What makes your Hi-Po people, high potential?

I’ve been talking to several HR friends and clients about developing High Potential people (Hi-Po’s). The comments they make are similar, here are a few examples:

• 'We have differences of opinion on what we mean by Hi-Po to begin with!’
• ‘I am not sure we really know what do with a Hi-Po once we have agreed someone is Hi-Po.’
• ‘I suspect we are not very good at differentiating needs. Our development plans do look like one-size-fits-all.’    

I want to start by asking a question that is not often asked:

• ‘What is it like for the Hi-Po person?’

Why is this a useful question? Because the future is going to be about competing for talented people as much as competing for customers.

We need to understand more about the psychology of a Hi-Po person if we are to attract, retain and maximize the value in our talent pool.

There are numerous ways of defining a ‘Hi-Po Person’ and I realize I will be making some assumptions: I will focus on younger people selected for a career path, who are usually from a University route, and make a few generalizations, although there is supporting research.

What do Hi-Po people possess and what is their experience of life so far? And this starts with a big USUALLY they:

• Are above average intelligence, quick to solve problems, quick to learn new concepts.
•  Have excellent verbal and numerical reasoning, they see solutions easily.
• Will be ambitious and have high expectations of themselves and you as an employer.
• Have expectation that promotions and assume career success will follow.
• They have found academic study relatively easy.
• Have learnt how to relate to other senior, intellectually clever, ambitious people.
• Work hard, but success has been more guaranteed with this hard work than for others.

You usually select Hi-Po people for their intellect, ability and cognitive capabilities. However, let us look at what Hi-Po people USUALLY do not possess. These are the blind spots you will need to develop.

• They often do not understand why other people find problems difficult to solve, and take so much time to arrive at the answer.
• They often find it hard to explain ideas and solutions to others, because others cannot easily follow the reasoning.
• Others expect a lot from Hi-Po people so there is a pressure to perform; this includes family members as well as senior people at work.
• Knowing that everyone expects great things from them, there can be a hidden lack of confidence.
•  Hi-Po people have not spent time learning to build relationships with people who (they think) are not as quick or intelligent; there has been no need to, or value in it.
• The language used by Hi-Po people is often more elaborate, which makes them harder from others to understand, or know how to talk to.
•  Career promotions that do not move at the pace expected lead to frustration.

Conclusions? Hi-Po people are very quick at assimilating task and functional skills, and are well equipped to do this. However, they can find it more challenging to develop relationships and effective interpersonal skills. They may have a lower starting point than others who have learnt to use interpersonal skills as a substitute for not being as quick or clever. As a graph, (artistic rather than scientific) the Hi-Po would look something like this:

The task for Talent Development Managers is to close ‘The Hi-Po Gap’ by lifting the lower line quickly. Here are some ideas to maximize the value of Hi-Po people to the business. These activities offer a way of assimilating personal skills quickly. Give your Hi-Po people a chance:

• Teaching and instructing others, which will develop communication skills.
• Coaching others can develop patience and learn not to always give the answers
• Team leadership duties means learning to handle a range of interpersonal, domestic and performance issues sensitively
• Realign expectations on what they will and will not be doing in the day-to-day job
• Do not over-promise promotions or career steps
• Give a buddy at a subordinate level to provide advice on what life and work is like for others in the organization.
• Give a mentor at a senior level to help with relationship building skills

Make sure your Hi-Po people reach their high potential and you get the benefit, not a competitor!

Next article: Talented or simply good?

About the Author:

Nigel Murphy supports the whole learning experience of MCE delegates across MCE’s wide range of solutions. He has a background in management in manufacturing, education and training. For the past 10 years he has worked on leadership programmes across the globe. He is interested in the mentoring of new managers and leaders, and leading remote teams of people in today’s globally 
dispersed businesses.

                                                                               

Is LEAD - a four-letter word?

