Invantage Advising

Tag: leadership

  • A Scorecard for Assessing Fundamental Attributes and Capacities of a Strategic Leader

    A Scorecard for Assessing Fundamental Attributes and Capacities of a Strategic Leader

    Five Criteria for Judging a Leader’s Fundamental Capacity to Carry out his Responsibilities and Duties

    1. Trust,
    2. Judgment/Critical Thinking,
    3. Discipline and Self-Control
    4. Self-Awareness
    5. Empathy 

    How do we recognize a person who can be entrusted with the fate of a nation, a corporation, a university or any enterprise where actions and decisions have critical impact?  There are  five critical fundamental capacities a leader in a position of great responsibility must have: trust, judgment, discipline, self-awareness and empathy. Together they constitute a model of an emotionally  mature adult with the necessary temperament and cognitive capacity to allow him or her to function at the highest level required of someone who has enormous responsibility.

    Great leadership  certainly requires additional qualities and capabilities–vision, daring, the capacity to inspire, discernment, creativity and so on.  But first, a leader must demonstrate the fundamentals enumerated in this checklist. Without them he or she cannot carry out the duties required of someone in a position of high office.

    This model of the fundamentals required of a leader is based on the principles of mature, high level mental functioning developed in the fields of psychology, psychiatry and psychoanalysis over the last 100 years. I discovered that the Army Field Manual Leader Development fm6_22 follows the same path and arrives at the same destination.  The scorecard I’ve developed is distilled  from that Army Manual. It’s virtue is that it does not require specialized knowledge such as a background in Psychiatric evaluation.  It allows a leader’s mental capacity to lead to be determined by any reasonably observant and thoughtful person using common sense.  The scorecard can also be used by leaders to assess their own strengths and weaknesses and plan a program for improvement of their personal leadership capacity.  In fact, one of the Army Field Manual’s prime missions is to assist leaders in developing their leadership abilities.

    An earlier and somewhat briefer version of this scorecard was published as an Op-Ed in the LA Times on June 16, 2017 “Is Trump mentally fit to be President?  Let’s consult the Army’s field manual on leadership” 

    *Trust. According to the Army, trust is fundamental to the functioning of a team or alliance in any setting: “Leaders shape the ethical climate of their organization while developing the trust and relationships that enable proper leadership.” A leader who is deficient in the capacity for trust makes little effort to support others, may be isolated and aloof, may be apathetic about discrimination, allows distrustful behaviors to persist among team members, makes unrealistic promises and focuses on self-promotion.

    As a psychiatrist I’ve observed that an individual lacking in trust habitually blames others when problems arise, avoids taking responsibility and consistently feels beleaguered and unfairly treated.

    *Discipline and self-control. The manual requires that a leader demonstrate control over his behavior and align his behavior with core Army values: “Loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, and personal courage.” The disciplined leader does not have emotional outbursts or act impulsively, and he maintains composure in stressful or adverse situations. Without discipline and self-control, a leader may not be able to resist temptation, to stay focused despite distractions, to avoid impulsive action or to think before jumping to a conclusion. The leader who fails to demonstrate discipline reacts “viscerally or angrily when receiving bad news or conflicting information,” and he “allows personal emotions to drive decisions or guide responses to emotionally charged situations.”

    Discipline means having the ability to forego an immediate reward for a later, greater outcome.

    In psychiatry, we talk about “filters” — neurologic braking systems that enable us to appropriately inhibit our speech and actions even when disturbing thoughts or powerful emotions are present. Discipline and self-control require that an individual has a robust working filter, so that he doesn’t say or do everything that comes to mind.

    *Judgment and critical thinking. Judgment and critical thinking are complex, high-level mental functions that include the abilities to discriminate, assess, plan, decide, anticipate, prioritize and compare. A leader with the capacity for critical thinking “seeks to obtain the most thorough and accurate understanding possible,” and he anticipates “first, second and third consequences of multiple courses of action.” A leader deficient in judgment and strategic thinking demonstrates rigid and inflexible thinking. His thinking is not innovative

    The ability to think critically and strategically is a necessary precondition for good judgment. “Sound judgment is dependent on the ability to organize thoughts logically, to plan ahead, to understand cause and effect and most importantly to anticipate the consequences of an action,” according to the Army manual.

    Problem solving is dependent on thinking and judgment, so these capacities can be evaluated by observing how the leader responds to a crisis. Most importantly, can he considers the long-term consequences of his actions.

