As we begin this new year, I encourage you to spend some quiet time reflecting on this past year - the unforeseen challenges, the changes you made to your leadership habits, and what is most important. Critical reflection on personal experiences unlocks learnings that leads to better judgment and decision-making. It is possible the past year has left you feeling hesitant or dreadful about the future. But, it is the ability to learn through reflection and shift your mindset that will bring out your best in the new year. George Bernard Shaw said that "progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” While execution is essential, framing the opportunity for the new year moves leaders and teams out of their comfort zone and toward the best of what might be. Here is what you need to know about critical reflection and four steps to shift your mindset this new year. Why critical reflection matters Reflection is a powerful leadership tool. The ability to question personal and organizational assumptions and beliefs taken for granted enables leaders to learn from experiences. Effective reflection involves the ability to doubt, pause, and be curious about the ordinary. The practice of critical reflection provides a path to deeper understanding. It enables leaders to elevate the significance of day-to-day experiences for personal and organizational growth. Critical reflection forces leaders to consider underlying causes for results. Critical reflection can create personal discomfort and internal conflict as you wrestle with favorable self-perceptions. However, leaders risk repeating bad decisions that could prove disastrous without considering alternate viewpoints. Biases are present in all leaders. Leadership is recognizing and leveraging the gap between stimulus and response to make a choice rather than make a knee-jerk reaction. When leaders become aware of unconscious biases, it enables them to gain various insights from seeing situations from different points of view. Reflection plays an essential role in a leader becoming aware of biases and making better choices. "Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom." Viktor Frankyl Reflection improves critical thinking capacity. Critical thinking helps leaders navigate volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous situations common in every business. It is the ability to use cognitive skills and strategies to increase the probability of the desired outcome when problem-solving. Critical thinking for executive leadership is fundamental to businesses to growth, increased speed, and sustainability. Here is a short video from Simon Sinek on his perspective on the value of pursuing critical self-reflection. How to apply critical reflection Your inner game silently controls your outer game. Behaviors determine how and what should be done and it is our values and virtues that will determine what will be done in any given situation. In addition to the strategies for the how and what of critical reflection, it is important to consider the degree to which you demonstrate open-mindedness, responsibility, and wholeheartedness. These leadership attributes moderate the application of critical reflection. Open-mindedness. The desire to listen to other points of view and recognize that even the most strongly held beliefs may be questioned. Open-minded leaders have very few ideas that cannot be changed. Responsibility. The desire to pursue truth and apply it in day-to-day situations. Wholeheartedness. A sincere attitude toward the critical evaluation of themselves and others. A resolute commitment to make necessary changes and overcome a fear of failure. There is a saying in the military that if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Here are three strategies for integrating critical reflection into your leadership habits in the new year. Critical Reflection Strategy #1: Journal Use a journaling app like Day One to capture your thoughts, feelings, successes, and frustrations. This approach is demonstrated to be incredibly impactful on leader-follower relationships, clarity of purpose, and improving new skills. Like building any habit, start small and tie it to an existing practice, like your routine, before you leave the office for the day. Critical Reflection Strategy #2: Solicit Follower Feedback Critical reflection should be a social process and is proven to be most successful when collaborative. Leaders need to understand how followers perceive their actions. Using a leadership 360 assessment is one proven tool to improve critical reflection. These assessments typically gather feedback from their leader, peers, and direct reports allowing comparisons between themselves and others. This is one leadership assessment you need to be using. If you are not familiar with Leadership 360, you might want to sign up for my next free webinar on A Leaders Guide to 360-Degree Assessment. Critical Reflection Strategy #3: Discover New Ideas Books, articles, and assessments on leadership can enable leaders to examine a particular situation from a new point of view, supporting critical reflection. Thought leadership grounded in research provides leaders with proven solutions that can be applied and short cycle the learning process. If you are not a skilled speed reader, you may be surprised to know that you can learn how to read a book in an hour. Like any skill, there are tips and tricks to increase your speed and retention. Here is a bonus link to an assembled collection of my top five personal favorite books from thought leaders on the topics of change management, coaching, culture, innovation and creativity, leadership style, servant leadership, and strategic planning. Four steps to shift your mindset and bring out your best What sets apart the most successful leaders you know? I suggest it is self-awareness, how they look at the world, deliberatness, and their ability to learn and persevere. Too often, leaders and leadership teams spend too much time on the how and not enough on what. Especially as the new year begins in an attempt to avoid wasting time, its tempting to jump immediately into action planning and rely on a past understanding of 'what' is important. While execution is essential, framing the opportunity is fundamental to bringing out your best. Here are four steps to reframe your mindset for the new year: Mindset Shift Step #1: Discovering your strengths. Shifting your mindset begins with focusing on the best of what is. Every leader has strengths. Unfortunately, most leaders tend to minimize their need to focus on their strengths and rely on addressing weaknesses. Having a strengths focus is not about ignoring weaknesses but prioritizing, pursuing, and leveraging strengths to bring out your best. A practical way to get started discovering your strengths is using strength-based assessments. The VIA Character Strengths Survey and the Clifton StrengthsFinder Assessment are two of the most scientifically backed and relatively low-cost strength-based quantitative evaluations. These assessments can be completed online and provide development recommendations and support materials. For more information regarding the VIA Character Strengths Survey, please go to www.viacharacter.org. For more information regarding the CliftonStrengths Assessment, please go to www.gallup.com/cliftonstrengths. Mindset Shift Step #2: Dreaming about your future. Spend some time considering what you want out of life and work. The following are a few appreciative questions to help you get started: What would you wish for if you had three wishes to improve your success and significance in the new year dramatically? (and no, you cannot wish for more wishes) Imagine it is five or ten years from today, and everything you had wished for and hoped for has come true. What would you see and hear? Describe the changes in people, work, places, etc. Describe what you have done to make these changes possible. What if it is five or ten years from today, and you have done nothing? Describe what this kind of life is like. Compare this version with your dream version of your life and use this learning to clarify what is at stake. As you encounter obstacles to achieving your dream, being explicit will help you make better decisions in the moment. Mindset Shift Step #3: Design what should be. Write it down. When you write down a dream, it turns into a description. A study by Dr. Gail Matthews found that the simple act of writing down goals and dreams significantly improved success. Take the answers to your questions in step two and create action-oriented design statements of a few sentences that focus on each key theme. Mindset Shift Step #4: Break it down into steps. You next need to break down your dream statements into steps. Design statements might have some overlap with actions for making the dream a reality: Brainstorm ideas with others about the specific things that can be accomplished now and those that can be achieved soon. Consider the various strategies and their timing. Not everything needs to happen now, and not everything should be put off until next year. After you have the dream broken down into steps, you will want to write down targets, goals, strategies, and potential action items to achieve the different aspects of the dream. “The hardest thing to do is leaving your comfort zone. But you have to let go of the life you’re familiar with and take the risk to live the life you dream about.” T. Arigo Shifting our mindset allows new perspectives and presents a never-ending opportunity to grow and achieve new heights in life and work. An effective executive coach will challenge assumptions and encourage, stretch, and challenge you. If you have questions about getting started with executive coaching, let's talk. What is your real new year challenge? Key summary points Critical reflection on personal experiences is proven to unlock new learnings leading to improved decision-making and better judgment. The ability to learn through reflection and shift your mindset will bring out your best in the new year. Critical reflection can create personal discomfort and internal conflict as you wrestle with favorable self-perceptions. Open-mindedness, responsibility, and wholeheartedness are three good leadership attributes essential to critical reflection. Too often, leaders and leaders and leadership teams spend too much time on the how and not enough on what. While execution is essential, framing the opportunity determines success and significance. References: Densten, I. L., & Gray, J. H. (2001). Leadership development and reflection: What is the connection? International Journal of Educational Management, 15(3), 119-124. Doolittle, J. (2023). Life-Changing Leadership Habits: 10 Proven Principles That Will Elevate People, Profit, and Purpose. Organizational Talent Consulting. Gardner, S. & Albee, D. (2015). Study focuses on strategies for achieving goals, resolutions. Dominican University of California. Rath, T. (2007). StrengthsFinder 2.0, Gallup Press.

