Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com • July 30, 2018 • Hartford Business Journal 21 EXPERTS CORNER What is the collective effectiveness of your leadership team? By Stephen C. Wakeen I ncreasing complexity in business and the world makes leading challenging. Threats come from many places. The lines of competition are blurring. Politics at home and abroad add more layers of complexity. There is no short- age of disruptors ready to take down your business. It is called leading in a world with VUCA: volatility, uncer- tainty, complexity and ambiguity. In this environment, the collective effectiveness of leadership makes the difference. Many leaders are not prepared for it. They may be intelligent and competent and yet can often fail to achieve team and organizational goals. The missing link is often "collective leadership effectiveness," the ability of an executive leadership team to maximize its con- siderable talent and intelligence to solve com- plex challenges together. I recently had a conversation with Robert Anderson who conceived of "The Leadership Circle Profile," a leadership assessment model that measures the leadership effectiveness in individuals and collective effective- ness in teams. "Collective ef- fectiveness must become a strate- gic priority," says Anderson. "No single leader is smart enough to lead from his or her own bril- liance alone in a highly complex environment. If leadership is not making collective effectiveness a priority, then what are they missing?" Getting the right people in the right seats is only part of the challenge. It is as important that they are rowing in the same direction. Collectively effective teams consistently find ways to leverage their intelligence. When leaders leverage the team, it becomes a multiplier for innovation and for solving tough challenges. "Teams with low collective intelli- gence are not likely to find leverage at the rate required to stay competitive," says Anderson. "You must row together and harvest a multiple on the collective intelligence within the system." It begs the question: How do you know if your leadership team is collectively effective? There are obvious signs. Companies whose leadership elicits a patriarchal, command-and- control style are more than likely falling short on collective effec- tiveness. The Leadership Circle Profile is a unique 360-degree assessment that correlates high individual and col- lective leadership to business perfor- mance. We can identify the collective effectiveness of the leadership teams and extended leadership teams. A team that has high collective effective- ness usually will score north of the 50th percentile, giving them a com- petitive advantage. Collective effectiveness is made up of 18 creative competencies in the Leadership Circle Profile. They are called "creative" because they are visionary, purposeful, strategic. Lead- ers drive the culture. Creative leaders elicit passion. They focus on possibili- ties, action and outcomes. Creative leaders break the tension between people playing it safe versus making a significant contribution, and nurture a culture that is agile, adaptive, engag- ing and meaningful to all stakeholders. This is what makes thriving in a VUCA world possible. A team has little chance of keeping pace with escalating complexity if it does not have permission to do so. If you want to create a vibrant culture of possibility, start at the top. Give your team the ability to use the company's greatest resource — their collective intelligence — to create the future possibilities for your company. "Ask your team," Anderson says, "to envision the business that if it existed would put you out of business. The emergent vision and passion released can change everything. It comes in the cross-fire of ideas, where they multiply and compound. If you can't do that in a group environment, then you will be a follower." Stephen C. Wakeen is the founder of Connecticut-based Playbook Coaching LLC, which provides executive coaching services. HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM POLL LAST WEEK'S POLL RESULT: Can Hartford become a hub for insurance technology (insurtech) startups? NEXT WEEK'S POLL: What amenity is most needed in Hartford's Downtown North neighborhood? To vote, go online to hartfordbusiness.com BIZ BOOKS How to deal with irrational, impossible people By Jim Pawlak "Talking to Crazy: How to Deal with the Irrational and Impossible People in Your Life" by Mark Goulston (AMACOM, $18.95). You've met the bully, the manip- ulator, the victim, the know-it-all, the backstabber, the whiner, the gossiper, etc. Dealing with these personalities can drive you crazy — unless you em- ploy Goulston's methods for dealing with them. Here are a few: 1. "Keep your own crazy at bay when you're under attack." Becoming defensive only adds fuel to their fire. They win; you lose. Pausing before you respond calms your emotions and pro- vides a moment to frame a response. By maintaining your poise, you disarm the crazy — yours and theirs. 2. "The belly roll." Don't attempt to take charge of the conversation. Instead, rollover and let the irrational person lead the conversation. Sounds counter- intuitive; it's not. "Increasing the person's power lessens his need to act out." If the person sees you as non-threat- ening, the attack stops and real conversation starts. 3. "Time travel." You can't change their past or yours. The future beck- ons. Simply asking "What do you want me to do or not do?" starts a conver- sation. As it progresses, weave your expectation for her/him into it. 4. The "butter up" works well with know-it-alls. Identify the areas where the person excels and play to them. Guide the conversation to how the person could grow those skills. By see- ing you as a mentor, the person may be open to taking your advice. The Bottom Line: Learn to manage the crazies in your life, or they'll man- age you. 15.8% No 84.2% Yes READER COMMENTS: "It already is." "If Connecticut invests in internet capabilities." "Of course — all the elements are here." "I doubt it, we are losing too many of our young people." Stephen C. Wakeen Jim Pawlak Book Review "No single leader is smart enough to lead from his or her own brilliance alone in a highly complex environment." Robert Anderson , creator of The Leadership Circle Profile.

• Cover