The Executive Coach

Did you know that leadership is proven through actions, not words?

Leadership happens in times when it matters most. One of the greatest modern day examples is former NY Mayor Rudy Giuliani and his handling of the World Trade Center tragedy. The world watched as he made a habit of taking on difficult tasks that most people would avoid. His habit of addressing the multiple conflicting issues provided us all with comfort and confidence that things would somehow be eventually OK.

Habits are formed through repeated and deliberate action. Discipline and courage are required to make the tough decisions and follow through with sometimes unpopular actions. Leaders step up when leadership and clear direction is needed most.

Putting It Into Action

Ask yourself, what are the tough decisions or difficult situations that everyone has been avoiding and you feel need to be addressed? Volunteer to take on those things. Make this reflection and action a regular quarterly habit. If you need help staying on track, assign a coach to keep you accountable for making tough decisions and handling difficult situations. Ask your boss which tasks that she or he dislikes the most. Volunteer to take on those things as a regular habit.

With you along the path towards success,
Joseph

Did you know that compliments are a powerful communication tool?

As a manager and leader, you need to encourage engagement and build loyalty. Managers and leaders build loyalty when they celebrate their employees' successes with heart felt compliments.

Acknowledgement and public appreciation is the most underutilized management communication tool. Most employees leave their direct supervisors not their organizations. Most employees leave their direct supervisors because they are not acknowledged, not appreciated and not complimented.

Genuine compliments re-energize your employees, suppliers, channel partners and stakeholders. We are programmed to please others. Genuine compliments have the following qualities:
-lack of over the top flattery
-sounds realistic
-specific, not general phrases like 'good job'
-timely, as soon as possible after the successful event
-given in moderation
-never compromised by a qualifier
-public if possible
-reinforced with a token of appreciation

Putting It Into Action

Put together your weekly plan to recognize people for their unique and exemplary contributions. When you offer your compliments, make sure they are genuine, realistic, timely, thoughtful, specific and offer encouragement. Purchase a box of 'thank you' cards and write a quick note of appreciation. Use your weekly planner as a tool to record great achievements and then periodically give praise by quoting those specific achievements. There is no such thing as too much communication when it comes to those that you count on. Use compliments as a key engagement tool.

With you along the path towards success,
Joseph

How can you plan the future when you are struggling to meet the needs of today?

Leadership is the future. What are you doing today to prepare? I recently interviewed the Dean of one of the world`s best business schools. I asked him, `` What makes a great leader?`` The first words that came out of his mouth was, `` A clear vision of the future.``

Professor Vivay Govindarajan of Michigan University, talks about Box 1, Box 2 and Box 3 Thinking. Box 1 Thinking is Manage the Present and it is unfortunately what most companies think is strategy. Box 2 Thinking is Selectively Forget the Past. Box 3 Thinking is Create the Future.
To effectively and strategically plan your business and career strategy, you should start with Box 3. Visualize and conceptualize your vision for the future and begin to create what it will look like.

Putting It Into Action:

Many of us are stuck in BOX 1 because we are somewhat successful and are often obsessed with making marginal improvements. We think that our success is a validation of our past actions and strategy.

Chances are you are somewhat unsatisfied in your career or business because you have settled on marginal success. Global events like the rise of China and India will re-write the business fundamentals. You must plan out a forward looking vision of the future in a space that is not currently or in the near future being met by cheaper sources of labour (Box 2 Thinking). You must develop a date specific action plan to achieve future success. It may help to meet regularly with a group of forward looking visionaries who are looking forward to rewriting the rules in their favour.

With you along the path towards success,
Joseph

Would you like to know the ten characteristics that the world`s most successful companies and their leaders practice?

A 2006 study by Fortune Magazine and the HR consultancy, The Hay Group, rated the Fortune 1000 and Global 500 based on corporate reputations.

The top ten keys they found that separated the best organizations from the worst organizations were:

1) Increased Clarity – consistent and focused communication at all levels
2) Integrated Culture – part of their DNA, embedded in their operations
3) Global Alignment – alignment around values and culture
4) Consistency – maintain a long term focus and consistent customer experience
5) Focus on People – proactive strategy to develop all levels of talent, provide mentorship and coaching
6) Better EQi – great awareness and improvement of Emotional Intelligence
7) Increased Diversity – leadership and management team shows diversity in sex, heritage, lifestyle and backgrounds
8) Team Builders – team players and collaborative culture
9) Open Culture – healthy discussion, challenges and constructive criticism
10) Intense Innovation – built into culture, expected from all levels and rewarded

According to the study, the Top Ten Companies included: General Electric, Toyota, P & G, Fed Ex, Nokia, BP, BMW, etc. Nine of the Top Ten are consistent performers, being on the list in 2005.

