LEADING - FROM THE MIDDLE HRANB TAKING FLIGHT CONFERENCE OCTOBER, 2008Patrick Hartling, CHRP President,
Human Resources Association of Nova Scotia
and Prince Edward Island
PRESENTATION OBJECTIVES AND LEARNING OBJECTIVES Consider the reality of our contemporary work
and organizational worlds, where we are often seeking ways to become more effective partners, more aligned with business objectives, and possess a lens and tools with which to review and resolve conflicts, obstacles and boundary disputes.
Consider the three different learning and action styles of Team Members, Managers, Clients and Customers – and how to harness all three for more effective projects, services and outcomes……..
Consider the importance of understanding the top principles and meaning of ‘followership’ when exercising, planning and/or assessing leadership.
WHOSE IN CHARGE AND WHERE DO WE FIT?
Web site at: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/06/leading_from_the_middle.html
Secretary of Defence Robert Gates referred to that idea when he told Army cadets at West Point in April: "Just about every threat to our security in the years ahead will require working with or through other nations. Success in the war on terror will depend less on the fighting we do ourselves and more on how well we support our allies and partners in the moderate Muslim world and elsewhere."
LEADING AND FOLLOWING IN HR
Most of us are not always Leaders all the time. In fact, the reality is that while many of us are Leaders in some important ways or roles - we are Followers in many other ways or roles.
Traditional Leadership Theories often seem to work as if we can only achieve if we Lead.
Another question about Leadership is how it relates to values.
And finally, how do we Lead when we are partners and team members in settings where what we need to do must be aligned and integrated with others?
SOME THOUGHTS ON DEFINING LEADERSHIP
A leader is best when people barely know that he exists.Less good when they obey and acclaim him.Worse when they fear and despise him.Fail to honour people, and they fail to honour you.But of a good leader, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled,they will say, "We did this ourselves."
-- Lao-Tzu
http://www.govleaders.org/quotes6.htm
MORE THOUGHTS ON LEADERSHIP It is the nature of man to rise to greatness if greatness is
expected of him." -- John Steinbeck
"You have to enable and empower people to make decisions independent of you. As I've learned, each person on a team is an extension of your leadership; if they feel empowered by you they will magnify your power to lead. Trust is a great force multiplier." -- Tom Ridge
"No executive has ever suffered because his/her subordinates were strong and effective." -- Peter Drucker
"The growth and development of people is the highest calling of leadership." -- Harvey S. Firestone
Quotes from http://www.govleaders.org/quotes6.htm
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HR Leadership – How do We Measure It?
Is Leadership only something that we measure from what you personally achieve? Or should we also consider the impacts and outcomes – The Results? The Team’s Results? The Employee Results? The Organizational Results? Retention and Satisfaction Results?
Is Leadership something you “do to” people, or is it what you do with them? Or is it about the processes we use which pull people together, the values and relationships we explore?
THREE DIFFERENT LEARNING AND ACTION STYLES HEAD. Directional challenges, rational-analytic
questions and mind-set. What's the business plan? Where are we going? What must I do? What must I not do? What is the end result desired?
HEART. Motivational and emotional needs. Why are we going there? Why would I act or change? Will I benefit – how? - rewards or the consequences of acting or changing? Can I do it?
HANDS. Behavioural requirements and operational issues. What will I have to do/or do differently as an individual? What will others have to do? How do I learn the new things I'm going to have to do? Who's going to teach me? How will I be assessed/ be taught what to do/get feedback on how I'm doing?
Head, Heart, and Hands-Three Arenas for Change By: Andy Billings, PhD & Elizabeth Gibson, PhD Date: June 2003 Excerpt from Chapter 3 (pages 54-61)
HOW AND WHEN DO WE USE THE HEAD TO MAKE ACTION AND LEARNING HAPPEN
Healthy Heads in Organization = the readiness of individuals and teams to use their minds together with others and individually to solve problems and improve productivity.
Three Levers - You can't directly control the way people share ideas or use their creativity to address problems or improve service/productivity. But there are three major levers to address the challenges of the head and to help create action and also learning Define & Communicate a clear picture of the issues Deal with Obstacles and Alignment Measure Progress and Gaps
ACTION AND LEARNING BY CONNECTING WITH THE HEAD
Define/Communicate a clear picture of the issues – Instead of starting to engage people with the solutions you have developed, have discussions with them about issues.
Deal with obstacles and alignment – Listen to the feedback and comments, and find out what people see as the issues and obstacles. Find ways to create alignment between individuals and teams that are working on related issues.
Measure progress and gaps – The ‘head’ needs to know if it is making progress, if the direction is being rewarded and having an impact, and what further effort, or what other directions might be necessary.
HOW AND WHEN DO WE USE THE HEART TO MAKE ACTION AND LEARNING HAPPEN Healthy Heart of the Organization = the
readiness of individuals and teams for change. Overcoming resistance to ‘letting go’ of the old and trying on a new mind-set, a new vision, and the specific behaviours of implementation. To accomplish this we must deal with the central question in everyone's mind, What's in it for me? or WIIFM?
