The Snitch

As employees get promoted to managerial positions on their technical capabilities, these young and inexperienced managers often lack effective listening and coaching skills.

As a result, employees under the watch of the young manager may become disengaged and eventually leave the company, says David Wee,  managing director for Lee Hecht Harrison South East Asia.

So what are some of the common pitfalls of young managers and how can companies train and develop this group of people? David Wee shares his thoughts.

Stay in line and follow my lead!

Crises such as the economic calamity can result in unfavorable outcomes such as employee layoffs, degrading employee morale and even bankruptcy.

If you’re leader, a crisis can either make or break you. In fact, crises have brought down many leaders and their organisations with them. But there are also others who have risen to the challenge to prove their mettle.

With tough challenges and a heavy responsibility to lead your employees through them without getting undone, how can you deal with the predicaments?

Lesson 1: Face reality.

The crisis isn’t going to fix itself, so denying its existence would only make things worse. Until you acknowledge the fact that you’re facing a serious problem, you will not be able to move forward and solve it. You will also have to guide your employees to face reality as well.

Lesson 2: Don’t carry the world on your shoulders.

You can’t get through this alone. So don’t attempt trying. Instead, reach out to others in the organisation and your personal circle to share the burden. They will be more than willing to help if you ask them and are willing to open up to them. Also, this will create an opportunity for you to strengthen chemistry within your team, because the strongest bonds are built in crisis.

Lesson 3: Dig for the root cause.

Often, employees are mentally blocked from recognising the implications of a crisis because they get frightened by it. This would leave your organisation vulnerable to repeating the mistakes made in the last crisis. Thus you, as a leader, must bring your employees together to confront their worst fears and address the risks. The only way to solve these problems is to identify the root cause and implement permanent solutions.

Lesson 4: Prepare for the long haul.

Never underestimate the severity of the crisis, even if it has nothing to do with the economy. Don’t declare victory too soon if you are in its early stages, because you may only be looking at the tip of the iceberg. Prudent leaders recognise survivability as their most important goal, so they can make a strong come-back as when the crisis subsides.

Lesson 5: Take advantage of the crisis.

A good crisis is one that presents you with the opportunity to make major changes in your organisation because they lessen the resistance that exists in good times. Move aggressively and implement reductions in infrastructure and employment if the decision helps strengthen your organisation as you emerge from the crisis.

Lesson 6: Use the spotlight as opportunity.

As a leader, you are constantly in the public eye. Your compensations are published in newspapers and your statements are widely quoted. Get out in front of the crisis in its first hours with clear statements, both internally and externally. This shows that you accept responsibility and also builds confidence and credibility with all your constituents.

Lesson 7: Focus on winning.

Be sure to maintain your focus as you emerge from the crisis. The market never looks the same as it did going in. But this period offers you the best opportunity you will ever have to reshape markets to your advantage. The best leaders emerge from a crisis because they are not only aggressive and courageous in turning challenges into advantages, but are also passionate about using their leadership to make a difference in the world.

Via “Seven lessons for leading in crisis” by Bill George, published by Jossey-Bass 2009

The gigantic internet retailer Amazon has recently announced its acquisition of online shoe website Zappos.com (which is known for its fun-loving and quirky culture) for a reported sum of US$807 million in cash and stock.

While other companies send out press releases and hold media conferences to announce the news of the acquisition, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos took another route and decided to make a YouTube video instead to allay the possibly mixed feelings employees have when they hear about the news. In the video, Bezos talks about how he started Amazon from his home, the excitement the company felt when they made their first sale to a non-family member and the lessons he’s learnt in the 15 years of building the company (Think long-term! Obsess about the customer!).

And on Zappo’s end, its CEO Tony Hsieh wrote a lengthy blog article answering questions such as job security (jobs are still as secure as ever), what the future of Zappos looks like (things are going to be run the same as before) and whether employees can now enjoy Amazon discounts (nope!).

But as discussed in July’s feature on employee communication, the new advent of new media and technology has seen CEOs and top management utilising a whole new means of communication tools to convey messages to employees. While CEOs and senior management typically hold townhall meetings in newly acquired companies (and that isn’t going to change), videos such as these can help speed the M&A process of gaining the trust of acquired companies.

