One of the most common frustrations that I hear from my executive coaching clients often centers around the need for change and to remain a high performance organization even when to outsiders (and some insiders) there is a sense that the organization is doing very well. Jim Collins in his book Good to Great stated that the enemy of great is good and the experience of my clients reflects precisely that.

Often we focus in on the ability of the leader and the leadership team to create a sense of urgency to support and drive the change. This is easy to create when the organization is losing money and market share in a very public way. But how do you create it in a profitable and stable organization. Waiting for the crisis to become more evident is not always a good plan (ask music stores about iTunes or Blockbuster about NetFlix). The key comes down to creating a meaningful sense of urgency within the organization.

Weighing in on this issue is respected Business thought lead John Kotter in his recent book “A Sense of Urgency“. To assist his readers, Kotter discusses three distinct states: complacency, false urgency and true urgency.

Complacency is the known quantity that we all have bumped up against and have to deal with in our own way as it blocks, both actively and passively, action designed to move the organization and the culture forward.

False Urgency is often the unrecognized issue. Because the people involved often are very active it is frequently mistaken for true urgency. These characteristics lead to high levels of activity with little productivity attached to it . . . where people tend to be reactive and defensive rather than proactive and curious, and lack clear direction or planning in their actions. This leaves them feeling overworked and frustrated which is not conducive to achievement and positive change that is being sought.

True Urgency is that rare state where people are fully engaged with a deep personal connection to the issue. It is easy to engage the mind with a well presented and factual business case. To create the deep personal connection you need to engage the heart of the person. This is best accomplished through the use of a story or example which creates a personal attachment to goals. It also creates a strong personal motivation that ties the individual to achievement of goals. It is stories that enroll the person in the desired goals and compels them to action.

Kotter provides a number of tools that can be used to help make this transition and to identify times when complacency and false urgency exist. The bottom line, you as a leader need to act with true urgency each and every day!

Bringing all this back to our executive coaching clients,means that they need to be self aware and curious about their own role. It can be easy to personally feel that once a particular task is done that the foot can be lifted from the gas pedal for a bit and a deep breath is in order. This is often observed as rationale for feeling that the worst is over and that one’s guard can be let down. Are you guilty of the same thing in your position or in managing your career? What messages are you sending to the organization that may be undermined by your behavior? How are you shortchanging yourself and your organization if you don’t act with a sense of true urgency each and every day?

This is where the executive coaching relationship can have its maximum impact and value for each of our clients. The ability of our executive coaching to support you to hold you, the client, accountable for creating true urgency. The ability and to enhance your self-awareness as leader in ways that avoid self-subvertion, but rather to be  in  true service of moving your and your organization’s agenda powefully forward.

For many of our executive clients the biggest learning has come from identifying the blocks that they create for themselves and as a result creating strategies for overcoming them . . . establishing true urgency in their lives. Once these blocks are removed you,  the client,can quickly begin reaping the competitive advantage, both personally and corporately. This comes from living and acting with a sense of true urgency!

I have just one question to leave with you, “What would you be able to create in your personal and professional life by coming from a place of true urgency in all you do each and every day?

There are three kinds of executives – those that make things happen, those who watch others make things happen, and those who really don’t know what the hell is really going on! That’s what was recently shared with my executive coaching client, Beau, who is currently “between jobs” as the saying goes. “So what is it you really want?” I asked him.

“Bottom line, I want to thoroughly enjoy whatever it is that I decide to take on. I want a strong sense of fulfillment . . . truly feel that I’m being instrumental in advancing the success of the next organization and the people I lead. I want it to be extremely rewarding both personally and professionally. So how do I make that happen?” asked Beau.

“Well where do you think you should start” I asked. “I’m thinking I’ve got to begin reviewing my life and professional strategy first?” Beau quickly inquired.

“Absolutely. So let’s brainstorm some ideas that will be in service of your building a solid career transition strategy. Once you’ve got clarity around this, it will simplybe  a matter of your  making it happen and regularly updating it. I appreciate this is certainly easier said than done. But, then that’s why you’ve engaged me as your executive career transition coach for . . . partnering and being in service of your holding yourself accountable for making it happen, and quickly.” I retorted.

The net result of my conversation with Beau was the development of what he referred to as his Career Positioning Strategy. It essentially included some of the following key components.

