Goals

The Leadership Failure of Mohamed Morsi: Will Your Workers Revolt, Too?

July 9 in Arrogance, Goals, Vision by Joel DiGirolamo | No Comments

The removal of Mohamed Morsi as Egypt’s President is a poignant reminder of the difficulty in satisfying the myriad demands of disparate segments of a society or organization. While Mr. Morsi was a democratically elected leader of a country, his failure can provide many lessons for those of us who work in business and non-profit organizations.

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi

In a nutshell, Mr. Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood party put personal agendas before the common goal of repairing and building a flourishing Egyptian government and society. He failed to rebuild the Egyptian infrastructure, leaving the economy struggling with high prices for food, gasoline, and other commodities. He and others in his party grabbed power by ramming an unpopular religiously tainted constitution down the throat of the Egyptian people and appointing Islamist officials to as many posts as possible.

Eventually the Egyptian people and military had enough and took to the streets and once again violence has ensued. Let’s take a look at what lessons we can glean from this experience to help us lead our organizations.

In my experience, the best leaders put the organization first and set aside their egos and personal agendas. Jim collins does an excellent job elaborating on this in his well-researched book Good to Great. In his words, a Level 5 leader “Builds enduring greatness through a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will.” You could begin by keeping a journal of your daily activities and noting which activities are moving you closer to your team and organizational goals, and which activities are moving you toward personal goals. You may also find that some activities are taking you nowhere, which would be helpful to know.

The second lesson we can find is how important it is to provide an adequate infrastructure so that a team may flourish and excel—to use their talent to its fullest extent. The Egyptian economy is in shambles, which cripples all businesses from tourism to technology. Are you providing the necessary equipment and financial resources for your team? Have you asked what they need lately?

Finally, pay attention to all of the groups within your organization, whether these be types of workers, individuals at all levels in the organization, all facets of the organization such as marketing, development, production, or ethnic and gender groups. Each group will bring a somewhat unique perspective to your business and may provide a profound insight that propels you forward. One of the mantras I continue to recite is “Respect Everyone.” If we genuinely come from this attitude our team members will see it for what it is—a genuine interest and concern for each individual and group.

Bringing groups together which have widely divergent views and interests is difficult and requires a skilled leader. The key point is to continue focusing on the goals and vision of the team and organization. Use these as the focal point instead of the differences in views. Ask how the different views can help achieve the goal, thus building synergy to create exceptional solutions to problems.

In summary, I believe the lessons from the failure of Mr. Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood party are:

  • Set your personal agenda aside and focus on the greater goals of the organization and your team,
  • Provide an adequate infrastructure for your team so that they may flourish and utilize their talents to their fullest extent, and
  • Remain attentive to all groups within your organization.

Keywords: leadership development, leadership lessons, Egypt, Morsi, Muslim Brotherhood

References

  • Al Jazeera. (2013, July 3) Profile: Mohamed Morsi. Al Jazeera. Retrieved July 8, 2013 from http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/07/20137314127329966.html
  • Collins, J. C. (2001). Good to great: Why some companies make the leap. and others don’t. New York: Collins.
  • Daragahi, B. & Saleh, H. (2013, July 5). Egypt: The second revolution. Financial Times. Retrieved July 8, 2013 from http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/e341452a-e574-11e2-ad1a-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2YSXEDcSR
  • Khalaf, R. (2013, July 4). Morsi’s downfall will entrench Brotherhood’s sense of victimhood. Financial Times. Retrieved July 8, 2013 from http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/c14592c0-e4be-11e2-875b-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2YSXEDcSR
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An Open Letter: The Choice is Yours

September 25 in Authenticity, Balance, Collaborative Leadership, Communication, Culture, Goals, Openness by Joel DiGirolamo | No Comments

I’ve gotten a few questions over the week on last week’s blog post and how to bring traumatic issues to closure and move forward. As I was driving one afternoon I began to imagine myself as a plant manager for a Japanese owned factory in China. Some of these factories have been shuttered due to the protests over the Diaoyudao islands in the East China Sea.

