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Advanced Leadership

Advanced Leadership

How to build, lead and sustain a high

performance organization

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LEADING PEOPLE Rosen & Brown Penguin Books

This is compiled from more than a dozen studies, focusing on leading companies from the Forbes 500, Fortune 500, 700 privately-held firms, and interviews at the 3,000 largest companies in America. Successes depend on people - and in order to achieve success,

people depend on leaders.

It is a simple idea, but one with sweeping consequences. It opens up tremendous opportunities, but also gaping pitfalls. In order to succeed, leaders will have to reinvent their organizations to get the most from their people. But to do that, leaders must take a deep look inside and discover the ways they influence their enterprise and their people. More importantly, they will need to reinvent themselves. A recent national survey of more than 10,000 workers found that current leadership is costing American companies more than half their human potential. To put that another way, improved leadership alone could double worker productivity. This translates directly to the bottom line. The single biggest influence on employee commitment and performance, according to another sweeping national study of more than 25,000 workers, is the leadership skills of their managers! To be effective and successful, leaders must build organizations that help employees strengthen their competence, creativity, and commitment. Leaders must create healthy environments where people are excited about their work, take pride in their accomplishments, and contribute to their colleagues doing the same. Their task, in short, is to forment ideas, skills, and energy. This is leading people.

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THE EIGHT PRINCIPLES OF LEADING PEOPLE

VISION Leaders see the whole picture and articulate that broad perspective with others. By doing so, leaders create a common purpose that mobilizes people and coordinates their efforts into a single, coherent, agile enterprise.

TRUST Without trust, vision becomes an empty slogan. Trust binds people together; creating a strong, resilient organization. To build trust, leaders are predictable and they share information and power. Their goal is a culture of candor.

PARTICIPATION The energy of an organization is the participation and effort of its people. The leader’s challenge is to unleash and focus this energy, inspiring people at every level of the enterprise to pitch in with their minds and hearts.

LEARNING Leaders need a deep understanding of themselves. They must know their strengths and shortcomings, which requires a lifelong process of discovery, and they must be able to adapt to new circumstances. They must promote constant innovation, and leaders must encourage their people to refresh their skills and renew their spirits.

DIVERSITY Successful leaders know the power of diversity and the poison of prejudice. They understand their own biases, and they actively cultivate an appreciation of the positive aspects of people’s differences. In their organizations, they insist on a culture of mutual respect.

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CREATIVITY In a world where smart solutions outpace excessive work, creativity is crucial. Leaders pay close attention to people’s talents, leaning on their strengths and managing around their weaknesses. They encourage independent, challenging thinking and they invest in technologies that facilitate the efforts of their people.

INTEGRITY A leader must stand for something. As a public citizen and a private person, he/she knows what is important in life and acts by deep-seated principles. Every wise leader has a moral compass, a sense of right and wrong. Good leaders understand that good ethics is good business.

COMMUNITY Community is mutual commitment and it inspires the highest performance. It’s human nature to go the extra mile for one’s neighbors and fellow citizens, and a mature leader stresses the organization’s responsibility to the surrounding society. A leader also acts as a steward of the natural environment.

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THE LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE KOUZES & POSNER

JOSSEY-BASS

This book is based on an extensive research study that began in 1987 and has continued through 2006. More than 450,000 respondents on four continents were asked: “What values (personal traits and characteristics) do you look for and admire in your leaders?” They were also asked to select the seven qualities they most look for and admire in a leader – someone whose direction they would willingly follow. The top four responses, by a very wide margin, were as follows:

BEING HONEST Honesty was selected more often than any other leadership characteristic; it consistently emerged as the single most important ingredient in the leader-constituent relationship. That nearly 90% of the respondents want their leaders to be honest above all else is a message that all leaders must take to heart. Just how do constituents measure honesty? By observing the leader’s behavior. In other words, regardless of what leaders say about their own integrity, people wait to be shown; they watch and observe carefully. Consistency between word and deed is how we judge someone to be honest. Honesty is also related to values and ethics. We appreciate people who take a stand on important principles. We resolutely refuse to follow those who lack confidence in their own beliefs. Confusion over where the leader stands creates stress; not knowing the leader’s beliefs contributes to conflict, indecision, and political rivalry. We simply don’t trust people who won’t tell us their values, ethics and standards. Even worse, though, is someone who tells us they hold a certain value – then acts in complete disagreement with that value.

