Leadership, Motivation & Engagement

Professor Beta MannixAnn Whitney Olin Professor of ManagementAssociate Dean for Executive MBA Programs

S.C. Johnson Graduate School of Management

Wolfgang Keller at Königsbräu-TAK

1. What is the problem here?

2. What should Keller do about Brodsky?

a. Fire or force him out by denying him a raise?

b. Reorganize around him?

c. Coach and counsel him?

Let’s Dive in!Wolfgang Keller at Königsbräu-TAK

1. Step 1: Context - what do we need to know? 2. Step 2: Brodsky – facts, background? 3. Keller’s appraisal of Brodsky?

4. Could Keller have done anything before now?

Strengths Weaknesses

So – what are you going to do now?

1. What are the repercussions of the following actions? What are the benefits and what are the risks? How will you manage each of these decisions? a. Fire or force him out by denying him a raise? How will you tell

Brodsky? What is Häussler’s likely reaction? How will you replace Brodsky?

b. Reorganize around him and appoint Zelenko. Again, what is Brodsky likely to say? How about Häussler?

c. Coach and counsel him? How will you proceed? How do you coach someone older? Someone whose style is so different?

d. Something else?

What about Keller?

Strengths Weaknesses

Postscript

• Read the B case – what stands out to you? Are you surprised?

• Why has Brodsky changed in Keller’s absence?

• Why has Antonov turned on Keller?

• Does Keller have a future with Königsbräu?

• Ultimately, do you think people can learn and change? What is your point of view?

Aftermath

• Brodsky left Königsbräu shortly after the “B” case ended, having felt that Keller’s interference damaged his credibility – especially with his subordinates.

• After 18 months of searching, and interviewing over 50 candidates, Zelenko was finally appointed to take Brodsky’s place.

• Otherwise, the subsidiary’s performance continued to improve with sales reaching €432 million.

• Approximately 3 years after the case ends, Keller was appointed managing director of the firm’s flagship German subsidiary, and 2 years later was appointed to the Vorstand.

• Keller moved on to take responsibility for “difficult” markets such as the Far East, Japan and Latin America. He was the youngest person ever to be appointed to the Vorstand.

EVALUATION, FEEDBACK AND COACHING

Performance Appraisal Goals: Evaluation PLUS Coaching

Evaluation goals:• To give feedback to subordinates• To develop valid data for pay and promotion decisions• To help company make discharge and retention decisions and

send warning signals

Coaching and Development goals:• To counsel and coach, to develop future potential• To develop commitment to the org• To motivate through recognition and support• To strengthen supervisor-subordinate relationships• To diagnose individual and org problems

How did Keller do in years 1 and 2 in light of these goals?

Evaluation and The Fundamental Attribution Error

Keller saw Brodsky’s failures as almost exclusively internal, personal failures, while seeing his own issues with Brodsky as caused by Brodsky, Antonov, and other factors outside himself.

• This is a general tendency known as the Fundamental Attribution Error = the tendency to attribute negative outcomes of other actors to their internal dispositions coupled with the tendency to attribute one’s own failings to the external environment.

• Think about how you might have done this in the past?

Another Cognitive Bias

Keller saw his own style as normative, and as the “best” or “right” way to manage, and assumed/expected that everyone else should make decisions, behave and act in the same manner.

= False Consensus Bias

These two cognitive tendencies indicate why perspective-taking and appreciation for diversity

are CRITICAL for leaders!

Giving and Receiving Feedback• Successful appraisal conversations often require

Advocacy & Inquiry– Advocacy is about revealing your reasoning and the

data it’s based on, getting below your conclusion

– Inquiry is about understanding the other person’s reasoning and where it’s coming from• Understand the viewpoints and contributions of team members

resulting in better collaboration and more effective delegation

• Work more effectively to motivate and lead in diverse and cross-cultural environments

• Improves a leader’s ability to coach and mentor / with increases retention, job satisfaction and reduced turnover.

