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What if half of your company's top performers quit this year? A new report indicates this potential scenario taking shape. A recent survey of 2000 employees in the US and Canada found that 52% of employees have one foot already out the door. Of those planning to leave, 36% are planning to quit for better compensation and benefits. Another 25% are planning to go to find a better work-life balance. While most employers feel the work-from-home environment has created a better environment, the survey revealed that 71% of employees are disengaged. One of the most significant adverse impacts of losing your best employees is how it impacts company culture. An organization's culture exists within the shared experiences and learnings of its employees. As employee turnover increases, the ability of the organization to pass on learnings decreases significantly due to lack of experience, fractured relationships, and limited employee time due to a lesser skilled workforce. Great companies are the outcome of having great employees. Now is the time to act by identifying your organization's best employees, implementing retention strategies, and leveraging talent measurement and data analytics. Identifying Your Best Employees The first step is to identify your organization's high-potential employees. A tool being used by many top-performing companies to identify high potential employees is the value and promotability matrix or nine-box grid (see Figure 1). Employees are rated as low, medium, or high for performance, competence, organizational values, and the ability to be promoted. While this is easy to explain, it can be a little more involved in the application. One recommendation is that your organization align on what is low, medium, and high performance. At a minimum, I recommend implementing talent calibration meetings to align the employees' performance and standardization of rating levels. Beyond differentiating employees, this nine-box matrix helps organizations create personalized development plans and organizational accountability for growing the employee pipeline. In my experience, when implemented correctly, this tool and the additional insight from targeted assessments add immediate company value. Retaining Your Best Employees Employee turnover does not have to be inevitable. What can you do right now that can have an immediate positive impact increasing the chance of retaining your top talent? Consider implementing stay interviews and a targeted coaching program: Stay Interviews Stay Interviews, a.k.a. talk to your employees with the intent to learn how they are doing and what you can do to help. Anyone can administer a stay interview, but my recommendation is the leader because they need to develop trust. The act of listening and then doing something about what is learned will build trust with their team. However, if you have a leader you do not trust, you need to change the leader and have someone you trust to speak with their team. The following are a few of my favorite questions I include in stay interviews: Positive Aspects of Working Here Why were you initially attracted to this opportunity? Do the same reasons exist today? What recognition have you received lately that makes you feel good? What part of your job do you find rewarding? Company Culture What do you enjoy most about working with your leader and the broader company leadership? Based on your experiences and interactions, how would you describe our company culture? Strengths and Opportunities? Positive Improvements If you were granted three wishes and could change your job and this company, what would you wish to change? Looking five years into the future where everything you ever wanted has come true, describe what do you see? If you are an executive or Human Resources leader and want to embed stay interviews within the organization, consider using this interactive meeting activity: Print off pictures of each employee that reports to each one of your leaders. Invite your leaders to a meeting and have the pictures on the walls around the room. Ask each leader to walk around the room without looking at any notes to add the names of their direct reports and one fun fact they learned from their stay interviews with their employees. Coaching All employees want feedback, and your best employees place a high value on feedback and continuous growth and development opportunities. Offering internal or external coaching programs are a great way to encourage employees to stay. Integrating coaching programs into your organization can significantly increase employee retention rates and help your organization succeed. Coaching is not counseling or mentoring. Counseling deals with past or current trauma , mental health, and symptoms, to restore emotional wellness. Coaching focuses on the future and not the client's history. A mentor, unlike a coach, sets the agenda for their client using their experiences to guide the relationship. While that approach can be helpful in reality, we are all created with different strengths and backgrounds. A coach draws out the executive's desire and works to co-create options to achieve the employee's goals with individual and organizational benefits. In addition to positive impacts on employee retention, the benefits of investing in coaching are many; 80% of people who receive coaching report increased self-confidence. Over 70% benefit from improved work performance, relationships, and more effective communication skills. 86% of companies report that they recouped their investment in coaching and more. The GROW model is a popular coaching approach. Given that the ultimate goal of coaching is related to change within the employee, the process centers on using essential questions and client-centered critical thinking to invoke the employee's self-awareness and personal responsibility. The GROW model represents a journey that clarifies the goal that is both inspiring and challenging to the employee. Then the following step involves exploring the current reality considering barriers between the current state and desired future. The next step consists of exploring options based on the principle that imagination creates breakthroughs. The final step is clarifying the employee's will and way forward . It involves defining specific timebound actions with the commitment, accountability, and reporting to lead to transformation. The client ultimately chooses what decisions to make and which steps to take to meet their goals. Talent Measurement and Data Analytics After taking steps to retain your best employees, you will want to leverage data analytics to understand better why employees quit your organization and develop organizational retention goals. Beyond being dissatisfied, there are various reasons identified in scholarly research as to why employees tend to leave a job, such as: Instability in management Poor work environment Pay Benefits Career promotion Job fit Clear job expectations Perceived better job opportunities Influence of co-workers In addition to using measures to understand why employees quit, I recommend you track measures to help your organization understand the value and the cost of employee retention. In addition to the most visible replacement costs, there are others, such as productivity loss, workplace safety issues, and moral issues. Josh Bersin builds on this understanding and explains that employees are appreciating assets that produce more and more value to the organization over time , which helps to explain why losing them can be so costly. Lastly, what if you could assess an employee's flight risk and identify where to focus on retaining employees accurately? What if you could measure how attached your employees are to the organization and how connected employees feel the organization is to them? Through organizational assessments and diagnostics, it is possible to gain better insights to pinpoint strategies. If you are interested in learning more, let's talk. References: Allen, D. (2008). Retaining talent: A guide to analyzing and managing employee turnover. SHRM. Baumgartner, N. (2021). Achievers 2021 Engagement and Retention Report. Achievers . Bersin, J. (2013). Employee retention now a big issue: Why the tide has turned. International Coaching Federation (2009). Benefits of Coaching. Kimsey-House, K., Kimsey-House, H., Sandhal, P., & Whitworth, L., (2018). Co-active coaching: The proven framework for transformative conversations at work and in life. Nicholas Brealey Publishing. Mamun, C. A. A., & Hasan, M. N. (2017). Factors affecting employee turnover and sound retention strategies in business organization: A conceptual view. Problems and Perspectives in Management, 15 (1), 63-71.

Competence addresses what a leader's actions should be, character ultimately determines what a leader's actions will be. If you intend to take a white water rafting trip, you better be ready. There are many dangers, some seen, others not, that need to be addressed before departing. Likewise, the ability to effectively apply strategic thinking and acting competencies is essential for navigating the changes needed in today's turbulent marketplace. However, competence alone only addresses what a leader's actions should be, and a leader's character ultimately determines what their actions will be.  An equal focus needs to be on developing both leadership character and competence. Like with white water rafting, a lack of attention to character development is detrimental to both the leader and the organization's performance. Proper preparation is paramount to avoiding risk and having an adventure of a lifetime. Developing the critical few strategic leadership competencies ( see Minding the Gap Between Created and Realized Strategy ), requires the use of varied development approaches. One practical approach to developing deep technical competence involves reading current  peer-reviewed journals, think tank reports, and attending conferences on the latest industry trends and research . Another proven successful method for learning the critical thinking skills and the confidence needed to lead through today's disruptive change involves exploring potential options and associated risks in small learning teams . Character development can be incorporated into existing leadership, competency development programs.  Essential aspects of leadership competency and character development are feedback and reflection.  Most leaders, especially senior leaders, receive little feedback on their character because of the conversation difficulty. Also, most leaders spend little to no time reflecting on their painful character experiences. Utilizing a dedicated coach can improve the quality of character feedback and purposeful character reflection. The use of dedicated mentors can also support character development through reflection on insights gained from experience.  Effectively incorporating character development into leadership competency development programs builds a foundation for leaders to make the right strategic decisions. References: Crossan, M., Mazutis, D., Seijts, G., & Gandz, J. (2013). Developing leadership character in business programs. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 12 (2), 285-305. doi:10.5465/amle.2011.0024a Pollitt, D. (2005). Curtis fine papers aligns strategy and leadership style with business priorities: Three pillars of development for top executives. Human Resource Management International Digest, 13 (6), 33-35. doi:10.1108/09670730510619312 Seijts, G., Crossan, M., & Carleton, E. (2017). Embedding leader character into HR practices to achieve sustained excellence. Organizational Dynamics, 46 (1), 30-39. doi:10.1016/j.orgdyn.2017.02.001 About the Author: Jeff's knowledge and expertise include strategic planning facilitation, strategy design, driving change, and workforce strategies to achieve influence and grow organizations in the pharmaceutical, retail, engineering, and food and beverage industries. Jeff Doolittle is the founder of Organizational Talent Consulting in Grand Rapids, MI. He can be reached at info@organizationaltalent.com or by calling (616) 803-9020. Visit  https://www.organizationaltalent.com/strategic-planning-solutions  to learn more about strategic planning services provided.

