Leadership in Selling, Selling Authenticity and Well-being Ideas from Davos 2015

“There are four ingredients in true leadership:  brains, soul, heart and good nerves “  

Klaus Schwab  founder and Chairman of World Economic Forum  Davos 

 21^st January 2015

Here are some findings of research on leadership which readers may find interesting in view of this leadership theme at Davos this week

Tel Aviv University’s Yona Kifer  published  January 28, 2013 a study in Psychological Science.

The study concluded that :

employees were 26% more satisfied in their roles when they had positions of power.

The researchers also found that feelings of power also translated to more authenticity and feelings of well-being.

Power made the subjects feel more “true to themselves,” enabling them to engage in actions that authentically reflected values they hold dear.

This subjective sense of authenticity in turn created a higher sense of wellbeing and  happiness.

Drawing on personality and power research, Yona Kiferl and colleagues suggested that holding a position of authority might enhance subjective well-being through an increased feeling of authenticity. 

 

The researchers predicted that because the powerful are able to

“navigate their lives in congruence with their internal desires and inclinations,” they feel as if they are acting more authentically — more “themselves” — and thus are more content.

The findings were published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. 2013

In their first experiment, the researchers surveyed over 350 participants to determine if Internal  feelings of power are associated with subjective well-being in different contexts: 1.  at work,  2. with friends, or 3.  in romantic relationships.

The results indicated that people who feel powerful in any context tend to be more content.

The most powerful people surveyed felt 16% more satisfied with their lives than the least powerful people.

This effect was most pronounced in the workplace:

Powerful employees were 26% more satisfied with their jobs than their powerless colleagues.

The power-based discrepancy in happiness was smaller for friendships and romantic relationships.

The researchers suggest that this may be because friendships are associated with a sense of community rather than hierarchy, and therefore having power in this kind of relationship is less important.

 

Causal relationships  in power, authenticity and wellbeing

In the second and third experiments, Kifer and colleagues examined the causal relationship between

a. power,

b. feelings of authenticity,

c.  general well-being,

by manipulating each of the factors independently.

The results revealed that being in a position of power causes people to feel more authentic and “true to themselves” — that is, it allows their actions to more closely reflect their beliefs and desires.

Feelings of authenticity, in turn, enhance subjective feelings of well-being and happiness.

“By leading people to be true to their desires and inclinations — to be authentic — power lead individuals to experience greater happiness,” the researchers conclude.

Kifer and colleagues propose that future research into power dynamics, happiness, and authenticity should focus on specific kinds of power, both positive (such as charisma) and negative (such as punishment).

Together, these findings suggest that even the perception of having power can lead people to live more authentic lives, thereby increasing their happiness and well-being.

Co-authors on this research include Daniel Heller of Tel Aviv University, Wei Qi Elaine Perunovic of University of New Brunswick, and Adam Galinsky of Columbia Business School.

The 'Feeling of Power' - productive, performing and pleased

Research has shown that helping others feel more powerful can boost productivity, improve performance, and leave employees feeling more satisfied on the job. A study conducted by Yona Kifer of Tel Aviv University and published in Psychological Science found that employees were 26% more satisfied in their roles when they had positions of power.

Feelings of power also translated to more authenticity and feelings of well-being, the Researchers found.

Power made the subjects feel more “true to themselves,” enabling them to engage in actions that authentically reflected values they hold dear. This subjective sense of authenticity in turn created a higher sense of wellbeing and happiness.

Yet Gallup research has found that typically 70% of American workers aren’t engaged or committed to their employers. Gallup estimates the cost of their apathy at between $450 billion to $550 billion in lost productivity per year.

I reckon those workers aren’t feeling all that powerful.

While it would be great to think we could just repeat a mantra each morning to facilitate these well being -enhancing feelings of power, another global study conducted by Gallup found that among some 600,000 workers across several industries,

• leadership support,
• recognition,
• constant communication,
• and trust

were essential to creating a thriving environment where front-line employees felt they had the autonomy to make a real difference in the organization. In other words, to instil a sense of power , people for sustained engagement you need the support of the entire system.

