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Welcome to the Summer 2014 edition of Executive Edge. I hope you are enjoying a wonderful Summer season.
In this edition, you'll find information on current leadership theories and research sourced and abstracted from preeminent academic journals and leading management authors. The theme for this edition is power and politics, including strengthening professional relationships.
We hope our selections are informative and thought-provoking, as well as providing you with ideas, tools and resources to facilitate your success as a leader as well as aid in the development of others. Do let me know if you'd like to know more about any of these studies.
Principal / Executive Coach
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Please Note Our New Office Address
As a reminder, D'Onofrio Consulting Partners is now located at:
1700 Post Oak Boulevard,
2 BLVD Place, Suite 600,
Houston, Texas, 77056.
If you're visiting us, please make a note of our new location!
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RECOMMENDED READING
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Power Cues: The Subtle Science of Leading Groups, Persuading Others, and Maximizing Your Personal Impact
Speaking coach and communication expert Nick Morgan reveals research that highlights how we are programmed to respond to the nonverbal cues of others -subtle gestures, sounds, and signals that elicit emotion. Using a framework of seven "power cues", Morgan covers crucial skills such as measuring nonverbal signs of confidence, the art and practice of gestures and vocal tones and figuring out what your gut is really telling you. A must read for leaders and aspiring leaders to connect powerfully, communicate more effectively, and command influence.
Here are three quick tips from Morgan to three quick tips to work today to increase your persuasiveness with others.
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RECOMMENDED VIEWING
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Roselinde Torres: What it takes to be a great leader
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Roselinde Torres describes 25 years observing truly great leaders at work, and shares the three simple but crucial questions would-be company chiefs need to ask to thrive in the future.
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From the
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What's the Secret to Leadership Presence?
strategy+business
June 2014
by Sally Helgesen
Helgesen aruges that people who give us their undivided attention manifest presence and yet this quality is becoming more elusive in our multi-tasking world.
Web Link - Does not require a paid subscription
When to Schedule Your Most Important Work
HBR June 26, 2014
by Ron Friedman
Web Link - Does not require a paid subscription
How to Spend the First 10 Minutes of Your Day
HBR June 19, 2014
by Ron Friedman
Web Link - Does not require a paid subscription
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Transforming Crippling Company Politics
Charles Spinosa, Christopher Davis, Billy Glennon. Organizational Dynamics Volume 43, Pages 88-95 Volume June 2014.
 Negative politics can add 20% to an organization's operating costs. This article discusses the foundation of politics and suggests that typical programs shift a few norms, but not the underlying emotional-normative context.
Four Negative Structural Moods and Their
Positive Counterparts
Drawing on philosophy (Heidegger) and neurology, the authors argue that mood matters. When we join an organization, we are initially aware of company moods, but that awareness dies as the mood possesses us. Based on 25 years experience in 150+ small and large organizations, the authors propose that most organizations are in one of four negative or positive moods, each of which has a counterpart mood (see table below), which has to be achieved to bring about change.
Practical Applications
The authors describe four companies whose leaders transformed one of the four negative structural moods into its positive counterpart using three building blocks:
- Getting into the counterpart mood and seeing the old politics. Different techniques are used for different moods. E.g. Resigned teams get into the mood of zeal when they listen to candid assessments from zealous, raving-fan customers.
- Starting to manage in the style of the counterpart mood. With coaching, leaders go through the unnatural ''outward motions'' of establishing a management practice that expresses the counterpart mood and forces their personal transformation.
- Making the new practice and mood pervasive. The leader gives his/her team the opportunity to experience the counterpart mood, creating the climate for the practice to bear the counterpart
mood until it is institutionalized.
As the authors conclude:
"Leaders can turn around the negative politics that grew up under them. The change requires (1) realizing the importance of politics, (2) knowing the foundation of the different kinds of politics in structural moods (following Heidegger), (3) knowing the four different kinds of negative and counterpart positive moods and politics, and (4) deploying the basic building blocks for change."
Web Link - May Require Paid Subscription
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Using Political Skill to Maximize and Leverage Work Relation-ships
Phillip Braddy, Ph.D. and Michael Campbell. Center for Creative Leadership. 2013.
This white paper presents the results of research conducted by the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL), and other scholars. The authors introduce four distinct practices that leaders can use to harness the positive effects of political skill. Each of these is briefly defined below and is based on the work of Ferris et al. 2005.
In CCL's studies, 200 leaders rated the extent to which they used each of the four political skill practices in their own leadership roles, examining factors such as a leader's gender or job level within his/her organization. They concluded that leaders:
- May be overplaying their strengths in some areas (sincerity and interpersonal influence) and not effectively leveraging the entire political skill repertoire. Gender and job level did not impact these findings.
- Who employed these four political skill practices to a great extent were perceived by their coworkers (i.e., direct reports, peers, and bosses) to exhibit greater leadership effectiveness compared to leaders who under-utilized these practices.
 The whitepaper offers two example challenges faced by leaders (managing collaboration and developing talent) and by means of a series of questions, helps leaders understand how they might apply the four political skill practices in the context of each of these challenges.
The paper concludes with a 12-item self assessment and developmental activities to strengthen skill in each of the four practice areas.
Web Link - Does not require a paid subscription
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Understanding the Role of Networking in Organizations
Carter Gibson, Jay H. Hardy III & M. Ronald Buckley. Career Development International, Vol. 19 No. 2, 2014 pp. 146-16.
 This paper examines the subject of networking in organizations. The authors argue that there is a significant demand for services that help individuals develop and nurture their network which benefits individuals personally and professionally, as well as contributing to greater organizational functioning. Gibson et al explore research and theory of the definition, antecedents, outcomes, and mechanisms of networking. One notable contribution the authors offer from this review is a consensus around the following definition of networking.
"We define [networking] as a form of
goal-directed behavior, both inside and
outside of an organization, focused on
creating, cultivating and utilizing
interpersonal relationships."
The authors' model (shown below) proposes that networking is influenced by organizational, job and individual factors, leading to diverse individual and organizational outcomes resulting from access to information and social capital.
 | | Theoretical model of the antecedents, mechanisms and outcomes of networking |
Results and Practical Application
- Individuals: networking is influenced by many individual variables (personality, gender, education etc.) and leads to many positive outcomes (increased visibility and power and career success, including salary). Individuals need to view networking as more than meeting new people or building a large network. Time has to be invested in maintaining connections to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes.
- Organizations: can be influenced by and influence networking. While the positive aspects include increased job performance and strategic information, not all outcomes are desirable (external networking is associated with turnover). However, organizations can foster a culture of internal networking and implement policies to promote the practice. (The authors point out that mentoring and networking are closely related concepts.)
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In Closing ...
I hope you have enjoyed this issue of Executive Edge. Like us on Facebook to receive more leadership articles and ideas throughout the year.
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Margaret D'Onofrio
Principal & Executive Coach
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 D'Onofrio Consulting Partners is a founding member of Columbia Coaching Alliance, a world-class group of seasoned executive and organizational coaches with diverse industry experience and unparalleled capability. Their access to Columbia's cutting-edge research in psychology, neuroscience, and organizational development establish an unmatched resource in the field and, together with their global professional network of coaching associations and support personnel, enable organizations to leverage their human capital advantage.
D'Onofrio Consulting Partners is a proud member of:  Margaret D'Onofrio Principal & Executive Coach 1700 Post Oak Boulevard, 2 BLVD Place, Suite 600, Houston, TX 77056 Tel: (713)-963-3673
Fax: (281)-286-1129
Copyright © 2014 D'Onofrio Consulting Partners. All rights reserved.
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