Search this site

To be successful in a rapidly changing world, we need to invest in developing new leadership skills. According to TrainingIndustry.com, an estimated $166 billion was spent in 2019 on leadership development in the United States. The more a leader learns and effectively applies, the better they perform, and consequently, our organizations achieve better results. This statement is the tenet of leadership development training. While there is some logic in that statement, it overestimates the leader's impact on the company results. The statement also underestimates the effects of company culture, the leader-follower relationship, and leader and follower traits on organizational outcomes. This article provides evidence-based insights and four simple steps to unlocking organizational talent potential and boosting corporate results by moving beyond leadership development. "If you believe that training is expensive, it is because you do not know what ignorance costs." ( Leboeuf ). Leaders perform within the company’s culture and are a part of the culture. Also, by sheer numbers alone, the most substantial part of an organization are followers, not leaders. Too often, we look to a leader to achieve organizational results rather than focusing on the reality that most results come from followers. By definition, leaders need followers, or they are not leaders. Leadership is the service to others and followership is the service to the leader, both united in a common purpose and interdependent. Followership can account for up to 80% of organizational results (Carsten et al.). To maximize the leadership development investment organizations, need insight into understanding: (1) globalization's influence, (2) leader-follower relationship, (3) cultural context, and (4) desired follower and leader traits. Insight #1. Globalization The business world is shrinking as large multinational companies continue to expand into new markets. The makeup of our workforce in our companies is becoming more diverse . One of the critical issues facing most senior leaders is the lack of ready employees within their organization. For more than ten years, we have known that organizations would begin to struggle to find talent as the Baby Boomers start to retire. Generation X is not large enough to fill the gaps created by the Baby Boomers exit from the workforce. In turn, each of the past five years, the war for talent has intensified globally. In the past, it was a company-specific problem. Now globally, countries are recognizing the challenges and looking at their policies to expand their country's workforce. If you listen to the news, you know our world is full of complex problems like cybersecurity and global political uncertainty. Still, talent management is in discussions from the boardroom to the breakroom. Companies are turning to leadership development to help solve their complex challenges. The leadership development industry is booming. Likely your company is making new investments in leadership development or considering an investment. Insight #2. Understanding the Leader-Follower Relationship Followership is a relatively new term compared to leadership. Followership is often perceived as a passive activity; conversely, effective followership is active and courageous . We are not talking about effective followership being a "yes man" but speaking truth to leadership and daring to disagree . Leaders in organizations are also followers. The CEO of a publicly-traded company is a follower of the board of directors. It is common to think of the follower's value in the leader-follower relationship as being half of the total amount of the relationship. Still, it is likely more accurate to think of the value of working on the leader-follower relationship as a multiplier . The follower can improve the leader's results, and the leader can enhance the follower's outcomes—globally, organizations sub-optimize leadership development strategy when focusing only on the leader. Healthy leader-follower relationships require a supportive organizational culture, specific traits, and development to enhance corporate results from leadership development investments. Insight #3. Cultural Context for the Leader-Follower Relationship Culture is one of those words that you will get ten different responses if you ask ten employees to define it. Contemporary definitions recognize culture as far more than only what employees do at work, and culture impacts social relationships like the leader-follower relationship. The globalization of the workforce within companies creates an increasingly complex and diverse workplace with various beliefs, values, and behavioral norms represented. You may notice these cultural differences by hearing employees talking about how it feels different in this office instead of another office, observing leader performance shifts when they take on new but similar responsibility for leading other workgroups, or when there are diverse perspectives on an identified successor. To focus solely on leader development and exclude the culture in which the leader-follower relationship exists limits the effectiveness of the investment in the leader. Cultural beliefs, values, and norms also need to be understood and aligned to support the leader-follower relationship. Research exists for how cultural values support leadership such as, The Culture Map: Breaking Through the Invisible Boundaries of Global Business by Erin Meyer. However, there is little work on understanding how cultural values support followership. Organizations must have a culture where the leader-follower relationship can thrive. Globalization and the increasing diversification of the workforce will continue to increase company culture's significance on leader-follower relationships and organizational results. Insight #4. Follower and Leader Traits The volume of research on followership lags leadership research. Google's search for the word "leadership" returns 2.0 billion hits, and the word "followership" returns 0.001 billion hits. The expanding use of technology enables independent decision-making by followers. This change makes one of the essential traits for a follower, the willingness to disagree, and let the leader know the truth even when challenging to deliver. Inversely a critical characteristic for a leader is active listening. Leaders need to be able to listen to what is said and the feelings shared. Recently, there has been an increase in focus from senior leaders on understanding leaders' success traits for use in selection, competency models for development, performance management, and succession planning. Once a company defines the attributes of effective leader-follower relationships, they can be used to create similar models for selection, development, and performance. Senior leaders can then use these talent management processes to measure performance and provide meaningful feedback and recognition to employees. 4 Steps for Boosting Organizational Results This article's intent is not to present that companies should focus on the leader-follower relationship instead of leadership development. Preferably by taking the following simple steps, you can boost organizational results by moving beyond leadership development topics alone. Step 1. Setting the Stage An excellent place to start introducing the concept and attributes of effective leader-follower relationships is with the organization's senior leadership team. Conduct a workshop with the company's senior leaders with the objective of defining the meaning of the word's followership and leadership in the organization's context. The purpose of this discussion is to reinforce the importance of the leader-follower relationship, identify cultural differences that likely exist in a diverse workforce, and create expectations. After discussing definitions, you can use the research on leadership and followership to define the traits identified for effective leader-follower relationships in company-specific language. An example would be to take the attributes of speaking truth to leadership and active listening and discuss behavioral examples of what each would look like put into action within the company. The senior leadership team's help in identifying and describing the attributes is to help ensure buy-in for company standards when incorporating these into the various talent management processes. Step 2. Creating a Movement Next, engage intact work teams in workshops set up similarly as in step one with the senior leadership team. It is essential to discover cultural differences across the organization and work toward alignment. Senior leaders choosing to engage the workforce in this discussion need to recognize the relationship between time, cost, and quality. Each of these variables impacts the next. Companies that only invest a minimal amount of time and funding toward creating the movement will achieve limited quality and vice-versa. Step 3. Building Reinforcement At this point, it is crucial for human resources to update the appropriate company competency development models, performance management processes, and job descriptions to include the ideal leader-follower relationship attributes. Updating these documents and processes provides clear and explicit expectations and feedback for leaders and followers. Step 4. Creating Sustainability It will also be essential to consider this work's long-term sustainability, so incorporating the leader-follower development into the orientation and onboarding will help assimilate new employees into the culture and company. Developing employees in the concept and attributes of the leader-follower relationship will maximize the value of leadership development investments. To learn more about how your organization can boost organizational results by moving beyond leadership development contact Organizational Talent Consulting . References Blair, B. A., & Bligh, M. C. (2018). Looking for leadership in all the wrong places: The impact of culture on proactive followership and follower dissent. Journal of Social Issues, 74 (1), 129-143. Carsten, M.K., Koonce, R., Bligh, M.C., & Hurwitz, M. (2016). Followership in action. Cases and commentaries. Emerald Publishing Limited . Gobble, M. M. (2017). The value of followership. Research Technology Management, 60 (4), 59-61. Kelley, R. E. (1988). In praise of followers. Harvard Business Review, 66 , 142. Leboeuf, M. (1985). The greatest management principle in the world . Putnam Publishing Group.

