Are Your Leaders Environmentally Friendly?

In a world where information travels faster than ever, the expectations of work and leaders have changed significantly in just a few years, and, with those expectations, the emotions and motivations that affect our jobs and our lives also have changed. The goal? To develop leaders rather than followers.

With so many distractions, not to mention the lure of instant emotional gratification, average employees wait to be told what to do. Worse, they often do not see, feel or understand the bigger picture of their roles in an organization. Some leaders chalk it up to poor attitude or mentally challenged employees. The reality may relate more to a poor environment created by leaders who are unaware of the psychology of modern society. To cultivate leaders in an organization and lead them to greater achievement, consider applying a psychological form of leadership called environmental leadership.

The Psychology of Environment

Individuals have various environments that bring out different facets of their identities, and each is successful in one area or another. The key differentiators are the emotionally charged perceptions within each environment. The environmental leader creates a platform through education and awareness where employees fulfill each other's emotional gratifications and become more conscious of when and how they affect the group dynamics in positive or negative ways. This sets the foundation for the talent leader to cultivate a unified culture where employees feel they are important parts of achieving a greater goal and their roles in attaining that goal also serve them on a personal level.

Essentially, an environmental leader is the sculptor or an organization that promotes confidence and responsibility to act on what needs to be done to achieve business objectives in ways dictated by the culture.

Environmental leadership is not about changing the mindset of the group or individual; it's about cultivating an environment that brings out the best and inspires the employees in that group. It is not the ability to influence others to do something they are not committed to. Instead, environmental leadership nurtures a culture that motivates and even excites individuals to do what is required for the benefit of all. It is not carrying others to the end result; it's establishing the surroundings to develop qualities in employees so that they can lead each other. In other words, an environmental leader implements a psychological support system that fulfills the emotional and developmental needs of the group while simultaneously nurturing self-leadership.

The path to becoming an environmental leader is founded on a bed of self-discovery and laid with the tiles of group psychology. Only when we have an understanding of how leaders affect the system of a group, and how that system affects us, can we evolve to environmental leadership.

At first glance, it may seem like a daunting journey, but this path has an applicable structure that can be followed to create specific results. The first step is to realize that every action a leader takes, every decision made, no matter how small, will affect the group and will impact the organizational culture. Whether it is positive or negative, there will be an effect. Second, when any individual in a group reacts, it will affect the leader and each of the other members of that group, and this how a corporate culture is created.

Again, a leader's actions and reactions not only affect the psychology of individuals, but the entire culture of the organization or group. An environmental leader manages seven key psychological influences - two keys of personal awareness and five pillars of transformation - to cultivate a group and a culture that effectively supports the greater abilities, fulfillment and passion of the members of that group and nurtures leadership within.

Trust is a common fundamental for leadership, and while there are many facets of trust and many different ways to build it, one crucial way to do so is in simply sharing information. Group dynamics are best established by getting the group involved. The environmental leader does not develop followers; he or she nurtures leaders and leadership in their group or organization. To facilitate this, exactly how to be an environmental leader must be common knowledge disseminated throughout the organization. The more people there are who understand the essence of how they can become environmental leaders, the easier it becomes to cultivate a leadership-enriched environment and the better results everyone will attain.

The Two Keys

Cultivating a corporate culture where leaders develop leaders and decisions are competently made to achieve organizational objectives is an achievable outcome. It starts with understanding the seven key psychological influences an environmentally savvy leader manages in order to cultivate a group and a culture that effectively support the greater abilities, fulfillment and passion of the members of that group, while nurturing internal employees who have strong leadership potential.

Self-awareness leads to the recognition of two keys of personal awareness that must be accepted before the environmentally savvy leader can build the final five pillars of a transformational environment. The first step is the ability to realize that we will consciously or subconsciously make others wrong to support our ego, which leads to blame and discourages growth. Learning about our encoded assumptions, our rules of engagement and our circle of tolerance can help us recognize the reactions that may be preventing speedier growth for ourselves and those around us.

Thus, the first key is: Concentrate on growth and results; do not blame or make others wrong.

The next step is making others right, making leadership decisions and taking actions that help others to succeed and develop their abilities. And when they do succeed, specifically acknowledging their success and why they were successful. Learning how our genetic processing affects the way we perceive the world and approach tasks and decisions and what that means in manifesting our natural talents not only makes this easier, but also gives us a better platform to understand, cooperate and communicate with others.

Thus, the second key is: Create opportunities to make others successful, and positively acknowledge their specific actions that lead to that success.

