“Well, I guess if I get some 360 feedback that will help address some of the leadership challenges I’ve been experiencing.”, said Eduardo, a Senior Vice-President with a major EPC (engineering-procurement-construction) corporation . “I think it would be a good start Ed. However, 360 feedback is where the rubber hits the sky. Feedforward is where the rubber hits the ground.”, I responded.

“So what is feedforward?”, Eduardo inquired. “Well, it’s essentially getting suggestions from those impacted by your leadership, your stakeholders, around what it is you can start, stop and/or continue doing . . . what it is you could change . . .  about your leadership behavior that would help them do their work more effectively and fundamentally enhance their overall contribution. Does that make sense?” I asked. Eduardo’s responded, “Absolutely! However, if I did get feedforward from my stakeholders as you put it, how would I know if I’m being successful when doing it?”

“What I offer comes from our collective experience of coaching executives and leaders worldwide, and it is also  based on the research , findings and experience of one of the world’s leading management and leadership thinkers and his associates, Marshall Goldsmith. Keep these basic key points in mind if you want to engage in a successful stakeholder centered leadership coaching initiative. Of course there’s more involved, but these will get you going in the right direction.”

• Choose the behavior you want to improve – improve the leadership behavior that is important to you and be confident that you will indeed improve
• Truly want stakeholder input – pay undivided attention to and  geniunely hear your stakeholders’ messages/gifts
• Appreciate the feedback/feedforward –  take your stakeholders’ input seriously, be willing to respond to the input they provide and take the opportunity to reflect on what it is you are hearing
• Don’t give in to superstition of “negative” self talk - do a levelheaded cost-benefit analysis and commit with a decision on what leadership behavior you  truly want to develop
• Appreciate the help from all your stakeholders - commit to improve and, again, be confident you will improve
• Actively work on what you commit to improve - make every attempt to demonstrate your success and try to reduce the likelihood of a return to your old habits
• Eagerly gain your stakeholders’ insights - actually learn from their experience of you and focus on producing related measureable results

With the support of a highly experienced senior executive coach and confidante to partner with throughout the stakeholder centered leadership coaching process, success and fulfillment is well within reach, not to mentioned the strategic advantage created for your organization.

Thank you for taking a few minutes to read this. What specific leadership behaviors do your people need from you in order for them to be more powerful contributors? I would enjoy hearing any of your thoughts and feelings on this subject? Take care.

“What happens if you walk out the door and get hit by a bus?” It is not unusual when dealing with leaders in our coaching conversations when a question similar to this surfaces. There’s usual a bit of chuckling involved and an exchange of humorous comments before we get down to where the client wants to go . . . the serious five-sixths of the iceberg below the surface of the initial discussion. There is a tendency for some leaders (not you of course) to feel infallible and indestructible. This can get in the way of building greater capacity in those who report to us.

The metaphor of ‘the bus’ comes in many forms. If a version of the bus does in fact unexpectantly run over you (note Schultz’s Law: Murphy’s an optimist), then who is able to seamlessly step into your shoes should you find yourself temporarily out of the game . . . on the sidelines as it were? Are you ready my friend for such an event? Quickly filling the leadership pipeline is one of your major responsibilities . . . your organization should not expect less! As an executive coach who works with clients around the world, I have the slight luxury of a broader perspective of organizations . . . both private, public and not-for-profit sectors. In fact, this year to date I have seen three key senior leaders be unexpectedly moved over to the sidelines in their respective organizations. One leader, a Vice President – Operations, recently reflected on just such an experience. They shared just how thankful they were for the executive coaching support that was in service of their ability to see the value of changing their leadership behavior of shifting from a high need for absolute control to that of developing a greater capacity in others to grow, develop and increase their skills and abilities to take on increased accountability and delivery of high quality results . . . not to mention dramatically enhanced levels of professional and personal satisfaction. The value of succession planning for this particular leader has taken on a whole new level of importance, not to mention for the organization. 

Letting go of the reins of control can be exceptionally challenging for any leader, yet the return on the invested time and resources for the leader, key staff, other stakeholders and the organization typically exceeds all expectations when (not if) the inevitable reality of an unplanned highly stressful event occurs and readily takes the leader out of the game.

Should the inevitable surface for you, are you or your organization able to operate at you’re the most effective levels? Are you truly able to successfully step back and confidently address the presenting issue when temporarily sidelined? I would be most interested in hearing your thoughts, your truth, when the bus comes screaming through your world.

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?

“I can’t believe those people. They just don’t get it!” was the response of my executive coaching client, Gerry, who heads up a key line of business with a leading defense contractor. I typically start off coaching conversations with a check-in question. After listening to Gerry further, I asked “So what’s in the anger my friend?” For a moment there was silence on the phone. I had learned long ago to always let silence do the heavy lifting! “Hmmm . . . , ” he expressed and then went on, “I really resent the fact that we had agreed on what had to be accomplished last week, and they haven’t even started on it. It’s simply damned unacceptable. I really feel let down. I could tear my office door off the hinges right now. I’m going into a meeting with them shortly and I think I’m going to straighten them out . . . make them new rear ends if I have to!”

“Well before you charge on in, are you game to take a few minutes to step back and take a look at what’s happening with you right now?” I asked. Gerry, to his credit had always been very open to self-exploration and said “Yeah, let’s go for it coach?” I love his honesty and candidness.

“So, if your boss was this angry with something you did or didn’t do, and stormed into a meeting with you having the same intent, how would you react?” In his typically succinct and earthy way he quickly responded, “Well I’d probably hang back, not offer much and look for an opportunity to get the hell out of there!”. “Given that, then what would you predict your people will do when you give them the old what for?” “Got it!”, he said with a bit of a snicker.

