leading with strength: a revolutionary new approach … 2013/jimclemmer... · a revolutionary new...

Leading with Strength:

A Revolutionary New Approach for Exceptional Leadership

Jim Clemmer - www.clemmergroup.com 1

"There is nothing new to be discovered in physics now.

All that remains is more and more precise measurement."

Lord Kelvin, 19th century British mathematical physicist and engineer highly

decorated for pioneering contributions to electricity, thermodynamics, and

the emerging field of physics.

Five years later Albert Einstein published his paper on special relativity challenging the rules laid down by Newtonian mechanics. It opened an entirely new field of science that dramatically changed our world!

Paradigm Paralysis "for well-integrated members of a particular discipline, its paradigm is so convincing that it normally renders even the possibility of alternatives unconvincing and counter-intuitive. …appearing to be a direct view of the bedrock of reality itself, and obscuring the possibility that there might be other, alternative imageries hidden behind it. The conviction that the current paradigm is reality tends to disqualify evidence that might undermine the paradigm itself…"

Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hubert_von_Herkomer03.jpg




“You cannot build performance on weaknesses. You can build only on strengths.

To focus on weakness is not only foolish; it is irresponsible.

It is a misuse of a human resource,

what a person cannot do is a limitation and nothing else.”

Peter Drucker (1909 – 2005), author of 39 books and hundreds of articles on leadership, management, and organization effectiveness. Widely considered to be the father of “modern management.”

Agenda

Zenger Folkman Background/Relationship

1. Evidence-Based Leadership Development

2. Leveraging Leadership Strengths

3. Perceptions Create a Leader’s Reality

4. Cross-Training: A Revolutionary Approach to Developing Strengths

1. Jack Zenger and the values-based Zenger Folkman team.

2. Revolutionary Strengths-Based Leadership Development System.

3. Research/Evidence-Based Leadership Development.

4. Coaching and Inspiring Skills/Philosophies. 5. A Powerful Fit with our Culture/Leadership

Development.

Why The CLEMMER Group is Partnering with Zenger Folkman




Founded in 2003 to revolutionize leadership and organization development through empirical research.

Evidence-based methods leveraging existing strengths. Comprehensive system including assessment

instruments, development programs and executive coaching.

Leveraging research and methodologies found in The Extraordinary Leader, The Inspiring Leader, The Extraordinary Coach, and How to Be Exceptional.

Consulting, customizing, and integrating strengths-based leadership approaches aligned to organizational strategy and culture.

About Zenger Folkman

Sample Organizations Using ZF’s Approach • Wilfrid Laurier

University • Canadian Tire • Niagara Region • Fanshawe College • CIBC • EllisDon • Air Transat • Seneca College • Rogers • Elsevier • General Mills • Symantec

• Coca Cola • Deloitte • Fidelity Investments • ConocoPhillips • Adidas • Marriott • Lockheed Martin • Safeway • Zain • Allianz • AT&T • Wells Fargo Bank • US Navy

“an unusual blend of credible and uncompromising research married with years of successful application with leaders and organizations. The result is innovative, at times challenging conventional wisdom… I have seen talent in my organization engage and improve based on this work."

Kevin D. Wilde, VP, Organization Effectiveness

and Chief Learning Officer and author of

Dancing with the Talent Stars: 25 Moves That

Matter Now




Core Research and Strengths-Based

Leadership Systems

Core Research and Strengths-Based

Leadership Systems

Evidence-Based Leadership

Development

a strategic partner of

Strengths-Based Leadership Development

The Need for Evidence-Based Leadership Development

• Over 100,000 books with “leadership” in the title at Amazon – how many others don’t have that word in their title?

• Over 600,000 Google hits on “leadership books.”

• A flood of theories, opinions, thesis papers, inspiration, training programs, frameworks, styles, models, tools…




The Original Research Base • Two years researching the impact of leadership

performance and the key behaviors great leaders demonstrate.

