Robert Rosen, CEO of the management consulting firm Healthy Companies International, reported in the July/2010 issue of Leadership Excellence magazine on conclusions gleaned from interviews of top executives in forty countries over the past 20 years. He and his team was looking for the attributes of the best leaders.

They singled out five key characteristics:

1. Genuine. They naturally connect with and engage people. They are open and transparent about themselves and about hearing what others think. They foster trust through their authenticity.
2. Comfortable with uncertainty. Fully aware and unworried by the truism that the past does not predict the future, they maintain a healthy distance from the status quo and remain open to what changing conditions bring to their enterprise. And they adopt the psychologically healthy strategy of transforming anxiety around uncertainty into productive energy to move forward.
3. Intensely focused on the human side of the business. Seeing their people as THE core driver of the company’s success, they invest in, develop, effectively deploy, and nurture their workforce.
4. Committed to growth. It is the focus of their attention and their energy. They talk about growth constantly and push their managers to think about it and always operate with it in mind.
5. Obsessed with execution. The classic expression, “a bias for action,” would not be strong enough here. These executives are always taking action and insist that their employees do too.

This is obviously not the only or even the definitive list of top leader attributes. It is a good reminder, however, of what you should be including in your style if you sit at or even near the top of your organization.

Frequently in my management workshops and always in my coaching practice, a manager will bring up a “difficult employee” situation and ask how they can have the tough conversation with that individual. Usually it is about some area where the person is not performing adequately. Sometimes it relates to a negative attitude, a generally lazy work style, or resisting appropriate work assignmnents.

The challenge in these conversations is to (1) keep your cool, (2) listen for how the employee avoids, blames others, or denies any performance shortfall, and (3) respond assertively so that you move the “monkey” of accountability over to the employee, where it belongs. The way some employees deflect responsibility can raise your ire in a heartbeat. You can easily get tangled up in their masterful manipulation which some have honed over the years with past bosses who failed to get them to do what they are paid to do.

The solution is to do dry runs of the conversation. In other words, practice.

When it comes up in a workshop I often ask the manager to engage with me in a short role play of the interaction in front of the class. He/she plays the difficult employee as realistically as possible (and they usually do a very convincing job of it). I play him/her, the manager, and we enact a typical or real situation. Then, with the help of the observing class, we analyze how successful I was avoiding the employee’s “hooks” and getting him/her to take adult accountability for the job performance in question. We may then replay the scenario with the manager playing himself/herself and me becoming the employee. Training participants and certainly the managers in the role plays frequently report that these magic moments were the high point of learning for them from the entire course.

You can do this at work. Ask a trusted peer manager or perhaps your boss to help you out. Have them play the employee and give the interaction a couple of dry runs. If the employee (actor) succeeds in turning the responsibility or blame back on you, analyze what you said (or didn’t say) that allowed this to happen. Make corrections and role play it again. Consider recording the practice rounds in audio or video to help you get a clearer picture of how you are approaching it.

One neat by-product of this methodology is that when you take on the persona of your difficult employee in a role play, you actually get a feeling of what it is like for him or her when interacting with you. It takes you to a new level of understanding of what is going on between you two and helps you be more effective dealing with the individual. I know, it’s weird but it works.

What is it that managers do?

In his excellent recent book, Managing, Henry Mintzberg, the renowned expert in management and Professor of Management Studies at my alma mater (McGill), answers this question with a concise model. He says that managers get things done by operating:

• In two directions:
  • inward towards his/her unit or team
  • outward, toward the rest of the organization and beyond

• On three planes:
  1. information
  2. people
  3. action

It brings to mind the Roman god, Janus, who had two heads, looking in opposite directions. This is a vivid image to remember when you manage. We seem to focus so much attention in management development on only one direction, dealing internally, with staff. But the job of manager is made substantially more complex by the involvement called for in the other direction.

So, dealing outward on the information plane, our manager collects data, observations, the political winds, and evidence of what is going on outside his unit and assessing its implications. He also disseminates information from his operation to upper management, other departments, customer and so forth. Some call this latter “optics” or “impression management, or “internal branding.”

Externally, on the people plane, besides building his own networks of influence, he links his people into key relationships with influential others outside the unit who can help his team members be more effective and create greater results. With the net and social networking, some of this happens naturally but the manager has an important role in directing and sustaining the connections.

Finally, his outward action comes in the form of what Mintzberg calls “dealing.” The manager must build coalitions around specific issues and mobilizes support that will help his interests and those of his unit.

As you plot your own management growth, don’t forget your other head, the one concentrating in the other direction.