And already, some of the video comments have been favourable, with one commentor complimenting Bezos and saying: “This is how CEO’s should be, being able to speak to everyone on a same level and imparting and reinforcing statements and knowledge in a down to earth manner.”

So for HR practitioners, don’t be surprised if you are asked to one day help wield a camera and help your CEO shoot a video. It might happen sooner than you think.

It’s a dog-eat-dog business world where employees keep trade secrets and skills to themselves. Conventional wisdom says that if you teach someone else to be better than you, there would come a day when you would be made redundant.

But for a leader to truly be great, a good leader needs to spend time and effort in raising other people to be better than they are, says Steve Farber, author of Greater Than Yourself: The Ultimate Lesson of True Leadership.

Watch the clip below to find out how a new leadership mindset could help you as a leader and your company’s business:

Have trouble loading the video? Why not check your company or computer’s firewall settings to make sure that Youtube videos can be streamed on your computer.

Take note: Can your life experiences be used as a motivational tool?

Can storytelling lead to great leadership?  Yes, says Peter Guber. With an wealth of experience of leadership in the Hollywood film and media industry under his belt, Guber says, “Your ability to narrate your offering — not just the facts, data, PowerPoints, but emotionally move them — that is the secret sauce for getting them to do something.”

Guber suggests leaders can help employees thrive in a complicated business environment through narration. “Narrative bonds information to an emotional experience,” he says. Rather than conjuring random anecdotes, the objective is to form narration out of a situation at hand, and make others feel like characters in a drama.

Guber uses MAGIC as an anagrammatic device, which stands for Motivating your Audience to a Goal Interactively with great Content.

Motivating: Guber feels the key to motivating someone is to be authentic. “You’ve got to have your feet, your heart, your wallet and your tongue going in the same direction. As soon as they see those things going in different directions, you don’t seem authentic.”

Audience: Think of your listeners as an audience, says Guber. When you speak like you’re speaking to an audience, they will naturally do the “emotional dance” with you, find resonance in your presentation, creating an unforgettable emotional experience.

Goal: Guber stresses that goals are very important, and it is okay to be very up front with them.

Interactivity: Make your audience part of the story and give them stories to remember. By doing so, the stories will live on and they will tell their own experiences, not just yours.

Content: Guber feels the material for stories can come from anywhere, from your own experiences, observations, history, metaphors to analogies. He advises collecting the stories and making them part of your business leadership life.

(via)

“The higher up the ranks you look, the fewer female leaders you will see.”

These are the words of Dr. Ann Howard, chief scientist at DDI. While it may seem less apparent these days, a global forecast report has shown that there are in fact half as many women in executive-level positions than in first-level management. Men make up larger proportions of high-potential leaders, and organisations provide increasingly less support for women as they climb up the management ladder. How can organisations strike balance in this gender scale? In Female Leaders: A Rocky Climb to the Top, Howard suggests ways organisations can close the gender gap in executive leadership roles.

Formalise succession planning

Succession planning should begin at the bottom of the hierarchy, where high-potential individuals are identified to accelerate their talent. Organisations with a formal succession plan usually put in efforts to evaluate leaders’ capabilities objectively and work on development needs. Organisations without a plan rely on individual managers’ recommendations, which may fall victim to favoritism.

Recognise performance equally

Organisations should set up objective performance management methods and use them to help determine recognition, rewards, and advancement. Salary programmes should also be carefully monitored for unwarranted gender differences. If organisations want to keep talented women, they need to ensure their methods are objective and no gender is overlooked.

Democratise development

When an organisation’s approach to development is more strategic and programmatic, the opportunity to make sure that men and women are treated equally is greater. Organisations need to assure that high-potential women have equal access to accelerated development experiences, making them equally qualified (in terms of experiences) for promotions that arise.

Provide women with mentors

Men more often have better access to mentors. Mentoring can help encourage women to be more proactive about seeking new positions.

Equalise and enhance transition support

Organisations should provide more support for leadership transitions for both men and women. Though this is crucially important to leaders in general, women are more likely to be left in the lurch and thus have more difficulty with transitions.

Here’s a good read. From KnowHR blog, HR blogger Frank Roche talks about the 10 tenants for the new HR.

1. HR has one job: business success. Anything else is useless and a waste of air. If it doesn’t have to do with business, we’re not doing it.

