Public Management Track

Module 3:

Leadership in the Public Service

Table of content
1 INTRODUCTION 5
1.1 COGNITIVE INTELLIGENCE (IQ) 5
1.2 EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE (EQ) 6
1.3 THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COGNITIVE AND EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE 7
1.4 WHY EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE IS IMPORTANT IN LEADERSHIP 7

2 EMOTIONAL COMPETENCE 8

3 PERSONAL EFFECTIVENESS 14
3.1 WHAT IS YOUR MINDSET AND WHY DOES IT MATTER? 14

4 PURPOSE AND GOALS HELPS CREATE YOUR IDEAL LIFE 17

4.1 GOAL SETTING: THE CPSDS MATRIX 22

5 EMOTIONALLY INTELLIGENT COMMUNICATION 23

6 TAKING BACK YOUR POWER 29

7 RESPONDING IN AN EMOTIONALLY INTELLIGENT MANNER 31

7.1 LOCUS OF CONTROL 31
7.2 STRESS MANAGEMENT 34

8 USING EQ TO ENABLE HIGH PERFORMANCE 39

8.1 ENCOURAGING TEAM WORK USING EQ 39
8.2 BUILDING COLLABORATIVE TEAMS 41
8.3 PROVIDING EMOTIONALLY INTELLIGENT FEEDBACK 45

9 THE PUBLIC SERVANT AS LEADER 52

10 THE LEADER AS COACH 56

11 BUILDING HIGH PERFORMANCE TEAMS 60

11.1 THE HIGH PERFORMANCE CYCLE 61
11.2 THE HIGH PERFORMANCE BEHAVIOURS 61
11.3 SETTING OBJECTIVES 63
11.4 PLANNING 65
11.5 ASSIGNING WORK 67

12 HIGHLY EFFECTIVE TEAMS 68

12.1 IDENTITY 68
12.2 TRUST 70
12.3 MANAGING CONFLICT 74
12.4 ACHIEVING COMMITMENT 75
12.5 EMBRACING ACCOUNTABILITY 75
12.6 FOCUSING ON RESULTS 77

13 THE PUBLIC SERVICE MANAGER AS LEADER 78

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13.1 VIRTUOUS LEADERSHIP 79
13.2 SERVANT LEADERSHIP MODEL 83
13.3 THE LEADER AS A MANAGER 84
13.4 INSPIRING YOUR FOLLOWERS 86

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During the module we will:

Acknowledge the importance of SELF-LEADERSHIP

• Demonstrate skills and techniques to respond to situations in an emotional
intelligent manner
• Take a conscious decision to move toward excellence
• Apply emotional intelligence in dealing with others
Investigate LEADERSHIP MODELS AND PRINCIPLES
• Understand layers of leadership
• Investigate own leadership strengths and vulnerabilities
• Use leadership to achieve high performance and engagement
Apply ETHICAL AND SERVANT LEADERSHIP
• Understand the ethical role and responsibility of the leader
• Examine the role of the visionary leader
• Apply Servant Leadership

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1 INTRODUCTION
When it comes to happiness and success in life, emotional intelligence matters just as much
as intellectual ability – and probably more in times of change and tension in the work place.
Well managed, your emotional intelligence (EQ) can help you build stronger relationships
and better achieve your career and personal goals.
What do all successful teams have in common? They have great leaders and they are
happy. Creating a happy working environment in this climate of job swapping, reduced
loyalty and increased financial pressure can go a long way to ensuring that you keep your
star performers, and become a respected leader.
Emotional Intelligence is a concept that has been around for a while and is every bit as
important as cognitive intelligence (IQ). EQ is vital to great staff relationships, open
communication and ensuring your team stays motivated and productive.
EQ is a critical success factor in high-performing teams and by mastering it you are ensuring
your team’s on-going success and well-being.

1.1 Cognitive Intelligence (IQ)

Intelligence has been defined in many different ways such as in terms of one's capacity for
logic, abstract thought, understanding, self-awareness, communication, learning, emotional
knowledge, memory, planning, creativity and problem solving. It can also be more generally
described as the ability to perceive information and retain it as knowledge for applying to
itself or other instances of knowledge or information, thereby creating referable
understanding models of any size, density, or complexity, due to any conscious or
subconscious imposed will or instruction to do so.
Individuals differ from one another in their ability to understand complex ideas, to adapt
effectively to the environment, to learn from experience, to engage in various forms of
reasoning, to overcome obstacles by taking thought. Although these individual differences
can be substantial, they are never entirely consistent: a given person's intellectual
performance will vary on different occasions, in different domains, as judged by different
criteria. Concepts of "intelligence" are attempts to clarify and organize this complex set of
phenomena. Although considerable clarity has been achieved in some areas, no such
conceptualization has yet answered all the important questions, and none commands
universal assent. Indeed, when two dozen prominent theorists were recently asked to define
intelligence, they gave two dozen, somewhat different, definitions.
As can be seen from the above Intelligence itself is a nebulous and often loaded topic; we all
have our own opinions and views! However, Howard Gardner’s view of intelligence - To my
mind, a human intellectual competence must entail a set of skills of problem solving —
enabling the individual to resolve genuine problems or difficulties that he or she encounters
and, when appropriate, to create an effective product — and must also entail the potential
for finding or creating problems — and thereby laying the groundwork for the acquisition of
new knowledge; illustrates the –importance of a range of cognitive, social and emotional
traits/characteristics to ensure success in the modern world of work.

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1.2 Emotional Intelligence (EQ)

“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did,
but people will never forget how you made them feel.” – Maya Angelou
During the 1990’s research has strongly indicated that more than cognitive intelligence is
necessary for success in life and leadership. One of the most eminent researchers and
thinkers in this field, Daniel Goleman, has defined Emotional intelligence (EI) as: the ability
to identify, assess and control one’s own emotions and the emotions of others. People with a
high degree of emotional intelligence know what they're feeling, what their emotions mean,
and how these emotions can affect other people.
For leaders, having emotional intelligence is essential for success. After all, who is more
likely to succeed – a leader who shouts at his/her team when he/she is under stress, or a
leader who stay in control, and calmly assesses the situation?
Effective emotional management helps us to communicate more effectively, reduce stress,
empathise with others and defuse conflict. It enables us to recognise our own (or others)
emotional state and engage with others in a positive manner. This understanding of
emotions helps us to form healthier relationships, relate better to others, achieve greater
work success, and lead a more fulfilling life.
Emotional Intelligence covers into 4 perspectives:

4 Perspectives of
EQ

Your Internal World: Interpersonal Relationships: Responsiveness: Emotional State:

self-regard, self- empathy, social responsibility, impulse control, stress general mood, ability to shift from
actualization, healthy connection to others, management, ability to fear to power, ability to “allow”
interdependence and open communication grasp reality, self- emotion with self and others
emotional awareness expression

The leading indicator for how well adjusted, successful and satisfied you are in life always
points to emotional intelligence. Imagine being able to easily respond versus react to any
situation. Imagine being able to stay out of judgement when you are experiencing an
emotion. Imagine having the ability to be with another and allow whatever emotional state
they are in be it grief, anger or guilt. What would be possible if you didn’t react to anger or
shame by shrinking away? What if you could operate from your vision, your commitment
and your values instead of letting fear of emotion determine your actions in the world?
Who would you be with your children? What would be possible in your most important
relationships? What courageous actions would you take in your life?

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The good news is that unlike behaviour style and intelligence level you can actively grow
your emotional intelligence. There is no limit to your capacity to grow emotionally. Growing
your emotional intelligence leads to a richer more enjoyable life, the ability to be satisfied
and the ability to live in peace regardless of your circumstance.

1.3 The Relationship between Cognitive and Emotional Intelligence

Ever since Goleman published his book Emotional Intelligence in 1995, there has been raging
a debate as to the relationship and relative value of IQ vs. EQ. In a recent article in Forbes
magazine, Goleman himself explained:
Here are the facts. There’s no question IQ is by far the better determinant of career success,
in the sense of predicting what kind of job you will be able to hold. It typically takes an IQ
about 115 or above to be able to handle the cognitive complexity facing an accountant, a
physician or a top executive. But here’s the paradox: once you’re in a high-IQ position,
intellect loses its power to determine who will emerge as a productive employee or an
effective leader. For that, how you handle yourself and your relationships — in other words,
the emotional intelligence skill set — matters more than your IQ. In a high-IQ job pool, soft
skills like discipline, drive and empathy mark those who emerge as outstanding.
Data are emerging though, supporting the added value of EQ, particularly for leaders as
leaders, it is thus specifically important to understand, develop and practice high emotional
intelligence.
In the next section we will explore in more detail the concept, competencies and skills
needed to lead with emotional intelligence.

1.4 Why Emotional Intelligence is important in Leadership

Emotional Intelligence is increasingly relevant to organisational development and
developing people. Firstly, because the EQ principles provide a new way to understand and
assess people's behaviour, management styles, attitudes, interpersonal skills, and potential.
Secondly, Emotional Intelligence is an important consideration in human resources planning,
job profiling, recruitment, interviewing and selection, management development, customer
relations and customer service, etc. The way we lead and manage has changed in the
macro-as well as the micro-environment of life.
Emotional Intelligence links strongly with concepts of love and spirituality: bringing
compassion and humanity to work, and also to 'Multiple Intelligence' theory which
illustrates and measures the range of capabilities people possess, and the fact that
everybody has a value.
Success requires more than IQ (Intelligence Quotient), which has tended to be the
traditional measure of intelligence, ignoring essential behavioural and character elements.
We've all met people who are academically brilliant and yet are socially and inter-personally
inept. And we know that despite possessing a high IQ rating, success does not automatically
follow.
Emotional competence differentiates successful leaders.

”Some cause happiness wherever they go, some whenever they go”

Oscar Wilde

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2 EMOTIONAL COMPETENCE
Emotional intelligence is fundamentally the capability of being able to manage your
emotions, and to be able to understand the emotions of those around you and react
appropriately to get better results from people. When people understand their own
emotions they have a good appreciation of how their behaviour might impact on their
employees.

Cornerstones of Emotional Intelligence

It is thought that there are a number of different factors in emotional intelligence. These are
considered to be empathy, social skills, motivation, self-awareness and self-regulation. Social
skills are helpful in dealing with conflict and change. Meanwhile, empathy is the ability to
put yourself in someone else’s shoes and understand their perception. Others need to know
that you understand their points even if you do not agree with them. Understanding body
language and cues can help in achieving this. Motivation comes mostly from the inside, and
understanding what motivates you is helpful in managing your emotions effectively.
Improving motivation means really delving deep inside yourself and understanding what
makes you tick and what you want from life.

Five Cornerstones of Emotional Intelligence

Handling
awareness emo ons Motivating emo ons in
others
self
Knowing one’s Emo onal self- Interpersonal
emo ons and so that they are control underlies effec veness are
recognising a appropriate, the accomplishment of determined by how
feeling as it capacity to shake every sort. People we handle
happens, is the off rampant who have this skill empathic are more rela onships. Skills
keystone of anxiety, gloom or tend to be more would include
emo onal irritability. highly produc ve listening, using
intelligence. and effec ve in empathy and
whatever they remaining calm and
undertake. collected

Mind - Body connection

Strong emotions make us stupid – Joseph leDoux

Emotions, when used properly, are extremely powerful. They provide energy and motivation
to achieve our goals; they encourage collaboration within a team and adhesion to a vision.
Without emotions, we would be robots, making it next to impossible for us to inspire
anyone!

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At the same time, letting our emotions control our behaviour at work can be hugely counter-
productive. Emotions, whether positive or negative, are highly contagious. Neuroscience
research in the past decade has shown amazing insights in the mind-body connection.
Consider the project manager who takes obsessive precautions to ensure his/her team
doesn’t make any mistakes. At a meeting, he/she details tasks for each team member to
accomplish the following week, and then decides to take care of half of them himself/herself
without telling a soul.
Why would a manager create this kind of stress for his/her team? The short answer is
he/she is wired to. Biologically speaking, we’re built to do one of two things in the face of a
threat or danger: run really fast in the opposite direction, or stand our ground and fight like
a champ. Deciding on a rational action during a heightened state of emotion is secondary to
our survival instinct. In our scenario, the manager feels he/she is fighting like a champ.
Any manager is going to respond to a project deadline with at least mild anxiety. Even if
he/she isn’t completely aware of it, he/she is likely to feel that his/her security is threatened
by the chance of failure. To make things worse, he/she doesn’t have control over how and
when all tasks are completed.
Why does he/she choose to micromanage his/her staff? Everything we experience passes
first through the emotional part of our brains, called the limbic system. A trigger event, such
as a new deadline to meet, is “felt” by the limbic system before we have any rational
reaction to the circumstance.
So, we fully experience the anxiety, exuberance, or irritation of a moment before the
rational part of the brain gets a crack at choosing the direction to head in response to the
situation. The manager reacts to his/her anxiety about trusting the abilities of his/her team
members. He/She is likely unaware of this emotion, and doesn’t recognize the impact of
his/her actions on those around her. He/She needs to build skills in understanding and
managing emotions to improve his/her own performance, as well as the performance of
his/her team. He/She needs to build emotional intelligence.

Self-Awareness is associated with the ability to be aware of which emotions, moods, and
impulses one is experiencing and why. This also includes one's awareness of the effects of
his/her feelings on others. One aspect we will very briefly attend to here is self-confidence
since a lack thereof in leaders has a very negative effect on work performance of self and
team members.

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How confident do you seem to others?
Your level of self-confidence can show in many ways: your behaviour, your body language,
how you speak, what you say, and so on. If you look at the information in the table below,
which thoughts or actions do you recognise in yourself and people around you?

Self-Confident Low Self-Confidence

Doing what you believe to be right, even if Governing your behaviour based on what other
others mock or criticise you for it. people think.

Being willing to take risks and go the extra mile Staying in your comfort zone, fearing failure and so
to achieve better things. avoid taking risks.

Admitting your mistakes, and learning from Working hard to cover up mistakes and hoping that
them. you can fix the problem before anyone notices.

Waiting for others to congratulate you on your Extolling your own virtues as often as possible to as
accomplishments. many people as possible.

Accepting compliments graciously. “Thanks, I Dismissing compliments offhandedly. “Oh that

really worked hard on that prospectus. I’m prospectus was nothing really, anyone could have
pleased you recognise my efforts.” done it.”

As you can see from these examples, low self-confidence can be self-destructive, and it
often manifests itself as negativity. Self-confident people are generally more positive – they
believe in themselves and their abilities, and they also believe in living life to the full.

Another aspect to improve confidence not only in yourself, but also in others is to develop
an acute awareness to recognise emotions, and then develop the skills and strategies to deal
effectively with those emotions.
Traditionally, in the common understanding of emotions, people tend to think of each as
isolated feelings. For an example, being Happy is associated with the feeling of joy or
pleasure. However, emotions have a more complex relationship and the origin of this
relationship is part of a long evolutionary history. Our emotions have been developing along
the evolutionary process and have adapted to increase the fitness of the species, playing an
important role in survival. Emotions are not only a state of mind, they also trigger
behaviours, for example, a predator will generate fear in an individual (a threat) and its
behaviour towards that threat will represent a survival reaction.
Robert Plutchik developed ten Axioms for his Emotions Evolutionary Theory:
 Emotions are experienced by all animals (including humans)
 Emotions have been part of the evolutionary process and are present in all animals in
different expressions
 Emotions have evolved during time to increase the survival of species
 Emotions have identifiable patterns and common elements despite the form of
expression and species
 There is a set of primary Emotions
 Emotions are a mixture of the basic emotions
 Primary Emotions are Hypothetical Constructs
 Primary emotions are a set of opposites

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  Emotions have different degrees of similarity to one another
 Emotions can vary in its level of intensity

Optimism Love

Serenity

Interest Joy

Trust

Ecstasy
Aggressiveness Anticipation Submission

Annoyance Anger Rage Terror Fear Apprehension

Grief

Contempt Disgust Surprise Awe

Boredom Sadness Distraction

Pensiveness

Intensity
Remorse Disapproval

“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not the absence of fear”. - Mark
Twain

Emotional Competencies

Emotional intelligence is made up of four core skills that pair up under two primary
competencies: personal competence and social competence.
 Personal competence is made up of your self-awareness and self-management
skills, which focus more on you individually than on your interactions with other
people. Personal competence is your ability to stay aware of your emotions and
manage your behaviour and tendencies
 Self-Awareness is your ability to accurately perceive your emotions and stay aware
of them as they happen
 Self-Management is your ability to use awareness of your emotions to stay flexible
and positively direct your behaviour
 Social competence is made up of your social awareness and relationship
management skills; social competence is your ability to understand other people’s
moods, behaviour, and motives in order to improve the quality of your relationships
 Social Awareness is your ability to accurately pick up on emotions in other people
and understand what is really going on
 Relationship Management is your ability to use awareness of your emotions and
others’ emotions to manage interactions successfully
When combined, these competencies provide the following matrix, with outcomes of each
area indicated:
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 (understanding
Awareness

emotions)
Management
(dealing with
emotions)

Emotional competence is a learned capacity based on emotional intelligence that

contributes to effective performance at work. Expanding this framework, 18 sub-
competencies have been identified under these four competencies.
Emotional Competence Includes:

 Being able to motivate oneself and persist in the face of frustrations

 To control impulse (instinctive reaction)
 To delay gratification
 To regulate one’s moods
 To keep distress from swamping the ability to think
 To empathise
 To read others and adapt your interaction to suit their needs

Improving Emotional Competence

We have seen and discussed the importance of EQ, what makes us Emotional Intelligent as
well as how this relates to us as leaders. The important question that should be in all our
minds is how do I improve my EQ.
There are numerous tools and techniques you can use to improve your EQ. Some of the
most important ones are listed below. Remember – only you can take the actions to
improve on your EQ.

