Our “Credibility Bank”

As professionals we spend our entire career building our reputation.  Our reputation is our “Personal Brand”.  When others such as our boss, co-workers, direct reports, customers, clients, etc perceive us as credible (possessing competence + character) this helps us create a positive reputation.

Imagine that we are constantly putting “credibility dollars” into a bank.  Each time we do something positive such as achieve a performance goal, assist a co-worker with a task, give recognition to a staff member for a job well done, solve a problem or present an idea that saved your company millions we add “credibility dollars” to your “Credibility Bank”, and thus positively impacting our reputation.

Conversely when we exhibit such behaviors as –  immediately responding to a co-worker’s idea by stating “that will never work” without considering the idea, or aggressively pushing an idea or opinion to the point where we have silenced all others in the room, or demonstrate a lack of emotional self-control, or are consistently late for meetings and appointments; we withdraw money from our “Credibility Bank”. Each time our “credibility bank” shows a withdrawal we damage our reputation.

In my experience the most effective leaders are those that have learned from the times he or she has made a withdrawal and prevent future withdrawals from occurring, but also consciously look for new ways they can improve and increase his or her value.

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Should We Care About What Others Think of Us?

I recently presented a workshop on “Strategic Leadership: Utilizing the DiSC Profile”, and we were discussing perceptions; how we perceives ourselves, but also how others perceive us to be.  I asked the question – “Should we care about what others think of us?”  The initial response was silence.  Finally, one gentleman spoke up and said “I don’t really care about what others think of me.  I do not need to prove myself to others”.  I asked this individual, if your boss perceived you to be organized, knowledgable, efficient, and personable, what is the likelihood that you would be considered for a potential promotion?  This gentleman responded – there is a strong possibility that based on his or her opinion I would get it.  I then asked “what is the likelihood of that promotion if your boss perceived you to be belligerent, unapproachable, and resistant to change”.  He then said – “Point well taken.”

I then said, “we need to be concerned how others perceive us, because it will determine how they treat us, as well as what they are saying about us.”  The perceptions that our co-workers, superiors, and most especially customers have of us has a significant impact on our own success and the success of our organizations.  It may be the difference as to whether we are promoted or whether a customer chooses to retain or leave us.

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What’s the Use of Profiles & Assessments?

I am a huge proponent of utilizing various personal profiles and assessments in the leadership development programs I create for my clients.  Among my favorites are DiSC, The Strengthfinder 2.0, Workplace Big 5, and the LBAII (Situational Leadership).  These instruments are tools that can have a profound effect at helping individuals learn more about themselves as well as their co-workers and team members.  If used properly, they can create a common language within the culture and assist in helping individuals move from their current state to a more desirable state.  The key is to use them as tools that support the organizational vision, goals, topic and/or objectives that I am addressing.  I believe that when they (assessments) become the basis of a course, it might create confusion for the participants.  In other words – they may be asking “why do I need to know this?”

Just recently a participant of one of my “Strategic Communication: Utilizing the DiSC Profile” workshops come up to me after the session to tell me that they were apprehensive about coming to this session because they had been to other DiSC workshops in the past.  Prior companies she had worked for had mandated that everyone attend a session on DiSC, and even though it was good information she didn’t understand the rationale for the session.  However, she said that I focused a lot more on DiSC as being a tool that can be used to strengthen relationships within the team and to improve your overall effectiveness as a leader.  She said my session was her fourth DiSC session, but now the “light bulb” has finally gone off.  She continued by saying that she mentally checked out of the prior sessions because she got bored with all the theory.

I frequently receive inquiries by current and potential clients to do sessions on MBTI, or DiSC, or Workplace Big 5, but it is important for me to know why they want this particular session?  What do they want the instrument to do for them?”  These are vital questions because I have learned that they have a vision or outcome they are looking for as a result of this session.  It is my job to get them to articulate this vision and then determine if and how an assessment will help them achieve it.   It is similar to if I go into a Home Improvement Store and I ask the Salesperson for a hammer.  Most Salespeople I encounter would ask me “what do you want to spend?”  Then they give me a hammer in my price range.  However, the excellent Salesperson would first ask me “what do you want to use the hammer for?”  Based on my response, they will show me the hammer I need to do the job properly, or they may tell me “based on what you want to do, a hammer is not what you need – you need a drill”?

So in my opinion, I believe reliable and valid assessments and profiles are great – only when used to help you achieve your objective!

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Are You a Workplace Enabler?

I recently had a discussion with a professional acquaintance and I asked him what he hoped for in 2011.  He said that he hoped that one of his current direct reports would find a new job or retire.  I asked why and he responded that his associate was not able to fulfill the current needs of the job.  This associate lacked the ability and willingness to do the job the way it currently needs to be done.  He continued and said, “they simply want to keep doing the job the way they have been doing it for the past 20 years.  This direct report has a difficult time with change and it has just been easier to work around this person.”  My friend continued by saying “and when this person exits the organization, I am going to hire someone who could perform the job they way it needs to be done.”  Tell Me —What is wrong with this picture?

