Blog · John Mattone

John Mattone Named a Finalist for Thinkers50 Leadership Award

August 17, 2017 By John Mattone

John Mattone, author, executive coach, and leadership expert, was named one of eight finalists for the Thinkers50 Ranking Award for Leadership in 2017. This award, along with the other Thinkers50 awards will be announced November 13 in London.

John Mattone will be in the company of world-renowned thought leaders for the Thinkers50 Ranking Awards in London in November.

Mattone’s nomination to the short list for the award was due to his 30-plus years of experience in leadership and human capital management. His 4As of leadership (Altruism, Affiliation, Achievement, and Abundance) have been globally recognized as hallmarks of outstanding leaders, and he has coached numerous CEOs and other high-level executives in his career.

Who Are Thinkers50?

Begun in 2001, Thinkers50 was the first ever global ranking of management thinkers and its award list has been updated every two years since then. In the 16 years since it started, the organization has expanded, now including a range of activities that support its primary mission: identifying and sharing the world’s top management thinking.

Thinkers50 bases their mission on three core beliefs:

Ideas can change the world
Management is indispensable to human affairs
Innovative thinking can create a brighter future

The Thinkers50 Awards were introduced in 2011, and today the brand is admired worldwide for its marketing intelligence and objectivity, making it one of the world’s leading authorities in management ideas.

How the Thinkers50 Ranking Is Produced

Independence, integrity, and accessibility are three drivers of the Thinkers50 ranking system. The ranking is based on objective metrics, plus input from an advisory team led by Thinkers50 founders Stuart Crainer and Des Dearlove. Half of the ranking criteria relate to how the nominee has performed in the most recent two years, including their:

Relevance of ideas
Rigor of research
Capability for idea presentation
Accessibility of ideas
International perspective

The Thinkers50 award recipients have demonstrated short- and long-term excellence.

The other half of the ranking criteria are based on nominees’ performance over the past 20 years, including the originality of their ideas, the impact their ideas have had, how practical their ideas are, their business sense, and power to inspire. The public can cast votes at www.Thinkers50.com to suggest names of people who they believe should be considered for the ranking.

Why the Thinkers50 Ranking Is Called “The Oscars of Management Thinking”

The Thinkers50 Ranking is known as “the Oscars of Management Thinking” because of their prestige globally. Ranking awards are given in the following categories:

Leadership (the category in which John Mattone is nominated)
Strategy
Innovation
Breakthrough Idea
Ideas into Practice
Talent
Digital Thinking
Social Enterprise
Radar Award (for up and coming thinkers)
Lifetime Achievement

Among the many thought leaders suggested by the public on the Thinkers50 website, only eight in each category are designated as finalists to attend the Thinkers50 Award Gala in November in London.

A Prestigious Recognition

John Mattone was named to the Leadership Award short list because of his ability to shed “powerful and original” new light onto the topic of leadership. Every type of team, organization, or corporation requires exceptional leadership to get exceptional results, and the role of the leader is constantly evolving as the world changes.

The Thinkers50 Leadership Award recognizes management thinking leaders who have demonstrated mastery of leadership while demonstrating their own powerful perspective on what outstanding leadership means, how it can be developed, and what should be expected of leaders. John Mattone will be in rarefied company in London in November, alongside leaders in digital and innovative thinking, and leaders who have accomplished a lifetime of positive results in their field.

To learn more about John Mattone’s areas of expertise, you can check out his books, which include three best sellers. Mattone is recognized by multiple organizations as one of the top independent leadership consultants, executive coaches, and speakers in the world.

Need Goal Motivation? Try Executive Coaching

August 8, 2017 By John Mattone

We all know motivation when we feel it, but what is it made up of? Motivation is partly due to enthusiasm for something, like achieving a long-held goal. It’s also due to having a reason to do something, whether that’s to provide well for a family, make the community better, or pursue a high-powered career track.

Enthusiasm and reason combine to build motivation.

Many business leaders and executives enlist in the services of an executive coach, and one reason why is to develop the motivation they need to reach their and their organization’s goals. But it’s essential that executives not put the burden of “providing” motivation onto their coach. Sure, external factors can be motivating, but the only motivation that lasts through thick and thin comes from inside a person.

Both Carrots and Sticks Are Short-Term Tools

Did you play sports or participate in performing arts as a child? If so, you may have had different types of coaches along the way. Some may have wielded intimidation in an attempt to get results, while others may have held out the possibility of rewards, say, a pizza party after winning an important game, to motivate kids.

While both the metaphorical carrot and stick can be useful, they do not make up the entirety of successful coaching. Why? Because intimidation and rewards are both external motivators, and for most people, external motivation isn’t enough to inspire the drive and passion necessary to achieve true, lasting excellence.

Self-Motivation Is Lasting

If you were lucky enough playing sports or performing on stage to have a coach who inspired you to want to achieve important goals, you probably already know that the only kind of motivation that is truly long-lasting is that which comes from within. You may not develop this internal drive when you first pursue an interest, but to succeed with an important interest, you will develop it at some point, and rely on it as just as much a part of your makeup as your throwing arm or your voice.

That’s why the most exceptional executive coaches are the ones who inspire self-motivation, by getting to know you and getting to know what makes you passionate and committed. While there is nothing wrong with being externally motivated sometimes, like when you know you’ll receive a bonus for exceeding last quarter’s numbers, external motivation is ultimately insufficient.

External motivation can only accomplish so much.

What an Outstanding Executive Coach Does

The way a successful executive coach operates is the key to inspiring and fostering self-motivation in coaching clients. One way great coaches do this is by building a relationship with clients based on trust and on truly getting to know what drives a person. Excellent coaches also understand the uses and benefits of assessments, at the beginning of the coaching relationship, and at its conclusion.

Outstanding coaches are willing to challenge your assumptions and help you recognize when your goals are your own, and when they have been imposed or accepted from outside yourself. They know how to support and encourage you, and are willing to present you with harsh truths when necessary. And they want to measure success and progress toward goals not only so you can see how you have changed, but so they can measure their own effectiveness as coaches.

The Best Coaches Want Your Feedback

One essential element of the coach-client relationship is feedback. A coach that doesn’t listen to what the client has to say isn’t a very good coach. Feedback is essential for developing and articulating goals, and for building a strong relationship based on trust. A great coach is constantly aware of visual and verbal feedback given by a client, whether it’s specifically designated as feedback, or is just part of a typical coaching session.

If an executive coach doesn’t help clients develop motivation from within, they’re not a very good coach. Understanding motivation and understanding what you are genuinely passionate about is something that can be assisted by a positive coaching relationship. In fact, if motivation and passion aren’t present, all the coaching in the world won’t help in the long term. I invite you to contact me to learn more about my leadership coaching services. My goal as a long-time executive coach is to help each and every client reach their goals and achieve success.

Executive Coaching Definition, Stages, Benefits, Strategies, and Results

August 3, 2017 By John Mattone

Executive coaching may be regarded differently by different people. While there may still be some people for whom the concept of “coaching” may carry connotations of remediation, for the most part, this outdated idea has fallen by the wayside.

Rarely do organizations invest in coaching except for highly valued talent.

When today’s executive decides on executive coaching for themselves or perhaps it is recommended by the Board of Directors (in the case of a CEO), the connotations are almost always positive. It says on behalf of the organization, “We believe in you and your ability to do great things. We’re willing to invest in executive coaching so you can fulfill your potential and we can all enjoy the benefits.”