Improving Emo onal Intelligence

Be
Re-examine
Keep a daily Learn how to Understand accountable
why you are CALM!
journal praise others your values for your
a leader
actions

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 A daily journal – Journals help to improve your self-awareness. Writing down your
thoughts can move you to a higher degree of self-awareness. Understand what you
did, why, how did it make you feel/ act? What did you do well? What could you
improve on? Just reflecting on this every day, will enhance your Self-awareness and
personal improving routine.
 Calm! – Running one hundred miles an hour can be a blur – SLOW DOWN at times,
and when strong emotions rise through demanding situations, use the three second
rule – Pause, count to three and then ask why. Why are you feeling angry? What can
you do to counter this? An emotion is a state of mind – how can you convert anger
to a more positive emotion? What can you learn from this situation? No matter
what the situation, you can always choose how you react to it.
 Understand your values – Take time to understand what you believe in and what
your values are. Understand your driving values: things that get you going and that
create ambition. Also, list those values that are you’re ‘away from’ values: those that
cause you to avoid things because of fear. Spend some time to understand your high
valued principles as well. These are important values and principles that you do not
want to compromise. If you know what is important to you, decisions will be easier
to take – ones, which do not compromise your values.
 Be Accountable for your actions – Remember, you have a choice in everything you
do. If you don’t already, take accountability for your actions and decisions. If you
make a bad decision, learn from it, but face the music and take responsibility for it.
You gain respect if you do and with respect come great Leadership.
 Re-examine why you're a Leader – When times get tough, it is fairly easy to forget
what you really love about your career. You must take some time to remember why
you wanted this job and what your long term vision is. Try to remind yourself daily
where you are, where you want to be and how you will get there. If you are still
unhappy try to get to the root cause to understand why. Once you highlight this, you
can then act to do something about it.
 Goals - For every one of your goals, write down the reasons why you absolutely
want to achieve them! These reasons will give you motivation when times are hard.
 Turn negative situations into positives – Every time things are difficult, ask yourself,
“What can I learn from this?” Is there anything that you can take away and
introduce so the situation doesn’t happen again? Write your learning points in your
journal.
 Learn and understand conflict resolution – Leaders must know how to resolve
conflicts between their team members, customers, or vendors. Learning these skills
is imperative if you want to succeed as a leader.
 Learn how to praise others – As a leader; you can inspire the loyalty of your team
simply by giving praise when it's earned. Learning how to effectively praise others is
a fine art, but well worth the effort. Remember that journal – record your actions,
review it daily and polish your skills!

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3 PERSONAL EFFECTIVENESS
Personal effectiveness means making use of all the personal resources at your disposal -
talents, skills, energy and time to enable you to achieve both work and life goals. How you
manage yourself impacts directly on your personal effectiveness. Being self-aware, making
the most of your strengths, learning new skills and techniques and developing behavioural
flexibility are all key to improving your personal performance.

The Art and Joy of Being Efficacious

HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED why some people seem to accomplish so much while others
struggle along barely able to attend to their daily needs? Highly effective people usually
fulfill their achievements with less work and effort than those who accomplish little. The
difference is in their focus, intention and skills—all of which can be mastered.
We all enjoy the satisfaction that comes from getting things done and doing them well.
When we feel productive, when we think we’ve accomplished something worthwhile, our
confidence and self-esteem increases. Even our endorphins are triggered. We feel
exhilarated. Our life is more fun.
THE GOAL IS EFFICACY—what a fabulous word. Efficiency is doing something with the least
amount of effort, time and resources available. Effectiveness means getting positive
results—doing things, which are worthwhile.
You can be efficient without being effective—doing things that don’t matter—like
rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. You can be effective without being efficient—
doing something worthwhile, but taking too much time or having it cost too much. What we
want to strive for is efficacy.
In the pages to follow, we’ll touch on several aspects that can enable you to optimise your
potential. To be more effective, to get more done in less time while enjoying the process.
Experience greater fulfillment and create more value in your life and the lives of those
around you.

3.1 What is your Mindset and why does it matter?

Every so often a truly groundbreaking idea comes along. This is one.

It explains:
 Why brains and talent don’t bring success
 How they can stand in the way of it
 Why praising brains and talent doesn’t foster self-esteem and accomplishment, but
jeopardies them
 How teaching a simple idea about the brain raises performance and productivity
 What all great CEOs, parents, teachers, athletes know

Mindset is a simple idea discovered by world-renowned Stanford University psychologist

Carol Dweck after decades of research on achievement and success—a simple idea that
makes all the difference.

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In a fixed mindset, people believe their basic qualities, like their intelligence or talent, are
simply fixed traits. They spend their time documenting their intelligence or talent instead of
developing them. They also believe that talent alone creates success—without effort.
They’re wrong.
In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through
dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a
love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment. Virtually all great
people have had these qualities.
Developing a growth mindset creates motivation and productivity in the worlds of business,
education, and sports. It enhances relationships.
Mindsets are beliefs—beliefs about yourself and your most basic qualities. Think about your
intelligence, your talents, and your personality. Are these qualities simply fixed traits, carved
in stone and that’s that? Or are they things you can cultivate throughout your life?
People with a fixed mindset believe that their traits are just givens. They have a certain
amount of brains and talent and nothing can change that. If they have a lot, they’re all set,
but if they don’t? So people in this mindset worry about their traits and how adequate they
are. They have something to prove to themselves and others.
People with a growth mindset, on the other hand, see their qualities as things that can be
developed through their dedication and effort. Sure they’re happy if they’re brainy or
talented, but that’s just the starting point. They understand that no one has ever
accomplished great things—not Mozart, Darwin, or Michael Jordan—without years of
passionate practice and learning.

So why do we differ?

There have always been two points of view as to people’s abilities - Nature or Nurture.
Who’s right? Today most experts agree that it’s not either/or. It’s not nature or nurture,
genes or environment. From conception on, there’s a
constant give and take between the two. Not only do
genes and environment cooperate as we develop, but
genes require input from the environment to work
properly.
At the same time, scientists are learning that people have more capacity for life-long
learning and brain development than they ever thought. Of course, each person has a
unique genetic endowment. People may start with different temperaments and different
aptitudes, but it is clear that experience, training, and personal effort take them the rest of
the way. The major factor in whether people achieve expertise “is not some fixed prior
ability, but purposeful engagement.” Or, to put in other words, it’s not always the people
who start out the smartest who end up the smartest.

What can I do with this information?

Believing that your qualities are carved in stone—the fixed mindset—creates an urgency to
prove yourself over and over. If you have only a certain amount of intelligence, a certain
personality, and a certain moral character, well then you’d better prove that you have a
healthy dose of them. It simply wouldn’t do to look or feel deficient in these most basic
characteristics…I’ve seen so many people with this one consuming goal of proving
themselves—in the classroom, in their careers, and in their relationships. Every situation

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calls for a confirmation of their intelligence, personality, or character. Every situation is
evaluated: Will I succeed or fail? Will I look smart or dumb? Will I be accepted or rejected?
Will I feel like a winner or a loser? But doesn’t our society value intelligence, personality and
character? Isn’t it normal to want these traits? Yes, but...
Maybe the hand you’re dealt is just the starting point for development. This growth mindset
is based on the belief that your basic qualities are things you can cultivate through your
efforts. Although people may differ in every which way—in their initial talents and aptitudes,
interests, or temperaments – everyone can change and grow through application and
experience.
Does this mean that anyone can be anything, that anyone with proper motivation or
education can become Einstein or Beethoven? No, but as a person’s true potential is
unknown (and unknowable), than it’s impossible to foresee what can be accomplished with
years of passion, toil, and training.
You can see how the belief that cherished qualities can be developed creates a passion for
learning. Why waste time proving over and over how great you are, when you could be
getting better? Why hide deficiencies instead of overcoming them? Why look for friends or
partners who will just shore up your self-esteem instead of ones who will also challenge you
to grow? And why seek out the tried and true, instead of experiences that will stretch you?
The passion for stretching yourself and sticking to it, even (or especially) when it’s not going
well, is the hallmark of the growth mindset. This is the mindset that allows people to thrive
during some of the most challenging times in their lives.

How can you change your mindset?

Step1. Learn to hear your fixed mindset “voice.”

As you approach a challenge, that voice might say to you “Are you sure you can do it?
Maybe you don’t have the talent.” “What if you fail—you’ll be a failure” “People will laugh at
you for thinking you had talent.” “If you don’t try, you can protect yourself and keep your
dignity.”
As you hit a setback, the voice might say, “This would have been a snap if you really had
talent.” “You see, I told you it was a risk. Now you’ve gone and shown the world how limited
you are.” “ It’s not too late to back out, make excuses, and try to regain your dignity.”
As you face criticism, you might hear yourself say, “It’s not my fault. It was something or
someone else’s fault.” You might feel yourself getting angry at the person who is giving you
feedback. “Who do they think they are? I’ll put them in their place.” The other person might
be giving you specific, constructive feedback, but you might be hearing them say “I’m really
disappointed in you. I thought you were capable but now I see you’re not.”
Step 2. Recognise that you have a choice.
How you interpret challenges, setbacks, and criticism is your choice. You can interpret them
in a fixed mindset as signs that your fixed talents or abilities are lacking. Or you can interpret
them in a growth mindset as signs that you need to ramp up your strategies and effort,
stretch yourself, and expand your abilities. It’s up to you.
So as you face challenges, setbacks, and criticism, listen to the fixed mindset voice and...

Step 3. Talk back to it with a growth mindset voice.

As you approach a challenge:

16
THE FIXED-MINDSET says “Are you sure you can do it? Maybe you don’t have the talent.”
THE GROWTH-MINDSET answers, “I’m not sure I can do it now, but I think I can learn to with
time and effort.”
FIXED MINDSET: “What if you fail—you’ll be a failure”
GROWTH MINDSET: “Most successful people had failures along the way.”
FIXED MINDSET: “If you don’t try, you can protect yourself and keep your dignity.”
GROWTH MINDSET: “If I don’t try, I automatically fail. Where’s the dignity in that?”
As you hit a setback:
FIXED MINDSET: “This would have been a snap if you really had talent.”
GROWTH MINDSET: “That is so wrong. Basketball wasn’t easy for Michael Jordan and
science wasn’t easy for Thomas Edison. They had a passion and put in tons of effort.”
As you face criticism:
FIXED MINDSET: “It’s not my fault. It was something or someone else’s fault.”
GROWTH MINDSET: “If I don’t take responsibility, I can’t fix it. Let me listen—however
painful it is– and learn whatever I can.”
Then...

Step 4. Take the growth mindset action.

Over time, which voice you heed becomes pretty much your choice. Whether you
 Take on the challenge wholeheartedly, learn from your setbacks and try again
 Hear the criticism and act on it is now in your hands
 Practice hearing both voices, and practice acting on the growth mindset
See how you can make it work for you.

4 PURPOSE AND GOALS HELPS CREATE YOUR IDEAL LIFE

Setting goals is a fundamental component to long-term success. You can’t get where you are
trying to go until you clearly define where that is. Goals help you focus and allocate your
time and resources efficiently, and they
can keep you motivated when you feel
like giving up.
Goals help you stay aware of what is
expected of you and leave little room
for you to hide behind the curtain of
unspecified expectations. Furthermore,
setting and achieving goals translates to
feelings of success for both individuals
and companies, which in turn spur
greater productivity and confidence.
Vision and goals are closely interlinked–
where your vision defines your ideal life
and identifies the goals you'll need to

17
 get there. Through goal setting, you get down to the nitty-gritty
of what you need to do - and when you need to do it by - to
create your ideal life.
When setting your goals, remember the following six
concepts:

Possibility)

Vision)

Balance)

Audacity)

Format)

Integrity)

Let us briefly explore these concepts:

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Possibility

One of the most common reasons why people don’t set goals is because they
are scared of failing. However, this fear of failure, and failure itself, should be
embraced rather than rejected. “Failing” is actually a really positive thing in
setting and achieving your goals. Here are three helpful things to remind you
when you sit down to set or review goals:

FEAR IS AN INDICATOR THAT WE ARE DOING SOMETHING REMARKABLE

Stepping out of our comfort zone means we are stretching ourselves; we are going after
something we really want or something that will really impact our life. Focusing solely on the
fear distracts us from the remarkable results our goals will bring about. Use that fear as a
motivator rather than a detractor.
FAILING SOMETIMES TAKES YOU OFF A PATH YOU NEVER REALLY WANTED TO BE ON
Sometimes we set goals towards things we don’t really want. Not achieving that goal allows us
to evaluate what we were going towards, or how we were going about getting there. It could be
the end goal that needs tweaking, or it could be the approach we were taking to tackle that
goal.
SETTING A GOAL AND FALLING SHORT, IS STILL BETTER THAN NOT TRYING AT ALL
A life without goals will remain pretty static over time. Setting an inspiring goal will immediately
set you on a path of trial and error towards something great. Bumps along the way are to be
expected, so just keep holding on! When it comes time to look back and see what you’ve
accomplished, you’ll be astounded to see how far you’ve come – whether you fell short of your
goal or surpassed it by a mile.

A powerful vision:

Having a clear vision of your ideal life, career and health is the anchor to all your goals. It is
important to remember when stating your vision that:
• It is set at least 10 years in the future
• It is clear and concise (one to two paragraphs) with enough detail to feel complete
• It incorporates all major domains of your life: health, personal and career
• It moves you emotionally and gets you excited – maybe even a little nervous
• It uses present tense language. Write it as if you are already there
• It is authentic to you and grounded in your passions

Balance

Make sure your vision and goals address all areas of your life, not just work. Having a well-
balanced life is an important for all round well-being.

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Audacity

Be bold! Remember to set BHAGs (Big Hairy Audacious Goals). A BHAG –

• Is difficult to achieve
• Is unlikely to happen without great commitment and perseverance
• Brings us closer to living our ideal life
• Brings a phenomenal sense of accomplishment
• Is achieved maybe 50% of the time

Format

It is important to format our goals in a way to give us the greatest likelihood of achieving them.
A goal written in the incorrect format can cause indecision and go unachieved. When we write
powerful goals, we adhere to the following principles:
• Trickle back. Start at the end (not the very beginning) and set our 10-year goals first,
then move backwards to our five-year and one- year goals
• Keep it quantifiable. We should always be able to measure our goals (and, in the same
way, our success)
• Make it specific. It's easier to do something if we know what that thing is. That's why we
precisely articulate the desired activity, object or outcome in our goals
• Use the present tense. We write our vision and goals in the present tense to make them
more attainable
• Use affirmative language. Accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative. We keep our
goals clear by stating what we want, not what we don't want (double negatives can be
so confusing)
• Are concise. We use as few words as possible. Our goals are for us, no justification is
required
• Include a by-when date. We use by-when dates to motivate us and give our goals
structure

Integrity

It is critical to set our goals into action! Some of the ways we do this are:
• Create a system to honour and achieve our goals, like posting goals on the fridge.
Involve others so they know what we stand for
• Sharing our goals with others who are committed goal setters allow them to support
and assist u
• Every day, we choose the things that move us closer towards achieving our vision and
goals, rather than those things that are in conflict

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4.1 Goal Setting: The CPSDS Matrix

When we move to visioning and goal setting, the principles we have addressed until now still
holds true. To establish a common approach, we can use a simple thinking tool – the
CPSDS Matrix that helps us to clearly and succinctly set measurable and achievable goals whilst
keeping several key factors in mind.
We all need goals to strive towards. A good way in which to express goals is by means of a
“CPSDS Matrix".

Notes:
• Anyone who has to cooperate to get things done needs the same understanding of the
objectives so as to focus and pull in the same direction. The CPSDS Matrix is a useful tool
for working together on all the important aspects of objectives. It’s also a clear way of
communicating objectives to peers, subordinates and supervisors.
• Although the CPSDS might look quite analytical and straightforward, setting objectives
needs skills such as imagination, visualisation and thinking.
• Having commonly understood objectives is particularly important for achieving High
Performance Organisations.

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5 EMOTIONALLY INTELLIGENT COMMUNICATION
“The ability to express an idea is well-nigh as important as the idea itself” - Bernard
Baruch
Society depends on communication to function successfully. The need to communicate
effectively is basic to most professions as well as social and business activities. The study of the
significance of communication in all fields is relatively new. In its simplest form communication
may be defined as a two-way process in which thoughts and feelings are imparted or
exchanged.
The use of positive, powerful communication is very important in achieving personal as well as
organisational goals. It is interesting that non-verbal communication makes up a huge part of
our communication. Not only does it have an impact on other people, but it also impaction how
we function in the world.
PREPARATION
THERE’S nothing that gives away a bad speaker more than a lack of preparation. Poor
preparation will show! A good speaker may spend 30 hours or more preparing for a one-hour
presentation speech. Don’t short change your audience. Prepare!
Ensure that your preparation is not only around the technical content of your presentation, but
also around the way in which you present it. Rehearse!
NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION
More than half of your impact as a speaker depends upon
your body language. While you probably have control over
the words you speak, are you sure that you have control
over what you are saying with your body language?
Nonverbal communication expresses the feeling and
meaning behind a message. Imagine that a Sales
Representative stands tall when saying, “Our payroll
processing service has no bugs and glitches.” His/her posture reveals confidence in his/her
message. Now imagine him/her delivering the same message from a slouched position with one
hand partially covering his/her mouth – would this communicate a feeling of confidence to you?

22
Nonverbal communication incorporates a very wide range of behaviours. This module covers
just a few of them.

"

"

"
REFLECTION
Video: Amy Cuddy – Your Body Language Shapes who you are!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3nlgbVxNfA

Posture
!

