Culture Eats Strategy Podcast Episode 019

THE LEADERSHIP ARCHAEOLOGIST Being in a position of leadership can often make you feel like you’ve hit rock bottom, but it’s always possible to dig deeper. This podcast originally appeared on the Raise Your Game Podcast with Christine Wong. To listen to the full interview, visit Raise Your Game.

Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.

Culture Eats Strategy Podcast Episode 019: The Language of Leadership Leading the Way Through Language

Language transforms. It has the power to change the way organizations think and act. Today, award-winning CEO Krister Ungerböck discusses the language of leadership and how to wield it beginning with the 10-day talking diet. This podcast originally appeared on Culture Eats Strategy Podcast Episode 019 with Jaime Jay. To listen to the full interview, visit Culture Eats Strategy.

“By changing our words, we can change our thoughts. And if we change our thoughts, then we can change our hearts from the outside in.” – Krister Ungerböck

Leading the Way Through Language

Krister has worked with CEOs and executives in over 40 countries. He is a corporate keynote speaker, coach, and global expert in the language for leaders.

He loves sharing the secrets of how his team succeeded. To wit, they have achieved 99.3% of employee engagement. His upcoming book The Language of Leadership: Words to Transform How We Lead, Live and Love is coming this spring.

Breaking the Barrier

Krister once led a large family-owned software company. During his term as CEO, he conducted a three-day workshop in France educating people how to use their product. There was one challenge — language.

“My heart was at the right place but my words were not.” – Krister Ungerbock on the language barrier

His French was terrible. Their second customer, the host of the Cannes Film Festival, said they couldn’t work with him because of it. So, he immediately went to train with a business French teacher.

A Language That Transforms 

How do you learn a new language? According to Krister, it requires thinking through the words first and then saying it. The same applies when learning to communicate as a leader.

“You can’t think your way into a new way of acting, but you can act your way into a new way of thinking.” – Habitat for Humanity Founder

Leaders first become aware of the words they want to use and then translate it. The easiest way to achieving change through words is by speaking differently. This realization gave birth to the language of leadership.

Download and listen to The Language of Leadership to learn more. Remember to let Krister know you heard about him on Culture Eats Strategy with Jaime Jay!

Which Employees Should You Invest in? 3 Strategies on How to Make That Choice.

With unemployment low, you need to enrich and empower your company's existing leaders so they'll stick around. Here's how. To read the full article, visit Entrepreneur.

Unemployment is at its lowest point since 1969, thanks to the job gains we’ve seen during the past eight years, as described in this article in the New York Times. Now, however, it’s up to companies to compete over the best talent. Employees can be more selective than ever, resulting in a race to provide the best perks. But instead of pushing more and more money into benefits, perhaps it's time that businesses consider a different strategy: investing in leaders.

Companies will invest in a $250,000 machine and set aside thousands of dollars each year to ensure it can be updated and serviced. But when it comes to management, we expect our executives to be fully equipped with anything they need. Unfortunately, that doesn't always happen.

Leadership training, on the other hand, has been shown to improve leaders’ confidence, abilities and emotional intelligence. Investing in your leadership team’s development will also help you reduce turnover, enrich your company culture and create a better foundation for your business. Plus, investing at the top will allow skills to cascade down the organization to other employees.

And if those benefits aren’t enough, a Gallup report found that the way leaders manage workers has a significant effect on employee engagement levels, which affect organizations’ bottom lines. Better to increase engagement and revenue through better leadership, right?

Whose development should you invest in, anyway?

I ran an international company with 250 employees, and, looking back, my biggest regret is that we didn’t invest more in our leaders. We eventually had to hire new ones outside the company because we outgrew our team and didn’t train those who were already working for us.

Hiring external leaders can cost a pretty penny, though. Between recruiter fees, compensation for a brand new employee and the potential to lose key people who haven't been promoted, hundreds of thousands of dollars can fly out the door. That's what happened at my company: At one point, we had to hire three people to replace one IT specialist because his knowledge of our company had been so vast -- and those three still didn't cover everything he could. It would have been a lot cheaper to invest $10,000 or $15,000 to train that IT specialist for a senior leadership position.

The lesson learned? You can’t afford to spend what we spent on three people just because you didn’t know whom to invest in and to promote internally.

So, whom, exactly, should you empower with more opportunities? Here are three strategies for figuring that out:

1. Advance people who are already volunteering.

It’s crucial to manage promotions correctly because companies whose stock returns exceed the market average typically see lower turnover and consistently outperform competitors when it comes to innovation, productivity and growth, according research from Great Place to Work executives published in the Harvard Business Review. But not everyone believes promotions are managed correctly, even at top companies.

To to manage your promotions successfully, start by choosing people who volunteer. 

Rather than trying to identify interested employees yourself, give your company's leaders a chance to volunteer for new projects or promotions. You can't force participation or improvement on employees who aren't dedicated to it.

The lesson learned is that when an employee doesn't volunteer for more educational or professional opportunities, that should tell you how well suited he or she is for a management role.