The Five Pillars of Transformation

The following five pillars are the cornerstone of a leader's ability to modify group dynamics and to nurture an environment that inspires and brings out the best in others. Further, it is the process of constructing the five pillars itself that enables the leader and his or her team to embrace the two keys of personal awareness. This course of creation acts as a leadership catalyst to the keys' implementation, and modification of the leader's own behavior advances that individual's development into a more powerful, environmental leader.

1. Have a greater purpose.

The team must have a purpose that is greater or nobler than the personal goals of each individual. Yet realization of this greater purpose should be equally fulfilling to each individual.

The role of an environmental leader is to inspire this noble idea. The leader should make the group or team want it and be willing to take action to achieve it for the cause, for the promise of a greater working environment and to create a greater self.

2. Have a methodology that can make change.

The team must believe that change can happen and that they as a group can make it happen. They must believe that their own behavior can be improved and that they, as human beings, can be better people. They must believe that there is a way, through a common wisdom in the group, in which they can become powerful enough to change the organizational culture into a more fulfilling environment for all and, equally important, for the betterment of their own lives.

But to believe any of this, employees must have, and must recognize, a psychological methodology that can effectively make change happen.

3. Speak a common language.

The methodology carries with it a specific language. The language reinforces the learning and the higher purpose. It sets a foundation to understand and explain awareness, change and a higher level of living and working in a concise and effective way.

The role of the environmental leader is to use and reinforce the use of language in the group. Essentially, this individual should set the example by applying or using communication that supports the greater cause.

4. Have a unified identity.

The label or name given to a cause provides a psychological reference to a common goal and a common identity. The role of the environmental leader is to solidify that identity, to facilitate the team's efforts to associate or align itself with that identity and everything it represents. The environmental leader should be able to distinguish those who are a part of the greater purpose and simultaneously give them a group vision.

5. Maintain a supportive, internal environment.

The role of the environmental leader becomes to nurture and develop other environmental leaders within the team and the organization.

At this stage, the environment created will fulfill many of the constantly expanding emotional gratifications. This environment provides greater substance and meets the greater expectations of the modern world. Yet it cannot be developed without the right leadership. Environmental leaders must go into this knowing that as the process matures, they will no longer be as essential as when they started.

Are we kidding ourselves?

Are we kidding ourselves? I face this question every day when I ask the people I meet, "What have you done lately?" If we are not careful, our answers can turn into a virtual catalog of delusional thinking.

One of the biggest mistakes high achievers make is overestimating their contribution to a success, thus crediting themselves with an achievement that does not rightly belong to them. When was the last time you heard a colleague recount a triumph that you recall as a team effort, but, having gone through the rinse cycle of your colleague's ego, has ended up sounding like a one-man show?

On too many occasions - when we're not erasing our co-workers from the picture - we can find other ways to exaggerate the magnitude of our own achievements. We may think that one of our accomplishments has the impact of a nuclear bomb resonating throughout the company like so much business-savvy fallout, when in fact the significance is more like a popgun barely making a sound. How often have you had a colleague regale you with a blow-by-blow account of a sale or a supposedly fabulous meeting with a client while you politely listen and think, "So what?"

People also have a tendency to go too far back in time, digging up an achievement that happened so long ago that it's no longer relevant and may even qualify as ancient history. It makes them sound as though they're clinging to their past, or worse, they haven't done anything significant in a long, long time.

The opposite is also true. A lot of us tend to cite our most recent achievement, as if that particular event has more weight or significance because it is freshest in our minds. Psychologists call this "recency bias." It's why a gambler doubles his bet at a blackjack table after he's won a few hands; he over-weights his feeling of good luck, even though his odds of winning haven't changed. It's why investors plunge into a stock or mutual fund based on the most recent quarterly performance, even though a more reliable time frame would be five- or 10-year performance.

It's tempting, almost irresistible, to gravitate to the nearest successful example at hand to calculate our achievements, but it may not be the most meaningful representation of our abilities.

Remember this as you establish what you have done lately. Apply a stress test to each achievement by asking yourself:

a) Is this what happened, or am I filtering it through some inflexible personal preconception or belief?

b) Am I exaggerating my role in the achievement?

c) Am I discounting other people's contributions to the achievement?

d) Am I going too far back in time? Is the achievement still credible, or is it just old?

e) Am I attaching too much weight to a recent event simply because I remember it more vividly than an older event?

Chip away at any false assumptions that may distort your achievements, and you'll get a much clearer picture of what you've done lately. Without it, you'll never be able to envision everything else you can do. By increasing our understanding of achievement - what it means to us and what it means to the world - we can increase our mojo, that positive spirit that starts from the inside and radiates to the outside.

