Maverick Mastery®

Maverick’s can be an essential asset to any company however many are misunderstood and are often seen as being disruptive. In this article I look  at the role of Mavericks within any business and how to best harness their talent.

There are a lot of HR people who still play at the administrative level rather than the strategic level so businesses miss out a lot of key advice and help. My role in HR led me to mentoring as this it is about making sure the business meets it’s objectives through effective use of it’s people.

Within many organisations today there are problems with office culture. This needs to be altered before changes can happen. The first step is understanding what the culture is and what are the major drivers.

One of the first things you have to look at is which is the culture that the board thinks is the right culture in terms of their market place and how they want to achieve this. Without top level agreement from the board, there is no point in doing it. Once you have done that, it is a simple case of working backwards. It is all about behaviour. You cannot change people’s attitudes and belief systems because you told them to do it but by actually getting them to change their behaviour, they change themselves.

If you have a management team that does not take talent very seriously, and will not be held accountable for, they could be promoted without caring about whether their staff have been developed properly. Therefore one of the things you could change within a culture is training and mentoring, but also the senior managements pay structure. This means that they won’t get paid unless they reach certain development targets for their staff. Quite often, one of the ways to change a member’s behaviour towards their staff is to build it into the current structures that are already there.

What is a Maverick….

In my role as HR I quite often get asked to help manage Mavericks, often known as troublesome talent. A Maverick is someone that is wilfully independent. Mavericks can be divided into two categories, someone with a Maverick personality who is very wilful, and then you have people that have Maverick tendencies who in certain specific areas are wilful and that means that their work will be very different to anyone else in the industry.

Within companies we need to encourage Maverick tendencies and be very aware of Maverick personalities. Mavericks are really the ones that can help turn around businesses. They make up 20% of the talent pool and know what is going on whilst being very good at what they do. Unfortunately led incorrectly, Mavericks can cause 80% of the problems.

How do I know if I have a Maverick within my organisation?…. The Maverick type is someone that rather than just follow the rules, will actually look at the big picture and say “I don’t understand why you are doing this, it makes no sense”. They are very blunt individuals who will tell you how it is and often question “why” . They are not being challenging at an aggressive stance, they are doing it because they generally want to know and want to help.

Another way to know a Maverick personality is that they will think quite different from other people. They are quite fast thinking and are the ones that will see the next trend that is coming and start moving towards it.

Industries that Mavericks are within….

You will often see a lot of Mavericks in fast moving creative industries such as sales and media. These Mavericks are extrovert type mavericks. Mavericks within technical departments such as engineers and IT are quite often introverted Mavericks.

What are the differences…

• Extroverted Maverick – If you upset an extroverted Maverick, they will give you their opinion and tell you out loud “your wrong, this is the way it should be done, i’m not doing it this way”. You will know when you have upset them.

• Introverted Maverick – These might say “I don’t agree with you” but they will go ahead and do it anyway, you won’t be aware of them. Sometimes people miss that type of Maverick because they are not making a lot of noise so they don’t see them as a problem.

Is it important to find a company with which you are a good fit?…

With Mavericks, sometimes it is going to be impossible to get a real ft and that’s when you have to work round that and say what can they do to achieve in the company? One of the first things that companies can do with Mavericks, because don’t forget there’s not many true Mavericks in a company anyway, is to give them roles that are more consultative because Mavericks have got a very low boredom threshold anyway so when they have fixed the problem, they need to move onto something else.

Mavericks tend to do things when they think there is a compelling reason to do it. They tend to work in companies that are aligned to what they want to achieve.

If a company is going to do true leadership with a team of individuals and get the best results out of them, they will need to make sure that the things they want to implement and how they are going to implement them is finely tuned to the individuals. That is what true management is about.

Is there any difference for black Mavericks in the workplace?…

There are a lot of people who may put black people in the Maverick space when they are not truly Mavericks. This might well be down to stereo tying, and how the black person perceives themselves, and how they act. For example I have been saying that Mavericks tend to challenge a lot, ask why – and it’s for a genuine reason. If a black person does it, rather than actually seeing whether it’s a Maverick type challenge or an aggressive challenge, it might be seen as a aggressive challenge anyway when it’s not.

Lack of confidence….

A lot of Mavericks are motivated internally which means that if they feel like they are doing a good job, they don’t need to be told. An external person needs to be told regularly by people that yes that’s a good job. If someone tells them they can’t do it then they believe them.

