Incentive - July 2008 - (Page 36)

STANDING OUT Business leaders find knowing themselves better helps them manage others better BY KAREN LELAND FROM THE CROWD What tools are available to help the overwhelmed executive develop this selfleadership? Blanchard says that one of the best is an eight-day residential program called the Hoffman Quadrinity Process. W ith the recent rash of business books, executive coaches and management consultants touting the critical importance of becoming an authentic leader, it’s no wonder entrepreneurs and executives feel pressured to cultivate the charm and charisma of John F. Kennedy, combined with the strategic smarts of Donald Trump. Sorting out the wheat from the chaff of leadership lore is not an easy task. Dr. Ken Blanchard, worldrenowned management guru, says that fundamentally, leadership is a transformational journey that starts with self-leadership. “If you don’t know who you are—your strengths and demons—it’s really hard to lead someone else,” says Blanchard. “When things go wrong at an organizational leadership level, people are often quick to blame the structure, but half the time, the problem is that you are dealing with people who have skipped step one—self-leadership,” he says. Head-Heart Connection Since 1967 more than 50,000 participants worldwide, among them many top business leaders, have journeyed to either Napa Valley, Calif., or Sheffield, Mass., to participate in the Hoffman Quadrinity Process (HQP). The Process focuses, among other things, on how emotional learning that occurred early in life shapes adult experiences, including career choices and leadership capabilities. One central theme of the HQP is helping the participants integrate the four aspects of self: physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual. This premise has made the Process popular with business leaders, such as Blanchard, who believe that self-knowledge and emotional intelligence are important to both per- sonal satisfaction and leadership style. Jean Halloran, senior vice president of human resources at Agilent Technologies, says that since taking the HQP she brings more of an integrated self to work, and has a better connection between her heart and her head. “When I went to the Hoffman Process, I was fifteen years into my career, and most of my success had come from having used my head well,” says Halloran. “But when it came to my own feelings, I felt they had no place in the workday. If I felt hurt, or even jubilant, I worried it might carry me away from the task at hand. Hoffman gave me the tools to welcome all of myself to the party.” As a result, Halloran feels that she is now much more inclined to stop and reflect on why she feels a particular way about a situation, instead of being distressed by it. “I first and foremost get curious,” says Halloran. “I am able to step back from my reactions, consider them and then choose the best path forward,” she explains. “I lead much 36 | Incentive | July 2008 | incentivemag.com http://incentivemag.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Incentive - July 2008

Incentive - July 2008 Contents Editor’s Note: Accentuate the Positive In The News Cover Story: Three Profiles in Good Corporate Citizenship Case Study Incentive Interview Senior Secrets To Thine Own Self be True Incentive Primer Motivation@Work Travel News: Where To Go and What To Do Take the Spa Home Not the Only Game in Town Here and Now Writing and Desktop Gifts Watches and Clocks Gift Cards: Health and Wellness Incentives Good Health Is Not Its Own Incentive Advertiser Index Last Word

Incentive - July 2008

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