Within the first few seconds of standing in front of your audience – before you have even said a
word – people will form a first impression and make assumptions about you.
Your posture, attitude and bearing send out signals that classify you as confident, insecure,
powerful and so on. Through an awareness of body language, you can convey confidence and
conviction when presenting. By doing this, people are far more likely to hear the message that
you are trying to get across.
If you have ‘open’ body language you will be perceived as being more positive, engaged and
engaging than those with closed body language.
A few pointers to ensure that you stand and move in a way that achieves your goals and conveys
the right message:
 Relax your arms at your sides to indicates openness and a willingness to interact
 Lean forward with an open body posture to signal interest or agreement

23
  Leaning forward with closed body language can indicate hostility
 Leaning back with open body language can signal
contemplation/observation
 Lifting your shoulders and pulling them back in an
exaggerated way can indicates a desire to control
 Crossed arms can indicate defensiveness
 Bowing your head looks subservient
 Bad posture and rounded shoulders can signal defeat and
dissolution
Hands
When you are preparing a speech, spend some time thinking about how you are going to use
your hands. Appropriate use of your hands can result in a marked increase in the understanding
and retention of your message. Correctly used, hand gestures help you to say more in less time,
show what you mean without having to resort to visuals, signal your conviction and confidence
and add texture and dimension to your material and ideas.
Try to avoid holding notes in your hands because this effectively immobilizes them. If you are
nervous, stand with your hands relaxed at your sides. Stage fright usually closes down your
normal muscle coordination, so avoid making the audience nervous with gestures that show
your anxiety, for example gripping the lectern or table, clenching your hands together, clutching
at an object, fiddling with clothing or an item, or constantly touching a body part (pulling ear,
wiping brow, rubbing chin).
Just a few pointers to how you use your hands include:
 Bold, deliberate gestures indicate enthusiasm, energy, warmth and agreement
 More expansive gestures, with your arms away from the body, will project an
impression of honesty and openness
 Clenching your hands, clutching an object or using excessively awkward hand
movements as all these convey tension
 A pointed finger indicates dominance - and can give an impression of bullying
Feet
A presentation is basically a conversation, and in a conversation we create emphasis with
movements of the upper half of the body. During
presentations, however, you need to be aware of what
your feet are doing as well. Excessive movement in the
lower half of the body such as shuffling feet and shifting
the weight from hip-to-hip tend to indicate restlessness
and boredom. The phrase “rooted in conversation” may
originate in the way that when we are fully focused on
something, our feet and legs remain still.
Your basic standing posture during a presentation
should be face-on to the audience, with your legs still, and your feet slightly apart for stability. If

24
your legs tremble a little in this position, soften your stance and allow yourself the smallest of
bends at the knee. This releases tension and allows you to comfortably maintain a steady
posture for surprisingly long periods.
If you have the space available to you, make a few deliberate movements across the
presentation space so that you use both sides of the room / stage. Making the audience change
their visual focus to a physically different spot can re-engage attention and underline transitions
in your subject, as well as giving yourself the chance to change posture.

Face
The way in which you use your facial expressions can build a
connection with your audience, but it can also undermine your every
word. Eye focus is the most important element in this process.
Your face conveys your feelings – anything from passion for your
subject, to depth of concern for the audience when you empathise
with something that they say or respond to. Unfortunately, under the
pressure of delivering a group presentation, many people lose their
facial expressions. Their faces solidify into a grim, stone statue with a
thin straight line where the lips meet. Try to unfreeze your face right
from the start. For example, when you greet the audience, smile
broadly (and authentically)! You won't want to keep smiling
throughout the entire presentation, but you need to smile at
appropriate moments. It's only on very rare occasions that you may
need to be sombre and serious throughout.
Sometimes, anxiety makes you smile excessively – be aware of this, it indicates nervousness to
your audience.

Eyes
No part of your facial expression is more important in communicating sincerity and credibility
than your eyes. The eyes are said to be the key to the soul and are therefore the first and most
effective weapon in convincing the audience of
your honesty, openness and confidence in the
objectives of your presentation.
Nothing else connects you so directly to your
listeners – whether in a small gathering or a
large group. Effective presenters engage each
person in the room, focusing long enough on
each person to build rapport, making sure it
feels as natural as if they were having a conversation with them. This level of focus can rivet the
attention of a room by drawing the eyes of each member of the audience.

25
Eye contact can also be achieved in large auditoriums. Because the audience is further away
from the presenter, it is harder to tell precisely where he/she is looking. Thus by simply making
eye contact with a group of people, each of them will think that he/she is the object of your
attention.
During presentations, try to focus your gaze in specific directions for five or six seconds at a time
rather than flicking your attention around the room rapidly. Shortly after each change in
position, a slight smile will convince each person in that direction that you have seen and
acknowledged them.
Be careful not to spend all your time talking to one friendly face, or to the person in highest
authority in the room. Each person should think that you are addressing them personally several
times during your presentation. You are effectively having a conversation with several people!
Voice
The importance of your voice follows the importance of how you use your eyes very closely. The
two most important aspects of your voice during positive speaking are projection and variation.
It is important to realise that few people can take their ordinary conversation voice and put it on
stage. If you can, then you have missed your vocation in life as an actor! The main difference
between your normal voice and your presentation voice is the degree of feedback, which you
can expect from the person to whom you are talking. In normal conversation it is easy to see
when your audience has missed or misunderstood a word or phrase. In front of an audience you
have to make sure that this never happens, because it is more difficult to identify. So, slow down
and to take your time. Remember the audience is constrained by good manners so there is no
need to maintain a constant flow of sound. You can pause without worrying that you are going
to be interrupted. A safe style is to be a little louder and little slower than a “normal” chat with
slightly deaf grandparent. As you get used to the sound of your own voice, you can adjust it by
watching the response from the audience.
A monotone speech is boring and hypnotic, so it is very important to vary the pitch and tone of
your presentation. At the very least, each new sub-section should be preceeded by a pause and
a change in tone to emphasise the delineation. If tonal variation does not come to you naturally,
try making use of rhetorical questions throughout your speech, since most accents rise naturally
at the end of a question.
PACE, RHYTHM AND PAUSE
A problem for a lot of speakers is that they talk too fast. Nervousness
sometimes account for this – an unconscious desire to get
through it and be out of there as quickly as possible! It
could simply be a habit. You could also be in the habit
of assuming that you don’t want to “waste people’s
time” by being long winded.
Either way, speaking too fast is distracting and
frustrating for the audience, as they have no time to
digest what you are saying. They also need time to get
used to your voice, your accent, your intonation and
much more.

26
Speaking fast isn’t necessarily always bad, but you should avoid doing so if you want to connect
better with your audience and get them to assimilate what you are telling them.
One way to control this is through abdominal breathing. When you can feel yourself starting to
speed up, stop and take a deep breath.
Create natural pauses between your phrases. These pauses don’t just slow you down, they also
boost attention, and contribute significantly to comprehension and retention by allowing the
listeners time to process the message.
APPEARANCE
There are many guides to presentation skills, which place heavy emphasis on the way you dress,
and this is a matter of personal choice. However, make that choice deliberately and carefully.
You must dress for the audience, not for yourself. If they think you look out of place, then you
are.
THE OVERALL DELIVERY

"The human body is truly fascinating - there are some i could watch all day" - anon
Whatever you say and whatever you show; it is you, yourself, which will remain the main focus
of the audience's attention. If you strut or fret your way through your presentation and leave,
no-one will remember what you said.
The presenter has the power either to “kill the message” or to enhance it a hundred times
beyond its worth. Managers and leaders can use the power and potential of good positive
speaking and presenting to ensure that the audience is motivated and inspired rather than
disconcerted or distracted.

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6 TAKING BACK YOUR POWER
The accountability ladder is a fantastic tool to help us understand why we may not be getting
the results we want out of life or our business, and even accomplishing our goals. Let's take a
look and break down the different levels of the model. As you read through them, ask yourself
where you currently are on the ladder. You may find you are at different levels of the ladder in
different aspect of your life.

Victims and Powerless levels:

1. Unaware/Unconscious - These are the people who are not even aware of the problem or that
there may even be a problem.
2. Blame/Complain - It is always easier to point the finger at others for why goals and
responsibilities are not achieved or done. Overcoming this step requires us to point the finger at
ourselves and admit we may in fact be the problem, not other people or factors. An example of
this would be someone who is constantly late to work in the morning because their spouse is
spending too much time in the bathroom. When the real solution would simply be to wake up
earlier.
3. Making excuses - I am good at this one. Making excuses as to why things are not getting done
is very easy and a masked form of procrastination. We make excuses like "I am too busy" or "I
have never done that before". My favourite is "I don't know what I am doing". Stop making
excuses and get it done!

28
4. Wait and hope - Waiters and hopers are those who do just that. Wait and hope for miracles
and successes to happen in their lives without ever lifting a finger and having to actually go out
and do it. An example of this would be someone who really desires to be in good physical shape,
but never eats healthy or exercises and hopes one day their body will be transformed. It is just
not going to happen without the effort.

Responsible and Powerful levels:

5. Acknowledging reality: People who are at this level look at the situation in black and white
realising there are tasks which need to be done and they are responsible to do their part. An
example of this would be a salesman who simply realises he/she has to market, prospect, and
acquire new clients if sales are going to increase. It is just the reality of the situation.
6. I own it: Now that you have acknowledged the reality of the situation, you then get to decide
if you are going to fall back down the ladder and make excuses, blame and complain, or if you
are going to take ownership of the problem and move forward in creating solutions.
7. Seeking solutions: Owning the situation is key, and now you own it, the next step is to
brainstorm and start thinking of solutions which allow you to hit your goal and get it done! Take
the time necessary to think of the best possible solutions and come up with more than one.
There is more than one way to eat a potato.
8. Make it happen: Now that you own it, and you have come up with solutions, it is time to
implement and take action. Getting to this step is the best part. You get to put your solutions
into action and literally accomplish your goals! Making it happen is the fruit of your labours and
the old adage of "the harder I work, the luckier I get" becomes a reality.

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7 RESPONDING IN AN EMOTIONALLY INTELLIGENT MANNER
As we have discussed in the previous section, EQ is an important part of any leader’s
armour. In the next section we will present some of the techniques/models that can be
used in responding in a more emotional intelligent manner.

7.1 Locus Of Control

Now that you have been introduced to the important concepts of values and beliefs, it is
time to isolate one very specific belief, namely the locus of control.
Most people find that there is several things they cannot control and many of them have to
do with other people. The activities in our lives that we can control usually have to do with
ourselves.

The most fertile area for greater control lies within ourselves.
.

Internal Vs. External Locus of Control

Individuals with an internal locus of control believe that their actions, decisions and
character are responsible for the circumstances in their lives. They feel a sense of control
over their personal destiny and believe that to a large extent they are able to design their
lives.
For example an individual who has started his/her own business may find one day that
profits are down and the business is deteriorating. With an Internal Locus of Control they
may question what they could do to improve their business, could they offer new products?
Could they improve the quality of service? Have they allowed themselves to lose focus or
direction? They would quite likely also look back over past decisions and see if any mistakes

31
have been made. Once the cause of their problem has been established they will create a
plan that they can personally implement in order to change the fate of the business.
Internals focus on – Decisions, Choices, Hard work, Goals, Strategy
This is in stark contrast to the individual who has an external orientation. Individuals with an
external locus of control believe the circumstances and events in their life are outside of
their own sphere of influence. These individuals tend to believe that they are carried by a
wave of luck, that events in life are preordained or that their happiness is intrinsically linked
with the actions of other people. In the failing business example, the individual with the
external locus of control may attribute the decline of the business to a series of external
factors. The economy for example, would be a major front runner to blame. If not the
economy perhaps the staff is not performing well, customers don’t know what’s good for
them or the business just isn’t ‘meant’ to work.
People with an internal locus of control believe that they are the prime mover behind
events. Thus, an internal locus of control helps a leader in the role of a take-charge person
because the leader believes fundamentally in his/her innate capacity to take charge. An
internal locus of control is closely related to self-confidence. A strong internal locus
facilitates self-confidence because the person perceives that he/she can control
circumstances enough to perform well.
Group members favour supervisory leaders with an internal locus of control. One reason is
that an “internal” person is perceived as more powerful than an “external” person because
he/she takes responsibility for events. The leader with an internal locus of control would
emphasise that he/she can change unfavourable conditions.
A person’s locus of control is usually a deeply ingrained thinking pattern that develops over a
period of many years. Nevertheless, you can begin developing a stronger internal locus of
control by analysing past successes and failures to determine how much influence you had
over the outcome of these events.
By repeatedly analysing the relative contribution of internal versus external factors in
shaping events, you may learn to feel more in charge of key events in your life.

How to nurture an internal locus of control:

Set Goals

This is a fundamental part of personal development. Setting goals and working toward their
achievement will create a sense of power over your destiny that you may not have
experienced before. As you begin to successfully achieve the goals you’ve set for yourself,
you will begin to understand how much control you have over your environment. It is
important to always have a goal you are currently working toward.

Remember That You Always Have A Choice

No matter what your circumstance in life, no matter the extent to which your choices have
been narrowed there is one thing that can never be taken away from you. This is your ability
to choose how you feel about a given situation. It’s common to hear people say that
someone or something has ‘made them feel’ sad, angry or depressed. Think about it though,
can anyone really make you feel something?
The answer is no, because you always have a choice. To fully comprehend this point, I
recommend reading about times of great human struggle and suffering. Nelson Mandela is a

32
wonderful example of this, being able to maintain a positive frame of mind after 27 years of
imprisonment. Emerging not with hate but with love for his captors and for mankind in
general. Other fine examples have been highlighted as a result of what happened during the
Nazi Party’s rule over Germany. Those that survived Nazi concentration camps learned that
even when their dignity, loved ones and physical freedom had been taken from them, the
one thing the Nazis could never take away was their ability to choose how they felt about
their situation. Their very last grasp on freedom was always within their inner sanctum
whereby they could practice full control over how to feel in the moment.

Review Past Events

I recommend the following exercise to help you understand your own internal thought
processes:
List at least 5 events in your life that went well for you. Reflect and take notes on what you
may have done to influence the outcome of these events. Gaining an understanding of your
influence over events and circumstances provides the mental foundations upon which to
build your internal locus of control.
Repeat this task and list 5 negative events from your past. Now consider how your actions
could have brought about these events? Was there anything you could have done to avoid
them? Hindsight often reveals how an intervention could have alleviated negative events
from occurring or how the choices you made actually contributed to them.

Listen To Your Self Talk

Learn to be aware of your thought processes and the ways in which you explain things to
yourself in your own mind. Your conscious mind will deceive you at the earliest opportunity
and unfortunately your sub-conscious will believe anything it’s told. It is absolutely essential
to keep a check on your mental self talk. Listen for negative self talk, should you encounter it
replace it immediately with something positive that will serve your intended outcome. An
example may be the internal phrase “I can’t change my financial situation” This phrase could
easily become “how can I change my financial situation?” Which leads you to answer a very
insightful question, that could change the direction of your life.

Don’t Confine Yourself to Absolutes

Speaking to yourself in terms of absolutes also sets you up to feel overwhelmed and
trapped. Phrases like ‘My life is ruined’, “I’ll never be able to’, ‘I have no choice’ only serve to
reinforce the belief that you have no control over your environment. Replace these phrases
with positive alternatives such as: “this is a challenge”, “it’s up to me” and “I chose to”.

Now Try This…

When You Feel Trapped or overwhelmed by your apparent lack of options in any given
situation, take a pen and make a list of possible actions you could take.
Then list how taking these actions could change the outcome of the challenge you are
experiencing. Understanding that you always have several options at your disposal is a very
empowering feeling. Make this process a habit and you will undoubtedly feel a far greater
sense of control. Sharing your lists of potential actions with close friends, family or a
romantic partner can also serve to enhance your feelings of control and influence.

33
The advantages of developing a more internal locus of control are profound. The
development process isn’t going to be easy, nor should it be. You will have to re-program
years, perhaps decades of negative self talk and faulty thought processes in order to achieve
it. You must Stick with this process because eventually you will emerge with a wonderful
feeling of control and power over your environment and direction of your life. From that
point you will truly know and feel that your personal potential knows no limits.

7.2 Stress Management

Stress is part of our everyday life and part of our work environment as well. It is the second
very important competency that managers should learn to accomplish. Failure to manage
your own stress has a negative impact on the rest of your team. It may even impact on you
and your teams’ ability to manage time effectively. The reason for that is that stress makes
everything seems bigger and more difficult and that there is just not enough time to do
everything. That’s when we start to trip over own feet, procrastinate (put things off), send
mixed messages and become argumentative and irrational.
Stress management is like a scale. People are constantly trying to find a balance between
demands imposed on them by everyday life and their ability and resources to cope. If
perceived demands outweigh your perception of your capabilities, the scale tips towards the
negative side of stress. The balance is disturbed and you begin to experience symptoms of
stress. The heavier and more prolonged the load of demands and the less you feel you can
deal with them the more serious your symptoms are likely to be.

The Balancing Act

There is nothing wrong with stress. Think of a circus tent – there needs to be some level of
tension on the ropes otherwise it will collapse, but too much tension may result in the
canvas tearing, which is just as dangerous. Everyone needs stress because it motivates us to
attain our objectives. We call this “eustress”, or positive energy. However excessive stress or
uncontrolled responses to stress has a negative influence and the body will start objecting.

