Landing in the Executive Chair

How to Excel in the Hot Seat

Linda D. Henman

• Publisher: Career Press
• Year: 2011
• Print ISBN: 9781601631534
• eBook ISBN: 9781601636737
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Management
• Index: Business

In today's fast-paced, unprecedented, and unpredictable economy, many executives simply don't know what to do. Conventional methods—which many never entirely be understood in the first place—often don't work during economic upheaval. Executives, especially CEOs, need something better. They need a guide that identifies the roadblocks and points out the landmines.

In her more than 30 years of working with hundreds of executives, Dr. Linda Henman has observed the critical elements of success, both for the new leader and the one who aspires to the next level of success.

In Landing in the Executive Chair, you'll learn how to:

Avoid the pitfalls and identify a clear plan for personal and organizational success.

Leverage the first months in a new executive position—that time of transition that promises opportunity and challenge, but also often brings a period of great vulnerability.

Create a competitive advantage, set the right tone, make effective decisions, keep talent inside your doors, and establish credibility—all while navigating unfamiliar and turbulent waters.

As organizations expand and grow, the skills that led to success often won't sustain further development in a more complex, high-stakes environment. Present and future executives need more. They need Landing in the Executive Chair.

Chapter 1
F² Leaders: Fair but Firm

We didn’t come here just to fiddle with the controls. We came to change the direction of the ship.

—Ronald Reagan

As the Baby Boomers look toward retirement, the Generation Xers look forward to filling the vacated corner offices. However, the next generation of executives will face unprecedented challenges in the war for talent, ones complicated by a challenging economy, more global expansion, and decreasing availability and readiness of employees schooled in science, finance, and advanced technology. The pool of average workers may tend to swell for the foreseeable future, but as job markets tighten, the buyer’s market for “A” players is not likely to change—at least not for the better—for organizations wanting to hire them.

Unless they can enjoy a substantial gain, usually 20 percent or more, people prefer to stay with a trusted leader; but in a good economy, a disgruntled employee will leave for as little as a 5-percent increase. When valued employees depart, however, fewer top performers will surface to fill key positions. The loss of an average employee can cost your organization the equivalent of one year of that person’s salary; the departure of an “A” player often costs four times that person’s salary. The competition for top talent will continue to escalate, but only those companies who have hired magnetic executives that no one wants to leave will be able to vie in the global marketplace. To keep top talent inside their doors, executives are learning that they must better understand leadership, their changing responsibilities, and the forces that will stack up against them.

The decisions that executives, especially CEOs, make during their first few months on the job have far-reaching implications and a decisive impact on whether they will ultimately succeed or fail. The transition promises opportunity and challenge, but it also often brings a period of great vulnerability, especially if board members and other stakeholders expect immediate changes and improved performance. Executives promoted from within the organization face the challenges and frustrations of redefining their relationships with people who were once peers. When the company hires a top executive from outside, that person must quickly learn the organization, and sometimes the industry, as well as new customers and products, and an unfamiliar culture. Each person will offer a unique perspective, but best practices for becoming a magnetic executive who will attract, retain, and develop stars remain constant. New executives must set the right tone, make effective decisions, and establish credibility—all daunting tasks. Yet few resources exist to help them. They frequently flounder in their attempts to create a competitive strategy, work with the board, and keep talent from going elsewhere, all the while endeavoring to navigate unfamiliar and turbulent waters.

New executives aren’t the only ones who need help; leaders who have held the job for a number of years need direction too. As companies expand and grow, the skills that led to an individual’s success often won’t sustain further development in a more complex, high-stakes environment. They need more. They need a roadmap to success.

In my work with hundreds of executives, especially CEOs and CFOs, I have observed the critical elements of success, both for the new leader and the one who wants to perform at the next level of success. Avoiding the pitfalls is one element; identifying a clear path for personal and organizational success is the other.

What Does It Take To Be an Executive?

Specifically, what does executive leadership require? As I explain in Chapter 6, executive leadership builds on the traits and behaviors that you needed when you walked in on your shiny new first day: good decision-making, results orientation, leadership talent, and people skills. However, with each rung on the leadership ladder, the manifestation of those traits and behaviors becomes more complicated. Being an officer of the company, especially a member of the C-suite, creates demands that don’t exist prominently at other levels. For example, you can expect that:

People will lie to you and cover up mistakes.

It will be lonely at the top.

