Cortex Leadership Consulting

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New Study: 58% of leader’s and their teams actively avoid listening to new ideas

businessman showing business concept on wall

A Leader’s Guide to Getting More, Fresh, High Quality Ideas from Their Teams Right Now

A wake up call to any leader that needs to innovate to thrive

By: Lynda McNutt Foster and Richard Hammer

Issue: Teams back in the office.
What if they don’t feel safe coming back in, someone says in the meeting.
Ok, why don’t we ask employees what they think.
No, we don’t have time for that.
Sure we do.
Yeah, right, like we have time to talk to every employee right now?  
No, we don’t have to time talk to every person.  
Maybe we could use our text system or google forms or something to take a for sort of pulse survey on what they’re thinking right now.

What?  No. That would take too much time.  We’ve never done that.
Let’s just stick to the plan we have.

And there it is.  BAM! Death of an idea in less than 30 seconds.  Maybe it was a bad one.  Maybe it wouldn’t have worked, and who knows if there was a better one that could quickly be built on from that one.  

No.
Yes, but.
There’s no time for that.
You need to understand how things work around here.

Sometimes the death of a new idea comes from people in the meeting simply ignoring the suggestion or other times by someone in authority just not responding to the email that it was sent in.

These were the key types words and exchanges in small, micro-conversations we studied that occur when people try to share a thought or different perspective in meetings at work, and that occur between managers and their team members during a crisis like the one we’re in right now.  These words and phrases seem to quickly shut down exactly what 94% of senior leaders say they want more of – fresh, new ideas to solve the biggest issues that their organizations are facing, especially during a crisis and transition of the type all organizations are going through right now.

These are 4 main conclusions from the newest research just released by Cortex:

A Leader’s Guide to Getting More, Fresh, High Quality Ideas from Their Teams Right Now A wake up call to any leader that needs to innovate to thrive, released in partnership with the Roanoke-Blacksburg Technology Council

about how to get teams to work more collaboratively together to more effectively problem solve:

  • Micro interactions and conversations are the key factors in creating a high trust working environment that leads to team members being willing to co-create and share their new ideas and for others to experiment with them.
  • A high emphasis on organizational values, mission, or goals don’t create engagement or an agile work environmentunless the senior leadership team, along with their managers on the frontlines, are held accountable to practicing them.
  • The ability of senior leaders and their managers to remain curious by actively seeking different perspectives from all levels of the organization is a key factor in the volume and quality of idea generation that leads to profitable innovation.
  • Specific types of team training, coaching, reinforcement, and individual support that is designed to build trust and accountability in adhering to the new behaviors, can make almost any team capable of generating more and higher quality ideas.

Cortex has spent the greater part of the last 5 years tracking the impact of almost unnoticeable interactions between team members during meetings.   We collected more than 100,000 pieces of data from assessments of leaders and their teams and mapping conversations in meetings they were having while also tracking the evolution of leader’s thought process in solving problems at work over long periods of time.   

The studies found that it doesn’t take long for new team members to learn that sharing fresh ideas and perspectives came with a label of being a waste of time, resources, and could result in being seen as not a good cultural fit.  We found the results counter to what leaders say they want in Leadership and Innovationby McKinsey and Company which stated that:

70% of senior executives said that innovation was going to be the main driver in their companies, yet 65% of them were “somewhat”, “a little”, or “not at all” confident about the decisions they make in that area, According to the McKinsey & Company report Leadership and Innovation. The report went on to say:

The structures and processes that many leaders reflexively use to encourage innovation are important, we find, but not sufficient. On the contrary, senior executives almost unanimously—94 percent—say that people and corporate culture are the most important drivers of innovation.

From McKinsey’s reportregarding what leaders need to do in order to create agile transformation for their organizations, they stated that leaders should learn to help teams work in new ways and to do that they needed learn how to build enterprise agility into the design and culture of the whole organization.  It needed to start with the leader adopting new mindsets and behaviors.  What Cortex found was that changing those behaviors had a significant impact on the ability for the leader and their teams to quickly adapt to marketplace and other significant flucuations.

