Human Resource Measurement News

from Performance Programs, Inc.

Spring 2007

Greetings. This month's newsletter offers thoughts and news on the problem of personal "blind spots" in the workplace. Those of us in assessment and coaching roles know that blind spots lead to poor self-awareness, a leading source of career derailment. You'll find three articles on the topic, including an invitation to beta test the new Blind Spots Snap Shot, based on a new book by our associate, Claudia M. Shelton. We've also included news on the Leadership Versatility Index, upcoming certification seminars and more. If you are receiving this, you have opted into our mailing list. We appreciate the opportunity to send you this information. Please call 1-800-565-4223 if we can be of further assistance. Best wishes from the staff at Performance Programs.

Click the links below to jump to each article:

• Cognitive Distortions in the Workplace: the Great Derailer
• Beta Test the Blind Spots Snap Shot, Get a Free Upgrade
• Many Report External Factors Block Them from Full Engagement
• Patent Granted for Ground-Breaking “Leadership Versatility Index” 360 Feedback Tool
• Hogan Assessment's Leadership Forecast Series

Cognitive Distortions in the Workplace

The Great Derailer

by Israel Helfand, Ph.D.

Cognitive distortions happen when we think our feelings are a direct result of our life events, rather than a result of our personal judgments and perceptions regarding those life events. While this thought is hardly news in the field of psychology, most people are either unaware of it or find it difficult to incorporate its implications in their work lives. Yet managers and leaders need deep insight into their belief systems and cognitions if they are to avoid the dreaded outcome of career derailment.

Managers all too often relax into their most comfortable style of dealing with people and are surprised when they are either passed over for a promotion or get derailed soon after their latest promotion. The type of humility needed for constructive self-awareness is only guaranteed when the manager or CEO in question is emotionally able to objectively evaluate his or her personal belief system.

For example . . .

“Greg” grew up a success against all odds. The events in his life were contrary to grooming for success. Greg’s cognitive development led him to believe that adversity begets success. His personal story contains a liberal dose of the “No pain… no gain” style of thought. His motto is that if life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. Greg is an upwardly mobile manager and has come to believe that his perseverance against adversity uniquely qualifies him to be a strong leader.

When he was promoted to manage a staff of individuals from high profile schools and successful, well known business organizations, he became prone to thinking that they “had it easier” than him and that they didn’t know how to struggle for success. He developed feelings of superiority. After a brief honeymoon period, his comfort with his position became precarious, and then deteriorated along with his relationships with the staff, his team’s morale and, eventually, their performance. His cognitive distortion blinded him from the fact that his staff is skilled despite their different life stories.

This self-defeating behavior is expensive for Greg, his team and his employer. He was on his way to becoming yet another example of a person rising to his level of incompetence.

Ambitious, motivated managers must be able to accept the fact that they are vulnerable to cognitive distortions—and they must learn to handle feedback from their bosses, peers and subordinates. They must harmonize their beliefs about themselves with the world of their employment. Finding balance need not be a precarious act. It can be a predictable, trustworthy and well-modeled approach when honest self awareness and evaluation are in place. Leaders with constructive self-awareness see themselves as part of a living organization where a multiplicity of life stories are brought to bear. They are open to assessing their own strengths and weaknesses and challenging their own belief systems.

Derailing Derailment

Want to help your clients more aware of the danger of cognitive distortions? Here are three “ABCs” any of us can place on a sticky note that never leaves the space beside phone or keyboard.

• "A" = Activating event: What happened that challenges you or makes you uncomfortable?
• "B" = Beliefs: What are your beliefs about the event? Are the beliefs based in fact?
• "C" = Consequences: What we tell ourselves about the event causes us to feel something, whether it be anxious, sad, peaceful, happy, or any other emotion. The emotion is the consequence and it can lead to defensive, frozen states of mind if we are not aware of our beliefs.

For a good list of ten ways that cognitive distortions perpetuate themselves, see the Wikipedia.

We thank Dr. Helfand for his article. Dr. Helfand runs camping retreats for individuals and small business groups, as well as on-site organizational consulting with his wife, Cathie. He can be reached at info@corporatequest.org.

Beta Test the Blind Spots Snap Shot.

Give Us Your Feedback, Get a Free Upgrade

Maybe you have a coaching client who always seems to miss out on life’s big rewards. They don’t get the plum assignments, aren’t included in certain meetings, can’t seem to get a big raise, or nail down the promotion or leadership role they feel they deserve. You may suspect blind spots are holding them back, but helping them to see the blind spots and take action is easier said than done. Performance Programs is working with author, consultant and keynote speaker Claudia M. Shelton to introduce assessments that will help coaches and individuals get better insight, faster.

