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How to teach OKRs and leadership

You have probably had the experience of teaching someone how to drive a car.  If not, imagine the scene.

 

Your objective is to teach enough basic skills so that your loved one can drive away.  You start by teaching safety protocols like “wear your seat belt” and “always keep two hands on the steering wheel at “9 and 3.”  Then you explain the functions of the gas pedal, brake pedal, gears and all those shiny buttons on the dashboard.  Then you offer encouragement as your loved one shifts into gear and drives from 0 to 30 mph within a minute.  Your Key Results (KRs) often follow that formula “from x to y by date.” 

     Objectives are defined as “what you do.”  They are qualitative and each person in the organization can write their own.

     Key Results are defined as “how you measure that objective.”  They are quantitative and answer the formula “as measured by.”

     OKRs are defined as “a management methodology that helps people focus efforts on the same important issues throughout the organization.”

For a 3-minute excerpt of a keynote presentation on OKR Leadership that I provided in December, 2019 to over 700m business leaders in Denver, CO, click here.

 

The “Father of OKRs” title is attributed to Andy Grove, the founder and CEO of Intel.  You may know that Andy literally wrote the textbook on semiconductors in 1967, well before Silicon Valley attracted the largest migration of assets in human history.   You may also know that Andy wrote “Only the Paranoid Survive” in 1996, as a reminder of market volatility and the need to measure the details.  His father was killed at Auschwitz, and he fled Nazism with his mother at age 20.

John Doerr worked for Andy.  John learned how to implement OKRs.  Then, in 1997, John made an $11.8M investment in 12% of Google when working as a venture capitalist at Kleiner-Perkins.  The co-founders of Google wanted to organize data globally.  When John introduced OKRs to Google, Larry Page said, “Well, we need to adopt some management approach.”  The rest is history.  I recommend John Doerr’s book, Measure What Matters, (2018) for examples ranging from the Gates Foundation to Bono.

     Here are my examples of teaching OKRs to leaders in a small business and a large business.

     I was consulting the CEO and owner of a $40M retail business that required succession planning to transition the next generation of leaders.  At a management meeting I observed that the managers did not describe their business using any metrics.  I asked the owner, “Where are the metrics that these managers are using to drive their business?”  He sighed with fatigue, like so many small business owners.  I provided OKR definitions and templates and a free course on OKR leadership skills that you can access here.  Then I worked with several key managers.  One manager’s objective was to increase profit margins by 6% Y/Y.  KR1 was to identify current measures for sales, expenses, overhead, profit within 30 days.  KR2 was to distribute a one-page business summary to all other managers within 40 days.  KR3 was to track and reward increased profit margins within 60 days.  The result of his OKR leadership was that he modeled accountability, transparency and business results for the other managers within 60 days.

     I was consulting the president of a Fortune 500 business with $5B in annual revenue and over 10,000 full time employees in North America.  Their 20-year-old company grew quickly as a result of acquisitions.  The result was that silos of trust and information sharing were preventing consistent accounting practices.  I asked, “How are you measuring your desired results?”  He stuttered and said, “Not well.  We increased revenue and retained a lot of good people but sometimes I wonder if we’re measuring what we need to be measuring.”  I provided some OKR definitions and templates and vendor resources.  Then he defined his OKRs and shared them with his top 60 leaders in a training that I delivered.   Then I provided team coaching for those top 60 leaders so that they could cascade OKRs throughout their organization for three months. The results were uneven, as we expected.  People were experimenting with the OKR language as if they were new vocabulary words.  Three months of uneven applications passed.  The OKR process gained momentum in the annual meeting when the president spoke to 650 of their top leaders.  He declared, “As long as I’m in this role we are going to implement OKRs and increase our profit margins.”  He shared his business OKRs.  Minutes later, I followed him onto the main stage to introduce OKRs to those 650 leaders.  I led demonstrations with 6 of his top leaders.  Then I lead workshops to practice implementing OKRs within their organization.  His KRs included training, technology, and rewards tied to increased profit margins.  We are still assessing the impact of that OKR process.

