BCA

Stepping into a management role isn’t just a change of task — it’s a fundamental shift of identity.

“To be successful, first-time managers must make the transition from a person who gets the work done themselves to a person who gets work done through others,” says Kim Leahy, global portfolio manager of Center for Creative Leadership’s Maximizing Your Leadership Potential (MLP) program for managers of individual contributors. “It requires a different definition of success, a new level of self-awareness and an additional range of skills.”

Your definition of success must now include the success of others. Rather than focusing on your own performance, you need to be asking, “How does the group or team accomplish its work?” “Are they effective as individuals?” “Do they collaborate?” “Are team members committed and engaged?” “How are individual motivations and needs connected to the work and the organization?”

At the same time, you should take stock of your own strengths, weaknesses and patterns. “Who you are drives how you lead,” Leahy explains. “Even though the emphasis is no longer on your individual performance, you need to understand your behaviors, preferences and tendencies — and consider that the most effective way to lead others may not always be your default approach.”

For example, you might be a person who thrives on the pressure of a tight deadline and, as an individual contributor, earned a reputation as someone who will roll up your sleeves and get the job done. As a manager of others, these same practices and preferences could lead to poor planning, micromanaging or inadequate use of resources. If you assume everyone operates the same way you did as an individual contributor, you won’t see or leverage the array of talent on your team.

Build a foundation of four leader competencies

To make the transition from an individual performer to leading a team, you’ll want to build a foundation of what CCL calls the “Fundamental Four” leader competencies: self-awareness, learning agility, influence and communication.

Other key competencies for leading others at this stage of your career are:

•Delegating.
•Building and maintaining relationships.
•Resolving conflict.
•Leading team achievement.
•Coaching and developing others.
•Confronting problem employees.
•Embracing change.
•Innovative problem-solving.
•Adapting to cultural differences.

“In today’s flattened and downsized organizations, many skilled people are put into team leadership or management roles with little preparation and support,” says Leahy. “But these emerging leaders are crucial for the implementation of the organization’s day-to-day work. When they understand what is required to manage others and learn — in a practical way — how to be effective leaders, they can be powerful agents for organizational success.”

From Leading Effectively Newletter, Center for Creative Leadership

“Leadership is like a muscle. The more intelligently you train, the stronger you get.”

From Center for Creative Leadership, Leading Effectively e-newsletter

John Ryan, CCL’s president and CEO, is a big believer in giving leaders a serious workout. Based on CCL’s research and practical experience and Ryan’s 40 years of leadership in the military, higher education and nonprofits, he advises leaders to step up their leadership training in five areas:

1. Teamwork and collaboration are critical for organizations in two ways. Internally, you won’t get much done without it. Externally, you need partnerships with like-minded firms that advance your strategy, whether it’s developing new products or breaking into emerging markets. But fostering teamwork is not easy. In a recent CCL study, 97 percent of senior executives told us collaboration is a key factor in organizational success. But just 47 percent believed the leaders in their organizations are skilled collaborators.

2. Managing change. In our work at CCL, we have found a few key principles for tackling change. First, view it positively and, of course, with a sense of urgency. There’s no point in fearing change since it’s inevitable and we can’t control it. Second, focus on adapting plans as necessary to external pressures. We all had our strategic plans before the recent recession hit. Some organizations stubbornly stuck with them, believing things would return to normal quickly. Others saw a sea change in the marketplace and adjusted their plans accordingly. Third, it’s important to manage the resistance to change you are bound to see in your colleagues. It’s your role and responsibility to help them understand what’s going on externally and why your organization needs to adapt. Be sure to involve others in the design and implementation of major change initiatives, whether it’s a workforce restructuring or a new product development process.

3. Communication. As an executive with a demanding schedule, it’s easy to be cut off from the rest of the organization. We can all learn a lesson from A.G. Lafley, the retired CEO of Procter & Gamble. He was a great listener, often visiting consumers in their homes or joining them for trips to the store. In addition to being P&G’s CEO, Lafley also established himself as the company’s Chief Listening Officer. He knew that getting good ideas required asking people for input and listening to it very carefully. We should all be Chief Listening Officers in our own organizations.

