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All of your best plans for the creation of a global leadership development program may be meaningless if you do not obtain the buy in of key individuals or groups. Any organizational development program needs this buy in and approval, but a truly global program is probably going to require more work on your part; after all, your key individuals and groups are probably just as diverse as your program itself. Let’s look at the best process to use when looking for buy in from those key groups.

First, it is absolutely necessary to define the individuals and groups from whom you need to obtain buy in or approval. Before we move on, let’s look at the difference between buy in and approval. You’ll need to obtain buy in from any individual or group who can push your global leadership development program forward. This could include line managers, key organizational leaders, executives, and even various work groups. The concept of buy in also includes approval, but try not to forget the people who need to approve the program before it can move forward. Divide the key people and groups within your organization and determine which ones should “buy in” and which ones should “approve”. Tailor your presentation to each group, keeping in mind the cultural differences you may encounter within the organization and its regions. Most likely, you’ll come up with an executive group, a stakeholder group, managers and front line supervisors, and key business leaders throughout your system. And each group will require you to “sell” the global leadership program from a different perspective. (more…)

One of the biggest challenges to any training program is budget. In today’s environment, training budgets have been slashed and it may be difficult to obtain further funding. And in those budget cuts, sometimes only the most essential of training programs can continue to be offered. So the challenge for a global leadership program may be obtaining a budget, much less obtaining more money to complete the program. One of the first considerations in the area of budget is simply whether or not the budget can support a global scale leadership development program. If the answer is questionable, you may have to work hard to obtain buy in, which we will discuss in the future.

To begin looking at your budget possibilities, you probably will want to determine how you will create your leadership bench, as well as how you will train and coach those individuals. If you have made this determination, consider creating a matrix of training and coaching methods, as well as network and group meeting costs. Tailor your matrix to your optimal situation and then work your way down the list, eliminating the areas that prove to be too costly. When you take the time to complete this exercise, you’ll know exactly what to ask for-and how to explain the costs of the program. (more…)

We’ve discussed distance in relation to a global leadership development program, but let’s take the discussion a little deeper. When training for leadership across cultures, it’s necessary to be mindful of the fact that the concept and definitions of leadership may be different across cultures. And before we proceed, let’s define a “culture”. In the sense of training and development, a culture is the attitudes, experience, and work styles of any like group of people. For example, your organization may be located only in one geographical location but may have various cultures in existence. That’s why a discussion of global leadership development can apply to any organization, regardless of geographic factors.

Along these lines, be aware that there are differences in cultures not only within one geographic location but also in varied geographic locations-even within the same country. For example, work styles and attitudes are different in South Florida than they are in the Mid-Southern states, and so on. Of course, world cultures may be completely different, even if everyone works for the same organization. All of these factors will contribute to the definition of leadership and therefore into the definition of your leadership development program. (more…)

Leadership skills become second nature for many people. But one of the most difficult skills is decision making. There are always numerous factors to consider, impacts to predict, and, simply put, it’s difficult to please everyone from the highest levels. It’s easy for leaders to procrastinate on decision-making or even try to offload the decision to someone else. But an effective decision making strategy is a highly useful leadership tool, so let’s discuss how to make those decisions in a methodical and factual way.

First, let’s discuss how decisions are made. Some leaders may make all decisions alone. This may be based on the individual or the dynamic of the group he or she leads. On the other hand, some leaders do not step into decision-making unless they have their “sounding board” group around them. Before you enter into the decision process, determine how you’ll make your decision. With that said, remember that group decision- making is sometimes highly effective because, let’s face it, none of us has all of the answers. (more…)

Maintaining the leadership pool is a challenging task for an organization and its top leaders. There are a number of activities, as well as developmental exercises, that can be undertaken to grow leadership at every level within the organization. But how can organizational leaders measure leadership? And, more importantly, what analytics can be used to ensure that leadership talent is used efficiently and appropriately? Let’s look at some broad categories of leadership analytics.

