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I was told by a manager at Nortel
Networks in the 1980s that when times were tough, true character in leaders was
revealed. I couldn’t have agreed more…
especially in a politically charged climate for a company approaching $30
Billion in sales. That insight stayed
with me for assignments to follow and it paid off when I focused on being calm
during the storms. The stress of the
situation was always tough enough without adding my own “manufactured” stress
in the moment. The following book summary rings true for me and articulates advice for leaders who find themselves under constant pressure.
According to Justin Menkes, consultant for the executive search firm Spencer Stuart and
author of the best-seller Executive Intelligence, the best leaders are
those who have the ability to realize their potential and the potential of
those they lead — in other words, to perform to the best of their ability and
to get the best out of their people. In his new book, Better Under Pressure,
Menkes presents three specific “catalysts” for realizing potential:realistic
optimism, subservience to purpose and finding order in chaos.
How to Be Optimistic Without Losing Your Head
Realistic optimism is self-confidence without self-delusion or irrationality,
writes Menkes. People who have this trait are not afraid to attack audacious
goals, but are also fully realistic about the challenges and difficulties that
lay before them. To be realistically optimistic, Menkes explains, leaders must
have both “an awareness of actual circumstance” — the ability to see
the world as it is, both positive and negative — and a “sense of
agency” — the deep belief in one’s capabilities to change circumstances or
situations.
Menkes illustrates the ability to see the world as it is through the story of
“Randy,” an insurance company executive interviewed for the top
position at one of America’s leading insurers (Menkes disguised his name for the
sake of privacy). The interview took place soon after the collapse of AIG,
which was in large part due to the company’s involvement with high-risk credit
default swaps. Randy was intrigued by the credit default swaps, but remained
cautious. It seemed to him that there were serious risk issues that his
competitors did not seem to notice. As a result, according to Menkes, Randy set
up “a separate subsidiary unconnected to the rest of the corporation that
did a small trade in these products.” In retrospect, the move might seem
like genius, but for Randy it was simply of matter of “weighing risk and
reward,” Menkes writes. Randy was realistic about both the upside and
downside of credit default swaps. And he also had the humility to admit that he
wasn’t sure where this new market might go. His approach to credit default
swaps reflected realistic optimism — he was willing to give the new product a
try, but didn’t buy into the unsupported enthusiasm in which other companies
indulged, to their eventual regret.
Fighting Back
Subservience to purpose, the second of the three catalysts, means a total
dedication to a goal. “Leaders who demonstrate subservience to purpose put
a particular pursuit — such as their company’s mission — ahead of their own
comfort,” Menkes explains. “Quite simply, great leaders equate
progress toward this goal with emotional satisfaction. They are, ultimately,
servants to their company’s most noble purpose.”
The third catalyst for leaders is to find order in chaos, Menkes writes. This
is the unique ability to cut through multiple or multi-dimensional problems to
find the solutions and resolutions that others cannot see. Maintaining clear
thinking and having the drive to solve puzzles are the two key attributes in
leaders who are able to find order in chaos.
Menkes conducted in-depth interviews with 60 of the best CEOs in America and
draws on research of 200 other CEOs and leaders. The result is a clear
explanation of three core personality attributes that separate the leaders who
can face up to any challenge from the leaders who crumble or are weakened by
adversity. Better Under Pressure
is a valuable book for both experienced and emerging leaders.
A survey conducted by the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) found that treating people with respect on a daily basis was rated as one of the most helpful things a leader can do to address conflict or tension. At work, we’re often faced with uncertainty or tension around not only the realities of the workplace, but also our differences in how we deal with those realities. A key challenge for leaders is to establish and build upon respectful relationships in the workplace among multiple groups. Gone are the days when the most common way was to instill fear in the ranks to get respect.
Employees and managers come in a myriad of styles and sensibilities. Tough managers can have challenges with equally tough employees, and passive managers with very sensitive employees… the combinations are infinite! This can be a complex topic and one we’ve heard many variations of over the years, so we thought we would make this a multi-part series to offer insights on how managers with different styles can better coach and counsel any employee.
The senior business leaders that we work with encounter difficult challenges every day, but it seems about every quarter or so a challenge or lofty goal emerges that tests the mettle of their extended team. EMPATHY helps this situation. The group or individual tasked with solving great challenges or delivering on stretch goals needs to hear their leadership verbally express an understanding of the difficulties facing the team. Hearing this and knowing that the leadership is empathetic can boost their confidence by knowing that management isn’t out of touch. Think about Kennedy’s charge to NASA when he said, “We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.”
