We have added a “Frequently Asked Questions” section to our assessment tools information on the website. In there you can find more detailed background information on our assessment tools and their implementation. We will be updating the section as we get new questions and hopefully smart answers.
Product Highlight – Utopia Management Simulation
Utopia Management Simulation
Utopia is a fiction published in 1516 by Thomas More. The book was written in Latin as was common practice at the time. English translations were named ‘The Best State of a Republic’ or ‘The New Isle Utopia’. The term Utopia outlived the orginal work and is used to label an ideal, although unrealistic, concept. The word itself is a pun: u-topos is Greek and means as much a ‘no-place’ or ‘no-where’.
Utopia is the title of a management simulation we employ to assess management potential. You will be the governor of a island and your objective is to maximize state finances, environment, and standard of living. As we all know, these can be conflicting targets. You cannot compensate a low standard of living by excess finances, your job is rather to balance all three indicators on a relatively high level with a little discrepancies between them as possible.
Managing Utopias Finances
As king, or rather governor, of your own little island, you can increase or shorten your budget in all sorts of areas, such as health care, social welfare, education, infrastructure, or protection of the environment. You may also make investments in chemical, oil, textile industry, in tourism, fishing, or agriculture.
Politicians (and managers) have to make the right decisions, and this is where is gets really complicated. Luckily, they also have their aides who provide reports about income generated by the various industries, key indicators, trends and correlations. Now your job is to screen all that information and base your decisions on your best assumptions. Sounds like the real world? Sure is, and to make things worse, the future has unexpected events in store. Exchange rate may change dramatically, the oil price on the markets hardly stay stable for a long time, and natural disasters often hit the unprepared.
Mind you, Utopia is fun. It is a management simulation that looks for network thinking, rewards your analytical skills, challenges your flexibility. How do you deal with setbacks? Do you succeed in setting the right priorities – and defend them? Utopia will benchmark you actions, decision and results against a fitting sample norm.
A number of studies have shown significant correlations between strategic attributes observed in Utopia and overall assessment of potential. We can detect common management shortcomings, highlight your strenghts and identify areas for development. We encourage you to try this unique management simulation tool for yourself or for your organization. Join the growing community of world-renowned companies that employ Utopia in their leadership development programs!
By the way: Thomas More, author of Utopia, was a keen defender of woman’s education, a fondness almost unheard of in his time. More was convinced that women can achieve the same academic aspirations as the other gender. In fact, his daughters spoke more fluently Latin and Greek than his sons. With that in mind, More realized his own private ‘Utopia’.
Leadership Roundup – Online/Offline Edition
At the end of each week we present a few articles that we found online and we believe that are relevant to our readers. They may agree with our line of thinking, propose contrary views or just be plain interesting.
The Five Mistakes You’re Making With Top Talent – WSJ
Roland Smith discusses some key problems that exist with “High Potential” programs and how to avoid them. The five mistakes are:
- Ignoring the view from the pipeline
- Treating all high potentials the same
- Leaving high-potentials on their own
- Not using high-potentials to develop others
- Being unclear about high-potential status
Loyalty may be dead – for both employers and employees. The best strategy for growing and maintaining top talent in today’s workplace is to understand it’s all about mutuality and reciprocity. When you think about your talent from their point of view, the relationship becomes less transactional – and organizations and high potentials will benefit.
Takeaway: Although this is a very good way of looking at why some talent programs fail and other succeed, in our opinion it boils down to one key issue: Are you and your organization committed to true talent management? Is top management willing to commit the time and resources required and follow-through with their commitments? Our experience shows, that high potential or future leaders programs only work, if there is a consistent flow of development activity and involvement over a longer period. If not, high potential will spot that your program is half-baked or lip service only. And then they will jump as soon as an opportunity comes up.
