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Absolute ‘Must Haves’ for High Performing Teams in Any Environment

May 7, 2014 / / 0 Comments

How many teams does one work with in a lifetime?  A collection of multiple teams working efficiently towards common goals are fundamental to the success of any program or organization.  It is therefore important for leaders to build a shared understanding and definition for high performance (individual and team).  After having worked in and with various diverse teams as a member and consultant (sometimes ones with major issues), the following factors or elements seem ‘non negotiable’, in order to develop a high performing team.

1. Self & Social Awareness
Self awareness is the fundamental building block of any development effort, either at the individual or team level.  Strong self and social awareness are consciously developed using appropriate tools or assessments (eg. Team Management Profile) and conscious practices. If practiced well in a consistent manner, they result in a high degree of personal trust, and creation of “friend, not foe”/“towards, not away” frames (Daniel Goleman’s ‘Social Intelligence’, David Rock’s ‘Quiet Leadership’). The leader spends time with team members actively listening, coaching and empowering (not controlling or answering questions always). He/she is conscious about keeping his or her own ego and biases under check. The perception of fairness within the team is strong. Enabling a learning environment ensures that team members are encouraged to stretch, acknowledge mistakes & learn to make necessary adjustments with accountability.  Team members feel encouraged to flourish and find meaning in their work, not restricted or controlled.

2. Key Stakeholders/Outside-In Perspective
These teams are aware of and always work with the key stakeholder perspectives (Dave Ulrich & Norm Smallwood use the term, “Outside-In”), while developing their Points of View.  To start with, they map out key internal and external stakeholders and work towards building strong relationships.

3. Purpose of Existence
Through the leaders initiative and facilitation, the team builds together clear, inspiring answers to these key questions: Why do we exist as a team? What is our common vision and purpose? How do we achieve value for our key stakeholders?

4. Clarity of Roles/Responsibilities
There is a strong understanding of each others’ roles and responsibilities, and how they practically interface with each other. These are aligned with the core objectives. I’ve found this area to be a big cause of frustration and conflicts within teams and the reality is that it is very difficult to document everything into a single ‘roles & responsibilities’ document in today’s constantly evolving environments. In cases where misalignment or confusion appears, clarity needs to be forged through constant open dialogues (facilitated by the leader or an expert). This will work smoothly only if the social and self awareness competencies of the team have been consciously developed in the beginning.

5. Diversity
For a high performing team, diversity in thinking, work preferences and approaches are essential. Mutually complementary and supporting skills ensure that there is a healthy spread of task, behavioral preferences and strengths.  Diversity has the potential to create more stress and challenging environments in the beginning, sometimes resulting in in negative conflicts but the potential for achievement is much higher if the social and awareness factors are addressed proactively. Constructive challenges help a team push a team further, without needing to wait for external stimuli.  Managing diversity can also serve as a strong test and development for the leader’s maturity, emotional intelligence and leadership skills. Michael Watkins (First Hundred Days) noted that organizations can be like organisms – they repel any new or foreign body entering the system. Diversity keeps a team open and sensitive to competitive challenges or strategic shifts and challenges ‘herd’ mentality.

6. Focus/Priorities
Most teams get inundated with demands over time and have the constant challenge of delivering more than they can support. High performing teams and leaders build clarity around the right priorities and results, through reflection, active dialogues, alignment with key stakeholders and focusing their intense efforts accordingly. The performance management and reward systems are aligned accordingly. This also relates to clarity on goals, expectations and progress reviews at the individual level. In his recent HBR article “The Focused Leader”, Daniel Goleman noted that a primary task of leadership is to direct attention.

For any leader of a team, it is helpful to ask oneself what percentage of time is spent reflecting on or discussing these topics – individually and with the team (especially during the early phases of a team’s forming and norming stages)? Most teams spend majority of their time discussing practical issues at hand or technical topics. If a leader does not facilitate and enable the building blocks of team development especially in the early stages, and constantly follow-up on these elements, she or he will spend a lot more time later thinking about and sorting out related issues.

It is never too late to start. This important team development capability needs to be built either internally with HR support or with external experts.  These factors become even more relevant and important for senior level teams with high impact on the overall organization.