Most leaders think talent is the most important business resource. Yet, a growing number of leaders lack confidence in having a workforce that can deliver against current and future business goals. Talent scarcity is forcing CEOs to reconsider growth priorities. The importance of human capital planning needs to be elevated to equal the emphasis placed on products and services. Leaders that apply strategic workforce planning can deliver better results in the new normal. Understanding the Talent Shortage Globally businesses are lacking the skilled employees needed to deliver on business strategies. This was predicted by Rainer Strack back in his 2014 TedTalk using labor supply and workforce demand forecasting. In 2018 Korn Ferry predicted that by 2030 there would be a global talent shortage of more than 85 million people. A more granular look at their research indicates that the talent shortage will impact countries and industries differently. For example, the financial services industry in the US will be affected the most due to lack of talent, with $435.69 billion in projected unrealized output. In line with these reports, ManpowerGroup's 2021 global survey of companies validated the crisis. Seven in ten companies reported talent shortages and facing significant challenges hiring (see image below). There is a growing trend in the US that people are unable or unwilling to work. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the labor participation rate will decline to 60.4% for people 16 and older in 2030. Beyond looking for answers in new technologies, leaders can rise above the talent shortage by applying the tools and practices of strategic workforce planning. Strategic Workforce Planning In addition to the obvious need for companies to attract, retain , and develop great talent, leaders need to proactively anticipate current and future talent needs. Today's evolving talent shortage amplifies the gaps of organizations that have relied on an "if you build it, they will come" workforce plan. It is time for leaders to get serious about strategic workforce planning. Strategic workforce planning is a dynamic process to ensure a business has the correct number of people with the right skills in the right places at the right time to deliver on current and future goals. Strategic workforce planning is different from operational demand planning in that it addresses both the organization's current and future strategic needs. The goals of strategic workforce planning are to: produce a workforce with the right skills, able to meet the changing realities in the talent market and shifting needs of the business in a cost-efficient manner. avoid being surprised by a changing talent marketplace. detect and prepare for mixed future realities in the crisis-driven business environment. Getting Started with Strategic Workforce Planning There is no "one- size fits all" approach to strategic workforce planning. The best approaches account for the unique context and culture of your business. It all begins with getting clear on your strategic business priorities. Then you are ready to integrate the following fundamental strategic workforce planning steps into your planning process: Role segmentation. Identify strategic roles based on their importance to the execution of the business strategy. As a general guide, identify the roles that contribute the most value to the strategy. These roles would account for no more than 15% of the organization. Succession planning tools like the 9-box can be altered and used to segment roles based on value and potential. Environmental scanning. Conduct quantitative and qualitative analysis of the internal and external workforce supply and demand. Advanced talent data analytics and tools like TalentNeuron can make this step more manageable and more robust by tapping into global talent, location, and competitive insights. Scenario planning. Consider a range of potential futures to improve the possibilities of future success in your business. Possible future scenarios might include unionization, competitive threats, availability of talent, or economic recovery impact on the workforce. The goal is not to predict the future but prepare for likely possibilities. The field of strategic foresight provides answers for how leaders can become future smart . Once you have completed the steps above, you are ready to conduct a gap analysis and begin action planning. The final step is to monitor and report on your plan to keep it dynamic to the changes in the talent marketplace and your shifting business strategies. It is always good to have a plan, and the best strategies are the ones created and worked out in implementation. Strategic workforce planning is not an exact science. Companies can benefit from partnering with an organizational development consultant to save significant time and avoid frustration from strategic workforce planning projects. Key summary points Today's leaders lack confidence in having a workforce that can deliver against current and future business goals. Seven in ten companies reported talent shortages and facing significant challenges hiring. In addition to the obvious need for companies to attract, retain, and develop great talent, leaders need to proactively anticipate current and future talent needs. Strategic workforce planning is a dynamic process to ensure a business has the correct number of people with the right skills in the right places at the right time to deliver on current and future goals. Role segmentation, environmental scanning, and scenario planning are fundamental steps to strategic workforce planning. Let's talk today about how we can help you achieve your goals with transformational executive coaching and organizational consulting solutions that work. References Mayo, A. (2015). Strategic workforce planning – a vital business activity. Strategic HR Review, 14 (5), 174-181. Momin, W. Y. M., & Mishra, K. (2015). HR analytics as a strategic workforce planning. International Journal of Applied Research , 1 (4), 258-260. Willis, G., Cave, S., & Kunc, M. (2018). Strategic workforce planning in healthcare: A multi-methodology approach. European Journal of Operational Research, 267 (1), 250-263.

If you are not laughing, you're likely not paying attention. Good humor is a part of a good life. But many leaders fail to take it seriously. After a couple of decades of working in talent management, I get it. There are more than a few good reasons why leaders should think twice before using humor at work. But new research suggests that humor during times of crisis significantly improves employee engagement and organizational performance. It seems like an understatement to describe the current business environment as stressful. Executive leadership teams are talking about navigating burnout and a growing concern for the emotional well-being of employees. Effective leadership requires more than perks and pay. Here's a four-ingredient recipe to get humor right and avoid the dark side. What is humor? Whether humor is a stimulus, a cognitive process, an emotional or behavioral response, or all of these remains somewhat of a debate among researchers. However, humor is generally defined as intentionally amusing verbal and nonverbal communication that is perceived as amusing. A day without laughter is a day wasted. Charlie Chaplin Humor can be considered a social skill, emotion, cognitive ability, interpersonal communication behavior, behavioral response, habit, perspective about life, or coping strategy. Having a sense of humor is considered a personality trait. Research identifies five fundamental styles of humor categorized as either positive or negative to yourself and others: Affiliative humor (positive, others): non-threatening joking around used to enhance social interactions Self-enhancing humor (positive, self): humor to enhance the leader's self-image Aggressive humor (negative, others): humor used to manipulate others by threats or ridicule Mild-aggressive humor (negative, others): is satire and teasing with a humorous tone Self-defeating humor (negative, self): humor is used to lower the leader's social status so as to be more approachable Much of the positive influence of humor is due to a biochemical response. Laughing reduces cortisol levels which have a calming effect, increases endorphins creating a runner's high, and increases oxytocin which creates warm feelings toward others. The benefits of humor If you are a little skeptical about the benefits of humor, you are not alone. However, beyond the obvious benefit of reducing tension, humor translates to business results. Numerous studies link positive humor with many individual, team, and organizational benefits, including: Job satisfaction Engagement Resiliency Improved team cohesion Communication Creativity Organizational culture Employee performance Employee wellbeing Decreased stress and burnout Being approachable is important for any leader because silence is costly . Also, the higher your role in a company, the greater the power distance is created between you and followers in the organization. This distance makes it harder to get needed feedback. Evidence suggests that humor reduces power distance by creating similarities between people. Also, leaders with a sense of humor are more motivating and admired than those that don't . In this TEDx, Karyn Buxman expands on the science of humor. The Dark Side of humor "But beware of the dark side. Anger, fear, aggression…the dark side of the Force are they, easily they flow." - Yoda. Not all humor styles are beneficial, and humor does not have to be intentionally negative to offend. As to be expected, evidence suggests that aggressive and self-defeating humor comes with a high cost, including: Trauma-related symptoms Depressive symptoms Neuroticism Social anxiety A leadership recipe for using humor The recipe for getting humor right at work includes four ingredients. Humor Ingredient #1: Know Your Audience Creating a sense of shared social identity is a prerequisite for good communication and humor. A social identity study found that perceived similarity facilitated communication quality, and perceived differences lowered communication quality. When it comes to humor and social identity, perceptions matter. It is best to understand the audience and company culture before trying to be understood. Humor Ingredient #2: Keep it Positive Ask yourself, how will this make others feel? Avoid an aggressive style of humor that tears others down, especially those in lower positions of authority. Never laugh at people, rather, laugh with them. Humor Ingredient #3: Keep it Close Check your distance to the topic. If you are like me, you learned the importance of keeping it close on the playground. I can make fun of my family, but not someone else's family. Humor Ingredient #4: Know Yourself Studies suggest that our traits influence our natural humor style. The better you understand yourself, the better you will understand how to leverage your strengths and be aware of potential blind spots. Here is a link to a short self-assessment that helps identify your preferred humor style and delivery: Like with learning any skill, it is best to start small, be patient, reflect along the way, and ask for feedback from those you know will be honest. Don't learn in a vacuum, rely solely on the input from one person, or assume that it is going to feel natural quickly. Conclusion: Do you have to be a serious leader to be seriously effective in a crisis? Addressing the concerns in the business about exhaustion, burnout, and emotional well-being goes beyond perks and pay. And failing to navigate a crisis well threatens business viability. Emerging research demonstrates that effective leaders use humor during times of crisis to achieve business results. However, not all humor styles are beneficial, and humor does not have to be intentionally negative to offend. A recipe for getting humor right at work includes these four ingredients: Know your audience Keep it positive Keep it close Know yourself What's your real challenge with using humor in the workplace? References: Aaker, J., & Bagdonas, N. (2021). How to be funny at work. Harvard Business Review. Decker, W. (1987). Managerial humor and subordinate satisfaction. Social Behavior and Personality. Vol. 15 (2). 225-232. Guidice, Mesmer-Magnus, J., Barnes, D. C., & Scribner, L. L. (2022). Service amid crisis: the role of supervisor humor and discretionary organizational support. The Journal of Services Marketing . Mesmer‐Magnus, J., Glew, D. J., & Viswesvaran, C. (2012). A meta‐analysis of positive humor in the workplace. Journal of Managerial Psychology . Romero, E. J., & Cruthirds, K. W. (2006). The use of humor in the workplace. Academy of management perspectives , 20 (2), 58-69.