Building a highly-skilled self-directed team and paying them well doesn't guarantee success. Motivation helps to explain the differences between times when employees just show up versus getting things done. Numerous studies suggest that work motivation regulates high-quality performance and creativity. But work motivation is not commonly understood and is a growing source of frustration for leaders in a complex employee-driven talent marketplace. So, if motivation is vital, what can leaders use beyond the traditional carrots and sticks? Here are two leadership tactics that are proven to create optimal work motivation conditions. Why work motivation matters Work motivation is a catalyst for business growth and organizational effectiveness. Motivation is what drives people to take action to satisfy a need. Work motivation is the force within (intrinsic) and beyond (extrinsic) an employee to initiate work-related behaviors. The degree of an employee's motivation influences the intensity and duration of work behaviors. Researchers over the past couple of decades have identified numerous predictors of work motivation: Personal factors such as age, educational level, health status, and family support Emotional intelligence and interpersonal relationship quality Social situations and interactions Culture Psychological needs Global studies have revealed that increased work motivation leads to: Improved performance Increased productivity Enhanced innovation and creativity Decreased absenteeism Decreased employee turnover Understanding the motives behind work motivation One of the earliest and most discussed models of motivation is Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory. Maslow suggested that physiological needs motivate employees. The needs for food and water are at the most basic level, and self-actualization is at the highest level. Another early model from Herzberg suggested that work motivation is mainly influenced by challenge and reward reinforcement. Motivators increase job satisfaction, such as performance achievement, recognition, job status, and development. Hygiene Factors decrease job dissatisfaction, such as salary, working conditions, physical workspace, and supervisor quality. More recent studies have led to the categorization of work motivation into four categories: Positive-Negative. Positive motives include things perceived as pleasurable. Negative motives are those things perceived as punishment or fear. Intrinsic-Extrinsic. Intrinsic is doing something because it is inherently interesting or enjoyable, and extrinsic refers to doing something because it leads to a reward. Cognitive-Affective. Cognitive includes doing something for knowledge and mental or intellectual development, whereas affective is doing something for feelings or emotions. Economic-Moral. Economic motives are to achieve a goal associated with a basic need or support a desired standard of living. Moral motivation is to do something right or avoid doing something wrong. Evidence suggests that intrinsic motivation is more effective than extrinsic motivation. In his book Drive, Daniel Pink popularized the Self-determination theory (SDT). This theory suggests that intrinsic work motivation stems from the psychological needs of employees to possess: Autonomy leads to satisfaction from good performance achieved from personal decisions. Mastery and competence lead to confidence Purpose and the care of others and the care for others Self-determination theory research revealed that autonomy and purpose are significantly linked to higher performance levels. When employees feel they have control over their activities, they are more confident and, in return, more motivated to work. Likewise, when employees feel connected to their team, they are motivated to work harder for the organization. Research into whether mastery positively impacts performance is not as evident. Here is a short video of Daniel pink speaking on the gap between science and what business frequently does with motivation. 2 Intrinsic work motivation tactics There is a big difference between making someone do something and work motivation. Here are two practical tactics that are proven to create the optimal conditions necessary for intrinsic work motivation. Tactic 1: Organizational culture Organizational culture is more influential than anything else in the organization. It is the one thing that impacts everything. A working definition of organizational culture is the taken-for-granted assumptions and beliefs in a company's norms, actions, and what you can see, hear, and feel. Numerous studies suggest organizational culture is a crucial factor influencing intrinsic motivation. Why employees work makes a difference in how employees work. Research studies demonstrate that the most motivating workplace cultures: Maximize the motivation behind the work itself Enhance the value of the work because of its impact Increase the potential of work to support employee goals Minimize emotional pressure to comply Avoid using negative reinforcement Don't lead with a "do it because I said so" approach The Competing Values Framework is a simple approach that a leader can use for assessing and describing an organization's or team's culture to facilitate culture change that makes the group more effective. By simplifying the cultural description to only two fundamental dimensions of either flexibility or stability and internal or external focus, the Competing Values Framework creates a straightforward way for leaders and groups to become aware of and reflect on their current culture. Then, instead of prescribing one ideal culture, the Competing Values Framework enables leaders to take steps toward a preferred culture that aligns with the organization's strategic objectives. Tactic 2: Servant leadership How you lead makes a difference. Studies suggest that servant leaders create an increased leader and follower commitment, yielding increased intrinsic motivation that amplifies workforce alignment and business strategy benefits. Servant leadership is an emerging 21st-century leadership style. The motivations of the servant leader are to serve others first and lead second. This paradigm stands in stark contrast to traditional transactional leadership. Servant leaders desire to bring out the best in their followers by giving them the best of themself. According to Robert Greenleaf, attributed by many as the founder of servant leadership, the best measure of success for a servant leader is to see those served become healthier, wiser, freer, more self-directed, and ultimately more likely to serve others. The seven servant leadership virtues that direct the actions of the leader are: Love Humility Altruism Vision Trust Empowerment Service Servant leaders practice selfless love. They can apply empathy to be aware of, feel and take on the emotions of what another person is experiencing and demonstrate the compassion to understand and help others. Selfless love is a radically different paradigm from a transactional worldview of the workplace. The ten characteristics of a servant leader are: Listening to identify a group's will and help clarify that will. Empathy to understand and empathize with followers. Healing self and the relationships with others. Awareness to understand issues of ethics and values. Persuasion over positional power. Conceptualization to see beyond the day-to-day realities of a situation. Foresight to see around the realities of the present situation. Stewardship of the greater good for society. Commitment to growth and development of followers. Building community among the team and organization. Have you ever wondered if you are a servant leader? You can take this free Servant Leadership Style Checker to get your Servant Leadership Style Score. Now, what is the real work motivation challenge for you and your team? References Greenleaf, R. K., & Spears, L. C. (2002). Servant-leadership: A journey into the nature of legitimate power and greatness (25th-anniversary ed.). Paulist Press. Kirkwood, C., Lin, A., Rager, M., Shah-Manek, B., Welch, A., & Williams, N. (2017). Point/Counterpoint: Are outstanding leaders born or made? American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 81(3), 58. McGregor, L., & Doshi, N. (2015). How company culture shapes employee motivation. Harvard Business Review. Reed, C. (2022). The truth about motivating employees to be more productive. National Business Research Institute. Spears, L. (2010). Character and servant leadership: Ten characteristics of effective, caring leaders. Journal of Virtues and Leadership. 1(1). Vo, T., Tuliao, K., & Chen, C. (2022). Work Motivation: The Roles of Individual Needs and Social Conditions. Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland), 12(2), 49. Walumbwa, F., Hartnell, C., & Oke, A. (2010). Servant-leadership, procedural justice climate, service climate, employee attitudes, and organizational citizenship behavior: A cross-level investigation. Journal of Applied Psychology, 95(3).

Behavioral science proves it: your world is perfectly designed for the results you are achieving. Leaders who want to achieve ambitious goals need to be able to change people or change people. Unfortunately, the pressing talent shortage gripping every business is often delaying timely changes that matter. Leaders feel trapped between tolerating performance below expectations or having the employees needed to deliver results. When you accept poor performance, everyone pays the price. It affects team dynamics, talent retention, company culture, growth prospects, financial stability, innovation, and, ultimately, your credibility. Making difficult decisions in leadership can't be escaped. But you can strive for better leadership habits that bring out the best in your team, and you can refuse to accept poor performance. Here is one practical performance improvement tool and four leadership habits that elevate people, profit, and purpose. Isn't poor performance better than a critical role vacancy? Right? Employee labor costs are often one of the most significant line items on any leader's budget. The benefits of effective performance management are well documented beyond the obvious benefit of increasing revenue. Effectively applying performance reinforcement leads to increased organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). Also known as discretionary effort, OCB is performance management's "Holy Grail." It cracks the code to the full potential of a team and organization. Evidence links effective performance management with positive individual and organizational outcomes such as increased productivity, decreased employee turnover intentions, reduced absenteeism, improved operational efficiency, reduced costs, and improved customer satisfaction. Performance is contagious. Tolerating poor performance reinforces poor performance. Failing to bring out an employee's best undervalues your team. When performance falls below the standards of the job, the employee, team, and organization suffer. A study revealed that underperforming employees make up more than 15% of organizations on average. Reduced productivity, inferior products and services, and team morale issues stem from tolerating poor performance in the workplace. Are you accidentally tolerating poor performance? The following are a few of the more common and dangerous accidental habits of leaders and a company culture that tolerates poor performance: Accidental Habit #1: Don't let performers know how they are performing. Too often, leaders avoid providing feedback on performance. Providing clear expectations and giving feedback is essential for employees to achieve high performance levels. Sadly, the lack of this feedback is a common challenge poor performers and high performers experience. Leaders often don't feel equipped to provide specific feedback or lack the will to have a difficult conversation about an employee's performance. Avoiding a difficult conversation often makes the situation worse for both the employee and the leader. Accidental Habit #2: Design and provide tools without input from performers. Time constraints and an overreliance on past understanding are often behind the faulty decision-making why leaders don't solicit employee input from followers. Without the proper staffing, equipment, or budget, employees cannot perform at high levels. Accidental Habit #3: Pay poor performers the same as good ones. Leaders pulled in multiple directions often lack direct performance observation and performance documentation to quantify the difference between the top and bottom performers. The result is often that poor performance gets rewarded equally with high-performance levels. Accidental Habit #4: Don't develop team members. Sometimes, leaders don't invest in coaching and developing employees out of fear that developed employees will find another job. In a fast-paced digital marketplace, training investments need to match the pace of change for employees to remain current and capable. If you recognize one or more of these symptoms of tolerating poor performance, now is the time to take action. How to avoid tolerating poor performance Just stop it! Ok, that's probably not the most helpful advice. One of my favorite Bob Newhart skits presents this oversimplified advice for a client seeking help. If you need to laugh before jumping to real advice, here is the video. To avoid tolerating poor performance, it is helpful to first understand the factors that influence performance. Psychologist and founder of the field of human performance technology, Thomas Gilbert, argued that environmental and individual are the two fundamental types of performance factors that influencet our behavior. Environmental Factors: Factors that the leader controls Individual Factors: Factors that the performer controls He identified that information, tools and resources, and incentives are the primary environmental factors. And identified that skill and knowledge, capacity, and motivation are the primary individual factors. These six factors are described below in the Behavior Engineering Model. You can apply the model like a checklist to understand where to optimize performance and uncover what followers need most to improve their performance on any given task. When using this model to diagnose opportunities for improvement, a simple way to get started is to ask employees in team meetings or one-to-one: Which one of the six factors would help them improve their performance immediately the most? When asking this question, be prepared to be surprised and follow up with probing questions such as; What is the real challenge? or What else? In my application for the Behavioral Engineering Model, I have polled hundreds of employees across many different industries, and the most frequently selected performance improvement factor needed is information and feedback, followed by tools and resources. The only exception that I have found is with new hires, who often choose skills and knowledge. Leaders who avoid tolerating poor performance tend to have the following good leadership habits: Leadership Habit #1: Provide timely feedback for high performance Timely feedback is not once a year or a month. Performance feedback is best when given as close to being in the moment as possible. Leadership Habit #2: Ask for input before making decisions that impact others Remember, those closest to tasks have unique insights, and likely many changes have taken place since the last time you performed the task. Leadership Habit #3: Provide incentives for good performance Compensation for the work is not enough. The rewards and incentives you provide can be as simple as saying thank you. Leadership Habit #4: Invest in developing followers Career development is frequently one of the top reasons employees leave their current jobs. Find out what employees need to help them achieve higher performance levels and provide opportunities to learn and grow in those areas. One of the best ways to avoid tolerating poor performance is to create an environment that brings out the best in followers. The Behavioral Engineering Model can help you take action and make changes in ways that matter most. Accidental leadership habits and ineffective leadership approaches are not destiny, and all leaders need to continually develop at a pace consistent with the change in the leader's world. If you are interested in learning about more ways you can maximize performance, you will want to check out my book, Life-Changing Leadership Habits. Are those you lead growing, serving others, and prepared to surpass you? References: Daniels, A., & Daniels, J. (2006). Performance management: Changing behavior that drives organizational effectiveness. Performance Management Publications. Doolittle, J. (2023). Life-changing leadership habits: 10 proven principles that will elevate people, profit, and purpose. Organizational Talent Consulting. Gallup. (2023). Global engagement survey. Gilbert, T. (1978). Human competence: Engineering worthy performance. McGraw-Hill. Faragher, J. (2006). Employers lose 32m a year, tolerating poor performance. Personnel Today, 1. Plump, C. (2010). Dealing with problem employees: A legal guide for employers. Business Horizons, 53(6), 607-618.

