Think Before You Drink More Kool-Aid!

How re-thinking can increase your productivity

Thinking outside the box. Teaching old dogs new tricks. Professional development. These are all terms that emphasize the importance of change when looking for continued success. Being flexible and integrating new behaviours is how the very best remain on top in today’s fast-paced world.

“Drinking the Kool-Aid”—the concept of someone’s unquestioned acceptance of a behaviour or process without scrutiny—is what many companies encourage of their employees in order to fit into their culture and be productive. It’s a great way to promote teamwork and achieve results based on previous accomplishments. Yet it often stymies long term productivity.

Too Much Kool-Aid?

When I was at Nortel, I heard a story which exactly illustrated this point. A senior mentor told his new hire he needed to stay five years with Nortel to fully understand their complex procedures. However, if the new hire stayed more than eight years, the mentor said he’d become brainwashed with Nortel’s way of doing things. The Nortel “chip” would be implanted in his brain, making the new hire unable to think outside of the Nortel box, and therefore limit his creativity.

Recently, I encountered a similar issue. A corporate client was rolling out new company-wide expectations to increase overall productivity. My job was to help a set of high value employees—those who possessed important corporate history and deep client knowledge—adjust to these new demands. Unfortunately, this particular group of people had developed strategies and behaviours to meet expectations with minimal effort. Despite their potential, they used shortcuts, avoided crucial conversations and deflected arguments to make life as easy as possible. Their initial resistance was unbelievable as they truly felt their set ways offered the best options.

Both of the above examples underline the danger of becoming set in one’s ways. Over time, drinking too much “Kool-Aid” can make people behave without thinking. It can cause us to lose our ability to recognize different solutions or see different approaches. Because the world is constantly evolving, it’s important that we possess the flexibility to change as well, if we are to achieve continued success at what we do.

Your Flexible Self

Having the ability and desire to try different ways and methods is what I refer to as having a Flexible Self. The Resilience Alliance define resilience as the ability to navigate change efficiently, quickly and as painlessly as possible. How surprised I was when I took their resilience test and found my Flexible Self very low on the scale! Being the son of a Canadian diplomat, I moved around a lot, and believed that I was quite open to change.

After I got these results, my coach challenged me to do things differently for 30 days. I accepted and the experience was an eye opener. For 30 days, I questioned everything I did and how I did it. I discovered that change, even the little things, made me more efficient and achieve better results. For example, I went to a different store to pick up office supplies. Even though I didn’t know where everything was located, or was unfamiliar with the staff, I found the new store had more choices and better prices. What I thought would be a time waster was the exact opposite. Talk about false perception!!! I applied this challenge to many things and saw immediate results: better service, reduced costs and better state of mind! All in just 30 days.

The 30 Day Challenge

In some of my programs, I challenge participants to do things differently for one evening and am amazed at the results after just one day. Imagine what you can achieve in 30 days! My 30 day exercise impressed upon me the importance of re-thinking how I operate. Tried and true methods with constant tweaking can and will develop into higher levels of productivity. All it takes is a bit of flexibility.

Are you interested in learning at what level your Flexible Self exists? Are you willing to challenge yourself to do things differently? Drinking too much Kool-Aid is bad for your career. Try my challenge for 30 days and let me know how you are doing, I would love to talk about it over a free coaching session! To learn more about how you could win 6 free coaching sessions, click here. Until then…

Be amazing!

The 30 Day Challenge

Win SIX FREE Coaching Sessions!

I challenge you to do things differently for the next 30 days.  From simple home-based routines such as watching more (or less) TV to  trying a new supplier or technique at work. For 30 days, track the changes you’ve tried and the results.  Please note: I highly discourage Career Limiting Moves!  Report results back to me and you could win six sessions of free leadership coaching over a three month period!

How the contest works:

• Email Coach Denis to say you are in.
• For the next 30 days track your changes and document the benefits. Be creative here!
• Email Coach Denis your results by July 28.
• Winner (announced in August) will receive six free sessions (over three months) of my coaching program where you will learn how to be more effective, strategic and ramp up your career progression.

Read my article, “Think Before You Drink Too Much Kool-Aid” to find out why doing things differently can make you more successful.

Are You Having the Right Conversation with Under Achievers?

As a leadership coach, I help executives and managers find solutions to the challenges they face. Sometimes it’s dealing with difficult employees, “managing” leaders at a higher level or preparing for intense negotiation. These activities are hard work, but rewarding. I also provide counsel during one of the most difficult and emotionally draining actions leaders must undertake in the corporate world: employee layoffs.

Unfortunately, when employees can’t do their job or are not a good fit, leaders need to break the relationship and refocus. It’s a difficult, humbling part of my work and it’s where I get to witness a variety of dynamics, reactions and situations.

Good employees are very valuable. A manager’s job is to make sure these people are in the right role for their skill-set. Excellent leaders take pride in their ability to nurture high performance teams by drawing out individual strengths to the benefit of the group. They recognize that everyone has a key role to play, and the manager must “redirect” anyone who strays from the team path. Yet sometimes I wonder how effective managers are in helping valuable but struggling employees find a role that best suits them?

