Moving forward, a new metric is proposed: the extent to which executives create organisations that are economically, ethically and socially sustainable.

The new metric is trust. Building a culture of transparency is a fundamental first step to achieving trust. Broadly defined, transparency refers to the degree to which information flows freely within an organisation, among managers and employees, and outward to stakeholders.

Trust in our leaders is alarmingly low. While exact figures and study results vary, no data compiled over the last 7 years has shown more than 50% trust for company leaders.

Easier Said Than Done

If transparency is such a vital component of trust, why wouldn’t companies promote openness and a free flow of information?

Several issues can stand in the way:

• People may be unable or unwilling to communicate upward and with honestly
• Teams may not yet have the capability of challenging their own assumptions
• Boards of Directors may be unable to clearly communicate important messages to company leadership

Further, the failure to promote transparency may stem from a leader who won’t listen to followers; as well as followers who won’t speak up.

Poor transparency also occurs when team members are ensconced in “groupthink,” usually without awareness. In this scenario, people on the same team don’t challenge each other. Sometimes, they like each other too much. Other times, they simply don’t know how to disagree with one another.

Knowledge Is Power

In all groups, leaders try to hoard and control information because they use it as a source of power and control. But the ability of a few powerful people to keep information secret is now vanishing, in part due to the Internet, as well as the facility of rapid communications.

Transitioning from a hoarding tendency to a transparency culture starts at the top when leaders:

• Share more information.
• Welcome challenge and counterarguments.
• Admit their own errors.
• Behave as they want others to behave

7 Steps to Transparency

Bennis and O’Toole offer seven steps for developing a culture of transparency:

1.  Tell the Truth

Each of us has the impulse to tell others what they want to hear. Instead, keep it simple, and be honest. Candid leaders tell everyone the same thing, and they have no need to revise their stories.

2. Encourage People to Speak Truth to Power

It’s never easy for us to be honest with our bosses. It takes courage to speak up.

But encouraging people to share their honest opinions is crucial if leaders want to build trust and open communication.  Of course, this sometimes means executives will hear unpleasant information.

3. Reward Contrarians

If you make it acceptable, are willing to listen to opposing points of view and promise to consider the merits of others’ arguments, you pave the way for a culture of transparency.

Find colleagues who tend to be oppositional, listen to them intently, and create conditions for thinking differently.

4. Practice Having Unpleasant Conversations

Few people excel at delivering negative feedback during performance appraisals. Offering negative feedback upward, to one’s boss, is even more challenging.

The best leaders learn how to deliver bad news kindly so people don’t get unnecessarily hurt. It’s certainly not easy, unless practice opportunities are provided.

5. Diversify Information Sources

Communicate regularly with different groups of colleagues, workers, customers and even competitors to gain a nuanced and multifaceted understanding of others’ perceptions.

6. Admit Mistakes

Candour is contagious. When you admit your shortcomings or errors, it paves the way for others to do the same. Simple admissions can disarm critics and encourage others to be transparent, as well.

7. Build Organisational Support for Transparency

Protect whistle-blowers—but don’t stop there. Other norms and sanctions should encourage truth-telling, including open-door policies, ethics training and internal blogs that give a voice to people lower down in the hierarchy.

Board Vigilance

Changing a system that encourages information-hoarding is the board of directors’ responsibility. Truly independent boards should provide a much-needed check on executives’ egos and truth-telling. If they fail to assess transparency at the uppermost levels, they’re not functioning appropriately.

“Boards are the last line of defence against ruinous self-deception and the suppression of vital truths,” write Bennis and O’Toole. “If they’re not vigilant in the pursuit of honesty, the organisations they serve are unlikely to have a free internal or external flow of information.”

Trust

As a species, we are hardwired to trust others, especially those who appear similar to ourselves and who have similar interests. But as recent financial scandals reveal, we sometimes trust too easily and trust the wrong people.

To trust wisely means starting with small acts that foster reciprocity. By communicating your willingness to trust, you give others the go-ahead to do the same. However, Jonar Nadar points out in How to Lose Friends and Infuriate People (2006), that communicating your willingness to trust employees is more than a simple statement or delegation of responsibility.  Deeply trusted leaders go the extra mile by removing obstructions to an employee’s capacity to communicate views and explore possibilities (Worrall, D., A Climate for Change, 2009).

Transparent Communications

Open and honest communications support the decision to trust. Lack of communication and transparency creates suspicion.

To increase the transparency of your communications:

• Increase the frequency and candour of your communications.
• Build a relationship beyond the constraints of your official role.
• Use the word “we” more often than “I.”
• Emphasise common values and goals.
• Be clear whose goals and interests you are promoting.
• Be sure your actions support your words.
• Demonstrate a clear concern for others.
• Under-promise and over-deliver.
• Ask more questions.
• Really listen to the answers.

D.Worrall (2010)

• “We never have a chance to really talk about the big picture of our work. We’re under so much pressure to deliver what is needed now. There’s little opportunity to understand how things tie in with larger goals; consequently, there’s no breathing space for creativity or innovation.“
• “I’d be able to grow and develop at work if I didn’t have to babysit around here…If my subordinates didn’t come to me for every little decision and if they would take more initiative, I’d be freer to do the same in my own job.”
• “There’s too much talking behind one’s back here. People talk about others, but rarely to others. I don’t feel people come to me directly; I find out about things from other people. If I knew and had a chance to talk to the person with a complaint, then we could confront the issues and work on solutions.”

Complaints may vary but griping is always in season at work. When things go from bad to worse the discussions end up in the manager’s office. When they don’t, they form an undercurrent of discontent and resentment that is counter-productive.