Think back to the last big decision your team faced. What were the options considered? How was the choice made? A recent extensive survey conducted by PWC revealed that data-driven companies are three times more likely to make better decisions than businesses that are not. Decision-making is a significant part of leadership; many depend on your decisions. Without good choices, companies and leaders can't thrive. But, studies reveal that more than half of us rely on intuition to make significant decisions. The problem isn't with using intuition. The problem is when your intuition comes at the cost of using data or the default way you decide. If your company is like most and choosing to invest significantly in building analytics capability, be aware that the benefits will not be fully realized until the company culture supports data-driven decision-making. Here are the seven characteristics of a data-driven culture and practical steps every leader can take to architect culture. The value of data-driven decisions Advances in technology create a significant advantage for organizations that can leverage data to make better decisions and take the right actions. Data-driven decision-making (DDDM) has become somewhat of a buzzword as many leaders and organizations aim to be data-driven. A good working definition of what it means to embrace data-driven decision-making is: Using facts extracted from data and metrics to guide business decisions that support business goals rather than relying on experience, intuition, and stories alone. A study involving more than 1000 executive leaders demonstrated that 80% of organizations with a mature approach to data analytics exceeded their goals, and 48% significantly exceeded their goals. Making data-driven decisions is not the only way leaders can succeed. However, there are many advantages, such as: Enhanced decision speed and sophistication. In a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous digital workplace, leaders need to find insights and speed matters. Businesses need to make good decisions quickly. A better understanding of what is and is not working. Testing and data collection enable leaders to fail fast and learn from making decisions. Reduced costs and increased revenue. Using data enables organizations to optimize operations. Predictive analytics goes one step further, allowing organizations to transform during market change quickly. Improving strategic foresight . The goal is not to predict the future but enable better decision-making and preparedness so that leaders can grow revenue amid uncertainty. Data-driven decisions can be descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive. While understanding why something happened and what will happen is helpful. Understanding what should be done provides the most significant organizational value. The following video gives a real-world example from Google of how businesses can make better data-driven people decisions . Seven Data-Driven Culture Characteristics A recent 2021 Fortune 1000 executive leaders survey revealed that 99% are investing in data initiatives to transform their companies. These investments in technology are producing a deluge of available data within companies. But are these investments leading to better decisions? According to this same report, 96% of executives report that they are achieving measurable business outcomes. However, these leaders identify culture as the most significant deterrent to becoming a data-driven organization. "Culture is more powerful than anything else in the organization," and often why good management ideas fail." Upadhyay & Kumar To maximize data, analytics, and AI value, organizations need a data-driven culture orientation. However, this represents a sizable shift for many cultures that often rely on stories and experience to make decisions. Here are seven attributes and behaviors of employees working you would expect in a data-driven culture:⁠ Characteristic # 1: Desiring to find the truth W. Edwards Deming is attributed as saying, "in God we trust. All others must bring data." This saying is something you would likely hear in a data-driven culture about using data to find the truth without bias. When seeking truth, employees are often surprised, and it sometimes leads to politically incorrect actions that result in innovation. Characteristic # 2: Looking for patterns and root causes Data-driven cultures aggregate data to identify patterns that can lead to predictions and root causes. In a data-driven culture, problems are considered symptoms of deeper issues rather than being 'swept under the rug.' Identifying root causes protects the business from recurring systemic errors. Characteristic # 3: Developing detail-oriented analysis Averages are considered flawed and a distortion of truth in data-driven cultures because averages ignore inevitable variations. Granular data is used for decision-making. A detail-oriented analysis allows stakeholders to determine causation more effectively and present solid arguments for decisions. Characteristic # 4: Using data to analyze questions Stories and anecdotal evidence provide a personal connection, but alone, they are not often representative. Data-driven cultures use data to tell stories and make decisions. Data stories are the annotations of crucial data insights. Characteristic # 5: Appreciating both positive and negative findings in the data Finding out something doesn't work is just as valuable as finding data that supports an idea. Data-driven cultures adopt an experimentation mindset and seek to learn from the data about predictions. "The unexamined decision isn't worth making." Davenport Characteristic # 6: Making decisions and following through on actions Power and politics are not driving forces in a data-driven decision-making culture. Emphasis is on the value of results from decisions rather than a confirmation of senior leadership ideas. Authority is vested in the data quality rather than the positional power of the person with the data. Characteristic # 7: Being realistic about when and where to use data analytics Data-driven cultures are practical about the need for velocity, veracity, volume, and variety of data before making decisions. Decisions are based on experience and available data and avoid analysis paralysis. "Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” Drucker If you recognize your culture doesn't demonstrate the seven characteristics of a data-driven culture, you will want to work on architecting the desired culture ahead of or in parallel with your data analytics investments. How to architect a data-driven culture orientation Organizational culture is the one thing that influences every aspect of a business. It directly impacts organizational success, employees, customers, and communities. An organization's underlying cultural values affect employees' behaviors and decisions. Executive-level sponsorship is vital for investments in data analytics. However, leaders at all levels play a vital role in shaping organizational culture in business . Organizations are likely to resist the need for culture change. Although architecting corporate culture is challenging, changes often don't require considerable investments or physically co-located employees. Leaders can leverage the following primary and secondary actions and tools for leaders to embed the desired culture: Primary Actions and Tools Pay attention to metrics that matter and provide regular updates Respond to organizational crises with data Allocate resources to support data-driven decision making Provide data analytics training and development Provide rewards and recognition for data-driven decision making Make selection, promotion, and termination decisions in support of data-driven decisions Manage change created by shifting to data-driven decision-making Secondary Actions and Tools Organization design Policies and procedures Rituals and events Workspaces Traditions and stories Vision and mission statements Organizational culture varies to some extent across teams, departments, and geographies. When designing a data-driven culture , it is best to understand your culture at a granular level. You will need a data-driven,  actionable measure of your current and preferred company culture to do this . What's the real data-driven decision-making challenge? References: Bartlett, R. (2013). A practitioner's guide to data analytics: Using data analysis to improve your organization's decision-making and strategy. McGraw-Hill. New York. Davenport, T., Harris, J., & Morison, R. (2010). Analytics at work: Smarter decisions, better results. Harvard Business Press. MA. Deloitte. (2019). Deloitte survey: Analytics and data-driven culture help companies outperform business goals in the age of with’. https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/about-deloitte/articles/press-releases/deloitte-survey-analytics-and-ai-driven-enterprises-thrive.html Greenstein, B., & Rao, A., (2022). PwC 2022 AI Business Survey. PWC. Upadhyay, P., & Kumar, A. (2020). The intermediating role of organizational culture and internal analytical knowledge between the capability of big data analytics and a firm’s performance. International Journal of Information Management, 52 , 102100.