Setting People Up for Success

I ask this because over the years, I have heard comments which indicate that employees were shocked when laid off. Regardless of the circumstance—poor performance or inappropriate behaviour included—a layoff notice should not be a surprise for the employee. A good leader will have provided the proper warnings, had the difficult conversations and engineered the realignment plans to help re-focus a struggling employee’s path. It’s tough to do, but done correctly, these strategies clarify the expectations and ensure everyone understands the consequences if expectations are met—or missed.

As a leader with the ability to significantly affect the lives of others through promotions and layoffs, it’s important you take the proper steps to make sure that terminating an employee is the final and only option to you. Because once you hand out the pink slip, you need to feel confident that the end result was in the best interest of the company AND the individual.

Recently, I was involved with a client who had to layoff some staff members. My role was to help the individuals go through the change process. During the project, I came across a situation where a very valuable employee was being let go. “George,” (not his real name), had been with the company for six years. He had a good reputation, clients were happy with him and there were no complaints from management. About 6 months ago, a new manager came on board with new directives. She was under a lot of pressure to show significant progress in a short period of time. The new objectives required employees to change the way they worked. George said this manager used demeaning language, raised her voice and belittled the employees in order to get them to adopt new behaviours. This triggered George’s “hot” buttons and he was clearly frustrated with her lack of respect. As a seasoned employee, he was very assertive and pushed back on her command and control style. Unfortunately, this was seen as insubordination, and in the end, a valuable staff member with six years of experience, was let go.

Is it Them… or is it YOU?

I am obviously simplifying what I perceive happened, but the lesson is: when a reputable employee is having difficulty under your leadership… is it really just about them? Maybe you need to look in the mirror to see the problem? How clearly have you communicated your expectations? Do they know what is needed of them and why? Are they in a role that best utilizes their strengths? Do they understand the big picture? Do YOU see the big picture? Are you aware of how you are perceived when you communicate and act with this employee?

These questions are difficult but must be considered by good leaders. Having these tough conversations is critical to the well-being of the workplace and will command you respect because you are doing the right thing. Over the years, I have used the following guidelines to ensure my clients are doing all that they can when faced with employee productivity issues:

1. Investigate the facts. Having real facts goes far when trying to solve a problem while rumours get you nowhere. Is your underperforming employee having issues at home? Did they understand the new protocols? Did they read the memo?
2. Abide by the 24/72 hour rule. When upset, if possible, take 24 hours to cool off before you respond. You need to show up in control and be logical! Yet, don’t delay the conversation for more then 72 hours; otherwise, you risk sending the message that poor performance or inappropriate behaviour is acceptable.
3. Use a methodology for constructive feedback. Your first task should be to gather the facts, listen to your employee’s perspective and make sure they feel comfortable as you provide your viewpoint. I suggest the STAR method: describe the Situation and the Task (or behaviour) that was performed by gathering the facts, then describe the Action that was taken and the Results. “John, I noticed that after a few minutes on the call, your language started to change and words deemed offensive were used. This resulted in the client escalating a complaint to my attention. We now have to deal with an important client who is fuming and hesitating to renew his support contract with us. This contract is worth around $250,000.” Relating the Situation and Task without judgment will help your employee receive the message and stay in the logical plane. It also makes sure you are looking at the issue from the same perspective and that your facts are correct. You can then choose to either coach John to get a better Action and Result, or you can become directive in outlining what could have been done better.
4. Work with the employee to outline a corrective action plan. Accountability is the key to making new behaviours stick.
5. Follow up with the appropriate actions. This may be a weekly or even a daily check-in to monitor your employee’s performance and motivation.

When going through this process, your intent will have a huge impact on the outcome. Coming from a place of compassion and helping your employee take the right steps for aligning their behaviour or increasing their skill-set will boost the probability of a positive outcome. The opposite will occur if your approach is vengeful or full of ill intent.

Finally, if your employee’s behaviour does not change and the problem persists, you must take action. With each subsequent occurrence, be clear that their behaviour is unacceptable and that failure to change could result in termination. At the same time, you must be prepared for the day when you may have to layoff this employee. If termination is the end-game, you can rest assured that you did take corrective action but things just didn’t work out. In these difficult situations, working with HR will be invaluable to ensure all laws and best practices are observed. Furthermore, providing a good career transition program is vital to keeping the dignity of the employee and helping them move ahead faster with less emotional difficulties.

Tough conversations and potential layoffs are not a fun subject; however, it’s a reality for leaders like yourself. Having the right conversation at the right time makes sure the end result is as positive and productive as possible. Until then…

Be amazing!

Change is All About Habits

We’ve all heard the phrase, “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” To me, it’s a poor excuse for explaining why it’s hard to change entrenched behaviours. Whether you are young or old, learning a new behaviour or changing your habits is hard work! Yet this is what we all must do when our habits are no longer productive for us.

Teaching New Tricks

This past summer, I coached my daughter’s U13 (13 year old) competitive soccer team. For many of the kids, this was their first exposure to competitive soccer and its higher level of skilled players. As a coach, it became readily apparent that the habits the girls developed in their younger, recreational years would no longer serve them at the competitive level where the games are faster, the plays more sophisticated and the opponents better athletes. For example, kicking the ball up the field and hoping our fastest sprinter could outrun the defenders didn’t result in goals like it used to. At the U13 level, the well-trained opposition could better anticipate this tactic and simply force our attackers into the corner where we usually lost the ball.

