks are also known for an organizational culture of appreciation. Their stadium is lined with #12 flags, representing their appreciation of their fans; arguably some of the most loyal in the country. They are the team’s 12th man on the field, and thereby critical to their success.

Seahawks fans are known to be so supportive and vocal that there was even a seismograph machine at both recent playoff games to measure the decibels. The fans screaming and jumping in the stadium was thought to be as powerful as a minor earthquake.

That kind of brand following is critical to organizational success.

Applying These Concepts To Your Organizational Culture

While the parallels between your corporate environment and the NFL may not be immediately apparent, there are some key concepts that you can apply to the culture of your organization:

  • The buck always stops with the formal leader; if it’s not working, don’t be afraid to make a change
  • Informal leadership within the organization plays a critical role in team success
  • A culture of learning, risk taking, empowerment and research can pay high-dividends
  • Appreciation goes a long way and leads to brand loyalty

What other relevant leadership and culture insights have you gleaned from watching football? Let us know how you’ve been inspired from leadership on the field into action in your office!

(photo credit: Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images) 

 

Is Your Anonymous Employee Survey Doing More Harm Than Good?

By gothamCulture
Published at In Category Blog Tags: , , , ,

We live in an era of oversharing. While most people are comfortable sharing what they ate for lunch, what they watched on TV, and what their relationship status is with 500 of their “closest” friends on Facebook and Twitter, the idea of telling their boss what they really think still feels pretty risky.

The traditional feedback process that’s become the norm in most businesses today relies on anonymous systems so employees can feel safe being open and honest with their employers. But there’s something fundamentally wrong if your employees are fearful to be open when providing feedback.

Meanwhile, leaders worry their employees won’t be forthcoming with their opinions unless they’re anonymous, so they default to the nameless employee survey, which limits their ability to follow up with employees who have particularly helpful ideas.

The idea of anonymity is outdated and ultimately unproductive. In fact, the confidentiality can interfere with the accountability you’re looking to build on your team and lead to other unintended consequences, including:

1. Skewed results. In most organizations, a small minority harbors a tremendous amount of anger toward leadership or their workplace in general. An anonymous survey just gives them a platform to vent. When their names aren’t attached, their feedback can be pointed, jaded, and even inflammatory, which can skew your results.

2. Misinterpreted feedback. The purpose of feedback is to gather information to help you make better business decisions. Unfortunately, with unidentified feedback, there’s no way to understand the context of issues that may only affect one department or even one employee. You may end up misinterpreting the data, which can cause you to make the wrong decisions.

3. A lack of follow-up. If a respondent has a moment of brilliance in an anonymous survey, you have no way to dig deeper into his ideas or recognize this visionary for his contribution. On the other hand, if an employee is unhappy about something, you miss the chance to have a productive conversation to identify solutions.

Non-anonymous feedback allows you to initiate that conversation and build upon the feedback loop throughout the year.

4. Limited responsiveness. Gathering anonymous feedback is time-consuming. You must first ask employees to fill out a survey, take part in a focus group, or share opinions in a confidential interview. By the time someone has gathered and processed the data, the information may no longer be relevant.

5. The inability to hold leaders accountable.Unfortunately, some leaders will react inappropriately to feedback, which is why organizations favor anonymity in the first place. Rather than tailoring this process to ineffective leaders, you need to start holding them accountable.

An open feedback system establishes an environment where leaders must learn how to accept criticism so employees feel comfortable being open and honest.

How to Create a Transparent Feedback Loop

If you want to encourage transparency and increase engagement in your organization, it’s time to ask employees to cowboy up and take ownership of their ideas. With that said, you’re also going to have to take responsibility for creating an environment where people feel safe sharing.

Moving from an anonymous survey to a transparent feedback loop won’t be easy or painless, but there are several things you can do to make the transition successful:

  • Invest in a platform to gather feedback. Thanks to techie wizards, a variety of platforms are now available to tackle the issue of employee engagement. Software likeOfficevibe, Vennli, and 15Five allows you to gather meaningful feedback from employees on a regular basis that you can use to make critical business decisions.
  • Coach supervisors on how to respond to feedback. For this process to work, leadership must understand how their reactions to feedback can shut down an employee’s willingness to participate. In those instances when a supervisor responds inappropriately to feedback, you must be willing to take swift action. If employees can’t go to leadership with their concerns, resentment may spread within the ranks.
  • Show employees it’s OK. Such a drastic change in feedback style will be met with some apprehension. However, the best approach is to jump in with both feet and reward people who provide useful feedback. Look for ways to demonstrate how you’re using feedback to implement positive changes so employees see that it’s safe — and even commendable — to be honest.