Most leaders are not getting the feedback they want and need. Evidence suggests that eight out of ten employees feel their leader has an undiscussable flaw. You have the vision to be a great leader and grow your business. But, no matter how often or how directly you ask others for feedback, your request gets ignored or is focused on your strengths. Frequently, when critical feedback is provided to executives, it is too little and too late. The unfortunate truth is that there are many rational reasons why employees are less likely to discuss constructive feedback with a leader as they move up in an organization. Developing these seven constructive feedback habits helps you increase revenue and avoid costly mistakes by getting the performance and strategic feedback no one wants to give. Why Performance and Strategic Feedback Matters Silence is expensive. Continuously learning and improving is critical for any organization and leader. The operational complexities associated with disruptive changes in the workplace make the importance of leadership habits increasingly vital. The benefits associated with receiving feedback are well documented. Evidence from a study spanning more than ten years and over 50,000 executive leaders revealed that l eaders who ask for feedback are significantly more effective than those who don't. In a global study of more than 100 workplace improvement strategies, fair and accurate informal feedback had the most significant positive impact on employee performance and engagement. The evidence suggests that feedback improves workplace performance by up to 39%. Feedback improves decision-making and creates a better environment for innovation. Understanding the implicit and explicit needs and wants of followers and customers leads to creativity and decisions that are valued. The common hierarchical design in organizations naturally reduces the closeness of workplace relationships for executives. Receiving and acting on feedback from followers improves relationships. Improved relationships minimize workplace stress and improve perceptions of respect and trust . Drama in the workplace is on the rise. Feedback allows for productive conflict and helps minimize the risk of avoiding conflict that leads to workplace strife. A workplace with a strong feedback culture makes leaders and followers more comfortable with difficult conversations . "Feedback is the breakfast of champions." Ken Blanchard You may have heard the saying, Ignorance is bliss. I know I have used that saying more than once. However, being unaware of your bad leadership habits or overestimating your leadership skills is not bliss as a leader. Lacking self-awareness limits a leader's ability to realize professional and personal goals, like trying to navigate a ship without a compass. Self-aware leaders are not naive about bad habits and can develop healthy ones. The higher you move within any organization, the less objective and general feedback you receive. Limited self-awareness prevents an accurate assessment of leadership competence and strategic plans. The Dunning-Kruger effect is a relatively common cognitive bias in which people with little self-awareness overestimate their knowledge or ability in a specific area. 7 Good Feedback Habits The more constructive feedback you receive, the more practical decisions you can make that grow your career and business. The following are seven proven strategies to overcome various barriers to getting the feedback no one wants to give. Feedback Habit # 1: Ask and act Make feedback a regular part of your schedule, give examples, and ask specific open-ended questions. Simply asking if you have any feedback is too vague, and you will have more success when your question includes some context. Such as, do you feel your ideas are being heard? Or how could we improve our one-to-one meetings? The more regular you make getting feedback, the less risky it will become (if you handle it well). Not taking action on the feedback you receive is one way to make sure you won't get the feedback you need in the future. Taking action doesn't always mean exactly fixing what was asked. Sometimes, you need to manage expectations by letting them know what you can or can not do. When you do take action, you always want to let others know why you are taking action. Help explicitly connect your steps back to the feedback provided. Feedback Habit # 2: Be the change you want to see If you want feedback, you should lead by example. When possible, be transparent and share the tough constructive feedback others have raised and how you work to improve. Also, when providing balanced feedback, let others know what they are doing is right. Giving others feedback creates reciprocity. “We must be the change we wish to see in the world” Gahndi Feedback Habit # 3: Actively listen Actively listening is your ability to hear and improve mutual understanding. Receiving feedback is not a synonym for listening. When you actively listen, you pay attention, show interest, suspend judgment, reflect, clarify, summarize, and share to gain clarity and understanding. When practicing active listening, you are available to the other person. Verbal, nonverbal, and empathic listening are a few active listening skills. Feedback Habit # 4: Cultivate a community As in life, leadership is better within a community. Asking for feedback is a sign of strength and not weakness. Like a pyramid, most organizational charts narrow at the top, providing few opportunities for a role-based community. As leaders move up the corporate ladder, the healthy habit of enhancing community requires more intentional effort. Peer advisory groups, communities of practice, and affinity groups are increasingly popular leadership communities to leverage for feedback. Feedback Habit # 5: Practice open strategic planning Employees are often motivated by giving feedback when they see that it impacts senior leader behaviors and company actions. Unfortunately, most organizations keep their strategies a secret . On average, 95% of employees don't know or understand their organization's strategies. Feedback Habit # 6: Say thank you Your world is perfectly designed for the results you are getting—your reactions to feedback in actions and words matter. Increasing the frequency of behavior requires providing positive reinforcement to overcome the negative consequences of the behavior. Simply saying thank you can be a meaningful way to reinforce giving feedback positively. Feedback Habit # 7: Engage a coach Coaching provides you with clear and direct feedback. It moves you closer to your future, assessing where you are currently and your goals for the future and exploring and discovering the steps to get to your desired future. The ultimate goal is a change (e.g., behavioral, attitudinal, or motivational) you want to make. Key Points: Getting the Feedback No One Wants to Give For many reasons, leaders are likely not receiving the constructive feedback essential to growing their careers and businesses. The best leaders ask more people and more frequently for feedback. Chances are that you are not receiving the performance and strategic feedback you want and need. However, the proven strategies outlined in this article help you to overcome the various barriers and get the input no one wants to give. References: Doolittle, J. (2023). Life-changing leadership habits: 10 proven principles that will elevate people, profit, and purpose. Organizational Talent Consulting. Grenny, J. & Maxfield, B. (2019). How leaders can ask for the feedback no one want to give them. Harvard Business Review. Kaplan, R. (2011). Top executives need feedback-here's how they can get it. McKinsey Quarterly. Kaplan, R., Norton, D. (2005). The office of strategy management. Harvard Business Review. 83(10):72-80 Kruger, J. & Dunning, D. (1999). Unskilled and unaware of it: How difficulties in recognizing ones own incompetence lead to inflated self-assessments. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Toegel, G. & Barsoux, J. (2019). Its time to tackle your team's undiscussable. MIT Sloan Management Review. Zenger, J. & Folkman, J. (2013). Overcoming Feedback Phobia: Take the First Step. Harvard Business Review. Zumaeta, J. (2018). Lonely at the top: How do senior leaders navigate the need to belong? Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies.

A constant in life and business is change. Handle change well and win; handle it poorly and fail. After reviewing 40 years of data analytics from 1,435 companies, Jim Collins concluded that "good is the enemy of great." In an environment of perpetual change, the enemy of great change leadership is good change management. Good change management involves minimizing disruptions, avoiding costly mistakes, and control. In contrast, great change leadership maximizes business speed, efficiency, and innovation. Like a fast driver and a car capable of high speed, businesses with leaders that possess these two attributes can win and set the pace for others to follow. Leadership Attributes Matter There are always two games at play: an inner game that no one sees and an outer game that others observe And, it is the inner game that is silently controlling the outer game. In a seven-year study of 9,000 employees and 84 executive leaders in Fortune 500 and 100 organizations, evidence suggested that leaders with higher character ratings had a return on net assets of nearly five times those rated lower. In another study involving 2,000 manufacturing companies, researchers discovered that virtues had a more significant positive impact on organizational performance and quality than management control processes. Personal story: Years ago, I was making a succession planning and leadership development presentation to a senior leadership team. My leader wasn't a part of the meeting. But, my boss's leader was. My goal was to review the past year's outcomes and make a pitch for future talent management investments. I was nervously waiting outside the executive board room, going through the presentation in my head. My boss's boss stepped out of the board room, told me a joke, and walked in with me. The presentation went well. However, I misspoke at one point, and my boss's leader quickly chimed in to cover me. I remember feeling humbled by his kindness and servant's heart. Outer game habits like that don't just happen. Unlocking your inner game attributes maximizes your leadership potential. The following two attributes are proven to create a change engine: 1. Selfless Love Can you name the five wealthiest people in the world? How about five people who taught you something worthwhile? People who make the most difference in our lives often do not have the most credentials, money, or awards. They are the ones who care the most about us and are closest to us. Love enhances relationships that matter. However, selfless love can be a complex topic to understand , especially within the context of the workplace and leadership. Selfless love, simply stated, is about doing the right thing at the right time and for the right reasons. It leads to making sacrifices in the best interest of followers and the team mission . The benefits of leaders applying selfless love in the workplace include: A better workplace climate. Modern leaders in companies of all sizes face challenges attracting, hiring, and retaining the right team. All you have to do is drive down any street or walk through your local retail district to see signs for "help wanted." Having an excellent workplace climate is a proven talent magnet and boosts employee morale. Enhanced organizational commitment. Research has directly connected higher levels of organizational commitment with lower intent to leave measures. Strengthening organizational commitment maximizes employee productivity, job performance, and emotional well-being. Increased employee creativity. No organization is looking to stay the same year over year. Innovation is required to remain relevant and be successful in business. When leaders display selfless love, it increases creativity during change. 2. Vision You are driving through the mountains, and you come around a bend in the road, and suddenly without warning, there is a blanket of fog on the road. What do you do? Are you able to go faster when it is foggy or clear? The answer is obvious. Everyone can go faster when it is clear. We live in uncertain times ! People want to follow a leader that can share a vision of a better future and help rise above the fog. Too often in the chaos of the moment, change is often approached from a mindset of what is wrong. The opportunity to connect with followers on what might be is missed. Effective change leadership envisions hope for a better future. It can be challenging to balance creating value for customers, followers, and the organization. For example, what is the appropriate reaction when technology pushes alignment and consistency and the market pulls for customer focus? Change leadership discourages either/or thinking and encourages both/and thinking. Change leaders ask questions like: What can be done with the SAP implementation to serve our customers better? What can be done with the customer to improve the SAP implementation? This paradoxical thinking requires perseverance grounded in motivation for better customers, communities, organizations, and futures for followers. Change leaders find solutions in shifting from linear to cyclical thinking between apparent opposites. Ultimately, a leader's vision can be accepted or rejected by team members and stakeholders. This fact is a tough pill for most any leader to swallow. Great change leaders know how to inspire others through their words. 1 Fundamental Change Leadership Good Habit An essential practice of great change leadership involves making critical reflection a leadership habit. A study of 486 companies over two and a half years demonstrated that organizations with a higher percentage of self-aware leaders outperformed organizations with a lower rate. Poor-performing businesses had 20 percent more leaders with blind spots than high-performing businesses. These three ideas can help you turn critical reflection into a leadership habit. Journaling. Use a journaling app like Day Oneservant'sto capture your thoughts, feelings, successes, and frustrations. This approach is demonstrdon'tted to be incredibly impactful on leader-follower relationships, clarity of purpose, and improving new skills. Like building any habit, start small and tie the new habit to an existing practice, such as your routine before you leave the office for the day. Soliciting follower feedback. Critical reflection should be a social process. It is proven to be most successful when collaborative. Leaders benefit from understanding how followers perceive their actions. Using questions grounded in curiosity improves critical reflection. Also, 360 leadership surveys that gather feedback from your leader, peers, and direct reports create the opportunity to identify hidden strengths and blind spots as well as comparisons between yourself and others. Learning from thought leaders. Books , articles, and assessments on leadership can enable leaders to examine different points of view, supporting your critical reflection. Thought leadership grounded in research provides leaders with proven solutions that can be applied and short cycle the learning process. If you are not a skilled speed reader, you may be surprised to know that you can learn how to read a book in an hour. Like any other skill, there are tips and tricks to increase your speed and retention. Change leadership is like an engine maximizing speed, efficiency, and innovation. Leaders overcome the enemy of great by applying the attributes of selfless love and vision. What would help you the most right now to establish better relationships and a vision of hope for a better future? References: Ferris, R. (1988). How organizational love can improve leadership. Organizational Dynamics, 16 (4), 41-51. Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice (Seventh Edition ed.). Patterson, K. (2003, October 16). Servant leadership : A theoretical model [PDF]. van Dierendonck, D., & Patterson, K. (2015). Compassionate love as a cornerstone of servant leadership: An integration of previous theorizing and research. Winston, B. E., & Patterson, K. (2006). An integrative definition of leadership. International Journal of Leadership Studies, 1 (2), 6-66. Winston, B. E. (2002). Be a leader for sake: From Values to Behaviors (Rev. ed.).

