Is There Paradox In Your Leadership?

"The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function," wrote F. Scott Fitzgerald. After reviewing hundreds of research articles and books on leadership success, I'm convinced that leaders can achieve eXtraordinary results by eXpanding their capacity to hold opposing ideas and manage the tension of leadership. Here are three paradoxical qualities to get you started.

1. Lead with Your Strength and Manage Your Weakness. Eight-time gold medal swimmer Michael Phelps would have come up short if he tried to become a horse jockey. He was born to swim. Research on more than a million employees by the Gallop organization teaches us that, if we want to excel, we should nurture our nature. Great leaders understand, leverage, and celebrate their team members’ "YOUnique" gifts and talents. Knowing thyself (and your team) and then bringing your best to life every day are the first steps of achievement, work satisfaction, and life-long happiness.

Yet Michael Phelps knew that talent alone wasn't enough. He swam every day, worked on his weaker strokes, and continually searched for motivation from the naysayers. He managed the tension between nurturing his nature and shoring up his weaknesses to win. How can you leverage your team's strengths and manage their shortcomings?

2. Focus Like a Laser and Keep the Big Picture in Mind. Great athletes like Michael Phelps and Tiger Woods are passionate about winning the most esteemed races in their sport. Yet they also aims to elevate their sport. It's ironic that motivation flows from a dedication to specific goals and a connection to the big picture. How do you and your team stay focused on your daily objectives AND still keep the big picture in view?

3. Celebrate Me and We. While the media kept telling us how great Phelps was, he often reminded us how terrific the team was:

"It wouldn't have been possible without the help of my teammates." Phelps said. "For the three Olympics I've been a part of, this is by far the closest men's team that we've ever had. I didn't know everybody coming into this Olympics, but I feel going out I know every single person very well. The team that we had is the difference."

Sometimes we forget that behind every great athlete and leader is a team. It's not all about the leader or the team. To achieve success in today’s interdependent world requires both the me and we mentality. How are you applauding each team member's individual contribution as you build teamwork?

Scientists are finding that the ability to "hold two opposing ideas in the mind at the same time" is mandatory in today's complex, global environment. In the book ‘Good to Great,’ researcher Jim Collins identified personal humility and professional will as cornerstones of great leadership. (He and his team spent about 15,000 hours researching the keys to enduring organizational success.) Authors Lombardo and Eichinger reported in their book ‘The Leadership Machine’ that dealing with paradox and ambiguity are two critical, yet underdeveloped, skills needed in leaders. (They collected data on 6,000 managers, at all levels, of 140 companies.)

So, how well do you manage paradox? Most leaders need work in this area, especially in today's challenging environment. The importance of managing paradox and the tension in work is why I developed my own, evidence-based eXpansive Leadership Model (XLM - See below). I reviewed hundreds of scientific studies to discover what really works in leadership. Our new course, ‘ParadoXical Leadership - How eXceptional Leaders Achieve eXtraordinary Results in taXing Times,’ shows leaders how to apply the XLM to their difficult situations. They also learn how to map and manage the paradoxical tensions they face. (For a more complete description of the course or a list of the top ten ‘paradoxical tensions’ most organization face, e-mail me DJensenSSS@aol.com ).

Keep eXpanding,

Dave

300 Leading Companies Reveal THE Four Drivers of Employee Motivation

My first job after graduate school was coordinating research at the University of California at San Diego (UCSD). I had the privilege of working with an extraordinary team led by luminary leader, Dr. Victor Froelicher. In the four years that our small, productive, and highly motivated team was together, we published 33 major research papers. Several members of our team went on to become productive leaders in their respective fields. What accounted for such productivity, effectiveness, and motivation? The latest research in neuroscience, biology, and psychology confirm that Dr. Froelicher created an environment that satisfied the four fundamental drives (the ABCDs) of human motivation.

Professor Nohria and his colleagues from Harvard surveyed employees at 300 of the Fortune 500 companies (1). They found that you can motivate your team IF you address these four basic, emotional drives:

A. Acquire. This drive relates to our desire to obtain physical goods, positive experiences, and social status. It is a relative drive - meaning we always compare what we have to others. Many leaders think this drive is met when everyone receives the same share of a reward or perk, regardless of their contribution. NOT TRUE! Equal is often not fair. Dr. Froelicher satisfied this drive by making sure rewards were clearly tied to performance. For example, we were not invited to go to scientific meetings unless we had our research accepted for presentation. The rule was clear and fair: if you didn't conduct excellent research, you didn't attend scientific meetings. How should your employee rewards better differentiate good performers from average performers?