Excellent coaching doesn’t come cheap, and no organization is going to make the investment in a top executive coach for a person they don’t believe in, or hope to be rid of in a year or two. Basically, if your company wants you to have an executive coach, you can take it as a vote of confidence that they think you’re capable of great things, and they hope to keep you around for the long term.

Bringing in a coach represents a certain kind of risk to an organization. An executive coach is expected to be unbiased, and free of favoritism, and this level of honesty can sometimes create sensitivities among the executive team. But most businesses recognize that investing in their leaders produces a positive, lasting return on investment. Here is what you can expect from executive coaching, whether you’re the executive, or you represent the business interested in investing in executive coaching.

Differences Between Coaching and Mentoring

Many people wonder whether coaching and mentoring are the same thing. While there are similarities, a coach and a mentor do different things and have different motivations and end goals. Generally, mentoring helps to shape a professional’s values and beliefs, typically from the point of view of someone in the industry (or same company) who has “been there and done that” and is willing to share wisdom amassed over the years. A coach helps the client to improve self-awareness, set goals, work toward them, and improve specific aspects of performance.

More specifically, a mentoring relationship typically has the following characteristics. The mentor relationship is generally an ongoing relationship that may last for years or even decades. Frequently it involves informal sharing of information when the person being mentored needs support, guidance, or advice. Mentors are often more experienced versions of their mentee, working in the same profession, or even in the same company. The focus of mentoring is development of the mentee’s career and personal development, with the agenda largely set by the mentee.

Coaching relationships differ in that they usually have a set starting and ending point. Meetings between coach and client are typically structured and scheduled, and focus on specific developmental or leadership issues. Coaches are generally brought in from outside the organization and may or may not have the same set of skills as the client. But that’s OK, because the focus is on specific developmental issues in the workplace and on achieving specific goals. Goals vary, but may include learning to effectively delegate, or improving communication skills, as examples. The following diagram shows the differences and overlap between mentoring and coaching.

Coaching Needs for Executives at Different Life Stages

It only makes sense that the thirty-ish executive who has zoomed up the career ladder has different coaching needs than the 50-year-old who has been in the industry since college. Often, but not always, the younger leader needs more nurturing and more directness, while the older leader is often more aware of deficiencies that need to be addressed.

Goals and needs differ between the young executive and the more mature executive.

A study of 72 executive coaching relationships covering the period of 2008 through 2014 examined executive scores on personality and emotional intelligence tests, interviews with their superiors, and case notes. The average length of the coaching engagement was six to 12 months, and there were slightly more male coaching clients than female.

The study found that regardless of gender, younger executives (in their thirties) had lower levels of self-reflection than older ones, and the changes they underwent were less dramatic than the changes of older executives. Younger executives responded to specific guidelines and concrete recommendations, but they were less likely to wonder why those guidelines and recommendations were necessary.

Interestingly, the study found that executive behavior during executive coaching differed by age rather than generation, which is consistent with previous research describing the ongoing maturation that goes on throughout adulthood. Researchers identified three factors that they believe account for differences among younger and older recipients of executive coaching:

Younger executives often have a self-perception of being a “winner,” and are likelier to think of coaching as a perk of being at the top.
Younger executives had more difficulty recognizing nuances of human behavior and were more likely to use “black-and-white” thinking, like “There is a single ‘best’ idea that should prevail.”
Younger executives were likelier to believe that there is one right way to do things, while older executives were more willing to try different approaches.

Who Uses Executive Coaching?

Clearly, many organizations use executive coaching, because it’s a $1.5 billion per year industry, with most of the biggest enterprises now using coaches. Who is it for? Executives who want to:

Improve self-confidence
Strike a better work-life balance
Open up new career opportunities
Become a more effective leader

Making coaching work requires that organizations and the people running them prioritize coaching. Executive coaching should never be treated as an afterthought or an “extra,” but as an essential part of developing maximum leadership potential. At the same time, it’s important that companies not overuse coaching or think that coaching is capable of solving deeply entrenched organizational (or personal) problems. Coaching can be remarkably powerful, but it can’t do the impossible.

What Are the Benefits of Executive Coaching?

While specific outcomes of executive coaching depend on the goals that the coach and client set at the beginning of their work together, many more overarching benefits have been reported by clients and companies that have used executive coaching. Among the benefits of executive coaching are:

Increased self-awareness
Increased self-regulation
Greater empathy and emotional intelligence
Flexible thinking replacing rigid thinking
Higher levels of motivation
More effective leadership

Benefits of executive coaching may carry over into non-work life as well.

In addition, many coaching clients indicate that they come away from their coaching engagement with better social skills, a growing professional network, a better reputation online, and a better non-work life as well.

The specific improvements that a coaching client should expect as a result of coaching will have to do with their goals. In addition to helping the client develop those goals, the effective executive coach will devise ways in which progress toward goals can be measured. For example, if an executive has difficulty delegating tasks, the coach may interview several people who report to the executive to define the scope of the problem, help the client define what “better delegation” means and how it can be measured, and then follow up at the end of the coaching engagement to measure progress toward that goal. The following diagram illustrates the benefits that both coaching clients and their organizations can expect from executive coaching.

My Philosophy and Strategies for Executive Coaching

The most successful executives aren’t investing in executive coaching when they ask for my services – they’re investing in results. Over my decades of experience as an executive coach, I developed the Intelligent Leadership (IL) Executive Coaching Blueprint. With my clients, I create a six to 12-month immersive leadership coaching journey that leads to business results and personal growth. I want my clients to unleash their full potential, so they can be the best possible leaders they can be.

Not only do I use my Executive Coaching Blueprint to strengthen clients’ inner-core and outer-core characteristics, I also certify other executive coaches from around the world in this process. As a result, our clients are able to realize four game-changing outcomes that serve them well in business and in their lives in general:

Altruism
Affiliation
Achievement
Abundance

These four qualities are the seeds that lead to sustained greatness and a positive, lasting legacy as a leader.

The process begins with a meeting between the coaching client and the sponsoring executive team to discuss the goals of the coaching relationship and gain context and background information. We also discuss the proposed roadmap of how we will get there, and what type of schedule to expect.

For executive coaching to get results, a clear plan is necessary.

At this point, I spend the rest of the day with the executive client so we can get to know each other as professionals and human beings. The purpose of this time is to build a foundation of trust and rapport. Using my general observations, a structured, in-depth interview, and objective assessment tools, I assess the client’s inner- and outer-core capabilities. With most clients, I also schedule in a day of shadowing, where I observe them at work, on calls, and in meetings.

In addition, I conduct what I call 360-degree interviews with key stakeholders, who may include other executives, board members, people who report to the client, and a selection from the larger population of employees. From these interviews, and my Strategic-Tactical Leadership Index 360-Survey I identify the client’s leadership strengths and where there’s opportunity for improvement. On another day, we debrief and discuss the results of the assessments and the themes that have emerged from them.

The next step in the coaching relationship is helping the client create their own Core Purpose Statement that they envision themselves living by. This statement captures the essence of the person and the leader the client wants to become, which qualities they must develop in order to do so, what they want to accomplish, and the contributions they want to make. These statements must be defined with utmost clarity, because they affect every other phase of the coaching relationship.

My coaching clients then use my proprietary tools to prepare their initial leadership professional development plan with an eye toward strengthening their:

Irrefutable strengths
Unexpected strengths
Indisputable development needs
Unexpected development needs

With my support and presence, the client then meets with their constituents and stakeholders individually and collectively to share their commitment to become the best possible leader – which can only happen with the support, guidance, feedback, and input of these constituents and stakeholders. The information collected in these meetings is helpful in finalizing the client’s leadership development plan.

