Leadershape Alert 5
Developing Excellence In The Boardroom
A non-executive director (NED) is generally a senior person with a recognised track record of good commercial experience in the market – and not always in the same sector where they are currently deployed. The NED’s role and responsibilities will differ depending on the needs of the business; from developing and maintaining strategic direction and providing a sound board for decision making, to opening doors and developing networking opportunities for their employers.
A NED’s main interface with the business is usually through the CEO or at board meetings, but it would be almost impossible for a NED to learn the range of skills and behaviours they need from such limited exposure. Even the most experienced executive would find it difficult to adapt to all the challenges faced by an NED and deliver everything that is required to fulfil the role effectively.
In July 2003, Ruston Poole International conducted an independent research project into the bio-pharmaceutical industrys’ response to the Higgs report on NED roles and responsibilities. At that time, there had been very little formalised about what exactly should be expected of NEDs, either by individual businesses or by government. The result of this was that no performance indicators existed for non-executive directors – not for individuals or their employers - to judge their effectiveness.
One concern that emerged from this survey is that businesses often feel that they are failing to make best use of the strategic experience that a NED can provide – they don’t realise their value and aren’t quite sure how to get the maximum benefit out of them. There was also a view that NEDs needed to be sourced from outside of the core industry, which would widen the pool of talent but introduce some reservations regarding lack of market sector experience.
NEDs are recruited to provide specific expertise to the business and as such, an employer could be forgiven for thinking that this is one resource that doesn’t need training and development. But it’s quite the reverse. Executive coaching and development plays an essential part in maximising the value of ALL executives and would certainly ensure that your NEDs are able to add full value to the business. It would also give newcomers the confidence to take the step up from executive in a non sector company to NED within a different industry.
Any development programme must include an introductory module on the statutory and fiduciary aspects of being a NED and an introduction to the market itself. Even for seasoned executives, with widespread experience in exec and non-exec positions, this would be invaluable. Another important aspect to any programme is the development of behaviour and communication skills. With tailor made one-to-one coaching, via a peer-to-peer support network, you can kick start your NEDs career.
Chris Gulliver, LeaderShape, explains: “The success of a NED development programme requires significant investment from all sides. For the business, it’s financial. For NEDs it will require a time and intellectual investment. The industry associations’ role will be to help provide and accredit some of the industry-specific content and to assist in the marketing of the programmes to ensure that it becomes an established standard for the market sector.”
For further information on NED coaching and development programmes, please contact: Chris Gulliver at cgulliver@leadershape.biz
Do You Have The S-Factor?
A recent article in Financial Times, headlined: ‘Managers need the S-factor to set workers’ hearts a-flutter’ might have set a few pulses racing. They go on to explain that according to an article in the February issue of Harvard Business Review, great leaders need to know how to intimidate. They cite John Pluthero, the new head of Cable and Wireless, who recently announced that the company was cutting jobs. He took the bull by the horns, commenting: “Congratulations, we work for an under-performing business in a crappy industry and it’s going to be hell for the next 12 months. If you are worried that it all sounds very hard, it’s time for you to step off the bus. This is no longer a place for the timid.” No soft soaping there. And so, according to the FT, it is goodbye to coaching and mentoring, and hello to anger, displays of overt power and even bullying. Interesting.
According to a survey carried out by Eversheds, bullying tactics are ‘rife in workplaces across the UK’. Nine out of ten workers said they had a bad manager and 25% said management styles had become too harsh. Half of the 1500 people questioned said their boss had been a bully. Staff also called for an end to management phrases, such as “thinking outside of the box” and “singing from the same hymn sheet.” No arguments there.
There is a definite link between good management and productivity and a good manager has to achieve a fine balance. Straight talking and delivering a few home truths shouldn’t be construed as bullying – it would be wrong to lead staff into a false sense of security – but does an approachable, friendly style of management encourage respect? This is the critical point – the scary effect should be borne out of respect, not fear.
Lucy Kellaway, writing for the FT, goes on to say that management is about getting people to do what you want them to do, and fear is one of the most effective ways of doing that. Fear of what? Being humiliated or getting the sack? It might motivate you to get on with the immediate task, but is that really how you see your career progressing – constantly intimidated? It might not be the job for you and it’s time to move on – or has the company just lost an important asset? Balancing the emotional and intellectual expectations of a wide staff base within the exacting financial and operational requirements of a demanding business isn’t easy. Sometimes you have to be tough – but rough? No, never.
