Armstrong Results

Developing People, Building Performance

FebMayOct 2007

Armstrong Results - results you can build on. Dear ,

A recent article in HBR, "Discovering Your Authentic Leadership"¹, caught my attention. I was intrigued that after thousands of studies, leadership scholars had not uncovered one set of leadership behaviors or traits common to great leaders.

Yet often organizations have established leadership behaviors for their people to emulate. And therein lies the problem. Behaviors are the least important part of leadership. And reducing leadership to a list of desired behaviors doesn't take into account the particular environment or circumstances, nor the relationships and unique strengths of the leader.

When leaders are attempting to imitate certain behaviors instead of engaging with the situation and the people involved and engaging from their own strengths, they are doomed. What a great loss; only when leaders get real can they lead powerfully.

By the way, we were thrilled to have Lorne's article on Alignment, in response to "The Tools of Cooperation and Change"², published (in part) as a letter to the editor in the March issue of the Harvard Business Review.

Enjoy!

Lorne Armstrong and Kris Bury

1 George, Bill; Sims, Peter; McLean, Andrew N.; Mayer, Diana. Discovering Your Authentic Leadership. Harvard Business Review, February 2007, Boston, MA. pp. 129-138.

2 Armstrong, Lorne. The Tools of Cooperation and Change. Letter to the Editor, Harvard Business Review, March 2007, pp. 136, 137.

Armstrong Results - results you can build on.

Competency Trap #1:

The Hypnosis of Behavior
by Lorne Armstrong

Competencies are dangerously over-sold and tragically misunderstood by managers and executives trying to improve the performance of their people and their organization – especially in the area of leadership. There are three hidden traps in implementing competencies: the assumption that behaviors are a good indicator of fitting and powerful leadership, that knowing what to do is paramount and that getting everyone to lead the same way would be better. It is easy to fall into any or all of these traps and the more emphasis you place on them, the worse performance will get.

We will examine the hypnosis of behavior first and get to the others later. Describing leadership behaviors seems to make sense – except it is dead wrong. The small part of real leadership that can be seen – that can be described by behavior – makes the least difference.

The view from the "outside" (what leaders look like in action) is not the same as the view from the "inside" (what they are paying attention to, and what they're not; how they are interpreting those cues and what courage is being mustered). Real leadership happens on the inside.

Real communication starts with you being authentically you; recognizing and contributing your strengths; recognizing and orchestrating the strengths of others.

Develop and contribute your unique gifts. Resolve for yourself any doubts you have about your own leadership and identify what you are out to fulfill – for you, for others and for the organization. Stop trying to imitate others!

Full article…

Getting Real

Getting real is the essence of powerful and effective leadership. Enough of quadrants, colors or initials – what are your unique strengths? What is your personal leadership style – the one that works for you? What is the source of your more powerful expression of leadership? Having some insight into these is essential to take your leading to a new level.

What if real communication has nothing to do with getting agreement, building consensus? If it is not messages, information, mutual feelings or understanding, what is it?

If you’re interested in real leadership and real communication, give us a call.

For more information...

Armstrong Results Forum

An intriquing thought…

One commom assumption is that large changes are driven by a small group of informed, persuasive or connected people. Not so according to Duncan J. Watts¹ in the February issue of HBR. Large scale change has more to do with the presence of many easily influenced people.

Now, you surely don't want a large group of "go alongs", but imagine an organization of people easily influenced by what's right, what has integrity, or what's the single most important thing for the organization to focus on next. Beyond the opinions of a few – and resistant to the nonsense and flavour of the month that is often passed off as the next good idea.

If you have any questions or issues you would like us to discuss in upcoming newsletters, please let us know.

You may email us at ideas@ArmstrongResults.com.

For more information…

1 Watts, Duncan J.; The Accidental Influentials. Breakthrough Ideas for 2007, Harvard Business Review, February 2007, pp. 22, 23.

Areas of Focus

About Us

Armstrong Consulting Group works with senior leaders and teams to develop people and build performance in their organization.

Please give us a call if you are interested in...

Real leadership
Real communication
Uncovering and orchestrating the strengths of those around you
Establishing a culture focused on the single most important thing for the organization

We hope you have enjoyed this issue of our newsletter!

Sincerely,