The full title “What men can learn from women about leadership in the 21st century” (by Carol Kinsey Goman in the Washington Post) caught my eye when I was perusing the American Association of University Women’s LinkedIn group site. I posted it to the Friends of Avolead LinkedIn group, and Charles Eakes asked if I’d post it here as well.

It’s a fascinating recognition of male and female stereotypes reflected in the language of leadership and a call for the adoption of new ways of evaluating and talking about leadership. “These new business realities usher in the need for a new leadership model, one that replaces command and control with transparency and inclusion. This will increasingly highlight the value of a more feminine approach. Where in the past communal behaviors naturally favored by women may have been obstacles to leadership success, in a collaborative future they may well become an edge.” The author mentions several research findings showing specific traits typically associated with females that are often lacking in males. These include their participatory style, their reaction to stress in the form of increased empathy rather than decreased in males, their tendency to be interactive, and their sensitivity to body language.

This is the author’s compelling conclusion:

The most successful leaders of the future will take the time and effort necessary to make people feel safe and valued. They’ll emphasize team cohesiveness while encouraging candid and constructive conflict, they’ll set clear expectations while recognizing what each team member contributes, they’ll share the credit and the rewards. And, most of all, they’ll foster true networked collaboration through a leadership style that projects openness, inclusiveness and respect.

Any leader can do that. Female leaders just already do it more naturally.

Note: The author of this article, Carol Kinsey Goman, is an executive coach and the author of The Silent Language of Leaders: How Body Language Can Help or Hurt How You Lead.

I want to thank Rich Grenhart who sent me an interesting article by Dr. Brett L. Simmons called, “Leadership Traits and Behaviors: Four Evidence Based Suggestions.” It summarizes a meta-analysis of 79 previously published studies all aimed at trying to answer the question of whether leader traits or leader behaviors are the best predictors of leadership effectiveness. The original study is over 40 pages long [1. Derue, D.S. et al. (2011). Trait and behavioral theories of leadership: An integration and meta-analytic test of their relative validity. Personnel Psychology, 64: 7-52.], but Simmons offers four suggestions based on the study’s conclusions and discusses their significance. The bottom line is that evidence points to behavior being the more important predictor of leadership effectiveness, though the traits of conscientiousness and agreeableness often improve performance of groups being led. Transformational leadership is consistently predictive of effectiveness, and “Effective leaders must plan and schedule work, support and help their followers, and encourage and facilitate change (p. 41).”

As one commenter to the article suggested, the conclusions boil down to two things our grandparents taught us:

• Lead by example
• Don’t tell me, show me

Besides confirming these common sense conclusions, Dr. Simmons feels that the analysis offers this take-away: “Because the evidence shows that behaviors are the strongest predictors of leader effectiveness, we can and should train folks to be more effective leaders. Hire the most conscientious people you can find, but when you get ready to promote people into positions of leadership, make sure they have a proven record of mastering tasks, relating well with others, and responding to mandates for change.”

Do you find this holds true in your organization? We’d love to hear your thoughts.

BOOK REVIEW: Boundary Spanning Leadership:Six Practices for Solving Problems, Driving Innovation, and Transforming Organizations by Chris Ernst and Donna Chrobot-Mason

How refreshing and empowering to find a book on contemporary leadership that not only frames relevant issues that organization leaders face by identifying boundaries they are likely to encounter, but it also offers practical solutions to spanning these boundaries based on a decade of real-world research by leadership professionals at the Center for Creative Leadership. I’ll wager that readers of this book will: 1) either already be dealing with many of the issues presented and find the discussions a veritable lifeline or 2) they will instantly recognize situations they have encountered in the past and understand for the first time why they were so intractable and challenging.

The rapidly shifting landscape of corporate and nonprofit leadership creates unique pitfalls as well as opportunities. Research surveys of over 125 senior level executives revealed an appallingly low number who felt they were very effective at knowing how to collaborate effectively across boundaries in their current leadership roles. Five primary boundary types were identified for discussion purposes, though the authors recognized that often they are closely linked:

1. Vertical boundaries between hierarchical levels of the organization
2. Horizontal boundaries between functions
3. Stakeholder boundaries with customers and vendors
4. Demographic boundaries in working with people from diverse groups
5. Geographic boundaries of distance and region

Concluding that boundary spanning practices can turn boundaries into frontiers ripe with untapped potential, the authors explore what these practices might be, providing compelling actual stories/examples to illustrate them, and offering exercises and strategies to implement them in your own situation.