Peter Lewis of LeaderShape comments: “What one person sees as intimidating in a manager, another might find motivating, but it’s the results that count. Scariness is not altogether a bad quality to have, but, as stated further on in the article, it needs to be tempered with competence and good judgement.”
Have you got the S-factor? Contact Peter Lewis at plewis@leadershape.biz if you would like to put your scariness to the test!
Leadership In An SME - How To Bridge The Knowledge & Skills Gap
The Merlin Project – LeaderShape working in partnership with Finance
South East Ltd, a SEEDA organisation (South East England Development Agency)
There are a number of recurring issues that tend to be experienced within
a small business:
• Gaps in critical skills, experience and knowledge, especially in
the area of marketing.
• Limited resources – especially people, time and finance.
• Focus – skewed by personal passions or backgrounds.
• Dealing with larger businesses, creating pressure on price, payment
and IP protection.
• Red tape – the burden of excessive legislation on a small business.
These issues are then affected and influenced by the leadership within
the business, which can often have its own problems, such as:
• A lack of clear vision and direction for the business
• Leaders focus on short-term survival and not strategy
• No time for personal development for the leader
• No time/thought is given to development needs of the team
• Poor delegation
• No clear leader, causing a lack of cohesion and drift in decision.
There are many sources of support in the business environment, but they are disparate and often offer conflicting, contradictory or confusing advice. They also rarely take into consideration the practicalities of the specific business situation or environment. Advice from independent consultants might be useful, but probably expensive for a small business. Much of the support needed and wanted by these companies may consist of an independent objective sounding board where ideas or concerns may be articulated, clarified or tested. So where next?
LeaderShape has been working in partnership with Finance South East on a programme that is designed to help leaders within SMEs. The ‘Merlin’ project provides professionally trained mentors that can give specialist intensive advice and assistance with specific issues or projects. They also offer brokerage, signposting and ongoing mentoring and support, and can even sit on the Board of Directors.
Leaders often experience barriers and difficulties in translating their ideas into action – developing new ideas into viable commercial enterprises. This programme aims to address these issues and provide individual support to SME leaders through sophisticated mentoring, helping them to capitalise on entrepreneurial flair and increasing the sustainability of small businesses.
If you would like further information on the Merlin Project, please contact Danielle Grant at dgrant@leadershape.biz
Can You Learn To Manage Your Personality?
John Knights, LeaderShape, explains how you can manage your emotions and solve your problems.
Emotional intelligence is about managing the development of emotions in yourself and others. If you can identify emotions (yours or others) and then decide how to respond to them in a way that will have the most positive outcome, then you are well on your way to becoming emotionally intelligent. It is about channelling our emotions in a positive direction.
Daniel Goleman, who popularised Emotional Intelligence in his book of the same name - first published in 1995 – defined EI simply as being “about learning to manage your personality”. Emotional Intelligence allows us to think more creatively and to use our emotions to solve problems. It gives us the ability to allow our emotions to inform our intellect and power our achievements.
Research showed that “success at work is 80% dependent on EI – only 20% on IQ” – HR Magazine – 1997 (based on work by Goleman)
How we react to emotions can determine how successful we are in our lives. First we feel the emotion (sadness, anger, fear, shame, etc.), and then we feel compelled to do something as a result of feeling that emotion. To be successful, we need to control that instinct to act and instead ask “what do I need to be aware of”, “what goal of mine is involved here?”, “how should I respond to get the best result?.” Do you want to achieve your goal or finish up being frustrated? Emotional Intelligence helps you get this right. It has an impact on everything you do.
EI can be broken down into 4 core competencies.
The first 2 are the Personal Competencies of:
• Self-Awareness – understanding ourselves
• Self-Management – managing ourselves
And the second 2 are Social Competencies
• Social Awareness – understanding others
• Relationship Management – managing our relationships with others
Check out a few aspects of your level of EI by asking yourself how often
you do the following (never, occasionally, sometimes, usually, or always?)
• I realise the links between feelings and what I think, say and do.
• I behave calmly when under stress
• I demonstrate an awareness of how others are feeling
• I spot potential conflict, bring disagreements into the open and
help de-escalate.
But more important, how would the people around you rate you on these questions?