Ongoing performance coaching, support, and guidance from me, along with frequent interaction with stakeholders and constituents helps the client measure the progress they are making toward the goals of their leadership development plan.

Does Executive Coaching Work for Everyone?

Sometimes executive coaching doesn’t work out, and there are some common denominators when this happens. For example, an executive who doesn’t want coaching is unlikely to make good progress, and if the client’s superiors aren’t invested in the coaching process it’s even worse.

Another reason executive coaching can fail is a lack of clear and measurable goals, or goals that the client developed thinking they represent what their supervisor wants them to work on. The goals in executive coaching should be ones that the client wants passionately. When a client is less than forthright when providing information for the coach to develop the plan of action, coaching can go off-track.

Lack of clear, measurable goals can severely limit the results of coaching.

When coaching is used by an organization as a last-ditch effort for an executive who is faltering and needs “saving,” the whole point of coaching has been missed. Coaching as a response to a monumental mistake runs the very real risk of coaching being seen as a punishment. And even if it’s not, when coaching is the last resort, it is often ineffective.

Confusion between coaching and mentoring may result in less-than-stellar results. There’s certainly much to be gained from a successful mentor-mentee relationship, but expecting a mentor to get the same results as a leadership coach is short-sighted.

Finally, coaching can fail because a coach isn’t sufficiently qualified for the job. There are plenty of self-appointed coaches out there who see coaching as a side business or a way to bring in money. Coaching certification programs exist, and some are more meaningful than others. But primarily you need to select an executive coach who has experience and success in coaching clients similar to yours.

How Do You Recognize Results of Executive Coaching?

What do you envision when you think about your organization one year from now, with one of your most promising executives having successfully completed executive coaching with a qualified coach? Perhaps you envision greater efficiency, less in the way of divisive office politics, or clearer goals and objectives. Maybe you envision everyone showing up to work with greater motivation and more commitment. Those are worthy aspirations, of course, but it’s important to develop goals that can be assessed as a baseline at the beginning of the coaching relationship, and after coaching is completed.

Any executive coach worthy of the title will assist your client (and the executive team in general) to define goals. They will also help you and your client devise ways to measure how well those goals are met. The interviews that the executive coach performs at the beginning and at the end of coaching should tell a clear story too. If direct-reports say at the outset that the client doesn’t articulate expectations clearly and this is distressing, what do they say once coaching has concluded?

Recognizing the results of executive coaching requires engagement with an experienced, skilled coach who knows how to develop and define goals, measure baseline conditions, monitor progress, and assess conditions at the end of the coaching engagement. If your proposed coach doesn’t seem interested in these critical tasks, you shouldn’t expect too much from them.

What to Look for in an Executive Coach

An executive coach you consider working with should be crystal clear about their process and willing to share results of having used that process. Evasive responses, or overweening enthusiasm may indicate that the person is more style than substance.

A great leadership coach won’t give you evasive or unrealistic answers to your questions.

A great coach is honest about gathering feedback and understands the important of having a unique, outsider’s point of view. Feedback should come from not only the client, but also the client’s supervisors, peers, and direct reports to ensure the clearest picture emerges.

Your coach should be able to discuss their skills in depth and detail. What tools do they use? What specific skills have they helped previous clients with? They should be proud to share references with you and name actual clients who have improved in measurable ways. Finally, you should choose a coach that understands the importance of client confidentiality. A coach who casually shares everything with a client’s supervisors or HR people will shatter the client’s trust and cast a pall of negativity over the entire process.

I have worked as a leadership coach with clients all over the world, and have authored eight books covering the qualities of intelligent leadership and the importance of organizational culture. My Intelligent Leadership Executive Coaching Blueprint has been used with over 250 clients including 25 global CEOs. I worked with the late Steve Jobs and former PepsiCo CEO Roger Enrico, and was named a finalist for the 2017 Thinkers50 Leadership Award. I am passionate about my work as an executive coach and invite you to contact me about my leadership coaching services at any time. I would be delighted to hear from you.

Glossary

Core Purpose Statement – a way of thinking of oneself in terms of an overarching statement about what their purpose and goals are

Emotional intelligence – a person’s ability to identify and manage their own emotions and to understand how their emotions affect and are affected by other people’s emotions

Executive coaching – professional coaching that focuses on development of leadership skills that are needed to facilitate positive change, manage complexity, and build high-performance teams

Intelligent Leadership Executive Coaching Blueprint – John Mattone’s plan for a six to 12-month immersive leadership and personal growth process designed to unlock an executive’s full leadership potential

Mentoring – an informal employee development system where a more senior, experienced professional (the mentor) acts as advisor or guide to a junior professional over the course of months, years, or decades

Self-awareness – the accurate assessment and understanding of one’s abilities, strengths, and weaknesses, and how they affect oneself and others

Self-regulation – a person’s ability to monitor and control their behavior, emotions, or thoughts, and modify them in accordance with situations and conditions

Stakeholders – in this context, the people affected by the actions of the coaching client. They may include the coaching client’s peers, supervisors, direct-reports, or other employees.

Why You Need to Ask Yourself the Big Questions

July 25, 2017 By John Mattone

Some of my readers may be old enough to remember the vice-presidential debates leading up to the 1992 presidential election. Participating were Senator Al Gore, Vice President Dan Quayle, and Commander James Stockdale, who spent eight years in captivity during the Vietnam War. He was misunderstood and made fun of after the debate for his opening remark that began, “Who am I? Why am I here?” Since he had not had the time to prepare for the debate due to the nature of running mate Ross Perot’s candidacy, people assumed he was referring to his lack of preparedness.

But was he? Those are perhaps the two fundamental questions of life, and if anyone had earned the right to bring them up on the national stage, it would be someone who went through the adversity he had. And if there’s anyone whose answers to such fundamental philosophical questions would be of interest, it would be someone running for national elected office. Do you think our political leaders ask themselves those big questions? Do you ask them of yourself?

Asking ourselves big life questions helps us lay the foundation for achieving goals.

Though the “big questions” differ from one person to the next, and from time to time over a lifetime, here are some of the most common ones and why it’s right to ask them of yourself – on both a personal and professional level.

“Have I Made a Difference in People’s Lives?”

This question can be asked and pondered on many levels. For example, if you have children, you certainly made a difference in their lives by bringing them into the world. Few of us can claim to have made world-changing advances like Jonas Salk, who delivered one of the first successful vaccines against polio. But we can all ask ourselves, “Did I thank the person who handed me my coffee at the drive-up window?” or, “Have I told the people I love that I love them?”

“What Am I Refusing to Admit to Myself?”

This is one of the more difficult questions to ask ourselves. Few things are more tragic than the person who refuses to acknowledge reality. Why is it so hard to admit that we can’t hit those high notes when we sing, or that the two-handed backhand is how we’re going to have to play tennis from now on?

It’s not easy to have our self-concept challenged, yet humans constantly change. Some of those changes aren’t necessarily good, but others are. Think of the earthy, satisfying taste of a properly-aged bottle of wine versus the bitter chalkiness of the wine that has not had the chance to ripen into itself. There are ways humans are like that too.

“Can Kindness Change the World?”

