Patti Cotton

Executive Coach & Career Strategist

Trust

Three Steps to Getting Your Team on Board

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Three Steps to Getting Your Team on Board
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Have you come away from a team meeting confident that everyone is on board and ready to go? This is exactly what you needed in order to move the initiative forward.

But later, when you call people to action, you get pushback. They argue about time or resources. Somebody points to the executive down the hall.

“What about Jim?” they chide. “He ought to step up – he doesn’t have half the workload we do!”

How do you avoid arriving at this place? What can you do to make sure everyone is aligned and engaged?

Here are three steps to take so you can get your team on board from the get-go:

  1. Create psychological safety.

Your people need to know that, within the team, it is safe to take a risky stance. Such safety supports productive disagreement. Psychological safety requires that your team develop high trust with one another. How much does your team trust one another? For more on this, get the downloadable infographic below.

HOW MUCH

DO OTHERS REALLY TRUST YOU?

​Learn the two vital parts to trust and how they can help you become a more highly effective leader.

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  1. Surface assumptions.

Every human being comes equipped with assumptions. These are a result of our life experiences.

Is it summertime? The sky should be blue.

Is it dinner time? People should be getting hungry.

Some assumptions are not dangerous, and they help to guide us with everyday decisions. On the other hand, some assumptions can interfere with reaching consensus and alignment on important issues.

How can you ferret these out before they get in the way?

When your team meets, present the problem or initiative. Then, before they can ask questions or present any opinions, ask them what assumptions they will use in order to work together on this.

Are they assuming this will require…

  • Redirecting the workforce?
  • Additional budget considerations?
  • That their role will be modified in some way?

What other assumptions will they have?

Bring these to the surface and ask your team members to put these aside as you work. They may not be factors, and you will be able to address concerns more quickly as you move through the discussion.

  1. Expose misalignments.

Team members may feel agreeable during the discussion. However, some may not have thought things through in such a way that it reveals hidden roadblocks.

Get creative to stir things up. Consider taking discussions about new initiatives off-site. Present your idea as a hypothetical one and have them develop it as a team exercise.

Now, have them identify problems and work together to solve these.

After you have laid this foundation of collaboration, ask them to make it real, and talk about what it will take for the team to implement this. Again, have them problem-solve together.

Your team can begin to flex and increase its ability to perform at levels most will never experience.

I look forward to hearing how this works for you.

For more on psychological safety, see Amy Edmondson’s article, “Psychological Safety and Learning Behavior in Work Teams”, Administrative Science Quarterly; Jun 1999; 44, 2.

3 Essential Shifts Every Leader Must Make – Part 2

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3 Essential Shifts Every Leader Must Make Part 2: 360° Leadership Development
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Are you prepared to lead into the future?

Most leaders are not.

They experience increasing pressure as they attempt to cover all the bases and feel unsettled about what might be coming next.

If that is you, please stay with me on this, because the volatility and complexity of change in the business world is only growing.

If you want to make sure you are prepared to lead into the future, you must make three shifts right now to navigate effectively through change, and if you don’t take quick action on these, your leadership will soon be reaching its expiration date.

In a previous article, we talked about the first of three necessary shifts to do so: sharpening your emotional intelligence to increase your relational skills. If you missed this, catch up here.

Now, on to the second of the three necessary shifts you need to make: 360° leadership development.

There is a great buzz about the fact that to really grow in your leadership, you must work on both horizontal and vertical development to meet a complex world. And this is true.

Horizontal development refers to increasing in knowledge, skills and competencies. We can measure this through leadership assessments, 360° feedback processes, and similar means. Companies invest in tremendous amounts of money to assess, measure, and hold people accountable to these, and this is necessary.

But in the last few years, we recognized that was no longer enough. We discovered that leaders who possessed the knowledge, skills, and competencies required to conduct business, were now experiencing an inability to meet the changing demands.

The world was changing – and their leadership was not.

Albert Einstein once said, “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”

To expand on this truth, it has become clear that, “We can’t lead an organization of the future effectively by using the same kind of approaches we have used to lead the organization of today.” – Patti Cotton

To meet this problem, the leadership development world recognized the need for vertical development. Vertical development refers to the growth in a person’s thinking capability. It’s about how you think – how complex, strategic, interdependent, and systemic you are able to sift through challenges and make decisions. For more on this, read the white paper “Vertical Leadership Development-Part I” by Nick Petrie, Center for Creative Leadership.