First, behavioral profiling is an excellent analytical tool. There are two ways to approach behavioral analytics for leaders. First, you can identify behavioral characteristics of well-known leaders, either in the world at large or within the organization itself. These general characteristics can be used as a “yardstick” for leadership development and leadership measurement. There are many sources of popular leadership profiles, but how can you profile within the organization? Myers-Briggs type indicators are one example. A certified Myers-Briggs consultant can assess leaders, name their “types”, and help the organization build profiles, communication plans, and job-specific characteristics – and use these items as leadership analytics. (more…)

After reading this blog in the Seth Godin’s website, I could do nothing more than to share it with you. It has so many applications to training, leadership and every aspect of talent management. How many of you are working for companies in the death spiril? Enjoy.

| You’ve probably seen it. The fish monger sees a decline in business, so they have less money to spend on upkeep and inventory, so they keep the fish a bit longer and don’t clean up as often, so of course, business declines and then they have even less money… Eventually, you have an empty, smelly fish store that’s out of business.

The doctor has fewer patients so he doesn’t invest as much in training or staff and so some other patients choose to leave which means that there are even fewer patients…

The newspaper has fewer advertisers, so they can’t invest as much in running stories, so people stop reading it, which means advertisers have less reason to advertise which leaves less money for stories…

As Tom Peters says, “You can’t shrink your way to greatness,” and yet that’s what so many dying businesses try to do. They hunker down and wait for things to get better, but they don’t. This isn’t a dip, it’s a cul de sac. It’s over.

Right this minute, you still have some cash, some customers, some momentum… Instead of squandering it in a long, slow, death spiral, do something else. Buy a new platform. Move. Find new products for the customers that still trust you.

Change is a bear, but it’s better than death.

General leadership is always a task that moves an organization forward. But creating and leading a high performance team may increase retention, efficiency, and even profit. In an age when buzz words sometimes get more notice, let’s look at high performance teams and determine how to make that team a reality instead of simply a popular term.

First, leaders must define what high performance really is. There are general leadership attributes that can be reached and exceeded by leaders at all levels and in all types of organizations. But the true definition of high performance leadership is going to center on the organization, its needs, and the way it will become a leader in its field. For example, simply providing customer service is not a high performance attribute. But providing 100% customer satisfaction in every customer interaction is a high performance standard, especially when that standard is measured and is part of accountability. So to begin creating a high performance team, determine what attributes create high performance at the individual, group, and organizational level.

Once you have defined high performance, you must create a structure to achieve it. As we mentioned, high performance goals are not valuable if leaders are not held accountable to them. So the question becomes how to hold leaders accountable. One way to do this is to create a “stretch” environment, where reaching a goal is great but stretching beyond it is high performance. For example, the 100% customer satisfaction measurement may be impossible to achieve. But is 95% customer satisfaction impossible? Given the right situations, effective training, and consistent coaching, it probably isn’t. To stretch this high performance goal, make 95% the point where the team meets the goal, and 96% where the team begins to excel the goal. High performance teams are always looking to excel their previous performance, so by creating this structure you’re paving the way for excellence.

In line with stretch goals, leaders must create incentive to reach goals – and excel them. There are numerous ways to create incentive. Obviously bonuses or profit sharing are great ways to draw high performance. But the way the cash incentive program is created will keep the high performance team in stretch mode. For example, pay 1% profit when the team reaches the 95% customer satisfaction goal, 2% at 96%, and so on. Bonus and profit sharing programs create high performance and retain those high performers. But what about non-cash incentives, especially when the organization may be operating in economic uncertainty? One way to avoid up-front cash is to consider making team members eligible for promotion as they achieve various levels of stretch goals. Obviously there will be a cost involved, but salary is typically not going to be an “off the top expense”. Also, consider products or services offered by the organization as rewards for achieving stretch goals, or consider reallocating funds for reward. For example, if executives are accustomed to a trip to a seminar or something similar, consider using those funds to reward the top performer.