Opposing “Ladders of Inference”

Goal – make both ladders transparent by Using Advocacy AND Inquiry

Keller Brodsky

• Conclusion:Brodsky is not a leader!

• Reasoning:Brodsky is fearful, overly controlling, Lacks the personality to do theJob.

• Data and examples:Brodsky’s formality, slow

Decision making, emphasis on structure & systems

• Conclusion:Brodsky is a seasoned, careful leader who is underestimated by Keller

• Reasoning:Brodsky is analytic, a strong delegator, and makes careful decisions on where to persist

• Data and examples:A long list of accomplishments

from Brodsky’s first year vs. Keller’s assessment of his personality.

“Stepping” down the ladder…

May not be natural, but it is learnable!

• Advocacy– Here’s how I see things– Here’s what I believe we should do– Here’s my data and reasoning from it– Here are my feelings and how they’re affecting my thinking and behavior.

• Inquiry:– Help me understand the data and reasoning you’re employing– What am I missing about the way you’re thinking or feeling?– How do you see things differently?– Is there something about my data or reasoning that you don’t understand or

accept?

MOTIVATION & ENGAGEMENT

The Graphing Calculator

Questions to consider:

• What was the best job you ever had?

• What made it so great? What did you love about it?

• What motivates people to work toward outstanding performance?

The Graphing Calculator:

A modern day parable

Ron’s take

“I view the events as subverting the power structures. I had none of the traditional power over others that is inherent in the structure of corporations and bureaucracies. I had neither budget nor headcount. I answered to no one, and no one had to do anything I asked.

Dozens of people collaborated spontaneously, motivated by loyalty, friendship, or the love of craftsmanship. We were hackers, creating something for the sheer joy of making it work.”

-Ron Avitzur

A Simple Motivation Rubric

The Employee Will Won’t

Can Skilled but stuck Capable but not trying

Can’t Motivated but struggling Low skill, Low will

A Simple Motivation Rubric –Action Steps

The Employee Will Won’t

Can Recognize / Reward

GROW

Motivate

Can’t Train EXIT

Action Steps

• When Employees can’t, but will - Training is a win/win– The employee enjoys his/her job more

– The firm benefits from his/her added contribution

– The employee’s manager enjoys his/her job more

– Many managers report the “most satisfying thing about being a manager” is the joy of coaching, mentoring, teaching, sharing what they know.

• When Employees, can, but won’t … give them a last chance, then EXIT them. This situation is often a lose-lose-lose– The employee is not truly engaged

– The firm is not maximizing its potential

– The employee’s manager is…

• … frustrated and wasting his/her time

• When you kick a dog, he moves, but it is you that wants him to move. “It is only when one has a generator of one’s own that we can talk about motivation.

Action Steps• When Employees Can & Will –

– RECOGNIZE, REWARD, and/or GROW them

– Easier scenarios are when you can offer –• more rewards or recognition for doing the same job (better)

• a new job (a promotion)•

– Often these are not possible:• limited bonus and raise pool (doesn’t allow high variance)

• limited upward mobility for many

– So, how do you grow people’s engagement and contribution without these levers (Can & Won’t)?

Motivating the Unwilling…

• Q: If it was your job to significantly increase performance and reduce turnover, what would you do? Name one lever that isn’t about promotion and pay.

• – What is the first thing that comes to mind?

Responses from Leaders

1. Money / Income2. Job security3. Promotion4. Working conditions5. Interesting work6. Loyalty from company7. Tactful disciplining8. Appreciation9. Sympathy for problems10. Being an “insider”

General Social Survey Results

1973 2000Meaningful work Meaningful work

Promotions Promotions

Income Income

Job Security Job Security

Hours Hours

Fostering a Motivating & Creative Environment

Motivation Through JOB DESIGN

What motivates us: Extrinsic factors (based on the external rewards) Intrinsic factors (based on the activity itself)

People look to be motivated by the work itself – not just the extrinsic rewards, but also the intrinsic rewards.

