As you all know, I am a passionate believer that coaching – when done properly – is a hugely effective development tool for provoking and stimulating individual, team and organisational performance. So why do so many organisations still take the softly softly ‘coaxing’ approach in the hope that this will nudge performance in the right direction?

In times of pressure, people typically fall back on patterns of behaviour that are familiar and comfortable rather than making a conscious decision to adapt and respond in a specific way to achieve the required outcome. A truly effective coach will ask the right questions, in the right way, and at the right time to challenge these typical patterns of behaviour and to expose the underlying issues and barriers that are preventing development.

Coaching is not an easy option!

Uncomfortable though this may be . . . it will have a much more rapid impact on driving performance than any amount of positive stroking and coaxing.

But just how important is this in today’s high pressure workplace?

Some people believe that if a leader is authentic then they will automatically need to follow their own agenda rather than accept and work within their organisation’s  strategic plan. I don’t agree with this because there have been times in my own career when I have not always agreed entirely with the direction or decisions taken by colleagues higher up the food chain . . . but I have understood them from a business perspective. I have therefore implemented them by whilst remaining true to my own beliefs and in such a way that my peers and colleagues could still trust me and rely on me.

After all, if my own views were at significant odds with the organisation that I was working in then I wouldn’t be comfortable anyway and would start questioning my role and the effectiveness of any contribution I could make – actually this sounds familiar – it is precisely what did happen and the incongruence I experienced was the reason I left full-time employment in 1994!

So I am now studying and researching for a doctorate in the field of authentic leadership and I have a simple question for you . . . how important is authenticity in leadership in your organisation?

Well – if that is the kind of vision you want to set yourself for the coming 12 months – do me favour and wallow quietly in your own little pool of misery and despair during 2012.  Of course we all experience obstacles and setbacks but it is how you choose to deal with them that is the hallmark of true personal leadership. The challenge for all of us is to make sure we continue to recognise the choices that we have and to take responsibility for our own actions.  So go out there – enjoy life – look for opportunities and continue to push the boundaries of new learning and experience – make 2012 the year you GET A GRIP!

Let’s look at some of the things you should think about when setting your New Year Resolutions and Goals for the year ahead.

• You can only truly control how you behave and react in this precise moment in time – stop worrying about what hasn’t happened yet and get on with living this moment to the full.
• Focus and be grateful for what you HAVE got rather than what you haven’t.  After all, if you did have absolutely everything you craved then just imagine how boring life would be – you need something to strive for to to keep you motivated and inspired.
• Be clear WHY you want to achieve something – once you really understand the motivation of the WHY then the HOW will begin to take shape.
• Nothing is impossible – it just hasn’t been possible for you … yet.

I really believe that 2012 has so much to offer if we choose to adopt a positive mindset and feed our actions with productive energy that supports change.  Don’t be afraid … go where you have never gone before … do what you have never done before … and enjoy the journey!

Best wishes to everyone for 2012 – the year we all GET A GRIP!

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There are three key elements to the Leadership Plus programme:

• A unique web-based business scorecard, which is template-driven and lets leaders manage more efficiently and measure improvement. It lets you have complete control over the key management impacts and indicators of your business. With traffic light assessment, ready-to-go templates, knowledge logging, task delegation, powerful reporting and much more, suddenly you are in control of all the myriad of non-financial measures faced by today’s leader.
• A 90-day membership to an online learning HUB providing a vast resource of videos, downloadable documents, templates, toolkits and guides.
• A critical friend – leadership mentor – to provide face to face and virtual support throughout the programme as your Leadership Plus guide. Your mentor also has access to a range of best practice partners, including ACAS, IIP and Newcastle University School of Leadership.

If you’re going to be a leader then at least aspire to be a Leader Plus!

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It makes fascinating reading but I have to ask – why did they feel the need to do this in the first place? Here is an extract from paragraph 2.20 of the report, which states:

“The idea of the Government intervening to change people’s behaviour will often be controversial, and so it is important that ministers are always able to explain the evidence-base of any proposed behaviour change intervention, and why it is a necessary and proportionate means of addressing a well-defined problem.”

Isn’t this simply stating the obvious?

Surely every business owner, CEO and HR professional is fully aware of the need for evidence based systems to support intervention in the workplace to promote behavioural change.  After all, isn’t that what appraisal, performance development reviews (PDRs) and action plans are for?

I must admit that it concerns me that the Select Committee felt the need to commit such an obvious remark to print – maybe it says a lot more about the understanding and robustness in our political system than it does about the need for us to change our behaviour in the first place.

Click here to access the report.