The Importance of Buy-In

By contrast, overly structured management-driven empowerment programmes that are coupled with continuous improvement initiatives don’t work, according to researchers from the University of Illinois, as employees tend to feel such programs are often ‘ forced upon them’ without their input on  the initiatives’ usefulness.

Instead, the researchers found that even the least powerful employees will commit to finding ways to make their organisation more efficient if given the autonomy to make decisions and execute the improvement measures they find most useful.

Sales Managers are advised to act more as coaches, giving direction and support, and trusting that front line salespeople, who are the experts on the ground, know better which improvements ultimately work in the best interest of the organisation.

The study, by Gopesh Anand, Dilip Chhajed, and Luis Delfin, shows that employees will be most committed to the organisation when they feel their day-to-day work environment is autonomous and when they trust leaders to have their back. 

 These feelings of power and the reciprocal trust in leadership in turn lead to proactive behaviours by front line salespeople, as they’re likely to take charge in continuously seeking ways to improve their day-to-day work practices that lead to organisational efficiency.

While a company-wide effort of making employees feel autonomous and trusted yields the greatest benefit in employee commitment, managers can start with their own team members.

Encouraging others to

• share their unvarnished views on important issues,

• delegating

• and sharing leadership,

• assigning managerial tasks,

• communicating frequently,

• and allowing for mistakes to serve as learning opportunities can all empower employees and develop them into independent thinkers who aren’t afraid to take risks and actively contribute in moving the organisation forward.

It isn’t necessary, or indeed possible, to elevate every member of the sales team  to a Leadership position.

But a good sales  manager can offer choices that lead to empowerment, no title required.

While we know that people instinctively crave higher status, M. Ena Inesi of London Business School discovered that agency is just as important.

She primed study participants to feel either powerful or powerless.

They then had to choose whether to shop at a nearby store with fewer options, or a store that was further away but which offered considerably more options. When participants felt powerless, they craved more choices. 

The participants who felt powerful, however, were content to have fewer choices.

“You can imagine a person at an organisation who’s in a low- level job,” Inesi said at the time.

“You can make that seemingly powerless person feel better about their job and their duties by giving them some choice, in the way they do the work or what project they work on.”

The dangers of Learned Helplessness

People need to believe they have a sense of control over their situation, particularly in times of change and uncertainty, or they may adopt what psychologist Martin Seligman at the University of  Pennsylvania termed “learned helplessness,” where they basically stop trying.

In a similar vein, Harvard psychology professor Ellen Langer conducted research on mindfulness and ‘choice’ and found that giving people choices over their environment actually extended life by years, according to her studies conducted among the elderly in nursing homes.

Tom Peters once said, “Leaders don’t create followers; they create more leaders.”

Giving Your employees real autonomy and helping them feel more powerful is not only your best chance to buck he trend of disengagement and apathy; it is at the heart of competitive strategy.

 Perhaps the good and the great at Davos this week would agree with not only the founder of the World Economic Forum but some wisdom from some two and a half thousand year ago

"A leader is best when people barely know (s)he exists, when their work is done, their aim fulfilled, the people will say: we did it ourselves." 

Lao Tzu    571 BCE

Related links

http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/news/releases/power-helps-you-live-the-good-life-by-bringing-you-closer-to-your-true-self.html 

http://blogs.hbr.org/2014/05/make-your-team-feel-powerful/

 

Davos is for Salespeople also

Sales Talent Churn challenges posed by Defectors, Misfits and Remnants

Of all the sales management metrics that tell us about economic growth, the ones that we in selling know ( and often to our cost)  is talent churn.

 In London according to  recent issue of the London Evening Standard, it is predicted that 

40% of employees plan to move within next year.

Managers ( including sales managers) turn from corporate game keepers who guard and develop their company's  talent to one now of  poachers who may feel the need entice talent away from competitors.

