Abraham Lincoln: Listening Leader

Abraham Lincoln was a great leader, and he had excellent listening skills.

He once said "When I am Getting Ready to Reason With a Man, I Spend One-Third Of My Time Thinking About Myself And What I Am Going To Say And Two-Thirds About Him And What He Is Going To Say."

Listening Leader Lesson: Does Your Ratio Match Honest Abe's?

Thanks to Listening Leader

Hardwired Humans And...Power Poses

One of the great mysteries of organizational life is how some people, who don't seem so capable to their peers, just keep getting promoted. A few years ago two staff members were overheard sharing their frustration about their boss as they left a meeting with him, one colleague saying to the other, "Sooner or later, in a moment of madness, someone will promote him."

Let's add a clue to solving the puzzle of moving up, or down, the pecking order. First let's go to basic instincts in the animal world.

 

Chimpanzees

A chimpanzee's rise through the ranks is not necessarily related to merit. Mostly it's by power display. Take Mike for example. Back in 1963, soon after she started her research, Dr Jane Goodall watched Mike use a unique display to rise to the alpha position of the Gombe chimp community. Dr Goodall told Mike's story to our business audiences eighteen months ago.

Initially Mike was ranked almost bottom of the adult male hierarchy, meaning he was one of the last to eat and had been attacked by almost every other male. Yet within four months he rose to alpha position. His meteoric promotion through the ranks was achieved through a unique display of power that intimidated all other males. Dr Goodall used paraffin (or kerosene) as fuel for lights and stoves. The paraffin came in four-gallon drums and at the time the empty drums were stacked at the side of the camp. The empty tins became attractive to the males as props in their power displays. All the adult males tried the empty tins, but only Mike mastered the skill and learned to keep three tins in his grasp or kicked along ahead of him. The tins made a terrible din, impressive as a display of power. The males would scatter when Mike charged through the forest with his noisy tins banging ahead of him. Quickly all the males submitted to Mike, with the then alpha the last to do so. Suddenly Mike was in the number one role. Initially Mike was a nervous leader, particularly when Dr Goodall secured the tins so they were no longer available to the chimps. But Mike settled into the role and he ruled for around six years.

 

Humans

Humans are not much different in terms of the role of power displays. Dr Dana Carney is an assistant professor at Columbia University Business School in New York. She and her colleagues tested whether power postures actually cause power. Do people literally feel more powerful and experience behavioral changes if they display power postures? And do low-power postures reduce feelings of power?

Power is expressed through specific body language. Expansive, open postures project high power whereas constricted, closed postures project low power.

Participants in the study were asked to hold high-power poses or low-power poses and were tested for four indicators of power: whether individuals felt more powerful, whether they focused on rewards as opposed to risks, whether they experienced increases in testosterone and whether they experienced decreases in cortisol.

Increased testosterone levels in humans and other animals reflect status and dominance and are associated with competitive behaviors. The stress hormone cortisol on the other hand tends to be higher for low-status individuals who tend to suffer more stress-related illnesses (see the December 2009 newsletter on Looking Good).

Forty-two participants (26 female and 16 males) were randomly assigned to the high- or the low-power pose condition. Participants didn't know the real reason for posing.

Power Poses

The high-power pose participants held two poses for just one minute each. One pose displayed expansiveness so the person took up more rather than less space. The second high-power pose displayed openness so that limbs were open. Both poses were rather exaggerated. For example, the first involved the person sitting with legs stretched out and feet on a desk with hands behind the head.

The low-power participants held two poses: constricted so they took up less space with shoulders and arms collapsed inward and a second pose closed with limbs around their torso. These poses were also both held for just a minute each. Both poses rather exaggerated.

To measure feelings of being "powerful" and "in charge" participants self reported by completing questions on a scale from 1 (not at all) to 4 (a lot).

