By Gregg Thompson

Leadership development workshops are very expensive. And I’m not just referring to the cost of facilities, materials, trainers, and bagels. When a company takes 20 or so managers out of the organization for several days, it is making a significant investment in their development. Those of us who are the architects of these workshops need to ask ourselves the question: Have we designed a workshop that is worthy of this investment? We at Bluepoint have been delivering leadership workshops for over twenty years and have learned that there are 10 core design principles that lead to a great learning experience. I would like to share these with you.

1. Research-based content
   A colleague of ours once mused that many leadership workshops appear to have been created by two guys in a bar in Milwaukee and recorded on the back of a beer coaster. The truth is that anyone can cobble together some interesting exercises and experiences, but to what end? We know the outcomes of great organization leadership…alignment, engagement, retention, productivity, teamwork, agility, to name a few. There is little mystery here. What many designers ignore is all the research that tells us what specific leadership behaviors, practices and approaches will create these outcomes. A good leadership workshop is grounded in this research and, as such, will equip participants with the capability to make an immediate, positive impact on their organizations.
2. Engagement
   The frenzied pace that most managers face today has turned the otherwise calm and thoughtful participant into a skittish, distracted bystander infected by a self-imposed form of ADD with one eye on his or her Blackberry and the other eye on the door. It’s not that these managers are disinterested in their professional development; they are simply products of today’s frenetic organizations. To get their attention, they must be entertained. While describing a good leadership workshop as entertaining may sound like a call to design a boondoggle, unless the workshop can successfully compete with the myriad of distractions facing today’s manager, we will simply be hosting adult day-care. The famous communications guru, Marshall McLuhan, made the connection even more direct with this statement: “It’s misleading to suppose there’s any basic difference between education and entertainment.” Videos, stories, games, debates, physical experiences and colorful materials all play an important role in participant engagement.
3. Story-telling
   Every participant comes to the workshop with their own unique leadership story that has grown out of their experiences, beliefs, fears, biases and aspirations. A great workshop challenges the participant to create a bigger story for him or herself and the people that they lead. This can only happen when the participant has the opportunity to tell his or her current story and have it honored in the classroom. Once this happens, a new story can be crafted. The greater the story, the greater the development.
4. Feedback
   No workshop ingredient is more potent than feedback. Whether it be multi-rater assessments or direct one-on-one communication, feedback is a powerful stimulus for personal change. And that’s what leadership development really is…personal change. What limits the use of feedback in leadership workshops? I believe it is largely our own arrogance. Too often we feel that the participant cannot handle the feedback. They are too fragile. They will somehow be irreparably damaged by our words or those of fellow participants. Or it may be our own insecurities. We will lose control of the workshop. Emotions will run rampant. We will not be able to handle the resulting carnage. Remember, the workshop is not about you; it’s about the participant. Be bold in creating a feedback-rich environment. The participants will thank you for the gift, maybe not now, but someday.
5. Appreciation
   The problem with many leadership development workshops is that there is an underlying assumption that the ideal leader needs to develop a predetermined set of corporate competencies while becoming some fantastic amalgamation of Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King, Gandhi and Jack Welch. Let’s leave that idea to the boys at the bar in Milwaukee. We do not discard these elements entirely from the design process. Corporate culture and strategy rightly have a bearing on workshop design, and there is also much we can learn from the great leaders of the past. However, the best workshops are based on the assumption that all participants come uniquely gifted for the challenge of leadership, and the role of the workshop is to help them identify and cultivate these gifts. It is not our job to help them become the next Steve Jobs, but rather someone much more potent…the best leadership version of themselves. A workshop that is designed to help the participants accelerate the development of their natural strengths is much more potent than one designed to fix the participant or change him or her into the model corporate leader.
6. Intense experiences
   I have now asked thousands of workshop participants to reflect on the following five items and select the one that had the most influence on their development as a leader.