• Career Objective – when he wanted to have his marketing approach organized; target date for securing his preferred position, etc.
• The Position - nature of the next role, organization level, preferred organization situation, breadth of responsibilities, etc.
• The Organization – its size, growth mode, industry, reputation, etc.
• The Leader –  his/her perspective, style, level of autonomy offered, valuing of Beau’s knowledge/skills/abilities, etc.
•  The Culture – internal/external orientation, customer philosophy, industry respect, centralized/decentralized decision making, mechanistic/organic structure, customer orientation, fit, etc.
• Geography – local/regional/domestic/global/etc. preferences
• Compensation – preferred base/benefits/incentives/deferred income, etc.
• Professional Strengths – Beau’s unique industry experience, global culture experience, experience in special situations, languages, etc. “ Potential Obstacles?Beau’s geographic limitations, competition, etc.
• Other Alternatives – different size organizations, other types of organizational situations, consulting, teaching, entrepreneurial opportunities, etc.
• Next Steps – immediate tactics to consider, reason for leaving statement, personal commercial, marketing tools required, research, strategic networking, etc.

Through our coaching relationship he thoughtfully and planfully fleshed his thinking, feelings and wants around the foregoing as well as a number of other critically related areas. Beau was able to put a solid “game plan” together . . . his career transition strategy . . . and begin in earnest and with considerable confidence to build the critical capability to successfully market himself and advance his career strategy . . . make his plan of action really happen!

What in the foregoing were takeaways for you? Where is it you may want to concentrate on in crafting and advancing you own career transition strategy quickly and confidently? I would enjoy hearing what surfaced for you. In the meantime, take care and all the best with your career endeavors.

We received a call the other day from Tony, a CEO of a major oil and gas company, who shared with us that he was quite concerned about one of his key executives. He said that Frank  had been recently promoted to replace a key member of the ELT (executive leadership team) who had retired about nine months ago. He bluntly stated, “Frank doesn’t appear to be working out the way I had hoped and is quite frankly derailing! Can we explore the situation and help me better understand why some leaders derail and and some don’t? What can I do about it?”

These are not uncommon questions that are raised by our corporate clients from time to time. In our executive coaching conversation with Tony, it was noted that The Centre for Creative Leadership found that approximately 50% of high potential managers and executives derail. Contributing to this is the fact that the initial technical and problem solving skills that had fomerly served a number of these derailed leaders well now can’t be relied on to address the increased complexity of operating at a more strategic leve, nor the resulting demands placed on their leadership that are typically changing from day to day, never mind month to month, or year to year.

Further, research has indicated that those leaders who are in fact successful in their leadership roles exhibit some of the following characteristics:

1. They tend to be highly flexible and responsive to change
2. They have a powerful ability to navigate through ambiguity and complexity
3. They pick things up very quickly and in a variety of circumstances
4. They are able to coach, facilitate, coordinate and develop their teams in a variety of circumstances with many different types of people
5.  They are highly grounded, self-manage themselves and work with others well under highly stressful circumstances
6. One of their mottos is ‘Feedback is the breakfast of Champions’ and thus constantly seek it out from those all around them
7.  They are quite aware that their strengths when overused in fact become their weaknesses, and those identified become their primary focus of professional/personal development
8. They readily acknowledge and champion their people, no matter how small the contribution or how challenging the initiative(s)
9. They are able to authentically share their thoughts, feelings and wants in equal amounts with their staff, colleagues, boss(s) and customers/clients, encouraging reciprocation, and do so with a strong sense of empathy and compassion toward others

Leaders having the potential for derailment include: the overly ambitious, the perfectionist, those who go it alone, over-managing, over-loyal to the organization, those who are over-controlling and 0ver-results oriented, single minded, too focused on technical detail, unduly personable and relying solely on relationships to get things done, having excessive fire in the belly, having too many things on the go, overly dependent on others, won’t be pushed off the mark, caught up with escalating-commitment, the constant need to be right, and loves to scrap with others beyond having constructive differences. 

To avoid derailment or to rerail, the leader needs to learn thoughtfully and constructively how to develop the team; strengthen strategic thinking and decision making; clarify specific expectations around deliverables and follow up; be self-aware and self manage under stress while at the same time being empathetic towards others; creating the right balance between collaboration, independent action and delegation; manage strategic alliances, assure functional strategic alignment and effectively manage differences vertically and horizontally. 

What’s been your experience? What have you learned as result and what did you do with it? What have you done with these insights? We would love to hear your thoughts and feelings on the subject. Take care.

We often work with executives and leaders who experience enormous amounts of stress at work. As they say, ‘the closer to the top you get, the closer to the door you get’. In the compensation world, their total compensation is influenced by the size of the ulcers that go with the job. It’s also referred to as being in the grip. We’re sure you’ve  gotten our point .

Naomi Quenk wrote a wonderful primer called ‘In the Grip: Understanding Type, Stress, and the Inferior Function’ based on the personality type theory developed by Swiss psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung. As Naomi mention’s in her work, Jung’s theory was refined and put into accessible form by Isabel Briggs Myers and Katharine Briggs, who developed the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI®) personality inventory.

