Getting Into the Heads of Leaders

Please check out my new e-book, Executive Presence: High Performance Leadership for the 21st Century on either amazon.com or barnesandnoble.com Would enjoy hearing your feedback and the discussions!  Thanks.

Hope you can join me!

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Life in the 21st century is fast paced and hectic. If Plato was able to visit Thomas Jefferson in 18th century America, life would’ve appeared pretty much the same to him. People were still working with stones and economies were agrarian. However, if Thomas Jefferson visited America today he would barely recognize it.

Leaders look for simplicity. Simplicity clarifies, communicates and cuts through the clutter we face in today’s world. Analytics–the systematic use of data to make decisions–provides a means to simplify the unprecedented amount of information we process on a daily basis. Analytics is a growing business due to the amount of data presented to leaders. Most leaders have a basic understanding of statistical theory, but have not mastered the details of this growing academic discipline. Throughout their career, they have focused on financial and accounting principles, but  neglected analytics. A common mistake among today’s leaders is to jump on the analytics bandwagon and follow the decision making tree it provides while ignoring their own judgment.

The Harvard Business Press published Analytics at Work: Smarter Decisions, Better Results in 2010. The authors, Tom Davenport, Jeanne Harrison and Robert Morison discuss how leaders have massive amounts of data at their disposal but fail to utilize the information in any meaningful way.

In a Harvard Business Review article from September, 2010 called The Judgement Deficit, author Amar Bhide argues that analytics is not enough to make effective decisions. Numbers by themselves are not sufficient. The belief that numbers don’t lie is fallible and can be dangerous. Think of the Body Mass Index (BMI). It’s based on a correlation between a person’s height and weight which supposedly measures body fat percentage. The BMI index may indicate a specific person is overweight, but in actuality may be in better shape than a person who is in the acceptable level for their height. BMI doesn’t account for body fat like under water weighing or aerobic capacity as evidenced by the VO2 Max test. A diet change decision based on the BMI may lead to worsening health rather than an improvement. Likewise, using only entrance exam scores for college or grad school acceptance can be equally harmful. Looking at athletes’ statistics won’t account for what’s in their heart or how they’ll perform under pressure.

People make the mistake of “either/or” especially when it comes to decisions. They’ll either be guided by a rigid set of numbers or they’ll fly by the seat of their pants. Analytics is good place to start, but the real work is found in integrating the data. Analytics can help with the “why” and “what”, but judgment is required for the “when” and “who” questions. Nothing can take the place of judgment. Emotional maturity is the foundation of judgment and it’s the most overlooked aspect of leadership. Quants still haven’t found a valid manner in measuring this crucial behavioral element, but followers know it when they see it. Jefferson and Plato demonstrated it consistently and every effective leader has also shown it. Ineffective leaders rely solely on their gut or numbers–effective leaders use both.

The Social Architect article has just been released by the Smart Manager magazine in Australia

Smart Manager of Australia recently published my article titled, Change or Perish: The Future is Guaranteed to No One.

Please let me know your thoughts!

Tim Noah of Slate filed this report for CBS Sunday Morning this past week…Let me know what you think.

Tim Noah of Slate contributed this piece to CBS Sunday Morning…his report supports the premise of GOLD!  Check it out and let me know what you think.

GOLD! is now available on The Nook through Barnes & Noble…order your copy today:

Full Copy — http://search.barnesandnoble.com/books/e/2940011815072/?itm=2&USRI=gold!+applying+level+six+performance

Abridged Version — http://search.barnesandnoble.com/books/product.aspx?ean=2940011815096

GOLD! is also available on The Kindle through Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=GOLD!+Level+six+performance

Sitting on a Gold Mine has just been published by SmartManager Magazine in Australia…let me know what you think!

The Soulless Organization article has just been published by the Australian Magazine Smart Manager…for all you Aussies, let me know your thoughts.