2. HR isn’t the Complaint Department or your Kindergarten teacher. We’re going to teach people to grow up and stop wasting our time like they’re 5-year-olds who can’t share their toys.

3. We won’t accept mediocrity in HR. Human resources cannot be where people go when they can’t find meaningful employment. We’re going to cowboy up our talent. We want — we demand — the best and the brightest.

4. Nothing is sacred. We’re going to critically think about everything we do. And if we hear people saying “That’s the way we’ve always done it.” Well…don’t make me come over there.

5. We’re not in charge of the holiday party anymore. Yeah, that’s right. We aren’t the social secretaries. We have real jobs to do. See #1.

6. Business is gonna want a seat at our table. The time of putting HR at the kid’s table is over. You said, “Our business is about our people.” Now, with way fewer of them, it’s going to be true. Like scary true. Take a number.

7. Rules are for fools. We’re tossing out the rule book. We’re not hall monitors anymore. We’re going to expect grownups to behave like grownups. Or they’re gone. Any questions?

8. We’re going to make pay-for-performance work. It’s easier to ask for forgiveness than for permission. So forgive us if we insist that the best people make the most money. It’s not a rule — it’s a fact.

9. No more workarounds to make up for weak managers. Please see #1. Our job is to make our company work most efficiently. We won’t be making up policies to make up for bad managers. It’s either up or out.

10. We’re going to put the “human” back in Human Resources. They’re not numbers on a spreadsheet or “human capital” that can be traded like a commodity. They’re people, with fears and hopes and dreams. And for a few hours a day, they come to our place. We’ll make sure that (along with #1) we remind ourselves every day that what we do is about people. Mediocre people = mediocre business. Great people = great business.

If there’s anything we at Human Resources are a strong advocate of, it’s point #5 -  “Business is gonna want a seat at our table.”  That’s why we always strongly advocate smart business strategies that help HR and the business perform its function better.

But it’s not just about knowing what HR needs to become, it’s about how HR can become a better business  partner.

Starting from the April issue, we are also adding a regular column called ‘CEO speaks’ where one of the questions we pose to CEOs include: What must HR do to become a partner to the business?

So what do you think HR practitioners first need to do in order to become a business partner? What obstacles and challenges stand in the way?

If hostage negotiators are able to persuade hostage-takers to surrender, give up their weapons and hostages with a success rate of 95%, why is it that business leaders are unable to negotiate business deals at unable to be that successful?

The trick is to develop a relationship and bond between you and the other party, says former hostage negotiator George Kohlrieser and  author of Hostage at the Table.

To learn how to negotiate better, watch the clip below:

Have trouble loading the video? Why not check your company or computer’s firewall settings to make sure that Youtube videos can be streamed on your computer.

With women making up half the population, it makes good business sense for companies to tap into this large group of potential customers, talent and future leaders. Avivah Wittenberg-Cox, CEO of 20-First and author of Why Women Mean Business gives reasons as to why recognising changing gender trends can only help bolster your company’s financial bottomline.

Have trouble loading the video? Why not check your company or computer’s firewall settings to make sure that Youtube videos can be streamed on your computer.

A new study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology determined that not all bosses are actually competent enough at what they do to deserve that position in the first place.

Social psychologists say that one way to come across as a leader is actually to simply act like one. This means speak up, speak well and offer a lot of ideas. In time, you’ll realise that people will start doing what you say. Nevertheless, this can only work well when leaders know what they’re doing. But what if you act like a boss and give out crap instructions?

Researchers at the University of California carried out a test and found that people who spoke up the most were rated by their teammates for qualities such as “general intelligence”, “dependable” and “self-disciplined”. On the other hand, people who kept silent were rated higher for less desirable qualities which included “conventional” and “uncreative”.

Worryingly, the test also found that any kind of speaking up would be enough to put people into the position of a leader. Providing any kind of information related to solving the problem is also counted, especially if they did so confidently and repeatedly.

“Dominant individuals behaved in ways that made them appear competent,” the researchers added, “above and beyond their actual competence.” More often than not, the members were willing to listen to and take directions issued by these underqualified bosses. Teams tend to use the first answer issued by anyone, without giving or only briefly considering to the other answers that were shouted out. This happened an overwhelming 94% of the time.

So maybe people are only looking for leaders based on how quickly they are able to provide answers, regardless of the quality of solutions offered.

What do you think?

via TIME