People spend vast amounts of time complaining. They invest amazingly creative energies coming up with clever ways of expressing their discontent. No matter how sophisticated, however, a complaint is unpleasant to listen to. It can instill an aura of negativity and un-productivity. It becomes contagious. At its worse, it poisons relationships and sabotages team efforts.

A review of journals and books yields little on the subject. That is, not until Robert Kegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey wrote, How the Way We Talk Can Change the Way We Work (Jossey-Bass 2001). Kegan is a Harvard psychologist best known for his work in developmental psychology. Lahey is a research director at a Harvard research centre. They term complaints in the office as “BMW” talk: bitching, moaning and whining.

Ask any group of people how they could be more supported at work and you’ll get prime examples of BMW. Sometimes the complaints are made with head-shaking amusement, sometimes resentment and resignation. They are made by people who love their jobs, hate their jobs; by those that are good at their jobs, not so good, new at work, and near retirement. Criticisms are levied at bosses, subordinates, peers, “them,” and occasionally at oneself.

We all complain, no matter what our position. No matter what the particular content of complaints, it turns out that most of us have an experience at work that we perceive as obstructing our own well-being, growth and development.

This conversation about what we can’t stand is so universal it goes unrecognised and accepted as normal. Obviously the use of this language form is more recognised in others than in ourselves. Complaining grows like a weed. The problem is that it does not usually lead to changing anything.

To be fair, complaining may help people let off steam. It can also create alliances and support when one realises they are not alone. But it rarely accomplishes more than this. It doesn’t transform anyone or anything. It often leaves people feeling worse by virtue of the negative feelings that flourish.

Why complaints are important

It is important to pay attention to complaints because they contain a seed of passion! For every statement of what a person can’t stand, there is an underlying reason, or statement about what they stand for.

Where there is passion there is possibility for transformation. There is energy and there is commitment. People do not complain about what they don’t care about. So underneath the complaint, there is a river of committed passion and a source of energy to be discovered and harnessed…if we look for it and ask about it!

Leaders and managers are faced with complaints all the time. Here are some typical ways leaders respond:

1. Acknowledge the person’s complaint and give them more information that would explain the situation and provide another perspective.
2. Acknowledge the person’s complaint by actively listening and empathising with them in order to help them to accept the situation.
3. Acknowledge their complaint and try to explore solutions using problem-solving methods. Depending on your leadership style, you will direct or coach them to take action, or you might take the monkey on yourself by agreeing to do something to fix the problem.

What if there were a different approach to handling complaints, one that actually encouraged people to stay with the problem in order to pursue meaningful transformation?

Kegan and Lahey suggest asking this important question:

What sorts of things, if they were to happen more frequently in your work setting, would you experience as being more supportive of your own ongoing development at work? In other word, what do you really need to thrive?

Transforming thet language of complaints to the language of commitments

What commitments or convictions do you hold that are implied in your complaint? What value do you hold that is not being honoured? What commitment do you have that is not being fully recognised by this situation?

In every complaint there is a value that is not being honoured and it is usually the absence of this personal value that is rubbing the person the wrong way. Hence there is passion in complaints.

What if leaders could feel comfortable enough to listen to a complaint without explaining, empathising and trying to solve the problem? What if they took the time to explore for the unfulfilled values and commitments inherent in the BMW talk?

Unlock the underlying value and there is productive conversation about what needs to be done in order to create meaningful change. The key to doing this is through the use of language.

Leadership and language communities

Work settings are language communities in that structure, boundaries, norms and culture are organised linguistically. The importance of language and the way groups speak about themselves and their work cannot be underemphasised. In that sense all leaders are leading language communities. Though every person, in any setting has some opportunity to influence the nature of the language, leaders have exponentially greater access and opportunity to establish and influence others through the use of language. The only question is what kind of language leaders will choose to use.

We are all leaders at one time or in one way. We are all challenged by being stuck and blocked from creating changes that we say are important to us. We are all seeking language through which we can communicate more effectively and influence the decisions that others make.

The fact is that all of us are confronted with challenges when it comes to development and change. While it may be that sometimes this is because we have difficulty learning something or we attach a loss to shifting to something new, in all cases it is because we are committed to something. There is something we value that we are protecting. In the world of business and organisations this protective behaviour often shows up as complaining and various forms of discontent. It depletes work energy, negatively impacts retention of talented people and at its extreme breeds anti-organisational behaviour such as sabotage.

 Leading change through changing the language we use

Kegan and Lahey present a methodology to provide new meaning to complaints and to elicit the underlying commitments that can provide passion and energy for changing behaviours. Through the use of this new methodology each of us can begin to shift our own behaviour and our relationships with others in the organisation from complaining to commitment and effective change.

A methodology for transforming complaints to commitments

Adapted from: How the Way We talk Can Change the Way We Work; Seven Languages for Transformationby Robert Kegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey (Jossey-Bass, 2001) with permission from the authors.

Step One:

Write down your answers to the following question: “What sorts of things, if they were to happen more frequently in your work setting, would you experience as being more supportive of your own ongoing development at work?”

 e.g.” More involvement in decision making”

Step two:

Pick just one you feel strongly about and complete the following sentence…“I am committed to the value or the importance of…”

e.g. , “I am committed to the importance of participating in decisions that affect me.”

Step three:

Consider your own part in the situation, by answering this question: “What am I doing or not doing that prevents my commitment from being fully realised?” 

e.g. I sometimes hold back instead of standing up for myself and stating my opinion

Step four:

Consider that you may have other values that are competing with the value or commitment you stated in step 2: “I may also be committed to…” (This is usually something self-protective.)

e.g. “I am also committed to not looking stupid.”

