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3 Leading One to One
Learning Objectives
After reading this chapter, you should be able to
Describe the importance of leading one to one. Apply key frameworks, such as theories of action, the ladder of inference, and performance management, for succeeding in the one-to-one role. Explain how to build trust and empower others. Apply a framework for organization-wide goal setting; distinguish among goals, strategies, and tactics; and work with direct reports to set goals to which they will be committed. Give direct reports constructive feedback. Provide resources to help direct reports develop their strengths and overcome weaknesses. Describe the purposes of coaching and a �ive-step process for coaching direct reports. Describe various ways to recognize employee performance and how to identify and overcome obstacles to giving recognition. Apply effective strategies for appraising overall performance. Measure gaps in performance management. Manage and resolve con�licts for win–win solutions. Describe how to select the right person for the right position.
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Introduction
To the extent that leaders are effective in the role of self-leadership, they will be effective in the one-to-one role. As leaders engage in one-to-one practices, their self-leadership skills (e.g., self-monitoring and self-regulation) and their personality-related behaviors (e.g., being open to others' ideas and experiences) become critically important for interpersonal effectiveness. Knowing one's self—how one acts and comes across—is essential for understanding a one-to-one interaction with a direct report. Leaders with self-knowledge can address the other person in the relationship with distinct understanding and can anticipate and mitigate the impact of their own behavior and their direct reports' behavior on the interaction. For example, if a manager knows that initially she resists new ideas from a direct report, she might decide to spend time evaluating these ideas rather than dismissing them. The manager might say to her direct report, "I would like to take a day or two to mull over your idea and to give it thorough consideration."
In the Mone-London organization model, one-to-one leadership is referred to as dyad performance; you may recall that "collaborative dyads" are one of the role- performance components in the model. In addition to their direct reports, leaders can have dyadic relationships with a variety of stakeholders:
Customers, where the emphasis might be positioning the company for further sales Competitors, where the emphasis could involve collaborative leadership focused on mergers or alliances Regulators and government of�icials, with the goal of in�luencing possible legislation or positioning their companies in a favorable light
We will consider the importance of collaborative relationships in Chapter 5. In this chapter, however, we will focus on the leader–direct report relationship.
The Mone-London organization model can be used to illustrate the components of one-to-one leadership, just as we used it to illustrate the components of organization leadership (Chapter 1) and self-leadership (Chapter 2). Effective one-to-one leadership requires that leaders need to (1) build trust and empowerment, (2) utilize performance management practices, (3) effectively resolve con�licts, and (4) select the right people. Each of these areas will be discussed in this chapter, but we want to note now how performance management is at the heart of the Mone-London organization model for one-to-one leadership (see Figure 3.1).
Performance management is the process of involving employees in improving organizational effectiveness, including communicating, goal setting, feedback, development, recognition, coaching, and performance appraisal. Leaders must focus on performance and development management, guided by the organization's overarching goals and each direct report's own performance and development goals. The organization's human resource performance management and development processes and programs serve as enablers to this effort and provide the foundation for leaders to be coaches, and perhaps mentors, to their direct reports. Leaders will, in the end, evaluate their direct reports' performance and development efforts, ensuring that their results meet or exceed expectations in line with the organization's strategic direction and goals.
Figure 3.1: The Mone-London organization model applied to one-to-one leadership
The Mone-London organization model can be applied to one-to-one leadership: To be successful leading one to one, leaders must be guided by organization's overarching goals and each direct report's own performance and development goals as they focus on building trust and empowerment, managing performance, resolving con�licts, and selecting the right people. The organization's human resource performance management and development processes and programs serve as enablers to this effort and provide the foundation for leaders to be coaches, and perhaps mentors, to their direct reports. Leaders will, in the end, evaluate their direct reports' performance and development efforts, ensuring that their results meet or exceed expectations in line with the organization's strategic direction and goals.
In this chapter, we will begin by exploring the one-to-one relationship. We will then review three interrelated frameworks that leaders can use and apply to increase their capability when working one on one. We follow this with an important discussion of how leaders can build trust in the one-to-one relationship and
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empower others to act. As you will see, trust and empowerment are foundational and necessary ingredients for achieving success in this leadership role. For the remainder and majority of this chapter, we discuss in detail additional role-related competencies, as well as how to assess and develop those competencies:
Mutually set performance and development goals. Deliver effective, constructive feedback. Identify and create informal and formal development opportunities. Reinforce performance through the timely use of recognition and rewards. Coach for performance improvement and enhancement. Construct and deliver effective performance appraisals. Manage and resolve con�licts. Conduct effective selection interviews for jobs or key assignments.
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The key to SuperLeadership is to develop one's self-leadership to such a degree that it has an external impact.
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3.1 Exploring the One-to-One Relationship
We worked with a chief human resource of�icer (CHRO) of a high-tech Fortune 500 company who once said, "People don't quit companies; they quit bosses." What do you think about this statement? Do people quit because of their bosses or supervisors? Are there other reasons to leave or remain with an organization that may be more important?
Although the CHRO's statement is a broad generalization, it contains a fair degree of truth. Even though formal mechanisms may be in place and legal recourse is certainly available, employees will suffer, or potentially leave their organizations, if their supervisors create and sustain hostile work environments. Sometimes an untrustworthy supervisor is all it takes to create the desire to pursue a career with another company. On the other hand, employees are more likely to remain committed to their supervisors and their organizations when leaders and managers focus on practices that engage their employees (Macey, Schneider, Barbera, & Young, 2009; Gebauer & Lowman, 2008), that is, when leaders create the conditions and encourage behaviors that allow employees to become more embedded within their jobs, organizations, and communities (Mitchell, Holtom, Lee, Sablynski, & Erez, 2001).
The one-to-one relationship provides leaders the opportunity to model effective behaviors, build trust, and enroll others in their vision of the future. When leaders and managers succeed in the one-to-one role, their employees will be engaged, empowered, and committed to contributing to the organization's success. Their employees, too, develop the ability to lead themselves, a concept discussed by Manz and Sims (2001) as SuperLeadership. (See Considering SuperLeadership to learn more.)
Considering SuperLeadership
SuperLeadership is a concept originally introduced in the book SuperLeadership by Charles Manz and Henry Sims (1989). The book was updated and revised in 2001 as The New SuperLeadership. The purpose or goal of SuperLeadership is "to facilitate self-leadership capability and practice and, further, to make the self- leadership process the central target of external in�luence" (Manz & Sims, 2001, p. 25). In other words, leaders focus on developing the self-leadership of others, not the creation of followers, and they largely accomplish this through empowering their direct reports to act. And we agree with Manz and Sims that leading one's self effectively is a prerequisite for leading others in the one-to-one role.
For Manz and Sims, self-leadership is an extensive set of strategies focused on the behaviors, thoughts, and feelings that we can use to in�luence ourselves as leaders. These include setting our own performance and career goals, providing our own rewards for our successes, creating opportunities for deriving natural or intrinsic rewards from our work, and holding positive beliefs and thoughts that help guide us in search of opportunities and prevent us from being overwhelmed by obstacles. The self-regulation and self-monitoring behaviors we discussed in Chapter 2 can also be added to that list. Manz and Sims suggested that there are speci�ic strategies leaders can use for developing self-leadership through the dyadic, or one-to-one, relationship with direct reports. These include the following:
Modeling: When leaders demonstrate self-leadership behaviors, providing an example to their direct reports that captures their attention, helps them to remember the behavior, and motivates them to try the behavior on their own Facilitating goal setting: When leaders help to develop direct reports' capability to realistically set their own performance and development goals, including leadership development goals Identifying rewards: When leaders help their direct reports �ind the natural or intrinsic reward in their work, which is often found in work that helps to build feelings of competence, feelings of being able to control the work, and feelings that the work is worthwhile and has purpose and meaning Encouraging positive thought patterns: When leaders help their direct reports see opportunities where obstacles were normally seen, engage in mental rehearsal and visualization of success, and encourage positive self-talk
As we progress through this chapter, you will recognize how the presented frameworks (such as performance management) and the recommended processes and programs (such as goal setting, feedback, and mentoring) all serve to foster self-leadership when done effectively in the one-to-one role.
Finally, Manz and Sims suggested that SuperLeadership can be exercised with teams, and this is accomplished when leaders establish empowered, self- managed, or self-directed teams, such as service teams, product teams, cross-functional teams, top-executive teams, and virtual teams. At the organization level, SuperLeaders can build a culture of self-leadership through the organizational structures they create—for example, moving from a layered, hierarchical structure to a horizontal structure (one that is �lat with few management levels)—and through human resource systems that promote work innovation, informal hiring practices, performance appraisals that incorporate multiple inputs and have a development focus, and compensation that is more variable, team oriented, and performance based.
Managers at all levels in the organization require skills in one-to-one leadership. Therefore, this chapter also is applicable to lower and middle managers. For example, both leaders and managers are expected to carry out all phases of performance management, from goal setting to appraising direct reports.
Leadership does take time and effort, and some of what leaders need to do—for example, give tough feedback to a direct report—is not easy and requires advanced skills. When leaders, and managers for that matter, work effectively in the one-to-one role, they will spend time in goal setting, providing feedback, working on development plans, and coaching and appraising each of their direct reports. Just engaging in 30-minute biweekly coaching sessions with each of a leader's six direct reports, given the time it takes to prepare for the session and to follow up on progress afterward, can easily total 6 hours—that is almost a full working day every other week. However, though time intensive and challenging, this is what effective leadership and management involves. See Case Study: Chief Marketing Of�icer's One-to-One Role to learn about what could happen when leaders tend to ignore the one-to-one role.
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Case Study: The Chief Marketing Of�icer's One-to-One Role
We recently had the opportunity to consult with a senior executive, the chief marketing of�icer (CMO) of a multinational organization of more than 5,000 employees. The CMO, with more than 20 years of experience in the industry, reported directly to the CEO and had a team of eight direct reports, collectively leading more than 125 employees. However, in a recent 360-degree feedback survey, the CMO's direct reports indicated issues of trust between themselves, but more so between each team member and the CMO. This surfaced in the lack of cooperation and agreement between them when it came to launching global initiatives, such as a new product launch.
After reading through the results and discussing them with the CMO, we then met with each direct report to further explore the trust issues. We learned that the CMO, who thought he was empowering his direct reports to act, actually was demonstrating more of a laissez-faire leadership style and ignoring feedback from his team about con�licts between team members. The CMO also provided little performance feedback, so individually direct reports thought they were doing �ine and that others on the team were the ones causing the problems. These con�licts, as was the case, were the result of the CMO not holding each of the direct reports accountable for results and working collaboratively to achieve overall goals. Fundamentally, the CMO was not managing the performance of his direct reports and, frankly, was spending more time in his role as a member of the senior leadership team (leading the organization) than as a supervisor of his direct reports (leading one to one).
Our advice ultimately improved team morale and performance and reduced the tension and con�lict within the team and between team members and the CMO. It included the following:
Bringing the direct report team together to share and discuss overall �indings and feedback Establishing clear goals for the organization with the team, as well as with each direct report, helping each to better understand expectations for themselves and others on the team The CMO agreeing to conduct biweekly, one-to-one performance review and feedback meetings with each direct report to monitor performance, progress, and morale The CMO committing to be proactive in resolving con�licts brought to his attention, while also emphasizing his desire for collaboration and teamwork across the team—in essence, having his team model the right behaviors for the rest of his organization
Our advice in this case emphasized a "back to basics" approach. Regardless of your level in the organization and the level of your direct reports, the one- to-one role and the fundamentals of performance management—such as setting clear performance expectations, articulating desired behaviors, and providing feedback on a regular basis— remain important. Leaders, in essence, have to be managers, too; they have to supervise their direct reports. Leaders also need to learn how to effectively balance the four roles of leadership, as this case demonstrates.
Re�lection Questions
1. What do you think causes senior leaders, in general, to lose focus on the one-to-one role? What assumptions might they be making about themselves and their direct reports?
2. Have you ever neglected your direct report team when it came to performance management? Why was that so? What impact did it have on your team?
Leadership in Review
Re�lect on your learning by answering the following questions:
1. What is the purpose of SuperLeadership? 2. What are four speci�ic strategies leaders can use for developing self-leadership through one-to-one relationships with their direct reports? 3. At what levels in organizations are skills in one-to-one leadership required?
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Leaders must understand the frameworks of one-to-one leadership in order to successfully lead their teams.
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3.2 Frameworks for Understanding and Guiding One-to-One Leadership
There are three interrelated frameworks that are necessary for understanding the practices and approaches of leaders in the one-to-one role: theories of action, the ladder of inference, and performance management. Both the theories of action and the ladder of inference frame works strengthen and enhance the framework of performance management.
Theories of Action
Theories of action are explanations and interpretations of individuals' approaches to achieving the outcomes they want. People have ideas about the deliberate behaviors they must demonstrate to achieve the results they want; for example, a leader might have ideas about the behaviors required for effective leadership for a large organization. The speci�ic behaviors people demonstrate form a sequence of interrelated behaviors, or action.
Types of Theories of Action The extensive work of two theorist-practitioners, Argyris (1990, 1994, 2004) and Schon (Argyris & Schon, 1974; Schon, 1990), has consistently found that most people tend to be unaware of how their attitudes affect their behavior and the negative impact of their behavior on others. When asked about their theories of action, people generally describe their espoused theories, or how they will think or believe they will act to achieve results. People believe in and are committed to their espoused theories. To learn about a person's espoused theory, ask that person to tell you how she or he would act in a given situation.
People ultimately act based on their theories-in-use. Observe someone in action to learn about his or her theories-in-use. For example, a CEO demonstrates leadership behavior by speaking to a large group of employees in a town hall meeting. The leader may be espousing the importance of open communication, but her intolerant reaction to a challenging question about the recent drop in the company's stock price gives an indication of her true theory- inuse. Theories-in-use are the means for reaching goals, and they specify strategies for how people will conduct themselves (for example, how a leader resolves con�licts, engages in providing feedback, or coaches others). Theories-in-use provide the underlying constancy for an individual's behavior.
The Value of Theories of Action Theories of action encompass and explore the relationship between espoused theories and theories-in-use, providing a framework for leaders to understand both themselves and their direct reports. What is the value of understanding theories of action? First, it is a way for leaders to gain insight into the relationship between what they say and do and how that is perceived by direct reports. For example, when leaders master the role of leading one's self, they develop clarity about their intended actions and the resultant behaviors. They discover the theories they say they believe in and the theories they actually demonstrate. This insight often leads to developing better or more valid theories of action. For instance, a leader may believe in a theory of openness but may realize her theory-in- use revolves around challenging and resisting the viability of new ideas. Understanding theories of action can also provide leaders insight about their actual theories-in-use, which can lead to the adoption of more rigorous strategies and practices. Finally, the theories of action framework can help leaders understand that discrepancies may exist between their espoused theories and theories-inuse. The discrepancies will have a negative effect on their perceived trustworthiness and integrity, as the leader will be seen as saying one thing and doing another. Recall that having integrity is one of the three major competencies related to being seen as trustworthy.
The second value in understanding theories of action is that it helps a leader understand the relationship between what a direct report says and does. For example, when a leader provides feedback based on observable behavior, a direct report may become defensive and reject the feedback because the behavior is inconsistent with his or her espoused theory. The leader in this case might say to the direct report, "You provided very generic answers to the questions our customers raised in the meeting we just had." The direct report, who always talks about the importance of the customer and meeting customer needs (espoused theory), might reply, "I don't think that is true—I gave them good answers to the questions they asked." The leader can coach the direct report to help reconcile this discrepancy. Figure 3.2 shows some of the key challenges leaders encounter working with others, based on the congruency of their espoused theories and theories-in-use. Most of the performance management practices discussed in this chapter focus on performance improvement, which often requires the leader to point out the direct report's espoused theory, his or her theory-in-use, and the steps necessary to enhance both theories and to guide behavior that leads to successful results.
Figure 3.2: The challenges of theories of action
Different challenges arise whether there is congruency or incongruency between the leader's espoused theories and theories-in-use and the direct report's espoused theories and theories-in-use.
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Figure 3.3: The ladder of inference
The ladder of inference explains how sometimes deep- seated beliefs can form without evidence. However, leaders can use the ladder as a tool for improving the one-to-one relationship.
Source: Data from Leadership: A New Synthesis, by J. G. Hunt, 1991, Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.
Looking at Figure 3.2, consider Box A. In this instance, both the leader and the direct report have congruent theories, so the leader will need to recognize that coaching might involve a focus both on the beliefs held and on the behavior demonstrated by the direct report. For example, the direct report could believe in providing minimal amounts of feedback to her own team and actually provide that amount, to the dissatisfaction of her team members. The leader has congruent theories, so it should be easier for the direct report to accept the feedback. On the other hand, Box B requires the leader to focus on the direct report's incongruence in values and behaviors. In this instance, the leader would likely encounter someone who believes in providing feedback regularly but does not do so. The leader would need to help the direct report see this inconsistency and then help him to determine how to provide feedback on a more regular basis.
Box C takes on a different slant. Here, the leader's dif�iculty initially stems from the fact that she is not doing what she believes and says is important to do. This can come across as a lack of integrity and could raise questions with the direct report about truly needing to change if the leader is not herself "perfect." The leader may be saying feedback is important but does not provide enough feedback to the direct report team or speci�ically to this direct report, so some cynicism may prevail. The leader in this instance has to make clear to her direct report that, although her own theories may be incongruent, the direct report's behavior in question is still important to enhance. Finally, Box D presents a scenario that is the opposite of Box A. In this instance, clearly both the leader and the direct report are not doing what they say they will do. So going back to our example of providing enough feedback to direct reports, the leader once again has to make clear that although her own behavior may be inconsistent with her values, there is still some inconsistency in what the direct report says and does. The leader has to deal, potentially, with both her own lack of integrity in trying to make this change and the resistance from the direct report who believes he is doing what he says and is wondering why this is an issue for him if his own leader does not do this, either. In the end, it might just come across as the leader paying lip service to the idea of the direct report becoming more effective at providing feedback.
