Getting Leadership Development to Stick!

It was over dinner with some friends... we were talking about the latest techniques and approaches in delivering leadership programs that I was confronted with an uncomfortable truth - lots of leadership development just doesn't stick!

 

The conversation was really interesting. We talked about things we could do whilst facilitating... techniques for creating the perfect environment for participants to be able to have transformative experiences were discussed - things like matching the environment to the mood being created, using the latest brain science to support unique learning experiences, and so on. An aspirational and inspiring conversation.

Why doesn't it always stick?

From programs I've been involved in (either as participant, program manager, or facilitator), it's difficult to 'hand on heart' say there has always been consistently long-term, sustained transformation in leadership culture.

I've been in the room for many sessions that have clearly provided transformational experiences for participants. My assertion is that the reason the 'transformational experience' doesn't translate to 'long-term transformational change' is because participants are faced with too many culture barriers to take the experience in the room back to work. 

You hear a lot of "hope they don’t try that new xyz leadership theory on me...", "the boss has been to a 'love in', so expect some attempts to try new stuff, but it won't last long", etc.

Getting sticky!

We all know that if you want a new behaviour to become a habit, it takes practice. When we train team members in a new task, it is best practice to give them coaching and opportunities to use the new skill in the workplace - see 70:20:10 below.

It makes sense to me that we give leaders the same opportunity to engage in ongoing coaching and workplace practice to set new practices into habits. My experience is that leaders are sent back into the workplace and expected to run with the new insights with little support and against an existing culture that can be tough to break through.

When I think about supporting leaders, Kotter's 8 steps to leading change model works pretty well in this case. The facilitated session that gets people emotional and pumped up about making change to their leadership practice is just like step 1 of Kotter's model - Establish a Sense of Urgency... Often referred to as a 'burning platform'. It's the spark that lights the flame!

For sustained transformation in the leadership practices within an organisation, we need to consider how we keep the flame burning. The other 7 steps of Kotter's model need to be incorporated back at work. A couple of examples I can think of:

• Forming peer to peer learning groups that can work as coalitions - incorporating online tools such as Yammer, forums, etc. to ensure that time and distance don't become barriers. Accountability for this needs to be built into the program.
• Coaching leaders to build a vision of what leadership looks like in their organisation - ensuring that it is aligned to strategic goals and values of the organisation and includes their people - ie. it supports the existing culture to move forward.
• Providing tools and skills for leaders to bring their people along the journey - whether it's through communicating the vision of leadership, teaching back the techniques that got them fired up in the session in the first place, empowering their people to practice the techniques in their own leadership practice, etc.
• Ensure that the leadership development program isn't just a 'one hit wonder'. Make sure that there are ongoing sessions (online or in person) where participants can continue to check in on their progress and re-experience a taste of the original session that lit the spark!
• Budget for annual reviews on leadership performance against the benchmarks of the program - success should look like the objectives of the initial program in action - sustained and refined on a continual basis.
• Make sure that the feeling that motivated the initial burning platform is spread far and wide in the organisation – see John Stepper's work on 'Working Out Loud'

As I drove home from dinner that night, all I could think was that after the spark has been lit and there's a burning platform for transformational change across an entire organisation, the most innovative thing that I can do is to start disrupting the way that we bring leaders back in to the business! I think it starts with being an unreasonable friend to sponsors and stakeholders to take true ownership of sustained leadership practice.

If you want to make change stick at your organisation connect with me at www.remarkablelearningsolutions.com

Remarkable Teams Keep Working At It!

I'm a footy fan - AFL is my code. In particular, I'm a Hawthorn fan. I've had a pretty good run of it over the years. The love affair started in 1986 as a 9 year old kid growing up in Canberra, a land where the rugby codes ruled supreme in the 80's. It was the first time I really watched a grand final on TV and sure enough 1986 was a Hawthorn premiership year. I've been supporting the brown and gold ever since and they've rewarded me with 6 more premierships since then, so not a bad bunch to hitch my wagon to!

Ok, enough indulgence, the point of my message comes down to recent updates in my twitter feed showing photos and video of my mighty hawks already back at pre-season training - trying to get better for another crack at a premiership in 2015. Sure all teams are doing that at this time of the year. The thing that gets me thinking is how sporting teams don't stop trying to improve. 