Step five:

Look at the reasons for holding the competing value stated in step 4 by finishing the statement: “I assume that if…”

e.g. “ I assume that if I honour my commitment to state my opinion (in step 2), then this might mean I look stupid….”

To bring about actual change, we must do more than just become aware of our paradoxes. We must disturb the balance, not merely look at it. This methodology creates a more complete and comprehensive space in which to consider and experience a problem. Far from solving the problem, we expand it.

By expanding the initial problem to uncover its root cause, leaders and employees are spared from wasting time, energy and money on solutions that might be highly ineffective because the problems will just recur in differing forms.

Once the real cause of our complaints are revealed, we can look at them, reexamine them, and possible alter them. This is what leads to genuine transformation.

D. Worrall (2010)

Companies continue to ignore the obvious: Offering incentives and rewards is less effective than tapping into truly meaningful intrinsic motivation. Leaders operate on old assumptions about motivation despite a wealth of well-documented scientific evidence.

The old “carrot-and-stick” mentality may actually inhibit employees from seeking creative solutions, partly because they focus on attaining rewards instead of solving problems.

So, how can you successfully tap into workers’ inherent motivation and creative drive? How can you boost the number of actively engaged employees from the paltry 33 percent reported by the Gallup Organisation? And how can you sustain employees’ enthusiasm after their first 30 days on the job?

Seven Deadly Flaws

In Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, former U.S. Department of Labor aide and speechwriter to Vice President Al Gore, Daniel H. Pink says businesses are out of sync with what scientists have been telling us over the last 50 years.

The hackneyed carrot-and-stick approach, now dubbed “Motivation 2.0,” encourages poor leadership practices, as Pink outlines in his “seven deadly flaws”:

1. Extinguishing motivation
2. Diminishing performance
3. Crushing creativity
4. Crowding out good behaviour
5. Encouraging cheating, shortcuts and unethical behaviour
6. Becoming addictive or obsessive
7. Fostering short-term thinking

In fact, Pink holds Motivation 2.0 partly responsible for the economic chaos of 2008. Mortgage brokers, for instance, were so hungry for commissions that they made questionable loans, which helped bring the US banking system to its knees.

It’s time to seriously question our outmoded leadership assumptions about employee performance, and re-examine the science of what truly motivates people at work.

The Hawthorne Studies

In the 1920s, Harvard Business School initiated the first studies of human behaviour at work, with support from the Rockefeller Foundation. Clinical psychologist Elton Mayo and Harvard Medical School physiologist L.J. Henderson were recruited to study the impact of various working conditions, such as how lighting affects fatigue levels.

Early research was conducted at AT&T’s Western Electric Hawthorne Plant. The results were published by F.J. Roethlisberger and W. Dickson in Management and the Worker.

The researchers found that workers’ and managers’ social needs had a powerful impact on their behaviour at work. Workers enthusiastically embraced opportunities to contribute their thoughts, ideas and experiences regarding workplace issues.

Unfortunately, these findings failed to change work conditions for employees.

Scientific Management

At the beginning of the 20th century, American engineer Frederick Winslow Taylor asserted that businesses were being run in inefficient, haphazard ways. He invented the concept of “scientific management,” which assumed workers were little more than machines. To make the machine run smoothly, you rewarded the behaviours you wanted and punished those you discouraged.

“Work,” Taylor stated, “consists of mainly simple, not particularly interesting, tasks. The only way to get people to do them is to incentivise them properly and monitor them carefully.”

Thus began the firmly entrenched practice of motivating people with the proverbial carrots and sticks.

In the 1900s, Taylor had a point. We were, after all, building railroads, highways and major factories. But today, in much of the developed world, this is no longer entirely true. For many people, jobs have become more complex, challenging and self-directed.

Freud, Skinner & Maslow

The 20th century saw the birth of psychology and study of the human psyche. Sigmund Freud proposed that all humans were driven to seek pleasure and avoid pain. In the 1930s, behavioural psychologist B.F. Skinner created a large body of experimental research to show the effects of positive reinforcement on augmenting certain behaviours and extinguishing others.

In the 1950s, psychologist Abraham Maslow questioned the idea that human behaviour was purely rat- or pigeon-like. He launched the field of humanistic psychology, proposing that once survival needs were met, people sought to achieve self-mastery and actualisation.

In the 1960s, MIT management professor Douglas McGregor imported Maslow’s ideas to the business world. He proposed that humans had higher drives that weren’t contingent on rewards and punishments. If managers could tap into these inner motivations and grant employees greater autonomy and respect, workers would unleash greater performance.

While McGregor’s writing influenced some organisations, there were only modest improvements —mostly more flexible dress codes, working conditions and empowerment programs.  

Despite these psychological insights, businesses entered the 21st century using outdated and ineffective motivational strategies.

The Third Drive in Human Motivation

In 1949, psychologist Harry Harlow placed puzzles in monkeys’ cages and was surprised to find that the primates successfully solved them.

Harlow saw no logical reason for them to do so. Their survival didn’t depend on it, and they didn’t receive any rewards or avoid any punishments. Apparently, the monkeys solved the puzzles simply because they had a desire to do so.

As to their motivation, Harlow offered a novel theory: “The performance of the task provided intrinsic reward.” The monkeys performed because they found it gratifying to solve puzzles. They enjoyed it, and the joy of the task was its own reward.

Further experiments found that offering external rewards to solve these puzzles didn’t improve performance. In fact, rewards disrupted task completion.

This led Harlow to identify a third drive in human motivation:

1. The first drive for behaviours is survival. We drink, eat and copulate to ensure our survival.
2. The second drive is to seek rewards and avoid punishment.
3. The third drive is intrinsic: to achieve internal satisfaction.

