Agents2Change - Smart Business Thinking

Can Mindfulness make you a better leader?

One of the things that is very clear as we see the increase in technology and social media is that rather than making our life easier and saving us time, we seem to be on a treadmill that is going faster and faster. 

Modern life is a long line of constant distractions in the form of emails, phone calls and general internet chatter.  Yet there is a paradox at play here.  The more we allow ourselves to be distracted by the constant noise of these distractions the less we are able to discern the key areas that really require our attention.

This paradox plays out particularly acutely in the leadership space, where the ability to be clear in thought and action is severely hampered by the constant demands of the modern organization.  The ability to silence the inner and outer chatter to pinpoint the real noise that requires attention is not an easy skill to develop and does in fact seem to be on the decline.

The practice of mindfulness can be one way of reclaiming the landscape of thought and decisions to bring about clarity in one’s role and contribution. In mindfulness practice we are slowing down our cognitive process (the taming of the monkey brain is often how it is described) so that we can recognize our thoughts and perhaps more importantly, question their validity. 

Much research has been undertaken on mindfulness and the many benefits include:

• Stress reduction – the ability to respond in a more calm way to intensive or demanding work environments
• Emotional management – the ability to view stimulus objectively and to choose one’s emotional response to it.
• Agile thinking - the ability to recognize one’s thought pattern and to change and adapt it to best respond to the situation.
• Self-awareness - considering how one’s own actions might be contributing to the situation and how to make a choose the best response to make a positive impact for self and others.
• Problem solving – building an implicit and intuitive ability to understand issues and possible consequences to situations.   
• Decisiveness - being able to see the various implications and weigh up choices, arriving at clearly thought out decisions.

One of the reasons cited for not practicing mindfulness on a regular basis is time, but this of course is about the choices we make.  We all have the same 24 hours in a day to spend our time and expend our energy and it is about the priorities we set for ourselves.  With all of the above benefits waiting to be discovered, perhaps it is time for you to start choosing mindfulness over reactiveness.

One simple step you could take is to set aside 10 minutes every morning to just site quiet, breath and let your mind gently settle.  Use a timer and allow yourself the freedom of knowing that for 10 blissful minutes all you need to do is breath, relax and let yourself  open up to a sense of space and possibility.  Do this for a week and then make a note in a journal of any changes you have noticed in your work.   I guarantee you will be amazed at the differences you will see, even with such a minimal amount of effort.

 Interested in increasing your Mindfulness?  Find out about our exclusive one week event designed to do that, Download Mindful Leader - Flyer v1-0, March 2015.

Agents2Change specialises in developing engaging and empowering workplaces.  Find our more at:  www.agents2change.com.

 

When Implementation gets tough – three strategies that might help Leaders succeed

Today’s global companies are driven by projects.  Projects to implement new processes; projects to implement new systems; projects to outsource; projects to insource, you name it and they will be doing it.  The challenge that they often face is how to access the implementation skills to ensure that the project is delivered on-time and in a relatively pain-free way.

If Leaders are asked to take on this role as part of their day job it can be very challenging for three  reasons:

• The pace and needs of an implementation project is very different from that of business as usual leadership.  Getting the style, approach and finding the energy to do this alongside running the day job can be very demanding and it is frequently under estimated.
• Implementation by its very nature often means stepping on someone’s toes.  If Leaders are uncomfortable causing ripples they can shy away from having difficult (and usually long overdue) conversations with other parts of the organisation to address areas of blockage.
• Implementation requires a fair degree of honesty to address inefficiencies that you the Leader may have turned a blind eye to for a long time.  This may involve upsetting trusted and favoured employees as their roles and responsibilities are tested or changed by the implementation project. 

 

So how can Leaders continue to stay focused and have the energy to continue to lead implementation when the going is getting tough?  Some things that will help include:

 

1. Self awareness is key: Be aware of how change affects you and others and how to support people through it.    There are many models that can help with this such as The Change Curve (below) which explains simply all of the different phases that we go through as we undergo change.  Nobody is immune from it, but self-awareness and acknowledgement goes a long way to mitigating the issues.  Understanding where you are in the process can help you to recognise the signs and the stages that your team are at and know how to respond to them.
   
