This month we are in the midst of the World Cup, an international spectacle on a global scale displaying very different cultures and norms. This appreciation of global diversity has become an important topic in the modern workplace with ‘Cultural Intelligence’ often a key requirement for senior roles. Yet it becomes hard to study and remember all the habits and business practices for every nation and this can become even more complex when many of the people we meet may have mixed heritage or have lived in multiple countries. So maybe what we need to develop is ‘cultural courtesy’ rather than just building cultural knowledge.
 
On my first ever visit to the USA some years ago, my taxi driver from the airport was outraged by what I thought to be a very fair tip for the rather brusque service I had received. While I should have perhaps researched the conventions, he seemed to want to argue me into submission. Needless-to-say, this was not a good strategy as it served only to entrench me in my position. Yet had he and I engaged in a more courteous exchange to build understanding I am sure a compromise might have been achieved. He could tell from my accent I was from the UK yet never attempted to appreciate my perspective and to educate me.
I recently overheard a mother telling her son he could not have a cola because the sugar caused ‘cavities’. The child, not unsurprisingly, asked ‘what are cavities?’ This curiosity, the result of inexperience and naivety brought a more comprehensive explanation from his mother. Yet when we meet people from other cultures we assume they should know our norms and conventions, forgetting that they may lack experience in our culture. If we can engage in cultural courtesy and engage our curiosity we might be able to smooth many of the issues that can arise when working cross culturally.
 
When has your cultural courtesy been lacking?
When do you need to engage your cultural curiosity?
What can you do to encourage cultural courtesy in others?
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Since I am in the UK, this month we must talk about ‘the wedding’! While I am not a royalist follower, I was fascinated by the cultural gulf that the wedding presented. The Most Rev Michael Curry evoked admiration and hilarity in equal measure from the diverse audience, enthralled by his 14 minute sermon. I will only say that I am quite sure that St. George’s chapel has never seen the like of his address from the more reserved and traditional British chaplaincy. His sermon was certainly delivered in English, but it conveyed an emotion and approach that was as alien as another language.
 
We often feel that having a common language with another culture means we have a common understanding and frame of reference, and yet his speech demonstrated how different those cultural expectations can be. In this global world where leaders and staff are often deployed across international borders these differences are often overlooked. Expats given a choice of new locations, will often opt for a country with a common language, such as the English moving to the USA or to Australia. They believe that this will make the transition and adaptation process easier. Yet we have evidence that failure of international placements can often be higher in such situations. The belief that the common language evidences a common culture is a fallacy that often leads to a lack of awareness of the changes required. As a result, expats can find themselves out of touch with the cultural expectations of the role and how they need to alter their approach as a result.
 
When might you overlook cultural differences because the same language is spoken?
How can you become more aware of the cultural expectations presented by a diverse workforce?
What changes do you need to make when working across cultures, even when everyone speaks the ‘accepted language’?
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As a long-suffering cricket widow I have limited engagement with the cricket news but this month I took particular interest in the ‘ball tampering scandal’ that rocked Australian cricket and the lessons it has for leadership. For those of you who have managed to evade the media circus on this topic, I will say only that three Australian cricket players were caught ‘tampering’ with the ball to gain an unfair advantage: All three have subsequently lost their places in the team and been vilified worldwide. However, the head coach Darren Lehmann was cleared of any involvement and yet eventually resigned despite his apparent lack of participation. Lehmann explained his decision in part as “I’m ultimately responsible for the culture of the team…..”. Absolutely correct!
 
The leader has to be ultimately accountable for the culture and practice within that team and ignorance is no defence. Even if he was not complicit, if the team were unaware of the cultural expectations, then the leader is at fault for not communicating that message: If they knew the expectations and ignored them, this indicates inadequate systems and controls.  I am not an expert on the Lehmann coaching methodology but clearly there was a failure of communication or control. Teams take their lead from the person in charge and ‘how we do things around here’ stems from the actions, behaviours and decisions of the leader. The leader sets the standards by which everything happens and this depends not just on what they say, but how they operate. They cannot advocate fair play and then be seen to ‘bend the rules’ to suit. The messages transmitted by actions, decisions and behaviours are often far more powerful than the spoken word or any values printed on the wall.
 
What messages do your actions, behaviours and decisions communicate about ‘how we do things round here'?
How effectively do you communicate your cultural expectations to your team?
Where might what you say and what you do be out of line?

