Mental Toughness: do you have what it takes?

If you heard the words mental toughness would it conjure up a picture of someone who is super resilient, able to deal with any situation no matter how stressful and no matter how critical the decisions to resolve that situation?

If the answer is yes, or even partly yes, it would be perfectly understandable – the very word ‘toughness’, if taken in a literal sense, means robustness or hardiness.

Having attended a recent seminar, it certainly dispelled some myths for me around the topic because it isn’t just about being strong in character. From a business psychology perspective it is indeed the ability to ‘bounce back’ and have resilience (one of the foundation stones in our Organisational Base Building™ model discussed in an earlier blog: http://www.ipsoinsights.com/2012/04/normal-0-microsoftinternetexplorer4.html).  

I liked the analogy used by the speaker which was simply to ask the question ‘Are you the sort of person who would say “bring it on” or hide under the duvet...?’ This puts the notion of mental toughness into context because it has relevance for us all regardless of the type of work we do or organisation we happen to work for.

That said, it clearly also has resonance for those in a leadership role and within a framework of ‘resilient’ leadership. Are leaders expected to be superhuman? Of course, this would depend on your definition of ‘superhuman’,  but most will expect leaders to be resilient in that they have to be able to deal with the slings and arrows that any ‘business as usual’ or crisis situation throws at them – it’s part and parcel of a leadership role (which comes in many guises).

It’s also actually about a mind-set of how we respond when we’re asked to do something and relates to a personality trait which determines how people deal with challenge. Positive thinking is a component of mental toughness - someone who is low on the positive thinking scale is probably more likely to have the ‘hide under the duvet’ mindset than the ‘bring it on’. I would suspect that most of us know of or have worked with people who fit the former rather than the latter!

The model of mental toughness discussed in the seminar was that devised by Dr Peter Clough from the University of Hull. It has four components, (nicely summed up as the “four C’s”), and is the basis of the MTQ48, a psychometric tool designed to measure mental toughness.

The four “C’s”:

• Challenge (you see opportunities rather than threats)
• Control (your perception of self worth – this sub-sects into Life Control  
         and Emotional Control)
• Commitment (your tenacity or “stickability”)
• Confidence (how you deal with adversity)

Apparently, of those who have completed the MTQ48, results show that the majority of the ‘population’ sits somewhere in the middle of the scale (not quite an 80/20 split but not very far off) with the remainder either as ‘low’ or ‘high’.  This has quite interesting implications for those in a leadership role...

Another interesting nugget which I wasn’t necessarily surprised about, (although this subject could easily take up another couple of blogs with the various research and viewpoints that exist), is that of the four “C’s”, ‘Confidence’ is the only factor where there is a gender difference: men have more confidence in their ability; women more confidence in their interpersonal skills...

The components of resilient leadership, and what most leaders need, are said to be:

• Leadership skills
• Mental toughness and
• Emotional intelligence

It’s good to know that there are ways you can increase your mental toughness which I’ll explore in a future post. For now I’d like to end this blog post with a phrase that brings together the essence and underlying principle behind mental toughness because of its simplicity and power: “we are what we think...”

Would you agree?

 

www.ipsoconsulting.com

Five business reasons to invest in developing your people

Once a business has hired people, whether it’s as little as two or as much as two hundred, giving employees the opportunity for development is a must. Why? Put simply, developing your employees effectively helps to improve the success of your business - both the individual and the business benefit - it’s a win-win situation.

Shrewd managers know that their people, as much as their products and services, differentiate them from their competitors. They recognise too that people are the key to delivering effective change and laying the foundations for future growth.

This will mean an investment on the part of the business, whether that’s in time and/or money, and although sometimes this may need to be in a ‘classroom’ format, these days there are a wide range of learning tools that don’t require that and indeed, dependent on the development needs, the workplace itself can provide a ‘real-time’ classroom.

Five reasons to develop your people:

1.  To maximise on the time and money you’ve invested in hiring - think about what it takes to find and hire really good people. If you’re not giving them the opportunity to make the most of their existing skills and learn new ones then you’re not capitalising on your investment – in fact, you’re watching it depreciate in front of your very eyes!