One of the data points pointed to the root of what may be blocking established organizations from being able to shift to a culture comfortable with experimentation that is at the heart of agility.

The number was 58.

Idea avoidance.

Study on who actively avoids ideation

58% of leaders and team members actively avoided the generating of ideas and those people with a strength in ideation were often avoided as well.   This avoidance of the brainstorming of new ways and perspectives of looking at problems lead to a stagnation of forward progress necessary for maintaining a competitive advantage.

Sometimes the people on teams in the study that did had new ideas were ostracized by their fellow team members. This avoidance to the generation of new ideas and of the ideators themselves isn’t recognized by some leaders.  When this type of culture persists on a team or becomes the corporate culture, innovation becomes almost non-existent except at smaller tactical levels. In some cases, when an executive leader or even a manager with authority is strong in idea generation, there seems to become a learned helplessness type of response by team members.  It appears that the team expects their leader to generate the ideas and they believe there job is to plan what they are told to execute.

Assess Your Ideation Tolerance

As a leader, ask yourself these questions to determine the ideation tolerance level in your organization:

  1. How many new ideas to solve your toughest challenges have each of your leaders considered from their team members in the last month, 3 months, 6 months?  
  2. Do the consultants you use work directly with senior leaders and their teams to generate new ideas?
  3. If polled, what percentage of meetings would people in your organization think are a waste of their time?
  4. Measure your failure tolerance by finding out how many experiments do you actively support in a year and how many have failed?
  5. Do you budget for and provide the resources of time and support for experimentation? 

You can find useful information that can increase your team’s and organization’s ability to creatively problem solve and be more agile in the full report that you can download for free here.

In the FULL report,  A Leader’s Guide to Getting More, Fresh, High Quality Ideas from Their Teams Right Now you will be given the following tools you can put into use right now:

  1. An Idea Generation one sheet you can use to start generating ideas with your teams right now.
  2. An example of rules of inclusion that can be used by any team.
  3. Instructions for a Team On! exercise that teams can use to creatively problem solve.
  4. An Idea Generation one sheet you can use to start generating ideas with your teams right now.

You’ll discover solutions like:

  • What leaders can do to get their teams in an idea generation state of mind
  • What type of leadership behaviors build trust and which types jeopardize it
  • What leaders can do immediately to create more effective meetings
  • The types of pivots a leader can make in their behavior that have the biggest impact in the creative problem solving results from their teams
  • And so much more!

To receive a FREE DOWNLOAD of the entire report of findings for

The Case for Ideation in a Work World That is Obsessed with Planning

A wake up call to leaders that need to innovate to thrive in today’s marketplace

Click the below:

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Cortex Council® Alumni Kick-off Event

Cortex Leading a Winning Team Seal

Cortex Leading a Winning Team® Alumni Event

Tuesday, April 21, 2020
5p-7p
Grandin Co-Lab

This event will allow Alumni to connect with their fellow Alumni, discover ways to find Alumni mentors, gain access to new tools and practices to reinforce their servant leadership learning journey and how they can become a member of the group and attend an upcoming Alumni workshop.

RSVP is required from Alumni by April 10, 2020.

Click HERE to register.

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Leadership Coaching Conversations – Preparation – Part II

In Part I, you learned the 3 levels of conversations which were transactional, positional, and transformative and the conditions that are necessary to ensure the best outcomes with your team members. Part II, in this series, you’ll learn the 4 most common types of leadership coaching conversations and how to execute each one.

Preparing for a Leadership Coaching Conversation for Peak Performance, Part II

The 4 most common coaching conversations for leaders at work are:

  • Performance Management
  • Performance Development
  • Trust/Relationship Building
  • Check-ins
  • Performance management (human do-ing conversation)

Performance management coaching conversations are focused on setting expectations of performance and measuring the progress towards those expectations.