On the 8th March we celebrated International Women’s Day and while progress is being made, the ‘glass ceiling’ has been barely cracked! However, this month I learned about some astonishing ways that girls and women are discriminated against, without many of us realizing. It is common for women to be under-represented in many professions, especially computer science and IT. This may reflect a genuine lack of interest from girls, outside pressures, or could be girls themselves believing the accepted stereotypes, that creates a self-fulfilling prophecy. Ironically, even women sometimes fall prey to established doctrines, so even senior women are not immune from these unconscious beliefs. The result, is that the number of female undergraduate taking computer science is actually falling.
 
But this lack of diversity in the major developmental sciences leads to some unintended consequences: Because we have a tech industry dominated by white males, the technologies are being designed with this unconscious bias. This leads to facial recognition software that has difficulty with female black faces, and virtual reality technologies that disproportionately make women suffer from motion sickness. If we are not careful, we are in danger of sleepwalking into a world that becomes even more of a challenge for women to navigate, and could potentially alienate at least half the customer base and other stakeholders. So, this innovative new world that seeks to break out of established ways of working may not be as radical as the designers believe, unless we can leverage the power of diversity in the workplace.
 
Where might you be subject to unconscious bias in relation to women?
How can you ensure that you are not perpetuating existing stereotypes?
Where can you support greater diversity to leverage benefits?

This month I read an article talking about a ‘dating coach’ but was somewhat concerned when it said that many clients ask the coach to ‘monitor their on-line dating accounts’! While I am sure there is a market for this, I would hardly call it ‘coaching’, it would be like my coaching clients asking me to do their staff appraisals for them!
 
In 2007 I wrote an article suggesting that the term ‘coaching’ was being used as a synonym for ‘training’
​(https://radar.brookes.ac.uk/radar/file/fa323788-7e83-47b7-b7e6-73d79ae1a799/1/special01-paper-01.pdf) and it seems the term is still being hijacked by all sorts of activities as a catch-all acceptable term. Many organisations aspire to build a ‘coaching culture’ yet ask for skills that are much closer to performance management and manipulation. While ‘coaching skills’ can be a valuable addition to the leader’s toolkit, this is a long way from being a coach. A ‘coach’ acts to support and develop the individual with a fundamental respect and empathy for their right to self-determination. They seek to build autonomy and a trusting relationship, believing in the potential growth and capability of people. Without these fundamental foundations the use of coaching skills will never build a coaching culture. Managers should beware of using coaching skills to coerce or trick people, as this will never achieve the desired result and may actually cause the exact opposite of the intention.
 
How can a manager integrate their accountability for results with the role of a coach?
When are you likely to employ coaching skills to influence and direct others?
What do you need to believe to build a true coaching culture?

​Are you a leader finding the younger generation of employees a challenge to manage? Do you and your peers find yourselves describing them as unfocused, lacking work ethic and having a feeling of entitlement?
Many of us acknowledge potential clashes between generations, as values and attitudes change, but the youth of today have experienced a fundamental shift due to their access to knowledge and information.
‘Millennials are the first generation that has not needed an authority figure to access information, and therefore, the dynamics of relationship to power have shifted’ says Esinoza and Ukleja, (2016) in their excellent book about Managing the Millennials: Wiley.
They argue that in order to successfully retain and develop youth talent, managers need to be able to adapt first because ultimately they are responsible for the performance, engagement and motivation of the workforce. They identify three key competencies that are vital for managing millennials: Firstly, Adaptability, where the manager can suspend their own biases and accept the different values and frame of reference that millennials bring to the workplace. Secondly, Communicating, by building a connection at a relational level and fully explaining tasks and consequences. Finally, Envisioning, helping to build connections between the employees’ personal goals and motivations with the organisational objectives. Millennials can be imaginative, autonomous and energetic or self-absorbed, defensive and indifferent.  Which one turns up may have as much to do with the managerial style as with generational norms.
 
Where do you need to adapt your style to get the best out of your younger workers?
What do they need to know from you to perform at their best?
What really matters to them that you can leverage for performance?
 

As we approach the Christmas holiday let’s take a lighter look at one leadership idea!
This week I saw Paddington 2, who was a great favourite for me as a child. Paddington always tries to do the right thing, but it does not always work out the way he intended, despite his best intentions there is often a less than perfect outcome. Do we therefore deduce that his choice of action was wrong? Was he wrong to try and stop the burglar, because he was ultimately mistaken for the thief?
 
Martin Lewis, the ‘Money Saving Expert’ makes a useful distinction, that we can make a good decision, and yet still have a poor outcome. None of us is blessed with a crystal ball and hindsight is a wonderful thing, but it cannot be used to retrospectively judge a decision. If we make a considered decision to the best of our ability, with all the information we can access at the time, we have made the best decision available to us at that point. This cannot however protect us from a potentially negative outcome. Yet many will engage in rumination and self-blame trying to reverse time, wishing they had chosen differently. This can never resolve the situation and we need to separate the decision from the outcome. The Paddington Principle states that we can still make good decisions and suffer bad outcomes. It may still be the right decision to invite the family for the holidays, even if on the day you may wish you hadn’t!
 
