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.