2. Encourage employees to use some of their own funds.

Ask your employees to cover 20 to 25 percent of their education. Match every dollar they invest for this purpose with $3 to $4 more. In other words, let them know that you’ll happily give them a promotion and a higher salary if they’re personally willing to cover some of their educational opportunities. 

People invest their own money into getting MBAs all the time because they know they’ll have more opportunities as a result. The Harvard Business Review recently reported that one-third of the most successful CEOs in the world have MBAs.

The lesson here is that the time and financial commitment for an MBA is much higher than the investment for continuous education when that education is being matched by company funds.

3. Invest in people who invest in themselves outside of work.

Seek employees who are already leading on their own or taking advantage of education opportunities when they aren’t in the office. To do this, set the expectation that you can't invest in everyone. Inform your team that you can provide opportunities for only the top 10 or 20 percent of team members who have differentiated themselves. 

For example, Satya Nadella’s first few years at Microsoft were spent commuting from Redmond, Wash., to the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business to finish his MBA. Nadella set himself apart from his co-workers by making it a point to learn as much as he could, which eventually led him to his current role as Microsoft CEO.

The lesson here is that not everyone can commute 2,000 miles to get an education, of course, but you should pay close attention to those employees who do go the extra mile to learn something beneficial for their jobs.

Still unsure about the benefits of investing in your leaders? Machinery company Barry-Wehmiller launched an internal leadership training program, Barry-Wehmiller University, to help find the leaders within its own company. The program wound up being so successful that the company launched the Barry-Wehmiller Leadership Institute for other companies to use.

While you might not have the resources to do the same, it’s important to find time to develop your own employees into the leaders you know they can be. If you don’t, you might miss out on higher productivity, a great company culture and -- most importantly -- some wonderful people.

The Business Power Hour Podcast: Real Life Stories & Techniques to Power-Up Your Business

Krister Ungerböck is a keynote speaker, CEO Coach, and global expert in "The Language of Leadership. This podcast originally appeared on The Business Power Hour Podcast with Deb Krier. To listen to the full interview, visit The Business Power Hour.

Prior to retiring at age 42, Krister was the award-winning CEO of one of the largest family-owned software companies in the world. His expertise in the Language of Leadership is based upon his unique experience as a global CEO leading teams in three languages while observing and doing business with executives in over 40 countries, building businesses in six and living in three. As a corporate keynote speaker, Krister is passionate about sharing the employee engagement secrets that he and his Executive team used to win 5 consecutive Top Workplace awards and achieve remarkable employee engagement levels of 99.3%. His upcoming book, The Language of Leadership: Words to Transform How We Live, Live and Lead, will be published in the Spring of 2019. The book provides leaders a practical, fill-in-the-blanks approach to learning a powerful new language of leadership.

Manager Mojo Podcast: Your Words Can Create a Highly Engaged Team

Your Words Can Create a Highly Engaged Team. The words you choose are having a significant impact on the people you lead. This podcast originally appeared on the Manager Mojo podcast with Steve Caldwell. To listen to the full interview, visit Manager Mojo.

Are you choosing words that will inspire others to follow you? Struggling leaders should examine their words, assess where they come from and how they may be putting a damper on the people who follow them. Just like everyone else, leaders default to the words of those who influenced them from a young age. The words we speak to others are often an echo of the words we are speaking to ourselves, and those words were initiated by our original leaders. When we grow up hearing negative words, we often speak negative words ourselves. Examine your words, determine where they come from and how you can select words that will inspire those around you. Become the leader whose words transform others to want to follow you.

 Learn more about Krister Ungerboeck and his newest book, The Language of Leadership: Words to Transform How you Lead, Live and Love, to be out in Spring 2019, by clicking here.

Leadership Happy Hour Podcast Episode 98: Digging Deeper With The Leadership Archaeologist, Krister Ungerboeck

Growing up, I loved the Indiana Jones movies. Yes, they were packed with action and a great story line but what really intrigued me was that Mr. Jones was an archaeologist. This podcast originally appeared on the Leadership Happy Hour Podcast Episode 98 with Chip Lutz. To listen to the full interview, listen at Leadership Happy Hour.

He did it all in the name of science...well, ok, maybe that is a stretch (but I still loved the movies). My guest this week is the world's only Leadership Archaeologist, Krister Ungerboeck.  He's originally a mid-western boy (like me) but has been all over the world and, in this episode, he shares the insights he's found through his travels (and experience) on leadership.

I know you'll like this episode.  Krister is very smart, very insightful and he gave me tons to think about (and I know he will you too).  ENJOY!

More on Krister...

Krister Ungerboeck is the world’s first Leadership Archaeologist™.  He travels the world to unearth the most powerful – and often surprising – models, ideas, and secrets of leadership.

Previously, Krister was the award-winning CEO of a 3,000% growth tech company. During his time leading Ungerboeck Software, he did business in 40 countries, built businesses in six, and lived in three. He also learned to speak French and German as an adult, which gives him a unique perspective on communication. Then, over the past few years, he became a prominent CEO coach and highly desired keynote speaker… but a very different kind than one might expect. In a sea of speakers spouting clichéd success secrets, Krister stands out as a successful CEO who bravely shares breathtakingly real stories of his own setbacks, combined with concrete, immediately actionable steps for audiences to sidestep the mistakes he’s made.