2.  To increase productivity - Engaged and motivated employees are more productive. There’s a lot of research that exists about the link between people being engaged and motivated and how productive they are in the workplace (the Government backed ‘Engage for Success’ initiative is just one example) and funnily enough that’s the reality too. Cast your mind back to the last time you were bored or uninterested in something...  if that’s your state of mind, are you really going to want to do your best and focus on the task at hand or are you more likely to do the minimum that you can get away with? In a small business, this arguably has an even greater impact.

3. To improve customer satisfaction - Your employees are your brand ambassadors. Every contact an employee has with your customers either reinforces or undermines the organisation’s image and reputation. Engaged employees will help promote the brand and protect the business from the risks associated with poor service levels or product quality.

4.  To keep your best performers – you may think that pay would be the biggest motivator for people to leave (or stay) with your company, however, lack of appreciation, poor management and limited promotion prospects come higher than pay. The average cost of employee turnover can be several thousand pounds (dependent on the role) when you consider the cost of recruitment and selection, cover required during the period there is a vacancy, and induction training for the new employee.

5.  To gain a competitive advantage – it keeps employees in the loop while constantly presenting them with the challenge of learning. This makes it easier when the need arises to implement new technology or processes which will keep your business ahead of the game.

There are clear business returns in developing your people. The challenge for many companies however, is to capture the metrics that demonstrate a return on the time and money invested.

Any development should be clearly linked to business goals and performance and part of the business strategy and it should also be a two-way conversation. As with anything, setting clear and tangible objectives beforehand will manage expectation on both sides of what will be achieved and how it will help both the individual employee and the business.

For many small and medium-sized businesses the first barrier is sometimes to change the mind-set of managers to ensure that they are bought in to the value that learning and development initiatives can deliver; then it’s about ensuring staff are given the encouragement, direction and support to get the most out of the development opportunities they are given.

If you would like to know more about how people development can give your business the edge, then please get in touch at  naheed@ipsoconsulting.com or connect with me on Twitter @NaheedMirza

www.ipsoconsulting.com

This article appeared in freshbusinessthinking.com - an on-line resource for business owners, directors and entrepreneurs.

The ONE thing to do if you want to hire staff in 2013

There have been a number of commentators and surveys in the past few weeks that, in one way or another, suggest more businesses will be looking to hire staff in 2013. Although growth is likely to be slow, The Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) reports that employers are feeling optimistic about their hiring process and KPMG cautiously hint that the “war for talent” may be returning for sectors with skills shortages. 

 

Salaries will be your biggest cost dependent on the size of the business and to some extent the sector you operate in. This is why so many companies quote that often used cliché that “people are our greatest asset”. The fact of the matter is that recruiting and retaining good people is one of the fundamentals to business success; make a bad hire and you’ll soon hear about it through your customers and staff.

Clearly then it’s important to get it right and yet so many businesses make a basic error by not including relevant psychometric assessments as part of the hiring process to inform their decision making about who to recruit. Put simply, psychometrics are formal, structured exercises designed to measure qualities such as verbal, numerical or reasoning ability and personality factors. Well designed assessments are tested to ensure they are fair, reliable and valid and there will be a test that is relevant for whichever role you could recruit for.

 As a business person, would you launch a new product without doing some sort of market research to understand whether there’s a demand for it? Or ignore feedback from your existing customers...? Of course not, because without your customers, your business wouldn’t exist for very long. Why then, would you recruit new people without objectively assessing their strengths and whether they are the right ‘fit’ for your business? If this is the one thing you are not doing then your organisation is missing a trick and in the current climate it’s a risk your business can’t afford to take.

Having been a manager who has recruited people for a variety of roles and worked with many organisations to advise on the most effective recruitment and development processes, I know how critical this is. What you want is to hire people who don’t just have the technical skills to do the job (that’s the easy bit because you can get most of this from a CV and an interview) but what I call the right “motivational” fit for the business – that is the more elusive.

 

I’m sure that every manager will at some point have come across individuals who sounded great on paper and interviewed well enough but turned out not to be quite right for the business – unfortunately, when they’ve already been hired this becomes a more problematic and costly issue to resolve! The fact is that if psychometric assessment had been used then this would have been highlighted before an offer had been made.

There are many myths that exist about psychometric assessment and in my experience the three most common misconceptions clients have are that: 1/ it’s expensive; 2/ they can’t see the value of using it – why pay for something when ‘gut feel’ has always worked for them in the past; or 3/ they think using psychometric assessment will make the process even longer and they need someone in post right now!

