by Fronetics | Oct 16, 2017 | Blog, Leadership, Talent
Google trains new managers in these six areas to make them highly effective leaders.
When you think of the word “manager,” you associate it with leadership. (Or, at least, I do.) But the two don’t necessarily go hand in hand.
Being a manager is just a position; a leader is something more. Oftentimes the skills that get people promoted to the managerial level don’t necessarily make them effective leaders. Then you’re stuck with managers that can’t lead, and that’s a problem. (See How to Be a Bad Leader: 6 Common Characteristics of Poor Leadership.)
Lucky for us, organizations like Google have spent years researching what makes an effective manager. Using Project Oxygen, an internal study analyzing more than 10,000 manager impressions, Google identified 8 habits of highly effective managers, which the company now uses to train new managers. Google shares this presentation through the re:Work website, which focuses on 6 key attributes.
6 key attributes of highly effective managers
1. Mindset and values
Dr. Carol Dweck, a professor of psychology at Stanford University, studied the science of growth mindset, the belief that intelligence can be cultivated. Project Oxygen showed that productive leaders live this philosophy at work. They are eager to learn, take risks, and challenge themselves — all of which ultimately boost their performance.
Also, Google empowers new managers to leverage their individual values in their management styles. This drives deeper meaning into their work and supports them when they, inevitably, need to make tough decisions.
2. Emotional intelligence
Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognize emotions in yourself and others, and leverage this awareness to manage behavior and relationships. Managers who are emotionally intelligent make better decisions, communicate more effectively, and seem more relatable to employees. They can better control the emotional climate of the workplace by anticipating employees’ needs and creating an environment that supports them.
3. Manager transition
Google has new managers share the challenges, surprises, and frustrations of their transition from individual contributor to supervisor. This not only teaches that it’s ok to be vulnerable and honest, but also encourages others to offer advice and to help devise actionable new strategies.
4. Coaching
A good coach nurtures and grows the talent on his/her team. The positive effects impact more than just team performance. Research by the Human Capital Institute and the International Coaching Federation shows that a strong coaching culture increases employee engagement and revenue growth.
Google defines good coaching as:
- Timely and specific feedback
- Delivering hard feedback in a motivational and thoughtful way
- Tailoring approaches to meet individual communication styles in regular one-on-one meetings
- Practicing empathetic “active” listening and being fully present
- Being cognizant of your own mindset and that of the employee
- Asking open-ended questions to discover an employee’s acumen
5. Feedback
“Embrace bad news to learn where you need the most improvement.” — Bill Gates
The purpose of feedback is to improve performance and foster professional growth. But words can hurt, and employees can interpret constructive criticism as an attack. Thus, the ability to provide feedback effectively is essential for any manager.
Google teaches new managers to be consistent across their teams when delivering feedback, and to balance the negative with positive. It’s also important to treat these conversations as a dialogue, not a monologue. Being authentic and stating growth opportunities in a clear and compassionate way will build trust between new managers and their employees.
6. Decision making
Effective leaders take on the tough task of making decisions and, often, with little time to deliberate. Managers make decisions taking into account their personal values, as well as the values of their organization, and they must be consistent over time.
It’s also important that managers occasionally throw their ideas out to their team and ask for feedback. By creating solutions that are based on a comprehensive understanding of the issue, managers are able to make decisions based on their internal compass, as well as the feedback from others.
After implementing this new-manager training program, Google saw statistically significant improvement in 75% of its underperforming managers. That speaks to the impact these 6 areas have on the effectiveness of new managers. And managers have a major impact on the effectiveness of their teams. So a great new manager can be all the difference for a company. In the words of Andrew Carnegie, “People don’t like to follow leaders who are dedicated only to their own personal glory, but they will sacrifice everything for leaders and communities who give them a higher calling, a greater purpose.’”
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by Fronetics | Oct 5, 2017 | Blog, Leadership, Strategy, Talent
A hot temper. Moodiness. Micromanagement. These are common traits of a bad leader.
What’s the number one reason talented employees quit? Gallop polls show that 50% of employees cite their managers as the reason for leaving. A bad leader can cost your company. And poor leadership at the highest levels of a company can be detrimental to a business (Theranos’ Elizabeth Holmes and Turing Pharmaceuticals’ Martin Shkreli, as two recent examples).
While we often write about successful leaders and positive leadership traits, I think it’s about time we start talking about the opposite end of the spectrum. Here are 6 common characteristics of poor leadership that should be red flags to all companies.
6 ways to be a bad leader
1. Lack of transparency
Everyone appreciates honesty and transparency, and the same holds true in a professional setting. Even if you’re trying to prevent worry or stress, employees know when you’re not giving them the full picture and it makes their jobs more difficult.