But Harlow’s theory was met with disdain from the behavioural scientists who dominated motivational theory at the time. It took almost two decades for scientists to return their attention to intrinsic drives.

Here’s the Scoop – Rewards Can Actually have a Negative Impact on Motivation

In 1969, psychologist Edward Deci ran a series of experiments that showed students lost intrinsic interest in an activity when money was offered as an external reward. The results surprised many behavioural scientists.

Although rewards can deliver a short-term boost, the effect wears off. Even worse, rewards can reduce a person’s longer-term motivation to continue a project.

Deci proposed that human beings have an inherent tendency to seek out novelty and challenges, to extend and exercise their capacities, to explore, and to learn.

Open Source Innovations

The third drive has become more important as our society moves from a manufacturing-based economy to one of knowledge and services.

Carrots and sticks continue to provide effective incentive and motivation for work tasks that are routine and repetitive. But for jobs that require complex creativity, intrinsic motivation works best.

As proof, examine the case of two companies that set out to publish online encyclopedias:

1. Microsoft hired the best people and devoted considerable funds to achieve Encarta.
2. A global force of volunteers created Wikipedia with no budget or salaries.

Encarta no longer exists, while Wikipedia thrives as a fully functional volunteer project. Wiki is a form of server software which enables users to freely create and alter the content of web pages. The world of Wiki has grown to include other applications such as wikibooks; wiktionary; wikiquotes; wikispecies; and wikinews. A Climate for Change (2009)

Most businesses haven’t caught up to this new understanding of what motivates us. Too many organisations, governments and nonprofits still operate from assumptions about human potential and individual performance — ideas that are clearly outdated and ineffective. They continue to pursue short-term incentive plans and pay-for-performance schemes in the face of evidence against them.

Unleashing Motivation

How do you move yourself — and your company — away from using carrot-and-stick incentives?

Pink describes three critical conditions for an intrinsic motivational environment:

1. Autonomy: Give people autonomy over what they’re doing and how they do it, including choosing their time, tasks, team and techniques.
2. Mastery: Give them an opportunity to master their work and make progress through deliberate practice.
3. Purpose: Make sure people have a sense of purpose in their work — preferably to something higher and beyond their job, salary and company.

Autonomy may seem daunting when it comes to practical implementations. Some companies, however, have already forged new and innovative work environments that are generating huge results — most notably, Best Buy’s ROWE (“results-oriented work environment”) program. With ROWE, employees have no schedules and are measured only by what they get done.

Google is famous for its “20-percent time” program, which allows engineers to spend 20 percent of their time on projects that interest them. Google Mail is one successful project that came out of the program.

The Australian tech company Atlassian implemented a similar program, with engineers given a full day each quarter to work on any software problem they choose — a ritual the company calls “FedEx” days. (Completed projects are delivered overnight.)

Creating Flow

People are most productive and satisfied when their work puts them in a state of “flow” — more commonly recognised as being “in the zone.” In the flow state, one experiences a heightened sense of focus and a generally higher sense of satisfaction.

What we know about flow is primarily based on the work of psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, whose seminal book, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, describes it as the moment in which “a person’s body or mind is stretched to the limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile.”

You can’t give people the opportunity to create “flow” experiences without providing autonomy, time to practice and improve mastery, and a sense of higher purpose.

Rethinking Management

Intrinsic motivation theories aren’t palatable to everyone. Unfortunately, our notions of what constitutes proper motivation in the office are often too entrenched to be flexible. Some companies have given lip service to worker “empowerment,” without actually letting go of control.

Jonar Nadar asserts in his 2006 book, How to Lose Friends and Infuriate People that empowerment programs structured as a skill or gift have only enjoyed limited success. Rather, genuine “empowerment emerges not when leaders put new things in place, but when leaders remove obstructions to an individual’s or group’s capacity to communicate views and explore new possibilities” D Worrall (2009) A Climate for Change.  Such an ideal is difficult to achieve while the typical organisation is still driven by prescriptive policies, punitive supervisory practices and hierarchical boundaries that preside over the ebb and flow of working life.

At its core, management hasn’t changed all that much since Taylor and his scientific management theory proposed that we need to control the passive nature of workers with extrinsic motivators.

This doesn’t work for motivating non-routine, right-brain activities required of knowledge workers today. Management, in this sense, is deeply out of sync with human nature — in essence, management is the problem, not the solution.

Rethinking Human Nature

Our basic nature is to be curious and self-directed, to seek out and explore solutions to problems. If your employees are inert, disengaged and bored, something has flipped their default setting.

Many leaders will resist giving up their carrots, and many workers will find it hard to imagine a world without incentives. We’re conditioned to like the carrots and avoid the sticks.

But leaders who recognise the value of, and who can implement, intrinsic motivation can expect a whole new workplace — and an entirely new definition of work. We don’t need better management as much as a renaissance of self-direction.

The bigger, unanswered question is whether today’s leaders are ready to rise to the new challenges autonomy will require.

D. Worrall (2010)

References:

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990) Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. N.Y. Harper and Row.

Pink, D.H. (2009) Drive – The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. Riverhead.

Nadar, J (2000) How to Lose Friends and Infuriate People. Plutonium.

Roethlisberger, F.J. & Dickson, W. (2003) Management and the Worker. Routledge.

Worrall, D. (2009) A Climate for Change. Life Success Publishing.