The facts are that, dependent on the level of role and type of assessment used, the cost can be tens rather than hundreds of pounds – the real question should be how much it will cost you if you make the wrong decision for your business.

While ‘gut feel’ may have a part to play as part of the overall process, it will never aid decision making in an objective and impartial way; this is where some managers can fall into the trap of recruiting clones of themselves and demonstrate unconscious bias (judging someone according to a stereotype, positive or negative, that we are familiar with), rather than what the business needs.

With regards to the time it takes, most psychometric assessments can be completed online and so the turnaround from completion by the individual through to analysis and feedback given by a qualified practitioner to the manager could be done in as little as a day or two rather than taking weeks.

So if you are looking to hire new people talk to a qualified and experienced assessment practitioner and involve them from the word go. They will be able to advise you on the key skills you should be focusing on and the most appropriate psychometric assessment tools for the role and level you are looking to recruit to.

Here are some things you need to think about:

1.   Be clear in your own mind as to the knowledge, ability and technical skills required to do the job – which is essential and which is desirable. Be realistic with this as it will give you clarity on what’s really important and what you will assess applications on.

2.   Really think about the type of person who will succeed within your organisation – remember, someone who thrives in a creative and fluid environment may not function effectively in a highly regulated, procedure-driven organisation.

3.   Provide honest information about what the company is like and what you expect of your people from the very start of the process – give people the opportunity to sift themselves out before they make an application – this avoids disappointment by both parties at interview stage.

4.   Incorporate these elements into a role profile and use this as the basis for all job advertisements and communication about the role/s and state that applicants will be expected to complete a psychometric assessment as part of the process.

5.   Ask candidates to complete the relevant psychometric assessment before they are interviewed, or if you’re recruiting a high volume for a particular role (eg customer service or graduate level), at the start of the process so it helps you to sift early on.

This will give you an opportunity to probe any areas that have been highlighted. Specific questions can then be incorporated as part of the interview process and allows for a two-way discussion.

 

Follow these tips and you should have a fit-for-purpose and less stressful process whether you’re recruiting one person or several.

 

To find out more, download our white paper 'The business value of psychometric assessment: dispelling some myths and misconceptions'

If you would like to know more about how to improve your recruitment or development processes, then please get in touch at naheed@ipsoconsulting.com or via Twitter @NaheedMirza

 

www.ipsoconsulting.com

 

 

This article appeared in freshbusinessthinking.com - an on-line resource for business owners, directors and entrepreneurs. 

Leadership: imagine yourself as a frog...

Have you heard the boiling frog anecdote? I was reminded of it by a recent conversation in which the topic was organisations who don’t realise they’re in trouble... until it’s past the point of no return – the example was the recent sad but inevitable going into administration of the video chain Blockbusters.

If you’re not familiar with the anecdote, it’s based on the premise that if a frog is placed in boiling water, it will jump out. But if it’s placed in cold water that is slowly heated, it won’t perceive the danger and will slowly but surely get cooked to death!

In scientific terms, this apparently isn’t strictly true – but it’s still a point well made in the context of how you need to be aware of gradual change which slowly develops and not just the sudden changes which are far more obvious and easily detected. At a leadership level, this ability to “see into the future” is almost an expectation because leaders set the strategy and direction of an organisation. When things are going well, the leaders take the credit, but equally when things go badly, the blame is squarely on their shoulders.

I like this anecdote not only because it immediately conjures up a vivid image that everyone understands but also because I can’t imagine having a conversation with anyone who would willingly and deliberately want to be the ‘frog’ that gets slowly cooked! But don’t most of us do this every day because of our human tendency to form habits so that we respond in certain ways to certain scenarios? This is as relevant on an organisational and team level as it is at an individual level.

The paradox is that this notion could also be used to illustrate the idea that change needs to be gradual to be accepted, and for most of us, change is a threat when it’s something that’s done TO us, but an opportunity when done BY us.

In the ‘VUCA’ (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous) environments that we work in, paying attention and being aware of 'slight' changes is what will keep you ahead of the curve – either professionally on an individual level or in a competitive marketplace in organisational terms.

As a leader you need to have the flexibility and resilience to adopt a mindset and behaviours that demonstrate you embrace challenge and change:

1. Be curious and inquisitive – question processes and know what’s happening in your sector and other sectors that have gone through or are going through change

2. Collaborate more - actively build relationships and develop connections – both internally and externally – with those from different disciplines who you know will see things from a different perspective to your own.