The challenge of OKRs is not in introducing them as an initiative.   Anyone can introduce an evidence-based initiative.  

     The challenge in the OKR process is adopting an ongoing cadence of accountability and rewards.  Learning requires feedback.  Managers, by definition, need to maximize the productivity of others.  The core skill of managers is coaching.  We trademarked the AD-FITTM coaching process to teach managers the required steps to provide feedback to others.   Our experience is that those managers who adopt the AD-FITTM process accelerate the performance and behavior outcomes of others.   For a free course on how to apply the AD-FITTM process for Managers click here.

Smart managers and leaders typically understand OKRs pretty quickly.  The challenge is “in the details” as Andy Grove reminded us.  Over 30% of the companies on today’s NYSE and F500 did not exist 20 years ago.  There is no reason to assume that your organization should exist 20 years from now. 

We should talk about your organization if you need to respond to market changes.  If you would like a free course on OKR leadership skills with definitions and templates, then click here.  We would be delighted to work with you.

Call any time.

2018

Here are some gifts from 2018 that I’d like to share with you, my clients and associates.

I strongly recommend that you save this url in your contact for “Doug Gray” or “Action Learning Associates.”

You may want to download this new content and add it to your digital folder for “Action Learning Associates.”   There are many great resources here!

Here’s to you, at your best!  When playing with new friends like Spider Monkeys, or not.

doug graydoug gray

Q4 included several customized leadership development workshops.

  • One F500 client wanted to “develop a culture of fiscal accountability using Objectives and Key Results (OKRs).”  If you are a client and want to see the customized app that included that content please contact me here.
  • One client wanted to “introduce positive psychology practices into their organization.”  Over 1,300 people have viewed the content here.
  • One F500 client wanted to “develop the executive presence and the reputations of their leaders.”   A video of that content is here.
  •  Several small business leaders wanted succession planning content to accelerate their leadership to the next generation.

Q3 included trademarking the AD-FIT model for any managers or professional coaches to use.

  • Many clients asked, “What works?”  They needed a process or protocol to cascade consistent expectations to direct reports, to serve clients, to lead others effectively.
  • A 90-second video explanation is at https://action-learning.com/ and here
  • The AD-FIT process for external providers, consultants and coaches is at https://www.whycoachesfail.com/ .
  • The AD-FIT process for managers and leaders is athttps://action-learning.com/action-leadership-store/
  • The AD-FIT Level 1 Certification Course is at www.WhyCoachesFail.  If you are a client and would like free access please contact me here.
  • Many consultants, managers and professional coaches have completed the AD-FIT Level 1 Certification Course.  And I have been invited to share the AD-FIT model at the Metrics That Matter conference hosted by Explorance, in March, 2019.  Contact me for licensing details.

Q2 included my PhD in Organizational Leadership dissertation defense from the Chicago School of Professional Psychology.

  • My dissertation title was “Positive Psychology Coaching Protocols: Creating Competitive Advantage for Leader Development.
  • My abstract / summary was:  A gap exists between positive psychology coaching (PPC) theory and practice because PPC lacks rigorous measurement, evidence-based protocols and standard processes. This quasi-experimental study assessed the relationship between PPC protocols and performance or behavioral outcomes of leaders. The participants were global professional coaches (n = 220) who completed two sets of surveys after delivering 90 days of coaching, and completed approximately 60 minutes of digital training. The primary assessments were (a) the Psychological Capital Questionnaire (PCQ-12), (b) the Values in Action (VIA-72) questionnaire, and (c) the Outcome Measures Survey that included the Goal Attainment Satisfaction (GAS) score. The PPC protocols included compliance using assessments, defining meaningful coaching outcomes, compliance over time, and compliance with the AD-FIT coaching protocol. Those participants with higher compliance to the AD-FIT coaching protocol (n = 16) reported slightly higher goal attainment scores than the participants with lower compliance (n = 18). Open text box analysis was conducted to deepen understanding of the relationship between participation and leader outcomes. The top two performance outcomes (n =100 responses) were increased productivity and focus. The top two behavior outcomes (n =115 responses) were improved relationships and effectiveness. The theoretical, methodological and practical significance of this research indicate opportunities to create competitive advantage in leader development.
  • A riveting 60-minute video of the dissertation defense with research findings is hosted at https://www.youtube.com/user/dgrayful/videos
  • In Q4 the dissertation was finally published online for researchers at ProQuest.  If you’d like a copy in PDF please contact me.
  • Yes, you may now call me Dr. Doug Gray, if you wish.

