New MyPDACoach Mobile (Android and Apple)

https://itunes.apple.com/app/mypdacoach/id937225384

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.pdainternational.mpcmobile

Note in Press (Angola) - “O impacto do PDA tem sido impressionante”

Change Management and Need for Leadership from Karl Weick’s Perspective

Many organizations have excellent people, very good tools and strong products or services to offer. However, they appear to be paralyzed or, quite contrary, every one runs in their own direction without much planning or coherence. The resulting wear can cause significant losses of money to the organization (or not making money, which is ultimately the same). Truth is, in general consultants diagnose communication issues but, in this case, only the main problem is partially analyzed: the organization’s ability to manage a changing environment and adapt itself to survive. Much has been said about this, but I’d like to introduce the view of a contemporary thinker who makes us reconsider suitable strategies to help businesses find their road again. 

Karl Weich, expert in Organizational Studies from Michigan University, has written several articles and publications that offer a new view on organizations. In one of his articles, he analyses the tragedy that finished with the death of 13 firemen who were fighting a forest fire.

On August 5, 1949, the authorities of the Montana Fire Department received a call informing a fire outbreak in a Mann Gulch forest. The place was mountainous and quite inaccessible, therefore, a team of parachute firemen, who barely knew one another, was called. One of them had vast experience in these sort of fires; he was appointed leader. Thus, the group lacked the necessary confidence among them that would help for cohesion and teamwork.

           

The information they had indicated this was a routine task: the fire wasn’t serious and, by following the procedures they knew, they would be able to extinguish the fire in a few hours.  When they reached the affected area they scattered; each man started to perform the job he had to do with the available information. Slowly, the situation began to change and they discovered that the fire was going directly at them. It was out of control. The smoke was thick, temperatures too high and the noise so loud that they couldn’t hear themselves. The flames advanced.

The leader tried to gather the team and after igniting an area of the forest intentionally, he ordered everyone to drop their tools and lie down on the ground consumed by the fire he had caused. 

Upon such change of strategy and in face of a situation they knew little about, no one obeyed. The firemen tried to save themselves as they could. Two of them hid inside a crack in between rocks and were saved. The leader, within his circle of ashes, survived as well.  The rest of the firemen died in the fire.

Now, much has been studied from organizations’ point of view in order to understand why such a huge disaster took place and the reasons why nobody followed the leader.

Weick analyses the case and provides some reasons for the disaster’s magnitude. The firemen thought it was a typical fire and organized themselves to do what they were used to doing, individually. They all thought they were doing the right thing. The leader’s behavior seemed absurd. Fight fire with another fire? The fact is that fire goes after fuel to continue advancing and consuming everything it can and, if there is an area that is already consumed, then that’s a good place where to lie down and wait for the fire to take another way. The leader had an excellent idea.

As Weick explains, this case shows that it is difficult to foresee when facing such a critical change.  When the firemen heard the order to drop their tools, they were no longer prepared professionals who were part of an ad hoc team; they became victims who tried to save their lives.  Almost none of them had the necessary creativity and capacity to manage change upon an unexpected scenario.

The leader was the only individual capable of gathering the preexisting information to design a good strategy of change, but he didn’t have the firemen’s respect or trust to follow his improvised plan. Had the firemen obeyed the order, they would have saved themselves.

What can organizations learn from this catastrophe? How to awake creativity and change management when facing this sort of crisis?

Karl Weick suggest some solutions that can be easily implemented through training in change management and creativity within organizations. The author says that it is important to:

• Be alert to possible changes when interacting with the environment (although they may not appear to be significant).
• Understand that change comprises uncertainty and risk, but it can potentially generate innovation and improvements.
• Focus on the “here and now”, avoiding routine thinking. What saved us in the past doesn’t have to be necessarily good in the present.
• Know what your immediately available resources are in advance.
• Build a team where people know each other and, above all, understand your leader.
• Keep your mind open to modify routines and learn from what takes place in the present.
• Recognize, respect and manage emotions caused by crisis.
• Build a culture that accepts and embraces change and that understands creativity as a necessary tool to face new dilemmas.

Success in change management also involves the team’s belief in its leader and following him or her –which didn’t happen at Mann Gulch because it was an ad hoc team. The leader must gain support from the members of the group. Most change initiatives do not progress because people’s problems are not taken into account. Change in an organization, as well as individual change, requires an adjustment, adaptation and, therefore, we must let go of old habits and acquire new ones. For an organization to be prepared to face whatever happens, it is important to create a culture that accepts change, creativity and that believes in the leadership of its management teams.

