Leaders need to be able to balance two seemingly opposite traits – one dynamic and one gentle – to achieve optimal behavioural performance and balanced versatility. Here we look at the paradox of strategically managing risk – what it can look like when the balance is off-kilter, and what it can look like when balance is achieved.
Harrison Paradox Technology is embraced by organizations world-wide as the best means to determine leadership capability and job performance by providing a reliable map of the paradoxical balances that make or break leaders.
Podcast with Gerry Murray (CEO, Tedx Speaker, Podcast Host at Leading People) and Author, Leadership Coach, NLP Trainer and fellow Harrison Assessments Managing Partner and Quadrant 1 International Director, Pat Hutchinson
Gerry talks to Pat about personal development and leadership and what it’s like to learn and apply practical things after you go on a training course. Pat calls these types of courses REAL courses, in the sense that you learn skills that have real practical application and value in our day to day lives.
One of the key things that Pat points out is that we’re all unique and therefore we have our own individual perspectives on the world, our own development needs and our own sense of who we are. She emphasises how she has used the combination of NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) and the Harrison Assessment to help leaders better understand themselves and their teams.
Pat has great advice on how leaders can learn from the people that they’re working with, how it’s ok to be wrong occasionally and how they can have more meaningful conversations.
They explore
Key skills that leaders need to acquire
How a “sheep dipping” approach to Leadership Development is not useful
Why we sometimes stop doing things that we’re actually good at
The need for simplicity in business
Pat’s top 3 tips for Leaders
Listen to the podcast here, and you can find Gerry’s Leading People series here
We’re often taught in business that decisions should be made based on facts, data and evidence. And it’s definitely important to consider all of the above when making an important decision. But relying on evidence alone can leave you with just half of the picture.
As emotionally intelligent human beings, we have also been gifted with something else which can be just as powerful as cold hard data – intuition, or gut instinct.
Do you sometimes just know something to be true without even knowing why? Have you ever known something is the right thing, or the wrong thing to do – contrary to what all the evidence is telling you? This is your intuition speaking to you. It’s a very useful tool that we all possess, but not everyone uses.
What is intuition?
It’s often said that the gut acts like a second brain. The brain continually takes on board unconscious information and automatically filters it through past experience and knowledge. This happens instantaneously as the unconscious mind is so much more powerful than the conscious mind, and intuition is the resulting feeling you get based on this unconscious processing.
It has also been widely reported that intuition is a right-brain function alongside creative thought, art, music, senses and emotion, whereas analysis takes place in the left hand side of the brain, as does reading, analyzing information, understanding languages, etc.
So how can listening to your gut instinct help you as a leader?
Intuition can help us to keep an open mind, and be open to opportunities and new ideas that our rational minds may close us off from.
Likewise, our gut can act as a voice of caution at times. Trusting in this early warning system to steer clear of a risk which may have been mitigated on paper by facts and figures can be priceless.
It can help us to be a good leader and colleague, allowing us to sense when something may not quite be right with a team mate. We are then able to adjust our approach to find the best way to deal with that person or situation for the best outcome.
Our intuition links into our values; it can help to guide us towards finding the right path and purpose so that we can feel fulfilled in what we are doing.
In this podcast Pat Hutchinson, Quadrant 1 MD, talks to Gerry Murray on his Leading People show about how intuition helped her carve her own career path to lead her to where she is now…
Learn from the past
Think back about situations or opportunities where you’ve used your intuition to guide you that worked out really well. Try to remember how you intuitively felt as these situations were developing, and what it was that your gut was telling you.
Things don’t always work out. It is important to reflect back on situations from the past where you’ve trusted your gut but that haven’t worked out as well as you wish they did. What can you learn?
As with everything, balance is key.
Relying solely on intuition and failing to sufficiently analyse a plan or problem can lead to making non-logical decisions. Avoiding analysing situations whilst at the same time mistrusting your intuition can leave you paralysed and unable to make a decision at all.
For all aspects to be in balance, intuition should be combined with good analytical skills to help you sense the important factors, while at the same time analysing the risks to arrive at a logical and well-considered solution. Next time you are faced with a decision and you’ve spent some time considering the facts, spend a minute checking to see how you feel about the situation, what are your gut feelings telling you?
Paradoxical Leadership Technology
Paradox Technology measures how employees manage 12 paradoxical pairs of behaviours, each of which relate to an important core value.
All of the Harrison Paradoxes relate to leadership and have a great impact on the organization which can either create a positive culture or a dysfunctional culture.
You can find out more about balancing Paradoxical traits, like intuitive and analysing, here, or you can get in touch at pat@quadrant1.com or on 07768 922244
Great leaders possess specific strengths outside of their technical knowledge of the job they do.
As a rule leaders tend to gain their positions through demonstration of exceptional skills in the operational side of their roles together with an enthusiastic and optimistic attitude and relevant experience. Operational expertise and experience are relatively easy to measure and as such dominate the decision making process of leader selection.
But what about the rest?
Most people would agree they would like their leaders to be competent, knowledgeable, visionary, progressive and decisive with excellent interpersonal skills, innovative and open to new ideas.
