Working Resources Blog

Wise Leadership for Innovative Companies - Inspiring Trust and Transparency

Wise Leadership for Innovative Companies 

One of my CEO leadership coaching clients normally has a very coaching and empowering leadership style. However, in this turbulent economy he made a decision to be much more directive with his senior leadership team to drive results. He was very open with his senior team members that he was going to be much more hands on to get through this difficult economic period.

The CEO also needed to be very clear with his senior leaders that results needed to be achieved by doing the right thing and not compromising the integrity of the organization or its’ people. Accomplishing the strategic goals needed to be sustainable and not based on short-term profit. He inspired trust by being transparent about his intention.

Inspiring Trust and Transparency

We need a better way to evaluate our business leaders, assert James O’Toole and Warren Bennis in a recent Harvard Business Review article (“A Culture of Candor,” June 2009). It’s no longer prudent to judge American corporate leaders’ performance solely on the extent to which they create wealth for investors.

Moving forward, a new metric is proposed: the extent to which executives create organizations that are economically, ethically and socially sustainable.

The short-term thinking that Wall Street typically rewards no longer seems wise. Are these new ideals too much to strive for? Will they be forgotten once profits return?

The forces of globalization and technology are a powerful complication for the competitive arena, requiring leaders to manage rapid innovation to survive. Expectations about the corporation’s role in social issues, such as environmental degradation, domestic job creation and even poverty in the developing world, have risen sharply.

Unless corporations extend their thinking and strategies beyond short-term profits, they will miss crucial opportunities and find themselves unable to survive a rapidly changing environment.

Wise leaders must recognize that increased transparency is a fundamental first step to accomplishing the tasks required for economic, ethical and social sustainability, Bennis and O’Toole conclude.

The standard business definition of transparency usually means full disclosure of financial information to investors. But such a narrow interpretation produces an unhealthy focus on legal compliance, which usually means over concern with “the letter of the law” to the exclusion of others’ needs.

Are you working in a company or law firm where leadership models the company values?  Does your company or law firm provide leadership coaching and leadership development to help leadership develop trust? How leaders language their message is critical.

One of the most powerful questions you can ask yourself is “Do I lead change by being transparent and developing trust?” Emotionally intelligent and socially intelligent organizations provide executive coaching and leadership development for leaders who want to become more transparent in communications.

Working with a seasoned executive coach trained in emotional intelligence and incorporating leadership assessments such as the Bar-On EQ-i and CPI 260 can help you become a more effective at being transparent and increasing the level of trust in your organization. You can become a leader who models emotional intelligence and social intelligence, and who inspires people to become fully engaged with the vision and mission of your company or law firm.

I am currently accepting new executive coaching and career coaching clients. I work with both individuals and organizations. Call 415-546-1252 or send an inquiry e-mail to mbrusman@workingresources.com

The Language of Inspiring Leadership - 3 Steps for Inspiring Change

The Language of Inspiring Leadership

One of my CEO executive coaching clients is considering reinventing his company. He had a guest speaker who is an expert on reinvention come to speak to his people about “doing the impossible”. My client was incredibly gracious in inviting me to the talk. The topic of reinvention fascinates me whether it is helping leaders reinvent themselves and/or their organizations. I was also interested to observe how my client’s people received the talk.

My impression was that a number of the employees at the talk seemed bored to death. One individual’s body language made me think he was going to slip under the table! They just didn’t’ seem to be engaged in the topic. When asked if they had any questions…most seemed disinterested. I kept thinking what would appeal to their emotions rather than their intellect? Were their stories that they could relate to that would inspire them? What would motivate them to engage in the process?

3 Steps for Inspiring Change

Three steps enable the language of leadership to be most effective.

Step 1: Getting the Audience’s Attention

People aren’t necessarily listening when we speak. They are mentally responding to emails, preparing for their next meeting and thinking about other things, especially personal issues. The first step in communication is getting their focused attention.

In an experiment with 60 executives, researchers found the most important factors in grabbing their attention were:

1. A personalized message
2. Evoking an emotional response
3. A trustworthy source
4. Concise language

In fact, personalized messages that evoked emotion were more than twice as likely to resonate with the group.