There are interesting coaching courses, simulations and processes in the market for collaborating with this process. However, one must see that they involve not only the “hard” aspects of processes, but also the “soft” ones, since an individual’s ability to manage change is correlated to a good orientation of reality, his or her ego’s control and certain self-control. Rigidity is often the response of a mind with low self-confidence to face new situations. Self-esteem and self-control should be considered the base of the ability to respond to change without an inadequate attachment to the past. The possibility to persuade, attract, motivate and align teams is as important along the road as having a good 9 or 10-phase procedure project.

Emotional Salary

In modern times, competing for the best employees with the highest salaries is not the only (nor the best) alternative. Employees’ loyalty is related to their satisfaction and motivation.

Attracting the best employees and keeping them motivated is no longer achieved, simply, by raising their salaries. New generations no longer consider that quality of life is the “capacity of consumption” and, in response, a new strategy called “emotional salary” emerges. This aims at addressing different personal, family and professional needs that are not only satisfied by salary increase.

Emotional salary is everything the employee receives independently of his or her salary. Though unnamed, it has always existed. This remunerative strategy is convenient because salary is a short-term motivator –more when one is in an uncertain context where increases are quickly ineffective. Emotional salary, instead, is not monetized: it is strongly tied to peoples’ emotions and the closeness they feel to the company. For example, SMEs apply personalized Coaching instead of “predefined” trainings. Or, trainings are designed according to their audience. There is follow up and a mentor to guide old and young employees, and the mentor’s role given to employees who’ve worked longer at the company, are part of the emotional salary. The idea is to think about those who will receive the training, and knowing their behavior styles beforehand allows a more effective experience.

Another interesting option is the possibility the person has to apply to different programs related, for example, to talent, future leaders or commercial development. In these programs, all employees are invited to be trained in certain competencies and to receive coaching according to their own styles and needs.

Permanent training and development of a career plan are part of the non-monetized salary. For its implementation, it is important to consider employees’ interests, according to their personal situation or age group. Young professionals of Generation Y will want to finish their word early on Fridays in order to start their long weekends, whereas Generation X individuals will prioritize a flexible timetable that will allow them to fulfil their family duties, for example.

This doesn’t have to do with assigning large budgets; it is rather about being alert and ‘listening’ to employees’ needs and interests. It may sound paradoxical, but donating one’s work time for an NGO or social responsibility program is very valued among younger employees, while older ones appreciate the fact that they can be trained or that they participate as mentors or trainers of new employees.

The highest salary will never be equal to the value of time and a better quality of life. In companies, whatever size, this has begun to be understood. 

Most SMEs are reconsidering relationships or professionalizing procedures through programs that are more oriented to Human Resources. There is a great opportunity, provided that companies don’t think that people are only motivated by money.

Increasing the Productivity of your Sales Force

For several years Dave Ulrich has raised the awareness of many of those responsible for Human Resources over the "new mandate" for HR professionals. In his book "Delivering Results" he writes:   

     

“To ensure that the work of HR contributes to employees, customers and to the investment of its shareholders, we should boost the development of the organizational capacity by turning strategies into action. This book reveals the power of HR strategies in order to influence not only the individual, but in the performance of the corporation as well, providing executable strategies that bring results from the production line to the boardroom”

REFLECTIONS ON THE ROLE OF SALES

• Although all functions of a business are important, Sales tend to be more important because their results are like oxygen for an Organization. Without sales a company may cease to exist, even though all other functions are performing optimally.

• For several decades, when some people do not get jobs after multiple attempts, their last resort (besides informal work) is looking for a job as a salesman, with results not always successful either for those who do it nor for the companies that hire them, regardless of high economic and emotional costs for both.

• The profile of a good salesperson is different for each company. It cannot be said that whoever is successful selling for an organization will be a good salesman in any other company. Why? Because every organization has different characteristics. For example, market positioning, reputation of its brands, sales cycle, culture and organizational structure as well as its specific products or services, to name a few distinctions.

• Brian Tracy, marketing expert, in his book "The Psychology of Selling", referring to the Pareto principle, also known as the 80/20 rule, writes: "Twenty percent of Sellers earn 80% of commissions ... and the remaining eighty percent earn 20% ... That same principle applies to a group of outstanding sales people, because 20% of sellers off the charts - equivalent to 4% of the total - earn, in turn, 80% of the commissions received by the prominent sellers".