Further Resources:

For more ideas about techniques that inspire and motivate a 21^st century workforce, see A Climate for Change (2009) by D Worrall at www.aclimateforchangebook.com

For more Change Leadership Articles like these and for information about Executive Coaching and Business Consulting for Leaders of Change, contact Di of Worrall Associates at  enquiry@humanresourceschange.com.au or visit http://www.worrallassociates.com.au/change-management.html

Leaders are almost by definition people who change minds.  —Howard E. Gardner, Leading Minds

There is a lack of trust in senior management, according to a survey by the human-resource firm Watson Wyatt: 

• Only 49 percent of employees have trust and confidence in their senior managers.
• Just 55 percent say senior leaders behave consistently with core values.
• Only 53 percent believe senior management has made the right changes to stay competitive.

Clearly, much is going wrong in the workplace. Some 40 percent of surveyed executives doubt their leaders have credible plans to address the uncertain economic outlook. Certainly, this lack of confidence harms an organisation’s ability to move forward.

In light of these problems, middle managers have unprecedented opportunities to become more proactive by stepping forward and offering course corrections — and they should act with deliberate speed. Good times allow organisations to ride out challenges, but today’s tough financial climate won’t permit a wait-and-see approach.

While senior executives don’t set out to fail, research shows they make several common mistakes:

• 80 percent fail because of ineffective communication skills and practices.
• 79 percent fail because of poor work relationships and interpersonal skills.
• 69 percent fail because of person/job mismatch.
• 61 percent fail because they didn’t clarify direction and performance expectations.
• 56 percent fail because of delegation and empowerment breakdowns.

When strong leadership doesn’t come from above, it’s up to the organisation itself — in particular, the people in the middle — to launch a rescue operation.

What’s Happening

You see a problem. There’s a clear need for action within a certain time frame. You’ve discussed the issues and possible solutions many times with your boss, and she has agreed with your way of thinking. For unexplained reasons, she hasn’t acted or given you the go-ahead. What do you do?

This could be a situation in which you take action and lead your boss. You develop a plan on your own, gather data (both pro and con), suggest a course of action and ask permission to move forward.

In doing so, you’re filling a leadership void through prompt decision-making and follow-through. You’re demonstrating what it takes to “manage upward,” or lead your boss. But you’ll soon discover that you need buy-in from more people, including peers and subordinates. You’ll have to become a leader without authority — an ambassador sans portfolio.

Emerging from the Middle

Those who succeed at leading from the middle are artful, skilled managers who:

• Establish goals
• Plan projects
• Organize people
• Execute projects on time and on budget

To accomplish this, you must rethink what you want to achieve and how you’re going to do it. In essence, you’re not acting for yourself, but for the good of the organisation. This requires initiative, persuasion, influence, courage and persistence.

Perhaps the most crucial element is a large dose of passion. You must care deeply and want to make a difference because such efforts can carry big risks.

“Leading up requires great courage and determination,” says Michael Useem, a professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and author of the seminal book Leading Up: Managing Your Boss So You Both Win. “We might fear how our superior will respond, we might doubt our right to lead up, but we all carry a responsibility to do what we can when it will make a difference.”

3 Questions to Ask

According to John Baldoni, author of Lead Your Boss, managers who lead up demonstrate they’re aware of the bigger picture. They’re ready, willing and able to do whatever it takes to strengthen the organisation and team.

Baldoni urges readers to ask themselves three questions:

1. What does the leader need? The boss is responsible for motivating her people to get things right. Take the time to shift your perspective from your own world view to the priorities and concerns weighing on the mind of your boss. What does she need to do her job better? To help her, you’ll need to think more strategically and act tactically.
2. What does the team need? Teams don’t always pull together because egos get in the way. The boss ends up spending valuable time soothing hurt feelings. What if a team member were to step up into the role of “coach” and help bring everyone together? This would free the boss to focus on bigger issues, and the team would be more productive. 
3. What can I do to help the leader and team succeed? Perhaps you can take on more responsibility or step back and let others rally. Maybe you can sacrifice a personal need that allows the team to conquer a challenge. What will it take to help everyone push ahead? 

When you can answer these questions and formulate an action plan, you’ll have a roadmap for leading your boss in ways that make her look good and the team succeed. You’ll  emerge as a team player who is adept at making the right things happen.

Your ability to lead up is an indication of your potential to become a senior leader. How you demonstrate initiative, overcome obstacles and promote resilience are critical measures of senior leadership. If you influence your boss and convince others to work together, you’ll open the door to future promotions and the chance to lead the entire organisation.

The View from Above

Developing managers who can lead from the middle is a sound management practice that won’t undermine a CEO’s authority. When middle managers take ownership of issues, make decisions and accept accountability for the results, their bosses have the freedom to think and act strategically, without getting bogged down in tactical matters.

This not only creates a stronger organisation in the short run, but it equips emerging leaders for greater challenges and advancement to senior leadership positions. And with flagging confidence in today’s senior leaders, there’s no better time for leadership to come from below.

What’s Needed to Lead Up?

To lead up, you must:

• Establish trust by following through on your commitments; be impeccable with your word; do what you say you’ll do.
• Connect with others authentically and honestly.
• Get out of the spotlight; share the credit with others.
• Demonstrate that you can think and act for the boss by taking initiative and following through.
• Use common sense; think before you act; listen to others.
• Do what’s practical to help the organisation achieve its goals.

You will also need to think and act strategically, which requires creativity and imagination:

• Think critically and strategically.
• Challenge the status quo and conventionality.
• Reframe opportunities.
• Get out of your office or your cubicle and be seen.
• Turn information into knowledge.
• Deal with ambiguity and uncertainty.

Assertive Diplomacy

Taking initiative requires assertiveness, confidence and decisiveness. Effective leaders radiate power and seem to be in total control.

But too much assertiveness (i.e., aggressiveness) drives people away, discourages collaboration and causes people to resist your influence.