Social scientists have shown that negative messages are more attention-getting than positive ones. To get an audience’s attention, share:

• Stories about the audience’s problems (“These problems are serious…”)
• Stories about the problems’ likely trajectory (“These problems are getting worse…”)
• A relevant story about how you dealt with adversity (particularly if you’re new to the audience)
• A surprising question or challenge that will interest the audience

Negative stories often work best because they wake us up, activating the primitive part of the brain (fight or flight). The audience may experience anxiety or caution, however, these are feelings that can deter enthusiastic action.

Step 2: Creating Desire

On the other hand, positive stories are extremely important for creating a desire to change and sparking people’s imaginations. If you want your team to do something different, present stories and clear examples of how successful innovators are making a difference.

Appeal to both heart and mind to gain an enthusiastic buy-in. Your audience must want to change.

Effective leaders establish an emotional connection and stimulate a desire for a different future. Without this emotional connection, nothing happens. Because decisions are made emotionally and almost instantly, without really activating the brain’s logic center, stimulating desire is critical.

The task isn’t to impose your will on an audience; it’s to enable participants to see the possibilities and come to their own conclusions, based on the evidence presented in your positive stories. These stories allow audience members to see the world for themselves, view their relationships in a new way and make progress in implementing organizational goals.

The idea of using stories certainly isn’t new. But the kinds of stories that are effective for leaders are different — not big and dramatic, relayed through a bullhorn. Change often hinges on simple, unpretentious and authentic stories. Practice telling positive, minimalist stories that reveal how successful changes have occurred. This approach connects you and your audience on an emotional level, leading to action and a willingness to imagine a new future.

Unfortunately, this approach often eludes aspiring leaders. If you want listeners to own the change idea, your stories must help them discover the truth for themselves, thereby creating a new story.
What the leader says is the scaffolding — a catalyst for a creative process inside listeners’ heads.

Step 3: Reinforcing with Reasons

While establishing an emotional connection is vital, reasoning remains relevant. The desire for change will wane unless it’s supported and reinforced by compelling reasons.

When we encounter strange new ideas, we can easily fall into a confirmation bias and search for  reasons to preserve our existing viewpoint. But if we have an emotional connection with a leader and decide to explore change, then we are open and more willing to explore new elements.

Reasons reinforce emotional connections, so ideas for change should be presented at the end of your presentation.

Remember to share the story of:

• What the change is, as seen through the eyes of those who will be affected by it
• How the change will be implemented, with a delineation of the simple steps for getting from “here” to “there”
• Why the change will work, with an explanation of the underlying mechanisms that make change virtually inevitable

Without a desire for change, people will have no energy or enthusiasm. Desire drives the change process.
Instead of relying on pure reason, facts and figures, tell stories that pack an emotional punch. They will cement into place the reasons for change and make them memorable.

Are you working in a company or law firm where leadership is able to grab people’s attention by first stimulating desire then reinforcing the message with reasons?  Does your company or law firm provide leadership coaching and leadership development to help leadership communicate more effectively? How leaders language their message is critical.

One of the most powerful questions you can ask yourself is “Do I attempt to get people to change by telling compelling stories?” Emotionally intelligent and socially intelligent organizations provide executive coaching and leadership development for leaders who want to communicate more powerfully.

Working with a seasoned executive coach trained in emotional intelligence and incorporating leadership assessments such as the Bar-On EQ-i and CPI 260 can help you become a more effective at communicating change. You can become a leader who models emotional intelligence and social intelligence, and who inspires people to become fully engaged with the vision and mission of your company or law firm.

I am currently accepting new executive coaching and career coaching clients. I work with both individuals and organizations. Call 415-546-1252 or send an inquiry e-mail to mbrusman@workingresources.com.