Tips for becoming internally motivated..

One of the most basic tips is to understand what you are good at doing and what you are not good at doing because people that are externally influenced in a negative way tend to know their weakness really well but don’t know their strengths.

People should have their strengths on a list and then expand that list so they can say, this is how I use that strength. People might say I’m too trusting, and see that weakness. What does too trusting mean in terms of strength? These people will have a wide circle of friends which can be a major asset. Asking people that you trust, what you are good at and what you are bad at, and what they would change if they were you could also be useful.

You can also have a plan of where you want to be and break it down into steps on how to get there.

If you understand why people do the things they do, you can actually dis-associate yourself from their own behaviours, and that itself will make you stronger.

Confidence in the work place….

Whether it is your own business or in the workplace, no one can argue with true confidence. If you are not self motivated and you really don’t think you are good at what you do despite being told, you may need someone to work with you, as you might not have the skills to bring out your best qualities and this is where a mentor can really help you to gain the competitive edge.

One of the overriding problems faced by companies is that they struggle to effectively develop talent. Either preferring a one size fits all management style or employee reward package. In this blog I discuss whether employees should be groomed for management responsibilities.

Despite McKinsey’s War on Talent report 10 years ago – talent management in all its guises are still a strategic priority for many companies across numerous industries even now!

One of the dilemmas facing HR Directors today is whether they should groom employees from the beginning or whether they should allow the employee to feel their own way into management positions. The company’s talent management/succession plan will be decided based on the conclusion they reach. It is not an exaggeration to say that the future of the company can depend on the position that the HR Director takes.

Where do leadership competences come from?

Are leaders born or are they made? Dynamic Transitions believes that leadership skills and techniques can be learnt, transforming a poor manager into a good leader. Great leaders have been exposed to leadership concepts that they practice and demonstrate from early childhood. This early experience enables them to become great leaders in the workplace years later. HR Directors can design their performance reviews and training interventions to nurture or further develop these ‘early learnt’ competencies.

Dynamic Transitions believes that leadership is ‘trusted influence’ that has its basis in the credibility and reputation of the leader. The leader requires the trust and goodwill of his team to function well and that can only be secured if he has integrity and a flexible range of leadership styles which can be effectively implemented.

On the basis that employees remain loyal to individuals not the company it’s imperative that good leadership is demonstrated throughout the organisation. Talent management demands that talent is nurtured so that the company is able to fulfil its objectives and that talent is dispersed throughout the company. Both these concepts require the employee to have a persona that has high reputational value and a character that is ‘trusted’.

Grooming for management responsibilities?

In this changeable climate there is a requirement for workforces to be flexible and companies to be agile to survive. Therefore companies should be encouraging leadership competences in all its employees. The ability to think for themselves, make decisions that are perhaps beyond ‘their pay level’, developing into lateral thinkers with the confidence to challenge the status quo soon becomes a survival imperative. Demonstrating ‘traditional’ leadership competences then becomes the norm within the company with performance reviews and reward systems based, on some level, around leadership.

All employees should be provided with plenty of opportunities to develop leadership competencies in their normal day to day work. Talent Management strategies should groom all employees for management responsibilities, self leadership and self determination can bring depth to job roles and pride in one’s abilities. This is particularly important in environments where flat structures can inhibit upwards movement and economic climate can depress salary increments.

By establishing an environment where (self) leadership development is the norm it is easier and cost effective to identify those with management potential. It has the additional benefit of continuously improving the agility and competence of the company as a whole making it more likely for it to reach growth and financial targets.

Real leaders seem to possess inherent knowledge of people and it is this knowledge demonstrated as social intelligence, reputation (character and intent) and credibility (competence and track record) that can distinguish leaders from managers. Performance reviews and reward structures should be designed to nurture and develop these competencies, thus allowing those with management potential to be easily seen by management (for further development) and enable them to identify themselves as future managers. This is more effective than just following a strategy that requires individuals to feel their own way into management.

How can HR directors spot and develop potential managers without alienating the other members of the workforce?

If the company’s strategy is to nurture talent within its workforce by encouraging all employees to develop self leadership competencies, amongst other task specific skills, employees are less likely to resent the company developing others. This is especially true where reward strategies are transparent and fair to all.

Employees that demonstrate the ability to influence and motivate others, and knowledge of human behaviour to effect better performance, should be identified for potential management. This can be done by one-to-ones with their managers, performance reviews and succession plans.