What if your key to unlocking the best of what can be lies in moments of reflection on what was? As we begin this new year, I encourage you to spend some quiet time reflecting on this past year's unseen hurdles, the habits you reshaped, and what matters most. Evidence suggests that critical reflection on personal experiences unlocks learning, leading to better judgment and decision-making. The past year may have left you hesitant or feeling dreadful about an uncertain future. But you have to let go of the life you’re familiar with and take the risk to live the life you dream about. Framing the opportunity for this new year can move you and others out of their comfort zone and toward the best of what might be. Here is what you need to know about critical reflection and four steps to bring out your best in the new year. Why critical reflection matters Reflection is a powerful leadership tool. The ability to question personal and organizational assumptions and beliefs taken for granted enables leaders to learn from experiences. Effective reflection involves doubting, pausing, and being curious about the ordinary. The practice of critical reflection provides a path to deeper understanding. It enables leaders to elevate the significance of day-to-day experiences for personal and organizational growth. Critical reflection forces leaders to consider underlying causes for results. Critical reflection can create personal discomfort and internal conflict as you wrestle with favorable self-perceptions. However, leaders risk repeating bad decisions that could prove disastrous without considering alternate viewpoints. Biases are present in all leaders. Leadership is recognizing and leveraging the gap between stimulus and response to make a choice rather than make a knee-jerk reaction. When leaders become aware of unconscious biases, they gain various insights from seeing situations from different points of view. Reflection is essential for becoming aware of biases and making better choices. "Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom." Viktor Frankyl Reflection improves critical thinking capacity. Critical thinking helps leaders navigate volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous situations common in every business. It is the ability to use cognitive skills and strategies to increase the probability of the desired outcome when problem-solving. Critical thinking for executive leadership is fundamental to business growth, increased speed, and sustainability. Here is a short video from Simon Sinek on his perspective on the value of pursuing critical self-reflection. How to integrate critical reflection into your leadership habits There is a saying in the military that if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Here are three strategies for integrating critical reflection into your leadership habits in the new year. Critical Reflection Strategy #1: Journal Use a journaling app like Day One to capture your thoughts, feelings, successes, and frustrations. This approach is demonstrated to be incredibly impactful on leader-follower relationships, clarity of purpose, and improving new skills. Like building any habit, start small and tie it to an existing practice, like your routine, before you leave the office for the day. Critical Reflection Strategy #2: Solicit Follower Feedback Critical reflection should be a social process and is proven to be most successful when collaborative. Leaders need to understand how followers perceive their actions. Using a leadership 360 assessment  is one proven tool to improve critical reflection. These assessments typically gather feedback from their leader, peers, and direct reports allowing comparisons between themselves and others. This is one leadership assessment you need to be using. If you are not familiar with Leadership 360, you might want to sign up for my next free webinar on A Leaders Guide to 360-Degree Assessment . Critical Reflection Strategy #3: Discover New Ideas Books, articles, and assessments on leadership can enable leaders to examine a particular situation from a new point of view, supporting critical reflection. Thought leadership grounded in research provides leaders with proven solutions that can be applied and short cycle the learning process. If you are not a skilled speed reader, you may be surprised to know that you can learn how to read a book in an hour. Like any skill, there are tips and tricks to increase your speed and retention. Here is a bonus link to an assembled collection of my top five personal favorite books from thought leaders on the topics of change management, coaching, culture, innovation and creativity, leadership style, servant leadership, and strategic planning. Your inner game silently controls your outer game. Behaviors determine how and what should be done; our values and virtues determine what will be done in any given situation. In addition to the strategies for the how and what of critical reflection, it is important to consider the degree to which you demonstrate open-mindedness, responsibility, and wholeheartedness. These leadership attributes moderate the application of critical reflection: Open-mindedness.  The desire to listen to other points of view and recognize that even the most strongly held beliefs may be questioned. Open-minded leaders have very few ideas that cannot be changed. Responsibility.  The desire to pursue truth and apply it in day-to-day situations. Wholeheartedness. A sincere attitude toward the critical evaluation of themselves and others. A resolute commitment to make necessary changes and overcome a fear of failure. Four steps to bring out your best this year What sets apart the most successful leaders you know? I suggest self-awareness, how they look at the world, deliberateness, and their ability to learn and persevere. Too often, leaders and leadership teams spend too much time on the how and not enough on what. Especially as the new year begins in an attempt to avoid wasting time, it's tempting to jump immediately into action planning and rely on a past understanding of 'what' is important. While execution is essential, framing the opportunity is fundamental to bringing out your best. Here are four steps to reframe your mindset for the new year: Mindset Shift Step #1: Discovering your strengths. Shifting your mindset begins with focusing on the best of what is. Every leader has strengths. Unfortunately, most leaders tend to minimize their need to focus on their strengths and rely on addressing weaknesses. Having a strengths focus is not about ignoring weaknesses but prioritizing, pursuing, and leveraging strengths to bring out your best. A practical way to get started discovering your strengths is using strength-based assessments. The VIA Character Strengths Survey and the Clifton StrengthsFinder Assessment are two of the most scientifically backed and relatively low-cost strength-based quantitative evaluations. These assessments can be completed online and provide development recommendations and support materials. For more information regarding the VIA Character Strengths Survey, visit www.viacharacter.org . For more information regarding the CliftonStrengths Assessment, visit www.gallup.com/cliftonstrengths . Mindset Shift Step #2: Dreaming about your future. Spend some time considering what you want out of life and work. The following are a few appreciative questions to help you get started: What would you wish for if you had three wishes to improve your success and significance in the new year dramatically? (and no, you cannot wish for more wishes) Imagine it is five or ten years from today, and everything you had wished for and hoped for has come true. What would you see and hear? Describe the changes in people, work, places, etc. Describe what you have done to make these changes possible. What if it is five or ten years from today, and you have done nothing? Describe what this kind of life is like. Compare this version with your dream version of your life and use this learning to clarify what is at stake. As you encounter obstacles to achieving your dream, being explicit will help you make better decisions in the moment. Mindset Shift Step #3: Design what should be. Write it down. When you write down a dream, it turns into a description. A study by Dr. Gail Matthews found that the simple act of writing down goals and dreams significantly improved success. Take the answers to your questions in step two and create action-oriented design statements of a few sentences that focus on each key theme. Mindset Shift Step #4: Break it down into steps. You next need to break down your dream statements into steps. Design statements might have some overlap with actions for making the dream a reality: Brainstorm ideas with others about the specific things that can be accomplished now and those that can be achieved soon. Consider the various strategies and their timing. Not everything needs to happen now, and not everything should be put off until next year. After you have the dream broken down into steps, you will want to write down targets, goals, strategies, and potential action items to achieve the different aspects of the dream. “The hardest thing to do is leaving your comfort zone. But you have to let go of the life you’re familiar with and take the risk to live the life you dream about.” T. Arigo Shifting our mindset allows new perspectives and presents a never-ending opportunity to grow and achieve new heights in life and work. An effective executive coach will challenge assumptions and encourage, stretch, and challenge you. If you have questions about getting started with executive coaching, let's talk. What is your real New Year challenge? Key summary points Critical reflection on personal experiences unlocks new learnings, leading to improved decision-making and better judgment. The ability to learn through reflection and shift your mindset will bring out your best in the new year. Critical reflection can create personal discomfort and internal conflict as you wrestle with favorable self-perceptions. Open-mindedness, responsibility, and wholeheartedness are three good leadership attributes essential to critical reflection. Too often, leaders and leadership teams spend too much time on the how and not enough on what. While execution is essential, framing the opportunity determines success and significance. References: Densten, I. L., & Gray, J. H. (2001). Leadership development and reflection: What is the connection? International Journal of Educational Management, 15(3), 119-124. Doolittle, J. (2023). Life-Changing Leadership Habits: 10 Proven Principles That Will Elevate People, Profit, and Purpose. Organizational Talent Consulting. Gardner, S. & Albee, D. (2015). Study focuses on strategies for achieving goals, resolutions. Dominican University of California. Rath, T. (2007). StrengthsFinder 2.0, Gallup Press.