Assertiveness, by definition, is the outcome of acting like a leader; that is, it gives people a reason to believe in your abilities to decide, act and lead others.

Managers on the way up want to ensure they’re seen as “assertive enough.” Those at or near the top are often advised to be “less assertive.” In truth, there’s a special kind of assertiveness that is just right — a quiet confidence and power that Baldoni calls “reflective assertiveness.” It emerges from experiences, including one’s trials and triumphs. It requires both humility and resilience.

To cultivate reflective assertiveness, you must:

1. Listen first. A leader’s ability to listen signals that she values others’ ideas and input.
2. Ask what people think.  Some employees can be reluctant to offer their input.   Di Worrall in A Climate for Change, asserts that by going out of her way to encourage employee views, a leader demonstrates the fine balance between humility and assertiveness that encourages collaboration and greatly enhances trust.  
3. Keep it low. People know where power lies. You don’t need to advertise it. If you model quiet power, you can remain calm when tempers fly.
4. Act decisively. The payoff to reflective assertiveness is decisiveness. You demonstrate strength by acting confidently. Even if you need some time to think before taking action, you can keep people informed about how the decision-making process is progressing.

Challenge Ideas, Not People

It takes gumption to challenge assumptions and the status quo. Middle managers must care enough to shake things up, and they’re in a perfect position to see what doesn’t work.

Those who resist your ideas will undoubtedly outnumber your supporters at first, but persistence pays off. Begin by challenging “the way we’ve always done it.” You must be willing to rethink options. Only then can you create new possibilities and solutions.

At the same time, you may find it uncomfortable to challenge those in authority. It’s a natural feeling. The trick is to challenge assumptions, not the individuals in positions of power. Focus on ideas, not personalities.

Push Back

Not all bosses want to be led. Some fear their authority will be undermined. Others are so insecure that leadership from below is a threat that must be stamped out at all cost.

These obstacles shouldn’t prevent you from trying to lead your boss, when appropriate. Observe the following guidelines:

• Stick with the facts. Management is rooted in valid data, so build your arguments with fact-based evidence. Make sure your research is on point, and dig to find other points of view so you can counter them.
• Ask others to challenge your premise. Before presenting your ideas to your boss, find people who can play devil’s advocate and explore your assumptions. They will either disprove your premise and prompt you to rethink your course of action, or they will validate your path and boost your confidence.
• Don’t confuse causation with correlation. Just because there’s a link between two issues doesn’t mean one provoked the other.

Dealing with a Jerk Boss

In some cases, all of the best data in the world won’t convince your boss that you’re right. If he’s a jerk, he’s probably insecure. He acts tough because he’s afraid of losing his job and control over others.

Jerk bosses cannot be reasoned with, so don’t even try. Remember that you always have a choice: You can roll over, fight back or leave. Choose wisely.

Bounce Back

Ultimately, what really matters is how we recover when things don’t go our way. Resilience gives you the strength you need when faced with rejection.

Review these points:

• What happened?
• What could I have done better?
• What did I learn?

The resilience to bounce back from a raw deal distinguishes those who succeed from those who become stuck, bitter and angry. It’s important for you to remain focused on goals and engaged in the process of fulfilling them.

True leaders will step up to the plate, regardless of where they fall on the organisational food chain. They see a need and are driven to find solutions. When they distrust their senior leaders, they spot opportunities to step in, lead up and prove their value.

Never give up on your dreams, and continue your pursuit of making a difference.

D Worrall (2010)

References:

Baldoni, J. (2009) Lead Your Boss: The Subtle Art of Managing Up. AMACOM.

Gardner, H.E. (1996 ) Leading Minds: An Anatomy of Leadership. Basic Books.

Useem, M (2003)  Leading Up: Managing Your Boss So You Both Win. Three Rivers Press.

Watson Wyatt WorkUSA® 2006/2007 Survey

Worrall, D (2009) A Climate for Change, Life Success Publishing.

For more articles like this to boost your confidence and skills to make change happen, subscribe to the free newsletter  for leaders of change at:   www.humanresourceschange.com.au/change-management.html

Wouldn’t you be even the teeniest bit interested?

My friend and best-selling author Gina Mollicone-Long has been transforming lives for over a decade now. We first connected when I was researching my first book and found her then best-seller The Secret of Successful Failing.  Gina tells me that she has never seen a problem that can’t be solved in 12 hours or less. Now she’s put her secrets into her newest book called THINK OR SINK.

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AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM GINA

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It is not your circumstances that are to blame for the issues in your life. Rather, it is your response to those issues that is the problem. This book shows you how to control your response to life’s issues so that they lead to powerful results. Your response is always a choice. Whether you know it or not, either you make the right choice, or the wrong one is made for you.

Successful people and great leaders do one thing differently than most people during times of challenge. They think for themselves and choose powerful states of being instead of sinking into the prevailing negative default state of their circumstances and the people around them.

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How do you make New Year’s Resolutions and goals that last the distance?

The first and most important question to ask yourself is: Do you have clearly defined written goals? Or are they just in your head? Research shows that those people who actually sit down and write out their goals not only end up achieving them, but have higher incomes and ratings for overall success and life satisfaction.

According to Brian Tracy in his book Goals!, there is a study that reveals just how effective written goals can be. Here is what Tracy reports:

Mark McCormack, in his book What They Don’t Teach You at Harvard Business School, tells of a Harvard study conducted between 1979 and 1989. In 1979, the graduates of the MBA program were asked, “Have you set clear, written goals for your future and made plans to accomplish them?” It turned out that only 3 percent of the graduates had written goals and plans. Thirteen percent had goals, but not in writing. Fully 84 percent had no specific goals at all.