My friend has made a common mistake many managers make – they lower the standards, goals, and expectations of the job, rather than raise them for their associates.   I run into this quite often with less seasoned, or what I call “rookie managers” who are managing associates who have a long tenure with the organization.

My friend was placing blame on his associate for poor performance, whereas in reality he needs to take responsibility for not holding his associate accountable for the level of performance that is required for the position.

As leaders in our organization it is our responsibility to continually challenge our associates and create goals and actions that are in congruence with the organizations’ goals.  I told him that he enabled this associate by allowing them to become sedentary.  I realize change is difficult for many people, but it is also our responsibility to coach our associates and allow them to see change as an essential component of an organization’s long-term strategy.  My friend became passive and allowed his associate to dictate what they were going to do instead of require his associate to deliver the level of performance the organization needed from them.

I asked my friend if he wanted some free advice?  He of course was reluctant because he probably had guessed by now what I was going to say, but he obliged and said, “Let me hear it.”  I responded, “you have two choices — Choice 1 is you can continue to enable this associate and the result will be you that you will continue to be dissatisfied with their performance, and your organization will not be getting the best out of you or this associate.  With Choice 1 no one wins.  Choice 2 is you sit down with your associate and have a crucial conversation about where they are at and redefine your expectations.  You offer them support to meet the challenge, and then hold them accountable for the results.”  I then said, “Do I need to let you know what to do if they are not willing to do so?”  He said, no I think I know what comes next”.

Are you or someone you know a Workplace Enabler?  There is help!  I realize I am being facetious, but it is important as a leader that you confront issues such as this.  Your organization has entrusted you with the responsibility of leading your associates so that your organization can achieve success.  If you do this properly – everyone will win.

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My Criteria for Determining the Right Organizational Fit – “The 5 C’s”

I have been interviewing, hiring, and leading people within organizations for a number of years.  I want to share with you some criteria I use to assess whether an individual and an organization are the right match for one another.  In other words – using the “Good to Great” bus analogy, how do you know when someone is right for the bus?   And how do you know if the bus is the right one for you?  I know the use of the Five things, or the Ten Steps, etc. is overused, but I couldn’t help myself.

Here are my Five C’s for Determining the Right Organizational Fit.

1. Credibility – effective balance between Character and Credentials

a.  Does this person have character?  Character is defined as: trustworthiness, empathetic, passionate.

b.  Does the candidate have the right credentials to do the job effectively?  Credentials are defined as having the right skills and abilities to do the job, educational background, and possess knowledge that is considered to be “valuable” to the organization.

c.  What are the identified success measurements (expectations) for this position, and does the candidate have the ability and willingness to deliver on these expectations?  It is vital that they have both the ability and a willingness to do the job.

2. Culture – there needs to be a fit between the values of the organization and the candidate you are considering for the position.

a.  What are the organizational values and how closely do they match the values of the candidate?

b.  Is the environment one that will increase this person’s productivity?

c.  Does the organization provide opportunities to get the employee engaged?

d.  Can the potential hire articulate in the interview process how they engage in a team setting?  If in the interview process the employee describes himself or herself as a team player; ask them to explain what they mean by that.  I have reminded them of this later in situations where I have observed them not demonstrating teamwork.

3. Challenge – The job must be challenging, but the organization must provide enough support to help the employee meet the challenge.

a.  Will this individual be a change agent within your organization?

b.  Can this individual help you to “raise the bar” and take your organization to the next level?

c.  Will this position be challenging to this candidate?

d.  Will this position provide them with the right balance of challenge and support?

e.  Support can be on-going training and learning opportunities, a development plan, or regular coaching by their supervisor.

4. Compensation-

a.  First assess the job value – how vital is this position in your organization?

b.  Assess the worth of the candidate

c.  How much are you willing to pay to get this candidate?

d.  The organization must pay a competitive wage.  I have had people leave jobs they loved because they were not even making enough money to pay for their most basic needs.

e.  How much of an investment are you willing or need to make in this candidate?  The less you need to invest, should increase their worth.  This will increase your overall bottom line.  For example, if your organization offers tuition assistance to employees pursuing an advanced degree; the candidate who already has this will save you this expense.

e.  Compensation goes beyond monetary investment.  What other things might you identify as “value” to the candidate (i.e. flex time, bonus, work/life balance, educational support – tuition reimbursement, etc.)?

5. Commitment -

a.  Commitment goes both ways.  An employee needs to show a commitment to the organization, and the organization needs to demonstrate a commitment to its employees.  With any relationship, there needs to be growth.

b.  What plan does the organization have to continue developing this individual?

c.  Is there growth potential for this individual?  Growth can be identified as career progression, more challenging work, and or more variety of work?

d.  If I have done well increasing fit in the four previous “C’s”, I will increase my likelihood of greater commitment.