3. Take your continuous professional development seriously – with a gamut of options from workshops, seminars and webinars available, it doesn’t necessarily have to be either classroom-based or over a long period of time, so there really isn’t an excuse not to keep abreast of things.

4. Take your team’s professional development seriously – ensure that they are taking advantage of and have the opportunity to gain breadth and depth in knowledge and skills – they’re likely to take the lead from you...

5. Involve experts - don’t be afraid to reach out to experienced consultants who can work with you to give an impartial and objective view to help you move forward. But choose wisely and work with those who you trust will give you a ‘warts and all’ picture.

So imagine yourself as the frog, which one would you rather be?

 

www.ipsoconsulting.com

Are you a ‘T’ shaped individual?

Fact: organisations and the individuals that make up those organisations need to be able to survive in the certainty of the uncertain. These days that’s a given.

Complexity and ambiguity (which works both ways) in environmental, economic and technological factors come into play and so leaders need to be confident in their ability to navigate through both even and choppy waters as necessary. The ability to maintain a clear, calm and insightful mind without becoming overwhelmed and caught in a downward spiral of confusion, anxiety and stress will be the position that many leaders strive to achieve.

But, can you be all things to all people? Common sense would dictate that the answer to this question is no.

If you’re in a leadership role, people expect that you are able to flex between being strategic when required and also be good at the understanding and deploying the tactics necessary to drive the strategy. If you are one of those people that can actually balance both well you are what’s known as T-shaped or a “generalising specialist”.

Often we neglect to look beyond the depth (or height) of knowledge and appoint people to roles that demand more communication across organisational boundaries than they are able to exercise. Clearly, you want people to be well-qualified and experienced in their various disciplines, but if the crossbars of the Ts don't extend far enough sideways to overlap then the organisation can't work properly.

T-shaped leadership

The term "T-shaped" describes people who possess deep capabilities in a core function (the vertical part of the T), with broad capacities in diverse areas (the horizontal part of the T).

While leadership is often seen as a vertical progression of mastery, it is equally important for leaders to seek experiences that would widen their horizons, challenge their perspectives, and develop greater agility.

In every organisation there are a few individuals who naturally embody these ‘T’-capabilities – the informal ‘networkers’ who know how to create shared objectives and get others to buy-in to them, develop mutually beneficial relationships founded on reciprocity, and can corral information and mobilise resources without ‘formal’ control. I suspect that these are individuals who are more likely to be open and comfortable with harnessing the power of social media too, rather than those who are nervous and apprehensive about it (see Leaders and social media: a question of fight or flight?).

In most larger organizations, much of the work really gets done through these ‘informal’ relationships, rather than through the ‘formal’ structures. Looking through a leadership lens, this is where developing a compelling leadership brand that directly links to the organizational brand can really help differentiate and enable impressive outcomes – and here’s why: because a leadership brand is about the collective – ie what the leadership within an organisation wants to be known for. It enables the "whole" to be more than "the sum of its parts" and critical to this is overcoming a silo-mentality and demonstrating more joined-up thinking.

In reality this shouldn't be as hard as it sounds… much of it is actually down to openly communicating with your peers and colleagues and it starts at the top by demonstrating, instilling and developing joined-up behaviours. So leaders should:

• Have the right attitude and believe that a job has two responsibilities - to achieve high performance in their own department and to contribute to other departments' performance.
  
  
• Know their own area. The vertical part of the T is the area of their department's expertise.
  
  
• Know about other areas. For instance, if you're an engineer, you should know a little about marketing and sales or you won't contribute effectively.
  
  
• Have the right networks. Build effective interpersonal contacts with diverse colleagues and people outside your company. Be persuasive, influencing people with the power of rank or finances.

In the past leaders could depend upon the notion that if they succeeded within their own fields of interests that they could be assured of success. That expectation is changing. Both individual and collective goals are now rewarded and teamwork and collaboration and an openness and commitment to working interdependently is the key to making this happen.

So, the future should be T-shaped. Shouldn’t it?

www.ipsoconsulting.com

Is having courage of conviction the be all and end all?

To have the confidence to do or say what you think is right even when other people disagree or the determination to carry out your goals... many may think that they have what it takes, particularly at a leadership level, but it always strikes me as being one of those phrases that is sometimes easier said than done.