For the past decade, Krister has been on a “seeking secrets” journey, mining the minds of some of the greatest thinkers around the world and across disciplines, digging in dark places where others don’t… all to unearth unseen insights into the question of why growth companies tend to outgrow their leaders so quickly.

In addition to exploring the globe for new leadership insights and ideas, Krister is a top-rated leadership keynote speaker, CEO coach and consultant, and author of the highly acclaimed book, SEEKING CEO SECRETS: The Leadership Archaeologist's 12 Tools to Unearth Unseen Potential.

How to Help Your Team More by Talking Less

I wanted a way to become more positive in my communications to help staff feel more empowered and committed, so I confronted my assumptions through a diet of sorts. To read the full article visit Startups.

As leaders, many of us regularly fall into a revolving-door trap when it comes to telling versus asking. And it’s most evident in meetings.

How many times do we march into a conference room with a list of things to say? Yet it’s far more prudent, productive, and profitable to shift from having all the answers to asking all the questions.

In fact, it’s so important that it might just be the core differentiator between a company’s culture and that of its competitors.

Stuck in an Always-Telling Rut

Why do we so quickly fall into the routine of telling instead of asking? Honestly, the reaction has roots in science.

Put simply, having all the ideas is a rush. Providing a quick solution that gets a group from point A to point B rapidly leads to feelings of importance. The body releases the feel-good chemical dopamine during creative spurts, which explains why some of us can’t let go of having all the answers. To be sure, we’re offering short-term value by being the go-to people in our companies. But long-term success won’t follow as those organizations scale.

My own epiphany surrounding talking versus listening happened when I recognized I needed to meet my employees where they were. As long as they were past the initial learning phases and into the “doing” stages, they needed less direction. Truly, those who already had solutions would have become disengaged after being micromanaged. Instead of risking the loss of their confidence, I wanted to empower them while maintaining an “I’m here if you need advice” status.

Out of my searching for the right way to move forward, the 10-Day Talking Diet was born.

A New Perspective on Mental Fuel

The day after Thanksgiving in 2017, I started a five-day fast as an experiment. Consuming only water, tea, and coffee, I embarked upon a silent retreat. I quickly realized that all my assumptions about food and communication were wrong.

After the experience, I wondered what else I was mistaken about. Was I in error about what it meant to be an ethical leader who concentrated on helping workers find satisfaction and meaning in their jobs? Was there a way for me to become more positive in my communications to help staff feel more empowered and committed?

I figured the only way to know was to test some hypotheses — and my discoveries became a 10-day test. If you’re prepared to confront your own assumptions, take the first steps toward a 10-Day Talking Diet. Here’s a taste of the first three days:

1. On day one, play Meeting Monopoly.

Seventy-one percent of senior managers in one Harvard Business Review-reported survey thought most meetings weren’t worthwhile. Could the problem be a lack of balance in participants’ verbal contributions? Use this experiment to find out.

Choose a day with a meeting lasting no less than 30 minutes. How much of the conversation do you expect to monopolize? Jot down a percentage. Then record the meeting and send the file to a transcription service. When it comes back, use Word or Google Docs to calculate the proportion of how many words you said versus the total spoken by all attendees.

Here comes the really fun part: Compare your prediction to reality. Did you speak roughly as much as everyone else? Or did you dominate the conversation? Write down your results, as well as goals to change your percentage in future meetings.

2. On day two, take on the Magic Management 8-Ball Challenge.

As a kid, you might have picked up one of those Magic 8-Ball toys. When you asked it a question, you got one of several answers like “the future is hazy” or “most likely.” While not exactly specific, they made contemplating problems fun. Use this same concept to make a meeting more enjoyable and streamlined.

For instance, say you have a meeting with several key people. Don’t make an agenda outlining what you’ll say. Write down all the questions you need to ask. It’ll take up a fraction of everyone’s time and get you closer to solutions.

What questions might you choose? How about, “What would the ideal outcome be?” “What’s standing in the way?” or “What support will you need to be successful?” Oh, and try “Tell me more …” to dig deeper. Here’s the kicker, though: Say nothing else. Just ask questions.

After your meeting, ask for feedback. Did participants feel the exchange worked? Were they excited? Would they like to see this change applied to all meetings? You might be shocked at how motivated attendees can be by this new way of talking about problems and opportunities.

3. On day three, give “should” the heave-ho.

If you’re like me, you’ll benefit from a “should” fast. What’s wrong with the word? It introduces a sense of guilt in the other person when you tell them they “should” do or have done something. Their defenses perk up, shutting down receptiveness to new thoughts.

Try replacing “should” in all your conversations by either dropping it from a sentence completely or changing to “I suggest,” “could,” or “would.”

Because this is an ongoing experiment, be sure to write down the results. Note how people react to your different verbiage choices. Then, make a pact with yourself to kick “should” to the curb.

After you get through three days of the 10-Day Talking Diet, you’ll have a wealth of leadership knowledge. If you’re motivated to keep going, do. You’ll be astonished at the changes you could make in fewer than two weeks.

