Kairology

By Andy Cox

In these times - tough times by anyone’s measure - it’s important to be seen as a contributor - a person who makes a positive difference in the success of their enterprise.

But having said that, when is the last time you read an article, or a book, on how to be a contributor to any enterprise? Go in any bookstore and see the books on leadership - rows of them. No titles on being a contributor. And yet effective contribution results in most of the successes in any enterprise - just ask the leaders.

So what does it take to be a top contributor? We asked some of the most successful people we know. Here are their answers: ten Behaviors, Attitudes and Personal Skills of top contributors. We offer these ten answers as a self inventory. As you read through what top contributors do, ask yourself where you see yourself.

1 - They do the work that’s recognized as the most important work by their organization. They identify what is most important by creating mutually shared goals. The secret to effective contribution is doing the work that is most important - and ensuring that is where the focus is. None of the other nine items is even worth mentioning if the important work doesn’t get done on time while meeting budget, performance, quality and other criteria. It’s not a matter of accepting what needs to be done - that goes without saying. Do the important work and get the opportunity to be seen as a top contributor. This sounds so basic - but it’s amazing how often it doesn’t occur.

2 - They practice personal leadership through self discipline. Being on time; meeting commitments; knowing when and how to say no; focusing on work and letting the unimportant go; maintaining emotional control; are all behaviors of top contributors.

3 - They accept the culture for what it is and adapt to it - or get out. There is no bigger waste of time than trying to change what exists to meet personal expectations. Better to leave or accept the culture - as long as it doesn’t require acting immorally, unethically, illegally or unsafely.

4 - It’s not about you. Top contributors know personalizing decisions and thinking of them in terms of self is a great way to lose motivation and commitment. Let’s face it, a lot of decisions will differ from what might be seen as optimal, but accepting decisions for what they are, not making them personal, and moving on to the next issue is top contributor behavior.

5 - They take pride in contribution. Top contributors are convinced of the importance of their work - if they weren’t how could they possibly see the value of their accomplishments? It’s like the story of the three bricklayers: when asked what they were doing, the first said he was laying brick; the second said he was helping build a school; and the third said he was participating in offering a better education to children through his best efforts. Which bricklayer best describes how you value your work?

6 - Be convinced that you have a gift to give - then give it. Top contributors don’t ration their efforts. They focus, they operate at top speed, and they get more done than they realized they could. And the next time they’re asked to climb that same mountain, it’s not nearly as high as the first time. And they can look for more - whatever more means to them.

7 - They realize interdependence beats independence in accomplishing anything. Group effort can seem like a pain at the beginning, but a top contributor knows the pain comes before the gain. Focused effort by a group is so much more powerful than individual effort in almost all situations. Acquiring the Personal Skills to work effectively in collaborations is key to top contribution.

8 - They have high ideals, but maintain realistic expectations. Peter Senge - in The Fifth Discipline defines a cynic in this way : “Scratch a cynic and you will find an idealist, someone who made the mistake of letting their ideals become their expectations.” Ideals are important - without them staying on course is impossible. But creating a failure scenario by making an ideal a goal is a sure recipe for frustration and a reduced sense of self worth.

9 - Top contributors are fixers, not blamers. They know establishing accountability for things that go wrong is necessary for the future. But they are much more focused on solutions than on placing blame. They know solutions behavior promotes communication and learning while blame behavior promotes defensiveness and error avoidance.

10 - They use a combination of personal and organizational goals to frame their work and their lives. The closer the alignment between the different goal sets, the better. Top contributors know relying on organizational goals to establish self worth and value is very limiting. Organizational goals can change unexpectedly and often - particularly in tough times. Personal goals, on the other hand, provide a “True North” perspective on what is really important.

Take the time, right now, to carefully look at your own contributions - and what can be done to increase your personal impact in your personal and organizational life. Then decide which of the Behaviors, Attitudes and Personal Skills of top contributors will help you achieve the success you want. Then act to make them happen - and watch 2009, even in the midst of tough times, be the best of times.

