"Get up! Get on up! Stay on the scene ... You are a Leadership Machine! Shake your money maker" Hmm.
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April 22 · Issue #45 · View online
Feeding the Passion for Transformation: Be it Talent, Culture, Work or HR
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“Get up! Get on up! Stay on the scene … You are a Leadership Machine! Shake your money maker” Hmm… am I perhaps misquoting James Brown to force a point - that we need to “ hit it and quit” with the picture of Leaders as being of the mentality “its just business, it is not personal”. Leaders as inhuman machines, focusing only on the short-term bottom-line. It is always personal - and particularly now it is. Experts like Charlotte Marshall emphazize that the “decisive wall between consumer and employer brand has shattered - it is the brand. People care more about the people behind a brand than ever before - and they care more about how you are treating your people. People in COVID-19 Era will never forget how they feel when they have been treated badly… It is buyer-beware. It used to be that we would only care about how a company treats their people when we were actively looking for a job. Now in these times, we all care about how employers are treating their people.” Her co-panelist, Bryan Adams says, like all of us in Leadership development know - “pressure reveals true character”. The character piece shows up in how we trust our leaders - be they at a company, an organization, or country level. As Dov Seidman, of the How Institute for Society states it “Great leaders trust people with the truth. And they make hard decisions guided by values and principles, not just politics, popularity or short-term profits. Great leaders understand that when so many vulnerable and scared people are so willing, so quickly, to put their livelihoods and even their lives in their leaders’ hands, and make sacrifices asked of them, they expect the truth and nothing but the truth in return. Leaders who trust people with the truth are trusted more in return. But you better not betray my trust — by not telling me the truth — when I have literally put my life in your hands.” One aspect that has arisen in the conversation of proactive responses has been the discussion many of the leadership characteristics commonly attributed to women are the ones managing the situation comparatively better. These praises are particularly loud when it comes to sizing up how female heads of state, like Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel, are disproportionately successful in their response to the pandemic. Some say it may be due to the Glass Cliff, the Catch-22 effect that female leaders are more often subjected to than not. As Cami Anderson explains it: “women are more likely to get their shot at being the big boss when there is a crisis. They are also more likely to be blamed for the crisis (even if it started before them) and to be criticized if there are negative consequences during a crisis (even if those consequences are inevitable). This is not true of men.” In other words, like the researcher, Dr. Abbie Griffith Oliver speculates “perhaps women know they are damned if they do something and damned if they don’t, so they just do the right thing.” Some other thoughts as to why some companies are performing much better, and are growing in positive recognition is due to their stronger commitment to ESG (environmental, social, and governance). It seems these companies have been outperforming the S&P 500 during this crisis. “Companies with strong ESG ratings by definition have policies in place to: (a) protect the environment; (b) care about their employees, communities and customers, and maintain a high level of women in leadership; and © hold leaders accountable through rigorous management systems. The leadership skills ESG ratings reflect as the most effective are: Collaboration. Creativity. Resourcefulness. Being proactive. Preventing crises or keeping them from getting worse. Communicating. Listening. Strategic planning. Authenticity. Building trust. Transparency. Managing ambiguity. Relationship-building. Self-control. Teamwork. Focus on facts. Responsibility” according to Forbes, Joan Michelson. You do not have to be a female to do the right thing but there are some strong indicators that we maybe ought to be singing “Mama’s got a brand new bag” as we continue to navigate in this COVID-19 era. “Right on, right on”.
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Leadership's Got A Brand New Bag
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What The World Needs Now Is Leadership Courage
“These are the times that try men’s souls.” Philosopher Thomas Paine. Recommendations on bravery and courage in leadership during these times.
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Ed Schein, MIT Professor, Explains Why We Need to Overthrow Today's Leadership Culture - Egon Zehnder
Ed Schein, MIT Professor and organizational development guru, on the importance of knowing one another - in order to be able to truly learn and collaborate with one another.
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Why Do Women Make Such Good Leaders During COVID-19?
CNN and Forbes are reporting: Women have been among the strongest and most decisive leaders in response to COVID-19. Experts on leadership say we have to go beyond “soft skills” to understand why they are excelling, and what the implications are for all leaders. If you are interested, this is the referenced Glass Cliff research.
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Why Fighting COVID-19 Requires Character | Ivey Business Journal
This is a helpful model and a reflection excursion into 11 aspects of character influencing the ability to make good judgement calls.
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7 Leadership Lessons Men Can Learn from Women
“The best gender equality intervention is to focus on equality of talent and potential”. This article is written to provoke thought into one’s own style. It is not IMHO a question of gender per say - it is about how we show up and be present to what really matters.
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Opinion | Are Women Better Decision Makers? - The New York Times
When stressed, men are more prone to taking risky bets with little payoff. So apparently the lesson is - help males avoid stress? Yes, well, that may not be feasible. How can we mitigate risky, knee jerk reactions may be the better question?
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Putting People First: Leading in an Era of Constant Transformation – QAspire by Tanmay Vora
This is a great sketch-note to summarize on 5 ways to lead in constant change.
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Brainfood Marathon
Last week, the incredible Recruiting Brainfood community came together for a 24 hour marathon in 88 streams on how the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting the world of recruitment and HR. The wealth of ideas and contributions is available (just sign-up, and you will get a link that will let you in to the talks). I was honoured to be the Hung B in Track B. There are so many amazing talks to dive into but I would like to highlight 5 I really enjoyed: Overall with Hung Lee: Some talks to highlight in conversation with me:
Fanny Comba - How to do employer branding during a pandemic
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Leadership is coming together with the skills we have to impact the broader good. That is what I have been up to lately. Personally I am highly impressed with how folks are coming together. In addition to the marathon, I am proud to be taking part in the Braintrust group led up by Mike Hruska and L&D cares by Brandon Carson. Also, together with David Everhart, I am kicking off a senior executive level Working Group on Talent Management and Learning in the COVID-19 Era as well as personally offering up a program for leaders on #workingremotelybeing connected. If you are interested in the initiatives / outcomes, and how they can help your organizations or teams, I am happy to jump on a call with you. Just let me know. Wishing you well and sending all my best regards, Liz
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Elizabeth Lembke, Transforming Talent Consulting: www.transformingtalent.co and www.transformingtalent.de
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