• Data set of 200,000 evaluations on 20,000 people. • Contrasted the highest-performing 10% to the

lowest-performing 10%. • The data conclusively demonstrates:

leadership effectiveness can be measured and is strongly correlated to performance outcomes

16 competencies most differentiate the extraordinary leaders from everyone else

building on existing strengths is the most effective approach to development

Differentiating Competencies

•Communicates Powerfully and Prolifically

•Inspires and Motivates Others to High Performance

•Builds Relationships

•Develops Others

•Collaboration and Teamwork

•Develops Strategic Perspective

•Champions Change

•Connects the Group to the Outside World

•Drives for Results

•Establishes Stretch Goals

•Takes Initiative

Leading Change

Focus on Results

Interpersonal Skills

•Technical/ Professional Expertise

•Solves Problems and Analyzes Issues

•Innovates

•Practices Self-Development

Personal Capability

•Displays High Integrity and Honesty

Character

The Good, the Bad, and the

Extraordinary





Leadership behaviors culture

within my team/organization

One variable emerged as the best predictor of employee engagement, satisfaction, and commitment

Searching for the Keys to Employee Engagement, Satisfaction, and Commitment

Extraordinary leaders have much higher

retention rates.

19

14

9

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

Bottom 30% Middle 60% Top 10%

The Impact of Leadership Effectiveness on Turnover

Ave

rage

Pe

rce

nt

Turn

ove

r

Poor Leaders Good Leaders Great Leaders

Percent of Employees that “Think about Quitting”

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

55

60

1st -

9th

10th -

19th

20th -

29th

30th -

39th

40th -

49th

50th -

59th

60th -

69th

70th -

79th

80th -

89th

90th -

100th

% o

f Em

plo

yees

in W

ork

Gro

up

s

That

“Th

ink

abo

ut

Qu

itti

ng”

Leadership Effectiveness Percentile




90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0 Emp

loye

e S

atis

fact

ion

/En

gage

men

t/

Co

mm

itm

en

t Pe

rce

nti

le

Overall Leadership Effectiveness

1st- 9th

11th- 19th

20th- 29th

30th- 39th

40th- 49th

50th- 59th

60th- 69th

70th- 79th

80th- 89th

90th- 100th

Leadership Effectiveness and Employee Engagement/Satisfaction/Commitment

19

Based on 23,800 Leaders

Poor Leaders Create

Dissatisfaction

Great Leaders Make a Great

Difference

Good Leaders Have a

Mediocre Impact

Impact of Leadership Effectiveness on a Safe Work Environment

Bottom 10 Percentile

11th – 35th Percentile



Top 10 Percentile

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0 Safe

Wo

rk E

nvi

ron

me

nt

(Pe

rce

nti

le)

19

42

50

59

67

Leadership Effectiveness

The most effective leaders create the most

satisfied customers.

39

49

68

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Bottom 20% Middle 60% Top 20%

Leadership Effectiveness versus Customer Satisfaction

Per

cep

tio

ns

of

Cu

sto

mer

Sat

isfa

ctio

n

(Per

cen

tile

)

Poor Leaders Good Leaders Great Leaders




Leadership Effectiveness vs. Satisfaction with Pay and Job Security

30

35

40

45

50

55

60

65

70

1st - 9th 10th -

19th

20th -

29th

30th -

39th

40th -

49th

50th -

59th

60th -

69th

70th -

79th

80th -

89th

90th -

100th

Sati

sfac

tio

n w

ith

Co

mp

any

Pay

& J

ob

Se

curi

ty

Leadership Effectiveness Percentile

• 10 - 20 times higher levels of employee engagement

• 3 - 4 times reduction in employees thinking about quitting

• 50% fewer employees that do leave • Double the satisfaction with pay and job security • 4 - 5 times more employees "willing to go the

extra mile." • 1.5 times higher customer satisfaction ratings • Over 3 times safer work environment

Extraordinary Leaders Make a HUGE Difference


Questions/Comments? How would use of feedback data and an evidence-

based approach improve your leadership/team development efforts?




Leveraging Leadership Strengths



"...the path to greatness is really about building profound strengths, rather than through relentlessly focusing on one's weaknesses.”

