Best Practices: CEO Skills

The Organized Executive

According to TEC speaker Bruce Breier, successful executives manage four key areas of organization -- time, information, projects and people. When they do, they experience the "four C's" of personal organization: confidence, clarity, comfort and cohesion. To manage time, Breier recommends a disciplined process of daily planning that consists of five basic steps:

1. Allocate time each day to recap the day and plan for tomorrow.
   
   
2. Make it quality time by using a checklist agenda.
   
   
3. Recap the day.
   
   
4. Process all new paper, voice and e-mail messages.
   
   
5. Plan tomorrow.

To manage information:

• Use an L-shaped desk with a credenza behind you. Four trays go on the credenza. Three hold (in order) documents to work on during the day, documents pertaining to projects in progress and pending items. The fourth serves as your outbox. Your desk should be clear of everything except the documents you are currently working on.
  
  
• Use a "43" file system to manage recurring paper -- the documents you need to see again, but not today. The term "43" comes from having a separate file for each day of the month (31) and each month of the year (12).
  
  
• Use a labeled filing system (in a stand-alone file cabinet) to hold non-recurring documents that you need to see again but only when the situation calls for it. To effectively manage projects, use private work time (PWT), a concept whereby you make yourself unavailable to others in order to focus solely on your commitments.
  
  To implement PWT:
  
  
  • Allocate and schedule five to ten hours per week to work solely on your projects and commitments.
    
    
  • Predetermine the project tasks to be completed during each PWT session.
    
    
  • At the appointed time, close the door and turn off the phone. If necessary, put a sign on your door so people know not to interrupt.
    
    
  • Change your voice mail message to reflect PWT.
    
    
  • Prior to each PWT session, walk the floor and take care of any issues before making yourself unavailable.
    
    
  • Accomplish what you set out to do.

People management revolves around three areas: interruptions, direct report briefings and effective meetings. To reduce or eliminate interruptions, establish a standard operating procedure on internal interruptions and diagnose prior to causing or receiving every interruption. If the situation is urgent and important, interrupt. If not, use voice mail or e-mail or hold the interruption for a more appropriate time. Executive briefings involve weekly sessions (15 to 30 minutes) with each direct report.

Each briefing should follow an agenda that includes:

• A progress report and update from the direct report
  
  
• Discussion of issues needing your advice and support
  
  
• Anything you want to delegate to the direct report for the next seven to 14 days
  
  
• Any remaining miscellaneous items

• Never conduct a meeting without an agenda.
  
  
• Always start and end on time.
  
  
• Encourage participation from everyone.
  
  
• Assign a designated note taker.
  
  
• Gain clarity and agreement on all assignments at the conclusion of the meeting.

The CEO as Coach

TEC speaker Agnes Mura defines coaching as "an alliance designed to promote life-long learning and help people to become more effective and feel more fulfilled." It is a developmental process that raises people's awareness and encourages them to try new behaviors, new ways of learning and new ways of relating. It nurtures a sense of responsibility, enhances problem-solving skills, fosters goal setting and builds implementation skills and more effective work habits.

The benefits of coaching include:

• Improved retention
  
  
• Better performance accountability
  
  
• Succession planning
  
  
• Truth-telling
  
  
• Reinforced culture
  
  
• Reduced employee conflict

Coaching leads to many positive outcomes at the individual and organizational levels.

For individual employees, coaching:

• Leads to breakthroughs on personal bottlenecks that limit performance
  
  
• Brings performance to its highest capacity
  
  
• Helps employees understand the intersection between themselves and their jobs
  
  
• Creates enormous gains in emotional intelligence and effectiveness in people's entire interpersonal domain

At the organizational level:

• Problems are no longer tolerated, covered up and allowed to snowball.
  
  
• The level of trust and motivation rises.
  
  
• People get better at telling the truth.
  
  
• Coaching removes barriers to people's performance.
  
  
• Performance of the management team improves dramatically.

Three conditions must exist before any company can realize the benefits of coaching.

1. Coaching must be introduced as a developmental, not as a deficit or fix-it, tool.
   
   
2. Confidentiality must be respected in all coaching situations.
   
   
3. Coaching must be voluntary.

The Art of Coaching

Mura's method of coaching, called the "Coaching Conversation ©," consists of five distinct steps.

1. Establish goals.
   
   
2. Promote discovery.
   
   
3. Determine a course of action.
   
   
4. Authorize and empower.
   
   
5. Recap.

Putting this process to work requires the following skills:

• Contextual listening -- listening beyond the words and paying close attention to tone of voice, body language and other nonverbal communication
  
  
• Discovery questioning -- asking open-ended questions that come from a non-expert position
  
  
• Truth-telling -- laying reality out on the table for the coach and the "client" to see
  
  
• Gap bridging -- clarifying where the client is and where they need to go, then identifying what they need to do to close the gap between the two
  
  
• Celebrating -- affirming and celebrating the client's accomplishments as you move through the process.