    Because it is absolutely fundamental to effective leadership, the AFM expands at length on the specifics involved in critical and strategic thinking. This leadership capacity involves actively seeing different points of view, considering alternative explanations and looking at the big picture. Thinking, speech and ideas should be deliberate and well-organized. Assessments should include looking for gaps in information and seeking to have them filled, while looking for inconsistencies. The leader “keeps reasoning separate from self-esteem”. Planning is careful, thoughtful and based on complete information and the synthesis of the divergent views and alternative explanations which should be actively sought. Priorities are clear and well thought out.

    Helpfully, the AFM gives a vivid description of the behaviors of a leader deficient in judgment and strategic thinking. That leader fails to consider alternative explanations or courses of action. He fails to consider second and third consequences of an action. He oversimplifies, cannot distinguish the critical elements in a given situation and is unable to handle multiple lines of thought simultaneously. He Is hasty in prioritization and planning. He cannot or does not “articulate the evidence and thought process leading to decisions”.

    *Self-awareness. Self-awareness requires the capacity to reflect and an interest in doing so. “Self-aware leaders know themselves, including their traits, feelings, and behaviors,” the manual says. “They employ self-understanding and recognize their effect on others.” When a leader lacks self-awareness, the manual notes, he “unfairly blames subordinates when failures are experienced” and “rejects or lacks interest in feedback.”

    Self-awareness creates a desire to understand: motives, how feelings are affecting judgment, how one is impacting others, how one is viewed by others. The AFM describes the necessity of the capacity for “metacognition” which is the ability to think about thinking, to observe and regulate one’s thoughts.

    This capacity enables a leader to put the following essential functions into effect in all his decision making: Actively consider what he knows and doesn’t know; maintain awareness of his thinking process and its strengths and weaknesses; be alert to his emotions and their impact on his thinking; act tactfully; make accurate assessments of social cues; and listen to and let the views and feelings of others have an impact on him.

    *Empathy. Perhaps surprisingly, the field manual repeatedly stresses the importance of empathy as an essential attribute for Army leadership.

    A good leader “demonstrates an understanding of another person’s point of view” and “identifies with others’ feelings and emotions.” The manual’s description of inadequacy in this area: “Shows a lack of concern for others’ emotional distress,” is indifferent to their pain and “displays an inability to take another’s perspective.”

    Empathy is required for an effective leader because it is this capacity that allows him to accurately understand another person’s intent and to be able to foresee the impact of his actions on others. The Army guide states that the empathic leader can be identified because he is respectful of others, cares about subordinates and creates a positive work environment. A person who is deficient in this capacity He focuses solely on his own needs without considering those of others. He de-humanizes the enemy.

    As a psychiatrist, I’ll add another dimension to empathy. It’s not enough to understand how another person feels – the best dictators are adept at sensing other people’s’ vulnerabilities and exploiting them. A leader also must care about the impact of his words and actions on others. The AFM description of inadequacy in this dimension: “Exhibits resistance or limited perspective on the needs of others. Words and actions communicate a lack of understanding or indifference.”

     

     

    June 26, 2017
    Copyright Prudence Gourguechon 2017

  • A New Tool for Evaluating the Highest Level of Leadership–Inspired by Donald Trump

    A New Tool for Evaluating the Highest Level of Leadership–Inspired by Donald Trump

    The 25th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution allows for the removal of the President by the Vice President and a majority of the cabinet if they determine that he is “unable to discharge the powers and duties” of his high office.  That phrase captured me.  How would the Vice President and the Cabinet determine ability or inability to discharge the duties of the Presidency whether the President is Donald Trump or anyone else?  The Constitution says no more than that brief phrase.  I set out to operationalize it, so that leaders and citizens could make a fair and objective determination of this President’s, or any other’s, ability to discharge his duties.  In the process, I developed a tool that could be useful beyond politics, to assess the core capacities for leadership of anyone being considered for a position of high responsibility.  Pathology isn’t the issue here.  It’s actually easier (and not that useful) to diagnose mental disorders and pathological traits.  But how do we codify mental strength, that is capacity and ability?

    “Duties of his office”–A listing of what the president does every day –meet foreign leaders, make announcements, sign laws, clearly wouldn’t be helpful.  Nor would generalizations such as set policy, promote his agenda, uphold the Constitution. I felt that specifying the qualities and defining attributes of the duties of the Presidency is the key to making the 25th Amendment usable. The duties of the President are those of someone with the  highest level of responsibility, whose every decision and action has critical impact and enormous consequences.