B. Bond. Human beings have an internal impulse to connect to others. This includes small groups such as our families, as well as larger collectives, including organizations, associations, and nations. At work, employees who feel proud of an organization are very motivated. At UCSD, Dr. Froelicher fostered bonding among coworkers by having Friday afternoon parties, occasional picnics at the beach, and encouraging us to exercise together. In addition, we frequently collaborated with other divisions. We attended their meetings, invited them to ours, and shared best practices. How might you motivate your team by building more camaraderie, collaboration, and cross-functional communication?

C. Comprehend. Everybody wants to make sense of the world around them. We become frustrated when things don't make sense. At work, people try to satisfy this drive by making meaningful contributions. This was satisfied at UCSD because we had a wide latitude in the type of research each of us was able to conduct. We were able to investigate areas that we found interesting and meaningful. We also contributed to each others comprehension by educating each other at our numerous staff and research meetings. How could you increase job flexibility and lifelong learning on your team?

D. Defend. We all want to defend our property, positions, and accomplishments. This drive is rooted in the fight or flight mechanism that has evolved over millions of years. In a competitive market, staying in touch with what may threaten you is critical and motivating. Knowing that we were competing for very limited research funds kept motivated at UCSD. How can you motivate your team regarding market conditions, threats, and opportunities?

These are the ABCDs of human motivation. (Check out http://blogs.bnet.com/harvard/?p=517#comments for other ideas.) Don't worry if you are unable to affect all of these to the degree you would like. Fortunately, employees understand that there are limits to the boss's ability to change policies. Research tells us that employees attribute as much importance to their bosses meeting these drives as they do to the organization's policies.

So, let me know your favorite motivational tools or how you choose to adapt these ideas to meet the four core, emotional needs of your team members.

Keep on eXpanding,

Dave

1. Nitin Nohria, Boris Groysberg, and Linda-Eling Lee; Employee Motivation - A Powerful New Model, ‘Harvard Business Review,’ July-August 2008, 78 - 84.

How Leaders Find Meaning In Work?

Ron was a successful senior executive with an insurance firm. I say successful because he had all the appearances of success. He had money, prestige, friends, family, and three homes. But he wasn’t happy at work. At age 60, he retired in order to take care of his ailing mother. He recently told me that he has never experienced such fulfillment as he does now caring for his aging Mom. Ron had found much more meaning in his new "career" as a caregiver. How about you and your team? How much meaning is in your work?

The definition of meaningful work is “the ability to earn a living doing that which satisfies an individual’s psychological, spiritual, and social sense of purpose and contribution.” (1) The four key elements of meaningful work are shown below. The list represents Professor Miller's modification of Neal Chalofsky’s model. (2)

I. The Sense of Self

• Bringing one’s whole self (mind, body, emotion, spirit) to the work (and the workplace)

• Recognizing and developing one’s potential

• Knowing one’s purpose in life and how work fits into that purpose

• Having a positive belief system about achieving one’s purpose

II. The Work Itself

• The act of performing – mastering one’s performance

• Challenge, creativity, learning, continuous growth

• The opportunity to carry out one’s purpose through the work

• Autonomy, empowerment, and a sense of control over one’s environment

III. The Sense of Balance

• The balance of work self and personal self

• The balance of spiritual self and work self

• The balance of giving to oneself and giving to others

• The balance of family self and friendship self

• The balance of individual self and supportive others

IV. The Sense of Contribution

• Using one’s skills, strengths, and talents to serve others

• Making a difference

• Making the world a better place

• Feeling part of something larger than ourselves

• Experiencing mutual benefit -- by helping others, I help myself

Ron was missing in several of the areas identified in this list of meaningful work. Where are you and your team members lacking?

Although it is not entirely your responsibility to make work meaningful for employees, it is in your best interest to help them see that work can be meaningFULL. You can accomplish this by helping them master all aspects of the job, presenting them with challenging and creative tasks, and providing them with a sense of autonomy and control. In addition, frequently reminding your employees that they are making the world a better place will contribute to their sense of meaningful work. As you increase meaning, researchers remind us that your employees' performance and retention improve. (3)

Ron said he had to leave work to find more meaning in his life. You don't have to. Could you and your team find more meaning if you distributed the meaningful work list and invited employees, individually and collectively, to brainstorm ways to increase the meaning in their work? Let me know how it goes. I'd love to hear from you.

Keep eXpanding,

Dave

1. Cynthia S. Miller; Meaningful Work Over the Life Course, Dissertation, Fielding Graduate University, 2008, p22.

2. Chalofsky, N; The humane workplace: Aligning of value-based organizational culture, meaningful work, and life balance. Presentation delivered at the Organization Development Network Conference, Baltimore, October 23, 2007.