A few days ago I attended a fundraiser event for a small charity - The Maya Centre and this came to mind for a couple of reasons, not just because the charity had managed to organise an illustrious and impressive line up of award-winning writers to come along and read from their published works - Kamila Shamsie, Gillian Slovo and Abi Morgan - but also the generosity, in time and in donations, of those who support the charity and showed this by attending the event.

More specifically though it was the interview with Abi Morgan by Melissa Benn, herself a novelist and journalist, which was particularly memorable and really addressed that notion of having courage of conviction. For those who may not have heard of her, Abi Morgan is a playwright and screenwriter who has a list of credits to her name – including the films ‘The Iron Lady’ about the life of Margaret Thatcher, ‘Brick Lane’ and the BBC drama series ‘The Hour’.

Evidently, Abi gets asked about the public response to the release of ‘The Iron Lady’ fairly frequently – it divided people into two camps: those that thought it was a great film and absolutely the right thing to do and those that felt she was completely wrong, particularly in the way that the political events had been depicted and because the person she was writing about, Lady Thatcher, was still alive.

In true stereotype fashion, as a high profile and critically acclaimed writer, it would be easy to say that she appeared a tad arrogant and unbothered about how the film had been received, particularly when she started off by saying that although she felt it was right for people to challenge, she didn’t feel she had to justify herself...

What impressed me however was that she then went on to candidly admit that she oscillates between the two viewpoints and confessed that she actually hadn’t been able to come to a conclusion herself on how she felt about it. I was struck by her self-confidence and assuredness, which I believe only comes from really knowing yourself well and being true to who you are – I would also suspect it’s having the ability to ‘bounce back’ from everyone having an opinion about your work!

For me she absolutely displayed that courage of conviction in saying how it was for her without feeling compelled to defend herself or her work regardless – it was quite refreshing and has many parallels within a leadership paradigm. How many senior managers feel that they always have to have the answer to every problem they’re presented with? Or that they’re always right, because that’s what they get paid to do? Or that people should agree with them because of their qualifications/years of experience/understanding of the market/they’ve worked in the organisation for x years etc, etc...

Clearly, it is all about context and there will be a number of factors that will shape how and why certain leaders do what they do – either in a good or a bad way. Fundamentally though surely it comes down to being ‘emotionally intelligent’ and displaying leadership judgement in understanding that in some scenarios not always having the answer or insisting that people do things in a certain way because a) that’s how it’s always been done or b) that’s the way you want it done, can be just as powerful a way of gaining trust and respect.

Without taking any political bias, the antithesis of this is a story that I came across in Management Today http://www.managementtoday.co.uk/bulletin/mtdailybulletin/article/1164442/cameron-sacks-top-business-leaders-advisory-panel/. Prime Minster David Cameron has apparently sacked top business leaders (Sainsbury’s boss Justin King, Paul Walsh of Diageo, WPP’s Sir Martin Sorrell, Centrica’s Sam Laidlaw and BT and easyJet’s Mike Rake) from an advisory panel supposedly because of “dissent in the ranks”. My interpretation? They’re telling him things he doesn’t want to hear and so it’s easier to get them out of the way...!

It just goes to show that “courage of conviction” sometimes work both ways - it’s your leadership judgement that will really stand you apart from the crowd.

What kind of leader would you want to be known as?

www.ipsoconsulting.com

Leaders need to be connectors

Critical to organisational success, leaders need to embrace every opportunity to demonstrate leadership. 

This includes communicating the direction and vision of an organisation frequently, consistently and with absolute clarity to both customers and employees. Yet few leaders appear to truly grasp the opportunity to do so - herein lies the problem and it has clear implications for leadership development.

Having worked with organisations across many different sectors, in my experience, most senior leaders at board level aren't familiar enough with the channels, of which social media is but one tool, that can help them do this. This doesn't necessarily mean that they don't see the importance or value, more that they expect someone else will be doing it for them.

So typically Marketing will have responsibility for brand messaging to customers; HR for employee engagement and comms. However unintentional, this leads to a disconnect between the two and the linkage has to come from the leadership of an organisation because making these connections can be the difference between mediocrity and insignificance or sustainability and growth.

We polled senior leaders, HR, and Marketing professionals who attended our recent Breakfast Briefing event and the survey gives some interesting insights. Reflective of what was happening within their respective organisations it showed that less than 18% of leaders used social media either from a personal or organisational perspective. Of this, 60% used it as a tool to communicate with customers, less than 20% used it to communicate with both customers and employees.

