A New Generation of Independent Leaders 

It’s the start of your day. Are you focused entirely on what you need to do for others or are you thinking more about how to do it and do it all on your own? People who are naturally more independent of others have no hidden agenda. In fact, what you see if often what you get. They are no-nonsense folks focused on going it alone and getting it done. And, it’s these naturally independent and self-reliant people, who are transforming the world of business today.

Born between 1965 and 1980, Generation X’ers are taking up the leadership roles in organizations and are starting to do some of the heavy lifting being left behind by retiring Baby Boomers and not yet ready to be picked up by the Millennials. And what makes this generation so unique both in its demographics and in its emotional intelligence is a natural inclination toward independence and self-reliance. According to the PEW Research Center, “From everything we know about them, they’re savvy, skeptical and self-reliant; they’re not into preening or pampering, and they just might not give much of a hoot what others think of them. Or whether others think of them at all.”

In the Lumina Emotion personalized assessment, people who are independent of others can be more skeptical and not inclined to trust easily. They like to get to the point, get it done and often like to do it their own way. This attitude may have worked in the past for the Gen X’er, but as leaders taking the reins in business today, it may be time to invite more people to the table and develop the ability to place more trust in others.

If you are generally more independent at work, consider having more regard for others by being on the lookout for things that you value in other people. Acknowledging the strengths and good qualities of other people will help you to be more open and accepting. Try to recognize the way other people react to you emotionally to improve your interpersonal understanding. While you may have the ability to stand alone, there is no need to prematurely shut down others. When you sense that you are getting exasperated easily, make an extra effort not to interrupt and hear others out in full before making up your mind. 

Being independent of others does not imply that you are not a team player. Independent individuals are intrinsically motivated to achieve. For Gen X’ers, it’s this motivation to achieve which will likely make them great leaders and strong managers once they learn they can’t always go it alone. 

For more information on Lumina Emotion, email me at info-us@luminalearning.com or call (888) 827-8855. 

Are Great Leaders Un-Leaders?

 

In a recent interview with Forbes, Kronos Incorporated CEO Aron Ain attributes their Glassdoor 100 Best Places to Work distinction to the practice of Un-Leadership. Ain explains, “Un-leaders are humble. They put employees first. They downplay the status that comes with their titles, preferring to put team members on the same level as they are.”

It seems then that un-leadership is less about what you are doing but more about how you are doing it. In many ways, un-leaders are leveraging the power of their own Emotional Intelligence to suit the changing demands of workers today … no matter what they may be. It’s a process strongly supported by Lumina Learning’s pioneering new model of emotional intelligence that focuses on our agility in understanding, adapting and managing our emotions day-to-day in order to guide effective thinking and meaningful behavior.

At Kronos, having regard for others is critical to their methodology of un-leadership and a keyLumina Emotion personalized assessment, those high in regard for others tend to naturally be more accepting and open. They pay more attention and will listen to fully to ensure they understand other’s perspective. Many are optimistic, upbeat and tend to the see positive in a situation. However, when overextended, they may sacrifice their own needs to please others. It’s a distinction made clear at Kronos, a
contributor to building an organization where everyone loves to work.

In the“All of this is not to suggest that Un-Leaders are ‘people pleaser’ types who shrink from making tough decisions. Quite the contrary: Un-leaders know how to step up and exert their will when they need to,” explained Ain in the Forbes article. “On a deeper level, though, they understand that real power and influence come not from status and a sense of superiority, but from the affection, admiration, and respect we’re able to engender in our team members.”
It’s an understanding derived from self-awareness, and awareness of others; to manage and choose one’s emotional response to any situation. At Kronos Incorporated, they are using this awareness to build “un-leaders” who are creating a best place to work culture. As individuals, we can use this same awareness to examine our own unique patterns of behaviors and how we might tune up or tune down to suit the needs of our environment for greater interpersonal effectiveness.

For more information on Lumina Emotion, email me at info-us@luminalearning.com or call (888) 827-8855.

