Oct 14

Soft Values Drive Hard Results

Heinz Landau
Heinz Landau is a seasoned business leader who has gained valuable working and leadership experience on three different continents.

Leaders who possess strong soft skills perform better at driving hard results while executives with weak interpersonal skills were rated poorly on their ability to deliver good financial results, especially over time, and received predictably poor ratings as people managers. These are key findings from a study by U.S. organizational consulting firm Green Peak Partners in collaboration with a research team at Cornell University.

Strong bottom-line performance is most likely to come from executives who are emotionally intelligent and self-aware.  Often overlooked as leadership criterion, a high self-awareness score was the strongest predictor of overall success and a primary driver of an executive’s effectiveness. Executives who are aware of their weaknesses are in a better position to hire subordinates who perform well in areas where the leader lacks strength.

In my case, being rather low on empathy, I wittingly hired in my former company a human resources professional who was an expert in soft skills and who complemented my strengths . Being aware of the importance of soft skills, we focused on them holistically in various processes across the organization. Interpersonal skills became a key selection criterion in our recruitment process. Employees had the chance to go through various personality tests to learn more about themselves. The results were often shared among colleagues so that we knew each other’s strengths and weaknesses and behavioural patterns. EQ (=Emotional Intelligence) – trainings were held on a regular basis. And in our leadership development assessment centre, demonstrating strong soft skills was crucial to succeed and to achieve career progress.

Another important aspect in hiring and developing potential leaders is to find out how a leadership candidate has achieved results and how he works rather than focusing on what he has achieved. It is a must that the candidate’s personal style or “personal culture” fits the company culture. Therefore, the guy with the best technical skills for a certain position might not be hired if he is perceived as a cultural misfit.

Robert Sutton, a professor of management science and engineering at Stanford University and author of the book “Good Boss, Bad Boss – How To Be The Best … And Learn From The Worst” emphasizes the dual nature of a great boss: he has to be competent and benevolent, to combine performance and humanity.

Robert Sutton, a professor of management science and engineering at Stanford University and author of the book “Good Boss, Bad Boss – How To Be The Best … And Learn From The Worst” emphasizes the dual nature of a great boss: he has to be competent and benevolent, to combine performance and humanity.

Sutton admits that, in the short term, there are times when it is wise to put performance ahead of people. But if it is all performance all the time, it costs the employees and the company dearly. Sutton says: “When bosses show open disregard for the happiness, growth and financial well-being of their people, then people start withdrawing emotionally, are less willing to go the extra mile to help the boss and organization, and the best people – those with most options – leave the company. So from a poorly financial standpoint, there is plenty of evidence that treating people with respect and dignity is financially wise.”

Sutton also stresses the importance of self-awareness in executives. In his opinion, the most important question a boss can ask himself is: “Do I know what it feels like to work for me? Or am I living in a fool’s paradise?”

When I hire direct reports, I tell the candidate of the potential upsides and downsides of working with me and encourage him to talk to people who have worked with me.

The executives most likely to deliver good bottom-line results are self-aware leaders who are especially good at working with individuals and in teams. Therefore, companies need to put more effort in evaluating the interpersonal strengths of potential leaders. Evaluating technical competence alone isn’t enough.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 14th, 2010 at 01:37 and is filed under Human Resources, Leadership, Management. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

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