The Ladder of Inference
The ladder of inference is a metaphor for the process by which we often arrive at conclusions. We start the process with what we see and observe (the ladder's bottom rung) and, from there, ascend the "ladder" as we select data, add meaning to the data, make assumptions, and �inally draw conclusions, which, in turn, drive beliefs and action (see Figure 3.3). We often do not climb the ladder of inference consciously, and sometimes we leap up the ladder too quickly, which results in misguided beliefs and actions. According to Ross (1994), our ability to achieve desired results is eroded by the fact that we often believe that
Our beliefs are the truth. The truth is obvious. Our beliefs are based on real data. The data we select are the real data. (p. 242)
If we allow our incorrect beliefs to grow strong and in�luence the data we select, the overall process becomes even shorter and keeps us in a counterproductive re�lexive loop.
An Example of the Ladder of Inference The following is an example of a conversation between a leader and a direct report that demonstrates the ladder of inference in operation, as it often happens in real life. Note that in this example Jamal proceeds through the ladder of inference without much conscious
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Source: "Ladder of Inference" from THE FIFTH DISCIPLINE FIELDBOOK: STRATEGIES AND TOOLS FOR BUILDING A LEARNING ORGANIZATION by Peter M. Senge, copyright © 1994 by Peter M. Senge, Charlotte Roberts, Richard B. Ross, Bryan J. Smith, and Art Kleiner. Used by permission of the Spieler Agency Doubleday, an imprint of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved.
awareness of doing so. This example demonstrates, as well, how the ladder of inference serves to underpin many of our conversations in the workplace.
Jamal, a leader, is in a one-to-one meeting with Mark, a direct report. Jamal is giving Mark performance feedback. Jamal observes that Mark is quiet during this time, and when Jamal �inishes with the feedback, Mark says, "It is important to talk about next quarter's goals." Jamal decides—selects the data—that Mark was quiet when listening to the feedback. Jamal �igured that it meant Mark did not like that part of the meeting. Jamal assumed that Mark was uncomfortable with feedback and concluded Mark did not like to receive feedback. This led Jamal to believe that Mark was not interested in his own professional growth. Jamal's next action was to schedule more time in subsequent meetings to focus on giving Mark performance feedback and support his ongoing development.
The problem in the example is that Jamal is convinced he needs to spend more time on feedback with Mark, but Jamal does not really know if that is an effective response. It is unclear why Mark was silent during the meeting. Jamal never tested what he was seeing; he just made a number of assumptions and formulated his own reasons for Mark's behavior. Over time, if Jamal continues to act on his belief that Mark is not interested in his professional development, Jamal will focus more and more on selecting Mark's "quiet behavior," reinforcing his conclusion that Mark is not interested in professional development. Jamal, then, will �ind himself in the re�lexive loop.
How to Use the Ladder of Inference Once leaders are aware of the ladder of inference, they can use it as a tool for understanding, resolving, and improving interpersonal communication and for helping their direct reports more clearly understand the discrepancies between their espoused theories and their theories-in-use. After all, in general, theories of action are based on beliefs that are largely untested and grounded in what we infer from observations and past experiences.
According to Ross (1994), leaders can use the ladder of inference in three ways:
1. As a guide to re�lecting on their own thinking and reasoning. Jamal can sit quietly and ask himself, for example, how he arrived at the actions he is going to take based on what he observed in the meeting. Does he have enough data? Did he jump to conclusions? What evidence does he really have about Mark's behavior?
2. To make their thinking and reasoning more visible to others. Jamal would explain to Mark, by walking through the steps in the ladder, what he observed, what it meant to him, what he concluded, and more. This would give Mark the chance to respond and to clarify what was going on from his perspective—to add his point of view.
3. To inquire into others' thinking and reasoning. Jamal would ask Mark to use the ladder to describe what he saw, what that meant to him, what he concluded, and why his action was to be quiet.
In this way, leaders can use the ladder of inference to guide discussions and to clarify thinking, reasoning, and theories. This allows for both parties to arrive at a mutual understanding of the "truth."
How can you use the ladder of inference? First, you can use it to critically examine the foundations of your espoused theories, your theories-in-use, and any discrepancies between the two. Second, you can use the ladder to help your direct reports do the same. Third, you can use the ladder in workplace conversations to more explicitly advocate for your own viewpoint and perspective or to inquire about the views and perspectives of others. Ross and Roberts (1994) have suggested protocols that can be used to argue for your perspective—by moving up the ladder—or inquiring about another's perspective—by moving down the ladder.
To advocate for your position or viewpoint (moving up the ladder of inference):
Describe what you saw if it was a behavior, or describe your idea or contribution: "This is what I see . . ." or "Here is my idea . . ." State what it means to you: "I think this is important because . . ." Share and explain your assumptions: "I assumed that the problem we are trying to solve is . . ." Discuss why you reached your conclusion: "I arrived at this conclusion because . . ." Clarify your beliefs: "I believe that if we don't take this action . . ." State the suggested action: "So what I suggest we do . . ."
When advocating, however, your style will be important. Going up the ladder actually involves sharing your ideas, assumptions, and conclusions, so that others know where you are coming from and can respond accordingly. Therefore, you need to be open and in fact invite others to ask you questions and explore your perspective. Don't be defensive. In the end, your goal is to ensure that important problems or issues get resolved, which requires openness on the part of everyone involved to arrive at the best possible answer or solution.
When inquiring about another's position, you don't want to appear too challenging or aggressive as you walk down the ladder of inference. You don't want the holder of that position to become defensive—you just want to learn how he or she arrived at that position in the clearest way possible.
To inquire into another's perspective (moving down the ladder of inference):
Clarify the action taken: "So, are you suggesting that . . . ?" Clarify why it is important: "Tell me about why you believe that to be important." Ask how the viewpoint was arrived at: "What led you to make that conclusion?" Understand the basis for the conclusion: "What are the assumptions you are making when . . . ?" Test for meaning: "What makes that so signi�icant or important to you?" Identify what data support this position: "What data do you have, and what leads you to this place?"
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Speci�ic manager strategies allow managers to keep track of the progress being made toward a designated goal.
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Good performance management includes offering feedback based on a foundation of trust and empowerment.
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The ladder of inference is a tool leaders can use to help themselves, but more importantly their direct reports, to explore the rationale for their theories, the alignment of those theories, and the actions resulting from those theories. Working in this way, leaders act as coaches, helping their direct reports to understand the validity of their worldviews expressed through their espoused theories and theories-in-use. This understanding provides the basis for growth and change (Flaherty, 2010). This way of working provides an underlying structure for behavior change and success in all phases of performance management—our third framework.
Performance Management
Performance management is often thought to be the same as a performance appraisal, during which behavior and results are evaluated. However, as de�ined in this chapter's introduction, performance management involves more than just a year-end evaluation. It is a continuous process, integrating systematically and strategically each of its components, which Mone and London (2010) de�ined to include "goal setting, feedback, development, recognition, coaching and performance appraisal, built on a foundation of trust and empowerment, with a constant �low of communication" (p. xvii). Performance management then becomes an ongoing, full- time responsibility of leaders and managers. This set of key practices is important to leadership of a direct report, and so we will use this expanded view of performance management to underpin the remainder of our discussion in this chapter. The overall performance management process is the framework for exploring the role of leading one to one.
The success of performance management within an organization often hinges on whether it seems to be valued. The perceived value of performance management in organizations is determined in part by how well its components integrate and link, as well as leadership's support for the process. For example, in one reported study, only 53% of employees thought performance management was valued in the organization (London & Mone, 2009). The reason given: Employees did not see a clear link between their overall performance ratings and the rewards they received. This belief results in compliance with the overall performance management process, but it does nothing to add to the value of performance management as a strategic business process and a way of achieving the company's overarching goals.
From a leadership support perspective, the perceived value of performance management in organizations begins and ends with the CEO and whether the CEO engages in the process and holds others accountable to do the same. This is based on the fact that the CEO should be the role model for this process and by doing so demonstrate what is important and of value to the organization. The CEO engages in performance management in two ways. One way is with direct reports— setting goals, providing feedback and recognition, and evaluating performance. Jack Welch was probably the most prominent CEO engaged in the performance management of direct reports (Welch & Welch, 2005). How CEOs interact with their direct reports when it comes to performance management in�luences and affects how valued performance management is and how it is implemented across the organization. See Spotlight: A Fortune 500 Company and Performance Management for insight into how leadership can help to drive the use of the performance management process.
The second way CEOs engage in performance management is with the company's board of directors, in which the board is the leader and the CEO is the direct report. Until the late 1990s, boards were not engaged in a thorough evaluation of a CEO's effectiveness and performance (Graddick & Lane, 1998), but public knowledge of corporate scandals, executive pay levels, and severance agreements increased the focus on CEO evaluations. CEO appraisals are now a requirement for publicly traded U.S. companies (Nadler, Behan, & Nadler, 2006). Although the board-CEO performance management relationship is a special instance in the use of the performance management process, it is important for establishing an overall culture that values performance management and for in�luencing how the CEO models the process for the rest of the organization.
Of course, there is much to performance management, and much of this chapter covers each of its core components in detail: goal setting, development, feedback, recognition, and appraisal.
Spotlight: A Fortune 500 Company and Performance Management
To ensure those in leader and manager roles ful�illed their obligation to drive employee satisfaction and performance results in a Fortune 500 company, we worked with executive leadership to create and implement a manager goal. The goal clari�ied expectations and detailed �ive key strategies for its achievement. In fact, no manager or leader could be rated an outstanding performer unless the expectations for the manager goal were met. The following is the goal and the strategies for achieving it. Note the emphasis on using the company's performance management process. In this company, managers and leaders are held accountable for using the performance management process.
Goal: Build an organization of highly satis�ied and high-performing employees.
Strategy 1: Drive performance and development by executing all phases of the performance management process.
Strategy 2: Fairly and equitably acknowledge performance through the use of the company's compensation and recognition programs.
Strategy 3: Communicate regularly to keep employees informed throughout your organization.
Strategy 4: Capitalize on organization survey results to improve satisfaction and performance.
Strategy 5: Demonstrate and role-model effective leadership and behavior consistent with the company's core values.
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Leadership in Review
Re�lect on your learning by answering the following questions:
1. What is a theory of action? 2. What is the difference between an espoused theory and a theory-in-use? 3. How would you explain the value of the ladder of inference to an organization leader? 4. What are the key components of performance management? 5. In what two ways does a CEO engage in performance management?
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It is important for you as a leader to build trust with your direct reports and coworkers. How would you go about building trust?
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Jan Durrans, senior vice president of BOFI Federal Bank, talks about building trust with team members.
Building Trust to Reach Goals
Building Trust to Reach Goals From Title: Setting Goals to Stretch and Grow
(https://fod.infobase.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?wID=100753&xtid=93377)
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Critical Thinking Questions
1. What methods would you use to build trust between yourself and a direct report?
3.3 Building Trust and Empowering Others
The bedrock for the successful one-to-one relationship is knowing how to build trust and empower others, so it is imperative that we discuss how leaders can do this before we delve into a detailed discussion of the various aspects of our third framework, performance management.
Building Trust
Why is trust important, and what can leaders do to build trust? Trust is almost always ranked at the top of the list of what is expected of leaders (O'Toole & Bennis, 2009). It is also essential to any relationship where a dependency exists, as our working de�inition of trust implies: "The willingness of an individual or group to be vulnerable to the actions of others based on the expectation that they will perform a particular important action, irrespective of the ability to monitor or control performance" (Mayer, Davis, & Schoorman, 1995, p. 712).
Leaders need to act in ways that demonstrate they are trustworthy individuals, for example, by doing what they say they will do. They also need to demonstrate behaviors that build trust in the roles of leading one to one, leading teams, and leading organizations. Trust helps develop effective relationships in these roles and can lead to greater levels of performance, collaboration, and empowerment (Jones & George, 1998; Poon, 2006). It is safe to say that without high levels of trust, a leader will not be successful in any of these leadership roles. However, building trust is a process that happens over time.
Acting With Ability, Benevolence, and Integrity Overall, research on trustworthiness can be grouped according to three major competencies: ability, benevolence, and integrity (Colquitt & Salam, 2009). Through consistent and persistent demonstration of these competencies, as well as the behaviors described later in this section, leaders create trust in relationships. Let's de�ine these three competencies:
Ability. Leaders must have relevant job knowledge, both technical knowledge related to their functions and general management competencies. This helps the leader's direct reports feel con�ident about their leader's ideas. The general management competencies fall within the realm of performance management, including setting the right kinds of performance and development goals, evaluating performance accurately, and providing coaching. Benevolence. Leaders must demonstrate a sense of positivity, concern, and loyalty toward their direct reports. It is important that leaders show an interest in their direct reports' opinions, desires, and interests. Leaders should present each person with the opportunity to share and respond accordingly but should make a conscious effort to avoid favoritism. Also, this benevolence must be seen as being motivated by goodwill and not by the leader's own needs or a search for greater organization results. Leaders demonstrate benevolence by being supportive, including showing a concern for the welfare of direct reports and helping them to accomplish their tasks as necessary. Over time, acts of benevolence will tend to deepen the trust felt in the relationship by the direct reports. Integrity. Leaders need to stick to a set of valid, sound moral and ethical principles. Integrity is not something that is easily apparent early in the relationship. Leaders build trust in this way by showing their direct reports that they keep to their word, their words match their values, and their behavior is consistent with their values, morals, and ethics over time. When leaders' behavior is predictable, direct reports will be more trusting. Leaders should maintain their principles under pressure and, �inally, be consistent in what they say. Leaders demonstrate integrity, too, by ensuring that organizational processes, such as the promotion and compensation processes, are fair, just, and transparent.
A leader's abilities to demonstrate trustworthiness and to empower direct reports are foundational elements of the one-to-one role, particularly when it comes to performance management (Mone & London, 2010; Pulakos, 2009). The following are recommendations for what leaders can do to build trust into the practice of performance management; these actions largely constitute and re�lect general management (ability) competencies but also overlap with the competencies of benevolence and integrity.
Act as an advocate for your direct reports. Stand up for their rights by negotiating for resources to help them do their jobs and develop their skills. Protect them when their performance is unfairly questioned. Treat conversations with each of your direct reports as con�idential; treat them fairly and equitably. Show con�idence in your direct reports. Let them know you rely on them to accomplish their goals; avoid micromanagement. Empower your direct reports with accountability and responsibility for achieving important results. Manage the performance of your direct reports. Provide fair and reasonable goals and consistently share your expectations. Encourage, support, and reward successful performance. Provide development opportunities that support their current responsibilities as well as their career development goals. Act as a trusted coach. Coaching is central to building trust. Be constructive and make your direct reports comfortable. Refrain from criticism. Focus on expressing your concerns and working together to develop an approach that will lead to better results. Let your direct reports know they can disclose their performance concerns with you. (Mone & London, 2010)
Another way leaders can build trust into performance management is to demonstrate openness (Mone & London, 2010). Leaders should be open to in�luence from their direct reports and capitalize on their knowledge, insight, or experience. Leaders should also demonstrate transparency. This is important because senior leaders, in fact, may often be rated lower on their trustworthiness than an employee's immediate manager. According to an organizational survey conducted for 5 consecutive years at a Fortune 500 high-tech �irm, on average, 64% of employees agreed or strongly agreed with the statement "I trust executive leadership at this company." However, 78% of employees responded favorably to the statement "My manager is
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2. Alternatively, what methods might you use to build trust between yourself and your manager?
Empowering your employees ensures they feel accountable and responsible for their work
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someone I can trust." The 14-point difference in scores was attributed to the fact that executive leaders were not seen as "being open and honest in their communications"—only 57% of employees agreed or strongly agreed with this statement (Mone & London, 2010).
The following is a group of key actions or behaviors that demonstrate openness in the one- toone role, based on Kouzes and Posner (2011) and O'Toole and Bennis (2009):
Tell the truth. Leaders should tell each of their direct reports the same story, engaging in straight talk. You should be honest, and if full disclosure is not feasible, explain why; your direct reports will understand. Encourage your direct reports to speak the truth. Leaders need to create the conditions for their direct reports to be courageous and honest. Let them know you want to hear the dif�icult truths, and respond favorably when they do so. Reward your direct reports who raise an opposing viewpoint. Leaders need to encourage their direct reports to challenge the leaders' espoused theories and theories-inuse and reward them for speaking up (we discuss this later in the chapter). Admit your mistakes. Leaders who do this with their direct reports set the stage for them to do the same. Set information free. Leaders should make sharing information with their direct reports their modus operandi, unless there is a legal reason for not doing so, so direct reports can better achieve their goals and support you in achieving yours. Withholding needed information without a strong reason is a serious breach of trust. Leaders' openness will allow their employees to feel more comfortable and open with their leaders.
Trusting Others Leaders will need to recognize that their direct reports will vary in terms of how trusting they initially appear to be. In fact, different individuals will have different propensities to trust (McKnight & Chervany, 2006), or natural inclination to trust others. Having a low or high propensity to trust will affect how a person behaves at the beginning of a new relationship. Leaders should demonstrate their trust �irst. Trusting others �irst is one of the best ways to build a trusting relationship; it creates an exchange of behaviors that strengthens the level of trust in the relationship over time. The more the leader trusts, the more the leader will earn the trust of others. Leaders who espouse being trustworthy must act in ways that consistently demonstrate trustworthiness; otherwise, they will appear to lack integrity, which has a negative impact on trust.
Restoring Trust At times, leaders can �ind themselves needing to restore trust in relationships. According to Covey (2006), this can occur when leaders lose their credibility through their actions or inactions, such as making an honest mistake or demonstrating poor judgment. Similarly, general communication issues, such as not being open or honest, will not inspire trust between leaders and their direct reports. To remedy the situation, Covey suggested focusing on behaviors that will inspire trust and increase credibility. These are the kinds of behaviors we have been discussing, such as telling the truth and admitting your mistakes. Covey described credibility in terms of four cores, three of which are similar to the three major competencies we have discussed: integrity, intent or benevolence, and capabilities or abilities. The fourth core has to do with performance or results, which is accomplishing what one promised and expected to achieve. A key way for leaders to restore trust is by not overpromising and underdelivering, and by taking responsibility for their results, whether good or bad. The idea, again, is for leaders to step up to demonstrating their trustworthiness in more and stronger ways in order to restore trust in relationships with their direct reports. They need to focus on rebuilding their credibility and demonstrating more, as well as more effectively, the range of behaviors that rebuild trust.