To measure preparedness toward risk taking, participants (following their pose) were given $2 and told they could keep it (the safe bet) or roll the die to make $4 yet risk losing the $2. The odds of winning from the gamble were 50/50. Risk-taking behavior is associated with taking action.

Changes in testosterone and cortisol were measured by saliva tests. Saliva samples were taken before the poses and again 17 minutes after the poses.

The Results

From holding poses for just two minutes the results were significant and were the same for both genders.

High-power posers felt significantly "powerful" and "in charge" compared to the low-power posers. High-power poses caused an increase in testosterone while low-power poses caused a decrease. High-power poses caused a decrease in cortisol while low-power poses caused an increase. High-power posers were more likely to focus on rewards and take the gamble (86.36%) while only 60% of the low-power posers took the risk.

In summarizing the results, Carney and her colleagues concluded, "That posing in high-power (versus low-power) displays causes physiological, psychological and behavioral changes... of power... – elevation of the dominance hormone testosterone, reduction in the stress hormone cortisol and increases in behaviorally demonstrated risk-tolerance and feelings of power."

Display Implications

The findings raise a number of possible implications for life in organizations.

1. The poses were held for just two minutes. Imagine the impact on our personal projection of power and control, or lack of, if we habitually adopt open, expansive postures versus closed, hunched postures.

2. If we carry ourselves in more powerful displays rather than hunched or constricted poses we will tend to be more inclined to action rather than inaction so our personal effectiveness should be enhanced from high-power postures.

3. People who display openly and occupy more space and hence feel more powerful may be perceived by others as more powerful and more impressive. People displaying power might be more inclined to be appointed to positions of power. Yet in making decisions about others we should remind ourselves to look at objective data and not be dazzled by their displays.

4. People who display high-power might win a greater share of scarce organizational resources than people who are inclined to hold low-power poses.

5. If we are in positions of power (such as a manager role) take care not to adopt poses that might intimidate and make others feel less powerful and inhibited. Yet the contrary is also true, that if we are in positions of power we need to display appropriate power to carry the required influence in our role. Adopting low-power poses as a manager will inhibit your leadership. It's a fine balance that's required.

6. Just prior to facing a difficult confrontation you could prepare by holding an exaggerated power pose for a minute (I'm thinking you would do so out of sight). This may sound a bit theatrical, but if it helps to make you feel more powerful, to be more in control and to boost your testosterone, then why not?

7. Take care not to show that you are intimidated by more powerful people. Low-power poses will accentuate your disadvantage and the other person's dominance. Chimps submit by hunched, closed postures and often extend a hand to the mouth of the dominating individual. The benefit of submission is to placate the intimidator.

When I think about the boss whose staff thought that he was sure to progress in the organization, he walked with a swagger, he filled space and had an assertive, open stance...and he did get promoted.

 

Thanks to Andrew O'Keeffe / Hardwired Humans 

Helping People Win At Work

Book Review: Helping People Win At Work - A Business Philosophy Called "Don't Mark My Paper, Help Me Get An A" By Ken Blanchard & Garry Ridge - 2009

Ken Blanchard's Leading at a Higher Level techniques are inspiring thousands of leaders to build high-performing organizations that make life better for everyone.

Now, Blanchard and WD-40 Company leader Garry Ridge reveal how WD-40 has used Blanchard's techniques of Partnering for Performance with every employee–achieving levels of engagement and commitment that have fortified the bottom line.

Ridge introduces WD-40 Company's year-round performance review system, explaining its goals, features, and the cultural changes it requires.

Next, he shares his leadership point of view: what he expects of people, what they can expect of him, and where his beliefs about leadership and motivation come from.

Finally, Ken Blanchard explains why WD-40 Company's Partnering for Performance system works so well–and how to leverage its high-value techniques in your organization.