Q1 included a website redesign and marketing with new content.

A final note for your files…

All of you who are individual or team coaching clients are familiar with this new client intake document.   Here is a very generous gift.  When I work with leaders I ALWAYS use the AD-FIT process.  Since 1997.  It works.  Outcome-based coaching is a straightforward process.   I strongly recommend that YOU adopt the AD-FIT protocols.  Click on the bullet below.  Then download the content.  Then use these 28 validated outcomes for executive coaching or business coaching.  Leaders practice leadership, just as physicians practice medicine and attorneys practice law.

A friend recently asked why I like to GIVE AWAY so much content to my clients and associates.  I have several answers:

  1.   You are my champions and buying agents who will download and share this new content as you see fit.
  2.   My ancestors are teachers and ministers, accustomed to sharing practical knowledge.  I know what works.
  3.   I can share everything I know, and still know it.  Wisdom is meant to be shared.

May you have an OUTSTANDING 2019!

Should You Invest In A Leadership Workshop For Your Team?

leadership workshop

Managers, by definition, must maximize the productivity of others.  When we ask audiences, “How many of you are managers?” over 70% of the audience typically raise their hands.  Many do not have the word “manager” in their title.

As managers, you know that it is your job to maximize productivity and outcomes from your employees.  You need evidence-based best practices in leadership development.  Today.  And you need to demonstrate the ROI of that leadership workshop within 90 – 180 days.  There is a myth that leadership development programs should only be scheduled in the spring and fall, to avoid conflicts with vacations.  The reality is that leadership development workshops include both direct and virtual content that reinforces your outcomes.  Our programs last 3-12 months.  You should invest in a leadership development provider (like Action Learning Associates) because it is cost-effective and efficient.  Your core business is something else.  Our core business is to accelerate leader development.

Here are three reasons why YOU SHOULD invest in a leadership development workshop today.  

  1.  Investment in a leadership workshop should directly increase your team’s engagement 

Leaders need to practice leadership, just as attorneys practice law and physicians practice medicine.  Many studies have shown that when employees are engaged in leadership workshops they are then more likely to be engaged in the workforce. An employee who is more engaged is a) more effective at required tasks, b) more efficient on key performance indicators or objectives and key results (OKRs), and c) more likely to stay employed at your organization.  Retention of desired employees is a requirement in today’s competitive Talent Economy.  Be smart.  You never want to retain average employees- but you DO WANT to retain 100% of your desired employees.  And leadership development workshops are the most cost-effective way for you to increase retention of your desired employees.  We recommend that 70% of your promotions are internal, to encourage career ladders and talent succession.  We strongly recommend that you invest in 100% of your top performers with leadership development programs AT LEAST twice/ year.

2.  Investment in leadership workshops can help you develop your workplace culture

Culture can be developed, and must be developed, in response to changing market demands.  Ask anyone involved in leadership development coaching, and they will tell you that culture cannot be left to chance.   That would be reckless.   The academics describe culture as “how organizations function.”   As an example, we recently provided a leadership development workshop around ONE objective, “to create a culture of fiscal accountability using Objectives and Key Results (OKRs).”  Let me explain…

Culture is best described using three overlapping circles.  Label each circle as: 1) underlying assumptions, 2) espoused behavior, and 3) artifacts.

1) underlying assumptions are the shared beliefs of your organization, including history of acquisitions, traits of key leaders who get promoted faster, competencies of leaders with higher reputations, or that unspoken assumption you have about a market or colleague.