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Stressors

There is a whole array of stressors present to make your life miserable. It could be
something minor or something major. Anything that irritates you and makes you
uncomfortable is a stressor. It could even be a thought about the result of the next cricket
match. The stressors define the type of stress you are suffering from.
Broadly, stressors are classified into the following categories:
 Internal Stressors: Anything that stresses you internally is an Internal stressor.
Examples are your diet, personal interests or aesthetic cravings
 External Stressors: Anything that causes stress outside your body or in your
environment is an external stressor. It could be pollution, noise or a new vehicle
 Hidden Stressors: The stressor that you as well as your doctor are not able to
identify is a hidden stressor
 Obvious Stressors: Experiencing stress before deadlines is quite obvious. Such
stressors are indisputable and are known as obvious stressors
 Automatic Stressors: These are the stressors your body itself reacts to. Sometimes
you yourself are not aware of them. Such stressors are called automatic stressors

Understanding the stressors is of prime importance in identifying your problem. Effective

stress management is possible only after you have passed through the identification step.

Some common life stressors:

 Major life events such as loss of a loved one, retrenchment or divorce

 Trauma such as sexual abuse, earthquakes and military combat

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  Socio-economic stressors such as malnutrition, poverty and bureaucracy
 Social stressors such as relationship issues, family changes, sexuality, loneliness and
social phobia
 Occupational stress such as work overload, deadlines, lack of employment
 Nutritional factors such as poor eating habits, poor nutritional intake and dieting
 Substance abuse such as caffeine, alcohol, medications, smoking and drugs
 Financial stress
 Physical inactivity
 Chronic disease and pain

Stress Symptoms

Stress manifests itself differently in each person. These are some of the more common
symptoms:

 Muscle tension  Dizzy spells for no reason

 Difficulty in relaxing
 Sexual problems
 Unexplained headaches
 Change in sleep patterns
nightmares/broken sleep
patterns
 unexplained
outbursts
 Apathy – uninterested, uncaring
 Frequent indigestion
 High blood pressure
 Irritation
emotional  Fatigue (always tired)

Stress Management Approaches

There are three major approaches that we can use to manage stress:
 Action-oriented: In which we seek to confront the problem causing the stress, often
changing the environment or the situation
 Emotionally-oriented: In which we do not have the power to change the situation,
but we can manage stress by changing our interpretation of the situation and the
way we feel about it
 Acceptance-oriented: Where something has happened over which we have no
power and no emotional control, and where our focus is on surviving the stress
To be able to take an action-oriented approach, we must have some power in the situation.
If we do, then action-oriented approaches are some of the most satisfying and rewarding
ways of managing stress. These are techniques that we can use to manage and overcome
stressful situations, changing them to our advantage.
If you do not have the power to change a situation, then you may be able to improve things
by changing the way you look at it, and feel about it, by using an emotionally oriented
approach. These are often less attractive than action-oriented approaches in that the
stresses can recur time and again; however, they are useful and effective in their place.

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Sometimes, we have so little power in a situation that it is all we can do to survive it. This is
the case, for example, when loved ones die. In these situations, often the first stage of
coping with the stress is to accept one’s lack of power.

Stress management techniques

Techniques to management stress are listed below:

 Emotional Intelligence: The development of EQ helps people to establish and
effortlessly maintain supportive relationships. This serve to increase peoples’
resources that are needed to cope with the demands placed on them
 Locus of control: Being aware of your source of energy may help you to manage it
more effectively
 Values: If you are aware of your own values and the role they play in the
achievements of your goals, and you are open and flexible to respectfully deal with
the values of others you should feel very comfortable with yourself and the people
around you. As a manager it may be in your best interest to communicate your
values to the rest of your team and also be open to theirs. This creates an adult
working environment where everybody knows exactly where he/she stands in the
relation to the rest of the team. A pleasant working environment in itself is a recipe
for good stress management
 Assertiveness: People with a consistent assertive attitude are not as likely to be
used as doormats by others, nor are they prone to finding themselves in the middle
of conflict. Other people tend to approach them with respect. They walk away from
situations with their dignity in tact and with very little need for regrets and shame
 Time management: You may feel more in control and less overwhelmed if you are
able to use the time you have to your disposal more effectively

Reduce Stress with the SPARKLE Formula

S – Sleep well.
 Your bed is for sleeping, reading and intimacy
 When your head hits the pillow, it’s time to sleep, not think

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  Your bed should NOT be for: watching television, balancing your checkbook,
planning the next day, arguing with your spouse, checking your e-mail, or making
phone calls
 When in bed, books are OK, laptops are not
P – Plan every day.
 Create a to-do list every morning. This gives you a) a roadmap of what you need to
do at the beginning of the day, b) a reminder of what still needs to be done
throughout the day and c) a place to check off your accomplishments at the end of
the day
A – Anticipate less.
 Recognise the false assumptions you make that lead to anxiety. Will things really
turn out to be as bad as you think? Probably not
 When you look to the future, visualise success rather than failure. After all, you
really don’t know which it will be. So why not expect the best?
R – Relax.
 Breathe deeply when you feel stressed. Get up and change your environment, if only
for a short time
 Go for a walk at lunch time
 Relaxation means taking a break from what you were doing, not just “vegging out.”
For instance, watching television isn’t always relaxing; it can be dumbing and dulling.
Find activities that calm your body and stimulate your mind
 Create a time for your own kind of meditation. Find a quiet space and a quiet time
that’s just for you
K – Keep Anger under control.
 Be empathetic towards and forgiving of others when they make mistakes. Like you,
they’re trying to do their best
 Learn to give constructive feedback rather than destructive criticism
 When you get angry, remember that you have a choice in how you react. Instead of
yelling at that bad driver who cut you off, do a running play-by-play on his/her
erratic driving techniques. It’s more fun
L – Laugh.
 Use positive affirmations to keep yourself on track
 Affirmations should use the 4 P’s; personal, positive, passionate and present. For
instance, “I am a confident and successful manager who always runs an amazing
team.”
 Find time to share a joke. Laugh at the curve balls life throws at you rather than
fretting over them

E – Eat Well and Exercise.

 Your body needs to be a well-tuned machine to manage all of the stresses that
impact on it

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  Avoid eating packaged snacks – anything that comes in a wrapper or plastic bag. Try
natural fruit instead
 Add more coloured vegetables to your meals
 Reduce caffeine in your diet. It’s a stimulant and can exacerbate physical symptoms
of stress that you may already have. Choose water instead
 Avoid the escalator or elevator and take the stairs
 Find opportunities to go for a walk. Ideally, get exercise that causes you to sweat for
twenty minutes at least three times per week

8 USING EQ TO ENABLE HIGH PERFORMANCE

Performance management is the process of ensuring that people at all levels in the
organisation produce the results expected of them that are necessary for the continuing
success of the business - the results being competitiveness and business excellence.

8.1 Encouraging Team Work using EQ

Viewing the team as a wealth of knowledge and experience at the managers disposal and
using it to the business’ advantage, will have the added advantage of having a more
motivated team. If we feel valued and our knowledge, skills and competence are
acknowledged and sought, we are inspired by the value that we are allowed to add in
achieving company goals. The sense of belonging is also enhanced.

"Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision, the ability to
direct individual accomplishments toward organisational objectives. It is the fuel
that allows common people to attain uncommon results." - Andrew Carnegie

A particular challenge arises when you're assigned a group of people who has no interest in
being part of a team. A true test of your leadership ability will be creating an environment
where each employee wants to work cooperatively and collaboratively. Develop effective
teamwork and you'll inspire motivation, productivity, quality and loyalty.

Share the vision

Focus on the big picture

Explain the long-range plans of the company and reinforce them regularly. People often
become so focused on today's problems and routine duties that they lose sight of the big
picture.
Define roles
Outline the responsibilities of everyone on the team. This is crucial to the team's success.
Understanding each other's duties and deadlines helps people work collaboratively.
Encourage the team to define the division of labour themselves. They'll take on more
responsibility if they are in control and someone may even offer a previously untapped
talent.
Set goals

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Team members need to develop individual and group goals. Urge them to set achievable
and measurable short-term goals, as well as long term ones. With team-driven goals and a
team-developed code of ethics, the group will begin to self-manage. Peer pressure and
individual pride will help curb absenteeism, lateness and poor performance.

Communicate

Share information
The rumour mill is a drain on productivity and morale. Earn your team's respect and trust
with openness and honesty. During times of change, reveal as much as you can and promise
to update them as soon as you can.
Establish trust
Be trustworthy and dependable. Honour your promises. If you're the boss and you promise
a day off with pay if the sales team meets their target, follow through on it.
Listen
Be open to the team's ideas, presented in a formal suggestion program or in a brainstorming
session. Thoroughly consider all suggestions and respond to the individual or entire team,
whichever is more appropriate. Many companies spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on
consultants without first asking employees for their suggestions on productivity
improvements, service enhancements or new product lines.

Be the leader

Be patient
If the team does not seem to gel at first, give people time to get along. Watch carefully from
a distance and see if they can resolve their differences together. If not, take action.
Reassign someone if necessary, before the success of the team is compromised.
Provide encouragement
Challenge each team member to participate and contribute. Urge them to take additional
training if necessary and to step outside their comfort zones to develop their own unique
talents. Change people's responsibilities often. Acknowledge each individual's strengths
and offer positive reinforcement.
Praise the team
Celebrate achievements together. Reward the team, not an individual. Every group will
have a star that excels at everything. Recognise this privately and through the performance
review process but to foster teamwork, eliminate any opportunity for professional jealousy.
Always speak positively about your team. Showcase their talent and recognise their
dedication, efforts and successes publicly.
Be enthusiastic
Enthusiasm is contagious. Be positive, upbeat and hopeful. Always expect great things from
your team and they'll do their best not to disappoint you. Focus on what's going right even
if, at times, everything seems to be going wrong.

Inspire the team

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When you're in charge of a team, lead by example. Say "we" more often than "I," but
always understand that the buck stops with you. If something goes wrong, take the heat
without blaming others. Then, discuss the problems calmly with the team.
A natural leader elicits confidence, provides motivation and encourages greatness. Promote
mutual respect, cooperation and enthusiasm and you'll not only encourage teamwork, you'll
inspire the team.

Catch them doing something right!

Dr Daniel G Amen writes: “…we went to the penguin show. The penguin’s name was Fat
Freddie. He did amazing things: He jumped off a twenty-foot diving board; he bowled with
his nose; he counted with his flippers; he even jumped through a hoop on fire. I had my arm
around my son, enjoying the show, when the trainer asked Freddie to get something.
Freddie went and got it, and he brought it right back. I thought, “Whoa, I ask this kid to get
something for me, and he wants to have a discussion with me for twenty minutes, and then
he doesn’t want to do it!” I knew my son was smarter than this penguin.
I went up to the trainer afterward and asked, “How did you get Freddie to do all these really
neat things?” The trainer looked at my son, and then she looked at me and said, “Unlike
parents, whenever Freddie does anything I want him to do, I notice him! I give him a hug,
and I give him a fish.” The light went on in my head.

8.2 Building Collaborative Teams

Great teams emerge from great leaders whose emotional intelligence build and energise
people to improved motivation and productivity. Our moods affect those around us to a far
greater degree than are commonly supposed. A growing body of research on the human
brain proves that, for better or for worse, leaders’ moods affect the emotions of the people
around them. It is possible that not all moods are equally infectious. One study by the Yale
University School of Management indicated that fun and laughter catch on more readily
than irritability, which in turn was more infectious than depression.
Collaborating with other people is hard. Few of us are born knowing how to do it. Odd
though it might sound, we have to learn, by conscious reflection, how to work successfully
with others. And so we should take care to identify and occasionally nurture what one might
term ‘the collaborative virtues’, the set of psychological traits on which good teamwork
depends.

The Collaborative Virtues

Modesty about Sanity

It’s desperately easy to settle into the view that it’s always other people’s fault: they are the
peculiar, stupid, mean, lazy, judgemental ones. That may well be true, but it doesn’t make
progress any easier. We need to start from a different, less self-righteous place. We need to
keep clear in our minds all the very many shameful times when we have messed up, lost our
tempers, failed to interpret situations correctly and acted vindictively and blindly. We should
take on board with good grace the truth that we too are blockheads. Self-righteousness is
the enemy of group work. Part of loosening our grip on self-righteousness means identifying
one’s transferences: all the distinctive psychological patterns generated in childhood that
one is bringing to situations in the present. We should strive to overcome our flaws through
a patient, sympathetic understanding of our psychological histories and the warps they have
created in our minds. Self-analysis is – in this context – not self-indulgent, it’s a social virtue.

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We will become much easier people to be around once we good-naturedly accept that we
are all genuinely very difficult – and, in no pejorative sense, a little crazy.
Others are Scared, Not Mean or Stupid
When there is conflict, it’s painfully easy to run to the interpretation that those who are
giving us trouble are nasty or bad. That isn’t a cheering realisation but it’s an oddly satisfying
one nevertheless: it somehow settles our disappointments into safely depressive patterns
and confirms an underlying suspicion that the world is peopled by idiots, an imputation for
which there is always plenty of evidence. But the truth is more complicated. Other people
are rarely simply bad. What they are far more often is scared. They are behaving in
desperately unhelpful ways because they are extremely anxious on some score. Though the
raised voices and defensive tone look like signs of strength, no one who is feeling strong
ever actually behaves like this.
The mature response should hence not be to increase the tension and flare up in return, but
to strive to see that one has a hurt, flailing, lost person in front of one, to whom the correct
response should be sympathy, calm and understanding. Let’s not always be so shallow as to
get put off by the dispiriting externals. Let’s do our colleagues the honour of looking beyond
the troublesome surface behaviour, to the frightened person within.
The Art of Directness
Both at a psychological and at a political level, we have backgrounds that have emphasised
the art of indirectness. We become experts in bottling up, in working around people, in not
saying what we feel and what is ailing us; or in exploding in rage or settling into sulks rather
than confidently letting out our issues in a deliberate, slow, convincing, mature way.
Enough of stalking the earth with our shoulders hunched and our eyes wary. We have
nothing to be ashamed of. We must channel a voice of confidence at moments when it will
be submerged, through tiredness and fear, by the voices of the past.
The Weaknesses of Strengths
Other people are often so disappointing, it’s easy to lock on to their faults and simply
wonder again and again why they are the way they are. Why are they so slow? Why are they
so unreliable? How can they be so bad at confrontation? Why can’t they break bad news?
Why are they so shifty? Do they have to be so defensive? Circling the faults like this has a
superficial self-righteous appeal, but it doesn’t begin to address the real issue. There is one
giant alternative, a theory we call the Weaknesses of Strengths (WoS for short).
The theory goes like this: every strength that an individual has necessarily brings with it a
weakness of which it is an inherent part. It is impossible to have strengths without
weaknesses. Though our minds tend to hive off the strengths and see these as essential,
while deeming the weaknesses as a freakish add-on, in truth, the weaknesses are part and
parcel of the strengths. We have the wrong picture of what a virtue is; there is no such thing
in isolation, it will always be a virtue-vice. So the virtue of thoroughness is always going to
bring with, in other contexts, the problem of pedantry; creative brilliance is going to be
inseparable from logistical unreliability; people who are fantastic leaders at work are likely
to be seriously difficult around domestic chores. The reason for keeping this in mind is that
we often encounter people’s weaknesses at moments when we’re in danger of losing sight
of their strengths.
We need teams because all the virtues don’t coexist and need to be counterbalanced. A
team is a union of strengths and a compensation for individual weaknesses. If one could
possess all the virtues, there’d simply be no reason ever to live with someone else or join an

42
office. The necessary price for our reliance on strengths is having to endure certain
weaknesses too.
When we’re collaborating we’re often exposed to the downside of people’s positive
capacities. Every virtue has an associated weakness. The person who is extremely
methodical and can be relied upon to spot tiny (but highly consequential) errors early on is
invaluable. They can go through a document with a toothcomb. But maybe to be like that
they also have to have a certain dimming of the imagination, a tendency to be less
adventurous in conversation and see life mainly in quantitative terms. They might not be
your ideal companion on holiday or the person you’d turn to unburden your troubled soul.
But that’s bearable when these are seen as consistent with their valuable strengths. Not all
the virtues can belong together in a single person. The person who is really adventurous
around ideas, who doesn’t get intimidated by the power of ‘how we’ve always done things’
– is very unlikely to also be able to have the virtues of modesty and calm. They are quite
likely to get carried away at times. One should be ready for this – and never lose sight of a
strength, at moments when the weakness is only too painfully apparent.
Gratitude
Collaboration should be founded on recognition that there are bigger tasks we believe in but
cannot accomplish on our own. It is not merely in the sense that we don’t have enough time
to do it all ourselves; but more profoundly in the sense that we ourselves lack some of the
necessary aptitudes and skills for an important project. There’s a natural temptation of the
soloist: we may assume that the most prominent skill is the only one that really counts – and
so not much appreciate the less conspicuous contributions of other people – although those
background contributions really are necessary, and without them the star efforts would be
much less effective.
Gratitude develops in tandem with humility. If you’re ready to admit that you can’t do
something well enough (though it does need to be done) then you are developing an
appreciation of people who have the relevant ability, even if it is in a less prestigious area
than your own. Instead of just envying them – and quietly wishing they would go away or
make some big mistake – one is relieved that someone has the needed skill. This kind of
gratitude means you don’t necessarily have to like a person to be glad to be working with
them.
Gratitude involves acknowledging dependence: it means recognising that one really needs
the contributions of others. And it can be genuinely frightening to admit that a crucial
outcome (which is very important to one’s own ambitions) is significantly in the hands of
colleagues. So, the successful collaborator is someone who is able to live with the anxiety of
dependence.
Education
A basic reason one gives up on collaboration (or goes through the motions, with limited
enthusiasm) is a lack of faith in education, a lack of sincere belief that people can change.
You look at your colleagues – at the people you are going to be collaborating with – and just
know all the difficulties. That one is so slow, the other one is so narcissistic, a third is so
cautious. The good collaborator isn’t always too worried about this, because they have a
theory of change. The fact that their colleagues don’t understand something or have settled
into some unfortunate ways doesn’t seem to them like a disaster.
The good collaborator has a measure of reasonable faith that better practices and ideas can
be made convincing, if introduced with tact and energy. They have faith in the general
human capacity to learn (which everyone has exercised to a very great extent at many