Senkaku Islands

The relationship between Japan and China has many dark moments. Most recently, between 1931 and 1945 Japan carried out barbarous attacks in China. While one could argue that several generations have passed since then, the trauma and losses are not easily forgotten.

I drafted a statement and have worked with Nancy Wiser of Wiser Strategies who advises clients on how to handle crises, to craft a message that would help in such a time of crisis. Here is the statement I would make…

“We understand the concern the citizens of China have over the islands between Japan and China and we understand the history between our two countries. We regret what our ancestors have done in China and unfortunately there is nothing that can be done about the past except to acknowledge it and express our regret for it.

“Beyond that, there is nothing you can do about that, there is nothing I can do about it. We can only move forward.

“We respect all of you as citizens of China and citizens of the world. We would like to continue to work with you. We would like to move forward. We would like to put the past behind us.

“You and I cannot control what our governments do. While we can vote and express ourselves peacefully in the streets as you have done, we cannot absolutely control our governments.

“I would like us to focus on moving forward. What can we do in this city today, at this factory to move forward? You can make a choice, we in our company can make a choice. Do you wish to prosper together? We are in business together. We have a factory here and would like for all of us to prosper.

“Every day that we are closed you lose money and we lose money. If you would like to work together to move forward, to create jobs, to help build a lifestyle that you would like and that we would like, then let us figure out how to work together peacefully.

“In this moment the choice is yours. Again, we respect each and every one of you as citizens of the world. We ask that you come together with us to build a prosperous business. The choice is yours and we sincerely hope that you will choose to move forward with us. Thank you.”

Keywords: leadership, trauma, grief, protests, riots, Senkaku islands, Diaoyudao islands

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Films, and islands, and drones! Oh my! Leading amid chaos

September 18 in Change, Charismatic Leadership, Energy, Goals, Motivation by Joel DiGirolamo | No Comments

Over the last week protests and riots have erupted in a swath across the globe from Tunisia to China. The two flash points have been the display of an Arabic version of a trailer for the movie Innocence of Muslims and the sale of the disputed Senkaku islands in the East China Sea.

Senkaku Islands

The Innocence of Muslims is an overdubbed, poorly crafted film which sadly portrays the prophet Muhammad as a fool, a fake, and a womanizer. While individuals in the western world may find the film repugnant, they also understand the value of freedom of expression. Those of us raised in a culture where freedom of expression is appreciated can easily shrug off such poor attempts at inciting strong religious emotions.

However, in cultures where the Muslim faith is regarded more seriously—and freedom of expression is not necessarily so highly valued, at least on religious topics—it may be felt that protests are in order. Unfortunately, for individuals waiting for an excuse to protest and riot, faster than a speeding drone, they’ll be on the bandwagon.

The Senkaku islands (Diaoyudao in Chinese) have been in dispute between China and Japan ever since oil was discovered in 1968 under their surrounding seas. The government of Japan recently purchased the islands from a private Japanese family and this action has inflamed both the Chinese government and citizens. Two factors are likely in play, the desire for the oil resources and a continued resentment against the Japanese for the atrocities committed in China between 1931 and 1945.

So let’s bring this back into the world of leadership we live in every day. I find an analog for these global events to be situations where the entire team or organization is working from a morale deficit. These may be situations where massive layoffs or a traumatic incident has taken place. In such cases there are three things you can do—allow a period of grief and bring closure to the past, motivate the team toward the common goal, and keep the focus moving forward.

As humans we find it comforting to acknowledge our grief and to apply ritual to bring closure to unfortunate events. All cultures I know of, including primitive cultures, perform a ritual for the loss of a tribe or family member. And so it should be for your situation. Acknowledge the loss, discuss it and decide what you need to do to put it to rest. Then move on.

Focusing on a common goal can work to motivate the team as well as bring the focus away from internal pain. The parallel to this is the way savvy and despotic leaders of countries have used the ploy of attacking an outside enemy in order to deflect the spotlight. Working toward the common goal is a motivational tool all leaders should utilize.

