Archive for May, 2011
Wednesday, May 25th, 2011
Erase from your mind any traces of the myth that leaders are born, not made. Instead realize that the degree to which you lead your organization or team to success lies in your hands. Your ability to lead both yourself and others will enhance the quality of your work as well as your life. The quality of your leadership not only determines your future, it determines the future of your organization and the lives of all those who follow you.
In any discussions of leadership, it is inevitable that we find ourselves thinking in terms of formal leadership. We tend to think of leadership in terms of rank or position. However, formal leadership is the outgrowth of your ability to master the art of self-leadership; it is indeed, the ability to establish a specific direction for your own life, and to proceed in that direction with the self-confidence that comes only to one who knows where he or she is going. Becoming a leader means becoming you. It is that simple and that difficult. It begins with figuring out who you are and what gives your life value and meaning. It means focusing on doing the right things and understanding who you are, who you want to become, what skills you want to develop, and what you want to accomplish beyond where you are today. When you identify your goals and values on a personal level, they are genuine and authentic. When you identify leadership on a personal level, you develop the authenticity required to become a leader of an organization. According to Winston Churchill, “The key to leadership is sincerity. Before he can inspire with emotion, he must be swayed by it himself. Before he can move their tears, his own must flow. To convince them, he must himself believe.” Leadership of others begins with leadership of self. Until you identify leadership on a personal level, you can never truly become an effective leader of an organization.
Realizing the vision involves a shared commitment and responsibility throughout the organization. This encompasses an ability to influence others to become committed to new directions and the ability to lead people to higher levels of performance. This is perhaps one of the greatest challenges facing today’s leaders. As we continue to shift our emphasis away from the traditional role of managing and controlling, we need to improve our understanding of human behavior and how to bring out the best in people.
For many leaders, this means change. Regardless of external circumstances, rank, or previous experience you can improve your leadership skills. Leadership qualities stem from internal attitudes and learned skills, not outside situations. Effective leadership consists of more than just an intellectual understanding of leadership characteristics. The characteristics and skills must be incorporated into your style. They must be consistent with your beliefs and values, and part of your actions and decisions. Leaders inspire others, improve outcomes, bring out the best in people, make mistakes, and continuously learn and improve. Your success as a leader depends on your ability to influence behavior and align your resources in the direction that will ensure continued success.
Tammy A.S. Kohl is President of Resource Associates Corporation. For over 30 years, RAC has specialized in helping businesses achieve sustainable results through leadership development and executive coaching. For information on creating a leadership succession plan visit www.resourceassociatescorp.com or contact RAC directly at 800.799.6227.
Tags: Change, future, Leader, Leadership, quality, resource associates, responsibility, Success, winston churchill
Posted in Leadership | No Comments »
Wednesday, May 18th, 2011
Everyone makes decisions differently and is motivated or driven by different things. Being aware of and understanding these differences is really important when managing employees or creating relationships.
Over fifty years of scientific research has revealed that there are three distinct styles of decision-making. Each of us can make decisions in all three ways, but we tend to develop a preference for one more than the other two. This preference becomes a subconscious force, affecting the decisions we make on a daily basis and shaping how we perceive the world around us and ourselves. The three decisional styles are personal, practical, and analytical.
To some extent everyone is capable of making all three kinds of decisions, but we ultimately have a preference. Here is a simple example of the three in contrast with each other. A person with each style is sitting around a table working on a project together. While the Personal style is focused on the needs of the team members involved and how to best use their talents, the Practical style doesn’t really care as much about the team or if it is done right, he just wants to get it done. Finally the Analytical sees no reason to worry about the people involved or even getting it done if it isn’t going to be done correctly.
We all have different balances of these three styles. That is what makes our decisions and actions different from others. These ways of making decisions and how we use them are at the core of whom we are.