   (i) Reading and Research
   (ii) Performance appraisals
   (iii) Coaching and Mentoring
   (iv) Challenging experiences
   (v) Formal training

   “Challenging experiences” was selected by over 90 % of the respondents. (It’s interesting to note that “Performance appraisals” always comes in dead last, but that’s a topic for another column.) Even though most designers are keenly aware of these findings, there is a great temptation to fill the workshop agenda with content that is largely extraneous such as succession planning models, managerial competencies, and corporate values. While the intention to provide material that can be applied back on the job is laudable, this information is largely ignored. People can read. Give them the content beforehand. Use the workshop as a learning laboratory where the participants are confronted with real leadership situations. Challenge them to lead at higher levels. Create a curriculum that exposes participants to intense experiences, and allow them to experiment with new behaviors and approaches. This will accelerate their learning and development. (By the way…most savvy managers have read all the corporate tenets and many of the important books on leadership anyway.)

7. Peer coaching
   In my ongoing survey noted in section 6, “Coaching and Mentoring” always comes in second. One-on-one learning processes are very powerful because, for a period of time, it really is all about me. Because coaching requires no content knowledge, any participant can coach another with a little guidance. For those of us who make our living standing in the front of a classroom trying to be insightful, witty and sage-like, it is difficult to accept the fact that the average peer coaching session is much more effective than our most brilliant lecture. Whenever possible, get your body and ego out of the way and let the participants talk to each other.
8. Self-awareness
   It has been said that leadership development is an inside-out game. I like the way Manfred Kets De Vries puts it: “Healthy leaders are passionate…They are very talented in self-observation and self-analysis; the best leaders are highly motivated to spend time in self-reflection.” (Harvard Business Review, January, 2003) The leadership development workshop provides the perfect opportunity for the leader to step out of his or her chaotic schedule, put it in neutral, and take a long, fresh look inward, After all, the only thing participants can work on to improve their leadership is themselves. Put sufficient white space into the workshop design so the participant can personalize the learning. Most managers cannot remember the last time they took 15 minutes in complete silence to contemplate their own leadership journey. Give them the 15 minutes.
9. Performance breakthroughs
   The most frequently voiced dissatisfaction with leadership workshops is the lack of application on the job. It’s not because workshop participants do not want to change; it’s just that real change is so difficult. The pressures of the job, lack of support from their manager, no time…the list goes on. Significant improvement in leadership effectiveness rarely occurs in one big leap. We don’t see the freshly-trained leader walking through the hallways wearing saffron-colored robes, musing about shared community values and throwing rose petals on others (metaphorically speaking, that is). Change occurs incrementally and is fueled by short-term successes – a process that needs to start in the classroom. Bar the classroom door and let no one leave until they have demonstrated at least ten performance breakthroughs (again, metaphorically speaking…I think). Real change starts in the workshop, not back in the office. Start the habit of experimentation and incremental change in the workshop.
10. Learning accountability
    I kick-off many of my leadership coaching assignments with the eternally irritating question: “So, Sally, if nothing changes in your performance what is likely to happen?” Besides the mischievous delight I take in tormenting my clients, I have learned that I can serve them best by insisting that they take full responsibility for their actions, decisions, learning and future. Unless they take personal accountability for their development, there will always be someone else to blame…their board, their staff, their customer, their mother. So too with a leadership workshop. The question that needs to be oft asked at the workshop is “So, George, what have you learned about yourself and what are you going to do about it?

Our clients often report that the two or three days spent in our leadership development workshops were some of the most important days of their careers. Is this because we have great facilitators? Most certainly. A great facilitator can turn almost any curriculum into an important learning experience. But it is also because we try to adhere to the above design principles which, in essence, tell us that the workshop is not about us…it’s about the participant.

Gregg Thompson is President of Bluepoint Leadership Development and can be reached by email.

By Susanne Biro

Do you have the ability to focus your mind on what you want, when you want?

