I’m often surprised at what business psychologists know, that ANYONE could benefit from knowing and practicing…
This content is #1 of 3 articles.
Title: The HERO Model: An approach for Navigating Organizational Changes in Family Enterprises
All leaders and advisors struggle with Organizational Change. How could our work be anything else? Family enterprises are infinitely complex. No one likes to be told to change. We all bring our biases and adopt heuristics to reduce that complexity. Attorneys say, “We mitigate risk.” Wealth advisors say, “We leverage capital assets.” Next Gens say, “We want to innovate.”
We all use heuristics (patterns for what works) to reinforce the structures that reflect our worldview for each family system. One common example is the multidisciplinary views of capital, that include financial, social, human, family, legacy, and intellectual views of capital. Those views of capital are resource-based, and the capital diminishes as we age. In my final years, for example, I will forget people and information, and my financial assets will be invested into healthcare… just like each of our clients.
What would happen if more practitioners adopted a more pervasive and universal view of capital?
Social psychologists (like me) know that Psychological Capital (PsyCap) is a dynamic, validated construct that can be used to describe our clients. PsyCap is defined as a construct based on 4 inter-related competencies: Hope, Efficacy, Resilience, and Optimism (see the APA link here, or read the book here).
As the primary author, Fred Luthans, recently stated to me, “PsyCap has and continues to take off across the world … I have over 166,000 citations of my research which has been awarded in the top 1% of all researchers in all fields in the world and ranks #1 in organizational behavior textbooks. In other words, I am very happy with how PsyCap research is going, especially in the global economy.” (direct communication 9.5.24).
The HERO model is more than a convenient acronym. The HERO-within model is a critical approach that practitioners can apply at multiple levels- individual, team/ family, and organizational/ societal.
I have applied the PsyCap model with countless clients for decades. You can also do so!
And ANYONE can apply this model to themselves.
Practitioners, by definition, need to practice new behaviors and share them widely. My opinion is that practitioners have a fiduciary responsibility to practice both new ideas (innovation) and celebrate strengths (stability) every day.
The purpose of these 3 short articles is to introduce the HERO model, like a new vocabulary term, and examples that can be applied by advisors in any discipline. I invite you to assess how you can apply these practical examples with yourself, your loved ones, and with the clients you serve.
Imagine that you are building a house with a garden that you hope will support generations of loved ones. Hope is defined as “the will and the way” to build a better future (read the book here). Every business founder believes “I can build this product or service.” Their hopes are often defined in founder’s history books or videos, vision statements, the stories told and re-told at gatherings. Efficacy is the capacity to build that new house, to get the job done. We all use blueprints such as values statements, family constitutions, charters, phased strategic plans for new projects. Resilience is our capacity to respond to adversity by returning to the same or a better level. Examples include our responses to global disease, market adversity, or loss of our loved ones. Optimism is our choice to believe in a positive outcome, such as well-being for our children and grandchildren. All four of these competencies can be measured, taught in under 90 minutes, and developed over time. The PsyCap impact is more significant when all four competencies are measured (a second-order effect) than when only one or three competencies are measured.
Here are examples for how we can accelerate PsyCap at three levels: Individual, Team/ Family and Organizational/ Societal.
Article #1 of 3: The HERO Model applied at the Individual level
We all need to look in the mirror at times. We all need to exhale. All good leadership development models start with self-awareness and lead to new actions, so it makes sense to start this list of activities with assessments, then several new behaviors that you can implement immediately.
A. Pre-Meeting or Annual Surveys. For years I’ve embedded these 4 questions into surveys so that I can provide a summary of PsyCap changes over time. Directions: On a scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high) how do you assess each of the following?
1. Hope. I have “the will and the way” to achieve my goals.
2. Efficacy. I feel confident that I know what I need to do to achieve my goals.
3. Resiliency. I can get through difficult times or challenges.
4. Optimism. I am optimistic about what will happen to me in the future.
When I share the data, I also encourage people to use these four vocabulary words regularly.
B. Self-Assessments. Individuals and teams can clarify values using free tools like https://www.viacharacter.org/ or https://www.lifevaluesinventory.org/
Personality and behavioral data including strengths and derailers can be assessed from https://www.hoganassessments.com/ or https://www.discprofile.com/
C. 360-Assessments. The most valid form of assessment is anonymously collected from others and focuses on the behaviors of family and non-family leaders. See my process at https://assessnextgen.com/
D. Reflected Best Self activity. When I ask 10-15 people to describe my strengths and weaknesses, those details can help me identify how I can be “At My Best.” Our colleagues and loved ones may never have been asked to provide feedback or advice. (See details at https://hbr.org/2005/01/how-to-play-to-your-strengths).