The hawks are coming off just winning back-to-back premierships. They've been the best team for the last two years (and they came runner-up the year before that too), but they don't rest on achievements of the past. Across the organisation they seek improvement and innovation. It's during this time of the year that coaching and football department staff go on study tours to learn from the best overseas, players go on camps to ensure they have the connections with their team mates that is required for remarkable performances. The pursuit of high performance in elite sport is relentless and impressive.

What about in business? Sometimes when we get to the top of the tree in a particular discipline, or achieve market dominance it can be easy to bask in the mastery or achievement. The challenge is to continue trying to improve. Continue engaging in professional development, keeping your team 'match-fit' and ready to take up the next challenge.

So, as many of us take some time out to reflect on the achievements of 2014, what are you doing to stay on top in 2015? Is your team pulling in the same direction? Do they know the direction? Are your leaders connected into the game plan?

Business and sport aren't so different. Click on this link to connect with me directly if you'd like to keep getting better and start your team's pre-season training for 2015!

VUCA in the Context of Adaptive Leadership

VUCA as an acronym for Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity is a really good starting point for thinking about the environment that many businesses operate in, and ultimately seek to thrive in.

A couple of acknowledgements. Firstly an article in HBR by Nathan Bennett and James Lemoine for helping me understand the need to look at each element for it's unique challenges rather than looking at all 4 elements as something that can be solved for with just one type of intervention.

Secondly, to Jon Mertz from Thin Difference who eloquently describes the adaptive approach that leaders need to take in the face of each of the elements of VUCA using approaches that include:

• In times of Volatility - be a RELIABLE leader
• In times of Uncertainty - be a TRUSTWORTHY leader
• In times of Complexity - be a DIRECT leader
• In times of Ambiguity - be an UNDERSTANDABLE leader

Jon has also arranged these into a 2x2 matrix working along a 'speaking/listening' axis and a 'philosophy/values' axis with more detailed descriptions - worth having a read if you're interested to get more into it!

Reading up on VUCA has helped me think about the value of taking an adaptive approach to leadership. It's an acceptance that in business we face many threats. Some are known, some emerging, and some we can look forward to in the future. As a leader, the ability to maintain presence and mindfulness will always stand you in good stead to make decisions in an adaptive way when facing into each of the VUCA elements. Essentially, helping your business thrive in a sustainable way!

Using Profiling Tools to Take Strengths to the Next Level!

I've been a fan of strengths based development all of my life, it just didn't have a name until I was a participant in a talent program at a previous employer some years ago.

I've always used one of DiSC, MBTI or the VIA Strengths Survey as the standard tools for clients/participants to get an understanding of their strengths and/or preferences and then be the basis for group debrief activities, coaching, etc. Today I completed my Gallup Strengthsfinder Survey to get a taste of something different.

Like most people, I love seeing the results of a survey all about ME! Which is great. I find that for the most part, the output results tend to be consistent with how I see myself. Over the years I have had people disassociate from their results and contest the validity of a given profiling tool - whether it's VIA, DiSC, MBTI, etc. and sometimes it makes me wonder if using profiling tools is really that useful... Do people get a benefit from completing these surveys and tools?

I'm running with a YES for the following two reasons:
1. I tend to stick with 'old faithful' tools that have been around a while. It means that they've been validated by a massive sample size of participants and they've been tested by all the skeptics and still survive.
2. Whether the learner agrees or not with the output from a given tool, just the fact that they've completed the survey gives a common ground and language to start the conversation about strengths and preferences, and how to optimise them in the context of work or day to day life. I always run with the "You're the expert of YOU" mantra that ensures people understand that the results of the tool are a starting point and that if it starts a conversation that gets us to a better understanding of developing strengths then we've had a win - It's all about what you do with it!

Take Your Strengths to the Next Level
I'm always happy to share my results with others, and learn more about people's strengths with a view to doing something positive with them. Go to my site to connect about taking strengths to the next level for yourself or your team!

What Does it Mean to Work Out Loud (WOL)?

Next week (Nov 17 – Nov 24) is WOL week (https://twitter.com/wolweek) and I’m keen to get on board and have a go throughout the week to develop a stronger habit around WOL. So what does it actually mean? I pulled the following quote from WOL guru John Stepper (http://johnstepper.com/):

“Working Out Loud starts with making your work visible in such a way that it might help others. When you do that – when you work in a more open, connected way – you can build a purposeful network that makes you more effective and provides access to more opportunities.”