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BEING FORWARD-LOOKING We expect our leaders to have a sense of direction and a concern for the future of the organization. Leaders must know where they are going if they expect others to willingly join them on the journey. In a separate study of 300 senior executives, “a leadership style of honesty and integrity” and “a long-term vision and direction for the company” were ranked as the number one and two most important characteristics in a successful leader. In a joint study with Columbia University, 98% of the respondents (8,500) ranked “the ability to convey a strong vision of the future” as a very important quality for effective leaders. We want to know what the organization will look like, feel like, be like when it arrives at its goal in six months or six years. We want to have it described to us in rich detail so that we’ll know when we’ve arrived and so that we can select the proper route for getting there.

BEING INSPIRING We also expect our leaders to be enthusiastic, energetic, and positive about the future It’s not enough for a leader to have a dream about the future. A leader must be able to communicate the vision in ways that encourage us to sign on for the duration. Some react with discomfort to the idea that being inspiring is an essential leadership quality. In the final analysis, though, leaders must inspire our confidence in the validity of the goal. Enthusiasm and excitement are essential and signal the leader’s personal commitment to pursuing that goal. If a leader displays no passion for a cause, why should anyone else?

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BEING COMPETENT To enlist in another’s cause, we must believe that the person is competent to guide us where we are headed. We must see the leader as capable and effective. Leadership competency doesn’t necessarily refer to the leader’s abilities in the core technology of the operation. In fact, the type of competence demanded is value-added competence. Functional competence may be necessary, but it’s insufficient; the leader must bring some added value to the position. Expertise in leadership skills themselves is another dimension of competence.

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER What we found in our investigation of admired leadership

qualities is that, more than anything, we want leaders who are credible. We must believe that their word can be trusted, that

they’ll do what they say, that they’re personally excited and

enthusiastic about the direction in which we’re headed, and that they have the knowledge and skill to lead.

THE FIVE FUNDAMENTAL PRACTICES OF EXEMPLARY LEADERSHIP As we looked deeper into the dynamic process of leadership, through case analysis and survey questionnaires, we uncovered five fundamental practices that enable leaders to get extraordinary things done. The best leaders in the world are able to:

Challenge the process

Inspire a shared vision

Enable others to act

Model the way

Encourage the heart

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CHALLENGE THE PROCESS Those who lead others to greatness seek and accept challenge. They are pioneers – people willing to step out into the unknown. They are willing to take risks, to innovate and experiment in order to find new ways of doing things. But leaders need not always be the creators or originators of new products, services or processes. In fact, it’s just as likely that they’re not. Product and service innovations tend to come from customers, clients, vendors, people in the labs and people on the front lines, while process innovations tend to come from the people doing the work. The leader’s primary contribution is in the recognition of good ideas, the support of those ideas and the willingness to challenge the system in order to get new products, processes, services and systems adopted.

INSPIRE A SHARED VISION Leaders have a desire to make something happen, to change the way things are, to create something that no one else has created before. In some ways, leaders live their lives backward. They see pictures in their mind’s eye of what the results will look like even before they have started the project. Their clear image of the future pulls them, and their people, forward. People must believe that leaders understand and have their best interests at heart. Only through intimate knowledge of their dreams, their hopes, their aspirations, their visions, their values is the leader able to enlist support. Leadership is a dialogue – not a monologue.