Learn about Lumina Emotion here

Harnessing the Power of Women at the Helm

As indicated by a number of recently published studies, companies that have more gender diversity on their executive teams are more likely to experience above-average profitability. One study, in fact, found that companies with more women executives out-performed their less diverse peers by 21%. (McKinsey & Company, Delivering through Diversity)

Yet, oddly, according to a Catalyst research paper, Women in S&P 500 Companies, although women are 44% of the overall S&P 500 labor force, and 36% of first or mid-level managers in those companies, they represent only 25% of executives and senior-level officials and managers, hold only 20% of board seats, and are only 6% of CEOs. Clearly, these companies are remiss in harnessing the power of women at the helm.

What is it about women and the way they lead that helps accelerate organizational performance? How does their approach differ from and complement that of male leaders? And how can companies get better at leveraging the full range of diversity – gender, ethnicity, personality, skills, approach – to create the balanced organization and culture that will lead to and sustain success?

A Lumina Learning white paper published earlier this month had some interesting answers to these questions. (Lumina Learning is a global provider of psychometric assessments in personality and leadership). 

Lumina Learning’s Lumina Spark assessment, based on the Big 5 Personality Traits, looks at 24 qualities that are a part of everyone’s personality, qualities like competitive, collaborative, empathetic, reliable, practical, imaginative, and others. We each have all 24 qualities to different degrees, which make us the complex, unique individuals we are. 

Using a large global sample of Lumina Spark assessments, Lumina’s research found that while there are many similarities between genders, there are some specific areas where they differ.

When looking at Lumina’s 24 personality qualities, men score higher on the three outcome focused qualities of competitive, tough, and logical. Women, on the other hand, score higher within the people focused area on the quality empathetic. Empathy has been called by many the critical skill for the 21^st Century. Leaders Eat Last author Simon Sinek says, “true leadership is about empowering others to achieve things they didn’t think possible. Exceptional organizations prioritize the well-being of their people and, in return, their people give everything they’ve got to protect and advance the well-being of one another and the organization.”   Take care of your people, and the people will take care of the business. That’s where empathy comes in. 

Lumina also compared gender leadership effectiveness through 360 performance feedback from the leaders and work colleagues of study participants. In this comparison, women rated significantly better than men on the majority of 16 effective competencies across Lumina’s four leadership domains – Leading with Vision, Leading to Deliver, Leading through People, and Leading with Drive. Competencies where the differences (women rating higher) were statistically significant include: Passion for Learning, Inspires and Engages Others, Planning and Follow-Through, Interpersonally Astute, Coaches and Develops Others, Win-Win Partnering, Strives for Excellence, and Provides Clear Direction.

Lumina also compared how men and women respond under stress, when their strengths may turn into “too much of a good thing.” Examples of this are Passion for Learning turning into Addicted to Learning, Provides Clear Direction turning into Autocrat, and Calm Under Pressure turning into Appears Disengaged. In this comparison, men rated significantly higher on 10 of the 16 “overextended” competencies. 

The third area of comparison was across 16 emotional qualities. Examples of these are: Regard for Others, Expresses Emotions, Confident, Modest, Even-Tempered. The study noted that, “women are generally more modest and responsive to stress than their male counterparts.” Higher levels of modesty and responsiveness reveal themselves in leaders who are more humble and unassuming with the ability to act with urgency under pressure. Although men have higher confidence, on average, “if this is overplayed, it can show up in leaders as inflated egos who appear unconcerned about the people and business at hand.” 

The lesson in all of this is that women have significant strengths to contribute to organizational leadership and success that for too long have been ignored or under-utilized. It’s time to begin harnessing that power by giving women more opportunities at the helm.

One organization that is taking direct action to provide women with more leadership opportunities is Havas Group. Havas recently launched Femmes Forward, an accelerator program utilizing Lumina Spark and designed to prepare high-potential female employees at Havas to advance their careers at a faster pace. Read more about their program here.

Lead on,

Rebecca