EDGE FIRST XV - On leaders and Leadership

Issue 15 (emailed version), Thursday December 21, 2000
Made in New Zealand - twice winners of the America's Cup

SEASONS GREETINGS

EDGE FIRST is an email magazine dedicated to making you a better leader, by providing:
— provocative thinking about what it means to be a leader
— the tools, techniques and best-practices that drive leadership improvement

Increasingly, we'll lean towards the personal, and away from the corporate—delivering on our promise of big ideas in a small package, but with a clear focus on total quality you

We're taking a southern hemisphere midsummer break. Issue 16, the first of the real new millennium, will be with you on February 1st, 2001.

"You can't write your strategy on a whiteboard and leave it there forever. The trick is to be surveying the marketplace constantly -- not just your direct competitors but also the best-of-breed in other industries."
John D Noble, VP, corporate Internet strategy, Putnam Investments

In this issue
WarmUp
MasterClass — Mentoring - all you need to know to get started
QuickStudy — Aceing the first 90 days - learn to breath through your nose?

To access Portable Document Format (.pdf) files you'll need Adobe's® free Acrobat® Reader.

WarmUp® — How to couch a management problem
It's probably not a coincidence that when I started getting power in my work life, wrote Fast Company's 'Grizzled Young Veteran' Penelope Trunk, I started taking power in my personal life. I realized, she wrote, that couples therapy with my then-boyfriend was like a badly run meeting where competing agendas preclude any resolution. I fired the boyfriend. I promoted the couples therapist. We talked about climbing ladders. And I climbed. I got the QA department. I got the HR department. I got every department that no senior manager wanted.

My customer service department grew by two or three employees a week for a couple of months before I noticed there were only three women. Soon after, one of the women told me that the customer service manager didn't give work to women. 'He only uses us in an emergency, when the men can't work overtime,' she said.

I called HR. We wrote a report. I told the woman that I appreciated her coming forward. I wanted to make sure that I was using my power to make the world a better place, so I hinted that she would be promoted for being brave and honest. She hinted that she was leaving the company in a month or two to go to dental school.

I pulled the customer service manager aside to evaluate his work-load distribution. He apologized for ignoring the women on his team.

The next day he held a department meeting. He announced that he was sorry he had been ignoring the women. He announced, 'I think I have a problem relating to women.'

The women in his department told me what he said, and I told HR. HR said to fire him. But I felt like that would do nothing to change the world—he would just go to another job where he could undermine unsuspecting women. He was so young. Impressionable. He just needed to understand himself better, and then he'd treat women better. HR said that if we didn't fire him, we had to suspend him, and if we really wanted to cover ourselves, we had to make an attempt at reeducation. I sent him to my therapist.

I told him my therapist was a corporate counselor, which is sort of true because she counseled me. I told my therapist that he was a misogynist, and I was using company dollars to reform him. His assignment was to see her every day for two weeks. The therapist told me I was a visionary. The customer service manager told me I was insane. The misogynist said, 'I get along with women. My girlfriend likes me.' The HR manager said, 'Fire him. It will only get worse.'

He went to see my therapist. He called on day three and told me that he liked the counselor and was learning a lot. He called on day seven and said he'd like me to come to the counselor with him. I tried to think of a way to say no, but how could I show that I was backing him in his reform process if I wouldn't participate with him?

So I went. And there I was, on the couples-therapy couch, with the misogynistic customer service manager talking about what I did that bothered him. And there I was, trying to be a good listener even though I hated him.

This is when I learned that who we are in our personal life is who we are in our work life. I was thinking that I had two facets to myself, but I can only be me, and I am a person who tries to change people, and I am a person who believes in therapy, and I am a person who finds herself on couches with impossible men throughout her life.

MasterClass® — mentoring
EMERALD NOW—the monthly newsletter of MCB Press—is a primary source we recommend with a bullet. The Dec 00 issue, dedicated to mentoring, fits nicely with our intention to lean more towards the personal, in an increasingly coach-like, one-to-one approach to TQY.

The Oxford Dictionary describes a mentor as "an experienced and trusted adviser" ... from the name of the guide and adviser of the young Telemachus in Homer's Odyssey...