Partnering to Help Virtually Everyone Succeed: Stop building failure into your mentoring of employees

Agreeing On What to Evaluate & How to Evaluate It: SMART goal setting: specific, motivational, attainable, relevant, and trackable

Coaching Via Situational Leadership® II: Help people move through all four stages of mastery

Building A Tribe, Not Just A Team: Create a culture that shares knowledge and encourages nonstop learning

Thanks to BookFiesta4U

Coaching, Counseling & Mentoring

Book Review: Coaching, Counseling & Mentoring: How to Choose & Use the Right Technique to Boost Employee Performance by Florence M. Stone

Long gone are the days when managing meant simply telling people what to do.

Managers today must master a host of other roles if they want to be effective leaders-including coaching, counseling, and mentoring.

This is the first book to cover all three of these crucial skills, providing models for each role and showing readers how to adapt them to specific situations-and improve employee performance across all levels.

This book is packed with self-tests, real-life scenarios, and hands-on, practical guidance, Coaching, Counseling & Mentoring.

Long gone are the days when managing meant simply telling people what to do. Managers today must master a host of other roles if they want to be effective leaders–including coaching, counseling, and mentoring.

This is the first book to cover all three of these crucial skills, providing models for each role and showing readers how to adapt them to specific situations–and improve employee performance across all levels.

Packed with self-tests, real-life scenarios, and hands-on, practical guidance, Coaching, Counseling & Mentoring will help managers, supervisors and team leaders to:

* assess their own strengths and weaknesses in each area

* apply their coaching, counseling, and mentoring skills to teams as well as individuals

* use these techniques to improve their employees' performance on the job

Thanks to BookFiesta4u

Coaching for Emotional Intelligence

Book Review: Coaching for Emotional Intelligence: The Secret to Developing the Star Potential In Your Employees By Bob Wall

At some point in their careers, all managers face a frustrating and seemingly insurmountable challenge — the highly intelligent, highly skilled direct report who is failing when he should be excelling.

Often, this employee is destroying not only his own career, but also the morale of the rest of the team. While this behavior may initially seem willful, it is more than likely due to a lack of emotional intelligence — the ability to comprehend one's emotions, empathize with the feelings of others, and interact with people in ways that promote congenial working relationships.

More than any other trait, emotional intelligence is the one variable that can transform a mediocre employee into an exceptional one.

Managers now have a new and demanding role. They must become coaches who help their employees to develop emotional intelligence and the positive interpersonal relationships that result.

And while this kind of corrective coaching may seem daunting and unpleasant to many managers, it is also achievable with the right tools.

In Coaching for Emotional Intelligence, Bob Wall offers coaching strategies that will enable every manager to elicit excellence by improving the negative behaviors and communications flaws that are undermining an employee's performance.

The book provides a structured format for formulating and delivering both praise and corrective feedback, as well as a step-by-step method and sample scripts for conducting a coaching session. Readers will:

• Overcome the fear of coaching on sensitive, personal issues.
• Learn the critical importance of praise–and how to give it.
• Understand the influences that shaped the behaviors of the individual being coached.
• Determine whether an employee is responding to corrective coaching, when to keep him — and when to fire him.
• Create an action plan for teaching employees to identify and alter unwanted behavior.
• Master spontaneous coaching: delivering praise in 15-20 seconds — and corrective feedback within 45 seconds.
• Formulate structured conversations when corrective coaching isn't working.
• Create successful, detailed, and clear personal, team, and work evaluations and mission statements.

The first book of its kind, Coaching for Emotional Intelligence is a thoughtful, realistic, and accessible guide that will change the way managers lead in the workplace — and will ensure that their employees are reaching their full potential.

Thanks to BookFiesta4U

How to Make an Incentive Meaningful

What makes an incentive meaningful? How can we add meaning and thus value to an incentive, regardless of the cost that is spent? For my part, I've found three dimensions that can help make any incentive more meaningful to a recipient:

Origin. Did you start with what is important to the person you are trying to motivate? There's no use offering a travel incentive to someone who doesn't want to travel or a nice watch to someone who already has four or five. By asking employees what things they value, you increase the odds of being on target. Lesson: Don't have the recognition committee select items from a catalog that employees will receive. Ask your employees directly what things they'd most value!

