SELECT & DEVELOP YOUR LEADERS (and get the
results you really want)
article reprinted from June 2005 issue of
Directions, the newsletter of EC Davis & Associates - www.ecdavis.com
Did you find the TMDC data interesting? We hope so. Now we’ll offer some ideas for making it helpful too.
When selecting leaders…
1. While we wouldn’t suggest that you have too rigid a set of requirements (since exceptions to a rule can turn out to be terrific sometimes), at least give added points to those who have pursued higher education. For example, people who attended college as nontraditional students (combining a college experience with full-time work) have achieved a level of learning and demonstrated a kind of persistence that seems to set them apart from those who have not. And the further they have gone in school, the better.
2. Don’t be afraid of middle aged applicants, but don’t count on their years of experience in management to make them the exact kind of leader you are looking for! Ask questions about the kind of organization they worked for and what it expected of its leaders, and their role in developing people, creating teams, delegating and coaching others. Explore carefully to see if their experiences match the leadership attributes you need. Simple years in management may only give you a hardened set of skills that is different from your needs.
3. Consider some personality characteristics like trust, candor, assertiveness, and intellectual curiosity. Perhaps you want to test applicants for these characteristics, but at least find some way to explore for their presence. One way to do this is to ask behavior-directed questions, such as “tell me about a time when you had to display trust...” Getting them to cite examples and illustrate their behavior is a better approach than simply trying to sense their trustworthiness during the interview process.
4. Now, what about the data on women? While we don’t recommend you start hiring only women, be sure you give them serious consideration. Here’s another bit of data from our research that incorporates the Myers Briggs Type Indicator: we can suggest that not just any higher educated women are performing the best, but those who possess the Myers Briggs NT characteristics perform the very best. Prime female candidates for leadership are more visionary, future-focused, and conceptual in combination with being more assertive and analytical. (Yes, men with these same Myers Briggs attributes will perform as stronger leaders as well.) By the way, only 12% of the population who has taken the Myers Briggs inventory tests out with the NT combination we’ve described. So you must look carefully to identify them!
5. Don’t just interview! Interviews are like first dates with everyone putting their best foot forward – often after getting lots of training or tips on how to interview well. Behaviors speak louder than words, and are much greater predictors of actual performance later. So consider including a simple assessment activity that can offer you lots of data. Provide a set of performance information and have the candidate organize it and determine how to approach dealing with it. You can look for the candidate’s clear organization, recognition of priorities, plan to accomplish the task alone or through others, search for resources and help, etc. The more effective the behavioral assessment, the better the selection process.
When developing leaders …
Think first about Coaching, Delegation, and Facilitation (the lowest overall scores among the 12 TMDC competencies). At EC Davis we offer customized, in-house programs for you that address these areas. Or, if you develop your own training, consider these needs:
1. Within the area of Coaching, we find that individuals are more likely to tell, assign, or “direct traffic,” rather than bring along another person who is willing and capable to perform successfully over time. Coaching is a unique form of teaching; good teachers inspire, demonstrate meaningful goals, get very specific and logical, make sure you really learned it (test), walk you through practice, provide feedback, and make you feel good – even when you make mistakes in the learning process. Managers need to learn to integrate these methods into their day-to-day work practices so coaching becomes part of their job – not something they do in addition to their job.
2. When Delegating, we find that individuals often prefer to do things themselves rather than expect others to perform the work appropriately. And, if they feel pressured to delegate, they are prone to dump a task on someone rather than gain sincere buy-in, apply good coaching techniques, follow up with helpful feedback, and acknowledge success. Almost all individuals struggle with the challenge of determining who really is ready for what sort of new assignment, how big to make that new assignment, and how closely to monitor the work.
3. And finally, with Facilitation, we see individuals who struggle to engage others (both as teams and as individuals) to participate constructively, to assume responsibility they will actually carry through, to exhibit enthusiasm and motivation for the job, to understand the work of their group and how they can contribute to its improvement. In some cases this is a basic matter of group leadership; more often, it is a more complex matter of meaningfully drawing people in and gaining their commitment to the work at hand.
Remember, if these are competencies you expect your managers and supervisors to possess, be prepared to train them. For whatever reason, we do not see them in abundance when we assess people for leadership.
Mentoring for development…
You should also think about how you can develop managers in critical personality-based characteristics: visionary, future-focused, conceptual as well as assertive and analytical. Remember: you might only see 12% of your leaders who naturally possess these personality characteristics!
Traditional training programs are less likely to be successful when it comes to personality. Mentoring and coaching are more appropriate methods. Of course, the problem here is that most of the internal mentors and managers in our companies themselves may not naturally possess these personality tendencies. So you would be well served to first provide training in coaching and mentoring for the managers of the leaders you want to develop. Occasionally, you may also want to consider external mentors for individuals.
In our Coaching Skills Workshop for Managers and Mentors, we have found managers and mentors who welcome a chance to learn skills and processes they can apply, as well as the opportunity to talk through the unique characteristics of each individual they coach. This small-group training provides ample opportunity for individual practice and attention – and a good mentor-model as the trainer. Coaching others in managerial competencies – particularly personality-based competencies – is indeed a tremendous challenge. Your managers and internal mentors need help!
article reprinted from June 2005 issue of Directions, the newsletter of EC Davis & Associates - www.ecdavis.com