Book Recommendation – Switch: How to Change Things when Change is Really Hard, By Chip & Dan Heath
Many books have been written on Change Management, so why this one? What is really appealing about Chip and Dan Heaths newest work (they are also authors of “Made to Stick”) is that they focus on how an individual or small team can induce large change with limited resources and power. In the authors’ eyes sustainable change can only be achieved if both the rational side (called “Rider”) and the emotional side (called “Elephant”) are reached. They proposed a framework with three key areas which need to be addressed to achieve major change:
- Direct the Rider:
Figure out what works (“Follow the Bright Spots”),
Shape specific desired Behaviors (“Script the Critical Moves”)
and Develop a Clear Understanding where you are going (“Point to the Destination”). - Motivate the Elephant:
Make people feels something, because knowing is not enough (“Find the Feeling”),
Break down daunting changes into small steps and successes (“Shrink the Change”)
and create an identity and growth mindset (“Grow your People”) - Shape the Path:
Initiate change by changing the situation people are in (“Tweak the Environment”),
Create habits which comfort the elephant (“Build Habits”),
and Spread the desired behavior, since it is contagious (“Rally the Herd”).
The book is sprinkled with many examples from the business and social world. It flows well, the examples nicely support the framework and it appears that it delivers a really useful approach to change. Their arguments are well researched and support the framework. Of course it is only one approach and will not always by the end to all of your change problems, but I still think is a good read for anybody dealing with change, either in business or personally.
Leadership Roundup – Information Edition
At the end of each week we present a few articles that we found online and we believe that are relevant to our readers. They may agree with our line of thinking, propose contrary views or just be plain interesting.
What is the Best Way to Give Advice? – By Art Markmann
Art Markmann cites a study by Dalai and Bonaccio on the best way of providing advice. From the four forms of advice (Advice FOR, Advice AGAINST, Providing Additional Information, Decision [Process] Support), providing additional information proved to be the most effective:
In general, people found all of the types of advice to be useful to some degree. However, information was the most useful kind of advice across the studies. That is, people found it most helpful when people told them about aspects of the options that they might not have known about already.
The reasons for information being the best form of advice are:
- Decision maker maintains independence of decision process
- Information remains useful for future decisions
- Confidence and ownership of decision maker by providing good justification for choice
Takeaway: Next time when you are asked for advice, consider how to support the decision maker. If it can be by providing information instead of pointing at the “right” decision (from your point of view anyway), you will get more confident decision made by your peers and staff. – BTW: This is not surprisingly also an important element of avoiding micro-management, since you are not determining the outcome of decisions for others.
Incoming! – By Seth Godin
One of the biggest issue the modern manager and knowledge worker may be facing is information overload. In is typical concise way, Seth Godin challenges you to consider if the information flow is really necessary or if it is just a way to hide from what scares us:
If you’re actually going to do the work, the real work, the work of producing and shipping the things that matter, I’m afraid you’re going to have to be brutally honest about whether this is merely a fun habit or actually a useful lever. Once the fun habit reaches a significant portion of your day (try tracking it today), it might be time to take charge instead of to be a willing victim.
Takeaway: Be very selective about the sources of information you consider relevant to your job and life. As in many areas of modern life, focus is needed.
Promoting from the Gut – Never Worked, Still Happens, Still Doesn’t Work (Part 2)
In our initial post we pointed out the common deficiencies in handling promotions. In our experience a particular weak spot is the transition from contributor to manager, which often fails. In this post we want lay out the basic steps for improving on this process. Our recommendations’ target group includes managers and small business owners who do not necessarily have the support of a major leadership development program or HR process behind them.
Let’s look at the following scenario: Your sales team of 14 regional salespeople is led by a dedicated sales manager who is located at your company’s headquarters. What would happen if that sales manager’s position were to become vacant?
Scenario 1 – Typical Unstructured Approach
First nothing happens; meaning the managers would not discuss their succession plan for the sales manager’s position until they needed to fill it. Because no plan is in place, under this scenario, one of the top salespeople usually is appointed sales manager and moved into the position (“hired from the gut”) immediately after it becomes vacant. What is the likelihood of this happening? Very high. What is the likelihood the new sales manager will succeed? Unfortunately, low.
