Tag: Ask Mariposa Leadership Coaches Your Tough HR Questions

Ask Mariposa: Book Recommendations for Visionary Leaders

Travis asked:

Can you recommend a book that describes what leaders do to make themselves visionary leaders, inspiring and enrolling others into a clear and compelling vision of the future?

Great question! Several of the Mariposa executive coaches wanted to offer recommendations.

Mariposa CEO, Sue Bethanis, Ed.D. says:
Good to Great by Jim Collins is probably the one that will hit closest to what you’re asking for. The Design of Business by Roger Martin is an alternative perspective. I would suggest you listen to the conversation I had with Roger on Wise Talk in May. Go to the Mariposa Wise Talk page and scroll down to 5/4/12.

Senior Leadership Coach, Ruben Perczek, Ph.D. suggests:
1. The Leadership Code by The RBL Group
2. A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink
3. The HBR article “Moments of Greatness” by Robert Quinn
4. The Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone and Benjamin Zander

Senior Leadership Coach, Dave Kashen, M.B.A. says:
I liked The Three Laws of Performance.

Both Senior Leadership Coaches, Eric Nitzberg, M.T.S. and Edie Heilman, M.B.A. suggest:
The Leadership Challenge by Kouzes and Posner.

Hope this helps!

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December 11th, 2012|Categories: Articles We Like, Ask Mariposa, Blog, Coaching Skills, HR / Talent Management, Influencing Skills|Tags: answer, ask mariposa, coaching, executive coaching, HR Leadership, leadership, Mariposa Leadership|

December 4, 2012 / Ask Mariposa / Coaching Skills / HR / Talent Management / Influencing Skills

Ask Mariposa: Corporate Power Shifts

Harpreet asked:

Our company is going through a power shift where power is being transferred from the owner/founder of our company to our CEO and other top leaders. The owner’s inability to let go is creating problems – how do we start a conversation/solve this issue?

Barbara Baill, Senior Leadership Consultant responded:

This is often a challenging transition for any founder-lead organization. A lot of “the right answer” is situational. Is the founder being forced out by the board or is this a voluntary transition? Has the owner’s future role, if any, been defined?

You seem to imply that founder/owner will continue to remain involved in the company. Someone will need to start the conversation with the owner. Identify a trusted advisor or coach the CEO to take on the role of advisor himself. Let the owner describe their vision for what a successful transition looks like. The owner obviously has invested a lot into building this organization up to this point. If they will have a role after the transition is complete, it has to be clearly defined. It is important to honor their knowledge, experience and contributions, and define how they can continue to be informed and valued in their new role.

The CEO and his team will need to be patient and respectful yet clear in the communication of what the business needs are for the owner in this next phase of the company’s development. As in any difficult conversation, the CEO will need to listen and be empathetic of the founder’s perspective as well as be willing to have a compassionately honest conversation about what is critical for the business now.

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December 4th, 2012|Categories: Ask Mariposa, Coaching Skills, HR / Talent Management, Influencing Skills|Tags: ask mariposa, Barbara Baill, business, coaching, communication, discussion, executive coaching, HR Leadership, leadership|

November 27, 2012 / Ask Mariposa / Stress / Work-Life Integration

Ask Mariposa: The Impact of Social Networking and Web 2.0

Saul asked:

Can you explain the impact, if any, that social networking and Web 2.0 has made on your organization or you personally?

Eric Nitzberg, Senior Leadership Consultant responded:

Social media is a new reality where people live and work. It’s as if someone discovered a new continent, and everyone is buying a home and opening up a branch office there. This new world will never replace face-to-face interactions for human relationship building, but it’s here to stay. For Mariposa, it means we have to be active in this space to stay relevant and connected with our community (our clients). For me personally, it means letting go of biases I’ve had against digitally-based ways of building relationships.

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November 27th, 2012|Categories: Ask Mariposa, Stress / Work-Life Integration|Tags: answer, ask mariposa, Eric Nitzberg, executive coaching, technology|

November 20, 2012 / Ask Mariposa / Coaching Skills / HR / Talent Management / Influencing Skills

Ask Mariposa: Understanding the Culture of Your New Org

Will asked:

How can I help a new employee understand the culture of our organization?

Barbara Baill, Senior Leadership Consultant responded:

The first step is to be able to verbally describe the culture of the organization. We all intuitively know the culture of the organizations in which we live, but it can be challenging to articulate that knowledge and articulate how the organization demonstrates its beliefs, values, underlying assumptions, attitudes and behaviors.