After a few games, I approached one of our “sprinters” to show different ways that she could be more effective on the field when trying to score goals. We had a good conversation and she committed to try new ways. Over the next few games I saw no change. She instinctively sprinted to the corner and usually lost the ball. I then integrated drills into our practices to anchor techniques to serve her and the other strikers in evading defenders and scoring goals. After a few more practices, still no change. The moment of glory happened the game after the third practice where the whole team started to show some new behaviours and use the techniques taught in practice. The outcome: a much stronger style of play with better results. Talk about quite an effort to change the reflexes and habits that were ingrained in their style of play.

I am sure you can relate to such dynamics in your workplace when you see change such as a new project management framework introduced, a new sales force program rolled out or a new customer service paradigm initiated. Humans are creatures of habit. We love doing the same thing over and over because we can anticipate the result and therefore minimize the unknown. Rather than risk the unproven, most people prefer to stick with the tried and true—even if we perceive there could be some benefit in changing. Over time, the “tried and true” behaviour simply becomes a reflex. Because these reflexes or habits have worked in the past, we keep on reacting the same way to the same type of situations.

The good news is, that with some work, anyone—young and old dogs alike—can effectively change their habits! Below are five tips you can use to better direct change:

1. Acknowledge that the status quo isn’t working anymore. Being over budget or delivering projects late are not acceptable in this day and age. Neither is a downward sales trend in a growing market or losing games to weaker opponents. As a leader, you and your team need to recognize that the group is going in the wrong direction and you must make changes to succeed in the future.
2. Provide training in the techniques and behaviour that you and your team need to adopt. Need a better close ratio? Teach your staff more persuasive communication skills and how to focus their efforts on higher potential opportunities. Want to deliver projects on time and on budget? Maybe you need to review your project framework and provide training on best practices. Role play various situations to help your team get comfortable in different, potentially uncomfortable settings. This training or “practice” will increase you and your team’s level of ability and confidence that the end result of this new behaviour will be desirable.
3. Be accountable. The next step is to ensure your team understands what is expected of them and they are prepared to take the risk and try new behaviours. When you’re at your team meeting and reviewing the status of the project or sales opportunity, have them discuss how they are using the technique and how it is working. You should also talk about how YOU are making changes. As the leader, show that this new way of doing things is not a flavour of the month and that you are committed to developing new habits as well.
4. Reinforce the new behaviour as it happens. It’s important to note that training is not enough to change habits. Your positive reinforcement, whether on the sidelines or in the boardroom, is critical to adopting new and unproven habits. When your employee uses that new communication method or sales tool, congratulate her on her effort. This will show that you are noticing the effort, because it does take an effort to do things differently.
5. Accentuate the positive. Do not point out every single mistake that your employee does when adopting a new technique. Chances are, they know when they’ve done it incorrectly, and having you point out all of their errors is demoralizing. Instead, celebrate the wins—even if they are small—by emphasizing the results and applauding the individuals who are taking a risk and trying the new techniques. So when you see your employee trying a new conflict resolution technique with a customer, let her struggle (if you can bear the consequences of a mistake, of course,) and then take her aside and applaud her for trying and congratulate her if she has been able to get the desired results. This is where the new habit will really start showing up. One caveat is to always take into consideration risks. If you are establishing a new health and safety procedure that concerns the life or safety of an employee, obviously, you cannot allow people to learn from their mistakes.

Change Takes Time and Effort… But it’s Worth it!

Research shows that 10% of learning happens in formal training (practice), 20% in coaching and mentoring (on the side line) and 70% on the job (during the game). Patience and perseverance are key to successfully changing your habits when using the above simple steps. In the end, you and your team will come out winners as you support each other and revel in your achievements.

Until then… be amazing!

How Small Changes Can Yield Results

At work, and at home, it’s easy to get comfortable with your processes, tools and routines. We often perceive this “autopilot” as being an efficient way to deal with the more mundane tasks of life. Yet, if we think about what we are doing, and tweak some of these habits, the results can be astounding. We can see things in a different way and identify new opportunities to improve or gain efficiencies. Sometimes, a series of tiny changes can make a big difference over the course of a few weeks or months.

Does Your Autopilot Need a Reality Check?

A recent event helped me to solidify this theory. I’m a jogger, and not that long ago I went out for my regular run. This is a routine task, so I don’t think about it too much: I just put on my shoes and run. Basically, I’m on autopilot. During this particular jog, I wasn’t that far along and I noticed my feet didn’t feel quite the same. They weren’t in pain, but something just wasn’t right. About 1 km passed until I finally took the time to look down at my left foot. Sure enough, I had put my old sneaker on that foot! I laughed to myself for putting on my old pair of runners, which did look similar to my new pair. I kept on running and then 500m later, I realized that something was definitely wrong because I clearly remembered putting my newer shoes on. Finally, I stopped and looked at both shoes at the same time. Here was my reality check: I had put a new running shoe on my right foot and an old running shoe on the left. Incredible! At that point I had to decide: do I continue or go back (or just hide somewhere)?