VIEWPOINT: ‘Leadership’ is an overused term, too often used as a lazy catchall. Rudi Plettinx, Managing Director of Management Centre Europe, calls for a focus on what it means to be a real leader, in this ninth in his series of articles for IEDP: Four-letter words are no-no’s and often none seems to come much bigger than the simple, single syllable statement LEAD. For instance, attach the “L” word to practically anything and you instil in it some kind of supernatural power. “He’s a business leader” is expressed in hushed tones as though we should all be impressed. “Sign up for our seminar on business Leadership and you’ll never look back” is a frequent favourite, hinting at practically guaranteed success. It seems to me that in today’s world the word LEAD is being used in a LAZY way. Users, it would seem, reckon that that the simple evocation of the “L” word conveys mystical powers (allowing those that use it to charge a good 50 percent premium on the services they are offering). Consequently every consultant manages to work the L-word into their product and services. Therefore, it is not surprising that practically every conference, seminar book and research project is based on the thoughts of business leaders which will give you the magical insight to being a real Leader yourself. But isn’t it time we stopped over-using leadership as an all-purpose, over-contrived superlative - an unnecessary and distracting adjectival device? Come on think about it please. Sure we know that most of us would rather be seen as leaders, but surely we have to earn it and be recognised for our abilities before it can be applied to us mere mortals. Calling ourselves a leader does not really work if no-one believes, or has day-to-day confidence, in our talents and abilities. Certainly, we can all read the right books attend the best programs and employ the best coaches, but none of that will make us a leader not for one nano-second. There is a very old saying that you can fool most of the people most of the time. But you just can’t fool your people by proclaiming you are a leader when you are not. All the certificates in the world won’t be of any use when you are in charge and another “L” word appears in you working vocabulary – a- LONE; because that is where you will be -on your own. And that is when we all get to find out how good we really are. Also there is another old adage that suggests that you can get away with not being a very good leader as a Number 2 but never as a Number 1. You can fake it , practically forever, as number 2 but take it from me - and  the many examples I’ve seen time and time again -  if  you have faked it, if you are not really what it says on the box, you will LOSE – big time.  Because, I can guarantee that circumstances will always conspire to make sure you meet that other “word and LOSE.  I have been around the business a long time and I have never seen a fake Number 2 ever succeed as a successful Number 1 – it just does not happen, and I don’t think it ever will. So, yes, I do think the word LEAD and its bigger brother Leadership is overused and badly misunderstood. I think we spray the “L” word around without much thought. But tell you what.  When it all happens one day, you will personally know (deep inside) if you are really a leader or not. And, more important, your people will know that too right from day one– oh yes, indeed they will!! I have been scanning the world’s media and it is amazing how many just do not make it. And all too often they may get to Lead for a while but they don’t last LONG either. In our dumbing- down on LEAD as a word we have managed to reduce the average CEO tenure to less  than five years- so much for another Word victim –LONG evity ! But there is even more of a twist to this when you bother to stop and think about it. What worries me most of all is that we could end-up mistaking that simple, yet highly evocative word Lead for the similarly spelt LEAD. Otherwise known as a very heavy metal……. Chances are you get it all terribly wrong and the people you have come to lead will - if you don’t have it… sink out of sight like a lead balloon…….  In the Periodic Table of corporate life LEAD is most certainly a downer, not what naturally springs to mind when we think of ourselves as all conquering heroes saving the organizational universe. This column on leadership and organizational development is written exclusively for the IEDP by Rudi Plettinx, Managing Director of Management Centre Europe, the Brussels-based development organization. Have a comment or a question? Engage direct with Rudi Plettinx here

The 2015 Global Leadership Development Study

Key findings:

1. Global development that begins with first-level leaders or individual contributors fuels success. Delaying such efforts until candidates reach higher leadership levels has a negative effect on development effectiveness.
   
2. Business and financial acumen are fundamental capabilities for leaders, but insufficient; social skills are the real differentiators, enabling leaders to apply influence and inclusiveness to drive greater productivity.
   
3. Experiential learning is an essential element of blended development programs. Live classes, simulations, games, and specific work assignments deliver active learning effectively.
   