Can you imagine not opening a gift you were given? Each new year offers an advantage of perspective - through reflection only created by time. Like looking at a year-in-review photo montage on your social media feed, forgotten projects that seemed all-consuming at the moment appear with a new perspective. Even with unwanted crises in business and life, reflection offers a gift. Without reflection, perspectives quickly become blurred in a fast-paced workplace with potentially devastating consequences. Reflection facilitates learning, provides perspective on self-limiting beliefs when used purposefully, and improves productivity. Here are four good practices and three powerful tools to help leaders unwrap reflection. Why Reflection Makes A Big Difference Effective reflection involves the ability to doubt, pause, and be curious even about the ordinary. The practice of reflection provides a path to deeper understanding. It enables leaders to consider and learn about underlying contexts and causes for results. Evidence suggests spending 15 minutes a day improves productivity by as much as 23% more than those without reflection time. Researchers found the benefit of additional experience is inferior to deliberately translating and organizing previously accumulated experiences. Sometimes reflection creates discomfort and conflict at an individual and organizational level as leaders wrestle with self-limiting beliefs and failure. However, leaders risk repeating bad decisions that could prove disastrous without considering alternate viewpoints. The best mindset to adopt is not to let a past difficult situation go to waste. By three methods, we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third, by experience, which is the bitterest. Confucius Biases are always present but not always visible. Leadership is about recognizing and leveraging the gap between stimulus and response to make a choice rather than a knee-jerk reaction. Reflection plays an essential role in a leader becoming aware of biases and making better choices. Reflection improves critical thinking capacity. Critical thinking is the ability to use cognitive skills and strategies to increase the probability of the desired outcome when problem-solving. Critical thinking helps leaders navigate complex and ambiguous situations common in every business. It is proven to be more than a nice-to-have skill. Critical thinking improves communication, decision-making, and problem-solving necessary for companies to increase revenue and reduce costs. The role of individual traits in reflection Our inner game is quietly controlling our outer game in life and work. Like a computer operating system governs the computer's processing capability, our internal traits and attributes influence our external behaviors and habits. The following traits assist the ability for purposeful reflection that facilitates learning: Open-mindedness: The desire to listen to other points of view and recognize that even the most strongly held beliefs may be questioned. Open-minded leaders have very few ideas that cannot be changed. Responsibility: The desire to pursue truth and apply it today to day situations. Wholeheartedness: A sincere attitude toward the critical evaluation of themselves and others. An unwavering commitment to make necessary changes and overcome the fear of failure. Conversely, narcissists generally lack the empathetic self-reflection necessary to facilitate self-reflection. While we all possess narcissism to some degree, if you are worried that you might be too much of a narcissist, relax; you probably are not. 4 Reflection good practices Reflection can be used on past actions, in situations as they occur, and for activities you might take in the future. To make the most of reflecting on this past year, consider the following tips: Reflection Good Practice #1: Schedule your time This is a potentially obvious point, but crucial. Planning is often the most significant barrier to reflection. You get too busy or distracted and move on to the next thing before reflecting. It doesn't have to be a lot of time, but I recommend scheduling at least 20 minutes in a quiet place. Reflection Good Practice #2: Narrow your focus Let's be honest; it is hard for most of us to remember last week, much less last year. Rather than considering the whole year, break the year into periods or quarters. Then focus on that each segment of time separately. Reflection Good Practice #3: Structure your questions Taking a strategic approach helps identify strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement. The following powerful questions taken from an after-action review process used by the military provide a structure for your reflection: What was expected to happen? What occurred? What went well and why? What can be improved and how? Reflection Good Practice #4: Adopt a strengths mindset It is easy to be drawn to what is not right and focus on your weaknesses during reflection. Having a balanced focus is not about ignoring weaknesses but prioritizing, pursuing, and leveraging strengths and opportunities to bring out your best. Consider what strengths contributed to your success. A practical way to discover your strengths is by using strength-based assessments. The VIA Character Strengths Survey and the Clifton StrengthsFinder Assessment are two of the most scientifically backed and relatively low-cost strength-based quantitative evaluations. These assessments can be completed online and provide development recommendations and support materials. For more information regarding the VIA Character Strengths Survey, please go to www.viacharacter.org. For more information regarding the CliftonStrengths Assessment, please go to www.gallup.com/cliftonstrengths. By setting aside dedicated time for reflection, focusing on specific experiences or events, using prompts to guide your thinking, and adopting a strengths mindset, you can use reflection to become a more effective and self-aware leader. 3 Powerful reflection tools Here are three proven tools to enhance your reflection on experiences and actions, identify areas for growth and improvement, and learn from both your successes and challenges: Powerful Reflection Tool #1: Journaling Use a journaling app like Day One to capture your thoughts, feelings, successes, and frustrations. This approach is demonstrated to be incredibly impactful on leader-follower relationships, clarity of purpose, and improving new skills. Like building any habit, start small and tie it to an existing practice, like your routine, before you leave the office for the day. Powerful Reflection Tool #2: Follower feedback Critical reflection should be a social process. It is proven to be most successful when collaborative. Leaders need to understand how followers perceive their actions. Using a leadership 360 assessment is one proven tool to improve critical reflection. These assessments typically gather feedback from their leader, peers, and direct reports allowing comparisons between themselves and others. This is one leadership assessment you need to be using. Powerful Reflection Tool #3: Thought leadership Books, articles, and assessments on leadership can enable leaders to examine a particular situation from different points of view, supporting critical reflection. Thought leadership grounded in research provides leaders with proven solutions that can be applied and short-cycle the learning process. If you are not a skilled speed reader, you may be surprised that you can learn how to read a book in an hour. Like any skill, there are tips and tricks to increase your speed and retention. Here is a bonus link to an assembled collection of my top five favorite books from thought leaders on change management, coaching, culture, innovation and creativity, leadership style, servant leadership, and strategic planning. Being reflective facilitates learning to continuously improve and bring out your best. What is the real challenge for you to have a better year than the one you just had? References: Densten, I. L., & Gray, J. H. (2001). Leadership development and reflection: What is the connection? International Journal of Educational Management, 15(3), 119-124. Di Stefano, Gino, F., Pisano, G. P., & Staats, B. R. (2016). Making Experience Count: The Role of Reflection in Individual Learning. IDEAS Working Paper Series from RePEc. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2874177 Gardner, S. & Albee, D. (2015). Study focuses on strategies for achieving goals, resolutions. Dominican University of California. Helyer, R. (2015). Learning through reflection: the critical role of reflection in work-based learning (WBL). Journal of Work-Applied Management. Rath, T. (2007). StrengthsFinder 2.0, Gallup Press.

There has been a lot written on how people are irrational. We have biases that subconsciously influence our decision-making. One of these is leadership attribution error. It's the tendency to attribute leaders with greater impact on results than is real. A coach gets their team into the championship series, and we say, what a great coach. Likewise, if a team has a losing season or is relegated, the coach gets fired. Compelling evidence suggests that leadership does moderate company performance and results. But, maybe you feel the importance of effective leadership is overstated. There is some proof that followers contribute up to 80% of an organization's success. Given unconscious biases and the seemingly contradictory evidence about leadership impact, it is no surprise if you feel skeptical. It could be that you are entirely on board with the value of leadership and are curious about the conditions. Here are five ways leadership impacts people, profit, and purpose in your business and what to consider for your next leadership development investment. Leadership Impact #1: Business Performance Good leadership can create a win out of a weak plan, but ineffective leadership can destroy a business with a great strategic plan. Leadership effectiveness moderates company performance. According to Jim Collins in his book Good to Great, a review of 1,435 companies studied over more than forty years revealed that leadership effectiveness accounted for up to 6.9 times greater financial returns than market averages. In a separate study of over 2,000 firms and leaders, effective leadership accounted for a 38% increase in an organization's overall business performance. This same study then examined the leadership effectiveness scores of the top and bottom-performing 10% of companies. The results revealed that leadership effectiveness was at the 80th percentile in the top-performing companies. Leadership effectiveness was at the 30th percentile in the lowest-performing companies, lower than 70% of the norm leadership effectiveness scores. Personal experience: Working with a large Forbes Top 25 Private Company, we set out to quantify the value of executive leadership. We used internal key business metrics and various cognitive and behavioral leader assessments. A large controlled study involving leaders across different markets revealed a positive correlation between the leader's effectiveness and employee retention, sales, margin, labor costs, and net profit. Leadership Impact #2: Follower Performance Several studies investigate the connection between the leader and the follower's performance. The evidence is consistent that leadership moderates follower performance. In a survey of 100 executives and middle management leaders in manufacturing and service organizations, effective leadership improved follower performance, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment. Also, effective leadership is shown to significantly impact follower discretionary effort, known as organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). This is when employees voluntarily go beyond what is expected of them to benefit the organization. A study of 815 employees and 123 leaders found that effective leadership increased OCB and workplace climate. Leadership Impact #3: Innovation Fostering innovation within an organization is an increasingly important leadership behavior. No organization is looking to stay the same year over year. Innovation drives top-line revenues, creating a competitive advantage in today's volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous marketplace. Evidence suggests that leadership is essential for driving innovation. A study involving over 400 executives from 48 companies connected effective organizational strategy and innovation performance with leadership habits. Leadership Impact #4: Trust and Organizational Change Trust is the currency of business relationships, and an absence of trust can bankrupt the organization and its employees. At an individual level, a lack of trust contributes to feelings of: Frustration Rejection Stress Anxiety Depression Leadership trust is directly connected to employee retention, organizational commitment, and support for organizational change. Unfortunately, trust in leadership is becoming rarer. Trust is given based on leadership competence and ethical behaviors. In their book The Leadership Challenge, authors Kouzes and Posner suggested that "credibility" is the foundation of effective leadership because employees must be able to trust their leaders. Numerous studies demonstrate that leadership is critical to successful organizations and change. Whether a change is department-specific or company-wide, it benefits from executive engagement. Executive leadership teams provide vision, establish strategy, prepare the corporate culture for change, and motivate employees to change. This is important because trust has been shown to mediate employee openness to change and, ultimately, the outcome of change. When trust is present, organizations navigate and manage change with improved results. Change events heighten emotional responses, making communicating effectively challenging for the most skilled leaders. Leadership Impact #5: Communication & Relationships Leadership is a conversation. Like air, the words leaders speak can give life to a business. But words can also constrain and limit realities for individual employees, teams, and organizations. Leadership communication cultivates quality leader-follower and employee-organization relationships. In a study of 400 employees working in various companies with an average company tenure of 10 years, influential leaders increased: Two-way communication Creativity Collaboration Job attitudes Organizational commitment Key Points Effective leadership makes a difference in the personal and professional results you achieve and the life you live. Leadership effectiveness improves the bottom line. Effective leadership improves follower performance and promotes higher business levels, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment. Senior leadership is essential for driving innovation. Senior leadership trust is directly connected to employee retention, organizational commitment, and support for organizational change. Influential leaders increase two-way communication, creativity, collaboration, job attitudes, and organizational commitment. Great leaders achieve great results and create great company cultures. References: Anderson, R., & Adams, W. (2016). Mastering leadership: An integrated framework for breakthrough performance and extraordinary business results. Wiley. Day, D., & Lord, R. (1988). Executive leadership and organizational performance: Suggestions for a new theory and methodology. Journal of Management, 14(3), 453-464. Collins, J. (2001). Good to great: Why some companies make the leap--and others don't. HarperBusiness. Dhar, U., & Mishra, P. (2001). Leadership effectiveness: A study of constituent factors. Journal of Management Research, 1(4), 254. Doolittle, J. (2023). Life-changing leadership habits: 10 proven principles that will elevate people, profit, and purpose. Organizatonal Talent consulting. Eisenbeiss, S., van Knippenberg, D., & Boerner, S. (2008). Transformational leadership and team innovation: Integrating team climate principles. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93(6), 1438-1446. Hackman, J. Richard, and Ruth Wageman. 2007. Asking the right questions about leadership: Discussion and conclusions. American Psychologist 62, no. 1: 43-47. Kouzes, J., & Posner, B. (2017). The leadership challenge: How to make extraordinary things happen in organizations (Sixth ed.). Jossey-Bass. Madanchian, M., Hussein, N., Noordin, F., & Taherdoost, H. (2017). Leadership effectiveness measurement and its effect on organization outcomes. Procedia Engineering. Volume 181, pp. 1043-1048. Men, L. (2014). Why leadership matters to internal communication: Linking transformational leadership, symmetrical communication, and employee outcomes. Journal of Public Relations Research, 26: 256–279. Walumbwa, F., Hartnell, C., & Oke, A. (2010). Servant leadership, procedural justice climate, service climate, employee attitudes, and organizational citizenship behavior: A cross-level investigation. Zhang, H., Ou, A., Tsui, A., & Wang, H. (2017). CEO humility, narcissism, and firm innovation: A paradox perspective on CEO traits. The Leadership Quarterly, 28(5), 585-604. doi:10.1016/j.leaqua.2017.01.003

Let's face it. Those you lead already know you are not perfect. It may be a minor shortcoming that is a blind spot, or it could be a leadership habit impacting those you lead or the company's financial results. When you become self-aware of accidental bad habits, the only real decision is between choice and change. Change always begins with a choice. It is one thing to recognize the need for change and another to be entirely willing to act. Striving for better habits is a competitive advantage for any leader and business looking for a powerful point of differentiation. If you choose to create better leadership habits – here is what you need to know based on the latest research and six proven tips to get you moving in your best direction. "The chains of habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken." – Samuel Johnson⁠ Myth-Busting: It takes 21 days to form a habit Habits are routines, patterns, or practices performed regularly. A common myth is that it takes 21 days to break a habit. Evidence from Dr. Maxwell Maltz's 1960 book 'Psycho-cybernetics' is believed to have led to this myth. The number of times you complete a healthy habit before it becomes a habit can vary substantially by the person and the situation. One study concluded it typically ranges from 18-254 days of consistency. The key is repetition, and eventually, it will become a habit. Habits (good or bad) are often enjoyable and automatic Often, our brain works against us when we try to build better habits by reinforcing our bad habits. Some of these habits produce pleasure and release dopamine as a reward. We are wired for repetition and doing things automatically. This creates advantages for mindless tasks and makes changing habits harder. Good intentions are not enough to break habits. However, leaders are not doomed to live with certain habits. You can change and reorient your behavior. You can build self-control, making standing firm while trying to change easier. After you begin with a choice, these tips will keep you moving in your best direction: Better Habits Tip #1: Know Your Why Living daily without a vision for the future is not a great approach if you want to make the most of your life. Success and significance are not accidents and will require being deliberate and persevering. Starting with the end in mind goes far beyond knowing what habit you want to create. It requires considering why and what outcome you want from your personal and professional investment of time and energy. To answer this question, you have to factor in the impact you will have on others, what you stand for, and how you want to show up daily. Ikigai (e-key-guy) is a Japanese concept that refers to your direction or purpose in life, providing fulfillment, satisfaction, and a sense of meaning. The literal translation consists of two words, 'iki' meaning to live and 'gai' meaning reason. Evidence suggests that the positive psychological effects of Ikigai include professional success, well-being, and physical benefits such as longevity of life. A study of over 40,000 adults found that men and women with Ikigai had a decreased risk for death from external causes. Better Habits Tip #2: Get a Plan You may have heard the saying that if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. There is not a one-size-fits-all plan template. However, a good development plan, at a minimum, should include your why, making it easy, making it automatic, planning for accountability, and falling forward. Also, writing down your goals is associated with goal success. Evidence suggests you are 1.2X to 1.4X more likely to accomplish goals when they are vivid and explicit versus when they are not. If you want to take the easy route, you can take the free Accidental Habit Assessment, pick up a copy of my book Life-Changing Leadership Habits, or schedule a 20-minute call, and we can put a plan together specific to your needs. Better Habits Tip #3: Make it Easy It's about consistency over intensity. Don't try to make too many changes at once. Make it easy. Pick one easy change and gradually increase the difficulty when creating a new habit. Multiple changes at once make creating a new habit more difficult. For example, if your goal is to create a healthy habit of appreciative thinking. Rather than starting with implementing an appreciative inquiry summit or redesigning your organization's approach to strategic planning, pick one appreciative question to incorporate into existing one-to-one meetings. Keeping it simple to start allows you to build on success. Better Habits Tip #4: Make it Automatic Habit stacking is a proven approach to starting and making a new habit automatic. Habit stacking involves connecting new habits with existing habits to make them memorable. For example, suppose you are looking to create a habit of saying thank you to your team. In that case, you could benefit from connecting it with another behavior you already have formed. For example, if you walk through your facility daily to check production status, you could start using that time to catch your team doing something valuable and immediately say thank you. Pairing new habits with existing routines makes the new habit more memorable and establishes automaticity. Better Habits Tip #5: Get an Accountability Partner Life was not meant to be done alone. Too often, we fail to consider leveraging accountability to help us create a new healthy habit. Being accountable to ourselves and someone we trust is proven to help you create a new habit. Conducting check-in meetings with an accountability partner to increase your motivation. We all tend to do better when someone is watching, even if that someone is you. Daily reflection and considering improvement opportunities establish personal accountability and a continuous improvement mindset. Better Habits Tip #6: Fail Forward No, I didn't just say to fail—plan for falling forward and not backward. When you first learned to walk, you fell more than you walked. You are human, and failure only comes with giving up. Being consistent is essential for creating a new habit and not being perfect. Develop a plan for getting back on track when you fall. It's not that you expect to fail but thinking ahead about how you will get back up rather than being perfect. Creating new habits is not a game of all or nothing. The steps described are not an exhaustive list of every potential action you will need to overcome every challenge you may encounter when creating new leadership habits. Instead, these steps help you with the more common situations and significant difficulties you may encounter. "Virtues are formed in man by his doing the actions ... The good of man is a working of the soul in the way of excellence in a complete life.” Aristotle, The Nicomachean Ethics You can develop better leadership habits with a bit of planning. Like hiking, the first step is being entirely willing to make a change. References Clear, J. (2018). Atomic habits: An easy and proven way to build good habits and break bad ones. Avery. Cleo, G., Glasziou, P., Beller, E., Isenring, E., & Rae, T. (2019). Habit-based interventions for weight loss maintenance in adults with overweight and obesity: a randomized controlled trial. International Journal of Obesity, 43(2), 374-383. Doolittle, J. (2023). Life-changing leadership habits: 10 proven principles that will elevate people, profit, and purpose. Organizational Talent Consulting. Garcia, H. & Miralles, F. (2018). Ikigai: The Japanese secret to a long and happy life. Penguin Life. Lally, P., van Jaarsveld, Cornelia H., Potts, H., & Wardle, J. (2010). How are habits formed: Modelling habit formation in the real world. European Journal of Social Psychology, 40(6), 998-1009. Murphy, M. (2010). HARD goals: The secret to getting from where you are to where you want to be. McGraw Hill.

Empty stadiums at the 2020 Olympics provide a fascinating glimpse into the profound impact of others' presence on workplace performance, productivity, and profitability. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 12.7% of full-time employees are now working from home, while 28.2% are working a hybrid model. Empty offices are no longer a rarity. Social facilitation sheds light on the subtle ways the presence of others impacts performance and why an Olympic athlete would cite a lack of an audience for dropping out of an event. The presence of others is a psychological lever that can optimize your performance in the workplace. When you put the ideas of social facilitation to work, you give yourself and your team a greater opportunity to achieve higher levels of performance and career success. Whether you are a team leader with remote employees or work remotely, here is what you need to know about social facilitation and a few tips to bring out your best. Why Understanding Social Facilitation Matters Social facilitation is a psychological concept relating to the tendency for the influence of others to improve a person’s performance on a task. This concept was first described in a study of bicyclist's racing performance in 1898. The researcher noticed that when racing against others, athletes performed better than those racing only against their times. Social facilitation is defined as improvement in performance induced by the real, implied, or imagined presence of others. Social facilitation is thought to impact: the drive to perform the ability to focus while performing the anxiety and desire to impress others. Social facilitation has two types of effects on the performer: Co-action effects because others are doing the same task Audience effects because you are doing something in front of others. Evidence suggests three nuances that impact social facilitation: The presence of others negatively influences employee performance on complex and challenging tasks, as defined by the performer. The presence of others positively influences employee performance when confidence is high for the task. The presence of others negatively affects employee performance when the performer has lower confidence levels. Proximity, the number of others, and the degree to which others are supportive play a role in influencing performance positively or negatively. One of my first not-so-fun memories associated with the social facilitation audience effect came from an experience I had when I was eight. My parent's desire to develop a music appreciation led them to make me take one year of piano lessons. I remember I was assigned to play "Doo-Dad Boogie" for my first piano recital. While this sheet music is elementary, it was challenging for a first-year piano student. I was terrified at the recital even though I was only playing for a few parents and other students in the living room of my piano teacher. This experience taught me that I played better in private. Later in high school, I first connected with the positive influence of the social facilitation co-action effect. I was never a great student. Most of the time, I was a quiet C student. However, when more intelligent students surrounded me, I recognized that I tended to push myself harder and do better than in lower-level courses. This stood out because I anticipated doing worse in the higher-level courses. As in my life, the influence of others is not always positive. The opposite of social facilitation is called social loafing. Social loafing happens when others influence someone to put in less effort than working alone. The reality is that performance is contagious. Others can influence performance for the better and the worse. Implications for Leaders of Hybrid Teams & Remote Employees So, what implications can leaders and senior management take away from the concept of social facilitation and the lessons of the 2020 Olympic games? It might be surprising to know, but your performance is not just dependent on you. Also, your team's performance isn’t just about them. Leaving employees alone is not helpful for them or the organization's bottom line. As a word of caution, social facilitation is not a license to micromanage employees. I don't know anyone who enjoys being told what to do when they can do what needs to be done. Understanding the influence of others can help you improve your performance and the performance of those you lead. The Joyless Workplace? Some have labeled the Tokyo Olympics as the "joyless games" due to the lack of family and friends in the seats to cheer and celebrate. Even though the absence of a crowd is apparent, if you only look at the faces of Olympic gold winners, it is hard to recognize the difference between these games from any others. Cardboard cutouts in the stadium piped in crowd noise and extra encouragement from coaches and teammates were used to fill a void. According to the athletes themselves, fans have an emotional effect on the games and can increase the energy of those winning or inspire those falling behind to dig deeper. In the following interview with two former Olympic athletes, they provide perspective on the impact of empty stands on the athletes' performance. 