Autumn 2015 Issue
Recommended Reading: Discover Your True North
Recommended Viewing: 'Friend and Foe': Balancing Competition and Cooperation
From the Web: Top Ten Workplace Skills for Future Organizations and Women in the Workplace Study Results
Using Science to Identify Future Leaders: Part II - The Measurement of Learning Agility
The Power of Coaching: A Meta-Analytic Investigation
What are leaders' experiences of reflection? What leaders and leadership developers need to know ...
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Dear Clients & Partners, 
Welcome to the Autumn 2015 edition of Executive Edge. 

 

Our selections include the second in a three part series on the topic of learning agility, a competency that is used by organizations globally to identify leadership potential. The article helps learning and development practitioners in particular, understand the current state of research and measurement of learning agility. 

 

A new coaching study acknowledges that coaching is an effective intervention for leadership development and at the same time attempts to shed light on the ingredients that contribute to its success. Internal coaches should find the takeaways of interest.


Our third article explores the experience of seven U.K. leaders with their reflective practices and how it has helped them become better leaders. 

 

Noteworthy in the "From the Web" column below is a recently published report on the state of women in leadership. 

 

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. 

 

Sincerely,
 
DCP Margarett

Margaret D'Onofrio
Principal / Executive Coach
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RECOMMENDED READING

Discover Your True North 



By Bill George

Substantially updated since it was first published in 2007, George's new book taps his experience as both a CEO and Harvard Business School professor. In addition to the 125 interviews with leaders (from previous books),
George conducted 47 new interviews to formulate a concrete and comprehensive guide for becoming an authentic leader. 

Check out the review from strategy+business and click the book jacket above to see the reviews on Amazon. 


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The Moment You Can't Ignore: When Big Trouble Leads to a Great Future 




By Malachi O'Connor and
Barry Dornfeld

The authors share stories of people and organizations as they encounter and navigate un-ignorable moments, and show what we can learn from them. 


RECOMMENDED VIEWING 

'Friend and Foe': Balancing Competition and Cooperation
'Friend and Foe': Balancing Competition and Cooperation

From a new book entitled "Friend and Foe" by Wharton professor Maurice Schweitzer and Columbia Business School professor Adam Galinsky, the authors argue that most relationships are more complex than friend or foe. They suggest instead that success depends on being able to cooperate and compete effectively in every relationship.
From the 
Top Ten Workplace Skills for Future Organizations
  
International Journal of Business Research and Management (IJBRM), Volume (6), Issue (2), 2015
By Kelly Y. Senter and Austin McClelland, Sr

In this literature review, doctoral students Senter and McClelland propose ten skills necessary for future organizations. The review extends previous literature regarding the ten skills essential for future organizations.

Web Link - Does not require a subscription

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Women in the Workplace

McKinsey & Company  
September 2015 

McKinsey & LeanIn.org studied 118 organizations and almost 30,000 employees, building McKinsey's 2012 study. The latest study reveals that despite modest improvements, the overarching findings were similar: women remain under-represented at every level of the corporate pipeline, with the disparity greatest at senior levels of leadership.
 
Click to enlarge.
 
Web Link - Does not
require a subscription 

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Using Science to Identify Future Leaders: Part II - The Measurement of Learning Agility 
 
Kenneth P. De Meuse, Ph.D. ResearchGate Sept 2015. 
 
The construct of learning agility is explored by the author in a series of three whitepapers. In Part 1, De Meuse defines learning agility and examines its role in identifying and developing leaders. In both papers he offers the following definition: 
 
"[Learning agility] can be defined as the
ability and willingness to learn the right
lessons from work experiences and then
apply those lessons to perform well in new
and challenging leadership situations
(see De Meuse, Dai, & Hallenbeck, 2010)." 

In this second whitepaper, De Meuse points out that the concept of learning agility is still new, the term having been coined by Mike Lombardo and Bob Eichinger in 2000. Five consulting firms (CCL, DDI, Hay, ChangeWise and Korn/Ferry) offer assessments to measure learning agility. Each assessment defines and measures learning agility differently, as shown in the table below. 



Research scientists are also divided on the construct of learning agility. Some narrowly define it, while others take a broader view. As of now, there is no standard definition of learning agility and no definitive assessment. De Meuse cautions about relying on self-assessment to measure learning agility, while acknowledging the rigor required to use multi-rater surveys and behavioral interviews. 