I have advocated for a long time that society is nurturing what I call the ‘reset generation’ – a generation of young people who have grown up on a diet of computer games, gimmicky phones, smart hand-held devices and an endless choice of TV channels on demand. Now there is nothing wrong with access to advancing technology and there are many ways it can enhance and improve our experiences – but my concern is when young people grow to rely on it to the point that they lose the ability to make their own decisions and lack the fundamental skills of personal leadership.

Let me give you an example …

One evening I watched as a 17-year old engaged two of his friends in an online game – one of the latest on the PlayStation 3 where the graphics were so real I felt as if I had been catapulted into the middle of one of the battles in Afghanistan that are regularly reported as headline news. I was transfixed by the skill with which he manipulated the controls, communicated with his opponents over a Bluetooth headset connection and controlled the speed of the action on the screen. But it was what happened next that left me speechless … the game wasn’t quite going according to plan and he was losing points … so he simply hit the ‘rest’ button and started again!

Are we really developing a generation of teenagers who think that they can just stop what they are doing and reset their experience if it doesn’t go their way?

If we continue to encourage the younger generation to rely on technology to the extent that they need a piece of equipment to tell them what to do or need access to a convenient reset button to prevent an outcome that they don’t want, then we are definitely storing up trouble.

• How will they learn that the outcomes of their actions have consequences – sometimes unpleasant – if they hit reset when they don’t get their own way?
• How will they ever learn to handle and manage difficult situations, rejection, and the effects of their own poor performance?
• Where will they develop the skills of personal leadership and understanding of cause and effect?

Get me out of here!

Do we really want such a technologically skilled but personally deficient set of young people moving into our workforce as the potential leaders of the future?

Will someone please tell me how I put this into an App so that I can reach them before it’s too late!

I genuinely believe that too many leaders in today’s organisations assume the role and responsibility of leader but lack the basic fundamental understanding of how behaviour lies at the core of effective leadership.

Dogs generally approach each new situation as a blank canvas and respond to the energy it presents.  Humans, on the other hand, often approach situations in their preferred way and then tend to run habitual patterns of behaviour. This is often because they know no better and/or have not been given the tools to develop a rich broad repertoire of behaviour to draw upon.

So, here are five tips on how to be ‘The Pack Leader’ in your organisation

1. Behaviour is behaviour is behaviour

A true leader recognises, interprets and understands the behaviour of the people around them and adapts their response accordingly.

Watch a pack of dogs when they get together – they very quickly meet and greet each other then sort themselves out and get on with their own thing. Dogs work and communicate at the level of ‘behaviour’ and will simply respond to what the other dogs are doing and how they are behaving. Too few leaders really understand and exploit the power of profiling  behaviour in the workplace and therefore miss massive opportunities to develop and extend their flexibility, choice and effectiveness as a leader.

2. Position and power do not make effective leaders

Many people confuse the ‘identity’ of a leader with the role or job title they hold but a true leader’s identity will show in the quality of their behaviour.

A job title is nothing more than a label – it may define the status of the position in an organisation’s hierarchy but it does not define the identity of the person who performs this function.  In a pack of dogs, there is always a pack leader but this is not necessarily the biggest, strongest or oldest dog with the most experience – and each dog’s position in the pack will change when new members join.

3. Anticipation is a fundamental skill for any leader

The ability to anticipate distinguishes a leader from a manager – having an awareness of factors that can influence and impact on performance allows a leader to plan and respond quickly.

Dogs know all about anticipation! Just watch a dog when their owner is holding a ball or toy ready to throw for them … or when their dinner is being prepared. Anticipation is about preparing and planning for the action ahead because the potential outcome is already known – this means that strategies can be developed in advance.

4. Be consistently flexible in your behaviour

Have as broad a repertoire of behaviour as possible and consciously choose to adapt your behaviour for the most appropriate response to every situation.

Dogs live in the moment – they respond to the energy and behaviour around them. If a dog feels threatened it will respond in a range of ways – possibly with aggression – possibly with submission – possibly absenting itself from the situation (running away). In workplace interactions, humans tend to have their individual preferred way of dealing with situations and do not always demonstrate or consciously exercise the range and choice of behaviour available to them.

5. There is no such thing as ‘attitude’

There is simply behaviour that you either like or dislike – don’t blame someone’s ‘attitude’ when you are really judging and responding to their behaviour.

I appreciate that there are many people out there who might simply ‘not get it’ when I used dogs as a metaphor because they don’t like dogs! But if you don’t like dogs it is highly likely that this is due to a behavioural issue with a dog you have encountered at some stage in your life. So ask yourself this question – how did you behave in the first place to create that reaction and behaviour from the animal? Could it possibly be that it sensed your apprehension and, as a result, didn’t like your ‘attitude’ then simply responded accordingly?