About the Author

Krister Ungerboeck

Krister Ungerboeck is a leadership keynote speaker and CEO coach who helps leaders unearth unseen potential in their organizations, their teams, and themselves. Before becoming the world’s first leadership archaeologist, Krister was the award-winning CEO of a global tech company. He has done business in more than 40 countries, built businesses in five, and has lived in three.

Want to Assemble a Dream Team? Look for EI, Not Just Expertise

Leading a team of skilled superstars? You won't get far without a heaping helping of EI. To read the full article visit Inc.

Leave it to Google to use its own analytical data to support the need for stronger empathy in business leaders. To be sure, most people have long suspected that emotional intelligence (EI) plays a role in team building, productivity, and retention. But Google's Project Oxygen backed hunches with pure, in-your-face facts.

Fortunately, Google shared its findings with the world, opening the door for companies large and small to rethink the way they evaluate manager effectiveness. But to what end? Isn't EI something innate and unchangeable? If so, less emotionally intelligent supervisors wouldn't have a chance at redemption.

As it turns out, though, EI isn't a locked-in trait. It's a skill set that, when improved, can become a company's secret weapon.

Understanding the nuances and advantages of EI

What is EI, exactly? As TalentSmart points out, EI has nothing to do with personality or IQ, both of which are defined from childhood. Instead, EI is a malleable, learned ability to effectively recognize and manage one's own emotions while simultaneously understanding those same feelings in others. And those who master EI tend to see plenty of benefits.

For instance, TalentSmart research found that for every EI point a leader gains, he or she can expect to see a $1,300 annual salary bump. Is it any wonder, then, that 90 percent of top performers score high in emotional intelligence? Obviously, they've tapped into a way to move up the corporate ladder through constant self-improvement.

With such a clear advantage, why don't more business leaders dive into developing their EI? Krister Ungerboeck, a "leadership archaeologist" who tries to find unconventional solutions to management concerns, feels it's a lack of understanding about the process.

"Many executives want quick fixes that provide immediate results," he explains. "EI can mean the difference between inspiring teams to succeed or instigating an employee exodus -- but it's not something you can manufacture overnight." Hence, those seeking instant outcomes may be reluctant to accept the long-term commitment involved in truly increasing EI. On the other hand, those who are prepared to give EI a shot may one day leapfrog over genius-level managers who can't seem to relate to their crews.

Becoming a team of EI gurus

Interested in seizing EI-related opportunities for you and your team members? Start with some of these changes.

1. Commit to improving your EI.

The best way to impact a group is to lead by example, so begin by getting a clearer understanding of your own EI. One assessment is the EQ-i, which measures your emotional quotient (EQ) from the answers you provide. Yet it's only one tool; another is asking your employees to fill out a 360-degree evaluation of your strengths and areas for improvement.

After collecting this information, you'll be able to see your EI gaps more clearly. Slowly begin to close them by concentrating on weak points over the coming months and regularly requesting more feedback from colleagues.

2. Share your dedication to EI improvement with your team.

As the person in charge, be open with employees around and under you about the importance of EI. You may even want them to test their own EQs using this test from Psychology Today. Encourage them to reflect on their results and brainstorm ways to sharpen their emotional skills.

For example, you may recommend that they read Daniel Goleman's Emotional Intelligence to get a basic grasp of the concept. From there, begin to change group norms by fostering an environment of respect. Simply making conscious expressions of gratitude the expectation can change office dynamics in a hurry. Other ways of bolstering team members' EI is by practicing empathy, talking openly about stressors, and letting off steam with work-related field trips.

3. Work together on a social responsibility project.

Finding it tough to adapt to an EI mindset? You can increase your corporate team's awareness by working on a project that helps an underserved community. Not only will you improve life for others, but you'll develop your ability to empathize with people and situations that may be out of your frame of reference.

A nice side effect to tackling volunteer work with colleagues is the bridges it builds. You'll have a common sense of accomplishment, which creates stronger bonds that can make dealing with problems easier in the future.

4. Establish norms for communication.

Maybe you've received correspondence that started something like "Not sure if you saw my last email ..." Did it make you crazy? Frustrate you? You're not alone. Adobe discovered that it was one of the most hated email phrases, probably because it's passive-aggressive and not at all rooted in EI.

Look for other communication areas in which you can apply the Golden Rule. There are plenty of ways to ask for information or voice opinions without resorting to low-level sniping or caustic replies.

Cultures built around consideration and value for others tend to produce less worry and a higher quality of work. Even if you're sure your team has a collective EI rating that's through the roof, do yourself and your employees a favor and test your theory. You may be surprised to find lots of holes that, when filled in, can smooth your path to success.

Aerospace Executive Podcast: Leadership, Attracting Experts, and High Employee Engagement with Krister Ungerboeck

Good leaders teach others how to become leaders themselves.This podcast originally appeared on Aerospace Executive Podcast with Craig Picken. To listen to the full interview, visit Aerospace Executive Podcast.