The Dalai Lama said, “Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can’t help them, at least don’t hurt them.” It makes sense, yet we may sometimes feel as if kindness isn’t worth the effort. Whether kindness can change the whole world may not be the right question. Rather, we should ask if our kindness changes someone’s world. You didn’t have to rescue that slow turtle from the rainy highway, and the world will go on whether you do or not. But if you do, you can feel confident that your kindness changed the world for that animal.

Kindness may not change the world for everyone, but it at least temporarily betters the world for you and whoever you help.

“What Are My Values, and Am I True to Them?”

People talk about “values” all the time, as if they’re as inevitable as gravity, but have you ever really taken the time to define what your values actually are? Not what you think they should be, but what you actually do value. There’s tremendous power in simply knowing what is most important to you.

Once you do, you’re that much closer to being able to answer whether you are actually living a life that is in harmony with those values. Shining a light on our values and our commitment to them can be upsetting when we know that we have fallen short, but doing so is the first step in realigning our lives with what we believe to be most important.

When I work with organizations on developing outstanding culture, asking those big questions is part of the process. I invite you to contact me so we can talk about corporate culture and how I assist organizations with it. If not, I at least hope you will recognize the value of asking yourself – both on a personal and professional level – the big questions in life.

Leadership Speaking Definition, Process, Benefits, and Strategies

July 11, 2017 By John Mattone

In an age of soundbites and 140-character missives, is the art of oration relevant anymore? It may be more relevant than ever, actually. If anything can break through the background noise of convenient aphorisms and bumper-sticker politics, it’s a truly well-crafted, tub-thumper of a speech, whatever the topic.

As cynicism and skepticism become almost baseline 21st-century emotions, there is tremendous power in having our world upended for half an hour while we look at a topic with a fresh perspective, guided by someone who knows both the subject matter and how to connect with an audience.

Most of us who have been around for a while have experienced the unique power of a beautifully delivered speech, appeal, sermon, or declaration, and it can be something we remember for the rest of our lives. There are times when an outstanding speech, delivered by someone who has honed the art for many years, can be just the right thing to jostle a business or other organization out of complacency and into action – or at least into a shifted perspective.

Truly useful, engaging information occupies a “sweet spot” at the intersection of culture, history, and technology-powered zeitgeist.

If you’re a business leader who may be interested in bringing in a leadership speaker for your organization, it’s important to understand what leadership speaking is and is not, what it can and cannot do, and what benefits result from a well-crafted speech, delivered with skill. Here’s what you should know about leadership speaking.

What Is Leadership Speaking?

It’s an oversimplification to think of leadership speaking as a learned individual delivering perfectly-turned phrases to a passive audience. Sure, that happens, but leadership speaking is about communication, and communication is a two-way street. In other words, the audience plays a critical role in successful leadership speaking. This represents a certain risk to the leadership speaker in that the audience may be responsive and engaged, or they may sit there passively, seemingly unable to be cajoled out of their passivity.

Expect your leadership speaker to engage your audience, helping them become invested in the content and delivery.

That’s why the outstanding leadership speaker has a well-stocked kit of tools meant to get the audience invested and engaged. In general, it’s not a skill set that can be learned through the underclassman introductory course in public speaking that so many of us were required to take at some point. In that scenario, there are right and wrong answers, and grades, and that alone is enough to squash the creativity and drive to engage of some people who would otherwise be quite competent at public speaking.

Outstanding speakers come from every background imaginable. They may or may not look like someone who belongs on a stage, and just about any accent may season their speaking. What they all have in common, however, is the ability to break through the passivity of an audience and help them discover that they are invested in a topic, if only temporarily. Leadership speaking also demonstrates leadership in a contained setting, imparting lessons, and inspiring those who take the time to listen. And with a great leadership speaker, everyone in earshot feels compelled to take the time to listen.

Who Uses It?

Ultimately, the “user” of a leadership speaking event is the individual in the audience, who may learn something, make a new cognitive or emotional connection, or otherwise be inspired to be a better person today than they were yesterday. But it’s usually someone in top leadership who brings in a leadership speaker in an attempt to engage, inspire, and renew commitment among their teams.

Any industry can benefit from the right leadership speaker, from healthcare to telecommunications to education to government. But the organizations that can expect to benefit from leadership speaking are those that want to do one or more of the following:

Transform or reinvent their organization to support key business initiatives
Strengthen leadership attitudes and skills of current or future leaders
Build a stronger culture of leadership or talent to support operational goals

The more of these goals an organization recognizes, as you can see from the following Venn diagram, the more they’re likely to benefit from leadership speaking both short- and long-term.

Organizational goals are the main determinant of the benefit gained from leadership speaking.

One scenario in which a leadership speaker may be engaged is when an organization has experienced a setback. While it’s unrealistic to expect even the greatest leadership speaker to “fix” an organization beset by scandal or tragedy, there are times when the services of a leadership speaker can help get a discouraged or disheartened team back on track.

By contrast, another scenario in which an organization may bring in a leadership speaker is when something great has happened: a product has taken off, a major contract has been landed, or the organization has been recognized with a prestigious award. A skilled leadership speaker knows how to help harness all that positive energy and keep it moving forward, to take the organization to an even higher level of functioning.

And, of course, leadership speakers will always be in demand for specific events, often as keynote speakers for conferences or other “milestone” organizational events.

What Are the Benefits of Leadership Speaking?

Let’s get this out of the way first: to the typical employee, a leadership speaker offers the benefit of breaking them out of their normal workday routine for a period of time, and many will be appreciative for this reason alone. This benefits the speaker as well, because the audience is already primed for “something different” than what they might otherwise be doing on an ordinary Tuesday morning.

But benefits of excellent leadership speaking go far beyond the brief joy of breaking out of routine for a while. For one thing, leadership speaking offers a fresh perspective. Often the outsider is the very person to help teams take a new, fresh look at things, and discover new ways of approaching problems and challenges.

Experienced and in-demand leadership speakers are the ones who work with management beforehand to understand the organization’s goals for the event, what drives the organization, and what the organization values most. With their unique outsider’s perspective, the right leadership speaker can help communicate an organization’s goals in a new and fresh way, helping employees reconnect with company (and personal) values.

Exceptional leadership speakers know that audiences shouldn’t remain passive.

John Mattone has the experience to know that if he’s giving an opening keynote speech, he needs to instill an important message right from the start in such a way that people will continue talking about it throughout the meeting. If he is presenting a closing keynote speech, his goal is to release people back to their regular lives energized and poised to take action. Whatever the setting or reason for leadership speaking, John knows how to connect with the audience and keep them engaged with rich, varied content that may include exercises, case studies, and group discussion.

What Are John Mattone’s Leadership Strategies?

John Mattone offers fast-paced, high energy leadership speaking that is anchored with the gravitas that comes from over three decades in business leadership. The content has to be top notch, and it must be delivered with genuine passion. John is skilled at making an intellectual connection with the audience as well as an emotional connection, and researchers in the field of learning and education will tell you that people assimilate and retain information better when they make an emotional connection as well as an intellectual one. Though he spends the majority of the time on stage, or on a speaker’s platform, John is also known to leave the stage and interact directly and up close with the audience.

Ultimately, John delivers leadership lessons that are simple, practical, and that can be put to use. But he also ensures that the audience is invested and has a great time during his speaking engagements. Your audience will learn, they will laugh, and they will have their own “Eureka!” moments during his presentation. And he focuses on information that people can actually put to use in their daily activities, helping them improve not only professionally, but personally.

Does Leadership Speaking Work for Everyone?

