Personal Effectiveness Leads to Enterprise Achievement

Author: Heather Meeker Green, Rachel DiGiammarino

Personal effectiveness is a level of competency that incorporates a mastery of the elements of emotional intelligence, adaptability, trust, communication and collaboration. Those who have it have learned how to be more effective from “the inside out.” They know and leverage their personal strengths, have identified their limiting mindsets and move away from reactivity or auto-pilot, and apply creativity and authenticity to navigate challenges, enhance relationships and reach their goals.

It’s one thing to say it, it’s another thing to do it. In the realm of personal effectiveness, the process is not linear and it is definitely continuous. So where do you start?

Path to Personal Effectiveness Cycle.png

This self-discovery and transformation takes conscious effort, continuous practice, maturity, patience, and the ability to be vulnerable. On this path, you will find answers to some questions such as:

  • How do I identify my behaviors as well as my thoughts, feelings, values, beliefs, needs and fears that lie beneath these more outwardly behaviors?

  • How do these ingrained mental attitudes affect me and influence my interactions?

  • How do I focus on “self” first in order to be a more effective leader of others second?

  • How do I put into practice and sustain the qualities of the emotionally intelligent leader I want to be and others need me to be? 

TODAY’S RELEVANCE

“Emotional intelligence emerges as a much stronger predictor of who will be most successful, because it is how we handle ourselves in our relationships that determines how well we do once we are in a given job.”

 - Daniel Goleman, author, psychologist and science journalist

Studies by Stanford Research Institute and the Carnegie Mellon Foundation among Fortune 500 CEOs found that 75% of long-term job success depended on people skills and only 25% on technical skills. Today’s workforce is facing greater complexity and constant change in virtually all industries - aggressive competition, increased workload, challenges of communicating in a matrixed, and global organization, rising economic pressures to be more efficient, and on and on. It is therefore of critical importance that companies address the skill gaps and prepare leaders for operating in the volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous (V.U.C.A.) environment. 

To thrive as a healthy organization, the capability to “lead self” is as critical as the need to lead others. We may instinctively think of leaders in the hierarchical sense, and certainly those who are the most senior, the most visible, and the closest to setting the mission, vision and goals of the company are included. There are also leaders at other levels depending on the size of the organization, as well as unofficial leaders who others naturally gravitate towards. Furthermore, there may be those who’ve been identified with “high potential” for leadership, and finally, all other employees who contribute to company performance.

While (official) leaders have certain undeniable responsibilities, especially in the face of large amounts of change, there is a need to allow others to be accountable. When personal ownership and accountability are high, employees are more engaged, productive and effective. In conjunction with other specific self-learning competencies, empowerment and self-reliance increase for individual and collective benefit.

Studies have shown that 70% of large change initiatives don’t realize their full potential because of inability or resistance to change on the part of the human being. In addition to the importance of clear vision, process and resources for successful change management, the capabilities of personal effectiveness also play a critical role. For example: 

  • When there has been constant change, and strategies are created to meet the change, focusing on the people implementing the strategies and their ability to do so is a key component of implementation.

  • Change often generates fear and fear leads to resistance, rigidity, and lack of engagement.  Key skills needed to become a thriving organization are people’s ability to self-reflect, manage internal fears and reactions that are natural in stress, and self-correct to stay aligned with the larger goals of the organization.

  • If an organization’s goal is to foster a culture of empowerment, it is important for everyone to be able to know and leverage their greatest strengths and spot the triggers points and reactions that stop them from performing at a high level.

Within the larger framework of personal effectiveness, the practice of mindfulness helps increase resilience and capacity. The time and energy you spend multi-tasking is productive, but that alone can also lead to distraction, stress, and burn out. Mindfulness as a business tool retrains the mind’s ability to focus attention and make clear conscious choices about what we engage in. Mindfulness practice is a simple process of retraining your mind’s ability to direct attention. Over time you become focused, able to cut through chaos, and increase creativity and resourcefulness.

Mindfulness practices have been used for over 20 years in the corporate setting and have a steadily growing following.  First Direct, Google, General Mills, British Airways, Apple, Deutsche Bank, Procter & Gamble, Astra Zeneca, Aetna, Dupont, Nestle, HBO, Yahoo, and McKinsey & Company are just a few of the many companies that have implemented mindfulness programs for their employees.  Mindfulness practice has proven to greatly increase the relationship between “left brain” rational and logical thinking and “right brain” intuitive emotional or instinctual thinking. 

EXPECTED OUTCOMES

The value of self-development and the discipline of mindset transformation create far more optimal results than attempting to change top-level behaviors alone. When companies affirm learning as status (not just as a cost or mandated initiative) by providing, supporting and ensuring a culture and practice of self-leadership competencies, this produces empowered individuals, high-performing teams, and advances the goals of a more nimble and aligned organization. Some expected outcomes are: 

  • Individual leaders with courage, capacity, creativity and the ability to do their part to shepherd change and motivate those on their teams in the presence of their own or team’s fears and stresses.

  • Individuals who can recognize own reactions, triggers and signs of fear and have the ability to self-manage and be accountable for own performance in a transitioning organization.

  • Teams that, once aware of team mindset, can shift and transform that mindset for enhanced productivity and engagement.

  • An organization that has surfaced the conscious or unconscious resistances to proposed change in individuals, teams and leaders and empowers all to enact the change.

  • An organization that has implemented a holistic approach and built a foundation within the culture that acknowledges all of the competencies developed are applicable in any situation beyond a specific change initiative.

SUSTAINED LEARNING

Personal effectiveness starts with awareness. You identify the limiting mindset underneath your behaviors, examine perceptions, and then apply creative and successful ways to work within yourself and with others to make good behavioral choices when triggered.  It is a continuous process and you need to be conscious of changing internal and external factors that warrant further reflection and development. Thus it is a cycle of sustained learning, with no exact end point.

When you learn to lead yourself, you are more effective at leading others. And from their perspective, they are more confident in being led by you and creating the domino effect of leading themselves.