   
   
2. Belief is essential:  We have all heard the phrase ‘Failure is not an Option’ but that could be turned into a far more motivating phrase such as ‘Success is our only option’.  Even if there are private moments when the leader has a loss of faith in the implementation program, publicly they should always be encouraging, motivating and upbeat with their team. 
3. Responsive trumps planning: The plan is only the best guess at the time of what is required to implement successfully, but the key to success is in how to respond to the roadblocks along the way.  Modern mythology tells us that the US Moon Mission in the 1960's was off-plan 90% of the time  What the team became very good at was ‘on-the-job’ problem solving.  So whilst we are not saying that you don't need a plan (Fail to plan, plan to fail - right?) as a leader, you need to rely on more than the plan.  And the more is the role you can play to create the kind of collaborative team environment where problems can be raised, discussed and solutions created by your team.  This is both skill building and deeply motivating for your people whilst in the midst of heavy-duty Implementation.

Have you some implementation experiences that you would like to share?  Do you have other tips of what makes implementation a success?  Please do share them here.  Or if you would like to hear more about our experience of implementation – contact us on [email protected]

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Is Smart better than Wise?

Today’s companies – especially global players, tend to be run by people with MBAs and other lofty qualifications, many of top of the range educational institutions. But does all this education bring wiser decisions and better leadership of companies? If we look at the rise and fall of many major players over the last decade it would suggest that more than education is needed to make a success out of business.

Smart is about the command of Rational Intelligence; the ability to view a wide range of information, pick the most relevant for the situation and arrive at conclusions.

But what about being wise - a term that is not commonly used in the Corporate world, what does that entail? The subtleties of the difference are in how a wise person is ready to respond and not just interpret. Wise people have a sense of criticality, which means they will often ignore events that others seem intent on playing out, whilst addressing areas that are left ignored and unnoticed by others. This sense of criticality comes down to a more holistic thinking pattern; in being able to think through the implications, and the consequences (intended and unintended) before taking a course of action.

Modern leadership development however seems to rely almost entirely on the formal education process as THE way to develop Leaders. But more and more criticism at this Silo approach to Leadership which only focuses on the ‘Smart’ aspects of development is being raised. 

But can we have one without the other? We can have Smart without wise as is seen in many corporations that meet their downfall, due to the maverick (aka Smart) leaders at their Helm. Think Lehman Brothers, RBS (UK).

But can you have Wise without Smart? This is much harder to achieve. Certainly all of us will have met very wise people who have not gone through a formal education process and yet excel in their field. But I have never met a wise person who is not naturally curious. Wise people expend considerable effort in educating themselves in their chosen field. Think – Richard Branson, who without formal education has built one of the biggest brands in the world.

Some of the best ways to separate the wise from the smart is observing them in situations. How do they react to sudden changes of plan, such as an important meeting that has been cancelled at the last minute? Or how do they deliver difficult news to their team? When the pressure is on, where do they spend their time? Is it on their computer firing off emails, or is it with their team looking at options to relieve the pressure?

Of course some of this suggests that Smart people are always self-serving and Wise people are in service of the overall goal. Whilst life is never as simple and clear cut as this, there is something to be learned from observing your behaviour and those around you and asking – who am I really serving here and is this the right place to be investing my energy? This reflection alone will get you one step closer to wise.

Do you have observations and comments on the differences in Wise or Smart people. We would love to hear your comments here. Or contact us at: [email protected]

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The Lost art of Influencing

Have you every wondered why some people seem to be able to overcome any barriers and get their ideas accepted.  What is the magic ingredient that they have and can you develop it for yourself?

In the modern organisation there is an increasing dependence on technology such as emails,  over face-to-face communication.  The impact of this is that it  has eroded some very important skills sets such as influencing and persuasion.

If we think on this a moment, we can see how this will start to erode all manner of subtle influences that will have important impacts on how we make business choices.  Decisions are rarely a binary relationship between proposal and decision, especially when we are talking about things that matter such as strategy, investment decisions or new ways of working.

For people in the know, such as those individuals that have always been good at climbing the corporate ladder they have an intuitive understanding of what influencing means and how to go about doing it.  These individuals are often able to promote their agenda and push through thorny decisions with difficult stakeholders without ever appearing pushy.  So how do they do it and can you learn from them?

Here are  three of their golden rules:    

Only use email as a fall-back position.  Of course you need to use email and it is an essential way of getting information out to people, but key influencers know that if something is really important, they will always speak to the key decision makers and get their thinking before the send button is pressed. 

Think about it for just a moment.  What is your chance of success if you are sending a proposal or decision cold to a key influencer without giving him or her any warning that you require their support.  However by contacting them first you have already take the first and most important step in engagement, by getting their buy in early, which leads to the next rule.