Empowering Others
One of the best ways leaders can demonstrate their trust is by empowering their direct reports, which is also at the heart of being a SuperLeader:
Effective empowerment is a necessity in today's business environment, where people need to respond to new challenges in record time, and do more with fewer people. Executives and other leaders simply cannot accomplish their goals if they do not engage their people. (Gebelein, Lee, Nelson- Neuhaus, & Sloan, 1999, p. 175)
Although this quotation was taken from an article from the late 1990s, it is perhaps even more relevant today given the competition in today's business environment, in�luenced by factors such as globalization and the introduction of new technologies.
So what is empowerment? It is a psychological state in which someone feels accountable and responsible to act. Gordon Sullivan, former U.S. Army chief of staff, had this to say about empowerment: "Empowered subordinates accept responsibility for themselves, for their team, and for their contributions to the organization. From that sense of shared responsibility comes self-con�idence, motivation, and commitment. Leader development—investing in people—is about creating that kind of empowerment" (Sullivan & Harper, 1996, p. 213).
More formally, Quinn and Spreitzer (1999) have indicated that the following four characteristics re�lect the personal feeling of, or psychological state of, being empowered:
1. Sense of self-determination: Feeling free to choose how to do one's work 2. Sense of meaning: Caring about the work and feeling that it is important 3. Sense of competence: Feeling con�ident about the ability to perform and do one's work
well 4. Sense of impact: Believing in having the ability to in�luence one's work unit and that
others will listen to their ideas
Feeling empowered, therefore, is an active orientation to one's work. One must experience all four characteristics to truly feel empowered. For example, if a direct report really enjoys his or her work but feels that he or she has very little impact, the experience of empowerment will be lessened.
Many factors in organizations contribute to creating the conditions for empowerment and can be considered antecedents of psychological empowerment. These include an employee having the following:
A large number of direct reports A supportive work climate High-quality peer and customer relationships Political support from one's supervisor
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Strong leaders must measure the trust and empowerment gaps between themselves and their direct reports. What do you think is the best way to measure this?
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Access to information about the direction and goal of the organization Rewards based on individual performance
These conditions help to foster both intrinsic motivation and self-ef�icacy, which are important to feeling empowered, but most importantly, empowerment in organizations is in�luenced by leadership behavior (Yukl, 2006). Leaders should aim to foster an environment where trust levels are high, which, in turn, will make them feel comfortable empowering their direct reports. Empowering direct reports gives direct reports greater degrees of accountability; there are greater risks and rewards. Being empowered leads to greater levels of satisfaction, higher levels of performance, and more innovation. Two popular and in�luential thinkers on the topic of empowerment, Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Peter Block, wrote about how empowerment bene�its the entire organization. Kanter, one of the early proponents of empowerment, stated in her award-winning book Men and Women of the Corporation (1977) that when senior leaders monopolize power, others are limited in their capacity to get things done. However, when leaders share power, empowering others with the authority and capacity to get things done, total power in the organization will increase. Block's message in The Empowered Manager (1987), which is more widely known among human resource professionals, was one of hope, positioning empowerment as a positive and political skill that can enable managers to overcome the bureaucratic mindset that pervades most organizations.
To empower their direct reports, leaders �irst must make sure their direct reports have the resources they need and the required skills to act with the appropriate levels of discretion. Leaders help to empower their direct reports when they do the following:
Invest in building their knowledge, skills, and expertise. De�ine and communicate the extent of discretion they have to make decisions and commit to the organization. Enable participation in decision making that affects the work unit. Provide the opportunity and access for them to build new relationships internally and externally. Provide vision and challenge, with clearly de�ined goals and expectations so that their efforts will be targeted appropriately. Create a safe environment, encouraging risk taking and protection from failure. Recognize and reward empowered behavior.
Finally, empowerment is important in performance management. The following is a set of guidelines for empowerment that support the practice of performance management (Yukl, 2006). Leaders should
Clarify objectives with their direct reports, explaining how their work supports them. Include their direct reports when making decisions that affect them; delegate responsibility and authority for important activities. Recognize that their direct reports have different skills and motivation. Provide their direct reports access to resources, including relevant information. Remove bureaucratic constraints and unnecessary controls. Express con�idence and trust in their direct reports. Provide direct reports with advice and coaching as requested; encourage their direct reports to take initiative. Recognize and reward important achievement.
Measuring the Trust and Empowerment Gap
There are several ways to measure gaps in trust and empowerment that exist between leaders and their direct reports. A survey is often the best approach: either a 360-degree survey, an employee opinion survey, or a survey speci�ically designed to measure in detail the trust and empowerment gap. The following survey, shown in Table 3.1, is an example of a 360-degree survey focused on trust and empowerment. The survey dimensions are straightforward and focus on the extent to which the leader demonstrates behaviors that promote trust and empowerment. The survey contains eight dimensions or categories and 24 questions. You can use the survey in two primary ways. First, you can use only the numbered category-level questions, for example, by asking a leader's direct reports if the leader "acts as an advocate." Second, you can use the full survey: the category questions to get an overall response and the two follow-up questions per category to probe as necessary.
Table 3.1: Sample survey: Measuring the trust and empowerment gap Click here (https://ne.edgecastcdn.net/0004BA/constellation/PDFs/MGT460_2e/Table3.1_Trust_and_Empowerment_Survey.pdf) to download this assessment.
1. Does the leader act as an advocate?
Stand up for the rights of the direct reports?
Treat the direct reports fairly and equitably?
2. Does your leader show con�idence in the direct reports?
Feel comfortable relying on the direct reports to accomplish their goals?
Delegate critical tasks to the direct reports?
3. Does your leader act with integrity?
Keep the promises made and take responsibility for own mistakes?
Behave in a predictable and consistent fashion?
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4. Does your leader display interest in the direct reports?
Seek out the opinions of the direct reports?
Show concern by asking the direct reports about their lives outside of work?
5. Does your leader demonstrate openness?
Show willingness and openness to in�luence by the direct reports?
Believe direct reports will be open to feedback about their work style and performance?
6. Does your leader manage performance?
Share performance expectations with direct reports?
Provide direct reports with fair performance goals, appraisals, rewards, coaching, and feedback?
7. Does your leader show a propensity to trust?
Demonstrate trust in the direct reports before they demonstrate trust in the leader?
Feel the relationships with the direct reports are based on trust?
8. Does your leader empower?
Provide adequate resources for direct reports to achieve their goals?
Give direct reports the accountability and authority to act on their own?
We suggest recording three possible responses for each question: Yes, No, or Not Sure. If you prefer, you could have participants rate each category and follow-up question on a Likert scale, ranging from 1 to 5, based on the extent to which the leader demonstrates the behavior (To a very little extent, To a little extent, To a moderate extent, To a great extent, To a very great extent). If surveying only a few leaders, then perhaps the full survey (24 questions) with the Yes-No-Not Sure response scale would make sense. If you wanted to use the survey with a large number of leaders, then we would recommend the Likert scale so that you could average results across the larger population, creating a norm that each leader can use for comparison.
Once the survey is completed, you will have an evaluation of the leader's behaviors regarding trust and empowerment. Questions that are answered Yes or rated a 3, 4, or 5 would indicate strengths. Those rated No or a 1 or 2 would indicate areas for further development. A Not Sure rating should be interpreted as not having the opportunity to be in the position to observe that behavior.
Leadership in Review
Re�lect on your learning by answering the following questions:
1. How would you de�ine trust in your own words? 2. What is meant by the propensity to trust? 3. How would you de�ine empowerment in your own words? 4. What are the four characteristics that must be in place to feel psychological empowerment? 5. What are some ways a leader builds empowerment into the performance management process?
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The �irst step in achieving goals as an organization is to set them in the �irst place.
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Jan Durrans, senior vice president of BOFI Federal Bank, talks about the importance of setting clear and speci�ic goals.
Setting Clear and Speci�ic Goals
Setting Specific Goals From Title: Setting Goals to Stretch and Grow
(https://fod.infobase.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?wID=100753&xtid=93377)
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Critical Thinking Questions
1. What might be some additional risks of having unclear goals?
2. Why might speci�ic goals increase the satisfaction and loyalty of workers?
3.4 Phases of Performance Management: Setting Goals
Recall that the Mone and London (2010) de�inition of performance management includes six aspects or phases of performance management: setting goals, providing feedback, development, coaching, recognition, and performance appraisal. Therefore, these phases will provide the structure for our discussion of how leaders and managers can effectively carry out performance management activities in their organizations. In this section, we will discuss setting goals.
Goal setting can be formally de�ined as the process of establishing mutually agreed-to goals, strategies, tactics, and measures to provide direction for performance and development. Goal setting in organizations begins with the organization's strategic planning process, which establishes the direction of and purpose for the organization's goals. As a result of this process, overarching or organization-level goals are established (we introduced this idea in Chapter 1). These goals de�ine the high-level results the organization commits to and expects to achieve. These goals typically become the CEO's goals, and the organization's board of directors holds the CEO accountable for their achievement; the CEO will then hold his or her direct reports accountable for their relative contribution to those goals. Thus begins the process of empowering others in the organization through goal setting to focus on and achieve expected results.
Table 3.2 shows how a chief human resource of�icer (CHRO) of a multinational company aligned the goals for the human resources (HR) organization with the CEO's goals. The HR goals describe how the HR organization will make its unique contribution to overall company success based on the kinds of services, systems, processes, programs, resources, and tools an HR organization provides.
Table 3.2: CEO goals linked to HR department goals
CEO goals HR department goals
Ramp up growth Improve HR organization ef�iciency and effectiveness to enhance strategic value to business
Delight all customers Demonstrate HR alignment with the company's mission, vision, and values through customer focus
Become a thought and technology leader Enhance capability and value through HR innovation
Develop employees and the organization Maximize HR talent to positively in�luence organizational results
In this section, we provide a set of principles and recommendations to help leaders and managers think more clearly about how to set effective goals in general. We then suggest a framework that leaders can introduce in their organizations that will provide a common language for the discussion of goals—how to set, monitor, and measure them.
Setting Clear and Speci�ic Goals
The following are some of the key principles for goal setting in the leader's one-on-one role.
First, engage employees in goal setting. Engaging employees in goal setting leads to information sharing about how to achieve the goals and increases self-con�idence (London, Mone, & Scott, 2004). Also, the act of setting goals in�luences the employee's motivation to discover ways to attain the goal (Locke & Latham, 1990, 2002). If goals are assigned to employees, the reason and rationale for the goals should be explained (London, Mone, & Scott, 2004). Latham (2009a) also argued for keeping the total number of goals to a minimum but recommended keeping the range between three to seven goals: "If the goals are too many . . . they end up increasing stress because people try frantically to attain the impossible. . . . Give your people too many goals, and they'll quickly lose the focus that goal setting normally provides" (p. 40).
It is the leader's job to execute well by focusing on a few priorities or goals that all employees can grasp. Focusing on three or four goals will produce the best results with the available resources. Employees in contemporary organizations need a small number of clear priorities to execute well. Goal and direction clarity help minimize competition for resources, along with the ambiguity over who has rights to make decisions (Bossidy & Charan, 2002).
In the same vein, a second principle is to set speci�ic goals. Setting speci�ic goals is more effective than simply trying to "do your best." Speci�ic goals focus attention and lead to greater levels of motivation and effort. Also, having speci�ic goals helps individuals to persist in performance when needing to overcome obstacles (Locke & Latham, 1990, 2002).
Third, set dif�icult, challenging goals, whether or not employees participate in goal setting (London, Mone, & Scott, 2004). Dif�icult, challenging goals lead to higher levels of performance (Locke & Latham, 1990, 2002).
Fourth, anticipate and provide for any barriers to goal achievement. Consider training in self- regulation, which can help employees learn how to evaluate their progress and how close they are to achieving their goals and to identify needed resources to help them overcome barriers (London, Mone, & Scott, 2004). Or, consider setting learning or development goals rather than performance goals when the individual does not have the skill to achieve a dif�icult performance goal (Locke & Latham, 1990, 2002).
Finally, focus on ways to increase employee commitment to the goals because this enhances the positive effect of goal dif�iculty on performance. As Latham (2009b) wrote, "Commitment is the sine qua non of goal setting. Without it, goal setting is a meaningless exercise" (p. 163). See Table 3.3 for an example of a short, validated measure of goal commitment.
Note that personal traits and incentives can in�luence the setting of and commitment to dif�icult or challenging goals (Locke & Latham, 1990, 2002). However, in general, leaders can increase commitment to goals by increasing the importance of the goal, the signi�icance and value to the individual of achieving the goal, and
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When is the last time you set a goal? Did you happen to follow any of the steps in the given process?
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the individual's belief in the ability to achieve the goal. These ideas suggest expectancy theory (Vroom, 1964), a theory that explains how people are motivated toward certain behavior. We have phrased the three components of expectancy theory as three distinct questions that are important to determining motivation to achieve the goal:
1. Expectancy: If I put in the effort, will I achieve the goal? 2. Instrumentality: If I achieve the goal, will I get the reward I am after? 3. Valence: How important or valuable is the reward?
Expectancy theory suggests that motivation is a multiplicative function of all three components (or questions). If any of the three has a probability of zero—the probability of expectancy, instrumentality, and valence can range from zero to one—there will be no motivation to perform.
Table 3.3: Sample measure of goal commitment Click here (https://ne.edgecastcdn.net/0004BA/constellation/PDFs/MGT460_2e/Table3.3_Goal_Committment_Survey.pdf) to download this assessment.
Statement Strongly disagree Strongly agree
1. It is hard to take this goal seriously. 5 4 3 2 1
2. Quite frankly, I don't care if I achieve this goal or not. 5 4 3 2 1
3. I am strongly committed to pursuing this goal. 1 2 3 4 5
4. It would not take much to make me abandon this goal. 5 4 3 2 1
5. I think this is a good goal to shoot for. 1 2 3 4 5
Source: Adapted from Klein, Wesson, Hollenbeck, & Alge, 2001
Goal-Setting Framework
So what is a goal-setting framework? It is a way of looking at how goals are de�ined and organized. It guides the thinking of leaders and managers about the goal-setting process and how to de�ine all aspects of the performance they expect from their employees.
We recommend the key aspects of goal setting include a goal statement, strategies, tactics, activities, measures of success, and goal measurements (Mone & London, 2002, 2010; Mone, Price, & Eisinger, 2011).
Goal Statements The goal statement de�ines the output or end result expected. It helps to answer the following questions:
What are you trying to accomplish, fundamentally, with this effort? What will change as a result of this effort? What will be different?
We suggest de�ining goal statements at high levels, such as the following:
Increase customer satisfaction. Increase pro�its. Build a customer-focused culture. Create a high-performing culture.
Strategies A strategy de�ines how a goal will be achieved. When engaging in goal setting with a direct report, this part of the discussion focuses on how to approach the goal in an attempt to crystallize what major avenues will be followed to achieve the expected results. Goals will typically have one or more strategies attached to them. The examples of strategies in Table 3.4 correspond to the goal statements mentioned earlier.
Table 3.4: Sample strategies for sample goal statements
Goal statement Strategies
Increase customer satisfaction. Improve customer service response time. Differentiate product lines by industry.
Increase pro�its. Develop a multi-tiered product pricing strategy. Reduce the cost of general and administrative expenses.
Build a customer-focused culture. Train employees companywide in customer relations management. Redesign the customer service recognition program.
Create a high-performing culture. Implement a new performance management process. Institute a performance-based incentive plan.
Tactics Tactics are the major steps supporting a strategy that will lead to achieving the goal. When discussing goals with a direct report, focusing on tactics brings some de�inition to the strategy and reveals how your direct report will go about implementing the strategy. For example, if your strategy for increasing customer satisfaction is to "improve customer service response time," you might adopt the following tactics:
Analyze current customer service effectiveness across all national and global regions.
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Survey and conduct focus groups with customers regarding overall service and service responsiveness. Conduct surveys with and interview customer service employees and management. Develop and prioritize action plans for improving customer service response time. Gain senior management approval for plan. Implement plan, nationally and then globally. Monitor plan effectiveness using monthly surveys of customers and customer service employees.
If your strategy for increasing pro�its is to "develop a multi-tiered product pricing strategy," you could
Establish a cross-functional senior-level team. Identify and determine appropriate product mix. Formulate pricing models. Pilot new strategy with select major market customers. Evaluate and modify strategy. Implement strategy for all customer segments. Evaluate achievement of expected revenue levels.
Activities Activities are the next level of logical steps a direct report takes to support a tactic, strategy, and goal. It is normally best not to encourage leaders and their direct reports to specify in detail and document the activities as part of the goal-setting process, as that can feel dis-empowering for the direct report if the activities feel like they have become too prescribed. However, it is certainly �ine, as the situation warrants, for leaders and their direct reports to discuss some possible activities necessary to achieve the goals. Table 3.5 provides an example of what activities might be associated with a strategy and related tactic.
Table 3.5: Sample activities
Strategy Tactic Activities
Improve customer service response time.
Conduct surveys with and interview customer service employees and management.
Arrange meetings with each customer service area director. Determine with the directors the best methods for data collection. Contact each area's data analyst and request historical response rate data for past 6 months. Develop a data analysis plan to analyze the data by region, as well as for the overall organization.
Measures of Success A measure of success is the level of performance that describes the results you expect. Measures help leaders to evaluate the extent to which expected results were achieved. The measures of success bring further de�inition to the actual intent of the goal. Of course, the strategies, tactics, and activities should be designed to produce the expected measure(s) of success. Goals can also have more than one measure of success. For example, measures of success for the goal of increasing pro�its might include the following:
Gross revenue increases by 6–8%. Overall production costs are reduced by 9.8%. Cost of sales is reduced by 13%.
Measures that might indicate a high-performing culture is in place may include the following:
Employee engagement levels increase from 77% to 81%. Employee morale improves (83% of employees indicate satisfaction with morale compared with 71% on the last employee opinion survey). The new leadership development process is implemented according to plan.