43
points in their lives, even if they’ve given up on it at the moment). They are not particularly
daunted by the ignorance of others, nor indeed are they dismayed by their own current
inabilities. They are believers in education.
Strategic Pessimism
Strategic pessimism is different from despair. It’s a limited, conscious attempt to reign in
expectations when these are causing particular difficulties. In reality, we will have to spend
time alongside and engaged with people who we find problematic and yet cannot, for a
range of reasons, confront honestly and attempt to resolve differences with. Our options
can feel desperately limited. We can’t get rid of them, we can’t make them different and we
don’t want to just walk out the door ourselves. So all that’s left is learning how to live – and
interact and collaborate – with people who we don’t intuitively like or whom have some
marked problems with.
Obviously, collaboration is going to be quite hard. It’s normal to find working with others
very difficult. By presenting problems of collaboration as standard some of the heat is taken
out of the situation. We no longer feel that we’re uniquely cursed with insufferable
colleagues; we get a little less drawn to the fantasy of how great things might be if only we
worked somewhere else.
Forgiveness
It may not be a term we’re especially used to deploying in the work place. But it signals a
crucial shift in attitude. Typically, we are acutely aware of other peoples’ symptoms and are
drawn to demonising. We think of the bothersome individuals as deliberately being like that,
as having on purpose made themselves as they are. We don’t just find them annoying, we
blame them. It stokes our resentment, we imagine that at every moment of their existence
they have opted to have been self-aggrandising, or lazy, or unwilling to take any
responsibility when things go wrong. It’s a way of thinking about them that hardens our
resentment.
Forgiveness is tied up with the thought that it’s possible for any decent person to end up in a
very unfortunate place. It encourages explanations of how a person who is otherwise quite
sensitive, and normally well-intentioned, honourable and decent can end up being
defensive, grumpy or sly. We realise that people come to be this way not because they got a
strange positive desire to be like that, but because quite bad and difficult things have
happened to them, and in response (as a way of surviving) they’ve developed a set of
unattractive characteristics.
People differ from us and it may be irritating and difficult – but if we can find common
ground – it might be possible to move forward. The key question is to ask: ‘despite the
surface differences, have I ever done anything similar, have I ever wished another person to
fail, out of spite? Have I ever felt that a task was beneath my dignity? Have I ever wished I
could go behind people’s backs and not have to bother with persuading them?’ The point of
a forgiving attitude isn’t to say that this kind of conduct is just fine and doesn’t matter. We
know it matters. What it does is adjust our view of the person who is misbehaving. It turns
them from a demon into someone quite normal, someone a bit like us.
Acceptable Tensions
If we are trying to picture the kind of office where there’s lots of fruitful collaboration going
on, we might imagine everyone getting on well; meetings with lots of agreement and shared
insights. We tend to associate collaboration with harmony. But there’s another possibility –
one that was most notably explored by the German philosopher Hegel.

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The ideal collaboration involves tension, profound disagreements and conflicts in outlook
and ambition. Hegel gave good conflict a special name: he called it a ‘dialectic’. Inspired by
Hegel, the dialectical office might incubate divergent micro-cultures. There would be an
expectation of squabbling, of opposition and disagreement – in the conviction that, ideally,
it is from such tensions that the really valuable insights do finally emerge.
‘Good Enough’ Company
Because commerce really is competitive, and because the market at times harshly punishes
mistakes, work can easily tap into our latent fear of imperfection. We come to feel that we
have to get everything right, that any mistake is going to lead to disaster. It’s a feeling that
intensifies the anxieties around collaboration.
One’s mediocre, awkward or difficult colleagues are surely going to bring the whole business
down. The feeling grows that it’s necessary to battle them every day. The fact is, however,
that many imperfect things survive and even flourish in the world. A remarkable number of
things can go wrong, and do go wrong, and things muddle along anyhow. The individual and
a nation can survive an awful lot of mistakes, perhaps as many as 40% of decisions can go
very wrong, and still we’ll get through.
There is a number above which things get genuinely dangerous, but it’s perhaps a lot higher
than we might assume in our more panic stricken moments – as we contemplate the idiocies
of politicians or our colleagues. This is what it means to have a resilient attitude: it’s a
knowledge that the ship can have a lot of leaks in it and still stay afloat.

8.3 Providing Emotionally Intelligent Feedback

A lack of effective feedback can have serious negative results. People often don’t know how
others in their organisation regard their work. People unknowingly perform their tasks in
ways that colleagues regard as “bad.” Staff development suffers, positive performance and
negative habits are not identified, and the motivational power of positive feedback is lost.
When feedback is provided, it is often done under stress, in a crisis, or after a mistake, and it
is sometimes delivered in abrasive and less than helpful ways. In a worst-case scenario, an
employee is demoted or even fired for something that no one ever discussed seriously. And
he/she quite legitimately asks, “Why wasn’t I ever told this before?” These are important
results that affect every corner of organisational life. They seriously inhibit production, and
they have a powerful--if sometimes indirect--impact on morale and turnover.

Shocking Statistics

A December, 2009, study of 291 organisations

by research company Leadership IQ revealed
that:
*65% of employees say that when their boss
criticises performance, they don’t provide
enough useful information to help employees
correct the issue
*66% of employees say they have too little
interaction with their supervisor
*67% of employees say they get too little
positive feedback

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If two-thirds of employees are working without receiving appropriate feedback from their
superiors, it is safe to say that there is a feedback crisis in the workplace.

Defining Feedback

Feedback means letting someone know on a

timely and on-going basis how they are “The purpose of feedback — is not to make
performing, and it includes both positive and
people feel better, it’s to help them do
constructive observations. This feedback should
better”.
be given independent of any formal
performance review process.
Limiting feedback to performance appraisal time is seriously underutilising this management
tool. Feedback should be a normal, natural, non-threatening part of everyday organisational
life. Ideally feedback shouldn’t just be between managers and subordinates, but between
peers on a work team, or between people who must work together even though they work
in different areas.

Why Feedback May Feel

Unnatural Typical reasons why we don’t provide feedback:

“There’s not enough time to do it right; the organisation’s

There are two general reasons for this
lack of feedback. First, giving feedback is
almost an unnatural act. Second, and
related closely to the first reason, most
people lack the skills to give feedback
effectively.
culture doesn’t support people using feedback as a
management tool”
“Good people know how they’re doing, they don’t need to
be told by others;
“Positive feedback will be seen as insincere.”

Feedback is unnatural because our

culture teaches us some rather ineffective ways to give feedback. When people don’t
perform up to our expectations, we learn to either yell at them or scold them, or we learn to
suffer in silence and complain behind their backs to others. When someone does something
good, we often don’t tell him or her because “they might get a big head,” or because it
would embarrass them. These cultural patterns, learned in childhood, stick with us as adults,
and form the basis for ineffective feedback patterns in organisations.
Another reason is that most people don’t have the skills to give effective feedback to others.
Effective feedback skills aren’t taught in school. Most people aren’t good at receiving
feedback. They get defensive and try to “explain away” their behaviour by stating the
reasons behind their actions; they don’t listen well; or they attack the messenger. All of
these responses are likely to result in the giver being less willing to give them feedback in
the future.

Types of Feedback

There are three types of feedback used by executives and managers with their staff:
negative feedback, positive feedback, and constructive feedback. Each type has specific
characteristics and effects.
Type One: Negative Feedback
Negative feedback includes all messages—verbal or written—
that use negative language and have the primary purpose of

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belittling the employee, denigrating the work done by the individual, or both.
Negative feedback is often the type of feedback adults associate with difficult aspects of
their own childhood. Parents, family members, and teachers all appear to children to be
experts at giving negative feedback. Consequently, when employees, as adults, receive
negative feedback in the workplace, they can feel as powerless as children facing
overbearing authority figures.
Supervisors are certainly responsible for delivering criticism to their employees, and there
are times when negative criticism is appropriate. But, it can be dangerous. Negative
feedback can easily take the form of attacking the employee directly rather than criticising
the quality of the work done.
Common examples of this aggressive style of negative feedback include:
 “Can’t you do anything right?”
 “You stink. “
 “You’re no good at xyz.”
 “You’ve messed up.”
Each of these examples uses the word “you” and describes an aspect of the employee rather
than a detail of the employee’s work.
Another style of negative feedback is subtler and is familiar to virtually every member of the
workforce. This feedback begins with a positive comment and is then followed by the word
“but.” “But” is then followed by a litany of everything done incorrectly by the employee.
Many managers confuse this style of negative feedback with either positive feedback or
constructive feedback. To the recipient of this feedback, it is clear that the feedback is just
as negative as a straightforward negative comment that was not preceded by a positive
phrase. The positive comment at the beginning does not mitigate the impact of the negative
message.
Type 2: Positive Feedback:
Positive feedback includes written and verbal messages that express approval or praise.
Positive feedback is often associated with a favourite coach or teacher, and more rarely
parents, who give direct praise to children.
This is the type of feedback to give when the
employee is doing something right and the
manager wants them to continue doing it.
Common examples of Positive Feedback:
 “That was great.”
 “Good job.”
 “That shot was beautiful.”

Positive feedback is important for four reasons:

1. It shows staff that management pays
attention and notices when staff members carry out work tasks correctly
2. It highlights to staff what management expects from them
3. It enforces and promotes positive performance
4. It keeps morale high even in the toughest situations

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Type 3: Constructive Feedback
Constructive feedback gives recipients specific, concrete
steps to improve performance on future tasks. The ability
of constructive feedback to shape the future positively is
the biggest difference between it and the other forms of
feedback. Constructive feedback is neither criticism (as
there is no blame) nor a personal insult (as in telling a staff
member, “You are just lazy.”) Most importantly,
constructive feedback is not closed. (“This is it, and that’s
final.”)
Constructive feedback is inviting, respectful and
behaviour-based. This type of feedback gives staff the
opportunity to fix what is wrong or not working and also allows staff to grow personally and
professionally. Constructive feedback is seldom associated with childhood experiences and
is appropriate for professional situations.
Constructive feedback includes such statements as:
 “Here is a hint for doing this better next time.”
 “If you modulate your voice more, you’ll project more confidence to your
audience.”
 “You can improve your performance by doing xyz.”
Constructive feedback plays a significant role in the workplace:
1. It replaces negative feedback
2. It specifically addresses the task or behaviour that needs improvement without
antagonising the staff member
3. It improves relationships between supervisors and their employees.

Guidelines for Giving Positive and

Constructive Feedback

Following are some guidelines and examples for giving

good feedback:
Make specific statements, and support
general statements with specific examples.
Precise and specific statements are valuable to the receiver for both positive behaviour
“Exactly what did I do right?” or “What should I be sure to continue doing?” and negative
behaviour “What precisely should I change?”.
To be told that “you did well on that project” may be satisfying to both parties, but it’s not
nearly as effective as saying “you came in on time and under budget on that project.” The
latter statement clearly describes exactly what the person giving feedback sees as positive in
the receiver’s performance. To be told that “you dominate meetings” won’t be useful unless
it’s followed up by specifics, like “For example, in yesterday’s meeting, you talked so much I
stopped listening; you may have said some good things toward the end, but I didn’t hear
them.”
Use descriptive rather than judg emental language.

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By avoiding judgemental language, you reduce the need for a defensive response. For
example, regardless of merit, saying that some action was “terrible” or “stupid” or “utterly
inappropriate” generally evokes anger, return accusations, or passive-aggressive behaviour
in the listener. The feedback message rarely gets through this kind of verbal clutter. On the
other hand, describing the impact of the receiver’s behaviour on the performance of
another makes it easier for the receiver to understand the meaning and importance of the
feedback. Also, it tends to focus the discussion on behaviour and not personal
characteristics.
People are more open to listening about the results of their behaviour than they are about
the worth of their person. A good example of a results-oriented statement is the following:
“When you get angry and use abrasive language, I’m afraid to tell you the truth--so I just tell
you what I think you want to hear.” In this example, the results of the person’s behaviour
are made explicitly clear.
Use "I" Statements.
Give the feedback from your perspective. This way you avoid labelling the person.
Example: "I was angry and hurt when you criticized my report in front of my boss" rather
than "You were insensitive yesterday."
Direct feedback towards behaviour that the receiver can control.
A person’s frustration is only increased when he/she is reminded of shortcomings
over which he/she has no control.
Encourage others to solicit feedback, rather than imposing it on
them.
Feedback is most useful when the receiver has asked for it. If someone’s performance is
having a negative impact, others are responsible for providing that person with feedback.
The ideal is for the organisation to create an environment in which people feel comfortable
soliciting feedback--since that clearly increases its effectiveness.
Consider the timing of feedback.
In general, feedback is most useful when communicated at the earliest opportunity after the
given behaviour (depending, of course, on the person’s readiness to hear it, the support
available from others, etc.). We are talking here about reasonable time periods--the same
day, a day later, within a week, or maybe even within a month.
However, when longer than a month goes by, people generally end up arguing about
history, about what really happened. Moreover, badly-timed feedback also lends itself to
the comment, “Well, if that was so important, then why did you wait all this time to tell
me?”
Feedback that’s given in small pieces, and in a timely manner, is much easier and more
effective than saving things up for the “right time.” The more natural and on-going the
process, the better it will be for all.
Make sure feedback takes into account the needs of both the receiver and
giver.
Feedback can be destructive when it serves only one’s own needs and fails to consider the
needs of the person on the receiving end. This is especially true when the giver is angry and
wants to “unload” on the receiver. There may be a certain psychological satisfaction for one

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of the parties in this instance, but it generally results in ineffective feedback and a strained
relationship.
PLAN your feedback well.
It takes time to plan for a feedback conference. What to say, in what order, how much; all
these need careful thought. If, however, feedback is given on a more regular basis, then
feedback conferences will become much easier.

Receiving Feedback

Feedback from another person is important information about how your actions are
affecting others. Even if you disagree with the feedback, it’s important to
hear it clearly and understand it.
Feedback tells you how another person sees your actions and gives
you the choice of trying to change behaviour. People act on their
perceptions of your actions; you may be coming across in unintended
ways and not know it--there is probably nothing worse than being
ineffective in ways that are clear to others but not clear or apparent to
you. Feedback gives you information about your impact on others.
Such knowledge is invaluable for individual performance in organisations.
People who are interested in enhancing their performance should do
everything possible to make it easier for others to give them feedback.
Getting the feedback is sometimes difficult; it’s especially difficult if you are trying
to get feedback from a subordinate. The following guidelines make it easier for
others to give you useful feedback. Keep in mind that these guidelines are meant to be used
for both positive and constructive feedback. It’s often as hard (or harder) for people to hear
positive feedback as it is for them to hear negative feedback.

Guidelines for Receiving Feedback

Following are some guidelines and examples for helping other give you feedback:

Solicit feedback in clear and specific areas.

It’s always easier to give feedback if one is asked. It’s even easier when a specific question is
asked, such as “Could you let me know what you think of my current speed and quality of
turning out widgets?”
Make it a point to understand the feedback;
paraphrase major points; ask clarifying questions.
Active listening helps ensure that real understanding has happened.
Ask clarifying questions in order to understand the feedback. Doing
so helps the giver know that you are indeed interested and trying
hard to understand.
Help the giver use the criteria for giving useful
feedback.
For example, if the feedback is too general, ask, “Could you give me a specific example of
what you mean?”

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Avoid making it more difficult for the giver of feedback than it already is.
Reacting defensively or angrily, or arguing with negative feedback, or saying, “Oh, it was
nothing, anyone could have done as well,” in response to positive feedback are all ways of
turning off the feedback tap.
Don’t ask for explanations.
This particular guideline is perhaps the most important, yet it’s the one that most people
have trouble following. It’s natural to want an explanation for the immediate feedback
you’re receiving. Unfortunately, in almost all cases, explanations can seem defensive and
often end up in an argument. As a result, the giver backs off, thinking, “Hey, this is simply not
worth the trouble,” and is discouraged from giving effective feedback in the future. The giver
isn’t discouraged from seeing negative behaviour or assessing your performance; the person
simply becomes unwilling to provide the feedback. Focus instead on understanding the
behaviour and its impact.
Show appreciation for the person’s effort to give you feedback.
Saying “thank you” or “I’m grateful for the effort you took to tell me” is a clear message that
you appreciate receiving feedback, whether or not agreement is reached. This action invites
feedback in the future. In some ways, feedback is like a gift, because one has to care enough
to give it; if the signals are wrong, one simply will not give the “gift.”
In response to key points in the feedback, you should say what you intend
to do as a result.
A response may be “Thanks, I need to think about it,” or “Let me check it out with others,” or
“That makes sense, I’ll try in the future to...” If you just listen--even politely-- and walk away,
it may give a message that you don’t take what the giver said very seriously. (Of course, that
may be the case in some instances!)
Remember that feedback is based on one person’s perceptions of
another’s actions, not universal truth.
Keeping this in mind helps one be less defensive about feedback. Check with others to
determine the presence of behaviour patterns. If two or three people provide similar
feedback, there may be a pattern reflected that needs to be considered.

The Motivating Power of Authentic, Positive Feedback

There is one aspect of feedback that deserves a special note. Positive feedback by itself,
when authentic, is a superb tool to motivate people. And, it’s a tool that is grossly
underused. People don’t provide sufficient positive feedback; it’s often used to soften the
blow of constructive feedback as a way to pave the way for the “bad news.” Organisational
life has conditioned us to see positive feedback that way. Yet, when you give positive
feedback without any strings attached, the results are immediately clear.
There’s much that goes on every day that’s positive. We all should make it a point to give
one or two people some positive feedback each day--without any constructive feedback
attached to it. That’s not to say we should ignore the negative; rather, it’s to point out that a
great number of positive things don’t often get any verbal notice.