Never look for a solution to your own idea.  Influencers are very good at realizing that they must solve the problems of the organisation or more precisely the problems that they key decision makers are concerned with.  Too many young gifted managers become the judge jury and executioner of their own ideas only to have them rejected by the board at the last hurdle.  Not necessarily because their solutions were bad, but because nobody but that individual was involved in deciding if it was a worthwhile cause or not.  So before solving an idea without a clear problem, talk to the senior stakeholders.  Share your ideas by all means, but then listen to theirs and see if you can see an opportunity that already has senior stakeholder buy-in.  If they came up with the idea, why wouldn’t they support it?  But they cannot be a lone voice in pushing an idea through which leads to the third rule:

Think Federally.  Decisions these days are rarely taken by one individual, but rather a group of individuals, so even if you have the most powerful and most influential stakeholder on board, you would always need to share the idea and seek support from other key decision makers ahead of any key decision meeting.  Providing a short pitch, asking of their opinions and clarifying what you need from them  (usually their support) will all help to avoid an idea being sabotaged at the last hurdle.

So if you have some influencing rules that you would like to share please do comment here.

For more information about how agents2change can help you with your influencing skills, please  contact us on [email protected].

 

 

A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still - or the art of persuasion.

Benjamin Franklin offered this nuggest of advice on persuasion.  But can we really change someone else's mind?  

Before we even contemplate the question, we need to consider is it even valid in the first place?  

Just because someone holds a different opinion or set of beliefs to ourselves, does that really matter? Quite often we spend enormous amounts of time and energy trying to get people to come to our own way of thinking, just so we have the satisfaction of feeling right.

If after considering the question, we come to the view that, yes it does matter and we need to have a point of agreement, then we need to consider how to do this, without undermining the person concerned, or losing ourself in the activity of arguing a case.

Deepak Chopra in a recent article offers some wise advice that includes:

 

Let’s consider each of the five points a bit further.

1. Be sincere and truthful. Don't be manipulative.

You can't sell other people on something you don't actually believe in.The upshot is that you shouldn't try to be a master manipulator. It only works on weak-willed people, and in the end they are fickle allies. Rely on your listener's natural ability to detect sincerity.

 

2. Appeal to what someone else already believes. Don't impose your own belief system.

People identify with their beliefs. With that knowledge at hand, you can align yourself with their beliefs. Without that knowledge, you are throwing darts at a brick wall. If you try instead to impose your own beliefs, the other person will feel that you are making him wrong, and immediate shutdown follows.

 

3. Be aware of the other person's blind spots. Don't assume they are open-minded.

A blind spot is a fixed opinion that is so strong, the person shuts out any input to the contrary. It's the supreme example of rigid thinking. If you are self-aware, you know that you have your own blind spots - there are certain things you simply can't stand or that bring out your most stubborn reactions. Almost no one has an open mind, yes, even you; but it's a fact of practical psychology that must be considered. Your task is to avoid sensitive topics and to appeal to the part of your listener that wants to agree with you.

 

4. In general, persuade through reason, not emotion. Don't assume that emotions aren't in play, however.

One of the most confusing aspects of persuasion has to do with being reasonable. Everyone thinks they are, and decision-making is supposed to be rational. Yet psychological research has shown time and again that emotions cannot be separated from the choices we make. To be persuasive, you must argue rationally while always monitoring the emotional atmosphere. (It's worth noting too that competitive personalities regard a show of emotion as a sign of weakness - with them, you must muster all the rational reasons you can.) 

 

5. Make the other person feel right. Don't make them feel wrong.

We all feel wrong when we are judged against. We feel right when we are accepted, understood, appreciated, and approved of. If you make someone else feel accepted, you have established a genuine bond, at which point they will lower their defenses.

So if you have an important area that you need to get to a big 'yes' from a person with an opposing view, think about how you would use these skills to positions yourself better for the conversation.  Remember to put your own ego aside, become the passive listener and see how easy it can be to turn around the most staunch of opponents, always remembering to do it with a smile.

Please do share your experiences here.. or if you would like some further information on how we can support you in becoming more persuasive contact us on:  [email protected]

 

 

Look beyond the skills, see the soul

Deepak Chopra is a hugely influential figure in the fields of Leaderships, self awareness and well being.  In this article he challenges the way that we find new talent for our organisations. 

Chopra reminds us that recruitment is not just a match of skills to role, but a connection of a people to an organisation, its culture and its values.  Here he gives us some great questions to consider when next recruiting. 

 

Since my life's work has always focused on self-awareness and well being, I have made those two attributes the criterion for people I want to work with. In my course, The Soul of Leadership, I advise employers not only to get references and bios from prospective employees, but also to engage with them before hiring in creating a "Soul Profile". Here are the questions that we ask when we create a soul profile:

via www.linkedin.com  

Take a look at the full article here.  Does this resonate with you?  Are these the type of questions that you can imagine asking of your candidates.  Type a comment here.  Or if you want to know more about how we can help you to get a soul based approach to recruitment, management and leadership, contact us at [email protected]. 