In addition to there being three distinct styles of decision making, people are also motivated to make decisions based on different drivers. Based on the research of Eduard Spranger and later by Gordon Allport, there are seven key motivational drivers and they include the following:
- The motivation to achieve balance, harmony, and find form or beauty
- The motivation for security from economic gain and to achieve practical returns
- The motivation to be seen as unique, independent, and stand apart from the crowd
- The motivation to have influence and control over one’s environment or success
- The motivation to benefit others in a humanitarian sense
- The motivation to establish order, routine, and structure
- The motivation to gain knowledge or discover truth
Imagine how beneficial it would be to know how your team members make decisions and why they are motivated to do what they do. Imagine being able to share that knowledge with the actual team members. Communication, teamwork, and your ability to manage would instantly improve. Results and outcomes would measurably improve. Uncovering how people make decisions and what drives them to do what they do can be uncovered through a simple assessment process. However, the assessment process is only the beginning. A commitment by management to create an action plan on how to effectively use the knowledge to improve team building is a critical second step. Information for information’s sake is—you got it—just information. An action plan to manage with the new information will provide long-term and sustainable results for your team.
Tammy A.S. Kohl is President of Resource Associates Corporation. For over 30 years, RAC has specialized in helping businesses and individuals achieve high levels of excellence and success. Learn how at www.resourceassociatescorp.com or contact RAC directly at 800.799.6227.
Tags: analytical, assessment, decisions, disc, drivers, Eduard Spranger, Gordon Allport, managing, motivations, personal, practical, resource associates, Values
Posted in Decision Making, Motivation | No Comments »
Wednesday, May 11th, 2011
“In good times, sustainability can be a competitive differentiator; in lean times, it’s a defensive strategy and in really hard times, it can determine your survival.” - Richard Goode, Director of Sustainability at Alcatel-Lucent
As we have discussed in previous blog posts, sustainability as a business strategy needs to be uniquely defined for each company. Understanding the industry, company size, product or service line, the supply chain, and stakeholders’/stockholders’ concerns are all important to create a meaningful definition. Understanding sustainability may start with a definition, but sustainability is really a corporate wide strategy and culture that ultimately focuses on increasing productivity and/or the reduction of consumed resources without compromising product or service quality, competitiveness, or profitability. Embracing a true strategy of sustainability is never ending, as it ultimately should become part of the culture and fabric of the organization.
After defining sustainability for your organization, the next important question to ask is, “Where does our company stand as it relates to our sustainability initiative?” Many companies are quick to react to new initiatives without assessing what it really means for their organization.
Important questions to consider include:
- Where are they currently?
- Where do they want to go?
- What will it take to get there?
Similar to the beginning of the quality movement, many companies got on the bandwagon and implemented the concepts haphazardly with no intent or strategy, reaped some results from low-hanging fruit, but never really saw the full impact and the possible results that could have been theirs to realize.
Kevin Myette, Director of Product Integrity at Recreational Equipment Inc (REI) says that “sustainability is the next quality movement … and it is no longer just for big companies.”
If sustainability is viewed as a strategy to be developed over time, then there needs to be a systematic approach to be able to move from where your company is now to where it wants or needs to be. Our systematic approach looks at sustainability through the progression of five levels.
Level 1: Recognize
At this level, an organization begins to recognize that something needs to be done. Perhaps outside forces such as industry regulations or stakeholders’/stockholders’ concerns are driving some action; however, there is no real strategy in place. In fact, if industry standards are driving whatever sustainability action currently exists, the organization is most likely acting out of shear conformance.
Level 2: Initiate
At this level, management agrees that it is time to look at sustainability as a business strategy. Management begins to see a solid business case for why sustainability makes sense in their organization and management begins defining their strategy for sustainability. Short-term, measurable results start being obtained.
Level 3: Implement
At level 3, there is a clearer understanding and awareness of what sustainability really means to the organization. A detailed action plan has been created and communicated to employees, customers, and all other stakeholders. Larger projects within the initiatives are beginning to get traction and see results.