Is there anything more unsettling than making huge decisions alone? Thankfully, it's been a while since I've tried. But in the past, I've made my share. I can tell firsthand that having a coach has many benefits beyond better decision-making. Leaders constantly navigate competing priorities. Boards, direct reports, customers, and of course, family and friends all have their unique needs. Leaders must be able to carefully explore and assess new ideas to thrive in an increasingly complex workplace. Executive coaching is a thought-provoking and creative partnership that inspires leaders to maximize their potential. Before you start exploring whether the costs are worth the benefits. The first question you need to wrestle with is if you are entirely ready. Like any development, you will get the most significant return when you can do the work. Here is what you can expect it to cost, five frequent benefits, and what to look for in an executive coach. What executive coaching is and is not? Coaching is not counseling, mentoring, or consulting. Counseling deals with past or current trauma, mental health, and symptoms to restore emotional wellness. Executive coaching focuses on the future and not the client's history. Unlike a coach, a mentor 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 executive's goals with individual and organizational benefits. Consulting involves partnering but differs from coaching by collaborating on the development of comprehensive strategies and tools. A consultant provides answers, and a coach uses questions to help you find the answers to your questions. An executive is a person with senior managerial and leadership responsibility in a business or organization. Executives are the owner, CEO, or Senior Leadership Team at a midsize company. These are generally categorized by revenue between $10 million to $1 billion and 50-250 employees. They can also be a Director or VP or on the Senior Leadership Team at a large organization. The International Coaching Federation (ICF) defines coaching as partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential. The method of coaching often unlocks previously untapped sources of imagination, productivity, and leadership. Executive coaching, then, is a coaching relationship between a coach and a person with senior managerial and leadership responsibility in a business or organization. Why do executives and business owners need coaching now more than ever? Today's reality for a senior leader is that the marketplace changes rapidly. You are either ripe and rotting or green and growing. So, how can an executive effectively stay green and grow in such a fast-paced environment? In an extensive quantitative study by Stanley Black & Decker, the Sasha Corporation found that executives receiving coaching increased goal performance by 15% compared to executives not receiving coaching. In a literature review of 81 executive coaching studies, researchers found that executive coaching positively impacts the leader and the organization. These benefits range from becoming more confident to contributing more effectively to empowering employees and improving employee retention. Some of the most admired companies in the Fortune 100 contribute to the $1 billion executive coaching industry. Coaching is a fast-growing sector, and the broad support for executive coaching as a solution to today's challenges and its effectiveness is undeniable. Evidence suggests executive coaching leads to individual and organizational benefits, including: Enhanced self-awareness Improved performance Better communication Stress management Conflict resolution Decision making Career advancement “It is not in the pursuit of happiness that we find fulfillment, it is in the happiness of pursuit.” — Denis Waitley What do you get from executive coaching? Outcome 1. Resilience Resilience is a fundamental outcome of executive coaching. Frequently, leaders look for a coach to help adapt their leadership style, deal effectively with change, or build high-quality, trust-based relationships. As executives work to achieve their goals, barriers, and challenges must be overcome. In the process of overcoming these barriers, leaders build resilience and self-confidence. Outcome 2. Shifting Assumptions and Perceptions Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are key growth strategies for many organizations: entering new marketplaces, acquiring new technologies, and leveraging scale and size. Culture is critical during notable changes, such as M&A, and executive leaders increasingly work with and lead multicultural teams. Coaching helps leaders shift assumptions and perceptions and adopt positive cross-cultural motivation, vision, and cultural agility. Outcome 3. Improved Emotional Intelligence (EQ) A recent Harvard study revealed that a leader's emotional intelligence (EQ) matters more than their mental ability (IQ). A key outcome of executive coaching is improved emotional intelligence. Often, leaders pressed for time to move from one urgent task to another and miss the advantage of pausing to reflect and become self-aware. An executive coach's use of assessments like a 360-leadership survey and purposeful reflection helps leaders learn and enhance their emotional intelligence. Reflection improves performance. Outcome 4. Growth Focus and Accountability Any road will get you where you want to go if you don't know where you are going. Setting direction is vital to growth as a leader. An executive coach ensures development goals are purposeful and bring perspective to the best areas to focus. Leaders are busy and without accountability, miss opportunities for learning and growth. In the executive coaching relationship, external accountability is a crucial benefit. A coach can help the leader prioritize critical topics to change in the best direction. Outcome 5. Developmental Feedback Executive leaders receive feedback continuously from a wide range of sources on potential areas of development but also can struggle to make sense of the feedback. Proximity to a problem sometimes impacts the leader's clarity on importance. Also, general feedback is often not presented in effective or constructive ways. A coach assists the leader with filtering through various points of critical feedback to return focus on the essential constructive aspects. How much does executive coaching cost? Executive coaching costs and pricing strategies vary widely based on the services offered, the executive coach's experience level, and the client's organizational level. Executive coaches commonly use hourly, value-based, retainer, or productized pricing. Studies by the Harvard Business Review and The Conference Board suggested executive coach rates range from $200 to over $3500 per hour. Some coaches, like Marshall Goldsmith, who is frequently listed as the top-rated executive coach, use a performance-based pricing model. Simply stated, he only gets paid when his clients improve. Ready for the mic drop? He gets $250,000 per client for a year-long engagement. Recently, virtual coaching has become more popular, and offers added convenience, service, and affordability through reduced travel and costs from associated time out of the office. Although these benefits are advantageous, the research does not support replacing face-to-face coaching with virtual coaching. In reality, in-person and virtual coaching both have associated pros and cons. What to look for in an executive coach? A good executive coach is trained and qualified. The International Coaching Federation (ICF) is a globally recognized association with evidence-based competency and code of ethics certification requirements. The ICF identifies the following eight core coach competencies updated as of 2019 based on empirical data collected over two years and from job analyses of 1,300 coaches globally: Demonstrates Ethical Practice Embodies a Coaching Mindset Establishes and Maintains Agreements Cultivates Trust and Safety Maintains Presence Listens Actively Evokes Awareness Facilitates Client Growth In addition to the list of coach qualifications, evidence suggests the following additional traits and competencies specific to executive coaching: Self-confidence Assertiveness Goal Orientation Continuous Learning & Development Integrity Business acumen Psychological knowledge Organizational knowledge An excellent executive coach usually refrains from giving advice or sharing personal stories. Instead, the coach asks powerful questions to help the executive clarify their problems in achieving their goals. Conclusion: Is Executive Coaching Really Worth It? The confidence and growth that comes from a creative thought partnership in the executive coaching relationship can't be beaten. Now more than ever, due to the complexity placed on senior leadership roles, executives need coaches who can support their continuous development. Falling behind in a rapidly changing marketplace will not lead to success. The coach-leader relationship fosters a leader's growth through purposeful direction, reflection, feedback, and accountability. See how our goal-oriented executive coaching turns your aspirations into your future. Accelerate your career - Coaching keeps you feeling challenged and increases your blind spot awareness. Live life to the fullest - Coaching facilitates experimentation and self-discovery. Shift your mindset - Coaching helps you challenge your assumptions and views. References: Ahrend, G., Diamond, F., & Webber, P. G. (2010). Virtual coaching: Using technology to boost performance. Chief Learning Officer, 9,44–47. Athanasopoulou, A., & Dopson, S. (2015). Developing leaders: By executive coaching. Oxford Press. Athanasopoulou, A., & Dopson, S. (2018). A systematic review of executive coaching outcomes: Is it the journey or the destination that matters most? The Leadership Quarterly. 29(1), 70-88. Berglas, S. (2002). The very real dangers of executive coaching. Harvard Business Review, 80(6), 86-153. Clark, D., Cohn, A., & Goldsmith, M. (2019). A short guide to pricing your services as a consultant or coach. Harvard Business Review. Doolittle, J. (2023). Life-Changing Leadership Habits: 10 Proven Principles That Will Elevate People, Profit and Purpose. Organizational Talent Consulting. ICF. (2020). 2020 ICF global coaching study: Executive summary. International Coaching Federation.

