By Ken Keis

Leadership is missing in our political system, businesses, schools, and even our families. Our streets are filled with wandering souls waiting for someone to build a vision they can grasp.

Everyone is a leader at some level with someone. Leadership skills are required for parenting and being a friend or part of a couple—in your household and at work. We have all seen examples of ineffective leaders, from the lazy boss who expects everyone else to do his work, to the parent of the uncontrolled child at the mall. Leadership is not restricted to the manager of a major corporation; it applies to everyone in every organization.

The challenges for many leaders are that they can manage but not lead; quantify yet not empathize; control but not empower.

Leadership is learned; it is not a skill we receive at birth. To expect someone to automatically know how to build and lead anorganization is a fallacy at best.

We must approach the subject of leadership with a fresh, new vibrant attitude where we truly believe each person makes a difference and is a leader in his or her own right. This new way of thinking forces us to consider changes―where collaboration comes before confrontation, empowerment replaces control, and the value of the individual precedes profits or self-centered hidden agendas.

Leadership credibility comes from four qualities: inspiration, honesty, competency, and forward-looking. Effective leaders operate daily according to certain principles for positive change and demonstrate skills that others want to model.

Five skill sets are essential in the development of transforming leaders. Our experience has proven that few people are competent in all five skills. Educational programs can be created to help individuals learn these important skills.

• Self-Management Skills

This intensely personal yet important area includes the clarification of beliefs, values, purpose, and goals. If leaders are not clear about where they are going and what they stand for, few people will be willing to follow them. Only from a position of self-awareness will you be in a better position to devise a plan to develop and strengthen your weaker areas.

• Interpersonal Communication Skills

Interpersonal communication skills are the vehicles through which all interactions you have with other people are made more clear and effective. Attending, listening, responding, and questioning are just four of the twelve skills identified as necessary for quality communication to occur.

• Problem Management and Counseling Skills

Leaders who develop these competencies are able to encourage others to develop and perform to their potential. At the heart of effective coaching and mentoring, these proficiencies are critical to any organizational development. Advanced empathy, problem-ownership, action planning, confrontation, and self-sharing are just five of the twelve skills needed for competency in the areas of problem-management and counseling.

• Consulting Skills

Group facilitation, clarification, assessment, evaluation, and reporting are included in this skill set. The emphasis of this section is your ability to handle complex situations with an increasingly in-depth set of responses.

• Advanced Versatility and Style-Shifting Skills

The ability to style-shift into appropriate behaviors that match the style of others is a necessity when building and empowering teams. This skill is for everyone; it can be applied to customer service, supervision, team building, and even spousal/family relationships. This expertise is required for gaining credibility with others and for adapting to the permanent state of change in which we find ourselves

One way to identify your clients’ leadership strengths and weaknesses is through the Leadership Skills Inventory (LSI). The base of the LSI is Transformational Leadership, the belief that leaders can be made, with the right training and guidance. Today’s tough organizational challenges require transformational leaders who can adapt to rapidly changing social and technical environments. The Leadership Skills Inventory provides participants with the necessary feedback to better understand and develop their own transformational leadership skills.

Dr. Doug Perkins, Director of People for Coastal Pacific Xpress (CPX), has taken a number of his company’s senior staff through the Leadership Skills Inventory. CPX, headquartered in Cloverdale, BC, has evolved from one truck and trailer in 1985 to 160 trucks and 250 trailers today, making it one of the fastest-growing, temperature-controlled truckload carriers in the province. In fact, the company serves major markets throughout North America.

“Trucking often attracts lower-skilled people,” states company owner Jim Mickey. “Factors combine to create what I call a ‘stupid business.’ You have a $160,000 truck, you put on a trailer worth $70,000 holding $50,000 of cargo and you trust a guy with no competence. How dumb is this?”

To tackle the problem, Jim and CPX set out to hand-pick the best in the industry. Enter Dr. Doug Perkins and CRG assessments

Doug gives the Leadership Skills Inventory–Self to all CPX managers to evaluate their own leadership skills. To create a full picture of each manager’s strengths, each manager gives Doug the names of five employees who know them well. Doug then distributes the Leadership Skills Inventory–Others to those individuals. To protect people’s anonymity, those who complete the LSI–Others tools return them to Doug, not the manager.