The Language of Exceptional Leadership - Words Matter

The Language of Exceptional Leadership

One of my CEO executive coaching clients is considering reinventing his company. He had a guest speaker who is an expert on reinvention come to speak to his people about “doing the impossible”. My client was incredibly gracious in inviting me to the talk. The topic of reinvention fascinates me whether it is helping leaders reinvent themselves and/or their organizations. I was also interested to observe how my client’s people received the talk.

My impression was that a number of the employees at the talk seemed bored to death. One individual’s body language made me think he was going to slip under the table! They just didn’t’ seem to be engaged in the topic. When asked if they had any questions…most seemed disinterested. I kept thinking what would appeal to their emotions rather than their intellect? Were their stories that they could relate to that would inspire them? What would motivate them to engage in the process?

The Devil in the Details: Words Matter

While it would be nice to imagine that a logical, rational presentation of facts can’t do any harm, especially when dealing with a group of intelligent people, doing so sets you up for failure. If you want people to organize their thinking in new ways and be receptive to new ideas, be wary of falling into the trap of hitting them with logic at the outset of any presentation that challenges their ideas.

The tiniest details can make or break communication:
• Choice of words
• Patterns they form
• The order in which patterns are deployed

Successful leaders follow a unique, almost hidden pattern:
• Grab the audience’s attention 
• Stimulate desire
• Reinforce with reasons

When language follows this sequence, it can inspire enduring enthusiasm for a cause and spark action.

Moreover, successful leaders don’t rely on a single communication. As implementation proceeds, they reinforce communication and work with their people to co-create the future by continuing the conversation.

In addition to words, the language of leadership is most effective when you:
1. Can share intelligent stories and narratives
2. Display appropriate, congruent body language
3. Demonstrate an understanding of the audience’s story and context

Are you working in a company or law firm where leadership is able to grab people’s attention by first stimulating desire then reinforcing the message with reasons?  Does your company or law firm provide leadership coaching and leadership development to help leadership communicate more effectively? How leaders language their message is critical.

One of the most powerful questions you can ask yourself is “Do I attempt to get people to change by telling compelling stories?” Emotionally intelligent and socially intelligent organizations provide executive coaching and leadership development for leaders who want to communicate more powerfully.

Working with a seasoned executive coach trained in emotional intelligence and incorporating leadership assessments such as the Bar-On EQ-i and CPI 260 can help you become a more effective at communicating change. You can become a leader who models emotional intelligence and social intelligence, and who inspires people to become fully engaged with the vision and mission of your company or law firm.

I am currently accepting new executive coaching and career coaching clients. I work with both individuals and organizations. Call 415-546-1252 or send an inquiry e-mail to mbrusman@workingresources.com.

The Language of Effective Leadership: Confirmation Biases

The Language of Effective Leadership

It would be great or maybe not if helping people change their behavior was easy. In my coaching practice and having taught a self-management course for fifteen years, I learned that most people resist change even if it is in their own interest. There are a myriad of reasons why people fear change and the reasons for each individual may be different. Many people have internalized voices of fear, perfectionism, overwhelm, scarcity and impatience. Asking people to change runs into the very prevalent human dynamic of confirmation bias.

Confirmation Biases

A significant body of research shows that asking people to change often drives them more deeply into opposition. In study after study, people display a phenomenon called confirmation bias, first noted by Francis Bacon almost 400 years ago. As he noted, “The human understanding when it has once adopted an opinion … draws all things else to support and agree with it.”

Confirmation bias is a tendency to search for or interpret new information in a way that confirms one’s preconceptions and to irrationally avoid information and interpretations that contradict existing beliefs. We listen attentively for information and messages that confirm our own thinking — and upon hearing them, we feel rewarded and validated.

If the communication varies from what we know or believe, we dismiss the message as being irrelevant or wrong. We become skeptical about the source. All of this happens instantaneously in the part of the brain that’s responsible for emotional reactions — not in the areas that handle logic and reasoning.

This explains why traditional persuasion techniques fail, especially when delivered too early in a presentation. You risk speaking to a skeptical, cynical or hostile audience whose confirmation bias has been activated.

At this point, your reasons for change will be reinterpreted as reasons not to change. Even worse, skepticism and cynicism are contagious.