This strongly suggests two things: firstly it shows that there is going to be a disconnect with external brand messages and internal communication ie. customer and employee engagement and secondly that more leaders need to harness the potential of social media as a means of communicating with many more customers and employees that they could ever hope to achieve by
face-to-face interaction alone.

With the explosion in mobile technology, and let's face it most if not all of us walk around with a smart phone in our pockets, the impact of social media will become even greater. Rather than being viewed as an additional 'task' that is being expected of them, forward-thinking and savvy leaders understand that this is a tool that empowers rather than something to be apprehensive and negative about. Organisations need to ensure that they provide leaders with the support to enable them to do this effectively. Not only will leaders then be leading by example, they will also enhance the organisation's reputation and brand and support the efforts of the HR and Marketing teams. That said it's about more than just some social media 'training'...

Although it needs to start at board level, it won't really have an impact unless each leader at every level within the organisation is aligned and so linking to the organisational brand, the starting point has to be in developing a leadership brand - what the leaders of an organisation collectively want to be known for - to ensure a solid connection is made between the external and the internal. This then provides a leadership framework on which development programmes or initiatives for those in existing leadership roles or developing leaders of the future should be grounded within.

Why is this important for leadership development? Whilst engaging with customers understandably takes priority for many, those organisations that are cognizant to the fact that people drive the business, boosting customer loyalty and profit know that you cannot afford to solely focus on just the external.

The challenge for OD and HR professionals is to take the baton and be the proactive conduit by working closely with Marketing colleagues to ensure this focus is definitively reflected in the leadership framework because the leadership is intrinsically linked with what differentiates one business from another. Only then will an organisation be well positioned to achieve business sustainability and growth.


Naheed Mirza  is managing director of organisational development company, Ipso Consulting.

This article was first published in HR Magazine:
http://www.hrmagazine.co.uk/hro/features/1075348/leaders-connectors


www.ipsoconsulting.com

Survival of the fittest?

According to some business leaders, Sir Martin Sorrell of media group WPP being one, the UK is facing a lost decade for growth and we’re only half way through, so reports City AM, London’s daily business newspaper. Some research just published by a recruitment firm also apparently suggests that City jobs have slumped to a five year low... this is indeed a stark reality ahead of the Chancellor’s Autumn statement later this week.


That said, businesses have to move forward or they will stagnate and the question of extinction then becomes more about when it will happen rather than how – standing still is not an option and the phrase ‘survival of the fittest’ has never been more true.

Those organisations that will manoeuvre their way through these challenging times will do so because they focus on two things: their customers and their people. This can and will only happen if the senior leadership team is forward thinking and astute enough to understand that the status quo is not going to get them through these unprecendented times. Leaders need to look at how they build relationships with their customers and their employees through a fresh lens.

Although you would think that it’s a given that when facing tough times everyone pulls together and there’s clarity on what needs to be achieved, I’m afraid the reality is far from this. The bigger the organisation, (and that’s just as true for those with tens of people as much as those who employ hundreds or thousands), the greater the likelihood is that teams are working in a ‘silo-like’ mentality.

In most instances, this is not intentional but it is the by-product of people being set key performance indicators, whether that’s focusing on increasing sales, more customer interaction, reducing time to complete production processes, getting payment from customers on time – the usual levers that will impact on the bottom line and are keenly tracked on a month by month basis, and like wound-up toys, teams will set off apace to deliver on these. What’s clearly missing is the linkage between customer engagement and employee engagement – and this has to come from the leadership of the organisation.

Why is this of fundamental importance?

Well as I've said before, it’s because your customers are the lifeblood and without them you will have no business. The experience that they have of your organisation, your business reputation and your brand rests firmly in the hands of your employees because these are the very people who deal with your customers on a daily basis. It only takes one negative interaction to set a seed of doubt in your customer’s mind and left unchecked it’s only a matter of time before they start talking to one of your competitors.

How can organisations do this?