Right Management, in a recent newsletter, The Shrinking Talent Pool, laid out four pieces of data that managers would do well to take note of:

1. (late 2009) 60% of employees planned to pursue new job opportunities as the economy improves in 2010.
2. 54% of companies report having lost top talent during the first half of 2010.
3. 54% of employees have been approached by outside organizations in the last 12 months to discuss job opportunities.
4. 80% of employees say their workloads have grown in the wake of layoffs, their trust has eroded, and they are feeling increasingly discontented.

Now, I know that these are just statistics. They don’t necessarily suggest the situation where you work. But, then again, maybe they do…

If it has been a rough year (or two) for your enterprise, you may have–not surprisingly–been distracted from giving those staff still with you the attention they need, especially in tough times. And when we talk about your top talent, the ones that will be difficult and expensive to replace, this is a critical consideration.

So, here is just a quick reminder. Especially with your key talent, have you been…

• Indicating and reminding them that they are valued?
• Talking with them about their ongoing learning and development, in current and potential future roles in your company?
• Listening closely to them and scanning for their concerns and how they are, in fact, coping?
• Monitoring their work, not to overload them?
• Communicating the organization’s priorities and strategy and where they fit in?

These are some things managers can do to have a positive impact on employee engagement levels and reduce the huge cost of turnover of your best people. And, if you look at the list, none of them cost very much…other than some of your time plus the energy required to sincerely attend to their well being.

In his newly revised book on change, Beyond the Wall of Resistance, my colleague Rick Maurer includes an interview with author/consultant Geoffrey Bellman. Bellman’s response contains some wisdom that helps us all understand the truth about thriving in organizations (and, for that matter, in life).

Geoffrey Bellman

At the base of it all, we’re all a bunch of naked human beings. Down underneath it all, in the game we never talk about–the primary game–we’re all down there reaching, grasping, clinging, lifting, floating through life.

But we seldom acknowledge this. We’re all equal in that regard. We all share a resistance to looking into the deeper meaning of what we are doing.

Let go of the idea that we are ever going to fully understand it, but always keep trying to understand the unspoken game. We are always going to be discovering more about ourselves, our games. We need to acknowledge that the game goes beyond our ability to make sense of it. It is a fascinating life mystery.

Then he goes on, now talking as a consultant:

Whenever I tell clients to “Do this,” ” Don’t do that,” I imply that the game is “solvable.” It is not. My advice, my techniques, tools, and models are only attempts at fuller understanding; these tools will not give me answers, the complete picture.

This is such a powerful reminder to all of us who coach, whether you are a manager or an independent like me. We can’t “fix” things for those we coach. And we owe it to tell those same people–and ourselves–that there is no ultimate solution to the challenges of swimming in an organizational soup. There is only the prospect of continuing to become a gradually better swimmer.

I am proud to announce that my blog has reached the ripe old age of one! This anniversary one is my 80th.

The photo that accompanied my first post was of rocket blasting off. Now, happily, it has settled into a solid orbit…

When I started out this project on July 26, 2009, my declared intention was to be doing this for many years. So far, so good. The range of subjects was to be “leadership, team building and many other areas that relate to excellent leadership–at all levels of organizations.” Done that too, so far.

I promised that my posts would be short and easy to read, draw on the latest ideas, research, best practices I run across in my own reading and work, and , of course, include my own ideas and comments. Looking back over the year’s entries, I think I have done all of this. I hope you agree.

Finally, I goal-set for 6-8 posts per month. I’ve scaled this back to 4-6 monthly which seems a more reasonable number and is probably enough for any of you to hear from me on anything.

If you joined me on the journey way back at liftoff or earlier in the year, thanks for coming along on the journey. And if you’ve just signed on recently, welcome aboard.

In my last post I talked about the remarkable success B.F. Saul’s Hotel Division has had internally branding it core operational values.

There’s one other nifty element in their story that I want to mention. They have come up with an innovative way to reinforce the importance of learning and, at the same time, let their staff do the teaching.

It’s simple, yet brilliant. It’s a desk calendar.

Each year they produce a new calendar with a different theme. For 2010, the theme is “lifelong learning.” They send a number of focus questions out to their entire employee group and invite people to send in their responses. Here are some of the questions for this year’s calendar, along with a smattering of responses they garnered:

• What life lesson would you like to leave behind to teach others?
  • Step back from the immediate picture.
  • Pay attention in math class!
  • There is always the other side of the story.
• What have you learned from your children?
  • That sleepovers are a contradiction…no one actually sleeps!
  • Sometimes children have a more simple approach and tend to not confuse the issues.
  • Have fun in life.
• What’s the best lesson you ever learned from your mother or father?
  • Daily give and you will never run out of things to give.
  • Education and manners help you go far in life.
  • Measure twice…cut once. You can apply this to just about everything in life.
• What have you done to better yourself personally or professionally during your adult years?
  • Learned about health and fitness
  • Become a better listener.
• Who was your favorite teacher and why?
  • It’s OK to fail and the importance of asking the right questions.
  • The importance of humility and respect.
• Whom in life do you consider to be your mentor and why?
  • My dog: He loves me no matter what, forgives me without confession, and lets me hug him anytime.
• What one thing would you still like to learn before you die?
  • Spanish, piano, and ballroom dancing.
  • Make better food.

