Maverick Mastery®

CEOs want their employees to perform at their best. Dynamic Transitions Ltd enables Troublesome Talent^® to develop mastery in how they interact with others and how they remain employed in corporate companies. Troublesome Talent^® wants to be recognised for the talent that they have and to have the autonomy to do what they believe is right or necessary. The most ideal role for Troublesome Talent^® within corporate life is one of internal consultancy where they can flit from one completed project to another. With full autonomy of course!

Do you have Troublesome Talent^®? If so they …

• are often accused of being blunt and inconsiderate
• always looking for challenges and getting bored once you’ve achieved them
• feel that you are more talented than your peers
• have more influence and autonomy than your peers
• are often described as charming and charismatic
• are trusted by others

They wish that they could be left to do what’s right …

Troublesome Talent^® are often frustrated that their ideas and solutions are not taken seriously by the organisation, who prefer to spend time discussing how they have articulated themselves. They cannot understand why this would be a preoccupation rather than the innovative solution that they have suggested. Troublesome Talent^® get bored easily and can become destructive if ignored. They often suffer from Success Syndrome.

We support Troublesome Talent^® and the companies that have them by:

• providing leadership training and mentoring to their managers so that they can learn to harness their talent
• providing maverick mentoring to Troublesome Talent^® so that they can reduce the tension that they cause others
• supporting their learning on how to improve their interaction with others and their social intelligence

Maverick Mastery^® is essential for Troublesome Talent^® to realise their potential and bring their world into yours.

For more information contact us here.

As a result of an ageing workforce, a large number of senior management positions are likely to arise over the next five years, with very few suitably qualified or experienced successors available to fill them. So why is it that companies – and in particular larger organisations – are finding it increasingly difficult to keep hold of their top talent? Is it due to the fact that smaller companies are better at nurturing their talent and therefore see it as integral to their business? I explain why it is so hard for larger organisations to manage and nurture their most valuable assets.

In my experience, if large companies are finding it difficult to retain top talent, it is because they are finding it almost impossible to maintain their relationship with their ‘maverick’ or ‘troublesome talent’. (I define Troublesome Talent® as wilfully independent people)

This is an extremely common scenario as Troublesome Talent® are often recruited because they are highly skilled, have real flair in their area of expertise and have the ability to think up creative, innovative and lateral solutions where others are more comfortable choosing the most tried and tested ones. Troublesome Talent® or mavericks are extremely comfortable challenging the status quo and will doggedly follow the untested path if it will lead their company to success and personal recognition. This is contrary to most employees who actively prefer the certainty of the status quo.

This is where the danger lies for all organisations particularly larger ones. Only 20% of most workforces contain the top talent. It is these unconventional thinkers that drive companies forward through their relentless pursuit of continuous improvement and risk taking. It’s maverick top talent like Richard Branson, Ricardo Semler and Steve Jobs that make quantum leaps for their companies. Troublesome Talent can provide real competitor advantage and first mover status. Often customers and clients love their flexibility and their ability to deliver to their requirements each and every time. Their unique ability to sense what is needed and when enables them to get close to the customer’s need in a way that their competitors struggle to.

When they first join a company the maverick enjoys the flexibility and autonomy that they are given and this is when they really shine and deliver outstanding results. However, eventually, the company will require them to fit into its corporate structure – and begin to follow rules and this is when things begin to deteriorate.

The maverick cannot understand why they are suddenly being treated differently by the organisation and begin to react to the changed behaviour. They feel betrayed at the loss of autonomy and feel that the organisation has lost trust in their ability to operate successfully without supervision. Mavericks will not perform if they feel they are not trusted or if they feel that they have been lied to. Suddenly the organisation finds it hard to harness their maverick and keep them performing with minimal disruption to others.

At this point the organisation needs to look at what drives the change in the maverick’s behaviour and how to align their needs and desires to the organisation’s objectives. Flexibility in leadership style and understanding human nature is the key to achieving this.

When passion becomes destructive

Many larger organisations have trouble maintaining flexibility in their leaders’ styles. This often goes hand in hand with their inability to harness the passion of their top talent. Smaller enterprises do not have this problem because by their very nature they are flexible and passionate driven by the vision of the solo entrepreneur. With just themselves to please they inevitably follow their passions instinctively.

No-one has ever followed a leader that didn’t have passion. Passion for who they are, what they believe in and the direction that they want to go. Even ‘quiet’ leaders have passion, they may not have the oratory skills of JFK or Martin Luther King, but they have, nevertheless, the ability to stir their followers to a cause – a vision to strive for.

So passion is essentially a good thing … it helps us keep going when times are hard, rallies others to a cause, it builds global brands and companies … without passion a leader has no followers.

However, when passion is applied without good intent it can rapidly become destructive. Mavericks are generally very passionate people and can become very focused on singular activities. They have vision, strength of purpose, drive and direction – to the goals that they want to achieve. If their goals are not aligned to the organisation, then real sparks can ensue. Troublesome Talent® or mavericks, will do what they want to do, when they want to do it , so loss of the autonomy that drew them to the company initially can often find them spiraling out of control and losing their desire to achieve.

So how does the organisation turn around their destructive maverick?

Give them a compelling reason to change their behaviour

The organisation needs to ask themselves a number of questions, in an attempt to see things the way that the maverick views things. Mavericks can be highly influential and if they feel betrayed they can work hard to ensure they destroy the very thing that the organisation is trying to build.

Examples of questions organisations should ask themselves are:

• why has the organisation changed the way they are dealing with the maverick?
• what situation is the maverick in, what’s their perception of reality?
• How are they coming across – is the organisation using flexible leadership styles with their Troublesome Talent® or does one size fit all?

Armed with the answers to questions like those above will enable the organisation to enter into meaningful dialogue with their maverick. Mavericks only change when there is an overriding imperative to do so. Organisations need to restore the trust of their Troublesome Talent® if they want to reignite their passion in a positive way. With inspired leadership it will be easier to reach the maverick and harness their talent.

Troublesome Talent® also need to see the cost of their behaviour both financial and human. It is important to give the problem that they cause a human face. Let them reach their own conclusion as to the consequences of their actions and then ask them, how does the result that they see, achieve their end goal.

By ensuring that both parties’ objectives are aligned and that the maverick is given a clear path to follow and compelling reason to change, performance will return to previous impressive levels. It is likely that not only will the top talent perform better they will more likely stay within the organisation. Sadly, this is not always as easy as it sounds, as most large companies have complex rules that they need to follow and aren’t always accepting of the positive challenges that Troublesome Talent® can bring.

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