When have you spent time and energy in regret and blame for a decision that seemed right at the time?
What do you need to say to yourself when such situations arise?
How do you ensure that your decisions are as good as you can make them at the time?

In this world of immediacy and social media it is very easy to write in haste and send too soon, driven by the expectations of an instant response. I have seen many a person try to recall an e-mail written in the heat of emotion and often urged a colleague that it may be advisable to ‘sleep on it’ before sending this particularly acidic response. Technology now allows us to send or post our immediate reactions, that often do not serve us well.
 
This week I was introduced to a mnemonic that I plan to use in future to help me evaluate my electronic communications, THINK.
 
Is what I have written a True reflection of events or simply my opinion and my perspective. Can I evidence the points made or are the arguments evaluative and bias? Am I being Honest in the communication, or is this playing some political game? Am I presenting information for an ulterior motive that is not communicated? Is my communication Inspiring, will it achieve what I want it to, will it inspire the desired reaction? Or am I in danger of starting a pitched battle that will run on? Ultimately, is the message Necessary? Is this something that needs to be said at all, or is it just for me to let off steam or to stamp my metaphorical feet in annoyance? What do I hope to achieve? And finally, is it Kind? How will this make the other person feel and react, am I able to step into their shoes? Are the points made in a kind and sensitive way? We now know that altruism and kindness to others can support our own well-being by releasing serotonin and endorphins into the blood, so is likely to reduce our own levels of stress and anxiety.
 
When are you at most risk of sending messages that violate these principles?
What are the common triggers?
How can you make use of this?

This week it was reported that in the UK productivity is currently at the same level as prior to the 2008 crash, and has seen no significant improvement in the last 9 years. The FT suggested four possible reasons for this including a lack of investment in technologies, that productivity is measured in the wrong way, that the low interest rates are sustaining ‘zombie companies’ and finally that organisations have held on to unproductive workers. As a development specialist it is interesting to me that poor leadership or a lack of investment in the people and their skills does not seem to feature!
Productivity is ultimately a reflection of the output of workers that relies heavily on a leader’s ability to manage performance, to motivate and to help others achieve. All too many managers think that simply more hours of work will solve the productivity issue, yet we know that this is counter-productive. Those who work excessive hours without adequate breaks suffer fatigue and burn out, that will undoubtedly reduce productivity on the way. I personally think it is no accident that in the same week it was reported that 1 in 6 workers now experience mental health issues, with over 300,000 a year leaving jobs due to a lack of support. Any wonder that productivity is suffering!
 
I recently heard Jayne-Anne Gadhia, the Chief Executive of Virgin Money, explain how after becoming a mother she decided to limit her work to 5 days a week and leave at 6pm each day, the incredible result was her manager telling her she had had her ‘best ever’ year. Beware the long hours equals productivity assumption. There will always be the odd crisis and rushed job, but productivity is about having skilled people in the right jobs with leaders who can recognize issues and support them to deliver their best, simply more hours on task will not enhance the productivity of you or your team.
 
When are you or your team at your most productive?
Where are the risks to productivity?
What can you do to promote mental health for you and your team?
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I was recently working with a manager who was experiencing significant change and stress at work. Following a restructure and the loss of some staff, he was working excessive hours and beginning to ‘drop balls’ as he was unable to keep on top of all the tasks that now needed doing. In discussion about possible actions to improve the situation he kept saying that it was a short term issue and that when they were fully staffed and when the current peak of work was over, ‘things would be fine’. The argument being that no major change was therefore required on his part. But ‘When ‘ can never be a philosophy of management!
Here is the thing: there will always be someone leaving, someone not fully trained, a new change initiative or a restructure. This is why management is so hard, it is like re-engineering a train while it is travelling at high speed. The skill of the successful manager is their ability to manage this process while delivering results.
 
The skill is to understand the key priorities and to make some tough decisions for the ‘Now’. Good managers are ruthless about priorities and understand the difference between essentials, and ‘nice to haves’. As a manager acquires an increasing level of responsibility they need to establish the priorities of their new role. That may mean allowing some things to be less than perfect, because the consequences of failure are less risky than more important things that require attention. This can be a hard lesson for many managers who have been promoted on the basis of their exceptional delivery and who pride themselves on achievement. But think about ‘What will you be remembered for?’
 
When do you need to ensure you stay in the ‘Now’?
What are the key priorities for your role and which tasks do you need to ‘let go’ of?
What will you be remembered for as achievements in your current role?
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