2) espoused behaviors describe what we say we do, including common phrases such as “I’ll solve this” or “that’s not my problem.” Notice the difference between what we say we do, and what we actually do.

3) artifacts are tangible symbols of the culture, such as a new National  office in Nashville, TN for centralized services and consistent management of others. The cultural values posted in the lobby are artifacts of how you work.

Fact:  All three of these aspects of culture can change quickly.  Therefore, you NEED to invest in leadership development workshops to develop your desired organizational culture.   Today.  

3.  Investment in a leadership workshop should improve employee morale

Many studies have shown that large organizations are investing less time, money, energy and training  in their employees than they did 10 years ago.  Professional development discretionary budgets have plummeted from over $10,000 per person in 2008 to $4,000 per person in 2018.   Today, we invest more into maintaining cars and machines than we do in our most critical variable-  people.  That trend is reckless.   If you are investing less in your people than you did 10 years ago then you are LITERALLY in a race to the bottom of your market.   Look at the fact that only 35% of today’s F500 companies have been there for more than 50 years.  If you want to increase employee morale, then you need to invest in your top employees.  Nothing is a more critical investment.  Today.  Employee morale is NOT a lagging indicator.  If you want to develop agile problem solvers, then you need to invest in leadership development workshops.  You can make employee morale into a leading indicator.  Today.

You should not invest in a leadership workshop IF you do not care about 1) employee engagement, 2) workplace culture, or 3) employee morale.  We do NOT want to talk to you.  We wish you Godspeed.

You should invest in a leadership workshop IF you do care about 1) employee engagement, 2) workplace culture, or 3) employee morale.  We DO want to talk to you.  Today.  

We provide outcome-based leadership development workshops that guarantee your results.  We deliver programs throughout the United States and Canada.  We provide expert leadership coaching and executive coaching services, based in Nashville, TN or globally.  We’d like to visit you ASAP.

Contact us here.  Today.

If you are based in the Nashville, TN area then we are neighbors.  See details for leadership training for your employees here.   We’d like to visit you ASAP.

Proposals, feedback process, and why dogs are wiser than you.

THE PROCESS IS SPONSORED BY: Action-Learning.com

How to make your next proposal better than your last one.

Let’s face it, of all the skills you can bring to bear to help your clients, the limiting factor is your ability to get proposals signed. You need to make money. You want to share your genius with the world world. You need to get your proposal written and sold. You need to deliver value at each step of the sales process. Here are three great ways to write coaching proposals that sell. You can be smarter than your competitors.

  1. Less fluff, more value.  Your job is to add value and solve your client’s problems. Nothing else matters. Your model, framework, tactic or magical gifts do NOT provide value to your client. Your solution is the value. Stay focused on the results you can deliver.

2.  Fewer credentials, more results.  Congratulations, your certification/ degree is a huge accomplishment. But nobody understands what it means. Make sure more space is devoted to results than credentials.

3.  Make it easy to understand.  If your buyer has to exercise their brain to realize how good your proposal is, then you haven’t done the work required to make it great. Keep the structure simple.

The Feedback Process

EXPERT CONTRIBUTOR: Tom Stone

We all talk about feedback a lot. Most leaders think they do it well. But my opinion is that we simply don’t know how to give feedback well. The problem is our inability to give good feedback creates problems down the road.

A lack of feedback gives people unspoken approval for unacceptable behavior. This false approval encourages people to continue patterns of behavior that don’t help them or anyone else.

But it gets worse. Everyone in an organization is constantly evaluating competency. So a lack of feedback not only affects the person who needs to receive, but it also affects everybody else who knows that feedback should be given.

A leader is never out from under the microscope. Giving good feedback is one of the surest ways to encourage effective behavior and to demonstrate leadership competency. It is a skill that can be learned, and we can learn to teach it and demand it as part of our culture.

Feedback leads to learning.

The Leadership Wisdom of Dogs

EXPERT CONTRIBUTOR: Krissi Barr

The attributes, traits and characteristics that separate leaders from the rest of the pack can be clearly seen in the behavior of dogs: loyalty, perseverance, friendship, teamwork, honesty, bravery, ingenuity, playfulness, curiosity and an unflagging desire for more information.I call it the Fido Factor.