Anyone who doubts the effect that outstanding speaking by a leader can have on an audience only needs to read Winston Churchill’s “We shall fight on the beaches” speech, or Charlie Chaplin’s “The Great Dictator” speech. Elizabeth I’s speech to the troops at Tilbury is largely credited with inspiring the defeat of the great Spanish Armada in 1588, and if you want to be immediately shaken out of complacency, you could hardly do better than Sojourner Truth’s famous “Ain’t I a Woman?” speech of 1851.

But you’ll notice that these outstanding speeches have something in common: they were delivered to a receptive if skeptical audience – an audience on the cusp of some major change, the consequences of which they could not yet envision.

Leadership speaking has immense power, but only if it is used in the context of an organization that is receptive and committed to positive change. Unfortunately, some organizations break down under the weight of disaster or scandal to the point where nothing short of starting over from scratch could possibly bring it back to excellence. In these cases, even a great leadership speech can do little more than distract the audience for a time.

In most typical business or organizational situations, however, an exceptional leadership speech can make an immediate and lasting difference.

How Do You See Results?

First of all, you have to be able to identify and articulate the results you want to see. Perhaps you want to kick off a technical conference with a keynote speech that will have everyone talking even at the closing session. Or maybe you want to fire up the inspiration in your sales team as you bring a new and exciting product to market. How do you want your people to feel when they leave the auditorium? If you can’t define what you want to accomplish with leadership speaking, then how will you know if you have succeeded?

Be able to articulate your goals before booking a leadership speaker.

Likewise, John Mattone goes into every leadership speaking engagement with clearly delineated goals and priorities. First of all, he wants the client to be the hero of the event, with audience members and top management pleased with their choice of leadership speaker. His job is to engage fully with his audience, and elevate each and every event to a higher level of excellence.

John is also equally passionate about making audience members laugh and learn – often at the same time. He wants them to come away from a speech with new tools they can use right away to improve their lives on both a personal and professional level. And he wants them to be invested enough in the event that they can forget their outside problems for a time, and feel genuinely changed afterward.

Working with an experienced leadership speaker like John Mattone, an organization can clarify goals, articulate the outcomes they want, and work together toward fulfilling them. Additionally, his website contains a full suite of resources for the meeting planner to help the process along.

Is Certification Necessary for Excellence in Leadership Speaking?

Certifications exist for professional speakers, and someone who is new to planning organizational events may want to look for a leadership speaker who has some kind of professional certification, while taking the time to do enough research to understand what that certification actually means.

More valuable to the typical organizational event planner than certification, however, is track record, and a leadership speaker worth booking will be happy to share testimonials and contact information for individuals in other organizations for which they have delivered leadership speeches. They should have online reviews readily accessible, with names and organizations attached so you can follow up if you want to.

Certification may be the cherry on top of the qualifications you desire for your event, but there’s no substitute for digging in and learning what a speaker’s qualifications are, who they have worked with in the past, and what past clients have to say about their events. John Mattone is happy to share reviews of his leadership speaking, reviews from clients as far-ranging as the Cleveland Clinic, Stellenbosch University in South Africa, and Al Hosn Gas in the United Arab Emirates.

Conclusion

Leadership speaking can be phenomenally powerful, and people who have never been part of an outstanding leadership speech don’t know what they’re missing. Sure, we live in a world of YouTube videos and social media posts, but there’s no substitute for the electricity and excitement in the air at a live speaking event featuring someone who really knows how to engage an audience. Leadership speaking can’t fix an organization that is irretrievably broken, but the organization that wants to improve morale, kick off a new phase of business, or celebrate an important milestone can gain momentum and inspiration from the right leadership speaker.

In his capacity as an executive coach and leadership speaker, John Mattone has worked with numerous clients across industries, including Coca-Cola, Amazon, and the late Steve Jobs. He has well-developed and well-received presentations on the topics of Intelligent Leadership, Talent Culture, Cultural Transformation, Success Mapping, Management Trends, and more. He works with each and every leadership speaking client to learn about their goals, their people, and their facilities, and to ensure the necessary audio-visual and staging elements are in place. As a result, every client can expect an energetic, fast-paced presentation, packed with outstanding content delivered in an entertaining and passionate manner. You should expect no less from any leadership speaker you trust your organization to.

Leadership speaking can do what online communication cannot.

Glossary of Key Terms

Audience engagement – an environment where audiences feel empowered to interact with a presenter, due to outstanding presentation content and delivery, and a human-to-human connection the presenter makes with the audience

Cultural transformation – a dynamic process where a living culture, whether in an organization, a location, a profession, or societal niche, changes and adapts to internal and/or external forces. In a business context, this begins (but doesn’t end) with transformation in leadership.

Executive coaching – personalized training in leadership from a professional who understands both business leadership and principles of successful coaching. It is a prominent practice among C-level executives.

Keynote speaker – the public speaker invited to either start off or bring to a close an organizational event such as a trade show, technical conference, or celebratory event. An outstanding keynote speaker is able to energize an audience and leave them with plenty to think about as they return to their normal routine.

Leadership content – this is the “meat” of the leadership speech, the information that helps change people’s perspective, inspire them to new achievements, or impart critical knowledge or wisdom on a topic. Without good leadership content, leadership speaking can be dull or empty.

Leadership culture – the system of an organization’s norms at its top level of leadership. The leadership principles that make up leadership culture are shaped by top leaders, and sometimes by outsiders like leadership speakers or leadership coaches.

Milestone event – an organizational event that caps off a long and challenging process, or that kicks off a new operational phase. Examples of milestone events include receiving a prestigious organizational award, winning a lucrative contract, and opening a new branch location.

Learn more about John Mattone’s speaking availability by clicking here.

Expert Interview With John Mattone By Smart Speakers

July 3, 2017 By John Mattone

John was interviewed on La Red de Radio Red, Mexico’s number 1 radio station, by Sergio Sarmiento, one the country’s most respected journalists and incisive interviewers. Transcript of above video as follows:

Radio Host 1 (Sergio): Francisco Rodriguez, what strategies to succeed do we have this morning? (English translation)

Radio Host 2 (Francisco Rodriguez): Good morning Sergio and Lupita, well, when you have a new responsibility or leadership position, you usually have some doubt on how to face these new challenges. Due to this uncertainty, you have to know how to face it. This is why we have invited a leadership specialist for today, John Mattone… (English translation)

Radio Host 1 (Sergio): And he is famous for being a very important specialist, right? (English translation)

Radio Host 2 (Francisco Rodriguez): Yes, he was recently named as one of the two top coaches in the world by think 50… (English translation)

Radio Host 1 (Sergio): Of the executive coaches, no? (English translation)

Radio Host 2 (Francisco Rodriguez): Yes, of executive coaches. He is also the author of the “Intelligent Leadership” book and a speaker at Smart Speakers. He joins us now at the studio. (English translation)

Radio Host 1 (Sergio): John, thank you very much for being with us. Is leadership really that important? There are some people, CEOs, and companies that believe this is just a rave, just a fashion. Because leadership is not something you can teach or acquire.

Radio Host 1 (Sergio): Talks in Spanish to translate what John just said.

Guest Star (John Mattone): Well, first of all, thank you very very much for the opportunity to be here today. Happy mother’s day to all the mothers out there!

Radio Host 1 (Sergio): Translates what John Mattone just said.