  • Setting of an agreed upon set of expectations from the leader, manager, or supervisor to the team member
    • Creation of a set of SMART goals toward meeting those expectations
    • Setting clearly understood consequences of what occurs if the expectations are not met
    • Asking the following questions: Do both of you have clearly understood consequences of what occurs if the expectations are not met? What have been the consequences in the past and are they the same for others they work with for the same expectations? (Consequences should not be threats of any kind, but rather a focus on the real consequences when they do not meet a performance expectation)
    • What skills do they think they need to increase their competency in order to reach the expectations you have for them?
    • Do you both agree on what their competency level is in the skills they need to reach the expectations you have both agreed on for them?
    • What resources are available to them in order to build those competencies? (time, money, mentorship, practice without consequence)
  • Performance development (human be-ing conversation)

Performance development coaching conversations are focused on understanding and setting a professional development path for the team member.  The coaching conversations are designed to ideate ways to get there with the resources available and celebrate progress.

Some questions that can be helpful in these conversations are:

  • What do they want that they don’t have right now?
    • Are you someone who they think is the cause of them not having what they want at work, or do they see you as someone who can help them get what they want?
    • Where do they see themselves in 5 years – what would right look like then?  What would they have, how would they feel, and what would they be doing differently?
    • What are their biggest concerns they have in getting to what right would look like in 1, 2, 3 years from now – or even months from now?
  • Relationship/trust building (conversations that create connection)

Relationship building coaching conversations are focused on building trust between you and the team member that will lay the foundation for effective coaching conversations in the future. 

Some methods that might be helpful in these conversations are:

  • Ask open ended questions that allow you to get to know the team member better in order to find out what matters the most to them. 
  • Reserve judgment (put away your “should” library) and just listen. Let them know you hear and understand them by using active listening skills like being present during the conversation (no distractions, relaxed tone and body language, in an environment you can both feel comfortable in). 
  • Affirm them by making statements of appreciation of them, acknowledgement of them, and something you find special about them.

6 Ways to Build and Maintain Trust as a Leader

In order to ensure that you are consistently building and not jeopardizing trust with those that you serve and coach, focus on being:

  • Sincere – make sure your actions match your words. Don’t say you care about them and when they have an illness not even do a check-in when they get back to see how they are feeling.
  • Involved/Engaged – find out what matters to them at work and home and be sure to ask them about it periodically.
  • Reliable – keep your promises.
  • On time – nothing aggravates a team member more than for you to set an appointment they have to be on time for, but you never are – or you are distracted the entire time on your computer or cell phone.
  • Competent – show your level of competence by asking curious questions and being open to seeing things in new ways or from their point of view. If you are good at your job, be secure and confident that someone seeing it differently is not an affront to your intelligence or your experience.
  • Clear about your standards – don’t move the needle! If you set standards be sure that both of you agree on them and you both believe they can be met.  Don’t constantly change the standards you want them to meet as the person you are coaching could become disengaged.
  • Check-ins (continuous improvement conversations)

Check-in coaching conversations are focused on making small, incremental steps to get to the performance expectations, development expectations, or goals you both have set and agreed to for the team member.

Finally, a simple method that provides big results over time is to ask these 3 questions weekly:

Are there things that you need to keep doing that is working?

Is there something that you could stop doing that doesn’t seem to be working?

What do you need to start doing instead?


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NEW – Leadership Coaching Conversation for Peak Performance I Course

Accepting applications for Winter Program, 2020 Now!

Cortex Leadership Coaching Course - Be Better Than You Were Yesterday

This advanced track learning begins where other leadership programs leave off.  After you’ve learned the basics of understanding how to engage your team members, mastering your time, building trust with others, adapting to different behavioral preferences, becoming a better problem solver, and getting better results through others, you are ready to take the next step in leading through coaching.

Whether you took an executive leadership course with Cortex or completed one with another organization or college, you will find relevant and applicable tools and build your skills quickly in coaching, mentoring and consulting your team members to peak performance through Leadership Coaching Conversations I.

