Edition 13: Developing Extraordinary Leaders

This week we launched the remastered version of Zenger Folkman’s flagship development experience The Extraordinary Leader. ?

As I reflected on the work that went into building the assessment, feedback report, competency companion guide, and development tools necessary for leaders to find the path to extraordinary, I wanted to share with you some of the research that has influenced our approach to development.?

My colleague Jack Zenger and I recently compiled some of that research in this report of our five main insights on how Extraordinary Leaders are made. You can download the report here .

After 30 years of creating, reviewing, and revising hundreds of different competency models, I have seen the good, the bad, and the ugly ones. Experience gives us an apparent perspective on what can be done to make a competency model more memorable and incredibly useful to an organization.?

We would scoff at an executive in a Drug Company sitting down and writing out a prescription for curing cancer based on their impressions, biases, and personal preferences.

Interestingly, many senior executives feel it is both their right and duty to define competencies for their organization.?

These efforts vary from insightful and valuable to obtuse and confusing. Yet, what seems consistent in all these efforts is that once written, the organization assumes that these competencies are chiseled in stone and never questioned until a new chief executive takes over.?

How did research change the way we thought about competency models??

Early in our research, we found that we could accurately predict a variety of key organizational outcomes by utilizing differentiating competencies. Figure 1 shows the relationship between a leader’s overall effectiveness, as measured by the 19 differentiating competencies, and the level of engagement of the leader’s direct reports.?

This study is based on a global sample of 100,228 leaders.?

Figure 1 demonstrates that:

- Poor leaders create disengagement

- Good leaders have employees who score around the 50th percentile,

- Great leaders have employees who score over the 80th percentile in their engagement.?

There is strong evidence that highly engaged employees are more productive, efficient, and effective.?

?Additional studies have demonstrated that we can accurately predict a variety of key organizational outcomes, including:?

? Turnover

? Percentage of employees who think about quitting

? Customer satisfaction?

? Profitability

? Sales

? Quality?

? Safety?

? Percentage of highly committed employees?

The Importance of Focusing on Strengths

Most organizations believe that if people continue to work on their weaknesses, they will eventually become exceptional leaders.?

In our original research, we discovered that it was the presence of strengths that made leaders great. For example, if a leader was highly effective at just three competencies, their average overall leadership effectiveness rating was at the 81st percentile. What a surprise!?

The new research proved that it was the presence of strengths that made leaders great, not the absence of weakness. Furthermore, we have discovered that using this strength-building approach results in greater interest and commitment in the competency model, as well as in personal development.?

The Illusion of Perfection?

Many organizations are searching for the perfect leader. Our research reinforced that the most highly competent leaders possessed a few strengths but weren’t perfect. Leaders will be more competent and passionate about certain skills than others.?

Most leaders have strengths in a few key competencies. Organizations that have a narrow set of competencies and attempt to fit every leader into the same mold will inevitably find effective leaders who do not fit because their strengths lie outside the narrow set of competencies. Organizations that have a diverse group of leaders with different strengths have leaders that complement each other by leveraging their skills together.?

Competency models need to be broad enough to encompass the diverse collective capabilities people can utilize to make the organization successful.?

Correcting Fatal Flaws?

Our research taught us that while 80 percent of leaders are better off working on their strengths, 20 percent have something called a “fatal flaw.”?

Most people have weaknesses. Fatal flaws are significant weaknesses that have a very negative impact on a person’s career and effectiveness.?

We tested an individual’s ability to predict their own strengths and weaknesses.

The research revealed that any rater besides yourself (manager, peers, direct reports, or others) is twice as accurate at predicting your capability.

Since individuals are not very effective at predicting their own strengths or weaknesses, it’s essential that organizations have an assessment method to identify which competencies are fatal flaws and which are profound strengths.?

Cross-Training to Build Strengths?

One promising way to develop strengths is through non-linear development.?

Rather than people being satisfied with good performance on a given competency, we found that being highly effective at a competency had a profoundly positive effect. Most people know how to fix a weakness.?

They improve through continual linear development. If a person is incompetent in their technical skills and expertise, the process to improve is taking classes, getting personal coaching, working closely with a highly skilled colleague, and reading books.?