Lastly, the universe is a forward-moving energy which never slows or ceases. Feel that energy and use your creativity to make it palpable to all team members. Work to get them on the bus and for the bus to move relentlessly forward.

There is no time to wallow in the past. Moments may arise where we as leaders must encourage a team member or two to make a decision—remain stuck in the past or move forward with the team. In my view it’s an easy decision. Let’s hop on the bus and get moving!

Concepts:

  • Acknowledge the loss or trauma and bring it to closure
  • Focus on the common goal
  • Keep the energy and focus on moving forward

Keywords: leadership, trauma, grief, protests, riots, Innocence of Muslims, Senkaku islands, Diaoyudao islands, ritual, energy

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Rita Builds Bonds Beyond the Ropes

June 12 in Cohesion, Communication, Culture, Goals by Joel DiGirolamo | No Comments

Rita Hayan-Feruz Kleinstein, or just “Rita” as she is affectionately known, is considered by most people to be the top female singer in Israel today. Turns out she also happens to be extremely popular in the land of her country’s archenemy—Iran. Jewish Rita was born and raised in Iran until the age of eight when she immigrated to Israel. Throughout her life she cherished the Persian folk songs passed on to her by her mother. Last year she chose to modernize and record them, producing her latest album, My Joys. Since Western music is banned in Iran, Iranians have purchased bootleg copies on the black market or discretely downloaded digital versions. And so Rita is building an enthusiastic bond between the people in the land of her birth and the land of her heritage.

Rita Yahan Farouz

Such bonds can help your team perform better as well as maintain its viability over a long period of time. Research has shown that group performance is correlated with the individual team member’s ability to work together toward a common goal. This is known as task cohesion. Similarly, when team members get along well socially, i.e. have high social cohesion they are able to function well for an extended period of time.

For example, you might have a team in which the members don’t really enjoy each other’s company but all are motivated to complete the goal. They will likely perform well and finish their task. However, they may choose to switch teams at the end of the project phase or, in extreme cases where the team degenerates into dysfunction the team may dissolve.

So-called “ropes” courses are meant to be physically challenging exercises where individuals discover they can complete a task only by working together. Research has shown that these courses increase cohesion within groups for a time but that follow-up sessions are required to continue the momentum. This is analogous to research on virtual teams. The virtual team research shows the importance of face-to-face meetings to build both social and task cohesion.

As those of you who have attended one of my training sessions know, I am a big fan of experiential learning. To be effective, experiential learning must incorporate two sets of polarities: abstract concepts vs. experiences and action vs. reflection.

The experiences, like the ropes courses imbed the knowledge or learning in our bodies. Explaining the concept or theory imbeds the knowledge in our heads and helps us relate the new information to existing knowledge, or schema as it is called in the psychology world. Applying the new information via multiple channels also helps reinforce the message. Incorporating reflective individual questions and discussion helps reinforce the actions participants take in the exercises.

One of the classic experiments involving group cohesion is the Robbers Cave study which was carried out in 1954. This study of two groups of 11 year-old boys illustrated the value of task cohesion and the resulting social bonds it could build. The study was carried out in three phases. In the first, the boys were divided into two groups and over a week’s time were allowed to develop social bonds and group norms. During the second week the two groups competed against each other and rivalries developed. The third week researchers introduced goals which required resources and effort beyond the capability of one group. As the two groups joined forces toward common goals they were able to achieve them and social bonds resulted.

Returning to Rita, I am delighted with her energy and enthusiasm toward building a bond between the Israeli and Iranian people. Music is frequently a common denominator across cultures. I have traveled the world and marveled at the universality of music, from classical to pop. My hope is that her efforts spawn similar experiences, building bonds across all cultures across the globe.