Today the role of mentor has evolved so that it is more usually the 'client' who leads the process (Emerald Now's Editorial writer uses mentee to designate the recipient of mentoring—a word we hate!), the mentor being more of a sympathetic ear or sounding board who, through skilful questioning, encourages deep reflection and new insights, unleashing personal talent in the pursuit of solutions.

In it's December interview with David Clutterbuck, Emerald Now sees the development of the client's wisdom as the ultimate goal of the mentoring process. However, many aspiring mentors mistakenly assume that they are meant to pass on their wisdom to the client. Mentoring today is not about teaching or guiding, but rather about enabling and supporting, asking the kind of questions that help clients build their own wisdom. The choice of the word wisdom (experience and knowledge together with the power of applying them critically or practically) is apposite - wisdom clearly needs to come from within.

In some countries a more paternalistic model of mentoring persists, but as hierarchies are increasingly replaced with flattened organizations and empowerment gathers steam, the newer, more equal model seems likely to spread.

Mentoring will always centre on trust – and problems of confidentiality and dependency will inevitably occur from time to time. However, the huge growth in demand for mentoring indicates that its advantages for organizations, individuals and mentors outweigh the potential risks.

INTERVIEW subject Dr David Clutterbuck talks to editor Sarah Powell about the benefits, challenges and spread of mentoring, development of communications, and his forthcoming book Mentoring for Diversity (and, as usual, we've summarised severely):

What do you see as the key benefits of mentoring over traditional training and development approaches?
Clutterbuck: The more senior you become, the more you need to learn—but the harder it gets to find appropriate sources of learning.

And the further up the scale from teacher to tutor to coach, the more the focus is on you and the more responsibility you've got to take for managing the learning process so that it is relevant and immediate.

Discussions between mentor and client are intuitive, unlike the guidance in a book or pre-set course, and more likely to explore issues in a way that is not possible in conventional training; issues are discussed in depth in a confidential and sheltered environment.

Mentoring focuses on new insights, on developing the client's own wisdom as opposed to gaining data and information or skills. The mentor's role is to use his or her accumulated experience to ask the kind of questions that help the a client gain the insights to build their own wisdom—often learning as much as the client from the exercise.

“Ten years ago,” Clutterbuck said, “you would have found resistance to the concept of mentoring but, for a whole variety of reasons, this occurs far less now. It's lonely 'at the top' and people need a sounding board, a role the mentor assumes.”

You have said that mentoring is probably the fastest growing development tool at senior management levels. How widespread is mentoring in business?
Clutterbuck: Very difficult to say and, of course, you have both formal and informal mentoring. Recent survey—80% of chief executives in the UK attribute a significant part of their success to a mentor. And while we don't know how many chief executives and directors have mentors, the growth is exponential.

Within organizations it can be difficult to find mentors. In addition, one of the distinguishing features between effective and ineffective mentors is that the ineffective ones tend to talk for 80% of the time while the effective ones talk less than 20%.

There is also the issue of dependency. Problems with cross-gender relationships (especially where the mentor is male and the client female) are well documented.

Have there been any fundamental changes over the years in your approach to mentoring resulting from your research into and experience of mentoring?
Clutterbuck: Yes—because of the way mentoring has evolved over the last 15 years, since formal programmes were introduced into the UK.

Formal programmes were introduced in the USA in the mid-1970s. A few companies in the UK such as Pilkington had pioneered the concept in the late 70s or early 80s. But the American model focused on overseeing someone else's career … basically sponsorship where somebody senior and powerful adopted somebody junior.

Looking around in Europe, it became clear that the US approach was unsuitable, and we started on what is now referred to as developmental mentoring rather than sponsoring mentoring.

In developmental mentoring the responsibility lies with the client to drive the relationship and the issue of power is irrelevant. Mentors don't exercise their power on behalf of their clients, who don't expect them to.

The relationship is based on self-managed learning - using a mentor as a guide, a seer. Work carried out in Norway a couple of years ago concluded that the most effective mentoring relationships were those in which the client is highly proactive and the mentor highly reactive.