Are there any other ‘must-haves’ in your view?

Best wishes…

‘The Leadership Code’ – Applications for Global Leaders

April 22, 2014 / / 2 Comments

The topic of effective leadership has been thought about and dissected from various perspectives.  I have also spent quite a bit of time reflecting and learning from various angles, while observing, experiencing and working with leaders on practical aspects.I got an opportunity to read the draft of ‘The Leadership Code’ book written by Dave Ulrich, Norm Smallwood, and Kate Sweetman few years back.  My recent RBL group partner certification on the topic got me thinking again about related experiences, and its relevance globally.  The Leadership Code work reviews various models and research works and presents a strong, consolidated (‘meta’) view.  Having worked with global leaders, managers and HR over the years, I felt it would be beneficial to share some related thoughts and observations.  From my own experience, leaders undoubtedly have a huge impact (through their direct or indirect actions and behaviors) on how people within an organization feel and engage with customers and external stakeholders, and thereby how the external stakeholders perceive an organization through their interactions, connecting to results.

TLC recommends that the fundamental areas of focus for an effective leader include Personal Proficiency, Strategy, Execution, Talent Management and future Human Capital Development.

In my observation, many leaders seem to spent majority of their time thinking about and working on the execution area.  It is natural, as most individuals are promoted to their leadership positions because they are very strong in execution.  The ‘leadership passages’ (Leadership Pipeline – Charan, Drotter, Noel) or transitions require leaders to reflect and rethink their approaches and practices, as they progress through their journey.  When it comes to leadership development programs, a lot of the focus seems to be on Personal Proficiency.  This is of course an important area but hopefully would not be at the expense of others.  Building a strategy might be less complicated for some leaders but communicating it consistently across and engaging with the organization through to the front lines, making it practical and aligning with the performance management system (which enables right execution) are complex steps.  It is important to note the distinction between execution at an individual level and execution at the organization level (requires different approaches).  Talent management tools exist in many organizations but what makes them valuable is an indepth understanding of the organization’s talent and key drivers through day to day interactions and applications.  When future Human Capital Development is not given serious attention, the succession pipelines dry up or we miss to look at the critical roles in a changing environmental context with the relevant talent, resulting in heavy business impact.

A recent post by GE’s CLO & VP of executive development Raghu Krishamoorthy, mentioned that most of their leaders, including their chairman spent at least 30% of their time on people related topics. Competent HR professionals and systems can play a huge role as enablers and support in building a balanced view and practical approach.

An important question I would leave you with is – to consider if you would need to and how you could find a healthy balance of these areas on your leadership agenda.  The proportions may shift depending on business life cycle and other practical considerations but if as a leader, you miss out on eg. future Human Capital Development area citing business and operational emergencies, the probability of never getting out of them increases and building a sustainable organization for the long run remains a dream.

It helps for every organization (starting with top leaders) to clarify how leaders help balance today’s priorities and future success, and the important role that leaders play to build sustainable organizations for the long run.

RBL Group also finds that while around 60 to 70% of leadership competency models reflect TLC, around 30% would ideally involve differentiators related to the organization’s strategy and brand (which leads to a distinct ‘Leadership Brand’).

Wishing you happiness, success and wisdom…

A Decade of Cross Cultural Experiences in Four Fundamental Practices

February 24, 2014 / / 0 Comments

After spending over a decade of my life in Finland/Europe and the U.S., and having had the great opportunity to interact and work with talented individuals and leaders from various cultural backgrounds and journeys, I wanted to synthesize and share some of my key experiences and lessons in cross-cultural experiences.

Working and living across countries/cultures may present great opportunities and at the same time, they hold numerous challenges. The ability to work effectively with, lead and manage across cultures are competencies that are becoming very important in a world that continues to get smaller and closer, due to rapid advances in technology and social media. As glamorous as it may seem from a distance, adapting to and succeeding in a very different culture are not at all easy. Those who choose to be ignorant of this topic will lose great opportunities for personal and professional growth.

There’re numerous studies and research articles on this topic and some of my thinking has been influenced by them.