Goal Measurements Goal measurements are the processes, tools, or measurements that leaders and their direct reports will use to provide the evidence or collect the data necessary to show whether success was achieved. For example, to measure employee morale, the company's employee opinion survey could be used comparing year-over-year changes in responses to the statement "The morale in my organization is generally high." What would you use to measure productivity? One possible measurement could be changes in the ratio of revenue in dollars to the number of employees.
This framework works best when it is situated within and driven by the larger context of the organization's strategic plan, which de�ines the direction-providing components of mission, vision, overarching goals, and the leader's own organization vision, mission, and goals. See Considering a Goal-Setting Process for a recommended approach to setting goals with direct reports.
Types of Goals
This goal-setting framework works equally well for the two generally accepted types of goals: performance goals and development goals (Latham, 2009a; Mone & London, 2010). Performance goals are generally task focused and contribute to higher-level business outcomes, such as increases in customer satisfaction, pro�its, or revenue. Each of the four examples discussed in this section is a performance goal. Development goals are set to help a direct report improve performance in the current job or to enhance or build the skills necessary to prepare for future jobs, consistent with the idea of development planning discussed in Chapter 2. The following is a sample development goal for a �inancial analyst. A development goal is evaluated based on skill or knowledge improvement that results in enhanced performance, not on accomplishing the activity of attending a seminar or workshop, reading a book, or listening to a podcast.
Development goal statement: Improve understanding of return on investment (ROI). Strategy: Enroll in a seminar on ROI analysis. Tactics: – Identify and register for program. – Attend all classes and complete all assignments.
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Measure of success: Demonstrated improvement in business plan ROI analysis Goal measurement: Business unit manager feedback on business plan ROI analysis
Considering a Goal-Setting Process
The following are the key steps to consider when setting goals with direct reports, adapted from Mone and London (2010).
1. Tell your direct reports the goal-setting process for the upcoming performance year has started; indicate the time frame in which you want to have the goal-setting process completed.
2. Outline the overall goal-setting process for your direct reports. 3. Tell your direct reports to do the following to create a context for current goal setting:
a. Reread the mission and vision for the company. b. Reread your organization's mission and vision. c. Review their job descriptions. d. Review their current goals, strategies, and tactics.
4. Identify any new overarching goals; develop a draft of team goals if needed. Share these with your direct reports. Seek feedback; revise as necessary.
5. Share any strategic messages that may be important for your direct reports to consider. 6. Based on information from steps 3–5, ask your direct reports to develop drafts of their own individual and team performance and development
goals, strategies, and tactics. 7. Meet with each direct report to review and discuss their goals, strategies, and tactics.
a. Ensure each direct report's performance goals are aligned with the overall direction of the company and your department and are challenging, meaningful, and realistic.
b. Ensure each direct report's development goals are targeted for improved performance in the current job or to acquire the skills or knowledge necessary to prepare for future jobs.
8. Once the goals, strategies, and tactics have been �inalized, a. Ask each of your direct reports to develop the measures of success and measurements. b. Meet with each of your direct reports to review the proposed measures and measurements. c. Discuss and �inalize the measures and measurements.
9. Review your direct reports' goals, strategies, and tactics with your supervisor, as necessary. 10. Communicate and discuss any changes with your direct reports and revise as necessary. 11. You and each of your direct reports sign off to indicate the process is complete.
Source: Copyright ©2010 from Employee Engagement through Effective Performance Management: A Practical Guide for Managers by Manuel London and Edward Mone. Adapted by permission of Taylor and Francis Group, LLC, a division of Informa plc
Leadership in Review
Re�lect on your learning by answering the following questions:
1. What is the difference between a goal statement, strategy, and tactic? 2. How would you explain the difference between a measure of success and a goal measurement? 3. What is a performance goal? 4. Why would you set a development goal?
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Leaders and managers must learn to excel at providing feedback.
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3.5 Phases of Performance Management: Providing Feedback
Performance management is a process, and it is most effective when each of its component parts is integrated and working together. Locke (1991) addressed the relationship between goal setting and feedback for leaders:
To determine if employees are reaching their goals, it is necessary that they obtain feedback regarding their own progress. Research shows very clearly that goal-setting does not work unless people are given information showing their performance in relation to their goals. Goals regulate performance far more reliably when feedback is present than when it is absent. . . . Leaders, too, need feedback when they set goals jointly with their subordinates. Leaders must understand their followers' expectations and take them into account when setting mutually agreed-upon goals. (p. 81)
Sims and Lorenzi (1992) also stressed the relationship between goal setting and feedback and its overall importance: "Neither feedback alone nor goals alone are suf�icient—both are necessary. . . . In a sense, goal setting and feedback are inseparable" (p. 124).
Feedback is important for ensuring performance is on track and for providing guidance for further development. It is important for managers and leaders to excel at providing feedback —and at asking for it and acting on it, much like we discussed in Chapter 2. It is disappointing to note that despite the importance of feedback, research by Towers Perrin-ISR (2007) conducted with high performing organizations generally showed only about 70% of employees on average were satis�ied with the feedback they received to improve their performance.
Latham (2009a) suggested managers and leaders open themselves to feedback by asking their direct reports questions such as the following:
Are the vision and goals still applicable and working for you? Are we pursuing the right performance goals? Are our goals still challenging and meaningful? Do you see any obstacles that will prevent us from achieving our goals? Am I doing anything as the leader of this team that is negatively in�luencing your commitment to our goals, and if so, what should I do differently?
This kind of modeling, focused on performance, provides direct reports an opportunity to comment on goals and leader performance in a safe way, without having to be defensive about their own behavior and performance.
Challenges in Giving Feedback
When managers and leaders provide feedback to direct reports, they are encouraging opportunities for self-analysis and introspection, something dif�icult to accomplish in today's fast-paced world. According to Yukl (2006), the following traits also inhibit the ability and willingness to accept feedback:
Defensiveness, or behavior that protects one's ego from a perceived attack, and insecurity, both of which can lead to avoiding or ignoring feedback about weaknesses An external locus of control, de�ined as believing that the outcomes of external events are determined by others, luck, or fate, and not one's self, which can lead to rejecting responsibility for failures A high need for achievement, which involves one's desire to accomplish goals or tasks more effectively than in the past, making it dif�icult to adapt to changing situations A high degree of self-con�idence that might lead to feelings of superiority, which causes discounting of feedback from those perceived as less successful
Therefore, leaders may �ind themselves needing to give feedback to those who seem to have dif�iculty accepting it. In general, leaders can capitalize on the theories of action and the ladder of inference discussed previously in the chapter. First, they should consider the theories of action for both themselves and their direct report to determine if either's espoused theory or theory-in-use could be preventing the effective delivery of or willingness to process and acknowledge the feedback. Second, they can use the ladder of inference to show how they arrived at the feedback and verify its accuracy and validity with their direct report, or they can use the ladder to arrive at a new understanding. A leader can engage the direct report in the conversation using the various steps in the ladder.
Based on the earlier example in this chapter, Jamal would tell Mark what he observed and what data he collected and ask Mark if he saw the same thing. Differences would be discussed. Jamal would then say to Mark what the behavior meant to him and ask Mark what he meant by the behavior. Differences would be discussed. Jamal could then tell Mark what he assumed and what he concluded because of Mark's behavior. Differences would be discussed. Finally, Jamal would share his overall belief about Mark as a result of the behavior and both describe his immediate action (creating the opportunity to provide feedback) and determine any subsequent actions to correct behavior or enhance performance. Jamal would ask Mark for his view. Differences would be discussed.
In this example, we broke down the steps, which in reality may blend together due to the natural, nonlinear �low of the feedback conversation. The leader initiates the conversation, and both the leader and the direct report should demonstrate openness and a willingness to acknowledge each other's perspectives so that a mutually agreed-upon action plan can be put into place.
For those direct reports whose personalities make it more challenging to provide effective feedback, Table 3.6 outlines strategies for addressing common problems and improving receptivity.
Table 3.6: Dealing with challenging personalities
Challenge (direct report's behavior) Strategy (leader's behavior)
Holding an in�lated, superior view of self. Your direct report believes her way is the best way.
Encourage your direct report to think about how others might approach the same situation. Provide speci�ic examples of day-to-day situations that have a variety of alternative solutions.
Holding a de�lated view of self. Your direct report thinks he cannot do anything right and often has low self-esteem.
Simply listen and show your understanding. Point out examples of success and positive achievement.
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Always making a competitive or comparative view. Your direct report consistently compares her performance to others', justifying as appropriate.
Listen to your direct report's concerns and maintain a neutral position. State your desire to help. Keep the focus on your direct report's actual behaviors and results related to set goals and performance expectations.
Being overly emotional. Your direct report gets caught in his emotional reactions and has a hard time holding on to a rational perspective.
Acknowledge the emotion while keeping an objective point of view. Stick to the facts of the discussion. Give speci�ic examples of behaviors or results.
Being defensive. Your direct report argues about or challenges the validity of your feedback.
Communicate that you value your direct report's contributions. Listen carefully to your direct report's view of the situation leading to the feedback. Focus on the behaviors that need to change.
Being unwilling to adapt to changing circumstances. Your direct report has a high need to achieve and fears change will bring failure.
Ensure your direct report understands the urgency of the need to change and adapt. Show your direct report a path to success based on her skill set that will still allow for high levels of achievement.
Externalizing the reasons for poor performance. Your direct report does not accept accountability when performance does not meet expectations.
Acknowledge that circumstances can create obstacles to successful performance. Explore the actions taken by your direct report. Discuss actions your direct report had the authority to take but did not, showing him how to ensure success in future situations.
Being overly controlling. Your direct report likes to take control of the situation. Structure the feedback ahead of time and follow your plan during the conversation. Keep the discussion tightly focused on speci�ics. Ask questions that require direct responses.
Being passive. Your direct report is not engaged in the conversation and says little or nothing.
Ask open questions to explore the lack of involvement. Ask your direct report to provide thoughts on her current performance, and then help to re�lect on that performance. Give direct, speci�ic feedback.
Source: Adapted from Mone & London, 2010
Practices for Effective Feedback
The following tips or best practices are for leaders to use to make sure their feedback is effective and productive (Mone & London, 2010):
Be clear and easily understood; don't complicate the message. Focus on how well your direct reports performed and what they did to bring about the outcome. The "what" concentrates on behaviors that can be changed to enhance future performance. Do not provide too much information, which can cause direct reports to misunderstand or ignore feedback. Be frequent. Feedback should be a regular occurrence and be provided as a normal part of running the business. Provide the feedback sooner rather than later, when the issue is fresh in everyone's mind. Take into consideration all the factors that affected performance, including factors that were both beyond and within your direct report's control. Focus on the elements of performance that contribute to your direct report's success and that are under her control. Focusing on factors that are beyond your direct report's control can be demoralizing and frustrating.
Finally, leaders should be ready to go beyond just the facts and provide feedback that includes an explanation, patience, and encouragement. Table 3.7 suggests steps both the giver and receiver of feedback can take to make the feedback as effective as possible. Note the importance for the giver to focus on behavior and to check for understanding that the feedback was understood. For the receiver, it is important to ask for speci�ics to help foster a true understanding of the feedback and to be open, avoiding defensiveness at all costs.
Table 3.7: Giving and receiving feedback effectively
Steps for giving effective feedback Steps for receiving effective feedback
Intend to be helpful. You should be constructive and avoid personal attacks. Demonstrate your genuine interest and concern. Focus on behaviors that can be changed. Don't focus on personality. Be clear and speci�ic when describing the behavior. Clarify the impact of the behavior. Describe the effect on you, the team, or others, as appropriate. Check for understanding. Ask the receiver to restate the feedback in his or her own words. Pursue dialogue. Be sure to allow ample time to discuss the feedback, answer questions, and address any concerns raised by the receiver.
Request speci�icity. Ask for speci�ics and clarity so you truly understand the nature of the feedback. Remain open and nondefensive. Don't jump in and try to respond, but wait until the giver is �inished; inaccuracies can always be corrected later. Restate what you heard. Summarize the feedback, helping to ensure you heard the intended message; this is not about interpretation. Share your reactions. Be open, but share what you might think is necessary in terms of speci�ics of the situation, any extenuating circumstances, etc. Thank the giver for the feedback.
Source: Adapted from Davidson, 2001, and Mone & London, 2010
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Leadership in Review
Re�lect on your learning by answering the following questions:
1. What is the relationship between goal setting and feedback? 2. What traits can inhibit the ability and willingness to accept feedback? 3. What two frameworks can a leader use to help in providing and explaining performance feedback? 4. What are some steps givers and receivers of feedback should follow in order to make the feedback as productive and effective as possible?
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By managing the development and professional growth of their direct reports, leaders will create an environment of trust, empowerment, and engagement.
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As a leader, you can help increase your direct reports' engagement by providing them with challenging and meaningful assignments.
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3.6 Phases of Performance Management: Promoting Development
Performance management is not only a framework for the one-to-one role, but also a framework for driving continuous learning at the individual, team, and organizational levels (Mone, 2011); performance management is also recognized as a learning tool (Sessa, Pingor, & Bragger, 2009). Why, then, are we focusing on development as a separate, individual component of performance management? Is there a difference between learning and development?
To answer the second question, yes, there is a difference between learning and development (Mone & London, 2010), just as there is a difference between training and development (as discussed in Chapter 2). Learning is the process of acquiring new knowledge, skills, or a change in perspective. Development is the accumulation and application of new knowledge and skills over time, including the capacity to view the world through a more informed, inclusive perspective. Development focuses on the integration and application of learning and depends on the individual's ability to learn (Mone, 2011).
Because development is more than receiving knowledge and skills, leaders need to actively manage the development of their direct reports as a key part of the performance management process, rather than assume it will happen as a natural result of managing performance. This is critical to ensuring that direct reports can meet the increasing demands for higher levels of performance required by today's global, competitive marketplace. When leaders focus on providing development opportunities for their direct reports, they also foster higher levels of trust, empowerment, and engagement, which increase the levels of energy, motivation, and commitment direct reports bring to their work (Mone & London, 2010; Storey, Ulrich, Welbourne, & Wright, 2009).
The need for managers and leaders to be developers is not new. When it comes to focusing on development, often a leader's espoused theory suggests its importance but the leader's theory-in-use suggests day-to-day business challenges take precedence—the "real job" is what matters (Mone, 1988). Several strategies exist to help focus managers and leaders on
being developers, including the following:
Leader role-modeling Creating a manager goal, emphasizing a focus on development Ensuring development or learning goals are set for every member of the organization Rewarding managers and leaders for their development-focused efforts Training managers and leaders in development practices
It is also important for leaders to be aware of their direct reports' learning styles, as they in�luence how individuals learn and develop.
Often, managers and leaders think that development means learning, and learning means attend classroom-based training—taking time away from the job. However, managers can increase on-the-job learning—which is more informal and takes place while one is actually working—to promote development; this is learning based on experience, considered one of the best forms of leadership development (McCall, 2010). Informal learning experiences have also been referred to as unstructured (Squires, 2009) and can include challenging job assignments, coaching, mentoring (Kepler & Morgan, 2005), and 360-degree feedback. We discuss these methods of learning in this section, with the exception of coaching. We explore coaching in the following section, as it is considered one of the six phases of performance management. In contrast, formal methods of learning are structured learning experiences that are planned, designed, and delivered using principles of instructional design (Squires, 2009). These can include university-based programs, such as external executive education programs, and inhouse leadership development programs (see, e.g., Conger & Benjamin, 1999).
Challenging Job Assignments
Managers and leaders can use challenging job assignments to promote learning from experience among their direct reports. Research (Hackman & Oldham, 1980) has suggested that certain characteristics will make jobs more meaningful and challenging and lead to higher levels of satisfaction. These characteristics (Miner, 2002) include the following:
1. Skill variety: The range of skills and abilities that are valued in the job 2. Task identity: The extent to which the job involves identi�iable work with a distinct
beginning and ending, as opposed to doing only a portion of the work 3. Task signi�icance: The degree to which the job has substantial impact on the lives or
work of others 4. Autonomy: The extent to which the individual feels responsibility for the work and
work outcomes or end results 5. Feedback from the job: The extent to which the job is able to provide information
about the individual's level of accomplishment—a degree of achievement can be measured as a result of the work effort
In essence, the more these characteristics are embedded in the job, the more meaningful and challenging the job will be. Managers and leaders need to ensure that the jobs of each of their direct reports have high levels of these characteristics.
Determining the Assignment Leaders will need to take into account two major factors when trying to identify or assign challenging work for development purposes. First, leaders should consider the overall organization strategy and the key challenges facing the business. Putting direct reports in roles that will contribute to overall company success is a win–win for both the company and the leader. For example, a leader might ask a direct report to lead a task force to determine how to enter a critical new market for the company. The business moves successfully toward execution of its strategic plan, and the direct report works on the most important challenges
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As a leader, you should participate and assist in your direct reports' critical re�lection process.
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facing the business, providing signi�icant meaning to the work and an opportunity for personal growth in line with company needs. Second, leaders should consider the direct report's development needs and career aspirations and match the development-oriented new job or assignment accordingly. For example, a direct report who wants to be a general manager in a global organization could be assigned to lead a startup operation by opening of�ices in a new country or world region. A direct report who wants to lead a signi�icant part of the new organization after a merger could be assigned to chair a special task force to consider possible mergers.
Although leaders may make decisions about the nature of developmental assignments for their direct reports, developmental assignments may also be the outcome of several HR organization processes. For example, one company used the following list of experiences as part of its process for identifying potential successors for key positions in the company (better known as succession planning, which we discuss in Chapter 5). This list provided a selection of developmental opportunities that needed to be considered depending on the career goals of the individual in question.