3. Wesley A. Scroggins; ‘The Relationship Between Employee Fit Perceptions, Job Performance, and Retention: Implications of Perceived Fit,’ Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, 2008, 20:57–71.

Leaders Reveal 7 Tips to Engage Employees

Terry delivered results. He knew how to get things done, and the senior leadership rewarded him. He rose quickly in the sales organization; from district manager to regional sales manager to senior vice president. As the senior VP, Terry was not afraid to shake things up in the complacent, bureaucratic company known for quality, but sorely lacking in innovation.

Within three years, most of the top salespeople and sales managers left. Market share dropped rapidly and Terry was fired. Terry’s over-bearing style had enraged, not engaged, his employees. How well do you engage your employees?

Employee engagement is defined as the connection employees have to their jobs, careers, and organizations that leads to value-added effort. When engagement is high, employees go the extra mile to get the job done. Without this connection, leaders like Terry may get employees to comply, but they won’t ignite the fuel of commitment needed to drive the engine of growth. Leaders who push for results without engagement are driving with one foot on the break.

Despite the importance of engagement, the Towers Perrin Global Workforce Study of 90,000 employees found that only 21% are fully engaged in their work, 41% are enrolled (they occasionally go the extra mile), 30% are disenchanted (they rarely go the extra mile), and 8% are fully disengaged (1).

This means that on any given day, an astounding 71 per cent of employees worldwide fall into the muddled middle of engagement. This is the “engagement gap” - the distance between what employees actually contribute and what they are capable of contributing. Terry's team and many of his top salespeople disengaged soon after his arrival and it eventually cost him and the organization dearly.

According to the Gallup organization, the cost of lost productivity due to disengagement is $300 billion in the United States, $226.5 billion in Germany, and $6 billion in Singapore. (2) The U.S. economy is estimated to run at only about 30 percent efficiency because of a low engagement (3). Imagine walking into your organization and telling 70% of your employees to go home! That's effectively what leaders do when they don't engage their employees on a routine basis.

The Corporate Leadership Council surveyed 50,000 employees at 59 global organizations and reviewed more than 300 drivers of engagement across the globe. The good news is that they found that increasing an employee’s level of engagement improves performance 20 percent and reduces the probability of departure by 87 percent. (4)

Here are several tips science says will help you increase engagement, performance, and retention:

- Ask each employee how they feel about their work.

- Help team members do their best every day.

- Demonstrate that you care about what is important to them by involving them in decision-making whenever possible.

- Create meaningful work by frequently delegating tasks that help employees grow in a mutually beneficial way.

- Discuss organizational goals on a regular basis.

- Find ways to remind employees that what they do on a daily basis influences the long-term organizational strategy.

- Demonstrate a strong commitment to diversity in your hiring and promotion practices and by encouraging diverse opinions in daily discussions.

These are several tactics to engage employees. How do you engage your team? As you adapt these to fit your style and culture, you’ll also eXpand your empowering leadership style – one of the four key styles research reveals is critical to leadership success.

Keep eXpanding,

Dave

1. http://www.towersperrin.com/tp/lobby.jsp?country=global

2. Rodd Wagner and James Harter; The Heart of Great Managing, ‘Gallup Management Journal’, June 12, 2008.

3. Bates, S. Getting Engaged. ‘HR Magazine’, Vol 49, No. 2, 2004.

4.http://www.lloydmorgan.com/PDF/Driving%20Performance%20and%20Retention%20Through%20Employee%20Engagement.pdf

Leading by Monitoring Your Environment

I heard the whining engine and screeching tires a split second before the white Miata flew around the curve. I jumped off my bike and watched as the petrified driver wrestled with the wheel and screamed past me. But the next mountain curve came too fast, and the sports car disappeared over the edge. I jumped back on my bike and rolled downhill 10 yards, to the spot where the tires last clawed the road. Praying for a miracle, I peered over the edge... and saw one. (Half-way up the mountain in this picture - Malibu, CA)

Instead of plunging 300 feet down the ravine (as seen in the picture), the car had landed upright, against several thick bushes 30 feet down. The driver was crawling up the embankment towards me.

As he reached the road, he straightened up and assured me he was fine (there were no visible bruises and he had been wearing his seatbelt). He asked to use my cell phone to call for a tow truck, and then encouraged me, several times, to continue my bike ride up the steep mountain road. I did. That's when I decided to count the curves on the mountain and started to think about those curves as a metaphor for how leaders need feedback to monitor their environment closely.