Sometimes it is easy to spot the difference between a leadership bad habit and a good one. Take communication. While ineffective leaders avoid difficult conversations and blame their teams when issues don't go away, effective leaders know their responsibility is to lean in with vulnerability. Years ago, I was making a succession planning and leadership development presentation to the board of directors. My leader wasn't there. 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 he quickly chimed in to cover me. I remember feeling humbled by his kindness and servant's heart. Here's the reality: Outer game habits like that don't just happen. Unlocking your inner game maximizes leadership potential. Why Unlocking Your Inner Game is Important? Leadership creates defining moments; situations where choices must be made between right and right. It is in these moments that your inner game guides how you respond. While your leadership behaviors (outer game) prescribe what you should do in a given situation, your character ( inner game ) will decide what you do. Evidence suggests that effective leadership involves a combination of competence and character applied to challenging work. "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 Frankl Studies reveal that executive leaders with high character scores outperform leaders with low character scores on business financial measures. In a study of executive leaders and their organizations over a two-year period, CEOs who scored high on aspects of character had an average return on assets (ROA) of 9.35%, in contrast to CEOs with low ratings who had a ROA of 1.93%. Character determines how leaders apply competence, and it shapes decisions. How to GROW Your Inner Game The GROW model is one of the most popular frameworks used by executive coaches to unlock inner game potential and maximize leadership performance. The framework was first written about by Formula 1 driver Sir John Whitmore and has become a go-to approach applied in executive coaching research. Given that your ultimate goal is changing, the GROW model relies on questions rather than instruction. Tapping into client-centered critical thinking, the model invokes improved self-awareness and leads to increased personal responsibility for change. In this two-minute video Sir Whitmore reflects on the question, what is the GROW model? The GROW framework represents a journey that begins with the client clarifying an inspiring and challenging goal from their point of view. Then the client's current reality, barriers to change , and available options are explored. The framework is based on the belief that imagination creates breakthroughs to change. The final step is connecting the client's motivation for change with a clear path forward. Specific timebound actions tied to commitments and accountability create transformation. This step involves the client deciding which steps they will take and when to achieve their goals. 2 Key Skills To Unlock the Inner Game Too often, everyone is talking. Time and attention get spent on urgent and surface-level topics in a digital full-speed world. At the same time, opportunities for talking about what matters most are missed. Being honestly heard is rare. The hybrid workplace has not helped. Due to technology limitations, leaders communicating with a remote workforce receive less context and fewer cues. The art of active listening and smart questioning skills are two keys to unlocking the inner game. 1. Active Listening is the ability to hear and improve mutual understanding. Hearing 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 you are practicing active listening, you are available to the other person. Active listening builds trust and improves the creativity needed for exploring available options and motivation for change. Active listening skills include verbal, nonverbal, and empathic listening: Verbal listening is paraphrasing, reflecting feelings, assumption checking, and questioning. Nonverbal listening refers to your body language. Eye contact, leaning forward, and an open body position all provide cues of affirmation. Empathic listening involves sensing the explicit and implicit feelings being communicated. 2. Smart Questioning is grounded in curiosity and creates understanding. Because these questions have no expected answers, they open minds and enhance creativity. There are three levels of smart questions: Level 1: Yes or no questions. Are you OK with implementing the new leadership development program for the operations team? Level 2: Provocative questions. I am excited about the new leadership development program that you created. I can tell it will add a lot of value to the operations team. How are you thinking about it? What is the real challenge in implementing leadership development? Level 3: Catalytic questions. Which parts of the leadership development program will produce the most significant value? How would you describe success in implementing the new leadership development program? What assumptions do you have? A GROW conversation typically begins with level one questions, intending to get the conversation to the highest level possible. Conclusion: Unlocking Your Inner Game Outer game habits like that don't just happen. Unlocking your inner game maximizes your leadership potential during defining moments. Many people are good talkers. However, few are skilled listeners, and the hybrid workplace is making it more challenging. The GROW model is a proven executive coaching framework . This framework relies on the art of active listening and smart questioning skills to enhance trust and creativity. Skillfully applied, like an acorn can become an oak tree, your inner game potential can maximize your leadership performance. How could the GROW model help you maximize your potential or develop those you lead? References Bazerman, M. H., & Tenbrunsel, A. E. (2011). Blind spots: Why we fail to do what's right and what to do about it . Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press. Glaser, J. (2014). Conversational intelligence: How great leaders build trust and get extraordinary results. Bibliomotion. 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

Have you ever hesitated to share a suggestion or challenge the status quo at work? Yeah, you are not alone. A memorable crucible experience of mine was early in my career when I needed to give some critical feedback to a division president. But I didn’t, and the company missed an opportunity to improve. Silence is expensive. But a natural tendency is to play defense when times get tough. In a rapidly changing digital workplace, the benefits of cultivating a climate of psychological safety are well established. Overcoming the fear of failure and blame is necessary for companies to adapt and innovate. A recent Pew Research Center survey of US employees found that 89% believe it is the responsibility of business leaders to create a safe and respectful workplace. We all share a need to belong. Shared identity is a fundamental aspect of effective communication and belonging. Here are the four leadership dimensions and practical ideas for creating a shared identity at work. Why a shared identity matters Social Identity Theory suggests that we share identity with individuals with whom we associate. And as a result, we are more likely to trust and influence those individuals compared to individuals and groups with which we do not associate. Academic research suggests that the benefits of shared identity include: Productive conflict Wellbeing Inclusion and belonging Improved performance Enhanced knowledge management In conversations, we tend to find communication more comfortable and productive with those we consider “us” versus “them.” According to social identity theory, as individuals, we are more motivated to be receptive and mentally able to process more fully communications with those we identify. Numerous studies have revealed that shared social identity improves team communication. Perceived similarity increases communication quality, and perceived differences lower communication quality. Shared identity leads to shared understanding resulting in effective communication. When it comes to communication and social identity, perception is reality. 4 Stages of psychological safety and the leadership challenge Psychological safety is the degree to that you feel included and able to learn, contribute, and provide critical feedback without fear of being embarrassed, excluded, or penalized. Psychological safety is different than trust. Trust is if you will give others the benefit of the doubt, and psychological safety is the environment influencing if others will give you the benefit of the doubt. Psychological safety helps you and others work better together. The leadership challenge is to increase intellectual friction while decreasing social friction. There are four defined sequential stages of psychological safety: Stage 1: Inclusion Safety We are constantly dividing the world between them and us. Inclusion safety is creating a shared identity so others are viewed as being in the same group. Stage 2: Learner Safety This is feeling safe enough to experiment, ask questions, and fail as a part of the learning process. Stage 3: Contributor Safety Is participating as an active full-fledged member of the team supported by autonomy and encouragement. Stage 4: Challenger Safety This is the last stage when others can provide constructive criticism and engage in productive conflict without fear of exclusion or retaliation. This is the stage where teams and individuals can adapt and innovate. It is extremely dangerous in a competitive marketplace not to have a culture of psychological safety. Psychological safety is a tool for leaders to help care for followers. Also, when it is emotionally expensive in the workplace to share what you think and feel, it triggers a self-censoring instinct that shuts down and blocks collaboration and innovation. “The presence of fear in an organization is the first sign of weak leadership.” Timothy Clark In a defensive and virtual climate, how can leaders best create a shared identity? In a complex and crisis-driven marketplace, leaders need employees that take risks. Identity leadership research has identified the following four dimensions of leadership that moderate shared identity: 1. Being one of us. Exemplifying the unique qualities and what it means to be a member of the team and distinct from other groups. Are you a model member of the team? 2. Doing it for us. Standing up for and championing the interests of the group rather than the leader’s interests. Acting in ways that overcome challenges and prevent team failure. Are you acting as a champion of the team? 3. Crafting a sense of us. Making a diverse team feel that they are part of the same group and increasing cohesion and inclusion. Clarifying what the team stands for and what it does not by defining core values. Are you creating team cohesion? 4. Making us matter. Designing and clarifying team roles and responsibilities in ways that maximize coordination and value visible to the team and organization. How well have you defined team roles in ways that are helpful to the team and business? Where you begin and how you approach creating a shared identity makes a difference. Studies have revealed that creating a shared identity is best introduced at a grassroots level versus a top-down approach. It is more effective to begin developing a shared identity within your team versus the organization. Also, evidence suggests team participation in the development of shared identity makes it better. “A change imposed is a change opposed.” Spencer Johnson Creating a shared identity begins with a conversation. Try asking the following questions in your next team or one-to-one meeting: Why is this team important to you? What is the value this team brings to the business? If you want to take it up a level, using an assessment can be a powerful tool for starting a good conversation and providing additional insights into a shared identity. The DISC temperament inventory or the Clifton StrengthsFinder are two low-cost proven tools that enhance clarity, commitment, and contribution within a team. What is the real shared identity challenge for you and your team? References Ashforth, B., & Mael, F. (1989). Social Identity Theory and the Organization. Academy of Management Review, Vol. 14, 20–39. Eckel, C. , & Gorssman, P. (2005). Managing diversity by creating team identity” Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization Vol. 58. 371–392. Clark, S. M., Gioia, D. A., Ketchen, D. J., & Thomas, J. B. (2010). Transitional identity as a facilitator of organizational identity change during a merger. Administrative Science Quarterly, 55(3), 397-438. Dick, R., Ciampa, V., & Liang, S. (2018). Shared identity in organizational stress and change. Current Opinion in Psychology, 23, 20-25. Greenaway, K. H., Wright, R. G., Willingham, J., Reynolds, K. J., & Haslam, S. A. (2015). Shared Identity Is Key to Effective Communication. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 41(2), 171–182. Krug, H., Haslam, A., Otto, K., & Steffens, N. (2021). Identity leadership, social identity continuity, and well-being at work during COVID-19. Frontiers in Psychology. Nagle, J., & Clancy, M. (2012). Constructing a shared public identity in ethno nationally divided societies: Comparing consociational and transformationist perspectives: Constructing a shared public identity in ethno nationally divided societies. Nations and Nationalism, 18(1), 78-97. Parker, K. (2018). Many Americans say women are better than men at creating safe, respectful workplaces. Pew Research Center. Rink, F., & Ellemers, N. (2007). Diversity as a basis for shared organizational identity: The norm congruity principle. British Journal of Management, 18(s1), S17-S27. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8551.2007.00523.xvan Steffens, N., Haslam A., Reicher S., Platow, M., Fransen, K., Yang, J., Ryan, M., Jetten, J., Peters, K., & Boen, F. (2014). Leadership as social identity management: Introducing the Identity Leadership Inventory (ILI) to assess and validate a four-dimensional model. The Leadership Quarterly, 25(5). 1001-1024.