We can look at ourselves more objectively. We can determine what really matters in our lives. We can strive for achievement that really matters to us and let go of achievement that does not create happiness and meaning in our lives.

If we want to increase our mojo, we can either change the degree of our achievement - how well we are doing - or change the definition of our achievement - what we are trying to do well.

Recruit and Retain

In today's economic climate of cutbacks and hiring freezes, employees feel underemployed and overextended. With individual employees picking up more of the load, organizations need to recruit, develop and retain talented workers. What follows are five examples of leading organizations.

1. Social networking:

Talent management begins with communication, and communication extends online. Some companies use networking sites to recruit potential employees, and use in their talent acquisition process. Organizations are using social networking to find, train, develop and retain employees.

2. Simulation:

Many organizations use simulation to provide real-world experience when managing and developing talent. Unisys and The Performance Development Group created an immersive, video-driven simulation where managers could practice behaviors by working through a typical 15-month performance cycle while managing two different, well-defined faux employees. Similarly, simulation also worked for a large pharmaceutical company that needed to train its sales force to directly affect real-life performance. They worked with PDG to create an immersive, video-driven simulation that allowed sales representatives to experience complicated compliance scenarios on physician calls in a low-risk environment. This video simulation provided a chance to practice on living, breathing, dynamic characters.

3. Hands-on experience:

To train and develop talent, Genpact, a global service provider in the business intelligence and performance management field, uses job rotation and hands-on experience in its Global Operations Leadership Development Program. In this program, managers rotate through three different jobs - crossing businesses, functions and regions - to obtain direct hands-on experience.

4. Blended learning:

To manage talent and prepare managers for the annual review process, International Finance Corp. followed a blended learning approach. Online training tools, targeted at both managers and staff members, included asynchronous, self-paced e-learning; mobile learning; synchronous Web conferences; and assessment tools. These multiple access points and learning styles reached more employees and helped managers better coach workers to develop their careers. According to IFC, "The multifaceted integration of learning and talent management helped IFC achieve its objectives of connecting talent champions by building global talent."

5. Synchronous online learning:

A company, which makes ingredients for the global food and beverage industry, its sales force needs to understand various ingredient technologies and customer needs. In particular, sales-people need to sell more than single-ingredient solutions; they need to provide integrated ingredient solutions. The training developed by them involved many parts, one being a Coaching for Sales Effectiveness course to help sales managers coach team members, one on one and in groups.

This course was started using online synchronous learning, via an interactive webcast, before being built into a management system. Beginning this way enabled managers to use it immediately, without waiting to integrate it into the system, which provided earlier feedback to further make perfect the course.

These examples show that, especially when combined with traditional methods, social networking and other online training methods can enhance an organization's talent management strategies.

Maintain or Transform?

When times are difficult, the knee-jerk reaction is to hunker down and try to survive. It is the natural defensive response to threat. But there is a choice. As the saying goes, the best defense is a good offense.

So, what is your company's reaction? No matter how bad things are, there is always opportunity. Think of the market as a piece of cloth with various threads woven into a pattern. Competitors, customers, the economy and regulators are cross threads running through the market's fabric. Vertical threads include the company's strategic business plan and leadership, employee capabilities, workforce plan and readiness. Over time, that fabric is tugged and stretched as threads are weakened or reinforced. Gaps in the weave open up when the cloth is subjected to violent forces. Some of those holes are problems, while others represent opportunities.

In a disturbed market like the current one, some competitors become confused. They don't know what to do when they see customers disappearing. Mid-market customers may delay discretionary purchases as layoffs proliferate, credit dries up and savings are decimated. Conversely, wealthy consumers usually weather market dips because they have investments that continue to produce income.

Regardless of the economy, people still have needs for which they must continue to spend. During the Great Depression, movies thrived because poor people could get into theaters for a dime and escape their worries for a couple of hours. Wealthy people took advantage of markdowns to get bargains on luxury goods and foreclosed real estate. The economy was rocked, but all people continued to need products and services.

Just as companies today must make decisions on maintenance versus enhancement or even transformation, the human resources function is also at a decision point. What will be the new normal for talent management in your company?

Consider what is happening with the onslaught of smartphones, tablets and social networks. The youngest employees have grown up with technology practically embedded in them. They view work and relationships quite differently than you or I. Whether or not we regard open communications as naive, to them it is a given. Add the fact that millennials' values are different from those of us over 30. In the end you have an organization that can no longer control communication. The best we can do is mitigate the risk inherent in an open communication environment. So what can HR do around talent management going forward?

