Why Leaders are Trusted

It can be easy to overlook the power of trust and the simple ways it is established. I was reminded of this by a recent post from Leadership Moments, a newsletter put out by Beth Flynn over at the Ohio State University Leadership Center. I am republishing a portion below. If you would like to subscribe to the newsletter, follow the link at the bottom. Enjoy.

  

"General Dwight David Eisenhower did the impossible.  No, not the successful and history-changing D-Day landing per se.  Nor the subsequent march to Germany.  His "impossible dream" - come true - was to keep the Yanks and Brits from annihilating each other long enough to hit the beach and get on with the real job at hand!

Turns out General Eisenhower, most keen professional observers agree, had a "secret," which he in fact understood:

"Allied commands depend on mutual confidence, this confidence is gained, above all, through the development of friendships."

Armchair General magazine (May 2008) traces the origins of this most pronounced of Eisenhower's leadership traits: "Perhaps his most outstanding ability [at West Point, decades before D-Day] was the ease with which he made friends and earned the trust of fellow cadets who came from widely varied backgrounds; it was a quality that would pay great dividends during his future coalition command (Peters, p. 95)."

From: Peters, T. (2010).  The little big things: 163 ways to pursue excellence.  New York: Harper Studio

OSU Leadership Center
http://leadershipcenter.osu.edu

The Effects of Gender on Leadership Style

In 2010, my colleagues at the Barrett Values Centre drew data from 100 Barrett Values Centre Leadership Values Assessments, a 360-degree leadership development tool, to examine the perceived differences among leaders based on their personal entropy (degree of dysfunction).  They recently revisited that data to compare the overall results by gender.   They looked at the top values, strengths and areas for  improvement that were chosen most frequently by leaders’ assessors.  Note that strengths and areas for improvement are submitted as free responses.  They found that there are significant differences among male and female leaders that follow gender stereotypes.

The study concludes that despite the progress made over the years to chip away at the glass ceiling, stagnant growth in numbers was found in women corporate officer and top earner positions in the Fortune 500. They surmise that women who do find themselves in leadership roles tend to be unjustly measured in their abilities due to the continued presence of gender differences.  “Current models of leadership and leadership development cannot be applied to males and females in the same way. The research in organizational settings should focus on understanding the ways of ‘becoming’ and ‘being’ for males and females in order to identify strategies for each gender in terms of understanding what it means to be a successful manager from each perspective.”

There is growing acknowledgement that the more relationship-centered approach commonly displayed by women may be a more effective way to manage others.  Additionally, researchers believe that embracing gender differences among leaders may be the path to success for many organisations.  “Companies that are able to harness the strengths of both sexes may be said to be gender ‘bilingual’ rather than gender neutral. Organizations with gender diversity at the top are more successful than others and will find their way out of the current economic crisis into sustainable profitability.”

Their investigation of leadership behaviours based on gender concludes that, while there are similarities among male and female leaders, the differences demonstrated are significant and appear to be tied to biology and the socialization males and females receive during upbringing.  As a result, it seems paramount to support leaders of both genders in ways that legitimately take into account both their similarities and their differences. For the complete paper, visit: http://www.valuescentre.com/uploads/2011-08-30/Understanding%20the%20Battle%20of%20the%20Sexes.pdf

Love, Fear and the Destiny of Nations

In national values assessments across the globe, people profess to holding values such as "trust" and "accountability" as their core personal values.  How then can we live our personal values on a national scale, exhibiting them to the world through our actions?  Our research clearly indicates that fear continues to rule.  According to the 2011 US National Assessment, Americans are focused primarily on "blame", on placing fault with others for a lack of progress and cohesion.  The political system has stagnated because leaders fail to put aside personal fears and act for the greater good.  Polarized political parties cannot agree on what to do, and people do not believe they can count on leaders to act with integrity.   It seems American leaders can come together to avert crisis, we have witnessed it time and time again.  Yet once the imminent threat has passed, it is back to partisan politics as usual.

As often happens, the antidote can be found among the Desired Culture values.  When asked what values Americans would like to see exhibited in the nation, "accountability" is the top request and exceeds votes for any other value.   

So, how does a nation move from "blame" to "accountability?"  Values-based leadership is helping to create answers in Iceland.  As this nation seeks new approaches for dealing with the economic collapse of 2008, they have turned to the values requested by citizens as a foundation upon which to build their future.  Iceland is adapting the constitution based on the feedback from the values assessment and is creating online social networking to encourage civic engagement.  More than 1,000 citizens from voter registrations are working to help the government rebuild a values-driven nation. 

In Trinidad and Tobago, Bernard Marshall, a police officer and CEO of Strictly Kingdom NGO, has launched a national cultural transformation initiative entitled, "Change our World."  Marshall has a powerful motivation for conducting a national values survey:

"The programme we are looking at is to provide a road map...to avoid the revolution and perpetuate a transformation...to prove that change is possible...to initiate national transformation beginning with the leadership from all spheres... At the completion of the symposium participants must at least recognise that there is hope and that we have the capacity, potential and resources to make Trinidad and Tobago a better place for the generations to come." 

Indeed, we all have the potential.  The call for values-based leadership is emerging in our nations, in our world.  It is up to us to respond.

In his upcoming book, Love, Fear and the Destiny of Nations, Richard Barrett explores the quality of democracy from a values perspective, examining values such as "freedom", "justice", "openness", and "equality" and how well these values are exhibited and experienced in nations around the world.  

