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by Alan Sobel
Attaining responsibility for leading a multi-faceted, complex organization is often a breakthrough achievement for employees who have excelled at project or program management. These jobs are the entry point to the executive cadre of an organization.
Executives need to be cautious about who they hire or promote into these positions. A lot is at stake if they fail to place the right person, with consequences that go directly to the bottom line:
- Poor leadership has a negative impact on staff morale. High performers leave, and remaining staff perform less effectively.
- The direct and indirect costs of removing a failed director are high. Managing the organizational churn and the costs associated with replacing directors and executives is difficult.
- Succession plans, a key requirement of all executives, and a key factor for savvy investors, can be disrupted
Organizations should have clearly articulated leadership competencies, and they should have ways to measure these competencies to assess leadership capability. For instance, leading employee performance and leading a line of sight to stakeholders and customers are leadership competencies. These competencies are measurable through 360º and other feedback tools. But success in these competencies does not always predict success in top leadership positions. Possessing the competencies required of leaders are the bottom rung of requirements for entry to director and executive positions. They distinguish non-performing from performing leaders, but they do not distinguish capable leaders from those who are poised to take the organization into its future.
There are still invisible barriers to the top in many organizations. Though many at the top of some organizations seem to belong to an exclusive club, the accoutrements that suggest belonging — company cars, business class airline tickets, a seat in the company box at the Air Canada Centre — are attained after membership is achieved. They do not provide access; they are merely trappings. Unfortunately, the barriers to the top of an organization are, for many, invisible. But they should nothing to do with race, gender, or sexual orientation and everything to do with a person’s qualities.
Qualities are different from competencies. They are more than skills and behaviors, though they are at the root of behaviors. Personal qualities stem from our ethics. Our sense of what is the right thing to do and what is not. In addition to the leadership competencies valued in the organization, companies would do well to clearly describe and discuss with their staff the personal qualities required to succeed at the top ranks of the firm.
Here are a few qualities to consider in candidates for executive positions.
1. Executives are motivated to do a great job
They have an eye to stakeholders, shareholders, and customers, and they seek to bring value to them.
They seek to invest in the learning and capability of their employees.
They are simultaneously ambitious on behalf of themselves, their employees, and the company.
They seek a fair wage, but they are not motivated by remuneration.
2. Executives are energetic and positively realistic
They have deep personal energy that is present in their work. When their energy wanes, they know how to look after themselves (or how to get help) to regain it.
This is not the same as being a hard worker. They take joy in being engaged and in engaging otters in the work to be done. They believe in the enterprise before them.
They have sensitive antennae. They see the emerging environment, and they understand the current reality. With a full view of disheartening circumstances, they find ways to drive to a better future.
Their leadership is infectious. They do not hope things will get better, they act. And in so doing, they inspire faith in their leadership among others.
They do not ground their leadership in personal charisma. Charisma can gloss over brutal realities, and often, this leadership style disappoints those who follow.
3. Executives are aware of the gravity of their roles
Executives must represent the company and their cadre. They are role models to their employees and ambassadors to customers and suppliers.
Their sense of gravitas extends beyond awareness of their responsibilities and accountabilities. Their personal presence extends beyond what they must deliver to the business to how they deliver it. The array of relationships they nurture to get the job done are informed by trust that grows from their personal integrity and competence.
Executives create the company’s leadership heritage, and so, they are mindful of how they are present in each of their relationships.
4. Executives are emotionally mature
Executives are emotionally self-aware. They are aware of their own moods and how they have an impact on others. They are able to modulate their moods to create positive outcomes. They take time under pressure.
They understand how they are perceived in specific situations and how they need to be present in them.
They understand their role in a situation, and they understand how they can personally affect an outcome.
They are always able to assert their personal authenticity.
5. Executives have refined judgment
Executives’ business and personal judgment is clear and considered.
They are able to make decisions based on data from many sources. They do not need all available information to make a decision.
They can “read a room”. They are able to gather and use behavioural data. They are respectful of what their staff and stakeholders are ready for, and are able to nurture engagement.
Executives make mistakes, and they learn from them. They speak easily about their errors. Their colleagues value their input, and are at ease receiving it.
When executives disagree, they disagree respectfully and with confidence.
6. Executives think and act strategically
Executives think globally and act locally. They see and understand the big picture and know their role in it.
They also see the emerging landscape, and they can design their contributions three to five permutations ahead.
Executives can identify key champions and are able to harness their power and influence in support of initiatives.
They engage! They consult and encourage stakeholder participation to develop future directions. They get buy-in. They do not simply communicate to audiences.
7. Executives value capability integration
Although they may work in a competitive marketplace, executives know that to succeed, many capabilities outside of their direct control must be brought to bear to achieve great things.
Executives respect but go beyond ordered, linear processes to accomplish objectives. They tap into the myriad of common, mutual, and unique interests that comprise the heartbeat of an organization, to nurture willing contributions from capability owners.
People in ordered organizations with ordered processes are continually fighting, circumventing, or completely disregarding processes and commitments as conflicting priorities emerge. In integrated organizations, a leader’s awareness of the whole organization becomes a kind of self-awareness. That is, a leader understands how the changes in the corporate and extra-corporate environment may lead to the need to re-balance commitments in full view of their peers. In an integrated organization, the relevant elements of processes are preserved. Priorities change.
8. Executives value completion
Executives complete the projects they begin.
They do not leave when situations become difficult or when a better opportunity emerges unless they are asked to in support of a greater corporate good.
They are loyal to a common cause.
At the same time, they do not stand for situations in which they are being disrespected. They vigorously seek to correct inequities constructively and positively.
9. Executives accept personal accountability
Executives keep the explicit and implicit promises they have made. Most important, they are clear about what these promises are. For instance, financial officers explicitly promise to report accurately. They may also have an implicit fiduciary responsibility to ensure that their accurate reports are not tampered with.
© Leap Corporation 2009