Employees want more meaningful and purposeful work. Few experience happiness or commitment in the workplace. Research indicates that only two in ten U.S. employees are satisfied with their place of work. Despite this, 71% of executives recognize an engaged workforce is critical to a company's success. You're not alone if you are on a quest for the perfect career or feel stuck in a rut. A recent study found that nearly three in ten employees are looking for a new job in the new year. However, the best solution for many may not be found in switching positions or companies . There's a saying that if you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there. Discovering purpose and meaning at work begins with a clear picture of what it looks like rather than simply thinking, "Anything but this." Here is what you need to know about an ancient Japanese concept called ikigai and three steps to finding purpose and meaning at work. Starting with the end in mind matters Career fulfillment and satisfaction are found in balancing your passions, skills, and interests. It is a positive response to an actual or felt satisfaction of needs, desires, or aspirations. Athletes are trained to visualize themselves successfully achieving their goals before events. Numerous scientific studies link creative visualization (the ability to start with the end in mind) to improved performance, goal achievement, and stress management. Research supports that beginning with the end in mind through creative practice boosts your confidence and competence. Here is a short video on the concept of mental imagery used by athletes. Ikigai ( e -key-guy ) is a Japanese concept dating back to 794 AD that refers to your direction or purpose in life, providing fulfillment, satisfaction, and a sense of meaning. The literal translation consists of two words, 'iki' meaning to live and 'gai' meaning reason. Evidence suggests that the positive psychological effects of ikigai include: professional success well-being academic success physical benefits such as longevity of life Evidence from a study of over 40,000 adults found that both men and women with ikigai had a decreased risk of death from external causes. Visualizing your ikigai/career fulfillment Clarifying your ikigai unlocks the ability to visualize success (career fulfillment and satisfaction). Here is a short video on the meaning of ikigai. The key to understanding your professional ikigai is to explore the following four questions: What do you love to do? What does the world need? What can you get paid for? What are your strengths? The intersection points of these four questions help you clarify your passion (love and good at), mission (love and world needs), vocation (world needs and paid for), and profession (paid for and good at). The busyness of a fast-paced digital world has a way of keeping us from achieving our life's goals. Although this concept may appear straightforward, the value lies in the hard work of uncovering your answers to each of the four questions. Here are three steps to clarify your picture of career fulfillment: Finding Purpose and Meaning Step #1: Ask Yourself This is a potentially obvious point, but crucial. Planning is often the most significant barrier to reflection. You get too busy or distracted and move on to the next thing before reflecting. It doesn't have to be long, but I recommend scheduling at least 20 minutes in a quiet place. Then, ask yourself each question and journal what comes to your mind. Don't filter. Just write it down. Remember that discovering your answers to these questions is a journey rather than a one-time process. Finding Purpose and Meaning Step #2: Ask Others Find a few people who know you well, that you trust, and will be encouraging. Ask them how they would answer the questions for you. Consider hiring an executive coach . An effective executive coach will challenge assumptions and views and encourage, stretch, and challenge you. Coaching is a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires clients to maximize their personal and professional potential. Finding Purpose and Meaning Step #3: Reflect Reflect on what you heard. Consider themes rather than specific points shared and, as needed, edit or delete points you journaled. Once you understand your ikigai well, you can use the four questions and a simple Likert rating scale, where one is low, and five is high, to score every professional opportunity you might be considering along with your current work. The higher the score, the higher the alignment with your ikigai. References: Doolittle, J. (2023). Life-changing leadership habits: 10 Proven principles that will elevate people, profit, and purpose. Organizational Talent Consulting. Garcia, H. & Miralles, F. (2018). Ikigai: The Japanese secret to a long and happy life. Penguin Life. Personio (2021). Counting the cost: How businesses risk a post-pandemic talent drain. Schippers, M., & Ziegler, N. (2019). Life crafting is a way to find purpose and meaning in life. Frontiers in Psychology, 10 , 2778-2778. Tanno, K., Sakata, K., Ohsawa, M., Onoda, T., Itai, K., Yaegashi, Y., Tamakoshi, A., for JACC Study Group, & JACC Study Group. (2009). Associations of ikigai as a positive psychological factor with all-cause mortality and cause-specific mortality among middle-aged and elderly Japanese people: Findings from the Japan collaborative cohort study. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 67 (1), 67-75. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2021). Job openings and labor turnover summary. Economic News Release.

Caught between the pressure of urgent and important work demands, delegating is often one leadership approach to get cut. Yet one of the top five reasons high potential employees leave their current employer is for an exciting career development opportunity. What if effectively delegating is the very thing executive leaders need to master now more than ever to win in the marketplace? Effective executive leadership involves effective delegation. Executive leaders that maximize their purpose approach delegating with intention and a win-win mindset. Carefully considering the task, situation, employee capacity and capability, communication, and leadership support are essential to delegating, so that sticks. What Delegation Is and Is Not One of the more complex and essential things for a leader to do is go from doing to leading. Giving up authority and responsibility can seem counterintuitive to leadership. Effectively delegating increases work-related discretion and the authority for an employee to make decisions without consulting with you for pre-approval. Effective delegation is a dynamic two-way process that involves the transfer of responsibility and authority from the leader to a willing delegate. Effective delegation is not assigning a task or decision to an unwilling employee. Giving a direct report the responsibility without the authority does not work. Not having the authority to act results in wasted time and frustration for both you and the employee. Why Delegating is Important Research has found that effective delegation improves job satisfaction, responsibility, performance , intrinsic motivation, confidence, and career development. It is thought that delegation signals trust and support from the leader to the delegate, resulting in increased follower effort and performance. Additionally, effective delegation improves the employee perception of the leader's performance. If you want to do a few small things right, do them yourself. If you want to do great things and make an impact, learn to delegate. – John C. Maxwell Organizational Culture and Relationships Matter Research has demonstrated that your relationship quality with the employee and the organization's culture moderate the effectiveness of delegating. High levels of trust in high-quality leader-follower relationships enhance the positive outcomes of delegating. Likewise, if your relationship is weak with the delegate, the outcome is at risk. Hierarchical organization structures typically found in high-power distance cultures limit the positive effects of delegation on performance. High power distance relates to the lack of balance in power between the leader and follower. In traditional high power distance national cultures found in countries such as China or Japan, the leader has a much higher degree of power than the employee. 5 Steps to Delegating Effectively Effective delegation can be challenging. Spending a little time and effort upfront to consider the task, situation, employee, communication, and leadership support is crucial to delegate effectively. Use the following five-step checklist to improve your delegating skills. Step 1. Consider and decide if you should delegate. Delegating during crises with critical benefits or harm to the organization is not appropriate. Determine if delegating will help you use your time better or potentially develop others for succession or similar future work. Circumstances with tight timelines with severe or long-term consequences do not allow for mistakes or coaching for development. Step 2. Decide to whom you will delegate the decision or task. Consider if they have the experience, knowledge, skills, tools, resources, and willingness needed to succeed. Delegating to an employee that is overloaded can lead to costly mistakes. When using delegation for development, consider how to best support the delegate's development. Step 3. Clearly communicate what you are delegating, timelines, outcome expectations, and why you are delegating. Write it down and discuss it with the delegate to make sure they accept. Clarify if you will keep some of the elements of the task or decision yourself. Explain the reasons for why you are delegating and why you chose them. Discuss the tools and resources available and as appropriate development coaching. Step 4. Communicate with others. Decide what critical relationships are involved in this work and make sure they know what and to whom you have delegated the task or decision. Step 5. Provide feedback, incentives, and consequences. Monitor performance and provide corrective and appreciative input along the way, so the delegate knows how they are doing. Then evaluate their performance and let them know how they did. Doing a task for the first time and not knowing how you are doing is frustrating. Key Summary Points: Executive leaders that maximize their purpose approach delegating with intention and a win-win mindset. Giving a direct report the responsibility without the authority does not work. Effective delegation improves job satisfaction, responsibility, performance, intrinsic motivation, confidence, and career development. High levels of trust in high-quality leader-follower relationships enhance the positive outcomes of delegating. Hierarchical organization structures typically found in high-power distance cultures limit the positive effects of delegation on performance. Spending a little time and effort upfront to consider the task, situation, employee, communication, and leadership support is crucial to delegate effectively. If you want to architect a positive culture or need an executive coach , we're ready to partner with you to craft a solution specific to your organization's context and challenges. Getting started is as easy as visiting www.organizationaltalent.com or contacting us via email info@organizationaltalent.com. Organizational Talent Consulting utilizes proven, simple, and transformational personal and organizational development solutions to help our clients learn, change, and apply tools in ways that benefit their unique needs and corporate culture. References: Chevrier, S., & Viegas-Pires, M. (2013). Delegating effectively across cultures. Journal of World Business: JWB, 48(3), 431-439. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2012.07.026 Drescher, G. (2017). Delegation outcomes: Perceptions of leaders and followers’ satisfaction. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 32(1), 2-15. Joiner, T. A., & Leveson, L. (2015). Effective delegation among hong kong Chinese male managers: The mediating effects of LMX. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 36(6), 728-743. Yukl, G. and Fu, P. (1999), “Determinants of delegation and consultation by managers”, Journal of Organizational Behaviour, Vol. 20 No. 2, pp. 219-232.

