What got you here won’t get you there: How to dramatically and measurably improve your leadership skills

Washington Bankers Association,

Education/HR Conference, April 26, 2016

Urs Koenig PhD, MBA

My two goals for you

1. Experience (at least) one

‘aha!’ moment

2. Take (at least) one action

back to your business

All about me

32 years

14 years

7 years

3 continents

2 boys

1 goal

How to dramaticallyimprove your leadership skills…

…by focusing

…by doing less

Don’t just do something, sit there

Stop doing lists

Stop doing meetings

Today

• Two leadership insights

• Two leadership actions

Improvement =insight + action

Leadership insights:

#1: Every weakness is a strength

overdone

#2: What got you here won’t get you there

Improvement = insight + action

Leadership actions:

#1: Want to get better? Involve your team

#2: Feedforward

Insight #1: Every weakness is a strength overdone

From:

Structured

Goal-oriented

Focused

Self-confident

Consensus-seeking

Empathetic

To:

Inflexible

Goal-obsessed

Rigid

Arrogant

Indecisive

Push Over

Case study:

1. What are Jeff’s strengths? His

weaknesses?

2. How might Jeff’s strengths

(overdone) become liabilities (or

weaknesses)?

Teaching leaders what to stop

“We spend a lot of time helping

leaders learn what to do. We

do not spend enough time

teaching leaders what to stop.”

– Peter Drucker

“Hold-back habits” of successful people

• Winning too much

• Adding too much value

• Telling the world how smart we are

• Not treating people with respect

Insight #1: Every weakness is a strength overdone

What about you?

From? To?

Insight #2: What got you here won’t get you there

Rate yourselfexercise

Are you in the

• Top 50% or

• Bottom 50%

of bankers in this room?

Beliefs of successful people

(based on Marshall Goldsmith’s

What got you here won’t get you there)

Insight #2: What got you here won’t get you there

Action #1: Want to get better? Involve your team!

• They know best

• Their perception (not yours!) counts

How to get better

Goal alone = 25%

Goal + action plan = 50%

Goal + action plan + sharing = 75%

Goal + action plan + sharing +

accountability = 90%

How To Get Better

1. Ask

2. Listen

3. Thank

4. Think

5. Decide

6. Respond

7. Change

8. Follow up

9. Measure

360 Feedback/

Feedforward

You are in charge

Change process

“Leadership is a contact sport”: Follow up

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“Leadership is a contact sport”: Follow up

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Action #1: Want to get better? Involve your team!

• They know best

• Their perception (not yours!) counts

Action #2: Feedforward

Feedback:

• Backwards-looking

• (Constructive) criticism

Feedforward:

• Forward-looking

• Suggestions

Action #2: Feedforward

1. Pick one habit you want to

improve

2. Work the room by spending two

minutes with four people

3. During the two minutes:

• give them feedforward on

their behavior

• receive feedforward on your

behavior by asking, listening,

thanking

Action #2: Feedforward

• Learn as much as you can

• Help as much as you can

• Let go of the past

• Listen to suggestions without

judgment

• Learn pointers to better coach

others

Improvement = insight + action

Leadership insights:#1: Every weakness is a strength

overdone

#2: What got you here won’t get you there

Leadership actions:#1: Want to get better? Involve your team

#2: Feedforward

My two goals for you

1. Experience (at least) one

‘aha!’ moment

2. Take (at least) one action

back to your business

Share my two goals

1. …………………

2. ………………..