Choice. Is there variety and choice so that the person has a say in what they get? Whenever you provide choice to the recipient, you increase its value. Having a say in what the person receives is empowering and allows them to select something that best aligns with their interests, family situation, or personality. This applies to activities as well as merchandise. For example, giving someone additional time off increasingly is a more cherished incentive than a simple cash substitute such as a gift certificate. Lesson: Add choice points for employees whenever possible to make recognition and rewards more meaningful to those you are trying to motivate.

Context. Is the incentive presented in a way that adds to its value, making it truly an honor? It's the sizzle more than the steak that sets the tone and memory of any award. Lesson: Consider the context of awards presentation to increase its personal touch and relevance. Consider:

 

• Who presents the incentive? Is it someone the recipient holds in high esteem, (which often can be a colleague as much as the person's manager or someone higher in the organization)?

• Who is the incentive presented in front of? As a rule of thumb, public recognition in front of one's colleagues tends to be powerful—but not always the case, especially if someone is more shy or introverted. Check with the person!

• What words are said in the presentation? Is the achievement tied to a company value or larger goal everyone is working towards? Is a story told to show the obstacles that were overcome or creativity the honoree displayed? If done well, recognition sends a message to everyone who is present and not just the person being honored. It says through your actions that "these are the things that get noticed around here" and causes others to want to emulate those same behaviors or achievements.

Thus, a manager can obtain a benefit on several levels by verbally recognizing an employee, as follows: "John, thanks for working late last night to help us wrap up that proposal. I appreciate that you did it without being asked. It's that type of initiative that tells me you're really committed to our group, and it's exactly what we need to reach the goals we've all been aiming for this year."

By providing a context for an award or recognition item, you tie the item and event to a larger sense of meaning for the employee, thus potentially connecting one's job responsibilities to a larger framework, a deeper sense of commitment and group purpose, and ultimately to the overall mission of the organization.

Meaningful incentives are much more than the money that is spent. Think through the elements that can most add value to the overall experience and strive to make those part of your recognition activity.

Thanks to Bob Nelson is president of Nelson Motivation Inc., / June 01, 2010 / IncentiveMag

How Superstitions Improve Performance

Experiments reveal that simple superstitions like lucky charms can improve motor and cognitive performance.

Professional athletes are particularly prone to superstitions, perhaps because so much rides on split-second timing, or what seems like luck.

Two dominant US sportsmen with superstitious behavior are golfer Tiger Woods who always wears a red shirt on Tournament Sundays and basketball player Michael Jordan who wore the same blue underwear throughout his career.

We tend to think of this behavior as irrational, despite feeling the pull of superstition ourselves (see: why rational people hate to tempt fate). New research published in Psychological Science, however, asks whether these superstitions are irrational if they work.

Damisch et al. (2010) wanted to see if simple superstitions like crossing your fingers or using a lucky charm improved performance on both motor and mental tasks. The answer was a rather surprising yes.

In the first experiment, 28 participants made, on average, 33% more 1m putts when handed a ball branded 'lucky' by experimenters (6.4 compared with 4.6 without).

In two further experiments the effect of participant's lucky charms on both memory and puzzle-solving was tested. Once again participants performed better in the presence of their lucky charms.

Confidence Boost

To see why these superstitions improved performance, the researchers measured their self-efficacy (roughly equivalent to self-confidence) and goal-setting. This suggested that,

"The increased levels of self-efficacy that result from activating a superstition lead to higher self-set goals and greater persistence in the performance task."

In other words, the lucky charms appeared to be giving people the confidence to aim higher and keep trying. The belief, however tenuous, that there may be something to a particular superstition could help release nervous tension.

This may be because superstitions allow us the illusion of control in what is a scary, random world. Perhaps that's why superstitious behaviors to bring good luck are so common: they can sometimes work.

Thanks to PsyBlog