As we grow our team, why is it important to stop giving answers and start helping others find solutions on their own? How can we attract experts to our company? Why should we strive to become better communicators?

In this episode, Krister Ungerboeck talks about the most common leadership mistakes and what we can do to lead others to success. "Managers can be managed, but executives can only be led." -Krister Ungerboeck

Takeaways + Tactics:

- There’s a big difference between how leaders of small teams and leaders of large teams should lead. When it comes to smaller teams, leaders usually come up with all the answers to questions employees have.
- In a bigger team setting, the leader should be skilled at teaching others to ask themselves the right questions and then help them come with solutions on their own.
- The biggest enemy of entrepreneurs is ego. Many leaders find it hard to let other people come with their own solutions. We must accept that there are people who are more proficient than we are in certain areas. At the beginning of the episode, we talked about how small teams are managed differently than big teams. Next, we talked about why it’s important to accept the fact that there are people who are better than us and more qualified to hold certain positions in our company.

We also covered:

- Why a big monetary compensation isn’t enough and what else we can offer to high achievers
- Why being a lone wolf in the world of entrepreneurship can cost you a lot of learning opportunities
- How we can learn to communicate better with our team and the role empathy plays in doing so

We can’t become better leaders and grow our business if we don’t learn to communicate more effectively. A crucial element in emotional intelligence is having empathy— the ability to put ourselves in somebody else's shoes even when we have nothing in common. Setting aside time for empathy exercises is crucial for leaders like us, as we have to connect, communicate and lead people on a daily basis.

Guest Bio:

Krister Ungerboeck, The Leadership Archeologist, is a global leadership expert, award-winning CEO, coach, speaker and author. As the world’s first Leadership Archaeologist, Krister is a seeker of secrets. He’s a perspective-changing explorer who ventures beyond the edge of the comfort zone of most leaders and brings back tales of what he’s learned. He experiments with unique, sometimes outlandish approaches to building leadership skills in order to save leaders the time, money, and (possibly) embarrassment of experimenting on themselves.

Go to https://krister.com/aerospace for a free Leadership Assessment and much more!

Business Creators Radio Show: Why Companies Outgrow Leaders, With Krister Ungerboeck

In these times of unprecedented change, the leadership needs of companies evolve just as the needs and wants of consumers do. This podcast originally appeared on the Business Creators Radio Show with Adam Hommey. To listen to the full interview, visit the Business Creators Radio Show.

The ideal leader for one leg of the journey may be ill equipped to tackle the next chapter. In hyper-growth organizations, how do we ensure our companies don’t outgrow our leaders?

In this revealing and moving episode, Krister Ungerboeck, the world’s first Leadership Archeologist, joins Adam to reveal the risks organizations face when running yesterday’s playbook for today’s challenges. Through extensive research and real-world CEO experience, Krister shares the best approach to elevate leaders with potential, and level up when previously successful leaders can no longer win at the highest levels.

Discover:

• Why companies outgrow leaders (and what to do about it);

• How logical leaders can learn emotional intelligence;

• If forgiveness belongs in business;

• What makes a perfect leadership team;

• And much more!

If you want to take your business from vulnerability to profitability and ensure the strength of your leadership, don’t miss this episode.

Are Your Company's Rising Stars Ready for the Big Promotion? Here's How to Make Sure They Are.

With strong organizational support, your hard-working employees have a fighting chance to become your next great executives. To read the full article, visit Entrepreneur.

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Companies love to think that that outside hire they've just scored is the silver bullet that will solve their problems. But without constant, focused development and serious planning, that person could actually turn the organization into a bull's-eye.

Consider GM's journey with outsider Johan de Nysschen: Thinking Nysschen would serve as the shot in the arm its Cadillac brand needed to compete in the luxury car industry, GM installed him as president of the brand with high hopes. But over the subsequent few years he then served in the position, Cadillac's sales declined 11 percent.

In April, GM's top brass replaced de Nysschen with someone who had been with the organization for decades -- someone who already knew the ins and outs of how the company worked. Whether the decision to hire externally to fill the role of president was a fatal one isn't yet clear, but this story serves as a cautionary tale.

According to some schools of thought, hiring from outside your organization results in higher-quality leaders than does promoting from your rank and file. In some situations, that might be true, but as GM's experience shows, it's not always the case. Instead, executives looking to fill management positions should focus on offering continual leadership development with the intent to promote from within.

The risks of hiring externally

What's the risk of bringing in outsiders? It all comes down to squandered resources, the largest of which is money. Recruiting costs are hefty. Plus, if you have a superstar at your company who makes $100,000 but isn't ready to be promoted from within, you won't be able to hire someone at $110,000 instead. You'll probably need to hire someone at $150,000 or $200,000 to ensure this new leader can command respect from your current employee.

In my experience, a $200,000 external hire can cost anywhere between $300,000 and $1 million over a five-year period. And the largest portion of that cost occurs because of the people who have jumped ship because they weren't promoted.

If your $100,000 superstar sees someone just "5 percent better" get hired, he or she will likely wonder about the lack of help needed to make that 5 percent improvement himself (or herself). Whether that person then leaves alone or leaves and takes teammates, the resulting walkout vsn creates gaps and friction.

