Archive for the ‘Leadership’ Category

Influential leadership: what you need to know

Friday, July 24th, 2009

Captain’s Blog

Stardate 240709

What’s the one thing about leadership you need to know?  What is it your boss needs to know you know?

It’s got to be said: everything a leader says or does creates an impact. Body language, the way he or she walks into the room; what they say and the way the say it.  The leader has the single biggest impact on driving performance: up or down.

Team members are looking for direction from our leaders, explicitly or otherwise; and our leaders hand down that direction in the subtlest of ways.  The team will pick up on a vocal nuance, a raised eyebrow, or the way papers are shuffled at the beginning of a meeting.  The interpretation they make of these actions will impact upon what happens outside that room as they apply the direction they’ve ‘heard’.

I’m hearing this feedback from the leaders I coach and members of their teams, as well as from directing my own teams.  The good news is that their experience is backed up by organisational research evidence.  To remind myself of these sources, I turned to the work of Daniel Goleman, the ‘emotional intelligence’ expert, Richard Boyatzis and Annie McKee, who together wrote a book published in the US under the title ‘Primal Leadership*’ and in the UK as ‘The New Leaders’.

Their focus is on the ‘resonant leader’ and they used a “global database of 3,871 executives in which several factors that influenced the working environment were assessed”.  Two key findings were that “leadership styles affected financial results, such as return on sales, revenue growth, efficiency, and profitability”; and “leaders who used styles with a positive emotional impact saw decidedly better returns than those that did not”. 

What this tells us, regardless of whether you work for the private, public or not-for-profit sector, is that your bottom line – however measured – is impacted on by your leaders.

Cutting to the chase, what’s the one thing we can do as leaders to improve our bottom line (however measured)?  Find out what motivates the people who work for us – one by one – and play to their strengths.  Leadership isn’t all about us; it’s about a successful team and we unlock that success when we know what their strengths are and what really motivates people.

Watching the Australia/England cricket highlights this week I heard a great line which I’m paraphrasing here: ‘play to your team’s strengths, not to the opposition’s weaknesses’.  We can only do this when we truly get to know the people who work with and for us.

So if you’re having a tough week at work and the signals you’re getting from your boss are driving down your motivation and performance, print this out and leave it in a prominent place.  Your boss needs to know how to unlock your success and he/she needs to know that you know it too.

 

*Quoted from: “Primal Leadership: Realizing the Power of Emotional Intelligence”, Goleman D., Boyatzis R., McKee A., Harvard Business School Press, 2002, pp53/54.  The reference to the original database is set out on p.265.

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Posted in Emotional intelligence, Financial results, Leadership, Motivation, Performance, coaching | No Comments »

“There’s a better way”

Monday, July 13th, 2009

Captain’s Blog

Stardate 120709

It’s been a great week discussing leadership with participants at our Foundation Course in Leadership Coaching – a diverse mix of people from small businesses, the NHS and leadership development organisations.

What I find important is to remember that it’s people who create leadership, rather than organisations, which is why coaching is such a personal process.  Sure it can be a ‘one-to-many’ activity, where groups of people work with a coach to achieve a common goal, but it’s always personal: it’s about making human connections and building leadership from those connections, not the performance targets or statistics.

Bob Hughes

Bob Hughes

I was reminded this evening that even when people achieve high office, such as getting onto a Board of Directors, it’s not the position that’s important, it’s having a voice on that board: being heard, being influential and making a difference in the situation in which leaders find themselves in.  This is what people call ’situational leadership’ – apparently in the military it’s known as ‘point leadership’ – the ability to step up and lead from wherever you are.

Leadership is also about getting across one key message: “there’s a better way”.  If the way we’re currently doing something is ok, why change?  People with leadership qualities see the better way, they gather up their courage to speak out and gain allies when they put their ideas across.


My husband Bob had a great opportunity to demonstrate situational leadership on the national news this evening.  We were thrilled when we bought an 18th century house and had the opportunity to mix 21st century solar panels and green technologies with traditional building materials.  Our roof has a marvellous pattern in tiles, lovingly restored by the builders.  On the back of the house is a set of glistening, photo-voltaic cells, which look like large black mirror tiles, generating between a third and a half of our daily energy needs.