After Doug has received the five LSI–Others for each manager, he averages all five scores and compares them against the manager’s scores on the Leadership Skills Inventory–Self. He then gives the results to the respective manager for review.

Doug and the manager work through the three highest and the three lowest scores in each category. Where the manager received scores that showed he or she was highly competent in that area and capable of teaching that skill, for example, Doug asks the manager to teach his or her assistant how to train the staff in that particular area. Where the manager scored low and wants to improve, Doug teaches or provides resources to help the manager in those areas.

Doug sees the Leadership Skills Inventory as a helpful coaching tool to complement the other CRG resources Coastal Pacific Xpress is using.

Becoming a transforming leader is not an overnight process. You may find it overwhelming and extensive at times, but it will be worth it. You will discover you can make a difference, whoever you are.

Ken Keis is the president and CEO of Consulting Resource Group in Abbotsford, B.C. (www.crgleader.com). He can be reached at (604) 852-0566 or ken@crgleader.com.

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By Linda Schnabel, PCC, CRS, CIS, JCTC

I penned my last article for Career Talk on March 24, 2006 and provided you with a personal narrative – one filled with details that likely fit the stories of a multitude of families across the nation who find themselves locked in a gripping battle against cancer. Although our story is special to us and those who love us, we represent merely another statistic that begs for answers and cures. To me personally, however, this journey has presented an amazing growth opportunity which far surpasses any leadership course in which I have had the privilege to participate. Why, you may ask? Is there not an easier, less painful pathway to growth? Yes, and maybe not. Allow me to explain.
Last summer on a flight to Atlanta, I was thumbing through a magazine when a quotation caught my eye. It said, “When you come to the edge of all you’ve known and are about to step into darkness, one of two things will happen. Either there will be something solid for you to stand on or you will be taught to fly.” This, dear readers, has been my experience.
After my husband’s diagnosis, and once the inevitable panic and disbelief subsided slightly, I began to edge my way along this rather tenuous path that is anything but straight. As primary caregiver, privileged opportunities to demonstrate personal mastery began to show up like signposts along the way. Again and again, a call would arise to “step into darkness” — such as when new symptoms developed or new protocols were prescribed or new emotions were evoked with thoughts of “what if” that stirred our imaginings about the future. It’s not always easy to take these steps, but I’m learning, along with my dear partner, that a solid foothold seems to materialize when we least believe it will. Surprisingly, welcome leadership skills emerge as we journey further down this tricky pathway.
Leadership gurus tell us that leaders are courageous; they are undaunted by what is unknown or unclear. Although they have a succinct vision of their desired outcome, they have but a sketchy idea of the tactics required to reach their particular “summit of success.” Yet, they climb to new heights, picking their way through frightening terrain rather than opting for the path of least resistance. Through this treacherous climb, leaders acquire the kind of wisdom that comes from walking through symbolic fire.
The “gift of crisis” is not always easy to identify and often scoops us up before we have time to digest the gravity of our situation. And then before we know it we are thrust into “leadership dojo.”
I learned recently that dojo is a term used in Japanese martial arts that refers to a formal training hall. It is typically considered the official gathering place for students of martial arts to conduct training, examinations and other related encounters. It is where the student sweats – really wrestles against his enemy. It is a place where what was once noticeable and simple to understand becomes like the proverbial “tip of the iceberg.” Oh yes, beneath the surface, are profundities that those unfamiliar with “dojo” have not envisioned.
For me, it has been like the dojo that comes from climbing a summit. I haven’t reached the top yet, but I know that once I do, I will want to descend again. Then, when I am in the lower regions, back to what I’ve always taken for granted as a normal way of life, I will have discovered an art about conducting myself with leadership that has been derived by the unmatched memory of what I saw from the higher place of “dojo.”
“Sweating it out” in dojo has allowed me to realize the limits of my potential and has given me strength that I would never have thought possible. I know now that I can “do hard” and by this I mean, the hard path, such as dealing with life and death, can be like personal refinement. This has been the wake-up call that has underlined the unmistakable announcement that I am not untouchable – in fact, that none of us are. Whatever can touch another human being can, in fact, touch me.
Cancer, as ugly as it sounds and is, has illuminated a beacon for us and made available a unique wisdom that can only come from grass roots intuition. It is all about earthy knowing as opposed to cerebral understanding. It is something I hope you never encounter but if you do, you will be initiated into the leadership class of dojo – a special class that teaches you leadership lessons by the sweat of your brow. It does not, in any way, endow elitism upon its students. No, in fact, it makes them culpable to demonstrate steel-like strength and a servant’s heart. It is initiation into serious accountability for those around us. Those who have had the privilege of leadership dojo are expected to give more than they take, love more than they are loved, and teach through humble example.

