“In the seven seconds it takes to complete an average Grand Prix pit stop, a driver will get four fresh tyres, a tank of fuel, an inspection to remove debris from nooks and crannies, and maybe some shiny new parts to replace any track casualties…115.8 man-seconds of work are completed in just 7 seconds” reports Tony Borroz in the November ‘09 edition of Wired Magazine.

The achievements of Formula 1 pit stop crews are amazing whichever way one looks at it.  Consider for example the fact that some of these jobs would take an afternoon at your local garage. I can’t help but wonder the looks and verbal abuse suffered by the person who first suggested this was all possible. In terms of what you and your team have recently achieved, what has constituted your equivalent of F1’s longest seven seconds?

Fad words seem to enter the language on an almost daily basis - and there are many to choose from in the world of management speak. A current favourite is “collaboration” and we can understand why it has risen up the “fad words hit parade”. Collaboration is about bringing different agendas and experiences together to produce shared outcomes. We can see it at many levels; from collaboration within different departments through to collaboration between departments and directorates. There is clearly a growing focus on collaboration between different parts of the public sector - not forgetting collaboration with the wider public themselves. In the commercial field strategic alliances are growing.

Collaboration makes a lot of sense. Within departments teams need to be proactive in sharing information, ensuring colleagues are aware of risks and emerging issues, and working together to achieve results for the team whilst protecting its credibility with clients. At leadership level collaboration is a central element of a high performing team. Dysfunctional teams do not collaborate, they hide information from each other, they do not follow up on decisions they agreed together, they reach compromises rather than commitment. A truly collaborative team shares accountability and is therefore proactive in supporting each other so that they can create a high level of focus on delivery. 

Collaboration will be a key element in surviving turbulent times. Leaders will need the input, the ideas, the challenges, the support and the energy of colleagues. Marshall Goldsmith commented that in today’s world as we progress in our organisations, what got us into our role - our technical ability - will not be what moves us forward. Leaders technical ability is assumed, he argues, it is their relationship building ability that makes all the difference.

Many organisational leaders are sociable and outgoing and can network well. But it is not universally true. What is true is that every leader needs to be a key player in the brave new world of collaboration. So is this the sound of a heavy door closing on the career aspirations of introvert but ambitious managers and leaders? Not necessarily so. We work with a lot of organisations and individuals in the field of change. It is clear that change comes to a halt when individuals fail to turn good intentions and good plans into specific actions. As the Chinese famously say “Each journey of a thousand miles begins with one step”.

What are the deliberate actions you can take to ensure you are seen as a contributor to greater collaboration?

I suggest there are five key steps to getting you started.

 1. Draw up a list of your key network or main stakeholders (you may wish to construct a table)

2. Against each one ask: what do I know about their key priorities and concerns - what do I need to know?

3. Then ask: how well do they understand my priorities and concerns - how can I improve their understanding and (more importantly) gain their support?

4. What can I do proactively to develop collaboration - how can I ensure this is seen as open, supportive and relationship building (avoiding impersonal emails and circulars)?

5. What do I need to do to my time to ensure I give enough attention to collaborative working?

Collaboration will be key. As has been said “change works in units of one” - it starts with the leaders in organisations acting as role models of collaboration and moves to their whole team being seen as integral to future success.

Image: ’ants carrying a fly’ by adelle roux on flickr.com

“People are always for change in general and then they begin to worry about particulars“.  Those were the words of Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, in an interview about the health bill currently being debated in Congress.  She is right, both Republicans and Democrats agree something needs to be done but vehemently disagree on what should be done, how it should be done, and who should pay.  This seemed illustrative of the dynamics of recession-triggered change and transformation taking place in many organisations.  People tend to agree to something needs to happen but….

Leaders in organisations could benefit from taking a leaf out of the book of Dupont’s CEO, Ellen Kullman, who advocates four principles for moving ahead during turbulent times:

• Focus on what you can control
• Adopt a new trajectory by re-thinking your business model
• Communicate, communicate, communicate
• Maintain pride around your organisation’s mission

Kullman’s organisation employs 60,000 people in 70 countries so she decided to adopt the idea that:

“If you try to change everybody at once, you are changing nobody, so you really have to start in one area, or a couple of areas and show success”. 

The impact of her disciplined implementation of these principles can be measured in many ways, not least of which are employee engagement and financial metrics.  If you were to take a leaf out of her book what might that look like?  Or, maybe you are already doing so - in which case, tell us some of your stories.