To lend your voice to the Quality of Democracy study, click here.

username: democracy

password: values

Employee engagement through leadership development

Our global leadership crisis has me thinking about the need to develop the leader inside each and every one of us. Leadership development is often reserved for our "best and brightest", the people that have been identified as "high-potential" performers. This practice and philosophy has surely contributed to the widespread state of inept governance and corporate corruption we see in headlines across the globe. If we can no longer count on our best and brightest to lead, perhaps it's time to to consider a new approach.

The unprecedented, exponential pace of global change demands a new vision of everyone as leader. A Japanese proverb advises: "None of us is as smart as all of us." and there is not a single person I can think of who I would not benefit from leadership development- particularly in the crucial skills of "leading self". This approach also has the added benefit of increasing employee engagement. Investing in the development of people has a multiplier effect on desired performance.

It is important to note that the cost of providing development opportunities has dropped dramatically. Thanks to technology, the cost of high-quality self-development programs are now within the reach of any organization. Take for example the leadership learning system recently created by Richard Barrett. The New Leadership Paradigm training program is a state-of-the-art leadership development learning system based on evolutionary principles.  The system is flexible, customizable, and comprehensive. It provides for both emergent and structured learning in a self-managed or facilitated learning environment. The training program is comprised of four learning modules: 1. Leading self 2. Leading a team 3. Leading an organisation 4. Leading in society

The New Leadership Paradigm web site and learning materials are updated on a regular basis based on feedback and suggestions from users and facilitators of the learning system. It is a collective, collaborative, and evolutionary learning venture that can deliver cost-effective leadership training to everyone in your organization. 

While it makes sense to limit participation in module 3 and 4 to your high-potentials and high-performers, it makes equal sense to offer modules 1 and 2 to everyone in your organization. Everyone can benefit from more focus and development in the areas of personal mastery and teamwork. 

This time of great change calls for each of us to step up to greater personal mastery and a greater appreciation of  what we can accomplish as leaders and members of teams. After all, none of us is as smart as all of us.

New Research on "Selling Green" to Skeptical Audiences

As a follow-up to my May 14 blog post, my friend John Marshall Roberts has published new research with the Shelton Group that  “cracks the code” on the green marketing conundrum: How do you overcome cynicism and skepticism to persuade consumers to buy sustainable products?

The research distinguishes three kinds of environmental skeptics and suggests a number of ways to reach them. Among the recommendations:

• If possible, disarm the skeptics by showing you understand that they view the green movement as a scam.
• Suggest that China is beating the U.S. in sustainability (or, conversely, that China doesn’t want U.S. consumers to be sustainable)
• Focus on purity -- the lack of toxins and pollution created by your green products.
• Avoid discussing global warming at all costs.

For the full article check out the BusinessWire:

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110608005462/en/Researchers-Crack-Code-Persuading-Skeptical-Cynical-Consumers

Leadership and Cultural Transformation: Evolutionary Road Maps

Workplaces transform when leaders transform. But how do you inspire transformation? Is there a road map?

There is ample evidence that people and collectives (such as workplaces) develop along an evolutionary continuum. Knowing how this happens is essential whether you are developing leaders or workplace cultures. It is much easier to find the next step for your own development or that of your organization and its leaders if you can determine where you are on the evolutionary development scale. While there are many evolutionary maturity models for personal and organizational development, they all point to similar findings. When you lay the well-researched models next to each other, you can't help but be struck by the similarities. Check out these resources and see if you agree.

Spiral Dynamics is a powerful model and predictive theory of human development and cultural evolution. For a primer on this look at the evolution of leadership consciousness and worldviews, visit EnlightenNext and read “The Never-Ending Quest Upward”. This work is based on exhaustive research originally conducted by Clare W. Graves.

My favorite application of this model is for designing communication strategies to appeal to the various worldviews. My friend John Marshall Roberts explains this clearly, focusing on how to break through the various filters that people use to judge if a change being proposed is “good” or “bad” according to their worldview. His book can be found here, and he has a new online training program on the topic of building empathy here.

Richard Barrett uses a model developed from the later work of Abraham Maslow. His Cultural Transformation Tools can measure the overall culture of an organization as well as the specific leadership values of leaders. Barrett’s seven level maturity model is the basis of organizational culture change around the world. His organization has even started measuring the values of nations. We highly recommend using these tools as a values lens on employee engagement and workplace cultural health.

Several other recent books on corporate culture and leadership development find similar evolutionary maturity models at work. Tribal Leadership is another look at stages of consciousness through the lens of language & relationships. Easy to read and very accessible, the book offers practical tips on language and behaviors to support transformation up the various stage levels.

A complementary evolutionary model is also offered in the business best-selling book Leadership Agility: Five Levels of Mastery for Anticipating and Initiating Change.

The research is compelling, and while the models may differ slightly in how they slice and dice the evolutionary levels, any review of the above materials will reveal a maturity model that moves from foundational levels of survival and personal achievement to one that embraces teamwork, collaboration and goals for the common good. Put simply, each of these models shows that personal and organizational maturity is a shift from a focus on “me” to a focus on “we”. 

Using “Social Proof” to Sell Sustainability

John Roberts is a brilliant communicator and author of the book: "Igniting Inspiration, A Persuasion Manual for Visionaries." His recent blog post gives a practical 6-step process for delivering convincing ‘social proof’ for the urgency of sustainable behavior among a mass of mainstream folks who, as of yet, have very few socially similar role models. The answer: Applied Empathy.

Step 1:  Clearly define the target behaviors and determine target audience baseline

Step 2: Take time to find out where your audience lives

Step 3: Discover their preferred ‘cues’ for determining social proof

Step 4: Turn audience insights into behavior change strategies

Step 5:  Create and deliver social proof

Step 6: Measure, Revise, Repeat.

You can read the full post here to get some great ideas on how to ignite inspiration for the changes you want to create in the world.