Usually if there is apprehension on the candidate’s part of accepting the position, or the organization offering the position to the candidate, I have found that it is usually because one of the “C’s” is not a match.

An effective Talent Acquisition Manager or Recruiter will be able to create a series of behavioral interview questions that will explore these Five C’s.

By Frank J. Ciccia, Principal Consultant

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Are You Managing Someone Who is Playing the Victim Game?

Have you ever come across a person who never takes ownership for his or her own behavior?  These are individuals who truly believe that it is “never their fault”, and someone else is always to blame for every bad experience in their life.  I would best describe these individuals as having any combination of following characteristics:

1.  They claim that they are just being “realists”, but everyone else perceives them as negative.

2.  Everything is a battle to them. They never learned to be selective in the battles they pick and do not rest until they get what they want.

3.  If they do not get what they want, they may decide to remove themselves from the process, or worse – undermine the process.

4.  They criticize everyone else’s behavior, but fail to have the skill to be self-aware and examine their own behavior.  They do not know how to be self-reflective of the non-verbal clues that others are sending them.

5.  They may also very quick to criticize an idea, but typically do not offer up a better one.

6.  They ask for specific examples when you confront them about their behavior, only so that they can argue and refute your examples.

7.  They are jealous of other people’s accomplishments and feel that it is unfair that others are achieving things in life that they only dream of achieving.  In their mind “those people are just luckier than they are”.  They seem to overlook that hard work and persistence and not luck is the reason for their success.

8.  They feel they should get what other people get even though they do less than most other people.

9.  These people typically dump their problems on other people, but do little themselves to resolve their own problems.

10.  They have become fatalists and develop a “whoa is me”, “this is how my life is”, “nothing ever goes my way” attitude.

These “self proclaimed victims” do not have the ability to look at a situation that may not have gone the way it should have and say “what did I do to contribute to the lack of success”, or “what part did I play in getting the poor results we received”, “or what am I doing or didn’t do that is resulting in this result”, or better yet – “what do “I” need to do to make this or my situation better”?  They lack Emotional Intelligence and self-awareness.  Most people I have come across do not tell them what they think of them because they feel it won’t make a difference anyway.  These “victims” refuse to hear it, so why bother?

So what happens to these “victims”?  In my experience, they typically become marginalized.  People gradually just distance themselves from these “victims” to the point where they have as little contact with them.  The reason why is that these “victims” just take too much energy away from people.  They become exhausting to be around.

These individuals who I have labeled “victims” need a great deal of coaching.  They need to learn to listen and begin the journey of finding out how they are being perceived by others.  We should all be concerned about how others perceive us.  Why, you may ask?  The reason is – how people perceive us will determine how they treat us as well as what they tell others about us.  We spend our entire career building our reputations, therefore, we need to be conscious of the way we are communicating verbally and non-verbally to others as well as the impact we are having on them.

In my experience as a Manager, I’ve found that these people do not understand the phrase “perception is reality”. If they feel that something is not true, then therefore it isn’t and they don’t care about perception. They start to affect those around them and can’t see the harm they are causing. These individuals are challenging and have taught me a great deal.  The most important thing I have learned is – if they are not willing to listen and change, then let them go. It’s usually just better to cut bait.

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Do You Have the Right Culture?

When was the last time you did an audit of your organization to determine whether or not the “current culture” is in sync with the “intended culture” of the organization.  Culture, as well as leadership, are essential components of an organization’s strategy.

Part of a Cultural Audit is to identify whether or not the members of the organization universally understand and are model the values, beliefs, expected behaviors and practices that are essential for delivering value to the customer.  Culture plays an integral role in fostering a company’s brand and reputation.  It is also my belief that if leaders within the organization are not intentional in crafting and modeling their intended culture; your employees will create the culture for you.

Organizations spend so much of their energy and resources focused on creating their brand and attracting and retaining customers, but are you putting the same amount of energy into your internal customer – your employees?  What does your culture say about how you treat those you employ and how they should be treating each other?  This behavior will ultimately impact the customer experience.  In a heavily competitive economy, it is my belief that a strong culture is one of the differentiating factors that is difficult for a competitor to duplicate.

So as you think about your organization’s culture, I would like you to reflect on the following questions:

1.  Have you clearly developed and articulated your cultural values, beliefs, and expected behaviors and practices?

2.  What are you communicating about your organizational culture to prospective employees?

3.  What do you do to enculturate new hires to the organization?

4.  How do you keep the culture alive?

5.  How do you recognize those who are serving as cultural role models or ambassadors?

6.  What do you do to hold people accountable for the cultural practices?

7.  What do you do if you have a highly technically skilled employee, but is not a cultural fit?

These are important questions to consider.  I like the use of analogies and the best analogy I use to express the importance of a strong culture is – “culture is the vehicle that transports your organization progressively forward.  Leadership is the driver, and your employees are the fuel that take you there”.

