Monthly Archive for May, 2010

Six Succession Management Risks

Added on May 23, 2010 at 8:46 pm

Many organizations think of succession management as an exercise in leadership development; however, fundamentally, succession is first and foremost a risk management strategy. If you develop a pipeline of leaders who can take on critical roles in your business, you mitigate the potential risk of not being able to deliver on your business goals. When evaluating the degree of succession risk in your business, consider these dimensions:

Vacancy Risk –Start by evaluating which roles are most critical to your business strategy. Then consider: What is the risk of having these roles vacant? Will there be a negative impact on customers, profits, revenue, or employees? Next, assess the degree of risk for each role. If a role is considered to have a high vacancy risk, focus your succession efforts here first.

Readiness Risk – What is the risk that your next level of leaders will not be ready by the time a new leadership vacancy becomes available? For many organizations with pending retirements, there is a high readiness risk. There is a low probability that their next level of leaders will be ready to take on vacant positions as they become available. If you have a high risk score in this area, you need to focus your efforts on accelerating leadership talent and managing the integration of newly promoted leaders.

Recruitment Risk – What is the probability that you will find external talent in the marketplace to fill your vacancies? If the market is particularly tight, or you require highly specialized skills, there may a high recruitment risk. In this situation, you need to focus on proactively identifying people in the marketplace, and cultivate relationships with them, and you need to accelerate internal leadership development.

Coaching and Development Risk – Do your managers have the skills to cultivate leadership talent? Many succession programs assume that managers have the skills to coach and cultivate talent. This is often a wrong assumption. If you build your succession program around managers with poorly developed coaching and mentoring skills, the program will derail. Spend time understanding how capable your managers are at having development conversation and focus on skill building in this area.

Transition Risk – If you promote someone before they are ready and the hire is unsuccessful, what are the potential risks during the transition? For example, if a leader is in a technical role and responsible for managing critical business processes, there could be a significant risk to the business if the transition goes poorly. Your business processes could fail, or you could lose key client relationships. If key roles have a high transition risk focus on integration plans and job shadowing during this delicate period.

Regulation Risk – Some industries are highly regulated, such as engineering or the medical profession. It is not realistic to “accelerate talent” when there are industry regulations which govern how fast someone can develop their capability. In highly regulated industries, organizations must be very proactive in building their leadership pipeline and take a long term view.

About the Author :

Natalie Michael, MA, CPCC, is an Executive Coach and Succession Management Consultant in Vancouver, Canada. Her passion is coaching leaders to be more fulfilled and influential at work. For free succession tools, refer to her website at http:www.karmichaelgroup.com

Clarifying Values for Working Mothers Can Increase Stress

Added on May 14, 2010 at 6:12 am

This article is based on my masters thesis and has been published online in many sources. You can find a link on this blog. It explains why clarifying values can be stressful and what executive coaches need to do to help women make good decisions about their family and career.

http://arecessionprooflifeblog.com/746/as-a-working-mother-clarifying-your-values-can-increase-your-stress/

Executive Coaching for Board Chairs in Vancouver

Added on May 13, 2010 at 5:55 am

Leadership Coaching Program

Are your Executive Director and Board Chair seeking new ways to enhance their relationship to move your board closer to achieving the organization’s mission?

The International Coach Federation (ICF), Vancouver Chapter recently developed a coach-giving program with Volunteer Vancouver designed to strengthen the capacity of Board Chairs and Executive Directors to provide effective leadership for their boards and organizations. The program offers 10-12 hours of executive coaching and focuses on key issues that need to be addressed.

For an outline of the program, go here. http://www.volunteervancouver.ca/node/95

Leading With Your Best Self

Added on May 12, 2010 at 8:52 pm

I have different sides to me – an achiever, a wise loving woman, a task master, a whiney kid, a compassionate listener. When I was younger the achiever was running the show. She was in “charge.” I was completely work focused. Sometimes I would find it hard to relax. I was usually overcommitted.

Then, I swung the other way. I became the relaxed hippie lady. I meditated 45 minutes a day. I did lots of yoga. Became a raw foodist. I totally slowed down. I had lots of great insights, but I felt off. I wasn’t doing enough. I had lots of ying – not enough yang. Or, it is the other way around?

I also used to struggle with decisions. Should I do this? Or, that? Or, maybe this and that? My thinking would loop as I considered all of my options. I would get dizzy.