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In an age when we’re trying to locate the magic formula for motivation, the power that
communicating positive feedback has for motivating people is manifest. It’s simple to do,
and it doesn’t cost anything. It’s a waste not to use it.

Model for Giving Feedback

The purpose of feedback is to better performance and outputs. It should be given with the
intention to grow the recipient.
B alanced: The focus during feedback sessions should be on the areas of the receiver’s
development and strengths, with a focus on how the strengths can be further leveraged.
When giving “negative feedback”, be sure to include good and constructive points too
O bserved: You must always base your feedback on what you have observed, rather than on
what you think about it or your feelings about an issue
O bjective: when giving feedback, don’t refer to the personality of the receiver but focus
only on the actions and outcomes. Be descriptive, not evaluative
S pecific: Make sure that you back up your comments with specific examples of the
observed behaviour. For example, when giving a colleague feedback on a job well done by
them, explain exactly what he/she did well
T imely: Always endeavour to give your feedback as soon as possible after the activity.
Doing this ensure that you capture the observed action(s) as accurately as possible
Begin to B.O.O.S.T up your feedback giving skills to create an environment where you and
your co-workers feel comfortable giving and receiving feedback.

9 THE PUBLIC SERVANT AS LEADER

What is a Leader?

Leaders bring about change and impact on the effectiveness of an organisation through
their actions and personal influence. An organisation is only as good as its people and the
leaders play a pivotal role in this regard.
People respect leaders based on their behaviour and “A person who can successfully
decisions and not specific attributes or what you say to influence others to engage in the work
them. Behaviour speaks louder than words when it comes necessary to reach organisational
to measuring whether a leader is honourable and goals”
trustworthy. Strong leaders concentrate on what they are
[be] (such as beliefs and character), what they know (such
as job, tasks, and human nature), and what they do (such as implementing, motivating, and
provide direction).
People want to be guided by those they respect and who have a clear sense of direction. To
gain respect, they must be ethical. A sense of direction is achieved by conveying a strong
vision of the future.

What is Leadership?

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Leadership is a process by which a person influences others to accomplish an objective and
directs the organisation in a way that makes it more
cohesive and coherent. “The capacity to inspire confidence in
Leaders carry out this process by applying their the rightness of one’s purposes,
leadership attributes, such as beliefs, values, ethics, courage in their collective execution,
character, knowledge, and skills. Although your and obedience in the face of any threat
position gives you the authority to accomplish certain to resist”.
tasks and objectives in the organisation, this power
does not make you a leader...it simply makes you the
boss. Leadership differs in that it makes the followers want to achieve higher goals, rather
than simply bossing people around.

High Performance Leadership

Leaders in search of excellence and high performance:

• Ensures the systematic, results oriented approach to

setting and meeting criteria which reflect business
and organisational demands
• Assumes exceptional performance standards,
achieved over time and under pressure
• Engages the inherent potential of individuals
• Tests the leader`s capacity to develop a unique, authentic and robust leadership style

High Performance Leadership Behaviours

The great sociologist Max Weber said, over 100 years

ago, that the organizatons that will survive and thrive
would be those that foster acts of leadership
throughout the system, rather than assuming leaders
only exist at the top.

Leadership is illustrated through behaviours and

actions more than anything else. High Performance
leaders will engage in the following behaviours to lead
their teams to excellence:
First: Know Yourself!

“Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to

an understanding of ourselves.” C.G. Jung
monitors their solidarity and leads by
1. Understanding your own strengths and weaknesses example!
2. Knowing what you can do to improve your skills and
knowledge
3. Acknowledging your characteristics and traits that either help or hinder your leadership
of others

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 4. Always looking for ways to learn and improve your leadership behaviours and actions

Second: Consider Individuals

“I care about you and about your development …”

 Active listening, strong communication

 Providing challenges and opportunities for others
 Making interpersonal connections with employees, building
relationships
 Genuinely caring and showing compassion in actions
 Encouraging continuous development and growth of employees

Third: Stimulate their Intellect

“If you try another… perhaps … let me challenge you”

 Encouraging imagination / innovation of employees

 Challenging the old ways of doing things
 Looking for better ways to do things
 Encouraging followers to think for themselves, especially when
working through problems and issues
 Personally being willing to take risks for potential gains

Fourth: Inspire and Motivate

“If we focus on what this organisation stands for … we can achieve

whatever we desire!”

 Clarifying where the organisation will be in the future

 Inspiring others to superior performance
 Creating a strong sense of purpose
 Aligning individual and organisational needs
 Helping others to achieve more than even they thought was
possible
 Convincing others of their own potential
 Ensuring readiness for change

Fifth: Become an Ideal Role Model

“I believe that this is truly the right thing to do … I am willing to do this myself.”

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  Role modelling behaviours encouraged in followers
 Symbolising the goals and mission of the organisation
 Expressing confidence in the vision of the organisation
 Demonstrating that he/she is part of that vision
 Exhibiting commitment and persistence in pursuing
objectives
 Walking the walk
 Developing trust and confidence
 Addressing crisis ‘head on’
 Celebrating success with their followers

Check Yourself:

Are you on a path of becoming a high performance leader?

DO YOU …

 Have clear access to all the

information that you need?
 Have a clear vision and a plan of how
to get there? information, motivation and
 Have measures in place to identify
how close your are to achieving goals goal?”
and plans?
 Role model the use of effective high performance behaviours and practices?
 Budget to a plan, or plan to budget?
 Balance your awareness of current with future?
 Identify risks and have contingency plans in place to minimise them?
 Embrace change rather than fear it?

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10 THE LEADER AS COACH
"In research conducted over the past three years we've found that leaders who have the best coaching
skills have better business results."
~ VP of Global Executive & Organizational Development at IBM

Coaching as a high performance practice is not about turning everyone into a professional
coach. It is about developing a coaching culture as leaders – developing the ability to have
‘successful coaching conversations’ as part of best practice management and leadership
skills.

Coaching is one of the most successful ways to assist individuals, teams and organisations to
deal effectively with change and to develop the ability to cope with and make positive
movements towards integrating change and improvement into the way in which they work.

In today’s dynamic world of work, coaching has become part of the architecture of
successful businesses. It has a profound impact on helping people to adapt to change,
improve bottom lines and create a platform for sustained long-term growth. Rather than
occurring in isolation, coaching forms an integral part of organizational strategy.

High performance coaching conversations are underpinned by the following:

Positive Psychology
Appreciation and Appreciative Inquiry
Coaching as a critical competence within a high performance organisation
 The need to handle “crucial”/hard discussions and daily conversations in a constructive
and positive manner
Ensuring that the values of dignity, respect and humility (key element of leadership)
pervade the organisation through effective coaching conversations
 Translating “talk” into action through coaching support and guidance with a clear and
co-created focus on results

An Appreciative Approach To Coaching Conversations

An appreciative approach focuses on strengths, possibilities and potential. It identifies

resources that people already have within, including their own knowledge and life
experiences, and builds on that.

Many of us are conditioned to take a negative approach – what’s wrong, what’s not working;
we search for reasons why an idea didn’t/won’t work. This conventional focus can stifle
creativity, sap energy and enthusiasm, and usually results in the need (or tendency) to find
someone or something to blame. People become defensive. Worst of all, it creates
situations where people get “stuck” and tend to refer back to “the way in which we have
always done it”.

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A coaching conversation with an appreciative approach focuses attention on the results
that need to be achieved, on looking forward, to imagining the possibilities. It cultivates
an environment of energy, enthusiasm and forward movement towards a goal. It
encourages innovative thinking. Obstacles are viewed as opportunities for growth,
development and transformation. Given the opportunity, people are naturally inclined to
imagine “what could be” and if encouraged, are more often than not naturally inspired to try
and make it happen. This is the form of energy that an appreciative approach taps into.

An appreciative approach never ignores problems or diminishes the value of effective

problem solving methods. It merely suggests starting off the process with what is going
well and what we can use as leverage. This creates a different perspective from a more
positive approach. It asks us to rise above the problem and focus on the possibilities and
benefits that lie beyond.

What Coaching Is Not

 Coaching is not a training session, however it does promote learning. It is about

giving an individual the opportunity to engage in a thinking process which aids their
own learning on-the-job. Coaching focuses on creating sustained behavioural
changes because the person understands the ‘why’ and not just the ‘how’
Coaching is not mentoring, although there are some overlaps and times when some
mentoring may happen within the conversation. It is not the key focus
 Coaching is not counselling or therapy. It addresses work place issues and deals
with continued performance and improvement from a positive perspective with a
specific goal in mind and a focus on a specific result. Counselling begins with a
problem and focuses on dealing with the origins of that problem (can lead to
“getting stuck” in the problem conversation)
 Coaching is not telling. The coach does not solve the individual’s problems and give
him/her answers and solutions. The coach challenges and guides the individual
towards discovering the solution themselves and then assists them in achieving it

Typical Appreciative On-The-Spot Coaching Conversation

Consider a typical conversation that a tennis coach may have with a player:

Where would you like to place the ball?

Are you using a racquet that will allow you to set it going into the direction that you
want it to go?
 If you don’t hold your racquet correctly, what will happen to the flight of the ball?
Have you thought about where the ball will be placed on its return?
Where should you place yourself in anticipation of the return shot?

A coach asks key questions designed to stimulate thought, develop confidence and
encourage continuous improvement.

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 Coaching in a work situation is no different
Recognise and encourage capability that is already within the individual, and encourage
their inherent potential to grow and develop
Recognise what the individual already knows by asking the right questions (Socratic
Dialogue) and giving the space to reflect and discover
Lend wisdom, support, encouragement and guidance to the situation

A coaching conversation does not need to be a formal session. You simply need to be
available, sensitive, supportive, and skilled in drawing out the best in people during an
appreciative coaching conversation.

An on-the-spot appreciative coaching conversation will draw on all of your high performance
practices and skills:

 Actively listening to the conversation – staying “present” through the entire

conversation, including good eye contact and full attention
Asking questions to draw out what the individual already knows, allowing them to
tap into current skills and expertise
Offering support in putting together a plan of action for either gathering more
information with which to come to a decision, or in coming to an actual decision

PAIDD Model - A Structured Coaching Conversation

The PAIDD Model approach is underpinned by the following:

High performance behaviours and practices

An accumulation of small, incremental changes make a big difference
PAIDD = Prepare, Appreciate, Imagine, Develop, Do

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The PAIDD Model provides managers and leaders with a simple structure to their
appreciative coaching conversation. It helps you to achieve a successful result from your
informal coaching efforts. It does not need to be a formal coaching session; not everyone
has been trained to have these formal coaching sessions with individuals within the
organisation. It simply takes on the form of a effective, structured conversation and could
take as little as 10 minutes to complete in an informal on-the-spot setting.

Prepare

Prepare for your conversation by observing, reflecting, analysing the issues/problems at

hand, identifying patterns, and anticipating possible reactions and outcomes to the
conversation that you are about to embark on. Make a coaching offer, and if this accepted,
move on to the next part in this structured conversation.

Appreciate

The term appreciate means to gain understanding and perspective by listening and asking
questions. This is the part of the conversation where you let the individual do all of the
talking. You will simply initiate the conversation by asking good open questions, such as “tell
me what you understand by this situation”, or “describe to me what the impact of this action
is”, or “tell me more about the process that you are embarking on”.

Imagine

Encourage the individual to move away from talking in circles around problems and help
them to start thinking of solutions. For example, “tell me what this situation would look like
if everything was working smoothly”. Use a CPSDS to set up a possible deliverable based on
what they would like to achieve.

Develop
Ask the question: “what will you need to do to move from the current situation to what you
have just described?” Work with the individual to co-create plans to move actively towards
the desired situation. Use the CPSDS to plan the success measures that need to be
achieved. Ensure that the plan is SMART. Assist the individual to use good problem
analysing and problem solving methods to ensure that the plan actually addresses the real
problem/issue and not just symptoms.

Do

Agree on a follow up plan and encourage the individual to put the plan into action.
Encourage, guide, provide advice, effective and constructive feedback when required. The
follow up and feedback may lead you into another coaching conversation. This is the cyclical
nature of coaching conversations at their best.

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11 BUILDING HIGH PERFORMANCE TEAMS
Well-integrated, high-performing teams, those that “click”, never lose sight of their goals
and are largely self-sustaining. In fact, they seem to take on a life of their own. And it all
comes down to leadership.
In every case that has been studied at the Europe-based Centre for Organisational Research,
teams that 'click' always have a leader who creates the environment and establishes the
operating principles and values that are conducive to high performance. The evidence for
this is clearly seen in organisations where a manager who creates high performance teams
moves to another part of the organisation, or to a different organisation, and within 18
months he/she has once again establish a high-performing team.
We believe these leaders operate in an organised, systematic way to build successful teams,
and that the formula not only involves what leaders should say and do, but also what they
should not say and do. It also involves working backwards—leaders should envisage the
future before dealing with the present.
The four most significant behaviours consistently demonstrated by high-impact leaders are:
 Defining clear goals or a vision of the future in accordance with overall
organisational aims (the “big picture”)
 Creating blueprints for action to achieve those goals
 Using language to build trust, encourage forward thinking and create energy within
the team (“powerful conversations”)
 Getting the right people involved (“passionate champions”)
The figure below illustrates the conditions that need to exist to create a High Performance
Team:

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11.1 The High Performance Cycle
The High Performance Programme is used to develop leaders, managers and supervisors.
This programme focuses on the key aspects of management and leadership. The strength
and success of the approach is around the notion of speaking “one managerial language”
and the “use of common methodologies” by all employees across an organisation.
Underlying the HP Programme are 8 High Performance Behaviours and Practices. The
effective use of these 8 High Performance Behaviours and Practices transforms
organisational thinking and results in better performance. The following diagrams illustrate
the High Performance Cycle and the underlying behaviours and practices.

11.2 The High Performance Behaviours

These are the four most significant behaviours consistently demonstrated by high-impact
leaders. But they are not the only such behaviours. What follows is a less detailed but fuller
list of what leaders should do to get people to work together to attain organisational goals:
1. Define a very clear picture of the future–a vision for the team. This is crucial,
because teams search desperately for specific targets. Consider the old expression:
“If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.” Journeys
without a clear destination leave groups feeling flat and lost. Keeping teams
informed on where they’re headed and how best to get there means leaders must
be prepared to acknowledge and adapt to changes in operational conditions and

61
 even objectives. Leaders cannot sit back and watch, but instead must create and
recreate the vision and team spirit that stops people from losing heart and
becoming lost
2. Be genuine, even if it means lowering your guard. Leaders who create “click” have
an uncanny sense about how and when to express their inner selves. They will even
reveal their own vulnerabilities at the right time to gain the respect of those around
them. They are not so concerned about projecting a perfect image: they know that
high-impact leaders get results by laughing at their own flaws. They don’t play
make-believe, knowing it’s more important “to be” than to “seem to be”
3. Ask good questions. They use inquiry and advocacy in such a way as to keep them
abreast of what is really going on. They seem to use a simple formula of the 70-20-
10 rule in conversations: 70 percent listening, 20 percent enquiring with just the
right amount of advocacy, and 10 percent tracking (i.e., summarising and
synthesising information, and providing possible courses of action)
4. Talk about things–even the hard things. A leader who gets his/her team to click is
not afraid to talk about the tough stuff. They find ways to have the difficult
conversations in the knowledge that burying problems doesn’t make them go away.
They also know that if they, as leaders, don’t talk about things, no-one will and,
pretty soon, a culture will develop in which too many things are left unsaid. (I can
always tell when teams are dysfunctional by measuring the amount of stuff not
talked about, or what is called the “let’s not go there” issues)
5. Follow through on commitments. Leaders of high-performing teams find ways to
build trust and maintain it, especially by making teams keep to their commitments
and keeping the team’s view of its goals clear. However, they also know how to
distinguish professional trust from blind loyalty
6. Let others speak first. In high-performing teams, members see themselves as equal
in terms of communication. Leaders should therefore encourage this by putting the
other person’s need to express his/her agenda ahead of their own
7. Listen. High-performing teams are comprised of people who have mastered the art
of listening without fear, of allowing others to speak without reacting strongly or
negatively to what is being said, or what they anticipate will be said. The leader
fosters and honours this attribute within the team by quickly putting a stop to bad
conversational behaviour that cuts other people off and implies that their ideas are
not valued. The leader knows that achieving higher levels of innovation requires
team members to be unafraid to express unusual ideas and advocate experimental
processes. They emphasise this by publicly thanking those who take risks and by
making sure that sharpshooters put their guns away

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11.3 Setting Objectives
The first part of the HP Cycle involves goal setting – or objective setting. This is a key step in
achieving overall success. To establish a common approach across an organisation, we use a
simple thinking tool – the CPSDS Matrix that helps us to clearly and succinctly set
measurable objectives whilst keeping several key factors in mind.

sSMART OBJECTIVES

Why should objectives be sSMART?

How can you ensure objectives are sSMART?
When you have to convey set objectives to your team, what are the areas you should cover?

The CPSDS Matrix

Refer to page 24 to review the CPSDS tool. This tool will now be discussed in more detail.

Purpose

“The reason for which something is done or created or for which something exists.”

Not many tasks are simply ends in themselves – most are done to achieve a purpose or a
number of purposes, which give sense and meaning to the activity. It is essential that
everyone thinks about the question “why is this important”, or “why are we doing this”. Too
often we simply do things because we are told to do it. When assigning work to others or
sharing objectives, it is very worthwhile to take some time to let others know the purpose of
the work – this will make people feel more committed and establish a sense of
collaboration.