Webster’s Dictionary defines feedback as “the return to the point of origin of evaluative or corrective information.” Feedback is everywhere. A market-based economy works because consumers give continuous feedback to producers. The human body incorporates thousands of feedback mechanisms to keep us alive. Failure to pay attention to feedback is what almost killed the driver on that mountain. Is it hurting your leadership?

I counted 37 curves from the spot where he went over the edge to the top of that mountain. This means he had 37 opportunities to become aware of, learn from, and adjust to the feedback from his environment as he raced down. He obtained feedback about the road conditions, his car, his ability to negotiate hairpin curves... You get the point. He was, to paraphrase T.S. Eliot, getting the experience but missing the meaning. How often does that happen to you?

Are you having experiences, but missing the meaning? Here's a clue... I know I'm NOT learning my lesson when the universe keeps sending me (i.e., I keep creating) the same experience over and over again. It's always Groundhog Day for those who don't learn from their experience. Monitoring your environment by being open to internal and external feedback, and choosing to learn from it, is what makes an experience meaningful.

As a leader, you receive feedback from customers, team members, management... every day. Here are three powerful tools to help you use feedback to monitor your surroundings.

1. Be open to most things, attached to few

If the person on the mountain had been open to what the hairpin turns were teaching him, he might not have plunged off the road. Do you ever find yourself going so fast, trying to push too hard or rush a conversation, that you miss critical feedback? Don’t become so attached to your way, as I sometimes do, that you miss the "corrective information" someone or something is telling you.

2. Write for insight

In her book ‘The Artist’s Way,’ Julia Cameron describes a powerful technique called Morning Pages. She says that if you really want to discover the meaning of something, write three pages by hand, non-stop, and fast, in the morning. Anything that comes to mind, write it down, without editing. Don’t think, don’t hesitate, and don’t stop. The key is to keep your hand moving no matter what spills out onto the pages. Morning Pages are NOT prose, poetry, or journaling. You shouldn't show them to or share them with anyone. You will be amazed at what this "internal feedback" teaches you. Remember, we don’t learn from experience; we learn from our reflection on that experience.

3. Ask positive questions

Do you ever get down on yourself or blame circumstances when you make a mistake or life throws you a curve (like a hairpin one on a mountain)? We all mess up. Yet few of us realize that there is no failure, only feedback. ‘Failure’ is just feedback waiting for meaning. It’s only failure if you don’t learn anything. Whenever you're hit by unexpected or unwelcome events, what if you focused on positive feedback by asking questions like:

• - What could I learn from this?
• - Will this be critical five years from today?
• - How can I view this differently?

We all receive tons of feedback as we speed through our day. Perhaps if we paid closer attention to this "corrective information" we might make more meaning out of what happens to us. Maybe feedback is about learning for the future. Perhaps feedback is really feed-forward?

See you on the mountain,

Dave

How Leaders Use Value to Maintain Motivation

Do you ever feel like a statue at a pigeon convention? Although I teach leaders how to motivate others, occasionally I'm not very fired up myself, especially when I get hit by one of life's unexpected waves.

How about you? How do you feel when you're smacked by a setback at work or home? How do you respond (or do you react?) when people are difficult, equipment breaks down, your schedule seems out of control, or those pigeons are threatening to hold a convention over your head?

To help deal with those difficult days, you might find it helpful to reflect on three principles I learned from Nick. Nick was a friend and coworker at Siemens, several years ago, who crashed his hang-glider into a mountainside. (His entire story is told in my book, 'Selling with Science & Soul') Despite breaking bones in his back, arms, legs, and feet, Nick smashed every sales record in an entire industry THAT SAME YEAR. Nick's remarkable comeback can help you lead your team back from any setback if you focus on three 'VALUEable' motivational principles.

Principle #1 - Recognize Value

Does what you do make a difference to anyone? I bet the answer is yes. You and your team make a difference to customers, their families, your coworkers; not to mention the daily influence you have on your family, friends, and neighbors. How often and how well do you remind your team about the value they bring to others?

Nick rebounded faster from his disaster because he believed and affirmed that he made a valuable contribution to people at work and home. He reminded himself on a daily basis that the equipment he sold truly helped his customers and their patients. Remember the movie classic, ‘It's a Wonderful Life?’ One of its timeless lessons of this classic is that each of us has a subtle and substantial impact on others.

If you want to bounce back quickly from those pesky problems that sting you throughout the day, reaffirm the value you bring to people every day. For example, a leader from my class recently e-mailed me that she now starts her staff meetings by asking her supervisors to report on how they helped others during the week. How could you adapt this idea to fit your team at work and at home?