    “Unable to discharge” —The key word here is “unable”, which led me to search for a way to operationalize assessment of ability or inability.  I started the process of creating a tool for assessing ability or inability by reviewing the literature on executive functioning in psychology and ego functioning in psychoanalysis.  Both of these fields of thought define a wide range of capacities that are necessary for the highest level of cognitive, emotional and social functioning.  In my research, I stumbled upon a document that pulls it all together, the Army Field Manual on Leader Development 6-22.  This is a dense document which is quite extraordinary and based on sound psychological research and practice.  I distilled 5 traits from the field manual, added some analysis from my own background as a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, and came up with  an evaluation tool that could serve as a guide for the evaluation of anyone aspiring to a position of the highest leadership and responsibility.

    Here’s a concise version of the tool, published in the LA Times, June 16, 2017: Is Trump mentally fit to be president_ Let’s consult the U.S Army’s field manual on leadership.

  • A Primer on Power for Women Leaders

    A Primer on Power for Women Leaders

     

     

    Power has a bad rap. It’s okay to talk about how to be a good leader, but most of us are quite uncomfortable talking about how to use power.  More often for women than men, the squirmy feeling evoked by the idea of using power can be close to agonizing.

    Power is usually tagged as negative, manipulative or Machiavellian.[1]   The exercise of power is actually morally neutral—it can be used for good or ill.  Absolute power is of course undesirable—we all need the checks and balances that being part of various intersecting human communities provide.

    But, to be a successful leader you have to be comfortable with the exercise of power. Achieving this comfort is a crucial developmental step for every leader. In my own experience as a woman leader, in working with and mentoring other women in or assuming leadership positions, I have observed that most women leaders, even the most competent and brilliant, usually need some help with this leap.

    So what is power, if we separate it from its negative associations of control, domination and oppression?

    According to the Oxford dictionary, power is 1 The ability or capacity to do something or act in a particular way. 2 The capacity or ability to direct or influence the behavior of others or the course of events.[2]

    A leader possesses power because she has, by virtue of her position and personal strengths, the resources and capacity to act and to direct the behavior of others. Competence, luck, popularity or a host of other factors may have contributed to gaining that position. Many women express being surprised to find themselves in leadership positions, and typically have given no thought to the exercise of power.  But once in a position of leadership, however you got there, however surprised you may be to be there, you need to appreciate the ways you can and should exercise the power inherent in the position.  That’s your job.  That’s what you were elected or hired to do, and you can’t shy away from it without betraying out those who are counting on you.

    Women leaders face complex internal and external psychological challenges that male leaders don’t have to worry about.  It’s not fair, but it’s real and it’s better to acknowledge these challenges and learn how to deal with them than to get stuck on the unfairness of it all.  Essentially, women leaders are in a double bind.  Effective leaders of any gender score highly on a cluster of traits psychologists call “agency”.  Effective leadership in fact requires that a leader possesses these traits.  Agency includes things like being independent, assertive, dominant, controlling, forceful and self-confident. Leaders high in agency makes decisions easily.  Yet even today, women are generally perceived to be and expected to be high in another cluster of traits psychologists call “communality”:  kindness, niceness, interpersonally sensitive, helpful affectionate etc.[3]

    Interestingly, the current movement in management to promote hiring practices that acknowledge the value of “soft skills”– interpersonal sensitivity and the ability to collaborate– in hiring may lead to more female hires, but may also trap women in middle management jobs, because to wield power, to be at the top, the agency cluster of traits is required.[4]

    Some researchers believe the tendency for women to show communal traits is typical of the female brain, tied to the XX chromosome.[5]  Others would argue vehemently that are the product of socialization and stereotyping.  Many would say this is unfair, prejudiced and sexist.  Unfortunately for the women leader, determined to use the power of her position to accomplish her goals, none of this matters.