Outside of the realm of incentive comes the sense of spirit you, as a leader, must create. As high performers are identified, bring them together to brainstorm organizational problems and create solutions. Have the groups meet once a month for a network event, especially if the team members aren’t geographically located with one another. Let the high performance teams know that they are the future of the organization, and that it is their responsibility to solve problems and lead others in the organization to their levels. As this type of environment begins to emerge, you’ll see a team spirit begin to take shape amongst the high performers. They will “recruit” other high performers and send the message down the line.

Finally, coach, teach, mentor, and hire for high performance. Coaching and training in leadership and advanced operational topics should always exist for high performance teams. This provides yet another incentive for high performers, who are always interested in learning and improvement. Assign coaches or mentors to the high performers as they emerge – this way, you’ll consistently have a support system that ensures the continuance of high performance behavior. If the budget allows, offer leadership training for the high performers at various levels. As they learn and improve, they will begin to create other high performers simply because of their every day behavior.

But perhaps the most important aspect of creating and leading high performance teams is to hire for high performance. As you define high performance at individual job levels, you will begin to define ideal candidates for every position in the organization. When this occurs, even entry-level employees are leaders in their own rights. Organizations have the tendency to hire in order to get a “warm body”. When this practice is replaced with a search for the person with the high performance attributes, leadership begins at all levels.

Creating the high performance team is a process, but follow these basics and you’ll see results quickly.

In the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, an Italian economist and sociologist, Vilfredo Pareto, noted that 80% of Italy’s money was held by 20% of its population. More study concluded that other countries had the same imbalance in wealth distribution. The Pareto Principle became widely used to explain and motivate in other areas, such as sales, marketing, personal development, and human resources. When you look at the 80/20 rule mathematically, the distribution can change. What do today’s mathematics say about the Pareto Principle? Is the 80/20 rule still accurate or has a shift occurred?

In general terms, we can say that 80% of effects come from 20% of causes. In marketing, Pareto is used to say that you have to expend 80% effort, including manpower and money, to gain 20% in sales. From the sales angle, we can say that 20% of our customers carry the majority of our worth. In Human Resources, the Pareto Principle is assigned to dreamers versus achievers – where the 20% are the ones who actually get the work done. With that understanding, let’s look at what numbers tell us about our work in the 21st Century.

In online communities, the Pareto Principle doesn’t come close to being accurate. Web 2.0 wisdom says that 90% of online community members are lurkers, the people who watch and never say anything. 9% of the community contributes a very small amount of the discussion, while 1% are usually the ones carrying the entire community. This shifts the mathematics to 99/1! Consider sports purses and salaries: in a golf tournament, the first place purse can be double that of the second place finisher. If you had 100 golfers, it’s reasonable to say that the top 5 finishers would receive up to 95% of the total prize money. In the big four sports leagues in the U.S. (NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB), the smallest salaries for a backup bench player are around $300,000 – but the biggest stars can command annual salaries of up to $20 million! In business, the average household income is around $48,000 annually, while the average CEO racks up about $10 million during the same time period. What about taxes? The GAO can show you that the top 10% of income earners pay nearly 90% of federal taxes.

So if we look at the Pareto Principle today, has 80/20 shifted to 90/10 or even 95/5? In any situation, we can expend 80% effort to obtain 20% reward, but is the effort enough in relation to the reward? If the shift has occurred, we need to be looking for value in the top 10 or top 5 percentiles for whatever reward we’re seeking. Think about your organization and what it spends its time doing. If you’re ready to take it to the next level, to really succeed, think about today’s numbers. Your new goal is not 20% but more like 5 or 10%. You must examine every action you take and adjust it to the smaller success margin. The same principle applies to the choices you make – a choice based on the new success margin must be more well planned and executed than ever before. You’ll still gain success, but it will only come with higher standards and more targeted actions.

Copyright 2007-9 Bryant Nielson. All Rights Reserved.

Bryant Nielson – Director of Learning & Development – offers 20+ years of training and talent management for executives, business owners, and top performing sales executives in taking the leap from the ordinary to extraordinary. Bryant is a trainer, business & leadership coach, and strategic planner for many sales organizations. Bryant’s 27 year business career has been based on his results-oriented style of empowering.

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