Coaching Tip: The Leadership Blog

Minority Women Leadership

At the Women of Color in Management Consulting Preconference Forum in Atlanta, GA in July 2007, Consulting magazine asked a small group of attendees to join a roundtable discussion.  Here is a brief selection of the subjects covered focused on the topic of leadership:

With women making up such a small percentage of consultants, and then with women of color making up a fraction of that, do you feel there is more pressure on you to be a role model?

"The pressure is to really make sure that the few senior women of color in the firm--any firm--are focused on substantive talent-management activities.  Not broad programs.  But things that are going to substantively help the leadership develop those types of activities--sometimes we call that "each one teach one."  Sometimes, it's really trying to help the leadership determine the best way to direct resources.  Sometimes, it's helping them determine where the pockets of high potential talents are.  That to me is where the pressure is.  To make sure that you really direct your efforts in a way that's going to have some substantive outcomes for growth."  Tanya Hilton, Principal, Booz Allen Hamilton

What role has mentorship played throughout your career?

"It's everything.  As an African-American woman, you need a sponsor.  If you are going to get on the prime projects that will showcase your skills to be able to move up in consulting, you need that sponsor who can say, 'Listen, why don't you put her in this position, challenge her to see what she can do?'  You need that kind of sponsor to help you and to also help you navigate the firm."  Inga Riggins, Recruiting Manager, IBM Global Services

How would you describe your firm's diversity initiatives?

"From our [League of Black Women] research, one of the things we know is that because these women will be alone for a long time in their careers [as minorities], it's essential that the firms bring early leadership maturation to the forefront.  Because part of what decimates the numbers of how many people survive are that [they are] facing all sorts of invisible challenges that no one can pinpoint and most others can't see.  And so that really takes the numbers way down.  You have one when you started out with the potential for so much more.  So they have to reverse the strategy.  I call it the 'early introduction of MiracleGro.'"  Sandra Finley, President and CEO, League of Black Women

Source: Consulting magazine, October 2007, www.ConsultingMag.com

Innate and learned leadership

There are two business bestseller books that you can read to learn how to be a more effective leader.

"Now, Discover Your Strengths" by Marcus Buckingham & Donald O. Clifton, Ph.D. (The Free Press) helps you to identify your innate signature talents so that you can build them into leadership strengths.  You can find this book at your local bookseller or purchase online by clicking here: self-directed learning .   On the inside of the book jacket cover there is a code number to take the online Strengthsfinder.com self-assessment.  When you receive your top five "signature talents" report, you need to keep them in front of you so when a situation arises, you may refer to your top five signature talents and decide which to put into action when facing the situation.  Note: At your bookstore there is another book called "Strengthsfinder 2.0" that utilizes the same self assessment.

“The crux of leadership development that works is self-directed learning: intentionally developing or strengthening an aspect of who you are or who you want to be, or both.”   Primal Leadership by Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis & Annie McKee (Harvard Business School Press)   Your emotional intelligence competencies are not innate talents, but learned abilities, each of which has a unique contribution to making leaders more resonant, and therefore more effective.

Self-coaching helps you acquire useful leadership skills, clarify your values and guiding principles and actively build your reputation.  Self-knowledge provides the personal integrity to engage in powerful action oriented relationships.

Seeing ourselves clearly does many things:

• It allows us to control impulses and select the most appropriate behaviors.

• It shows us how to avoid reacting in negative and potentially self-limiting ways.

• Knowing our strengths and limitations makes us more understanding of others.

• Gaining an understanding of issues reduces conflict in ourselves and in others.

Being aware of the affect of your personality and default behavior on the people in your life helps you to engineer a better communication and leadership style.  Effective leaders know that what people value deeply will move them most powerfully in their work.  Because these leaders are aware of their own guiding principles, values, vision and assumptions/beliefs, they can articulate a vision that has the ring of truth for those they lead.

Free Wireless Phones

A couple of months ago, I paid about $650 for the new iPhone and it has been worth every penny spent.  Now, I travel without my laptop while staying connected with family, friends and clients.

As a business coach, who receives over $1,000/month in revenue from Google's AdSense, I am interested in the growth potential of wireless advertising.  The more than 2 1/2 billion phones in use worldwide exceed the number of PCs and TVs combined.  On September 17, Google announced a Web program aimed at advertisers who have created sites for display on cell phones and other handheld devices.

Like its online ad network, Google's AdSense for Mobile delivers ads relevant to the advertiser's mobile audience.  "The sheer volume of users across the globe makes mobile the next channel for information," says Dilip Venkatachari, director of product management for Google's mobile team.

Smaller companies offer a glimpse into how Google might play its wireless hand.

Blyk, a wireless startup that made its debut in Britain on September 24th, offers free mobile phone calls and text messages for people aged 16 to 24 who agree to let companies send text ads to their handsets.  Blyk leases space on European carrier Orange's network in Britain, but operates its own billing and marketing system.  That lets it retain full control of valuable customer information and avoid sharing ad revenues with the carrier.  Users fill out detailed information about their lifestyles, areas of interest, and brand preferences.  Those who agree to receive tailored ads get 43 minutes per month of free mobile voice service and 217 free text messages.

Even without a network, Venkatachari says Google plans to connect mobile advertisers with users based on information from its search engine, maps, and other software, just as it has done on the desktop.  Via Google search, for example, an advertiser learns a user is at the corner bakery in downtown Chicago.  And it learns the person has a taste for sweets.

If Google decides to spend the $4.6 billion that may be needed to win the federal auction early next year for a radio spectrum, analysts speculate that it has several options: continue its broadband expansion, or buy a wireless carrier, such as beleaguered Sprint Nextel.  Then it could launch the first ad-supported, and free, nationwide phone service.

Source: BusinessWeek, October 8, 2007