Did you wake up this morning looking forward to work? Work plays a significant role in the lives of most Americans. In a large study over three years, Gallup sought to understand the emotional needs of engaged and committed employees. The most powerful question they found was about the future. Evidence suggests that 69% of employees who strongly agree their leaders make them feel enthusiastic about the future are engaged. Compared to only 1% of those who disagree are engaged. This is significant for leaders because there is a well-established positive connection between employee engagement and key performance outcomes . Given the uncertainty in the workplace, feeling enthusiastic about work might seem unrealistic. So, I'd like to make a case for hope. If you are a leader that purposefully builds hope, this article explains why you have made a smart decision. If you haven't considered it, this article will make the case for why it's crucial to build hopefulness and four practical steps to take – and the sooner, the better. "Everything that is done in the world is done by hope." Martin Luther Why hope matters in the workplace Evidence is clear that being hopeful translates to business results. Numerous studies have linked hope with many individual, team, and organizational benefits fundamental to growth: Increased revenue and decreased operating costs Improved employee retention Enhanced ability to deal with ambiguity Job satisfaction and organizational commitment Sustaining innovation during significant changes such as mergers and acquisitions Lower levels of stress Improved employee and team performance Increased organization citizenship behaviors Positive relationships In the following Tedx, Dr. Hellman explains the science and power of hope. What is hope? Hope is often considered an emotion and can be challenging to define. However, hope is both an emotion and a way of thinking. Hope Theory suggests that hopefulness is a human strength comprised of three distinct, interrelated components: Goals Thinking – identification of valuable goals Pathways Thinking –specific strategies to reach those goals Agency Thinking – motivation to apply strategies Concerning leadership, hope is a positive state that contributes to leaders and followers pursuing, expecting, and achieving organizational goals. Hope is not optimism. It is related but distinctly different. Hope emphasizes setting goals and following through on them to attain a positive future outcome. It is not self-esteem or self-efficacy thinking. Hope involves a belief that a goal is possible and the willpower to pursue it continuously. How hopeful are you? Hope plays a vital role in employees' well-being and facilitates change. Measuring hope can be especially beneficial as a pre-post measure for large-scale change initiatives . Levels of hope can vary dramatically depending on the person and the situation. People generally considered hopeful can still experience low levels of hope when facing significant stressors . The Adult State Hope Scale is a valid short survey that takes less than two minutes to complete and measures the degree of hope at the moment. Higher scores correlate to a more significant state of hopefulness. Respondents use an eight-point Likert agreement scale where one is definitely false, and eight is definitely true for each of the following six questions: If I should find myself in a jam, I could think of many ways to get out of it. At present, I am energetically pursuing my goals. There are lots of ways around any problem that I am facing now. Right now, I see myself as being pretty successful. I can think of many ways to reach my current goals. At this time, I am meeting the goals that I have set for myself. 4 Practical ways leaders build hope in others Effective leaders are organizational hope dealers. In a crisis-driven workplace, influential leaders engage followers in hopeful thinking to account for increased goal difficulty and effort. Although hope can not be taught, the following are four proven strategies leaders can use to build hope in the workplace: Hope Builder 1: Vision Articulating a compelling vision clarifies direction, inspires confidence and action, and coordinates efforts. Evidence suggests that a compelling vision is directly and positively related to creative performance. To be considered compelling, a vision needs to be desired, beneficial to others, challenging, and visual. Stories and metaphors are powerful ways to connect with others. How well followers can visualize the future is fundamental to hopefulness. "Developing a vision is an exercise of both the head and the heart, it takes some time, it always involves a group of people, and it is tough to do well." Kotter Hope Builder 2: Positive Reinforcement Make recognition a leadership habit. What happens to employees after doing their work has the most significant impact on influencing future behavior. Leaders can build hope by reinforcing the value of organizational goals to the employee and the organization through reward and recognition. Effective reward and recognition systems have five characteristics: Targeted toward specific behaviors Applied immediately or frequently Customized to what the individual values Focused on what is achieved and how it is achieved Present everyone with the same opportunity to receive a reward or recognition. "Bringing out the best in followers requires purposeful performance reinforcement rather than management of poor performance." Doolittle Hope Builder 3: Collaboration In a crisis, leaders can build hope by working with followers to identify alternative paths to achieve goals and reset priorities. Change imposed is change opposed. Leaders support collaboration with employees by active listening , providing frequent and open communication, and creating access to information. "Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success." Henry Ford. Hope Builder 4: Coaching Coaching is partnering with followers in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential. High-quality trust-based leader-follower coaching relationships build hope by creating new possibilities. Evidence suggests that 80% of people who receive coaching report increased self-confidence. Over 70% of coaching relationships result in improved work performance, relationships, and more effective communication skills. 86% of companies that provide coaching for employees report that they recouped their investment in coaching and more. Hope is more than a wishful way of thinking; it is a leadership habit. Although hope can not be explicitly taught, evidence suggests leaders can build hopefulness through a compelling vision, positive reinforcement, collaboration, and coaching. How can you actively build hope within others today? References Adams, V. H., Snyder, C. R., Rand, K. L., King, E. A., Sigman, D. R., & Pulvers, K. M. (2002). Hope in the workplace, in Giacolone, R. & Jurkiewicz, C. (Eds.), Workplace Spirituality and Organization Performance, NY: Sharpe. Brim, B. (2021). Strengths-based leadership: The 4 things followers need. Gallup. Daniels, A. (2016). Bringing out the best in people: How to apply the astonishing power of positive reinforcement (3rd edition). McGraw-Hill. Doolittle, J. (2023). Life-changing leadership habits: 10 Proven principles that will elevate people, profit, and purpose. Organizational Talent Consulting. Gwinn, C. and Hellman, C. (2019) Hope Rising, How the Science of Hope Can Change Your Life. Morgan James Publishing Helland, M., & Winston, B. (2005). Towards a deeper understanding of hope and leadership. Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies. Vol. 12 (2). Kirk, S., & Koeske, G. (1995). The fate of optimism: a longitudinal study of case leaders' hopefulness and subsequent morale. Research in Social Work Practice, 5, 47-61. Ludema, J. D., Wilmot, T. B., & Srivastva, S. (August, 1997). Organization hope: Reaffirming the constructive task of social and organizational inquiry. Human Relations, 50:8, 1015-1053. Luthans. F., & Jensen, S. M. (2003). Hope: A new positive strength for human resources development. Human Resources Development Review. Mukherjee, U. & Sharma, P. (2020). Hope at workplace: A review of the literature. International Journal of Psychosocial Rehabilitation, Vol. 24, Issue 06. Sitten, T., Mutonyi, B., & Lien, G. (2021). Does organizational vision really matter? An empirical examination of factors related to organizational vision integration among hospital employees. BMC Health Services Research. Snyder, & Snyder, C. R. (2000). Handbook of hope theory, measures, & applications . Academic. Snyder, Sympson, S., Ybasco, F., Borders, T., Babyak, M., & Higgins, R. (1996). Development and Validation of the State Hope Scale. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 70 (2), 321–335. White-Zappa, B (2001). Hopeful corporate citizenship: A quantitative and qualitative examination of the relationship between organizational hope, appreciative inquiry, and organizational citizenship behaviors. Dissertation Abstracts International, (UMI No. 3012630)

I inherently trust most people and can quickly distrust others. Why? For the same reasons as you. To avoid something terrible from happening. Deciding whether to trust someone or not is an essential life skill. Putting faith in the wrong someone or something is costly. Increasingly, leaders face the challenge of overcoming an inherent distrust in leadership. A recent global trust study discovered that less than one in three people are willing to help those with whom they disagree. Only 20% are willing to work with those they disagree with. Being trustworthy is a life-changing leadership habit. Evidence suggests that distrust tends to be for the same reasons when it exists. That is actually good news for leaders. It means diagnosing and fixing many of the trust challenges you face is relatively simple. Here are the four common leadership trust killers, plus the fixes to build trust. Why trust matters Trust is the currency of business relationships, and an absence of trust can bankrupt the organization and its employees. At an individual level, a lack of trust contributes to feelings of: Frustration Rejection Stress Anxiety Depression When we experience feelings of distrust, our body responds immediately at a bio-chemical level within less than a second. Cortisol, catecholamine, testosterone, and norepinephrine levels in our blood increase rapidly. This chemical cocktail triggers a wave of emotions, producing feelings of stress, aggression, and a need for fight or flight. In conversations, when experiencing a sense of trust, our body produces a hormone called oxytocin. Oxytocin is also known as the "love hormone." It is oxytocin that increases feelings of well-being. Feelings of trust and distrust influence thoughts and feelings at a chemical level, which shape our beliefs and ultimately drive behaviors and actions in conversations (see Figure 1). An absence of trust or the presence of distrust at the organizational level undermines the business's goals and interests and the engagement and organizational commitment of employees. When leaders in an organization are unable to trust, the organization is less likely to innovate and take risks, holding back the organization's performance and productivity. Trust Killer #1: Lack of Credibility Credibility is the most frequently achieved attribute of trustworthiness. It has rational and emotional aspects of an individual's expertise and presence. Daily actions and routines can either create or destroy credibility. As a leader ascends within an organization, the distance from the frontline increases, threatening the leader's credibility about the work. A common threat for leaders, especially those in executive positions, is a desire to move too quickly. When leaders make decisions without listening or think a paycheck is enough of a thank you, it diminishes leadership credibility. Admitting what you don't know, being curious about the business, saying thank you, and being empathetic and cooperative are ways to build credibility. Trust Killer #2: Lack of Reliability Reliability is an unwritten expectation of leaders. Reliability is based on the frequency of interactions with someone and the consistency of expected behavior. Leaders who say they will do something but fail to follow through or do something different are perceived as unreliable. For example, leaders who discuss the importance of following procedures in one meeting and then critique followers in the following meeting for not taking innovative approaches to solving problems are considered unreliable. Poor communication , a lack of follow-through, chasing every shiny object, inability to say no, or being unpredictable diminish leadership reliability. Likewise, when what is said is done, clear priorities are established, and leaders show up authentically, creating reliability. Trust Killer #3: Lack of Transparency Transparency requires a personal willingness to have difficult conversations. This is one of the key differentiating attributes of trustworthiness. W hen leaders lack transparency, it fuels suspicion and rumors in the workplace. A lack of transparency increases misinterpretations, causing misunderstanding, distrust, follower uncertainty, and