If you come to another’s turf with empathy, sensitivity and open ears – what the Zen masters call ‘beginner’s mind’ – you’re halfway home.
– Tom Peters

1. Respect
Being aware, sensitive to and noticing some of the key themes, norms and behaviors in a new environment constitute an important starting point. This can help one to understand how things work, life patterns flow and what is valued in that setting. Many of the norms would be very different from one’s own conditioning and would seem strange initially. Being respectful to individuals and cultural norms helps to adapt faster to any new environment. One would also need to be respectful of the differences and try to understand the background without being judgmental. There is a possibility of feeling disrespected or ignored, in some instances. Chances are that, not everyone in a different culture is aware of the nuances of your culture and interaction styles. Irrespective of how you feel initially, your mature approach and respectful presence can increase your acceptance, credibility and prevent you from getting stuck in a frustration zone.

2. Openness To New Experiences Without Judging
This is vital for making progress in a different cultural setting. Stephen Covey’s teaching, “Seek first to understand, then to be understood” is a very useful advice to keep in mind while interacting with people from a different culture. It is useful to be aware of our own biases and that our biases and environmental conditioning may easily lead us into the questioning, judging, confusing and eventually distrusting zone.  Individuals from different backgrounds can look at the same scenario and perceive it very differently.  Categorizing something in your mind as superior or inferior, right or wrong, good or bad etc. will impact your own thinking ability and responses to situations and people.  Open communication with authenticity is fundamental to avoiding misunderstandings. During initial stages of interactions, it’s useful to explain the reason behind doing or asking for something that impacts others, and clarifying the same with others without creating a ‘threat’ state, when there are questions in your mind. This avoids confusion, especially in the initial stages of relationship building.

3. Flexibility
As mentioned earlier, I realized that my own way of seeing a topic was very different from how others from a different background related to the same topic.  Being flexible relates to building self-awareness and using that awareness effectively to understand and manage through various scenarios.  This would also mean shifting/stretching ways of thinking and adjusting/ changing one’s own approaches.  Taking the responsibility to tackle an unpleasant situation with maturity and emotional intelligence requires a lot of flexibility, to flex one’s own thinking frames. It’s very useful to have a positive ‘forgiving’ and ‘forgetful/let go’ attitude with unpleasant experiences, while being aware of one’s own learning.  Very seldom does anyone win an argument of being right or wrong.  ‘Co-regulation’ beyond ‘self-regulation’ is very helpful.  Vicious responses only result in cycles of vicious interactions and stress, which take the relationships further into the red zone.  On the other hand, not engaging in a proactive, positive conversation results in increasing distance.

4. Coping with the unknown and fear of failure
There’re a lot of unknowns in a new environment. Finding information through formal and informal channels and making personal connections are very helpful to put one at ease initially. One has to also find relevant ways to accept, understand and cope with stress related to uncertainties of the new environment. It generally will take a certain amount of time before adjusting and feeling comfortable in a different cultural environment.  Patience is fundamental to work through times of frustration, disappointment and negativity.  It may not be uncharacteristic to go through a feeling of ‘being lost’ at times.  It is really important to find one’s own support from ‘comfort zones’, secure bases and ‘connections’ in those situations.

It is helpful to be prepared for mistakes and misunderstandings along the way. Fear of failure can inhibit people from experimenting or experiencing new things, which reduce the impact of the cultural experience, knowledge and personal development. The normal tendency might be to stay within one’s own comfort zones most of the time.

According to a leading expert in this field Fons Trompenaars,

“We need a certain amount of humility and a sense of humor to discover cultures other than our own; a readiness to enter a room in the dark and stumble over unfamiliar furniture until the pain in our shins reminds us of where things are.”

Your willingness and openness to step into the new world can take you to a totally new dimension of personal growth, deep connections and confidence.  Enjoy the journey.  Best wishes…

Please share your valuable learning and experiences!

Note:  The topic of ‘culture’ can be reviewed at different levels or frames.  I’ve tried to focus on the country culture aspect here.  Some of these practices can be useful in working through other aspects, like organizational culture differences.

