Intangibles of leadership

Intangibles of leadership: Richard Davis, a partner at RHR International and author of The Intangibles of Leadership, spoke in September at a Strategic Capability Network event about the 10 subtle differences that define who will be a successful leader. For more information, visit www.scnetwork.ca.

Intangibles of leadership

Leadership is a process, not an event (Leadership in action)

Longevity in the C-suite (Organizational effectiveness)

Leadership is a process, not an event (Leadership in action)

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Intangibles of leadership

By Shannon Klie

For years, organizations have been trying to figure out how to determine if a candidate will be a successful leader. This has led to the creation of various leadership models, but none of them have been completely successful at predicting which leadership candidates are a good fit, according to Richard Davis, an organizational psychologist and partner at RHR International

However, using comprehensive psychometric tests and interviews that delved into candidates’ work and personal lives, Davis has uncovered 10 elements that indicate whether or not someone would make a good leader.

“These factors, the intangibles, are found between the lines of leadership models,” said Davis at a recent Strategic Capability Network event in Toronto. “Great leaders have some aspect of all the intangibles. You need to dial up or dial down on some of the intangibles, depending on the environment and what your own natural disposition is like.”

The 10 leadership intangibles are: wisdom, will, executive maturity, integrity, social judgment, executive presence, self-insight, self-efficacy, fortitude and fallibility.

HR can help identify which intangibles a leader might be missing and help leaders develop these factors, be it through coaching or other development opportunities, said Davis.

“You do not have preset levels of the intangibles. They can be built,” he said.

Wisdom: Wisdom is different from raw intelligence, said Davis. People build wisdom by seeking out new ideas, such as reading the news, travelling or taking part in cultural events. They also build wisdom by surrounding themselves with people who have expertise in different areas, effectively creating a personal board of directors, said Davis.

“You need people to push back and challenge your perceptions and make you smarter and wiser,” he said.

Will: While successful leaders appear to be lucky, they have actually worked very hard to make the most of their good fortune, said Davis. This is where will comes into play.

“You need to be ready for luck to occur. You need to do your homework,” he said.

This includes writing down goals so there is a tangible target to work towards and then doing the work to make that goal a reality, said Davis.

This is what Richard Peddie, CEO of Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment, did. As a teenager, he loved basketball and wrote in his journal that one day he would own a professional basketball team, said Davis. Today, Peddie is responsible for both the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team and the Toronto Raptors basketball team.

Executive maturity: Executive maturity is about mastering one’s emotional reactions and using them to influence others, said Davis. HR can help potential leaders do this by having them understand what their emotional triggers are and what their emotions look like to other people, he said.

It’s important to filter incoming information and take the time to figure out how to respond instead of simply reacting, said Davis. But that’s not to say leaders shouldn’t be emotional.

“It’s not about being robotic. It’s important to be able to show emotions when necessary,” said Davis.

Integrity: Integrity is measured over time and made up of three dimensions: trust, consistency and moral compass.

Consistency isn’t about acting the same way all the time. Instead, it’s about whether or not a leader’s words are consistent with her actions, while a moral compass is the set of values that guide a leader’s decisions, said Davis.

These values, or core beliefs, can come from many different sources including parents and teachers, he said.

Social judgment: It’s important for leaders to be able to read verbal and non-verbal communication and understand the behaviour of the people around them, said Davis.

“You really need to be able to read people,” he said.

Part of this is understanding the strengths and weaknesses of direct reports. It’s important for leaders to write these down, as well as what each direct report should work on in terms of career development, as part of a talent map, said Davis.

Executive presence: “When we’re around people with executive presence, we know they have it but it’s really hard to put our finger on it or explain it,” said Davis.

However, presence can be built, he said. A leader who walks into a room and commands attention from everyone likely has a reputation that precedes her. So part of building presence is building reputation, said Davis.

Charisma, or chemistry, is also part of presence. Leaders can build better chemistry with people through humour and interesting anecdotes.

