The Metiss Group's Blog

Dwight Eisenhower was recognized as one of the greatest leaders of his era.  Imagine having to deal with Patton, Stalin and Roosevelt, and with Marshall, Churchill, De Gaulle, and crazy Montgomery.  Each had idiosyncrasies that would drive any leader nuts, but Ike got through it all and achieved victory.

Ike’s favorite leadership technique was to simply ask others: “What do you think?”  With that one question, Eisenhower was able to:

• learn what was going on
• gain insights into other people’s thinking processes
• understand how well someone could articulate their thoughts
• get different points of view
• demonstrate an interest in the other person
• engage the other person and develop their relationship

Sometimes it’s the simple things in life that produce the greatest results.  Those words “What do you think?” are a key to good leadership and give direct reports an opportunity to express their opinion.  Additionally, asking the question shows the leader is interested in the thoughts of the direct report,  and demonstrates the leader has at least some confidence in the competence of the direct report’s thought processes.

Empower direct reports by asking them what they think and you’ll have a more successful team.

According to a study conducted in 2013 by Management Research Group evaluating the leadership practices and effectiveness of over 60,000 managers and executives, a strategic approach to leadership was 10 times more important to the perception of effectiveness than other leadership behaviors.  This strategic focus was twice as important as communication and almost 50 times more important than hands-on tactical behaviors.

Strategic leaders take a broad, long-range approach to problem-solving and decision-making that involves objective analysis, thinking ahead, and planning. They think in multiple time frames, identifying what needs to be accomplished over time and what has to happen now, in six months, in a year, and in three years. It means thinking systemically, and identifying the impact of their decisions on various segments of the organization.

Here are some ways you can help your direct reports to think strategically:

• Encourage them to set aside regular time for strategic planning.
• Provide information on the market, the industry, customers, competitors and new technologies that influence your business, exposing relevant and broad business information to help direct reports elevate their thinking beyond the day-to-day.
• Keep them informed on what is happening internally by sharing information across boundaries, allowing them to see the organization from a global perspective.
• Connect them with a mentor known for keeping people focused on strategic objectives and the impact of actions on the broader organizational strategy.
• Communicate a well-articulated philosophy, mission and goal statement throughout the organization, allowing them to understand the broader organizational strategy in order to stay focused and incorporate it into their own plans and strategies.
• Reward direct reports for evidence of creating a culture in which problems are anticipated and avoided to discourage crisis management.

Empower your direct reports to think strategically and you’ll experience more success.

Source: Robert Kabacoff, Ph.D, Vice President of Research at Management Research Group

Mirroring is a rapport-building technique in which one person takes on the behaviors of the person with whom they are communicating.  Being naturally wired to connect with others, we all mirror in our interactions to some degree.  But those leaders who use mirroring effectively connect better with their direct reports.

Understanding the behavioral styles of their direct reports allows leaders to better adjust their behaviors to develop greater rapport. Being able to read another’s natural behavioral style allows one to adapt or mirror their style to create stronger relationships.  For example, leaders who have a naturally more reserved, introverted behavior type should work to initiate conversations and be more direct than they naturally would to better connect with direct reports who have a more extroverted, dominant style.

Some people are better at mirroring than others; it is a skill that can be developed through behavioral training and understanding. Most behavioral assessments provide insights as to how people behave and provide mirroring approaches.

Empower yourself with behavioral assessments of your direct reports and you will experience more success.

It is a basic marketing principle that it takes seven “touches” before someone will internalize and/or act upon a call to action.  This is why we are inundated with branding messages from billboards to websites to athletic events.

In the workplace, the average person needs to hear new information at least three times before it registers into their mind for immediate recollection.  Similarly, the average person needs to hear new information at least seven times in order to retain it.  This makes you wonder how many times below average people must hear your message before they retain it.

It’s your job to communicate your message, your values, what’s right about what’s happening, and what’s wrong — over and over and over again.  To be on the same page, everybody has to hear the message repeatedly. Even when you tire of the message, you have to keep communicating it.

Empower yourself to repeat your message and your team will experience more success.

Susan Cain, in her book Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, describes a series of experiments by psychologist Solomon Asch in which volunteers were grouped into teams and asked to take a vision test. He showed them a picture of three lines of varying lengths and asked questions about how the lines compared with one another. His questions were so simple that 95 percent of participants answered every question correctly. But when Asch planted high dominating actors in the groups, and the actors confidently volunteered incorrect answers, the number of participants who gave correct answers plunged to 25 percent.

The impact persistent, aggressive dominating types have on group decision making is astounding and can send teams in unproductive and inaccurate directions.  Stating incorrect facts forcefully and relentlessly doesn’t make them correct, but can eventually make them believable.  Teams that are aware of this when making decisions, are comfortable challenging dominating team members, and have dominating team members whom are comfortable admitting they may be wrong are much healthier.

Today, more and more work is being done in teams, and those teams risk being knocked off track by certain team members.  But, teams that understand each other’s problem solving styles and have a common language for identifying the various approaches are equipped to make better decisions.

Empower your teams to understand their workplace behaviors and avoid being unduly influenced by the high dominating team members and they’ll be more successful.