More than half those leaving jobs in London then try to entice their colleagues to follow them and many choose to take them up on their offer.

40+ %  when asked when anyone had left their place of work and tried to ‘poach them’ to go and work in a new company  “Yes and I took them up!”

25% replied that they had been approached but declined

33% said they had never been approached

DEFECTORS

Research from Adecco reveals the reason for defections.

That the most common  reason for wanting to move is bad management.

 30% wanted to move because of poor management nearly twice as high as those saying they would leave primarily because of low pay.

Ironically the worst bosses are to be found in HR with nearly 40% saying that bad management was the strongest reason for moving jobs followed by arts and culture at 37%.

Poachers are most likely to work in:-

• Professional services
• HR
• Sales
• and Media

MISFITS

Not only is poor management the main cause of defections their exacerbate the problem by then replacing them with the wrong people.

70% of those polled say their firm made hires that were ‘clearly  a wrong fit for the organisation’

Legal professionals are far more likely to poach successfully. 40% in London have done so successfully. But 80% of legal professionals say that their firm has made bad hires. ( the average is 73% across London.

REMNANTS

If defectors and poor replacement hires were not enough of challenge to sales management , the task of sustaining team morale when key staff leave ( and possibly try to take colleagues with them) 24% of staff feeling ‘de-motivated’ when someone leaves.

40% say they are ‘disappointed’ when someone leaves

20% say they are ‘frustrated’ when someone leaves

And only one in seven admitted to being ‘happy’ to see certain people leave.

Half of Londoners in the Adecco study are also concerned about the increased workload with 25% saying they are worried that more people  will then leave ( and many of these will be poached)

54% of  Londoners believe their firms have a problem with retention   38% believe better management training is the number 1 solution

Ironically HR who you would think would be best at managing staff- has the  worst management   with 50% saying that there is a lack of management training for staff compared with 35% across the board.

From a small pine tree to global Corporation -Komatsu

In Japanese Komatsu means small pine tree. In English we have an expression “from little acorns great oak trees grow.” Komatsu are a big ‘corporate’ oak tree in anyone’s language. Young boys might like to play with Tonka toys but when one encounters the real business of Crawler Excavators, Wheeler excavators, Crawler dozers, Dump tracks, Backhoe loaders, Mobile crushers, recyclers, wheel loaders, motor graders, skid steer loaders, etc these are the real toys for boys! The Komatsu product range is one of the largest in the world


This week ,I've been working out in Vilvoorde near Brussels with my colleague Simon Broom running a Management Strategy Workshop with managers at Komatsu the Japanese truck manufacturer. I had a fantastic group of managers from Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Bosnia and the Ukraine. It was an event filled experience not only on the business front but also on the personal front. We celebrated one delegate's birthday ( Richard from Ghana) and another (Wonder) entering into the world of fatherhood.


Our programme covered discussions on defining what the role of a manager is today and what are the challenges both at the local, national and global levels. Models of the machines that Komatsu manufacture, service and support. At the global level the resilience of Komatsu's headquarters despite the huge challenges that the earthquake and tsunami that the home country has suffered was impressive. Komatsu's Management Principles include: Quality and Reliability  The essence of Komatsu's management is to maximize its "Corporate Value" through the pursuit of "Quality and Reliability."



They believe in the notion that "Corporate Value" represents the total sum of trust the general society and our stakeholders place in Komatsu.In order to gain more trust, Komatsu Group companies take into consideration Komatsu's Corporate Social Responsibility ("CSR") and strive toward mature corporate governance and high "Manufacturing Competitiveness".



Their pursuit of "Quality and Reliability" is naturally applicable to their products and services to ensure that they are highly valued by our customers. However, its successful application further encompasses such aspects as organizational structure, business operations, employees and Komatsu's management in general.