Which of the following set of opposing ideas will exemplify your modus operandi? Efficient vs. effective; maintaining vs. enhancing; reacting vs. anticipating; knowing vs. preventing; describing vs. predicting; and building skills vs. transforming culture.

The first in each set is about tactical responses to the market. The second in each set is about strategic thrusts into the market. Which is the competitive option?

I don't have to tell HR professionals what to do to maintain their position. They continue to work on providing good services. They urge management to encourage everyone to work hard, do more with less, be a team player and carry on in spite of the tough times. Most employees will do that because they don't have any other choice. There are not a lot of jobs available for people who do not have leading-edge skills. In the end, if you are lucky your company will survive and find itself in about the same position as when the bottom fell out. What it won't find is itself in a position of competitive advantage.

Advantage is the end product of executing on an enlightened vision, a fresh strategy and a new culture. The transformative expedition does not require us to know the destination. It only demands that at each fork in the road we keep an open mind. The only conveyances we need for the journey are a set of logical questions and the means to impartially analyze what we encounter.

Perfection Does Not Exist

To hire quality employees, talent managers should forget the notion that any employee is perfect. To acquire the best candidates and compose a staff comprised of strong performers who are fully engaged in their work, talent managers should focus more closely on their decision-making strategies when choosing candidates.

There is a great difference between choosing an alternative and then moving forward versus declaring alternatives wrong and limping along with what's left.

Most decision processes ask people to argue vigorously for 'the right way forward.' Those arguments often contain elements of attack directed at options. The real goal of decision making, what we are calling 'choice' here, is not about being right; it's about being effective.

There is an acceptable medium between choosing one option and killing off the others. Managers should be aware of the qualities they seek for a particular position, but they should avoid a predetermined mindset to seek a flawless candidate, thus not considering other "flawed" candidates during the process. When managers make hiring decisions based on desired outcomes rather than focusing on eliminating possibilities, they will have the freedom to learn, course correct the hiring process itself and continually progress toward an optimal hire as new data and experiences on the candidate slate appear.

It's a whole lot easier to get somewhere by moving toward the target than by moving away from something else.

To make a right choice, those hiring must have a definitive hiring strategy with which to scrutinize candidates' profiles. Further, by developing and prioritizing key requirements, qualifications, characteristics and experience desired in a candidate up front, managers will be better prepared to understand their own requirements and compare them to what is available in the marketplace.

Too often hiring decisions are made sans evidence. Instead, managers' preconceived biases, beliefs and perceptions outweigh the facts. Contrary information - which could lead to a better hire - is avoided, ignored or dismissed as irrelevant. For instance, managers may overvalue a narrow range of skills or related experiences, correlating them to a predetermined definition of a perfect hire. This approach may ignore other critical traits, such as collaborative skills, cultural fit, leadership and motivational ability.

Hiring expectations and results can improve by implementing a more deliberative and evidence-based process.

It is important to be abundantly clear about not only which directions you are taking, but also which directions you are not taken. As the team considers each option, it will come up with a choice that appears most likely to result in success for any number of positive reasons, rather than negative reasoning of what is wrong with each choice.

Once leaders understand there is no such thing as a perfect candidate, imperfections can be managed, and talent managers will be more willing to develop promising candidates to meet company standards. For instance, new hires should be properly on-boarded immediately. It's not a good idea to leave candidates at their new desks to make their way as best they can right from the start. Once a hiring decision has been made, it's time to build up the employee to grow the organization.

Nature Never Lies

Recently I was reminded that basic themes seem to run through all aspects of life. Whether we are talking about managing people, playing sports, investing in the stock market or fighting a war, these principles prevail. If we want to understand the dynamics of organizational behavior, it is useful to review them.

Human nature never changes. Therefore, in a given setting - business, a game, the stock market or a battlefield - only the players, strategies, resources and technologies change. How these work out is a function of the human nature of the participants.

Internally, the reasoning and emotions of the participants drive the "game." Most often, particularly under stress, the basic elements of humanity - fear, greed, ignorance and ego - come to the forefront. The other side of human nature is balanced through values, hope, insight and creativity. In the end, reasoning seldom is unaffected by these other powerful forces.

For example, there is no correlation at any level between financial success and happiness. As Fred Herzberg pointed out in his motivation theory almost 50 years ago, money is like food: You can eat the best meal of your life, but within a few hours you are hungry again. People can achieve material goals and career ambitions, but that does not guarantee happiness. Unless they are retiring, they'll always be striving to fulfill and maintain personal goals related to money, status and power.