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It’s Time to Check-In

As a Manager, how often do you meet individually with your employees? Once a week? Bi-weekly? Once a month? Once a quarter? Once a year? Never?

I recently spoke with a group of Managers who told me that the only time they have an individual meeting with their employees is at the time of the annual performance review. I asked them, “at these performance review meetings do you discuss new goals for the employee to work on as part of a development plan?” They said “yes, it was required”. I then asked them how they monitor the employee’s progress on his or her goals? One Manager responded by saying “if the goal was related to an area that “required improvement”, they would notice on a day to day basis if the employee was improving or not.” I then responded “so in other words, you do not meet with your employees individually to check in with them and see how they are progressing with their goals, nor help them evaluate their action plan for addressing these goals, and you do not provide coaching to help provide guidance and motivation for achieving success on their goals.” They said – “no not really”.

As leaders within our organizations we continuously challenge our employees to improve their overall performance by creating individual goals that should support the organization’s goals. However, it is our responsibility to provide necessary support to help them meet the challenge and achieve success on these goals.

I said this to this group of Managers and one individual responded – “won’t that take a lot of time”. I responded “yes, and part of the role of being a good Manager is to provide good coaching.” This concept and practice needs to be meshed into the cultural fabric of your organization. If you were coaching a sports team and had no practices between games, what would be the likelihood that you would win games? The same applies to our workplace. How do we expect our employees to win if we do not help them to do so?

If you are a Manager who has regular one on one meetings with your employees then I commend you for doing so. If you are a Manager who needs to be checking in more with your staff, I encourage you to make time to do so. It may make the difference between your company winning or losing.

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The Importance of Confrontation and Being on the Same Page

Here is an issue I often come across in organizations I work with and quite frankly have experienced myself. The following is a significantly modified version of a situation I recently came across.

Manager A acquires an employee from a different department within the same organization as a result of some major organizational restructuring. The employee that Manager A acquired worked for 10 years in a somewhat similar department and worked under Manager B for the last 5 years. Within a short amount of time, Manager A discovers that this employee has some significant performance issues. The predominant issues were that the employee enjoyed engaging in gossip, had a negative attitude, and would best be described as “abrasive” in how they communicated with co-workers. These are all behaviors that are contrary to the organization’s values. Manager A addressed the issues and attempted to coach the employee towards more desirable behaviors. There was some slight improvements, yet not to the point where the issues were resolved. All of the issues and discussions with this employee were properly documented by Manager A. Other issues with this employee continued to surface. Manager A then began a formal Performance Improvement Process, however, in his opinion he believes the employee is not a suitable fit for the organization. Quite frankly, he wondered how this employee was able to get away with this behavior for so long. Manager A decides to seek advise from HR on how to best approach the termination of this employee. The HR Department tell Manager A that this is going to be very hard to do. Do you want to know why? You have probably guessed it. This employee has had 10 years with the organization, and the previous Manager – Manager B gave this employee a string of successful performance appraisals. To make a long story short, ultimately the reason why Manager B allowed this employee to get away with this behavior is because he didn’t want to deal with it.

How did this happen? Who ultimately is to responsible for this? In my opinion, it is Manager B. Manager B had a responsibility to confront the negative behaviors and not “sweep them under the carpet”. It became easier for Manager B to just ignore the negative behaviors, but not confronting them created a significant problem for Manager A.

This may be an extreme example, but I want to bring to light the issue of what happens when we have Managers within an organization who ignore, refuse, or are afraid to confront behaviors that need to be addressed. As leaders within an organization it is essential that you are all on the same page. There needs to be a high level of consistency when it comes to hiring,training, monitoring, rewarding, and holding employees accountable for performance and behavioral expectations. Leaders within the organization needs to be strong enough to confront the tough issues and skilled at handling the crucial conversations that will hopefully result in the elimination of undesirable behaviors, and the adoption of behaviors that are consistent with the organization’s values and will foster its mission.

What are your thoughts on this subject? Have any of you experienced similar situations and what has been the impact?

By Frank J. Ciccia

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What Are the Top Challenges Facing Organizational Leaders?

IBM conducts an annual survey of over 1500 CEO’s, General Manager’s, and Senior Public Sector Professionals titled “Capitalizing on Complexity: Insights from the Global Chief Executive Officer Study”. They ask them what the most pressing issues they are currently facing. The 2010 results identified that they consider their most pressing issue is the challenge of “complexity”. CEOs told them that they operate in a world that is increasingly volatile, uncertain and complex. Many shared the view that incremental changes are no longer sufficient.

They stated in their report that the most successful organizations are using entirely new approaches to tap new opportunities and overcome the challenges to growth. Four primary findings arose from their conversations:

1. The vast majority of CEOs anticipate even greater complexity in the future, and more than half doubt their ability to manage it.

