Alain Hunkins - Cracking the Leadership Code

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Hunkins, Alain, 1968- author.

Title: Cracking the leadership code / Alain Hunkins.

Description: First Edition. | Hoboken : Wiley, 2020. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2019051506 (print) | LCCN 2019051507 (ebook) | ISBN 9781119675549 (hardback) | ISBN 9781119675563 (adobe pdf) | ISBN 9781119675556 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: Leadership. | Communication in management.

Classification: LCC HD57.7 .H856 2020 (print) | LCC HD57.7 (ebook) | DDC 658.4/092–dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019051506

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019051507

Cover Design: Wiley

Cover Image: © 3D_generator/Getty Images

Author Photo: Maurice Jager © Alain Hunkins

For Mary, Alexander, and Miranda

In 2007, a large, well-known organization had a problem. Their service wasn't keeping pace with their customers' expectations. The organization's leadership had to act.

And did they ever. As part of their 87-page strategic transformation plan, they wrote:

Customers form expectations on critical attributes such as waiting time in line based on their experience with other similar services, and compare (our) performance to best-in-class providers. 1

In other words, customers were complaining that they had to wait too long in line. The organization's leadership knew, however, that defining the problem was not enough. They had to do something about it. In a declaration of intent, they confidently pronounced that they were

committed to changing with its customers, designing new products to meet new needs, and creating new solutions that customers value. 2

It all sounded good.

These published promises mirrored the organization's published “core set of enduring goals that guide all of (our) strategic initiatives and continuous improvement efforts.” 3

They were using all the right words. So what did they actually end up doing?

One of the biggest customer complaints was long wait times to talk with a customer service representative at their 37,000 retail locations.

To address the issue, these bold leaders executed their most innovative idea:

They removed the clocks from the walls of every location.

No, really.

That's what the United States Postal Service did.

Shockingly, the clock removal did not make customers happier about their wait times. There were 87 pages of strategic planning, and removing the clocks was the best solution leadership could come up with.

Maybe the United States Postal Service thought people would forget they carried their own timepieces and wouldn't notice how long they were still waiting in line. Maybe they thought that without clocks on the walls, people would act as though they were in a casino and put all their money on Forever stamps. We really don't know what the leadership at the U.S. Postal Service was thinking.

The clock removals set off a customer backlash. 4Leadership tried to contain the outrage, saying this was part of a national effort to have all post office lobbies look the same. Yet no matter what the spin, removing clocks to address long wait times is absurd.

It's easy to blame the Postal Service blunder on poor strategy or bad execution. But who creates the strategy? Leaders. Who maps out the execution? Leaders.

If you work in an organization, this clock-removing story may not seem all that surprising. Leaders do strange things all the time that leave employees scratching their heads in disbelief and muttering, “What were they thinking?” Although we don't know for sure, there's one thing we do know: the state of leadership is poor.

Ketchum, Inc. is a nearly 100-year-old global public relations firm. Every year, Ketchum interviews more than 25,000 people from 22 industries on five continents to ask them what they think about their leaders. They've found the following from their research:

Only 23% believe their leaders are leading well. (This number has not been above 25% in the last five years.)

Only 31% believe leaders communicate well.

Only 17% have confidence that leadership will improve in the upcoming year. 5

Ketchum's findings are not the exception, but the rule. Other research corroborates the shoddy state that leadership is in. Only 37% of the population believes CEOs are credible, 6and less than half (48%) of employees report their top management does a good job of providing effective leadership.

It gets worse. Bad leadership has a ripple effect—particularly on those being led. Worldwide 87% of employees are not engaged, 754% of employees claim they don't regularly get respect from their leaders, 8and less than half of full-time workers place a great deal of trust in their employers. 9

The future of leadership also looks bleak. More than half (55%) of organizations are struggling with a talent shortage. 10Only 18% of HR professionals rate their leadership bench strength as strong or very strong, 11and 71% said their leaders are not ready to lead their organizations into the future. 12

No leader sets out to be mediocre. No one shows up to work and thinks, “Today I want to make someone else's life miserable.” No one says, “Today, I'm going to be a crummy communicator. None of my direct reports will trust me, and they'll assume that my overall leadership will get even worse in the future.” For the most part, people genuinely want to do a good job.

Unfortunately, good intentions don't translate into good results. Too many leaders don't understand what it takes for them to succeed. They mean well and work hard, but they lack the proper mind-set and tools.

Consider this startling finding: a poll of 2,058 adults reported that 69% of managers are often uncomfortable communicating with employees. Isn't communication a basic part of the job? Lou Solomon, CEO of Interact (the company that conducted the survey), elaborated, noting, “Many managers are uncomfortable with becoming vulnerable, recognizing achievements, delivering the ‘company line,’ giving clear directions, crediting others with having good ideas, speaking face to face, and having difficult feedback conversations in general.” 13

Leading well is extremely difficult. If it were easy, more people would be doing it. Think back on your own life experience. Of the leaders you've worked with, how many would you rate as excellent? How many were middling? How many were eminently forgettable?

If you find that most of your memories fall on the negative end of the spectrum, you can take comfort in the fact that you're not alone. For most people, working in organizations with lousy leaders is just another day at the office.

But it doesn't have to be this way. There's a path out of the muddle of mediocrity. Great leaders aren't born—they're made. If you're committed, you can learn and apply specific tools to improve how you lead.