4. Global mindset is a distinctive characteristic of effective global leaders. Embracing cross-cultural diversity and driving collaborative relationships within and beyond organizations are hallmarks of this evolved perspective.
   

To read more, please click here.

The Leadership Grand Gesture

VIEWPOINT: Just occasionally leaders need to make a grand gesture to get their message across, Rudi Plettinx, Managing Director of Management Centre Europe, offers valuable insight on when and how to do it, in this eighth in his series of articles for IEDP:Newly appointed leaders often have a shrinking window of opportunity to get the team they’ve been given to manage on their side. My view is that you need to get their attention from day one, the first hour if at all possible. I think it is vitally important to send a message that will make the organization know you are serious about getting things done. This is particularly true if you are being parachuted into a situation where there is low morale, high turnover or some similar corporate malaise. But getting people to sit up and pay attention sometimes calls for a grand gesture. Something truly memorable. The stuff of leadership legend that will be talked about whenever the business ‘war stories’ are recalled and retold. Just in case you need to make a grand leadership gesture one of these days, here are three real-life examples that might just get you thinking the next time you feel you need to make some instant impact: A newly appointed general manager was sent into an organization where communications had broken down and employees were all suffering from low morale. Day one the manager arrived with a tool box in his hand. As headquarters staff watched open-mouthed, he took out a wrench and a screwdriver and removed the door to his office and had it taken away. The message was crystal clear. “My door is always open, don’t hesitate to come and talk to me.” This dramatic gesture achieved its goal. Within seconds (thanks to the power of email) the whole company knew what had happened at headquarters. This no nonsense, hands-on approach was the beginning of a spectacular turn-around in the organization’s fortunes. Not quite so dramatic, but equally successful, was the manager sent as the new leader of an ailing division of a software provider just before the Christmas period. The day she arrived top management sent a memo to the whole company saying that – due to budget restrictions – there would be no Christmas parties that year. The newly appointed manager tacked up a memo on the notice board inviting everyone in her new division to her Christmas party – which she paid for! Again, it sent an instant message to everyone and was the starting point of a turnaround: which, of course, resulted in a nice, fat bonus for the ‘generous’ manager. Or how’s this for total leadership chutzpah? Sent in to shake things up by his U.S. electronics firm, the new head of Europe sent a very definite message just hours after his plane landed in Brussels. Taken to a Michelin starred restaurant in the city as a ‘welcome to Europe’ gesture by his top 50 managers he came up with a bigger, bolder gesture of his own! He only stayed for the soup, saying, “well guys you may have time for lunch, but I haven’t.” There was more to come. A keen skier, the new boss started each day running up the 20 plus floors to his office as part of his keep-fit regime. His personal team was ‘encouraged’ to do the same. The message, “we are here to do a job and we can’t do that wasting time eating lunch or even waiting for elevators.” For leaders, grand gestures have their place. Only you can’t do them too often. So my advice is save them for when you really need to strike a chord, sending a message that won’t, ever, be forgotten. You’ll also have fun doing it too. Whoever said that leadership shouldn’t be fun? Not me.  Do you have a story about a CEO, or senior manager who made the grand gesture to get a point across ? If so we’d like to hear it. This column on leadership and organizational development is written exclusively for the IEDP by Rudi Plettinx, Managing Director of Management Centre Europe, the Brussels-based development organization. Have a comment or a question? Connect with him via Linkedin.

How to re-establish leadership balance in a boundary less world?

Gone are the ‘good old days’ where we could list on the right hand side of our screen or page what “defines” a manager and on the left hand side of the page the “features” defining a leader.

In today’s busy business and work world, we are continuously bombarded with information through all sorts of channels & technology, on an ongoing 24/7 basis. As a result, our jobs need our constant attention. We need to be able to solve problems, make decisions, strategize, and support our virtual and non-virtual teams and all of this at the speed of light. It can be really difficult to keep any kind of boundaries and sometimes nearly impossible.