Michael A. Peel, Vice

President, Human Resources

and Administration

• Positive emotion

• Engagement

• Relationships

• Meaning

• Accomplishment

Being in a state of mental health is not merely being disorder free; rather it is the presence of flourishing.”




• Why do most performance reviews focus on fixing weaknesses rather than leveraging strengths?

• What’s the lingering effect?


Weaknesses Strengths

Power-based command and control

Inspiring shared leadership

Catch people doing things wrong Catch people doing things right

Indifference and apathy Energized and engaged

Focus on fixing what’s wrong

See the worst in people

Leverage/build on what’s right

Bring out the best in people

Push and punish Pull and coach

Culture Anchor Points

Typical Approach to Development

1. Evaluate current level of effectiveness

2. Identify areas of strength and weakness

3. Create an action plan to improve areas of weakness

If Someone is Average at Everything, What is the Effect of Focusing on Lower Scores?

Average at Everything

1 2 3 4 5

P

O

N

M

L

K

J

I

H

G

F

E

D

C

B

A

Will fixing one or two less-positive

issues have a dramatic impact on

leadership effectiveness?




Your Best Leader 1. What were this leader’s most profound

strengths?

2. Did this leader have any weaknesses or areas in which he/she did not excel?

3. What kept these weaker areas from undermining his/her overall impact?

Your Worst Leader 1. What was this leader’s Fatal Flaw?

2. Did this leader have any strengths or areas in which he/she was actually quite capable?

3. Why were these strengths not enough to change an overall perception?

Focusing Development on Weaknesses Works Well When. . .

Lead

ers

hip

Co

mp

ete

nci

es

. . . People Have Fatal Flaws

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Fatal Flaws & No Profound Strengths

18

Overall L

ead

ersh

ip E

ffecti

ven

ess

(P

ercen

tile

)

1 2 3 4 5

P

O

N

M

L

K

J

I

H

G

F

E

D

C

B

A

Strong negative data on an issue can

cripple a person’s leadership

effectiveness




Extraordinary leaders are distinguished by existence of a few profound strengths, not the absence of weaknesses

0

20

40

60

80

100

0 1 2 3 4 5

34

64 72

81 89 91

Ave

rage

Pe

rce

nti

le S

core

Overall Leadership

Effectiveness

Our Research Shows Strengths-Based Development is Most Effective

Number of Profound Strengths (Competencies at the 90th percentile or higher)

Pre-test Post Test

+26

+12

* Fixing weaknesses excludes those fixing fatal flaws

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0 *Fixed Weaknesses Built Strengths

Per

cen

tile

54

66

56

82

A Strengths Focus Doubles Improvement Rates

The Powerful Impact of Building Strengths

Executives Responded to These Statements:

I have created an excellent development plan that will guide my efforts to improve.

As a result of my use of the 360 feedback process, report, and tools, I feel that I have improved in my overall leadership effectiveness.

I feel that I have moved forward on improving the specific issues on my development plan.

I have taken the time and made a real effort to work on my development plan.

Build Strength Fix Weakness

63%

72%

68%

60%

13%

38%

43%

38%




“…their research caused us to rethink our performance management philosophy. We revamped our process to orient it more toward building employees' strengths. The results have been remarkable… The biggest change has been in the energy people have for the performance management process. It is now something that most employees look forward to. How many companies can say that?"

Mary Settle, Vice President of Human

Resources, BARD Access Systems

Building on Leadership Strengths

• The only way to become an extraordinary leader. • Up to three times higher change and improvement. • Profits, sales, engagement, morale, energy levels,

turnover, health and safety, and customer satisfaction skyrockets.

• Broadens the spectrum of development methods with cross-training and competency companions.

• Participant motivation to improve is 2 – 3 times higher. • Organizational culture is much more positive and

energized. • It's a lot more fun to work on strengths!


How would leveraging leadership strengths improve your development work?

Questions/Comments?




