Category Archives: Diversity

Does Your Team Look Just Like You?

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GEN Shelton views leading with diversity as a great attribute for values based leaders. When we listen to GEN Shelton talk about his strong belief in diversity, we come to understand that he views diversity in a much broader sense than what is traditionally viewed. He talks frequently about how the differences in people-different qualities, attributes, and perspectives bring a much better solution than having an internal echo chamber where everybody is alike.

He notes that there are multiple differences  (for example-age, education, ethnic background, nationality, gender, work history, and perspectives) that we need to embrace and bring to the table to identify the challenge or opportunity and come up with the best solution.  GEN Shelton likens this to his work as the 14th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He notes that “…the Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force are all different. They have their own different cultures and ways of doing things, yet they come together to create the greatest fighting force in the world.”     He’s also seen that on his work with corporate boards, where an effective board comes from different perspectives to help the organization continue to move forward. Each board member’s diverse expertise is tapped to help shape the direction of the organization.

One key point I take away from GEN Shelton’s ideas on diversity is that a key role of a values based leader is to, as he states,  “merge and meld the talents and complimentary capabilities of people from a diverse point of view”. When we do that, we grow a much stronger, capable, and nimble team than we would if we only selected and worked with people who were just like us.  I’ve learned and re-learned that a key function of a leader is taking the time to bring people in from different points of view and backgrounds and then listen.   In many cases, it’s difficult, precisely because we’ve thought through the idea and have a point of view.  Yet, even though it is difficult, the decision is, in many instances, much better than if you have everybody who is just like you weighing in on the decision.

An analogy I’ve picked up is the idea of a of the leader needing to serve as a host or hostess at a large party. The host or hostess finds to first learn each guest’s interests and backgrounds are, then connecting them with other people to create an interesting conversation.  Similarly, I think a values based leader needs to consciously and continuously look for ways to connect and bring people together from different backgrounds and interests to solve large and complex challenges and opportunities that cross the organization.

Where have you seen diversity work as a strength in your personal or professional work?

What is a Values Based Leader?

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We are fascinated by learning from leaders. The basic formula seems to be:

  • look at a successful leader of one particular industry or profession,
  • interview that person,
  • look for lessons from that particular leader in that particular situation, then
  • try to generalize those themes to a broader audience.

Many fewer of us, however, look at universal or generalizable characteristics that can transcend a particular industry, profession, career, or where one is in the journey of life (K-12, college, early career professional, or executive).

GEN H. Hugh Shelton’s Values Based Leadership Model comes from his experience and success in the military, the corporate world, and his recognition by others for his leadership and contributions locally, statewide, nationally, and globally.  He’s outlined his key characteristics of great leadership as being a “Values-Based Leader”.  He talks about five cornerstones of values based leadership: Honesty, integrity, compassion, diversity, and selfless service. 

He believes that  “…any leader should strive to be known as a values based leader.  Values make up our character.  They’re things that we believe in.  They are things that we strive to make sure that we always include in our thought process when we think about making decisions.  A values based leader will leave a legacy each of us will leave behind if we strive to include these five cornerstones in our daily work.  We always try to do what was right and always support those who worked for them.  That’s the legacy of a values based leader.”

It makes sense then, for us to take a look at what he has talked about, his methodology and cornerstones for success, and how they might be applied to our personal and professional life. During the next series of five posts, we’ll briefly explore each of these five cornerstones and how we can apply them to our daily work.

Looking at your Organization and Culture as a Lens for Strategy

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Many strategic thinkers look at strategy from two perspectives: the external environment, including industries and competition (PEST or STEEP analysis is a well known tool for examining the external environment) and the internal environment, focusing on what resources and capabilities the organization has to deploy (SWOT analysis is a standard tool for the internal environment). Peng and his colleagues suggest a third leg as a tripod for strategic management and execution. They suggest that a main element to think about is in situations where formal constraints are unclear or fuzzy, institution-based norms (culture)  and informal  networks will play a much larger role in guiding individual’s behavior.

How does this impact you as a strategic leader?  Especially in times of turbulence, the informal signals you send about what is important and valued (or punished) will have a large impact on the success of your strategy. One example I heard in programs focused on whether people get promoted or punished for risk-taking. No matter how much senior leaders talk about wanting to be bold and take risks, one of the clearest indicators of how much senior leaders value risk-taking comes from whether people who take risks and do not achieve the hoped-for success, or fail.

(Source: “The Institution-Based View as a Third Leg for a Strategy Tripod”, Peng, Sun, Pinkham, and Chen, Academy of Management Perspectives, August 2009.)

Culture and Innovation Positively Linked

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Organizations frequently look for innovation to help them help solve thorny organizational problems.  Whether the phrase is uttered, “Do more with less” or “Think outside the box”, innovation is key.  A recent study, “The Global Innovation 1000”, outlined key elements for success:

  1. Innovation strategy tightly aligned with it’s overall organizational strategy
  2. The strategy is communicated consistently throughout the organization
  3. A prioritized set of capabilities that match the strategy
  4. Ensure the innovation strategy translates to a clear, tangible, action plan
  5. A supportive culture

The culture element is so difficult because it is built up “a brick at a time, a point at a time, over decades.  You need consistency; you need persistence; and you need gentle, behind the scenes encouragement in addition to top down support.  And you can lose it very quickly.”

The big takeaway?  The more closely aligned these elements are, the greater set of capabilities you can bring to bear on these thorny organizational challenges.

(Source: Jaruzelski, Loehr, and Holman, Booz & Company, Winter 2011)

The Great Repeatable Business Model

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As budgets contract while missions expand, one way to accomplish the mission might be to look at how businesses innovate their expertise to grow and become more successful.  Zook and Allen offer some insights below:

  1. Most very successful organizations do not reinvent themselves through periodic “binges and purges”.  Instead, they focus relentlessly on their fundamental strengths, and moving from strength to strength.
  2. Successful organizations learn to deliver their differentiation to the front line, creating an organization that lives and breathes its strategic advantages day in and day out, and sustaining it through constant adaptation from the market.

Four actions you can employ to sustain your competitive advantage:

  1. Ensure  you and your management team agree on differentiation NOW and in the future-ask your top team: what do our end users see as our advantages over others? How do we know?
  2. Ask the same question to those who are on the front lines interacting with end users, customers, and partners. Are the advantages similar?
  3. Write your strategy on an index card-does it include and center on key sources of differentiation?
  4. Translate strategy into a few non-negotiables. Can you describe the simple principles that drive key behaviors, beliefs, values?  Are they adhered to on a daily basis?

The article also has some key categories you can use with your team to describe and distill areas of strategic advantage and innovation.

 (Source: 2011, Zook and Allen, Harvard Business Review)