We were called to participate in the debate on the BBC, on the Government’s plans to announce the ‘feed-in’ tariffs, which pay small-scale generators like us for the contribution we make back to the national grid.  Bob has enjoyed working with our suppliers, Solar Century http://www.solarcentury.co.uk/, partly because we share their vision to have solar systems on the roof of every building in the UK.  Of course this will need to be backed up by other micro-renewables, and the aim is to create clean power and achieve deep cuts in carbon emissions.

So Bob showed leadership by having the courage to be interviewed live by BBC News 24, from a studio in Birmingham and Solar Century, the organisation, show leadership in pioneering this technology.  Of course, it’s not an organisation, it’s people like Founder Jeremy Leggett , who established Solarcentury to address the threat of climate change, who really make the difference.  Leaders inspire their teams to succeed, and they communicate a vision of what they want to achieve.  We may admire the brands created by successful companies, but it’s the people behind them who matter.

So here’s my manifesto for leadership: it’s about people who see that there’s a better way, they step up and they speak out, gaining allies as they do so.  In today’s environment – economic and ecological – we can’t keep doing what we’ve always done before; we need people to show us ‘the better way’.

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Ballet Black and great leadership

Saturday, July 4th, 2009

Captain’s Blog

Stardate 040709

Despite today being American Independence Day (and with all the Americans in the Wimbledon finals, I trust you enjoy it to the full) I am going to focus on a British leadership success.  I wrote about Ballet Black in a recent blog, and what great leadership Cassa Pancho, the Director of Ballet Black, displays.   This week her skills were put fully to the test as they took on their biggest challenge yet: that of filling the Hackney Empire for a one-night only performance by the Ballet Black company.

Ballet Black

Ballet Black

For those of you less familiar with North London music halls, the Hackney Empire truly lives up to the ‘Palace of the People’ tag.  There are gloriously decorated ceilings; cherubs everywhere, and walls glittering with gilt-framed mirrors.  Imagine coming from a dark, overcrowded, terraced house in Victorian London into this light and space.  Another of our great leaders, Gryff Rhys Jones, led the campaign to have it restored and it looks fantastic. 

We have a family tradition (yet to be proved) that my grandfather, Edgar Caton, played the violin in the orchestra pit at the Hackney Empire.  We need more evidence to prove that link, but I do know that my daughter, Faith, designed the dancers’ costumes for a most moving piece on Thursday night.

So what was so challenging about filling the Hackney Empire?  It’s a 1400-seater venue and the management expected the company to sell between 600 and 900 of the seats.  The dancers and crew of the company took up the challenge to fill the venue, using Facebook, twitter and all the digital networking means available to them to achieve a full house. 

The buzz of success ran around every tier of the auditorium; with bubbly flowing in the boxes, it felt like a huge family celebration.  We were surrounded by stunning women with immaculate hair, nails and fabulous dresses; I felt distinctly dowdy in the heat, by comparison.  Men in turbans, women in traditional African dress and there were kids in traditional baseball cap and obligatory headphones.  The ages ranged from 7 to 97 and spanned the gamut of cultural diversity; I love it. 

It wasn’t just the press who were talking about the choreography, or the music; the audience was knowledgeable and engaged by each dance piece.  A Spanish guitar version of ‘Stairway to Heaven’ played to a duet was my husband’s favourite; more intriguing was another duet danced partly in silence and partly to the sound of two microphones acting like pendulums and swaying into and past each other, creating a deep drum-like beat.

As so often with leadership, success is delivered by more than just one person.  It takes a team to pick up the vision and run with it (or in this case, dance with it).  It takes communication – really saying the vision out loud – and inspiration, which is infectious. 