The current global pandemic has quickly disrupted social, educational, political, and financial systems in every country, making 2020 a year of innovation. I can't think of any family or organization that has not faced some level of disruption. Sometimes in the excitement of looking ahead to future possibilities associated with innovation, it is easy to underestimate and forget to consider the impact of potentially devastating adverse reactions by employees. Employees are essential to innovation adoption and implementation, whether innovation is a new use for artificial intelligence or developing work from home policies. Understanding Organizational Antibodies Employees are "like biological antibodies in the human body," where they can both positively and negatively impact organizations (Oster). Negative innovation antibodies lead to significant organizational harm, and positive innovation antibodies lead to the creation, vetting, and implementation of new ideas. Today's growing marketplace challenges have intensified a fear of loss associated with some new technological innovations. However, in reality, the resistance is often not based on real evidence but rather on negative preconceptions of change. Adverse Reactions Negative innovation antibodies can often be identified by their lack of rational objectives versus an employee that is pushing back with valid concerns or speaking truth to leadership. Research has demonstrated that both positive and negative innovation reactions can be anticipated by a person's cognitive style and specific situation. Oreg's Resistance to Change Scale measures can identify positive or negative adoption of innovation reactions before implementation. Leadership using this information can anticipate where an additional emphasis on change management activities will need to be placed. Overcoming systemic adverse organizational reactions to innovation requires the cultural adoption of a worldview where innovation is boundless, and both the risks and the decisions involved are better understood. Communication can lower the amount of perceived change associated with innovation and reduce the organization's current satisfaction with the status quo. Effective communication begins with sparking an organizational debate and promotes active listening rather than launching a campaign to convince others about a point of view. During innovation, implementation leadership needs to react quickly and decisively to create organizational understanding and align the culture and reward systems to prevent adverse reactions. To read more about how leaders can foster innovation check out this recent post: Why Most Senior Leaders Fail to Foster Innovation and What to Do About It References Heidenreich, S., & Kraemer, T. (2016). Innovations—Doomed to fail? investigating strategies to overcome passive innovation resistance. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 33 (3), 277-297. doi:10.1111/jpim.12273 Juma, C. (2016). Innovation and its enemies: Why people resist new technologies . US: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190467036.001.0001 Oreg, S. (2003). Resistance to change: Developing an individual differences measure. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88 (4), 680-693. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.88.4.680 Oster, G. (2009). Listening to Luddites: Innovation antibodies and corporate success. Review of International Comparative Management. vol. 10(4), pages 647-667, October.

Given the increase in anxiety and division in the world today, the chances for conflict at work have increased. Despite best intentions, sometimes different personalities, heavy workloads, lack of respect, and cultural differences can lead to non-productive conflicts with coworkers or customers. According to a survey by CPP Inc of 5,000 full-time employees in nine countries, 85% of employees deal with conflict at work. This same study found that US workers spend more than 2.5 hours per week in a conflict. The estimated impact of non-productive conflict in America is well over $1.5 billion annually, not to mention the emotional and psychological costs on the workforce. Beyond employee productivity and wellbeing, a study by the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development of 2195 UK employees found that one in ten cases of conflict results in employee turnover. Of course, it is natural to want to minimize workplace conflict. Still, it is necessary to manage conflict and realize that productive conflict can have many positive outcomes. When you hear the word conflict, do you have mostly positive or negative feelings? Many people tend to have negative feelings associated with the word. However, conflict is not necessarily referring to aggressive confrontations or arguments. Conflict could mean a heated argument or a simple difference of opinion. The distinction lies in the importance of the issue and the amount of energy you put into it. Conflict is not a sign of failure, but when it is avoided or ignored, we make it something worse. Productive conflict is an open exchange of conflicting or differing ideas. Parties feel equally heard, respected, and unafraid to voice dissenting opinions to reach a mutually comfortable resolution. Even though conflict may be uncomfortable, it is productive to have ideas challenged so we can learn and grow. Non-productive conflict is an exchange of conflicting or differing ideas. Parties do not feel equally heard, respected, and afraid to voice dissenting opinions. Non-productive conflict arises when the real issues are not discussed, and attention is placed on trivial matters resulting in the conflict escalating. Productive conflict requires a healthy workplace culture and a strong commitment and dedication from everyone within the workplace. Conflict impacts more than just those that recognize the conflict. It is easy to miss the hidden cost of non-productive conflict in the workforce and the company's performance. Also, it is important to realize that our reactions to conflict can result in either positive or negative consequences. 3 Tips for Avoiding Non-Productive Conflict in the Workplace When it comes to productive conflict, understanding what NOT to do is just as important as understanding what to do. The following are some tips to keep you from mismanaging conflict at work: Don't wait around and do nothing. If a conflict is left unresolved, it will escalate over time with win-lose outcomes. Don't let your bias drive your solution to the issue. We all have biases, and it is essential to reflect on the situation and people involved before moving to solutions. Don't approach workplace conflict without a plan. As the saying goes, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Take time to prepare a productive conflict approach, so you are not just reacting without thinking. 3 Tips for Productive Conflict in the Workplace As we mentioned earlier, successfully creating productive conflict requires a healthy workplace culture and the dedication and commitment of the workforce. Invest the energy when times are tough. Avoiding conflict also takes time and energy. Avoiding conflict will only make matters worse for you, those involved, and the impact on your company. Commit and act. Like rapids in a river, there will be a time of conflict and calm. Both are natural and healthy for every workplace. The following are three tips for what you should do: Have a plan for how you are going to approach conflict in your workplace. Your plan should include answers to what, when, where, how, and why specific to the situation and those involved. Provide training for your leaders and employees on how to deal with workplace conflict. Training on creating productive conflict and communication should go beyond initial onboarding training for new employees. Be sure that everyone takes ownership in resolving non-productive workplace conflict. Create a culture of accountability for productive conflict that starts with your leadership. As Gandhi said, "be the change you wish to see in the world." How to Develop Your Productive Conflict Skills One of my favorite tools for assessing an individual's expectations and desires in conflict situations is the Thomas-Killman Conflict Mode Instrument (TKI). It is quick to complete and easy to understand for teams and individuals at any organizational level. The instrument describes behavior along the axes of assertiveness to satisfy personal concerns and cooperativeness to meet the other person's concerns. Using the TKI helps team members get to know each other and identify potential challenges and strategies to manage conflict constructively before a conflict arises. The TKI model describes five types of conflict and the methods for successfully managing conflict: (1) competing, (2) collaborating, (3) compromising, (4) avoiding, and (5) accommodating. Note: Conflict model adapted from Thomas (1992). Remember that disagreements do not have to be divisive and what you choose to do or not do will largely determine if you achieve productive conflict. Key Points Productive conflict competence is a must, and it contributes to organizational effectiveness. A non-productive conflict will likely escalate if not managed, and the time to intervene is when the conflict arises. While non-productive conflict can have negative consequences, productive conflict is a force for positive change and more inclusive workplaces when managed successfully. References: Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development. (2015). Getting under the skin of workplace conflict: Tracing the experiences of employees. Hayes, J. (2008). Workplace conflict and how businesses can harness it to thrive. CPP Global Human Capital Report. SHRM. (2021). Managing workplace conflict. Toolkits. Thomas, K. W. (1992). Conflict and conflict management: Reflections and update. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 13 (3), 265-274.