Unfortunately, personal goals do not always correlate with organizational goals. Conversely, when you find a person who is satisfied with their position for the rest of their career, you have found a follower, not an innovator or a leader. It may be time to retire them.

Goal achievement is more a function of will than intellect. If your people have the will to work through adversity for the good of the organization, you have an irresistible force on your side. Call it what you will - engagement or commitment, if you like - but intelligence, skill and knowledge are not enough.

The indomitable will to serve the goals of the organization is the greatest competitive advantage you can obtain. Therein lies the challenge: In a parallel case, we talk about leadership; but as Peter Drucker asked, "Leadership for what purpose?" The same can be said for engagement. How are you measuring engagement? Is it just a number on survey, or is it visibly connected to productivity?

All the great leaps forward throughout history have been the result on individual inspiration: One person who pulls together a support team of one or more believers leads to the great leaps in technology, medicine, sports, politics and business.

Despite what they say, management does not want these highly creative people; they want willing followers. If you find an unusually creative individual within your ranks, you have two choices.

One is to isolate him or her in a position where he or she can work out their inspiration without organizational interference. Then, you have to reward him or her and restart the process. The other is to hope that his or her ambition does not correlate with his or her creativity because then he or she will leave to follow his or her dream. Most organizations have not been able to keep creative people long because organizations require and reward followership.

Strategy and, eventually, success are founded on objective analysis of purpose and goals. Know who you want to be as an organization.

What do you want to be in the marketplace? What should your signature be: innovation, like Apple; high quality, like Tiffany & Co.; low cost, like Amazon.com; or world-class service like Singapore Airlines? This will dictate your market strategy. For example, if you are in retail, do you aspire to be like Walmart? This, in turn, dictates your hiring, salary, development and retention strategies.

Too often, I see companies hiring to fill jobs, not hiring for desired intangible capabilities. You can train to develop skills and knowledge, but what are the critical capabilities you truly depend on?

Think back to the above traits. For every responsibility or job, you want a specific set. You may want creativity in finance but not in accounting, right? Position by position, what do you absolutely need to be successful?

Don't Let Strengths Become Setbacks

Many of us exercise to improve our strength and overall health, but there's a break-even point. When we over-exercise,we no longer become stronger; instead, we strain our muscles, incur pain and actually decrease our performance. The same can occur with over-exercising our strengths: Performance could decrease after reaching a break-even point.

Consider the characteristics of the following three leaders:

a) Ramesh, a director of volunteer services, is a warm and giving team player.

b) Suresh, a sales manager, asserts his independence and self-reliance to produce outstanding sales results.

c) Deepti, a nursing coordinator is a passionate advocate for her profession.

It appears that any of these individuals would be a valuable contributor to the team, but the same strengths that support their successes can also act against them and turn into a professional liability.

For instance:

a) Ramesh's desire to help becomes intrusive when he involves himself in other people's work without being asked.

b) Suresh disregards teamwork and often will follow his own agenda, instead of seeking input and fostering collaboration among his colleagues.

c) Deepti is narrowly focused on her own profession and alienates colleagues from other functional areas, such as finance and human resources.

We can see from these examples that over-exercised strengths can decrease performance effectiveness. But addressing these situations constructively in the workplace is delicate. On one hand, leaders need to be able to build, grow and flex their strengths to achieve personal satisfaction and professional success. On the other hand, they also need to discern when over-exercising their strengths will decelerate their professional momentum and impede their overall success.

How can talent managers effectively support leaders in changing their approach while still maintaining confidence in their own strengths? A few simple coaching techniques can help strike the right balance:

1. Focus on how the strength has contributed to the leader's success.

Ask the leader to describe the strength. When does he or she normally exert it? How has it contributed to his or her success? In which situations does the strength have the most positive impact? How do others react to this strength? What are the outcomes after flexing the strength? After assessing the leader's perspectives, consider sharing your own observations of when the strength was demonstrated appropriately and effectively.

2. Focus on when the strength has detracted from the leader's success.

Ask the leader to describe a time when exerting the strength did not produce the intended results. What was the circumstance? Who was involved? What was his or her response? What was the ultimate outcome? After engaging the leader in dialogue, talent managers can consider sharing their own observations of when the strength was demonstrated without achieving intended or desirable results.

3. Identify the cues that emerge when the strength becomes a liability or when the break-even point is reached.

Ask the leader to compare the successful and unsuccessful scenarios. How did the circumstances or environments differ? How did the individuals involved in each circumstance respond differently? What other cues were present to reflect whether the strength was exercised effectively or not?