Putting It Into Action:

No matter what your level in your organization, it is imperative that you begin to embrace, illustrate and champion the above listed ten leadership keys.

Conduct a leadership competencies gap analysis to identify your strongest strengths. Improve on your strongest strengths by planning and implementing a weekly key leadership strategies action plan. Move to a lesser dominate skill only once you are fully leveraging your strengths.

With you along the path towards success,
Joseph

Did you know that those who accept and adapt to change will survive?

Darwin’s Theory of Evolution holds true in business and in your professional career. Evolve or perish.

Here are some hard facts:
• 90% of the products and services that you will use 10 years from now are not currently available in the marketplace
• Knowledge will double in the next 7 years vs. more than the 100 years it took to double last time and a million years the time before that
• 60% of future careers don’t yet exist
• Increased complexity equals increased inability to solve your own problems which results in increased frustration and anger

Reflect on how the four facts above will have a profound affect on you and your team’s careers and on customer behaviour.

China, India and other quickly rising economies may seem foreign to some of us. Accept that these countries are already fundamentally rewriting the rules of financial markets, demand and supply of renewable and non-renewable resources and consumption levels in our own backyard.

Putting It Into Action:

Surround yourself with forward thinking visionaries who can’t wait for the future and are taking steps now to prepare themselves. Embrace continuous learning both in traditional in class formats and increasingly with on-line, interactive and with knowledge sharing on-line communities.

Reflect on the four facts above and the rapidly developing economies. Learn as much as you can, as quick as you can, and begin to map out a proactive strategy to try to stay ahead of the relevance curve for both careers and business.

With you along the path towards success,
Joseph

Is market disruption good or evil?

Disruptive forces are threats to those people who don’t like change and can’t embrace the future. Hopefully you find that disruptive forces cause wonderful opportunities to provide new products and services.

Five trends that are now mainstream are:

1) Two Way Web
2) Destruction of Mainstream Media
3) Micropreneurship
4) Virtual Communities
5) Gargoyle Culture

The first trend is a complete 180 degree reversal from just a few years ago, where the audience is the content (eg. Blogs, discussion boards, Wikipedias). The second trend is rewriting the advertising industry:
-if traditional media is chosen, it is watched on own time and usually without commercials
-articles from magazines and articles are read increasingly on-line rather than in print
-information is coming from non traditional sources like Blogs and Wikipedias and other media. In the last US Presidential Election, many Gen Xers and Ys got their election commentary from the Jon Stewart Show, a mock news show.

Micropreneurs have emerged and have changed the rules of business. They are winning business with the new tools of the trade: a laptop, an Ebay account, a PayPal account, a strong network of contacts and a Google ad. They don’t have overhead costs like warehouses, inventory or employees. They transact almost entirely on-line as the needs arise. They have no need for employers or a traditional workplace. Virtual communities are becoming larger than physical communities. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg correctly turned down a $1 Billion offer to sell to Yahoo. X-box Live, Wii and virtual reality gaming and software thrive with on-line communities. As a business person, do you have a Linked In profile? The rise of a gargoyle culture was made vivid when Sadaam Hussein’s assassination video was caught and posted on websites. It was not CNN, it was someone’s cell phone that caught the vivid images.

Putting It Into Action:

Your personal brand or employers brand must embrace and act on these important opportunities. You should register your personal name as a domain name, build your personal website and begin blogging. You should surround yourself with teenagers and twenty somethings who thrive on this new on-line virtual culture. Rethink your advertising and recruitment strategies to use these alternative communication channels and consider viral marketing, event marketing, lifestyle marketing and funky interactive, content rich ways to drive traffic to you and your company’s websites.

With you along the path towards success,
Joseph

How do you estimate CEO worth in today’s business climate?

Global stock markets are returning historically higher than average returns. The thirst for IPOs and Mergers and Acquisitions seems unquenchable. Record levels of wealth have been created for shareholders on a global basis. How are you supposed to balance all this liquidity with the need to satisfy employees, shareholders, media, institutional investors, securities associations and others cries to bring run away CEO compensation under control? Look at the astronomical golden parachute that resulted from forcing Nardelli out of Home Depot for his salary compared to lack luster stock performance.