Here are some questions to think about:
• What stories demonstrate the culture? Can you describe situations where individuals have gotten themselves in trouble by unintentionally violating cultural norms?
• What have successful employees done that demonstrate the company values and attitudes?
• If your company has articulated a set of values, what specifics behaviors demonstrate what those values really mean in terms of winning behaviors/successful performance?
• Where is the decision making power in the organization?
• How risk adverse/risk taking is the culture?
• Does communication flow hierarchically (formally) or democratically (informally) across, up and down the organization?
• In what ways and for what reasons do people really get recognized and rewarded?

It’s a good idea to ask multiple people for their input on describing the culture of the organization. You can also give your new employee the task of asking these questions to a list of others that you believe would be honest and open about the culture and who are also highly regarded across the organization.

Over time, continue to mentor your new employee on the cultural realities of your organization. As he or she gains experience in your organization, their contextual understanding of the cultural nuances will grow. Your coaching will help accelerate the integration of the new hire.

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November 20th, 2012|Categories: Ask Mariposa, Coaching Skills, HR / Talent Management, Influencing Skills|Tags: answer, ask mariposa, Barbara Baill, business, coaching, communication, executive coaching, HR, HR Leadership, organizational culture, workplace culture|

November 13, 2012 / Ask Mariposa / Coaching Skills / HR / Talent Management / Influencing Skills

Ask Mariposa: Advice on Entering a New Leadership Position

Zack asked:

What advice would you give someone going into a leadership position for the first time?

Anne Loehr, Senior Leadership Consultant responded:

I’d suggest using Jim Collins’ 80/20 rule, which says that the best leaders listen 80% of the time and speak 20% of the time. During that 20%, good leaders actually ask probing questions to dig deeper into the conversation.

Why is this an important skill for first-time leaders? Leaders initially were good at a technical skill. A good programmer will get promoted to lead an IT team; good sales people are asked to lead a sales team. Yet a leader’s job is very different than an individual contributor’s (IC) job. An IC’s job is to complete the task; a leader’s job is to empower their team to do their best thinking about the task, and find better ways to execute the task. To do this, leaders need to listen to their team and ask probing questions to help their employees think outside the box.

So this week, try listening more and talking less. You’ll learn a lot more about your team, and your team will be empowered to share ideas and find new solutions for the organization. That’s a win-win for all!

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November 13th, 2012|Categories: Ask Mariposa, Coaching Skills, HR / Talent Management, Influencing Skills|Tags: Anne Loehr, ask mariposa, communication, HR Leadership, leaders, leadership, questions|

November 6, 2012 / Ask Mariposa / Coaching Skills / HR / Talent Management / Influencing Skills

Ask Mariposa: One Characteristic Every Leader Should Possess

Shannon asked:

What is one characteristic that you believe every leader should possess?

Sue Bethanis, CEO responded:

I hear this question a lot from friends, colleagues, clients; and my response is the same each time, and hasn’t changed over 20 years of being in the coaching industry. BE CLEAR! Clear communication is the single most important aspect of effective leadership. Clear in your requests, clear in your goals/vision, and clear in your expectations of others. With this clarity, followers/employees/colleagues have the perimeters they need to strategize and create products, services, and experiences.

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November 6th, 2012|Categories: Ask Mariposa, Coaching Skills, HR / Talent Management, Influencing Skills|Tags: ask mariposa, communication, executive coaching, HR Leadership, leaders, leadership, Mariposa Leadership, questions, sue bethanis|

Ask Mariposa: Behaviors & Traits That Derail Leaders

Michelle asked:

What is the one behavior or trait that you have seen derail more leaders’ careers?

Anne Loehr, Senior Leadership Consultant responded:

Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is the number one predictor of a successful leader. Leaders lacking EQ will stall in their careers while those with high EQ will shoot to the top.

EQ accounts for more than twice IQ and technical skills combined as a predictor of success. Coined by Daniel Goleman, EQ is comprised of self-awareness (“Who am I? What makes me tick?”) and social-awareness (“How do I use my self-awareness to help build my team”? and “How do I self-manage my negative behaviors that may derail a team?”).

In my 20′s, I was a driven, focused, numbers only-orientated business woman. I wanted to get the job done as quickly as possible, yet my team perceived me as an abrupt and rude manager; they didn’t want to work with me anymore. I was shocked. I learned by fire that my drive for success actually hindered team growth (self-awareness). If I wanted to reduce attrition and improve team dynamics, I had to change my behavior to be more collaborative (social awareness). Over time, working with a coach, I started to increase my EQ to be a more effective leader for me tea,. That’s EQ in action!