The Blind Spots Snap Shot, Blind Spots Profile Plus and the Blind Spots 360 are all based on Shelton’s forthcoming book: Blind Spots: Achieve Success by Seeing What You Can’t See (Wiley, May 2007). The book speaks to the current widespread interest in avoiding career derailment. Says Shelton, “My intention is to provide the rear-view mirror we all need in order to uncover our Blind Spots and turn them into assets.”

Get a Free Upgrade

Readers of this newsletter are invited to take the beta test version of the Blind Spots Snap Shot. Special offer: If you provide us with feedback, we’ll send you a free upgrade to the Blind Spots Profile Plus. Simply use this clink to send your feedback. We’ll send your free access to the Blind Spots Profile Plus within one business day (a $34.95 value).

Did you know? PPI specializes in surveys for management development books. We have offered the Full Engagement Profile since 2003, a survey that measures the concepts described in The Power of Full Engagement by Dr. Jim Loehr. In June 2006, we began offering the Leadership Versatility Index, a validated 360 feedback that provides a customized report on the important leadership traits described in The Versatile Leader (Wiley/Pfeiffer, 2006) by Bob Kaplan and Rob Kaiser. Recently, we completed work on a survey based on Head, Heart and Guts (Wiley/Jossey-Bass, 2006) by David L. Dotlich, Peter C. Cairo and Stephen Rhinesmith. If you would like a survey to accompany your book or training materials, please call us at 1-800-565-4223.

Many Report External Factors Block Them from Full Engagement

"It's Not My Fault!"

What is the biggest obstacle to having more energy and being fully engaged at work? According to comments from the Full Engagement 360 Profile, nearly 30% of 5500 respondents believe the answer to that question lies outside their control. For instance, 170 people name their office facilities as the biggest obstacle to increased energy and engagement. Over 100 name their bosses as the greatest obstacles, and another 100 cite meetings as their biggest obstacle.

“This is a fascinating insight into the nature of personal storytelling,” says Dr. Jim Loehr, a performance psychologist and CEO of the Human Performance Institute. The Institute offers training that puts executives on a path towards sustained energy and full engagement. The Full Engagement 360 Profile is a part of their training. “As long as external objects such as the office and the boss have a key role in someone’s personal story, they will be blocked from more useful self-messages,” he says. “Until employees shift the locus of control in their stories from external to internal, little progress can be made to deepen levels of engagement at work.”

The table below details some of the external “obstacles” cited by respondents:

Contact us about Full Engagement Training or the Full Engagement 360 Profile.

Patent Granted for Ground-Breaking "Leadership Versatility Index" 360 Feedback Tool

In a highly unusual development in the Human Resources field, leadership consulting firm Kaplan DeVries Inc. has been awarded a patent for their 360 feedback tool, the Leadership Versatility Index (LVI). The patent was awarded because no other leadership development tool uses pairs of opposite leadership behaviors (such as “Takes Charge” versus “Empowers”) and also assesses versatility and “lopsidedness” among the pairs. Through decade-long statistical research and first-hand use of the tool in executive development, the inventor-designers, Robert E. Kaplan, Ph.D. and Rob Kaiser, M.S., of Kaplan Devries Inc., determined that the instrument uniquely detects “lopsided” leadership.

Extreme lopsidedness is a major cause of career derailment and undermines talent management for many organizations. In fact, Kaiser and Kaplan's statistical research indicates that versatility—having a well-rounded repertoire—accounts for half of what separates the most highly regarded leaders from the least well-regarded leaders. “There is a central human tendency to rely too heavily on our strengths,” says Dr. Kaplan. “In leaders, this often creates blind spots that lead to complete career derailment. The problem is expensive in both business and human terms.”

On its website, Kaplan’s firm offers a free trial of the Leadership Versatility Index, hosted online by Performance Programs. Contact us for more information about Leadership Versatility.

Leadership Forecast Series Training

Many readers of this newsletter have attended our Hogan Certification Workshops, which are presented by Paul Connolly. In order to deepen his knowledge of the Hogan report group called the Leadership Forecast Series, Dr. Connolly recently attended Hogan Assessment Systems Advanced Certification Workshop. This seminar helps coaches and human resource professionals generate development plans for new leadership-track employees. The training used a simulation in which all participants were given extensive background on a fictitious company, its business opportunities and challenges, and information about the candidate from his current manager. Using all this information, plus the information from the Hogan tools, participants created targeted development plans. Connolly will incorporate this new material into the upcoming Hogan Certification Workshops.

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