Command and Control

It's funny how tiny things trigger powerful memories. I was reminded today of an event when I was at school and an exchange I had with a science teacher who I shall refer to only as Mr G. Silly as it sounds now, the exchange was all about the pronunciation of the word vitamins. He was adamant that it should be pronounced the amercian way and I was determined to pronounce it the british way - it was a classic 'you say tomato, I say tomato exchange'. His defence was that the word vitamin was derived from vital amins. In refusing to yield, I managed to pick up a detention in order to learn my lesson.

The lesson I learned that day was not how to pronounce the word vitamins - does it really matter - but rather, that command and control doesn't work. Telling people what to do or say doesn't actually gain their buy-in, commitment or indeed, motivate them.

Leadership is about creating an environment in which people can and do deliver great results, consistently.

You can't lead unless people are prepared to follow.

Respect power is more influential and motivating than position power.


Simon Cooper is chief executive of the Experiential Learning Centre, author of the exciting new book, Brilliant Leader and architect of the Brilliant Leadership workshops.

Why Training Isn't Working

A survey this week from the World of Learning that was covered by the British Institute of Learning and Development has identified 7 key reasons why learning retention is not being maximised by organisations:

1. Lack of learner buy-in
2. Lack of line management buy-in
3. Lack of clearly defined objectives
4. Lack of preparation
5. Lack of follow-up exercises
6. Lack of coaching/ mentoring
7. Lack of measurement

Organisations need to maximise the return on their training spend, more so in hard economic times than at any other. If learning is not being properly transferred back to the workplace, companies will not see sufficient value in their spend and budgets will be slashed. The World of Learning and the BILD are trying to address this issue at their conference on 19/20 November.

But let me be blunt. There is only a limited amount the L&D industry can do about this. The real issue is that many managers and leaders simply don't understand how to maximise their investment in training and development and the answer lies in those seven key issues.

Lack of Learner Buy-In
The person attending a training or learning event must absolutely understand why they are attending and accept this as a personal development area. It is the leader's responsibility to gain this buy-in by having an intelligent conversation with the staff member.

Lack of Line Management Buy-In
How many managers truly believe in the value of training? I still encounter way too many managers who simply don't get it. They only pursue any staff training because it is part of the performance and development review process and they address development needs by selecting training courses from a menu (with or without discussion with the staff member). Let's be clear, this is not developing staff, it is merely sending staff on a training course to tick a box that enables them to claim they are developing their staff.

Lack of Clearly Defined Objectives
This is part of the buy-in process. Once staff have agreed that they have a development need and that a training course forms part of the solution (along with about a dozen other possible solutions!), the manager should ensure that they are focused on clear outcomes that are targeted from attending the training course. This encourages them to take ownership of their own learning.

Lack of Preparation
I don't necessarily buy this one. There is sometimes value to be had from pre-course work (if it is done). Personally though I'm not a huge fan of pre-course work as long as the delegates are turning up with a clear focus. A professional trainer/facilitator can impart knowledge much more effectively than pre-course work - although I also understand that the current trend towards blended learning can improve efficiency and also engage the learner in advance.

Lack of Follow-Up Exercises
I don't totally buy this one either. The main thing people should take away from a training course is an action plan - what are they going to do differently as a result of attending the programme? This said, there is often some value in having a follow-on session with the trainer a few months after the event.

Lack of Coaching/Mentoring
Assuming that the person has attended the right course and assuming that the course was well delivered, the lack of coaching and mentoring is by far and away the biggest reason why training courses will lack impact. Virtually without exception, the manager should have a discussion with the staff member upon their return to work to discuss what they have learned and to explore their action plan. Opportunities for implementing their action plan should be established and support should be provided, as appropriate. While the staff member is implementing their action plan, the manager should be provide regular coaching interventions - what are they doing well and why, what could be improved and how.

You see, as a professional and experienced facilitator I can cope with a lack of buy-in, a lack of objectives and a lack of preparation because I will back myself to inspire delegates and communicate effectively with them. But what I can't do (unless invited to do so) is support them upon their return to work. The manager needs to do this. The lack of this coaching support was the main reason why I built a dedicated support mechanism into our Brilliant Leadership workshops but this is pretty unique in the L&D market place.

Lack of Measurement
This goes hand-in-hand with a lack of coaching support and the lack of a leader embracing the learning process. Training should not be measured by happy sheets at the end of a workshop. Training should be measured against the learning that has taken place. What were the learning objectives? Did the action plan meet or exceed the learning objectives? Was the action plan implemented successfully? Has their capability improved? If so, the development objectives have been achieved. As a result, performance expectations and delivery should be higher going forward.

Some L&D succeeds in spite of the manager rather than because of them. Some L&D succeeds because some managers really engage in the process and help to make it a success. But frankly, not enough. I didn't need this survey to tell me that many organisations were not getting maximum return for their investment in training - I have score upon score of anecdotal evidence already.

Right now, when the economic climate is at its most challenging, managers and leaders in the UK and around the world really need to engage wholeheartedly and skillfully in the learning and development of their staff. It is one of the best ways to get improved results in the short, mid and longer term.


Simon Cooper is chief executive of the Experiential Learning Centre, author of the exciting new book, Brilliant Leadership and architect of the Brilliant Leadership workshops.

Coaching Staff - Part Two

In the first part of this series on how to coach staff and how to find the time to coach staff, I looked at the instructional stage of the coaching cycle. The need for the coach to provide a clear explanation of the task or skill area by breaking it down into bite sized chunks, delivering a clear and unambiguous message while checking the staff member’s understanding.