The buck will stop with you.

Prior to stepping into an executive role, the advice you might have followed may have been, “Show up. Keep up. Shut up.” Though extremely good advice for a golf caddy, one-third of it is extraordinarily bad for an executive. Now you need to know how to speak up. You need to understand better those forces that will propel you further into the arena of success, and those that will jeopardize your journey.

However, no universally accepted definition of leadership, much less executive leadership, actually exists. Here’s what I know after studying leadership for more than 30 years: if you were to put thought leaders from psychology, sociology, history, business, and the military in one room and ask them to come up with a definition of leadership they could all support, they’d never, ever agree on a definition. So how do we begin an exploration of this? I’d like you to consider the perspectives of several people whose opinions I trust.

David McCullough, the noted historian, has written numerous accounts of successful and controversial leaders. In an interview with Harvard Business Review, he gave some of his own opinions about leadership, observing that the struggles, visions, and ideals of our nation’s founders can serve as a constant source of inspiration. His work underscores his belief that, even in the darkest times, optimism, hard work, and strength of character endure. But he also encourages leaders to develop a healthy respect for luck, chance, the hand of God—whatever you choose to call it—because it stands as a real force in human affairs. For example, Washington might have been killed early in the war; he might have gotten sick; he might have been captured; he might have given up. Washington was lucky, but he also knew how to take advantage of lucky moments because he possessed good judgment.

Some historians who have studied the American Revolutionary War think a miracle caused things to turn out as they did. Had the wind in New York City been coming from a different direction on August 29, 1776, Washington’s night escape might not have been possible, but fortuitous conditions and stellar leadership determined the outcome.¹

Lady Luck will play a role in your success too. You won’t have control of how economic and political leaders throw the dice; forces of nature will work in your favor, or not; other circumstances will overcome your plans, or they won’t. As much as most successful leaders love control, fortune may or may not smile on you. Certainly, the harder you work, the luckier you tend to be, but learning to accept those things you can’t control and to concentrate only on the things you can will serve as the foundation of executive leadership.

No one understands the importance of concentrating on things one can control better than a general leading a war. Colin Powell, Former Secretary of State and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, honed his leadership skills in Washington, but he developed them during his distinguished military career. During his leadership journey, General Powell learned that “Great leaders know that asking the right questions unearths problems and yields tremendous understanding about their customers, employees, and operations.” He further offers these leadership lessons:²

Don’t be afraid to make people angry.

Make yourself accessible.

Don’t be buffaloed by experts and elites.

Never neglect the details.

Don’t wait for permission—just get things done.

Surround yourself with the brightest and best.

Don’t tie your self-worth to your position.

Understand that perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.

Have fun.

Understand that command is lonely.

Another former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Richard Myers, shared with me his perceptions of what he thinks it takes to be an outstanding leader and echoed some of General Powell’s opinions. General Myers noted the importance of agility of thought and an unwillingness to get tied to dogma. Like General Powell, General Myers understands the critical role of listening and probing for understanding. General Myers, however, more directly stressed the importance of getting along with others and the significance of selfless service. As he put it, “showing you care about people as individuals, and being a good communicator and collaborator” are critical to successful leadership. According to General Myers, leaders need to realize that people, after all, are what will enable them to be successful. People won’t follow a leader very far if they see him or her as self-serving and disinterested in the organization.³ Neither general stressed technical expertise or the so-called “hard skills” of leadership. Rather, each emphasized the role of self-awareness and people skills.

Although the qualities traditionally associated with leadership, such as intelligence, toughness, determination, and vision are required for success, they don’t offer a complete picture of what leadership requires. In my work with senior leaders, I have found direct ties between self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, social skill—and business results. Common sense suggests, the two former Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs imply, and my personal observations confirm, that without a responsive, fair orientation, people can have the best training, an analytical mind, and an endless supply of great ideas, but they still won’t make great leaders.

This should not be confused with popularity, however. Frequently, others do not immediately perceive stellar performance, even when it stares them in the face. For example, everyone knows that Lincoln’s most famous speech was the Gettysburg Address. Few, however know that he was an afterthought. The committee initially invited Edward Everett to be their main speaker. At the time, Everett was a widely-known orator and prestigious former Secretary of State, U.S Senator, U.S. Representative, Governor of Massachusetts, president of Harvard, and Vice Presidential candidate. In short, Everett’s speech was to be the day’s principal “Gettysburg Address.” His now seldom-read 13,607-word oration lasted two hours. The speech was well received as scholarly, moving, and well delivered, and his popularity was pronounced.