Pack Leader

Top five tips …

• Behaviour is behaviour is behaviour
• Position and power do not make effective leaders
• Anticipation is a fundamental skill for any leader
• Be consistently flexible in your behaviour
• There is no such thing as ‘attitude’

Nevertheless, a big question remains about the quality and effectiveness of the leadership in News of the World that actually allowed it to get into such an untenable position in the first place. Leaders should have a moral responsibility, not only to their workforce and followers but to their broader network of customers and clients. A true leader will accept that they should be held accountable for actions and decisions that they may not have implemented themselves, but were done or taken on their behalf.

Let’s look at this another way …

If my dog behaves aggressively to another dog, then it is my place as the ‘pack leader’ to assume responsibility and resolve the situation. Dogs follow strong and decisive pack leaders – they will not tolerate unsteadiness or imbalance – yet humans do this all the time!

We can learn a lot about leadership and behaviour from our four-legged friends.

So if anyone is looking for an editor for their publication – let me know and I’ll ask Keno to apply!

He’s had plenty of practice since being a puppy.

Let’s bring things up to date and think about that for a moment. Imagine you are one of the “lucky ones”. In the first  instance, you will probably feel relieved because your personal financial pressures may be reduced and there will be some security about paying your monthly bills. But you will undoubtedly have mixed emotions because you have basically gone through a bereavement process – having lost potentially long standing colleagues and, in some cases, friends – as a result many people will feel guilty about being successful in retaining employment.

Now let’s just reflect on the reality of this situation …

1. You’ve still got a job
   It’s not the job you had before – it might sound similar but I guarantee you it will be different – ask yourself what is going to happen to the workload from your now absent colleagues?
2. The expectations on you will have changed
   This may be subtle at first but give it a couple of months and you’ll suddenly realise that you are expected to do and achieve much more – after all you should be grateful that you still have a job! Does this sound familiar?
3. You have probably assumed some additional responsibilities
   This is the part that really concerns me … I have no doubt that there are many talented resourceful people who will pick up the reins and continue doing the excellent jobs they have always done, at the same time embracing additional demands placed upon them. But I also believe there are going to be large numbers of people who are left floundering in situations where they have not been given the support they need to carry out their “new” roles, especially when this now involves responsibility for leading and managing other staff.

This might be a sad indictment on the UK’s business and public sector leaders, but what is one of the first things they typically do when budgets are squeezed? You got it – they cut training and development, or even worse decide to “save money” by running their own inhouse programmes. Please don’t do this! If an organisation wants to retain and develop it’s leadership talent, then it must continue making strategic investment in the development of the staff – especially in difficult times and when money is tight – and particularly for those staff who are now going to be responsible for sustaining and driving the organisation forward.

Is anyone out there listening …?

In May 2010, the UK General Election was the main topic of conversation so, for a little bit of fun, I started an online poll asking two simple questions.

1. What are the three most important behaviours that a leader can demonstrate?
2. If the behaviour of the leaders of the three main UK political parties was linked to a dog, what breed would they illustrate?

At the time, the most important behavioural characteristics identified from my poll were trust, honesty and credibility. I thanked everyone who took part in the poll, published the results on my community website (www.whoputyouincharge.co.uk) and then totally forgot about it. After all, there were more important things to consider, such as the impending concerns about front line service deliveries due to cuts aimed at reducing the budget deficit that had developed over recent years.

According to my original poll, David Cameron’s behaviour was likened most to that of a Labrador, Nick Clegg’s behaviour was characterised as a Poodle and Gordon Brown’s behaviour resembled a Bulldog. It therefore doesn’t take a genius to work out that the Coalition partnership of Cameron and Clegg would form the interesting hybrid breed of Labradoodle.

It is interesting to note that the UK Kennel Club does not accept the Labradoodle as a recognised breed and that a simple Google search suggests there are numerous examples of Labradoodles being bred and sold as “designer” dogs with some potential concerns being raised about their temperament. Now let’s fast forward to the present day and reflect on the leadership that has been shown in the Coalition Government to date. Political affiliations aside, there has been a constant stream of apparent policy U-turns arising from internal wrangling and power struggles.

Perhaps it is worth revisiting the behaviours in my original poll and reminding our politicians that we expect them to behave like leaders at all times  –  or maybe we should just hope that there is someone watching and waiting with a “pooper scooper” to pick up the mess they will inevitably make.

I did send both David Cameron and Nick Clegg personally signed copies of my book, Who Put You in Charge? Mainly because I thought the title was very apt to their tenuous political situation, but also because I genuinely believe that collaboration and partnership (regardless of how far apart their policies were) could only be a good thing for future development. I got very polite “thank you” letters from their staff … wonder if they bothered to read it!