They issue their managers with guidelines which indicate what they should do for the purpose of enhancing "Quality and Reliability." These guidelines are not only for management but also for each and every employee of Komatsu Group companies in performing their respective jobs on a day-to-day basis:


It is worth looking at these priciples as best practice from a global player.


a. To always think about the needs of customers and to strive to provide products, services and systems that are environment-friendly, safe and innovative;



b. To always pursue self-initiated innovation of technology and management;


c. To promote consolidated management from the global perspective;


d. To contribute to the welfare of the local community as a good corporate citizen; and



e. To provide employees with opportunities for self-initiated innovation and achievements. Komatsu clearly work on solutions rather than being part of a problem! Although there are certain influences that managers cannot directly effect there are certain actions mangers can take to bring them teams close to corporate objectives nevertheless.



One area that was a challenge for all on the course was that of time management. The demands on Komatsu managers are many and various.



The key elements we identified included Selection, Organisation, Direction, Motivation, Correction, Controlling, Assisting, Developing, Decision making, Change management, Inspiration, Retention of Staff and where necessary Dismissal. The communication channels that today's manger can employ are in four areas

1.Written communication via email

2. Reading

3. Listening

and 4. Speaking

There was a feeling among the group that more time needed be spent by getting out of the office chair and engaging with their team member face to face a little more. It was felt that MBWA ( Management by Walking About) - popular some 30 years ago, is due for a return .



No doubt the world's Business Schools are re-inventing that "particular wheel" with some fancy new title - suggestions please. The group also discussed and debated at some length about the various different styles of authority that can be employed for different circumstances. e.g. Structural, Moral, Charismatic and Wisdom ( 'Sapiential') and " Give them a damned good listening to!" The groups worked on a stretching case study that required them to to produce a product and market plan.



They had to decide and justify their decision with respect to analysing data on a sales team both in terms of past and future potential in view of the change in market and product mix described in the case.


They had to draw out conclusion about the type and amount of activities the sales team and individuals contributed to the overall performance. Although the case was not specific to Komatsu's segment the group pulled out many parallels that the various units were currently experiencing. Of course just "telling" a team will not be enough to make it happen.


So we refreshed our knowledge methods of monitoring, analysing and planning in terms of the team's activity, direction and ability. Activity was measured by quantity and frequency Aim / Direction was measured by the right products, to the right customers and the right contact. (Robert from Kenya presenting his team's approach to 'pipeline' forecasting. Ability in terms of knowledge and skills. ) Forecasting and Pipeline.


We reviewed how forecasting and 'pipelines'. We considered particular products and service offered by Komatsu and broken each down into steps of decision and and information capture into a 'staircase' approach. A further development of this approach was to give a rating / percentage likelihood of each step It was felt that this would be a useful tool for working with their team members to keep them on track and on target.


For Komatsu many of the projects and sales have extended time lines from first interest to Revenue earned. We then did some refreshment work on Team motivation considering models such as Maslow Hierarchy of needs and how best to apply it in the field. We then moved onto the topic of PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT.



We looked at how competency matrices can help the manager manager their people and their talents this was linked back to our 3As model ( Aim, Ability and Activity) to best effect. We then rounded off the programme with working or the giving of feedback and coaching skills. We refreshed our skills on focusing on behaviour and behaviour change consider the pros and cons of subjective and objective feedback. We looked at the DESC model Describing the behaviour to be coached ( corrected) Explaining and Expressing the effects of the behaviour Specifying what was required and commensurate changes and remedies Consequences of changing / or not changing and how to explain them We put this all together into a series of short role plays of challenging situations where today's manager need to coach and give feedback to their staff.



Listening was particularly stressed by many as a skill to constantly work on. We worked on formulating accurate yearly forecasts and approaches to 'pipeline management'. It was not all work though. We had a great evening dinner at Ristorante -I Latini, place Sainte-Catherine , 1000 Bruxelles .

My "Royal" Bream fish was delicious www. ilatini.be

Related link Komatsu 2012

http://fruitsofsuccesswithhugh.blogspot.com/2012/03/komatsu-down-to-earth-selling.html