“So coach, I’d like to hear what the heck you think?” Gerry asked. “Sure. First of all, it’s not about them, it’s about you Gerry! Anger is actually a gift, not a weakness. It only becomes a weakness when this strength is taken too far. Kind of  like manure in the system that gets clogged up. Need I say more? Does that make sense?” “Completely.” Gerry responded.

“So, having said that, what’s in just enough anger for you?” I asked. “Well, for me,” Gerry shot back, “It certainly gets me up and running. Actually a source of energy. It sort of acts like a catalyst for making things happen. Come to think of it, if I become more aware of it in the moment I can actually use it to be more effective, otherwise it can get in my way. I think I prefer the former. Any thoughts on what I can do to regulate myself when the old fuse gets a tad short?”

“That’s a great question. Why don’t we take a quick moment and brainstorm some approaches?” “Ok”, Gerry said, “Maybe I should start not to sweat the small stuff as they say. Hell, if I learn how to better spot it when it shows up, I’d be better able to dial down the intensity a tad, not shoot first and figure out what I shot after the fact!”

“I love what you’ve come up with.”, I said. “You might also consider talking yourself down, for example saying to yourself, hey, this is no big deal, can I put this issue on the backburner for the time being? Perhaps I should give this some thought before I shoot. Why don’t I take  a couple of minutes to just let every muscle in my body, from my toes right up to the top of my head, just relax and decompress. You do whatever works for you.”

“So, when you do walk into the meeting after decompressing, how do you need to be?” I asked. “As opposed to what I would do?”, he responded. “Yes, exactly,” I retorted. Gerry then continued, “Probably be calm, more focused on them rather than me. I need to be honest with them in a respectful way, by sharing what my thoughts are in a fairly specific way, how I feel about it all in terms of its importance to me and what it is I think we should consider doing about it.”

“That sounds like a superb approach, but what might you do even before that?” I asked. “I think I know what you’re driving at. Rather than adversely pre-influencing them in a way that they think they’re getting my orders, it might be a hell of a lot better if I asked them collectively and individually what they thought, felt and wanted regarding the issues at hand, and then do the former. Yeah, that’d work a lot better. Probably generate a lot more information and data that would help us make much more informed decisions. Man, that’s my game plan!”

“What are some other potential payoffs of your taking this approach? I asked. “Obviously, it’ll be a heck of a lot safer place them, we’ll build more trust, they’ll feel heard, buy in will clearly go up, and the solutions we collectively come up with will  probably be a lot more effective as a result.” said Gerry.

“So what’s the take away for you my friend?” I asked in bringing our meeting to a close. “Well I guess it’s that I can use my anger in service of myself, my folks, our customers and our organization, or I can quite frankly let it control me and then blow it!” “If it is the latter,” I asked, “What might be the adverse consequences for you?” “I don’t want to even think about it . . . too scary!” Gerry concluded. “May the force be in you my friend with the upcoming meeting. I know you’ll be more than successful!” I offered.

Does your temper rise at times and get away from you?  Do you find that under stress your anger, anxiety, fear and/or shame show up a tad too quickly?  Do you even notice it?  If you do notice, what do you do with it?  I’d love to hear your insights and experiences. Take care.

Any transition to a new role, while exciting and an acknowledgement of what the organization thinks of us, is a time of anxiety for the newly transitioning leader.

A few of the common errors of a new role leader include trying to do too much too soon, failure to understand the de facto culture/sub culture, and/or misinterpreting the expectations of their superior. Danger lurks ahead….. in the form of mistrust by others, leader fatigue, compounding anxiety with over preparation, and creation of an unsafe environment for employees. As stress intensifies for the new role leader, can you really be making the best decisions for the organization as a whole, your team and yourself?

A recent research article from the University of Washington reported the findings of imposing stress on rats. It took only one uncontrollable stressful episode to greatly effect the behavior of a rat. It actually took the rat several days to recover from the effects of the stressor and return to normal decision making ability. The learning of the stressed rat control group was delayed. As well, this group was unable to readily adjust to alterations made in the imposed stress exercise. Stress altered the ability to learn, the ability to remain agile, and the ability to make decisions. How does this convert to humans? Well, the scientific community has been using rats as study participants for years…there must be something to their selection.

As I look to newly transitioning leaders whom I have coached over the past 5 years, I relate to the news of the above study. Stress has a tremendous effect on performance levels and at a time when a leader is under the microscope and readily judged by others. Clients have shared with me how this has manifested for them and projected in all areas of their life. Many suffer from extreme sleep disturbances and/ or dietary challenges.

I have worked with leaders who admitted that they had hardly slept in two months and leaders who existed on a pop and pizza diet. It is rewarding as a coach to support leaders in these circumstances and be part of the process that allows them to gain back a feeling of balance and control……rewarding them with restful nights rather than a continuum of wide eyed 3 AM note taking sessions. With invested and targeted support, these leaders can bring about greater contribution to the organization in a shortened time frame as they learn to manage their stress, embrace the transition, garner early credibility and move powerfully forward with their leadership.

What is the cost to an organization of not readily investing in the transitioning new role leader? As this is an area of continued research for me I repeatedly see transitioning phases of 14 – 24 months in executive level roles. More complex portfolios can exceed this timeframe. This is not just about the leader’s transition. One must take into consideration the transitional impact on those who surround the leader and the cost to the organization when their performance falters as a result of how the new role leader shows up for others.

What is your personal experience in a recent transition, either as the leader or as a direct report to a newly transitioning leader? While you are drinking from a fire hose, what soothing techniques have you found that help to manage anxiety and stress for you? In hindsight, how do you feel your decision making during a recent leadership transition may have been impaired?