Where Researchers & Practitioners Agree
Most researchers and practitioners do concur on the following four points. They:
  1. Conceptualize learning agility as learning from work and life experiences
  2. View it as a multi-dimensional psychological construct
  3. Suggest it can be used as a key predictor of leadership potential; and 
  4. Recommend that learning agility be considered an important element in leadership development
Seven Facets of the Learning Agility Construct 
 
De Meuse starts with the five facets of learning agility proposed by Lombardo and Eichinger and proposes the following two additional facets, based on research findings he cites in this paper.
  • Feedback Responsiveness: High performers are much more likely to take corrective actions based on feedback than low performers (feedback responsiveness). 
     
  • Mindfulness: Leaders who give others their full, open, and nonjudgmental attention to the present moment and situation are more effective than their counterparts. 


Conclusion

De Meuse proposes that more research is needed to fully understand the conceptual underpinnings of the learning agility construct (whether two or seven facets) and how best to measure it. In the meantime, learning and development practitioners do have scientific tools to assess, identify and develop their leaders.  

He concludes, "The capability to scientifically measure one's learning agility helps remove the elements of ambiguity, subjectivity, and evaluative biases common during the talent review process."

Web Link - Does not require a paid subscription  
DCP leadership   

The Power of Coaching: A Meta-Analytic Investigation
 
Shirley C. Sonesh, Chris W. Coultas, Christina N. Lacerenza, Shannon L. Marlow, Lauren E. Benishek & Eduardo Salas (2015): Coaching: An International Journal of Theory, Research and Practice.
 
The researchers conducted an empirical literature review, starting with 874 abstracts and narrowing to 24 studies that were included in their analysis. They also tested a proposed conceptual model for understanding the effectiveness of coaching interventions - Figure 1. 
 
The researchers sought to understand the relationship that emerges between the coach and coachee and what specifically contributes to success with three objectives in mind: 
  1. Relationship outcomes: What is the effect of coaching on relationship outcomes? What specific relationship outcomes emerge between coach and coachee that contribute to success? (E.g. trust, credibility, working alliance, rapport, conflict, openness etc.) 
     
  2. Goal-oriented outcomes: How does coaching impact goal attainment(E.g. behavior, attitude and cognitive change). Which are most strongly affected by coaching? 
     
  3. Coach-coachee relationship and coachee goal-oriented outcomes: What role does this relationship play in influencing goal attainment?


Conclusions and Implications

The researchers suggest that coaches need to build strong relationships with coachees. If attitudinal outcomes are the focus of coaching, these will be much harder to attain compared to behavioral outcomes. 

In conclusion, they acknowledge, "There is much work left to be done to achieve a full understanding of the coaching process and its effects, but the preliminary findings are promising. Coaching should continue to be leveraged as a resource to promote various coachee outcomes in a variety of industries, contexts, and settings."  

Web Link - Requires a paid subscription

DCP leadership   
What are leaders' experiences of reflection? What leaders and leadership developers need to know from the findings of an exploratory research study

Elaine Patterson. Reflective Practice (2015) Vol. 16, No. 5, 636-651.

The researcher asked a self-selected sample of senior leaders about their experiences of reflection in order to explore their definitions, processes and benefits from reflection as it relates to their role as leaders. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore what this might mean for the development of future leaders.

Methodology
 
Seven UK-based leaders in executive director posts or equivalent, aged between 45 and 60 years, participated in twelve hours of face-to-face semi-structured interviews consisting of seven questions. The participants saw themselves as engaging in some form of reflection. The interview transcripts were entered into an analytical software package to conduct the analysis.

Findings
 
The seven leaders saw their refection as a structured thinking process that challenged them to think and feel differently; to engage a creative, compassionate versus purely analytical brain; and to facilitate learning from experience. 

The paper explores the findings which are summarized by the following graphic, concluding that "refection can be seen as an act of creation; as a process for bringing forth something new into the world - be it an idea, a connection, a feeling, an act, a relationship, a service, a product or a solution - instead of repeating past patterns."
 

Practical Implications
 
The researcher discusses the implications of the study for leaders, the leadership community and for leadership developers, coaches and coach supervisors.
 
Leaders have a role to play in leading a new quality of thinking for the benefit of themselves, their people and their organizations. Reflective practices would appear to have untapped potential for supporting stress reduction and employee well-being. 

The emergence of a "leader practitioner" who sponsors a new quality of thinking is advocated to position leadership as a profession rather than a job. 

Finally, OD/LD professionals and coaches are encouraged to develop programs that develop leaders from the inside out where their consciousness is expanded and learning becomes a lifelong journey 
 
 Web Link - Requires a paid subscription  
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