One of the key characteristics of these times is an increase in uncertainty. Not surprisingly, the key thing that staff and other stakeholders are looking for from their leaders is an antidote to this uncertainty. The response of most leaders to this very human need is to put on their ‘superperson’ vests and gallop like the cavalry to the rescue, finding ways to reassure everyone that things will be fine and there is no need to worry. The unspoken assumption is that the leader should know all the answers and thereby be able to reduce the anxiety.

The problem is, not only that leaders do not have all the answers to the current crisis, but also that the very idea that they should creates an unhealthily dependent relationship. Blanket assurances from the leader either seem to lack credibility or merely pass anxiety from the staff back to the leader. Only the most confident leaders have the strength to be truly authentic and admit that they do not have all the answers, showing their vulnerability, their not knowing. In the words of Mother Theresa:

“Honesty and transparency make you vulnerable. Be honest and transparent anyway.”

Those that do show their vulnerability create a whole different psychological contract with their staff. Instead of a parent-to-child relationship - “Don’t worry you can depend on me, I’ll sort it out” - you get an adult-to-adult relationship where the leader says, “I don’t have all the answers and we are in this together to make sense of these changes”.

Click here to download whole article as pdf

Making the right decision can be a tricky balance. Speed may be of the essence in these challenging times, but judgement can be severely impaired by haste – in the words of author and mountaineer Jim Collins, “Those who panic die on the mountain.”

So, strike whilst the iron is too hot and you may end up burning your fingers! On the other hand, a protracted delay can be equally damaging. Aside from the risk of missing the boat altogether, a key negative factor in the decision making paradox is too much information.

In a recent presentation, Malcolm Gladwell – celebrated author and story teller extraordinaire – described the work of psychologist Stuart Oskamp, an expert in the field of attitudes research.

Oskamp studied the attitudes of a panel of clinical psychologists and psychology students in their assessment of a 29-year-old subject, Joseph Kidd. Participants were given a brief extract of Kidd’s case study and then asked to complete a questionnaire and estimate the accuracy of their responses. They were then given a second extract and asked to repeat the questionnaire and again estimate their success. This was followed by a third and fourth extract, building a series of actual scores and accuracy estimates. The results were quite illuminating. Despite the accuracy of their answers increasing by only 2% after 3 additional extracts, the panel’s assessment of their judgement had grown by a further 20% - a disturbing level of over-confidence!

With the weight of a fragile economy pressing down on organisations, it is tempting for some decision makers to be seen to act quickly - often at the expense of careful reflection and logical thought. Conversely, as our work with senior leaders often reveals, there is often a level of over-caution that stifles opportunities. Fortunately, poor judgement is a leadership sickness that can be remedied with effective coaching support and intentional strategic reflection.

As Oskamp’s research demonstrates, sometimes it is unwise to agonise. Make your decision and organise!

Warren Bennis (one of the world’s leading authorities on leadership) recently said:

‘In discussing various approaches to leadership, I often note a distinction made between two nineteenth-century British prime ministers. It was observed that when you had dinner with William Gladstone, you left thinking, “That Gladstone is the wittiest, the most intelligent, the most charming person around.”  But when you had dinner with Benjamin Disraeli, you left thinking, “I’m the wittiest, the most intelligent, the most charming person around!” Gladstone shone, but Disraeli created an environment in which others could shine.  The latter is a more powerful form of leadership, an adventure in which the leader us privileged to find treasure within others and put it to good use.’

When you think of the really effective leaders you have known, how many could be characterised as Gladstones and how many as Disraelis? What made them warrant the label you have given these leaders?

Can you teach Authentic Leadership? from Caret on Vimeo.

A quick video we shot this morning after two colleagues, Rob Sykes and Steve Botham,  had spoken at a really enjoyable Caret breakfast event in Birmingham.   Rob was outlining some of their shared work on the Power of Authentic Leadership, followed by searching and astute questions from the 20 or so city leaders who joined us.

An article by Steve and Rob expanding on the issue of Authentic Leadership appeared in a recent issue of Municipal Journal.

We are in unchartered waters. Very few leaders in organisations have experienced the huge uncertainty and pressures facing us in these current times and their leadership may well be defined by how they respond.  Staff, clients, stakeholders will judge leaders by the quality of decisions they make in these circumstances. But decisions alone will not deliver success – success will come from the commitment, confidence and belief you generate. Leaders will need to manage communication with great wisdom.