5 Social Facilitation Tips for Leaders The reality of a hybrid workforce with geographically dispersed employees is not going away. The following are five tips for applying the social facilitation research to leading geographically dispersed teams: Leadership Social Facilitation Tip #1: Presence Matters Leaders need to be present with employees. Although technology has limitations compared to physical proximity, research supports that a digital presence influences social facilitation effects. Frontline leaders and senior management should establish strategies to be present and check in with employees. Conduct regular check-in meetings to increase your presence and feedback. Leadership Social Facilitation Tip #2: Goals Matter More Research has identified that having clear performance goals improves employee performance in addition to social facilitation. Setting goals with employees (not for employees) with performance anchors is essential, especially in a digital environment. Use goal-setting as an opportunity to empower your team. Leadership Social Facilitation Tip #3: Recognition Makes a Difference After establishing clear goals of what performance is worthy, you need to show you notice and care. Use a reinforcement survey to find out what motivates each employee. Then, use those learnings to recognize excellent performance when observed. Don't wait until the end of the year. Leadership Social Facilitation Tip #4: Teamwork Makes the Dream Work When the task is simple or well-known, you can increase performance by introducing an audience. Consider opportunities for pairing up team members doing the same job. Also, make it a point to show up virtually on your team's projects. Leadership Social Facilitation Tip #5: Keep Your Virtual Door Open Create opportunities to socialize and build personal relationships virtually. The digital environment creates some challenges. However, there are many potentially novel ideas for online remote employees. 3 Social Facilitation Tips for Remote Employees Here are three tips for anyone who finds themselves working out of their basement and looking for ways to improve their performance: Employee Social Facilitation Tip #1: Practice Should be Private Work toward becoming fluent with a task before performing in front of others. As your fluency increases, task difficulty will decrease, and others will positively reinforce your performance. At this point, start to make your performance visible to others to leverage the positive effects of social facilitation. Invite your leader to join in on a virtual project meeting or ask to pair up with someone on an assignment. Employee Social Facilitation Tip #2: Be Thoughtful of Whom You Invite to Practice Surround yourself with supportive people as you are learning complex tasks. An unsupported audience harms complex task performance. Employee Social Facilitation Tip #3: Leverage Ambient Noise Moderate levels of ambient noise enhance creative cognition by mimicking the presence of others. Being hyper-focused on a task can limit creativity. Check out coffitivity.com, which replicates the coffee shop when you can’t be at one. If your career is stalling, you need a plan to boost your career. Hiring a coach focused on your career goals leads to improved performance. Coaching keeps you feeling challenged versus being worried about what's next. Additionally, an executive coach increases your blind spot awareness. Getting started is as easy as visiting www.organizationaltalent.com or contacting us via email at info@organizationaltalent.com to learn more about our executive coaching and organizational consulting services. References: Aiello, J.R., & Douthitt, E.A. ( 2001). Social facilitation theory from Triplett to electronic performance monitoring. Group Dynamics, 5(3), 163-180. Feinberg, J. M. & Aiello, J. R. (2006). Social Facilitation: A Test of Competing Theories. Journal of Applied Social Psychology 36(5), 1087-1109. Mehta, R., Zhu, R., & Cheema, A. (2012). Is Noise Always Bad? Exploring the Effects of Ambient Noise on Creative Cognition. Journal of Consumer Research, 39(4), 784-799. doi:10.1086/665048 Murayama K, Elliot AJ. The competition-performance relation: a meta-analytic review and test of the opposing processes model of competition and performance. Psychological Bulletin. 2012;138(6):1035-1070. doi:10.1037/a0028324 Rafaeli S, Rafaeli S, Noy A. Correspondence (September). European Journal of Information Systems. 2002;11(3):196-207.

“The promise given was a necessity of the past: the word broken is a necessity of the present.” Taken from lessons in history and life experiences, Niccolò Machiavelli wrote these words in The Prince, published over 550 years ago. The message is clear: the end justifies the means. These words might seem harsh, but they are not surprising. They reveal the tension that can exist in business between profit and people. Is cheating to achieve favorable results part of doing business? Should managers exploit others to achieve goals? These are not uncommon leadership dilemmas. And are situations that your company or you might be navigating. For some leaders and in some business situations, the way forward is obvious. However, for those with Machiavellian personality tendencies, the best way forward is more complex. The best place to start is by weighing the good and bad of Machiavellianism in the workplace. The good and bad of Machiavellianism in the workplace “The lion cannot protect himself from traps, and the fox cannot defend himself from wolves. One must therefore be a fox to recognize traps and a lion to frighten wolves.” Machiavelli Machiavellianism refers to a manipulative personality trait. The personality is cunning and calculating, believing that the end justifies the means, regardless of how ruthless or moral. Psychologists Christie and Geis studied the thought processes and actions behind individuals who manipulated others and were the first to define this personality trait as Machiavellianism. The construct they built was based on personality traits displayed in the characters of Machiavelli’s literary work The Prince. In this book, Niccolò Machiavelli described how leaders must manipulate and use power through any means necessary to achieve their goals. He presented that people cannot be trusted to do what is needed because they typically lack the experience and motivation or have biases and prejudice toward doing what is needed. Here is a short video about What “Machiavellian” really means. Despite the negative connotations of Machiavellian leadership, sometimes its admired, and the presence of this personality trait is found in all kinds of businesses and at all levels. Interestingly, research into Machiavellianism leadership suggests both highly damaging implications along with some surprisingly positive outcomes for individuals and entire organizations: The Good: Able to retain social control during difficult and chaotic situations, strategic foresight and planning, lower operating costs, high task orientation, not impulsive, gets work done by others, able to be competitive and cooperative. The Bad: Unethical behavior, moral ambiguity, lying, revenge, threats, fraud, cheating, emotional abuse, lack of trust in others, excessive politics, theft, and paying for kickbacks. Although research reveals some good business outcomes of Machiavellian leadership, an overwhelming number of studies demonstrate this kind of manipulative leadership hurts leadership performance. The impacts of lower-quality leader-follower relationships negatively influence performance, company culture, and results. Do you have Machiavellian tendencies? Extreme levels of Machiavellianism, fortunately, are rare in the workplace. However, the flip side is that we all likely have some degree of Machiavellianism in our personality. The Mach-IV is a 20-question inventory that assesses your Machiavellianism tendencies. This site provides your Machiavellian score and a graph showing how you compare to others taking the assessment. The higher your score on the Mach-IV, the more Machiavellianism. If you score 60 out of 100 or higher on the MACH-IV, you are considered a “high-Mach.” If you score below 60 out of 100, you are considered a “low-mach.” High Mach tendencies: Business goal-oriented and calculated when interacting with others. Taken to the extreme, they are highly focused on winning and willing to use any and all means possible. Low Mach tendencies: Believe everyone has a good and bad side. They tend to be more people-oriented and empathic in their interaction with others. Taken to the extreme, "low-Machs" can be passive, highly agreeable, and socially inept. What to do when you find Machiavellianism in the workplace? “There is no other way to guard yourself against flattery than by making men understand that telling you the truth will not offend you” Machiavelli, The Prince Can you change your personality? Or is it true what Yoda told Luke that if you start down the dark path, it forever will dominate your destiny? Luckily, there is hope. The Big Five personality traits serve as the building blocks of personality. They are openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. Research into these personality traits suggests it is possible to make changes through persistent interventions. There is no single right way to change your personality. Our behaviors are constantly evolving, from situation to situation and moment to moment. The following are six proven suggestions to counter Machiavellian behaviors in the workplace. Machiavellian Countermeasure #1: Executive Assessments The higher you move within an organization, the less objective the feedback you tend to receive; however, it becomes more critical personally and professionally. Executive assessments can provide deep insights into areas that, with attention, lead to enhanced potential. When selecting an assessment, its helpful to use a qualified executive coach to help interpret and apply the learnings. Machiavellian Countermeasure #2: Executive Coaching There are many benefits of executive coaching. 80% of people who receive coaching report increased self-confidence. Over 70% benefit from improved work performance, relationships, and more effective communication skills. 86% of companies report recouping their investment in coaching and more. Machiavellian Countermeasure #3: Leadership Style Research suggests that ethical leadership is a potential remedy for undesirable behaviors associated with Machiavellianism. Ethics include what is good and bad, along with moral duty and obligation. One of the ten characteristics of a Servant Leadership style is influence versus positional power. Organizations can benefit from adopting a servant leadership style. Here is a free Servant Leadership Style Checker to find out if you have a Servant Leadership style. Machiavellian Countermeasure #4: Reward and Recognition Systems Machiavellians are concerned with impression management. It can be both a conscious or subconscious process in which they attempt to influence the perceptions of others. Tightly aligning your company's reward and recognition systems with desired behaviors makes them more appealing and encourages team cohesion. Machiavellian Countermeasure #5: Training and Development Bringing out the best in all personality types includes training and development. Evidence suggests that development at critical career transition points is effective for influencing Machiavellian personality types. Investing in developing appropriate work expectations and behaviors helps organizations avoid costly mistakes. Machiavellian Countermeasure #6: Therapy For anyone concerned about having a significantly "high-Mach" personality or involved in their life, it is best to contact a mental health professional to get help with adequate coping mechanisms. There are a variety of therapies that can be helpful for people with the Machiavellian personality traits. So, what is your real leadership challenge? References: Christie, R., & Geis, F. (1970). Studies in Machiavellianism. Academic Press. Kumar, D. (2019). Good, bad, ugly: Exploring the Machiavellian power dynamics of leadership in medical education. Journal of advances in medical education & professionalism, 7(1), 42–46. Page, N., Bergner, S., & Wills, S. (2017). Who empathizes with Machiavellian or Narcissistic leaders? Harvard Business Review. Rehman, U., & Shahnawaz, M. (2021). Machiavellianism and task-orientated leadership: the moderating effect of job autonomy. Leadersh Educ Personal Interdiscip J 3, 79–85. Van Dierendonck, D., & Patterson, K. (2015). Compassionate love as a cornerstone of servant leadership: An integration of previous theorizing and research. Journal of Business Ethics, 128(1), 119-131.