4. Ask the leader how he or she will become more aware of the break-even point in future situations.

How will the leader modify his or her approach when cues arise indicating that the strength is becoming a liability? What feedback or other information will the leader need to ensure he or she is flexing strengths to support successful outcomes? Who will provide this feedback and when?

Taking a thoughtful, strategic approach to this coaching interaction is critical because leaders who have exerted strengths and subsequently reaped intrinsic or external rewards in the past initially might not be receptive to this constructive feedback. They may defend their approach, blame others for being jealous of or threatened by the demonstrated strengths, or excuse their behavior by explaining that others are misinterpreting intentions.

Regardless of the excuses, effective leadership requires constant reputation management. If over-exercised strengths are damaging productivity, effectiveness or working relationships with others, then it's time to consider a modified approach. A well-planned coaching interaction can support behavioral change through mutual dialogue, empathy, a blend of positive and constructive feedback, accountability and commitment toward improvement.

Four Hiring Tips to Help You Select the Right Talent

An increasing number of companies are looking to add personnel in 2012 in response to more favorable economic conditions and growing business demands. But even companies in hiring mode continue to operate with caution to ensure they invest wisely in personnel who fit well with the organization and can hit the ground running.

Every manager knows it can be hard to separate qualified candidates from those who do not meet the job requirements. Finding the right talent for organizational needs requires managers to read between the lines when reviewing resumes.

Following are a few red flags to watch out for:

1. Unexplained employment gaps:

Many talented professionals have been out of work through no fault of their own because of the recent recession. So don't dismiss job candidates from consideration just because they are unemployed. But do proceed cautiously if an applicant has a history of job hopping that predates the downturn, or if the person has not explained significant gaps in his or her work history.

2. An overabundance of buzzwords:

It's not uncommon to encounter resumes that are littered with business buzzwords such as "optimize," "leverage" and the like. But take these terms with a grain of salt. Do these phrases truly provide insight into a job seeker's ability? Can you determine exactly what he or she accomplished in a previous role? The answer to both questions is likely no.

Instead, focus on individuals who can communicate their contributions in a clear, straightforward manner. Better yet, single out applicants who quantify their achievements to show the impact their actions had.

3. A laundry list of job duties:

Virtually all job seekers provide a few details about their previous roles so potential employers understand the range of their responsibilities. But be wary of candidates who include long, drawn-out lists of their former duties. This could be a sign that they are trying to fill space or cover up for a lack of notable achievements.

During your review, keep an eye out for individuals who describe how they helped a previous employer save money or increase efficiencies. Also, look for a history of advancement in a past role or details about how they changed a job for the better.

4. Vague descriptions of skills and experience:

While it's difficult to accurately determine someone's level of expertise based solely on their resume, be cautious of candidates who claim to be familiar with a certain technology or to have knowledge of a particular business process. These terms paint an unclear picture of a person's proficiency. When screening resumes, look instead for potential hires who offer specifics about their skills and experience.

None of the red flags above is reason alone to dismiss a job seeker from consideration, but if a resume raises several of these concerns, managers may want to think twice before requesting an interview with the candidate.

Another point to bear in mind is that some job applicants are simply not as skilled as others when it comes to summarizing their qualifications. In select cases, it may be worth conducting a brief telephone interview with an applicant who could hold promise in order to clear up questions about the person's resume.

Managers are likely to encounter many resumes that appear perfect at first glance, but a tight examination of the application is an important step in determining which job candidates are too good to be true - or too good to miss.

Are Leaders Born or Made ?

Are leaders born? Or can they be made? A new study that looks at the brain waves of various individuals seems to find evidence that charismatic leadership has a physical manifestation in the brain. But it may be possible to teach people how to change their brain activity in ways that may make them more inspirational to others.

Do you get the sense that everything now is genetic?

Surely one of the last bastions of learned behavior is executive development. Over the generations, we have spent millions turning individuals into leaders at the military-service academies, at business schools and with corporate programs.

Despite the extensive practice of leadership development, we don't have a great sense as to how well this training actually works, and many critics have long suggested that leadership can't be taught. Some people are born leaders, they say, and others just aren't.

So here's a study, "Leadership and Neuroscience: Can We Revolutionize the Way That Inspirational Leaders Are Identified and Developed?," that appeared in the February issue of the Academy of Management Perspectives that gives some comfort to both sides of the debate.

The study, by David A. Waldman, Pierre A. Balthazard and Suzanne J. Peterson, centers on the concept of coherence, which measures the extent to which different parts of the human brain communicate with each other.