Managers have immense control over the intrinsic aspects of jobs by managing aspects of the job & the environment

Lack of dissatisfaction Motivation

• Most organizations and managers within them spend most of their energy tweaking “hygiene factors” – e.g., salary, benefits, status, security

• These eliminate job dissatisfaction, but don’t necessarily create or sustain satisfaction and motivation

• Only “motivators” – achievement, recognition, the work itself, responsibility, growth – actually increase job satisfaction

Autonomy

Mastery & Challenge

Purpose & Meaning

Motivation through Work

But Wait…. What about $$$

So what goes wrong with extrinsic rewards? • Alignment & Measurement (it is often difficult to know what extrinsic rewards are

motivating for which individuals, and in what amounts. It is also hard to measure many things we want to reward, like good customer service, or managing ambiguity).

• Interdependence (i.e., you work in a team, but are rewarded individually)

• Uncontrollability (many factors that are included in reward systems are not controllable - the passage of adverse regulation, a sales force that has to deal with products that are no longer competitive, or a slow manufacturing plant.

• Satiation / Addiction (what was a good raise or bonus last year looks weak this year)

• External shocks (factor that are difficult to control can make it impossible to use extrinsic factors to reliably motivate)

• Compete with Intrinsic rewards( block focus away from the real goal, foster short-term behavior, and even encourage shortcuts and cheating to achieve the reward

Established Causes of Well-being

• More income is better if it allows and results in certain• choices, such as:

– More autonomy, control, individual expression– More investment in close relationships– More consumption of experiences– Less commuting– Less exposure to noise– More exercise– More sleep– More vacation

One option - Job Re-Crafting • Unpack your job into its components

• Job crafting involves redesigning a job to capitalize on strengths, learn new skills, and reduce repetitiveness– Accountant creating a new method of filing taxes to make her job less repetitive

– HR manager spending more time researching employment laws to fulfill her passion for being an attorney

– Doctor taking on more residents to utilize teaching skills and passion

• Job crafting can significantly re-engage employees if the redesign hits the employees’ sweet spot (which will also likely be high on the “job design for motivation” criteria)

Take Stock of

Your Position and Tasks

If your daily tasks and responsibilities do not

enable you to capitalize on your strengths, what

can you do?

Consider Job Crafting

• Take existing job expectations—or job descriptions—and tweak them to suit you.

– Job crafters do what’s expected (because it’s required), and

– …find a way to add something new to their work—something that benefits their needs and either their team or their company or their customer.

TaskChange your work

Relationships

Change the People you

Engage with

Your Perceptions

Change How you Think about Your Work

What Can Change?

Change Your Work

• Change job boundaries by taking on more or fewer tasks, expanding or shrinking their scope, or changing how they are performed.

• a sales manager plans the annual off-site because he likes the challenge of organizing people and logistics.

• a junior employee who enjoys writing and meeting new people creates an e-newsletter filled with news, updates, and interviews of interest to employees

• manager who does not like leading the Monday meetings suggests rotating the lead role for this task among the team members

• A senior executive hires a chief of staff to do the dirty work

Shift Relationships

• Change the nature or extent of your interactions with other people.

• Senior leader creates training programs to connect with junior employees and model leadership

• A mid-level employee proposes that she shadow more senior leaders as part of her development plan

• A manager changes his daily calendar to build in more quiet ‘thinking time’ during the work day

Change Your Perceptions• Change how you think about the purpose of aspects of your job.

• Lending VP: job in two separate parts, one not enjoyable (compliance & paperwork) and one very meaningful (creating opportunities for members).

• An associate consultant thinks of her job as helping companies so their employees can continue working

• A compliance officer considers the mundane aspects of his job as critical to the ongoing success of the firm

A few concluding thoughts …

Very few are excellent at every leadership skill…We are all “incomplete leaders”

This is not necessarily a sign of average or failing performance or “derailing” weaknesses.

Leadership development involves considering one’s strengths and weaknesses in light of future career aspirations.

The most important things (beyond obvious derailers) to work on are those that will be most beneficial for achieving your own specific goals.