Lead a product development effort Lead a global marketing campaign for a new product or service Launch a new product Lead a global organization Build a senior management team Lead a customer-facing organization Hold a staff role Lead a cross-company initiative Lead a signi�icant companywide, organization change effort Hold pro�it and loss responsibility Manage a turnaround Manage external stakeholder relationships Manage an acquisition Manage a divestiture
Processing the Learning Whether a challenging assignment is supervisor driven or the result of an organization process, it is important to actively process the learning from a development experience. Leaders can work with their direct reports using Kolb's learning cycle, as we discussed in Chapter 2: re�lecting on the experience and what was learned, drawing conclusions and crystallizing that learning, and planning for how to capitalize on that learning in the next and future assignments. Consider the following examples of informal learning opportunities and the ways leaders can help their direct reports to re�lect on and capitalize on their learning (adapted from Mone & London, 2010):
Form a development network of informal coaches. Encourage your direct reports to include fellow colleagues, team members, and even clients in their networks. Tell them to use their networks to help them interpret events, be a sounding board for their ideas, and support their development. Then test out what they learned in upcoming situations. Think about and discuss events (for example, client encounters). Ask your direct reports, after key events, to stop and ask themselves what went well and what didn't —and why. What could they have done differently to change the outcome? Is there anything they can still do to change the outcome? What plan can they build and put into practice for handling future events? Analyze dif�icult situations. Ask your direct reports to think about what happened when, for example, a client's business stalled, a contract was canceled, or a customer's business goals changed. What were their conclusions? What action did they take about the situation, or how have they prepared themselves to deal with these kinds of situations going forward? Analyze barriers. When running into dif�iculty completing a project or achieving a goal, ask each of your direct reports to consider possible barriers—for example, dif�icult personalities, a win–lose mentality, or the lack of needed skills—and ways to overcome these barriers. Consider ways to add value. Ask your direct reports to think about what they can contribute when they are working with a new client or working on a new project with an existing client. Suggest they ask for feedback, and then implement any possible new ideas or take corrective action if necessary. Seek projects/assignments for development. Ask your direct reports to think about assignments or projects they can work on that can provide the opportunity to help them strengthen or gain needed knowledge or skills. Help them to structure the assignments or projects so they can maximize their learning. Consider ways to change course. Ask your direct reports to think about how they can be more innovative, or how they can move a project in a new, more productive direction. Ask them to re�ine and decide on an approach, test out their ideas, and analyze what worked and what did not work. Engage in critical re�lection. Help your direct reports to examine, in depth, the beliefs and assumptions they hold about themselves, their performance, their employees, their customers, and so forth. Also, help them test their beliefs and assumptions with trusted others and determine the accuracy of those beliefs and assumptions. Decide what actions, perhaps acquiring new knowledge or information, need to be taken, and ensure those actions are taken.
360-Degree Feedback
As we discussed in Chapter 2, leaders can use their feedback reports to enhance their self-leadership. When it comes to 360-degree feedback for their direct reports, leaders need to observe the following best practices to ensure optimal development.
First, leaders should lay the groundwork by encouraging active and honest participation in the 360-degree feedback process and highlighting and discussing the value of participation in the process. Direct reports will �ind it helpful if leaders provide an overview of the process and their role in it and help the direct reports select appropriate raters.
Recall that, as part of 360-degree feedback, leaders will be asked to respond to the survey about their direct report. Leaders should make accurate and honest ratings and provide meaningful and constructive comments; otherwise, the feedback will not be helpful.
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_____Initiate follow-up meeting(s) with your supervisor.
_____Prepare. Establish in advance what questions or areas you want to address with your supervisor.
_____Share a copy of your complete report, including verbatim comments, with your supervisor.
_____Ask for feedback in the areas in which you want to focus.
_____Refrain from disagreeing or providing explanations until your manager has fully provided his or her feedback. Listen to what is being said, and be receptive—try to understand your manager's point of view.
_____If you disagree with something that is said, professionally discuss the issue and work toward a resolution.
_____Ask for more information, clari�ication, or speci�ic examples, when necessary; react honestly, but remain constructive.
_____Work in partnership with your supervisors to devise and/or revise your development action plan for performance improvement and continuous learning.
_____Establish a trusting relationship, and work together to monitor your progress and update your development action plan, as necessary.
_____Ensure you regularly update your development action plan.
After the survey, leaders will eventually discuss the results with their direct reports. Before meeting to discuss the results, however, leaders can provide guidance so that direct reports can conduct an initial analysis of their own. Although most 360-degree feedback results reports include guidelines for analyzing the results, providing your own guidelines can help with the process. The following set of guidelines has been adapted from our practice with leaders.
What common themes did you see emerge? What are your areas of strength? What are your development areas? Are there any existing or potential barriers to performance? If so, what are they? Did you rate yourself higher than your direct reports did? Did you rate yourself higher than your supervisor did? Did your peers see you in the same way your employees did? Did you notice any (other) inconsistencies? If so, what were they? Were there any surprising or unexpected results? If so, what were they?
For their part, leaders should prepare for the meeting by carefully reading the entire report and noting and considering common themes or patterns that may emerge from the ratings and the comments. In particular, leaders should note, analyze, and understand signi�icant differences between their ratings and their direct report's self-ratings, as well as those of the direct report's colleagues and team members.
During the discussion of the results with a direct report, leaders should be genuinely supportive. They must maintain an open mind regarding the direct report's views about the process, as well as reactions and challenges to the results: There may be differences and interactions between the theories of action for each, and there may be a need to use the ladder of inference to guide the discussion. It will be important to observe the rules and practices regarding giving feedback effectively and strategies for dealing with dif�icult personalities or when the feedback is highly negative and unexpected. Coaching, which we will discuss in Section 3.7, will help the direct report see him- or herself from different perspectives, that is, understand what others see and why they might see it that way, regardless of the direct report's intentions. Finally, leaders will assist their direct reports in synthesizing all the feedback, identifying priority areas for development and creating an action plan with speci�ic development goals.
The leader's role does not end after the discussion. Leaders will need to monitor development progress and provide feedback along the way to reinforce positive behavioral change or to help correct behavior to get it on track. They can also informally or formally recognize development progress during the midyear and/or year-end performance appraisal discussions, as appropriate.
Leaders should also take note that most direct reports are given some guidance when it comes to sharing 360-degree feedback results with their supervisors, which ideally will help prepare direct reports to be as effective as possible when working with their leaders on their 360-degree feedback results. See Considering 360-Degree Feedback Discussions With Your Supervisor.
Considering 360-Degree Feedback Discussions With Your Supervisor
When we (the authors of this book) coach leaders, we ask that they share and discuss their 360-degree feedback results with their supervisors, as well as with their direct reports and colleagues.
The following are speci�ic guidelines for sharing results with a supervisor, which we have adapted from materials used in our practice. In this instance, the process is focused on development, not performance appraisal.
Once you have individually reviewed, analyzed, and interpreted your 360-degree feedback results, your next step is to share the highlights of these results with your supervisor.
Mentoring Others
Mentoring plays a role in self-development, as discussed in the previous chapter; here, we present it from the perspective of helping others, one to one.
Although leaders are not usually, by de�inition, mentors to their own direct reports, it is certainly possible that they can be, even though it is more likely that they would be mentors to those two or more levels below them in the organization. Mentors transmit their wisdom by acting as trusted guides, leading their mentees along the journey of their lives because they have been there before (Daloz, 1999). Kathy Kram, whose 1988 book, Mentoring at Work: Developmental Relationships in Organizational Life, became the comprehensive, go-to guide on mentoring for many HR professionals, described mentoring this way:
The prototype of a relationship that enhances career development is the mentor relationship. Derived from Greek mythology, the name implies a relationship between a young adult and a more experienced adult that helps the younger individual learn to navigate in the adult world and the world of work. (p. 2)
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Facebook has more than a billion daily active users.
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This certainly can be true of one's immediate supervisor in an organization, particularly if there is a meaningful difference in life and work experience. (For an example of this, see Spotlight: Mark Zuckerberg and Continuous Learning Through Mentoring.) Therefore, given the nature of mentoring as a one-to-one relationship focused on learning and development, it is appropriate to discuss the role of the mentor here.
When leaders act as mentors, they are expected to
Provide mentees with honest feedback and perceptions. Help mentees understand how their behavior affects others. Be nonjudgmental and safe sounding boards for their mentees. Assist in the career and personal development of their mentees. Offer contacts that can help with the career development of their mentees. Help mentees understand and navigate the dynamics of their company. Help mentees expand their network at their company. Be regularly available for face-to-face meetings. Be in contact with their mentees in between meetings. Be role models of the company's core values.
More speci�ically, leaders and managers can use the following best practices for being a mentor.
Build rapport through mutual disclosure. Be open. Reveal something about yourself that few people know. This will help eliminate any barriers between you and your mentee that are the result of your position in the organization, your level of expertise, or your accomplishments. Listen. Be conscious of "air time." Your mentee should be talking close to 60% of the time. Help your mentee talk through issues, explore options, and think out loud. Listening will enable you to ask appropriate open-ended questions that encourage self-re�lection. Your questions should also guide your mentee to consider the effects and consequences of his or her actions. Provide honest feedback. Your responsibility is to help your mentee recognize and capitalize on his or her strengths as well as to recognize speci�ic shortcomings. Mutually examine ways to improve your mentee's performance, and by offering honest feedback, reinforce the role feedback has in your mentee's development. Schedule meetings. Work with your mentee to schedule meetings that make sense for both of you. Use business travel to your advantage; company business may be coordinated in such a way that you can �it in a face-to-face meeting with your mentee. Try to see or have a lengthy telephone conversation with your mentee twice each quarter. Ensure you are able to devote the necessary time required by the relationship. Communicate often. The time between meetings is valuable. Proactively maintain contact with your mentee via email and telephone. Follow up. Take the initiative to follow up with your mentee. Take notes during and after each meeting or phone conversation to help you recall your discussions going forward. Being speci�ic in your follow-up discussions will also encourage your men-tee to think before acting and to re�lect upon the outcome of a situation.
Spotlight: Mark Zuckerberg and Continuous Learning Through Mentoring
Mark Zuckerberg, the cofounder, chairman, and CEO of Facebook, has been called "a sponge in terms of learning" (Rusli, Perlroth, & Bilton, 2012, para. 22). He regularly and openly seeks out other successful leaders to help him meet the challenges he faces. For example, he had open conversations with Apple CEO Steve Jobs until the time of Jobs's death, seeking ways to build effective teams and keep Facebook focused (Protalinski, 2011; Rusli et al., 2012; Kenvin, 2014). He regularly sought out business advice and counsel from Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffett (Protalinski, 2012), who is recognized as one of the top investors of all time. Zuckerberg also learned a lot about just being a CEO from the Washington Post chairman and CEO Donald Graham (Rusli et al., 2012; Kenvin, 2014). To learn more about these special relationships, check out the following blog post and New York Times article:
https://www.geteverwise.com/mentoring/the-celebrity-mentors-behind-mark-zuckerberg/ (https://www.geteverwise.com/mentoring/the-celebrity-mentors-behind-mark-zuckerberg/) http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/13/technology/facebooks-mark-zuckerberg-at-a-turning- point.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/13/technology/facebooks-mark- zuckerberg-at-a-turning-point.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0)
Zuckerberg clearly chose mentoring from very successful CEOs as his primary path for development, even from CEOs outside his industry. Much of the success of Facebook can be seen as a result of Zuckerberg's willingness to actively seek out and listen to feedback and to act on it. However, it also took the willingness of those CEOs and others in Zuckerberg's professional life to engage in this relationship with Zuckerberg. And each mentor brought different areas of expertise and experiences to the relationship. This helps us understand why mentoring in organizations is often between mentors and mentees who come from different organization functions.
Leadership in Review
Re�lect on your learning by answering the following questions:
1. What is the difference between learning and development? 2. What is the difference between informal and formal learning experiences? 3. What are the �ive characteristics that make for a challenging job? 4. What is mentoring? 5. Are you motivated enough to seek out and develop a mentoring relationship that can contribute to your learning and growth? 6. Are you ready to mentor others if you are sought out as a mentor? What do you think your strengths as a mentor would be?
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Your goal as a leader is to provide coaching to your direct reports that will help them overcome professional challenges and achieve success.
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3.7 Phases of Performance Management: Coaching
Coaching is a powerful tool for helping leaders build high-performing, empowered, and engaged individuals and teams. When leaders act as coaches, they engage in dialogue with their direct reports about speci�ic aspects of their performance. Together, they explore how to bring that performance to the next level of excellence.
We began our discussion of coaching in Chapter 2, focusing on how you can take advantage of coaching. Next, we focus on what leaders and managers can do to be effective coaches of their direct reports.
Purposes of Coaching
Coaching can focus on a number of areas, including leadership development, behavior change, or business issues such as strategy and innovation. According to Jacques and Clement (1994), coaching has several purposes, including the following:
Helping direct reports understand the full range of opportunities for work and challenges available to them in their roles Assisting direct reports in learning new methods, technologies, and procedures Bringing direct reports' values more in line with corporate values and philosophy Aiding in the development of direct reports' wisdom Helping direct reports smooth out any rough edges in their temperament
The overarching goal for the leader as coach is to shift the worldview of direct reports in a way that opens up new possibilities for action. By listening and by making inquiries, observations, and re�lections, leaders help their direct reports identify their values and passions and align them with their professional and personal goals. When leaders ask powerful, thought-provoking questions that tap into the inherent wisdom and creativity of their direct reports, leaders allow their direct reports to discover answers from within themselves. When performed successfully, coaching becomes a self-directed interaction, one in which the leader primarily offers support by encouraging re�lection and providing guidance more than answers. By engaging in this way, leaders will help their direct reports to accept solutions that they, in essence, would have developed mostly on their own.
How does a leader know when coaching might be the answer? Coaching is most bene�icial when it focuses on behavior change or on helping individuals to develop or generate new perspectives or worldviews. On the other hand, coaching should typically not be chosen to help individuals gain new functional or general business knowledge, which can be more effectively acquired through training. So, some speci�ic reasons for choosing coaching might include helping
A valued employee overcome a performance issue that has its basis in style or behavior. High-potential leaders to further develop their leadership capacity. Senior leaders to increase their overall effectiveness.
Organizations that are undergoing change or transformation may want to consider implementing a programmatic approach to coaching, that is, creating and launching an overall coaching program that is introduced to a large number of employees. A programmatic approach to coaching is advisable if signi�icant changes in business strategy, goals, or culture will require new ways of behaving and thinking and if there are a large number of individuals, usually at the more senior levels, who must learn these new ways to ensure company success.
What are the keys to successful coaching? To be successful as a coach, leaders need to both (a) engage in formal planning before the coaching process begins and (b) follow a series of steps to bring the coaching process to a productive conclusion. Next, we present best practices for each of these, drawing on London (2002, 2003) and Mone and London (2010). However, in general, when coaching others, keep in mind the frameworks of theories of action and the ladder of inference. Coaching involves behavior change, and these frameworks provide useful concepts and tools in that regard.
Formal Planning for Coaching
Leaders should do some preliminary planning before engaging in a coaching process with a direct report. The leader should consider asking the following questions. Note that how you will answer these questions may become clearer after reading about the typical steps in the coaching process.
Do I know the overarching needs and desires of the direct report I will be coaching? Do I know the speci�ic coaching concern/issue or opportunity and its impact? Have I determined how I will approach the contract for coaching? Have I decided on the methods I will use to collaborate on actions and measures? Do I know how I might be able to provide support and encourage re�lection? Have I determined a possible time frame for evaluating progress?
Steps in a Typical Coaching Process
Just as you might �ind several different de�initions of coaching in a review of the leadership literature, you will also �ind authors identifying different but fundamentally similar steps to de�ine the coaching process. Here is a �ive-step coaching process and what each step entails:
Step 1: Identify the concern, issue, or opportunity and its impact. Help your direct report understand what the concern, issue, or opportunity is that may be affecting him or her, you, the team, the department, or the organization, positively or negatively. Describe the positive impact that taking action will have on the employee, customer, team, and others.
Step 2: Develop a contract for coaching. Clarify the purpose of coaching and what you and your direct report want to achieve. Explain that the coaching process is a series of conversations, through which you will help him or her reach the agreed-to goal. The goal can include improving relationships with key customers or stakeholders or achieving a new, higher level of performance. Ensure your direct report is committed to moving forward.
Step 3: Collaborate on actions and measures. Determine together the actions necessary to meet the agreed-to goal for coaching. Make sure any goals set are speci�ic and measurable, and identify necessary resources and a time frame. Discuss, agree to, and document how you will measure results. Also, consider any
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available feedback, including 360-degree feedback, to help you target the desired results and identify metrics by which you will measure progress against the goal.
Step 4: Provide support and encourage re�lection. Your direct report needs your support to meet his or her goals. Support can be as simple as listening while he or she �igures out a dif�icult situation or helping him or her to gather required resources. In a collaborative conversation, decide what actions are necessary to meet set goals. Consider asking key stakeholders for feedback throughout the coaching process. Feedback is important if you want to help your direct report make signi�icant changes or achieve dramatic performance leaps. Remember, coaching is a process that involves a series of conversations over time.
In order to change behavior however, your direct report needs a balance of taking action and time for re�lection. In fact, fostering re�lection may be the most bene�icial support you can provide. Re�lection will help your direct report to see things differently, both while in the process of taking action and after results are achieved. Some sample re�lective questions include the following:
What major assumptions have you been making about this project? Is this the same way you have approached this type of situation in the past? Why did you take that approach? What are some of the other ways of viewing this problem? Who else might you have considered asking for input or feedback? Given what we know now, what can you do differently going forward? How do you feel about your progress and why?
Step 5: Evaluate progress. At an agreed-to point in time, you need to make a �inal assessment of progress. The assessment should consider the actions and measures that were established in Step 3. Also, review other potential areas of impact, such as those related to your direct report's sense of self, the team, the department, and the organization. Strongly consider going back to the same stakeholders you solicited feedback from earlier in the process, and see how their perceptions have changed. Take time to re�lect on and celebrate success.
Leadership in Review
Re�lect on your learning by answering the following questions:
1. What is the primary focus of coaching? 2. What are the key steps in a coaching process? 3. What are the key reasons for considering coaching an individual? 4. Why might you consider launching a coaching program?
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Recognizing an employee's performance is a form of feedback that can produce desired behavior and that offers encouragement. Re�lect on how encouragement could affect one's productivity and goals acquisition.