It is often said that our most precious commodity is time. I disagree. Because the experience of time is relative, I do not find it an adequate measurement tool. Rather, I propose that our most precious commodity is our attention. We only have so much attention to give at any given moment, and so our question becomes, to whom and to what should I devote it?

Unfortunately, for most people, the ability to control their own attention is severely underdeveloped. As a result, their mind frequently races off, following various thoughts as they arise. This phenomena can often be noticed when one is reading - perhaps you have had the experience of coming to the end of a page only to realize that you have no idea of what you just read because you were not paying attention (and so, frustratingly, you must re-read the entire page). What a strange experience! You were reading, but your attention was decidedly absent. Where did it go? If you were not controlling your own attention, do you know who or what was? This is something worth contemplating.

The undisciplined mind is a noisy and busy mind. Sometimes we can see evidence of this mind in outward behavior such as quick speech, the inability to sit still, or the constant need to rush from one thing to another. The most common incarnation of this type in organizations today is the person who has to respond to every ping from their Blackberry (not unlike Pavlov’s dogs). However, just as often, the only evidence of an undisciplined mind is the feeling that another person is not really listening to us. Perhaps you have noticed this in others - they appear to be paying attention, but you don’t get the sense that they really are. Or, perhaps you have noticed how your own mind wanders when in conversation with others.

Left untrained, our minds will often repeat the same collection of thoughts over and over again, sometimes for years. When we have not practiced mental discipline to tame what has been referred to as our “wild horse mind,” we find ourselves in a state of constant distraction, unable to be fully present to any situation - regardless of where we find ourselves. For example, we may be on vacation, but if our attention is back at work, then time away from the office has not been sufficient to provide that much needed holiday. Without applying mental discipline to direct our own attention, our mind is consumed with thoughts, making it difficult, if not impossible, to notice what is actually happening - in a conversation, in a meeting, or during a presentation or important negotiation. The cost of this lack of attention can never be fully known; however, I believe it is greater than we can possibly imagine.

Try This: For one week, pay attention to the thoughts you think most often. Notice all the things you say to yourself about what is happening and what it means to you. Simply bring awareness to where you currently invest your most precious commodity - your attention. At the end of the week, answer the following questions: - What are the thoughts I think most often? - Which thoughts are useful to myself and others? - Which ones are not? - How can I more effectively focus my attention next week?

Susanne Biro is a Leadership Coach at Bluepoint and the co-author of Unleashed!: Expecting Greatness and other secrets to coaching for exceptional performance. She can be reached by email.

By Gregg Thompson

The next time you are listening to a leader speak, listen carefully to the speaker’s use of the word “I.” The manner in which a leader uses this one little word reveals much about his or her inclination towards accountability. Most leaders learn early in their careers to speak in terms of “we.” What should we do? How will we work together? What did we accomplish? They recognize that much of their role is to give voice to the organization’s plans and performance and that, in that context, the use of “we” is most appropriate. But when it comes to their personal accountability, it’s all about the “I” word. As you listen, you will quickly become adept at spotting leaders who have a strong sense of personal accountability and those that do not.

Consider the four sample statements in the non-accountable list below. When leaders use these or similar statements, they are signaling a lack of accountability. Conversely, the corresponding statements in the accountable list signal a strong sense of personal accountability.

Not Accountable

1. I had to…
2. I cannot…
3. I need to…
4. I am unable to…

Accountable

1. I chose to…
2. I will not…
3. I want to…
4. I am unwilling to…

The difference between these phrases may appear subtle, but if you listen closely, they speak volumes about the degree to which a leader takes responsibility for his or her thoughts, opinions, and actions.

How often do you hear a leader saying things like…
“I had to fire him”
“I cannot get along with the Board”
“I need to get more support from the company”
“I am unable to agree with you”

These comments denote a lack of personal accountability and erode leadership effectiveness. I believe that we are always listening to those around us, almost unconsciously, and grading them on the accountability scale. We naturally attribute the qualities of leadership to those individuals who assume personal accountability and discount the leadership of those who do not.