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ENABLE OTHERS TO ACT Leadership is a team effort. After reviewing more than 2,500 “personal-best” cases, we developed a simple test to detect whether someone is on the road to becoming a leader. That test is the frequency of the use of the word – “We.” Leaders enable others to act. They know that no one does his or her best when feeling weak, incompetent or alienated; they know that those who are expected to produce the results must feel a sense of ownership. Leaders involve, in some way, all those who must live with the results, and they make it possible for others to do well. Leadership is a relationship built on trust and confidence. Without trust and confidence, people don’t take risks. Without risks, there’s no change. Without change, organizations die.

MODELING THE WAY Leaders go first. They set an example and build commitment through simple, daily acts that create progress and momentum. Leaders model the way through personal example and dedicated execution. Leaders need operational plans. They must steer projects along a predetermined course, and take corrective action. Yet the personal-best cases we examined included very little about grand strategic plans and massive organizational changes; they sounded more like action—adventure stories. They were about the power of little things piled one on top of the other until they added up to something really big. Concentrating on small wins, leaders build confidence that even the biggest challenges can be successfully met.

ENCOURAGE THE HEART The climb to the top is arduous and long. People become exhausted, frustrated and disenchanted. They are often tempted to give up. Leaders encourage the heart to carry on. It is part of the leader’s job to show people that they can win. Encouragement is curiously serious business. It’s how leaders visibly and behaviorally link rewards with performance. When striving to raise quality, recover from disaster, start up a new service, or make a dramatic change of any kind, leaders make sure people benefit when behavior is aligned with cherished values.

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MYTHS, TRADITIONS AND REALITIES These fundamental leadership practices offer hope. More than ever, there’s need for people to seize opportunities to lead us to greatness. But why are people reluctant to answer the cry for leadership? We believe this cautiousness results not from a lack of courage or competence, but from our outdated notions about leadership. Our first leadership challenge is to rid ourselves of these traditions and myths. Traditional management teaching implies that the ideal organization is orderly and stable, that the organizational process can and should be engineered so that things run like clockwork. Yet, world-class leadership comes from challenging the process, changing things, from shaking up the organization. At the same time, one popular leadership myth portrays the leader as a renegade who magnetizes a band of followers with courageous acts. In fact, leaders attract constituents not because of their willful defiance but because of their deep faith in the human capacity to adapt, grow and learn. Traditional management teaching focuses on the short term, the Wall Street analysts, the quarterly report, the annual report. Yet all effective leaders we’ve seen have had a long-term, future orientation. Traditional management teaches that leaders ought to be cool, aloof and analytical; they ought to separate emotion from work. Yet when real-life leaders discuss what they’re the proudest of in their own careers, they describe feelings of inspiration, passion, elation, intensity, challenge, caring and kindness – and yes, even love.

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"Using servant as a modifier of the word leadership, at first, sounds like a contradiction. However, since Robert Greenleaf introduced the concept in the 1970s, servant-leadership has been subjected to empirical investigation and has become an increasingly popular approach for the management of a wide range of organizations, including higher education institutions (Block, 1996; Greenleaf, 1977; Levering & Moskowitz, 2000; Spears, 1995).

Larry Spears, CEO of the Greenleaf Center for Servant-Leadership, describes servant-leadership "as a way of being in relationship with others." He goes on to provide a one sentence summary of the basic stance of servant leadership: "Servant-leadership seeks to involve others in decision making, is strongly based in ethical and caring behavior, and it enhances the personal growth of workers while improving the caring and quality of organizational life."

Greenleaf's servant-leadership approach is part of the larger employee involvement movement of the past 30-40 years aimed at creating organizations where leaders remove barriers and obstacles that would prevent employees from growing as individuals and performing well in the workplace.

Greenleaf placed considerable emphasis on the sharing of power in decision-making and the promotion of a sense of community within an organization. Greenleaf's servant leadership model of organizational life is in good company with other formulations such as Blake and Mouton's managerial grid, Argyris' and Senge's learning organization, Deming's quality movement, and other participatory approaches to organizational design. Greenleaf's leadership ideas are also very compatible with the emphasis on personal development as a key to organizational effectiveness found in Covey's Seven Habits and Goleman's emotional intelligence concepts.