How about a propensity for self improvement, a desire to lead, an outgoing personality, a reasonable level of self acceptance, a balance of analytical and intuitive skills, a balance of diplomacy and frankness and a balance between assertiveness and helpfulness. There is an endless list of traits we would like our leaders and upcoming leaders to possess.
Here are 10 Leadership competencies you can be measuring and developing in your leaders…
Communication
Promotes & presents clear vision & initiatives. Speaks up regarding concerns, listens effectively, provides timely and helpful information, and takes responsibility to confirm communications are received.
Energising People
Motivates others to achieve goals, articulates a common vision, engages team members, relates openly, and empowers others to achieve.
Learning Agility
Gains knowledge from experiences, successes, and mistakes, and applies that knowledge to new situations or responsibilities.
Problem Solving
Perceptive and logical when identifying problems, finds the source or cause of problems, and thinks through potential difficulties of the solution steps.
Resilience and Perseverance
Persists in the face of adversity, obstacles, or setbacks including effectively managing a crisis and quickly adapting to change.
Achievement Orientation
Consistently achieves objectives, accepts difficult challenges, seizes opportunities, and has a high level of energy and enthusiasm.
Impact and Influence
Influence others to achieve goals, enlists their cooperation, appeals to their interests, builds trust, and negotiates mutually beneficial and sustainable agreements.
Innovation
Experiments with different ways to improve processes, efficiency, and/or effectiveness while maintaining focus on the desired objective or result.
Leading People
Takes responsibility to achieve the organization’s mission, provides clear direction, promotes team participation and cooperation, and accepts decision-making authority.
Problem Solving
Creates effective strategies and long-term plans to seize opportunities, anticipate issues and risks, draws from previous experiences, explores industry information, and collaborates with the right Individuals.
The Harrison Assessment Leadership Behavioural Competency framework measures people’s individual skills and areas for development against 10 essential Leadership Competencies in an objective way.
Each competency is made up of a series of essential traits, desirable traits and traits to avoid. Development candidates complete a short, online SmartQuestionnaireTM. Responses are then mapped against each of the Harrison Leadership Competencies which can then highlights areas of strength and areas for development both for an individual and for a team.
As well as the Leadership Behavioural Competency other standard, pre-defined behavioural competencies are available. Bespoke behavioural competencies can be developed according to the requirements of your organisation and built around your own set of required traits and behaviours.
You can download a sample Behavioural Competency report here.
If you would like to find out more about the Harrison Leadership Behavioural Competency, other pre-defined competencies, or indeed about creating a bespoke competency, please call us on 07768 922244, email pat@quadrant1.com or leave us your details and we will contact you.
Most people use data the way drunks use a lamppost: for support rather than for illumination.
– Alexis Fink, General Manager, Talent Intelligence and Analytics, Intel
There are any number of ‘talent analytics’ software offerings on the market right now. Most offer to make the analysis of trends in already existing data such as staff turnover or absenteeism, easier to assess. Some organisations use them to great effect, others not so much. There are however, very few organisations offering talent analytics based on what makes people effective in the workplace.
Advanced analytics are designed to support development interventions which will generate an engaged, progressive culture that is vital to the success of any organisation. Such a culture will not only increase productivity, it will reduce absenteeism and staff turnover. Interventions are often seen by the C Suite as a ‘nice to have’ in the light of lack of solid evidence. HR specialists continue to make their case for interventions but often can’t compete with their operational colleagues who can provide data and statistics to back their arguments for specific actions and therefore investment.
So what could research based on what makes people successful in the workplace do for organisations?
Employee Engagement Expectations
Engagement is a two-way process and surveys should form the foundation of progressive conversations between employer and employee especially if the aim of the survey is to keep talented employees. This is just not possible if surveys are anonymous. All an anonymous survey can highlight is that someone, somewhere in the organisation is not happy about something.
With advanced analytics, you can ask the right questions, and analyse real engagement factors and expectations – such as development, authority, communication, remuneration expectation – across individual, group, and organisation levels. This ensures managers and the wider organisation provide an environment that retains their best talent.
Who will be Your Next Leaders?
Expensive assessment centres are universally used for identifying upcoming leaders. They can take anything from half a day to 5 days and sometimes more to make a selection. The cost of taking people out of the organisation, and employing specialists to run such centres as well as venue costs, hotel bills (during non-Covid times) all make this a very expensive but still relatively subjective exercise. Current norms are preventing us in many cases from running traditional Assessment Centres but that doesn’t mean you can’t still identify top talent and potential leaders accurately and effectively.
Companies who use predictive behavioural analytics to develop a framework for remote and automated online assessment can continue to screen for potential talent across areas including role-specific job success eligibility and behavioural success factors, leadership competencies, emotional Intelligence (EQ), engagement and retention factors, cultural fit aligned to organisational values, remote working compatibility and more. This means even if you can’t run a face-to-face assessment centre you can still get in-depth analysis to support the search for and identification of talent for your organisation.
If you would like to know more about how to provide analytics upon which to make strategic decisions about the development of your teams and staff contact us at info@quadrant1.com and/or visit our website at www.quadrant1.com
We’re often taught in business that decisions should be made based on facts, data and evidence. And it’s definitely important to consider all of the above when making an important decision. But relying on evidence alone can leave you with just half of the picture.