2. CEOs believe creativity is the most important leadership quality.

Creative leaders encourage experimentation throughout their organizations. They also plan to make deeper business model changes to realize their strategies, take more calculated risks and keep innovating in how they lead and communicate.

3. The most successful organizations co-create products and services with customers, and integrate customers into core processes.

They adopt new channels to engage and stay in tune with customers, and glean more intelligence from the barrage of available data to make customer intimacy their number-one priority.

4. Better performers manage complexity on behalf of their organizations, customers and partners They do so by simplifying operations and products, and increasing dexterity to change the way they work, access resources and enter markets around the world. Dexterous leaders expect to generate 20 percent more of their future revenues from new sources than other CEOs.

Given these challenges, it is my belief that organizational leaders need to place a greater emphasis on communicating their strategic vision and involving all constituents (i.e employees and customers) in the organizational strategy by seeking their input and buy-in. Leaders also need to put an emphasis on knowledge management and on-going individual and organizational development as a way to provide internal support in meeting their complex and changing needs.

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There is No “Silver Bullet” When it Comes to Leadership Development

In folklore, a Silver Bullet was the only kind of bullet effective in killing werewolves. This reference is quite often used to describe a “straightforward solution perceived to have an extreme impact or effect.

I use this reference when it comes to a lot of organization’s expectations when it comes to Leadership Development. For example, when I begin doing a Leadership Development Program for a company, I would begin by doing a thorough analysis of the competencies that need to be developed for a customized program. Once the program begins, I usually receive positive feedback from participants. They tell me quite often “I didn’t know before what I now know.” I also get responses from the client like – “Frank, since you started working with our Managers, we have noticed that they are much more positive, and are sharing what they learned in your sessions with your associates. They are telling us that they have learned a great deal from your sessions.” The client is typically quite happy and have the hope that what was learned will “stick” with their managers. They think of the training that was just done as a “Silver Bullet” that alone will make their current and future managers better leaders.

However, in order to build a culture of leaders and get a true Return on Your Investment, organizations need to continually build on the foundation of learning. There is no “Silver Bullet” or quick fix ,when it comes to Leadership Development. There needs to be an on-going process of learning and application. A mindset cannot change on just one initiative, because once you stop the learning, they will regress back to old behaviors.

Have you ever set a goal of losing weight? Well I have! I would tell myself that I was going to lose 20 lbs. and I would put all my energy into losing the 20 lbs. I tried almost every fad diet there is, and quite often I was successful in losing the weight. However, shortly after losing the weight, I would regress back to my old eating habits and would gain it all back.

Becoming an effective leader involves a behavioral transformation, very much like the best way to lose weight is not by going on a fad diet, but by changing your lifestyle and eating habits. Organizations need to continuously build on the learning and create specific ways to evaluate, reward and hold accountable their leaders for the desired behaviors and outcomes.

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Looking Good Versus Being Good

I want to address a topic that seems to be coming up more frequently as in conversations with various colleagues.. The opinions on this topic are varied. I want to pose it on this blog, to begin a conversation.

I was recently in the Apple Store with a friend and we were both admiring the iphone (which happens to be on my Christmas list) and we noticed one of the phone features called “Facetime”. This is a great feature that allows iphone or ipod touch users to have a face to face conversation. This is a vey different use of the term “facetime” than I am used it. Historically “face time” was a reference used to describe being visible to and “looking good” to the CEO of the company, or putting in face time at the office versus working from home. In my experience there was a negative association with the usage of the term. The idea behind face time is to alert others that you are present and productive.

At a previous company I worked for, the CEO had a philosophy that the exempt employees of the organization should put in long work days (beyond a traditional eight hours). This was a sign to him that people were committed and productive. The result was my colleagues would stay in their offices and leave for the day after the CEO left for the day. I told my friend this and he said the same thing happens at his company. He said, the perception is that if you are in the building and in your office; then you are working.

Now don’t get me wrong, I am not advocating that people work only when they feel like working. If this were to happen, then the goals of the company would suffer. What I am saying is that people should work when they need to work and if possible where they want to work. With new technology, we have created numerous ways to communicate; whether through email, Skype, phone conferencing, and texting. There are times when it is essential to put in extra long day because the goals of the organization necessitates the need to do so. However, if people are just hanging around doing unproductive work just to be viewed as “looking good”, then it is a waste of time; time that could be spent doing something much more meaningful. This time could be spent taking care of oneself or spending time with family. We need to be judged not by the quantity of hours we put in, but by the quality of our work. I believe it is more important to “Be Good” versus “Look Good”.

What do you think? Let’s hear your opinion?