4. .Learning agility. To succeed in a world where our work is always changing, where challenges are unpredictable and competition abounds, we need to be agile learners. We need to apply our new knowledge. Perhaps most of all, we need to believe we can rise to the challenge. There’s a growing body of neuroscience research that says we can learn new behaviors and modify deep-set behaviors at any age. It takes hard work and real focus, but all of us really can learn new and effective behaviors — and help take our organizations to new levels of performance.

5. .Judgment is at the core of leadership. Fundamentally, it’s about getting the most important calls right — when it comes to both people and strategy. Without good people judgment, you won’t have a strong team. Without a strong team, your strategy will not be executed effectively. Look first of all for men and women who have demonstrated strong performance, integrity and the desire to assume higher levels of responsibility. Watch out for candidates who treat others insensitively and abrasively and put their self-interests above the company good.

Strategy judgment calls require leaders to find new paths. Success depends on asking the right questions, experimenting and constantly adjusting your approach. It hinges even more on your level of humility. Are you too confident in your own judgment? Do you believe too strongly in your old ways of doing business? Do you think that because something has worked many times before, it will work again now? Do you have the humility to understand that even with great collaboration you will not get everything right, and that you can’t know everything yourself?

How your employees can make or break a brand relationship

By William J . McEwen

In today’s volatile economic environment, companies are understandably worried about their customers. Will they stay or will they leave? After all, customers have options, and they certainly know it. Competitive overtures, often trumpeting lower prices and intriguing promotional offers, have intensified. The Internet beckons, with its impressive array of available alternatives. And so, as many company CEOs have attested, it appears that today’s customer is indeed king.

But in focusing on maintaining the continuing patronage of their customers, too many companies appear to be ignoring their potentially most powerful marketing weapon. In their attempts to build stronger customer relationships, many companies emphasize managing the traditional “four Ps” of marketing — Product, Price, Place and Promotion — while appearing to overlook an essential fifth P: People. Admittedly, most organizations that have employees who touch customers will at least give lip service to the critical importance of their human resources.

Empty promises

Their websites proudly proclaim “our people are our most important product”; “our people make the difference.” But these can be empty promises, representing nothing more than meaningless puffery. Corporate mantras don’t always translate to where it really matters: the “moment of truth” when the customer actually comes in contact with the employee who has been challenged to “live” the company’s brand promise.

For the complete story, go to:  www.gallup.com ,  Gallup Management Journal.

From World Advertising Research Center

Brands managers must become “generalists” who are able to deal with the wide range of challenges that characterise the digital and global age, McKinsey has argued.

The consultancy said brand and category managers have long been the “star players” in consumer packaged goods companies, responsible for ”pulling the levers at the center of complicated businesses.”

Such was their success that the top ten corporations in the sector saw their average annual revenues climb from $13bn  in 1990 to $47bn in 2009.

However, the trading climate has become much more complex, partly because these firms increased the size of their product portfolios from a norm of 46 brands to 153 brands over the last two decades.

These organisations also currently have a presence in around 160 countries compared with just 112 in 1990, accessing new target audiences and demographics as a consequence.

Marketers control of communications has been undermined

More broadly, the “explosion” of digital and social media has undermined marketers’ control of communications at a time when retailers are demanding customised campaigns.

A global poll of senior executives by McKinsey revealed that 55% of corporations were seeking to improve their brand management at present, but many have failed to effectively realise this goal.

One reason for this is that attempts to cut costs and standardise procedures mean brand managers often have to “cede advertising authority to a global campaign” and surrender control of the supply chain.

Moreover, many companies have added layers of management, divided up their operations into units focused on specific categories and countries, and built departments focusing on digital media.