Your team will appreciate knowing where they stand within the company and the greater goals you’re trying to accomplish. Oftentimes this leads to more focused and driven employees, who take pride in being part of a team working toward mutual goals.
2. Insulting employees in front of their coworkers
We all make mistakes. We are human, after all. But how a supervisor reacts to an employee’s mistakes is a direct reflection of their leadership style — good or bad.
We have all witnessed a leader get upset when issues arise. That’s natural when s/he is invested in the business. Good leaders know cooler heads prevail, offering constructive criticism in an appropriate one-on-one setting. But a bad leader berates employees in a group setting. Instead of helping employees learn from mistakes, his behavior only alienates people and causes resentment.
3. Micromanaging
I bet you are thinking of a specific manager from your past, as I am. Micromanaging may be my least favorite characteristic of bad leadership. Nothing says, “I don’t have faith in your work,” like a boss that is constantly looking over your shoulder.
Employees are only able to grow and develop if they are allowed to do so. Supervisors should provide direction and then empower their teams to get the work done. Your employees will become more confident and productive knowing they have your trust in their abilities and the space to be creative.
4. Lack of empathy
As leaders, we must understand that our jobs are important, but so are our employees. Understanding the challenges that your team faces, both professionally and personally, is key to creating happy and productive employees. When supervisors work to alleviate barriers, they create a supportive culture among their team.
5. Inconsistency
Last-minute changes, mixed signals, and overall inconsistency can lead to confusion and frustration within your team. Leaders who blow up at one person but listen intently to another foster fear among employees, who become unsure of how to approach you. That leads to lack of communication, which is never good for business.
Lack of consistency leads to a lack of trust and slows productivity. Employees that are unclear on direction or expectations spend time and energy worrying about how to approach their supervisors instead of how to get the job done.
6. Closed-mindedness
Feedback can be hard to hear, especially from your staff. But an unwillingness to listen to your team and take their ideas seriously will create tension.
Leaders that dig their heels in and refuse to consider new perspectives make employees feel undervalued and unable to control their own destiny. Not only does this cause employee dissatisfaction, but also leaders miss out on potentially good suggestions to improve business.
Remember, businesses don’t fail — leaders do. What other traits make a bad leader, in your experience?
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by Fronetics | Jul 18, 2017 | Blog, Leadership, Talent
Great leaders are able to push employees to their fullest potential and increase productivity without causing undue stress.
In a new study published in the Harvard Business Review, managers were 30% less likely than their coworkers to be stressed out. 30% LESS!
One might assume that leadership takes the heat when it comes to performance evaluation. But we’ve all probably experienced the trickle-down effect in the workplace: If a manager is feeling pressure, it’s safe to assume the team is feeling it twice over.
Not all stress is avoidable, and sometimes certain periods of increased demand can lead to increased performance. Research shows that an optimal level of stress exists below which employees are unmotivated and above which they are overwhelmed.
Leadership consultant and author Steve Arneson describes this balance as the “leader’s dilemma:” Management works to create a balance between pushing employees and pushing them past their limits. He recommends that leaders create a safe and supportive environment where employees feel respected and, in turn, cooperative and productive.
With this is mind, it’s important to incorporate tangible ways of reducing stress for your employees. Though some of these may be obvious, with record-breaking levels of stress at work, not enough leaders are paying attention to them.
5 tricks for reducing stress while pushing talent
1. Provide certainty and clarity (when possible)
Frederick Herzberg, an influential psychologist in business management, wrote extensively about “hygiene factors” in the work place. These are basic factors that cause dissatisfaction and can include: poor relationships with supervisors, company policies, work conditions, salary, and status.
In order to promote productivity, management should focus on providing a level of certainty to its employees. Herzberg suggests fixing obstructive company policies, providing effective and non-intrusive supervision, and creating and supporting a culture of respect for all team members as a few ways to help nurture a sense of certainty.
2. Be fair
There are three drivers that determine fairness in the workplace. The first is the belief that an employee’s input is considered in a decision. Are their opinions valued and taken into consideration? The second, is how decisions are processed and implemented. Are decisions made consistently and with accurate information? The third is how a decision is reported. Are the managers listening to employees’ concerns and explaining their decisions? These three factors can help foster a sense of fairness in the work place that lead to employee satisfaction and productivity.
3. Show support and gratitude
When Jack Zenger and Joseph Folkman studied results from workplace surveys, they found that 37% of managers admitted that they never gave their employees any positive reinforcement. That’s a lot of missed opportunities to tell your team that you appreciate their hard work.
Lisa Commendatore, a program director at Northeastern University, goes to the opposite extreme. She believes that rewarding her team turns them into more productive employees. “After a particularly challenging cycle, I make sure to reward my team with a thank you card or a free cup of coffee. The small gesture goes a long way.”