Regardless of the percentages indicated above being approximates, there is no doubt that among those in positions of sellers, the outstanding are the least.

The relevant questions are:

• Is it important for a company to have a sales force composed of highly productive Sellers?
• How do you know, at the time of hiring them, which ones will be the sellers achieving excellent results for a specific company? ...

The logical answer to the first question is that of course it's worth having a powerful sales force. The second, regarding How to identify them?, is outlined in this article in the case that is discussed below.

We now share with you one of the processes carried out by Personal Development Analysis (PDA Consultants), a tool designed to strengthen talent management in companies, based on the studies of William M Marston in the second half of the twentieth century. The reference process was specifically focused to define the ideal profile of the Sellers for a major company of mass consumption products.

For the first phase of the work, a group of executives from the areas of Sales and Human Resources who knew about the activities to be performed by their sellers was invited.

Once the executives invited were gathered, the session began by talking about their "vision" of the seller that requires the company nowadays, considering the competition in the market, changes in management and control systems that have been put into operation and the ensuing demands of technical expertise that the Seller must use and were not necessary in the past.

With the reference framework stated above, the PDA Consultant gave each executive a form that describes the set of typical behaviors (85) that display the members of an organization in order for them to individually select which of those they considered most important for their ideal seller. Later, also as individual work, executives were asked to choose which of those behaviors most frequently applied. Once everyone had finished filling their forms, a group analysis was launched to reach a consensus and ranking behaviors chosen individually, which was concluded with ten key behaviors that the seller of the company of reference must apply.

Next, the PDA Consultant asked the executive group, guided by sales results and performance evaluations, to carefully select two representative groups from their current sellers. One for the outstanding vendors and another one for sellers with fair or unsatisfactory performance. The sellers selected under these criteria were asked to answer the PDA self-assessment form in order to correlate their profiles with the ideal profile defined by the executive group. The time it took them to answer the form ranged between 15 and 20 minutes. Some did it in paper version and others answered directly online, which is the usual way to answer the self-assessment form.

Finally, the PDA Consultant took care of uploading in the system the ten behaviors that the sales and HR executives had reached consensus over and to the system determined, clearly and objectively, the "Star Seller Profile" for the company: a combination of "PDA Axes" that reveal the "profile" of the person who has the specific natural behaviors to become a great Seller for the Organization. Such a combination of “5 PDA Axes” forms the basis for "selecting and managing" the talent of its sales force forward.

WHAT DOES EACH ONE OF THE 5 PDA AXES OF THE PDA DEFINED PROFILE MEAN?

The five numbers, which can range from 0 to 100 refer to the intensity or level required for each of the 5 PDA Axis that, in short, measure:

RISK Axis

High: Points to a person with strong achievement orientation, willing to take risks, oriented to power and control, willing to accept responsibilities that involve taking some risks, energetic, always ready to take the initiative. Motivated by power and prestige.

Low: person who prefers not to take risks, low pressure, someone steadily, although reserved, cautious and conservative. Motivated by harmony, consistency.

EXTRAVERSION Axis

High: sociable person, oriented to interpersonal interaction, likes to be visible to others, persuasive, convincing and strives to make others feel comfortable. Motivated by social exposure and social recognition.

Under: person who prefers to work alone or in small groups, self-sufficient and focused on problem solving. Differentiate clearly when dealing with "friends" and "acquaintances". Motivated by having personal space and privacy.

PATIENCE Axis

High: patient individual, analytical, consistent, with a tendency to routine and repetitive activities, gives importance to quality rather than quantity. Motivated by consistency and having enough time to do things right.

Low: person who prefers constant change, restless, impatient, dissatisfied with the relatively steady state of things. Motivated by diversity, constant change and being in multiple issues at once.

CONFORMITY TO NORMS Axis

High: this is a person who adheres to standards, policies and established procedures that give certainty for the feeling of a structure and direction. Motivated by clear direction and having accurate information to act.

Low: person who prefers freedom of action, independence, high involvement and with a global focus. Motivated by the freedom to act according to their own goals and ideas.

SELF-CONTROL Axis

High: rational individual, mature, experienced, which weighs the consequences of their actions and control their emotions or strong impulses.

Low: individual that handles himself spontaneously, sometimes impulsively, with little tolerance and that can at times act and/or speak without considering the real consequences of their actions or words...

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF KNOWING THE PROFILE DEFINED UNDER THE PDA METHODOLOGY?