E. Three Good Things. The gold standard in social science, with over 100 years of research, occurs when a random sample population repeatedly has a significant result from an isolated behavior. Imagine that you practice this new behavior for a week. When going to bed, write down or state out loud Three Good Things that happened that day. Simple activity, right? If we measured your subjective well-being (happiness) daily, it would increase. Related prosocial measures, like gratitude and kindness, also increase. If you extend your Three Good Things activity into a journal for months and years, then you can ask your loved ones if they notice any results. (read the book here).
F. Adopt a metaphor, such as building a new house with a garden where your great grandchildren can flourish. When we “design a future self or future house” then we can adopt that metaphor and practice flourishing. Ask any founder. Or ask any parent. When we hold newborn children, we always whisper our best intentions and hopes. Why not do the same for yourself and your clients?
Time to pause… what do you think?
Article #2 in this series will focus on the team/ family level.
Article #3 in this series will focus on the organizational/ societal levels of organizational change.
Conclusion
Like every practitioner, I’m regularly reminded of how little I know. I ask for advice, and read, and on good days I listen well. Then I try something new. The PsyCap term may be new to some readers. However, the words “hope, efficacy, resilience and optimism” are ancient and familiar.
If we embrace the HERO model for our loved ones and our clients, then we are practicing ancient wisdom, in a new way. (See my riveting dissertation here).
My experience is that Psychological Capital describes family-centric values over a longer term than any other measure of capital.
Please add your thoughts if you share that bias or want to continue this conversation!
RE: The Positive Organizational Leadership Project (POLP)
Goal:
Invite practitioners/ leaders/ consultants to share digital stories of HOW they are applying Positive Psychology individually and organizationally.
Assumptions:
Leaders practice leadership. We can all be better leaders.
We can leverage technology and our communities.
Relationships matter. When we model relationships that matter, then we increase awareness and learning.
Background:
After attending the International Positive Psychology Association conference in Montreal, Canada, in July, 2017 one theme stood clear. Marketing and branding for practitioners using positive psychology is NOT well defined. Market confusion abounds. This Positive Organizational Leadership Project emerged as one initiative to help practitioners share HOW they serve clients in our global marketplace. Join us?
Process:
(a) share this invitation broadly, (b) schedule a 30-minute session with Doug Gray here or at https://actionlearnin.wpengine.com/ (c) receive Time Trade confirmation with calendar link (d) encourage participants to write responses to the 5-7 questions below and email them to doug@action-learning.com 24 hours prior to our scheduled call so that we can each be well prepared, (e) download https://zoom.us/ software and familiarize yourself with software on YouTube, (f) at the scheduled time, record 5-10 minutes of video session using https://zoom.us/j/3432485703 (g) send MP4 recording to practitioners for their distribution, (h) post on https://www.youtube.com/user/dgrayful/videos channel with invitation to be included in the project.
Possible questions:
Self-introduction: Who are you, what do you do, where are you located, do you have a website or invitation to share with others?
Self- awareness: If you have taken the assessment at https://www.viacharacter.org/www/, what are your top 5 signature strengths? How would you describe yourself, at your best, using those top 5 signature strengths? (FYI, my top signature strengths are creativity, hope, perspective, honesty, zest.)
Definition: One common definition of positive psychology is the science and practicing of flourishing or thriving… how do you typically define positive psychology?
What attracts you to the science or practice of positive psychology?
Clients: Who do you typically serve in your PP consulting work? Please share 2-3 examples/ case studies/ successful interventions or client experiences.
Trends: What trends or market opportunities do you see in the future for positive psychology consulting?
Referrals: Who else can you refer me to who (a) is a Positive Psychology consultant and (b) might be willing to be interviewed in this project?
How can you help? Share this invitation broadly. Thank you in advance for your participation.
Here are 7 examples of new affiliations and movement in the last 13 months:
The Brentwood, TN Rotary Club (a long time Paul Harris fellow) committed to “service above self.”
Member of the Williamson, Inc Chamber of Commerce, in Franklin, TN
The Association of Talent Development (ATD) board member in professional development (2015-15) and membership (2015-16); created a Special Interest Group (SIG) for Consultants and hosted monthly meetings on countless topics since January, 2015
Member of the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB)
Member of the Nashville Technology Center (NTC); accepted by Launch TN grant funding program to apply for federal grant to the NIH or USDA, using consultants Mark and Catherine Henry, with mentoring from Jim Stefansic PhD, to assess the impact of telemedicine programs in rural disparities
Promoted the TN-HIMSS conference in October, 2015 for healthcare leaders, Chief Technology Officers, Chief Information Officers
Created and hosted monthly meetings on “Talent Analytic Trends” at local businesses, including Rustici Software, the “best technology company in Nashville” and a global leader in SCORM and Watershed, their Learning Record System; those meetings featured leaders and new technologies that are redesigning how we measure talent, careers, and human achievement.