The idea is that different parts of the brain are responsible for different types of behavior and responses as well as different types of cognition (remember the "left/right brain" arguments?). Brains that are better able to communicate across regions may also be better able to handle a range of responses and thinking, especially the complex process of understanding and conveying emotions.

The study used electroencephalographs -- those little electrodes on your head - to measure the extent to which signals are moving across parts of the brain.

The authors found that greater movement, suggesting greater coherence, was associated with individuals who had visions of the future for their organizations that were more inclusive and collective; those with less coherence had more individualized or, one might say, more selfish visions.

And finally, those with more collective visions were seen as more inspirational and charismatic by their followers.

The idea that charismatic leadership has this physical manifestation in the brain is especially important because such leadership appears to be, at a minimum, one of the least teachable aspects of management.

So these results seem to support those who believe that some people have it and others don't.

But before we get carried away with the inevitability of biology, the authors of the study note that the same techniques of mapping brain signals have been used in other contexts to actually rewire the brain.

Neuro feedback is the process of helping an individual understand how his or her brain is firing in different ways and recognize the associated sensations so that one can learn to focus on particular patterns of firing.

The idea is the same as with biofeedback, which helps people learn how to control their involuntary processes like heart rates.

There is some evidence that neuro feedback can change some brain functioning. It may be possible to teach people how to change their brain activity in ways that create more coherence across regions of the brain, possibly allowing us to process information and emotions in ways that make us more inspirational to others.

It's important to note that these results are just suggestive. We don't know with any certainty that the brain patterns observed are actually the cause of the leadership traits. And we don't know to what extent we will be able to change those brain patterns.

But we may have to get used to the idea of leadership-development programs that involve hooking participants up to monitors and having them watch video screens.

Since leadership-development programs are so often held in fancy places, maybe those video screens can be set up near the shopping marts.

Getting Recognition

Recognizing each other’s achievements, talent & wisdom on a continuous basis is the grown-up equivalent as the grades which were given in school times for behavior, and can inspire the workplace.

During the school days, earning the grades from teachers was a great deal for us, maybe because it didn’t occur very often. According to the grades, we felt recognized and important. As a result, it made us work harder and be as sincere as to the expectations of the teacher, which was not able if we were left alone without any consideration.

But nowadays, we don’t have the grades anymore, and I think that’s too bad. Current findings in positive psychology and organizational development bear me out, suggesting that people and organizations flourish when they focus on achievements and best practices.

Certain members of the workforce development community agree to this condition. In her thought-provoking book The Power of Acknowledgment, Judith W. Umlas maintains that recognizing each other's achievements, talent and wisdom on a continuous basis is the grown-up equivalent of the grade school gold star and can inspire the workplace.

Umlas is a senior vice president at the International Institute for Learning (IIL). She believes that creating a culture of appreciation within an organization or team can produce breakthrough results. She presents a strong business case for recognition and drives home the need to incorporate it into the workplace, listing the payoffs as increased employee engagement, enhanced productivity and better working relationships.

At the heart of her thesis are the seven principles of acknowledgment. One of these principles should resonate strongly with organizational leaders concerned about maximizing the potential of their human capital:

"Principle No. 4:

"Recognizing good work leads to high energy, great feelings, high-quality performance and terrific results. Not acknowledging good work causes lethargy, resentment, sorrow and withdrawal."

Umlas isn't telling us anything we don't already know from numerous studies and reports. According to Umlas, this startling level of disengagement results from people not knowing they are valued and feeling they are not contributing.

"I see a lot of event and webinar announcements from HR organizations - they seem to always be looking for ways to keep their major talent engaged," Umlas writes in her blog. "They need look no further than making sure that they have created a culture of appreciation in their organizations. ... I have heard acknowledgment referred to as 'the double paycheck,' which I think is very fitting. Even people who are earning less money than they feel they should be earning will dig in and engage fully if that other 'paycheck' is coming regularly."

Like all who aspire to high-impact leadership, learning executives must develop the soft skills that support the harder assets they bring to the table, such as strategic thinking and business acumen. Recognition is one of those soft & critical leadership skills. It has the power both to influence important decisions and to inspire people to attain peak performance. And it affects every organization's ability to step up performance to meet new challenges.

For the learning organization, recognition is part and parcel of assuring the continuing commitment of high potentials and preparing strong leaders to fill the company pipeline. The trick, of course, is knowing how to use the tool of recognition in an effective way.

Providing dynamic leadership development, mentoring opportunities and strengths-based coaching are all concrete ways to recognize the value of employees and demonstrate the organization's commitment to advancing their careers.