This event made me realize how we let our brain go on autopilot to address common, repetitive tasks. As a result, we end up paying little attention to the task at hand. We just “do” without thinking about the impact. At work, this translates into running your meetings using the same old format, communicating messages in just one particular way, or interacting with people using the same old style. Often, the status quo isn’t just an old habit, it’s more like a series of old habits from days gone by which have evolved into the company culture. Ironically, many of these habits are highly ineffective yet continue unquestioned—everyone doesn’t think, they just do.

Leaders Must Challenge the Status Quo

Constantly challenging the status quo at your workplace can be very beneficial to your company. Right now, I’m working with a client who has a strong operational culture, known for its quality products and customer service. Although this is a great reputation to have, this culture is so strong that it structures the sales force to become an extension of operations. Sales representatives no longer develop business, they take care of customer service issues and quality control in the field. When I began working with them, sales people spent 70-90% of their efforts reacting to client demand, post sales. You can imagine the company’s challenge to keep its market share and expand the business when their sales force is busy with non-sales related activities. Yet this is a behaviour that’s been ingrained over many years and plays a core role within their culture. The good news is that the organization has finally assessed the situation and is now moving to correct it. As a result of our work together, the incremental changes have seen sales volume growth and better market intelligence. And they have only started to make changes!

It takes courage and strength to look at yourself in the mirror and realize the status quo is NOT working and you need to do something about it. When jogging with two different shoes on, it took me some time to finally address the situation, even though I KNEW something was wrong long before I stopped. How long does it take you to stop and make a clear assessment of the situation when something doesn’t feel right? Are you actually aware that you are wearing two different shoes and not operating as efficiently as you could be? Is it time for your reality check?

Old habits are hard to break and working in autopilot is so much easier in the short term. It’s important that leaders like you spend some time every week—even if it’s just five minutes—to assess the value of these habits and culturally accepted norms. You can assess this personally, or get feedback from others. Either way, it’s likely that you’ll discover something that leads to greater productivity.

Oh, and by the way, I did decide to complete my run with two different shoes. I figured that I was almost 2km into it and didn’t want to go back. But I can assure you, I now double check my shoes so I can run efficiently—and proudly—again!

Until then… Be amazing!

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Denis Levesque is owner of Ottawa-based Big Dashan, a high-performance executive coaching, training and speaking firm. His ARC of Leadership methodology helps leaders go from good to great. 

Do You Have The “Connection” To Be A Great Leader?

This is the final article of Ottawa-based executive coach Denis Lévesque‘s ARC of Leadership series.

The power of connection between people is an intangible asset that can create very tangible results. As I unveil the final element within my ARC of Leadership methodology—Connection—it’s important to reflect that having an Awareness of your strengths/weaknesses, a Resilience to change and a Connection to others are the three differentiating “human” skills that make a good leader, a truly outstanding one.

Leaders like you have a vision on how to move the organization forward. Yet the success of your vision is highly dependent on engaging key organizational people—your employees, partners, suppliers, customers, etc. You need these people to turn your vision into reality. So how do you get this buy-in? The answer is simple: you need to connect with them.

Making That Connection

Creating a connection requires building up trust with your different audience segments. You must reach out to these groups and convince them that what you are asking them to do will have a positive impact on them. Leaders can build this Connection between the vision and results by incorporating what I call the Five Pillars of Connection into their leadership style:

1. Possessing the Right Purpose and Intent
2. Connecting with Charisma and Inspiration
3. Being Mentally Present during a Conversation
4. Attending Key Events in Person
5. Optimizing your Communication Style

Is The Purpose and Intent of Your Message Clear?

Have you ever communicated a message you felt was paramount to your vision’s implementation… and your message was misunderstood or your intent misjudged? If that was the case, it’s unlikely you achieved your goals. To avoid these issues, you can gain greater transparency in your message’s purpose by considering the following:

• Be Clear.  Stating the intent and purpose of your message at the beginning of a difficult or important conversation is the key first step to clarity. Then, you need to stay true to this intent and purpose throughout the communication cycle.
• Get Personally Involved.  Leaders need to commit the time to important messages and initiatives and see them through to their realization. Getting involved, and not delegating, reinforces the perceived importance of this vision to those around you.
• Maintain Consistency.  Changing messages and direction for no valid reason affects one’s integrity. And integrity is critical to successful leadership.
• Build Relationships.  Human beings thrive on relationships. By investing time and energy on creating fruitful and meaningful relationships, we can better connect and understand each other. Most leaders have perfected managing key external and internal relationships. However, younger generations respect authority that is earned, not dictated, and leaders must learn to embrace this cultural change.

Be Charismatic and Inspiring

The second pillar to building Connection is your charisma and inspiration. The difference between an efficient leader and a super successful leader is highly influenced by the resonance between the leader and their employees. Charisma is particularly important during turbulent times when leaders need their people to give an extra effort to achieve results. Coupled with the ability to inspire your organization to “achieve the unachievable,” charismatic leaders will keep their company moving forward in the complex and chaotic sea of the modern market place.

