LeadershipOpportunity
Integral Leadership in Business and Life Through Coaching
Volume 1, No. 6 - August, 2001
Table of Contents
- Leadership Quote
- Mission
- Business Coaching Conference Announcement
- Article: The Limited Requirements of Teamwork
- A Leadership Coaching Tip
- Summary (publications worth noting)
Ask about A Leadership Opportunity: An Integral Approach
Leadership Quote
Kevin Sharer, CEO, Amgen, Fast Company, August 2001:
"There is a certain mythology right now in the world that thinks the CEO is a kind of superman.But in fact, this business is so darn complicated, and the decisions are so important, there is no one person alone who is going to be maximally effective in making those decisions. I want my executive committee-the seven or eight top people-to collectively run the company. I don't shirk the ultimate responsibility as CEO. But I don't want to make the decisions as the sole integrator. I want us to debate and really think through the major decisions about the company together."
Mission
Leadership Opportunity now has 280 subscribers. I am deeply grateful and would like to make sure we are in the same field as you read this e-journal.
The mission of this e-journal is to be a practical guide to the application of an integral perspective to the challenges of leadership in business and life.
AlignBusiness2001 Three Reasons To Make Room on Your Calendar for This Conference
Register at www.alignbusiness.com for $695 before Sept 1, 2001 Special 2-day Post Conference Workshop - Value Systems Shaping Our Worlds with Dr. Don Beck. Dr. Beck has given this workshop all over the world and we're pleased to have a unique opportunity to see inside the world of spiral dynamics! [Extra Fee of $595 Required] |
The Limited Requirements of Teamwork
The quote from Kevin Sharer, CEO of Amgen, the world's largest biotech company, serves two purposes in support of the perspective, map and coaching approach I am laying out in these e-journals. First, it underscores the combined individual and collective perspective that is essential to assuring effective executive leadership in today's business world. Second, it suggests that teamwork at the executive level is of vital importance. I will address each of these in order.
The integral perspective that underlies this series of articles rests on the notion of a holon or Holarchy (see prior issues and A Leadership Opportunity: An Integral Approach). I find this approach to be exciting and helpful because it does not embroil us in vacuous competition between individual/collective paradigms that we find so often in the leadership and management literature.
CEOs and other leaders who continue to be attached to the heroic leader model and do not attend to the demands for collective leadership are setting themselves up for a moment of success and ultimate failure. The myth of the individual heroic leader has served us well in the past-and shall continue to serve us well in the future to the extent that we can join it with a recognition that leadership in modern business is a collective act, as well. Ironically, the individuals I find most attached to this heroic model may be found among the ranks of coaches, as well as executives.
C.K. Prahalad, University of Michigan management guru, has left to start up a company in San Diego. His learning from this experience to date is documented by Fast Company (August 2001). The relevant learning for this discussion is "It is not one person. It's not the team. It's both." Prahalad uses the metaphor of a pack of wolves: solidarity is first (like a team) but when they hunt they change roles. He states: "One unique person makes a difference, but you need teamwork to make it happen."
It seems natural that a desirable way to think about collective leadership is as teamwork. There are two points I would like to underline about the idea of executive teamwork. The first is that teamwork is most effective when it is inspired collaboration drawing on the strengths of all of the members of the team. A Dixieland band, the Chicago Bulls of the Michael Jordan era, you pick your own metaphor of what this looks like. The inspiration each of these examples manifest is equally important in an executive team. How do they get it? That is the subject of inquiry with each unique team in each unique context. The literature on team work might help, but most important is the conversation among the team members. Then they can go to Carnegie Hall together. You know, practice, practice, practice!
The second point draws upon the work of consultant Jon R. Katzenbach (The Wisdom of Teams and Teams at the Top). His salient point is that there are six situations that are particularly important for executives to work as a team. The rest of the time it is more efficient and effective for them to use other approaches (individually led task groups, etc.). Here is the list with the caveat that it is a basis upon which to have a team conversation.
- Resolution of key strategic issues.
- Redesign of faulty management process.
- Changing the organization structure.
- Entry into a new market.
- Establishment of higher standards of performance.