Brand managers now report to a number of different superiors

As such, 81% of CPG firms now employ “matrix” structures which involve brand managers reporting to a number of different superiors, a figure that falls to 59% in other sectors.

Many brand managers are thus required to spend 80% of their time in meetings in a bid to coordinate and direct the variety of activities in which they are engaged.

According to McKinsey, this total can be reduced to 54% when more efficient processes are put in place, such as the clear identification of overall objectives and who has ultimate power to make decisions.

Reckitt Benckiser, the household goods firm, has achieved this aim by prioritising the 17 “power brands” that deliver 60% of its sales.

It also charges staff with global marketing duties to plan worldwide initiatives covering three year periods, while their local counterparts are made responsible for implementing these schemes.

“[Reckitt's] structure is kept flat, streamlined, and nonbureaucratic, all of which foster speed in making decisions and responding to changing consumer and market conditions,” McKinsey added.

Generalist organizations deliver 2-3% higher organic growth

Elsewhere, it suggested that companies which favour “generalist marketing functions” typically enjoy between 2% and 3% higher organic growth rates than those promoting “specialist groups”.

Procter & Gamble was named as having equipped its employees with the necessary skills in this area, not least because 95% of its brand managers have worked their way up the ranks.

“To reinforce this apprenticeship model, P&G has developed a common marketing language, established an internal marketing ‘university’,” McKinsey said.

“It has also created centers of expertise through global networks of experts with shared competencies, and redefined brand management as a career, extending the time horizons of people in these roles.”

From Leading Effectively; an Interview with Chris Musselwhite

Change may be good or bad. It might be viewed as much needed or to be avoided at all costs. Sometimes small changes cause strong negative reactions; other times big change is welcomed. Christopher Musselwhite — consultant and creator of the Change Style Indicator — says our collective confusion about the value of change is tied to three individual perspectives: preference, process and proximity.

He explained about the 3 P’s and change preferences in a recent interview with the Center for Creative Leadership..

Why do people respond so differently to change?

A large part of your response is driven by preference for change. In my research, I’ve found there really are cognitive differences in how people view change. People frame it differently, analyze it differently and have different emotional responses. A lot of that is personality and preference.

But other factors have a say in your reactions as well. If you have been through the process of change many times and had life experiences (even if very difficult) that gave you a positive view of change, facing change may not be particularly scary or worrisome to you. But if change in your life is consistently tied to negative things, it is understandably more difficult to embrace change.

The factor of proximity will also magnify or diminish your change response. The closer you are to the epicenter of change — if you will be directly affected — the more your identity is connected to the change.

Explain about the preferences people have.

How people deal with change – both creating it and responding to it – is a function of identifiable individual preferences. It’s helpful to think of our preferences on a continuum of conservers to originators, with the pragmatists holding the large middle ground.

Conservers are people who view change primarily as a danger. In times of change they appear deliberate, disciplined and focused. They are good at defining and clarifying current reality and prefer a well-defined structure. To create improvements, conservers prefer to make gradual changes and work within existing systems.

On the opposite end, the originators like to challenge current structures and systems. They enjoy taking risks and tend to focus on new possibilities, vision and direction. They are action-minded but may not be effective implementers.

Pragmatists tend to focus on getting the job done. They often see merit in the perspectives of both conservers and originators and are motivated to find solutions.

Using the Change Style Indicator, I’ve been able to gather data on more than 100,000 people. With two-thirds of the results analyzed, I’ve found that about 25 percent of the general population are conservers and another 25 percent are originators; the rest are pragmatists.

How is this information about change style most helpful to individuals? How can it be helpful in organizations?

Understanding your own preferences is very helpful just in understanding your own feelings and behaviors in times of change. Then you are able to create routines or seek support that allows you to process the change and adapt.

It’s also important for building teams. For example, if I’m really a strong originator, I need some strong pragmatists and conservers to work with — and I need to know not to ignore or marginalize them.