Quite a list for 13 months in a new town.
Back to that coaching question: How are you moving?
Call any time to discuss what is next for you, your leaders, or your business.
Doug Gray, PCC, is a Leadership Consultant and Executive Coach.
Coaching and Consulting Experience
Since 1997, Doug has partnered with hundreds of executive leaders in the Healthcare, Energy, Manufacturing, IT, Construction and Financial industries. He is quick to say that he has “just enough expertise to support leaders, without too much complicating industry-specific knowledge.” His clients agree. Doug typically uses customized assessments to assess organizational and individual strengths. A popular speaker and facilitator, Doug loves to facilitate experiential leadership training programs and strategic planning retreats. His recent speaking topics include “How to Apply Positive Psychology to your Business” and “How to Increase Employee Engagement.”
Doug knows how to manage and lead teams. Doug brings a unique background as an educator, administrator, and non-profit director to his clients. That background enables him to help leaders who are passionate and need his direct, supportive expertise. He is regarded as an expert facilitator using Action Learning methodology. And he will bring strategic focus, humor, and proven expertise to maximize your consulting investment.
A representative list of leadership coaching engagements and clients include:
CFO and 20 leaders in finance and accounting, Fortune 500 energy construction company, who needed to embrace a redesign without losing productivity
team of EVPs tasked with redesigning the IT needs of their F100 healthcare company
MD struggling with burnout who needed confidential consulting (e.g. anonymity from his employer and insurer)
CEO in a technology company recently promoted to replace the founder
President and 18 members of executive leadership team, Fortune 500 energy construction company, who needed to demonstrate alignment within 6 months
SVP and site managers at a nuclear power construction site who needed to increase alignment with business partners and avoid negative media
SVP in functional but de-centralized group who needed to assimilate 20 leaders, using action learning methodology in direct meetings, coaching, and SharePoint to drive accountability
Small business owner of a franchise who needed to fire an employee after 11 years of good service
SVP, global bank, who needed to reorganize a division
VP, global bank, seeking career opportunities
newly hired VP who needed to develop radical transformation of a functional group that required external coaching and team building leadership training using a customized app
Newly promoted director who lacked interpersonal skills to manage 33 people
Founder of an IT company who was not able to develop new business
Business/Organizational Leadership Experience
Doug has been a successful business owner since 1997; he knows the challenges and “what works.” He co-developed the Leadership Development Institute at the University of Maryland, College Park and taught there for 7 years, and he is a former adjunct faculty member at several colleges including NC State University. He directed a non-profit agency in Washington, D.C. for 9 years and grew it 900% while managing 120 people. As a former world-class athlete, Doug knows that the rigor of change requires regular support from experienced consultants, plus a dash of humor.
Education and Training
Doug’s graduate research at Dartmouth College included development of an assessment to determine risk tolerance and risk aversion. That theme of mitigating risk in business and leadership has prevailed in his continued learning from clients and colleagues in the safety, consulting, executive assessment, and leadership development industries. He is certified in the Hogan suite, DISC, several 360’s, several EI assessments, and 5 coaching certification programs. Since 2000, Doug has been a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) with the International Coaching Federation. A perpetual learner, he is a doctoral candidate at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology in Organizational Leadership. His research interests include the effect of positive psychology on business leaders, managers, and executive coaches.
Publications and Appearances
Doug loves to share his expertise as a speaker, facilitator and a writer. As a keynote speaker, he has addressed annual meetings, executive retreats, and nonprofit leaders. As a facilitator, he has partnered with clients to design experientially memorable leadership training solutions that range from boot camps to strategic off-sites to contests using customized mobile apps. As an author, he has frequently been published in journals ranging from the American Society of Safety Engineer’s Professional Safety to Financial Advisor to webinars and hundreds of guest blogs.
He is a published author of articles on leadership development, physician burnout, healthcare, analytics, safety and productivity. Doug has published two books: Passionate Action; 5 Steps to Creating Extraordinary Success in Life and Work (2007), and Adventure Coaching; A Guidebook for Action-Based Success in Life and Work (2006) that can be purchased here and here.
Consulting Value Proposition
“Developing smarter leaders. Faster.”
Doug will not waste any of your time or resources. He expects you to achieve great results. And he always guarantees exceptional value.