Although different proponents of servant leadership may emphasize slightly different features of servant leadership, the following characteristics are viewed by Larry Spears, CEO of the Greenleaf Center for Servant-Leadership, to be at the core of the servant-leadership approach.

Servant Leadership Explained

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1. Listening: Leaders have traditionally been valued for their communication and decision-making skills. Although these are also important skills for the servant-leader, they need to be reinforced by a deep commitment to listening intently to others. The servant-leader seeks to identify the will of a group and helps to clarify that will. He or she listens receptively to what is being said and unsaid. Listening also encompasses getting in touch with one's own inner voice. Listening, coupled with periods of reflection, is essential to the growth and well-being of the servant-leader.

2. Empathy: The servant-leader strives to understand and empathize with others. People need to be accepted and recognized for their special and unique spirits. One assumes the good intentions of co-workers and colleagues and does not reject them as people, even when one may be forced to refuse to accept certain behaviors or performance. The most successful servant-leaders are those who have become skilled empathetic listeners.

3. Healing: The healing of relationships is a powerful force for transformation and integration. One of the great strengths of servant-leadership is the potential for healing one's self and one's relationship to others. Many people have broken spirits and have suffered from a variety of emotional hurts. Although this is a part of being human, servant-leaders recognize that they have an opportunity to help make whole those with whom they come in contact. In his essay, The Servant as Leader, Greenleaf writes, "There is something subtle communicated to one who is being served and led if, implicit in the compact between servant-leader and led, is the understanding that the search for wholeness is something they share."

4. Awareness: General awareness, and especially self-awareness, strengthens the servant-leader. Awareness helps one in understanding issues involving ethics, power and values. It lends itself to being able to view most situations from a more integrated, holistic position. As Greenleaf observed: "Awareness is not a giver of solace--it is just the opposite. It is a disturber and an awakener. Able leaders are usually sharply awake and reasonably disturbed. They are not seekers after solace. They have their own inner serenity."

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5. Persuasion: Another characteristic of servant-leaders is a reliance on persuasion, rather than on one's positional authority, in making decisions within an organization. The servant-leader seeks to convince others, rather than coerce compliance. This particular element offers one of the clearest distinctions between the traditional authoritarian model and that of servant-leadership. The servant-leader is effective at building consensus within groups. This emphasis on persuasion over coercion finds its roots in the beliefs of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)--the denominational body to which Robert Greenleaf belonged.

6. Conceptualization: Servant-leaders seek to nurture their abilities to dream great dreams. The ability to look at a problem or an organization from a conceptualizing perspective means that one must think beyond day-to-day realities. For many leaders, this is a characteristic that requires discipline and practice. The traditional leader is consumed by the need to achieve short-term operational goals. The leader who wishes to also be a servant-leader must stretch his or her thinking to encompass broader-based conceptual thinking. Within organizations, conceptualization is, by its very

nature, the proper role of boards of trustees or directors. Unfortunately, boards can sometimes become involved in the day-to-day operations--something that should always be discouraged--and, thus, fail to provide the visionary concept for an institution. Trustees need to be mostly conceptual in their orientation, staffs need to be mostly operational in their perspective, and the most effective executive leaders probably need to develop both perspectives within themselves. Servant-leaders are called to seek a delicate balance between conceptual thinking and a day-to-day operational approach.

7. Foresight: Closely related to conceptualization, the ability to foresee the likely outcome of a situation is hard to define, but easier to identify. One knows foresight when one experiences it. Foresight is a characteristic that enables the servant-leader to understand the lessons from the past, the realities of the present, and the likely consequence of a decision for the future. It is also deeply rooted within the intuitive mind. Foresight remains a largely unexplored area in leadership studies, but one most deserving of careful attention.