When teams come together, use the Change Style Indicator tool and talk about their preferences, it can also open up everyone’s eyes to why the team functions the way it does. Often conflict in teams can be connected to tension between the three change styles. But the differences that you struggle with can become assets if you know how to manage them.

How do effective leaders manage these differences?

First, be careful not to throw the labels around unless you’re taking time to understand change styles as a group. It’s helpful to have the concept in your head, to use for your own thinking. You can ask questions of yourself such as: How am I responding? Might Joe be reacting to me from a conserver mindset? I wonder if we can get an originator perspective in here?

When you better understand people you have on your team, or the people you work with, you can orchestrate change processes with more finesse. For example, if you manage a project team, early on you have to have good originators. You want to consider all possibilities. Over time, you’ll rely more on the pragmatists and the conservers. Throughout the process, all perspectives are represented; it’s just a question of where to put the emphasis.

Preference for Change
When facing change …

The Center for Creative Leadership (CCL®) ranked among the world’s top providers of executive education in a biennial BusinessWeek survey released today.

BusinessWeek rated CCL No. 3 worldwide for Custom programs, up five spots from 2007. In the Open-Enrollment category, CCL ranked No. 5 after not being ranked in 2007.

CCL, which provides leadership training worldwide from its offices in Asia, Europe and North America, is the only institution in the survey that focuses exclusively on leadership education and research. The BusinessWeek rankings were based on surveys of organizations from around the world that rated leading executive education providers, such as Harvard, Duke and Wharton, for quality and impact.

BusinessWeek is the second major news outlet this year to give CCL high marks. In May, the Financial Times ranked CCL No. 6 worldwide in executive education.

By John Riley

 These days, it is not surprising to find someone who has a boss that does her job for her.  Most people would call that micro-managing  and attribute it to insecurity brought about by a fear of making a mistake or having one’s subordinate make a mistake during these uncertain times.  I think it’s more complex than that.

While insecurity is certainly one factor at play here, there is a professional element as well. I’m talking about the person who is a perfectionist and feels that their subordinates do not share the same attitude toward their work. As result, the fear comes from concern a subordinate might make a mistake and the lack of professionalism would reflect on the supervisor.

 Another possibility that fosters micro-managers is a greater feeling of power.  It probably stems from their feeling that what got them promoted was what they should do as a supervisor except to a greater degree.  That produces a doer rather than a manager and has its own set of problems.

 Unfortunately, whatever the reason, employees resent micro-managing bosses.  And why not?  It shows little respect for the subordinate, prevents their professional development and provides no chance for recognition.  Yet, management seems to tolerate such behavior because the work gets done.

 A common management  justification is, “we’ll deal with it after we get through this difficult period”, but that never seems to happen.   A micro-manager response is, “if I don’t control everything, something bad will happen because my people aren’t up to speed yet”.

 Most observers offer advice to the suffering employees when it is the supervisor that should be dealt with.  Specifically, management should add a remedial action item to the supervisor’s job goals after discussing it with him, the supervisor should be sent to a Manager training program, and he should be scheduled for a performance review in six months.  If, after these three steps, the supervisor’s behavior has not changed, management should find a non-managerial position for him.

 Does your boss like to do your job?   If so, leave a copy of this article near the copy machine.

By John Riley

 When an employee raises this issue in a performance review, it’s usually not a surprise because the boss  is thinking the same thing about her career. But, for both the timing isn’t right. Faced with an uncertain economy, executives at companies  large and small have reduced staff and heaped more responsibilities on surviving managers at all levels, frequently without compensating them financially or with a new title. In the process, managers seek to cope by working longer and harder.

 However, there is a better way.  Deliver a performance the executive management  can’t ignore.

When that happens, you will break out of the pack and be on the fast track to promotion.

 What I am suggesting is that you concentrate on mastering four skills: organization and planning, communications, managing people and problem solving.  Working within the company culture and on work teams are two high profile venues management uses to evaluate managers effectiveness. So that’s where you need to showcase your skills. While other skills are important too, they aren’t nearly as likely to get you promoted as mastering these four.

