Career and leadership development – creating an effective process through insightful partnering

6 May 2010

Case Study by Dr Johan du Toit

Outline of presentation

• Setting the context

• Emphasising the pivotal roles of managerial leaders in leadership development

• Engaging with your managers and leaders using rigorous frameworks of managing

• Understanding what it is managerial leaders actually do and postures they adopt

• Reconciling best-practice leadership prescriptions with the real nature of managing

• Questions and answers

Let’s look at the most famous corporate university …

Source: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_43/b3905032_mz072.htm

Jack Welch: Management Evangelist

John F. Welch Jr. did not invent Six Sigma or many of the processes that made him famous in the 20 years that he led GE . But the relentlessly curious and blunt guy imbued his corporation with an energy and culture that made it - and him - an icon of American business.

Welch, who joined GE in 1960 with a PhD in chemical engineering and became CEO in 1981, held few things sacred. He…was famous for annually lopping off the bottom 10% of his managers. But Welch made it his mission to manage and foster top talent

with hawk-like attention. "Jack put his time and energy into developing people," says Noel M. Tichy, the management professor who helpedWelch revitalize his Crotonville training center. Welch transformedroutine meetings into rousing debate sessions and launched initiatives such as the SixSigma quality process and the Workout approach to team problem-solving that touched practically every employee around the planet.

As a result, GE developed what many consider the deepest bench of executive talent in American business. In the years leading up to Welch's retirement in 2001, he helped todevelop several contenders for his job. When Jeffrey R. Immelt was chosen, the losers immediately became chief executives at 3M and Home Depot Inc.

But Welch-style training programs are as popular as ever. Shanghai now boasts its own Crotonville-style facility and GE's management prowess still inspires envy. Cultivating top talent is part of the GE brand, with competitors worldwide striving to mimic the systems that Jack built.

For Crotonville-like success it is clear that...

…the CEO must visibly lead the development process by participating in the overall design and architecture, delivery, and integration of the development process as it gets tied to succession planning and rewards. This is not a voluntary, open university-type approach to development. It is a very personal tool of the top leadership of the organization as well as a vey central part of the organization effectiveness.

- Noel Tichy, Crotonville head (‘85-’87)

Source: “Crotonville: A Staging Ground for Corporate Revolution” (1989), page 105

Tichy provides a fuller set of “Lessons for CEOs” from his time at Crotonville

Source: “Crotonville: A Staging Ground for Corporate Revolution” (1989), page 105-106

Vision

Leadership characteristic

s

Career transition

points

CEO involvement

CEO role model

Organisational resistance

• Leadership should choose the characteristics that will fit (or deliberately change) the culture

• Powerful links here to values management

• Timing is critical• Development takes

time• Blended learning:

80% = real-life experiences + 20% = formal development programmes

1960 Wilfred Brown’s Exploration in Management book published in UK and US

Early 1970s Walter Mahler read Brown’s 1960 book and adopted the concepts into his consulting framework. Developed Career Crossroads to identify when managers matured into the next stratum and would benefit from additional education in leadership at that level

Crotonville also had a powerful guiding framework used for leadership development with a long history

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Mid-1970s Walter Mahler installed the Career Crossroads concepts at General Electric.

1978-1981 Jack Welch selected as Chairman and CEO of General Electric using Mahler’s version of Brown’s strata capability

1984 Welch reconceptualized Crotonville to infuse Mahler’s career bands and crossroads model of leadership development

Source: http://globalro.org/en/go-library/ro-history/ro-in-united-states.html

The Crotonville story provides three key take-aways for this presentation

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2

Leadership development should not be “outsourced” wholesale to HRD » should be leader-led and HRD-supported

Leadership development models must be clearly linked to developmental stages » Jaques’ SST (stratified-systems theory) sits behind most models

FOCUS OF REST OF PRESENTATION

3Leadership development models must be deliberately tied to culture & values » Mintzberg’s work of styles of managing is powerful to illuminate this area

There are several Jaques-inspired models that are much more familiar to business people…

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Drotter’s “Leadership

Pipeline”

BIOSS + Hoebeke levels-of-work

Quality [I]

Service [II]

Practice [III]