    I remember when I took over the presidency of a national professional association.  I had worked out my agenda well in advance of taking office.  I had a bunch of specific goals, I knew where I wanted to go and I believed I knew what had to be done. I had a forthright, let’s get it done style, and was impatient with those who disagreed with me. I was not especially interested in their opinions unless I saw them as helping me create the changes I knew I wanted.  Not surprisingly, this bothered a number of my colleagues enormously.  I remember being told by one former friend that he was shocked – it was like I had become a different person.  A subset of mostly male colleagues criticized me publicly for being secretive and withholding, and viewed my presidency as one long betrayal.  I thought it was because I wasn’t that interested in their advice or their hurt feelings. It’s true, I wasn’t.  I learned I am not a consensus builder.  I am too impatient and eager to get things accomplished to kick ideas around in repeated discussions.  I liked working with one or two close allies who saw things the way I did and wanted to move the organization along.  In retrospect, I might have been a more effective leader if I had made an effort to be a bit more “communal”—read tactful and patient– but at the time I simply wanted to act, not attend to interpersonal nuance.

    Women leaders need to learn to “thread the needle”.  They must be high in “agency” traits.  They will be viewed more unfavorably than equivalent male colleagues exhibiting the exact same behaviors.  The men will be seen as reliable, confident and masterful, while the woman may often be seen as bitchy and cold.

    Powerful women have to strike a very fine balance.  They must be authoritative, self confident and powerful.  Although one option is to accept that they’ll be calling you a bitch behind your back, another, more exciting option is to develop a style that is very powerful but disarmingly warm and respectful. Senator Elizabeth Warren and Meryl Streep are two women who brilliantly present themselves in this manner. So too does the Statue of Liberty.

     

     

     

    [1] See, for example, The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene.  (NY: Penguin Books, 2000).

     

    [2] (https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/power)

     

    [3] See “Role Incongruity Theory of Prejudice Toward Female Leaders”, Alice H. Eagly and Steven J. Karau, Psychological Review, 2002, Vol 109 No 3: 573-598 and “Feminized Management and Backlash Toward Agentic Women Leaders” The hidden costs to women of kindler, gentler image of middle mangers”.  Laurie A. Rudman and Peter Glick. J. of Personality and Social Psychology. 1999, Vol 77, No 5:1004-1010

    [4] Rudman and Glick, ibid.

    [5] See “The Female and Extreme-Female Brain”, John Cookson.  January 4, 2017. Big Think. http://bigthink.com/women-and-power/the-female-and-extreme-female-brain

    Prudence Gourguechon MD

    copyright 2017

  • Getting Comfortable with Power: Ten Tips for Women Leaders

    Getting Comfortable with Power: Ten Tips for Women Leaders

    Women leaders get a little squirmy when it comes to the idea of wielding power. But getting comfortable with power and using it confidently is an essential part of being an effective leader.  Like it or not, all women leaders are in a bind because great leadership requires a high degree of agency–independence, forcefulness, ease of decision-making, dominance.  Yet gender norms still expect women to be communal– nice, interpersonally sensitive, collaborative.  Managing these conflicting demands is a career-long challenge for women leaders.  Meanwhile, though, you have to learn how to appreciate and use the power you have.  Here are  ten tips.  Some of them are counterintuitive, and some will make you uncomfortable.

    1.Learn the topography of power

    Where does it live? It is valuable to operationalize power—break it down into the concrete actions and strategies where it resides. Among the myriad opportunities to exercise power in a leadership position are: directing the use of resources, setting the agenda of meetings, decide who is included in and who is excluded from communications, highlighting what you want people to pay attention to, ignoring what you want ignored, and selecting and removing personnel.

    2. Know and defend your own agenda

    Ideally, you should carve this in stone before you get in your position, or at least as a first priority. What do you want to accomplish with your power?  You will

    immediately be bombarded with “other peoples agendas” or their problems. Your time can be entirely consumed if you’re not vigilant about avoiding a responsive, reactive rather than proactive position.  The reason this tends to be more of a problem for women is that due to some combination of biology and socialization, women tend to be more adept at automatically scanning the environment and registering peoples’ needs and feelings. This strength is a mixed blessing.  You MUST know what your agenda is and your priorities are both in the long run and on a daily and monthly basis, or you will never get to make use of the power you have.  Do not let other people’s problems and priorities divert you from your own.