Everyone can improve their charisma and inspirational qualities, by integrating the following within their leadership style:

• Identify the WIIFM (What’s In It For Me) Factor. The leader who can articulate the link between corporate benefits and personal benefits to their employees will get their employees to move mountains. Make the message relevant and people will respond.
• Illustrate your Grandeur.  Leaders must create a personal magnetism; an ability to inspire and attract people to their cause. This requires a fine balance between technical mastery and being able to relate to people on a personal level.
• Show Your Emotions. Emotional Intelligence is a proven business game changer. It is OK to share your joy and sorrows respectfully and efficiently—it makes us more “human.”
• Create the Tribe. In the past, people had numerous communities (religious, charitable, sporting, family etc.,) to rely on when dealing with life’s ups and downs. Today’s fractured family units, fast-paced lifestyle and long work weeks have caused many to leave these communities. And the opportunity for human contact decreases with global “advancements” such as voice mail, smart phones, self-service everything and the Internet. Yet humanity remains “thirsty” for community… for finding common elements that make us stick together in good times and bad. For many, the workplace has become the source where their social needs are met. As a great leader, you must recognize the importance of creating a “fun” work environment where people can trust each other on a professional and personal level. If you can create a strong team atmosphere, you will drastically increase the well being of people at work, as well as their retention rates.

Building Your Connection to Others

So far, I’ve talked about a leader’s need to speak clearly with purpose and intent, and the importance of adding charisma and inspiration into your communications. It’s also important for leaders to integrate the third, forth and fifth Connection pillars into their leadership style:

• Staying focused when talking to others.
• Taking the time to physically meet with your constituents
• Paying as much attention to WHAT you say as HOW you say it.

In my upcoming book, I will fully discuss all five pillars required for Connection. Keep these five pillars in mind and your ability to connect with your audience will have more impact and therefore be more successful. Until then…

Be amazing!

Must-Have Components of Timely Execution

This is the final of three articles on the topic of Resilience. As part of my ARC of Leadership framework—an Awareness of your strengths/weaknesses and your perception by others, a Resilience to difficulties and change, and a Connection to stakeholders—executives and managers like yourself can master these human elements to move your leadership performance to a higher level.

Mastering Resilience is so critical because it’s a skill leaders need to keep their organizations competitive during today’s complex and fast-paced business environment. To date, I’ve reviewed the first three of Resilience’s four fundamentals:

• #1: Proper risk management
• #2: Effective personal “brand” alignment
• #3: Prompt reaction

Today, I will show you why Timely Execution, the fourth fundamental, is important to mastering the art of Resilience.

#4: Timely Execution

Timely execution is “walking the talk” while the “talk” is still strategically relevant. It’s your ability to quickly execute the identified plan and take advantage of opportunities or manage issues. To master this fundamental, you must consider the following components:

Be Decisive.  As leaders explore alternatives, it’s easy to get caught in analysis paralysis and risk doing nothing. Or, risk waiting too long and the opportunity passing. To be decisive, you must think through the impact of your decisions and consider Resilience fundamentals such as risk management, personal brand alignment and prompt reaction.  Eventually, you will have to determine when you have enough information to make a decision. Could you move forward with 80% of the information and manage the risks? Or do you need 100%? The opportunity cost of over analyzing can be disastrous for any business involved in a rapidly changing market place. Lost time can mean lost money, especially in difficult times.

Be Persistent.  There is nothing more damaging to corporate momentum, than a leadership team that starts a major initiative only to drop it a few months later. Employees recognize this pattern and react accordingly by dismissing the importance of new initiatives, which they view as time wasters. Putting your energy into all aspects of execution demonstrates the corporate importance of an initiative. Don’t assume that delegating the task to your right hand is enough. Be there! Be present! Change is hard work and your perseverance will pay off in spades.

Work Smart and Work Hard.  During these difficult times, people need to see that you are fully dedicated to making your initiative happen. An engaged leader reaches out to their employees and motivates them to achieve. Engaged leaders understand what’s going on at the shop and executive levels, and everywhere in between. This type of engagement takes hard work, but during turbulent times, it’s a major catalyst in getting your team to perform quickly and effectively.

Resilience is A Game Changer

Resilient leaders have the ability to bounce back and lead in new directions, be transparent and empathetic in difficult times and find opportunities in a chaotic market. Proper risk management, effective personal brand alignment, prompt reaction and timely execution are the four fundamentals you need to build a resilient organization. Then, when that next wave of change or obstacles approaches your company, you and your team can take advantage of the situation and use it to leapfrog ahead of your competitors. It’s a game changing skill.

Next month, I’ll discuss how a Connection to your stakeholders—employees, board, suppliers, customers, and community—completes the ARC of Leadership and makes you a better leader. Until then…

Be amazing!

How Leaders Can Harness the Power of Change (Resilience Part 2)

The following is the third article in Denis Lévesque’s ongoing ARC of Leadership series.

 Creating A Resilient Organization

In today’s hyper competitive business world, one thing you can bet on is that change will accelerate and make the marketplace more complex. You can also bet that leaders who take advantage of change and create an adaptable organization will enjoy greater success than those who don’t.

The question is, how can leaders make change—a terrifying black hole of uncertainty for many—a driver to greater success? Resilience to change is one the three “human” elements I coach executives to embrace on their road to higher personal and corporate performance. An Awareness of your strengths and weaknesses and a Connection to stakeholders are the other two elements which comprise my ARC of Leadership methodology.