4. Exhibit self-confidence and competence as a leader
It is important for managers to demonstrate their competency. Through hard work, innovative ideas, willingness to take on a new challenge, and working long hours, leaders want to be seen as capable of their duties. These demonstrations don’t go unnoticed by your teams.
It’s a healthy example for employees to see that their stress and efforts are felt all the way up the corporate ladder. Workplaces lacking in trust often have a culture of “every employee for himself,” in which people feel that they must be vigilant about protecting their interests. Managers that are able to create a foundation of trust are helping to alleviate tensions in the work place.
5. Keep your word
As Karen Firestone, CEO of Aureus Asset Management, said in a recent HBR article, “It’s important that leaders are the prime example of thoroughly executing on their own commitments to the people who support them.”
In work, as in life, if you can’t keep your promises, then you shouldn’t make them. Employees are looking to management to fulfill its commitments, and that starts with being a leader that keeps your word. As the saying goes, treat people the way you want to be treated.
Using these strategies can help relieve employee stress at work, leading to productive and satisfied (if not, happy) employees. Recognizing and helping your team deal with their stress is what makes a leader a great one.
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by Fronetics | Nov 17, 2016 | Blog, Leadership, Strategy
A look at the world’s top business leaders show they possess both financial savvy and personal acumen.
We measure today’s top business leaders on a variety of scales, including personal acumen and their company’s financial performance. Regardless of how a leader is gauged, one thing is clear: 21st century leaders must have strong engagement and stellar interpersonal skills on multiple fronts — from the numbers to corporate responsibility to how to best motivate employees.
The Harvard Business Review suggests the world’s best-performing CEOs share three crucial traits: long-term thinking, short-term savvy, and a relentless focus on employees. HBR’s annual data-driven annual survey of top CEOS in the world weighs companies with an 80/20 formula — 80% based on financial performance, and 20% based on ESG (environment, social, and corporate governance performance).
The top leaders, by the numbers
The tension between short- and long-term decision-making affects top leaders’ financial performance, since overall strength is not based on a single positive financial quarter, HBR reports, but rather the cumulative effect of consecutive strong quarters.
“They really are running today’s business while trying to create tomorrow’s business,” Dan McGinn, senior editor at Harvard Business Review, said in a recent podcast about how CEOs manage the challenges of focusing on long- and short-term growth of business. “They’re dealing with a very fast-changing global landscape.”
The top three business leaders in HBR’s survey — Lars Rebien Sorenson of Novo Nordisk, Martin Sorrell of WPP, and Pablo Isla of Inditex — all had different paths to the top, although 84% of CEOs are promoted from within. Only 24% of HBR’s top leaders have an MBA, signaling that the coveted business degree is not integral to becoming a top leader. Of note is that only one of the top 10 HBR leaders is from the United States — Jen-Hsun Huang of Nvidia — because of the generally lower ESG numbers for U.S.-based companies, McGinn said in the podcast. None of the top 10 are women.
The metric commonly referred to as “Corporate Responsibility,” ESG importance is rising in the United States, but is still outpaced by European companies. This is only the second year that the HBR survey included ESG, which resulted in Amazon CEP Jeff Bezos dropping from the top 10 to number 76 on HBR’s list.
According to a recent study by Callan Associates Inc., 29% of U.S.-based asset owners incorporate ESG risk factors into their investment decisions, up from 22% in 2013. This demonstrates the small but growing role of ESG.
Focus on millennials
In addition to being on top of the ever-changing socio-political world, top business leaders may have to consider a shift in their corporate culture because of the rising number of millennials in the workforce.
Forbes estimates that by 2020, millennials will comprise nearly 50% of the workforce. Successful business leaders need to know how to best motivate and manage this workforce segment who, according to HBR’s McGinn, have different sets of values and different ways of thinking about their careers. Companies today have to adapt their culture to this growing part of the workforce, he says.
Leadership traits that stand the test of time
Industrialist Andrew Carnegie, often credited with being one of the world’s most successful business leaders, met with journalist Napoleon Hill early in the 20th century to relay what would become his “31 Traits That All Business Leaders Have,” a guidepost for those looking to follow in Carnegie’s footsteps.
The personality traits, although more than 100 years old, are still relevant in today’s business world.
Hill published two books that included Carnegie’s traits: Think and Grow Rich (1937), and Think Your Way to Wealth from 1948. He posited that top traits of great leaders include:
- Having a company purpose and a plan for attaining it
- Being motivated
- Coordinating efforts with talented workers
- Being disciplined, persistent, creative and decisive
- Being diplomatic and tactful, enthusiastic and likable
- And treating others with respect
The top traits have stood the test of time and, mixed with the significance of today’s financial and corporate responsibility, create the ideal 21st century business leader.
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