Then one day I did an exercise called the life autobiography. I wrote my life story and considered my life up to the present day. When I analyzed my life to date and considered the important decisions I have made in my life, I had an epiphany. I have this part of me that always knows what to do. Sometimes it takes me awhile to listen to her, but when I do, she does not steer me wrong. She is wise and loving. She considers my head and heart and is perfectly balanced. When she speaks, her voice is crisp and clear. Mature.

Knowing there is a wise and loving part of me has had two implications for my life. First, I realized that I want “HER” running the show. I think of the different sides of me as executives around a board room table. I want HER as the Chair of the Board. My life is better when she calls the shots.

Second, if I want her in charge, I need to make sure that I can feel her. I have to be able to tap into her and hear her voice. For me, I hear her when I am in the forest. When I am running. Doing yoga. In a peaceful place. The other parts of me take over when I am too busy. Overcommitted. Tired. Now, when I am faced with big choices, my focus is on tapping into the wise and loving woman instead of thinking and doing pro and con lists. It is very liberating to know there is this balanced and wise part of me.

Now when I work with my clients, helping them find their chair of the board is at the top of our agenda.

The Value of Executive Coaching

Added on May 9, 2010 at 8:01 pm

If you want to work with an Executive Coach, I highly recommend you work with a coach who uses a Whole Systems Lens. Whole Systems Coaching is a method of coaching that considers the interplay between individual, team and organizational dynamics.

An Executive Coach who uses a Whole Systems Approach will start an engagement by understanding the broader picture and “organizational system,” instead of focusing on just the individual leader and their needs. They will look at the economy, industry, organization, roles, formal and informal authority, relationships and team dynamics. With this type of macro inquiry, the executive coach can draw conclusions about how the broader organizational system is impacting their client, and they can observe how the leader reacts to and contributes to dynamics at work.

A Whole Systems Executive Coach will also play close attention to the individual and togetherness force, a dynamic tension that every leader experiences. This tension arises from two basic needs: the need to be an individual, and the need to be with others in relationship. A Whole Systems Executive Coach will notice if the leader is able to manage this tension in a positive way, or if they tend to lose themselves in the group, or over-react to the emotional tension at work. They will notice how the leader maintains boundaries and maintains their sense of individuality, and how they balance their individual needs with the team’s needs and their group affiliation. They will also notice how the executive responds to personal stress and stress that arises in the group. Does the executive take on the anxiety of the team? If so, why? Do they lose their sense of self when things get heated, or are they able to stay calm and composed?

At the same time, a Whole Systems Executive Coach will pay attention to team norms, and they will notice what type of person is a “good fit” with the team, and how the team rejects team members who do not belong. This tells the coach a lot, as it highlights the cost of being separate from the group, and the tolerance level for diversity within the team.

Whole Systems Executive Coaches also understand the relationship between emotional intelligence and individual and team functioning. If an executive has a high level of emotional maturity, and a well developed sense of self, they will be better able to manage the ebbs and flows of team life. If they do not, they will be more likely to get caught up in team stress, take things personally, or they may tie their personal identity to the team, or organizational mandate, beyond what is healthy. They may also take negative feedback hard, having a reaction that is disproportionate to the feedback itself.

An Executive Coach with a Whole Systems Lens will also pay attention to the how the team operates as a whole, doing so allows them to carefully craft the best intervention which may be at the individual, team, or organizational level. For example, if a team is complaining of silos, a Whole Systems Coach will look at how the team functioning is contributing to this, and they will work with the team to shift the dynamic. They will also work with the individual executives to understand their role in creating the silos, and they will assess their reactions to it, and whether it fits with their personality preferences.

As you can see, there is tremendous value in working with an Executive Coach who uses a Whole Systems Lens. This type of coach will be able to see the organizational dynamics the executive must navigate without getting caught up in them. With this knowledge, a Whole Systems Executive Coach will be able to operate as a true thinking partner to the executive, helping them create strategies to get the desired results.

Natalie joins ICF Board of Directors

Added on May 1, 2010 at 5:48 am

Natalie Michael will be joining the Board of Directors for the Vancouver Chapter for the International Coach Federation. www.icfvancouver.org. The International Coach Federation is the governing body for international coaches and is responsible for establishing the ethical standards and credentialing coaches around the world. The Vancouver Chapter is seeing exponential growth and the mandate of the board will be to continue to provide values to members through professional development and creating a coaching community, and it aspires to continue to grow its membership. Natalie is looking forward to this opportunity.