How widespread is the take-up of mentoring in Europe?
Clutterbuck: Varied. Lots in Holland and Scandinavia, but in France, for example, formal mentoring tending to run foul of the strong existing networks and it's less common (and where it exists, it tends to conform more to the American model). Germany likewise.

There is more interest in Switzerland and some activity in Italy—although in Italy, all that is happening is a formalization of what was already taking place. There is also some mentoring in Spain. But where mentoring comes into its own is in Scandinavia, Holland, the UK and Ireland.

'Mentoring for Diversity' is the title of your forthcoming book. Could you describe its theme?
Clutterbuck: It examines diversity in two senses:
- levelling the playing field for people with a significant disadvantage (race, gender, class, physical or mental disability and so forth). With case studies of individuals and of schemes which have addressed this issue.
- valuing differences in experience or discipline, perspective, background … and actually making use of these. The notion that it is appropriate to target a particular group and set up a specific mentoring scheme for them is at least suspect. The target group actually feel more threatened, more exposed by being defined in this way. Partly because of the 'needing help. perception, but also because of a fear of creating ghettos.

Case study. USA. How to think creatively. An approach somewhere between the European and American models.
- The company had a problem in marketing—turnover of women at junior and middle management levels was substantially higher than that of men
- They decided to introduce a 'glass ceiling' programme, making it easier for women to gain promotion. Senior executives would 'adopt' women, to help them progress up the hierarchy
- the plan was put to the women—who asked: Why's the problem being laid at our door? The company accepted that it was a cultural question and not the women's fault
- the programme was turned around. Women were made mentors to the executives
- There is now no retention problem. Dialogue on the initial problem highlighted a whole range of diversity issues. Recognition of the women's role has also considerably benefited the organization as most customers are women and women employees are particularly attuned to this market.

You have noted that teams provide excellent opportunities for learning through interaction with others. What team profile, environment or leadership provides the most favourable learning opportunities?
Clutterbuck: Turn that around. Learning is particularly difficult in what we call the stable team—the same group of people doing the same task over a long period of time. Very difficult not to get 'routinized'.

And it's also very difficult to introduce new thinking, or new practices, or to question what's going on.

Studies we've done show that learning is imported into a stable team in direct proportion to the incidence of simultaneous membership of other types of teams.

Where managers have the foresight to encourage people to develop networks, and enable multi-team membership, there is an influx of ideas and perspectives and questions that are really useful in group learning.

Organization's problems almost always relate to the inter-relationships between their people. Yes, there are resource problems, yes, there are competition problems, and so on, but most problems come down to either the inability of the company to manage its learning or its inability to manage its communication.

You could say that learning and communication are two sides of the same coin. You can't learn without communication and you can't really communicate effectively if you're not involved in a learning dialogue.

Another study of the link between business performance and communications revealed the evolution from 'not taking communication very seriously' to 'creating internal communications functions and departments'. But even this is an intermediary step. What we're predicting in the next five or six years is the gradual evolution towards the creation of dialogue between those people who need it. That will mean that the alliance between the internal communications function, the HR function, the marketing function and the IT function is going to be a critical axis in the future.

Resources
Full text here. To read the articles you need the free Acrobat Reader.

Mentoring is a newish concept. The first reference in the Emerald database is dated 1989. There are 684 full text and 129 keyword references. The articles located are wide in scope and the editors have chosen five, from five different journals. All have 'excellence' ratings (***) in at least one of the four content indicators.