Not long after those well-received remarks, Lincoln spoke in his high-pitched Kentucky accent for two or three minutes. Lincoln’s “few appropriate remarks” summarized the war in 10 sentences. Partisan lines divided reaction to Lincoln’s speech. The next day the Democratic-leaning Chicago Times observed, “The cheek of every American must tingle with shame as he reads the silly, flat, and dishwatery utterances of the man who has to be pointed out to intelligent foreigners as the President of the United States.”⁴ Everett’s popularity overshadowed Lincoln’s in 1863, but before you read this, would you have even recognized his name? As an executive, the soundness of your decisions needs to stand the test of time too, not just the flavor-of-the-month litmus test.

Complicated and complex, the recipe for leadership greatness differs according to the person you ask. Some assert that leaders can learn emotional intelligence and the requisite behaviors that support it. Others, like the trait theorists, argue that leaders are born, not made. Some cite characteristics like intelligence; others contend that nebulous talents such as charisma separate those who can from those who cannot lead. Whatever your opinion, one thing seems certain. Executives need a new way to understand the elements of leadership they can control. They need to understand how their leadership style may be contributing to or detracting from their leadership effectiveness.

A New Model of Leadership: F² Leadership

What accounts for the difference between the leader who rises steadily through the ranks of an organization versus the derailed executive whose career mysteriously jumps the track short of expectations? If people find the fast track in the first place, they probably know how to get the job done, have shown themselves to be honorable, and offer enough intellectual acumen to succeed. When a leader offers all these and still fails, flawed leadership style may be the culprit.

The Situational Leadership Theories of the 1960s started the discussion of leadership style, offering that effective leadership depends on a particular set of circumstances that should guide leaders to determine the optimum amount of direction and socio-emotional support they must provide. These theorists dispelled the notion that task and relationship define either/or styles of leadership. Instead, leadership style could be viewed as existing on a continuum, moving from very authoritarian leadership at one end to very democratic leadership behavior at the other.

Each theory differs slightly, but they collectively contend that the successful leader adapts to the unique demands of an ever-changing organization by diagnosing the needs and wants of followers and then reacting accordingly, remembering all the while that the group is becoming more experienced and less dependent on direction. However sound in their foundation, the theories are somewhat less than pragmatic in their approach, so beleaguered executives, looking for a model to help them, are hopelessly lost. What’s a leader to do?

The F² Leadership Model explains the behaviors—not skills, talents, attitudes, or preferences—executives need to display to be effective. F² leaders have a balanced concern for task accomplishment and people issues. They are firm but fair leaders whom others trust, leaders who commit themselves to both relationship behavior and task accomplishment.

The model, which reflects the contributions of the Blake Mouton Managerial Grid, sets tension between opposing forces—firmness and fairness—to provide understanding and direction. In general, the model simplifies the way we think about the dynamic and complex dilemmas that characterize leadership style. In other words, it challenges us to ask ourselves how to have both a clear task orientation and an appreciation for the people who achieve the results.

The F² Model urges the student of leadership to use this framework to explore—to gain deeper meaning and arrive at more informed choices about leadership style. This model is truly more follower-driven than leader-driven. It keeps the leader’s focus on those who count—the people in the organization who will define success. It helps leaders figure out whether they are losing balance, tending to act like Genghis Khan or Mr. Rogers.

The four-quadrant model is both prescriptive and descriptive. It allows leaders to understand their own behavior relative to their direct reports, but by...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Acknowledgments
• Contents
• Foreword by Alan Weiss, PhD
• Chapter 1: F2 Leaders: Fair but Firm
• Chapter 2: Control the Hinges of Destiny: Decision-Making and Problem-Solving
• Chapter 3: Build Magnets to Attract Top Talent
• Chapter 4: Strategize to Leverage Your Competitive Advantage
• Chapter 5: Turn Great Strategy Into Great Execution
• Chapter 6: Plan Succession and Ensure the Leadership Pipeline
• Chapter 7: Lead a Team of Virtuosos
• Chapter 8: Become a Star on the Board of Directors
• Chapter 9: Become an Agent for and a Champion of Change
• Chapter 10: Ten Lessons for Leading During Crisis
• Appendix
• Notes
• Index
• About the Author