Think about the language you use. Does your language suggest that you hold yourself accountable for your own performance, or do you deflect responsibility elsewhere? It may seem like a small matter of language choice, but its impact on how you are perceived as a leader is enormous.

Gregg Thompson is President of Bluepoint Leadership Development and author of Unleashed: Expecting Greatness and Other Secrets of Coaching for Exceptional Performance. He can be reached by email.

By Valarie Willis

It is 8:00 a.m. — Do you know where your talent is?

Sure, you say, “They’re at their desks, commuting in, with a client, or in a meeting.”

Maybe I should pose the question as, “Do you know where your missing talent is?”

How many of you are thinking that the head count number seems to be right for the organization, yet something is terribly wrong with the talent pool?

Many organizations continue to face a talent shortage even when the headcount is right. There are enough people, but not enough of the right talent mix. Great talent comes into the organization and a few years later, if not properly developed and trained, that talent will be out the door. Not a lot of discussion about it, they will just leave and take their skills to an organization that cares about who they are and how they can develop their talent. According to the Wall Street Journal (1/28/08), “Companies haven’t been grooming talent and training enough employees for promotions and now have a mismatch of talent.” It is like the organization is wearing mismatched socks, right colors, wrong pattern.

When I was in IT a few years ago, when technology and software were rapidly changing, we had a lot of talented people–if you wanted old generation software support. We were in desperate need of talent that could quickly grasp the new software languages, and we needed some of the talent that could maintain current systems. It was a difficult balance to strike, but we had to make the decision to get some existing talent upgraded and hire in talent with the needed skill set. New people coming into the organization wanted to continue to update their skill sets and learn new things, even though they were not necessarily in for the long haul. The mystery to me was why some of the existing talent did not want to move on to the new technology. They didn’t want to leave their comfort zone, or perhaps I, as a leader, didn’t paint a compelling vision to motivate them to reach for greater places.

Retaining talent, motivating talent and developing talent is the job of a leader. It is a two-way street in that the talent is responsible for seeking out new interests, dialoguing with their leaders, and developing their talent.

Organizations have been warned for years that the new generation of workers are not going to stay forever, and that they need new, exciting and challenging experiences to stay engaged. Yet, knowing this, many organizations are not preparing future leaders, giving stretch assignments, or even identifying the key talent. Great talent will stay on the move, and that means that organizations have to put plans in place to have a continuous flow of talent through the pipeline, either through training and development or hiring.

Ultimately it is the role of leadership in the organization to become “Connoisseurs of Talent” as Tom Peters would say. The focus needs to be on the future needs of the organization compared to the current capabilities of the talent. Leaders need to evaluate on a consistent basis and put plans in place to upgrade the current skills of talent. The talent in the organization should also be forward-looking to see what skills they need to obtain in order to stay marketable.

Ten Talent Tips

1. Understand future needs of the organization and business units
2. Have a method in place to identify key talent
3. Give existing talent stretch assignments for development
4. Reshuffle roles in the organization, people will learn new areas
5. Make training and development a priority, even in the tough times
6. Find out what skills are missing and fill the gaps
7. Acknowledge and appreciate the great talent that you have
8. Re-look at your mission and vision, are they bold enough to attract and retain?
9. Implement coaching for development
10. Become a mentor to aspiring talent

There is plenty of talent in the market–the question is, “Is it the right talent?” Take a look at your organization and ask yourself, “What skills are we missing that will help to take us to the next level?” And then, do something about it.

Send me your comments about how your organization is keeping and attracting the right talent.

Valarie Willis is a Senior Facilitator at Bluepoint Leadership Development. She can be reached by email.