anxiety. Being guarded, telling a 'white lie,' sharing too much, and being manipulative create a lack of transparency. A lack of transparency can come from a leader's failure to act or, worse, their intentional actions. When leaders purposefully withhold information to manipulate a situation, it creates a toxic culture and is a sign of a dark personality type called Machiavellianism . Being open, honest with the good and the bad, sharing timeline-relevant information, and serving followers are practical ways for leaders to be transparent. Trust Killer #4: Lack of Humility Humility relates to the amount of focus placed on oneself versus the emphasis placed on the other person. A high degree of self-orientation creates significant distrust from others. An absence of humility is often considered narcissism , characterized by a highly self-involved personality and a fragile ego susceptible to the faintest criticism. When leaders have an inflated self-view, believe they are superior, prefer personal recognition, or reject negative feedback, they diminish trust. Likewise, when leaders have an honest self-view, believe in the team's greater good, prefer shared recognition, and view critical feedback as a path to a better future, they are perceived as humble and enhancing trust. How to measure your relationship trust Everyone can benefit from reflecting on the essential attributes of trust. Measuring your trustworthiness provides helpful, structured insights that can improve your personal and professional success and significance. Assigning values to each of the four attributes of trust and placing them into the following trust equation allows for a personal measurement of your relationship's trustworthiness. Trustworthiness = (Credibility + Reliability + Transparency) / Humility Below is a short quiz you can use to assess the trust level of any of your relationships. As you take the quiz, your relationship trust index is calculated. You can use this score to gauge your level of trust in your relationship. What's the real leadership trust challenge for you? References Brender-Ilan, Y., & Sheaffer, Z. (2019). How do self-efficacy, narcissism, and autonomy mediate the link between destructive leadership and counterproductive work behavior. Asia Pacific Management Review, 24(3), 212-222. Bono, J., & Ilies, R. (2006). Charisma, positive emotions, and mood contagion. The Leadership Quarterly, 17 (4), pp. 317-334. Doolittle, J. (2023). Life-changing leadership habits: 10 Proven principles that will elevate people, profit, and purpose. Organizational Talent Consulting. Edelman. (2023). Edelman trust barometer: Navigating a polarized world. Fukuyama, F. (1995). Trust: The social virtues and the creation of prosperity . Free Press. Maister, D. H., Green, C. H., & Galford, R. M. (2000). The trusted advisor . Free Press. Men, R. & Bowen, S. (2016). Excellence in internal communication management. Business Expert Press. Nevicka, B., Ten Velden, F., De Hoogh, A., & Van Vianen, A. (2011). Reality at odds with perceptions: Narcissistic leaders and group performance. Psychological Science. 22(10):1259-1264.

A lot of businesses are experiencing a leadership shortage. CEOs need a strong leadership pipeline to thrive, but it's not easy to build. In fact, perceptions of leadership effectiveness and readiness often differ between executives and the frontline. The added risk and costs that result from this misalignment are cringeworthy. Whether due to unclear expectations or a lack of talent visibility across the organization, a disparity of perceptions is dangerous. Leadership development investments don't have to be a big gamble. You need to understand the challenges leaders face, what it takes for leaders to be successful, and use a high-quality systemic approach. Here are a few proven ways to do just that. Why You Need a Strong Leadership Pipeline? Leading in a fast-paced and crisis-driven market is no easy feat. Today's senior leaders are concerned about the quality of their leaders and the complexity of the new challenges they are facing. It turns out that these concerns are justified. Alarming data from a new global study reveals that only 14% of leaders across all levels indicate they are confident with hiring decisions. Also, only 11% of CEOs rate their organization as having a strong bench of ready-now leaders. Having the right leadership in the right place at the right time is vital to navigating the volatility and uncertainty in the marketplace. Good leadership can make a success out of a weak plan, and ineffective leadership can destroy a business with a great strategic plan. Great leaders achieve great results. A review of the published research reveals that leadership effectiveness makes a difference in the leader's life, those they lead, business performance, and communities. The best organizations are made up of the best leaders. In a controlled study involving leaders across different industries, researchers found a significant link between the leader's effectiveness and employee retention, sales, margin, labor costs, and net profit. How Can You Identify the Right Leadership? A critical first step toward building a strong leadership pipeline is to bring clarity to the confusion of leadership effectiveness and readiness perceptions. While defining rating scales for performance and potential are helpful to gaining consistency, alone, they are not sufficient. Fair and robust talent calibration meetings present a meaningful solution for identifying the right leadership. These meetings create an intentional space for leaders to discuss and align on the performance and potential of the talent in the leadership pipeline. A talent calibration meeting is to review, assess, adjust, and agree upon a direct report's performance and potential within the organization and make development decisions. In large companies, these annual meetings typically involve the direct reports manager, the peers of the manager, the manager's leader, and a human resources business partner. To resolve any existing misalignment and get the most value from a talent calibration meeting, leaders need to come prepared, resolve existing disparities in perceptions, and create psychological safety to discuss critical feedback. Preparation: Ahead of the meeting, all leaders involved should solicit feedback and reflect on specific examples that support their point of view on a leader's performance, potential, and readiness to advance that is being reviewed. Everyone in the meeting should bring evidence to support their perspective. The leader of the direct report being reviewed should also identify the areas where the leader being reviewed should continue to develop. Organizational Commitment : A critical factor that separates a successful talent calibration meeting from a waste of time is the shared will to have the robust discussion needed. If the conversation is fair and transparent, there will likely be productive conflict at times. The commitment of those in the meeting will determine the quality of the meeting. Before the meeting, it is helpful to discuss the purpose of the talent calibration meeting and why each person is being invited. Don't assume everyone knows. Psychological Safety: Research has repeatedly suggested that businesses benefit from a diversity of thought. However, when meeting participants don't feel comfortable speaking up to share concerns or an alternate point of view, the quality of the discussion is minimized. Establish meeting ground rules before you get started. You want participants to know that silence is not golden and productive conflict is encouraged. How you position the meeting and what you say is essential, but how the team responds to the constructive conflict will determine if there is safety. How Can You Accelerate Leadership Development? Having a strong leadership pipeline is a talent magnet and competitive advantage. High-quality investments in leadership development motivate leaders, create a strong culture , and increase organizational commitment. Many leadership development programs are missing the mark because they are event-driven. Leaders attend a workshop or conference and return to the workplace with little to show for their time out of the office. Leadership development is best viewed as a system and not an event. You can accelerate talent development by rethinking your approach. Aligning the leader and organizational development readiness with high-quality coaching improves development outcomes. Whether you think you can do a thing or not, you are right. ~Henry Ford Development Readiness Development readiness refers to the individual's and organization's ability, orientation, and motivation to develop. Leaders who want to learn and can focus on learning tend to view obstacles and challenges to their learning as the path to improvement. Organizations with a learning culture encourage leaders to seek new knowledge and apply new skills to improve continually. A personal development readiness example. I love to SCUBA dive. If you offered the best free workshop on ancient literature, I wouldn't want to attend. I probably could learn something and might have a good time. But, if you offered a class on SCUBA diving, I likely would learn and enjoy it more. My development readiness in this example is more positively aligned with the SCUBA class. If you know, I need to learn about ancient literature . It will improve the learning outcomes of the class by working on my development readiness ahead of signing me up to attend. Too often, with good intentions, leadership development programs get rolled out without considering development readiness. The good news is that you can positively affect development readiness and accelerate leadership development. A great way to get started is by asking your leaders in your next one-to-one meeting to identify where there are opportunities to improve. The following categories can be used to guide the conversation and learn about their leadership development perceptions and experiences: Assigning and providing opportunities to learn Tolerating mistakes as a part of learning Having high-performance expectations and accountability Setting policies and practices that support leadership development Leadership supports new ideas Awareness of how leadership responsibilities fit into the big picture Knowledge, skills, and abilities to lead If leadership development is viewed positively High-Quality Coaching Deploying high-quality internal or external coaching extends development beyond the typical event-driven program that is often too narrowly focused on developing specific leadership skills. Coaching is a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires leaders to maximize their personal and professional potential. The coaching process unlocks sources of imagination, productivity, and leadership ability. Current evidence-based research supports various psychological approaches to coaching. The GROW model is a popular approach. Given the ultimate goal of coaching is related to change within you, the model centers on using essential questions and client-centered critical thinking to invoke self-awareness and personal responsibility. To make the best decision between internal and external coaching approaches, you will want to weigh the time, cost, and quality advantages and disadvantages. Some of the reasons why companies use external coaching are: External coach specialization and experience Lack of internal politics, conflicts, and competing priorities Enhanced confidentiality and the ability to work on sensitive issues Diverse perspectives of the coach Internal coaching is often more cost-effective, but scalability can be a severe challenge for most companies. A 2019 study by Gartner revealed that 45% of leaders across all levels lack the confidence needed to coach direct reports. Leaders in the study indicated that they weren't confident in their coaching skills and lacked the required time. Conclusion: Identifying and Accelerating the Right Leadership Amidst the great resignation, identifying and accelerating the right leadership is a huge competitive advantage. Failing to address the misalignment of leadership perceptions between executives and the frontline and the use of event-driven approaches are barriers to building a strong leadership pipeline. Working through misalignment that often exists across all levels of leaders requires a willingness to engage in productive conflict. A massive opportunity for accelerating leadership development is achieved by leveraging high-quality coaching aligned with organizational and leader's developmental readiness. What's the real challenge you face with building a strong leadership pipeline? References: Avolio, B. J., & Hannah, S. T. (2008). Developmental readiness: Accelerating leader development. Consulting Psychology Journal, 60(4), 331-347. Gartner. (2019). Gartner says 45% of managers lack confidence to help employees develop the skills they need today. Gurdjan, P., Haibeisen, T., & Lane, K. (2022). Why leadership development programs fail. McKinsey & Co. Korn Ferry. (2022). The leadership shortage. Rhyne, R. & Neal, S. (2021). Top CEO challenges 2021: 4 key trends in leadership. DDI. International Coaching Federation. (2022). What is coaching?