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Notes:

 To establish purpose, the usual questions are ‘Why?’ or ‘What for?’ Make sure you
answer the question ‘Why?’ with ‘in order to ….’ So that ….’ or ‘to ….’. Answers
beginning with ‘because’ are useful for clarifying the stimulus or reason for needing
to do something (i.e. the context) – it forms part of the background information
 Knowing the purpose – why something is to be done – helps you to judge what is ‘fit
for purpose’ and even to suggest better ways of achieving the same thing
Your purpose should be aligned to the overarching organisational purpose and brand
commitment:

Stakeholders

“By forgetting even just one Stakeholder, you risk spoiling your entire task/project”
There are several different kinds of stakeholders, some of whom may be more influential or
important than others. It is vital that the various stakeholders are identified and their
interests explored so that expectations are clear and managed accordingly. Key
stakeholders will be responsible for setting success measures and evaluating the
deliverables against these criteria.
Types of stakeholders:
Sponsor
 Instigates a task or project
Customer
 The person/people to whom the end result is delivered
End user
 Those who will use the end result/ deliverable
Participants
 Those who will carry out the task or part of the task
Other stakeholders
 Those affected by or stand to benefit from the task/project

Success Measures

“These tell you/ confirm whether you have been successful or not…often we don’t know if
we have been successful or not…without a pre-defined list of success measures, it is
impossible to know objectively whether we have achieved success”
 Success measures are the standards by which you can measure success and tell
whether or not you are achieving your purpose. It is easier to check success if the
success measures are objective, specific and measurable (i.e. sSMART)
 At work, it is important to find out what specific standards the customer, the task
initiator and any other people connected to the task may expect or need. Asking
them provides real information as well as helping gain their commitment
 Success measures should relate to different time scales – if something will take

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 months to complete, it is important to have short, medium, and long-term
measures. If you have success criteria, which will only be measured far out in the
future, it may be too late to take remedial action. You need to have some shorter-
term success measures against which you can review progress
 Setting success measures needs imagination, so try to picture a future state and
visualise what success will look and feel like
 Although success measures need to be challenging, they must also be realistic – if
you set standards that can never be met it will demoralise and demotivate people.
Trial runs are a good way of finding out what is feasible
 If it is proving difficult to set success measures, it can help if you work from the
other end – ask yourself “what would not be acceptable” and then reverse it

11.4 Planning
“It is only once we are clear on our objectives that we can start to assess what we know
and don’t know and then start the process of outlining tasks and schedules to accomplish
the objectives.”
Planning is a basic management function involving formulation of one or more detailed
plans to achieve optimum balance of needs or demands with the available resources.
The planning process (1) identifies the goals or objectives to be achieved, (2)
formulates strategies to achieve them, (3) arranges or creates the means required, and (4)
implements, directs, and monitors all steps in their proper sequence.

Planning Information Matrix

For planning to be effective, it is important to have as much accurate information available

as possible. The information planning matrix is designed to guide your thinking to ensure
this. It might be necessary to ask these questions of your stakeholder/s!
Information known Information Unknown
What we have/know already, e.g. What do we have to find out or get? e.g.
 Ideas
 Experience  Options
 Skills  Resources
 Budget  Risks
 Time  Trial runs
 Etc.  Etc.

WHAT WHEN WHO

 What are the phases or subtasks that need to be undertaken
 Who will undertake each task, when and how?
 Identify all the subtasks or major chunks of activity

Notes on Planning

We often become so mesmerized by the task/project at hand, that we do not give ourselves
enough time to think about all the information at hand. Ask yourself:
 What information do we have currently?

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  How can we use this information?
 Does everyone on the team know the “known information?”
Once we have a succinct list of known information, we can move onto what is not known to
us:
 What do we need to investigate?
 What do we need to try out/test to get some base data?
 What would be the best process?
 What kind of methodology would work best to achieve our objectives?
 Who is best placed and has the most appropriate skills to do specific tasks?
 Who needs to be trained?
 What is it we do not know?
 What are the risks?
One of the biggest reasons for unsuccessful project/task completion is a failure to share
known information with the whole team at frequent intervals. It also happens often that we
overlook known information and hence waste time and effort finding out things that are
already known. Making sure that we really think and consider information at hand is
essential to high performance.
The next most significant reason for unsuccessful task completion is not thinking about the
“hidden dimension”:
 What should we be thinking of?
 What could possibly go wrong and how can we mitigate it?
 What information do we need to gather as a team to ensure that we progress in an
orderly, systematic manner?
 What is hidden from us now that we need to brainstorm/ try out/ investigate/ test?
Once we have a comprehensive list of things that are unknown, we can go on to scheduling
WHAT needs to be done, by WHOM, and by WHEN. This facilitated interval review and
helps all team members to clearly understand their roles and responsibilities.

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11.5 Assigning Work
“By taking the time to assign work in methodical way and questioning the
recipient’s understanding, we increase our chance of successful assignment
completion by 80%”
We often do not take an appropriate amount of time and effort to fully explain assignments.
When assigning work we need to establish understanding of what we expect a teammate to
do, and gain the teammate’s commitment to meet those expectations. Our expectations
should be in specific terms:
 Any applicable safety guidelines
 The quantity of work expected
 The quality of work expected
 The time frame for doing the work
Work has not been assigned correctly until:
1. You are confident that the teammate understands what to do
2. You have heard the teammate commit to getting it done
3. The teammate knows that you have committed to a specific follow-up

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12 HIGHLY EFFECTIVE TEAMS

“Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common

vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward
organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common
people to attain uncommon results.” - Andrew Carnegie Teamwork is a
choice - too often
we believe that the pursuit of teamwork is mandatory. When people consider teamwork as
a "must do" rather than a "choose to," they avoid the effort and work it takes to build an
effective team. All leaders espouse a belief in teamwork, but few actually achieve it because
they either don't understand or underestimate the work that true teamwork requires.
Having an effective teamwork model in mind is a good place to start, along with a systematic
approach to teamwork and using a common team language – as provided by the High
Performance Cycle.

12.1 Identity
Whether it be a sports team or a work team, creating an identity
that all members participate in, is the essential glue that binds team
members. We all identify with something – our family names, our
country, a sports team that we cheer for - anything that confirms
that we belong to a particular group. This is normal social
behaviour in humans and it helps us function in more positive ways.
So when thinking about effective teams, a good place to start is by
creating some sort of identity – be it a name, a set of commonly
agreed ground rules, a vision and meaning for the team or a simple

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gesture such as a T-shirt that officially recognises membership.

Team Compact

Team Compacts are statements of values and guidelines established consciously by a team.
They help to guide the behaviours and actions of individual
members in such a way that the team remains effective. When
things goes wrong in a group situation, it is easier to refer back
to compact that have already been agreed to than try to set
some up in a situation that is no longer calm / conducive.
Team compacts define a behavioural model addressing how
individuals treat each other, communicate, participate,
cooperate, support each other, and coordinate joint activities.
They may be used to define and standardise team procedure,
use of time, work assignments, meeting logistics, preparation,
note taking, discussion, creativity, reporting, respect and courtesy.
To be effective, ground rules contained in the compact must be clear, concise, agreed-to,
and followed consistently. They are not merely statements written on a piece of paper and
pasted on a wall somewhere – they need to become the standard against which behaviours
and actions within the team are measured.
When ground rules are missing, or are poorly articulated and/or misunderstood, natural and
/ or dysfunctional behavior patterns often emerge spontaneously – these become ‘team
norms’ and may / may not be effective.
A team should create and adopt written ground rules during their first few sessions of
getting together. Once created and agreed to, ground rules should be frequently consulted
and enforced through reminders and team process checks. They should not be cast in stone,
but should be added to and revised as needed, e.g. when significant changes occur within
the team, or there are changes in the way in which the team operates, etc.), and this should
be done effectively and timeously.
When setting ground rules, start off with the following statement: “We would be a more
effective team if …”. Each item should address this key statement.
Examples of ground rules:
Relating to culture and attitude
 We treat each other with respect
 We value constructive feedback. We will avoid being defensive and give feedback in
a constructive manner
 We strive to recognise and celebrate individual and team accomplishments
 As team members, we will pitch in to help where necessary to solve problems and
catch-up on behind schedule work

Relating to meeting behaviours

 We will hold a regular weekly meeting on in venue
 All team members are expected to attend team meetings unless they are out of
town, on vacation or sick. If a team member is unavailable, he/she should have a
designated, empowered representative (another team member, a representative
from their functional organisation, etc.) attend in their place

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  The team leader can cancel or reschedule a team meeting if sufficient team
members are unavailable or there is insufficient subject matter to meet about
 Meetings will start promptly on time. All members are expected to be on-time. If, for
extenuating circumstances a member is late, he/she must catch-up on their own
 Meeting minutes will be distributed within 24 hours after the meeting

Relating to communications and decision making

 One person talks at a time; there are no side discussions
 Each person is given a chance to speak their mind while at the same time respecting
the group's time and the meeting timetables
 We will be brief and focus on facts, not opinions
 We emphasise open and honest communication - there are no hidden agendas
 We discuss issues - not attack people
 We will listen, be non-judgemental and keep an open mind on issues until it is time
to decide

12.2 Trust
Team member relationships are important to achieve team
effectiveness. Improved levels of trust and openness result in the
efficient sharing of problems. A good way of improving difficult
relationships is to have a common purpose and shared tasks with a
clear understanding of the bigger picture.
Trust relationships are vital to the conduct of any business. Some base level of trust is
required just to have employment contracts, or to engage in administrative transactions.
Beyond such minimum thresholds, trust also plays a major role.
The level of trust in business relationships—whether external, e.g. in advisory roles, or
internal, e.g. in a services function—is a greater determinant of success than anything else,
including content excellence.
How can we think about trust? What conceptual frameworks do we need in order to
intelligently assess and improve on trust relationships, and in particular on our levels of
trustworthiness?
Three core trust models are presented here which have been developed and adopted over
the years based on The Trusted Advisor (with Maister and Galford, Free Press, 2000), and
Trust-based Selling (McGraw-Hill, 2006):
1. The Trust Equation: a deconstructive, analytical model of the components of
trustworthiness;
2. The Trust Creation Process: a process model of trust creation through personal
interaction—mainly conversations;
3. The Trust Principles: four principles, or values, which serve as guides to decision-
making and conduct to increase trust.
The TRUST Equation
Trust is a bi-lateral relationship—one trusts, and the other is the trusted. While the two are
related, they’re not the same thing. The trust equation is a model for the second—the one
who would be trusted. It is about trustworthiness.

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Often we intend more than one thing when we use the word trust. We use it to describe
what we think of what people say. We also use it to describe behaviours. We use it to
describe whether or not we feel comfortable sharing certain information with someone else.
And we use the same word to indicate whether or not we feel other people have our
interests at heart, vs. their own interests.
Those four variables can be described as Credibility,
Reliability, Intimacy, and Self-Orientation. They can be
combined in an equation.
Credibility has to do with the words we speak. In a
sentence, we might say, “I can trust what she says about
intellectual property; she is very credible on the subject.
By contrast, reliability has to do with actions. We might
say, for example, “If he says he’ll deliver the product
tomorrow, I trust him, because he’s dependable.”
Intimacy refers to the safety or security that we feel when
entrusting someone with something. We might say, “I can
trust her with that information; she’s never violated my confidentiality before, and she
would never embarrass me.”
Self-orientation refers to the focus of the person in question. In particular, whether the
person’s focus is primarily on himself or herself or on the other person. We might say, “I
can’t trust him on this deal—I don’t think he cares enough about me, he’s focused on what
he gets out of the deal.” Or—more commonly—“I don’t trust him—I think he was too
concerned about how he was appearing, so he wasn’t really paying attention.”
Increasing the value of the factors in the numerator increases the value of trust. Increasing
the value of the denominator—that is, self-orientation—decreases the value of trust.
Since there is only one variable in the denominator and three in the numerator, the most
important factor is self-orientation. This is intentional. Someone with low self-orientation is
free to really, truly, honestly focus on the other person. Not for their own sake, but for the
sake of the customer. Such a focus is rare among people in general.
Looking at trust this way covers most of the common meanings of trust that we encounter in
everyday business interactions. Note that the meanings are almost entirely personal, not
institutional.
Trust in leaders requires good “scores” on all
four variables in the equation. But the most
important, by far, is low levels of self-
orientation.
Living the four trust values is the best way to
increase your trustworthiness.
The trust creation process
Trust typically gets created at the individual
level, between people, and usually in
conversations. The Trust Creation Process is a
five-step model for that process:
1. Engage the person in an open discussion about issues that are key to hi,/her;
2. Listen to what is important and real to the person; earn the right to offer solutions;

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 3. Frame the true root issue, without the language of blame, via caveats, problem
statements and hypotheses; take personal risks to explore sensitive issues—
articulate a point of view; create by giving away;
4. Envision an alternate reality, including win-win specific descriptions of outcomes
and results, including emotional and political states; clarify benefits—make clear
what’s at stake; be tangible about future states;
5. Commit to actionable next steps that imply significant commitment and movement
on the part of each party.
The order in which these sentences occur in a conversation has as much impact as the
sentences themselves. That is, you could do a wonderful job on framing the issue or on the
commitment to action—but if you do them before you do listening, then the trust process
breaks down, or freezes.
The most powerful step in the Trust Creation Process by far is the Listening step. The two
most common errors in practice are:
 Inadequate listening, and
 Jumping too quickly to the final, action, step.
The trust principles
Being or becoming trustworthy cannot be reduced to pure behaviours. You can’t bottle it in
a competency model. Our actions are driven by our beliefs, and our beliefs are driven by our
values or principles. Trustworthy behaviour is way too complex to fake without the beliefs
and values behind them. If your values don’t drive you to behave in a trustworthy manner all
the time, you’ll be found out quickly.
Hence, the Trust Equation and the way we use the Trust Creation Process model are really
just outcomes of the principles we hold. The way to become trusted is to act consistently
from those principles—and not just any set of principles will do. There are four specific
principles governing trustworthy behavior:
1. A focus on the Other (client, customer, internal co-worker, boss, partner,
subordinate) for the Other’s sake, not just as a means to one’s own ends. We often
hear “client-focus,” or “customer-centric.” But these are terms all-too-often framed
in terms of economic benefit to the person trying to be trusted.
2. A collaborative approach to relationships. Collaboration here means a willingness
to work together, creating both joint goals and joint approaches to getting there.
3. A medium to long term relationship perspective, not a short-term transactional
focus. Focus on relationships nurtures transactions; but focus on transactions
chokes off relationships. The most profitable relationships for both parties are those
where multiple transactions over time are assumed in the approach to each
transaction.
4. A habit of being transparent in all one’s dealings.
Transparency has the great virtue of helping recall who said what to whom. It also increases
credibility, and lowers self-orientation, by its willingness to keep no secrets.
Applying these principles to all of our actions will develop the fullest possible sort of trusting
relationship.

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Johari’s Window
This is a framework that helps us understand our leadership personality – i.e. how we are
perceived by those we work with. Originally developed by Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham, it
has been extensively utilised to improve relationships in teams.

The quality of the team relationship is determined by the amount of information that is
known by all parties - this is referred to as the Arena. In other words, the bigger the arena,
the easier a relationship usually is as we understand each other better.
Information that we know about ourselves but that is hidden to other people is called the
Mask - e.g. information about our personal lives.
Information that others know about us but that we are unaware of is called the Blind spot -
e.g. irritating habitual behaviour or talents that you might not be aware of.
Information that is not known to either of the parties is called the Unknown - e.g.
unexplored talents, skills and abilities.
The size of the Arena can be adjusted to increase in size, and thus increase the quality of
understanding in the relationship, by two processes:
 Self-disclosure decreases the size of the mask by making more information known
to others in order for them to understand you better
 Feedback decreases the blind spot by making known to you how you are perceived
by others

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12.3 Managing Conflict
If the management of that conflict is not effective, it can totally disrupt the entire team
process.
Constructive conflicts exists when:
• People change and grow personally
• The conflict results in a better solution to a problem
• It increases involvement of everyone affected by the conflict
• It builds cohesiveness among the members of the team

Destructive conflicts exists when no decision is reached and problem still

exists:
• It diverts energy away from value-added activities
• It destroys the morale of the team members
• It polarises or divides the team
Preventing destructive conflict
Some strategies that help prevent destructive conflict:
• Develop Ground Rules which incorporate behaviours that the team will allow or
prohibit - the leader can refer back to these for guidance if conflict threatens to
arise
• Develop a team agreement for dealing with conflict at the start - It should focus on
positive behaviours
• Set team objectives together and align these clearly to the team’s purpose
• Make sure that individual goals are clear – i.e. roles and responsibilities
• Focus on maintaining good team communication and having regular review
sessions or brainstorming to solve problems
Resolution Strategies when conflict arises:
• Set up a calm environment
• Make sure all parties want to resolve it
• Gain mutual understanding of the problem/ points of view
• Review individual goals and team goals/objectives
• Explore the reasons for the conflict and how it impacts goals
• Consider possible solutions together and design a plan together
• All parties need to agree on the most appropriate solution
• Action the designed plan
• Evaluate the success/failure of the solution
• Celebrate resolution of a conflict or go back to #5
Notes on C onflict
We sometimes use the word ‘conflict’ simply to mean that
people have different or even opposing ideas - there is
nothing wrong with having different or opposing views.
Conflicting ideas don’t necessarily have to lead to a real
battle. The basis of conflict often lies in thinking we have to
choose between two different ideas – and that one will ‘win’ and
the other ‘lose’. Often a mixture of ideas is the best outcome/ answer.