By Gregg Thompson

The coaching wrap-up conversation over coffee quickly turned uncomfortable, at least for me. “You touched me,” said the client, “you really touched me.” With a quick “thank you” in return, I try to quickly change the topic to something much more benign. (My mind is racing…is the Super Bowl still fresh enough to provide a quick detour in the conversation?) He was not to be dissuaded. “You are not hearing me. You touched me here.” This time he pointed directly at the middle of his chest. “Right here!”

I have spent many years positioning leadership coaching as a practical and potent performance improvement process (and it clearly is that) while minimizing the more personal aspects of this work. After all, we are coaches, not counselors. And not just regular coaches for that matter. We are leadership coaches whose clients are primarily senior business managers. We use words like “partnership” and “challenges” not “intimacy” and “compassion.” We ask our clients to step up to a bigger game, not get in touch with their feelings. And now, standing right in front of me is the seasoned COO of a major manufacturing enterprise telling me that our coaching work has not only rekindled his passion for leadership, but for life itself. He continues, “I have made three commitments, and I am living these every day. First, I have committed myself to have a positive impact on the jobs, careers and lives of every single person in our organization, regardless of their position. Second, I have recommitted myself to be a real servant leader in my family. Third, I have committed to leave this planet a better place when my time is done.” And then he said the words to which I had no response: “My heart has been opened up to a whole new world.”

Coaches rarely teach. We mostly remind our clients of their talents, their passions, their aspirations and their potential. That day over coffee, my client reminded me of something I really have known all along – it is impossible to fully explore leadership potential without touching the heart along the way.

In this column I often provide a few insights or aphorisms for those readers who are interested in the leadership development field. This time I simply have some reminders for myself:

When I am coaching I need to remember that:

1. I cannot separate the leader from the person. The whole person is in the coaching relationship with me. (To the coach: Be accepting)

2. All leadership development is, in fact, personal development. The person being coached is the instrument of leadership, and the only way that development occurs is when the leader works on him or herself. (To the coach: Be human)

3. The most intense leadership development comes as a result of a deep personal commitment. (To the coach: Honor the heart!)

Gregg Thompson is President of Bluepoint Leadership Development. He can be reached by email

By Gregg Thompson

Many of us who lead organizations go through a very similar routine this time of the year. We start by admonishing ourselves for the mistakes of the past year - the projects left undone and the opportunities not seized. We grit our teeth, clean off our desks, start a fresh notebook and resolve to make significant changes in the way we will work in the coming year. Year after year, the same resolutions are made:

1. I’ve just got to get organized. (“If I can just create a better way of dealing with this relentless stream of email, improve my scheduling and sort out this mess of papers in my briefcase, I’ll be able to spend more time doing the really important leadership stuff.”)
2. This year, I will set priorities. (“I’ve got to stop doing a bunch of things, no matter how cool and interesting, and discipline myself to do only the strategic stuff.”)
3. I promise to delegate more. (“If I can only get others to do the things I don’t want to do and to work as hard and smart as me, I’ll be free to do the high value-added stuff.”)

I have news for you (and me). While these are worthy goals, the truth is we will all still be at the same spot next year, fussing about the way we are organizing, prioritizing and delegating. But what would happen if we were determined to make a real change in the way we lead our organizations this year? Perhaps we should ask ourselves the more compelling question…what will happen in our organization this year if nothing changes in the way we lead?

Here are seven leadership resolutions you might consider that will make a real difference in your organization in the coming year. Which ones will provide the biggest payoffs? Do all seven, and I promise that you will have the most rewarding year of your leadership career!