When was the last time you heard thank you or sent a handwritten note? You might feel such moments are rare or nonexistent in the workplace. Most leaders feel trapped in the relentless pursuit of results, achieving the next goal. And a transactional leader considers a paycheck the best form of motivation. But what if I told you that acts of goodwill, often taken for granted, are not optional but essential to establishing your leadership credibility? Trust is not something to ignore. It has been shown to affect employee openness to change and, ultimately, moderate the outcome of change. Some of the most successful leaders and companies attribute their success to high-quality, trust-based relationships. Microsoft, for example, promotes that business value is achieved through trust, love, and loyalty. Being trustworthy takes credibility, which is not inherent to being a leader. You're not alone if you are concerned about not having enough time for goodwill. A key is to not see goodwill as optional but as necessary. To help you start, here is what you need to know about trust and goodwill. The leadership trust and credibility connection Trust-based leader-follower relationships are based on credibility, reliability, transparency (vulnerability), and humility (self-orientation). Credibility has rational and emotional aspects related to an individual's content expertise and personal presence. Reliability is based on the frequency of interactions with someone and the consistency for them to behave as expected. Transparency (vulnerability) requires being personal and the willingness to have a courageous conversation. Humility (self-orientation) relates to the amount of focus placed on oneself versus the emphasis placed on the other person. A High degree of self-orientation creates significant distrust with others. When you are an executive leader or own your own business, it is inevitable that at some point, you will experience a situation where you have responsibility for leading but don't have a deep understanding or technical expertise for the specific work. While these situations negatively impact your credibility, it doesn't necessarily mean you are not perceived as trustworthy. Evidence suggests that power and influence increase with a leader's perceived ability to possess and display knowledge and skill. A leader's ability to influence is directly affected by follower perceptions. The more credibility a leader has, the greater their influence and ability to lead. Research into credibility reveals that the leader's knowledge, competence, and goodwill are the primary drivers of followers' perceptions. A critical blind spot for many executives is the importance of their knowledge and technical competence in the areas they lead. Although leaders are not expected to be all-knowing and possess the competence to perform the tasks of every job in a company, a leader can enhance the perceptions of others through training, education, and experience. What is trustworthiness? Being considered a trustworthy leader is something that is earned. Without trust-based relationships, leaders and businesses can't succeed. Being trustworthy brings out the best in others and the workplace. Trust is a reliance on character, capability, or truth. Trustworthy synonyms include reliable, dependable, honest, and ethical. In the following video, Simon Sinek breaks down the impact of trust and being trustworthy as a leader. Do you have high-quality, trust-based relationships? Leaders who want to improve the quality of their relationships can measure their trustworthiness using the following free Relationship Trust Checker. Scores of 10-30 indicate a high degree of relationship trust, 5-10 indicate a moderate degree of relationship trust, and scores of 1-5 show a low degree of relationship trust. What is Leadership Goodwill? Evidence suggests leadership goodwill may be the most crucial element of credibility, especially among leader-follower relationships with frequent interactions. Most simply stated, goodwill is being authentically friendly and having their employees' best interests at heart. There are a couple of important nuances to clarify with the concept of being nice. First, building mutual goodwill is not trying to be popular but authentically caring for followers and the organization. Second, being friendly means being willing to have a difficult conversation and exit a colleague from a job where they are underperforming. "Your smile is a messenger of your goodwill." ~ Dale Carnegie Leaders display and create goodwill by being: friendly helpful cooperative and taking an interest in followers' well-being A leader can build their goodwill capacity by developing their emotional intelligence, helping followers, and spending time establishing high-quality relationships. Leader characteristics that support goodwill Several research studies demonstrate the benefits of a leader's inner game. A leader's behaviors or outer game are the actions a leader should take in a given situation. However, a leader's inner game characteristics influence whether a leader will take action. A leader's empathy, compassion, and selfless love are the inner game characteristics supportive of goodwill. Empathy is the ability to be aware of, feel, and take on the emotions of what another person is experiencing. Compassion is an empathic understanding with a desire to help another person. Selfless Love - to desire and put into action the will for the good of another ahead of your interest. 6 ways leaders can show goodwill Leaders can enhance goodwill with simple actions without having to expend much energy, such as: Saying thank you Sending a digital or handwritten thank-you note Asking questions to get to know your followers Using a reinforcement survey to learn what they find rewarding. A reinforcement survey is a series of questions to learn about activities and situations a follower finds reinforcing, such as hobbies and how employees spend their free time. Recognizing special dates such as birthdays and work anniversaries Scheduling one-to-one meetings and treating them to a drink of their choice Key Summary Points Being trustworthy takes credibility, which is not intrinsic to being a leader. Being credible is something that followers rationally and emotionally perceive. Trust-based leader-follower relationships are based on credibility, reliability, transparency, and humility. Research into credibility reveals that the leader's knowledge, competence, and goodwill are the primary drivers of followers' perceptions. Leadership goodwill may be the most crucial element of credibility, especially among leader-follower relationships with frequent interactions. Leaders display and create goodwill by being friendly, helpful, cooperative, and taking an interest in followers' well-being. Leaders can enhance goodwill with simple actions without having to expend much energy. References: Cameron, K. (2012). Positive leadership: Strategies for extraordinary performance. Berrett Doolittle, J. (2023). Life-changing leadership habits: 10 proven principles that will elevate people, profit, and purpose. Organizational Talent Consulting. Hovland, C. I., Janis, I. L., & Kelley, H. H. (1953). Communication and persuasion: Psychological studies of opinion change. Yale University Press.Koehler Publishers, Incorporated. Maister, D. H., Green, C. H., & Galford, R. M. (2000). The trusted advisor. Free Press. Yukl, G. (2010. Leadership in organizations. (8th ed.) Pearson.

Without selfless love in the workplace, the best of what might be is impossible to achieve. Stop and think about the implications of that statement for a moment. There is no serious debate that well-designed organizations with clear organizational strategies influence desired behaviors, culture, and performance. Numerous studies identify failure as often tied to misalignment between the organization and its operational environment. However, while organizational alignment is essential, it is not sufficient. Selfless love brings out the best in how people think, act, and feel. If you want to start embracing selfless love in the workplace, you’ll need to start tapping into these four keys today. The benefits of selfless love in the workplace The well-documented individual and organizational benefits of selfless love include: Intrinsic motivation Increased creativity Discretionary effort Better workplace climate Enhanced employee capacity Enhanced leader-follower alignment Two complex challenges leaders face today are attracting and retaining top talent and creating inclusive workplaces that brings out the best in all employees. Diversity in the world and workplace is increasing. Globalization and technological advances are projected to continue to increase workgroup diversity. This increase in diversity can have many positive workplace effects, such as enhanced performance, creativity, innovation, and decision quality. However, workplace practices rooted in favoritism are costly, leading to increased relational conflict and a lack of team cohesion. In-group favoritism results in actions that favor one group. When leaders demonstrate selfless love, they cultivate an organizational culture where healthy and caring leader-follower relationships break down the adverse effects of in-group and out-group differences. All you have to do is drive down any street or walk through your local retail district to see the signs for help wanted and understand the challenge of attracting and retaining the best and brightest employees. Organizational commitment is a term used to identify an individual with a particular company. Research has directly connected higher levels of organizational commitment with lower employee turnover rates. Studies have demonstrated that selfless love enhances organizational commitment. The following short video from leadership guru Ken Blanchard provides some thoughts on the power of servant leadership in today's workplace. What is selfless love? Selflessness is being more concerned with the needs and desires of others than with your needs. And one of the best definitions I have come across for love in the workplace comes from St. Thomas Aquinas. "To love is to will the good of the other." St. Thomas Aquinas Selfless love in the workplace is to desire and put into action the will for the good of another ahead of your interest. It is a radically different paradigm from a transactional worldview of the workplace. If you have nine minutes, the following video captures the essence of the meaning behind the definition used by St. Thomas Aquinas. Although the video does not use a workplace example, the intent of willing the good of the other is shown. The following poem called "Outwitted" by Edwin Markham captures the belief that selfless love creates a radical sense of belonging for everyone: He drew a circle that shut me out—Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout. But Love and I had the wit to win: We drew a circle that took him in! Are empathy and compassion different from selfless love? Empathy, compassion, and selfless love are interrelated, but distinct differences exist. Empathy is the ability to be aware of, feel, and take on the emotions of what another person is experiencing. Empathy plays a vital role in moderating the effects of workplace conflict. Research has linked empathy with forgiveness and healing relationships. The following is a short video from Brene Brown that explains empathy and its value within the workplace. Compassion is an empathic understanding with a desire to help another person. Recent studies into the benefits of compassion at work link it to improved job performance, mental health, and leader-follower relationships. Although having awareness (empathy) and a desire to help (compassion) is essential, the world needs leaders who put the will for the good of others ahead of their interest. Leaders who emphasize selfless love bring out the best in how people think, act, and feel in the workplace, leading to success and significance both personally and professionally. Tapping into selfless love Selfless love is not just something you are either born with or not. You can apply these four keys to cultivate selfless love in the workplace. Key #1: Measurement Selfless love is not just something you are either born with or not. Selfless love may seem complex and challenging to articulate, much less measure; however, validated measurement instruments exist. Muel Kaptein introduced and validated the Corporate Ethical Virtues Model, which measures virtues at the organizational level. Vincent Ng and colleagues expanded on the Comprehensive Inventory of Virtuous Instantiations of Character instrument by creating a valid multidimensional forced-choice individual character instrument. The Leadership Character Insights Assessment measures an individual's character through self-assessment or 360-degree assessment using behavioral anchors. The Values In Action (VIA) Survey is a free, 15-minute self-assessment that helps discover your greatest strengths. Key #2: Development Like leadership behaviors, selfless love can be developed. Evidence suggests that development specific to selfless love should include knowledge transfer, reasoning, and practice elements. Development primarily takes place through role modeling with intentional time for feedback. However, feedback on character gaps is not commonly provided in the workplace, given the complexity of these conversations. Evidence suggests that organizations can incorporate selfless love development into existing competency development programs. It is not required for organizations to create separate programs focused only on character and virtue development. Key #3: Reflection Most leaders spend little to no time reflecting on character experiences because of blind spots. A dedicated and skillful executive coach can improve character feedback and purposeful character reflection. Numerous studies have found that dedicated mentors can also support character development by openly reflecting on insights gained from their experience. Key #4: Leadership Style Servant leadership characteristics are practical ways for a leader to bring selfless love into the workplace: Listening to self and others Showing empathy Healing self and others Being aware Persuasion and not coercion Conceptual thinking, not linear thinking Applying strategic foresight Stewardship of other's needs Commitment to the development of others Building community Conversely, a traditional transactional leadership style adopts a top-down view of an organization with the leader at the top. Transactional leadership is based on the belief that employees perform best: Within a well-formed chain of command Rewards and punishments motivate Following the leader's directives is the employee's primary goal Transactional leaders give employees something they want in exchange for getting something they want. This leadership style adopts a mental model that workers are not self-motivated and require structure, instruction, and monitoring to achieve organizational goals correctly and on time. In stark contrast, when adopting a selfless love worldview, the leader desires to bring out the best in their followers by giving them the best of themself. A servant leadership style aligns well with selfless love. Key Points: Selfless love in the workplace is to desire and put into action the will for the good of another ahead of your interests. When leaders demonstrate selfless love, they establish an organizational culture where healthy and caring leader-follower relationships break down the adverse effects of in-group and out-group differences. Selfless love enhances organizational commitment, productivity, job performance, and emotional well-being. Leaders who emphasize selfless love bring out the best in how people think, act, and feel in the workplace, leading to success and significance both personally and professionally. To gain a competitive advantage in an uncertain world, leadership needs to move beyond cultivating organizational strategy, design, and behaviors to include selfless love. References: Doolittle, J. (2023). Life-changing leadership habits: 10 proven principles that will elevate people, profit, and purpose. Organizational Talent Consulting. Ferris, R. (1988). How organizational love can improve leadership. Organizational Dynamics, 16(4), 41-51. Fry, L. W., Vitucci, S., & Cedillo, M. (2005). Spiritual leadership and army transformation: Theory, measurement, and establishing a baseline. The Leadership Quarterly, 16(5), 835-862. Kaptein, M. (2008). Developing and testing a measure for the ethical culture of organizations: The corporate ethical virtues model. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 29(7), 923-947. Lok, P., & Crawford, J. (2004). The effect of organisational culture and leadership style on job satisfaction and organisational commitment: A cross‐national comparison. The Journal of Management Development, 23(4), 321-338. Mulinge, P. (2018). Altruism and altruistic love: Intrinsic motivation for servant-leadership. The International Journal of Servant-Leadership, 12(1), 337-370. Ng, V., Lee, P., Ho, M. R., Kuykendall, L., Stark, S., & Tay, L. (2020). The development and validation of a multidimensional forced-choice format character measure: Testing the Thurstonian IRT approach. Journal of Personality Assessment, 1-14. Ran, Y., Liu, Q., Cheng, Q., & Zhang, Y. (2021). Implicit-explicit power motives congruence and forgiveness in the workplace conflict: The mediating role of empathy. The International Journal of Conflict Management, 32(3), 445-468. Seijts, G., Crossan, M., & Carleton, E. (2017). Embedding leader character into HR practices to achieve sustained excellence. Organizational Dynamics, 46(1), 30-39. doi:10.1016/j.orgdyn.2017.02.001 Van Knippenberg, D., De Dreu, Carsten K. W, & Homan, A. C. (2004). Work group diversity and group performance: An integrative model and research agenda. Journal of Applied Psychology, 89(6), 1008-1022. Zachary, G. W. (2013). Spiritual leadership: Investigating the effects of altruistic love on organizational commitment. International Journal of Arts & Sciences, 6(2), 767.