Scenario 2 – Structured Approach
Step 1 – Planning
The first major change in this approach, compared to the other one, is to realize that, eventually, you will need to replace all your key people. Therefore, you need to face this situation early and plan ahead. If you are part of a large organization, then you might have the support of a leadership development or formal succession planning program. But this is not required from your perspective. Even if you have no such support, you still can plan ahead and prepare for the succession of key people in your area of influence. This planning can be as simple as asking the following basic questions:
- What are your key positions? (in this case, the sales manager)
- Who are your potential candidates (direct succession, internal or outsiders)?
- What leadership skill set does success in the position require?
Step 2 – Selection
Once you have identified the key positions, skill sets and potential candidates, you need to narrow the pool of candidates to just a handful of potential successors. This is a dynamic and ongoing process that you need to revisit regularly. You can select these candidates in several different ways:
- Review meetings: Explore the individuals’ motivations and figure out whether their skills match the position’s requirements. It is also important to explore their key drivers. Do they want to make the career move or are they content as contributors?
- Assessments: If your organization has assessment tools and processes in place, use them. Analyze the results of 360-degree reviews and formally assess potential candidates’ skills to see if they match the position’s skills. These tools can be excellent indicators for your selection
- Observation: How do the candidates contribute to meetings and projects? How do they act during sales meetings? How do they interact with superiors, support staff and colleagues? Create a mental picture of how you can translate these observations into the potential position’s needs.
Narrow your list of potential candidates to only two or three. Focus your developmental efforts on them, but never forget the rest of the team.
Step 3 – Preparation
Once you have indentified the top two or three potential candidates, you will need to determine their overall readiness for the role. Most likely they will be lacking in one or several areas of the potential new assignment. As a manager, you now are responsible for getting them ready. Some of your options are:
- Stretch Assignments: Special projects or tasks will help them to develop the required skills (e.g., team leadership, delegation and planning). For our sales example, this could mean assigning the potential candidates to sales-related projects, e.g., implementing a CRM system or leading a sales process improvement project. The candidates’ performance on these stretch assignments also will provide you with an additional measure of whether your selections are appropriate.
- Formal Training and Education: If your organization uses a formal leadership development process, then your candidates need to participate in it. If your organization is small or has no such process, then you might need to consider external training or mentoring for your key candidates.
It is important that all these activities’ primary purpose is to help the candidates to grow as individuals. Their potential suitability for future roles is only secondary. Why? For several reasons:
- Not all candidates will be able to move to the next level as planned. Maybe the role never opens or one of the other candidates is selected.
- Some of them might want or need to move to another part of the organization. If your preparation was for the candidates’ good, they will be extraordinary performers and your reputation also will be enhanced.
If you follow this basic process, you will always be ready for whatever leadership changes your organization throws at you. And you will have candidates in place whose chances of success are much higher than if you merely continued to promote the way you did in the past.
Leadership Roundup – Get Reading! Edition
At the end of each week we present a few articles that we found online and we believe that are relevant to our readers. They may agree with our line of thinking, propose contrary views or just be plain interesting.
Top 150 Management & Leadership Blogs by Jurgen Appelo
If you are interested in exploring the current thinking in leadership, Jurgen Appelo has published a widely recognized list of 150 management and leadership blogs. The interesting part about the list is that is was assembled not based on personal opinions, but based on internet traffic measurement. This is probably therefore the most objective and comprehensive list of blogs available. We are not on it (yet), but maybe we can change that eventually!
How to Rock it as a Panelist by Dan McCarthy
I think this should be mandatory reading for every panelist. Just having come back from a few events, it is obvious that most panelist do not know what being a panelist means. How many times have you seen unprepared or bored panelists? I believe in the recent events, the bad panels have outnumbered the good one by a large margin. But a lot has also to do by event organizers who use panels as a lazy way out to fill holes in the schedule. They are also to blame for a lack of setting proper expectations and preparation of panelist. But if you are invited to a panel, at least you should consider some of Dan’s tips.