Strategic development [IV]

Strategic intent [V]

Corporate citizenship [VI]

Corporate prescience [VII]

Adding value for the future

Creating value for the present

Value systems

…but for environments not “ready” for SST-like rigour, competency frameworks with BARS are often used

Note: BARS = behaviourally anchored rating scaleSource: http://www.nhsleadershipqualities.nhs.uk/

My current engagement is a to conduct a “leadership skills inventory” for a large provincial departmentSMS

cadre

Involvement of over 40 of the most senior managers

From Directors (high III) to the Director General (high V)

Objective is developmental, not “fit-for-purpose sifting”

Results confidential – department to see “patterns”, not “people”Assessment focus =

BARS + “Style”

To handle style I use Mintzberg’s model of managing which is comprehensive, coherent and interactive

Source: “Managing”, (2009) by Mintzberg, p. 48

Person in the JobFraming c.f. strategisingScheduling c.f. prioritising

Managing through Information

Communication (Internal)MonitoringNerve centreDisseminating

Communication (External)SpokespersonNerve centre

Controlling (Internal)

DesigningDelegatingDesignatingDistributingDeeming

Managing with People

Leading (Internal)

Energising individualsDeveloping individualsBuilding teamsStrengthening culture

Linking (External)

NetworkingRepresentingConvincing/ ConveyingTransmittingBuffering

Managing Action Directly

Doing (Internal)Managing projectsHandling disturbances

Dealing (External)Building CoalitionsMobilising support

Source: “Managing”, (2009) by Mintzberg, p. 90

25 sub-roles

Managers adopt different postures in managing which result from their particular emphasis of roles

Art (vision)

Craft (experience)

Science (analysis)

The survey will also solicit the different SMS member’s preferences, strengths and weaknesses

Remote controlling

Managing in the middle

Maintaining the workflow

Advising to the side

Blending all around

Intervening strategically

Fortifying the culture

Connecting externally

Managing out of the

middle

Keep the organisation on course:

Doing, leading or controlling and communicating

Manage ‘hands-off’ on the information plane:

Controlling

Maintain the boundary conditions of their org’n:

Linking and dealing

BACKUP

The most famous corporate university in the world...

Source: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_43/b3905032_mz072.htm

OCTOBER 25, 2004

THE GREAT INNOVATORS

Jack Welch: Management Evangelist Under his leadership, GE developed the deepest bench of executive talent in U.S. business As part of its anniversary celebration, BusinessWeek is presenting a series of weekly profiles of the greatest innovators of the past 75 years. Some made their mark in science or technology; others in management, finance, marketing, or government. For profiles of all the innovators we've published so far, and more, go to www.businessweek.com/innovators/

John F. Welch Jr. did not invent Six Sigma or many of the processes that made him famous in the 20 years that he led General Electric Co. (GE ). But the relentlessly curious and blunt guy from Peabody (Mass.) imbued his corporation with an energy and culture that made it -- and him -- an icon of American business.

Through his own proselytizing personality, penchant for pithy slogans, and a rigorous performance system that demanded every manager become a mentor, Welch turned a disparate conglomerate into a global teaching organization. He inderstood that great talent was at least as important as great products. In the process, he showed how a vast, complex company could stay nimble and hungry even as it dominated rivals.

Welch, who joined GE in 1960 with a PhD in chemical engineering and became CEO in 1981, held few things sacred. He regularly jettisoned nonperforming units and was famous for annually lopping off the bottom 10% of his managers. But Welch made it his mission to manage and foster top talent with hawk-like attention. Every April he would clear his agenda to visit each business and review the performance of thousands of high-potential employees through a grueling process known as Session C. Up-and-coming leaders were moved around the 300,000-strong company and judged, among other things, on how well they were leading and nurturing others. Welch would prod and praise them, sending out a flurry of handwritten notes, or champagne to spouses, for a task well done. "Jack put his time and energy into developing people," says Noel M. Tichy, the University of Michigan management professor who helped Welch revitalize his Crotonville training center in New York's Hudson Valley. The center annually draws more than 8,000 employees for leadership training alone. Welch transformed routine meetings into rousing debate sessions and launched initiatives such as the Six Sigma quality process and the Workout approach to team problem-solving that touched practically every employee around the planet.