Development can include coaching, mentoring and bespoke leadership courses designed specifically to fulfil the leadership deficit of the individuals. This should not be at the detriment to more general training interventions for the rest of the workforce.

HR Directors should ensure that all employees are encouraged to develop leadership competencies, thus creating a richer pool of talent, allowing the identification of those that have management potential to be simpler and more effective.

With news that HSBC is the latest to announce substantial job losses, many highly valuable Generation Y employees across the UK may be unfairly lost due to their perceived job-hopping mentality, according to leadership consultancy Dynamic Transitions.

Gen Y feel little loyalty to the company and are more interested in what the company can do for them

There is much discussion over the emerging trends of Generation Y employees, most importantly the disappearance of a ‘job for life’ approach to employment and Dynamic Transitions MD Judith Germain believes that this, combined with increasingly tight market conditions, is forcing out some of the most talented younger individuals and potential successors, in a bid to keep costs down.

“Generation Y individuals tend to change jobs frequently in their search for personal development and a company that shares their same values. The talented ones understand that they will have many jobs and indeed careers in their working life, so they feel little loyalty to the company and are more interested in what the company can do for them”, explains Germain.

This sentiment is reflected in a recent survey into Generation Y employees which suggested that the average length they stayed in a position was under two years and a panel for the Association of Women in Technology revealed that Millennial (Gen Y) workers actually feel they are discriminated against due to their age.

“The ‘always-moving’ approach to working life displayed by Generation Y employees can put them at a huge disadvantage when it comes to the securing of jobs, especially in an environment when big companies are downsizing to save costs and ‘older’ managers interpret many jobs on the CV as lack of commitment or fickleness of the employee”, adds Germain.

Germain believes that the distinct clash of culture between X & Y generations is the primary cause of talented Gen Y job losses and says “at the moment ‘Y’ are generally ‘workforce’, with ‘X’ being ‘the managers’, so they are already at a disadvantage as their approach to working life is markedly different”.

Dynamic Transitions is a leadership company specialising in working with Troublesome Talent ® and improving leadership performance within organisations. The full version of their recently released whitepaper ‘The Generation Game: How to manage a new generation of Mavericks’ can be downloaded from http://www.developing-leadership.com/generationy.html

I was interviewed by Zhana Brooks from Black Success radio on her Success Strategies show about Economic Self-Empowerment for the Black Community. It aired at 8pm UK time. To hear the interview please click here.

UK businesses are failling to dedicate sufficient resources to improving or leveraging talent according to leadership consultancy Dynamic Transitions. In light of the recent CIPD report ‘Generation Y – Unlocking the Talent of Young Managers’ it was indicated that global leaders placed talent management as their top priority, Dynamic Transitions MD Judith Germain is calling for UK businesses to be tougher on senior management who abdicate the responsibility to HR and stresses that ‘we must move to a world where senior managers are NOT rewarded or promoted if they are not actively developing their staff or leveraging their talent.”

Speaking in a recent interview Germain suggested that as the credit crunch takes hold, more and more talented young managers are being overlooked, mainly because of their tendencies and inquisitiveness are considered a threat by senior managers who have taken an instant dislike to the new age workers and their working habits.

The CIPD report reveals that young managers are more prepared to give up their personal lives for their work to some extent, with fifty per cent agreeing that they would make sacrifices in order to succeed in their careers. Also the career-focused elements such as developing new skills, challenge, and good career prospects were the dominant attractions for Generation Y when joining their current organisation.

“Generation Y workers tend to go by the ‘ask, learn and succeed’ approach whereas senior management (Baby Boomers and to some extent Generation X managers) are more akin to the ‘work long hours and learn approach’. But perhaps more importantly, we are finding that Generation Y workers are getting through their workload at a much faster pace than their predecessors when given the right support and focus, and this is also seen as a threat,” explains Germain, who specialises in managing Troublesome Talent ® in the workplace.

Germain believes that UK companies run the risk of slipping behind global companies if they continue to focus on things that can work counter towards improving the business through leveraging the talent. That there is a distinct mismatch between the priorities of HR in aligning leadership development with business priorities and performance management systems and what exactly is required by the business.

“There is lack of accountability for leadership development by senior management and UK businesses need to realise that it is not HR’s responsibility to develop individuals – it must be developed by senior management if it is to have any impact on developing and retaining talent” adds Germain.