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An Expat’s Life

An expatriate is an individual who lives, works, and/or is studying in a foreign country for an extended period of time. As more and more companies are looking to expand their brand in new countries, these companies will send their employees (and their families) to expand the company brand into these new markets. The goal is to duplicate the operations that have existed in one country into a new country or geographic location. For many people, the opportunity to live and work in a new culture is exciting and life enriching. However, according to recent studies, the use of expatriates has many challenges.

Each year Brookfield Global Relocation Services surveys over 120 companies around the world. They put together a report called the Global Relocation Trends 2010 Survey Report. What they found was pretty amazing. 31% of employees and their families fail to have successful completion of their foreign assignment. Before the assignment is complete, they found that 17% of these individuals leave the company all together, 7% leave their assignment early, and another 7% have their families return early leaving the expatriate employee behind. This leaves 69% of expatriates completing their assignments.

The top reasons for expatriate failure is:

• spouse/partner dissatisfaction,
• inability to adapt to new culture,
• poor candidate selections,
• poor job performance,
• other family issues,
• job does not meet expectations,
• poor management of assignee,
• quality of life,
• security and safety, and
• renumeration dissatisfaction.

And, the bad news continues. An additional 22% of expatriates leave their companies within the first two years of re-entry into their own country. So in other words, they may have completed their foreign assignments, but then they don’t stay with their company upon their return. This increases expatriate failure rates to over 50%. One reason why they may not stay with the company is because several of them may have been promised a promotion or greater responsibility upon their return, only to find that they may be returning to similar roles and compensation they had prior to their foreign assignment. The average cost a company spends on an expatriate during their assignment ranges from an average of $250,000 to $1.5 million dollars depending on the role and assignment. This results in a huge loss of money to companies.

What can companies do to increase their Return on Investment (ROI)? They can begin by utilizing tools and assessment used to identify candidates who have a desire and ability to handle a foreign assignment. Second, they need to properly educate the employee and their family about the culture and practices of the country they are relocating to. Most importantly, the company needs to provide a means for supporting the employee and their family throughout the duration and upon return from their foreign assignment.

At Illuminare Group we utilize the Cerny Smith Assessment to effectively assess and coach expatriates and their families. Coaching is done by certified coaches who conduct sessions over Skype or other similar means of technology. Our premise is that through this support, companies will substantially reduce organizational and personal losses creating a substantial Return on Investment (ROI) for companies. For more information about the CernySmith Assessment, go to www.cernysmith.com.

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Why Should Organizations Be Interested in Leadership Development?

The short answer to this question is that leadership development is an important component of your organization’s strategy. Leaders within an organization need to divide their focus in two directions. The first direction is “what we need to focus on TODAY”. The second direction of their focus needs to be on “where as an organization we NEED to or SHOULD be?

As people move from an individual contributor to a supervisor or manager role, they require a different skill set. Just because they are a great engineer, does not mean they will make a great Manager of a team of engineers. These Managers need to be taught how to lead individuals and teams, as well as projects. You cannot challenge these individuals to be leaders within the organization without providing them with the proper support to make them successful.

One way to provide this support is to provide ongoing leadership development. John Kotter, a Harvard Business Professor and well known author wrote a classic Harvard Business Review Article titled “What Leaders Really Do”. In it he writes about creating a “culture” of leadership and the importance of organizations consistently recruiting and developing people, who have the potential, into outstanding leaders.

As you think about your organization’s current as well as future needs, I would like you to reflect on the following questions

1. Do you have the right people, doing the right things to help your organization achieve success?

2. Do you have the right leaders in place who have both the ability and willingness to lead?

3. Do you have leaders within your organization that are helping you achieve your results?

4. Are your leaders and managers innovative and progressive in their thinking and in doing so helping you achieve a competitive advantage?

5. Do you have leaders who are team players and are able to positively motivate people towards a common goal?

6. Do you have leaders who are demonstrating integrity and delivering on quality?

If you answered NO or NOT in all cases to any of the above mentioned questions, you are probably spending a great deal of your energy focused on the behavior of these Managers and Leaders who are not helping you achieve your current or future goals. The impact of these managers behavior could be disastrous on your organization; not to mention this is not where your energy should be focused.

The quality of leadership within your organization is an essential component of your organizations business strategy and will assist you in creating a competitive advantage. It is imperative that you are proactive and have on-going discussions within your organization about how you will go about creating a culture of leadership.

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We Need to Stop Asking the Question: “Are Leaders Born or Made?”

I find it amazing that in 2010, people are still asking the question “Are Leaders Born or Made?” The reason I find it so amazing is that I believe that at some point in our life at some level we MUST be able to lead. Whenever I speak to groups about leadership I poll the audience and ask them to raise their hand if they consider themselves to be a leader. I am surprised to find that typically only half of the audience raises their hands. However, I have had some participants come up to me afterwards and tell me that they did not raise their hand when I asked this question because in their job they did not have a formal leadership role where they were managing other people. Just because they lacked a formal position of authority; they felt they were not leaders.