The innovation leadership battle is to introduce products and services that customers will use. Even the world's largest organizations have had significant and costly innovation misses, such as Google+, Samsung Galaxy Fold, and the Amazon Fire Phone. The technology sector is full of examples where new emerging technologies catch established organizations off guard. Too often, companies focus on the competition leading to these misses. Leaders benefit from understanding at a basic level how marketing works. In today's turbulent and fast-paced digital world, traditional approaches frequently fall short of revealing the customer's actual desires and needs. Whether you are the CEO or a frontline leader, delivering on your customers' stated and hidden needs and desires is vital to organizational success. Moving Beyond a Focus on Your Competition Although competition can be helpful to invoke change within your organization, the goal is innovating on value, not on your position against competition. Still, organizations frequently focus on the competition too much, leading to misunderstanding customer needs and desires. A better focus is on creating an uncontested market based on a value derived from your customer's implicit and explicit wants and needs. Competent innovation leadership focuses on customer desirability, the feasibility of the technology, and an innovation's potential economic growth and innovation viability. Understanding Your Customers Needs and Desires Products need to meet customer's purposeful and empathetic needs. Using traditional focus groups is helpful but contains some inherent weaknesses. Traditional focus groups effectively uncover stated needs but not indirect or hidden requirements. Customers are not intentionally misleading researchers during focus groups but they cannot effectively communicate the subtleties of their desires in the traditional focus group meeting format. Consider the spaghetti sauce example in the Ted Talk linked below from Malcolm Gladwell. For many years, an organization applied focus groups to understand the needs and desires of customers. However, the company never uncovered that a third of the population preferred chunky spaghetti sauce even though customers were repeatedly asked what they desired. The complexity of communication and the capability of entrepreneurial leaders to detect and understated signs from customers impacts the quality of outcomes attained from focus groups. Entrepreneurial leaders benefit from developing capabilities to identify faint signs of customer's wants and desires. Empathic Research Empathy is described as recognizing and understanding a person's state of mind. Creating products that will meet customer's and potential customer's empathetic needs requires a new approach to the traditional focus group. Empathic research involves seeing subtleties of natural behavior that reveal needs, desires, and behaviors not shared in traditional focus groups. Empathic research is qualitative in nature and based upon focused observation. Compensatory behaviors are one of the most prevalent signs of the need for empathic research. Compensatory behaviors are the use of a product in a manner other than intended, and they are everywhere. For example, consider the typical ironing board something you need but don't enjoy using if you are like me. Because it is unstable, you have to place it next to something to prevent it from tipping over when being used. The act of placing it next to something to prevent it from tipping over is a compensatory behavior. Organizations that realize the most value from empathic research engage customers, noncustomers, and users in the design process utilizing prototyping. In the Ted Talk below, Tim Brown shares a real-world example of the value of empathic research. Kaiser Permanente researched how to improve the patient experience and by applying an empathic research approach realized increased patient confidence and enhanced nurse happiness. In this example, nurses and practitioners applied observational research, brainstorming, and prototyping strategies focused on information sharing. The outcome led to shift changes in front of the patient instead of at the nurse's station. How to Improve the Traditional Focus Group Improving the traditional focus group approach to marketing and innovation means rethinking the how, who, what, and where (see Table 1) of the focus group. Direct observation is how focus groups should be conducted. Focus groups need to include leaders observing consumers. Entrepreneurial leaders need to make direct observations and not delegate this step. "There is no substitute for seeing for yourself" Kim and Mauborgne Whom to observe in the focus group needs to include customers, noncustomers, and users if they are not the customers. What leadership should be observing is customers and noncustomers directly engaging with the products and where is in their natural environment. Key Points Organizations are looking to innovate to fuel growth and every leader needs to understand marketing at a basic level. Products need to meet customer's purposeful and empathetic needs. The complexity of communication and the capability of entrepreneurial leaders to detect and understated signs from customers impacts the quality of outcomes attained from focus groups. Empathic research provides insights into how leaders can improve the traditional focus groups. References Agnihotri, A. (2016). Extending boundaries of blue ocean strategy. Journal of Strategic Marketing, 24 (6), 519-528. Brown, T. (2009). Designers-think big [Video]. TedGlobal2009 . https://www.ted.com/talks/tim_brown_designers_think_big#t-665462 Dyson, J. (2010). Sir James Dyson: cmypitch.com [Video]. Vimeo . https://vimeo.com/10816801 Gladwell, M. (2004) Choice, happiness and spaghetti sauce [Video]. Ted2004 . https://www.ted.com/talks/malcolm_gladwell_choice_happiness_and_spaghetti_sauce Kim, W. C., & Mauborgne, R. (2015). Blue ocean strategy: How to create uncontested market space and make competition irrelevant (1st ed.). Harvard Business School Press. Oster, G. (2008). Divining the need: Compensatory behavior of customers. Regen t Global Business Review, 2 (2), 14-18. Suarez, F. F., Utterback, J., Gruben, P. V., & Kang, H. Y. (2018). The hybrid trap: Why most efforts to bridge old and new technology miss the mark. MIT Sloan Management Review, 59 (3), 52-57. Thomas, J., & McDonagh, D. (2013). Empathic design: Research strategies. Australasian Medical Journal, 6 (1), 1-6.