An Examination of the Importance of Leadership Behaviors and Attributes on Shaping Culture Executive Summary Organizational culture is a critical factor in financially successful companies. But culture change is often overwhelming and elusive. In a fast-paced digital workplace, leaders face increasing pressure to innovate, make data-driven decisions, and effectively lead a remote and multicultural workforce. To thrive, change is necessary. It is crucial for leaders at every level to be equipped with the capability to act both within and upon a company's culture. Although overwhelming, culture change doesn't require sizeable investments and employees in the office. Leaders with dynamic transformational leadership attributes and behaviors are effective culture change agents. Evidence suggests that idealized influence and inspirational motivation are key leadership attributes and behaviors for leaders to drive culture change. They are foundational for enhancing trust, emotional connection, and the leader-follower relationship. Additionally, these leadership behaviors and attributes increase the willingness of employees to excel and give discretionary effort. The benefits of architecting a positive organizational culture are found to extend beyond financial success to include improved employee morale, commitment, health, and well-being. HOW TO READ THIS WHITE PAPER This white paper is divided into five sections. Each section is essential to understanding the importance of key leadership behaviors and attributes in shaping organizational culture. Sections one and two of the white paper provide a contextual understanding of what is meant by organizational culture and modern organizational culture challenges. Section three focuses on proven approaches to architect organizational culture. Section four looks at two key leadership behaviors and attributes vital to shaping culture. The white paper concludes by highlighting the significant benefits associated with improving organizational culture. This white paper aims to establish the importance of leadership behaviors and attributes and guide business considerations for architecting organizational culture. As designed, the insights covered will improve our communities and workplaces by applying proven thought leadership. Section 1: Understanding Organizational Culture Organizational culture is the one thing that influences every aspect of a business. It directly impacts organizational success, employees, customers, and communities. The underlying cultural values of an organization affect the behaviors of employees and their decisions. Scholarly research directly linked the effects of an organization's culture on customer satisfaction, employee teamwork, cohesion, employee involvement, and innovation (Gregory et al., 2009). Just as some organizational culture characteristics can support these qualities, others can also inhibit these qualities. For example, a hierarchical corporate culture type is proven to decrease an organization's ability to innovate (Cameron & Quinn, 2011). The idea of organizational culture is abstract and often not well understood. The word culture gets used in different ways by people at different times. Culture has been studied for many years resulting in many different models and definitions. Organizational culture is complex because it involves individuals, their interactions, teams, and the organization. Edgar Schein, who is considered to be one of the most influential contemporary thought leaders on organizational culture, described it as: "a pattern of shared basic assumptions that the group learned as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, that has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems" (Schein & Schein, 2016). A more simplified working definition of organizational culture is how things get done within the organization when no one is watching. It is easy to focus on the things that are visible to describe an organization's culture. However, an organizational culture framework consists of artifacts, values, and underlying assumptions. Artifacts: These are the things you can see, feel, or hear in the workplace. Examples include what is displayed, office layouts, uniforms, identification badges, and discussed and not discussed. Espoused Values: What you are told and beliefs that you can use to make decisions. Examples include a company's vision and values or mission statement. They are explicitly stated official philosophies about the company. Basic Assumptions: These are things that go without saying or are taken for granted. Examples could include speaking up in meetings, holding a door for someone, smiling, or greeting someone by name when walking down the hall. Often many elements of an organization's culture are not visible daily and drop into the background. However, significant events like a company merger or acquisition can make organizational culture differences noticeable. Section 2: The Organizational Culture Reality No organization is looking to stay the same year over year. The world needs organizations that desire to create a better future. According to the Business Roundtable, made up of the CEOs of 181 largest corporations, the principal purpose of a corporation is no longer only to maximize shareholder return (Business Roundtable, 2021). The purpose includes creating value for customers, investing in employees, dealing fairly with suppliers, and supporting the communities where corporations operate. Modern leaders are asking, can organizational culture be changed? This question is not just about changing but thriving. Today’s organizational culture reality includes challenges with innovation, making data-driven decisions, and a geographically dispersed multicultural workforce. Innovation Organizational cultures need to cultivate innovation. A global survey of over 5000 CEOs revealed that greater than 60 percent of organizations anticipate introducing new products or services to fuel their growth. A quick walk through a parking lot looking at the similarity of cars reveals a need for organizations to move beyond making incremental improvements. Company cultures centered on efficiency thinking have flooded the marketplace with low-cost, widely available products and resulted in tremendous waste and social issues (Brown, 2009). The future for organizations involves changing the organization's culture to create value for both the individual consumer and society. Data-Driven Decision Making Advances in technology create a significant advantage for organizations that can leverage data to make better decisions and take the right actions. To maximize their technology and talent investments, organizations need a culture that aligns with data-driven decision-making (Bartlett, 2013). This represents a sizable shift for many cultures that rely on stories to make decisions. A study involving more than 1000 executive leaders demonstrated that 80% of organizations with a mature approach to data analytics exceeded their goals, and 48% significantly exceeded their goals (Deloitte, 2019). Geographically Dispersed Workforce Modern organizations need to foster a culture that is shared across geographically dispersed and physically present workers. Hybrid models of remote and physically present workplaces for knowledge workers are projected to persist. According to a study of 2000 tasks, 800 jobs across nine countries project that 20 percent of an organization’s workforce could be remote three to five days a week (Lund et al., 2020). This represents an increase of three to four times as many employees working remotely. These changes are fueled by the workforce, advances in technology, and the pandemic. Multicultural Workforce The world is full of complex problems like cybersecurity and global political uncertainty. Still, the topics of diversity, equity, and inclusion are being discussed from the boardroom to the breakroom. As companies continue to expand into new markets, the makeup of the workforce in our companies and communities served is becoming more diverse. The United States is more diverse today than at any time since data has been collected, and projections are for continued increases in diversity (Vespa et al., 2020). However, organizations face serious cultural challenges, including broadly held perceptions of inequity to illegal business practices based on race, sex, language, and other diversity factors. Inequity and discrimination result from failure, one person at a time, one action at a time (Greenleaf, 2008). These ethical failures are often not the result of one "bad actor" alone but systemic issues. Section 3: Architecting Organizational Culture Leaders at all levels in the organization play a vital role in the success of shaping organizational culture in business. Although architecting organizational culture is challenging, making changes often doesn't require considerable investments or physically co-located employees. Leaders can leverage the following primary and secondary actions and tools for leaders to embed the desired culture (Schein & Schein, 2016): Primary Actions and Tools Pay attention to metrics that matter and provide regular updates Respond to organizational crises Resource allocation Training and development Rewards and recognition Selection, promotions, and terminations Manage change Secondary Actions and Tools Organization design Policies and procedures Rituals and events Workspaces Traditions and stories Vision and mission statements Organizations are likely to deny the need for organizational culture change. It is common for organizations to become anxious at the suggestion of change. Leaders should exercise caution and approach the change thoughtfully or risk being seen as the problem. Overcoming resistance to change begins with establishing a desire for survival and reducing learning anxiety through creating a sense of psychological safety. Psychological safety is created by leaders proactively helping followers understand and accept the need for change. Section 4: Two Key Leadership Behaviors and Attributes Organizational culture is everyone's responsibility, and leaders play a fundamental role in influencing and supporting culture (Schein & Schein, 2016). Leaders must be able to operate both within and upon the organization's culture. Leadership is a system increasingly influenced by technology and consists of the leader, followers, the situation, and time (Sosik & Jung, 2018). In today’s turbulent and fast-paced digital marketplace, leaders are challenged to quickly discern and apply the appropriate leadership attributes and behaviors that will bring out the best in followers, so they will go beyond what is expected in ways that contribute to the organization’s results and make the world a better place. Leadership Behavior – is how a leader responds within the leadership system. A behavior is something that can be seen and described. Leadership Attribute – is an inherent quality of a leader as perceived by others. Often each leadership challenge requires a blended approach. Based on research, generally, the more dynamic transformational leadership behaviors and attributes are most effective (Sosik & Jung, 2018). Leadership thought leaders Sosik and Jung identify two key leadership behaviors and attributes to help leaders meet today’s complex organizational culture challenges: idealized influence and inspirational motivation (Sosik & Jung, 2018). Leadership Key #1: Idealized Influence Success is achieved through others rather than a leader alone. Establishing positive leadership influence is not easy, and it is vital for leaders to shape organizational culture. Leaders displaying idealized influence possess a high degree of moral behavior, virtues, character, and work ethic (Sosik & Jung, 2018). These leaders reflect the organizational culture, impart pride in followers, and reinforce the importance of teamwork and shared success. The following are idealized influence behaviors and attributes (Sosik & Jung, 2018): Idealized Influence Behaviors Talk about their most important values and beliefs Communicate the importance of team trust Reinforce the importance of purpose Evaluate the ethical consequences of decisions Reinforce the need for teamwork and its possibilities Idealized Influence Attributes Infuse pride in others Make personal sacrifices for others Create respect Demonstrate confidence Encourage others about the future Idealized influence increases trust, enhances learning, increases emotional connection, and empowers followers to think independently and express their individuality. A modern example of idealized influence leadership behaviors and attributes is Jack Welch. He is the former GE CEO and is known for achieving tremendous organizational results and developing followers. Leadership Key #2: Inspirational Motivation In a volatile and uncertain marketplace, leaders need to adapt and motivate followers toward a challenging and aspirational vision (Sosik & Jung, 2018). Human nature focuses on what is missing or needs to be fixed when presented with organizational culture change. However, inspirational motivation behaviors involve creating and effectively communicating a shared positive vision and purpose for followers (Sosik & Jung, 2018): Inspirational Motivation Behaviors Optimistically