Ten years later, in 1989, the researchers interviewed the members of that same class again. They found that the 13 percent who had goals that were not in writing were earning twice as much as the 84 percent of students who had no goals at all. And most surprisingly, they found that the 3 percent of graduates who had clear, written goals when they left Harvard were earning, on average, 10 times as much as the other 97 percent of graduates all together. The only difference between the groups was the clarity of the goals they had for themselves when they graduated.

Yes, you read that correctly. The 3 percent who had clear, written goals earned ten times as much as the 97 percent who didn’t have clear, written goals.

Brian Tracy, Mark McCormack, Zig Ziglar, Anthony Robbins, and many other motivational gurus have used various versions of this story. Almost all successful people have goals, and outstanding high achievers have clearly defined written goals. That said, how come so few people actually write out their goals?

Why Not Set Goals

There are four main reasons people don’t set clear goals and write them out. Many people say they can’t be bothered to take the time to sit and write them out, preferring to keep them in their heads. But no one is really that busy, as it only takes a few minutes. The real reasons are probably deeper, involving the fact that if they are kept in “the head,” it is easy to change, revise and ignore them. This avoids accountability issues and facing failure. Looking further into the psychological reasons, we find the following four factors:

1. First, most people don’t realize the importance of goals. If you grow up in a home where no one has goals or you socialise with a group where goals are neither discussed nor valued, you can very easily reach adulthood without knowing that your ability to set and achieve goals will have more of an effect on your life than any other skill. Look around you. How many of your friends or family members are clear and committed to their goals? Successful people are all committed to action plans. They set goals out in writing and follow them.
2. They don’t know how to set goals. Some people confuse goals with wishes and fantasies. They think in terms of “having a lot of money,” “getting a great job,” “having a nice family,” “getting fit,” without breaking these wishes down into their component parts and the action steps it would take. These aren’t goals but wishes and fantasies common to everyone. A goal is different. It is clear, specific and measurable. You know when you have achieved it or not.
3. They have a fear of failure. If goals aren’t written down, we can change them to match what is actually achieved without having to face any feelings of failure. Furthermore, many people make the mistake of setting goals that are easily attained in order to avoid failing. This is a form of unconscious self-sabotage. They end up going through life functioning at sub-optimal levels rather than at the level they are truly capable.
4. They have a fear of rejection. The fourth reason people don’t set clear, written goals, is that they fear they will be seen by others as ridiculous if they fail. They don’t want to face criticism be seen as not capable or worthy. This is one reason to keep goals confidential when you begin to start out with goal setting, other than sharing with your coach, mentor or a trusted peer.

3 Reasons Your Goals May not Work

Knowing the barriers to successful goal-setting, you are ready to learn how to set goals that will help you succeed and find the satisfaction you deserve. You may already have in mind three important goals for yourself that you’ve been wanting to achieve for a while. Go ahead and write them down now; save them for review later. Before you can set effective goals, however, you need to consider the three elements listed below:

There are four reasons why your goals may fail to inspire and motivate change_.

1. The goal isn’t aligned with your highest values— if the goal you set, is not aligned with your highest values, or is really something someone else thinks you should do, or, it may compete with other values you find more important.
2. Your goal isn’t specific—it’s too broad and overwhelming. While “getting fit” is admirable, it really isn’t a goal—rather the outcome of attaining the more specific goals of working out regularly, doing sports and eating less junk food.
3. Your goal isn’t supported—you don’t have a supportive environment to focus your intentions and reinforce your progress, like a coach or mentor to cheer you on in your little successes, or to help you come back after a setback.
4. Your goal is focused on what you don’t want— the subconscious is designed to do exactly as it is told, so a negative goal like “get out of debt” is more effectively replaced with a positive goal like” earn [specific $] by [specific date]. 

A Climate for Change (2009)  Di Worrall

Each of these elements must be carefully considered in creating goals that you can achieve. Once you have aligned your goals with your true identity, values and life purpose, you will find them easier to accomplish. The energy will flow, because the goals are an expression of your true self. Then, when you have written down your goals in a specific, clear, measurable way that is time-framed, the small steps along the way will become evident. This also keeps the energy flowing, and helps you to remain focused on the goal.

The best way to get support for your goals is from a coach. Friends and family members may be helpful, or not. A professionally trained coach is an expert at helping you to achieve what you want. He or she can also help you with the goal setting process to ensure that your goals are aligned with your values.

Di Worrall (2010)

Sources:

Cairo, J. (1998) Motivation and Goals: How to Set and Achieve Goals and Inspire Others. Career Press.

Tracy, B. (2003) Goals! How to Get Everything You Want —Faster Than You Ever Thought Possible. Berrett-Koehler.

Worrall, D (2009) A Climate for Change, Life Success Publishing.

Spend some time planning what you want 2010 to look like for you and your business with the help of an Executive Coach.   Book a Complimentary 30 minute Zero Cost “Jump Start 2010” Consultation now. 

Email enquiry@humanresourceschange.com.au or Tel 61 2 9599 6791

Magazine Editor Iain Hopkins writes…” Di.. has a knack for bringing broad concepts of social change and applying those concepts to the business world. Her excellent book A Climate for Change , uses global warming as the springboard into analysis of what does and does not work in many corporate change initiatives… ”

Catch the full story at http://issuu.com/keymedia/docs/ozhc7.9

Baghdad’s streets are not only congested with angry, hot and impatient drivers caught in gridlock nearly every day, but the streets are also plagued with the dangers of speeding military convoys, violence and murder. The casualties of Iraqi traffic police are high. So high that Iraq’s  Traffic Police Directorate has established a web page which honours the traffic martyrs who have been killed in the line of duty at www.itp.gov.iq.