The keys to an effective pay review are:
1) Compensation should come from strategy. Build the following in this order: vision, mission, strategy, human capital strategy, executive compensation plan.
2) Consider employment market issues and specific and relevant data.
3) Strategically use all of the components of total compensation, not just salary.
4) Tie compensation into desired market position; are you a follower or leader?
5) Align pay with performance objectives.

The SEC, OSC and other securities bodies and governance watch dogs are demanding publicly traded companies to have more: disclosure, transparency, documentation, justification, tie into a performance formula.

Putting It Into Action:

Try to get yourself assigned to an executive compensation review team at work. Failing this, get involved in Boards where you can play a role in the Governance, Compensation, CEO Review or Finance/Audit Committees. Research annual reports, prospectuses and other publicly available reports on executive compensation. The more knowledge you have in this area, the better. This issue will remain a very visible and sensitive issue that will provide you will great visibility.

With you along the path towards success,
Joseph

Does your company have the ability to see around the corner?

Do you remember when you were a kid and you can order all that cool detective and surveillance gear from the back of your favourite comic book? My favourite gadget was the mirrored tube that let you see over walls and around corners. How are you at looking at around the corner at what you and your company may be facing in the near future?

Linear, process driven, stepped thinking will result in marginal progress and survival for only the fittest. To prosper in todays hectic, globally linked, low barriers to entry business world, you need to see what’s coming at you outside of your current: industry, market segment, controllable factors, or geographical location. The following metamorphosis needs to take place:

FROM: Linear Thinking TO: Around the Corner Thinking
FROM: Benchmark Best Practices TO: Create Next Practices
FROM: Top Down Strategic Setting TO: Bottom Up / Customer Input
FROM: Set Realistic Goals TO: Set Stretch Goals
FROM: Define Your Rules TO: Disobey Your Rules
FROM: Hire Highest Caliber People TO: Hire the Weird and Creative

Putting It Into Action:

No matter what your level, you can begin practicing around the corner thinking, get results and get the attention of others in your organization. Focus on ways to co-create new ideas by soliciting input from customer service employees, customers, suppliers and competitors. Champion this new thinking throughout your organization. These same principles apply if you are in career search mode. Create your own position where you can be a visionary standout by always looking at what is coming at you around the corner.

With you along the path towards success,
Joseph

Did you know that the first 90 days as a manager or leader are critical for long-term success?

The first 90 days with a new employer can be challenging and risky. Most firms have a 3 to 6 month probation period for this exact reason. The risk is high, the cost of failure, even higher.

After talking to hundreds of Human Resources professionals, on boarding experts and managers, I am convinced that you can turn challenge into opportunity by executing flawlessly the following 10 steps:

1) Build Relationships (up, down and sideways in your organization).
2) Get to know your team and internal stakeholders; discover: what do they do, what are there strengths, what are there workplace preferences, then try to adjust your plans accordingly.
3) Learn and appreciate cultures, behaviours and individual preferences.
4) Listen, observe and ask questions (especially if you are new to the industry or function).
5) Get clarity and buy in on expectations (both for you and from you).
6) Be visible, approachable and open.
7) Don’t make huge changes; focus on more visible projects that are likely to yield results in the first 90 days.
8) Be true to yourself; tell people what your preferences are and how to get the best from you.
9) Ask for help
10) Repeat steps 1-9 for your most important customers and suppliers, only after your internal relationships are well established

Putting It Into Action:

Actions speak louder than words. Focus exclusively on people and establishing relationships, which will result in getting understanding and winning support for projects. People will want to know your values, preferences and vision for the future. Share openly, communicate often, communicate again, check for clarity.

With you along the path towards success,
Joseph

Do you know that your organization has the morale obligation to contribute positively to its community?

What was once the responsibility of only the large Multinational energy firms has now become the responsibility of every firm. I am talking about Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Your organization has the morale and often legal responsibility to be accountable to the environment, its employees, its customers, its shareholders and society in general. It must act as a good corporate citizen and ensure that all of its employees, affiliates, suppliers and partners act responsibly on a global basis.

You, as a leader or team member, must also ensure that you and your team act responsibly on a global basis. Information can be found all over the internet about firms that act responsibly. Even more information can be found on websites, media articles and blogs of organizations or individuals that do not act responsibly. Consumers are increasingly basing their purchasing decisions on criteria such as CSR and are influencing buying decisions on a global basis.

The organizations that prosper are the ones that quickly realize that CSR is not for public relations purposes but instead just smart business. The Dow Jones Sustainability Index proves that corporations that ‘step up’ and practice effective stewardship over The Triple Bottom Line, over time, have consistently outperformed competing organizations.