1. Craft a big, bold, breath-taking story and tell it every day. What is the most exciting, rewarding, and scariest future you can imagine? What great battles will be won, treasures found and people freed? Paint the story in full color. What does the future look like? How are we going to get there? How is tomorrow going to be much better than today? People want to be part of an important story. Tell it to them and help them find their own starring role.
2. Multiply the strength of your leadership connections. Consider for a moment the 8-10 individuals with whom you share management and leadership responsibilities. How much more effective would your leadership team become if you dramatically strengthened your personal connection with every one of these people? You have probably created a mutually acceptable status quo with these individuals so change will not be easy. Are there some difficult conversations that you need to have? Try this: honor their uniqueness; share more of yourself; learn about them; ask how you can serve them. Be careful, this is very potent.
3. Act with exceptional compassion and kindness. You are not the only one feeling a bit beaten up these days. The members of your organization are faced with many of the same challenges that you face…imperfect products, unpredictable markets, insatiable customers, disappointing staff performance. Seek out ways to show your humanity every day. Treat everyone in the organization with dignity and respect, especially those who are struggling. They will walk through walls for you, but do not do it for that reason. Do it because it is the right thing to do. We spend much of our waking lives inside organizations and you have the power to make these places where the human spirit can thrive or die. Use this power well.
4. Tell the absolute truth. Stop spinning, sugar-coating and avoiding. You’ll be amazed at how many people start listening to you. Everyone wants to improve the communication throughout their organization but what about simply setting a new standard for honesty…starting with you. How much more effective would your organization be if the half-truths, positioning, sacred elephants and face-saving were eradicated? The tough part is that you cannot make this happen by mandating it. You must go first. You must model it.
5. Hold everyone accountable. Accountability is a very good thing. It is not tyranny. The caring leader insists that people do what they say they will do. When you hold people accountable, you are saying that their work is important. You are saying that they are important. Every time you let a deadline slip or a deliverable go incomplete, you are discounting the person whose job it is to deliver on these commitments. Make it a habit to ensure that every piece of work is accompanied by a personal commitment. Measure. Give feedback. Initiate consequences. Celebrate being part of an organization that keeps its promises.
6. Confront underperformance with a twist. You know in your heart-of-hearts who is under-performing in your organization. Make a list. Commit to seeing that this performance changes early this year. Now here’s the tough part. Before you take any action, ask yourself these questions – “What is my part in this situation? How have my actions or lack thereof contributed to this situation? What do I need to do differently?” Approach the individuals in question and describe your responsibilities and personal commitments to change. Then, and only then, it’s their turn. You may need to do nothing else.
7. Be distinctively you. What would you get if you could put all of the leadership qualities of Bill Gates, Gandhi, Mother Theresa, George Washington, Jack Welch and Winston Churchill into one individual? Probably a bland, non-descript person indistinguishable in the crowd.  These men and women made a difference because they had the courage to be themselves. Have you forgotten who you really are? What excites you these days? What are your passions? Your obsessions? Where do you want to make your mark? When you are at your best, what are you doing? Maybe it’s time to figure out what is most important to you, tell everyone around you, and let this fuel your leadership.

Why not make this your best year ever as a leader. What will happen if nothing really changes?

Gregg Thompson is President of Bluepoint Leadership Development.  He can be reached by email.

How will you develop your high potentials and high performers in 2010?

Leadership is going to be the key to strong economic recovery. More than ever, savvy organizations are investing in high potential leadership development for their best and brightest talent. They see their high potential population as a real leverage point in driving recovery. This is the best investment in the future executive bench strength of any organization. Read on…

By Gregg Thompson

James Kavanaugh once suggested that there are “those too gentle to live among the wolves”. I hope this is no longer true in today’s organizations. I believe that the “wolves” have had their day and need to make way for a new breed of manager: The Gentle Leader. Today we need those special leaders who can create a real sense of community and commitment in our organizations. Leaders who see their role as one that serves the greater good, as one that puts the interests of others first, as one that creates places where the lowest of the low are treated with dignity and respect. Leaders who can galvanize people around an idea that stirs their deepest passions. Leaders who believe that position, privilege and wealth is earned only in service of others. Men and women who use words like compassion, sacrifice and forgiveness…and mean them. Leaders who understand kindness and tolerance because these elements are evident in all of their decisions and actions. Leaders who have remarkable faith in others and draw their strength from this faith. Read on…