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8. Stewardship: Peter Block (author of Stewardship and The Empowered Manager) has defined stewardship as "holding something in trust for another." Robert Greenleaf's view of all institutions was one in which CEO's, staffs, and trustees all played significant roles in holding their institutions in trust for the greater good of society. Servant-leadership, like stewardship, assumes first and foremost a commitment to serving the needs of others. It also emphasizes the use of openness and persuasion, rather than control.

9. Commitment to the growth of people: Servant-leaders believe that people have an intrinsic value beyond their tangible contributions as workers. As such, the servant-leader is deeply committed to the growth of each and every individual within his or her organization. The servant-leader recognizes the tremendous responsibility to do everything in his or her power to nurture the personal and professional growth of employees and colleagues. In practice, this can include (but is not limited to) concrete actions such as making funds available for personal and professional development, taking a personal interest in the ideas and suggestions from everyone, encouraging worker involvement in decision-making, and actively assisting laid-off employees to find other positions.

10. Building community: The servant-leader senses that much has been lost in recent human history as a result of the shift from local communities to large institutions as the primary shaper of human lives. This awareness causes the servant-leader to seek to identify some means for building community among those who work within a given institution. Servant-leadership suggests that true community can be created among those who work in businesses and other institutions. Greenleaf said, "All that is needed to rebuild community as a viable life form for large numbers of people is for enough servant-leaders to show the way, not by mass movements, but by each servant-leader demonstrating his or her unlimited liability for a quite specific community-related group."

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RESPONSIBLE MANAGEMENT GETS RESULTS Faust, Lules, Phillips

AMACOM

Based on an in-depth diagnosis of more than 3,000 organizations to assess their strategic architecture (vision, strategy, structure, information feedback and control systems, reward systems); their culture and functional areas (marketing and sales, operations, HR, and financial); and a variety of key outcomes (revenue, profit, community image, morale, turnover, etc.) The diagnosis regularly reveals problems in six specific areas where “responsibility” in the organization is rated low.

CREATING A CLEAR, MEANINGFUL SENSE OF DIRECTION People want to know where they are heading. A clear understanding of the organization’s vision, mission, goals and strategy not only gives people comfort; it lets them share in the excitement of the journey. It gives them a context for their own decisions and lets them be creative contributors. Within this framework, employees can contribute their own solutions and use their own common sense, experience, skills and judgment, and they can take pride in their contributions. The tools to communicate direction include:

A clear statement of purpose and core values

An inspiring and specific vision of an exciting future

A clear statement of our core business and position in the

marketplace A focused set of strategic initiatives that we follow to

achieve the vision in the shorter term (1-3 years)

Processes and documents that communicate the vision,

strategies and goals and translate them into meaningful,

concrete terms for those who will make them happen

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HAVING AND LIVING BY VALUES PEOPLE RESPECT Core values may drive a company’s strategy and decisions and may be major determiners of its success. But they are not the only values by which companies are judged. There are a number of other values, real or imagined, long-term or short-term, that affect whether people will choose to be responsible to a given organization. Most people believe that a person’s or company’s behavior is in some way reflective of their values. Human beings have a very strong tendency to read intent into behavior. Employees regularly infer the values of the organization from the behavior of its leaders.

RESPECTING PEOPLE AND THEIR CONTRIBUTION People want to work in an environment where they and their contributions are respected. When there is no respect, each day is demeaning. There is little sense of self-worth and contribution. Confident, optimistic, capable people will not stay in an environment that offers little respect.

HAVING A COMPATIBLE CULTURE The culture of an organization is the embodiment of its true values and philosophy. It is expressed in the typical behavior of its employees and its policies, procedures, systems, structures, decisions, and day-to-day actions. Employees need to feel compatible and comfortable with the corporate culture.

BEING A SOURCE OF PRIDE People like to take pride in their organization. Motivation increases naturally as people see their organization doing things they believe will make it more successful. The reciprocal is also true; people lose all motivation when they witness their organization behaving in ways that are contradictory to stated values, goals or strategies.