As I mentioned in my first article on Resilience, a resilient leader integrates four fundamentals into his or her leadership style to create an adaptable organization that is ready for new opportunities. The four fundamentals of Resilience are:

• Proper Risk Management
• Effective Personal “Brand” Alignment
• Prompt Reaction
• Timely Execution

Resilience Fundamental #1: Risk Management

Last article, I discussed how education and knowledge, managing your business relationships and having a mitigation plan, are key to proper risk management. In today’s article, I will go into detail on the second and third critical fundamentals of Resilience: alignment and reaction.

Resilience Fundamental #2: Effective Personal Brand “Alignment”

The second fundamental needed to master Resilience and harness the opportunities of change is to align your public brand or image with your desired image. Being a credible leader who walks the talk is one of the most powerful—and difficult—means to inspire change. Most successful leaders or companies surround themselves with clever people, and it’s the smart ones who will be the first to see a disconnect, or a synergy, between what you say and what you do… and then follow accordingly. To achieve that alignment, build your credibility and then influence behaviours, leaders must embrace the following:

1. Demonstrate Your Commitment. A public AND internal commitment and dedication to the tasks, strategies and objectives of the organization is key for any leader. Leaders who spend time publicly communicating their company’s mission and are present within the organization to articulate the vision and answer employee questions are true leaders. They have a pulse on the marketplace and are in touch with their staff… and vice versa.  So when the time comes to react and implement change, employees will not be surprised and will understand the context of the conversation. If you only show up to deliver bad news, people will become defensive and resistant by the sheer sight of you coming their way!
2. Be Positive. Have you ever seen a leader that concentrated on the negative events or possibilities? It’s very depressing to hear we’re doing a bad job with little hope for success. Good leaders are able to acknowledge the current struggle AND take the time to weave in positive messages of hope and achievement to their organizations. If you can highlight what is going well and communicate positive opportunities in times of chaos, people are much more motivated to keep struggling on through the tough times of change.
3. Radiate Confidence. Leaders must communicate their confidence in the people, the processes and themselves to get the job done during times of uncertainty. A key assumption here, is you have assembled a team in whom you are confident… and if you have not, well, then you have other issues to manage! Your confidence needs to be communicated throughout every aspect of the company and marketplace.  If you don’t believe in yourself or your team, this will be perceived and will diminish the impact of the actions taken during difficult times.

Resilience Fundamental #3: Prompt Reaction

The third fundamental of Resilience is your ability to react in difficult times. As a leader, how you react to change—be it quickly, slowly, or not at all—will have a major impact on how your organization also reacts. Do nothing and the changes or difficulties will be accepted as inevitable. React slowly and in small increments and you risk impacting your corporate culture… which is very difficult to change later on. Prompt reaction is what you should strive to achieve. In general, employees, customers and suppliers value leaders who react quickly and bring along a “take charge” attitude. They value it because they see you, the leader, addressing the issues and feel more comfortable that the change can be dealt with effectively.

To increase your capacity to react promptly, integrate the following into your leadership skill set:

1. Be Empathetic. When anyone learns about or is confronted with a difficult reality, many people go into a state of shock or even denial and avoid dealing with the issue as long as possible. Experts agree, that we can better manage shock and therefore move forward by releasing the energy, anxiety and stress it creates, as soon as possible. Obviously, it doesn’t look very professional if a CEO is crying in public or during a town hall meeting; however, as a leader, acknowledging  this “pain,” you validate that it’s perfectly normal to be anxious and stressed out about these changes. Your empathy makes a huge difference in getting people feeling comfortable that you understand their pain, and they are much more willing to get “on board” to move forward in your desired direction.
2. Accept The Reality. Many organizations and leaders keep resisting change in the marketplace or its corporate culture. McDonald’s is a good example of this. For many years McDonald’s made small changes to their operations and marketing, with constant menu tweaks in hopes of expanding their customer base. Finally, they realized they needed a full-scale overhaul if they wanted to stay competitive. Because they resisted the changing marketplace for such a long time, they had to completely change their brand image to retain and then expand their target audience. McDonald’s now offers a healthier menu, a more refined café-like experience, has updated their interiors and exteriors, and provides free wi-fi. Although these changes are expensive, I do applaud the leadership team to have the strength and courage to fund such a major initiative. On the other side of the coin, a company like Nortel was not resilient at all. They failed at making the transition from Bell Northern Research, a government-sponsored organization, to a commercially-viable entity we all know as Nortel. Their government-based mindset and resistance to being nimble in the highly dynamic and customer-focused marketplace, lead to the end of this once great organization. The lesson here is, change is inevitable, how you deal with it is not!
3. Mind Your Health. Although we all understand the impact alcohol or recreational drugs has on our ability to properly assess and react to a situation, there are other health-related factors to consider. Lack of sleep, prescription drug side-effects and our general level of health all have a major impact on our energy level and clarity of thinking. Take the time to rest, exercise and eat well; it will pay off in terms of your mental endurance and personal productivity.

Effective personal brand alignment and prompt reaction are the second and third fundamentals of Resilience. Last article we discussed the first fundamental, risk management, and next article, we’ll look at the final fundamental, timely execution. I encourage you to focus 5-10 minutes a day in exploring these two fundamentals in your journey to mastering the art of Resilience. Until then…

Be amazing!