Guest Star (John Mattone): It is very important, very important that we say that. Yes, I would say that leadership; there is a massive gap globally in leadership. We got over a million books that have been written in leadership in the last 25 years. We got university executive education programs. We have no shortage on intellect in the world. We have a lot of smart people running around. That is not an issue. But, we have a massive gap in leadership.

To me, I think that my mission is to help future leaders and organizations break through and sustain greatness. It comes down to, are you truly a role model? Do you ask yourself the big questions? What is your legacy as a leader? –asking that question every single day before you put your head on the pillow at night. Did I bring greatness to my people today? Did I make a difference in these people’s lives? Did I make a difference in my family’s life? Most people go through life and do not ask themselves the big questions.

I think the other impediment to great leadership, if you look at great leadership, it starts on the inside. It starts with the heart. If your heart is not strong, vibrant and mature, there is no way you can be a great leader.

Radio Host 1 (Sergio): Spanish translation continues…

Radio Host 3 (Lupita): John, but how to be a good leader?

Radio Host 1 (Sergio): Translates Lupita.

Guest Star (John Mattone): Well, to me, it starts with the inner core. And, you know, I just talked about the heart. When you look at greatness as a leader, people watch you. Right? And, they are watching to what extent you make good decisions. Are you strategic? Are you a critical thinker? How good are you creating a team, sustaining a team? But the things that people forget is that what people see on the outside; originate from greatness on the inside.

So, what I talk about in terms of driving greatness as a leader, starts with having a balanced self-image. If we have people running around, and we do have many people running around with a big ego. They think very highly of themselves. That is not going to work in a world of leadership. What we want is a balanced self-image. You got to believe in yourself. You got to have conviction about yourself. But you also have to be very humble and you got to be vulnerable. And, if you are not willing to go there, there is no way you can be somebody who is a great model.

I think the second thing is you got to have the right value system. If you are operating from a value system of power or money, big mistake! Greatness as a leader is executing the value of altruism. And, altruism is all about being courteous, compassionate, and bringing abundance to others. When you think about it, we don’t have enough of that going. So, I think that is where we start.

We start with making sure the inside is mature, strong, and vibrant. With mature, strong, and vibrant, typically what happens is that all of that greatness will spill to the outer core. And, that’s what the world sees, that’s what your family sees as a parent. When people watch you, they are watching your skills, but it all starts from the inside.

Radio Host 1 (Sergio): Spanish translation of John’s answer to Lupita.

Radio Host 2 (Francisco Rodriguez): John, you just talked about a team, how do you create a great team?

Radio Host 1 (Sergio): Spanish translation of Francisco’s question.

Guest Star (John Mattone): Well, you got to have clearly a vision, a mission, a purpose. It really comes down to looking at the predictive levers that will drive greatness in a team. And, it doesn’t matter if you are trying to build a team as a family. It’s all the same stuff. Whether you are trying to build a team at an organization or sports team.

The most important predictor is “Do people believe they have the capability to excel in the roles they are in?” And, there’s a big difference between thinking something, Francisco, and believing it. Because belief ignites action. The key as a leader in building an incredible team that breaks through is “Do your people truly believe they have the capability to excel in their role?” That’s number one. I think the second thing is, “To what extent are you igniting passion in people?” It’s the “will” do, the “can” do.

There is another aspect, which is the “must do.” When I talk about must do, I’m talking about “Do people really feel aligned?” Do I feel aligned with the mission and the vision? If I’m not aligned, I don’t feel compelled to do great things. So if you really think about it, if the “can do” is strong, the “will do” is strong, and the” must do” is strong, the same thing with our families and our kids. If our kids, can do, will do, and must do; they are going to execute what needs to be executed. And, you know by the way, you are going to have collaboration. People are going to work together as a team. Those are the five elements that drive greatness, in my opinion.

Radio Host 1 (Sergio): Translates John’s response into Spanish. Then, he says “John, thank you very much. What’s the name of your book again?”

Guest Star (John Mattone): Well, thank you very much for the opportunity, the three most recent books “Talent Leadership (2012), Intelligent Leadership (2013), and Cultural Transformation was written last year and released.” It’s been wonderful to be here – Thank you.

Radio Host 1 (Sergio): Translates John’s answer while confirming the name of the books. Then, says “John Mattone, thank you very much for being with us.”

Radio Host 3 (Lupita): Thank you. (English Translation)

Radio Host 2 (Francisco Rodriguez): Thank you. I would like to comment that he’s a speaker at Smart Speakers. He shared with us a very interesting article in our Twitter and Smart Speakers’ LinkedIn about how to face new leadership positions.

How Keeping a Journal Can Boost Your Leadership Skills

June 21, 2017 By John Mattone

It feels good to finish the last task of your workday, so why would you want to stick around for a few more minutes and reflect on the events of the day? One excellent reason is that it can make you a better leader. In fact, you’ll find that world-class leaders across many fields of study keep or kept journals. Sir Richard Branson, Nelson Mandela, and Frida Kahlo are just three examples.

Chances are, the world leaders you most admire keep or used to keep a daily journal.

One Harvard Business School study found that setting aside just 15 minutes at the end of the workday to reflect and write in your journal can help you improve your performance measurably. Compared to employees who did not spend the last 15 minutes of their workday writing and reflecting in a personal journal, employees who did performed better by 22.5% on a test about a particular customer account.

Action and Reflection Complement Each Other

Action and reflection can have a positive symbiotic relationship. Reflecting each day on what has worked and what hasn’t can help you correct course before you go too far off track. Being an effective leader is in many ways like being accomplished in a sport. And the best athletes in the world regularly review their games, their stats, their backhand, or their form so they’ll be armed with a little more knowledge next time they practice or play. When you regularly reflect on your performance and take the time to record your thoughts, you prime yourself for better action the next day. It’s a positive cycle.

Keeping a Journal Can Help You Manage Stress

Many psychologists and executive coaches recommend keeping a journal because it can be a highly effective method for managing stress. Writing down what happened with honesty and candor helps you gain the proper perspective – if not now, then a few days or weeks hence. It also helps you build your self-awareness: where you excel, where you have difficulty, what energizes you, what drains you, and what derails your performance. Self-awareness and acceptance of both strengths and weaknesses help you develop emotional intelligence, which is widely considered to be a key factor in successful leadership.

Ask Yourself Explorative Questions

If you don’t want to face a blank journal page, have a list of questions on hand to prompt reflection.

So, should you simply open up your journal to a blank page and start writing? If that works for you, that’s fine. But many people need a prompt of some kind to get their thoughts flowing. Consider asking yourself open-ended questions like the following:

What is weighing on me at this time?
What has gone well today and why?
What challenges did I face, and what created them?
What requires my attention tomorrow?
How do I feel about my performance as a leader today?
What exciting thing have I learned about that’s going on in the world this week?
What has contributed to my happiness (or the happiness of my team) this week?

Consider Incorporating Artwork to Your Daily Reflection Time

Some leaders find that incorporating reflection on works of art during their daily journal-writing time helps get them into the right headspace to consider the day and the week in perspective. In fact, some journals for writing come with pictures of artwork that you can reflect upon. But you can go elsewhere for your artistic inspiration too. A favorite website filled with works of art in top museums can help you find material for reflection, as can books or sites that feature spectacular architecture, or even natural beauty.

Interestingly, this is true even if you work in a technical field. A study from 2001 found that doctors in training developed better diagnostic skills after taking an art appreciation course. Art helps us appreciate complexity and the validity of alternating viewpoints, and it can help us choose a train of thought to pursue when writing in our journals.