Investing in your people

As reported by the Harvard Business Review, about half of those executives who are hired from outside an organization reach the point of failure before the 18-month mark. It's clear, then, that an external hire likely won't be the silver bullet to solve all of your company's problems. Instead, you should focus on investing in your own people.

To do that, ensure that your current employees are ready when an opportunity for promotion comes around, by building an internal leadership development plan. Creating a framework for training your employees to take on different stages of leadership might sound daunting, but if you begin with the following steps, you'll be on track to help your workers attain their career goals and improve your chances of making successful promotions.

1. View leadership development as an investment portfolio.

You’re investing in your people, so pick a small number of individuals and put a significant amount of training money into each. Sign retention agreements for your fiscal protection. Begin those talented workers' leadership development with assessments in an array of fields, from problem-solving to cognitive skill, to determine a quantitative basis for improvement.

After assessing these future leaders, determine the objective growth potential for each. Johnson & Johnson does this, as Cornell University researchers explained in an article on the conglomerate's training processes. The company puts people who want to rise through its ranks into the Johnson & Johnson Standards of Leadership program. By creating a protocol, the organization ensures all executives will meet basic skills and abilities before moving up the corporate ladder.

2. Choose short-term ways to invest your money.

After you've determined which potential leaders you want to invest in, determine the ways in which you'll do that investing. Limit your choices to short-term activities. For instance, try sending an employee to a conference and then following up after a month or two to see how he or she has implemented the knowledge gained through that experience.

Be careful about sending employees through degree programs, as those are long-term investments that often cost five to 10 times more than individual training courses or conferences. Plus, some employees will use a degree program as a résumé builder or opportunity to find other employment. 

Your particular investments should be low-cost and incremental so you can evaluate your ROI every quarter. David Blake, CEO at e-learning company Degreed, agrees, based on his company's research, that smaller, more regular development opportunities are the most effective.

3. Ask potential leaders to match your dollar investment with a time investment.

Although it makes sense for you to provide your leaders with the right tools, the entire improvement process can't be up to you. The people you're investing in need to take time outside of their work lives to improve their executive leadership talents. Whether they read books, watch podcasts or take courses, their time match must be consistent and tangible.

Engage your prospective or current executives in regular one-on-one and group coaching sessions to ensure they're following through. They’ll have the chance to report on what they’ve done, what actionable goals they’ve achieved and what they plan to do next.

If the coaching session is led by a current or former CEO, your executive can get feedback and advice from someone who's been in his or her shoes. As a bonus, you’ll be at the forefront of your industry if you make strides now. According to a Deloitte report, 56 percent of participating companies surveyed said they hadn't prepped for future leaders, and only 7 percent had millennial-based leadership programming.

At the end of the day, the crux of your company's decision doesn't need to have an external-versus-internal focus. If you commit to improving your most talented, engaged employees through a well-structured leadership development program, the answer to that question should be a no-brainer. With strong organizational support, your hard-working employees have a fighting chance to become your next great executives.

From Founder to CEO Podcast Episode 185: What 3000% Growth Taught This CEO About Encouraging Others

You can’t ignore it. Your style as a Founder & CEO can help or hinder the growth of your company. Krister knows this first hand. This podcast originally appeared on From Founder to CEO. Listen to the podcast here, From Founder to CEO.

At age 42, Krister retired as CEO of a 3,000% growth company and founded Courageous Growth as a platform to mentor CEOs and give back to the community. It was during his tenure as CEO that he was confronted with feedback that was new and disconcerting to him. And it led him on an entirely new journey of self-discovery and helping others that you will definitely want to listen to in this very candid episode.

CLICK TO TWEET Your CEO style matters! Just ask @kristeru, CEO of a 3,000% growth company who discovered his style wasn't working https://fromfoundertoceo.com/?p=2970

 Name: Krister Ungerboeck, Founder & CEO

Company: Courageous Growth

Headquartered In: St. Louis, Missouri

Powerful Promise of Value: Courageous Growth works exclusively with owners, CEOs, future CEOs or 2ICs (2nd in Command) to accelerate their business and personal growth. The company typically works with technology and growth businesses with 50 – 500 employees seeking to double in size within the next 3-5 years. In addition to technology companies, Krister and his team also work with family businesses of all sizes seeking to accelerate the development of family leaders, future CEOs or 2IC (2nd in Command).

Does Your Mean Boss Cry Himself To Sleep At Night?

New study reveals that angry bosses are actually unhappy and unfulfilled. This article originally appeared at HR.com. To read the full article, visit HR.com.

A new management study has just uncovered something surprising: ‘Mean’ bosses often feel sad and empty at the end of the workday. The study, which was published by the Academy of Management Journal, also found that bosses who believe themselves to be powerful and commanding are the most likely to go home feeling unfulfilled.

This study has revealed what many of us have suspected for a long time, especially those of us who work with these types of leaders for a living. As a CEO coach, I have often found that the bosses who most crave power and control over others are almost always suffering from a great deal of insecurity and personal pain.