Removing anonymity allows your employees to become active players in the decision-making process, which can boost their dedication and allow your team to benefit from multiple perspectives. When you open an honest dialogue with employees, you can expand on ideas, gather continual feedback, and arrive at productive solutions to improve your company.

This article originally appeared on Forbes

6 Key Steps to Influencing Effective Knowledge Transfer in Your Business

By gothamCulture
Published at In Category Blog Tags: , , ,

Before lifting a Black Hawk helicopter off the ground, the pilot goes through a lengthy written checklist: oil pressure, fuel pump and generator switches, safety harnesses, altimeters — on and on it goes. When I flew Black Hawks in Iraq, I didn’t dream of trying to memorize this list. That would’ve been dangerous. The best way to store and retrieve that information was a notebook.

Similarly, doctors don’t recite every patient’s medical history from memory. That’s what a medical chart is for, and it could mean the difference between life and death. In fact, the Mayo Clinic employs a sophisticated knowledge management system that captures what everyone knows and archives it

Even the transportation industry is getting in on knowledge transfer. Loriann Hoffman, vice president of talent and organization development for the New York City Transit Authority, shared with me that her organization is implementing several knowledge transfer initiatives. Safely moving more than 8 million(yes, million) people by bus or subway every weekday is no small feat, after all.

While your organization may not be responsible for people’s lives, getting the right information to the right people at the right time is still a critical component to your business’s long-term success.

What if the only person who understands a critical part of your company leaves? What if the marketing and engineering teams aren’t talking to each other except casually in the cafeteria?

Are you going to rely on that? Of course not! That’s where effective knowledge management comes into play.

Develop an Effective Knowledge Transfer System

Knowing who knows what, who needs to know what, and how to transfer that knowledge is critical — especially when so much of a company’s worth consists of information. Investing in developing an effective way to transfer knowledge may, in the least, save you some headaches and, at the most, save your business.

Here are some suggestions for implementing a system for knowledge management and transfer in your company:

1. Make it formal. While water-cooler banter is better than nothing, you need consistent, clear processes and tools. As an aviator, I’m partial to lists.

My team creates documents that clearly outline how a process works. We also use checklists and sample templates to ensure that following the process is easy. This increases the confidence of the team members who know that they’re not expected to just “figure it out” when the time comes. Even something as simple as taking notes during meetings and sharing them will keep your employees in the loop.

2. Create duplication. I’m not suggesting that you need two people for every job, but you do need to plan for the worst. Cross-training can mitigate the risk of a key person leaving with a head full of knowledge. Ensure that there are at least two people who can step in during an emergency.

For example, imagine a football team. If the quarterback is injured, another player has to step into that position. But what if no one has practiced that role? Your team probably wouldn’t win the game.

3. Train, train, train. By providing your team members with formal training opportunities, you ensure that you have duplication of skills in the system. However, if you don’t have the resources for formal training, you can try this simulation: Remove a key person from the system temporarily so the team can see what happens. If things fall apart quickly, people will be eager to figure out how to prevent that failure from happening in the future.

For organizations that have effectively transferred knowledge to others, these situations present opportunities for employees to put their knowledge into practice and build their confidence.

4. Use systems. Technology can capture key information for later generations to use. They shouldn’t have to relearn what others discovered. By standing on the shoulders of those who have come before, newcomers can take the ball and run with it rather than spinning their wheels rehashing the same ground that’s already been covered.

5. Create opportunities. Set up informal gatherings where team members can exchange information and develop networks organically. Develop communities of practice so employees can work together to find and share information. This is a great way to capture and share knowledge with a broad audience.

6. Be smart when using consultants. While a consultant can be a valuable asset, keep in mind that they’ll leave after the work is through. Make sure you plan to have their knowledge transferred to internal personnel so you can carry on once they’ve departed.

For any of these practices to make a real difference in your business, you have to communicate the importance of knowledge transfer, explain how it will be done, and, most importantly, practice it yourself.