Important Footnote:

Career Professionals of Canada is dedicated to leadership development. The Organizational Learning and Development Initiative is focused upon this important competency and, as we move closer to fall, you will see all kinds of new activities that will assist members to accelerate their leadership. Please stay tuned for some very exciting developments!
Linda Schnabel is a Professional Certified Coach and Certification Advisor for Career Professionals of Canada. For more information, visit www.careerworks.biz.

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By Andrew Vujnovich

The following competency lists and exercises are adapted by Career Professionals of Canada based on results of the Cracker Barrel Session that took place in May 2006 at the STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS conference. The session was developed and led by Deborah Foster-Stahle, Colin Holbrow, and Andrew Vujnovich. The competency list on this page was developed by Andrew Vujnovich with credit to conference participants; CPC Advisors Sharon Graham, JP Hatala, Colin Holbrow, and Linda Schnabel; and Researchers Kouzes and Posner, Bass and Avolio, et. al.

A Transformational Leader…

Transformational Leadership Competencies can be put into four main categories. As Career Practitioners we all require leadership skills. Transformational Leadership is a way of inspiring and developing people with whom we work. As role models for our clients, we recognize the importance of continuously improving our Transformational Leadership competencies.
Take a few minutes to review the Transformational Leadership competencies listed below. Think about your own level of comfort and expertise with each competency. Put a check mark beside each competency that you consider a strength. Highlight or underline each competency that you feel you would like to strengthen. Once you are done, create a personal action plan outlining your goals. If you need help to achieve your goals, reach out to your colleagues at CPC…we’re here to help you achieve success!

Behaves With Charismatic Inspiration

• Displays high values and ethics and builds a common purpose
• Instills pride, energy, enthusiasm, passion
• Builds respect and respects others
• Displays confidence; models the way
• Envisions future; talks realistically and optimistically
• Behaves courageously, ethically, fairly, authentically

• Acts as a forward looking, motivational visionary

Stimulates Intellectual Creativity

• Communicates clearly; stimulates creative thinking and solution generation
• Teaches, develops, coaches, and leverages others
• Questions process and thinking to expose other ideas and angles
• Asks for options and new ways of looking at situations/problems
• Makes connections/uncovers possibilities
• Gives constructive feedback
• Builds confidentiality and trust

Develops Intellectual and Human Capital

• Demonstrates affirmational client focus
• Self develops and encourages others to do same; inspires potential
• Displays a collaborative, objective, results orientation
• Establishes outcomes and success milestones
• Defines roles and goals and scope of relationship; builds chemistry
• Questions, listens, understands non-judgmentally
• Behaves with masterful, adaptable, professional technique
• Provides appropriate and diverse coaching resources/skills/experience

Recognizes Goodness, Competence and Human Worth

• Gets to know others; identifies and responds to their uniqueness
• Provides individualized consideration and appropriate recognition
• Demonstrates a safe, supportive, and caring approach
• Behaves as a compassionate, empathetic, honest mentor; develops chemistry
• Displays and encourages intelligence with strong technical skill and competence
• Comes with established legitimacy, experience, and reliability

• Knows when and how to say when you don’t know or can’t help

Like Puzzles? Try our Transformational Leadership Find-A-Word

In the fall of 2006, Career Professionals of Canada will be introducing a new series of cost-effective professional development teleclasses focusing on leadership competencies. These classes are designed to enable you to enhance your Transformational Leadership strengths and attain unprecedented success in your career and business!