They are essential to select and manage (... on a scientific basis) Talent of the Sales Force of a company. That is, it strongly supports HR functions relating to:

The requirements to be a good leader assisted by PDA

Amazon counts approximately 16,600 books on leadership which reflects the great interest that has been given to this issue. One of the many books published is" On Becoming a Leader "by Warren Bennis, who focuses on how important it is to know oneself. In the introduction he says:

“Leaders know who they are, what are their strengths and weaknesses, how to fully deploy their strengths and how to compensate for their weaknesses. They know what they want, why they want it and how to communicate it to others to gain their support and collaboration. Finally, they know how to achieve their goals. The key to fully express leadership is knowing yourself.”

The process for a person to become a good leader is very similar to the process to develop and grow as a human being, in the broad sense of the sentence. From our point of view, we are all leaders, in the sense that the dictionary defines a leader as one who points the way, who gives the example and, based on that definition, we are all leaders ... but most are not good leaders.

This is why what Socrates said is relevant:

“He who knows himself knows what his skills are and how to apply them.

He who does not know himself, will fail to the degree of ruining his life.”

The questions that arise from this are:

How to know myself?, what should I know about me? and what impact am I causing to others?

The easiest way to get these answers is to ask those around us because they know a lot about our behaviors, strengths and weaknesses. Unfortunately it is very difficult that those who know us have the qualities to: trust us, have confidence in themselves and, especially, in the case of superiors, not to fear retaliation if they speak honestly about the impact they produce. For these reasons, it is usual that things are not said as they are in reality inside the company ... or in some families. That is why we remain ignorant to a great extent on how we are and on the impact we produce on others.

Well aware of this, some scientists designed leadership programs from the second half of the twentieth century in which conditions were created for participants to "discover" the impact that their behavior produces on other people as well as their leadership styles. The first - the impact we have on others - is the complicated part. The groups that feed on these programs are integrating with people they do not know before the workshops, because in this way they can be authentic when providing "feedback" to their teammates.

 

Additionally, and this is part of good leadership programs, the process to perceive the impact a person has on others, implies intense work sessions that encourage the deployment of "normal" behaviors in those involved. That is to say, these are no "Picnic" courses - like most of the training sessions. They require long hours of work in which "superficial / social / diplomatic" behaviors are abandoned and people actually behave like they are.

 

When providing such programs I have had the opportunity to observe the tension that arises in some participants when they learn with surprise - because that's the idea – that they will receive feedback from those who have realized how they really are. There has been no lack of participants using delaying tactics to avoid the "moment of truth" and others who have preferred to leave the program before knowing about it... because they realize that they demonstrated behaviors that they don’t want to hear about. It must be mentioned that the comment I have heard more often in the closure of these seminars has been: "I had no idea that I produced this impact on others", a speech announcing a desire to overcome.

 

From our perspective, the most enriching workshops for personal growth have been the confrontational ones, which require participants to engage fully and end their positions of "spectator". They are forced to work intensely for long hours with minimum breaks to finally conclude after several days and physically tired, but with great satisfaction the fact that they have grown as a person.

 

Fortunately, other alternatives exist for those truly committed with increasing the effectiveness of their performance and leadership. The one that supplies the most information is the self diagnosis of the "Personal Development Analysis" (PDA) that we will describe briefly in the following paragraphs, as it provides important information about the different "styles of leadership."

 

PDA analyzes the following axes:

1. Result Orientation (Risk)

2. Interpersonal interaction orientation (Extraversion)

3. Patience level (Patience)

4. Adherence to rules, procedures and policies (Conformity to Norms)

5. Emotional Control (Self-control) and

6. Level of physical and mental energy (Energy Level)

 

We will briefly analyze only some features of each axis and later on correlate them with the leadership.

 

 

RISK Axis

 

High: Points to a person with strong achievement orientation, willing to take risks, oriented to power and control, willing to accept responsibilities that involve taking some risks, energetic, always ready to take the initiative. Motivated by power and prestige.

 

Low: person who prefers not to take risks, low pressure, someone steadily, although reserved, cautious and conservative. Motivated by harmony, consistency.

 

 

EXTRAVERSION Axis

 

High: sociable person, oriented to interpersonal interaction, likes to be visible to others, persuasive, convincing and strives to make others feel comfortable. Motivated by social exposure and social recognition.

 

Under: person who prefers to work alone or in small groups, self-sufficient and focused on problem solving. Differentiate clearly when dealing with "friends" and "acquaintances". Motivated by having personal space and privacy.