communicating about the future Enthusiastically communicating about what needs to be achieved Communicate a compelling vision of the future Provide an exciting image of what is essential to consider Express confidence that goals will be achieved Like idealized influence behaviors, inspirational motivation enhances the leader-follower relationship by increasing trust and emotional connection. Additionally, inspirational motivation behaviors heighten the willingness of followers to excel. Jack Ma is a modern example of idealized influence leadership behaviors and attributes. He is the former Alibaba CEO known for his ability to communicate a small business eCommerce vision, leading Alibaba to become the world's largest retailer and online marketing company. Section 5: Benefits of Improving Organizational Culture Ultimately every organizational result is the direct contribution of an employee. Organizational culture is identified as a critical factor in financially successful companies (Craig, 2018). Research has linked organizational culture to employee morale, commitment, health, and productivity (Schein & Schein, 2016). Failing to improve the organizational culture on challenges such as social justice reinforces stereotypes in communities, increases litigation risks, damages the organization’s brand, and increases missed opportunity costs. According to the Business Roundtable, made up of CEOs from the largest corporations in the United States, advancing social justice promotes access to key enablers of well-being and prosperity, such as healthcare, finances, education, and housing (Business Roundtable, 2019). Conclusion Architecting organizational culture is necessary for organizations to thrive in a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous marketplace. Leaders need to be able to operate within and upon an organization's culture. The leadership behaviors of idealized influence and inspirational motivation are key for leaders to shape an organization’s culture. The benefits of improving organizational culture extend beyond performance and financial success to include employee morale, commitment, health, productivity, and well-being. If you have organizational culture or leadership development needs you cannot solve independently, we're ready to partner with you to craft a solution specific to your organization's context and challenges. Getting started is as easy as visiting www.organizationaltalent.com or contacting us via email info@organizationaltalent.com. References: Bartlett, R. (2013). A practitioner's guide to data analytics: Using data analysis to improve your organization's decision-making and strategy. McGraw-Hill. New York. Brown, T. (2009). Change by design: How design thinking transforms organizations and inspires innovation. HarperCollins Publishers. Business Roundtable. (2021). Statement on the purpose of a corporation. https://opportunity.businessroundtable.org/ourcommitment/ Cameron, K. S., & Quinn, R. E. (2011). Diagnosing and changing organizational culture: Based on the competing values framework (Third ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Craig, W. (2018, March 6). As Company Culture Improves, So Does Your Business. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/williamcraig/2018/03/06/as-company-culture-improves-so-does-your-business Deloitte. (2019). Deloitte survey: Analytics and data-driven culture help companies outperform business goals in the age of with’. https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/about-deloitte/articles/press-releases/deloitte-survey-analytics-and-ai-driven-enterprises-thrive.html Doolittle, J. (2023). Life-changing leadership habits: 10 proven principles that will elevate people, profit, and purpose. Organizational Talent Consulting. Greenleaf, R. (2008) The servant as leader. The Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership. Gregory, B. T., Harris, S. G., Armenakis, A. A., & Shook, C. L. (2009). Organizational culture and effectiveness: A study of values, attitudes, and organizational outcomes. Journal of Business Research, 62(7), 673-679. Lund, S., Manyika, J., Madgavkar, A. & Smit, S. (2020). What’s next for remote work. An analysis of 2,000 tasks, 800 jobs, and nine countries. McKinsey Global Institute. https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/future-of-work/whats-next-for-remote-work-an-analysis-of-2000-tasks-800-jobs-and-nine-countries# Schein, E. H., & Schein, P. (2016). Organizational culture and leadership, 5th edition (5th ed.) John Wiley & Sons. Sosik, J. & Jung, D. (2018). Full range leadership development: Pathways for people, profit, and planet. Routledge. Vespa, J. Armstrong, D. & Medina, L. (2020). Demographic turning points for the United States: Population projections for 2020 to 2060. United States Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2020/demo/p25-1144.html

Despite R&D being risky and expensive, businesses are betting big on innovation to fuel growth and competitive advantage. Companies like Amazon, Apple, Alphabet, and Meta are investing billions annually. The R&D budgets from the top 100 innovation leaders total over $720 billion, an increase of 15.3% from the prior year. But evidence suggests that executives remain dissatisfied with their company's innovation performance. As the world rapidly changes, businesses and people must change. Culture is the one thing that impacts everything. An innovation culture supports beliefs and feelings about the importance of innovation, as well as habits that encourage research and development. Here are three proven steps that will move your company closer toward an innovation culture. Benefits of an innovation culture It is no secret that culture is a powerful force multiplier for your company's mission and values - and when properly harnessed, it can become a powerful competitive advantage. Companies with a positive culture experience 8x more profitability than S&P 400 firms. Organizational culture defined is "a pattern of shared basic assumptions that the group learned as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, that has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems." Edgar Schein Although innovation requires taking risks, failing to innovate can be fatal to a business. The proven benefits of innovation include: increased competitive advantage improved operational productivity reduced costs and increased revenue improved commercial value enhanced problem-solving One modern innovation that is impressive to watch is SpaceX's reusable Falcon 9 (watch the video below). Space travel alone is challenging, but reusing a rocket by landing it on a drone ship takes the complexity to another level. A financial services company engaged in investment banking and capital markets estimated the customer benefit of the Space X Falcon 9 reusable rocket. If Space X passed on 50 percent cost savings to its customers, this one innovation could reduce company costs by 21% or $48.3 million per launch. A recent study found that only 12% of companies claim to have a program in place to define and improve culture. Although only one in four employees strongly agree that they can apply their company's values daily. Here are the three steps leaders can take to cultivate a culture of innovation. Innovation Culture Step 1: Defining Your Culture Trying to define and change company culture is overwhelming. When you don’t have a shared understanding of culture, it's difficult to create a plan to transform it. You waste time and money on ideas that don't move the needle, you guess instead of following a proven process, and employee performance stalls (or worse) dips. Defining an innovation culture in measurable and actionable terms is essential for a thriving company culture. The Competing Values Framework created by Dr. Kim Cameron and Dr. Robert Quinn identified four fundamentally different cultures. This tool can be extremely useful for defining the current and desired culture of any organization. Clan Culture creates a collaborative atmosphere like a family. This culture emphasizes the value of teamwork, participation, and a consensus decision-making style. Adhocracy Culture creates an energetic and entrepreneurial atmosphere. This culture stresses the importance of research and continuous improvement. Market Culture creates a competitive, fast-paced, results-oriented environment. This culture highlights coming in first. Hierarchy Culture is a top-down formal rule-based atmosphere. This culture emphasizes efficient, reliable, and cost-effective performance. Note: Adapted from Cameron and Quinn (2011). Innovation Culture Step 2: Overcoming a Fear of Failure Fear of failure is the enemy of an innovative culture. An organizational fear of failure limits experimentation, risk-taking, and failure, all of which are necessities of innovation. In three separate studies, researchers found that the fear of failure triggered by an objective or psychological reaction is detrimental to decision-making and reduces opportunity-seeking behaviors. The acceptance of failure as learning is fundamental to innovation but challenging to comprehend. Watch the following short video to see why Honda accepts failure and suggested it is the secret to their success. A step toward learning to overcome the fear of failure is to reframe that failure is necessary and learning is the opportunity. I like adopting the paradigm of experimentation. The following are three proven strategies leaders can use to help employees overcome a fear of failure: Game Theory: Game theory can be used in a safe environment without the harmful consequences of the real world to teach employees about failure as learning. Mindfulness: Mindfulness-based stress-reduction meditation training has been shown to have a positive outcome in overcoming the fear of failure. Mindfulness meditation is defined as learning to focus on purpose at the moment without judgment of experiences. Rewards: Innovation behaviors need to be rewarded and recognized even if they do not directly achieve the desired goal. I am not advocating for rewarding the result of failure. However, reinforcing desired innovation behaviors increases the behaviors necessary for innovation. Innovation Culture Step 3: Leadership The role of leadership is to encourage, guide, and empower innovative behaviors. Cultural change should be approached with purpose and caution. Cultivating an innovation culture is not a one-off initiative. Leaders can increase innovation effectiveness by clarifying the gap between the current and desired state, identifying and removing barriers to innovation, and clarifying innovation processes. Innovations are dependent on leadership's ability to deliver: Effective leadership Company innovation integration Controlled change volume and focus Creativity and innovation value realization Reward and recognition for desired behaviors Internal and external diverse relationships and talent Remove barriers and negative reactions to innovation After setting expectations, leaders need to align what they regularly pay attention to, how they respond in a time of crisis, where they allocate resources, what they reward, and how they buy, build, and bounce employees with the defined behavioral expectations of the innovation culture. A culture of innovation comprises many different attributes, and learning quickly is critical to building an innovation-based culture. Cultures that produce innovation adhere to three basic rules: Creating innovation teams and addressing the "lack of time" barrier Holding employees accountable and providing persuasive prompts for innovation Recruiting, rewarding, recognizing, and developing innovation champions An empirical study of over 800 organizations found that effective innovation characteristics are not the same for product innovation and process innovation. For example, the research demonstrated that increasing problem-solving freedom among employees decreased product innovation. We can help you cultivate a culture of innovation Organizational culture is often complex to describe making change difficult and confusing, while busy leaders and employees lack access to high-quality training, proven tools, and over-the-shoulder guidance necessary to create positive culture change. Our solutions accelerate positive culture change, create committed employees, and drive your business growth. References: Beswick, C., Bishop, D., & Geraghty, J. (2015). Building a culture of innovation: A practical framework for placing innovation at the core of your business. Kogan Page, Limited. Cameron, K. S. (2006). Competing values leadership: Creating value in organizations. E. Elgar Pub. Cantaragiu, R., & Hadad, S. (2013). The importance of play in overcoming fears of entrepreneurial failure. European Conference on Knowledge Management, 833. Çokpekin, Ö., & Knudsen, M. P. (2012). Does organizing for creativity really lead to innovation? Creativity and Innovation Management, 21(3), 304-314. Doolittle, J. (2023). Life-changing leadership habits: 10 Proven principles that will elevate people, profit, and purpose. Organizational Talent Consulting. Gierczak-Korzeniowska, B., & Gołembski, G. (2017). Benchmarking in the process of creating a culture of innovation in hotel companies. 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