Leaders also need the right voice and words to come across as an executive. They can achieve this through voice coaching to make their speech more dynamic and reading to expand their vocabulary, said Davis.

Self-insight: It is critical for leaders to understand their strengths and weaknesses, said Davis. One of the best ways to do this is to solicit feedback from other people, he said.

“Real self-insight comes from listening to and incorporating external views.”

Also, people can learn a lot about themselves by stepping outside of their comfort zone and trying something new, such as a new job or relocation, said Davis.

Self-efficacy: Self-efficacy is the underlying belief in one’s ability to achieve objectives and is different from self-esteem, which can sometimes lead to arrogance, said Davis.

HR professionals can help leaders develop self-efficacy by having them visualize success, celebrate their wins and recognize self-defeating patterns.

Fortitude: “There are some people who have this palpable strength of character. They have the inner strength to do the right thing, even when it’s not easy,” said Davis.

Many of these executives have overcome some sort of crisis early in their life. But everyone has had to overcome some sort of adversity so, to build this factor, HR can help leaders identify what it is that they’ve overcome and how they did so, said Davis.

Identifying the fears that hold a person back and the challenges he will face in the future also help build strength of character, he said

Fallibility: “Perfectionism is a sure-fire leadership derailment,” said Davis.

Great leaders show remorse when they make mistakes, delegate to others, learn from experiences and are accessible and approachable, he said.

To build this factor, leaders should ask questions, rather than tell people what they believe, and also share their strengths and weaknesses with direct reports.

SCNetwork’s panel of thought leaders brings decades of experience from the senior ranks of Canada’s business community. Their commentary puts HR management issues into context and looks at the practical implications of proposals and policies.

Leadership is a process, not an event (Leadership in action)

By Trish Maguire

Although the context of leadership has changed dramatically over the past few decades, the core principles remain constant, unchanged and have proven their ability to stand the test of time. Is there still room for additional insights about certain characteristics that truly distinguish successful leaders?

Richard Davis, a management psychologist at RHR, believes so and submits 10 “intangibles of leadership” that differentiate the extraordinary leader from the average leader. At first blush, they appear to fall between the lines of existing leadership models and gravitate towards emotional as opposed to intellectual characteristics — perhaps more art than science. All of them can be learned, practised and applied by any leader wanting to reach the next level.

The very word intangible suggests that trying to describe and single out leadership characteristics is difficult and complicated to evaluate. Is this perhaps why some leaders are challenged in developing these qualities? Or could it be some leaders do not know there is more than one thing they need to know about leadership?

One thing to remember is leadership development is a process, not an event, and it requires a commitment to being a lifelong learner. Great leaders use trust, truth and passion to learn how to add value to people’s growth and potential, willingly change depending on a situation, thrive on diversity, learn how to use adversity positively, use persuasion rather than coercion and act from their own deepest convictions.

Great leaders have the ability to impact people’s effectiveness and, therefore, the potential of an organization. By continually investing in developing and improving leadership qualities such as the 10 intangibles Davis has uncovered, organizations have the option to build more sustainable cultures, create a culture of growth and attract high achievers and people with great potential.

The proof of great leadership is found in how you advance others, add values to other people’s lives, recognize them, make them a part of something bigger than themselves and help them to become the leaders they were meant to be.

Longevity in the C-suite (Organizational effectiveness)

By Tracy Cocivera

Senior executives, if they want to stick around in the long run, need to understand what will lead them to successful results and what will derail them. By managing the positive attributes of leadership, as well as the shadow side, C-suite executives can act more deliberately and produce more impactful results.

Through his research and experience, Richard Davis outlined the attributes that truly distinguish superior executive performance. He found extraordinary leaders possess certain traits that fall between the lines of existing leadership models. Ten key characteristics emerged as fundamental to executive success. These are the intangibles of leadership

Several years ago, executive coaches David Dotlich and Peter Cairo were also interested in senior leadership behaviour and embarked on a similar journey. However, they wanted to better understand why CEOs fail. Through their work with senior leaders, they looked beneath the surface and began to understand how leaders’ “dark sides” can derail their careers and cause negative consequences for their organizations. This culminated in their 2003 book Why CEOs Fail: The 11 Behaviors that can Derail your Climb to the Top and How to Manage Them.