Leading the World – Food for Thought for Corporate Leaders in India

January 16, 2014 / / 2 Comments

As someone following the world of leadership, human capital and organization development discussions, I could not resist sharing some observations and food for thinking for corporate and business leaders in India.  The following themes appeared to me across conversations and experiences during my time in India.  There are of course many exceptions but one would need to openly challenge some notions, if more Indian companies and leaders aspire to be relevant in today’s connected world and tap into the high promise potential of our younger generations.

1. The Big Picture

The popular expression, ‘Seeing the trees and not the forest’ seems to be a major area for many leaders to reflect on.

There seems to be a general tendency to focus heavily on the details and costs, without sufficient emphasis on critical strategic leadership elements like value creation, organizational alignment and stakeholder engagement.  While the technical aspects and analytical skills seem to be an area of strength, it is important to remember that as leaders of organizations, your mandate is much bigger. It may be comfortable to focus on tasks and activities that are more tangible in nature (‘comfort zone’) than those like discovering new business directions, making strategic choices or understanding the emotional quotient in your organisation. Organisations should indeed be efficient bodies with improving process and cost management – yet the need for finding new directions, being agile, adapting in a constantly shifting world in a sustainable manner, and the ability to ‘connect the dots’ is critical.  An important example of a real time topic is the recent discussion around the future of India’s IT sector and how companies need to evolve and flourish in a shifting environment. Communication, language skills and influencing across stakeholders can be challenging, yet critical. Cross cultural awareness and openness especially for companies and leaders expanding across the world is fundamental for success.

In his latest book ‘Focus’, Daniel Goleman notes that for leaders to get results, they need three kinds of focus – Inner focus (our intuitions, guiding values), Other focus (connections to the people in our lives) and Outer focus (larger world).

2. Understanding and Realising the Power of Human Capital.

How many leaders see high value in investing in a product or physical assets vs. investing in talented people? Are investments on talent management, human capital or leadership development seen with similar importance and bottom line impact (starting with the self)?  Who creates great products, services, strategies or innovations in organisations, and what leads to those creations?  What is the amount of discretionary effort that an individual has and can stretch in any effort? Seeing the golden link between business results and highly effective employee practices are fundamental to sustainable success.

A lack of concerted development effort results in a vicious cycle for an organization – eg. lack of investment in leadership development results in lack of quality thinking, reflection and improvement of leadership effectiveness at an individual and organizational level.  I’ve heard from few leaders that they’re so busy running that they don’t have time to stop and think. As a result, the focus tends to become narrow across the board (often unconscious).  The organization can help consciously provide that space.

For the non-believer, it might be worthwhile to think about the disruptions in many areas (especially technology) and generational shifts we have seen in recent times. One also could think about the Indians who have flourished in global environments like the U.S. and what the difference is.  Core factors like Certainty, Autonomy, Mastery, Purpose, Relatedness, Fairness (ref. David Rock/NeuroLeadership Group, Dan Pink) are relevant everywhere and should be actively adopted by leaders.

3. Challenging the status quo and changing traditional management approaches.

This is a major area for change and the need to change traditional management approaches to reflect today’s world is extremely high.  We still cling on to many approaches from previous century to manage organizations and workforces in 2014.  Even factors like restrictive hierarchies and mindsets haven’t shifted sufficiently to realize the potential of evolved knowledge work and potential.  As technologies turn the talent pyramid upside down for potential disruptions, a leader has to find a way to understand and truly tap into reframing one’s own mind map.  This does not mean that old ideas and philosophies become totally irrelevant.  Even institutions like Harvard are actively adopting and applying the age old wisdom of mindfulness and meditation to the business environment.

There seems to be a reluctance to empower and trust across the organization.  Some of this may stem from the historical, cultural and environmental /social aspects of heavy competition and conflict. As a leader, one needs to think how he or she can build true collaboration and change such a culture or value system to enable significant output.  Role modeling is fundamental and well-designed HR systems can be strong enablers.

4. Wellbeing, Effectiveness of self and others

Last but not least, many findings today relate to individual wellbeing, effectiveness and personal sustainability.  It is not uncommon to find young professionals in India who spend lots of overtime at work, ignore exercise and a healthy lifestyle.  Many leaders also today seem to be heavily distracted, over worked, juggling too many things while ignoring the options to engage/empower team members, and apply the same principles and role modeling to their direct reports. Multiple research studies show the negative impacts of continuous high stress on mental and physical health. Combined with these working habits, the lack of exercise and constant overtime at work leads to a tired brain in a constant ‘threat’ state and poor decisions.  Neuroscience studies indicate that a tired brain does not support innovation or fresh thinking.