Judith Germain founded Dynamic Transitions in 2005 and provides strategic mentoring for senior executives and business leaders and delivers innovative leadership programmes, leadership consultancy, training, coaching and mentoring to corporate clients. For more information visit www.developing-leadership.com

Many organisations risk losing their most talented employees as the credit crunch takes hold, according to leadership company Dynamic Transitions. Speaking at HR Director’s Talent Management Breakfast at the Lord’s Cricket Ground last week, Dynamic Transitions MD Judith Germain warned that the emergence of Generation Y is “spelling further trouble for organisations who continue to adopt a one size fits all approach to talent management”.

Addressing attendees at the exclusive breakfast event on 26^th June, Germain suggested that many of the most talent employees were likely to be selected for redundancy due to their perceived troublesome nature, when in fact, with the right management techniques, these individuals could become the top performers in the organisation.

Germain argued that Troublesome Talent® made up 20% of the top performers in an organisation, but accounted for 80% of the problems and urged attendees not to use redundancies to kick out the business’ best talent.

“The reality is that too many employees prefer to keep their head down and follow rules and procedures that don’t work simply because it is easier and acceptable to do so. Troublesome Talent® however, are prepared to stand up for what they believe in and will tell managers the flaws in the company’s policies and the issues they face. As a result, their employees are often singled out as trouble makers,” said Germain.

Germain revealed that whilst Troublesome Talent® had emerged in Generation X as people started to demand more flexible working and concentration on their individual desires, the emergence of Generation Y (Birth dates between 1980-1994) has meant that organisations need to re-examine their talent management techniques and adopt a more individualistic approach.

“Generation Y employees do not believe in the ‘9-5’ and are more focussed on themselves and their development. They are more likely to question authority and are more entrepreneurial and extrovert than their Generation X predecessors. Organisations need to realise that traditional command and control management techniques just will not work with them,” said Germain.

Germain founded Dynamic Transitions in 2005 and provides strategic mentoring for senior executives and business leaders and delivers innovative leadership programmes, leadership consultancy, training, coaching and mentoring to corporate clients. For more information visit www.developing-leadership.com

After a whirlwind month of interviews for leadership specialist Judith Germain, the Dynamic Transitions frontline woman is celebrating the news that her Troublesome Talent® interview for the NLP Expert Forum has received over 400 downloads, making it one of the sites most popular interviews.

In the ten minute interview on leadership and Troublesome Talent® conducted by Michael Beale, Director of PPI Business NLP Ltd, Germain discussed the problems faced by organisations who try to manage these highly talented but uncompromising individuals in the ‘conventional’ way.

“Troublesome Talent® are people that don’t compromise their standards to fit in. They tend to make up as much as 20% of your talent pool, but they can be bringing in about 80% of your profit” explains Germain, who was interviewed in May for UK leading internet station Glastonbury Radio’s The 21-Grams Show on the topic of Mavericks in Business and also appears twice on Accountancy Age TV speaking about the need for a mentor and why business people need to stand out from their rivals.

Germain goes on to explain in her interview that HR departments often look to solutions like Talent Management believing that what they have to do is treat each and every employee the same way, to be fair and consistent. However, that technique doesn’t work with Troublesome Talent® because you do need to treat them differently if you want to get the best from them.

“These people are extremely talented, but they only really become troublesome if they’re not lead properly. In fact, they are often not selected for talent management programmes and are not really rewarded for the good things that they can do, because people want to control them or just take away the very talent that’s made them successful (by forcing them to conform)” adds Germain, who founded Dynamic Transitions in 2005 to provide strategic mentoring, innovation leadership, coaching and training programmes for individuals, small businesses and large corporations.

The full Mavericks in Business interview is available here http://www.dynamic-transitions.knet-uk.co.uk/JudithGermaininterviewmavericks.mp3. The Troublesome Talent® interview can be downloaded from the NLP Expert Forum (http://nlp-experts.org/leadership/12-judith-germain-interview.html) or for more information about Troublesome Talent® visit www.developing-leadership.com

I was interviewed by John Farrell from Glastonbury Radio on the topic Mavericks in Business. It airs today at 7pm and will be repeated on Friday and Saturday, again at 7pm. You can listen by going direct to the radio station or by clicking here.

Glastonbury Radio receives 1m hits per month and is a diverse and eclectic internet radio station.