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In general conflict can also be avoided by simple behaviours and actions:
• Let other people finish what they are saying. Listen very carefully, and check
that you have really understood what the person is telling you
• Look for ways of using ideas and not dismissing them out of hand
• Speak clearly and calmly
• Resist the temptation to provoke the other person
• Recognise differences between people and how they think and respond to
things
• Speak about your own feelings and emotions clearly and calmly
• Getting angry may be a sign that someone is uncertain – reassuring them
may be better than fighting back

“Commitment is all about dedication

12.4 Achieving Commitment
and application”
High-performing companies recognise that
employee commitment is a major
contributing factor toward sustaining long-term success and creating value. An engaged
employee is involved and excited about their work and acts in a manner that will forward
the organisation’s interest. An engaged workforce helps optimise and retain talent for the
long-term because the employees choose to stay, even when other employment
alternatives exist.
Notes on Commitment
• If people cannot initially commit, it doesn't mean they don't care. More often, it
means they do care, and they are caught
up in a process of doubt
• Decrease uncertainty by explaining short
term outcomes (deliverables), long term
outcomes (deliverables). Discuss
elements such as risks and gains
• Have conversations around time,
resources and other constraints
• Use CPSDS to provide clarity and context
• Prepare an Information planning matrix
with an action plan so that team
members know where they are going
• Establish an atmosphere of trust, and within that atmosphere encourage
engagement
• When assigning work to someone a simply statement of “yes, I am committed to
achieving what we have discussed” goes a long way in achieving a good outcome
and team spirit
From the above list it shows that the first 3 steps in the High Performance Cycle helps teams
to build commitment (see the picture).

12.5 Embracing Accountability

Accountability starts with “I”

“A personal choice to rise above one’s

circumstances and demonstrate the
ownership necessary for achieving desired
results”

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Accountability remains one of the most difficult aspects to achieve in organisations.
Ultimately it really is a personal choice to demonstrate ownership and action.
When teams show accountability – i.e. both from an individual and team perspective,
organisations start to feel a very positive step forward in terms of better performance. High
performing organisations is an outcome of high performance teams and high performance
teams are an outcome of high performing individuals. In teams, everyone should be
accountable and also be held to account by their team members – this is an essential
ingredient for all high performing teams.
To be a high performing individual, one must take accountability and own one’s work –
through good times and bad. The slide below demonstrates this change in attitude,
behaviour and action very well:

Notes on Accountability in teams

Accountability at work is important to a business’s success as a whole. Every employee, no
matter what level of seniority, is equally responsible for aiding in the success of the
company. In order to achieve the goals of the company, long and short term, it is important
that all people within the company work together and share accountability. Employees who
work together towards the same overall goal help their workplace to become more
accountable, in turn make the business more productive and efficient.
• Accountability is the willingness of team members to call their peers on
performance or behaviours that might hurt the team
• Members of great teams improve their relationships by holding one another
accountable, thus demonstrating that they respect each other and have high
expectations of one another’s performance
• Once a leader has created a culture of accountability in a team, however, he/she
must be willing to serve as the ultimate referee of discipline when the team itself
fails.

To establish and promote accountability, leaders can:

• Explicitly communicate goals and standards of behaviour

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 • Regularly discuss performance versus goals and standards

The 4 Pillars of Accountability:

Accountability Contract
Having an accountability contract in the team clarifies the roles and responsibilities of each
team member. It can be used as part of the team compact and helps the leader and team
members keep each other accountable for tasks, behaviours, and attitudes that can assist
the team in achieving high performance.

Tasks that I will be Behaviours that I will be Name Signature & Date
accountable for… accountable for…

12.6 Focusing on Results

Ultimately team effectiveness is highlighted by the results that are achieved. Every team
member must be focused on results – achieving the identified success measures in the
CPSDS matrix is paramount to
success. “An unrelenting focus on specific objectives and
Successful teams require both clearly defined outcomes is a requirement for any
individual goal attainment and team that judges itself on performance.”

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collective team goal attainment – collaboratively the entire team must achieve their goals.
This highlights a very specific need for individual and team focus on results. Interval
reviewing will help identify any problems a team member may have and also allow more
collaborative working to ensure that all team members are successful.
A team that focuses on collective results:
• Retains ‘achievement-oriented’ employees
• Minimises individualistic behaviour
• Enjoys success and suffers failure acutely
• Benefits from individuals who suppress their own interests for the good of the
team
• Avoids distractions

To establish and promote a team results orientation, leaders can:

• Keep the team focused on tangible group goals
• Reward individuals based on team goals and collective success

13 THE PUBLIC SERVICE MANAGER AS LEADER

Leadership is more than Competence. In assessing leaders at any level in an organisation, we
must always ask three questions:
 Do they have the competencies to be a leader? Do they have the knowledge, the
understanding of key concepts, facts, and relationships that they need to do the job
effectively?

 Do they have the commitment to be a leader? Yes, they aspire to be a leader, but
are they prepared to do the hard work of leadership, engaging with others in
fulfilling the organisational mission, achieve the vision and deliver on the goals?

 Do they have the character to be a good leader and strive to be an even better
one? Do they have the values, traits and virtues that others – shareholders,
employees, customers, suppliers, regulators and the broader society within which
they operate – will use to determine if they are good leaders?

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13.1 Virtuous Leadership
We can group the types of knowledge, skills, understanding and judgement that leaders
need, into four competencies – strategic, business, organisational and people. Underpinning
these competencies is general intellect (Remember from the Growth mindset –believing
that we can enhance our skills through dedicated and disciplined action). We have also
talked about the importance of leaders having the commitment to lead and the problems
that are caused when people in leadership roles no longer want to do the hard work of
leadership and become disengaged from what is happening in the organisation, while they
still enjoy the status, privileges and perks of office. Now, we want to focus on leadership
character, not because it is necessarily more important than competencies and
commitment, but because it is the most difficult to define, measure, assess and
develop. Our intent is to define those dimensions of leadership character that are most
important in today’s rapidly changing and turbulent business environment, and suggest how
character can be developed.

Defining Character
There is no consensus on a definition of character. In fact there seems to be as many
definitions as there are scholars whose research and writing focus on character. In our
discussion of character, we focus on personality traits, values and virtues.
Traits
Traits are defined as habitual patterns of thought, behaviour and emotion that are
considered to be relatively stable in individuals across situations and over time. Traits are
not fixed. For example, introverts may be able to learn how to behave in a less introverted
way, while extroverts may learn how to control and moderate their extroverted behaviours
when situations require it.
There are, literally, hundreds of personality traits from A (ambition) to Z (zealousness) that
have been described in the psychology literature. However, through statistical techniques

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such as factor analysis, five broad domains, or dimensions, of personality have emerged, and
are now widely used in various forms in employee selection and assessment. The “Big-Five”
traits are:
• Conscientiousness
• Openness to experience
• Extroversion
• Agreeableness
• Neuroticism
These five traits feature prominently in tests or inventories and they have come to be known
as the FFM, or the five-factor model, a robust model of personality. Although the Big Five
dominate the personality literature, there are various other traits that warrant consideration
and measurement, such as self-confidence, ambition, perfectionism, dominance, rigidity,
persistence and impulsivity.
Some personality traits can be inherited. For example, studies have shown that identical
twins that have the same genes show more traits that are similar than non-identical
twins. Traits, of course, also evolve through life experiences and deliberate developmental
exercises such as coaching.
Values
Values are beliefs that people have about what is important or worthwhile to them. Values
influence behaviour because people seek more of what they value. If they can get more net
value by behaving in certain ways, they will. Values therefore can be seen as the guideposts
for behaviour. Some people value their autonomy very highly, some value social interaction,
some value the opportunity to be creative, some value work-life balance, and so on. Values
may change with life stages and according to the extent to which a particular value has
already been realised. For example, a new graduate strapped by student loans may value a
high starting salary. That same person 30 years later may well pass up a high-paying job for
one that pay less, but allowed him/her to live close to his/her grandchildren or somewhere
with greater access to recreational activities.
An individual’s values are in large part derived from the social environment in which he/she
lives. In Western democracies, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are some of the
things we value. Other societies value order, harmony, non-violence and equality. If we are
brought up with strong religious traditions, some of us develop values based on the
teachings of those religions. Similarly, our value frameworks may be influenced by our
home life, fraternal societies we join, experiences obtaining an education, the companies we
work for, our friends, and many other social influences.
An important sub-set of values consists of those with ethical or social dimensions, such as
honesty, integrity, compassion, fairness, charity and social responsibility. Such moral values
may be strongly or weakly held and influence behaviour accordingly.
Values may be espoused though they may not necessarily be manifested. For example, it’s
not unusual for people to experience value conflicts in certain situations. When loyalty
conflicts with honesty, when fairness conflicts with pragmatism, or when social
responsibility conflicts with obligation to shareholders, people become conflicted. And
when their actions are inconsistent with their values, they either experience guilt, anger or
embarrassment. People try to minimise such cognitive dissonance by rationalising or even
denying their behaviour, discounting the consequences of it or simply blaming others.

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Virtues

From the time of the ancient Greeks, philosophers have defined certain clusters of traits,
values and behaviours as “good,” and referred to them as virtues. Virtues are like
behavioural habits – something that is exhibited fairly consistently. For example, Aristotle
wrote that: “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”
Aristotle identified and defined twelve virtues: Courage, Temperance, Generosity,
Magnificence, Magnanimity, Right ambition, Good temper, Friendliness, Truthfulness, Wit,
and Justice. The twelfth virtue is Practical Wisdom, which is necessary to live the “good life”
and thus achieve happiness or well-being.
Consider the virtue of Courage. Traits such as openness to experience, self-confidence and
persistence contribute to individuals acting in distinctive ways – for example, putting
themselves on the line and acting in a courageous fashion. Having values such as integrity,
treating individuals with respect and achievement predisposes individuals to demonstrate
courageous behaviour. Furthermore, a person with integrity tends to act in a different way
than a person who lacks integrity, even if both individuals find themselves in the same
situation. Then there is a set of actual behaviours that individuals engage in – on a fairly
consistent basis (meaning across situations and over time) – and that friends, colleagues and
observers characterise or describe as courageous. These behaviours may have become
societal expectations.

The ten virtues of a cross-enterprise leader

We propose that cross-enterprise leaders who focus on the long-term performance of their
organisations must demonstrate ten virtues.

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But if you consider what may happen when leaders lack these virtues, the effects become
more obvious (see Table 1 below).
• Without Judgement leaders make flawed decisions, especially when they must
act quickly in ambiguous situations, namely when faced with the many paradoxes
that confront all leaders from time to time
• Without Humanity leaders are unable to relate to others, see situations from
their followers’ perspectives or take into account the impact of their decisions on
others. Without humanity leaders will not act in socially responsible ways – they
will alienate people
• Without a Sense of Justice leaders are unable to understand the issues of social
inequity and the challenges associated with fairness. Such leaders act in unfair
ways and reap negative consequences in the form of poor employee relations or
reactions by customers, governments and regulators. People will rebel and find
ways to undermine the leader
• Without Courage leaders will not stand up to poor decisions made by others and
will lack the perseverance and tenacity required to work through difficult
issues. They will also back down in the face of adversity and choose the easy
route. But in doing so they only postpone the inevitable
• Without Collaboration leaders will fail to achieve those worthwhile goals that
require more than individual effort and skills. They don’t use the diversity of
others’ knowledge, experience, perceptions, judgements and skills to make
better decisions and to execute them better. Friction among different
stakeholders results and relations deteriorate
• Without Accountability leaders don’t commit to, or own, the decisions they
make, and cannot get others to do so. They blame others for poor outcomes and
in doing so create a culture of fear and disengagement. People stop caring, with
potentially disastrous consequences
• Without Humility leaders cannot be open-minded, and solicit and consider the
views of others. They can’t learn from others, they can’t reflect critically on their
failures and become better leaders as a result of those reflections. They become
caricatures of themselves. Isolation results
• Without Integrity leaders cannot build good relationships with followers, with
their organisational superiors, with allies or partners. Every promise has to be
guaranteed and the resulting mistrust slows down decisions and actions
• Without Temperance leaders take uncalculated risks, rush to judgement, fail to
gather relevant facts, have no sense of proportion, and make frequent and
damaging changes or even reverse important decisions. Their credibility suffers
• Without Transcendence leaders’ goals become narrow and they fail to elevate
discussions to higher-order goals. They don’t see the bigger picture and hence
their decisions may reflect opportunism only. They don’t think outside the box or
encourage others to do so.

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This forms the basis of the Virtuous Leadership model.

13.2 Servant Leadership Model

Servant leadership is a philosophy and set of practices that enriches the lives of individuals,
builds better organisations and ultimately creates a more just and caring world.
While servant leadership is a timeless concept, Robert K. Greenleaf in The Servant as Leader,
an essay that he first published in 1970, coined the phrase “servant leadership”. In that
essay, Greenleaf said:
“The servant-leader is servant first… It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to
serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. That person is
sharply different from one who is leader first, perhaps because of the need to assuage an
unusual power drive or to acquire material possessions…The leader-first and the servant-
first are two extreme types. Between them there are shadings and blends that are part of
the infinite variety of human nature.
“The difference manifests itself in the care taken by the servant-first to make sure that other
people’s highest priority needs are being served. The best test, and difficult to administer, is:
Do those served grow as persons? Do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser,
freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants? And, what is the
effect on the least privileged in society? Will they benefit or at least not be further
deprived?“
A servant-leader focuses primarily on the growth and well being of people and the
communities to which they belong. While traditional leadership generally involves the
accumulation and exercise of power by one at the “top of the pyramid,” servant leadership
is different. The servant-leader shares power, puts the needs of others first and helps people
develop and perform as highly as possible.

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Also known as the inverted pyramid

13.3 The Leader as a Manager

We have explored leadership in the previous section but we need to analyse management to
make an accurate comparison between Leadership and Management.
Leadership and management must go hand in hand. They are not the same thing. But they
are necessarily linked, and complementary. Any effort to separate the two is likely to cause
more problems than it solves.
There is a clear difference between management and leadership, but the question is what
those differences are and how they are manifested. If there were one single, clear way to
define both management and leadership, this wouldn’t be an issue. However, for every
organisation or leadership consultant or management specialist, there is a different
definition. One thing is clear in the leadership vs. management issue, though: strong
leadership and strong management are necessary for excellent performance.
• Management is a systematic way of making people and technology work
proficiently
• Leadership is creating those systems and looking for opportunities to improve
• Management is the concrete, perhaps more left-brain action of planning,
organising, and efficiency, while leadership is the abstract creation of vision and
strategy
• Leadership is the action of thinking differently and finding out how things can be
done (managed) better. Management is implementation and maintenance to
ensure things are getting done well, but leadership is inspiring that
implementation
Many managers are concerned about their status as part of a collaborative organisation.
While their role is changing, their behaviour will have to evolve as well. Being a manager,

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does not mean being a leader or to have a leadership attitude. Yet, in the context of a
collaborative organisation, managers will especially need to show leadership in order to
move from managerial skills to a position of leadership.
Managers must build confidence in this new challenge and respond to two particular
challenges, often unusual in traditional organisations:
• Know how to coordinate without centralism
• Facilitation skills without hierarchy
Through these two pillars, there are particular issues as in project management or
transversal management. But the manager will have to go a little further, like change his/her
posture.
It is therefore not about telling employees what to do, but rather helping them to
understand what needs to be done and about providing various resources to get there. To
do this, and to enable everyone to develop its potential the manager will have to infuse 3
essential things:
• A feeling of freedom by agreeing to let go and lose control
• A sense of community, strengthening a sense of belonging
• A vision which gives a sense, so that employees can become fully involved in their
work
For this position of leadership, the manager will become a catalyst that inspires his/her
employees. He/she releases the energy of employees, knows and decides how to find a
consensus when necessary.
This means that he/she supports the employees by demonstrating openness, but also by
enabling them to grow by giving them the right to do wrong, which are the conditions to
create confidence and enabling a risk taking attitude. So learn to delegate (by providing the
means for its autonomy), by becoming a contact person in case of need, which controls not
individuals, but results.
This part often frightens managers, who fear the gaze of their superiors and their
employees. Delegation did not reduce authority, and it will not prevent recognition from
your superior and from your staff. Being thankful and supportive is a way to motivate
others. We must create an environment conducive to the success of the individuals. The
purpose of a manager is to organise and develop a team. The top management judge you on
your animation team skills.
Far from exhausting the subject, here is a diagram that shows the differences (though of
course the reality is not as separate and sealed) from a position of management and
leadership.

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13.4 Inspiring Your Followers
Getting people to accomplish something is much easier if they have the inspiration to do so.
Inspire means "to breathe life into." And in order to perform that, we have to have some life
ourselves. Three main actions will aid you in accomplishing this:

1. Be passionate: In organisations where there is a leader with great enthusiasm about a

project, a trickle-down effect will occur. You must be committed to the work you are doing.
If you do not communicate excitement, how can you expect your people to get worked up
about it?

2. Get your employees involved in the decision making process: People who are involved in
the decision making process participate much more enthusiastically than those who just
carry out their boss's order. Help them contribute and tell them you value their opinions.
Listen to them and incorporate their ideas when it makes sense to so

3. Know what your organisation is about! The fundamental truth, as General Creighton W.
Abrams used to say in the mid-1970s, is that "the Army is not made up of people. The Army
is people. Every decision we make is a people issue." Your department is the same. It may
deliver a service, but it is still people! A leader's primary responsibility is to develop people
and enable them to reach their full potential. Your people may come from diverse
backgrounds, but they all have goals they want to accomplish. Create a "people
environment" where they truly can be all they can be

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