The starting point has to be in very clearly differentiating yourself from others in your sector by developing and articulating a strong and compelling leadership brand. Clearly linking with the organisation’s brand (which is what your customers will know or have experienced), in its essence, a leadership brand is a statement that says what the leaders in a business collectively want to be known for. It’s this clarity that can really be a differentiator because it connects how you want your customers to perceive you with the reality of what they experience when they deal with your business. It’s all very well having a brand that is known for a relentless pursuit of perfection (using the Lexus luxury car brand as an example), when the experience customers have when they come into a showroom or speak to an employee on the phone is less than perfect!

One digital media business we recently worked with had a brand positioning of “knowledge transfer made easy”. Working with the senior team, we developed their leadership brand distilling into into a statement of “connecting people by making experience accessible” and defined leadership behaviours to support this promise which drilled into five specific areas that would help the business maintain its competitive edge. Of course, it goes without saying that there was a lot of consultation and analysis with customers, stakeholders and employees that had to happen before reaching this point and, dependent on the size of the business, it won't happen overnight, but to not do it at all is to really miss a trick in business and would you really want to be one of the leaders who did that?

I would strongly urge all businesses to seriously look at this. The unfortunate reality is that when times are tough, this type of reflection and action can be seen as a ‘nice to do’ rather than a ‘must do’. I would challenge any business leader on this because surely the question that should be asked is can you really afford not to do it?

If you would like to know more about how we can help your organisation develop a leadership brand, then please get in touch.

 

Ipso Consulting has designed a unique model for developing an organisational Leadership Brand. The Customer-defined Leadership™ model is based on the principle that leaders must have the ability to build relationships and influence employee behaviour for the benefit of their customers.

 

www.ipsoconsulting.com

Know your derailers, know yourself: how do you respond under pressure?

You know that feeling when you’ve just made a comment or taken a decision that you’ve done under pressure and you know that you perhaps didn’t handle it in the way you really you should have? Maybe you didn’t appear to be as considered or empathetic as those around you expected you to be?

As a leader, whether you’re an entrepreneurial business owner or you have a leadership role within an organisation, the fact of the matter is that this will happen many times, sometimes in one day – making decisions is a core part of being a leader and people expect it of you. While it’s all very well to say this, the true test is what you actually do when you’re up against it and in these times of having to achieve more with fewer resources, this is par for the course for most leaders. Sometimes you don’t have the time to really think, you just have to do (or tell others what to do).

I’m not talking about the ‘strategic’ decisions where you may actually have days or weeks to consult, I’m talking about dealing with a person or a situation that needs your attention when you’ve got a myriad of other things that are equally pressing – you might be about to give a presentation, attend a client meeting or deal with a performance issue – in that one instance you unintentionally respond in a less than positive way than you would have liked to... these factors are known as ‘derailers’, sometimes referred to in occupational psychology terms as the ‘dark’ side of leadership because they result in negative outcomes that will impact on performance. However, one very important thing to note is that ‘derailers’ can also be the very thing that you see as your strengths – the key is to know what they are.

If you’ve worked in a senior role or had business responsibility for any length of time, you’ll know that a big part of being a leader is about being self aware – it’s an element of any leadership development programme and you can read about it to your heart’s content in the plethora of business books. That said, I’m a great advocate of using psychometric assessment to objectively pinpoint your strengths and developmental areas – then read the books! Without knowing yourself, you can’t hope to inspire or motivate and get the best out of others.

Whether you call it leadership ‘derailment’ or simply bad leadership the components of it may include an unwillingness to listen to those around you, to have a forceful (perhaps even an aggressive) style in dealing with conflict, belittling others, having little or no consideration of the well-being of others and ultimately undermining organisational goals – knowingly or unknowingly. Reading this, you may well be thinking – no, I don’t do any of that, or it wouldn’t happen because it’s not aligned with our organisational vision and values ... The reality however is that so often things aren’t as black and white as we may perceive them. Some occupations or sectors are also more prone to attracting individuals that display more of these traits than others (certain roles within the financial services sector being an obvious example).

Many of us will probably show some element of a behaviour that could be a potential ‘derailer’ when we’re under pressure – micro-management, over confidence, working in isolation are just some examples. So, if you’re someone who likes to be in control and has to work at delegating to others, (something most leaders struggle with), when under pressure you may be more likely to revert to cutting others out of the equation and doing things yourself because that’s what you feel most comfortable with and when you’re most confident about things getting done – that may not be the best approach though and it’s that judgement call that makes the difference.

There are some fundamental questions you need to have asked yourself and know the answers to:

1. What are your strengths? (be specific – good with people is too generic, what is it about what you do that makes you good with people?)