About the Author

Andy Cox helps individuals, teams and organizations identify and develop their Multipliers of Success - the unique set of Behaviors, Motivators and Personal Skills each client needs for success. Contact Andy at acox@consultgroup.com Visit his website for information on how he can help you discover and develop your Multipliers of Success. His website address is coxconsultgroup.com

By Ian A Williams

The current challenging economic climate is a great time to test the strength of your leadership in business.  It really does sort out the capable and resilient from those who simply give up or hide in their shell.  Where are you today? Are you in your shell or out there fighting for your future?

Leadership is defined as a journey, a course that is set – and every journey has its challenges. By nature, leadership involves everyone. While those who own, run and manage organisations are the ones who are called or appointed to be in a leadership position, everyone in an organisation has a leadership role to play, simply in leading themselves in doing their best in the team, and in enabling others to do their job well too. Just being efficient and effective in your own role means you are part of leading – if only leading by example! Recent UK research suggests that leadership has two distinct aspects:  developing recognised leaders as individuals, and developing leadership as culture and practice in the whole organisation.

So when the times get tough it’s a great opportunity for you as the owner to get all the help you can from those around you in leading your business to continuing success. When the pressure is on, your choice is to visualise and lead growth, or to survive and tread water. That choice will be very apparent to those around you. A downturn is the time for vision and growth in bringing all the creative skills of your team together to plan for the future. So let’s look at some key leadership characteristics as defined by John Adair.  Sometimes these qualities don’t sound very businesslike, but they are really the heart of your business and your leadership if you want to achieve to achieve success:

1.     Enthusiasm - passion and zest

2.     Integrity - the bedrock of good leadership

3.     Toughness and fairness – demanding, but no favourites

4.     Warmth - cold fish do not make good leaders

5.     Moral courage - to face and confront unpleasant situations

6.     Resilience - the ability to bounce back after setbacks

7.     Humility - lack of arrogance, being on the same level as others

How do you measure up? Ask those you trust. In his action-centred leadership model, John Adair defines leadership into three simple key elements which distinguish task, team and individual needs.

Task needs

Task relates to the purpose of your business. It’s not just about what you do, it’s about why you’re in business and what you want to achieve. A downturn may be a great time to review this, getting clear on what industry you’re in, what you want to provide for whom, and what results you’re aiming at. In getting this clear you will need to get ideas from people in your business about a more efficient ways of working, new initiatives, and a renewed enthusiasm for what you do.  After all, as the old saying goes, if you do what you always do you’ll get what you always got.

Team needs

Meeting the needs of people around you is essential to achieving what you need to achieve. It sounds obvious but this gets amazingly low priority in most businesses. Having the right mix of people with the right skills, having their roles clear, maintaining good communication, confidence, integrity and humour is invaluable. We are social beings and we need to work effectively with other people.

Individual needs

People need to feel valued, not only by you as the leader, but by the whole team. They need to feel that their time, energy, skills, talents and resources are being well used in the team and adding value to the task in hand. From you as the leader, this requires tact, fairness, compassion, consistency, honesty and humility.

The three circle model of action-centred leadership is about keeping these three needs in balance, and of equal priority. Sometimes of course one of these aspects may require more of your time attention and energy, but the important thing is to keep them all maintained.

The seven key leadership characteristics need to be role-modelled by you as the leader personally, and also be part of the leadership culture that permeates everyone in the organisation. That’s the kind of culture that will get you through any downturn, maintain productivity, encourage people to bring in their ideas and energy, and ensure that you have a really engaged workforce, enjoying what they do and the people they do it with. After all, as the old Japanese proverb says, ‘No man will find the best way to do a thing unless he loves to do that thing.’

John Adair is the author of action-centred leadership, and the world’s first professor of leadership. More information at www.johnadair.co.uk

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