The authors first discuss the boundary management practices of Buffering (Creating Safety) and Reflecting (Fostering Respect). Then they move into practices that forge common ground: Connection (Building Trust) and Mobilizing (Developing Community). Next in the evolution of boundary-spanning are the practices that develop new frontiers: Weaving (Advancing interdependence) and Transforming (Enabling Reinvention).

“Together, these practices combine to create what authors Chris Ernst and Donna Chrobot-Mason call the Nexus Effect. The Nexus Effect allows groups to be more agile in response to changing markets; be more flexible in devising and deploying cross-functional learning and problem-solving capabilities; work with partners in deeper, more open relationships; empower virtual teams; and create a welcoming, diverse, and inclusive organization that brings out everybody’s best.” (From the Editorial Review in Amazon)

While the challenges described here will be familiar to those who follow leadership trends and practices, I believe the authors have developed and presented what many will find to be an original, useful and implementable approach to thinking about and managing them.

What boundary-spanning practices has YOUR organization used? Please let us know in the comment section below.

Thought leader Guy Kawasaki has recently written an excellent review of Scott Eblin’s new book, The Next Level: What Insiders Know about Executive Success in his blog on OpenForum.  He feels Eblin’s message is an important one: Executive leaders can’t just keep picking up new ideas, strategies, and action plans without letting go of those things that no longer work or are holding them back. Failing to let the right things go can lead to sluggishness or paralysis in action-taking or decision-making. Elbin maintains this is because jettisoning long-held assumptions usually involves throwing out pieces of our self-image too. These are not new concepts, certainly, but they get a fresh perspective from Eblin’s work with hundreds of executives.

Read the review yourself, but among the things that Eblin suggests we should let go are: Self-Doubt, Running Flat-Out, One Size Fits All Communication, Self Reliance, Micro Management, Sole Responsibility, and Myopia. Some of these will undoubtedly resonate with you or with some of your coaching clients.

I’m adding The Next Level: What Insiders Know about Executive Success to my “To-Read” list (as well as Guy Kawasaki’s book to be released 3/8/11: Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds and Actions. Don’t you just love that title?)

One of the potentially powerful features of LinkedIn is the option for you, as a professional and a leader, to join Industry or Shared-Interest Groups so you can read or participate in the discussions taking place in your field and see who’s doing the talking! I’ve embedded LinkedIn’s clear and helpful tutorial below on how and why you might wish to use LinkedIn Groups.

Don’t dismiss this without watching this video, and don’t equate LinkedIn Groups with the Group function in Facebook. It’s an entirely different and more professional interaction and can involve as little or as much time as you wish.

Depending on the purpose of  the Group (which should be declared when you go to its page), LinkedIn Groups can offer you:

1. Visibility and the building of your reputation as an Expert
2. A place to find — or share — tips, techniques, and best practices
3. A place to seek a job or post job openings (though not all groups have a JOBS tab)
4. Quickly discover the most popular discussions in your professional groups
5. Have an active part in determining the top discussions by liking and commenting
6. Follow the most influential people in your groups by checking the Top Influencers board or clicking their profile image to see all their group activity
7. See both member-generated discussions and news in one setting
8. Easily browse previews of the last three comments in a discussion
9. Find interesting discussions by seeing who liked a discussion and how many people commented

When I’m looking for Groups I might wish to join, I consider the description provided by the Group manager, look at the length of time it’s been active, and look at the number of members. If it’s an open group, I look at the activity to see if discussions are interesting and informative. It’s easy to leave a group you have joined if you decide it doesn’t fit with your interests or priorities. Most groups require you to express an interest and be approved by the group’s manager.

For example, one newly formed group I have joined recently called Coaches and Consultants for New Horizons has been helpful because group members are generously sharing their experience with various webinar sites, marketing tools, and other programs. Sometimes people abuse a group by blatantly marketing themselves instead of joining in a legitimate discussion. If that happens too much, it’s time to think about leaving that group and joining another one.

Of course, you can start your own group too, but you should participate in one or more groups a bit to get the hang of it first.

Friends of AvoLead is a LinkedIn group established for connecting like minded individuals who share AvoLead’s values of Abundance, Evolution and Leadership. It is for sharing and networking by individuals who want to advance partnerships and authentic leadership. If you fit that description, we welcome you!