WHY LEARNING IS AN ACT OF COURAGE.

The best leaders love to learn. And the greatest organizations are learning enterprises – places where ideas are the currency of success. Yet, so many amongst us resist learning and embracing the new ideas that change brings with it. The deeper question is why?

What I’ve realized, as I travel across the world helping people Lead Without a Title, is that the very act of learning something new means you must also disrupt your thinking of yesterday. To accept or even just to entertain a new idea means you must leave the safety of your former way of perceiving the world and open up to something foreign. And that means you’d have to leave the protection of your comfort zone/Safe Harbor of The Known and sail out into the unknown – even for just a moment.

The unknown is a pretty scary place for most people. Ordinary people get threatened there. Victims get frightened there. And so the average person in business (and within life) avoids learning and exposing themselves to any idea or influence that might cause them to have to rethink the way they think and re-behave the way they have always behaved. But the fascinating paradox is that trying to avoid new ideas to stay safe is actually enormously dangerous – and infused with risk.

On the other hand, those who make the choice to Lead Without a Title have a lust to learn. They remain blindingly curious. They read books daily. They drink coffee with brilliant people. They have long conversations with role models whose ideas provoke/challenge/irritate them. Real leaders truly get that learning and ideation is the fuel of life. And that all it takes is a single idea to change the game at work (and rescript the story that is your life). Sure they too feel uncomfortable or even scared when faced with an idea that confronts their most closely cherished beliefs. But they understand that to resist the idea is to resist growth. As well as their next level of Mastery+Progress+Leadership. And so they move forward. Into an uncertain yet gorgeously exciting future.

- Robin Sharma,

Renowned Author

"The Monk Who Sold his Ferari" and other best sellers.

Management vs Leadership

Should Child Beggars be given Money or Not?

India may be one of the fastest growing economies in the world, but the irony is that there is still large number of children begging in the streets of its leading cities like Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune, Delhi and Kolkata.

These innocent children do not beg on their own and hardly get anything, as they are exploited by mafia gangs, and gang leaders. Why do we see children below the age of 14 begging? The truth is that there are people who get money from child beggary, which has become a kind of forced labour and slavery.

While walking in the street for shopping, we often come across mutilated children, who have lost their hands or legs. Our hands invariably go into our pockets seeing the pitiable condition of these children, but please tarry a little here. Does the money that you give them actually help them or nourish them? The truth is bitter!

These children are mostly chosen by gang members to invoke sympathy in the minds of people, so that they are given money. There are also alleged reports of other harsh realities that suggest that these kids do not lose their limbs in an accident. So how does it happen?

There are no guesses to make here. These innocent children are physically and mentally tortured. They are taught how to beg, pose sad faces, and cry. If they do not cry, then they are beaten up. There are also gangs who steal small children to make them beg. Such a case was reported by CNN this year.

A 7 year old Bangladeshi boy was brutally mutilated by gang members as he refused to beg. The boy was hit on the head with a brick and his throat was slit. When his mother found him, he was hardly recognizable.

This young boy survived and has become the key witness in a national investigation against the gang members in question. Shocking everybody, a report by the Human Rights Commission in India has said that apart from begging, children are kidnapped for various purposes, Working as cheap forced labour in illegal factories, establishments, homes, exploited as sex slaves or forced into the child porn industry, as camel jockeys in the Gulf countries, as child beggars in begging rackets, as victims of illegal adoptions or forced marriages, or perhaps, worse than any of these, as victims of organ trade and even grotesque cannibalism.

A CNN IBN special investigation in 2006 had proved the existence of Beggar Mafia in Mumbai. The investigation had astonishingly linked mafia to doctors. The IBN report had said, For the greed of earning a few substantial extra bucks, these doctors are ready to forget their professional ethics and code of conduct.

The investigation reveals the brutal truth of these doctors, who charge large sums of money and comply with the Beggar Mafia in amputating limbs of perfectly normal people and force them into begging. In 2009, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was forced to order an enquiry as the scenes of movie slumdog millionaire became a reality.

The Daily Mail carried a report on how gangs were severing the limbs of street children in Mumbai to make them beg for extra money. Irrespective of the concern show by the PM, the ground reality has hardly changed. So how can we really help these poor children?

Giving a few coins or notes that are taken by the mafia gangs may not be the right way. The existence of children begging rackets may actually have arisen due to people giving large amounts to these unfortunate mutilated kids. Instead it would be a great idea to directly provide them treatment, and food so that they are also nourished and there is no such thing as begging mafia in the long run.

HSN