As a result, GE developed what many consider the deepest bench of executive talent in American business. In the years leading up to Welch's retirement in 2001, he helped to develop several contenders for his job. When Jeffrey R. Immelt was chosen, the losers immediately became chief executives at 3M (MMM ) and Home Depot Inc. (ABS ). Contrast that record with the succession angst that has played out in other American icons such as Walt Disney Co. (DIS ) and Coca Cola Co. (KO ).

Welch had his weak spots. His talent hunt seemed to capture mostly white men, with few minorities and women in the upper ranks. His fierce resistance to cleaning up the toxic chemicals that GE had dumped into the Hudson River between the 1940s and mid-1970s also did little to enhance his reputation as a model corporate citizen. Even his lavish retirement perks, which Welch and GE insist were justified, look ill-considered in today's transparent corporate climate.

But Welch-style training programs are as popular as ever. Shanghai now boasts its own Crotonville-style facility and GE's management prowess still inspires envy. Cultivating top talent is part of the GE brand, with competitors worldwide striving to mimic the systems that Jack built.

By Diane Brady

CMC DescriptionStrategic Capability and Leadership

Provides a vision, sets the direction for the organisation and/or unit and inspires others to deliver on the organisational mandate.

Programme/Project Management

Plans, manages, monitors and evaluates specific activities in order to deliver the desired outputs and outcomes.

Financial Management

Compiles and manages budgets, controls cash flow, institutes risk management and administers tender procurement processes in accordance with generally recognised financial practices in order to ensure the achievement of strategic organisational objectives.

Change Management

Initiates, supports and champions organisational transformation and change in order to successfully implement new initiatives and deliver on service delivery commitments.

Knowledge Management

Obtains, analyses and promotes the generation and sharing of knowledge and learning in order to enhance the collective knowledge of the organisation.

Service Delivery Innovation

Champions new ways of delivering services that contribute to the improvement of organisational processes in order to achieve organisational goals.

Problem Solving & Analysis

Systematically identifies, analyses and resolves existing and anticipated problems in order to reach optimum solutions in a timely manner.

People Mngmnt & Empowerment

Manages and encourages people, optimises their outputs and effectively manages relationships in order to achieve organisational goals.

Client Orientation & Customer Focus

Willing and able to deliver services effectively and efficiently in order to put the spirit of customer service (Batho Pele) into practice.

Communication Exchanges information and ideas in a clear and concise manner appropriate for the audience in order to explain, persuade, convince and influence others to achieve the desired outcomes.

Honesty and Integrity

Displays and builds the highest standards of ethical and moral conduct in order to promote confidence and trust in the Public Service.

The public sector uses the DPSA’s 11 Core Management Criteria – which do not have a BARS

Jaques’ requisite organisation theory

“Creativity and innovation, like freedom and liberty, depend not upon soft pedalling organisation, but upon the development of institutions with the kind of constraint and opportunities that can enable us to live and work together harmoniously, effectively and creatively.”

- Elliott Jaques

Jaques spent much time defining ‘work’ and what it actually is....

‘…the exercise of judgement and discretion in order to carry out a TASK’

= an assignment to produce an output of specified quantity and quality within a given time and with allocated resources, for a given purpose (context) and within prescribed limits of action and behaviour (e.g. policies, procedures etc.)

Source: Elliott Jaques (1986), J Appl. Behavioral Science

Jaques’ levels-of-work research grew out of years of searching and was inspired while working with unions!

7 Different levels of

work

The “by- when” of the

longest task of a

role

The “internal“ processes enabling

the decision-making

Time Span Too Many Just Right Stratum

10 years

5 years

2 years

1 year

3 months

1 day

VI

V

IV

III

II

I

The problem with the majority of ’’Bureacracies’’ is not that hierarchy is wrong, but terribly misapplied

Hoebeke, inspired by Jaques, really understands the ‘value-add’ of higher levels….

Source: Luc Hoebeke (1994), Making Work Systems Better

Maturation curves show that for most people capability increases, at predictable rates, with age

Source: Elliott Jaques (1986), J Appl. Behavioral Science