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October 30th, 2012|Categories: Ask Mariposa, Design Thinking / Creativity / Innovation, HR / Talent Management, Influencing Skills|Tags: Anne Loehr, answer, ask mariposa, executive coaching, HR Leadership, leadership, Mariposa Leadership|

October 16, 2012 / Ask Mariposa / HR / Talent Management / Influencing Skills

Ask Mariposa: An Executive Resistant to Coaching

Lance asked:

My executive is resistant to the idea of coaching. What steps can I take to change this?

Tawny Lees, COO responded:

I like the way this was asked in terms of “steps” because there is no silver bullet approach to this challenge. Executive coaching only works with a willing and ready participant, and there could be a wide variety of reasons for the resistance. You’ll need to get clear on what the resistance is about. A fear of facing tough feedback? A perspective that coaching indicates weakness? A concern that it takes too much time/energy? Try to get clarity and then put yourself in this leaders’ shoes (empathize) so you can best address the issues. And you need to make sure that coaching is the right approach. Coaching works best under certain conditions – the executive’s performance and potential are highly valuable to the organization, the particular challenge or developmental need is a fit (executive wants to learn how to be more effective via behavioral change), there are key people in the organization ready to support this executive’s efforts to grow and change, and most importantly – the executive is willing.

Some specific ideas/steps might include: you help the executive get feedback from a trusted and credible source, you have a credible peer describe the benefits he/she obtained from coaching, a valued direct report starts coaching first so the executive gets more familiar with the process and its impact, you brainstorm with the executive about he or she can continue to grow as a leader (self-assessments, 360 feedback, high-level training, mentoring, reading, etc. and discuss whether/how coaching could fit in.) The bottom line is likely repeated, open and honest conversations that get to the heart of the resistance and help the executive to see the value and opportunity in taking stock of his/her current leadership effectiveness and seeking expert help to become even more effective.

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October 16th, 2012|Categories: Ask Mariposa, HR / Talent Management, Influencing Skills|Tags: answer, ask mariposa, business, coaching, executive coaching, HR, HR Leadership, leaders, Mariposa Leadership|

October 2, 2012 / Ask Mariposa / HR / Talent Management / Influencing Skills

Ask Mariposa: Renew Reputation and Shift Perceptions

Claire asked:

At my last review, I received negative peer reviews and since then I’ve been taking steps toward making a significant change in my behavior and working relationships. It’s been a really difficult process. Can you advise as to how can I renew my reputation and shift the perceptions of others in my organization?

Tawny Lees, COO responded:

The first thing to remember is patience! People formed a perception of you over time and won’t necessarily immediately notice or trust new behavior on your part. Remain consistent in your new behaviors and not get discouraged. There a few things you can pro-actively do to move the process along. Apologize and admit to your not-so-great behavior if appropriate. Have candid conversations with a few key people – describe the changes on which you are working and enroll their help to observe you and give you regular feedback for 6-12 months. Make sure to ask for the feedback, at least once a month. Establish one specific supporter with whom you can check-in and talk through any obstacles. Your boss? A peer? An HR business partner? Again, commitment and consistency are the keys – don’t give up!

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October 2nd, 2012|Categories: Ask Mariposa, HR / Talent Management, Influencing Skills|Tags: answer, ask mariposa, business, coaching, discussion, executive coaching, HR, HR Leadership, leadership, reputation, work life|

Ask Mariposa: Empowering Tools & Techniques

Jeremy asked:

What tools and techniques can I use to empower members of my team that I recognize are not living up to their potential?

Tawny Lees, COO responded:

There are lots of ways to tackle this challenge. First off – get curious and observant. Have candid conversations about what is working/not working for them. Observe them carefully, looking for their genius. Look for strengths that can be better leveraged and roadblocks that you can remove. A great tool that we use is StrengthsFinder 2.0 by Tom Rath. Individuals and teams use it to identify talent themes and then generate specific ideas to turn these talents into strengths in action. Another great resource is the HBR article “The Power of Small Wins” by Theresa Amabile and Steven Kramer – which describes how to engage people by enabling them to make progress in meaningful work every day. Whatever resource you may use, the fundamental exercise is for you to partner with the team member to uncover specific actions to try, and then be consistent in your support and follow-up.

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September 25th, 2012|Categories: Articles We Like, Ask Mariposa, Coaching Skills, HR / Talent Management, Influencing Skills|Tags: ask mariposa, coaching, discussion, empowerment, executive coaching, HR, HR Leadership, leadership, Mariposa Leadership, power|