Concepts:

  • Create and communicate a common goal
  • Build social bonds between team members for long-term team viability
  • Generate and treasure common experiences

Keywords: leadership, cohesion, ropes course, adventure course, challenge course, adventure programming, outdoor management training, OMT, outdoor experiential training, outdoor challenge
courses, adventure education, virtual teams

References:

  • Birx, E., LaSala, K. B., & Wagstaff, M. (2011). Evaluation of a team-building retreat to promote nursing faculty cohesion and job satisfaction. Journal of Professional Nursing, 27(3), 174-178.
  • Carless, S. A., & De Paola, C. (2000). The measurement of cohesion in work teams. Small Group Research, 31(1), 71-88.
  • Chang, A., & Bordia, P. (2001). A multidimensional approach to the group cohesion-group performance relationship. Small Group Research, 32(4), 379-405.
  • Gillis, L. H., & Speelman, E. (2008). Are challenge (ropes) courses an effective tool? A meta-analysis. Journal of Experiential Education, 31(2), 111-135.
  • Judge, W. (2005). Adventures in creating an outdoor leadership challenge course for an EMBA program. Journal of Management Education, 29(2), 284-300.
  • Kass, D., & Grandzol, C. (2011). Learning to lead at 5,267 feet: An empirical study of outdoor management training and MBA students leadership development. Journal of Leadership Education, 10(1), 41-62.
  • Kolb, A. Y., & Kolb, D. A. (2005). Learning styles and learning spaces: Enhancing experiential learning in higher education. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 4(2), 193-212.
  • Sherif, M., Harvey, O. J., White, B. J., Hood, W. R., & Sherif, C. W. (1961). The Robbers Cave experiment: Intergroup conflict and cooperation. Norman, OK: Institute of Group Relations, University of Oklahoma, reprinted by Wesleyan University Press, 1988.
  • Shooter, W. (2010). A closer look at the “inner workings” of adventure education: Building evidence-based practices. Journal of Experiential Education, 32(3), 290-294.
  • Zull, J. E. (2002). The art of changing the brain: Enriching teaching by exploring the biology of learning. Sterling, VA: Stylus.

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Workers Gone Wild!

April 24 in Culture, Dark Side, Goals, Selection by Joel DiGirolamo | No Comments

In the past two weeks several scandals have surfaced. Individuals with the US General Services Administration (GSA) have been accused of spending lavishly on parties, conferences, travel, and gifts. Under the leadership of Jeff Neely, Public Buildings Commissioner for GSA Region 9, these activities continued for several years.

Members of the US Secret Service were caught in Columbia hiring prostitutes and speaking openly of their mission in the country. Lastly, photos of US soldiers posing with body parts of suicide bombers in Afghanistan have come to light.

All of these incidents have a common thread—individuals have exercised poor judgment. The workers went wild, or as some say, have gone rogue.

Wild Party

While we, as leaders, never have control over our team members’ behavior, we can build and maintain an environment that will go a long way to prevent such rogue behavior.

First and foremost is to foster a culture that centers on doing a good job and feeling satisfied after a job has been well done. Maintain a healthy mix of accountability, fun, and rewards for appropriate action.

Research from several famous studies have highlighted the profound effects of social pressure and role identity. In the prison experiment by Zimbardo and colleagues, college students in the roles of guards began to abuse students in the roles of prisoners and the experiment was terminated earlier than planned. In the Milgram study on obedience, voluntary participants were forcefully ordered to continue to administer electric shocks to actors, illustrating the reluctant willingness for individuals to comply with requests. In a study reported by Solomon Asch in 1951, he relayed the inclination of people to conform to the majority of a group even when it went against their perception of what was correct. All of these studies, along with the concept of crowd psychology, illustrate how normal, well-intentioned individuals can get caught up in undesirable, and even despicable activities when a harmful culture emerges and continues unfettered.

Communicate stories of individual’s actions that promote the behavior you want to see in all workers. Culture is often built on such anecdotal vignettes that become part of the fabric of all organizations.

Secondly, maintain a vigilant focus on your goals. When you see behavior that wavers off the path, have a one-on-one discussion with the team member to understand the reason for the behavior and to re-align the behavior toward your team goals.