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3.8 Phases of Performance Management: Recognizing Performance
As discussed in Chapter 1, the ability to reward or recognize performance is one of �ive major sources of a leader's power (French & Raven, 1959). Within the framework of full range leadership, using contingent rewards to motivate and reinforce performance is the most active and effective form of transactional leadership. What is recognition, however, and how can leaders effectively use this source of power?
Recognition can be considered a form of feedback, and it tends to be de�ined similarly by those discussing it within the context of organization development, leadership development, and performance management:
Providing contingently informal genuine acknowledgment, approval, and appreciation for work well done (Luthans & Stajkovic, 2009) Giving praise and showing appreciation to others for effective performance, achievements, and contributions (Yukl, 2006) A message of appreciation or positive reinforcement tied to a direct report's behavior or accomplishment of a speci�ic task or goal (Mone & London, 2010)
Recognition, therefore, can be viewed as a positive reinforcer of desired behavior. In fact, when contingently applied, its positive effect on performance might be considered one of the most agreed-upon principles in psychology (Luthans & Stajkovic, 2009). Recognition tends to fall into two major categories: formal and informal. Formal recognition is usually programmatic and companywide and can include, for example, a CEO-granted award for outstanding performance, innovation, or customer service. Informal recognition, which is the focus of this section, is typically provided one to one, supervisor to direct report, and is usually performance based. Recognition takes one of three forms (Yukl, 2006):
1. Praise (in the form of oral or written comments) 2. Awards (e.g., medals, plaques, ribbons, certi�icates, or nominal �inancial rewards) 3. Ceremonies (e.g., when the CEO announces and grants an organization-wide award)
Leaders can also recognize others for their performance by giving them special assignments, such as leading a task force or cross-functional team, enlarging the scope of their job responsibilities, or perhaps allowing them to attend a desirable work-related conference or participate in an executive education program. Note that recognition is often provided in celebration of non-performance-related events as well, such as birthdays, service anniversaries, and safety milestones.
Obstacles to Recognizing Employees and How to Overcome Them
The following is a list of reasons why managers and leaders �ind it dif�icult to practice recognition and ways to address them (adapted from Gostick & Elton, 2007; Mone & London, 2010):
I don't have enough time to recognize employees. Your recognition can come as part of your day-to-day performance management in the form of feedback —offering a sincere statement of praise such as "Thank you for . . ." can be accomplished in no time at all. It's hard to be consistent and avoid showing favoritism. Find opportunities to recognize each of your direct reports—you can always �ind at least a small achievement you recognize or demonstration of the right behavior you want to sustain and reinforce. I'm not sure how to ensure recognition stays meaningful. Use different forms of recognition, reward appropriately to the achievement, reward for different achievements—and do it on a timely basis. Only cash awards matter. Remember, feedback is an important form of recognition—it is free—and feedback is important to engagement and overall performance management; Frey and Stutzer (2007) have indicated that recognition works without having to provide monetary rewards. I don't want to embarrass my direct reports. Simply ask your direct reports how they would like to be recognized—publicly or privately—and then honor their wishes. I recognize only direct reports who are meeting expectations 100%. Recognizing direct reports for their successes may help to build their self-ef�icacy, increase their career motivation, and give them the con�idence to improve in areas where they may not be as effective.
Ways to Recognize Performance
There are many ways to recognize performance. Try the following suggestions, which have no �inancial cost to the organization and do not take much time to implement (Mone & London, 2010):
Send an email to recognize the action or result. Handwrite an acknowledgment or thank-you letter. Invite your direct report to observe a senior management meeting. Create a safe opportunity to make a presentation to senior management. Assign a new, challenging project that would be exciting and rewarding to tackle. Arrange for your direct report to join an important committee or cross-department team. Empower your direct report to act and make decisions in your place when you are away on vacation. Encourage your senior management to place a phone call, write a letter, or send an email. Publicize the performance or action in a story in your company newsletter, on your company's website, or on department bulletin boards.
Strategies for Making Recognition Effective
The following strategies will help leaders make their recognition as effective as possible (adapted from Jeffries, 1996; Yukl, 2006):
1. Be inclusive. Recognize everyone involved in an accomplishment, not only the key contributor; consider those in "the back room" who are providing support.
2. Be varied. Remember to use a number of recognition methods with your direct reports to keep your efforts fresh and unexpected.
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3. Be spontaneous. Don't necessarily wait for an informal or formal meeting with a direct report to provide recognition. 4. Be frequent. Make recognition a habit and build it into your daily activities list. Put it on your calendar. Take the opportunity with longer-term projects to
recognize efforts along the way. 5. Be sincere. Be open and frank with your recognition. Demonstrate your sincerity by letting your direct reports know you truly appreciate their efforts
and successes. 6. Be proportional. Try to match the level of recognition to �it the achievement. Recognition that is out of proportion—either too much for a small
accomplishment or too little for a major achievement—will diminish its value as a reinforcer. 7. Be speci�ic. Be speci�ic and clear about what you are recognizing to reinforce the behavior that you desire. 8. Be timely. Recognition is more effective when it occurs closer in time to the acts or behaviors you want to reinforce. 9. Follow the Platinum Rule. "Treat others as they wish to be treated." Try to tailor your rewards to meet the needs of the person you are recognizing, rather
than what you think would meet your own needs. What motivates you and what you value as recognition can be quite different from what matters to the person you are recognizing. As you can see, the more familiar Golden Rule (treat others as you would like to be treated) does not work as well in this situation.
Leadership in Review
Re�lect on your learning by answering the following questions:
1. What are the two major categories of recognition? 2. What are at least two obstacles to providing effective recognition? 3. What are at least three strategies for making recognition effective?
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Performance appraisals assess behaviors and levels of achieved results in order to determine progress and modify goals.
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3.9 Phases of Performance Management: Evaluating Performance
A performance appraisal is an evaluation conducted at the end of a performance period, focusing on assessing both the demonstration of critical behaviors and the level of expected results achieved (Pulakos, 2009; Mone & London, 2010). Formal appraisals of performance are usually conducted on an annual basis and tend to be linked to and drive other human resource processes. The formal, annual appraisal brings closure to the performance year and provides the opportunity for a summative or overall evaluation of development and performance efforts. On the other hand, appraisals that are conducted quarterly or at midyear, or at the end of critical projects for those on project management teams, tend to be less formal and allow the opportunity for the following (Mone & London, 2010):
Checking progress toward the achievement of performance goals Determining if goals are still valid and modifying goals as appropriate Providing feedback on development efforts Providing an interim evaluation of overall performance to date
Performance appraisals will be based on either absolute or relative rating systems. Simply speaking, within an absolute rating system, individual performance is evaluated against one's set goals, regardless of the performance of one's peers; within a relative rating system, performance is primarily based on a comparison to the performance of one's peers.
Errors in Performance Appraisal Rating Strategies
Errors in rating strategy can seriously affect the effectiveness of appraisal ratings. Avoid the following key rater errors, which can lead direct reports to believe that the appraisal process is unjust and unfair.
Leniency: When favorable ratings are given on all aspects of performance, but they are not usually deserved, your standards are probably too low. This might happen because you don't want to create ill feelings by giving a direct report a low rating; you are giving him or her the bene�it of the doubt. So look carefully at each rating you provide, and be sure you have evidence of support to back it up.
Severity: When unfavorable ratings are given on all aspects of performance, but they are not usually deserved, your standards are probably too high. This might result from having set very dif�icult stretch goals or being unsatis�ied with a direct report for any number of reasons (for example, always coming in late or interrupting you during team meetings). Try not to let your overall disposition or attitude get in the way of being fair in your evaluation.
Central tendency: When you tend to rate all performance areas as average, but this is not the real case, you are making a central tendency error. You rarely, if at all, use the lower or upper ends of the scale. In this case, you are not choosing to differentiate performance across the dimensions available. Look for examples of performance that truly impressed you or that you were very unsatis�ied with, and rate the dimensions accordingly. Don't be afraid to branch out!
Similarity: Just because a direct report is similar to you, maybe in terms of age, sex, education, or experience, you rate him or her favorably when it is not deserved. This could easily be considered an unconscious form of favoritism; you probably believe that because your direct report is like you in some signi�icant way, he or she has to be performing well. Step back and look at the actual performance of the individual, and if need be, compare that person's performance to someone in a similar role or to others you supervise to ensure your ratings truly represent the person's performance.
First impression: When you determine your direct report's end-of-year performance evaluation based largely on how well he or she did early on in the cycle, you are making a �irst impression error. You tend to ignore later performance data, whether positive or negative. This may be due to how you track performance or to the fact that the early performance on key projects was outstanding, which left a strong impression. It is good to think favorably of your direct reports, but when it comes to evaluating performance, be sure you are looking at performance on all key or signi�icant projects throughout the performance year.
Recency effect: When you determine your direct report's end-of-year performance evaluation based largely on how well he or she did at the end of the cycle, you are making a recency effect error. You tend to ignore earlier performance data, whether positive or negative. Again, this may be due to how you track performance or to the fact that performance on the latest key projects was outstanding. Be sure you are looking at performance on all key or signi�icant projects throughout the performance year (Mone & London, 2010).
Mone and London (2010) have recommended asking your direct reports to complete a self-appraisal before you start to write the appraisal. Once your direct reports' self-appraisals have been completed, you should meet with your direct reports to discuss their self-appraisals so that you can best understand how they viewed their performance and why they rated themselves as they did. Doing this effectively will help them feel that their voices were heard and understood and helps to make this component of performance management more of a collaborative effort.
Once a leader has reviewed the self-appraisal and any other performance information collected from colleagues or the direct report's team members, it is time to write the appraisal. Once the appraisal has been written, the leader should re�lect on the ratings given, verifying that rater errors were avoided and correcting any that have crept in. Then, it is time to discuss the appraisal with the direct report. Having a constructive conversation about performance is probably one of the most dif�icult challenges for leaders, as well as managers. The following are some interesting challenges:
When lower or poor performance is the case, leaders will tend to either minimize the issue and avoid the discussion, or be too harsh in providing feedback. In either instance, the direct report is not receiving constructive feedback that would help to improve performance. When performance meets expectations—typically the midpoint of a 5-point rating scale—leaders have dif�iculty ensuring the positive message of achieving expected results is heard. More often than not, their direct reports view meeting expectations as a "bad" rating, having expected that they were going to be rated much higher. When performance exceeds expectations, leaders often say they do not reinforce the rating with too much positive feedback, assuming that the direct report is aware of his or her level of performance and worth. As a result, these high performers often feel that their performance was not adequately recognized, perhaps taken for granted, and in fact, they often miss out on development discussions given their performance.
Effective Performance Appraisal Strategy
What might be some guidelines for ensuring what to discuss and how to discuss it during the appraisal review meeting? Consider the following high-level strategies, based on Dessler (2011):
Discuss efforts in terms of objective work data. Try to utilize and talk about the kinds of measures we discussed earlier in this chapter under the topic of goal setting; the more objective the measure, the better.
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A structured performance appraisal ensures that each team member will get the same quality of feedback each time.
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Focus on behavior and results, and avoid being personal. Avoid pejorative comments about the person's work style, such as, "You just don't seem smart enough to get that done." Don't do all the talking; engage your direct report in conversation. Facilitate a good dialogue and help understand the perspective of your direct report by using open-ended questions, such as "Can you tell me more?" or "How would you go about changing that process?" Gain agreement. Be sure your direct report is clear on the next steps, including the development actions that should be taken.
For a more detailed look at what leaders and managers should cover in the appraisal review meeting, see Considering a Step-by-Step Guide for Structuring the Appraisal Meeting.
Considering a Step-by-Step Guide for Structuring the Appraisal Meeting
1. Welcome your direct report, make sure that he or she is comfortable, and check to see that your appraisal, which you forwarded ahead of time, was read.
2. Explain how you will conduct the meeting and how long the meeting will last. Make it clear that you want a dialogue—and that you don't want to do all the talking.
3. Begin by thanking your direct report for his or her performance contributions and the success achieved. You should do this regardless of the overall rating, as there is generally always something positive on which to report. Make a summary statement regarding performance, such as "Bill, you had an exceptional performance year" or "Bill, your performance this year shows signi�icant improvement over last year."
4. Move into the details of the appraisal. a. Review and discuss each performance (individual or team) goal, strategy, tactic, or other. b. Provide feedback about how you think each was accomplished, and explain why you have rated
each goal as such. c. Compare and discuss any differences between your ratings and those appearing in the self-
appraisal. d. Ask your direct report for comments along the way, and be open to questions to be sure that your direct report understands your
evaluation correctly. 5. Review and discuss each development goal, commenting on the progress you have seen. Ask for feedback. Try to determine if continued
development in the same areas is warranted. 6. Explain and discuss how you have arrived at your direct report's overall performance rating. This should be an obvious outcome based on the
evaluation of each performance goal. 7. Ask about and discuss any additional comments, concerns, or questions your direct report might have about his or her performance or the
appraisal. Then ask your direct report to sign the appraisal if that is part of your company's process. 8. If compensation is a related process, explain how and when this will be handled. 9. Determine and agree to a time when you can have a goal-setting meeting for the next performance year.
The steps outlined here will help you to conduct an effective appraisal meeting, but feel free to modify them to �it your particular management style or to satisfy your company's human resources policies and practices. Source: Copyright ©2010 from Employee Engagement through Effective Performance Management: A Practical Guide for Managers by Manuel London and Edward Mone. Adapted by permission of Taylor and Francis Group, LLC, a division of Informa plc.
Leadership in Review
Re�lect on your learning by answering the following questions:
1. What is a formal performance appraisal? 2. What is meant by absolute and relative rating systems? 3. What are at least three rating errors in performance appraisals?
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Performance management may have gaps sometimes. What do you think you must assess in order to measure these gaps?
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3.10 Measuring Gaps in Performance Management
In sections 3.4–3.9, we have looked at each component of performance management in some detail, as performance management is the overarching framework for guiding a leader's actions in the one-to-one role. It important to determine whether the overall process is working effectively, or in other words, to explore how to determine gaps in performance management. So how does one proceed in determining gaps in performance management? First, as an enabling process, ask, "Does performance management support the business?" To best support the business, each of the phases of performance management should contain the design elements and best practices presented in this chapter. So check to be sure those are in place. Second, all of the phases must be well integrated. Use the following set of questions to check how well integrated each phase of performance management is in your organization or department.
Are the goals set and aligned with the strategic plan? Are feedback and coaching provided throughout the performance period based on goal progress? Are the development activities in place helping to improve performance in pursuit of those goals or to prepare for future assignments consistent with the organization's strategic direction? Are rewards based on achievement of goals set during the goal-setting phase? Do appraisals focus on the fair evaluation of the individual's performance against agreed-to goals?
Next, verify that the process is supported by senior management and utilized effectively throughout the organization as a key business process important to achieving the company's overarching goals. Yes, we have often found that managers and leaders tend to comply with the performance management actions HR requires but do not embrace them. Over the years, we have designed survey questions to evaluate how well the performance management process works and is supported by senior leadership. We �ind this to be an effective way to measure both leadership and organization-wide gaps in performance management. For example, we have asked employees to rate the extent to which they agree with the following statements (see Mone, 2009; Mone & London, 2010):
Overall, performance management is valued in this company (a measure of leadership support). I had the opportunity to set goals with my manager. My manager provides me with ongoing feedback that helps me improve my performance. I am satis�ied with the amount of recognition I receive from my manager. I have a clear understanding of how my performance is evaluated. My most recent year-end performance appraisal was fair.
These and other similar statements or questions can also be used in interviews and focus groups with leaders, managers, and employees to determine the extent to which there are gaps and what actions can be taken to close them and make performance management, overall, a highly effective enabling process.
Leadership in Review
Re�lect on your learning by answering the following questions:
1. How does performance management best support the business? 2. What are some methods organizations can use to measure gaps in performance management?
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Con�lict arises from competing wants. What can a leader do to resolve these issues?
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3.11 Managing and Resolving Con�lict in an Organization
At the beginning of the chapter, we highlighted four primary areas of focus in the leading one- to-one role: (1) building trust and empowerment, (2) utilizing performance management practices, (3) effectively resolving con�licts, and (4) selecting the right people. Each area helps create and sustain effective interpersonal relationships. In Section 3.3, we described trust and empowerment as being foundational to the one-to-one role, and, in sections 3.4–3.9, we discussed in detail how performance management is the major framework guiding one-to-one interactions. We now turn our attention to the third area of focus in the one-to-one relationship: managing and resolving con�lict.
Con�lict, as it pertains to organizational life, is pervasive. According to Katz and Kahn (1978), "Every aspect of organizational life that creates order and coordination of effort must overcome tendencies to action, and in that fact lies the potentiality for con�lict" (p. 617). In addition, every school of organizational thought has at its core the need to work interdependently and to manage ensuing con�licts (De Dreu & Gelfand, 2008). So what is con�lict?
A widely held view, initially offered by Pondy (1967), is that con�lict is a process. For example, Katz and Kahn (1978) referred to con�lict as a process, an interaction, between two parties in such a way that the actions of one party tend to prevent or motivate some outcome against the resistance of the other. Quite similarly, De Dreu and Gelfand (2008) de�ined con�lict as "a process that begins when an individual or group perceives differences and opposition between itself and another individual or group about interests and resources, beliefs, values, or practices that matter to them" (p. 6).
More simply, in the leadership and management seminars we facilitate, we de�ine con�lict as "a problem that exists between two or more parties, which does not appear to have a mutually bene�icial solution." In other words, the initial perception by both parties is that they have incompatible wants: "If you get what you want, then I can't get what I want." This de�inition helps leaders and managers to recognize that con�lict can occur between individuals, departments, and organizations and can be about deadlines, product design, product delivery, marketing strategies, and more.
There are many reasons why con�licts may emerge. Leaders are more likely to encounter con�lict when they are less open to new experiences, less agreeable, and less willing to consider new perspectives. In addition, leaders whose resilience is low may feel less con�ident and resist changing their positions, and leaders who rely on their legitimate or expert power to in�luence others may face resistance to their ideas, leading to con�lict. Leaders' theories of action present another source of con�lict if their theories are in opposition to those held by others. For example, this might occur between senior leaders in marketing and �inance when discussing strategies for increasing pro�itability by reducing costs, increasing revenues, or both. Finally, con�lict can also occur within groups or teams, which we discuss in Chapter 4.