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TRUE NORTH BILL GEORGE

JOSSEY-BASS 2007 A dramatic shift is taking place in the caliber and character of new leaders. These leaders recognize that leadership is not about their success or about getting loyal subordinates to follow them. They know that the key to a successful organization is having empowered leaders at all levels, including those that have no direct reports. We call these leaders “authentic leaders.” Authentic leaders do not only inspire those around them, they empower them to step up and lead. Thus we offer a new definition of leadership: the authentic leader brings people together around shared purpose and empowers them to step up and lead authentically in order to create value for all stakeholders. There are five dimensions of an authentic leader:

1. PURSUING PURPOSE WITH PASSION Most people struggle to understand the purpose of their leadership. In order to find their purpose, authentic leaders must first understand themselves and their passions. In turn their passion shows the way to the purpose of their leadership.

2. PRACTICING SOLID VALUES Leaders are defined by their values, and their values are personal -- they cannot be determined by anyone else. Integrity, however, is the one value required of every authentic leader. If you do not have integrity, no one will trust you, nor should they. The values of an authentic leader are shaped by their personal beliefs and developed through study, introspection, consultation with others, and years of experience. The test of an authentic leaders' values is not what they say but the values they practice under pressure.

3. LEADING WITH HEART Authentic leaders lead with their hearts as well as their heads. To some, leading with the heart may sound soft, as though the authentic leaders cannot make tough choices involving pain and loss. Leading with heart is anything but soft. It means having passion for your work, compassion for the people you serve, empathy for the people you work with, and the courage to make difficult decisions. Courage is an especially important quality for leaders as they navigate through unpredictable terrain.

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4. ESTABLISHING ENDURING RELATIONSHIPS The ability to develop enduring relationships is an essential mark of authentic leaders. People today demand personal relationships with their leaders before they will give themselves fully to their jobs. They insist on access to their leaders, knowing that trust and commitment are built on the openness and depth of relationship with their leaders. In return, people will demonstrate great commitment to their work and loyalty of the company.

5. DEMONSTRATING SELF-DISCIPLINE Authentic leaders know competing successfully takes a consistently high level of self-discipline in order to produce results. They set high standards for themselves and expect the same from others. This requires accepting full responsibility for outcomes and holding others accountable for their performance. When leaders fall short, it is equally important to admit their mistakes and initiate immediate corrective action. Self-discipline should be reflected in their personal lives as well, because without personal self-discipline it is not possible to sustain self-discipline at work. In summary, authentic leaders genuinely desire to serve others through their leadership. They are more interested in empowering the people they lead to make a difference than they are in power, money, or prestige for themselves. They are as guided by qualities of the heart, by passion and compassion, as they are by qualities of the mind. They lead with purpose, meaning, and values. They build enduring relationships with people. Others follow them because they know where they stand. They are consistent and self-disciplined. When their principles are tested, they refused to compromise. Authentic leaders are dedicated to developing themselves because they know that becoming a leader takes a lifetime of personal growth.

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INSIGHTS ON LEADERSHIP SPEARS

JOHN WILEY & SONS From a global study of leading CEO’s, these were identified as the key characteristics for organizational success:

Service to the customer is the keystone of the

company’s mission.

Core values shape the culture and provide liberating

support to associates.

Value is placed on community service in the

communities in which the corporation operates.

The enterprise is viewed as a learning organization.

Everyone is challenged to stretch toward his or her

individual potential.

Value is placed on the initiatives of associates to

continuously improve the system.

Emphasis is placed on teamwork and alignment.

From the CEO and throughout the organization,

extreme importance is placed on walking the talk.

The leadership growth model that emerged from this study includes the following stages: 1. First, the leader must achieve a high level of self-mastery. This stage also requires a self-assessment of one’s own personal system including the values that shape the individual’s unique approach to leadership. 2. The second stage includes attention to a deeper level of communications. This means a serious commitment to cooperation and behaviors congruent with core values. 3. At the next level, the leader must practice transformational leadership. This dimension of leadership includes attention to releasing human potential and high levels of interaction and alignment.