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By Faith West

A four year old boy went to visit his next door neighbour.  The elderly gentleman had just lost his wife in death and he was crying.  The mother watched as her little boy climbed onto the neighbour’s lap and sat there, silently, for several minutes.  When he returned to his mother, she asked him what he was doing.  “Helping him cry,” was the little boy’s answer.

This story has been attributed to the author and lecturer, Leo Buscaglia, who participated in a contest to find the most caring child.  This is the story of the winner.

What, you may well ask, has this story to do with leadership?  It illustrates the point that whether young or old, each of us has the power to impact the lives of those around us. We are all leaders and we have the choice as to when and how we lead. When we choose to lead in a wholesome, value-driven way, we create a positive ripple effect that spreads farther than we can imagine. This little boy most likely was too young to know the meaning of the word “value”. Nevertheless, he was motivated to action by his values. They were deeply embedded into his little heart, no doubt from the lessons and example of his mother. When the moment came, he chose to lead with love and empathy.  We don’t even know his name yet his story lives on to inspire.

If a mere boy can have such a profound effect by leading with his values what would happen if everyone followed his example? Is this wishful thinking? Is it practical to lead with values in our everyday lives? Is it practical to apply values to business? What happens when we do?

In a recent speech given at a breakfast meeting at the Halifax Delta, Bill Black, former CEO of Maritime Life, told the “pedestrian” story of Ted and Steve, illustrating the outcome when value meets business.  It goes this way:

Both men set out to enter the restaurant business.  Steve concentrated on finding the best location.  He was concerned with cost control. He got a long-term lease in a high traffic area and hired a couple of part-time students at minimum wage.  He negotiated a great deal with a food supplier.  Steve had issues with consistency of food and service was middling to bad but this was not a major concern. Customers were eager to have a taste of this new Tex-Mex food. He opened a second location and spent a lot of advertising dollars to get customers in the door.  Repeat business remained low.

On the other hand, Ted started out slowly, in a modest location.  He hired a couple of experienced waiters who treated his customers with dignity and respect. He took great care with his menu and made sure to prepare fresh food daily.  He wanted his customers to have the best experience possible. His business grew steadily by word of mouth.

Ted eventually bought a second location that had, not surprisingly, been vacated by a Tex-Mex restaurant that went out of business.  Steve was motivated by the desire to make a lot of money and he thought the food business was the way to do it.  Ted was motivated to make great food and deliver a great experience to his customers, and he hoped that he would make some money at it. Mr. Black concluded, “If money is your goal, it will not work. If you aim to make customers happy, the money will come.”

It is not a coincidence that this story was told at a meeting of The Canadian Centre for Ethics in Public Affairs (CCEPA).  Mr. Black included it in a series of stories highlighting how ethical, value-based leadership results in a creative and productive environment. Mr. Black says this is one of the main reasons that Maritime Life was such a success. He says that the question posed to all in the organization was a simple one, “I wonder what we can do to make employees and customers feel better?”

Amazing how a four year old boy’s desire to make a contribution to his neighbour’s comfort, is the same desire that can lead to success in business.

It seems that the idea of value-driven or value-based leadership is catching on. In their book, The Art of Possibility, Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander invite readers to lead with their values, to become leaders playing the game of “contribution”.  They say when we consider ourselves a contribution it “produces a shift away from self-concern and engages us in a relationship with others that is in an arena for making a difference.  Rewards in the contribution game are of a deep and enduring kind, though less predictable than the trio money, fame, and power that accrue to the winner in the success game.”
Do you have a story of the practical application of values at home or at work? How have you been inspired by a leader? Contribute your inspiring story of leadership and let Faith West know if you would like her to write about it.  E-mail to: highergroundcoaching@ns.sympatico.ca.

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