I then rephrase the question and ask the audience to raise their hand if they believed that at some point in their life they will assume a leadership role whether at work, at home, or in their community. It is amazing that at this point, every hand gets raised in the air. This tells me a couple of things. First, people want to lead. They may not think they are leaders now, but have some hope to be a leader in the future.

The second thing it tells me is that when when most people think of leadership they equate it to their function or role at work, but when asked to think outside of this one role in their life, they do see themselves leading. I had one woman in one of my groups raise her hand and when I called on her she said “I didn’t raise my hand when you asked the first question because I don’t consider myself a leader at work because I am not a supervisor, but when you asked the second question I thought about it more – I raised five kids on my own as a single mother – I guess I am a leader.”

Just because we do not hold a formal position of authority at work as a supervisor or manager does not mean we do not lead at some level. When you are engaged with a customer, whether it be resolving an issue, selling a product, or delivering a service you are acting as a representative for your company and at this point you are leading. You are the face or voice of your company and how you convey yourself to the customer or client will either make your company look extremely good or terribly bad. I think of this as an example of what Jim Collins in his book “Good to Great” refers to as his Level 1 Leadership, where you are serving as a highly capable individual contributor. You are making productive contributions through your talent, knowledge and skills, and have good work habits.

Getting back to my original question “Are Leaders Born or Made?”. I think the more important question we should be asking is “What are we doing to make sure we are successful when (not if) we assume a leadership role?” The focus of my work has been to help assist people at all levels of the organization develop leadership knowledge, skills and abilities so that they are able to achieve their personal and organizational goals.

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One Bad Apple Does Spoil the Whole Darn Bunch

In the 1970’s the Osmond Brothers as well as the Jackson 5 had a hit song titled “One Bad Apple”. According to the lyrics they sing “one bad apple doesn’t spoil the whole darn bunch”, well according to some relatively recent research on the subject – one bad apple can spoil the whole bunch!

Dr. Will Felps, a Professor in the Department of Organisation and Personnel Management at Rotterdam School of Management, conducted a sociological experiment demonstrating the surprisingly powerful effect of bad apples on other people’s behavior.

Groups of four college students were organized into teams and given a task to complete some basic management decisions in 45 minutes. To motivate the teams, they’re told that whichever team performs best will be awarded $100 per person. What they don’t know, however, is that in some of the groups, the fourth member of their team isn’t a student. He’s an actor hired to play a bad apple, one of these personality types:

The Depressive Pessimist will complain that the task that they’re doing isn’t enjoyable, and make statements doubting the group’s ability to succeed.

The Jerk will say that other people’s ideas are not adequate, but will offer no alternatives himself. He’ll say “you guys need to listen to the expert: me.”

The Slacker will say “whatever”, and “I really don’t care.”

Do any of these characters sound like anyone you work with? Is it possible for one bad apple to negatively impact the behavior of all of the other group members? What Dr, Felps discovered is the following:

Despite the fact that were people in some groups that were very talented, very smart, and very likable, without fail, groups that had the bad apple would perform worse. Felps found that the bad apple’s behavior had a profound effect on the group’s overall performance. Groups with bad apples performed 30 to 40 percent worse than other groups. On teams with the bad apple, people would argue and fight, they didn’t share relevant information, they communicated less.

Even worse, other team members began to take on the bad apple’s characteristics. When the bad apple was a jerk, other team members would begin acting like a jerk. When he was a slacker, they began to slack, too. And they wouldn’t act this way just in response to the bad apple. They’d act this way to each other, in sort of a spillover effect. I come across this so frequently in the work I do. In some cases, I find that it may be viewed as “uncool” if you are someone in opposition to a group who has sided with a “jerk”.

What they found, in short, is that the worst team member is the best predictor of how any team performs. It doesn’t seem to matter how great the best member is, or what the average member of the group is like. It all comes down to what your worst team member is like. The teams with the worst person performed the poorest.

As a leader in your organization or team, have you identified any possible “bad apples”? Are they squelching good ideas and positive change efforts? Are they draining energy from the team and you? Do you find that when the “bad apple” is on vacation, the other people they work with are happier and more productive?

If you have answered “yes” to any of the above questions, you may be pretty depressed by now. However, there is some good news. Your organization needs to respond to these bad apples in two ways: First – identify and develop strong and skilled leaders, who will be prepared to confront the behavior of bad apples and coach them towards more positive behaviors. If that does not work – get rid of them!

Dr. Will Felps research on Bad Apples was featured in a December 19, 2008 issue of “This American Life”. You can hear the interview by Ira Glass and Professor Felps by going to http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/370/ruining-it-for-the-rest-of-us.

His work was also recently cited in the September 2010 issue of Harvard Business Review in an article titled “The Boss as Human Shield” by Robert L. Sutton. It is a good read if you are interested.