“At last!” said the leadership development world. “We have now covered how to be more agile and complete in approaching change. We can rest easy!” Top executive coaches focused on the mindset shifts necessary to cultivate this, and we saw a lot of progress.

But a giant puzzle piece was missing and tragically continued to reveal itself in significant areas of the business world.

Here’s a small and partial list of contemporary business leaders who have run companies worth billions. They possess both horizontal and vertical development and, for quite a while, have been considered thought leaders ahead of the pack.

  • Elizabeth Holmes, former CEO, Theranos
  • Martin Winterkorn, former president of Volkswagen
  • Martin Shkreli, former CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals
  • Hisao Tinaka, former president of Toshiba

These people had the knowledge and competencies to run the organization. They developed the mindset shifts needed to develop their thinking capabilities so that they could meet change and future challenges. They were capable, high-performing, and they produced incredible results.

But the glaring piece that was missing in all cases – and the reason for their downfall – was that they were missing the third part of the 360° leadership equation: Character.

Character is a matter of trust.

And without trust, you won’t get far – at least, not for the long game.

If you are in this to win, you must not neglect your leadership character.

The people in the above list all showed a flawed or compromised character. The result has been that they have suffered personal leadership downfall, in some cases they are or have been under investigation with threatening jail time, and their respective organizations were either heavily fined, sold, or folded.

Now I am not suggesting that you should compare yourself to these people in any way – I’ve selected these people to make a point. However, I am proposing that you check to make sure that your own character is well-sharpened to support your leadership.

Can you deliver on the following traits consistently? Are they truly a part of you and the way you lead?

Five Key Leadership Character Traits:

  1. Integrity – Are you consistent and congruent in relating to others so that they know what they can expect from you, know that they can count on you?
  2. Respect – Do you respect yourself and others equally in your decisions and actions?
  3. Intent – Do you hold others in positive regard and with positive intent, so that your pre-assumptions and biases don’t curtail best thinking?
  4. Transparency – Are you authentic in your communications? Forthright in the way you confront conflict and resolve it? Candid in critical conversations so that you are tough on issues and tender on people?
  5. Connection – Do you genuinely desire to connect well with others – and are you able to do this successfully?

Without one of these, your leadership is headed toward its expiration date. Because character is the missing piece to the complete leadership picture; the 360° leadership equation.

In the short term, you and others may not notice the effects of a compromised or weak character. But in the long run, missing this will bring down not only your ability to lead, but is quite capable of bringing an entire organization to its knees, as we have seen.

What specific trait within your character needs attention? And if you don’t know, who among your trusted colleagues can help identify this? I look forward to your feedback.

Next week, we will explore the third of three shifts you need to make: Brain Trust.

HOW MUCH

DO OTHERS REALLY TRUST YOU?

​Learn the two vital parts to trust and how they can help you become a more highly effective leader.

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© Patti Cotton and patticotton.com. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express written permission from the author is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that attribution is made to Patti Cotton and patticotton.com, with links thereto.

Holding Others Accountable

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Holding Others Accountable
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Is it easy for you to hold others accountable? Even the most seasoned leaders can find this difficult.

Yet, accountability is the very thing that makes everything work.

Holding others accountable was indeed challenging for Randy, CEO of Andes, Inc., and this meant that the company wasn’t getting the results it needed. What’s more, Andes had begun to lose market share. Would it survive?

Randy was missing just one ingredient in order to turn things around.

Accountability.

Randy had brought in a bevy of consultants to review the company’s challenges. His drawer was full of strategic plans, and employees had undergone training in a number of programs meant to help them work better, smarter, and get greater results. Yet, nothing had worked. Meanwhile, it was discovered that some teams were duplicating efforts, and others weren’t delivering on what was expected. Randy was frustrated, and sometimes lost his temper, wondering why people weren’t just doing what they should do.

The fact was, he simply wasn’t holding his team accountable. And in turn, they weren’t holding their own teams accountable, either.

Things were a mess.

Holding others accountable is what is necessary to helping others to deliver on their commitment so that the work gets done. If you are responsible for organizational or team outcomes, it’s necessary to learn how to do this well so that you get the results you need. Holding others accountable is also a way of saying, “Your contributions matter,” which motivates employees and helps them to be more engaged.

Holding others accountable, however, can feel awkward.