The first article chosen reflects on the impact of mentoring on the organization in terms of leadership, corporate culture, gender differences, job satisfaction and performance. The authors note that mentoring has traditionally been a male-dominated process and that female mentors are reportedly not assuming the mentoring role in the same manner as males. Mentoring revisited: an organizational behaviour construct, Steven H. Appelbaum, Stephen Ritchie, Barbara T. Shapiro. International Journal of Career Management; 06: 3 1994; pp.3-10. ISSN: 0955-6214. Keywords: Career development, Employees, Gender, Job satisfaction, Leadership, Managers, Mentoring, Organization. Article Type: Theoretical with application in practice. Content Indicators: Research Implication***, Practice Implication**, Originality*, Readability**
Focusing on the early careers of lawyers, the second article also explores the impact of mentoring on job satisfaction. The author concludes that the level of work satisfaction is affected both by the number of mentoring relationships and the intensity of assistance in the case of a single mentor ... hence the title: The more, the merrier? Multiple developmental relationships and work satisfaction, Monica C. Higgins, Journal of Management Development; 19: 4 2000; pp.277-296. ISSN: 0262-1711. Keywords: Development, Mentoring, Job satisfaction, Careers, Legal profession. Article Type: Survey, Theoretical with application in practice. Content Indicators: Research Implication**, Practice Implication**, Originality**, Readability***
How can you ensure you are a good mentor? This is the question posed in the third article which explores some issues for consideration when introducing mentors into an organization. The art of mentoring, Mike Pegg, Industrial & Commercial Training; 31: 4 1999; pp.136-142. ISSN: 0019-7858. Keywords: Mentoring, Authority, Communications, Learning, Roles. Article Type: Theoretical with application in practice. Content Indicators: Research Implication*, Practice Implication***, Originality**, Readability**
And what is the potential role of mentoring in today's increasing global operating environment? The fourth article notes that little research has been done on international mentoring and goes on to consider how mentoring could help accountants undertaking international assignments. The role of mentoring professional accountants: a global perspective , Philip H. Siegel, Joseph B. Mosca, Khondkar B. Karim, Managerial Finance; 25: 2 1999; pp.30-44. ISSN: 0307-4358. Keywords: Mentoring, International business, Accountants, Human resource development, Organizational learning. Article Type: Literature review, Theoretical with application in practice. Content Indicators: Research Implication**, Practice Implication***, Originality**, Readability***
The final article explores mentoring and networking for women educators in Australian Government schools and argues that it is much easier for male teachers and educational administrators to access power through mentoring and networking than it is for their female counterparts. Mentoring and Networking for Women Educators, Lisa Catherine Ehrich, Women in Management Review; 09: 3 1994; pp.4-10. ISSN: 0964-9425. Keywords: Australia, Career development, Education, Equal opportunities, Management, Mentoring, Networking, Women. Article Type: Theoretical with application in practice. Content Indicators: Research Implication***, Practice Implication***, Originality*, Readability***

QuickStudy® — Mastering the first 90 days
by Shery Spanier, extracted from CareerJournal.com
December 04, 2000

So you've just landed a new position? Congratulations, writes Ms Spanier (well, sort of—we're summarising, as usual). Now comes the real challenge: Your future, long term, will be pretty much mapped out by what you do in the next three months.

You're probably thinking about articulating your mission and hitting the ground running, right? Don't do it.

Here's why—consider this example. New executive, energized by new job as senior VP of a failing division at a major New York bank. Formerly at a stodgy law firm, eager to abandon bureaucracy and create the ideal work environment—a high-performing team of independent and committed members who would operate autonomously, but with a shared vision.

First day—informed his staff that major changes lay ahead. In the following weeks he reorganized, eliminated three positions, brought in two of his own people. Redesigned systems, engaged a consultant to analyze the team's performance. Instituted staff meetings at which team members were expected to share ideas about future activities.

Astounded when, at the first meeting, no one spoke up. Team members sat about as if in a stupor. He couldn't figure out why. Soon became clear. Rather than create an ideal workplace and collaborative team, he'd operated as an individual contributor, expecting his team to buy-in without clear direction.

Soon after, the bank retained an executive coach to improve the department's performance. Team interviews revealed that the new VP had misjudged his staff's reaction to a newcomer and to massive, unexplained changes. They were just as anxious to turn the department around, but saw his leadership as a direct assault on their prior efforts—and believed he was insensitive to their contributions, unaware of their experience, and unwilling to communicate or share his vision.

Now, consider this example. Newly hired CIO at a New York investment firm. Recruited to bring a fresh perspective. Looked around on day one, observed outdated systems, a poorly organized help desk, and several frightened veteran staff members—two of whom had applied for her position. First announcement—no immediate changes. Sighs of relief all round.