 Company culture is an amalgam of many things. Most often, it is strongly reflective of the CEO and his or her vision and values. Cultural habits and norms are powerful reinforcements of the status quo so it is vitally important that you aware of and understand the culture.  That’s because, at one time or another , you will want to execute an idea or project and find out some aspect or element of the culture has become a barrier to your success.  To be effective, you have to know how to change or get around that barrier.

 Working on teams, particularly as team lead, demands great people skills. And here I would suggest you insist on receiving some training before taking on a team lead position. Conflict resolution is one ingredient of that training that is essential.  As team lead, there will be negotiation and discussion upwards, sideways and downward in the organizational chain which will give you the opportunity to show how to get things done through others among other things.

 Organization and planning is ever present in any manager’s job.  One of the fundamental precepts managers need to keep in mind is, what got our company here today, isn’t what will get us where we want to be in the future.  You have to overcome the fact that It’s always more comfortable to do what you’ve been doing than to change.

 Managers spend over 70% of their time communicating.  Unfortunately, the message we usually  hear is completely different than the one that was sent.  According to recent studies, approximately 90% of our understanding of personal communication comes from non-verbal things  such as body language. However, the biggest problem in communicating  is poor listening skills; active listening is considered a learned behavior.

 Companies that have success year after year characteristically have core values that remain fixed. These values play a vital role in managing people so know them well.  Motivating employees helps maintain and exceed performance levels. Whether by incentive programs or introducing new and more difficult tasks, the manager’s role is to make it happen.

 Problem solving and making decisions is at the core of a manager’s responsibilities.  Prioritize your problems first. You don’t want to react to a problem, you want to understand it. Then, if it’s a complex problem, break it down into parts and begin to deal with it one part at a time.  There are excellent analytical tools to help and you should know what they are.  If it’s a decision your boss has to make, take it to him, but with your recommendations on what should be done.  

 There are a variety of ways to master the four skills, i.e. books, community college courses, company training programs, or watching how other managers have progressed up the promotion ladder. Whatever avenue you choose, start now and then you can tell your boss, “Promote Me! I’m ready.”

By John Riley

 Up grading personnel skills should be among the top priorities of business managers if companies are to weather the significant structural and economic changes brought about by the near financial collapse. Intellectual skills have always been the ‘coin of the relm’ but never as important as they are today.

 By John Riley

Each year, nearly 30,000 high school students from countries all over the world come to the United States  to study for one semester or one school year. With the fall semester soon to start, the students will begin arriving within the next three weeks and will need a host family to provide room and board while they are here.

Many students already have host families, however, a number of students are waiting to have their host families assigned. Foreign companies who recruit the students contract with American student exchange placement  organizations who then have the responsibility of arranging for school admissions and finding host families.  Many of these placement firms  also recruit American students who want to study abroad and then contract with foreign placement companies to arrange for schools and host families. 

STS Foundation(STSF) headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona,  is one of the leading student exchange organizations. This year they will place approximately 500 foreign students throughout the country, semester and annual,  from 32 countries.

Annual surveys taken by STSF point to three reasons why most families host:

1) the family has high school age kids and believe hosting would be a good social and learning experience for them.

2) it is an excellent way to learn about new cultures.

3) frequently, hosting leads to new life long friendships for the entire family

When a family agrees to host, they are interviewed in their home and asked for three references. After that, a background check is initiated. Then the family and the local STSF representative sit down and select a student. Good English skills are required for exchange students.

Students arrive in the United States with insurance and spending money for the duration of their stay.

The student exchange program is under the auspices of, and administered by, the U. S. Department of State.  Standards are developed and monitored by CSIET, an indepent and well established organization.

For families who have an interest in hosting a student, you can call Dave at STSF: 1-800-522-4678.   The STSF website is www.stsfoundation.org.