Finally, look at how you are selecting team members. Do you have an objective analysis of their personality? Conscientiousness, one of the personality facets in the Big Five personality models has shown good correlation with job performance. Many selection instruments incorporate this element into the mix.

I believe that good selection instruments, a continual focus on goals, and a healthy culture will greatly reduce the possibility of your team members creating embarrassment for you and your organization.

Concepts:

  • Foster a culture with a healthy mix of job satisfaction, accountability, joy, and rewards
  • Keep a vigilant focus on your goals
  • Select employees based on conscientiousness

Keywords: leadership, culture, dark side, goals, conscientiousness

References:

  • Asch, S. E. (1951). Effects of group pressure on the modification and distortion of judgments. In H. Guetzkow (Ed.), Groups, leadership and men (pp. 177-190). Pittsburgh, PA: Carnegie Press.
  • Barrick, M. R., & Mount, M. K. (1991). The big five personality dimensions and job performance: A meta-analysis. Personnel Psychology, 44(1), 1-26.
  • Burton, J. P., Hoobler, J. M., & Scheuer, M. L. Supervisor Workplace Stress and Abusive Supervision: The Buffering Effect of Exercise. Journal of Business and Psychology, 1-9.
  • Costa, P. T., Jr., & McCrae, R. R. (1992). NEO PI-R professional manual. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.
  • Denison, D. R. (1984). Bringing corporate culture to the bottom line. Organizational Dynamics, 13(2), 4–22.
  • Denison, D. R. (2000). Organizational culture: Can it be a key lever for driving organizational change. In The Handbook of Organizational Culture. London: John Wiley & Sons.
  • Etzioni, A. (1975). A comparative analysis of complex organizations: On power, involvement, and their correlates (Revised and enlarged ed.). New York: The Free Press.
  • Haney, C., Banks, C., & Zimbardo, P. (1973). Interpersonal dynamics in a simulated prison. International Journal of Criminology and Penology, 1(1), 69–97.
  • Hogan, R. J., Curphy, G. J., & Hogan, J. (1994). What we know about leadership: Effectiveness and personality. American Psychologist, 49(6), 493-504.
  • Hogan, R. J., & Hogan, J. (2001). Assessing leadership: A view from the dark side. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 9(1&2), 40–51.
  • Judge, T. A., Bono, J. E., Ilies, R., & Gerhardt, M. W. (2002). Personality and leadership: A qualitative and quantitative review. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87(4), 765-780.
  • Kahneman, D. (1992). Reference points, anchors, norms, and mixed feelings. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 51(2), 296-312. doi:10.1016/0749-5978(92)90015-Y
  • Kotter, J. P., & Heskett, J. L. (1992). Corporate culture and performance. Free Press.
  • Losey, S. & Medici, A. (2012, April 16) GSA calls on officials to repay party expenses. Federal Times. Retrieved from http://www.federaltimes.com/article/20120416/DEPARTMENTS07/204160306
  • McCrae, R. R., & John, O. P. (1992). An introduction to the five-factor model and its applications. Journal of Personality, 60(2), 175-215.
  • Meckler, L. (2012, April 14) Secret Service misconduct is alleged. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304356604577342641172505430.html
  • Medici, A. (2012, April 17) Inspector General: GSA official’s waste part of pattern. USA Today. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/story/2012-04-17/gsa-spending-hearing/54338102/1
  • Milgram, S. (1963). Behavioral Study of Obedience. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 67(4), 371-378.
  • Perez, E. & Decordoba, J. (2012, April 17) New details in Secret Service case. Walls Street Journal. Retrieved from http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304299304577350071554454122.html
  • Perez, E. & Molinski, D. (2012, April 19) More firings seen at Secret Service. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303513404577353991485029140.html
  • Senge, P. M. (1990). The fifth discipline: The art & practice of the learning organization. New York: Doubleday.
  • United States Secret Service. (2012, April 14) Statement by Assistant Director Paul S. Morrissey. Press Release. Retrieved from http://www.secretservice.gov/press/GPA04-12_Statement.pdf
  • Zucchino, D. (2012, April 18) U.S. troops posed with body parts of Afghan bombers. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from http://articles.latimes.com/2012/apr/18/nation/la-na-afghan-photos-20120418
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Winning with Wise Leadership

November 8 in Communication, Goals by Joel DiGirolamo | No Comments

We often adore and reward the powerful, impressive leaders while those quietly toiling and continually producing solid results remain unnoticed. I’d like to highlight Ellen Kullman, CEO and Chair of the Board of DuPont as an excellent example of a wise leader who doesn’t find it necessary to flaunt achievements on the media’s center stage.