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A BRIEFING FOR LEADERS DILENSCHNEIDER HARPER BUSINESS

HOW A LEADER SETS DIRECTION

Create a strong vision

Articulate a clear course

Bias the organization toward action

Lift up the organization

Practice excellent personal communications

Earn conviction

Sustain the vision

Create unity of purpose

Leverage the strength of the culture

Support positive rituals

Harmonize vision and culture

Train people to focus

THE FIVE VALUES OF A STRONG CORPORATE CULTURE

1. Integrity: be a living example of your leadership values

2. Accountability: do what you say you will do—build trust through personal responsibility

3. Diligence: work hard, set a good pace, complete projects on or before deadlines

4. Perseverance: overcome obstacles while maintaining a positive and enthusiastic attitude

5. Discipline: do all of these things, every single day

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PERSONAL LEADERSHIP COMPETENCY MODEL Based on the presentation and all of the materials you have read, please create a detailed outline of your own “personal leadership competency model.” What are the specific skills, abilities, and attitudes you feel you must have in order to become the sort of leader you aspire to be? Please be as precise as possible, listing measurable and observable behaviors whenever possible. I am not looking for just a few bullet points here, I want you to give this some serious thought and describe in clear detail what your personal leadership philosophy is built upon. What are the most essential things you need to do every day to be a living example of an excellent leader? Look back over the reading, study the notes you took from the presentation, think about great leaders and poor leaders who have worked with in your life — and develop a very clear, vivid and specific description of exactly what your leadership philosophy is and what you feel you must do every day to be an effective and successful leader.

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PERSONAL LEADERSHIP COMPETENCY MODEL

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“IDEAL LEADER” COMPETENCY MODEL WORKSHOP / PRESENTATIONS

Now that you have each completed you own “Personal Leadership Competency Model,” as a group I would like you to compare and contrast what you have each written. Share your list. Look back over the book together, pick out key ideas and phrases that are particularly meaningful to you. Discuss with your team why you feel strongly about certain aspects of your model, why you feel they are so critical. The goal is for each team to synthesize all of their personal models into one focused leadership competency model that you all feel represents the most important elements of being a successful leader in your organization. In other words, combine all of your individual models to create one overarching “Ideal Leader” model for your organization. The key to this being a successful workshop is to make sure that everyone in your group is participating in a robust and frank discussion about what each of you honestly believes are the most important thing for a truly effective leader in your organization to focus on day in and day out. At the end of this workshop each team will be responsible from making a 5-7 minute presentation on their model. I want to see that you have given this a good deal of thought and honest debate and created a solid framework that is focused, realistic and challenging — and that each of you is willing to personally commit to. Also, please assign a scribe in your group to capture all of the ideas and turn them into me. It is important that this person right legibly and gets all of the key ideas down so that I can understand exactly what your team was focused on. Take your time, make sure everyone participates and push each other hard for a quality conversation and a meaningful output of ideas.

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NOTES ON IDEAL LEADER COMPETENCY MODEL

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IDEAS TO ACTIONS WORKSHOP This is an extremely important workshop, so please take it very seriously. Keeping the “Ideal Leader” model you have created for your organization clearly at the front of your mind, discuss your findings in your group, talk specifically about areas for needed improvement—and exactly how to truly make positive changes in those areas. The goal of this workshop is for each team to develop a list of five very specific action steps that your organization can commit to in order to make real progress in improving your leadership effectiveness. Remember: What gets measured gets done; so every action item must be clear, specific, measurable and realistic. This is where you take the great ideas you’ve just developed and figure out how to actually make them happen. As you write your action steps work hard to make sure that they are realistic and clearly show what it takes to implement them in the real world, You want as little ambiguity as possible — this is how you close the “knowing — doing” gap, with solid steps of how to make your ideas into actions.

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IDEAS TO ACTIONS WORKSHOP

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IDEAS TO ACTIONS WORKSHOP