Conflicts often arise during coaching conversations. In those situations, says TEC speaker Bob Niederman, always confront the issue rather than the person.

1. Get clear on what you want and why you want it.
   
   
2. Identify your contribution to the problem.
   
   
3. State what you want, your reasons for wanting it and your possible contributions to the problem.
   
   
4. Seek to understand the other person.
   
   
5. Check to see if you have learned something significant from the other person.
   
   
6. Return to step three and make any changes you believe will further the conversation.

On occasion, coaching conversations can venture into areas so sensitive that the person being coached refuses to discuss the issue. Using a risk manager, says Niederman, can help the person open up and address the issue. To create a risk manager:

1. Identify the issue being avoided.
   
   
2. Identify the risks associated with the issue.
   
   
3. Create a risk manager (a mutual agreement to monitor and reduce the level of risk during the conversation).
   
   
4. Address the issue.
   
   
5. Manage any new risks that arise.
   
   
6. Integrate the process.

Understanding Organizational Change

According to TEC speaker Joni Daniels, managing large-scale organizational change starts with understanding your role as change leader, the different phases of organizational change and some fundamental change management principles. During major organizational change, CEOs need to wear several different hats, including:

• Change sponsor
  
  
• Sales agent
  
  
• Change target
  
  
• Cultural touchstone
  
  
• Change energizer

Major organizational change occurs in three distinct phases: endings, the neutral zone and beginnings. Managing change during each phase requires different techniques to minimize resistance and keep people focused on the desired future state.

Endings

• Acknowledge what people are losing.
  
  
• When possible, compensate people for their losses.
  
  
• Provide plenty of information about the change and why it is needed.
  
  
• Identify what is over and what isn't.
  
  
• Treat the past with respect.
  
  
• Set limits.

Neutral Zone

• Normalize the change.
  
  
• Continue to communicate in as many ways as possible.
  
  
• Monitor the transition process.
  
  
• Lead by example.
  
  
• Prepare for sabotage.

Beginnings

• Provide the four P's:
  
  
1. Purpose. Explain/reiterate the purpose of the new.
   
   
2. Picture. Paint a picture of the benefits.
   
   
3. Plan. Lay out a step-by-step plan for the change.
   
   
4. Part. Give each person a part to play so they know why it is important to join the team.
   
   
• Use reinforcement in all forms.
  
  
• Clarify the mission.
  
  
• Address the issue of trust.

In addition to managing the phases of organizational change, paying attention to the following fundamental change principles will enhance your chances for success:

• Change is a process, not an event.
  
  
• Change for change's sake is pointless.
  
  
• Resistance is normal.
  
  
• Don't take resistance personally.
  
  
• Communication is the key to success.
  
  
• Plan thoroughly.
  
  
• Make no assumptions.
  
  
• Be realistic.

"If you ignore these critical areas, the change effort loses its momentum and you never really get there," warns Daniels. "Or you get there but not in the way you envisioned.

Pulse Points for Organizational Change

According to TEC speaker Del Poling, leading your organization through major change requires managing 30 "pulse points" -- areas of leverage that, if not properly attended to, can derail the entire change project. Of these, eight have the most immediate and long-lasting impact on the change effort.

1. Understand the notion of "unfreezing." People can't move toward the new until they let go of the old. It's your job to help them unfreeze.
   
   
2. Identify the level of change. In general, organizations go through three levels of change. Level-one change involves doing more of what you are already doing. Level-two change alters the way people work. Level-three changes are forced upon the organization by top management, outside agencies, market conditions or environmental factors.
   
   
3. Clarify and optimize key roles. To successfully implement level-two and level-three change, companies must make sure three essential roles are filled:
   
   
   • Authorizing leaders decide what gets done, by whom and by when.
     
     
   • Change agent leaders have the knowledge, skill and position to manage the process of implementation.
     
     
   • Sustaining leaders serve as liaisons between management and frontline employees.
     
     
4. Clarify the direction. To get people to buy into the change, clearly communicate the plans, goals and objectives of the change as well as the perceived benefits.
   
   
5. Communicate the need for the change. Setting the vision, mission and goals will not suffice to bring about level-two or level-three change. You must also help your people see why the present condition is unacceptable.
   
   
6. Manage resistance. Resistance to change is normal, natural and healthy. However, unless you manage resistance, it will derail even the best planned of change efforts.
   
   
7. Make good decisions. How and when decisions are made during the change process has a huge impact on the ultimate outcome.
   