As part of working with and addressing the issues when each of us feels caught In the Grip, it behooves us to take a little time to answer some questions. Being completely authentic and honest with yourself goes a long way in helping you deepen your understanding of the way you think, behave and remedy the causes that trigger in the grip  reactions. When you partner with a qualified executive coach, you’ll receive amazing insights and the ability to extricate yourself from this potentially devastating situation.

Naomi puts forward that there may very well be times when you feel or behave quite differently from the way you normally do. In other words, the way you see and react to everyday events at work is so unlike you that others you work with would describe you as “not being yourself,” “someone else” or simply “in the grip”. So here’s the invitation, try to think about how you are when you are most like yourself and how you are different when you are least like yourself by answering the following suggested questions from Naomi:

•  What are you like when you are most yourself? That is, what qualities best describe you or define you as an individual? For example, you might describe yourself as typically optimistic, careful with details, concerned about others, future oriented, and so on.  
• What are you like when you are not yourself-how are you different from your usual way of being?  
• What events or circumstances are likely to provoke the reactions and changes you experience?  
• What can you or others do to help the return process?  
• What can you or others do to hinder the return process?  
• What aspects of your work life are most satisfying and energizing?  
• What aspects of your work life are most dissatisfying and stressful?  
• How do you typically deal with chronic stress?   
• What new things have you learned about yourself as a result of your out-of-character experiences?

We have worked with many executive clients who have successfully addressed being caught in the grip.  Because of the great results  they’ve been able to experience, we thought you too would find the foregoing of interest. What was your take away? On a scale of 1 – 10 where is your stress level (1 = none, 10 = let me out of here!)? What’s your next step? We would enjoy hearing your thoughts and feelings. Take care.

With Christmas coming up, Justin, a client who had been a senior executive with a leading hi-tech firm,  raised a big concern now that he is  ’between jobs’. “I’m not really sure what to say when I connect with colleagues, friends and family over the holiday and I’m asked something like “So whats happening Justin? What happened with your job?” I know I’ll probably hear this question a number of times!” Justin was just starting up his job search. It was obviously quite important for him to be able to handle this question with confidence, no matter who would be asking him.

“So what is it you feel you want to do when these questions come up?” I asked. “Well, I definitely want to respond to them truthfully, make sure what I say is acceptable, particularly when I’m in interviews.  I’ll need to respond truthfully and in a way that’s acceptable to my former and prospective employers.”

“Sounds good. Would developing a statement that briefly explains your reason for leaving make sense?” I asked. “Absolutely, I’m quite anxious to be ready and able to deal with any questions like these that may come up.” Justin responded.

“Well whatever it is you develop, I invite you to make sure it’s short and to the point! I’d also encourage you to discuss what you do create with your wife and other family members, or anyone else for that matter close to you, as they will likely run into other associates, colleagues, and important people in your network and be confronted with the same question, “What happened with Justin?” In this way they can respond as comfortably as you and make it a lot easier to take care of these situations and support you by sharing a consistent and positive message.”

“So when you’re trying to develop your statement, what are the key points you believe you need to consider?” I then asked.

“Well whatever I come up with, I think needs to be short and to the point! I also feel it should be as positive as I can make it.” he responded.

“I believe you’re right on. There’s another key point that I would throw in for your consideration. Try to ensure that whatever you do come up with is not only truthful but very easy to explain” I went on.

“What are some of the key reasons for leaving you’ve come across with some of your other clients who’ve faced the same challenge?” asked Justin.

“Hmmm . . .  some of them included the existence of different leadership style, a new boss with a different operating approach, restructuring, downsizing, reorganization, a substantively changed role, buyout. These are a few very legitimate reasons that have been shared with me.” was my observation.

Finishing off our coaching session, “My request of you is to begin drafting your own reason for leaving statement by starting to jot down some of the key points you would like to include in it and then let’s take some time in next week’s scheduled coaching session to review your draft and flesh it out. Will that work?”  “I’m thinking about it already!” Justin responded anxiously.

I know you’re more than capable of coming up with a solid reason for leaving  statement. Once done, you’ll be able to use it as part of your Personal Commercial when in information-referral meetings, engaged in strategic networking, in employment interviews . . . the opportunities will be endless until you nail down the opportunity you really want.”, I went on, ”It’s not if, it’s when it will happen. Trust me.”

“OK, what’s a Personal Commercial?” Justin put forward. I ended our conversation “We’ll visit that at our next meeting as well. In the meantime my friend, you and yours have a happy holiday! Take a good rest because you’ve got a lot of work ahead of you with success definitely at the end of it!”

What were the gold nuggets for you in this coaching discussion? If you were coaching Justin, what would you have asked him?

By the way, if you or someone you know is currently in the midst of a career transition experience and are one of the ready few who would like to join an exclusive coaching group of like minded members focused on being in service of each other’s future success and fulfillment, then  go to Exclusive Group Coaching or call us at 1.866.952.6224. We’re there for you. Take care.