As a leader, how would you rate yourself on curiosity, interest in learning and applying some of the recent studies/findings to your ways of working?  The leading consulting firm Korn Ferry found that ‘learning agility’ is a fundamental trait among successful leaders.

There is not much doubt that having high quality leaders and talent are fundamental success drivers for any organization or even a country.  The sooner a leader realizes it, the better for the system and the people in it. Leadership starts at the individual level (with self-awareness, management) and needs to be developed consciously at the systems level for truly high impact.

Leadership in government functions is probably a different discussion, with higher priority due to the scale and scope of impact on general public and seeming lack of current attention to the topic.

Institutions (especially Universities) and organizations also play a key role in leading the drive for influencing and changing practices at a systemic level, even beyond their own countries. There is probably a higher need to communicate that information and interact actively with individuals (eg. leading universities in the U.S. using social media to disseminate latest studies and discussions).

If you aspire to be a respected, world-class leader, I leave you with three final questions:

  1.  What Leadership Brand (ref. RBL Group) would you like to build for yourself?
  2.  What would you want your Leadership Legacy to be when you are not around?
  3.  If you’ve found one useful takeaway from this reading, what will you do about it next?

Curious and interested to hear your thoughts about this topic…

I wish you the very best on your journey.

Few Notes of Wisdom for Reflection from ‘How Will You Measure Your Life?’ (Book by Clayton M. Christensen, James Allworth, Karen Dillon)

September 18, 2013 / / 0 Comments

  • Solving the challenges in your life requires a deep understanding of what causes what to happen.
  • “The only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work.  And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.  If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking.  Don’t settle.  As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.” – Steve Jobs
  • Too many of us who start down the path of compromise will never make it back.
  • What’s most important to you in your career?
  • Problem is that what we think matters most in our jobs often doesn’t align with what will really make us happy.
  • Good intentions are not enough…spend your resources consistent with your intentions.
  • The opposite of job dissatisfaction isn’t job satisfaction, but rather an absence of job dissatisfaction.

Are You Building a Sustainable Organization?

January 27, 2013 / / 0 Comments

Very Important for all leaders and boards to reflect on: Are you building sustainable organizations?

As the discussions focus on economic challenges, changes, unpredictable environments, global dynamics and impact on organizations:

  • How are the actions of leaders in your organization linked or measured with creating long term value and building organizations to last long term?
  • How are leaders measured on this dimension? What behaviors does that encourage?
  • How do boards and organizations find the right ratio in requiring leaders to create short term vs. long term value?

Importance of ‘Practice’ in Training Programs & Leadership Development – From ‘Primal Leadership’

March 10, 2012 / / 0 Comments

Improving an emotional intelligence competence takes months, rather than days, because the emotional centers of the brain are involved-not just the neocortex, the thinking brain where technical skills & purely cognitive abilities are learned…But the basal ganglia & its links to the emotional centers learn differently: To master a new skill, they need repetition & practice. That’s why it’s hard to learn leadership abilities effectively in a classroom.

A teacher can’t instruct your brain circuits that carry old habits of leadership to relearn new habits. What’s needed is practice: The more often a behavioral sequence repeats, the stronger the underlying brain circuits become. People thereby literally rewire their brains: Learning new habits strengthens pathways between neurons, and may even foster neurogenesis-growth of new neurons.

Notes from the book ‘Life Strategies’ by Phillip McGraw

December 31, 2010 / / 0 Comments

Recently completed reading “Life Strategies” by Phillip McGraw. Sharing some of my notes.