The great thing is that everyone can share in this kind of success: the pride amongst the audience was as evident as that of the company. I’m sure everyone is exhausted by their efforts and will take the opportunity to put their feet up and enjoy Wimbledon this weekend; or maybe, like so many great dancers, they’ll look for the next opportunity to get dancing.

www.balletblack.co.uk

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Three women leaders

Monday, April 6th, 2009

Captain’s Blog – Stardate 060409

 I was going to write about the serious business of leadership theory this week but three great female leaders have captured my attention.  It can’t have escaped many people’s notice that the Obama wagon rolled into London town last week for the G20 economic talks.  So far, so economics. 

 What grabbed my notice was a tidal wave of attention on the impact of Michelle Obama as a leader in her own right.  I saw the news showing her visit to a London school and the positive impact her words had on young girls – of all colour – who see her as a positive role model.  Then I received an email from my daughter, Faith, who’s been working as Wardrobe Mistress to the innovative ballet company Ballet Black.  This small, up and coming ballet company, born 20th April 2000, was invited to perform in front of Michelle Obama, the rest of the cast of Presidential and Prime Ministerial WAGs, plus the Harry Potter author, J.K. Rowling and the hostess, Sarah Brown. 

 Faith’s excitement and pride was a tsunami of delight – and demonstrates the power of a positive leader.  Just as the young people at a London school had told their parents and twittered their friends to create a street-full of attention, it also shows how great leadership has a positive impact.  Each one of those classroom pupils now has their own personal “Yes, we can” attitude, just as my daughter knows that there are no barriers to greatness, only those in our own minds. Faith’s determination to succeed is a leadership quality in itself.

 To illustrate leadership further, let’s look at one female leader in this story, Cassa Pancho, the Director of Ballet Black.   Born to Trinidadian and British parent, Cassa founded Ballet Black specifically to provide role models to aspiring black and Asian dancers.  From a small school in Shepherds Bush, London, The company is now based at the Royal Opera House.  That’s some journey: six miles as the crow flies, and a million in terms of crossing the class and cultural barriers on the way..  It’s been my privilege to watch Cassa strive to achieve recognition for its work, and to secure funding -which is never guaranteed.

 Cassa has three key leadership qualities which amply illustrate my points about the serious business of leadership – she has vision – “to provide role models for aspiring black and Asian dancers” – and she’s stuck to it for as long as I’ve known her and seen the company perform.  Cassa has high standards – the Royal Opera House don’t let any old dancers into their dressing rooms – regardless of cultural background or ethnicity, these dancers have to perform at world class levels.  And Cassa has great people skills: she’s worked hard to convince people of her vision, such that they have aligned themselves around it and she’s gained their practical support. A couple of years ago I received a letter from Darcy Bussell committing to gaining more exposure for the work of Ballet Black -that’s the quality of support that Cassa achieves.

 

the Forton leadership model

the Forton leadership model

So here’s my serious point about leadership – from men or women, regardless of cultural background.  We can write reams about leadership – there’s one new leadership book printed every three days apparently – but you can summarise what it takes in a few key words.

 Leadership is about personal success and enabling others to be successful – look at Cassa – this is more than just about her dreams – it’s the dream of every young dancer who loves ballet, regardless of the colour of their skin.  It’s about more than the team or the company – leadership is also about society – Cassa has challenged society to think differently about talent. 

 Cassa exemplifies my ‘3Ps of Leadership’:  Purpose, Performance and People,  and the ‘3 Rs’; being relentless with purpose, ruthless with performance and gracious with people. Being gracious – the last R – is about enabling people to be resourceful.  Cassa hasn’t just had to be resourceful herself, and find the resources to grow the ballet company, she’s empowered each dancer to be resourceful, to do what it takes to follow their dream.  As Michelle Obama pointed out to 100 young people last week: it’s not necessarily going to be easy but we can do it.

Go see the Ballet Black website at http://www.balletblack.co.uk/

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Bring colour into our lives

Saturday, March 21st, 2009

Captain’s Blog – Stardate 210309

This week’s leadership focus is all about colour – because right now bringing colour into our lives is a great way to re-energise the way we think and feel. 

I collected my new spectacles today and this is not something I feel great about.  I need glasses but buying them doesn’t bring me joy.  What did lighten my day was the staff rummaging around to find me a colourful case to store them in – and ending up with a bright scarlet spectacles case.  Fantastic!  I’ll not lose these in a hurry.  Thank you to the team in Boots Opticians in Rugby. 