It might be hard to believe, as tend to imagine that highly-successful people must naturally be quite pleased with themselves. However, the opposite tends to be true. CEOs are often so successful because they are driven by their own feelings of inadequacy and their own fear of being ‘unmasked’ as an unworthy person.

So how can employees try to win over an angry, impossible-to-please boss?

Understand his point of view. The key is to realize that your ‘mean’ boss is actually a victim in his own head. He has no clue that he is the one in the wrong. As this study showed, your mean boss sees himself as a victim.

Again, I know this sounds hard to believe, but as a CEO coach I have witnessed this, every time. The most critical and aggressive bosses often come to me and complain that their employees are ‘ungrateful’ and that they don’t appreciate him. Although the thought of him as a victim might sound laughable to you, it’s crucial to understand your boss’ POV if you want to survive and thrive under his leadership. Of course, this doesn’t mean that your CEO’s behavior is okay (it certainly is not), but as Sun Tzu says, “Know thy self, know thy enemy.”

Mirror his statements. Victims feel empowered when they are heard. Help your boss feel empowered (and ergo less likely to lash out) by mirroring his statements. If he is highly stressed about a deadline, you can say “I hear that this project is really important to you. You really need me to finish this quickly,” rather than just saying ‘Okay’ or ‘Sure.’”

Don’t ask questions that begin with ‘why.’ When you ask a question that starts with why, it tends to put people on the defensive right away. they feel a burden of proof, a need to give you answers and explanations. This will trigger your boss’s victim persona. Instead, use declarative statements like, “I could use some guidance on this particular issue” or “I wonder if there is another approach we could take.”

Don’t overdo your presence. The recent media dustup over Steve Harvey’s memo demanding space from his employees highlights an important issue: Many CEOs and managers simply feel overwhelmed from constant questions and needs all day. Try to corral all of your questions, ideas and concerns into one face-to-face with your boss, rather than popping in and out randomly to ask questions as they arise. Pretend you’re George Costanza—always leave ‘em wanting more!

Be careful about emails. Studies prove that emails are less persuasive than in-person interactions. So, if you’re asking for a vacation day or you need to leave early, ask in person. Other studies show that emails with succinct subject headers get opened more than those with long subject lines. Keep it short, sweet and face-to-face if you want to stay on your mean boss’s good side.

Silicon Valley has idolized Steve Jobs for decades—and it’s finally paying the price

Steve Jobs has been called the greatest businessman the world has ever seen and the best CEO of this generation. This article originally appeared on Quartz. To read the full article, visit Quartz.

But he’s also the same man who would allegedly yell at people for 30 minutes straight, cut in front of his employees at lunchtime, berate hospitality and restaurant staff, park in handicapped spaces, said all HR personnel have a “mediocre mentality,” and told his staff how much they “sucked.”

Whether it’s the 19th-century railroad industrialist George Pullman or Mr. Spacely from The Jetsons, CEOs have always been a surly bunch. But in recent years, it seems that being an asshole has become an aspirational trait.

It’s no wonder. Walter Isaacson’s biography Steve Jobs didn’t just create a Hollywood hit: It created a manual for any bosses seeking a hall pass for their temper tantrums. Along with recounting Jobs’s blistering behavior and his “perverse eagerness” for putting people down, Isaacson remarks that “people who were not crushed ended up being stronger” and that those employees who were most abused by Jobs ended up accomplishing things “they never dreamed possible” thanks to his harsh treatment.

In other words, it’s okay to tell your employees that their work is shit and to park your Mercedes across two handicapped parking spaces—as long as the end result is a successful product.

No wonder we now have people like Uber CEO Travis Kalanick and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos making numerous headlines for their tempestuous behavior. Several Uber executives have left the company, while investors have publicly criticized Kalanick, saying that there are “toxic patterns” in the Uber workplace. Meanwhile, Amazon has a reputation for being a “bruising workplace,” the kind of office where people regularly break down at their desks, and where grown men leave the conference room with their faces covered to hide their tears.

Silicon Valley decided that internet connectivity matters more than human connectivity.

Somewhere along the way, it seems that Silicon Valley decided that internet connectivity matters more than human connectivity; that a surfeit of technical intelligence can make up for a dearth of emotional intelligence. After all, if it worked for a genius like Jobs, it can’t be that bad.

Except it is. While this management style might work in the short-term, employees can’t flourish for long under a narcissistic, demanding boss. As recounted in the Isaacson’s biography, Jobs’s acid tongue eventually caused his employees to burn out. After working 10 months of 90-hour workweeks, one employee finally quit in exasperation after Jobs walked into the room and told everyone how “unimpressed” he was with what they were doing. Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak said “some of the most creative people in Apple who worked on the Macintosh” left the company and refused to ever again work for Jobs again. Because of Jobs’ nasty temper, Apple lost out on impressive talent.

New research bears out these experiences. Studies have shown that hyper-critical leadership not only leads to unmotivated employees and office in-fighting but can also lead to serious issues like depression, high blood pressure, weight gain, substance abuse, and even premature death.

But can we really blame Jobs for this legacy of emotionally lethal (and perhaps literally lethal) work environments?