The seminal research of Dr. Fred Luthans from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in the mid-1980s is a good backdrop for this discussion. Dr. Luthans showed that the most effective managers spent the largest portion of their time communicating with their team, ensuring all members are aware of goals, current status, what is expected of them, etc. and on human resource (HR) management. He compared the effective manager results with those of “successful” managers, those who rose quickly in the hierarchy of their organization, who spent the largest portion of their time networking with individuals outside their team. Managers who were assessed as both effective and successful had a good balance of communication, HR, networking, and traditional management activity.

This compares well with the results of leadership studies by the author of Good to Great, Jim Collins. According to him, the highest level of leadership, Level 5, involves “personal humility and professional will.” In describing leaders who propel companies to consistent profits he often refers to their humility and somewhat dichotomous will to press forward with bold initiatives that at times seem premature and perhaps foolish.

Circling back to Ellen Kullman, she became CEO of DuPont at the beginning of 2009 as the latest recession was well along its precipitous slide. Ms. Kullman’s consistently pragmatic and visionary approach has yielded steady growth for DuPont. She communicates clearly and often, articulating aggressive goals, while maintaining a healthy ego. She has eschewed some of the corporate perks, such as the use of corporate jets for personal travel and listens intently to all with whom she interacts.

We could all do well listening and watching wise leaders such as Ellen Kullman, learning lessons in content, quality, and style of leadership.

Concepts:
• Look for leaders in your organization consistently churning out new products, services, and innovations without heroics or grandstanding

Keywords: leadership, communication, goals

References:
• Collins, J. (2001). Good to great: Why some companies make the leap. and others don’t. New York: Collins.
• Collins, J. (2001). Level 5 leadership: The triumph of humility and fierce resolve. Harvard Business Review, 83(7/8), 136-146.
• Luthans, F. (1988). Successful vs. effective real managers. Academy of Management Executive, 2(2), 127-132.
• Luthans, F., Hodgetts, R. M., & Rosenkrantz, S. A. (1988). Real managers. Cambridge, MA: Ballinger.
• Luthans, F., Rosenkrantz, S. A., & Hennessey, H. W. (1985). What do successful managers really do? An observation study of managerial activities. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 21(3), 255-270.

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“Occupy” and the Need for Leadership

November 1 in Communication, Goals by Joel DiGirolamo | 1 Comment

The Occupy movements have been out on the streets for a several months now yet their goals remain largely unknown to most of us. The reason for this is because they really don’t have any goals beyond generating awareness, and have eschewed leaders and leadership. This is a good lesson for us in the value of leadership.

Leadership provides the most value, and in fact some say is only needed, in times of crises or turmoil. An effective leader will work to create a compelling vision with powerful goals that will attract and align people toward those goals. The messages communicated by a vigorous leader will be crisp and compelling.

While I sympathize with the protesters and agree that we must focus on maintaining a strong middle class, I am saddened that their energy is not as channeled and productive as it could be. If the occupy protesters were to channel their energy into crisply crafted goals such as generating awareness on a widening wealth and income gap, calling voters to action to communicate with their legislators, and providing lucid messages for them to communicate they could become a powerful force.

Without this, they stand to appear as an unorganized, drifting tribe of mavericks, garnering a fraction of the publicity and effectiveness they could, and truly should obtain.

Concepts:
• Leadership provides most value in times of crises or turmoil
• A leader motivates and aligns individuals toward common goals, enhancing group productivity

Keywords: leadership, goals, communication

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