2. What are your weaknesses or areas of development? (and be really honest! If you’re really struggling with this one, ask a peer or colleague who you trust will give you an objective answer).

3. Is there one, or maybe two, things that you always try and make the effort to do more of? (eg. taken the time to listen to someone’s view even though you don’t think the idea will ever work; or delegating without feeling the urge to control how the task was completed).

Now think, how did you respond the last time you felt under pressure – was it more of your answers to 1, 2 or 3 above?

If you’re willing to share, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Or if you’d like to know more about your own potential derailers or those of the leaders in your organisation, then drop me a line!

E: naheed@ipsoconsulting.com
@NaheedMirza

www.ipsoconsulting.com

How biased are you – a little or a lot?

The fact is that each and every one of us is biased. We have all at some point judged someone according to a stereotype that we are familiar with. Sometimes it’s done consciously because it’s our way of categorising things and people - it helps us to process information, make a decision or decide what action we’re going to take in a given situation. At other times, we are unaware of doing so.

Put yourself in this situation: you have been asked to attend a meeting but have come in part way through and so have missed the introductions at the start. As you enter the meeting room, you see that there are a dozen or so people in the room, male and female; some are colleagues who you know and work with, others are from a different organisation who you have not met before. Two individuals from the external organisation are giving an update on a project – one of those individuals is doing most of the talking; he is clearly knowledgeable in the subject matter and speaks with authority. The lady sitting next to him is mostly silent on this agenda item but she quietly points out to her colleague that he needs to get people’s availability on a date for a follow-up progress meeting. So, who is the more ‘senior’ of the two – the man or the woman?

Let’s add another layer to this example, if I said that as the “observer”, you happen to be male and have worked in the same organisation for many years. Most of those who hold roles of authority in your organisation are men and your experience of female managers has been pretty negative to date – are you more likely to make the assumption that the man is the one ‘in charge’? 

It was of course the female who was the project lead - her male colleague was the technical expert assigned by her to work on the project. Not having been at the start of the meeting, you had missed her kicking off the meeting and positioning the purpose and objectives of the project.

I can let you in to a secret here, this isn’t a made up scenario. An ex-colleague of mine found himself in this very situation. To his chagrin, he was indeed that person who came to that very conclusion – he assumed that the man was in charge and thought his female colleague was his very efficient PA! (Maybe it was the point relating to diary availability that led him to that conclusion perhaps...). The reality is that most who would have witnessed the snapshot described above would probably assume that the man was in charge – after all he was doing most of the talking and seemed to know a lot!

And herein lies the challenge because unconscious behaviour and biases are not just limited to individuals - they also operate at group and organisational levels. The culture of an organisation affects group attitudes, behaviours and decision-making processes below the conscious level. As Edgar Schein, one of the most well-known theorists working with organisational culture states, the bottom line for leaders is they must become conscious of the cultures in which they are embedded, because, if leaders are to lead then it is essential that they have that cultural understanding and that they consciously influence it. Daniel Kahneman is another leading authority on, as he describes them, ‘human foibles’ and a Nobel prize-winner.

A senior leadership team needs not only to be aware of this but they need to lead by example because in being responsible for setting the direction and strategy of the organisation, they will also set the tone and style of working. And so, it may go from just a handful of individuals to the whole organisation becoming accepting of bias, so much so that it does actually become part of “the way we do things around here”.

There are some ways you can reduce unconscious bias:

1.  Firstly, recognise that all of us do it – human bias is based on scientific fact in that our brains are ‘hard-wired’ to make bias decisions on implicit associations, social categorisations and stereotypes.

2.  Learn to mistrust your first impressions (see our earlier blog "First impressions can be wrong..."). First impressions lead us to make errors of judgement, so be aware of the ‘halo effect’.

3.  Take your time – rushing from one meeting to the next and making decisions under pressure only adds to bias decision-making and a ‘rapid categorisation’ process that stereotypes and discriminates against some groups more than others.

4.  Promote a culture of respect – identify your hidden norms and ways of working.

5.   Challenge existing norms and behaviours – question why one person has been selected for promotion (for example) as opposed to another. Look for ‘patterns of exclusion’ throughout the organisation and make it your business to spotlight these.

Something worth consciously thinking about I would say.

What has been your own experience either from an individual or from an organisational perspective?

 

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