And that’s what Randy felt. He was great at inspiring and motivating others but helping them to follow through was where he fell short. He thought that providing clear feedback felt like criticism, and so he avoided giving others the feedback they needed in order to know they were on track. Left to their own devices, the executive team simply interpreted what they thought should be done, did the best they could, but failed miserably because of a lack of information. They passed on this unfortunate culture of murky mediocrity to the rest of the organization – and this is why it started to fail.

Fortunately, with coaching, Randy turned things around. He met with his team, agreed on what was needed, and shared the 5 steps to hold others accountable. Over time, Andes moved into a position of excellence.

If you feel you need to strengthen your accountability game, use these 5 steps to put in place a system that works:

1. Be clear about your expectations.

In order for others to be able to deliver on your expectations, they need to understand what these are. Be sure that as you share what you expect that you ask them if they have questions and let them know that they will have access to you for questions as they move forward.

2. Help identify the skills and resources needed to support them.

What will they need in order to perform well? Who are the people they need to work with, and what are politics, protocols, and processes of which they need to be aware in order to succeed?

3. Follow up regularly.

Agree on the way in which your reports will keep you updated on their progress. Do you want them to meet with you regularly to report to you, or provide a written report? How often? What elements do you need to see in the report?

4. Give clear and timely feedback.

Honest and ongoing feedback is critical to the process. Be sure you are timely so that this becomes a powerful mentoring experience. And be clear in your feedback. If you are not, you should not expect to see the progress you expect.

5. Clear consequences.

Have you made sure you have done everything you can to help the person succeed in performance?  If they have succeeded, reward this in a way that is appropriate to the outcome such as acknowledgment, recognition, or even a bonus or promotion. If there has been a lack of clarity on your part, be sure you course-correct this by repeating the steps above. And if the person shows signs of inability or commitment to perform, then it’s time to release them from the assignment or role with any other appropriate steps needed.

I challenge you to make accountability a chief focus for the coming season. Your leadership will be even more effective, and your results will help the organization to thrive.

HOW MUCH

DO OTHERS REALLY TRUST YOU?

​Learn the two vital parts to trust and how they can help you become a more highly effective leader.

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The Perils of Living by Transactional Goals

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The Perils of Living by Transactional Goals
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Goals are powerful. Reaching these culminates not only in great reward, but also a sense of achievement, confidence, and moving ahead.

But goal-setting can also be perilous.

In my practice, I generally partner with the CEO or a member of the senior team to work through transitions of all kinds. If they approach me about doing organizational work, they generally seek success in helping the enterprise expand or realign to keep up with current and future demand. If I am brought in to help them or a member of their team on a personal level, they focus on goals such as higher productivity, better performance, or a greater ability to meet company objectives.

The challenges for which these leaders engage me are important. The world demands that we show up and keep up if we are to remain competitive and viable. But these goals are transactional.

And transactional goals can actually be harmful and counterproductive unless these are tied to a bigger transformation.

Before I explain why and how, it’s necessary to explain the difference between transactional and transformational goals.

First, the word transaction relates to the action of conducting business. It calls to mind those tasks and activities that are required to ensure smooth operations. The word transformation, on the other hand, connotes a metamorphosis or life change.

Here are some examples for comparison:


The goals in both columns can be worthy. However, unless you set your transactional goals with the following in mind, you may get into trouble.

Ask yourself the following:

1. Does this goal align with my values?

Unless you begin with your values in mind, you may wind up setting goals that conflict with what you hold most important. For example, if a chief transformation you desire is to become a more attentive and devoted parent, but all of your transactional goals keep you from being with your family, this is a conflict. Before you set any goals, revisit your top values and use these as your compass.

2. Does this goal support my own priorities?

Transactional goals may be subconsciously chosen to please or impress others, instead of being in your own best interest. I have coached executives who seek to achieve more so that they meet an ideal that their deceased parents held dear. Living your life for someone else will eventually wind up as a life “un-lived.” Ask yourself why you have set a particular transactional goal and whether this is truly a priority for you, regardless of others.

3. What transformation does this goal support?

Your transactional goals should support a sought-after transformation. Quite often, we can become addicted to reaching transactional goals and treat these as the “end game,” or tie this to self-worth (“I achieve, therefore, I am worthy”). Either is a dangerous and misleading path. Make sure that your transactional goals are simply milestones toward a larger transformation you desire for yourself. A good example would be, “I will lose 10 pounds (transactional) because this is part my goal to adopt a healthier lifestyle (transformational).”