Last weekend I had my haircut and there’s another leader in colour: Gemma Hensman – a talented young Director working hard to build her family business.  Gemma thinks constantly about the customer experience, the quality of the service her team offer – and the development of the team.  Gemma celebrates the awards her team achieves on their website (www.hensmans.com) and works hard to make sure they keep on achieving.  Like many salons, there’s a lot of black around – but Gemma wears fantastic contrast colours which challenge convention. 

My challenge to anyone reading this blog is to both seek out those colour leaders – they’ll be around us on the tube, walking down the street and jostling in the commuter traffic – and be a colour leader yourself. This isn’t about gender – whether you’re male or female, find out which colours really work with your skin tones and your hair and start really enjoying colour in what you wear. 

This might sound like the kind of fashion and costume design blog that my daughter might write (www.faithbarber.com) but it’s more a call to arms for a more colourful world where leaders are proud of their intelligence and the brilliance they bring to the world. 

Faith's site has a strong purple theme
Faith’s site has a strong purple theme

  Faith’s site has a strong purple theme which brings me round to the fragment of poetry which started me thinking about this week’s ‘Captain’s Blog’: the wonderful Warning by Jenny Joseph (apparently Britain’s favourite post-war poem), the opening lines of which go like this: 

“When I am an old woman I shall wear purple,

With a red hat which doesn’t go, and doesn’t suit me.”

Old or young, your credit-crunched, recession ridden country needs you to come out of your closet with colour and brighten up our homes, streets and workplaces.

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Riding the rollercoaster

Wednesday, March 11th, 2009

Captain’s Log Stardate 110309

Roller-coasters: some people love them; others loathe them.  What I’m noticing is that, whichever camp we sit in, we can’t seem to avoid the roller-coaster ride at the moment.  There’s a saying going around that we all know at least one person who’s been made redundant as a result of the current financial situation; this seems to be true – at least in my world. 

So, what do I know about roller-coasters?  Not a lot if I’m honest.  I’ve tried to avoid them for the last 35 years of my life – it’s something to do with the feeling in the pit of my stomach.  I do know that some people absolutely love that thrill – my husband for one.  It’s the physiology that interests me – it’s the same adrenaline that gives Bob the ‘go-for-it’ feeling and me the ‘get-me-out-of-here’ feeling.  I’m told that if you scream as you go down it opens up and relaxes the chest and makes the experience (even) more enjoyable.

Last week I made a conscious decision to enjoy the ride – running a growing business is always an interesting challenge – and right now it’s particularly important to be flexible and go with the flow.  I don’t want to tempt fate, but at the moment our business challenges are more about managing growth than worrying about business coming in through the door.  I know there are a number of businesses positively thriving at the moment: people are turning to take-away pizza instead of eating at restaurants, trading down to cheaper brands instead of paying premium prices at the supermarket.  Something similar is happening in the coaching and leadership world – individuals and organisations see our services as adding value and bringing real business benefits at this time of profound change.

So what’s this to do with leadership?  I’ve made a personal commitment that, as a leader, I will be relentless in the area of good financial management; ruthless with my time and strongly supportive of individuals, especially people with leadership potential.  Things brings me on to my ‘leader of the week’: a young lady who’s been a student on our Foundation and Developing Courses in Leadership Coaching – Jo Sandhu, she’s second on the right in this picture.  

The first Forton Foundation Course in Leadership Development group
The first Forton Foundation Course in Leadership Development group

  Just google CandoSandhu.com  and you’ll see what I mean.  Jo and her husband are travelling the world shortly, stopping off in India to teach English in a Punjabi village, before trekking in the Himalayas.  It’s not just the ‘can do’ attitude they have – which is hugely relevant in a topsy-turvy world; it’s the commitment to giving to others.  Another course participant described it as “not giving back, but ‘giving forward’ – to future generations”.  This is what great leaders do – they are personally successful and create a world in which others can achieve success.  Good luck Jo and Sat, wherever you go.

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