Managers need to be leaders and leaders need to be managers. Referring to leading and managing as ‘either or’ won’t help us to navigate the complex realities of our work environment nor those of the global economic, social, political or business landscape.

At MCE, we believe that Management and Leadership is not only expressed and best applied alongside a ‘continuum’ (see below graph #1) but it is also 360 degree and holistic.

#1 like this:

  

Getting the right balance between knowing and managing yourself, knowing how to lead others and knowing the business is key in being a successful manager today. As a manager there are times when you need to manage functional tasks and others times when you are required to take important strategic decisions, have a vision, and to inspire others to outperform. The ability to demonstrate and apply both is critical.

Many other boundaries or limits are also being effected by the fast moving world we live in. For example a clear separation between work life and private life is becoming more difficult to achieve. There are many ongoing contradictions that make it more difficult to define a clear identity and clear roles. Technology is no longer a ‘means’ to an end or a channel of communication for example, but it defines who we are and blurs the lines between private life and business life. We are always connected. So, knowing yourself (Leading Self) and ‘being in balance with yourself’ is even more critical than it ever has been.

But how can you know if you are in balance if you don’t know what your boundaries should be? How do you know what is right and what is wrong? When should you stop responding to emails that come to your mailbox 24 hours a day?

So let us review some quick tips to help you focus on what matters and to set the boundaries that we need to be better leaders, managers, partners, individuals, parents…:

• Set boundaries: start with defining what these are for you. It starts with you and managing yourself: stop and reflect.  What does life balance mean for me? What do I need to be in balance?
• Define the most important areas: Which areas of my life are important to me and which out of these do I personally rank as my top three: (e.g.. spending quality time with my family, doing outdoor sports, seeing friends, contributing to society or to the community, travelling, time to reflect etc.)
•  Reflect: To what extent I am honouring these or neglecting these areas? What’s the possible negative impact this lack of balance is having on myself, my environment and the way I manage and lead?
•  Act: What behaviours and habits am I willing to change to re-establish my personal balance and by when and how will I do this?
•  Measure: How do I know I have succeeded to get my balance back? (E.g. more time for myself, more energy, more helpful to my team members, less stress etc.)

To be great managers and leaders in today’s demanding world where little boundaries exist, our first job is to be conscious of the boundaries we need to set to enable us to act as great leaders. These can be different for different people. Once we are aware of these, we need to assess whether they are being challenged by outside demands and if so, how we can get back our control over the way we manage our environment, not the other way around. The best leaders are those who are versatile. This means they can manage and lead whenever it is needed and they can adapt and be holistic in their way of leading (self, others, business). However the most important aspect is to get a good balance. Being out of balance will lead to stress, low energy, lower productivity and ultimately less good people & business leadership.

In the next post we will explore further, the impact of your lack of balance on your personal health, your team’s engagement, and your creativity.

About the author: 

Natalie Schurmann

Natalie Schurmann supports MCE with the design and quality of the open enrolment programmes. Natalie Schurmann has over 15 years’ experience in leadership development, executive coaching, leadership training and design and psychometric assessments. Natalie’s global delivery has impacted numerous regions including Europe, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, India, Russia, and Africa.

Leader! Get Those Priorities Carved in Stone!