Resilience and the ARC of Leadership: How Change and Uncertainty can Drive Success

The following is the next article in an ongoing series in which Denis Lévesque unveils his ARC of Leadership methodology.

Why Leaders Need Resilience

Last newsletter, I introduced the ARC of Leadership concept. It’s a framework I developed and use to help good leaders become outstanding ones. By mastering the “human” elements of leadership—an Awareness of your strengths/weaknesses and how you are perceived by others, a Resilience to difficulties and change, and a Connection to stakeholders—executives and managers like yourself can achieve a higher level of performance.

In this article, I’ll explain how the element of Resilience makes you a better leader, and go into detail on the first of four critical fundamentals you’ll need to master. If you need to brush on the element of Awareness, discussed in an earlier article, please click here.

Resilience refers to your ability to overcome difficulties and use defeat or failure as a springboard to even greater success. It’s a very fast-paced world today. Change happens all the time, and as the pace of change and complexity accelerates, there is a greater chance of failure. Think of Nortel, Yahoo and RIM—just a few years ago, they dominated their industries: now, they are gone or struggle to remain relevant. Constantly changing demographics, technology, competition and growing globalization have taken a heavy toll on them.

So how do leaders keep their business relevant and competitive in these turbulent and fast-paced times? They must be aware of their leadership strengths and weaknesses, and, they must be resilient. Leaders who can bounce back and lead in new directions, show empathy, are transparent in difficult times and can find ways to see opportunities in a chaotic market are the winners of today and tomorrow.  One thing you can bet on is that change will accelerate and become more complex. As a leader, if you can “master” or capitalize on change by creating a nimble and adaptable organization, your have created a tremendous advantage for your company.

To master change, leaders must consider four fundamentals within the element of Resilience:

1. Proper risk management
2. Effective personal “brand” alignment
3. Prompt reaction
4. Timely execution

Resilience Fundamental #1: Proper Risk Management

Your first step to increased resilience is to master your risk management skills.  Preparation for a difficult moment or change helps you navigate an obstacle much more easily. Increased confidence and clarity of thinking will allow you, the leadership team and your company, to take swift action as it recognizes opportunities lurking within the risk.

Consider the following real-life example. A chip manufacturer had a fire in one its major plants. The cleanup and repairs were estimated to take minimal time with a minimal impact to their customers—mainly cell phone manufacturers.  Unfortunately, it took NINE months for the plant to resume full productivity.  The repercussion of this event was very favorable for one of their clients and devastating to another. Why? Because Company A managed the risk and made alternate plans, while Company B decided to wait until the chip manufacturer was back on track with production. Instead of sitting back and assuming the supply interruption would be quickly fixed, Company A worked closely with their supplier and understood that the supply lines would be affected for a significant amount of time. By assessing the risk, they recognized from the beginning that unless they sourced parts from other plants, they themselves would face grave production issues. As a result, they realigned their supply chain to the supplier’s sister plants and other chip plants and their chip supply was uninterrupted for that nine months. By the time the executives at Company B learned that the “short interruption in supply” would take months and months to fix, all available supplies from the supplier’s sister plants and other competitors were already committed to Company A. By not understanding the risk and managing it proactively, Company B was hopeless to replace the production with other suppliers and they lost a tremendous amount of sales, momentum and market share. This is a great example of how a resilient company properly managed the risk and used it to their advantage.

In order to increase your risk management capabilities, consider the following lessons from the above example:

• Education and knowledge is critical: Company A knew the ramifications of having a supply interruption, so they investigated to learn as much as they could about the situation. The more you know about the market, the people, the products and the services you are offering, the more you can react successfully to change and risk. Information gathering—internal and external information and intelligence—also allows you to recognize the market shifts or situation shifts and prepare accordingly.
• Manage your Business Relationships: By working closely with the supplier, Company A understood that “minimal impact” to their supply chain was unlikely and therefore needed to change suppliers. Proper Business Relationship Management (BRM) like this, provides an incredible advantage during critical transitions or times of change. The more you can leverage your current relationships to help your company, the more efficient the reaction. During times of “calm”, that is when you need to plant the seed and “nurture” new and existing relationships with suppliers, partners, clients, staff, etc.
• Have a “Mitigation Plan” in place: Securing alternate suppliers gave Company A a huge competitive advantage over Company B. As you gather information and knowledge, mitigation planning will help you react and execute faster, with better clarity.

As the leader within your team or company, it’s critical you instill resilience within your organization. Risk Management is the first fundamental of Resilience. I encourage you to focus 5-10 minutes a day in exploring this fundamental and gathering the information you need to manage your risk.

Next article, we’ll explore Resilience fundamentals #2 and #3: effective personal brand alignment and prompt reaction. Until then, Be Amazing!

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Denis Levesque, CEC, PCC, is owner of Big Dashan, a high-performance coaching, training and speaking firm. He helps those who feel stuck, bored or overwhelmed at work, build the clarity, confidence and passion they need to achieve their goals. Fluent in both English and French, Mr. Levesque helps rising talent improve their performance and their organizations’ effectiveness and profitability.

The ARC of Leadership: How Improved Awareness Leads to Higher Performance

The following is the first article in a multi-part series in which Denis Lévesque unveils his ARC of Leadership methodology.