Are you working in a company or law firm where executive coaches help develop effective leaders who lead change?  Does your company or law firm provide leadership coaching and leadership development for their leadership talent?

One of the most powerful questions you can ask yourself is “Do I attempt to get people to change by attempting to persuade them to change their established beliefs?” Emotionally intelligent and socially intelligent organizations provide executive coaching and leadership development for leaders who champion change at all levels of the organization.

Working with a seasoned executive coach trained in emotional intelligence and incorporating leadership assessments such as the Bar-On EQ-i and CPI 260 can help you become a more effective at communicating change. You can become a leader who models emotional intelligence and social intelligence, and who inspires people to become fully engaged with the vision and mission of your company or law firm.

I am currently accepting new executive coaching and career coaching clients. I work with both individuals and organizations. Call 415-546-1252 or send an inquiry e-mail to mbrusman@workingresources.com.

The Language of True Leadership: Old-School Communication

The Language of True Leadership

Are you working in a company or law firm where executive coaches help develop true leaders who lead change?  Does your company or law firm provide leadership coaching and leadership development for their highly valued leadership talent?

One of the most powerful questions you can ask yourself is “Do I attempt to get people to change by appealing to reason?” Emotionally intelligent and socially intelligent organizations provide executive coaching and leadership development for leaders who champion change at all levels of the organization.

Old-School Communication

The traditional communication approach follows this sequence:

Define the problem ► Analyze it ►Recommend a solution

This approach appeals to reason and has been a revered intellectual tradition in organizations since the ancient Greeks. It works well when the aim is to pass on information to people who want to hear it, or who are obliged to comply and follow without question.

But if your aim is to get people to change their behavior and act in some fundamentally new ways with sustained energy and enthusiasm, old-school communication has two flaws:
1. It doesn’t work.
2. It often makes the situation worse (negative impact).

People who disagree with you or have other ideas and habits won’t respond well to your list of reasons to change. In fact, lecturing them on your beliefs will often lead to greater entrenchment in their long-held approaches and behaviors.

Working with a seasoned executive coach trained in emotional intelligence and incorporating leadership assessments such as the Bar-On EQ-i and CPI 260 can help you become a leader who is more adept at leading change. You can become a leader who models emotional intelligence and social intelligence, and who inspires people to become fully engaged with the vision and mission of your company or law firm.

I am currently accepting new executive coaching and career coaching clients. I work with both individuals and organizations. Call 415-546-1252 or send an inquiry e-mail to mbrusman@workingresources.com.

Executive Coaching for Achieving Goals: Linking Personal and Business Goals

Achieving Goals

Are you working in a company or law firm where leadership requires people to establish goals when engaged in an executive coaching relationship? How do leaders in your company or law firm assess an individual’s success in achieving goals in their executive coaching program?

One of the most powerful questions one can ask is “Does our company leadership encourage participants in an executive coaching program to link personal and business goals?” Emotionally intelligent and socially intelligent leaders are excited about further developing their leadership skills by achieving both personal and business goals.

Linking Personal and Business Goals

There may be insufficient time and attention during the contracting phase in defining goals and outcomes for the coaching relationship. Surprisingly enough, many executives have trouble defining what they want out of coaching.

There are two kinds of goals for leaders to work on in executive coaching — business goals and personal goals. Getting external results is linked to what the leader has to do differently in order to get business results. The personal goals must follow the external business goals.

During the contracting phase with the executive, it is the executive coach’s responsibility to ensure that the goal-setting conversation is sequenced for best results.

• Encourage the high potential leader to name the business results needed.
• Find out what team behaviors need to be different to accomplish the results.
• Explore what personal leadership challenges the executive faces in improving these results and team behaviors.
• Identify specific behaviors the leader needs to enhance or change personally.

The goal setting process is not as easy as it may appear. Many busy executives have a bias for action and operate in a fire-ready-aim mode. It may be necessary for the executive to slow down long enough to establish clear goals. Sometimes a business situation is ambiguous and it is difficult to clarify what work process or human relationship goals would support achieving the bottom-line result. The coach who persists in inquiring about these specific goals will help an executive toward better focus and effective action.