The Myth of Perfect Productivity by Wally Bock
I once read somewhere that distraction are the source of creativity. This included time surfing the web for information or just chatting around in the hallway. Some level of procrastination and distraction seems to be necessary to free the mind and allow for the creative spirits to come alive. In his post, Wally puts it this way:
That “wasted” time is the time when creativity happens. It’s the time when relationships are developed.
So feel free to “waste” some time:
- Do some reading to get inspired
- Call somebody to reconnect and continue to grow your real relationships
We wish everybody a creative weekend!
Leadership Roundup – Talent Struggle Edition
At the end of each week we present a few articles that we found online and we believe that are relevant to our readers. They may agree with our line of thinking or propose contrary views.
Lets get started with our first edition!
HBR The Conversation: Today’s Biggest Talent-Management Challenges by George Anders
An excellent recap from a recent conference visit by Author George Anders on what ails US company’s talent management. Interestingly many of the aspects discussed remind us of some of our own recent posts on this blog. Here is my favorite quote:
And all sorts of attendees owned up to jitters about how well their companies’ leaders can truly gauge a rising star’s promise. As one defense contractor put it, too many bosses’ idea of talent assessment amounts to nothing more than “a lick-and-sniff dog test. It’s all about whether they like someone.”
George goes on to discuss three reasons for why US companies are struggling with their talent issues.
From the “Coaching Tip” Blog: What keeps organizations from effectively developing leaders?
John Agno discusses a similar issue, but more from a coaching perspective. He also comes to the conclusion, that companies are struggling to consistently develop managers and leaders. And that most organizations don’t know if their leadership development programs work.
He appeals to the responsibility of each individual to develop themselves. He emphasizes the importance of Self-Awareness as a necessary basis for development:
Bottom Line: Leadership development is self-development. Learning how to not micromanage, not be overly concrete, not fail to explicitly state expectations and other unproductive inter-personal behavior only happens through the increased self-awareness gained in a personal coaching or mentoring relationship.
Common Objections Against Talent Management (and why they are wrong)
When we talk to companies and ask them why they have implemented no succession or time management system, we usually get similar responses. Let’s look at those common objections and their face value.
1. “Talent and succession management is optional; we can choose to do it or not!”
It is a popular, but false, assumption that it’s management’s prerogative to implement talent and succession management systems. Every organization has some kind of succession and talent management in place, either highly informal and chaotic or systematic and effective. As employees embark on a professional career within their organization, they are highly susceptible to how their management deals with succession issues and identifies future talent. Employees with high potential choose companies that treat these questions with fairness, professional standards, and a time horizon that allows sound planning. Companies with rather informal and ad-lib processes perform poorly when it comes to retaining talent.
2. “Yes, talent management is important; but first I need to take care of my other, more urgent, initiatives.”
We hear this statement a lot, especially when companies are experiencing and accumulating many projects and initiatives. They choose to wait because cost-saving measures have been put into place or management has postponed important decisions because of shifting market forces or changing ownership. However, it’s a mistake to wait for fair weather until you patch the leaks in your boat. Think about the stabilizing effects of leadership development, succession planning, and talent management and it becomes evident that you need to right your course, especially if you are in dire straits. Postponing action is not really an option, but an opportunity missed.
3. “Nowadays all employees, including those with high potential, are just glad to have a job; hence there is no need for talent management.”
Now when was the last time one of your key employees quit and you had a hard time finding a competent successor? Top professionals easily find new jobs, even in economically challenging times. In the long run, a lack of talent and succession management will leave you stuck with average performers who cannot move within the labor market. Although your employee retention rate might look great as a key indicator, it will mean a loss of quality and unique skills when your best people leave.
4. “Talent or leadership development takes a large investment. We are too small for that.”