As a leadership coach, I want my clients to engage in activities that will make them better leaders, better businesspeople, and better human beings. Keeping a journal is just one way that leaders can regain perspective, correct course, and prepare themselves to excel again tomorrow. I would be delighted for you to check out my books, as well as my speaking and training services. Leadership is fed by numerous sources just as a mighty river is fed by many smaller streams. My goal is to help leaders like you understand and shape their leadership abilities for the benefit of themselves and their organizations.

How to Unlock South Africa’s Leadership Potential

June 19, 2017 By John Mattone

A true leader, whether in the boardroom, in Parliament, or on the pitch, is the person who is willing to look ahead, pursue a plan, and have the courage to say, “I’ll go first.” The South African business environment today is volatile, and leadership in this environment requires exceptional courage. Yet, there’s no question that South Africa will continue to present tremendous opportunities for leaders who are willing to step up and help steer the ship in today’s tumultuous water.

Without integrity, “leadership” is largely empty.

The 2016 Human Capital Trends Report by Deloitte reported “engagement” and “culture” being top priorities in South Africa (and globally), followed closely by leadership. In 2016, an impressive 90% of South Africans rated culture as either “important” or “very important,” but only 53% said they were ready to tackle the issue in their organisations. Just over one-quarter of organisations in South Africa report that they are doing an “excellent” job building positive organisational culture, and nearly one-third report that their organisations are “weak at integrating social community and corporate programmes.”

Ultimately, the leader who can drive culture is the leader who can be trusted. And while trust may feel unquantifiable, the effects of trust (or lack thereof) sooner or later show up in terms of bottom-line results. Likewise, leadership isn’t a “soft” skill, but one that can be quantified in terms of an organisation’s success, and its reputation. Think of the banking sector in South Africa and its challenges. Mistrust of banks is common, and this combined with fear of fraudis holding back the country in terms of moving toward cashless transactions and the benefits that go with them.

Trust is constructed on a foundation of character and competence, with character being more important. People of good character or bad character can develop better competence, but character is a more stubborn trait that can be more difficult to alter – especially for the better. After all, if having a poor character still allows someone to have what they want, then why bother trying to develop good character? So how can a country where trust in leadership is low turn things around to where its plentiful natural resources can be turned into measurable social benefit?

The price paid by society for lack of trust can be quantified in economic terms. South Africa’s economy is coping with pressure on exports and mining production due to constrained commodity prices, weaker demand, and sluggish trade. On top of this, political unrest and weak growth have caused South African currency to slip, accompanied by rising inflation. Trust and the accountability on which it is built are the most crucial elements in overcoming these economic and social challenges.

For trust and accountability to become embedded into a company’s culture, they must be demonstrated from the very top. Leaders must be transparent about what they’re doing, and they have to own their mistakes and make amends for them. It’s simple, but not easy. Yet the results of a culture of accountability can be disproportionately good. When leaders set an example of accountability and “ownership” of the good and the not-so-good, the example spills over into the work of the entire team. As a result, pursuing and achieving goals that align with the company’s mission becomes the default.

Accountability also grounds an organisation in reality. Leaders who don’t use their position to make their mistakes disappear, or to cover them up help prevent dangerous phenomena like “groupthink,” which has the potential to block out reality. Additionally, accountability makes space for constructive conflict – the kind that leads to breakthroughs and innovation. Responsibility is the state of mind that allows a leader to put in the work necessary to build character and trust. Responsibility cannot exist without accountability, and it also cannot exist without courage.

Accountability that starts at the top inspires the entire team to align their goals with the organization’s mission.

South Africa in 2017 and going forward must navigate weak growth, tight monetary policy, high unemployment, and a struggling tax base. Infrastructure problems and a shortage of skilled labour compund these challenges. Stark inequality also remains a problem, but although growth is forecast to be weak, it is expected to improve in 2017. Meeting South Africa’s National Development Plan goals by the year 2030 can be done, but it will require focused effort, starting with South Africa’s business and political leadership.

Difficulties remain, but the break with the past that took place during the 1994 elections heralded a new South Africa, one with tremendous promise that can be fulfilled through outstanding leadership in both business and the public sector. The development of coalition administrations in South Africa will allow smaller political parties to play larger roles, and while this raises hopes of more productive pluralism, it also heightens possibilities for corruption. It’s up to South Africa’s leadership, in parliament and in corporate boardrooms, to focus on the positives and take steps to prevent the negatives.

Trust is the closest thing we have to being able to see into the future. It must be earned over time, and it can be lost in an instant. On a corporate or governmental level, unlocking greatness in leadership begins with the C-level leaders themselves who must demonstrate the courage to “think different and think big” while counterbalancing this thinking with heavy doses of vulnerability and humility. One of the great lessons I have learned coaching people like Steve Jobs (Apple), Roger Enrico (PepsiCo) and hundreds of other executives was that their greatest act of courage, in fact, was showing their vulnerability. For Steve Jobs, it took him nearly his entire life to even understand the power of being vulnerable. In the case of Roger Enrico, he learned this vital leadership lesson much earlier. Call it an irony or paradox. The reality is this: no leader can grow and help their organizations grow and transform into agile machines unless this decision is understood, embraced and executed by all leaders and employees.

Great leadership starts with the CEO and the C-level team. That’s why so many leading institutions invest in C-level executive coaching and leadership development initiatives aimed to “raise the bar” on current leaders but they also invest heavily in developing future leaders. This is not about “soft skills” (though they may be addressed as part of coaching and leadership development), but about good business. Like smart business practices, excellent executive coaching delivers quantifiable, bottom-line results. And when exceptional leadership is in place, built upon trust, accountability, and responsibility, those qualities spill over into the organisation as a whole, benefiting all.

I have spent over 30 years helping my executive clients realize their leadership potential with proven coaching and leadership development strategies that produce measurable results. Making the most of a nation’s business climate requires that businesses and public entities invest in their own excellence and ensure that their top leaders have access to the tools and techniques they need to provide leadership that measurably contributes to long-term economic growth.

I am looking forward to my next visit to South Africa the week of July 17th.

Shrink Your Ego, Grow Your Leadership Skills

June 7, 2017 By John Mattone

Much has been written about the value of looking beyond your limitations. But it’s important to acknowledge that in order to look beyond your limitations, you have to know they exist and know what they are. Awareness of inherent biases is the starting point to achieving excellence – whether in business or life in general.

To successfully navigate limitations, you first have to recognize them.

One unfortunate problem, however, is that people are often guilty of overestimating their competence in skills that they’re actually not that good at. This phenomenon is known as the Dunning-Kruger effect. Being unaware of one’s lack of skills is a tremendously detrimental cognitive bias. So, in order to excel, you have to recognize your shortcomings. When we don’t know what we don’t know, we curtail our ability to achieve excellence.

Say you learned to swing a bat playing ball in the backyard with other kids, and developed a reasonably powerful swing. If you join a team, and the first thing the coach does is correct your hand position on the bat, you may react in a couple of different ways. If you dismiss the coach’s expertise, your swing won’t improve. But if you realize that this person knows their stuff and try what they’re suggesting, your “good swing” may soon be knocking them out of the park. In other words, don’t let your ego crowd out your true abilities.