In addition to these cautions, be sure to respect the journey as you work toward your goals. This is where great growth and transformation – the process of becoming a better version of yourself occurs.

Note: With appreciation to a great friend, Dennis del Valle for inspiring this topic. Dennis is a well-known marriage and family therapist, thought leader and speaker. Part of his practice entails leading small groups of highly successful business leaders to achieve exponential personal and professional growth, and I am privileged to be a part of one of them.

HOW MUCH

DO OTHERS REALLY TRUST YOU?

​Learn the two vital parts to trust and how they can help you become a more highly effective leader.

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Why Humble Leadership is Underrated

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Why Humble Leadership is Underrated
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When people hear the words “humility” and “leadership” in the same sentence, it’s often hard for them to grapple.   

But this leadership trait is misunderstood – and underrated.

If you’ve been thinking that you need more charisma and a touch more swagger in order to instill confidence and trust in your followers, think again. 

Possessing humility is often perceived as weak and unsure, or lacking confidence. And certainly, if you appear to be a pushover, you will soon be disregarded and dismissed.  

However, humility does not mean you are a doormat. Instead, it means to keep your gifts and talents in perspective, recognizing those of others as equally valuable. A humble leader is outwardly focused and oriented toward others, keeping their welfare in mind. 

Sadly, we have long been drawn to the “celebrity effect” of those who exhibit great charm and big personality. Throughout history, we have migrated toward those with an extra dose of narcissism, equating this with know-how, expertise, and the confidence to see things through.  

Indeed, a certain “swagger” can be productive. Changemakers such as Napoléon Bonaparte, John D. Rockefeller, and Steve Jobs have made great impact. Jack Welch and George Soros, whether you agree with their approach or not, are gifted strategists who are creating legacy through seeing the big picture and taking the risks necessary to make change. 

Yet, such narcissism has its dark side, as well, including the leader being highly distrustful and emotionally isolated. Narcissistic leaders can begin to believe they are larger than life and develop Hubris Syndrome, which can stunt and cripple an organization’s effectiveness. Such leaders focus strongly on their own value and ideas and eclipse the value and contributions of others. Their self-management can decrease to the point where sudden outbursts and raging are considered acceptable to them – as long as it is they who are doing the raging. Such a lack of relational skills can be extremely damaging to others and to the enterprise. 

Conversely, the humble leader learns from criticism and admits mistakes. He empowers followers to learn and develop and listens to the perspectives of others to broaden possibilities. He holds employees responsible for results and takes his own personal risks for the greater good. 

As we connect these dots, we can see how followers would be inspired to commit to a humble leader. Such an approach would create a positive and supportive culture. And within the organizational structure, when this is present, the employee body responds favorably as a whole, with greater commitment, engagement, productivity, creativity and innovation…all the things that a business needs to head successfully into the future. 

Indeed, the benefits of humility on a large scale is exposed through Jim Collins’ research. In his book Good to Great, the author studied nearly 1,500 companies over 30 years. The companies he selected were considered of average or near average performance just prior to a transition. However, after the transition point, they outperformed the market by nearly three times over the 15 years that followed.  

Collins asked why.  

What was the difference in those that made this amazing shift – and those that did not? His researchers found two distinct characteristics among the leaders of these companies: humility and a steely determination to do the right thing for the company, no matter how painful. 

What is your humility quotient? Ask yourself the following questions:

  1. Do I recognize the value of others’ contributions? 
  2. Do I invite people to voice their ideas and challenges? 
  3. Do I seek feedback regularly and act on it? 
  4. Do I listen to various perspectives with the mindset of learning something new? 
  5. Do I admit my mistakes when I discover my behaviors or actions are faulty?  
  6. Do I change direction when I find I am leading down the wrong path? 
  7. Do I work for the good of the organization and not for myself? 

Begin to refocus on the examples of great leaders such as Benjamin Franklin and Mahatma Gandhi. What about them can you emulate more? 

Learn from great leaders such as George Washington, who admitted imperfection, but changed course. At a certain point in his career, Washington realized that his ambition outperformed his virtue. When he made the shift to a more humble leadership approach by serving others and the cause of justice, he changed the course of history. 

HOW MUCH

DO OTHERS REALLY TRUST YOU?

​Learn the two vital parts to trust and how they can help you become a more highly effective leader.

GET THE INFOGRAPHIC