Faithful leaders earn the trust of their team and their customers by doing the right things and living up to their word.

Inspirational leaders move people to do the meaningful and the extraordinary.

Determined leaders combine perseverance with a dose of fearlessness to keep moving toward goals.

Observant leaders are committed to taking in as much information as possible in order to make the best decisions.

Get More Krissi:

Her book: https://www.amazon.com/Fido-Factor-Krissi-Barr/dp/0999165607

What the heck is The Process? 

Our Credo: (if you like these beliefs, then you’ll love us)

1.      Chaos in the marketplace for “professional coaching” can be reduced with outcome-based protocols.

2.      The strengths of professional coaches (e.g., integrity, fairness, collaboration, leadership, bravery) can be leveraged to co-create the future of professional coaching.

3.      Teams are stronger than individuals. Collaborative projects reduce individual risk and yield higher rewards.

4.      Expert leadership coaches and authors will contribute best practices and attract more users or followers.

FACT:

There are over 50,000 “professional coaches” in a $7B global industry that lacks professionalism.  Literally anyone with a business card can self-declare that they are a “professional coach.”

OPINION:

The result is chaos in the marketplace, unethical practices, and a market ripe for disruption and consolidation.

The Process is a community of expert leadership consultants and coaches.  Join us.

Your Next Steps (How you can help):

1.     Are you subscribed to the Process? If not, click here

2.     Forward this email to ALL the leadership consultants you know.

3.     Are you an expert?      Yes, you are.   Submit some expert content and share your genius with the world. Click here.

Thanks for being part of The Process,

Patrick E. McLean and Doug Gray

What is the best certification or methodology for executive coaching?

Recently I was asked this question by someone who desperately wanted to be certified as an “executive coach.”

Be careful.  Here are the facts.

There is not one “best coaching certification or methodology for those who work with executives,” for several reasons.

1. Executive coaching is a new approach with a short history (about 20 years) within psychology (about 100 years). The protocols that would be “certifiable” have not yet been well defined.  There is no external board or established practices, as in other professions such as healthcare, finance or law. I often ask, “Who certifies the certifiers?” (And I have been certified by several coaching providers for decades.)  One example of certification based on my dissertation research with global professional coaches is here.

2. The coach training industry is estimated at 53,500 global coach practitioners and over $7B in annual revenue, with 115 accredited coach training programs (ICF, 2016). The reality is that coaching certifications and silly acronyms abound.  I co-developed one back in 1999, when there were only about 20 ICF accredited coach training programs.

3. There is market confusion about definitions and coaching outcomes. The result is that vendors have responded to the market confusion. A gap exists between theory and practice because executive coaching lacks rigorous measurement, evidence-based protocols and standard processes. The largest organization, the International Coaching Federation (ICF) stated “the top future obstacles for coaching are (a) untrained individuals and (b) marketplace confusion (ICF, 2016).” That survey understates the confusion. Your question illustrates the desire by many to “get certified.”

4. In any marketplace vacuum, competitors emerge. Countless colleges and universities will declare that their certification programs define standards. Be careful. That archaic model presumes that academics know best, and we are increasingly aware of disruption in the marketplace. I like academics. My dissertation explored the competitive advantage of coaching protocols, using global professional coaches. As the “coaching profession” develops momentum, I encourage you to study the practical market demands for coaching protocols. You may want to be cautious. “The top future opportunities for coaching are (a) increased awareness of the benefits of coaching, and (b) credible data on ROI/ROE/outcomes (ICF, 2016)”. In short, we need to define protocols for outcome-based coaching, including useful certification programs.

5. Certification programs exist. I favor the ROI methodology described at the ROI Institute, and a 2-level executive coaching certification process. Last week the co-founder, Patti Phillips, and I discussed certification programs that moved beyond knowledge to practical demonstrations of mastery. She encouraged me to focus on practical applications. (Disclosure: I trademarked the AD-FIT coaching protocol when some F500 clients asked “How do you operationalize what works?” Those details are at Products Archive – Action Learning (https://actionlearnin.wpengine.com/products/) and throughout this website. The fact is that “Many professional consultants or coaches do not adhere to evidence-based protocols (Foster & Auerbach, 2015; MacKie, 2014. Citation sources available upon request.)