Having previously worked in a large bank, I have had experience using work based social networking platforms – in my case it was using Yammer – and if I reflect on the experience, there was a big focus on people calling out to the organisation where they were having a problem with something and essentially crowd sourcing a solution. Don’t get me wrong, I've seen the benefits that have come from this crowd sourcing solution approach. We used the hashtag #yammerwin as a method for measuring ROI from the social network… But there must be more, right?

I see WOL as the next generation of how people use professional social network platforms, be it internal platforms or external platforms. WOL is where people evolve their use of social networks to share their work and collaborate in a way that seeks to GROW thoughts, ideas and innovation rather than just solve current problems.

No doubt that it takes a shift in the way we operate to effectively work out loud. It requires transparency. It requires acceptance of the fact that to grow an idea, it might mean sharing it with others before the idea is perfect… It requires alignment to a bigger purpose so that we can all get past the curse of ‘who might get the recognition for this?’

I’m pumped to work in a more out loud way this week and align it more closely to how I generate outputs that are bigger, better and more purposeful than ever! Tune in for a great week:
Twitter - @lachfairburn
LinkedIn - http://au.linkedin.com/pub/lachlan-fairburn/1b/3b8/413

Do You Have a Story About a Remarkable Team?

I do. My team experiences are many and varied. I often think back and tell stories about one in particular, my first ever management role. I was 19/20(ish) years old and had been given the task of managing a very poor performing sports retail store. It was ranked quite low compared to its national peers, and very low against its peers closer by within the region.

Over the year, an unassuming bunch of 17-22 year olds (that was the age spread of the team - mostly casual uni students) managed to achieve 'store of the quarter' status nationally and even stick around in the top tier the quarter after that.

I was reading an article by Bob Nelson called "Creating High-Performing Teams - Characteristics of an effective team and team recognition tips" (2010) and in the article, acknowledging there are many attributes of high-performing teams, he outlined 7 in particular. I thought it would be fun to retrospectively compare my team of 1997 to the 7 Attributes.

I went on to do a business degree and then spend a decade working in adult learning roles within corporate environments. Every time I'd learn a new technique, theory or methodology for performance I'd think back to this team and how we were doing a lot of those things on instinct. I think most of us do work on experience and instinct. These days I just do it with more purpose and rationale.

For my reminiscing and possibly your amusement, this is my rose-coloured recollection:

Purpose	We had a common purpose based around survival and full clarity of the mission ahead. If the store didn’t improve, its future (and our jobs) would be in jeopardy. We didn’t have a fancy name for that back then… I can still remember sitting around one Thursday night and mutually agreeing to a set of guiding principles for how we could get the store back on track…<see below in Empowerment>
Empowerment	Luckily, we had a pretty flat structure – I had been the full-timer/2IC and was promoted internally. Everyone else was either part-time or casual and looked on each other as peers (given we were all the same measure of ‘wet behind the ears’ naïve). We agreed to 2 behaviours/actions that would be invoked 100% and had the absolute autonomy to call each other on it if they weren’t being adhered to: 1. Every customer gets a nice and friendly interaction whether they’re there to buy the most expensive shoes or a pair of laces. The deal was, they leave with an invisible ‘+’ sign on their forehead. 2. If a customer comes in with one of our bags (ie. Some shoes they want to return), they’re not allowed to make it all the way to the counter without being met by one of the team (think about it, going in to try and return anything in a shop isn’t fun, people don’t like doing it. Meeting the customer half way was a symbolic measure that we wanted to help). The agreement on decision making was that as long as it was in the interest of the store and customer and one of your peers agreed (helped people feel like they were allowed to reach out for help), then people were empowered to make decisions.
Relationships & Communication	We were a little bit like the blind leading the blind, so there was high trust and acceptance that we weren’t going to be perfect but we were going to have a go! Many members of the team had grown up in the area and knew each other from school days and childhood, so there wasn’t really a façade for individuals to hide behind at work. Looking back, if I had overthought this high level of personal history I might have tried to prevent people being too ‘buddy buddy at work’ and stifled the organic connections and shared history that actually drove commitment to each other and the team outcomes.
Flexibility	We took shared responsibility for team development and leadership. We did have a variety of experience in the team, so people leveraged their strengths to share knowledge with the newer staff. There was a lot of ‘street cred’ relating to product knowledge and selling skills. The more you could break down all the elements of the latest technology, the more street cred you had. When senior staff were asked to help out a new staff member with their product knowledge or selling process, it was a form of recognition and pride. Given the team was heavy in casual staff, there was an inherent adaptive mojo that pervaded. The group were young and up for challenges!
Optimal Productivity	We got a lot more purposeful about having sales targets front and centre for people to assist with motivating productivity. There was already a commission based pay structure in place to incentivise, but in the past people had accepted that our store wasn’t one where you could earn commission. Given this, targets were put to the side and people weren’t heading in the same direction. When people know where the goal posts are they are far more likely to shoot for them. The culture of the group meant we were all up for a little competition internally, but more so was the desire to compete at the same level as other stores in our region.
Recognition & Appreciation	This was big. It’s the most I felt like I was a peer within the team rather than the leader. We started the journey at the bottom of the pack, so there was a real feeling of comradery in the team. Given the dire conditions of the store when we got started with the turn around, there was a feeling of ‘us against the world’. We were tight and relied strongly on our peers for recognition. It was a critical driver the way that people showed appreciation for a colleague going the extra mile. When someone does a favour, then the other feels like they need to match it back in some other way down the track – we were trading in a currency that was very intangible and paid very highly!
Morale	I can still remember the Boxing Day sale of that year. It was always the biggest day in retail. The first business day after Christmas and the sales were hot to trot. Generally speaking, the store sales target would be set at approx. 5 x the normal. Not only did we meet our target that day, but we outsold the two other stores in our city! The feeling was visceral. It was nearly like our grand-final. It also marked the end of a tough year where we had stuck with each other and there was great optimism for the year to come – a critical element of morale.

