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Content of this Newsletter 0. Opinion 1. Leadership Coaching 2. Sales Management Coaching 3. Change Management Coaching 4. Career Coaching FURTHER NEWS * For upcoming seminars & events please visit: http://www.progressu.com.hk/ * For recent articles on Coaching please visit: http://www.progressu.com.hk/ * For recent articles on Leadership please visit: http://www.progressu.com.hk/ * For recent articles on Sales Management please visit: http://www.progressu.com.hk/ * For recent articles on Change Management please visit: http://www.progressu.com.hk/
Subscribe now to "Progress!" and get informed about the latest trends in Leadership, Change Management, Career Transition and Sales Management. To receive "Progress!", simply send a blank email to subscribe@progressu.com.hk
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Home > Resources > Progress! Newsletter > "Progress!" Issue No9 / October 04 "Progress!" (Progress-U Leadership & Coaching) - Issue No9 / October 04 Dear Progress! Reader, Some weeks ago I attended a welcome evening of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, one of the largest chambers here in Hong Kong. At events like this, I’m often asked after I hand my business card how a native German like me became a member of the Canadian Chamber. The answer is simple: I know a number of Canadians who are based here as well, and they encouraged me to join the chamber, as it is one of the biggest and most active ones. And because the chamber is open to non-Canadians, I couldn’t think of a reason why I shouldn’t join. The second question triggered by my card is usually “What does an Executive Coach do?” This, of course, is a more difficult question. My standard answer is that an Executive Coach helps managers improve their performance, particularly by helping them make better decisions.
Even though this is quite an accurate description of what an Executive Coach does, I always feel that a good Executive Coach does much more than that. After the welcome evening, I started to wonder how I could more succinctly convey what Executive Coaching is all about.
What I came up with is not exactly revolutionary but very useful. I decided to create an e-book with real Executive Coaching case studies. I offer this e-book free of charge on my web site. Visit www.progressu.com.hk to get your free copy.
If you are not yet sure about how Executive Coaching could be beneficial for you, these case studies could be a real eye-opener. I hope you will enjoy the e-book – it takes only around 20-30 minutes to read. Any feedback is, as always, very welcome! Charlie Lang
1. Leadership Coaching Part II Leadership Competency No. 1: Giving Clear Direction
Imagine a group of people surviving a plane’s emergency landing in a South American jungle. The captain of the plane has taken over the responsibility to lead the group back to civilization. The resources they have will last for only 3 days and the captain has figured out that it is possible to find their way back within 2 to 3 days. He could save a compass from the cockpit.
Now imagine that the captain does not know how to use the compass. Also, because he is afraid to reveal his incompetence, he does not ask if anyone knows how to use it. It is easy to see that a group with such a leader has a very slim chance of survival.
Even if he knows how to use the compass and is willing to use it, he may fail to inform the group about the limited supply of food, the direction they need to take, and so on. With the lack of this kind of communication, other life-threatening problems could occur. For instance, some people may not be careful with the available resources, or others may not trust that the captain knows where to go.
In such an extreme situation, this kind of leadership seems almost absurd, yet, in less extreme situations, like in a corporate environment, we can see such ‘leadership’ all the time. Of course, the effects are certainly less threatening, but nonetheless, negative consequences are still expected.
Hence, an essential basis of leadership is to first determine the group’s direction and then to communicate it clearly and relentlessly.
Giving clear direction consists of the following elements:
To achieve the highest possible degree of following, a broad participation of the concerned organization must be considered, thus creating as much ownership as possible. Once established, organizations must ensure an effective communication to all stakeholders concerned.
First-class leaders will always say what they mean and do what they say. How often are we frustrated with managers who say that they will do this and that and then don’t live up to their words? Excellent sales people “under-promise and over-deliver.” Why should that be true only for sales people?
I know that it is difficult to balance satisfying perceived expectations and realistic possibilities. Leaders are expected to be powerful, positive and influential, moving their teams forward. At the same time, overestimating one’s power and influence leads quickly to frustration when the promised results are not delivered.
How can a leader overcome this dilemma? By realizing that there are choices. And by realizing that people can be smarter than they seem to be, and often receptive to open and honest communication.
Let me make an example:
Two candidates for the presidency of the United States are engaged in a pre-election campaign. The topic of income taxes is on the agenda.
Candidate A, who we shall call Peter, says: “We will cut the taxes by 30% if you vote for me.”
Candidate B, Mary, says: “As you may know, for various reasons, our country experienced fiscal deficits for several years. That means, we have been partly living on money that is not ours. We cannot possibly continue this way, as it will ruin our country in the longer run. Therefore, if you vote for us, we will explore all available options to turn this situation around as fast as possible. Once we run on positive figures, we will have the chance to lower taxes accordingly.”
Peter’s statement is easy to say but very difficult, if not impossible, to deliver. Mary’s statement, however, requires courage to deliver an uncomfortable truth. More than that, Mary has a reasonably realistic chance to do what she says, and will therefore create trust and loyalty among the group she is leading.