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Should Managers be Friends with their Employees on Facebook?

A controversial question that a lot of people are talking about is – if one of my employees sends me a request to be friends on Facebook, how should I respond? Technology has put a twist on an age old question – “Should Managers be friends with their employees and socialize with them outside of work?” In my opinion, the way I would respond to the FB friend request is “NO – don’t accept the friend request”! Typically as a Manager, you have a specific role and responsibility within your organization to hire, train, coach, motivate, and yes – hold accountable those people who report to you.

If you have chosen to be on Facebook, you have made the decision to share some of your personal information with others. Hopefully it is with people you already share a personal connection with or want to reconnect with (i.e a family member, old classmate, or life-long friend). Facebook is intended for you to be able to share the personal side of you reserved for these relationships.

In reference to your employees, are you prepared for them to see what you post or what others are posting about you on Facebook? Would they understand the intention behind your personal references and humor? You are now telling this employee who you are now friends with on Facebook that we are peers within this social medium. So what would you do if they shared your personal information with other employees? Would you want other employees to know you are friends with them on FB (because they will find out)? How would other employees perceive this? Might they perceive this as some type of relationship where there will be preferential treatment? Would you be comfortable telling your Manager that you are friends with your employees on FB? How would you handle a situation where you needed to discipline an employee you are friends with on FB, and they divert the attention away from their own behavior and are now focused on your behavior – they cannot believe you are treating them this way because they assumed “you were friends”?

If considering these questions you are still comfortable with being friends with your employees on Facebook, then I caution you it may “come back to bite you”. Once you enter the “friend realm” with your employees, you have blurred the boundaries of your relationship. It is one thing to be friendly with your employees, but quite another to be friends with your employee. It is important to understand your role and the responsibility that comes with this role. When you blur the lines in your relationship you may inadvertently impact your reputation and ultimately your organization in a negative way.

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The Story of Painting the Ore Wagon

You Can Only Develop People as Far as they are Able & Willing to Go:

The Story of Painting the Ore Wagon

By Frank J. Ciccia

A friend once told me that the worst job he ever had was when he was in Colorado several years ago and he was asked to paint an ore wagon. These are wagons used to transport gold or silver ore or other minerals from mines. He was asked to paint the wagon with a whitewash type of paint. His boss said to him, “I want the wagon to look better and differently tomorrow than it does today. As he painted, all he would hear is a noise that sounded like someone sucking up the remains of a milkshake at the bottom of the glass.

He painted that wagon 5 or 6 times and all it would do is absorb the paint and never look like it was painted. With each attempt, he would exert a great deal of energy, but his efforts never paid off. The wagon just did not want to be painted. It refused to change.

This story instantly reminded me of what it feels like to coach or educate someone who just does not want to change. I will exert a great deal of energy into this person, they absorb it, they nod their head in agreement, comment on how interesting the education or findings are, but they refuse to change. They leave the room and look and act exactly the same way they did prior to my work with them. They regress back to their old ways immediately upon leaving the room. They refused to change.

For many reasons, individuals are mandated to take part in education or an executive coaching experience; however they themselves are not ready for change. Either, they fear change, do not see the need to change, or are not ready to hear the message that they need to change. They are typically in the room because someone else “wants them to change”.

This leads me to question – who is it then who needs to change? Is it the executive who is arrogant and insensitive to others, thus alienating people around them including their boss? Or is their leader who thinks that mandating a coaching session or learning experience will change the behavior of someone who refuses to change. They absorb others energy; exhausting everyone else in the process, yet do not act any differently than they did day prior.

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Hello World!

I want to welcome you to the Illuminare Group. My name is Frank Ciccia and I am the Principal Consultant at Illuminare Group. I wanted to take this post to tell you a little bit about myself and my purpose for creating Illuminare Group.

You see it is my belief and there is a lot of literature to support this fact; that one of the key reasons why people leave an organization is a bad boss. When HR makes an offer to people who come and work for their company, they do not say to them “your compensation is _____, your schedule is ______, here is your employee handbook, and by the way you are getting a bad boss. I hope you don’t mind we assigned you to someone that we are not sure what type of mood he or she will be in on a day to day basis. This manager can be quite demeaning at times and will only give you feedback when you do something wrong. See you at new employee orientation.”

This is not what we hope for when we start a new job. Instead we have a hope that the Manager we are assigned will be inspiring, knowledgeable, trustworthy, and motivating. This is the leader we all want, but becoming this type of leader is not easy. Moving from an individual contributor to a competent leader requires a new skill set. For example, the skills you used to be a great Salesperson, are not necessarily the same skills you will need to be a credible Sales Manager.

My goal is for Illuminare Group to provide programs, services, and resources to help people at all levels of the organization become better leaders, and make a positive difference in the lives of their followers and for their organizations.

To read more about me and Illuminare Group, check out the rest of our website.

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