Without selfless love in the workplace, achieving the best of what might be is impossible. Stop and think about the implications of that statement for a moment. There is no serious debate that well-designed organizations with clear organizational strategies influence desired behaviors, culture, and performance. Numerous studies identify failure as often tied to misalignment between the organization and its operational environment. However, while organizational alignment is essential, it is also not sufficient. Selfless love brings out the best in how people think, act, and feel. If you want to start embracing selfless love as a leader in the workplace, you’ll need to start tapping into these four keys today. The benefits of selfless love in the workplace The well-documented individual and organizational benefits of selfless love include: Intrinsic motivation Increased creativity Discretionary effort Better workplace climate Enhanced employee capacity Enhanced leader-follower alignment Two complex challenges leaders face today are attracting and retaining top talent and creating inclusive workplaces that bring out the best in all employees. Diversity in the world and the workplace is increasing. Globalization and technological advances are projected to continue to increase workgroup diversity. This increase in diversity can have many positive workplace effects, such as enhanced performance, creativity, innovation , and decision quality. However, workplace practices rooted in favoritism are costly, leading to increased relational conflict and a lack of team cohesion. In-group favoritism results in actions that favor one group. When leaders demonstrate selfless love, they cultivate an organizational culture in which healthy and caring leader-follower relationships reduce the adverse effects of in-group and out-group differences. All you have to do is drive down any street or walk through your local retail district to see the signs for help wanted and understand the challenge of attracting and retaining the best and brightest employees. Organizational commitment is a term for identifying as an individual with a particular company. Evidence suggests that higher levels of organizational commitment are associated with lower employee turnover rates. Studies have demonstrated that selfless love enhances organizational commitment. The following short video from leadership guru Ken Blanchard provides some thoughts on the power of servant leadership in today's workplace. What is selfless love? Selflessness is being more concerned with the needs and desires of others than with your needs. And one of the best definitions I have come across for love in the workplace comes from St. Thomas Aquinas. "To love is to will the good of the other." St. Thomas Aquinas Selfless love in the workplace is to desire and put into action the will for the good of another ahead of your own interest . It is a radically different paradigm from a transactional worldview of the workplace. If you have nine minutes, the following video captures the essence of the meaning behind the definition used by St. Thomas Aquinas. Although the video does not use a workplace example, the intent of willing the good of the other is shown. The following poem, called "Outwitted" by Edwin Markha,m captures the belief that selfless love creates a radical sense of belonging for everyone: He drew a circle that shut me out—Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout. But Love and I had the wit to win: We drew a circle that took him in! Are empathy and compassion different from selfless love? Empathy, compassion, and selfless love are interrelated, but distinct differences exist. Empathy is the ability to be aware of, feel, and take on the emotions of another person. It plays a vital role in moderating the effects of workplace conflict. Research has linked empathy with forgiveness and healing relationships. The following is a short video from Brene Brown that explains empathy and its value within the workplace. Compassion is an empathic understanding with a desire to help another person. Recent studies into the benefits of compassion at work link it to improved job performance, mental health, and leader-follower relationships. Although awareness (empathy) and a desire to help (compassion) are essential, the world needs leaders who prioritize the good of others over their own interests. Leaders who emphasize selfless love bring out the best in how people think, act, and feel in the workplace, leading to success and significance both personally and professionally. Tapping into selfless love Selfless love is not just something you are either born with or not. You can apply these four keys to cultivate selfless love in the workplace. Key #1: Measurement Selfless love is not just something you are either born with or not. Selfless love may seem complex and challenging to articulate, much less measure; however, validated measurement instruments exist. Muel Kaptein introduced and validated the Corporate Ethical Virtues Mode l, which measures virtues at the organizational level. Vincent Ng and colleagues expanded on the Comprehensive Inventory of Virtuous Instantiations of Character instrument by creating a valid multidimensional forced-choice individual character instrument. The Leadership Character Insights Assessment measures an individual's character through self-assessment or 360-degree assessment using behavioral anchors. The Values In Action (VIA) Survey is a free, 15-minute self-assessment that helps discover your greatest strengths. Key #2: Development Like leadership behaviors, selfless love can be developed. Evidence suggests that development specific to selfless love should include knowledge transfer, reasoning, and practice elements. Development primarily takes place through role modeling with intentional time for feedback. However, feedback on character gaps is not commonly provided in the workplace, given the complexity of these conversations. Evidence suggests that organizations can incorporate selfless love development into competency development programs. Separate programs focused only on character and virtue development are not required. Key #3: Reflection Most leaders spend little to no time reflecting on character experiences because of blind spots. A dedicated and skillful executive coach can improve character feedback and purposeful character reflection. Numerous studies have found that dedicated mentors can also support character development by openly reflecting on insights gained from their experience. Key #4: Leadership Style Servant leadership characteristics are practical ways for a leader to bring selfless love into the workplace : Listening to oneself and others Showing empathy Healing self and others Being aware Persuasion and not coercion Conceptual thinking, not linear thinking Applying strategic foresight Stewardship of others' needs Commitment to the development of others Building community Conversely, a traditional transactional leadership style adopts a top-down view of an organization with the leader at the top. Transactional leadership is based on the belief that employees perform best: Within a well-formed chain of command Rewards and punishments motivate Following the leader's directives is the employee's primary goal Transactional leaders give employees something they want in exchange for getting something they want. This leadership style adopts a mental model that workers are not self-motivated and require structure, instruction, and monitoring to achieve organizational goals correctly and on time. In stark contrast, when adopting a selfless love worldview, the leader desires to bring out the best in their followers by giving them the best of themself. A servant leadership style aligns well with selfless love. Are you a servant leader? Maybe you already understand the basic concepts but are unclear on how servant leadership differs from other contemporary leadership styles. The free Servant Leadership Style Checker answers these questions and provides your Servant Leadership Style Score. Take this free quiz to find out. Key Points: Selfless love in the workplace is to desire and put into action the will for the good of another ahead of your interests. When leaders demonstrate selfless love, they establish an organizational culture where healthy and caring leader-follower relationships break down the adverse effects of in-group and out-group differences. Selfless love enhances organizational commitment, productivity, job performance, and emotional well-being. Leaders who emphasize selfless love bring out the best in how people think, act, and feel in the workplace, leading to success and significance both personally and professionally. To gain a competitive advantage in an uncertain world, leadership needs to move beyond cultivating organizational strategy, design, and behaviors to include selfless love. References: Doolittle, J. (2023). Life-changing leadership habits: 10 proven principles that will elevate people, profit, and purpose. 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