If you would like more information on EI, take a look at LeaderShape’s
Emotional Intelligence Profile Assessment tool at:
http://www.leadershape.biz/diagnostics.html). If you would like to comment
on this article, please e-mail jknights@leadershape.biz
Keeping Up Appearances
Don’t do a Gerald Ratner!
You make, what you think is, a witty remark – everyone smiles, there is even a chuckle from the audience and then you spot someone, who with just one glance, makes your blood run cold…. there’s a journalist out there and he’s actually smiling! Suddenly, you’ve lost your beat. You start to imagine how your audience winning comment is going to appear when it’s in print and been used completely out of context. Remember this moment – because it’s a difficult situation to claw back from and it really isn’t one you would wish to repeat.
According to Pottruck and Pearce in their book Clicks and Mortar, a leader must have special standards – higher standards for your own behaviour because appearances are sometimes more important than facts.
So before you decide to go off the script, and to protect the faith that your people and others have in your organisation, always ask yourself two questions:
1. “Could this be interpreted by an employee in a way that would
shake his faith in the leadership?”
2. “Could this be misinterpreted and held against me or the company?”
It may seem obvious, but how easy it is to forget.
If you know of a famous gaff, or would like to comment on this article, please contact Peter Lewis at plewis@leadershape.biz
Sick Building Syndrome? It's Just Poor Management
A report published in the British Medical Journal recently, indicates that ‘Sick Building Syndrome’ – previously thought to have been caused by poor air quality and airborne bacteria, has been wrongly named. Quoted in the 23 March issue of The Daily Telegraph, Mai Stafford, senior research fellow in epidemiology at University College London and lead author on the study, said: “The only area of the physical environment that had a significant effect on health was in control over the desk space. If employees could choose what lighting and heat they worked in, they were less likely to report symptoms. It shows that employers need to consider job stress above an audit of physical properties.”
The Health & Safety Executive has identified a range of ‘SBS’ symptoms, which may occur at a higher incidence rate within one particular building and for no readily identifiable reason. The symptoms include eye, nose and throat irritation, rashes, headaches, dry, sore throat, hoarseness and wheezing, itching, nausea and dizziness. The Building Research Establishment (BRE) carried out a review on ‘SBS’ and concluded that, despite considerable research, it had not proved possible to identify specific causes of SBS. They singled out some contributory factors, including inadequate ventilation, lack of air movement, low humidity, poor lighting, airborne pollution and low morale and general dissatisfaction with work and/or the environment.
The Daily Telegraph goes on to say that a report found that public sector workers were more prone to the condition than private sector workers – the Inland Revenue actually demolished a 19-storey building in Bootle, Merseyside, after half of its 2000 staff had fallen sick! But the new study of 4,000 Civil Service workers in 44 offices suggests that the only cure could be through better management.
John Knights, LeaderShape, said: “Creating a good workplace isn’t just about sorting out the air conditioning! - bright and healthy working conditions will help boost morale, but it’s the overall business environment that has the biggest impact on staff. If people generally feel appreciated, satisfied and well treated at work, they are less likely to experience stress and all the health symptoms that go with it.”
Comment on this article? Please contact John Knights at jknights@leadershape.biz
Managing Teams
34 team winning tips, adapted from Rules of Management by Richard Templar
Get them emotionally involved
Know what a team is and how it works
Set realistic targets - no, really realistic
Hold effective meetings - no, really effective
Make meetings fun
Make your team better than you
Set your boundaries
Be ready to prune
Offload as much as you can – or dare
Let them make mistakes
Accept their limitations
Encourage people
Be very, very good at finding the right people
Take the rap
Give credit to the team when it deserves it
Get the best resources for your team
Celebrate
Keep track of everything you do and say
Be sensitive to friction
Create a good atmosphere
Inspire loyalty and team spirit
Fight for your team
Have and show trust in your staff
Respect individual differences
Listen to ideas from others
Adapt your style to each team member
Let them think they know more than you (even if they don't)
Don't always have to have the last word
Understand the roles of others
Ensure people know exactly what is expected of them
Use positive reinforcement motivation
Don't try justifying stupid systems
Be ready to say yes
Train them to bring you solutions, not problems
If you have leadership issues that you would like to discuss with LeaderShape team, please contact Greg Young at gyoung@leadershape.biz