- Formulation of a communication strategy for a major change.
What are the requirements for the executive team to be inspired and use teamwork appropriately? What a wonderful coaching question.
In the next issue the feature article will be on what is involved for the individual leader to be an innovative team player.
We have all faced failures in our lives. And sometimes our response to them is debilitating. Here is an innovative approach to confronting and transcending failure. Check it out: newsletter, free module and more. |
Recognize that leadership is both an individual and a collective phenomenon. Also recognize that defining what this will look like, particularly in the area of teamwork, is something that the CEO and other members of the executive team will need to define. The idea of teamwork has been around for so long and people have so many diverse relationships to it that it is easy for people to treat the idea as though they already have a set of shared beliefs about what is important. Remember: teamwork, like leadership, is defined by context. The business objectives that need to be served, as well as leadership resources and competencies and the capacities of individual players are part of the equation, as much as the relationship between the executive team and their stakeholders. Test assumptions. Focus on what is important.
If you are a helping professional ready to be serious about building the practice of your dreams... This is for you As a mentor coach I notice that most helping professionals do not have the practice they want, most coaches are not coaching full time even though they want to, and I am determined to do something about it! David Steele, MA, LMFT |
The importance of loyalty in leader-follower relationships is not new. However, Frederick F. Reichheld has elaborated this idea in the Harvard Business Review (July-August 2001). He has identified six principles of loyalty that apply to leaders and to companies in general.
As you read these, notice your reactions - thoughts, emotions, bodily sensations - any reactions.
Loyalty's Six Principles
High loyalty companies, though extremely diverse, have several things in common: exemplary leaders who are committed to engendering and retaining loyalty, and relationship strategies that are based on the following six principles.
- Preach what you practice.
- It's not enough to have the right values. You must clarify them and hammer them home to customers, employees, suppliers, and shareholders through your words and deeds.
- Play to win-win.
- If you are to build loyalty, not only must your competitors lose. Your partners must win.
- Be picky.
- At high loyalty companies, membership is a privilege. Clarify the difference between loyalty and tensure.
- Keep it simple.
- In a complex world, people need small teams to simplify responsibility and accountability. They also need simple rules to guide their decision making.
- Reward the right results.
- Save your best deals for your most loyal customers, and save your best opportunities for your most loyal employees and partners.
- Listen hard, talk straight.
- Visit call centers, internet chat rooms, and anywhere else customers offer feedback. Make it safe for employees to offer candid criticism. Explain what you learned and communicate the actions that will be taken.
6 Month Team Turnarounds! The Problem: "Frustrated and Fed up!" Professionals who are frustrated and fed up with their jobs say that 'poor management' is the reason for low morale, performance and productivity in their teams. Many Mangers who are frustrated and fed up with their teams' performance say that lack of interest, responsibility and commitment to the job (or team) keeps employee performance and productivity low. The Solution: "Not Rocket-Science" After 12 years of surviving on both sides of that line, 5 years of specialized leadership, management and coaches training, and 4 years of working with situations just like this, here are 3 important steps I have learned must be included in any successful Team Turnaround.
Contact Laura Burkey at Lauraburkey@mac.com |
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COACHING YOUNG LEADERS Your executive team have hired coaches- now what about coaching for high-potential employees? I work with young leaders who are ready to blow the lid off what they thought was possible in career, business, and personal lives. Free Trial Session: This one hour consultation can be done by phone or in person and includes a highly effective goal-setting exercise. I promise you will leave feeling energized and focussed on your new goals. Book a session. I dare you! Jo Miller, Life Coach |
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Leadership, Team-building and Business Coaching |
Thanks for taking the time to consider this epublication in a world of data overload. For leaders, collaborators, consultants, academics and coaches alike, I welcome you to some ideas and a dialogue that may benefit us all. I hope you will contact me soon with your idea, reference or article. Suggestions on improvement are welcome.
Russ Volckmann, PhD
Coaching Leaders in Business and Life
Email: russ@leadcoach.com
Web: www.leadcoach.com, Tel: 831.333-9200, FAX: 831.656-0110
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© 2001-2006 Russ Volckmann. All Rights Reserved