Behavioral science proves it: your world is perfectly designed for the results you are getting. Leaders who want to achieve ambitious goals need to be able to change people or change people. Unfortunately, a challenging talent marketplace gripping every business is often delaying timely people changes that matter. Leaders feel trapped between tolerating performance below expectations or having the employees to deliver results. When you accept poor performance, everyone pays the price. It affects team effectiveness, talent retention, company culture, growth prospects, financial stability, innovation, and, ultimately, your leadership credibility. Making difficult decisions in leadership can't be escaped. But you can strive for better leadership habits that bring out the best in your team, and you can refuse to tolerate poor performance. Here is one practical performance improvement tool and four leadership habits proven to elevate people, profit, and purpose. Isn't poor performance better than a critical role vacancy? Right? Employee labor costs are often among the most significant budget line items. The benefits of effective performance management are well documented beyond the obvious benefit of increasing revenue. Effectively applying performance reinforcement leads to increased organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). Also known as discretionary effort, OCB is performance management's "Holy Grail." It cracks the code to the full potential of a team and organization. Evidence links effective performance management with positive individual and organizational outcomes such as increased productivity, decreased employee turnover intentions , reduced absenteeism, improved operational efficiency, reduced costs, and improved customer satisfaction. Performance is contagious. Tolerating poor performance reinforces poor performance. Failing to bring out an employee's best undervalues your team. When performance falls below the standards of the job, the employee, team, and organization suffer. A study revealed that underperforming employees comprise more than 15% of organizations. Reduced productivity, inferior products and services, and team morale issues stem from tolerating poor performance in the workplace. Are you accidentally tolerating poor performance? Below are four common and dangerous accidental habits leaders develop in a company culture that tolerates poor performance. If you recognize one or more of these symptoms of  tolerating poor performance, now is the time to take action. Accidental Habit #1: Don't let performers know how they are performing. Too often, leaders avoid providing feedback on performance. Providing clear expectations and giving feedback are essential for employees to achieve high-performance levels. Sadly, the lack of this feedback is a common challenge for poor performers and high performers. Leaders often don't feel equipped to provide specific feedback or lack the will to have a difficult conversation about an employee's performance. Avoiding a difficult conversation often worsens the situation for the employee and the leader. Accidental Habit #2: Design and provide tools without input from performers. Time constraints and an overreliance on past understanding are often behind the faulty decision-making why leaders don't solicit employee input from followers. Employees cannot perform at high levels without the proper staffing, equipment, or budget. Accidental Habit #3: Pay poor performers the same as good ones. Leaders pulled in multiple directions often lack direct performance observation and performance documentation to quantify the difference between the top and bottom performers. The result is often that poor performance gets rewarded equally with high-performance levels. Accidental Habit #4: Don't develop team members. Sometimes, leaders don't invest in coaching and developing employees out of fear that developed employees will find another job. In a fast-paced digital marketplace, training investments must match the pace of change so that employees remain current and capable. How to avoid tolerating poor performance Just stop it! Ok, that's probably not the most helpful advice. One of my favorite Bob Newhart skits presents this oversimplified advice for a client seeking help. If you need to laugh before jumping to real advice, here is the video. To avoid tolerating poor performance, it is helpful first to understand the factors that influence performance. Psychologist and founder of the field of human performance technology, Thomas Gilbert, argued that environmental and individual are the two fundamental performance factors influencing our behavior. Environmental Factors : Factors that the leader controls Individual Factors : Factors that the performer controls He identified that the primary environmental factors are information, tools, resources, and incentives. And identified that skills, knowledge, capacity, and motivation are the primary individual factors. These six factors are described below in the Behavior Engineering Model. You can apply the model like a checklist to understand where to optimize performance and uncover what followers need most to improve their performance on any given task. When using this model to diagnose opportunities for improvement, a simple way to get started is to ask employees in team meetings or one-to-one: Which of the six factors would help them immediately improve their performance? When asking this question, be prepared to be surprised and follow up with probing questions such as: What is the real challenge? Or What else? In my application for the Behavioral Engineering Model, I have polled hundreds of employees across many different industries, and the most frequently selected performance improvement factor needed is information and feedback, followed by tools and resources. The only exception that I have found is with new hires, who often choose skills and knowledge. Four life-changing leadership habits Leaders who avoid tolerating poor performance tend to have the following good leadership habits: Leadership Habit #1: Provide timely feedback for high performance Timely feedback is not once a year or a month. Performance feedback is best when given as close to being in the moment as possible. Leadership Habit #2: Ask for input before making decisions that impact others Remember, those closest to tasks have unique insights, and likely, many changes have occurred since the last time you performed the task. Leadership Habit #3: Provide incentives for good performance Compensation for the work is not enough. The rewards and incentives you provide can be as simple as saying thank you. Leadership Habit #4: Invest in developing followers Career development is frequently one of the top reasons employees leave their current jobs. Find out what employees need to help them achieve higher performance levels and provide opportunities to learn and grow in those areas. One of the best ways to avoid tolerating poor performance is to create an environment that brings out the best in followers. The Behavioral Engineering Model can help you take action and make changes in ways that matter most. Accidental leadership habits and ineffective leadership approaches are not destiny, and all leaders need to continually develop at a pace consistent with the change in the leader's world. If you want to learn more ways to maximize performance, you will want to check out my book, Life-Changing Leadership Habits. Are those you lead growing, serving others, and prepared to surpass you? References: Daniels, A., & Daniels, J. (2006). Performance management: Changing behavior that drives organizational effectiveness. Performance Management Publications. Doolittle, J. (2023). Life-changing leadership habits: 10 proven principles that will elevate people, profit, and purpose. Organizational Talent Consulting. Gallup. (2023). Global engagement survey. Gilbert, T. (1978). Human competence: Engineering worthy performance. McGraw-Hill. Faragher, J. (2006). Employers lose 32m a year, tolerating poor performance. Personnel Today , 1. Plump, C. (2010). Dealing with problem employees: A legal guide for employers. Business Horizons , 53(6), 607-618.

Despite R&D being risky and expensive, businesses are betting big on innovation to fuel growth and competitive advantage. Companies like Amazon, Apple, Alphabet, and Meta are investing billions annually. The R&D budgets from the top 100 innovation leaders total over $720 billion, an increase of 15.3% from the prior year. But evidence suggests that executives remain dissatisfied with their company's innovation performance. As the world rapidly changes, businesses and people must change. Culture is the one thing that impacts everything. An innovation culture supports beliefs and feelings about the importance of innovation, as well as habits that encourage research and development. Here are three proven steps that will move your company closer toward an innovation culture. Benefits of an innovation culture It is no secret that culture is a powerful force multiplier for your company's mission and values - and when properly harnessed, it can become a powerful competitive advantage. Companies with a positive culture experience 8x more profitability than S&P 400 firms. Organizational culture defined is "a pattern of shared basic assumptions that the group learned as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, that has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems." Edgar Schein Although innovation requires taking risks, failing to innovate can be fatal to a business. The proven benefits of innovation include: increased competitive advantage improved operational productivity reduced costs and increased revenue improved commercial value enhanced problem-solving One modern innovation that is impressive to watch is SpaceX's reusable Falcon 9 (watch the video below). Space travel alone is challenging, but reusing a rocket by landing it on a drone ship takes the complexity to another level. A financial services company engaged in investment banking and capital markets estimated the customer benefit of the Space X Falcon 9 reusable rocket. If Space X passed on 50 percent cost savings to its customers, this one innovation could reduce company costs by 21% or $48.3 million per launch. A recent study found that only 12% of companies claim to have a program in place to define and improve culture. Although only one in four employees strongly agree that they can apply their company's values daily. Here are the three steps leaders can take to cultivate a culture of innovation. Innovation Culture Step 1: Defining Your Culture Trying to define and change company culture is overwhelming. When you don’t have a shared understanding of culture, it's difficult to create a plan to transform it. You waste time and money on ideas that don't move the needle, you guess instead of following a proven process, and employee performance stalls (or worse) dips. Defining an innovation culture in measurable and actionable terms is essential for a thriving company culture. The Competing Values Framework created by Dr. Kim Cameron and Dr. Robert Quinn identified four fundamentally different cultures. This tool can be extremely useful for defining the current and desired culture of any organization. Clan Culture creates a collaborative atmosphere like a family. This culture emphasizes the value of teamwork, participation, and a consensus decision-making style. Adhocracy Culture creates an energetic and entrepreneurial atmosphere. This culture stresses the importance of research and continuous improvement. Market Culture creates a competitive, fast-paced, results-oriented environment. This culture highlights coming in first. Hierarchy Culture is a top-down formal rule-based atmosphere. This culture emphasizes efficient, reliable, and cost-effective performance. Note: Adapted from Cameron and Quinn (2011). Innovation Culture Step 2: Overcoming a Fear of Failure Fear of failure is the enemy of an innovative culture. An organizational fear of failure limits experimentation, risk-taking, and failure, all of which are necessities of innovation. In three separate studies, researchers found that the fear of failure triggered by an objective or psychological reaction is detrimental to decision-making and reduces opportunity-seeking behaviors. The acceptance of failure as learning is fundamental to innovation but challenging to comprehend. Watch the following short video to see why Honda accepts failure and suggested it is the secret to their success. A step toward learning to overcome the fear of failure is to reframe that failure is necessary and learning is the opportunity. I like adopting the paradigm of experimentation. The following are three proven strategies leaders can use to help employees overcome a fear of failure: Game Theory: Game theory can be used in a safe environment without the harmful consequences of the real world to teach employees about failure as learning. Mindfulness: Mindfulness-based stress-reduction meditation training has been shown to have a positive outcome in overcoming the fear of failure. Mindfulness meditation is defined as learning to focus on purpose at the moment without judgment of experiences. Rewards: Innovation behaviors need to be rewarded and recognized even if they do not directly achieve the desired goal. I am not advocating for rewarding the result of failure. However, reinforcing desired innovation behaviors increases the behaviors necessary for innovation. Innovation Culture Step 3: Leadership The role of leadership is to encourage, guide, and empower innovative behaviors. Cultural change should be approached with purpose and caution. Cultivating an innovation culture is not a one-off initiative. Leaders can increase innovation effectiveness by clarifying the gap between the current and desired state, identifying and removing barriers to innovation, and clarifying innovation processes. Innovations are dependent on leadership's ability to deliver: Effective leadership Company innovation integration Controlled change volume and focus Creativity and innovation value realization Reward and recognition for desired behaviors Internal and external diverse relationships and talent Remove barriers and negative reactions to innovation After setting expectations, leaders need to align what they regularly pay attention to, how they respond in a time of crisis, where they allocate resources, what they reward, and how they buy, build, and bounce employees with the defined behavioral expectations of the innovation culture. A culture of innovation comprises many different attributes, and learning quickly is critical to building an innovation-based culture. Cultures that produce innovation adhere to three basic rules: Creating innovation teams and addressing the "lack of time" barrier Holding employees accountable and providing persuasive prompts for innovation Recruiting, rewarding, recognizing, and developing innovation champions An empirical study of over 800 organizations found that effective innovation characteristics are not the same for product innovation and process innovation. For example, the research demonstrated that increasing problem-solving freedom among employees decreased product innovation. We can help you cultivate a culture of innovation Organizational culture is often complex to describe making change difficult and confusing, while busy leaders and employees lack access to high-quality training, proven tools, and over-the-shoulder guidance necessary to create positive culture change. Our solutions accelerate positive culture change, create committed employees, and drive your business growth. References: Beswick, C., Bishop, D., & Geraghty, J. (2015). Building a culture of innovation: A practical framework for placing innovation at the core of your business . Kogan Page, Limited. Cameron, K. S. (2006). Competing values leadership: Creating value in organizations . E. Elgar Pub. Cantaragiu, R., & Hadad, S. (2013). The importance of play in overcoming fears of entrepreneurial failure. European Conference on Knowledge Management, 833. Çokpekin, Ö., & Knudsen, M. P. (2012). Does organizing for creativity really lead to innovation? Creativity and Innovation Management, 21 (3), 304-314. Doolittle, J. (2023). Life-changing leadership habits: 10 Proven principles that will elevate people, profit, and purpose. Organizational Talent Consulting. Gierczak-Korzeniowska, B., & Gołembski, G. (2017). Benchmarking in the process of creating a culture of innovation in hotel companies. Economics and Business Review, 3 (17) (2), 101-113. Hjeltnes, A., Binder, P., Moltu, C., & Dundas, I. (2015). Facing the fear of failure: An explorative qualitative study of client experiences in a mindfulness-based stress reduction program for university students with academic evaluation anxiety. International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being, 10 (1), 27990-27990. Kollmann, T., Stöckmann, C., & Kensbock, J. M. (2017). Fear of failure as a mediator of the relationship between obstacles and nascent entrepreneurial activity—An experimental approach. Journal of Business Venturing, 32 (3), 280-301. Loeb, W. (2018). Amazon Is the biggest investor in the future, spends $22.6 billion on R&D. Forbes. McKinsey & Company. (2021) Global innovation survey. Schein, P. (2017). Organizational culture and leadership (5th ed). Wiley. Tucker, R. B. (2008). Driving growth through innovation: How leading firms are transforming their futures . Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Incorporated.

Trust is an essential attribute for establishing value-added relationships with customers, employees, regulators, and investors. In addition to developing trust as a leader , evidence-based research is clear that organizational trust directly impacts the bottom line in many different ways . Corporate trust builds resilience against market chaos, enhances attitudes, intentions, and relationships with key stakeholders. Several research studies link organizational trust with discretionary effort, also known as organizational citizenship behavior, the "holy grail" of performance management. Additionally, organizational trust influences an organization's ability to attract and retain top talent. Today's Unfortunate Distrust Reality A recent 2019 largescale study of over 34,000 participants across 28 world markets found no institution is viewed as competent and ethical . There is an increasing sense of inequity driving down trustworthiness. This same study found that businesses are considered as the most capable but lack ethical behavior. Also, non-governmental agencies are perceived as behaving the most ethically but lack competence. What is also concerning is that many companies this year made significant changes to how they operate, undermining reliability and stability perceptions. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in April 2020, unemployment rates in 43 states reached their highest levels since unemployment data began being collected in 1976. Additionally, increased opportunistic mergers and acquisitions have led to further changes within organizations. What makes an organization trustworthy? A widely accepted evidence-based understanding of organizational trust is the perception of the organization's ability, purpose, and integrity. Ability – the skills, competencies, and characteristics that enable an organization to influence within a specific area Purpose – organizations moral obligations and responsibility to demonstrate concern for others interests Integrity – the follow through on organizational promises in a manner that is acceptable by others Interestingly, integrity is the most essential factor of all three organizational trust factors. Edelman's recent study found that integrity and purpose account for 76% of a business's trustworthiness and competence only accounts for 24%. Having competent leaders, being financially stable, providing quality products, and being a recognizable brand is not as important to organizational trust as acting with integrity and purpose. Ideas for Restoring Organizational Trust Today's marketplace realities make building and enhancing organizational trust an essential strategy for any business looking to thrive in the future. Companies wanting to restore organizational trust should start by focusing on delivering in the dimensions of purpose and integrity. Improving Equity: Inequities in opportunities and wages are negatively impacting organizational trust. In America, black men earn 88% of what white men make, and black women earn 66% of what white men make. Additionally, almost 47% of the workforce is women; however, few women are in senior executive leadership positions. Conduct an equity audit of wage and employment opportunities. Additionally, establish reporting that can help bring visibility and accountability for continued growth and improvements. Improving Organizational Openness and Transparency: In addition to the usual channels of one-to-one and open-door meetings, it is essential to provide additional channels for open communications. Share results, responsibilities, ideas, opportunities for improvement, company information, and expectations clearly to everyone. Review the organization's privacy and transparency guidelines to be explicit where the company draws the line. Communicate with emotion as well as rationale. Open communication is a two-way street for both employees and leadership to engage. The goal is to create safety by being open and candid to demonstrate caring and respect. Also, remember that communication sent is not communication received. Develop a dashboard to measure how the organization is progressing toward openness and transparency in all communication aspects. Improving Consistency and Predictability: No one can predict the future, so this may seem incredibly challenging to be consistent and predictable in today's virtual, volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous marketplace. A guiding principle to adopt is, to be honest with predictions about the unknown, even if dismal, rather than to avoid predictions or provide unrealistic optimistic predictions. Strategies for consistency and predictability should focus on leadership, teams, and systems: (1) behaving in ways that align with communicated expectations, (2) Increasing access to information for all stakeholders, (3) and establishing a cadence for communications and processes. Clarify expectations before decisions are made by involving others in decision-making processes. Creating a RACI chart for goals and strategies can provide improved clarity. Also, utilize dashboards to increase visibility and understanding of information used in decision-making processes. If you would like to learn more about how you can improve trust at a leadership level check out this article on How Leaders can Move Relationships from Distrust to Trust . Also, if you are looking for help with individual or organizational development to thrive we would like to help ( contact us ). References: DeWolf, M. (2017). 12 stats about working women. U.S. Department of Labor. Glynn, S. (2018). Gender wage inequality [PDF]. Equitable Growth. Ozmen, Y. S. (2018). How employees define organisational trust: Analysing employee trust in organisation. Journal of Global Responsibility, 9 (1), 21-40. doi:10.1108/JGR-04-2017-0025 Sousa-Lima, M., Michel, J. W., & Caetano, A. (2013). Clarifying the importance of trust in organizations as a component of effective work relationships. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 43 (2), 418-427. doi:10.1111/j.1559-1816.2013.01012.x Stevenson, H. & Moldoveanu, M. (1995). The power of predictability. Harvard Business Review . https://hbr.org/1995/07/the-power-of-predictability U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics . (2020). Home.