Putting It Into Action:
If CSR is new to you, research and get up to speed quickly on the issues. Look for an area of the organization where others may interpret a lack of ethical behaviour. Take steps to communicate widely what you and your organization are doing, which should reverse those negative perceptions.

With you along the path towards success,
Joseph

Do you know what the greatest gift is that you can give your organization?

Clarity is the greatest gift that you can give your organization. Clarity requires focused and concise communication. What needs to be communicated is:
-What is the organization trying to achieve?
-What are the organization’s non-negotiable values?
-What is expected of me and my unit?
-How does my organization add value/make a difference?
-What do our customers/stakeholders expect from us?

The organizations that prosper are the ones that synthesize and consistently communicate purpose and expectations at all levels of the organization. The reality is that in most organizations there exists a complete disconnect between the Boardroom and the front-line. Disconnection leads to disengagement. Disengagement leads to costly turnover or worse, disengaged workers that stay in our organizations. What makes matters worse is the lack of knowledge that a problem even exists or the lack of corrective action.

Putting It Into Action:
Do you know what your organization is trying to achieve? Are you aware how your unit contributes to the overall mission of the organization? Does your entire team or organization understand what your organization is trying to achieve and how they can impact its success? There is no such thing as too much clarity or too much communication. Provide clarity now; provide clarity often.

With you along the path towards success,
Joseph

Who is the worst manager you ever worked with?

The organizations that prosper are the ones that attract and retain great leaders at all levels of the organization. The majority of employee retention surveys indicated that most employees leave because of lack of recognition or lack of direction from their immediate supervisor.

Our leaders are far from perfect. What can you learn from both the effective and not so effective leaders? Does you organization share both types of leadership knowledge and reward effective leaders?

Putting It Into Action:
What have you learned from your worst boss? Are you practicing what you learned to not do from that person? Are you consistently applying the best attributes from your best leaders? Do you know how the people who report to you want to be lead? Have you ever asked your team how effective you are as a leader? Tell your boss what level of direction you require from him/her and communicate what are their best leadership attributes.

With you along the path towards success,
Joseph

Have you heard the Leadership mantra, “Lead, follow or get out of the way.”?
This phrase was coined by Lee Iacocca, Leadership Guru, Business Author and Chrysler saviour.

Although it is important to study business history, we need to re-write the rules as the needs arise. It is time we replace one of the dominate Leadership mantras of the eighties with:
Lead, follow AND get out of the way.

You can not choose one style and stick with it. Do not think of leadership as a distinct leadership personality. Today’s leaders must be able to work cross-functionally, in truly global and matrixed organizations. Today’s leaders must collaborate effectively with customers, suppliers, competitors and other stakeholders.

Putting It Into Action:
Identify opportunities to take the lead, which you most likely do already. The next time someone offers you a viable suggestion, truly listen and follow their advice. Challenge them to come up with a marketable solution within your organizational and marketplace realities. Seek out opportunities to delegate some of your non essential tasks to staff who can take them on as a ‘stretch’ role. Clearly communicate your expectations, offer to help if required, then get out of their way. Provide positive feedback and encouragement.

With you along the path towards success,
Joseph

Have you ever been on 'the tube', aka subway, in London, England? The Mind the Gap signs are everywhere.

Do you know what competencies are?

Competencies are agreed upon behaviours between Human Resources or The Board and the individual that would signal that a particular desired skill is being met on a consistent basis.

The American Management Association and the HR Institute conducted an extensive Leadership study in 2005 that revealed the following as the top desired leadership competencies:

1) Strategy development
2) Communication skills
3) Developing leaders
4) Hiring talent
5) Fostering creativity and innovation
6) Driving for results/satisfaction
7) Know the organization
8) Role Model for values
9) Ethical behaviour
10) Know the industry, government, associations
11) Building internal relations
12) Aligning organization with the market/stakeholders

Putting It Into Action:
If your organization had to post the CEO position tomorrow, what would the required leadership competencies look like? Determine how many of those competencies you already possess and you would rate as highly effective. Identify what behaviours you can begin doing today to diminish your leadership competencies gap.

With you along the path towards success,
Joseph

So you want to be a leader?

Chances are that the organization that you are working for, or do work for, has had a leadership shuffle in recent years.