If you can do that, knowledge transfer will be a key resource and differentiator for your organization. By continuously spot-checking to make sure the right knowledge is being captured and shared, your organization can leap ahead of competitors and seamlessly transition during the departure of key personnel.

On top of that, your employees will be more engaged in their work and have a more in-depth understanding of the systems around them. When your employees feel confident in their ability to step in and help, the different parts of your organization will move together effortlessly. With effective knowledge transfer, your organization will be healthier and happier overall.

This article originally appeared on Forbes 

Leadership While Daydreaming

By gothamCulture
Published at In Category Blog Tags: ,
leadership daydreaming

Guest Article Written by Andrea Learned

Even though we hear a lot about how much leadership is changing, one thing still holds: leaders don’t take enough unscheduled time (or, we aren’t hearing about it).  In a recent McKinsey Quarterly interview with Tom Peters, he cites the book Leadership the Hard Way, by Dov Frohman, and notes:

“The two things I remember from that book are, one, that 50 percent of your time should be unscheduled. And second—and I love that this is coming from an Israeli intelligence guy—that the secret to success is daydreaming.”

The digitalization of productivity that we can get so excited about has a downside. It speeds up processes and planning, but it also crowds out the unstructured thinking time humans need to re-charge or think big and new.

Yet, many organizations build their culture around these questions: Why not fit another call in to your already-packed 10 hour day?  Why not say yes to a meeting request even though it is scheduled over your only possible break for lunch? How can you not say “yes, yes, yes” to all inquiries, when everyone in your organization can see your schedule has white space in it?

Organizational Culture Follows Your Lead

This is where personal agency comes in, and where leaders have the opportunity to start to model this for their teams. If there is no perceived allowance for junior staff to manage their own schedules to achieve their best levels of performance, they cannot be expected to stop the madness.

If employees don’t see that the occasional mind-freeing use of unstructured time is important to leadership, they may well not take the necessary breaks they need to absorb, get ideas, reflect on mistakes and just process their days. The pressure cooker will cook itself.

Organizational culture is set by company-wide values that are demonstrated and committed to by leadership. You are the boss. All the written guidelines in the employee handbook mean nothing if leaders don’t authentically acknowledge and live the power in unscheduled time.

A few ways leaders can indirectly model this behavior for their teams:

  1. Purposefully reference books or articles you’ve read – especially those not obviously connected with your core business – that inspired you or gave you new perspective.
  2. Do not respond to every email within seconds, it sets up ridiculous expectations. And, take some obvious time and attention in replying to at least a few internal emails a day, especially with junior staff.
  3. Be somewhat vocal or visible when you are leaving the office to workout, take a walk or meet your spouse for lunch in the park.
  4. Leave town and be unreachable. When you do it (and get management team members to do it too), others in the company will notice and be more inclined to do the same.

Structural Support for Organizational Change

The way a leader manages his or her own time can be a strong indicator for employees about an organization’s values. But, in addition to the above somewhat less traditional markers, the Hay Group has conducted research on the more structural changes to help that cause.  And, the guidelines they suggest go beyond flexible work schedules and telecommuting.

A selection of Hay Group findings for leaders include:

  • Provide clear direction regarding organizational priorities to help employees focus on the highest-value tasks.
  • Implement policies and practices consistently to ensure that workloads are fairly and equitably distributed.
  • Emphasize high levels of teamwork within and across organizational units to provide employees with access to support from co-workers in coping with work demands.

Daydreaming To A More Productive Team

The move to a completely digital world does not automatically lead to increased productivity and improved life. Without the “white space” of time that has nothing to do with schedules and deadlines, you can’t be leading at your best.

Because your team takes its cues from your work-life style as a leader, a thriving organizational culture will depend on both your actions and the policies and procedures that support a bit of unscheduled time.  By reading, delaying, walking and vacationing yourself, you demonstrate the values your team members can learn from.

A little daydreaming can go a long way.

 

Andrea

Written by Andrea Learned

Andrea Learned is a sustainable business thought leadership strategist and writer with a gender lens. The co-author of Don’t Think Pink: What Really Makes Women Buy and How To Reach Your Share of This Crucial Market, Andrea regularly shares her unique perspective and curates business leadership topics via her Twitter feed and blog, Learned On.