VIEWPOINT: Agreeing the ground rules is key to leading change, according to Rudi Plettinx, Managing Director of Management Centre Europe, in this seventh in his series of articles for IEDP: I had a call from my old friend Charlotte the other day. She’s one of those corporate trouble-shooters who get sent to problem parts of an organization when the going gets too hot for everyone else. Is she a leader? You bet. But talking to her about her last challenge made me think just how poorly prepared many of us are when we take on one of those tricky assignments. Here’s what Charlotte told me about her recent experiences. “Often the problem for me is that I’m only called in when others have failed to do their job. So the number one issue, especially if you are sent to clear up a mess, is to be certain that the firm has given you all the tools you need to turn things around.” “don’t ever let the initial euphoria stop them from getting some very basic rules agreed” She went on to say, “If you aren’t sure just how far you can go (and don’t have it in writing) then you’ll never achieve anything. My belief – based on a great deal of ‘combat’ missions – is that you need maximum autonomy (and authority) to get a job like that done well. You can’t build respect and develop and engage employees if you – as the leader – are unsure of what you can and cannot do. Hesitation and prevarication aren’t options out there on the battle front.” Charlotte’s belief is that the biggest trap any manager moving into a new job can fall into is letting the initial euphoria (of their so-called promotion) stop them from getting some very basic rules agreed between them and their boss. As she explains, “time and again I hear of newly appointed managers who were so excited by their new promotion they forgot all the basics – that’s a recipe for disaster.” She continues, “sure, have that bottle of celebratory champagne, but next morning sit down with your boss and get the rules agreed. AND get them in writing. If they aren’t carved in stone they aren’t rules at all.” She adds, “without that you can’t do the job you are being asked to do.” So what are Charlotte’s rules ? “Any manager heading into a new assignment needs to have at least these clear from day one,” she stresses. “Not just clear, but agreed in writing before they begin.” What are my short-term goals? What are my long-term goals? What is the time frame for reviewing, correcting and revising these goals? What is the report-back relationship and how and when does this happen (weekly, monthly etc)? If my personal compensation is related to performance, what are the parameters? Is the budget for my group agreed and what autonomy do I have in using it? What is my expense approval threshold? What are my limits on hiring new personnel? What are my limits on dismissing existing personnel? She concludes, “There are more than this, but get these basic ground rules agreed and you will at least know where your limitations are. This saves a lot of grief and hand-wringing later on.” Charlotte tells me that she is consistently successful because she and her boss both know the rules. “This way there are no ambiguities, nosurprises. I know where I stand and the company knows what it has asked me to do and the parameters that have been set.” My question: Is that how the rest of us work ? This column on leadership and organizational development is written exclusively for the IEDP by Rudi Plettinx, Managing Director of Management Centre Europe, the Brussels-based development organization. Have a comment or a question? Connect with him via Linkedin.

Four Reasons Why Organizations Should Invest In Employee Development

Market pressure and a desire to succeed means that it is only logical that organizations and managers do what they can to deliver results and outperform the competition. So, for some, taking employees away from their workstations for training and development purpose is often perceived as counter-productive.

During my 26 years’ professional experience in corporate life, and 10 years as a transformation coach, I have worked with thousands of successful entrepreneurs, managers, leaders and organizations to help them adopt a positive culture when it comes to employee development.

Throughout this time, I have learned hugely through observing, assessing and interacting with workers at every level and, in this article, I would like to share the four reasons why employee development and training is vitally important to organizational success:

1. The organization will be a talent magnet, attracting the best talent in the market, while, at the same time, retaining the best employees. Replacing a member of staff can, depending on the role, cost the company anywhere between $50,000 and $100,000.

2. Employee development creates a talent pool containing the future leaders of the organization. Adopting a ‘promote-from-within’ culture offers the following advantages:

•  Boost employee morale and motivation
• Improve staff retention – ‘60% of employees choose to stay with an employer that invests in their professional development‘ – CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development)
• Avoid burnout and an negative attitude in the workplace.

3. Employee engagement and productivity increases.

4. Generate a positive return on investment – ‘Untrained employees take up to six times longer to perform the same task as trained employees’ – Hewlett Packard

Also – ‘Organizations that invest in staff development outperform the market by 45%’ – ASTD (Association for Talent Development)

Organizations need to see the development of employees as an investment rather than an expense. While some companies might be wary of spending too much on training, in case the employee leaves soon after, the development and training of employees is a huge benefit to companies in the long term. So, perhaps it should be a case of can you afford not to develop your employees.




About the Author: 

Samir Bata

Samir Bata's expertise in Management and Leadership has been built in 26 years in key positions in sales, marketing, general operations management, and business development. In addition to his management and leadership expertise, Samir is also a Senior Associate at MCE. 

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