Churchill led the British people in a time of great crisis – one that makes the current economic problems seems very mild in comparison. As the newly appointed premier at a time when the nation was reeling from the fall of France and the traumas of Dunkirk, and before the United States entered the war, he decided not to make peace with Germany – which many people, including senior cabinet members, wanted. He took the difficult message to the British people that “we shall fight them on the beaches …. we shall never surrender”. He persuaded a reluctant audience to carry on – despite the high personal cost.

In using his great communication skills to shape his leadership he followed in the steps of his mentor and friend the famous Welsh orator David Lloyd George who became Prime minister in the middle of World War One and used his great communication capacity to give confidence and hope to a nation that was traumatised by the heavy losses of life on the Western Front.

Sir Ernest Shackleton was a man with a plan – he aimed to cross the Antarctic with his crew supported by the ship Endeavour. The plan needed to be abandoned and re formed when his ship and crew became trapped on the ice floes for almost two years. Remarkably by great leadership and personal courage Shackleton brought everyone home. He describes his approach to communication –

“When crisis strikes, immediately address your staff. Take charge of the situation, offer a plan of action, ask for support, and show absolute confidence in a positive outcome.”

“Give your staff an occasional reality check to keep them on course. After time people will start to treat a crisis situation as business as usual and lose their focus.”

“Ask for advice and information from a variety of sources, but ultimately make decisions based on your best judgement”

You do not need to have the eloquence of Churchill or the driving bravery of a Shackleton to lead in times of crisis – but you do need to be clear, to listen well, to engage everyone who is affected and install confidence. How you do it is down to you. Those who put their heads down and hope the problems, stress and uncertainty will go away give a poor lead. We have seen in the stock market that support goes up and down dependent on confidence in the market. You need to deliberately install confidence in your team – based on realities and clear decisions – when they have that confidence your staff and stakeholders will invest in you.

If you want people on side and working together, less is always more.

Tom Steinberg knows that. He runs MySociety, the very successful charity which punches above it weight using the internet to help people collaborate to improve civil society. Among tips on how to build websites for social good he includes this one:

Take whatever your first website plan is and remove 90% of the features you want. Then build it and launch it and your users will tell you which features they actually wanted instead. Build them and bask in the warm glow of appreciation.

It is easier for people to add than take away. Provide a solid platform and others can innovate on it. Not only that, they all have a clear sense of shared aims. Offer endless choice or demands and we get confused and wonder off to pastures more edifying.

Bob Sutton also knows this. Here he describes in some detail how a small charity again used clarity and simplicity to achieve far beyond what we might expect of them. I’ll quote at length.

We analyze an astounding effort by a small non-profit in Boston called The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) to lead a campaign to reduce medical errors in U.S. hospitals. Their goal was to stop over 100,000 preventable deaths in hospitals over a one year period. And, although there is some controversy about the campaign’s effects, it appears that they ultimately involved hospitals that included over 75% of the beds in the U.S. and exceed their goal by about 20,000 lives.

You can get the article here at the McKinsey website (it is free, you just have to register) or here is the pdf:

Download the_ergonomics_of_innovation.pdf

Even if you get the pdf here, I suggest poking around the McKinsey site as they have lots of great free stuff.

We call this article “the ergonomics of innovation” because the IHI staff did such a brilliant job of designing the campaign so that it reduced the cognitive and emotional load on their tiny staff (about 100 people) and, especially, on the thousands of hospital staff members who participated in the campaign. For example, IHI focused everyone’s efforts on six relatively simple behaviors that had been shown to be big causes of preventable deaths in prior research. They developed very concrete guidelines that hospitals could use to stop these causes — which reduced load on everyone because, although the list could have contained hundreds of evidence-based practices, instead, it helped people focus their efforts and also made it more efficient for hospitals to share what they had learned because they were working on a limited numbers of problems.

Complexity is a reality of life, which is why clarity is a pre-requisite for good leadership.  Put in effort early to make good decisions about what is needed. The rest is a combination of clear communication and, naturally enough, stripping.

Image courtesy of Dr Craig. Hat Tip for thoughts on MySociety and also the wonderful neologism of decrementalism Public Strategy.

It has been my joy to executive coach a senior partner in a rapidly growing law firm. 

Key beneficial outcomes for her include increased self awareness and more effective listening.  As a leader, she feels (and behaves) with greater confidence and more of a strategic focus in what she does and how she goes about it.

Whereas she used to view non fee earning work as a huge distraction, she now experiences it as an asset to the business since she is leveraging her individual earning potential through helping others use their skills and talents to generate ever more business than before.

This is a leader to whom strengths-based working is not a soft option but a mission-critical business challenge.