   
8. Ensure all stakeholders have the necessary competencies. To effectively lead change, managers need five distinct competencies:
   
   
   • Technical
     
     
   • Interpersonal
     
     
   • Leadership
     
     
   • Management
     
     
   • Business/contextuals

Above all, the CEO must stay connected for the duration of the change. Otherwise, people begin to think that you don't consider the project important and all momentum slips away.

Managing Resistance to Change

Resistance is a normal part of the change process. The keys to managing it, say Poling and Daniels, are knowing what to expect, identifying the various kinds of resistance and putting plans into place to deal with them. People resist change for many reasons, including:

• Not involved in planning the change
  
  
• Personal disruption
  
  
• Don't understand the benefits
  
  
• Disagree with the change
  
  
• Fear of the unknown.

Poling identifies three specific types of resistance as the primary culprits in torpedoing change initiatives:

• Dependency. Dependent employees won't take the initiative, they blame others and they refuse to take responsibility for their performance. They expect management to solve all their problems.
  
  
• Counter-dependency. Counter-dependent employees refuse to follow rules and procedures even when they make sense for everyone involved.
  
  
• Fear. When people get scared, they resist.

To manage dependent and counter-dependent behavior, simply confront the employee, explain that you don't tolerate that kind of behavior and try to get them to grow up. If they refuse, let them act like a four-year old in someone else's company. To help manage the fear, Poling recommends formal "grousing management sessions" whereby employees can voice complaints and concerns about the change process.

Daniels offers the following strategies for managing resistance:

• Honor the resistance; don't pretend it doesn't exist.
  
  
• Don't personalize the resistance.
  
  
• Identify the available resources.
  
  
• Manage according to the change phase (endings, neutral zone, beginnings).
  
  
• Recognize your personal advantage.
  
  
• Gently but firmly keep your people focused on the future.

Ultimately, managing resistance often comes down to what Daniels calls the "three C's":

1. Carry people who don't want to make the change.
   
   
2. Coach people to deal with the change.
   
   
3. Can (fire) those who refuse to make the change.

The difference between managing change well and managing it poorly often depends upon how well you plan for and manage the resistance. By understanding it and taking it into account every step of the way, you will dramatically improve your chances for success.

Contributing Experts:

Bruce Breier

Bruce Breier is the president of BHB Consulting Services, an organizational consulting and training company located in La Jolla, California. Bruce specializes in inspiring business leaders and managers to become more successful by becoming more organized. Since 1978, he has taught his programs and methods to hundreds of organizations and thousands of executives. One of TEC's most tenured speakers and a member of the select "TEC 200 Club," Bruce has been helping TEC members become more organized, productive and efficient since 1985.

Joni Daniels

Joni Daniels is principal in Daniels and Associates, a consulting practice that specializes in management development training, organizational development and human resources consulting. She has extensive experience working with top management in manufacturing, finance, energy, insurance, education and social services. Joni holds a certificate in organizational development from the Philadelphia OD Network and is a member of the American Society of Training and Development and the Liberty Bell Speakers Association. She currently addresses TEC groups on the subject of "Navigating Personal and Organizational Change: Up the Creek With a Paddle and a Motor."

Agnes Mura

Agnes Mura, M.A., is a Master Certified Coach and mentor to executives, service professionals and business owners. Through her firm, Agnes Mura, Inc., she provides executive coaching as well as the Coaching Clinic © training course to help individuals, teams and organizations generate results that are aligned with their own values and goals. Agnes is a founding board member of the Professional Coaches and Mentors Association and the 1998 - 2000 president of the PCMA Los Angeles Chapter. Her international practice includes numerous TEC companies as well as corporations such as AT&T Wireless, Sony and Deloitte & Touche. She currently speaks to TEC groups on the topic of "Leader as Coach.".

Bob Niederman

Bob Niederman is founder and president of the Center for Effective Communications. A leading authority on the use of assertive communication to create culture change in corporations, he helps improve organizational performance through staff trainings, individual coaching and strategic planning. With 20 years' experience as a coach and counselor to executives, Bob combines the best available strategies into an innovative approach to coaching and assertive communication training. A TEC Chair as well as a TEC speaker, he currently addresses TEC groups on "The CEO as Head Coach."

Del Poling

As founder and managing principal of Del R. Poling Consulting International, Del Poling works with organizations around the globe to design, implement and manage high-level organizational change. He also works with entrepreneurs to establish their companies and bring them through the important early stages of growth. An acknowledged expert in the areas of change management, strategic planning, team building and goal setting, Del has personally (as acting president) led turnarounds for 10 companies. A founding member of the International Consultants Foundation, he has spoken to more than 100 TEC groups on the subject of change management.

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