Principle #2 - Appreciate Value

While the first lesson reminds us to focus on the value we bring to others, the second asks us to reward this value. It's great to find value in what you and others do, it's also important to celebrate what you find. What you appreciate, appreciates. Nick told me that one of the other reasons he recovered quickly was because his family, friends, and customers applauded the small steps he took getting back to work. In a small way, I contributed by sending him cards reminding him that his customers appreciated the business calls he was making from his living room couch. How can you celebrate the value your team members bring to their "customers," and each other, every day?

Principle #3 - Value the Present

Nick says his brush with death gave him a new perspective on life. To live life fully, he realized he needed to value each moment completely. The same is true for you and your team. When you focus on whatever you are doing, you are honoring the very gift of life - which is the present. Valuing the present is as old as Zen (Be here now!) and religion (THIS is the day the Lord has made!).

When I was visiting Nick at his home during his recovery, I told him about how much I disliked completing my expense reports. He reminded me that Zig Ziglar states, "Every day above ground is a great one." We both laughed, and then talked about the importance making the most out of every moment. Nick taught me that one way of valuing the present was to turn frustration into fascination. Rather than being frustrated doing my expenses, I started to get fascinated by the rich, sensory detail of the activity. I focused on all the sights (all those numbers, colors, different surfaces...), sounds (computers keys, papers shuffling, birds in the background...), and feelings (surface of the keyboard, the variety of receipts...) of the experience. It is wonderful life when you focus and value the wonderful minutes that compose life. (There is no time except the present.) How might you apply this principle to help you handle the challenging aspects of your life at work and home?

Next time a customer is rude, the equipment breaks down, the schedule seems out of control, or those pigeons are circling overhead, remember Nick's 'VALUEable' lessons. Recognize the value in all you do. Celebrate it every day. And do it now. That's the motivating value of value! Let me know how you use value to stay motivated. (Check out other ways leaders get their people fired up at http://www.bnet.com/2422-13724_23-181094.html )

Keep stretching,

Dave

Leaders with Passion

The word 'passion' comes from the Latin word 'passio,' meaning "suffering." If you watched Mel Gibson's intense movie "The Passion of the Christ," you probably have a whole new appreciation for this word. Whether you've seen it or not, you may want to consider two personal, yet subtle leadership questions the movie raises: What are you passionate about? How much are you willing to "suffer" to get it?

The Price of Passion
Every goal we strive for has a price. It may cost time, money, emotional energy, or lost opportunities. There's always something we must give up in order to get. And at times, this cost is painful. The more difficult and worthy the goal, the higher the price and often, the greater the suffering. (Think about Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi, Susan B. Anthony, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, and of course, Christ.) So, when you discuss goals at work or the dinner table, how much of the conversation concerns what you're willing to give up to reach your goal (e.g., not make progress on this project, delay addressing that issue, miss a few of your kid’s games)? Do you ever talk about what sacrifices may be needed (i.e., opportunity costs) or how you will persevere when adversity strikes? If you and your team want to keep going, especially through those tough times, you need to be passionate about your goals.

The Passionate Soul in Your Goal
A compelling goal inspires action in a given direction. Christ endured the agony of the crucifixion because of the ecstasy of his goal. The goal was his North Star. It’s where he looked during tough times. Where do you and your team look when you suffer a setback? Employees seldom seek guidance in the company mission statement because it's often manufactured in some executive suite - miles from the heart and soul of the rank and file. When I helped an organization write inspiring vision statements last month, I reminded them that if there's no soul in their mission, there'll be no passion in their action. And without passion, it's hard to overcome the painful problems that worthy goals encounter.

Plato, the grandfather of metaphysics and the godfather of soul (sorry James Brown), taught that the soul was the changeless essence of being. The soul is your unique (i.e., YOUnique) spiritual essence. Great organizations, teams, and individuals peer into their soul before setting out to achieve their goals. Perhaps this is why Kevin Rollins, president of Dell Computer ($60 billion in revenue), launched an initiative called "The Soul of Dell." They now do soul searching as part of their ongoing business practices. How might you adapt this idea?

Stars Are Seen at Night
Contrast is how we see. You can employ the power of contrast to help you re-discover the passion in your goals by spending time far from the maddening crowd. Go for walks, write in a journal, pray, or meditate every day (which is what the highly respected and former CEO of Medtronic, William George, has done for thirty-five years). How surprised will you be when these frequent respites help you see your light, renew your soul, and refresh the passion needed to carry your cross?

Keep eXpanding,
Dave