Maximizing Leadership Success

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Maximizing Leadership Success
while Avoiding Derailment

• Food Systems Leadership Institute
• Claudia Fernandez, Dr. PH
• UNC School of Public Health

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Leadership success has long been based on
competitive advantage
During the Agrarian Age competitive advantage was
all about land and natural resources.
While in the Industrial Age it was all about
resources and capital.
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But what is competitive advantage today?
In groups
List what you Think are the top 3 Competitive
Advantages in your organizations
Share ideas with the whole group return in a
couple of minutes
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But what is competitive advantage today?
Today the premiere and differentiating resources
are all about managing ideas and leading people.
The Big 3
Concepts (ideas)
Competence (people who can deliver)
Connections (collaborations).
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The most critical success factors that underlie
organizational change
Obstacles that block organizational change
Resistance to Change
Conflict Aversion
Motivation
Impatience
Commitment
Cynicism
note that most of these are psychological
Rumors
Behavior change
Mistrust
Values
Apprehension
Inertia
Tenacity
Over control
Trust
Attitude change
Egocentricity
Vision
Coping with the non-linear, experimental
ambiguous nature of change process
Character
Self-Discipline
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Why do some leaders succeed while others fail?
Why do executives, managers, and professionals
either derail or flounder and fail to progress in
their careers?
Typically it is because they have a psychological
blind spot that is all too visible to others.
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What factors lead to leadership success?
What factors lead to leadership derailment?
Research shows that failure rates for senior
execs are up to 33.
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CCL research finds that Successful Leaders shine
in
Participative Management
Balance Personal Life Work
Self Awareness
Putting People at Ease
Straightforwardness Composure
Building/Mending Relationships
Confronting Problem Employees
Doing whatever it takes
Change Management
All of these link to the EQi
Decisiveness
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And Socrates notes
Let he who would move the world first move
himself
But if you find you are moving in the wrong
direction...what can you do?
Reflect
Experience
Abstract
Act
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There are 7 main areas of derailment

• Problems with interpersonal relationships

• Difficulty molding or building a team

• Difficulty changing or adapting (tactical to
• strategic thinking)

• Too narrow functional orientation

• Failure to meet business objectives

• Overdependence

• Strategic Differences w/Management

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How do these derailment areas play out in
organizations?
Examples of derailment?
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He lacks effective interpersonal skills. Hes
He batters people with his competitiveness. He
needs to be seen as powerful
Hes too abrasive
Insensitive
hes a perfectionist and has to have everything
done his own way
Overambitious
He comes apart at the scenes when under fire
Isolated
Volatile
13
She has difficulty making tactical shifts. Shes
Mired in detail, too cautious, too action averse,
thrown by change and innovation
Folding under the pressure of the ambiguity and
frustrations at higher levels of leadership
Conflict averse unable to harness conflict
constructively as a creative medium for change, a
poor negotiator
Unable to adapt to those who have a different
style
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He lacks follow through. He
Makes a big splash on the front end of a project
but then moves on, leaving a trail of loose ends
Leaves people hanging because of unmet promises
and commitments, not fully accountable.
He moves way too fast on projects, but then seems
to lose interest
He says, Im a leader, not a detail person but
what he does is leave a trail of unresolved
little problems and disorganization
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His area has never really gelled. He
He operates like everyone can read his mind
Cant collaborate or delegate
Over or Under manages
Communicates poorly
Staffs in his own image
Undermines talented subordinates and/or
habitually hires weak candidates
He hires for a gut feeling when the chemistry
is right
Creates mediocrity
16
Shes over dependent, attached to a single
super-star
Once the super star left, nobody knew her
Shes always worked for the same shopcan she do
it on her own?
Limited experience
Has few connections, no personal reputation
Over-reliant on a skill, a natural talent or on
just raw energy
She lost her mentor or supervisor(ee) who used
to cover up her weak spot
Follows the career of one super-star
Too narrow in skill
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Galileo said you cannot teach a man
anythingyou can only help him to discover it
within himself.
Change Style Indicator
Your FSLI leadership mirror
MBTI Step I
360
MBTI Step II
CPI 260
EQi
FIRO-B
Coaching Report for Leaders
How can you use this data to enhance your
effectivenessand avoid derailment?