In a recent Harvard Business Review study they found that more than 80% of managers/leaders who thought they were coaching their direct reports were actually consulting them.  They also found that the skill of coaching can easily be taught.  The key components of becoming a better performance development coach includes the skills of active listening, building and maintaining trust, emotional and conversational intelligence, and asking quality questions.

Leadership coaching conversations will be a unique experience to increase your coaching and emotional intelligence skills sets and practice and will give you ample opportunities to practice what you learn.  It is in the practice of coaching that skill is truly built.

This course will leave participants with an increased ability to coach themselves and their team members to achieve their peak performance.

How long does the course take?

2 – Full Day In-Person, Live Sessions

2 – 2-hour coaching practice clinics that can be completed in-person or via Zoom video conferencing

5 – One-hour live, video training with author of content with your small, 10-12 person leadership cohort

8 – Hours of homework

Course includes:

Cortex Coaching Enhancement Platform is designed to track the comprehension of the coursework, motivate you to take action, and ensure that you execute what you have learned.  These tools are provided for 4 months with the ability to provide progress reports on the participants forward momentum.  They include an interactive “coach in your pocket” for on the spot instruction Articles/research that allow you to take a deeper dive into selected learning modules

Live Full-Day Sessions:

With a focus on the content you will learn in the cohort video conferencing sessions, you will experience a 2 full days of working with other cohort members and Cortex Certified Coaches to receive the instruction and evaluation you need to improve your craft of leadership coaching conversations.

This will be an immersive experience that takes our past coaching clinics to a whole new level of instruction and practice.

Coaching Clinics:

In addition to your deep dive days you will also have the opportunity to practice your coaching conversation skills during one of the offered coaching clinics.  Whether you are in-person or on Zoom video you will experience a structured learning environment that allows you ”test drive” what you have learned with fresh faces and a desire to be coached.

One of the participants of a past coaching clinic made these comments about his experience:

“I find the coaching clinics refreshing. When trying to coach my own staff the day to day work that has to get done can get in the way; what should be a transformational conversation often becomes transactional. There are task lists, deadlines, projects to be done. By coaching others I’m able to focus just on the skills I need to develop as a coach and on the person in front of me.”

-Nathan Flinchum

City of Roanoke

Syllabus

Coaching For Peak Performance – The Cortex Coaching Method, Part 1

It’s easy to think you are coaching your team members if you are the one doing the evaluation of your skills.  To be an effective coach you will need to learn the core skills of coaching others and have different types of coaching methods depending on the person and the circumstance.

Performance development occurs when the person can trust that you have their best interest in mind.  To accomplish this you must first be sure that they understand their role and they feel appreciated for working hard to execute that role.  Your employees need to receive effective feedback on how they can improve their performance and trust that what right looks like for you is something they are capable of achieving.  When those factors are applied, only then is the table set for coaching to occur.

Through the use of the proprietary Cortex Peak Performance model, you will be able to identify your high potential team members and coach them to reach their maximum contribution potential.  This simple yet comprehensive model will help you set up effective coaching conversations with your team members and move them from the high potential zone to the high performance zone.

The learning objectives for this segment are:

•The four R’s of Peak Performance coaching:  Roles, Recognition, Review, and Refine

•How to define the roles of those on your team and set them up for success and maximum contribution

•How to properly appreciate and recognize the efforts of those who contribute to the team’s success

•How to effectively review and evaluate the performance of your team to increase engagement and alignment with the team’s mission and vision

•How to successfully navigate the conversations required within each step to move the conversation from evaluation to appreciation and ultimately to coaching

Active Listening – The Cornerstone of Effective Conversations

Effective listening skills are crucial in order to build trust and coach others.  This module breaks down the keys to active listening and teaches you how to listen from 3 different centers to not only hear what others’ are saying but also to capture the emotions and intent in every conversation. 