Today's environment also brings new challenges that are likely to engender con�lict, such as the following:
The increasing pressure to change and adapt to new markets, which can lead to con�lict about roles. For instance, consider the various ways an organization can sell in a new market, which is bound to challenge the current sales paradigm and model. The impact of technology, including Web 2.0 and 3.0, which can generate con�lict as interpersonal communication becomes less personal. Just think about the nature of email and the likelihood for misinterpretation that it presents. Globalization and the diversity of the workforce bringing new and different perspectives that must be integrated or resolved. For example, consider how work gets done in different countries and the implications for organization effectiveness.
Four Approaches to Resolving Con�lict
There are four major styles or approaches to managing and resolving con�licts (see Figure 3.4). As you read them, you might want to think about which of the following approaches is most characteristic of your own:
1. Win–lose. I make sure I win, not the other party. I use whatever strategies or techniques seem appropriate to get what I want, even if it is at the expense of the other party.
2. Lose–win. I help the other party win. I am willing to sacri�ice what I want if it means the other party gets what it wants. 3. Lose–lose. I avoid con�lict situations. I am more comfortable not addressing con�lict even if it means no one really gets what he or she wants. 4. Win–win. I make sure everyone wins. I will use whatever strategies and techniques I can to develop a solution that lets everyone get what he or she
wants.
The best approach is a win–win philosophy for con�lict resolution. Win–win means each party involved in the con�lict feels like a winner, and each feels like his or her needs were met. This kind of resolution to a con�lict makes both parties feel good about the immediate outcome and encourages them to feel optimistic about resolving any future problems or con�licts they may experience. Read Case Study: The CEO's Problem With Con�lict to see what happens when a leader fails to manage con�lict effectively.
Recall that we de�ined con�lict as "a problem that does not appear to have a mutually bene�icial solution." Con�lict tends to result from competing wants, and the lack of apparent solution is owing to the focus on those wants. A want is an expression of a need, and the want we often choose is the most obvious alternative to satisfying that need. However, needs can be satis�ied in a number of ways. Therefore, the road to resolving con�licts involves looking for other ways to satisfy the underlying needs. This is where creativity and brainstorming play a key role. To effectively resolve a con�lict, you'll want to explore and test out possible ways of meeting the needs of everyone involved.
Figure 3.4: Four approaches to resolving con�lict
You can envision the four major approaches to resolving con�lict as a matter of how much your wants and needs are met versus how much the wants and needs of others are met.
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Take the example of the need for recognition. You might insist on wanting a promotion or a bigger of�ice, but for argument's sake, let's say these wants can't be met. Would you be happy then, for example, with a more senior-sounding title, a raise, a bonus, or the opportunity to take the visible lead on an important companywide project? Once you start to explore different ways of meeting the needs of the parties involved in the con�lict situation, you are effectively working toward solving the problem that seemed not to have a mutually bene�icial solution. This, in essence, is the idea of working toward a win–win solution.
At times, it might be necessary or just make good business sense to utilize one of the other three approaches. For example, you might use lose–lose (3) when it is important to be diplomatic and stay away from the issue because the cost of dealing with the con�lict is higher than the bene�it of resolving it. You would use win–lose (1) when you know a certain way is right and the need is pressing to make a decision soon, or when another party refuses to engage in a win–win dialogue. You might use lose–win (2) when you want to repair a relationship or when you value the solution less than the other party does and can afford to give in.
In general, strive for a win–win solution. It has a number of bene�its that lead to higher productivity, including its ability to meet the needs of all parties, strengthen the relationship, reduce the risk of deadlock, and develop creative solutions. It will be worth the effort. You might say that that is easier said than done. The remainder of this section will discuss managing con�lict, including an assessment that will enable you to identify your strengths and areas for improvement when it comes to working toward win–win solutions.
Case Study: The CEO's Problem With Con�lict
A CEO for a company we worked with was observed to be con�lict averse. Speci�ically, she avoided con�lict with a direct report, the chief administrative of�icer (CAO). This occurred both one to one and when she was challenged in the team situation in the presence of all of the CEO's direct reports. The CAO refused to execute in accordance with the strategies, plans, and processes already agreed to by the entire executive team. In speci�ic, the CAO did not want to support an organization-wide leadership development program for high-potential senior leaders, now claiming that it was not the right time in the business cycle to launch such a program. We witnessed a very politically charged environment, to say the least.
Some of the team members were frustrated by witnessing the CAO's behavior and the subsequent behavior of two of their colleagues in the team situation. These two colleagues quickly sided with the CAO's perspective, seemingly changing their positions without much thought. Those who were frustrated by this action and its political nature wanted the CEO to "take charge and confront those causing the con�lict," but the CEO was reluctant to do so. As a result, these team members started to lose con�idence in the CEO, a fact shared with us in later private conversations. Those who were actually in direct con�lict with the CEO lost respect for her, feeling they had won and the CEO had lost.
The rami�ications for the organization were clear. What the organization witnessed, ultimately, was the lack of consensus around important strategies and goals, as well as approaches to employee development, the market, product development cycles, and such. The executive team members resorted to, in many ways, just doing what they wanted to do. For example, some decided not to send any participants to the leadership program, while others utilized their favorite consultants to create their own versions of a leadership program speci�ically for their own functional organizations. As a result, because the CEO did not effectively resolve con�licts about the organization's direction or strategies, in either the one-to-one or the team situations, the board stepped in and got the CEO an executive coach. Even so, within a year or so the CEO was asked to step down, mostly because of this inability to resolve con�lict. The conclusion was, frankly, that the CEO was largely seen as powerless, and that is not the kind of CEO a board wants.
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Re�lection Questions
1. What might be some reasons why the CEO did not want to engage in resolving the con�lict with the CAO? 2. Consider a time when you personally avoided dealing with an important con�lict. What was the outcome? Would you have been better off
working toward a win–win resolution?
Phases in Managing Con�lict
The process for managing con�lict can be thought of in four phases, de�ined as follows:
Phase 1: Collect Information Phase 2: Work to Understand Differences and Agreements Phase 3: Manage the Con�lict Phase 4: Follow Through on Agreements
In Phase 1: Collect Information, you try to identify all the key stakeholders, gather as much information as you can about the overall problem—including hidden resources that can help, such as other stakeholders—objectively examine both sides of the issue, and identify needs versus wants. As you might recognize, some of these actions can be taken prior to any formal meeting with the other party engaged in the con�lict.
In Phase 2: Work to Understand Differences and Agreements, the goal is to analyze the information gathered in the �irst phase and to try to understand the differences that exist. It is important to be open to other ways of doing things and to understand how alternative approaches might work. In speci�ic, you accomplish this by exploring the other party's position in detail, establishing what the needs are versus what the wants are, identifying any possible areas of agreement and disagreement, and ensuring and gaining con�irmation that both parties understand what was said.
In Phase 3: Manage the Con�lict, the effort is placed on addressing the con�lict situation given that the differences between parties are now clearly understood. You begin by framing the issues, in other words, how each party's concerns are de�ined. Given that basis, you then proceed to identify the areas of agreement to further strengthen the relationship. You can then focus on where you disagree, trying to �ind creative solutions that meet the needs of both parties to ensure a win–win.
In Phase 4: Follow Through on Agreements, you are basically following through with your actions given that the outcome of Phase 3 was reaching a win–win solution. Now, it is important to do what you promised to do, ensuring that you continue to maintain the trust and respect of the other party. It is also important to ensure that the other party, of course, does what it said it would do. Finally, you can use the lessons learned from resolving this con�lict when working with the other party in the future. At this stage, it is probably helpful to discuss how similar con�licts might be avoided in the future.
Because resolving con�licts is a process, you might be revisiting a previous step, perhaps to gather more information or because a new stakeholder might be identi�ied that has a major interest in the outcome. That is to be expected and should not be thought of as a problem. Remember that this is a dynamic process that requires, at times, stepping back and resisting the urge to jump to a resolution just to avoid the tension of the con�lict situation.
Finally, look at Assessment 3.1 to help you determine the extent to which you embrace a win–win philosophy and the extent of your skills in each of the four phases of the process.
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Determining Leadership Gaps in Con�lict Management
To avoid consequences such as those outlined in the case study, it is important to hone in on where con�lict management is less than adequate. Leadership gaps in con�lict management can be assessed at both the individual level and the organizational level. At the individual level, collect data from a number of sources to determine the effectiveness of any one leader in managing and resolving con�licts. Obviously, one can use the assessment in this section, as either a self- assessment, an assessment by the leader's supervisor, or an interview guide used with the leader, the leader's supervisor, or the leader's direct reports or colleagues. A 360-degree feedback survey can also be used as long as there are questions that focus on the appropriate skills. These approaches can also be utilized to assess the entire leadership population directly as de�ined by the organization, which can include, for example, the CEO and direct report team, the top "100" leaders, or broader pools of high-potential leaders.
At the organization level, leadership's ability to manage con�lict can be measured by an employee opinion survey, using evaluative statements such as "The leadership in my organization resolves con�licts effectively." It is important to measure how well leaders manage and resolve con�lict within their department or function and across departments or functions. In our survey work with client organizations, for example, we have repeatedly found that employees see a big gap between these two measures—generally rating leaders better at resolving con�licts within their functions by about 10 points (for example, a 77% favorable response versus a 67% favorable response).
Unresolved con�licts can also be uncovered or determined by closely examining organization results and trying to understand why expected levels of results were not achieved or how results could have been better. In these instances, improvement areas are often found when results depend on cross-functional cooperation, such as the design, development, and sales of a new software product, which typically generates con�lict between those in software engineering and design, the marketing team, and the sales organization. In fact, in situations like these, unresolved con�licts might be traced back to a lack of agreement regarding the overall strategic plan, a problem we discussed in Chapter 1.
Leadership in Review
Re�lect on your learning by answering the following questions:
1. What are the four major approaches to resolving con�lict? 2. What does a win–win solution mean to both parties engaged in a con�lict? 3. Describe the four phases for managing con�lict. 4. What are some ways to measure leadership gaps in con�lict management in organizations?
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Finding the right person to hire for the job is a challenge. A leader must choose the person who offers the most potential for success.
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3.12 Selecting Job Candidates for Success
Many problems in organizations, particularly problems with an individual's performance or organizational �it, have to do with who is in the organization, as well as who hired the person. As a result, in some ways, a leader's challenge begins when hiring or selecting a job candidate —in essence, when the leader is choosing his or her direct reports. Obviously, if leaders hire the right people for the job, the entire performance management process becomes much more positive and focused on growth. However, leaders have been prone to and continue to make mistakes in their hiring. This has been said often of CEOs involved in their own succession planning. CEOs have been known to hire people like themselves, rather than considering the strategic needs of the business and the competencies necessary to lead the organization going forward. As a result, we see selecting job candidates as an important leadership competency, almost a �irst step, when possible, for leaders to begin the one-to-one relationship with their direct reports. So how should you go about selecting job candidates?
There are two major strategies to consider when selecting job candidates (Murphy, 2010). The �irst is to begin with a job analysis, which in theory will reveal the important knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully in the job. This is known as a work-oriented strategy. On the other hand, when you begin with the idea of individual differences and consider the domains of cognitive ability, personality, interests, and value orientations, you are utilizing a person-oriented analysis. Given our primary topic—leadership—our focus here is on the person-oriented strategy and the two domains that are most critical to leadership success: general cognitive ability (intelligence) and personality.
General Cognitive Ability
General cognitive ability or intelligence is de�ined as the capacity to grasp and reason correctly with abstract concepts and solve problems (Schmidt, 2009). Recent reviews of the literature have pointed overwhelmingly to the conclusion that cognitive ability (or g), which we commonly refer to as IQ, should be the primary basis for selection (Murphy, 2010; Schmidt, 2009).
But can we count on measures of cognitive ability? Just how valid is it to say that cognitive ability determines job performance? Recall that a coef�icient of 0 means that there is no relationship between two variables, whereas a coef�icient of 1.0 means that there is a very strong, perfect relationship between two variables. Schmidt and Hunter (1998) suggested .51 as the validity of general cognitive ability and its positive effect on job performance, although the validity is higher (.56) for complex jobs and lower (.23) for the least complex jobs. Schmidt (2009), using new and more accurate statistical methods, reported validities of .74 for professional and managerial jobs and .56 for semiskilled jobs. Other important, evidence-based data you should know when it comes to cognitive ability and selection include these points, based on reviews by Murphy (2010) and Schmidt (2009):
General cognitive ability is the major determinant or predictor of job performance—for all jobs at all levels. Measures of general cognitive ability will usually be equal to, if not better than, measures of speci�ic abilities at predicting job performance. Intelligence predicts job performance because those who are more intelligent learn more job knowledge and learn it faster, and because it helps in solving new problems experienced on the job. The relationship between general cognitive ability and performance is a linear one: Those assessed with higher levels of cognitive ability will perform better on the job than those with lower ability. As a result, candidates can be rank ordered based on their assessment scores. You cannot be too intelligent—the higher the intelligence, the better the job performance. In the long run, hiring based on intelligence yields greater returns for the organization than hiring based on experience.
Although g is the best predictor of job performance, other predictors, of course, should be factored into the selection decision. Accounting for other factors— such as personality, which we will discuss next—increases the overall validity of the hiring decision. For example, you may achieve a 14% increase in validity over intelligence alone simply by using a structured interview, which standardizes the questions asked during the hiring process. You can learn more about structured interviews in Appendix B.
Finally, let us say a few words about emotional intelligence (EQ), which we introduced in Chapter 2. As mentioned previously, there is still some controversy surrounding the topic of EQ: Evidence would suggest that EQ is not related to other cognitive abilities, which casts doubt on it truly being an "intelligence" (Murphy, 2010). However, given EQ's popularity and the ongoing research regarding EQ, it might still be valuable to assess candidates for their emotional intelligence.
Personality
Even though g is a strong predictor of performance, managers, leaders, and HR professionals have continued to look for ways to improve their ability to select the right candidate. One way that has recently gained a great deal of attention is to include a measure of personality along with a cognitive measure to increase selection accuracy.
Personality can be de�ined simply as "an individual's relatively stable and enduring pattern of thoughts, feeling, and actions" (Barrick & Mount, 2009, p. 20). One widely used theory, also known as the �ive-factor model, divides personality into �ive dimensions, referred to as the Big Five personality traits (Wiggins, 1996):
1. Emotional stability (being calm, steady, self-con�ident, and secure) 2. Extraversion (being gregarious, sociable, ambitious, and active) 3. Openness to experience (being cultured, intellectual, imaginative, and analytical) 4. Agreeableness (being courteous, helpful, trusting, cooperative, and considerate) 5. Conscientiousness (being dependable, industrious, ef�icient, and achievement oriented)
These personality traits should sound familiar, as we discussed them and their relationship to leader behaviors and leader effectiveness in Chapter 2. Recall that some �indings related to personality in a study by DeRue et al. (2011) included the following:
Conscientiousness was the trait most consistently related to leader performance. Emotional stability helped to predict a leader's task-oriented behaviors. Extraversion and openness were likely to predict a leader's relationship-oriented behaviors. Leaders who were high in extraversion and conscientiousness were viewed more positively.
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Certain personality traits can be used as reliable indicators of performance.
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Leaders who were high in extraversion and agreeableness were more likely to improve team performance.
As with intelligence measures, personality measures can be used to predict performance for all jobs at all levels. For example, one important study determined the validity of the relationship between each of the Big Five factors and leadership effectiveness, with scores ranging from .08 to .31 (Judge, Bono, Illies, & Gerhart, 2002). What do these validity measures tell us? Though potentially not as strong as the measures for intelligence, personality measures will increase the overall validity of the selection decision, particularly when combined with an intelligence measure.
Some additional important data to consider regarding personality as a predictor include the following (based on Barrick & Mount, 2009; Hogan & Kaiser, 2010; Murphy, 2010):
Conscientiousness and emotional stability are the most valid predictors of performance outcomes, and so selection in general should be based on those factors. Conscientiousness and emotional stability are predictive of organization citizenship behaviors (such as providing assistance to coworkers) and counterproductive work behaviors (such as inappropriate use of time and resources). Conscientiousness and emotional stability predict entrepreneurial activity; they both predict leader effectiveness, as does extraversion and openness to experience. Finally, conscientiousness and emotional stability were also found to predict expatriate performance.
Today, researchers and practitioners acknowledge personality as an important predictor of performance, even though the validity measures for personality tend to be lower than those for general cognitive abilities. While measures of intelligence focus on predicting the ability to perform, measures of personality can help predict long-term, dispositional motivation levels to perform (Barrick & Mount, 2009). Both are important to overall effective job performance and contribute extensively to the validity of hiring and selection decisions. So how does one best measure or assess both personality and cognitive ability?
Personality can be assessed through self-report measures, such as the NEO PI-R or the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator; via observer ratings, such as a 360-degree survey; through employment interviews designed to measure job-related personality characteristics; and by using projective tests, such as the Thematic Apperception Test.
When it comes to cognitive ability, the best way to assess it is to use a standardized employment test that measures general intelligence, such as the Wonderlic Personnel Test; other measures, such as class rank or GPA (which can be proxy measures); and employment interviews.
Determining Leadership Gaps in Selection
When selecting senior leaders, "�it" is a very important criterion. For example, we know of one CEO who was primarily selected for his technical savvy and ability to bring credibility to an organization having a challenging time in the marketplace. In essence, he faced a turnaround, do-or-die situation, but his background indicated a good �it for the organization at that time. However, once the organization was successfully rebuilt and on track, it showed little year-over-year growth in revenues. As a result, the board determined that a new and different kind of CEO was needed to �it the important challenge of growing the business and meeting the stakeholders' demand for industry-rate growth. So a new CEO was brought on board, one who had the experience to be a better �it for the time and meet the changing expectations of the board and stakeholders. Fit is also important for selecting the right candidates throughout the organization's hierarchy. Leaders and others must also deliver results, so the ability to perform and meet or exceed expectations is of utmost importance and proof of a successful hire.