From inside the ranks of  this dangerous profession, General Amar has emerged as an unlikely icon of social change. Rather than being described as a traffic cop, he is described by Baghdad citizens as “the moral compass of Baghdad”, working on the streets and on local television commentating on driving conditions. What makes General Amar’s traffic reports extraordinary in this city, is his fearless approach to criticising poor driver behaviour. Even the poor driving behaviour of police officials is not exempt from his public criticism.   This is no ordinary feat in a city where confronting a driver could see you killed.

The public welcomes the integrity of his open and  honest approach. They deeply appreciate that his main concern is about saving lives.  As one bystander reports, the General causes people to think twice about their driving behaviour - like putting on their seat belts while driving. 

What was it that compelled the General to shift his job from traffic cop to the bigger cause of saving lives?… He claims that his turning point was the impact of  his son’s death from a 2008 roadside bombing.

Such a tragedy could have easily blackened his perspective and left him resentful, vengeful and bitter. Instead he decides every day that he is driven by a bigger  bigger purpose –  the power to turn this tragedy into the triumph of saving lives through traffic policing.

This is more than a story of a traffic cop. Its a story about how perspective can turn tragedy into triumph. It’s also a lesson about how we can each make a difference  if we choose to change our perspective from doing a job  to having a purpose which is bigger than ourselves.

Check out the Video here:

Iraq\’s celebrity traffic cop

How do you inspire and motivate other people to embrace change in today’s turmoil and uncertainty?  Find out in A Climate for Change.   Download FREE Sample Chapters at www.aclimateforchangebook.com

I confess that I am a dabbler when faced with the practical application of new technologies. It’s not that I don’t appreciate what these new technologies can do. I do – it comes with the territory of being an ideas person. In fact, It’s a big part of my new book which is all about Change and what works in the 21st century. It’s just that the practical application of these things is not really my strong suit. Frankly, I find it a time-consuming, boring hassle to learn. But heh, I have my own blog now which only took a year or so from the idea to finally get my act together - so that’s saying something.

When it comes to these new tools of social collaboration – I can honestly see their potential in business. I have researched story after story of how the opportunities for collaboration around the world have produced amazing results in record time. Because the ideas and thoughts aren’t centralised or controlled, they can be disseminated extremely quickly, and I can choose to add my personal flavour to other people’s thoughts if I wish. You couldn’t possibly replicate these results with the traditional tools we have spent the last 20 years or so cultivating – like email.

Social networking is the electronic version of the rumour mill in your office. The rumour mill works well because it’s a type of social process that occurs naturally. We don’t have to learn it, so our natural energy gravitates towards using it. Web 2.0 social networking functions in much the same way. You can uncover quickly the groups of people who have the same interests as you, and have a chat outside the confines of bureacracy. It’s like a giant rumour mill that doesn’t have the same geographic limitations as your office space or office email network. 

So if this electronic super-rumour mill is potentially so good, why don’t we all use it. Comes back to familiarity – If it’s outside my comfort zone, then I need to exert energy to bring it inside my comfort zone. The bitter pill. I need to take it and I know the benefits it will give me, but it’s likely to taste pretty bad going down.  

The solution? Cover the pill in sugar. For me that sugar is turning out to be a couple of things:

• A really compelling reason to use social networking web 2.0 technology
  • for me it is proving to be the best way to grow my information business fast, access new ideas and extend my reach way beyond my previous geographic boundaries.
• One-on-one internet and e-commerce coaching
  • I grasp the general concepts, but I really needed to find someone to walk me through the practical steps when things didn’t work or didn’t make sense.  
• Outsourcing
  • Where things get overly technical, I am learning to swallow my pride and get help.

So, really give the social networking technology of Web 2.0 some serious thought about how it can give your business the edge and dig deep to find out the brand of ”sugar” that will make it work for you.

Di Worrall is an author, social commentator and change management consultant. For a FREE subscription to the newsletter – Creating a Climate for Change click on the following website  http://www.worrallassociates.com.au/

Get a FREE chapter of Di’s new book – A Climate for Change on

http://www.aclimateforchangebook.com/

Being mindful of the pitfalls of large scale downsizing and employee redundancy was the clear message that Heather Ridout, Chairman of the Australian Industry Group gave to business in a recent 7.30 Report Interview. Heather is not a lone voice in the wilderness on this topic. In the wake of weekly announcements that big business is shedding staff in mammoth proportions, other business and political leaders are joining a growing voice around the world warning of the consequences of these knee-jerk reactions to sustain short-term business viability.

One message is particularly clear. Forget for the time being who may be responsible for the current economic instability. While governments install bail out packages for the worst affected and revise monetary policies to encourage spending, the extent to which our economies travel headlong towards recession, is largely in the hands of business leaders.

Saul Eslake, Chief Economist of Australia’s ANZ bank is highly vocal on this issue when he reminds business that one of the definitive indicators of declining economic strength, is the unemployment rate. An indicator which is in the main controlled by the business sector.

While organisational restructuring and employee redundancies are a legitimate source of cost savings, there are a range of potential alternative measures to achieve cost control and efficiencies that business can explore before travelling down the path of downsizing and cutbacks.  

This leaves us with 2 messages for riding out the short term economic storm, and leaving our longer term legacy in tact: cost control before cost cutting; and employee redundancy as a last resort strategy and not the first.   

Di Worrall is an author, social commentator and change management consultant. For a FREE subscription to the newsletter – Creating a Climate for Change click on the following website  http://www.worrallassociates.com.au/

Get a FREE chapter of Di’s new book – A Climate for Change on

http://www.aclimateforchangebook.com/