What terrific questions! They encourage people to be introspective. They draw from the past but also focus attention forward. They shine the light on the value of lifelong learning.

Each of the 365 days this year, a gem of wisdom from a different employee greets staff members who turn the page of their own calendars to start their new day.

I love how this both honors employees and recognizes the knowledge about life they bring to their workplace.

Not long ago I attended a presentation by Mark Carrier, Senior Vice President of the Hotel Division of the B.F. Saul Company. This company has won a number of awards around excellence in innovation, HR leadership, and Marriott’s Spirit to Preserve award. They manage 18 hotels of well-known brands, primarily in the Washington, DC area.

Carrier’s talk was about how they instilled in every employee’s mind and in every corner of their operations their core values that inform how the company operates, what they call, with great fanfare, “Our Big Three”:

1. Happy, professional team members who demonstrate aggressive friendliness.
2. A clean, crisp, safe property where everything works.
3. Guests and team members receive all that they expect…plus a little bit more.

Essentially, they apply the principles of traditional branding and direct it within the organization. With the aid of a recognizable logo and a variety of strategies, they have been working for five  years to gradually have all of their employees living the brand experience.

Here are a few of the many ways they do this:

• Their company mascot, “OB3 (see photo), appears at company gatherings, from shareholder meetings to employee parties.
• Each new manager receives a high quality pen with logo and is asked to use it whenever signing their name in the course of their work.
• Every new employee receives a pocket size laminated card with ten guidelines to work behavior that reflect the “Our Big 3″ values. For example: know your hotel, present a polished image, details make the difference, create a “wow.”
• The performance review document (which by the way, they call the “Big 3 Report Card,”) groups performance items under the Our Big 3 categories.

On face it struck me as a big hokey and over the top but, when you think about it, good marketing involves repeated messaging in a number of delivery formats. Besides, wouldn’t you be inclined to come back to a hotel where you experience aggressive friendliness, a clean/crisp/safe facility, and a bit more than you expect? I would.

I subscribe to Alan Weiss’s thought provoking monthly email newsletter called Balancing Act. In his latest issue, he offers the following tip:

Here’s a quick secret for getting along and playing nicely in the sandbox: When something goes amiss, don’t look for guilt, look for cause. Focus on correcting the situation and not blaming anyone. The former develops support, the latter enmity.

While he mentions it in a more general context of human relations, it is a good reminder for managers whose employee screws up on a task and the situation calls for feedback.

Depending upon the gravity of the situation and the history of the employee involved, it’s hard not to swing directly to the blame option. Judgments of the employee as incompetent, uncaring, or even malicious flow into our mind. This just makes us angry, a rather destructive frame-of-mind in which to engage the employee in “constructive” feedback, wouldn’t you say?

Operating from a place of anger or frustration activates what author Seth Godin calls our reptile mind, causing us to block out other explanations. We neglect to consider the staffer’s skill level (training) or other external forces in play such as lack of resources, too many pressures on the employee, or difficulties in the system of work and information flow.

Blame speaks–not favorably–to the imagined intention of the individual. If it is their fault, why look beyond the person to other possible contributing causes?

We need to program into our minds–yes, we’re talking about a mental habit here–a default response that scans for cause, not blame, when a staff member falls short of acceptable performance. Your spirit of problem-solving has a chance of turning around performance AND building a more trusting relationship. The other way never will.

A recent article on Workforce.com report summarizes a study on the prevalence and impact of coaching on the results that individual managers generate. The research surveyed CEO’s, HR Managers and other executives at over a thousand US and international companies, roughly 40% of which had more than 1000 employees and $500 million in revenue.

Here are a few of their findings:

• 52% of companies currently have business coaching programs in place and 37% plan on adding such programs in the future.
• The demand for coaching is being driven by the impending talent shortage when the baby boomer cohort starts retiring.
• Coaching works!
  • Companies with coaching programs report strength around revenue growth, market share, profitability and customer satisfaction.
  • Managers who have been coached are more likely to set work-related goals and have their leadership abilities trusted by their staff.

Organizations can reap a healthy payback on their investment in coaching when it is targeted at:

1. executives
2. high-potential employees
3. key employees who can contribute high technical/functional value but are challenged by dysfunctional attitudes and poor interpersonal or leadership skills.

It makes sense that coaching works because it offers a scalpel approach when behaviors, attitudes, and habits of thought must be changed to make an already key employee make their full contribution to the enterprise.

And the coaching process is pretty darn effective at getting the client to lock in the new behavior/thinking patterns!