Don’t Confuse Ego with Confidence

Ego and confidence have some commonalities, but they are not the same things. The person who is confident will listen to and follow advice. The person who is overconfident, on the other hand, may listen to advice, but is likelier to dismiss it. Here are some other behaviors that indicate a person’s ego is overinflated:

Not looking for flaws in one’s own plans. It isn’t exactly fun to pick apart your plans looking for problems, but it’s the only way to set yourself on a path toward continuous improvement.
Trying to do everything yourself. Independence and initiative are good. But doing everything yourself because you’re convinced no one else can is a sign of overconfidence rather than healthy confidence.
Considering some tasks as “beneath” you. This is the flip side of trying to do everything yourself. Sometimes, particularly early in starting a business, you have to be willing to do tasks you might otherwise consider menial.
Continuing in the wrong direction. A big ego is great at keeping a person from correcting course when it’s necessary. Likewise, it takes true confidence to admit you’ve made a wrong turn and fix things.
Alienating people inexplicably. Leaders who have ego problems ultimately alienate people because they don’t take feedback, refuse to learn new approaches, or dismiss valid viewpoints.

The Detrimental Effects of an Oversized Ego on Business

The egomaniac who associates having to learn something with weakness isn’t going to sustain their business over the long term. Like it or not, the world changes, and leaders who insist on going one way when the market is clearly going another will run into problems. Egotistical thinking can lead a person to reject innovation due to risks, but it can also lead a person to pursue innovations that are ill-advised.

Another crippling effect of overconfidence is excessive reliance on the past. While experience has tremendous value, relying entirely on what worked in the past is short-sighted, blinding you to new technology, new attitudes, and new information.

Finally, overconfidence can lead people to react to setbacks in an overly personal way. Paradoxically, this can stem from having a definition of success that is based on other people or other companies’ definitions of success. Having your own definition of success and understanding that sometimes business setbacks are not personal is a sign of healthy confidence.

An out-of-control ego can make a person take things far too personally.

Negative Behaviors That Result from an Overinflated Ego

Have you ever spent time with someone who confused ego with confidence? If so, you probably noticed some of these negative behaviors:

Not listening – or residing in a “bubble,” unable or unwilling to listen to others’ concerns or arguments
Always assuming credit – even when it’s not warranted. This is an excellent foundation for the building of resentments.
Inability to admit mistakes – because the ego is vulnerable and insecure, while true confidence has the ability to accept mistakes and move forward
Preoccupation with status – rather than prioritizing service and meeting needs
Underestimating challenges – because the ego doesn’t always take harsh realities into account

Best Practices to Cultivate

Fortunately, it’s not only possible but better for the business (and a leader’s status) in the long run to phase out ego-driven behavior and decisions in favor of those that indicate real, earned confidence. Here are some simple best practices to adopt to help this happen:

Practice giving credit where credit is due.
Seek wisdom from mentors, and choose mentors you can trust to tell you the truth. Commit to listening to them with an open mind.
Ask team members to teach you things. How did that engineer funnel output from the fluid dynamics model straight into a spreadsheet? How does your intern schedule social media posts in advance? This practice gets you more comfortable with collaboration.
Own your mistakes.
Work with your team to create a shared vision that everyone can rally around.

Don’t Stifle Curiosity and Never Stop Learning

Have you ever noticed how young children (and sometimes eager new hires) display curiosity about the things going on around them? This is a quality that nobody is too old or too experienced to dispense with. We’re surrounded by information online, and as a leader, you’re probably surrounded by people who have expertise that you can benefit from.

Some leaders indeed have exhaustive expertise on a particular subject, and that’s great. But the world changes continually, and there’s always more to learn that can make you a better leader. Don’t let your own ego stand between you and the excellence of which you’re capable. I encourage you to have a look at my books that will be relevant if you’re interested in maximizing leadership potential, as well as my speaking and coaching services. Leadership is a wonderful opportunity. Learning to shrink your ego means there’s that much more space for your leadership qualities to grow.

‘Authenticity’ Under the Microscope: What Does It Mean for Executives?

May 24, 2017 By John Mattone

We humans like the word “authentic” because we hate being deceived. When something or someone isn’t as portrayed, we misplace trust and waste our time. The meaning of “authentic” in the sense of being real and being entitled to acceptance as true dates back to the mid-14^th century. Over the intervening years the word has picked up connotations of trustworthiness – that someone or something isn’t just a particular way on the surface, but down to the very essence.

Authenticity is closely related to the concept of genuineness, and is fully expected of all top leaders.

The concept has taken on revived importance in the 21^st century, possibly due to the massive amounts of information the internet age has brought us. No longer is it easy to hide behind a façade of competence, because eventually someone will crack that façade, and everyone will find out, since information travels at the speed of electrons now. Here are some thoughts on authenticity and today’s executive.

Impediments to Authenticity in Leadership Positions

First, today’s leaders often encounter obstacles to authenticity. With expectations higher than ever of our leaders, today’s executive must “walk the talk,” or they can count on being exposed. As one possible example, think of the executive who touts the importance of work-life balance, but who arrives at the office at the crack of dawn and stays late every night. What kind of mixed signals do employees pick up from that?

Additionally, most everyone – executive or not – dislikes acknowledging weaknesses. But the leader who gives the impression of being superhuman sets an unhealthy precedent. By appearing “perfect,” a leader can inadvertently give their “less perfect” subordinates a great excuse not to try. After all, few people can be as “perfect” as their leader appears. Typically, it’s not easy for leaders to know whether they’re perceived as authentic unless they ask and make clear that they want honest feedback. This can be challenging, but worthwhile.

Characteristics of the Authentic Leader

Leaders who can truthfully label themselves as authentic are self-aware enough to understand their strengths, their shortcomings, and the fact that they have emotions like everyone else. An authentic leader doesn’t come across as an entirely different person in private as in public, and they don’t panic and try to cover up mistakes or weaknesses.

While authentic leaders are results-driven, they understand that authenticity is a process, and not a result. And they’re not afraid to lead with their heart either. This doesn’t necessarily mean that authentic leaders have to be all warm and fuzzy, all the time, but that they demonstrate empathy and understanding, especially when difficult decisions must be made.

Leaders who demonstrate that they have true empathy are far more authentic than those who lock up their emotions.

Authentic Leaders Have True Impact

Sometimes, it’s not possible to gauge a leader’s authenticity until after the fact. We have all at one time or another felt duped by someone we admired who turned out to be someone completely different from who we thought they were. One question we can ask along the way is whether a leader (whether that’s an executive, a teacher, a mentor, or a political leader) is making an impact on others. Authentic leaders are fundamental to genuine and lasting change, and if they’re not, they’re just entertainers and not leaders.

Coaching to Overcome the “Authenticity Paradox”

The so-called “authenticity paradox” partly stems from our sometimes unreasonable expectations of those elevated to the highest leadership positions. Unfortunately, when a new CEO or other leader admits they need help or are otherwise in awe of their responsibilities, they can lose credibility with important people.

Fortunately, more businesses now realize that their top executives don’t spring fully-formed and fully-prepared from their previous position, and offer leadership coaching to help them address their needs as they cope with all their new responsibilities. Being an effective executive requires being able to step outside the “comfort zone,” and needing help for this is 1) nothing to be ashamed of and 2) something that can be effectively addressed by a competent executive coach.

Authenticity is something we expect in the products we buy, the people we get to know, and the leaders we trust with our loyalty. But there’s nothing magical in attaining the rank of a high-level executive that confers authenticity. It’s something that has to be tended and worked on like a garden, and that’s true for anyone who strives for authenticity. Authenticity is just one quality that I work with executives on in my executive coaching services, which I invite you to check out. Because I know from my decades in business that without authenticity, all the success in the world rings hollow.