For biographies on other Action Learning Associates, Inc leadership consultants and executive coaches, contact us here or review the list of our partners here. We also provide scaled solutions for any-sized organization, anywhere in the world.
Most strategic partnerships fail. The often publicly stated reason is that there was some “inequity in resources.” That is rubbish. The private reason is that the potential partners did not have clear role definitions.
Great coaches should be able to help you develop successful strategic partnerships. Sadly, too few coaches have enough expertise to explain the following.
I invite you to adapt and forward this post. This formula works.
Let’s imagine that two consultants agree to partner on a consulting project. They each have something mutually beneficial to contribute. And the net result will exceed whatever they could provide individually. In short, they need one another.They need a formula to define clear role definitions.
Typically there are 3 phases in any consulting project: sales, technology/unique solution, and delivery. (Adapt this formula as you see fit for any project or partnership, but try to keep it simple.) Assume that each phase is worth 1/3 of the total value to the consulting project. If the project is worth $90,000 then the sale is worth 1/3 or $30,000, the technology is worth 1/3 or $30,000, and the delivery is worth 1/3 or $30,000.
Example #1: Assume that Matt brings expertise in sales and delivery. Assume that Doug brings expertise in technology and delivery.
So they agree to the following formula:
Matt provides 80% the sale of $30,000 for a total of $24,000. Matt does not provide any direct value for the technology. Matt provides 50% of $30,000 or $15,000 for the delivery. Matt’s total compensation for the consulting project will be $39,000.
Doug provides 20% of the sale of $30,000 for a total of $6,000. Doug provides 100% of the technology for a total of $30,000. Doug provides 50% of $30,000 or $15,000 for the delivery. Doug’s total compensation for the consulting project will be $51,000.
This formula assumes that each consultant will mutually benefit one another and their client.
Your partnership agreements should also assume that they are beneficial to all parties.
Last week I received a proposal to partner in a new venture. I used this formula in the following manner:
Example #2: Tom brings expertise in sales. Sue brings expertise in delivery. Doug brings expertise in technology.
After due diligence and some realistic fact finding, I proposed the following formula for $300,000 gross revenue in year 1.
Tom provides 80% of the sale of $100,000 for a total of $80,000. Tom provides 10% of the technology value of $100,000 for a total of $10,000. Tom does not provide any direct value for the delivery. Tom’s total compensation for year 1 of this project will be $90,000.
Doug provides 10% of the sale of $100,000 for a total of $10,000. Doug provides 90% of the technology value of $100,000 for a total of $90,000. Doug provides 20% of $100,000 or $20,000 for the delivery. Doug’s total compensation for year 1 of this project will be $120,000.
Sue provides 10% of the sale of $100,000 for a total of $10,000. Sue does not provide any direct value to the technology. Sue provides 80% of $100,000 or $80,000 for the delivery. Sue’s total compensation for year 1 of this project will be $90,000.
Call me if you have any questions about this formula. Or read Alan Weiss’ The Million-Dollar Consulting. He has developed this formula and deserves any credit for its success.
Yes, my clients have used this formula. Yes, I have used this formula.
But most people leap into a business “partnership” without using such a formula. Hence, most businesses fail.
Do not become another statistical failure. Hire a great coach. Today.
Recently I read an article that inspired me to share these 2 rules:
1. Never give power away to an event that has not yet occurred. Humans are motivated by fear and greed, as well as faith and service. When I am slow to call a sales prospect, I am giving away my power. When I am slow to develop a new project, I am giving away my power. Fear leads to fright, freeze, or flight. (Those 3 ancient responses that humans share with all mammals…) Instead, I can choose to be fearless. To live in faith toward serving others. Why would I ever give away my power?
2. Get great. Many people talk about great figures in history, as if familiarity is a reflection of greatness. Some were my professors and colleagues. That is B.S. I have met hundreds of leadership coaches and speakers. Few of them are great people. I have had hundreds of teachers from all walks of life. Few of them are great people. The only purpose of human life is to get great. Nothing else matters. I can get great at serving others. I can get great at loving my family. I can get great at purposeful work. I can get great in countless ways… Action leads to learning.
So, some coaching questions are:
1. “How are you choosing to be fearless?”
2. ” What are you doing to get great?”
Then share your answers with an accountability partner. If you are stuck, hire a great coach. Today.
Last week I met a great writer. He opened with, “Frankly, I am the best copy editor I have ever met.” He sells fiction online. And writes corporate copy. And has never done anything else… He is great. Call me if you need a great writer named Patrick.
What do you think others are saying about you and your work?
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