Assessing Your “Personal Brand”

I’ve always thought that good leaders were a lot like good drivers.  A good driver is very aware of their surroundings. They aren’t distracted by activities such as texting or a GPS. If they need to change speed or direction, good drivers use a framework of procedures—shoulder checks and mirrors—to minimize risk as they make adjustments on route to their destination.

Good leaders are like that too. They know that changing corporate direction or speed can be dangerous unless you use the right tools and procedures to manage the risk change brings. Good leaders aren’t distracted by unnecessary noise: they are very aware of what is happening around them and use that knowledge to drive successful change.

Self Awareness is all about knowing what you are good at, where you need to improve and then going about and making those improvements. It’s about being a good driver in your business role. Awareness is also the first of three core elements in what I call the ARC of Leadership. A leader can use these three critical “soft skills” to enhance their current skill set and take themselves and their company from pretty good to really amazing!

Being self aware—understanding the nuances of your messages and how others perceive you—is a challenge for most. But the reality is, a leader’s “personal brand” has an enormous impact on an organization’s effectiveness.

A few months ago, I was coaching a high energy, smart and driven leader. She was very good at what she was doing but did not find that her team was achieving its full potential. After a short journey in coaching, she discovered that she should stop fixing all of her team’s problems and let them find their own solution. This advice is quite obvious from a distance; but when you are in the middle of this situation, most people consider doing the work as more efficient… at least in the short term.  The moment she stopped fixing problems and started to coach her employees, her team started improve. Initially, because she changed her style so drastically, the team struggled. However, within a short time, the team was able to deliver at the high level she expected of them.

Five Steps to Increase Your Self-Awareness

The road to greater self-awareness begins by assessing your personality and performance: your strengths and weaknesses, how you come across in the organization and how people perceive you. Unfortunately, most people are devastated when their limitations are aired and therefore internalize little of the “beneficial insight” from feedback such as a 360 review. It’s not easy to hear someone identify your weaknesses!

So how do you increase your level of self awareness to become a better leader? Big Dashan suggests the following five ways:

1. Hire an executive coach.  The role of a coach includes gently raising a mirror in front of you so that you can clearly see your own traits. Done objectively and gently, you will be amazed at the insights discovered.
2. Use personality tools.  There are a plethora of tools which help to categorize the dynamics of your personality, communication style and even conflict style.  These tools help provide a peek into how others may perceive your actions.
3.  Ask for feedback! Asking the right question can deliver a lot of great information. But make sure you are ready for the feedback! It’s not always easy hearing about ways you need to self-improve. Don’t be defensive (and definitely not vindictive) when someone offers their honest opinion.
4. Slow down and don’t stress.  We are all very busy. The demands of a job, family, volunteering, etc., can leave little time to do much, let alone think clearly. When we operate at 150 km/hour, our mind is just processing the tasks right in front of us.  This leaves little space to just watch and learn.  Sometimes, the answers are right in front of you, but you are just too busy to observe them! So schedule some down time or thinking time each week. Many of the biggest breakthroughs have happened this way!
5. Take care of yourself. Always take the time to get enough sleep, eat well and exercise. A healthy, well-rested body allows you to think more clearly when you are self-assessing.

The ROI of Self-Awareness

So why go through this exercise? What makes the pain worth the gain? Will better self-awareness really improve your leadership skills? In one word, “Yes!” A higher self-awareness provides you with the following:

• Increased Confidence. Increasing self awareness, increases confidence on what you are good at and what you should delegate.
• Personal Brand Management. We all “show” a certain way… you need to ask yourself if this is the “picture” you want others to know you by. By developing self-awareness you can better manage your personal brand.
• Higher Efficiency. When you know that you have difficulty in certain areas of your work, you can now delegate, outsource or work on it. This will have a positive impact on your productivity.
• Greater Trust. If people understand who you are, and know what to expect from you, you will develop trust within your team. Trust is a cornerstone for getting your team on side to implement plans and move your company forward.
• Improved Bottom Line. As a leader, you need to understand how your skills and style positively impact the bottom line… and how they impede it. By overcoming your “impediments,” you will relate better to your employees, management team, partners, clients, etc., resulting in increased speed of execution and lower operational costs from everyone involved.

Just as the expert driver uses their mirrors and shoulder checks to understand what is going on around them, a good leader will use similar tools to drive their business forward. It is difficult to hold a mirror up and see our weaknesses, but increasing awareness is vital in this hyper competitive world. Having an awareness of your strengths, as well as your areas for improvements is a critical element of great leadership. Luckily, everyone around you can clearly see your faults and weaknesses… so all you need to do is have the courage to ask them!

I encourage you to be brave and look in that mirror and check behind you. You’ll be amazed at how that awareness will improve your skills as a leader. Until then, Be Amazing!

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Next month, Denis will continue to outline his ARC of Leadership methodology. In the second part of his ongoing series, he will discuss how leaders require Resilience to thrive in our complex and changing business world. 

Denis Levesque, CEC, PCC, is owner of Big Dashan, a high-performance coaching, training and speaking firm. He helps those who feel stuck, bored or overwhelmed at work, build the clarity, confidence and passion they need to achieve their goals. Fluent in both English and French, Mr. Levesque helps rising talent improve their performance and their organizations’ effectiveness and profitability.