Conscious Leadershp - some wise words from Deepak Chopra

We spend a lot of time here discussing the behaviours of leaders and looking to how they can engage better with their poeple and be more effective as decision makers.

Much of the challenge for modern executives is the lack of any time to reflect; to think; and to weigh up options  before acting.   What are really essential attributes to be able to function well are viewed by many as luxuries that they can't afford.  The difficulty with this mindset is the negative impact it has on the person and on their organisation's performance.  Something we are all too readily reminded of by the global crisis caused by the unthinking actions of key executives across the banking and financial community. 

In his article, Deepak reminds us that if you examine the rise of a typical leader, the ability to look and listen decreases as power increases. That's a trend you need to be aware of. At the outset, a future leader often rises out of a group to present a grievance or to offer a new idea or way of doing things. Hands-on experience motivates him (or her), and the group supports his efforts because they recognize a need to be fulfilled.

 

But leaders at the top are often enmeshed in corporate politics and insulated by immediate aides. The notorious White House bubble that isolates presidents also encloses any leader who lives inside a small circle. Here are some pointers about looking and listening all the way up the ladder.

Read more ..

 

About us:

Agents2Change specialises in organisational change and implementation and supporting leaders to do this in an engaging and energetic way.  We would love to hear your feedback on tihs or any other issues and we can be reached on : [email protected]

 

 

Getting to grips with prioritisation

Prioritisation is a great concept when you have the space and time to do it.  The trouble for busy managers and executives is that they often don’t.  They find that their already stretched capacity continues to be spread thinner and thinner, as the responsibilities and priorities increase.  It can become a vicious circle that is very difficult to break.

 

“Jack had a demanding role as head of operations for a global manufacturing group.  He had always been good a delegating and getting things done and had worked his way up from junior management to his current role and was good at thriving under pressure and delivering against all the odds.

Lately however the demands of his peers and his directors in this matrixed organisation were becoming overwhelming.  Everything was urgent; every was a 'Strategic' initiative with a Board member behind it; and saying no was just not an option.  As a result, he and his team felt like they were working their way into the ground.”

 

Jack’s situation is not unusual, and in modern matrixed organisations, competing priorities are often evident.  But prioritisation needs two key levers in order to be most effective.  

1. It needs to be clearly linked to the company strategy.  When new lines of business or new sectors are targeted, then efforts need to be justified in terms of how they support this strategy.
2. Efforts must show a relationship to the bottom line. Strategic initiatives are almost always linked to growth, but it's not unusual for senior managers to lose sight of this; and the relationship of their teams in delivering it.  At the end of the day, or your performance year;  you will be measured as much by business performance as you will on any other target that has been set.

 

Some tips to help you with prioritisations include: 

• Ensure that your annual performance targets are clear and comprehensive.  They become your employment contract for the year ahead, so a clear and well documented set of priorities will help you when the pressure starts to build.
• Where there are priority conflicts, such as competing department goals, escalate this through the hierarchy for resolution  (up to the board if necessary) rather than getting in the cross fire with peers or functional directors.
• Always keep the consequences of non-delivery clear in your mind.  Some targets will have minimal impact, whilst others may have a major impact further down the line. Consider the inter-connectivity of some priorities, which may not be your immediate concern, but will have a major impact for other areas of the business further down the line.  If it becomes a major resource drain on your area, ensure it gets included in your annual targets.

 

If you would like to hear more about how our coaching packages can help you to become better at prioritising, contact us at:  [email protected], for a free, no obligation chat.

 

We can also provide public speaking engagements on the subject of prioritisation.  Contact us at:  [email protected].

Authentic Leaders Only - Apply Within

Authenticity is one of those words that is bandied around quite a lot these days, almost to the point where it loses credibility.  But before you are tempted to throw it in the ‘new age mumbo jumbo’ bucket, let’s just take a few minutes to consider its relevance for the modern business leader.

 

Today’s leaders are under constant pressure to perform, to engage their staff and to communicate to their shareholders.  It is far greater than anything that was experienced by leaders of the last century.  With the global economic crisis, this pressure has intensified considerably, as we see the fall of major corporations like Lehman Brothers, the finger has pointed not only to the policies and strategies of the corporation, but also the behaviours and characters of their leaders.

 

Authenticity is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as ‘of undisputed origin’.  The word originally comes from the Greek word ‘Authentikos, meaning  'principal or genuine'.