True leaders speak the truth and are ready for the consequences, no matter what. They are aware of what needs to be said to whom and when. If they fail to deliver despite their best knowledge and efforts, they will assume response-ability and honestly apologize and make up for it, similar to what is taught in the excellent little book “The One-Minute Apology” by Ken Blanchard.
Without a change in behavior to simply say "sorry" is not enough
Ken Blanchard, The One-Minute Apology Watch out for the 3rd part in our next issue of "Progress!" For more information related to Progress-U Leadership Coaching please visit http://www.progressu.com.hk/leadership.htm.
2. Sales Management Coaching If you have ever worked with wholesalers, dealers or distributors as sales channels for your products, then you have probably experienced the feeling of powerlessness when these sales partners don’t reach the expected sales targets.
Most of these sales partners don’t only sell your products, they also usually have products from other vendors – in some cases, even from your competitors – in their portfolio. It is important to be always aware of that fact!
Unless the sales partner’s organization is extremely segmented with clearly allocated resources that are destined exclusively for your products, you will have to compete with the other vendors for the resources for your products.
Hence, it is necessary to understand the key motivators of your sales partners:
In case you were wondering, I included recognition because it is a core human need and is therefore a key motivator. So when you think of how to deal with your sales partners, don’t forget this aspect. It could be more important than the obvious ones (profitability and sales volume) and the less obvious one (convenience).
Recognition can be achieved in various ways:
As you can see, it is all about relationships and rapport.
How to maximize sales and profits for your sales partners is commonplace, and does not need further explanation. However, if you want to have more insights in this area, don’t hesitate to contact me.
A last word regarding convenience: yes, some sales partners want to have it easy. They like convenience and will not take care of products that are too much of a hassle, even if they are profitable. So make it as easy as possible for your sales partner to be successful with your products. This offsets the profitability factor in certain cases.
NOTE: Progress-U offers the Innovative Sales Management Program also as a tailor-made in-house package consisting of an initial 2-day training combined with executive assessments and follow-up coaching of the sales management. If you are interested in a presentation of this program, please contact us at innovative-sales-program@progressu.com.hk.
3. Change Management Coaching To view Part I (Introduction and the Group Establishment
Process) Part II: Groupness After the establishment of a social group, a sense of groupness must emerge to assure team spirit and productive collaboration within the group. This happens in a process of assimilation within the group and differentiation versus other groups.
The process of assimilation within the group can happen without the immediate existence of another group it differentiates from.
Here’s how it happens in the real world:
Let’s assume a new call center is being established in a company with a clear shift schedule. Let’s further assume that the workers don’t change shift schedules. So when the workers in a particular shift meet every working day at the same time, a social group will be established. The common denominator is working in their shift (yes, it can be as simple as that). Another common denominator could be a particularly hated supervisor, etc.
During the establishment process of this group, certain people will assume certain roles. Someone may take over the role of the group speaker, i.e., that person becomes the internal leader of the group. She or he, together with key people within the group, will start to define what the group stands for. They will start to develop a culture for this group, including norms, values, etc. For example, they could set a regular night out every Wednesday, or they could establish the (unwritten) rule that everybody has to help each other. They could decide for the whole group that the supervisor is incapable, or that coworker Gina needs to be bullied for whatever reasons. And so forth.
Members of the group will need to follow this process of assimilation, otherwise they could face uncomfortable peer pressure. All this does not usually happen overnight, but in a subtle process that can take weeks or months.
Sometimes, this groupness process is accelerated if there is an ‘enemy’, i.e., another group which is seen as competition or a threat to the group. For example, if in the above example, another shift of the same call center could create another group, most likely with slightly different values or norms. If the group A becomes aware of group B, competition may push group A to speed up the assimilation process. They will do so through a stronger differentiation from the other group.
Differentiation is achieved by an exaggeration of values and norms that are different from the other group. In this example group A can secretly decide that their supervisor is incapable and therefore secretly reject him, whereas group B can decide that their supervisor is a nice guy (even though not so competent) and therefore like him. Once group A becomes aware of the differences of group B, they will exaggerate the dislike of their supervisor to assure sufficient differentiation.
Of course, these processes usually happen totally beyond the normal consciousness of the members of both group A and group B. However, the results can be clearly seen.
How can a leader make use of these dynamics to achieve positive change?
Part III (Successful Change Processes) will give
answers NOTE: Progress-U Ltd. offers the Win Through Change! Program to assist corporations in their change process. For details visit http://www.progressu.com.hk/ChangeMP.htm
4. Career Coaching Are you completely satisfied with your current job? Are you passionate about what you do? Are you quite happy with your work environment (colleagues, boss, products, company image, industry, etc.)?
If you answered ‘no’ to any of these questions, you’re now probably wondering about what to do.
However, instead of telling you what to do, let me give you questions that you can ask yourself, and may help make your situation clearer to you.
The last set of questions is especially crucial to a greater understanding of where you are on your journey and where your journey is supposed to lead you.
I highly recommend seeking some support in assessing your situation and finding your ideal goals. Once you are clear on that, an adequate implementation strategy that considers sufficiently potential pitfalls must be developed and rolled out.
For more information related to Progress-U's Career Coaching Programs, please visit http://www.progressu.com.hk/Career.htm.
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