Perceptions are a

Leader’s Reality


Accuracy in Predicting Leadership Effectiveness

Manager Direct Reports

Peers Other Self

0.35

0.30

0.25

0.20

0.15

0.10

0.05

0.00

R S

qu

are

d-V

aria

nce

Pre

dic

ted

Ability of Individuals in Each Rater Group to Predict Overall Leadership Effectiveness

Trait B Trait E

Trait F Trait A

Trait D Trait C

How people would objectively evaluate us

Trait B Trait E

Trait A

Trait D Trait C

Impression

Trait F

How people really evaluate us

Impression

The Reality of Leadership Perceptions




How Are You Perceived?

Trait B Trait E

Trait A

Trait D Trait C

Impression

Trait F

What is Your “Trait F”? A profound strength? A Fatal Flaw?

Cross Training: A

Revolutionary Approach to Developing

Strengths


The Leader’s Situation Determines Which Strengths are Key

• Development efforts focus on building profound strengths

• Specific strengths to be built vary by leader

• Goal is 3-5 strengths at 90th percentile

• Offers a positive approach to development for individual leader and the organization




First Researchers Looked at “A Without B”

If this IS a strength . . . but this ISN’T . . .

the probability of being an extraordinary leader: 12%

(A)

Builds

Relationships

(B)

Drives for

Results

Then Researchers Looked at “B Without A”

If this IS NOT a strength . . . but this IS . . .

(A)

Builds

Relationships

(B)

Drives for

Results

the probability of being an extraordinary leader: 14%

The Power of “A + B” Led to the Notion of “Powerful Combinations”

If these are BOTH strengths . . .

the probability of being an extraordinary leader: 14% + 12% 26%

(A)

Builds

Relationships

(B)

Drives for

Results





Weightlifting

Interval Training

Mental Imagery

Techniques

Stretching

Sleeping Habits

Equipment

Yoga Nutrition

Long Distance Running

Good to Great: Non-Linear Cross Training

"...lifting leadership effectiveness from the (somewhat pejorative) realm of 'soft skills' to a plane that equates these competencies with 'harder' disciplines… not only can these skills be learned, but they can have a similar impact on bottom-line results and employee performance. Leadership cross-training is an approach that can have a powerful impact on helping good leaders become exceptional ones."

Jaime Gonzales, Head of Professional

Development, Jet Propulsion

Laboratory

• Research identified statistically correlated companion behaviors for each competency.

• Each companion behavior represents a leadership cross-training idea for development.

• Each provides a potential path for building on an existing strength.

Assertiveness

Concern for

Others

Drives for

Results

Decisiveness

Trust

Deals Well with

Ambiguity

Inspires and

Motivates Others

Positive Optimism

Displays High Integrity and

Honesty

Competency Companions: Cross-Training Ideas for Leaders




Solves Problems

and Analyzes

Issues

Honesty and Integrity

Can Be Trusted

to Act in the

Team’s Best Interest

Relationship Building and Networking

Communicates Powerfully

Takes Initiative

Develops Others

Desires to Pursue

Excellence

Technical/

Professional

Expertise

• CCDG research from thousands of leaders on how to build a profound strength.

• The research examined what the best leaders did to build their competence on each of the 16 differentiating competencies.

Example: Strengthening a Leadership Competence

How would strengths-based leadership cross-training improve your development

approaches?

Questions/Comments?


Rare Public Workshops The Extraordinary Leader (1 day)

and

The Extraordinary Coach (1 day)

Calgary – Sept 19 and 20

Toronto – Dec 5 and 6 Register for one or both - clemmergroup.com





Association Partnership Offer

$250 discount – on either one day workshop

$350 discount – on both days

•Pass the discount on to your members

•Keep the discount as revenue

•Split the discount with your members

The most valuable

insights/approaches I am

taking away from this session

are….

Reflections


“The effective executive makes strengths productive….one cannot build on weaknesses.

Strengths are the true opportunities. to make strength productive is the unique purpose of the organization.

It cannot overcome the weaknesses with which each of us in endowed, but it can make them irrelevant.

Organizations must feed the opportunities and starve the problems.”

Peter Drucker (1909 – 2005), author of 39 books and hundreds of articles on leadership, management, and organization effectiveness. Widely considered to be the father of “modern management”

leading with strength: a revolutionary new approach … 2013/jimclemmer... · a revolutionary new...

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