The linear process moves people from incompetence to competence.?

Once people reach that level, continued linear development provides little additional value. Taking a class that you have already taken or reading the content you already know and understand will not help you move from good to great.?

The process to move from good to great is enhanced by a non-linear approach, or cross-training.?

To understand the process, we looked at data from thousands of leaders. We found that leaders who were great utilized what we call companion behaviors to help them build a profound strength. For example, people who were viewed as having great technical expertise were also viewed as highly competent at solving problems. Technical expertise is knowledge, but problem solvers take that knowledge to find solutions to issues in the organization. Leaders who were viewed as problem solvers were able to use their expertise to create value for the organization. We also found that the leaders who were perceived as having the highest level of technical expertise were effective at communicating powerfully.?

What’s better than a person with great expertise? A person who can communicate that expertise and knowledge with others. We find that for each competency there are between five and twelve companion behaviors.?

What are the characteristics of a great competency model??

1. Simple and Memorable- In order for a competency model to be useful it needs to be simple and straight-forward so people remember it!
2. Thorough- Some organizations embrace the simplicity notion so much that they attempt to reduce the number of competencies to a mere handful of behaviors. An over-simplified competency model will not provide the bandwidth necessary for all leaders to excel.?
3. Tested and Proven- Once a competency model has been created and an accurate approach has been developed to measure each competency, the model needs to be tested to prove that behaviors are accurately being measured. It needs to verify that the way they are measured accurately predicts organizational outcomes.?
4. Developmental and Evaluative-?Having a strong development focus that is backed up with evidence—showing that people can in fact improve—provides hope and gives people a way to move forward in their career. When people in the organization see others being promoted who are highly effective at competencies in the model, they then see the payoff for development.?
5. Provide a Shared Language- It’s interesting for many people to watch athletic competitions such as high platform diving. At first glance, it’s always impressive to see anyone dive off a 10-meter platform into the water. Every dive may look exceptional, but then you see the judges’ ratings. What you thought was great others see as full of errors. Over time, careful observation allows you to notice the small differences that separate the good from the great performers.?

A very similar thing happens in organizations. With no competency framework, everyone looks like a good leader. But as competencies are defined and measured, people start to understand the difference between poor, good, and great performance.?

This common language spreads throughout the organization from individual contributors to executives. With continued feedback, the level of leadership performance improves.?

6. Embedded in all the Human Resources Systems- We have observed that when the organization begins to use the competency model for purposes of recruitment, selection, promotion, and compensation, everyone becomes familiar with it and it has an ever-increasing impact on the organization’s people management systems.?

Conclusion?

Effective measurement tools provide each individual with their particular GPS coordinates for where they are on that performance journey. The combination of straightforward competencies and accurate measurement can be an exceptional asset in raising the level of performance in an organization.?

Organizations that take the time to create a clear set of competencies and are able to accurately assess behaviors that positively impact their organizational results will have a clear competitive advantage in building extraordinary leaders.?

Your friendly neighborhood psychometrician,

Joe Folkman

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Learn more about the newly remastered Extraordinary Leader development experience on our live webinar this month.

Register now!

Check out?The 90th Percentile: An Unconventional Leadership Podcast ?which ranked in the Top 20 on Apple Podcasts Business Management List in over 25 countries!?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Joe is globally recognized as a top leader in the field of psychometrics and leadership.?He is the co-founder and President of?Zenger Folkman , a firm specializing in 360 Assessments, leadership, and organizational development. He has over 30 years of experience consulting with some of the world’s most prestigious and successful organizations, public and private. As the 2021 recipient of?ATD’s Distinguished Contribution to Talent Development Award , Joe was recognized for his extensive research and contributions to the learning and development industry. He is a best-selling author/co-author of nine books and a sought-after speaker, consultant, and executive coach with the ability to connect with audiences through compelling research and inspiring stories. Joe is the co-host of?The 90th Percentile Podcast ?and featured instructor in?Zenger Folkman’s Leadership Courses.

GET IN TOUCH

If you would like to book Joe Folkman as a speaker, please contact us at?[email protected] .

If you are involved in leadership development in your organization and would like to know more about Zenger Folkman, please get in touch at [email protected].