Consulting firm Booze Allen conducted a 2005 study of the 2500 largest publicly traded firms in the global markets. They compared turnover and tenure of CEOs compared to 1995 and found the following:

1) CEO Turnover rates were up 300%
2) CEOs were getting younger, the average age dropped to 52 from 56
3) CEOs had 4 less years of experience, down to 24 years
4) CEOs had on average 5 prior jobs, down from 5.8
5) CEO tenure at the firm that they led was down more than 5 years to 15
6) Average tenure as the CEO dropped to 6.6 years from 8.8 years
7) CFO, COO and other C-Level positions had very similar results to those of the CEO

Most of the CEOs lost their positions because they missed targets or they endangered or embarrassed the organization. Think of the countless companies that were lead stories in the newspapers for all the wrong reasons.

Putting It Into Action:
Determine your Executive Leadership’s greatest challenges to meeting their targets. If you have been at the organization longer than the CEO, what wisdom can you share? Identify what you can begin doing today to signal to your leaders that you can help remove that target on their back.

With you along the path towards success,
Joseph

Do you want to be a leader? Maybe you are already a leader and are wondering, “Why the heck is it so difficult?”

When I look for answers, I look to personal observation and secondary research.

A 2005 study of 1600+ North American managers and leaders from all sectors was conducted by the American Management Association. Respondents were asked what they anticipated to be the greatest leadership challenges for the coming ten years. The top ten challenges were:
1) Increased global competition
2) Focus on the customer
3) Operating efficiency
4) Accelerating pace of change
5) Need for innovation
6) Increased government regulations
7) Talent retention
8) Product/service quality
9) Mergers & Acquisitions
10) Information Technology

Putting It Into Action:
Determine your organization’s or clients’ top three leadership challenges. Based on your assessment of your strengths, identify what you can begin doing today to signal to your leaders or clients that you can help solve their leadership challenges.

With you along the path towards success,
Joseph

How do you categorize leaders?

We all define our leaders in different ways. Based on my years of experience, I group leaders into three categories:
1) Thought Leaders – visionaries and creative thinkers, blue sky type
2) Results Leaders – get things done, demonstrate initiative, use technical or management expertise, hands on type
3) Relationship Leaders – effective collaborators, attract and develop talent, leverage relationships, influence and negotiate effectively, team builder type

Organizations and their stakeholders need all three types of leaders. The culture of your organization and the environment in which it operates will determine what mix of the three types is required for continued success. Assess your organization, determine what leadership types are evident and either develop your leadership style to match or contrast. The style you choose should depend on the overall strategy of the firm and where it is heading in the future.

My observation is that The Relationship Leader is perhaps the most valuable leadership type today. Today’s leaders need to win the global War for Talent and they need to collaborate across departments, across cultures, across borders and outside of our organizations.

Putting It Into Action:
Determine who is an effective Relationship Leader. Then, find a way to study them and be more like them. If possible, get to know them and turn it into a mentoring relationship. If mentoring is not your thing, hire an Executive Coach to help you develop into one of the leadership types.

With you along the path towards success,
Joseph

What is a Leader?
Is it a title?
Is it inherited?
Is it earned via merit?
Are leaders born or bred?

Who do you envision as a great leader?
Is it Ghandi?
Is it Jesus?
Is it Moses?
Is it Mother Theresa?
Is it Nelson Mandella?

Why is it that we typically don’t mention any corporate CEOs?

My suggestion for a definition is:

A leader is someone who engages followers
to move towards a planned and specific direction.

Putting It Into Action:
Define leadership in your own words. Write down your definition and store it or post it in a spot where it can be constantly revisited. Envision people who have some of the qualities of your ideal leader. Then, find a way to study them and be more like them. Leadership is proven every day in your actions. Find ways to practice and show your team that you are serious about becoming a better leader.

With you along the path towards success,
Joseph

Are you like most people this time of year?

Do you look back at your year(s) and decide that this January you will change all your ‘wrongs’ and strive to be a better person?

Don’t get suckered into the herding instinct. I say it is time for a Resolution Revolution! Unless you methodologically plan out what, when and how you will enact changes under your own terms you will not succeed.

Your resolutions should be strategic, planned and comprehensive. If you only think about your career, your leadership effectiveness, your legacy during the break before the New Year, you are not doing it right. Resolutions require a complete strategic analysis and review throughout the year. December should be your month of reconnecting with family and business associates. If you have planned and initiated your changes earlier in the year and have a firm plan for the coming year, you will be relaxed and you will enhance your level of reconnection with those that are important to your personal and professional lives.

Putting It Into Action:
Resolve to make resolutions an on-going and strategic part of your life. Book some reflection time every quarter to ask yourself questions like:
-Where am I going?
-Where do I want to go?
-What do I have to do to get ‘there’?
-How will I know when I get ‘there’?

With you along the path towards success,
Joseph