An optional tool for imparting knowledge is the use of a demonstration. This primarily enhances the staff member’s knowledge and awareness of the task or skill area by enabling them to see how it is done by an expert or competent individual. However, like each stage of the coaching cycle, providing an effective demonstration is not without its difficulties.

For example, has anyone ever shown you how to do something on a computer? Explanation – Talk – Click! Explanation – Talk – Click! Explanation – Talk – Click! I’m sure most of us have been there and the net result is that we are rarely further forward than when the demonstration began and more often than not, we are more confused.

So how does a coach provide an effective demonstration?

Competent Individual or Expert?
The first challenge is to ensure the person providing the demonstration is able to exhibit model behaviour. The problem often encountered by experts is that they have progressed to a level of unconscious competence – they don’t even have to think about what they are doing. Often, the most effective demonstration will be provided by a competent individual – someone who can think about what they are doing at each stage. This is not to say an expert cannot fulfil the role but they must be able to increase their level of conscious awareness.

Step-By-Step
An effective demonstration will break the task or skill down into stages and deliver these in a step-by-step format, taking questions at each stage before moving on. This process should conclude with a joined up demonstration that brings all of the stages together.

Running Commentary
While providing a demonstration the coach should provide a running commentary that also allows for the staff member to ask questions as the demonstration unfolds.

Practice
While this is technically the third stage of the coaching cycle, an effective demonstration should allow an opportunity for the staff member to have a go at the task or skill in the presence of the coach. This will often include a summary of the issues arising from the demonstration before allowing the staff member to move onto the next stage of the coaching cycle – extended practice.

In the next part of this series I will explore further the challenges that are faced by both the coach and staff member in providing opportunities for extended, unsupervised practice in the task or skill area.


Simon Cooper is Chief Executive of the Experiential Learning Centre, author of the exciting new book, Brilliant Leader and architect of the unique and powerful Brilliant Leadership workshops.

The Problem With Delegation

Stop Press - managers and leaders around the world are having problems delegating - it's official!

Apart from the usual excuses such as "it's quicker to do it myself" and "if I want a job done properly I'll do it myself", the current economic climate and the inevitability of downsizing is leading to another challenge "I don't have anyone to delegate to".

As teams shrink to remain lean in tough times, managers and leaders are finding there are less people to delegate to and team members are stretched to their limit. But as you know, this column does not focus on problems, like any good leader should, we seek solutions. So what can you do about today's little delegation dilemma?

Engage your team
Involve your team in the challenge and ask them if they have any ideas or practical measures for improving efficiency. Remember, great ideas can come from anywhere and your team are a great place to start.

Improve Processes
Take time out to review your team's processes to identify where and how they can be made more efficient. The key question you and your team should be asking is "why do we do it this way?". Just because a current process has been working doesn't mean it can't be improved and now is a great time to look for efficiency gains.

Share Knowledge
Are your team still reinventing the wheel? Make sure they are sharing knowledge and best practice, not just amongst themselves but also with other teams. Can any of this shared knowledge be absorbed into standard templates for some of their work?

Automation
Now is a great time to look for opportunities to automate your team's work. Talk to other team leaders. Talk to the IT department. Talk to your team. What can or should be automated and how can we make it happen?

Elimination
Is there anything we are doing as a team that really doesn't need to be done? Perhaps it is a case of partial elimination of some tasks, maybe looking for opportunities in lower impact areas of doing a job that is 'good enough' rather than 'perfect'.

Reviewing what your team does and how it does it with a view to helping them become more efficient will not only improve your options for delegating/allocating work among team members. It will also put your team in a great position to deliver excellent results when growth returns - and growth will return, as sure as daytime follows nightime.


Simon Cooper is chief executive of the Experiential Learning Centre, author of the exciting new book Brilliant Leader and architect of the unique and powerful Brilliant Leadership workshops.

Leadership Week - 28 Oct to 3 Nov 2008

Simon Cooper reviews this week's best leadership articles.

Wally Brock continues to inspire with his Three Star Leadership blog. In this week's gem (although delivered as more of a rant at a NYT article) Wally focuses on motivation in tough times. The great thing about Wally's blog is that it continuously encourages the reader to think and in my case, the writer to write.

Chris Young on the Rainmaker blog looks at five common reasons why CEOs do not share their vision. While reading this article it's worth considering whether your CEO shares their vision and more to the point, would it help you as a manager/leader do your job better?

On Leadership Turn, Miki Saxon explores the leadership silver bullet. This revolves around how managers can change their mindset in order to become true leaders. As anyone attending my leadership workshops will know, the development of leadership attitudes, values and behaviours is close to my heart.

On Mission Minded Management, Michelle Malay Carter makes some strong points about management accountability. The overriding impression for me was that shared leadership (of which I am a fan) should not be confused with shared accountability.

On his Community Blog Stephen Covey analyses trust between the leader, the organisation and the staff members. He discusses how easily it can be broken and goes on to explore the steps required to rebuild trust. This is a must read article, especially for anyone who is familiar with Dr Covey's 13 Behaviors of High Trust Leaders.

Why wait a whole week to see my top picks? Every blog and article listed here (and many more) are covered on our Leadership Toolbar - providing you with one-click access to everything you need to keep up to date with the leadership world, as and when it happens.


Simon Cooper is chief executive of the Experiential Learning Centre, author of the exciting new book Brilliant Leader and architect of the unique and powerful Brilliant Leadership workshops.