the engaging leader – part one

Strategic Business LeadershipExecutive Education Seminar

THE ENGAGING LEADER – PART ONE

Tim Reynolds, MLHRDirector, Walter Center for Strategic Leadership April 2014

“It’s Like A Brastemp!”

Personal Introduction

• Academic – Ohio University & Ohio State• Work Experience – Twenty-Five Years in Human

Resources, Talent and Organizational Development• Companies Worked For - Whirlpool, Abbott Labs,

Marathon Oil & Johns-Mansville. • Passionate About – Leadership, Talent and

Snowboarding

Session Objectives:

1. To understand the impact leadership has on employee alignment and engagement.

2. To consider some concepts and tools for having an intentional leadership conversation.

3. To practice building a collective intelligence through leadership.

What leadership conversations are you having in your organization?

What business results are these conversations delivering?

Employee Engagement

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• Does not mean employee happiness.

• Doesn’t mean employee satisfaction.

• Is the emotional commitment:– To Your Work– To Your Company– To Give Your

Discretionary Effort

Engagement Research

• Towers Watson 2012 Global Workforce Study — 32,000 employees across 30 countries — makes the most powerful, bottom line case to date!

• In 50 global companies, Towers Watson found:

o Low Engagement = Avg. Margin < 10%

o High Engagement = Avg. Margin > 14%

o Highest “Sustainable Engagement” had average one-year operating margin of 27%

o “Sustainable Engagement” is a focus on physical, emotional and social well-being.

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http://towerswatson.com/assets/pdf/2012-Towers-Watson-Global-Workforce-Study.pdf

Major Factors That Impact Engagement

1. Being Part of a Winning Organization.

2. Working for Admired Leaders.3. Having Positive Working

Relationships.4. Doing Meaningful Work.5. Gaining Recognition and

Appreciation.6. Living a Balanced Life.

8Source: The Banff Centre

What People Say Are The Characteristics of The Most Admired Leaders:

• Honest

• Forward Looking

• Competent

• Inspiring

What Changes Are Impacting Your Ability To Lead?

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• Economic • Organizational • Global • Generational • Technological

Organizations have become flat, fast and adaptive to deal with change.

What Does That Mean For Leaders?

• According to Dr. Boris Groysberg, leaders must engage employees through “Organizational Conversation.”

• Leaders can create mental or emotional proximity.

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Dr. Boris Groysberg, Professor of Business Administration, Harvard University

Proximity

• The state, quality, sense, or fact of being near or next; closeness.

• Physical proximity is becoming a challenge for leaders and employees

• Mental or emotional proximity appear to be the leadership opportunity

The Role Of Trust

• How do you personally extend trust to others?

• How do you know if they trust you?

Intimacy: Engaging Individuals

• Being Real

• Gaining Trust

• Listening Well

• Getting Personal

Building Engagement Through Trust

Buddy – Buddy

High RelationshipLow Results

Standing For Greatness

High RelationshipHigh Results

Off The Hook

Low RelationshipLow Results

Driver

Low RelationshipHigh Results

Source: Gap International

Interactivity: Engaging Through New Opportunities

• Promoting Dialogue• Using Social

Technology

How Do You Message People?

Inclusion: Engaging Others In The Content

Expanding Employees’ Roles:

• Brand Ambassadors

• Thought Leaders

• Storytellers

Seven Engaging Conversations1. Conversation for being related – relevance to another.2. Conversation for possibility – standing for a future of

possibility. 3. Conversation for opportunity – tactical language for

achieving a possibility.4. Conversation for action – specific who, what, when. 5. Conversation for breakdown – dealing with resistance. 6. Conversation for acknowledgement – genuine expression of

appreciation. 7. Conversation for completeness –being whole.

• Is your organization’s strategy being implemented?

• How are you intentionally conversing strategy into results?

Intentionality: Engaging The Organization

• Crafting the Agenda

• Taking a Stand for Possibility

• Building Alignment

Shaping Engaging Conversations1. What is the conversation and for whom?2. Create the Context (Possible questions to consider):

1. What is the context you want to create from this conversation?2. What is your Stand for yourself? For them?3. What is the experience or result you want to cause?4. Are you thinking from “Something is Possible”?

3. What is Their World? What is Your World? In other words, think through the concerns, issues, challenges and worries of your audiences. How will you bridge their world with your conversation?

4. What is the intention you have for the conversation?5. What are the specific outcomes you are committed to producing?6. How do you wish to close your conversation?

Going Forward

• Conversation Occurs in Every Organization.

• As a Leader, how will you engage?

Engaging Leadership Is Your Conversation!

Leaders Need A Place To Practice!

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The Electric Maze • Developed by Dr. Richard

Kimball, Action Learning Associates, Inc.

• Designed for experiential team learning in a complex simulation

• Used for both group and individual development

• Designed around the 3 Ts: Training, Teambuilding and Testing

Simulation Structure

• Overview 10 Min• Strategy Session 7 Min• Activity 12 Min• Strategy Session 5 Min• Activity 12 Min• Debrief 15 Min

Rules• Strategy Sessions (2) and Team Crossing Sessions (2)• One Person at a Time on the Maze• Full Team Rotation – all members must take a turn crossing the Maze• One Square at a time – No Jumping• Must Enter from the Front – No entry from the sides• No Touching the Maze when someone is on it• No use of paper, coins, etc. to highlight the trail

• No Talking once the scenario begins. • Missteps Cost 1 dollar. You have $100 per team.• All Members Must cross the Maze successfully – if not, the whole team

goes back• Written Material only in the Strategy Session

Debrief Questions

• What Interesting things did you notice during the Maze?