 

If the global crisis had taught us anything it is the need to be principled and genuine in business.  Leaders of today’s global organisations need to be able to display a consistent set of behaviours and values that reflect steadfast and reliable principles in how business should be done, if they are to rebuild trust in their institutions and regain the support of their shareholders.

 

Qualities associated with Authenticity include:

 

• Being a really good listener – Authentic people know how important it is to understand and acknowledge other people’s perspectives.  This does not mean agreeing with everyone.  In fact most studies on engagement and communication show that acknowledging differences in opinion heightens rather than diminishes trust.
•  Admitting your limitations – Authentic leaders know that they are not super-human and therefore understand that creating an illusion of being all-knowing is a recipe for disaster.  Acknowledging your limitations openly has a counter-intuitive effect, in that it enhances people’s perceptions of your abilities.  Why?  Because you have displayed self awareness, one of the highest character traits for the authentic leader.
• Empowering others to be creative - Authentic leaders are really good at creating an environment of engagement and participation; it is second nature to them.  They do this because their leadership style is not driven by a power-hungry ego.  Instead, they see power, status and control coming through sharing responsibility across a wide network of players. 
• Deeds and words are in sync – perhaps the most important rule of them all for the authentic leaders is sticking to his or her word.  Reliability in actions is the ‘killer’ ingredient.  It only takes one or two slips on your promises to lose huge ground in the trust of your people. 

 

If you have some experience of authentic leaders, or the impact of not having authentic leaders, please do share your comments below.

 

If you would like to hear more about how our coaching packages can help you to become a more authentic leader, contact us at:  [email protected], for a free, no obligation chat.

 

We can also provide public speaking engagements on the subject of authenticity.  Contact us at:  [email protected].

Examining Culture #7 - And finally! Building a Cultural Map

In this mini-series, we have looked at the challenges of managing across a diverse range of geographic and cultural boundaries. We have taken a look at the theories on national culture and organisational culture.  In this, our final instalment, we explain our approach to developing a cultural map in organisations.

The major growth strategy for multi-nationals has been heavily reliant on Mergers & Acquisitions  in recent years.  These have often been in key markets and geographic locations; for example there has been significant increase in Eastern Europe and South and Central America.  This brings access to new and growing markets for companies who have plateaued in their home countries, but it also brings cultural challenges in how best to integrate and align these target companies into the established corporate culture. 

The reason that integration and value creation is so difficult in the post-merger organisation is multi-fold.  Many reports and research papers conclude that the reasons for poor results are often down to poorly targeted acquisitions, unclear goals, unrealistic valuation of the target company and more often than not, an incompatible company culture. 

However culture is not an indefinable or unchangeable concept.  On the contrary, it can be defined, measured and with concerted effort, changed.  To do that, requires accurate diagnosis and practical ideas on how to address cultural needs.

Our View of Culture

Over the years, the Agents2change team have been brought in to address many issues around performance, improvement and integration in some of the world’s biggest companies.  Our combined expertise spans over 90 years of organisational change and understanding the key levers towards integration.  Indeed our founder, Mary McGuire has undertaken extensive research in the area of multi-cultural management at Masters level and is linked with a number of business schools. 

We apply our knowledge and understanding of the most  influential models and theorists on culture (from Hofstede to Schein) and have developed our own unique Cultural mapping model.  We take the view that there are certain cultural ‘flags’ that allow us to interpret, measure and intervene in culture to achieve integration. 

A central premise of our model, is the view that integration must come from a shared understanding of the direction and goals of the organisation.  This is impacted by a number of areas, including how motivated people feel, how equipped they are to do their job (knowledge) and whether they believe this is a company that they want to be associated with (commitment).

Building A Cultural Map

We have developed an exclusive internet survey that allows for the collation of data from small or large populations.  The survey takes only 15 minutes to complete and has the advantage of being customisable for an organisation’s own requirements.  Using sophisticated survey design, which allows for a mixture of response types, the questionnaire is intuitive to use and eminently user-friendly, as reflected in the very good completion rates we typically achieve.

What we deliver is understandable management reports, split by function or country and giving a thorough analysis and explanation of what the data is saying.  We also supply recommendations, based on our experience of what makes change stick and how to make it happen in geographically spread organisations. 

Cultural mapping can be done for any size of organisation to suit any budget.  We can do a small review for a team of 20 staff, or provide a global review covering several thousand staff in multiple languages.  Our approach is completely flexible and designed around your needs.  If you feel you could benefit from this service, contact Mary McGuire: [email protected], for a confidential, no obligation discussion.

What experiences have you had with cross cultural conflicts?  Does this model help explain the reasons for those conflicts?  Please share your thoughts or experiences on cross cultural management here, or email us if you would like to find out more about our work in this area at [email protected]