Level 4: Operationalize
At level 4, there is full commitment to the sustainability strategy and the action plan is in full force. The organization is maximizing its people and processes to ensure a positive impact on the environment while seeing improvements in their own profitability and core business measurements.
Level 5: Transformation
The value of continuous sustainability is now embedded in the organization’s culture. It is part of how they think and make decisions. There is a commitment to continually review where they stand on sustainability issues, and they are committed to take the necessary action steps today and in the future.
At what level is your organization currently? Where should you be?
Tammy A.S. Kohl is President of Resource Associates Corporation. For over 30 years, RAC has specialized in helping businesses achieve high levels of excellence and success by adopting sustainability as a critical success factor of organizational success. Learn how at www.resourceassociatescorp.com or contact RAC directly at 800.799.6227.
Tags: defining sustainability, Kevin Myette, Lucent, profitability, REI, Richard Goode, strategy, Sustainability
Posted in Sustainability | No Comments »
Wednesday, May 4th, 2011
Sustainability is fast becoming a business strategy that is being embraced by many industries and organizations. Based on all of the Environmental issues our planet is facing, creating a mindset of corporate social responsibility (CSR) makes sense. The question on many small to mid-sized business owners’ minds is, “It makes logical sense but does it or can it make good business sense?” Early on, many companies who adopted a strategy of sustainability were large companies like Walmart, Nike, Heineken, Adidas, and P&G just to name a few. You can go to each of their websites and find dedicated communication about their sustainability initiatives, objectives, action steps, and measurable outcomes. Many have created an independent sustainability department dedicated to accomplishing its initiatives with a chief sustainability officer to lead the charge. To those organizations that have made this level of commitment, kudos! Congratulations on achieving phenomenal results.
However, according to the SBA, over 90% of the businesses in the United States that are categorized as small to mid-sized and are looking at examples of sustainability through the lens of companies like Walmart and others become overwhelmed. Most small to mid-sized companies barely know how to define what sustainability means to their company, let alone how to commit the resources to implement a plan of attack.
Sustainability means different things to different companies. Size of company and industry will most definitely play a role in the definition. However, there are commonalities to sustainability that apply to every business, and it is a strategy that has proven to be profitable. It can create a competitive business advantage while positively impacting the Environment.
When the core components of an organization are aligned, it leads to profitability, loyal customers, long-term growth, and systems thinking—all measurable business outcomes. The model below is a great way to show the importance and business value of alignment.
The core three business components include: People, Process, and the Environment.
When the components are not aligned, and the People area stands alone, companies have a tendency to focus on solving problems, putting out fires, and reacting to challenges as they present themselves. When Processes are not aligned and there is no strategic focus, a departmental mentality starts to bubble to the surface. Variation starts to creep in and each department tends to focus on their own self-interest in lieu of Process alignment. When organizations focus on Environmental issues apart from their strategic direction, they are often focused on compliance and therefore Environmental issues are often viewed an expense.
However, as the components start to align you can see how People and Process create innovation, begin to prevent problems, and foster interdepartmental teams who produce results quickly. As Process and Environment begin to intersect, departmental alignment is generated. More efficient relationships with the supply chain are created while creating an Environment of systems thinking. As People and Environment come together, it creates employee engagement, proactive decision making, and reinforces that sustainability is part of the organization’s culture.
Are the core components of your business in alignment? Putting sustainability aside for a moment, if your business is currently out of alignment you are already leaving business and money on the table. Can you imagine what business outcomes and rewards you would achieve if your business was consistently operating in the black?
Tammy A.S. Kohl is President of Resource Associates Corporation. For over 30 years, RAC has specialized in helping businesses achieve high levels of excellence and success by adopting sustainability as a critical success factor of organizational success. Learn how at www.resourceassociatescorp.com or contact RAC directly at 800.799.6227.
Posted in Sustainability | No Comments »
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