Working with a seasoned executive coach trained in emotional intelligence and incorporating leadership assessments such as the Bar-On EQ-i and CPI 260 can help you become a leader who links personal and business goals. You can become a leader who models emotional intelligence and social intelligence, and who inspires people to become happily engaged and aligned with the vision and mission of your company or law firm.

I am currently accepting new executive coaching and career coaching clients. I work with both individuals and organizations. Call 415-546-1252 or send an inquiry e-mail to mbrusman@workingresources.com.

Leadership Development for Complaining at Work: The Art of Expressing Discontent

Complaining at Work

Are you working in a company or law firm where leaders recognize the value of people expressing discontent? How do leaders in your company or law firm handle employees complaining? One of the most powerful questions one can ask is “Does our company culture encourage leaders to immediately address the complaints of workers?” Emotionally intelligent and socially intelligent leaders create a culture that encourages open communication and discourages unproductive complaining.

What are people complaining about in your organization?

The objects of disaffections may vary but griping is always in season at work. When things go from bad to worse the discussions end up in the manager’s office. When they don’t, they form an undercurrent of discontent and resentments that is counter-productive.

People spend vast amounts of time complaining. They invest amazingly creative energies coming up with clever ways of expressing their discontent. No matter how sophisticated, however, a complaint is unpleasant to listen to. It can instill an aura of negativity and un-productivity. It becomes contagious. At its worse, it poisons relationships and sabotages team efforts.

We all complain, no matter what our position. No matter what the particular content of complaints, it turns out that most of us have an experience at work that we perceive as obstructing our own well-being, growth and development.

This conversation about what we can’t stand is so universal it goes unrecognized and accepted as normal. Obviously we recognize complaints from others more so than from ourselves. Complaining grows like a weed. The problem is that it does not usually lead to changing anything.

To be fair, complaining may help people let off steam. It can also create alliances and support because one realizes they are not alone. But it rarely accomplishes more than this. It doesn’t transform anyone or anything. It often leaves people feeling worse by virtue of the negative feelings that flourish.

Working with a seasoned executive coach trained in emotional intelligence and incorporating leadership assessments such as the Bar-On EQ-i and CPI 260 can help you become a leader who creates a positive culture that minimizes unproductive complaining. You can become a leader who models emotional intelligence and social intelligence, and who inspires people to become happily engaged and aligned with the vision and mission of your company or law firm.

I am currently accepting new executive coaching and career coaching clients. I work with both individuals and organizations. Call 415-546-1252 or send an inquiry e-mail to mbrusman@workingresources.com

Executive Coaching for Working with Difficult People - The High Costs of Conflict

Are you working in an organization where leaders are good at dealing with difficult people and powerful emotions? Are the leaders in your organization emotionally intelligent?

One of the most powerful questions one can ask oneself is “Do I effectively deal with difficult people?” Emotionally intelligent leaders deal openly and honestly with difficult interpersonal situations.

Are you adept at managing conflict with others? Do you have a coaching style of leadership that facilitates good interpersonal communication? Are you comfortable dealing with difficult people and strong emotions?

The High Costs of Conflict

Regardless of the form difficult behavior takes, it exacts a serious toll, including high turnover, absenteeism, theft, loss of clients, and low productivity and morale. When managers are distracted and frustrated by difficult behaviors, they have less time and energy to devote to their core responsibility: getting things done through others.

Resorting to firing and replacing people is risky and time-consuming; thus, many executives fail to confront problem behaviors at all. They find workarounds: avoidance, vague feedback, compensation for underperformance by taking on more work themselves. Even worse, they may promote a problem person out of their unit.

With practice, you can improve your ability to deal with difficult behaviors – a move that will free up enormous energy reserves. When conflicts are handled immediately, you and your team will function better, meet deadlines earlier, create more innovative processes and products, and make fewer errors.

Working with a seasoned executive coach trained in emotional intelligence and incorporating leadership assessments such as the Bar-On EQ-i and CPI 260 can help you become a leader who effectively manages interpersonal conflict. You can become a leader who models emotional intelligence, and who inspires people to become happily engaged with the strategy and vision of the company.