 

 

PATIENCE Axis

 

High: patient individual, analytical, consistent, with a tendency to routine and repetitive activities, gives importance to quality rather than quantity. Motivated by consistency and having enough time to do things right.

 

Low: person who prefers constant change, restless, impatient, dissatisfied with the relatively steady state of things. Motivated by diversity, constant change and being in multiple issues at once.

 

 

CONFORMITY TO NORMS Axis

 

High: this is a person who adheres to standards, policies and established procedures that give certainty for the feeling of a structure and direction. Motivated by clear direction and having accurate information to act.

 

Low: person who prefers freedom of action, independence, high involvement and with a global focus. Motivated by the freedom to act according to their own goals and ideas.

 

SELF-CONTROL Axis

 

High: rational individual, mature, experienced, which weighs the consequences of their actions and control their emotions or strong impulses.

 

Low: individual that handles himself spontaneously, sometimes impulsively, with little tolerance and that can at times act and/or speak without considering the real consequences of their actions or words...

 

AXIS INTENSITY

 

This indicator measures the "intensity", the strength of each axis in relation to the profile of the person. The axes sometimes become very "intense" and require the analysis of specialized Analysts in the assessment.

 

 

ENERGY LEVEL

 

This indicator allows to analyze the speed of perception of the person, the ability to work for extended periods and the level of physical and mental energy that the person can give to their work.

 

 

RELATION BETWEEN THE INFORMATION OF THESE AXES AND THE LEADERSHIP

 

Notwithstanding the brief information on the PDA axes exposed in the previous lines, the reader might agree with the leadership behaviors that can generate the following combinations example (obviously the possible combinations are many and varied):

 

• High Risk + low Extraversion + low Patience = authoritarian leadership behaviors tendencies, although it produces results, it does not generate the best attitudes in collaborators.

• High Risk + high Extraversion + high Patience = leadership behaviors tendencies that promote high involvement and commitment of collaborators. It's the right kind of leadership for the "empowerment".

• High Risk + low Extroversion + high Conformity to Norms + low Patience = leadership behaviors tendencies of strict control over collaborators.

• Low Risk + high Extraversion + high Patience + Conformity to Norms low = leadership behaviors tendencies that attach great importance to the people and less emphasis on results.

 

 

A leader who knows his behavioral tendencies in depth and knows in addition the tendencies of innate behavioral of his employees will be in a better position to lead each of them more effectively, as "good human beings" respond better to certain styles control than others.

 

All behaviors displayed by the members of a company have consequences on their integral results, on teamwork as well as on the individual and group performance. Of course, the behaviors of the leaders, because they are "models" for the majority, have a definite impact ... for better or worse. For this reason, the possibilities of the PDA methodology are valuable for executives interested in boosting productivity, quality and integral effectiveness of their organization, including:

• Defining their positions in terms of behavior, as the ideal is to match as closely as possible the demands of positions with the behavior of its occupants, either in the selection process or development of those already in the company.

• Defining their corporate skills also in terms of behaviors to identify individual potential and areas for development in the staff.

 

The resources to implement the PDA and to carry out effective Talent Management Consulting measures based on the PDA diagnostics are available as a cutting edge service of PDA International.

Workers Engaged

In the last decades, in parallel with social, political and economic changes produced in the world, vertiginous changes at work, in the business environment and organizations have also been developed. Hence jobs for life practically do not exist anymore, but now the job is conceived as dynamic, constantly evolving and changing, where both the employer and employees are part of the process.

That is why the recruitment acquires an even greater importance, which seeks to find the best employee for the specific job and thus cover not only the needs of the company, but also those of the worker. For this reason, people looking for “any kind” of work are no longer accepted. Today, in the current working world, qualified employees are required to seek their own personal fulfillment, they see the job as an opportunity to further develop their skills and abilities.

Nowadays, most companies are looking for engaged workers. This term refers to highly motivated and work-committed employees, seeking to achieve personal goals and therefore work harder to meet the objectives of the company.

In broad terms, we can say that engaged employees meet certain requirements: they have a low level of stress, are creative, innovative, proactive, optimistic, have aspirations and desire for progress. Generally, they are the ones seeking the company in which they want to work.

In addition, these workers look for companies and organizations with a good working environment, with growth potential and are willing to train constantly.

Through the recruitment interview and the administration of psychological assessments, the engaged workers can clearly be detected. In this sense, the administration of the PDA, a psychometric test that gives us a lot of information on labor and behavioral profile of each person, can help us.