    3. Be alert to and revise your communication style

    • Don’t apologize for making other people unhappy.
    • Don’t apologize for making a decision.
    • Don’t apologize for not including someone in a conversation or decision.
    • Say no or ignore everything that doesn’t advance your agenda (take a look at Greg McKeown’s book Essentialism published by Crown Business, 2014).
    • Don’t apologize for anything unless you have actually done something wrong that you should apologize for– like a genuine mistake, oversight or unkind act. Then apologize quickly, cleanly and acknowledge the impact of your mistake.  And move on.
    • Don’t explain your decisions. Or if you must, keep it very brief.
    • Repeat yourself when challenged rather than offering alternative arguments.
    • End discussions when they’re not going the way you want.
    • Don’t ask for permission. Go for what you want, and if you’re stopped, so be it.  It rarely happens.
    • Only ask for opinions if you really want them. Don’t seek too much input.
    • Don’t worry too much about social niceties—if someone is hard to reach, leave a voicemail or text; don’t wait until you get in touch with them. But be nice if you can.

    4. Keep control of structures and processes

    Set things up your way.  If you want 6 people on a task force, get 6 people on the task force even though one of the group suggests 10.

    • Beware of the seductive c’s: COLLABORATION and CONSENSUS.  Women are supposed to better than men at making use of these values.  Maybe we are, but overuse can lead to perceived weakness, bullying and paralysis. Learn to live without consensus when you have to.
    • Anticipate, anticipate, anticipate. Think through how people are going to respond when you roll out a plan.  Plant allies in place to back you up, and have an exit strategy in case opposition takes over the process. If you don’t have enough support to push something through or avoid a controversy, consider waiting to put it out there, because failing weakens your power.
    • Know when to quit. Keep asking yourself what am I getting out of this.  If you’re not getting a lot, figure out how to get more (money, opportunities, fun, stimulation, experience).  If it’s hopeless, just get out.
    • Keep your promises and commitments, but within reason. Not if the cost for you is too high.  If it is, bow out, or say you changed your mind. Sorry.
    • Let people come to you. Your neighborhood, your office, your available time.  Even if you can accommodate, resist the urge, because most women do it way too much.
    • Never give up the chair either physically or metaphorically (i.e. control of a meeting, a microphone, an agenda, a project).

    5. Learn to seek, get and use help

    Learn to use an assistant, which may not be so easy as it sounds. Find a private peer group with women at the same level of responsibility that you have.

    6. Don’t wait too long to accept positions of leadership and power

    Men don’t.  Don’t underestimate your competence. If people want you to lead, accept the challenge if it’s a good time for you. And learn what you need to catch up. On the other hand, don’t let your competence be exploited.  Many extremely talented women are unaware of the extraordinary level of their competence. They are used by others in various ways (though this can be unconscious)—for example, put in a leadership position when an organization is in crisis.  Wait until it’s a good time for you to move your agenda forward. Watch out for flattery.

    7. Never underestimate the aggression in women and envy in everyone

    Women are just as aggressive as men, but their competitiveness and aggressiveness shows up in different ways, many of which are subtler. This point is going to make some people mad, but I truly believe it. I’ve seen it often in my clinical practice over three decades.  Expect envy and undermining from some women, outrage from some men.

    8. Be aware of the “Mom transference”

    The most powerful person in every single human’s life was his or her mother.  We all carry ambivalent unconscious feelings and fantasies about this omnipotent woman who once controlled our lives from the moment we woke up till our last diaper change. We tend to unconsciously attach these feelings to leaders and bosses we deal with later in life (that’s the “transference” part, a remarkable useful concept from psycyhoanaysis).  The people in your company or organization are inevitably going to experience you with traces of this early omnipotent mother overlay.  You want to evoke positive emotional traces—be someone who keeps people safe, meets their needs, runs a reliable “home”.  And avoid acting in ways that evoke unconscious traces of the negative mother memories—don’t use language (or finger pointing) that triggers feelings of shame or helplessness.

    9. Prepare to be attacked and criticized unfairly

    From the moment you enter a position of power, you’ll be a target held responsible for everyone’s hopes, demands and disappointments. You can’t meet all these needs, so you will be attacked from time to time.  When this happens, it’s inevitable to feel hurt, and a little psychologically disorganized, so get help from a trusted advisor about whether or how to respond.

     10. Use knowledge you may have because you are a woman to your advantage

    For instance, women are more apt to understand that:

    • It’s not a bad idea to feed your people from time to time. For the eternal child inside us all, food equals being cared about. Free food sends a direct signal to our unconscious that someone is in charge and has our backs. Also, hungry people are cranky people.
    • No one ever wants to be humiliated. You can structure your actions and difficult decisions in ways to minimize humiliation in the people effected.
    • What everyone wants more than anything else is attention and acknowledgement. Build this in to your company, your meetings, everything you do.

    copyright Invantage Advising 2017

    Updated 8.2.17