Three Levers - You can't directly control the way people feel or how the forces of a culture affect them. But there are three major levers to address the challenges of the heart and to help create commitment to change Develop a personal equation - winning Deal with fears Develop new rewards
ACTION AND LEARNING BY CONNECTING WITH THE HEART
Rebalance gains versus losses. Provide opportunities and experiences that help individuals rebalance their gains-versus-losses equation regarding the "new order."
Surface and release fears. Help release the fears that underlie the anger, uncertainty, and scepticism that are usually the visible emotions during change.
Realign rewards. Rewards, both monetary and psychological, define motivations. To change the motivational landscape, shape the culture and management practices to reward the new behaviours. At the same time, remove rewards and recognition that reinforce the old mind-set and behaviours.
HOW AND WHEN DO WE USE THE HANDS TO MAKE ACTION OR LEARNING HAPPEN Healthy Organizational Strategies for Developing
Physical Competencies -The challenge of the hands arena is to help people understand, "What, exactly, am I supposed to do? How do I learn and master the required behaviours?" This involves helping people work through a learning cycle that sets goals and provides practice and feedback, while allowing room for mistakes - performance coaching!
Three Levers The major idea is to move from awareness of a skill, to the ability to use it, to the final stage of building habits. The following three levers are most important in this arena. Show it Define and Explain it Reinforce it
Action and Leadership by the Hands A visual image gives people the physical context.
A physical picture, a model or drawing, a method of physically pointing the way are all productive. Behavioural descriptions of new employee activities-profiles or pictures.
Awareness to Skill to Habit
Opportunities for practice with room for mistakes, feedback, and setting successive approximations of the final target behaviour.
Habits must become Organizationally rooted. The new individual habits need to become organizational habits and skills. Creating an environment that supports self-sustaining development and growth of skills is desirable.
Discussion Exercise
How to use it in HR? Broad Examples of the types of thinking :
Persuasion: thinking about all three gets the innovator out of their preferred mode and thinking about all three, thus potentially tripling the effectiveness of persuasive
efforts to get people to accept their idea.
Engagement: using all the members of a team regarding management or leadership
problems will triple your skill sets. Other Practical and Specific Examples in HR?
USING LEARNING STYLES OF HEAD, HEART AND HANDS AS LEADERSHIP MODELS in HR
Strategic Leadership - HeadFor example, when we build programs that are designed to measure the contributions of employees and productivity, we must not only focus on the data, but on the skills that will help employees improve their results, and on the reasons why an employee should be deeply motivated to improve their results. If we are to concentrate on the logical side of our learning styles, we need to not only think of logical thinkers and learners, but we must help connect those who learn and are motivated by skills [doing] and heart [feelings].
USING LEARNING STYLES OF HEAD, HEART AND HANDS AS LEADERSHIP MODELS in HR
Spirit-Centered Leadership – HeartFor example, in dealing with an employee’s return to work the supervisor is often thinking of the physical aspects such as how the work of the unit will get done, the senior management is often thinking of the logic … the need of the organization to respond to productivity and performance. But a key element in this type of scenario is also the heart - how can we all connect with the employee to achieve the best chance of return….
USING LEARNING STYLES OF HEAD, HEART AND HANDS AS LEADERSHIP MODELS in HR
Skills Based Leadership – Handsfor example, in dealing with the development of an attendance management program, we need to think about the skills that people have [or do not have] that will make the program a success. We need to not only think of the logic of the program, or the emotional willingness and engagement of all – we need to think of the skills to perform.
So……
You, as an HR Professional, can use the levers of Head, Hands and Heart in the Development of Programs and Services Training of Managers and Staff in using
the Policies and Procedures of HR Assessment of areas for future
development of programs and services, based on the three styles
Development of HR measurement tools that consider all three dimensions
RESULTS BASED LEADERSHIP
Four Key Results Areas Employee Results Organization Results Customer Results Investor/Stakeholder Results Three Key Steps to Results Based
LeadershipIt is now vital to: connect Leadership Attributes to Results
Achieved Defining Desired Results Leaders Building Leaders
10 Characteristics of Servant Leadership Listening Empathy Healing Awareness Persuasion Conceptualization Foresight Stewardship Commitment to growth of people Building CommunityOn Becoming a Servant Leader
ed. by D.M. Frick and L.C. Spears, Jossey Bass Publishers, 1996, p 306
Do Values Matter to Leadership?
Al Capone was a leader. Adolf Hitler was a leader; a truly extraordinary one. This isn’t what we want more of. What we want is differentiated in just one dimension, but an awfully important one: Values. In just three value choices, we can separate what we want from what we do not want in a leader. We want a leader to be honest, loving and responsible.
On Becoming a Servant Leader
ed. by D.M. Frick and L.C. Spears, Jossey Bass Publishers, 1996, p 306
Leadership and Others……
A leader is best when people barely know that he exists.Less good when they obey and acclaim him.Worse when they fear and despise him.Fail to honour people, and they fail to honour you.But of a good leader, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled,they will say, "We did this ourselves."
-- Lao-Tzu
In Close
We need leaders of inspired idealism, leaders to whom are granted great visions, who dream greatly and strive to make their dreams come true; who can kindle the fire in others with the fire from their own burning souls.
Theodore Roosevelt
A man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on.
John F Kennedy
Applying Your Model
Thank you for your attention and interest in this topic! I truly hope it is of value to this and I wish you the best as you lead others and as you follow.
[email protected] 902 489 4615