6. Organizational clients may design their own executive coaching certification programs. They are cost-effective and foster cultural expectations. (Disclosure: I also serve as an engagement manager and executive coach at CoachSource | Executive Coaching Excellence (http://coachsource.com/), the largest global provider of executive coaching.)  Those internal coaching certification programs are customized internally, with expertise from coaches like me, for specific business outcomes that are proprietary.

Bottom line: Certification for executive coaching implies a mature profession with protocols that satisfy a market demand.

If useful, please contact me here. I’d love to discuss your interest in executive coaching certification programs.

All the best, Doug

How Can Positive Psychology Help You Be A Better Leader?

You may have heard about Positive Psychology. But, you may not know “What it is? Why does it matter to you? How can it help you or your team?”

Here are some quick answers and 5 riveting videos for you to share.

1. Let’s start with “What is Positive Psychology?”

In simple terms, it is the art and science of well-being. Think of you “at your best.” Maximizing your strengths. Asking, “What would make my life more meaningful” or “How can my team flourish?”

2. Why does it matter to you?

Here are some of the benefits of Positive Psychology:

  • Enhanced individual and organization learning
  • Improved social relationships
  • Better workplace performance and productivity
  • Enhanced problem solving and creativity
  • Increased job satisfaction

(Fredrickson, 1998E; Lyubomirsky, King, & Diener, 2005)

3. Now, how can it help you or your team?

Positive Psychology is a vast science with countless applications. The most inclusive model to describe well-being is called PERMA.

PERMA Model

The PERMA Model was developed by my favorite psychologist, Martin Seligman. (We have met twice and discussed my research on positive psychology coaching.) I strongly recommend his seminal 2011 book, “Flourish”.

“PERMA” stands for the five essential elements that contribute to individual or team well-being. These are:

1. Positive Emotion (P)
For us to experience well-being, we need positive emotion in our lives. Any positive emotion such as gratitude, satisfaction, hope, curiosity, or love falls into this category. We each have subjective experiences of positive emotions.
I made a short video on Positive Emotion (P) for you. You can watch it here.

2. Engagement (E)
When we’re truly engaged in a situation, task, or project, we experience a state of flow. Time seems to stop, we lose our sense of self. We concentrate intensely on the present. We excel at challenging tasks. You can increase engagement for yourself and your team.
I made a short video on Engagement (E). You can watch it here.

3. Positive Relationships (R)
Humans are social beings and good relationships are core to our well-being. You can develop meaningful, positive relationships with others. We can measure fMRI images that describe the quality of your relationships. We can develop better relationships and accelerate behavioral or performance outcomes. (That was my dissertation research.) Curious about the details?
I made a short video on Positive Relationships (R). You can watch it here.

4. Meaning (M)
Meaning results when we serve a cause bigger than ourselves. Your meaningful outcome may be quantitative (e.g., earn $100k/year or give away 15% of earnings per year). Your meaningful outcome may be qualitative (e.g., care for your loved ones or serve humanity in some way.) We all need meaning in our lives to develop well-being.
I made a short video on Meaning (M) for you. You can watch it here.

5. Accomplishment/Achievement (A)
Many of us strive to master a skill, achieve a goal, or win some competitive event. Achievement defines us. Or not. Accomplishment is another element that contributes to our ability to flourish.
For specific details, I made a short video on Accomplishment/Achievement (A). You can watch it here.

Now that you understand the PERMA model, I hope you will use it to increase your well-being and help your teams flourish.

P.S. Let me know how you are flourishing?

P.P.S. Let me know if you like this long-form email or if you prefer the shorter ones?

Action leads to learning.  What are you waiting for?

To contact Doug Gray, CEO, PCC, call 615.236.1892 or contact us here.  Today.