Top Tips for a Match Fit Facilitator

On reflection, the last six months has provided many learning opportunities. The big one that sticks out to me is the transformation that I have had to make from being an experienced (albeit lazy) Facilitator to a match fit, adaptable Facilitator that can turn their hand to almost anything at any time!

So, if you're a bit like me and you have 'workshop facilitation' as a skill on your LinkedIn profile, and you talk up a big game about all the things you've facilitated in the past and can facilitate in the future, then here are few of my top tips on getting match fit when somebody actually expects you to deliver to the standard that you espouse!

1. Get Surrounded by Other Facilitators

Peer to peer learning and coaching is one of the quickest ways to elevate your skills to a new level. Don't be afraid that you might not be as polished as the facilitators that you're working with. They love it because they feel like masters of their art and they can share how great they are with someone that appreciates the techniques that most audiences are oblivious to.

This is the perfect environment for giving and receiving real, specific and purposeful feedback. Look for opportunities to co-facilitate, and don't just rush off at the end. Block in 30 minutes to debrief and provide each other specific feedback.

2. Deliver Content Outside Your Comfort Zone

Facilitating content that I was comfortable with is how I got lazy. I found myself dropping into 'trainer' mode rather than genuinely facilitating the learning process. When I started facilitating content that I wasn't an expert in, I had to lose the status and share it with the audience. It meant that I had to draw information out of the audience with quality questioning techniques, building a strong 'why' frame and generating an environment where people took ownership of the content and its relevance to their need. It wasn't about me anymore, it was about them (God forbid).

This can be pretty scary, because a lot of Facilitators that I know out there believe that you need to be an expert in what you facilitate. My argument is that, within reason, a match fit Facilitator should be able to facilitate anything, that is relevant to the audience.

3. Collect and Input Your Own Evaluation Data

This was the biggest one for me. I don't necessarily rate Kirkpatrick level 1 feedback forms (ie. the happy sheet at the end of the session). I've always felt it was subjective, depended on an individual's mood and how good the catering was for the day.

A four day residential program that I rolled out as part of a pool of Facilitators over the past 6 months included the task of inputting the evaluation forms to a central online repository for reporting purposes. I approached this task with disdain as these 'happy sheets' are based on emotion and bias, etc. They're a popularity tool!!!

It wasn't until I was up to my elbows in them that among all the 'best program I've ever been on' comments, there were some little nuggets of gold where disconnection was occurring between me and my audience. There were themes across audiences that gave me some context and clarity to continue improving and in essence, maintain my match fitness into the future. 

So, whilst there were moments of contempt, and honestly some moments where an onsite counsellor would have been useful, collecting and inputting you own evaluations means that you read every one of them and the odd nugget will show itself for you to develop from.

If you spend some time reflecting, I'm sure there are other tips that would be useful for Facilitators. I'm constantly looking for ideas to improve, so feel free to share them!