One-on-one meetings with each staff member led to several team meetings, which elicited ideas about where the department needed to go and how it might get there, including thoughts on necessary resources, time frames, and assignments. Then, realizing that she'd need corporate resources, she began to meet partners and peers throughout the firm … breakfasts, lunches, visits, focus groups, and data-gathering.

At the end of her 90 days this CIO had a clear sense of her staff's abilities and personalities and how the company functioned, so she could create several proposals for needed change. Patience bought her loyalty, which paved the way for achieving her initiatives. By her six-month review, she was credited with turning the department around and rewarded with an increased budget.

What can we draw from these examples? Making your debut a hit takes effort. While there's no formula for guaranteed success, there are some basic rules:

to make the best first impression, try to be seen as one of the players. People prefer working with others with whom they feel a connection
think about what you want to achieve in both content and context. Don't just strive to get things done. Get them done in a way that will gain you the followers (because followers define leaders) and the impact you want
identify company managers who are well-respected and determine their characteristics. Think about the adjectives others use to describe them, and how you'd like to be described. Uncover success patterns in your organization and model them in your activities

Balance people and process—you've arranged your office and learned how to use the phone, e-mail, and computer systems, what next? Concentrate on important interpersonal activities, Spanier says. Executives who remember to balance interactions with transactions integrate faster and easier.

Build relationships—learn about your colleagues' competencies, and gather information about teams and turf. Imbue your new colleagues with a vested interest in your success. It'll be your peers, more than your boss or subordinates, that help you negotiate the early months. Bond with these people. It's the most important thing you can do.

Be careful though—managers in trouble may cosy up to a newcomer to stay in the mainstream. Find the power centers, both evident and hidden. Every organization has a hierarchy, and status can be the language of power. Who has the sext projects, the attractive accoutrements, and the best views? In some organizations, administrative staffs reflect their boss's power as well.

Get a grip on the culture—observe the obvious and subtle alliances and interactions, both in meetings and informally. Are doors open or do people make appointments with each other? Is there a lot of emphasis on face time, or do people seem to come and go on their own schedules? How do people communicate: in person or technologically? How are e-mail, memos, and voice mail used? In meetings, who seems to command respect and who's overlooked?

Don't showboat—in your enthusiasm to show how effective and smart you are, be cautious about recommending changes or delivering critiques. Sometimes, being right is the booby prize. Don't be seen as an outsider who only finds fault with well-established people and ideas. Wait and watch before launching major changes, even if you were hired to be an innovator.

Get to know your subordinates—by meeting with each of them individually. Uncover their expectations, interest in learning new skills or developing themselves, previous disappointments, career expectations and concerns. What turns them on and off? What are their dreams and desires? What do they expect from you?

Gain buy-in and agreement—before proceeding with changes. Group psychology teaches us that during your first three months, group dynamics are forming. Colleagues are polite and cautious when getting to know each other. Next comes norming, group members develop rules and plans for achieving goals. This is followed by storming: infighting, bids for power and control, undermining behaviors, disagreements and conflict. Finally, the group begins to perform, operating as a team, understanding the rules and getting on with their roles. By knowing which stage your group is in, you'll better understand how fast and far you can proceed.

Set small personal goals—if you're used to being a heavy hitter, taking a deep breath (and breathing through your nose) may be a challenge. The curtain has opened on your first act. Play to the theater, remembering the acoustics and blind spots. Think of your colleagues, staff, and superiors as your audience, and be ready to manage up, down, and across. Treat others respectfully, develop relationships, and let others know your plans and progress.

Concentrate on deliverables—what you contribute; measurables—the impact of what you do; and promotables—what gets you noticed.

Think about how your new position will broaden your skills and expand your visibility within the company and industry. Your new role might be a long run or a short-term splash. The first 90 days will probably determine which.

Original article copyright © 2000 Dow Jones & Co. Inc.

Next issue February 1, 2001 - reader contributions warmly received
Copyright © 2000, Macpherson Publishing All rights reserved
EDGE FIRST is a trademark of Macpherson Publishing
Contact us at macalex1@xtra.co.nz. Visit our web site at www.baldrigeplus.com. Edited by Malcolm Macpherson
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