“Managers who try to emulate Mr. Jobs by just being rude or aggressive are missing the point,” Issacson says. “Mr. Jobs was striving for perfection.” But within this justification lies the problem. Of course Jobs wanted perfection—all CEOs do. But why is bullying considered an effective, let alone acceptable, way to motivate your team to perfection? Jobs was famous for the way he would obliterate his staff, often in public, which maximized their humiliation by making it a spectacle rather than a private affair. Are we to believe that shaming employees is what made Apple great?

Recent research on shame and the devastating impact it can have on a person’s motivation, creativity, and behavior would say otherwise. Shame has been linked to depression, alcoholism, obesity, violence, and even recidivism in inmates. As author and shame researcher Brené Brown says, “Shame corrodes the very part of us that believes we are capable of change.”

It’s simple: The worse we feel about ourselves as people, the less we are able to make good choices and perform to our highest potential. Making your employees feel terrible about themselves isn’t just an ineffective leadership tool: It’s also just plain lazy. It takes no special skill to scream at someone, and it’s easy to lash out when you are angry or disappointed. But to lead with dignity, composure, kindness, and self-awareness? That takes effort. That takes maturity. And it doesn’t come naturally to most of us.

Whether or not it comes easily, emotional intelligence ought to be the foremost requirement for our companies’ leaders. These skills can be taught, CEOs can change, and we can demand better. A boss in Silicon Valley who isn’t an asshole? Now that would be “thinking different.”

Learn how to write for Quartz Ideas. We welcome your comments at ideas@qz.com.

Humble Introverts Make Great CEOs

Picture the Hollywood stereotype of the successful American chief executive officer. This article originally appeared in the Journal Sentinel. To read the full article, visit Journal Sentinel.

For many, he’s a middle-aged, cigar-chomping, hard-driving, demanding, greedy corporate titan who places a higher value on the financial bottom line than the human condition.

To be sure, plenty of those fellows exist. However, a far-reaching new study may go a long way to shattering that perception.

The CEO Genome Project recently compiled a 10-year database of assessments, including comprehensive performance appraisals and extensive biographical information of 17,000 C-level executives, including 2,000 CEOs.

Researchers from ghSmart, a Chicago consulting firm, examined the data and made some rather surprising conclusions, which recently were published in a report titled “What Sets Successful CEOs Apart” in the Harvard Business Review.

The researchers identified four essential behaviors common among the most successful CEOs:

1. Deciding with speed and conviction. “They make decisions earlier, faster and with greater conviction. … In our data, people who were described as ‘decisive’ were 12 times more likely to be high-performing CEOs,” the report said.

2. Engaging for impact. “Once CEOs set a clear course for the business, they must get buy-in among their employees and other stakeholders."

3. Adapting proactively. “Our analysis shows that CEOs who excel at adapting are 6.7 times more likely to succeed. CEOs themselves told us over and over that this skill was critical."

4. Delivering reliably. “Mundane as it may sound, the ability to reliably produce results was possibly the most powerful of the four essential CEO behaviors,” the report said.

I asked consultant Krister Ungerboeck to extrapolate the most important revelations from the study. Ungerboeck is a St. Louis CEO coach whose family-owned business provides software that helps destinations such as the Monona Terrace convention center and the Overture Center for the Arts in Madison manage their special events.

He said the conclusions of the study defy the CEO stereotypes, but they confirmed what he already knew: that the best company leaders tend to be humble introverts.

“It aligns with my experience. It’s about listening and asking questions,” Ungerboeck said. “To grow a business, the CEO needs to make a fundamental change in style from a talking style to a listening style and a question-asking style.”

Ungerboeck cited four common characteristics of CEOs who are humble introverts:

1. They know when to shut up. “You might think that the world’s top leaders would be gregarious, talkative extroverts, but the study findings showed otherwise,” he said.

2. They don’t problem-solve — they problem-find. “This allows them to identify patterns in the workplace and to find out where improvement and innovation is needed. They then delegate the problem-solving to the appropriate employees and trust in their ability to perform,” he said.

3. They realize how much they matter. “Nothing sets the tone for a workplace like a boss. This is a hugely powerful lesson that employers everywhere need to learn. When you walk into your office, you are impacting everyone around you in an immediate and immeasurable way. Your attitude is directly inspiring not only how hard everyone is working, but also how creatively they think and how cooperatively they act,” he said.

4. They are comfortable being uncomfortable. “You might think that it is wise to avoid areas where you don’t feel as experienced, but those are exactly the areas that could end up being the key to your success. For some, that might mean going to an anger management class. For others, that might mean spending the days on the sales floor and making cold calls for the first time in decades. A true leader isn’t afraid to risk failure, because they know that the only true failure is refusing to admit one’s flaws,” he said.

“If you are self-aware, engaged and truly willing to work on yourself as a person and as a leader, your improved management style will have a direct and positive impact on your employees and your bottom line,” Ungerboeck said.

Steve Jagler is the business editor of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. C-Level stands for high-ranking executives, typically those with “chief” in their titles. Send C-Level column ideas to him at steve.jagler@journalsentinel.com.