• What are the parallels to Leadership? Teaming? Work?

• What was your major learning from the Maze?

Leadership Learning • Team Learning hinges on “Alignment” and

“Shared Mental Models”• Clear Vision and Mission are critical for

“Alignment”• Trust = Speed • Team learning is having a “collective

intelligence” that enables organizational learning

• Complex communications can break down

• Learning occurs after decisions, a consequence and some reflection

• Fear of blame can waste time when facing uncertainty

As Leaders, we must recognize the patterns that create success.

Strategic Business LeadershipExecutive Education Seminar

THE ENGAGING LEADER II – BUILDING HIGH PERFORMING TEAMS

Tammy Reynolds, MLHR

April 2014

A little about me…

• Grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Have two awesome sons and a husband Tim (who you met earlier)

• Have a big lovable dog• Worked in industry for 20+

years, most recently with Whirlpool Corporation

• Joined Ohio University August 2012

• Love the outdoors – skiing, biking, hiking, kayaking

Sources used for this presentation

The Good, the Bad, and the UglyDiscuss at your table:

•Think about your best team experience – sports, school, social organization, work place?•What made it great?

•Now think of the worst team•Why was it so bad?

What Is a Team?

• Groups whose members work intensely on a specific, common goal using their positive synergy, individual and mutual accountability, and complementary skills.

Tuckman’s Stages of Team Development

Team Dynamics

Groupthink - when a group exerts extensive pressure on an individual to align his or her opinion with that of others.

Social loafing - the tendency for individuals to expend less effort when working collectively than when working individually.

Groupthink

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWoFQAqeZnQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWoFQAqeZnQ

Mini Case

Instructions:1. Take a few minutes to read the case individually and answer the 3 questions2. Discuss at your table 10 minutes and try to reach agreement on the 3 questions3. Prepare your response and elect a spokesperson for the group4. Review as a large group

Inattention to Results

Avoidance of Accountability

Lack of Commitment

Fear of Conflict

Absence of Trust

Invulnerability

Lack of Trust

• What are some examples of lack of trust on teams that you have experienced?

Building Teams that Trust

Steven Covey - Trust

Emotional Bank AccountSteven Covey

Group ExerciseAt your tables, discuss deposits and

withdrawals that you might make into the emotional bank account of someone you love

Next, discuss deposits and withdrawals that you might make with fellow teammates at work

Emotional Bank AccountSteven Covey

Other ways to build trust on teams• Share styles, strengths and

personality differences• Get to know each other

outside of work

Teams that trust…

• Admit weaknesses• Ask for help• Accept questions and input regarding their

areas of responsibility• Appreciate and tap into one another’s skills

and experiences• Offer and accept apologies



Lack of Commitment

Fear of Conflict

Absence of Trust

Artificial Harmony

The Five Dysfunctions of a Teamby Patrick Lencioni

Fear of Conflict

Traditional view of conflict - the view that all conflict is bad and must be avoided.

Conflict - perceived incompatible differences that result opposition.

Functional Conflict

• Conflicts that support a group’s goals and improve its performance.– Task conflict - conflicts over

content and goals of the work.

– Process conflict - conflict over how work gets done.

Dysfunctional Conflict

Dysfunctional conflicts - conflicts that prevent a group from achieving its goals(typically interpersonal)

SO, IS CONFLICT ALWAYS A BAD THING?

Clearly Not

Relationship Between Level of Conflict and Level of Performance

Five Conflict-Handling StylesAvoiding - “Maybe the problem will go away”Accommodating – “Let’s do it your way”Forcing – “You have to do it my way”Compromising – “Let’s split the difference”Collaborating – “Let’s cooperate to reach a win-win

solution that benefits both of us”

Programmed Conflict

Devil’s advocacy process of assigning

someone to play the role of critic to voice possible objections to a proposal and thereby generate critical thinking and reality testing

Dialectic method process of having two

people or groups play opposing roles in a debate in order to better understand a proposal

Teams that engage in healthy conflict…

• Have lively interesting meetings• Put critical topics on the table for discussion • Tackle issues “head on”• Solve real problems quickly• Minimize politics



Lack of Commitment

Fear of Conflict

Absence of Trust

Ambiguity


Lack of Team Commitment

What does lack of commitment look like:•“Fuzzy” goals, no clear direction•Revisit discussions and decisions over and over again•Encourages second guessing

A team that commits…

Creates clarity around prioritiesMoves forward without hesitationAligns the team members around common

objectives



Lack of Commitment

Fear of Conflict

Absence of Trust

Low Standards



• Encourages mediocrity• Misses deadlines and

key deliverables

Teams that hold each other accountable

• Ensure poor performers feel pressure to improve

• Identify potential problems quickly by questioning one another’s approaches



Lack of Commitment

Fear of Conflict

Absence of Trust

Status & Ego



“The ultimate dysfunction of a team is the tendency of member to care about something other than the collective goals of the group.” (Lencioni, 2002)

•Rarely defeats competitors•Encourages team members to focus on their own careers and individual goals

Teams that focus on results…

• Win!• Retain achievement oriented employees• Minimizes individualistic behavior • Learn to subjugate individual egos and agenda

for the good of the team



Lack of Commitment

Fear of Conflict

Absence of Trust

Status & Ego

Low Standards

Ambiguity

Artificial Harmony

Invulnerability


How healthy is your team?

• Referring to Lencioni’s model, determine how healthy your team is

• What does your team do well?• What can it improve upon?• What one thing will you commit to changing

on your team?

the engaging leader – part one

Documents

low engagement

high engagement

strategic leadership

impact leadership

leadership conversations

admired leaders

emotional proximity

highest sustainable