The learning objectives of this segment are: •How to become a better active listener through demonstrating the 5 key elements of active listening i •How to leverage the listening strengths and overcome the listening challenges of your unique behavioral style to better communicate with other behavioral styles •How to listen from the 3 different centers:  your head (what they are thinking); your heart (what they are feeling); and your gut (what they have experienced) •Practice what you learned •

Coaching For Peak Performance – The Cortex Coaching Method, Part 2

The best intentions can occur between a manager/leader and their direct report.  They want to have a coaching session, yet it usually turns into a conversation where few questions are asked and a specific desired outcome of the conversation is reached. 

Managers/leaders need a simple and effective coaching model to follow to create trust, have the team member feel heard and understand, and develop a plan to take the next step of their development journey.  This is why the Cortex Coaching Method was developed.  The method will provide managers/leaders with an easy to use and apply tool that they can feel confident and comfortable to use in the performance development process.

The learning objectives for this segment are:

•Learn the Cortex Coaching Model – its origin and why it is proven to be effective

•How to use the method to better structure a performance development coaching session

•How to use it with other, simple tools to keep the growing going Discover additional tools that provide quality questions for any level or phase of the performance development spectrum

The Coursework also includes:

Exactly how to prepare to coach for each of the 4 types of coaching conversations which are:  performance management, development management, trust/relationship building (or rebuilding), and check-ins (accountability).

•Best practices for coaching in the moment through conflict

•Proven techniques to quickly build rapport with others

•How to use empathy to build connection

Contact [email protected] or [email protected] for more information on this course and others designed to make you an even better leader.

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Preparing for Leadership Coaching Conversations for Peak Performance – Part I

Are you prepared for leadership coaching conversations? Start your preparation here.
Are You Prepared? written on running track

Preparation – Part I

  • Defining a leadership coaching conversation
  • 3 different levels
  • How to set the stage

A coaching conversation conducted by a leader or manager can be defined as:

An interactive conversation wherein the leader/manager uses active listening, open-ended questions, and reflective feedback designed to assist in raising their team member’s self-awareness and to help them get in touch with their own answers in order for them to move forward.

This framework can also be applied when the coaching conversation is focused on working together to ideate and plan how to reach agreed upon goals that they both believe will lead to the team member’s peak performance.

If you are a leader, manager, or supervisor your “coaching conversations” are a balanced mix of open-ended questions with an “empowerment” mindset and appreciation/consulting feedback from you to them.

IMPORTANT:  You cannot conduct a true coaching conversation if the person you are using coaching techniques with believes you do not have their best interest in mind.

Based on the work by Judith Glaser in Conversational Intelligence: How Great Leaders Build Trust and Get Extra Ordinary Results, conversations fall into three distinct categories.

The 3 levels of conversation are:

1.  Transactional – the focus is specific to getting a task done or process completed.

2.  Positional – the focus is on having each person’s point of view heard and an outcome occurring that one or the other party can agree to.

3.  Transformative – the focus is on co-creating an outcome that could not have occurred without both of the parties input and discussion.

Coaching conversations fall into level 3 – transformative in which the highest level of trust is necessary to ensure that open and honest dialogue occurs.

It can be said that the most important part of having a successful coaching conversation is in the preparation. 

To prepare for a coaching conversation be sure:

  • Both parties are prepared to have them
  • Time is set aside to have the conversation in a “neutral” place
  • Both parties agree that what is said is confidential
  • Both parties believe that the other has their best interest in mind
  • The coach is in a non-anxious state of mind, focused solely on helping the person get what they want
  • The person being coached wants to be coached by the coachee and trusts that person is empathetic towards them and the situation they are in
  • The person being coached wants and has the capacity to be coached (mentally, physically, emotionally)

Be aware that if the person you are trying to have a coaching conversation with feels that your intentions are not good in regard to them your conversation will be limited to one of consulting, advising, or goal setting,  It would be very difficult to have a transformative, coaching conversation with that person when they do not believe you have their best interest in mind.

More to come in Part II.

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