Executive Coaching for Working with Difficult People - Emotional Intelligence at Work

Are you working in an organization where leaders are good at dealing with difficult people? Are the leaders in your organization savvy regarding emotional intelligence?

One of the most powerful questions one can ask oneself is “How do I effectively deal with difficult people?” Emotionally intelligent leaders confront and deal with difficult situations.

Are you good at managing conflict with others? Do you inspire others by having a coaching style of leadership that facilitates communication? Are you adept at dealing with difficult people and strong emotions?

Dealing with Difficult People

They’re everywhere. Walk into any workplace and you’ll find them. Regardless of your company’s success or employee-friendly culture, difficult people pose challenges for managers and team leaders each day.

Some are angry; some are anxious. Others are fearful, negative and obstinate. Some spark frequent disputes with their peers. Still others quietly stonewall and fail to follow through on commitments.

You cannot afford to avoid dealing with difficult people. Whether they’re direct reports or peer managers, their frustrating behaviors will take a toll on your ability to manage others and produce stellar results.

The more serious forms of difficult behavior are, in some ways, easier to deal with because they are blatant and often illegal. In cases of harassment, sabotage or physical threats, swiftly follow your clearly outlined company policies and implement the appropriate consequences.

But long before overt infringements arise, there are subtle forms of damaging behaviors that should not be tolerated or allowed to escalate. Confronting and dealing with these sticky situations will prevent more serious problems in the future.

Unfortunately, many managers avoid dealing with difficult people and strong emotions in the workplace. “People problems” are often cited as the most challenging — and time-consuming — part of a manager’s job. One study found that 42 percent of managers’ time is spent on defusing office conflict.

Working with a seasoned executive coach trained in emotional intelligence and incorporating leadership assessments such as the Bar-On EQ-i and CPI 260 can help you become an inspiring leader who effectively manages conflict. You can become a leader who models emotional intelligence, and who inspires people to become happily engaged with the strategy and vision of the company.

Leadership Secrets for Execution – People, Strategy & Operations

Are you working in an organization which values execution by leaders at all levels? Are the leaders in your organization relentlessly focused on achieving significant results?

One of the most powerful questions one can ask oneself in the present moment is “Are we honestly surfacing the realities of the business?” Extraordinary leaders execute and hold people accountable for results.

Are you focused on reality and getting things done? How effective are you at meshing your strategy with reality and aligning people with goals? Are you passionate about achieving goals at work that emotionally engage your people?

3 Core Processes:

People, Strategy & Operations

The heart of execution lies in the three core processes: the people process, the strategy process and the operations process.  Every business uses these processes in one form or another. The three core processes of people, strategy and operations are familiar to practitioners of the Balanced Scorecard and the Strategy-Focused Organization management approaches.

In a study of winning companies that spanned more than ten years, professors William Joyce and Nitin Nohria found that there were four primary management practices that directly correlate with superior corporate performance, as measured by total return to shareholders. Winning companies achieve excellence in all four of these primary practices: execution, strategy, culture and structure (What Really Works, 2003).

However, more often than not, these three core processes stand apart from one another like silos. Typically, the CEO and his senior leadership team allot less than half a day each year to review the plans – people, strategy, and operations. Typically, too, the reviews are not particularly interactive. People sit passively and watch PowerPoint presentations.

They don’t debate, and as a result often they get few useful outcomes. People leave with no commitments to the action plans they’ve helped create. This is a formula for failure. What is needed is:
•  Robust dialogue to surface the realities of the business
•  Accountability for results – discussed openly and agreed to by those responsible for getting things done
•  Rewards for the best performers
•  Follow-through to ensure that progress tracks to the plans

Working with a seasoned executive coach trained in emotional intelligence and incorporating leadership assessments such as the Bar-On EQ-i and CPI 260 can help you become a leader known for relentless execution. You can become a leader who models emotional intelligence, and who inspires people to become happily engaged with the strategy and vision of the company.