Determining and measuring gaps in selection after the fact centers on whether leaders are a good �it and can deliver results. When evaluating the ability to perform, the board of directors can look at the CEO and the senior leadership team and determine the extent to which overall organization results are achieved. When looking more closely at measuring his or her direct reports' performance, a CEO could rely on the performance appraisal process to evaluate results, just like anyone else in a supervisor role in the organization will.
At the CEO and executive levels, 360-degree feedback can be used to validate the perceived �it. The board and the CEO will play a critical role in identifying those whose behaviors demonstrate, for example, the company's core values and desired personality attributes. For others in the organization, �it can be evaluated through the performance management process and, if appropriate, 360-degree feedback.
At the organization level, the company's employee opinion survey could also be used to collect the views of employees regarding the performance of the overall organization and of the major functions, as well as the extent to which senior leaders �it with espoused values. For example, we designed one organization survey that included the question "Is this company managed well, overall?" to capture employees' opinions on company performance, and the question "Do senior leaders cooperate across the organization to achieve results?" to reveal the extent to which leaders demonstrated the core value of teamwork and collaboration.
Remember to carefully evaluate the company's enabling process—how it attracts, recruits, and selects employees at all levels. For an interesting look at how online shoe and clothing retailer Zappos approaches the interview process and makes hiring decisions, see the following link: http://blogs.zappos.com/blogs/ceo-and-coo-blog/2009/01/03/your-culture-isyour-brand (http://blogs.zappos.com/blogs/ceo-and-coo- blog/2009/01/03/your-culture-is-your-brand) . One thing you will note is a lot of discussion about culture and culture �it, which, given our overall discussion of predictors of success, comes down to how well the candidate's personality is suited for the Zappos environment.
Leadership in Review
Re�lect on your learning by answering the following questions:
1. What are the two most important criteria upon which to make any selection decision? 2. What is the strongest predictor of performance? 3. What are the two personality factors that are the strongest predictors of successful leadership performance?
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Summary and Resources
Chapter Summary
In the one-to-one role, leaders build on their self-leadership capabilities and are expected to model how to interact with others. This sets the tone for the organization's climate and culture. Of course, this is extremely important for CEOs and their executive teams to do, because all leaders, managers, and employees take behavioral cues from those at the top, learning what is important and valued to be successful in the organization. In addition, expected behavior is, in essence, cascaded in a series of top-down interactions, from the chair of the board to the CEO, the CEO to his or her direct reports, and so on.
Working one to one can often be challenging, and certain frameworks can be useful for being effective in this leadership role. First, keep in mind that people hold theories of action—espoused and theories-in-use—which guide their day-to-day behavior. Note that their theories might not always align. Being aware of that dynamic can serve to increase the effectiveness of working one to one with others. The ladder of inference, the second framework, serves as a tool that can successfully guide leaders as they advocate their own perspectives and inquire into the perspectives of others.
Performance management is the third framework, one that covers the majority of interactions that leaders have with their direct reports to ensure their successful performance and ongoing development. From goal setting to feedback, development, coaching, recognition, and appraisal, leaders have a myriad of opportunities to be effective role models of best practices, encouraging others to act similarly with their own direct reports. Being competent in the one-to-one role means being competent in executing each phase of performance management. It also means being able to manage con�lict successfully—aiming for the win– win solution—and selecting the right candidate for the job, emphasizing the criteria of cognitive ability and personality factors, particularly when it comes to the more senior levels in the organization.
When leaders understand how to interpret the behavior of others, know how to select the best possible candidates for a given role, are skilled in managing the performance and development of others, and can effectively resolve any disagreements and con�lict that can impede progress and performance, they will be successfully meeting the expectations of the one-toone role.
Leadership Exercise
Instructions: In this exercise, you will consider your own expectations for one-to-one leadership, both as a leader and a direct report.
1. Select an individual direct report. You might choose someone who works for you now or imagine someone who might work for you in the future. Answer the following questions.
a. What challenges do you face working with this individual? Consider the dif�iculty of the person's responsibilities and the individual's strengths and weaknesses.
b. How do you work with the individual to set goals and strategies for accomplishing them? c. Suppose the individual fails to meet a performance target. How do you give this individual feedback? d. What developmental opportunities do you recommend for this person? e. In what ways are you or can you be a coach or mentor to this individual?
2. Now, select a supervisor with whom you have worked or work with now. Or, imagine a supervisor you might work with in the future. Answer the following questions.
a. What challenges do you as a direct report face in working with this leader? Consider your view of the leader's competencies. b. How do you like to work with this leader to set your goals and strategies for accomplishing them? c. Suppose you fail to meet a performance target. What do you expect your leader to do or say? d. What developmental opportunities do you want to be available to you? e. In what ways can this leader be a coach or mentor to you? How can you encourage this leader to be a coach or mentor to you?
Web Resources
View this short video interview with Marshall Goldsmith, the most widely known and popular executive coach today, in which Goldsmith discusses �ive critical skills to focus on when coaching future leaders: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0ARtWgAEvs (http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=m0ARtWgAEvs) . Consider checking out the following books about the win–win approach: – Patterson, K., Grenny, J., McMillan, R., & Switzler, A. (2011). Crucial conversations: Tools for talking when the stakes are high (2nd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill. – Fisher, R., Ury, W. L., & Patton, B. (2011). Getting to yes: Negotiating agreement without giving in (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Penguin Group.
Key Terms to Remember
Click on each key term to see the de�inition.
activities (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London
The next level of logical steps to take to support a tactic, strategy, and goal.
development goals (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London
Goals set to improve performance in the current job or to enhance or build the skills necessary to prepare for future jobs.
con�lict (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London
A problem that exists between two or more parties that does not appear to have a mutually bene�icial solution.
empowerment (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London
3/26/2018 Print
https://content.ashford.edu/print/London.2728.16.1?sections=ch03,ch03introduction,sec3.1,sec3.2,sec3.3,sec3.4,sec3.5,sec3.6,sec3.7,sec3.8,sec3.9,sec3.10,sec3.11
A psychological state in which someone feels accountable and responsible to act.
espoused theories (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London
A type of theory of action; what people say about how they will act or believe they will act to achieve results.
goal measurements (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London
The processes, tools, or measurements used to provide the evidence or collect the data necessary to show whether success (a goal) was achieved.
goal setting (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London
The process of establishing mutually agreed-to goals, strategies, tactics, and measures to provide direction for performance and development.
goal statement (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London
A de�inition of the output or end result.
ladder of inference (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London
A metaphor for the process by which we often arrive at conclusions; can be used as a tool for understanding, resolving, and improving interpersonal communication and aligning theories of action.
learning (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London
The process of acquiring new knowledge, skills, or a change in perspective.
measure of success (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London
The level of performance that describes the results one expects.
performance appraisal (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London
An evaluation conducted at the end of a performance period, focusing on assessing both the demonstration of critical behaviors and the level of expected results achieved.
performance goals (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London
Goals that are generally task focused and contribute to higher-level business outcomes, such as increases in customer satisfaction, pro�its, or revenue.
performance management (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London
A process of leading a direct report that includes goal setting, feedback, development, recognition, coaching, and performance appraisal, built on a foundation of trust and empowerment, with a constant �low of communication.
propensity to trust (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London
A personality trait that affects the extent to which an individual tends to trust others.
recognition (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London
A form of feedback that is a positive reinforcer of desired behavior.
strategy (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London
A description of how a goal will be achieved.
SuperLeadership (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London
Style of leadership in which leaders facilitate others' self-leadership capability and practice and make the self-leadership process the central target of external in�luence.
tactics (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London
The major steps to support and implement a strategy in order to achieve a goal.
theories-in-use (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London
A type of theory of action; the means for reaching goals, which specify strategies for how people will conduct themselves; the theories people actually use.
theories of action (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London
Explanations or interpretations of individuals' approach to action.
trust (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London.2728.16.1/sections/cover/books/London
3/26/2018 Print
https://content.ashford.edu/print/London.2728.16.1?sections=ch03,ch03introduction,sec3.1,sec3.2,sec3.3,sec3.4,sec3.5,sec3.6,sec3.7,sec3.8,sec3.9,sec3.10,sec3.11
The willingness to be vulnerable to the actions of others, regardless of one's ability to monitor or control performance.
The next level of logical steps to take to support a tactic strategy and goal
Choose a Study ModeView this study set
Community Teaching Work Plan Proposal
Directions: Develop an educational series proposal for your community using one of the following four topics:
1) Bioterrorism/Disaster
2) Environmental Issues
3) Primary Prevention/Health Promotion
4) Secondary Prevention/Screenings for a Vulnerable Population
Planning Before Teaching:
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Location of Teaching:
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Estimated Cost:
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Epidemiological Rationale for Topic (statistics related to topic):
Nursing Diagnosis:
Readiness for Learning: Identify the factors that would indicate the readiness to learn for the target aggregate. Include emotional and experiential readiness to learn.
Learning Theory to Be Utilized: Explain how the theory will be applied.
Goal: Healthy People 2020 (HP2020) objective(s) utilized as the goal for the teaching. Include the appropriate objective number and rationale for using the selected HP2020 objective (use at least one objective from one of the 24 focus areas). If an HP2020 objective does not support your teaching, explain how your teaching applies to one of the two overarching HP2020 goals.
How Does This HP2020 Objective Relate to Alma Ata’s Health for All Global Initiatives (See page 116 in the textbook)?
Develop Behavioral Objectives (Including Domains), Content, and Strategies/Methods:
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Behavioral Objective and Domain Example – Third-grade students will name one healthy food choice in each of the five food groups by the end of the presentation. (Cognitive Domain) |
Content (be specific) Example – The Food Pyramid has five food groups which are…. Healthy foods from each group are…. Unhealthy foods containing a lot of sugar or fat are…. |
Strategies/Methods (label and describe) Example – Interactive poster presentation of the Food Pyramid. After an explanation of the poster and each food category, allow students to place pictures of foods on the correct spot on the pyramid. Also, have the class analyze what a child had for lunch by putting names of foods on the poster and discussing what food group still needs to be eaten throughout day. |
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Creativity: How was creativity applied in the teaching methods/strategies?
Planned Evaluation of Objectives (Outcome Evaluation): Describe what you will measure for each objective and how.
Planned Evaluation of Goal: Describe how and when you could evaluate the overall effectiveness of your teaching plan.
Planned Evaluation of Lesson and Teacher (Process Evaluation):
Barriers: What are potential barriers that may arise during teaching and how will those be handled?
Communication: How will you begin your presentation (hook them in)? How will you end your presentation (go out with a bang)? What nonverbal communication techniques will you employ?
Required Resources
Text
London, M., & Mone, E. (2012). Leadership for today and the future [Electronic version]. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/
· Chapter 3: Leading One-to-One
Recommended Resources
Danby, P. (2009). Setting the right direction. Business Strategy Review, 20(4) 58-63. Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1467-8616
Denton, K. D. (2010). Creating a self-confident workforce. Journal for Quality & Participation, 33(3) 9-38. Retrieved from http://asq.org/pub/jqp/
MGT 460: Leadership Priorities & Practice
COURSE DESCRIPTION Leadership Priorities and Practice is a capstone course that requires students to
reflect on and synthesize the major insights gained in their study of
organizational management. A substantive paper is developed to illustrate how
these insights can be applied effectively in the student’s work environment.
Students choosing the personal program of study must show how their chosen
concentration relates to organizational management and include insights from
each academic area in their synthesis and application.
COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to: 1. Examine how values and ethics are reflected in professional
practices and behaviors. 2. Evaluate situations from a multidisciplinary perspective. 3. Apply systematic and innovative approaches to decision-
making and problem solving. 4. Integrate leadership theory and professional practice through
applied problem-solving activities. 5. Analyze the role of the leader in promoting organizational
effectiveness, efficiency, and sustainability.
MGT 460 TEXTBOOK
London, M., & Mone, E. (2012). Leadership for today and
the future. (1st. ed.). San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint
Education, Inc.
This textbook is a
Constellation textbook
This week students will: 1. Apply the principles of building trust and
empowering others. 2. Examine the steps of effective feedback and
performance appraisal. 3. Understand the function of goals, strategies,
and tactics in goal setting.
WEEK THREE LEARNING OBJECTIVES
WEEK THREE ASSIGNMENTS
HOW TO BUILD TRUST
Trust is the glue of life. It's the most essential ingredient in effective communication. It's the foundational principle that holds all relationships. - Stephen Covey In the textbook, leadership gains trust through three key factors: ability, benevolence, and integrity (London & Mone, 2012). Covey (2009) posited that four key factors affected trust: integrity, intent, capabilities, and results. How do these factors differ? How are they similar?
13 CHARACTERISTICS OF TRUST
Covey (2009) listed 13 characteristics of trust.
1. Talk Straight 2. Demonstrate Respect 3. Create Transperancy 4. Right Wrongs 5. Show Loyalty 6. Deliver Results 7. Get Better 8. Confront Reality 9. Clarify Expectations 10. Practice Accountablity 11. Listen First 12. Keep Commitments 13. Extend Trust (para. 13)
SWIFT TRUST Swift trust is key in workplace teams, especially virtual teams. Swift trust is the trust that is formed quickly to be able to work together (Ferrazzi, 2012). Ferrazzi (2012) described this phenomenon as during the formation of groups, individuals are generally ready to give others the benefit of the doubt. Individuals in new groups share the belief that success of the group reflects well on the success of the individual, and failures can damage careers (Ferrazzi, 2012).
BUILDING SWIFT TRUST
• Be proactive in building inter- personal trust
• Communicate with predictability. Remember quality over quantity
• Share and rotate power
(Ferrazzi, 2012)
EMPOWERMENT Appelo (2015) defined empowerment as promoting self- actualization. Empowerment aids in creating distributed control in an organization through ensuring that individuals have the best information and are able to make decisions based on the given information (Appelo, 2015). Other key reasons for empowerment are motivation, productivity, self- actualization, and happiness (Appelo, 2015). MacPhee, Skelton-Green, Bouthillette, and Suryaprakash (2012) stated that two forms of empowerment are relevant to leadership: structural empowerment and psychological empowerment.
STRUCTURAL EMPOWERMENT
Structural empowerment: Relates to the importance of empowerment based on organizational structures. In structural empowerment access to organizational empowerment structures is more important to employee performance than their personal attributes (MacPhee, Skelton-Green, Bouthillete, & Suryaprakash, 2012). Empowerment structures include access to information, opportunities for advancement, resources, and supports (MacPhee et al., 2012).
PSYCHOLOGICAL EMPOWERMENT Psychological empowerment is the convictions that employees have regarding their roles and responsibilities in an organization (MacPhee, Skelton-Green, Bouthillette, & Suryaprakash, 2012). MacPhee et al. (2012) stated that psychological empowerment has four characteristics. • Meaning – how important work is to the individual • Competence – the individual’s confidence that he or she
can do his or her work well • Self-determination – an individual’s level of control over
the job • Impact - individual‘s self-influence at work (MacPhee
et al., 2012).
GOAL-SETTING FRAMEWORK
(Lipman, 2015)
1. Goal statement 2. Strategies 3. Tactics 4. Measure of success 5. Goal Measurements
1. Another important type of goals are S.MA.R.T. goals. S.MA.R.T goals can be used within the goal- setting framework. These goals seem simplistic but provide a method of creating strong organizational or personal goals.
S.M.A.R.T. GOALS
(Jesse-B PT, 2013)
KEY TERMS FOR WEEK 3
• Balance Scorecard
• Goal-Setting Framework
• Empowerment
• Trust
• S.M.A.R.T. Goals
You may be asked to use these terms in Discussion Board responses or your assignment for the
week.
FSB APA GUIDANCE Please use the FSB APA Guidance located in your classroom.
REFERENCES Appelo, J. (2015, July 24). The sense and nonsense of empowerment. Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/jurgenappelo/2015/07/24/the-sense-and- nonsense-of-empowerment/2/ Covey, S. M. R. (2009). How the best leaders build trust. Leadership Now. Retrieved from http://www.leadershipnow.com/CoveyOnTrust.html Jesse-B PT, (2013, October 31). You gotta be smart with your goals. [Web log]. Retrieved from https://jessebpage.wordpress.com/2013/10/31/you- gotta-be-smart-with-your-goals/ London, M., & Mone, E. (2012). Leadership for today and the future. (1st. ed.). San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. MacPhee, M, Skelton-Green, J., Bouthillette, & F., Suryaprakash, N. (2012). An empowerment framework for nursing leadership development: Supporting evidence. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 68(1), 159-169. doi:10.111/j.1365.2648.2011.05746.x
RECOMMENDED READINGS
Denton, D. Keith. (2010). Creating a Self-Confident Workforce. Journal for Quality & Participation, 33 (3) 9-38. Retrieved from EBSCO (Business Source Complete). Danby, Peter. (2009). Setting the right direction. Business Strategy Review, 20 (4) 58-63. Retrieved from EBSCO (Business Source Complete).
ANY QUESTIONS?
Please post your questions in the Ask the Instructor thread.
- Slide Number 1
- �
- Course Description
- COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES
- MGT 460 Textbook
- Week Three Learning Objectives
- Week Three assignments
- How to build trust
- 13 characteristics of trust
- Swift trust
- Building swift trust
- Empowerment
- Structural Empowerment
- Psychological empowerment
- Goal-setting framework
- S.m.a.r.t. goals
- Key Terms for week 3
- FSB APA Guidance
- References
- Recommended readings
- Slide Number 21
Week 3 – Assignment: Goal-Setting Framework
The first of six steps of performance management consists of goal setting, as detailed in Chapter Three. Assume that you work for the Los Angeles Tribune, a large but struggling newspaper publisher with distribution throughout the Los Angeles region. Various problems have arisen that need to be addressed:
· The cost of paper is rising
· The cost of distribution is rising
· Circulation revenue is down
· Advertising revenue is down, largely due to free online listings offered by Craigslist and other online advertising services
· Customers are largely in the 40+ age range
· The current number of employees cannot continue to be supported if revenue continues to shrink
For this assignment, it is possible to make reasonable assumptions regarding the organization’s economic situation and business climate. Be sure to specifically mention any such assumptions that you are making within your paper.
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