Talent management and leadership development do not require large capital expenditures or time investments. However, they do call for top management’s support and sincerity about the message they send. Many critical parts of such programs can be outsourced at reasonable rates or, to quote a famous saying, “You don’t need to buy a cow if you want only a glass of milk.” Size doesn’t matter, either. Mid-sized companies will stand out from the competition in the labor market if they offer some career guidance and a minimal set of leadership tools. In fact, those companies’ small size actually improves such programs’ manageability.
In summary, many objections seem to be merely an excuse to avoid getting a grip on these long-neglected issues.
Promoting from the Gut – Never Worked, Still Happens, Still Doesn’t Work (Part 1)
How many times have you seen this happen?
Somebody is excellent at what she does. She is an excellent salesperson, an ingenious engineer or a highly experienced pilot. But what happens next? The person is promoted into a supervisory/management role. What commonly results from such promotions? The person who was a great contributor becomes a mediocre or, worse, bad, manager.
At the risk of insulting you with the painfully obvious:
Companies still promote based on performance, instead of potential. Especially during an employee’s first transition from individual contributor to manager, companies make this mistake more often than not. But why? We believe the reason stems from the following issues, which plague most organizations on a daily basis:
Erroneous Career Assumptions
We assume, especially as leaders, that everybody will be thrilled to be considered for a management role, and that all everybody wants is to ascend the “career ladder” as high as possible. But that assumption is far from the truth. Especially in areas where expertise is highly regarded, making the transition to a management (i.e., “administrative”) role is undesirable to many; so we cannot assume that the brilliant software developer, the successful salesperson or the experienced pilot wants to become a manager. Many people are content in their role as an expert. Leaders need to identify who they are and learn to respect their choices.
Lack of Succession Planning
The other core reason for promotions based on performance is lack of preparation. Any promotion done just-in-time is a selection that someone made on the spot, without taking the time to go through a thorough selection and development process. Many companies utterly lack succession planning. If the selection and assessment process does not begin until the need for it arises, leaders likely will have to make choices based on their own (severely limited) experience. They likely will decide that a particular candidate is “a great guy” or “has the stuff” because of his performance as an individual contributor, without considering his motivation or potential. We see the lack of formal succession planning and leadership development as one of the main causes of “gut” promotions and failed transitions from expert to manager.
In Part 2 of this post we will explore what we believe is the right approach to managing the transition from expert to manager.
Bluebridge to Focus on Aviation Leadership Development
From a recent letter to our colleagues:
“As a member of the aviation community, you are well aware of the specific leadership challenges facing the industry. On a daily basis you face a tough mix of economic swings, shifting business models and regulations, which leaves little room for error. Identifying and developing your company’s leaders in such an environment are critical tasks to ensure your organization’s competitiveness and future success. Do the following questions sound familiar?
- How does our organization identify the right talent within and outside it?
- What key skills do our leaders need to develop to be competitive in the future?
- Do we have succession plans in place for all our critical positions? How do we go about setting them up?
- How do we retain top performers now and in the future?
- How do we set up a leadership development program without breaking the bank?
- How do we go about major organizational transition without creating too much turmoil in our company?
These are some just of the questions we assist our clients with. Our team with a strong background in aviation enables us to address these questions with our clients with the aviation business’ specific needs in mind. We are reaching out to the Business Aviation community in the upcoming weeks and months to strengthen awareness of the solutions that Bluebridge provides. We would like to invite you to meet us in person at the following upcoming industry events:
- NBAA Leadership Conference, February Feb 24 & 25, San Diego, CA
Bluebridge will be a sponsor at this premier business aviation leadership event.
- BA Meetup, March 17–19, Northolt, London, UK
We will be speaking on Aviation Leadership at this business aviation conference.
We sincerely would enjoy meeting you at either event. If you plan to attend, please let us know. If you cannot make it to either of these events, we would be delighted to discuss your organization’s developmental needs with you in the near future.”