Davis approached executive performance through the lens of superior performance. Contrarily, Dotlich and Cairo approached executive performance through the lens of derailers and the shadow side of leadership. How well do these approaches inform each other? How similar or different are these characteristics and behaviours? To answer these questions, compare the 10 intangibles of leadership and the 11 derailing behaviours — the lists can be seamlessly mapped onto each other. (See sidebar.)

Together, Davis, Dotlich and Cairo provide a holistic and fulsome view of leadership success and perils in the C-suite. Integrating both leadership models helps CEOs see how their usual leadership behaviour can sometimes result in derailing behaviour. Understanding both the positive and shadow sides of executive leadership is key to staying in the C-suite.

Tracy Cocivera is a commentator on organizational effectiveness for SCNetwork and a senior consultant in leadership solutions at Knightsbridge Human Capital Solutions. As a business psychologist, she helps executives and teams enhance their effectiveness and create more value for their organizations. She can be reached at [email protected].

Good versus evil

The positive and shadow sides of executive leadership

Leadership capability doesn’t come ‘gift wrapped’ (Strategic capability)

By Karen Gorsline

Richard Davis spoke about the “intangibles” of leadership and outlined a list of qualities that contribute to distinctive leadership. This list could be construed as yet one more leadership competency model. In response, some organizations may be tempted to revamp their leadership model and curriculum to incorporate these qualities. But before organizations take that leap, they should consider the context in which Davis placed his remarks.

First, extraordinary leadership exists in the context of its environment. A great leader in one organization may not succeed in another, even in the same industry. And different times call for different leaders. Organizations that wish to enhance leadership, as part of strategic capability, must own the leadership style and not simply take it off the shelf. Organizations may want to build a portfolio of leaders to handle different types of challenges, either because the specific leaders already have the appropriate intangibles or because they need to develop them. Conversely, leaders who have certain intangibles in their repertoire may have to fine-tune how they use them — ramping some up and toning some down — depending on the specific situation.

Second, what organizations often consider a competency is actually the ability to do something. For example, a leader may be able to streamline, transform, integrate or outsource.

Some organizations have embraced fewer output and task-oriented definitions. Organizations look at coaching, embodying the values of the organization and self-confidence, but these are not as subtle, discrete or explicit as some of the “intangibles” Davis identifies. Self-efficacy, fortitude, fallibility, wisdom, will, executive maturity, integrity, social judgment, executive presence and self-insight all operate at the level of self-definition. Who is this person, how will he behave and what is driving his behaviour? These operate at the input level — what aspects of the person come into play as he achieves outputs.

Third, while many of the intangibles may be seen as “hard-wired” into personality, Davis highlighted the potential to build “leadership muscle” around all of them. This building process may have awareness or “classroom” components and a mentoring process, but the intangibles are built as the person experiences real-life situations. Just as parents and a school or social environment influence us as we mature, an organization’s values (the ones that really exist — not the ones hanging on the wall), the quality of the conversations, the opportunities to try new things and learn (often by failing) and the overall culture of an organization influence the ability to build these muscles.

While it would be nice to have a list that would guarantee success and a pain-free way of building the capability to achieve success, it would not be distinctive or strategic. The challenge for organizations is to find ways to operationalize some of the concepts presented. It will involve a combination of: staffing with a broader, better defined range of criteria; looking at different ways to develop talent; and committing to organizational development activities over time to support a culture that will build muscle in areas of the intangibles relevant to the needs of the organization.

Next executive series

Would you like to attend one of the upcoming Breakfast Series in Toronto? Here’s a look at the next session:

November: Building leadership capabilities, with Jackie Greaner of Towers Watson and Kelly Neri of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority (Nov. 16).

Visit www.scnetwork.ca for more information.

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