  • Ask yourself: Do you really have a strategy in your life, or are you just reactively going from day to day, taking what comes?
  • Problems and challenges almost never resolve themselves; they don’t get better with inattention.
  • Forget about being right or winning the argument about who is right. If what you’re doing is not working, change it.
  • Sometimes, the hardest part in learning something new is unlearning the old way of doing it.
  • You are accountable for your life…If you don’t accept accountability, you will misdiagnose every problem you have…By convincing yourself that you are a victim, you are guaranteed to have no progress, no healing and no victory.
  • Bottom line: You are not a victim. You are creating the situations you are in; you are creating the emotions that flow from those situations…You must be willing to move your position, and, however difficult or unusual it may seem, embrace the fact that you own the problem.
  • It is at the very core of human nature to blame other people; it is fundamental self preservation to try to escape accountability.
  • The bad news is that the burden is on you. The good news is that the choice is yours.
  • Abstract thoughts have the power to produce tangible and dramatic physiological events…Your physiology determines your energy and action level.
  • Our most active and consistent dialogue is the conversation we have with ourselves.
    The principle of reciprocity simply says that “you get what you give.” The manner, style and level you use to engage people will determine how they respond to you.
  • Break out of your habitual doldrums. Climb out of that rut and look around…The longer you have been trapped in an irrational and painful lifestyle, the harder it is to create a new one.
  • Knowing what you need to know and knowing how to do it are two very different things.
  • If you won’t take ownership of your role in a situation-then you cannot and will not change it.
  • Denial, is what kills dreams. It kills hope.
  • You can know a hundredfold today than you knew a week ago, but if you don’t do anything about it, you aren’t any more effective than you were last week, in your unenlightened state..Life rewards action.
  • Lives move by trends and momentum…If you begin to do different things,..your actions will gain momentum.
  • Choose to give yourself the chance. It’s normal to be anxious and afraid, but you can’t be dominated by the fear.
  • Identify the filters through which you view the world. Acknowledge your history without being controlled by it..If you continue to view the world through a filter created by past events, then you are allowing your past to control and dictate both your present and your future…You are undeniably accountable for how you react to it ‘now’.
  • Get to know your limiting beliefs so well that if one begins to show even a hint of its presence, alarms will go off and you will counteract it.
  • Simply put, never in your life are you without problems and challenges.
  • Long established fact of psychological functioning is that it is not so much the particular circumstance that upsets the person involved, as it is the violation of his or her expectations.
  • You shape the behavior of those with whom you interact.
  • Don’t give in to your negative momentum. Require more of yourself physically, mentally, emotionally and behaviorally.
  • You are your number one worldly resource. Manage it and manage it well.

Best wishes for a happy 2011.

Six Ways HR Leaders Can Become More Effective Business Partners (‘The Talent Masters’)

December 19, 2010 / / 0 Comments

From the book, The Talent Masters by Bill Conaty and Ram Charan.

1. Understand your business and industry dynamics

  • Financials and key operating levers that affect your business

2. Build your HR vision and strategies around the business model

3. Become problem solvers versus problem identifiers

  • Remove issues from the plate instead of adding to the existing pile

4. Take your work seriously, but don’t take yourself too seriously

  • Stay cool/provide a sense of balance and calm in the storm

5. Have the personal independence, self-confidence, and courage to push back or challenge the system when necessary

  • Don’t salute every command..But pick your spots.
  • Stay true to your personal values and convictions, those moments can make or break your career.

6. Never forget why you’re at the table

  • Obligation to balance strong business partnership role with employee advocacy role
  • People implications of decisions
  • Never forget the “human” in human resources

Important Common Truths from ‘Life Strategies’

December 4, 2010 / / 0 Comments

I’m currently reading the book Life Strategies by Dr. Phil McGraw. Thought this would be useful food for thought:

“The ten most significant common characteristics fundamental to human functioning I have identified are:

  1. The number-one fear among all people is rejection.
  2. The number-one need among all people is acceptance.
  3. To manage people effectively, you must do it in a way that protects or enhances their self-esteem.
  4. Everybody approaches every situation with at least some concern about “What’s in it for me?”
  5. Everybody prefers to talk about things that are important to them personally.
  6. People hear and incorporate only what they understand.
  7. People like trust, and believe those who like them.
  8. People often do things for other than the apparent reasons.
  9. Even people of quality, can be, and often are, petty and small.
  10. Everybody wears a social mask. You must look beyond the mask to see the person.”
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