Driving Execution and Business Performance through People

DuPont Competency ModelModule 140 - Core Competency Directory

V iew Website for Core Competency Material s

Revised 4/25/2008

Using this Directory

This directory lists all of the Core Competencies. You will use the competencies listed in this directory when you create your Individual Performance Plan and your Career Development Plan.

Each competency lists four additional levels of details that will help you better understand that competency so you can effectively integrated these into your plans. This information includes:

Definition Overall description of the competency

Key Actions Activities/Behaviors that improve performance

Off-Key Actions Activities/Behaviors that limit performance

Over Actions Activities/Behaviors that may bring about a negative impact

negative impact.

The listed information provides a guide to help you focus on those activities that will be most helpful to create your performance and development plans. You may also think of additional actions that will compliment these items.

© Development Dimensions Int'l, Inc., MMVI. All rights reserved. Produced expressly for E.I. duPont de Nemours and Company.

Table of Contents

Click (or Ctrl-Click) on a competency title to view the detailed information

ANALYSIS AND JUDGMENT......................................................................1

BUILDING COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE...................................................3

BUILDING ORGANIZATIONAL TALENT....................................................4

BUILDING SUSTAINABLE CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS.......................6

BUILDING WINNING GLOBAL TEAMS.....................................................8

BUILDING WINNING TEAMS....................................................................9

BUSINESS ACUMEN................................................................................11

CHAMPIONING CHANGE........................................................................13

COACHING...............................................................................................15

COMMUNICATING WITH IMPACT..........................................................17

CUSTOMER ORIENTATION.....................................................................19

DECISION MAKING.................................................................................20

DRIVING EXECUTION.............................................................................22

DRIVING FOR RESULTS..........................................................................24

EMBRACING CHANGE............................................................................26

ENGAGEMENT.........................................................................................27

GLOBAL BUSINESS ACUMEN.................................................................28

INNOVATION...........................................................................................29

MANAGING FOR PRODUCTIVITY............................................................30

MOBILIZING RESOURCES......................................................................31

RAISING THE BAR...................................................................................32

SETTING STRATEGY AND DIRECTION...................................................33

SELLING THE VISION.............................................................................35

TEAMWORK/COLLABORATION...............................................................37

© Development Dimensions Int'l, Inc., MMVI. All rights reserved. Produced expressly for E.I. duPont de Nemours and Company.

ANALYSIS AND JUDGMENT

Definition:

Identifying and understanding issues, problems, and opportunities; comparing data from different sources to draw conclusions; using effective approaches for choosing a course of action or developing appropriate solutions; taking action that is consistent with available facts, constraints, and probable consequences.

Key Actions

Identifies issues, problems and opportunities – Recognizes issues, problems, or opportunities —and determines whether action is needed.

Gathers information – Identifies the need for and collects information to better understand issues, problems, and opportunities.

Interprets information – Integrates information from a variety of sources; detects trends, associations, and cause-effect relationships.

Generates alternatives – Creates relevant options for addressing problems/opportunities and achieving desired outcomes.

Chooses appropriate action – Formulates clear decision criteria; evaluates options by considering implications and consequences; chooses an effective option.

Commits to action – Implements decisions or initiates action within a reasonable time.

Involves others – Includes others in the decision-making process as warranted to obtain good information, make the most appropriate decisions, and ensure buy-in and understanding of the resulting decisions.

Off-Key Actions

Applies faulty logic – When interpreting information, often uses faulty logic instead of ensuring that the information is accurate and credible

Assumes first solution is the best solution – Too often accepts the first idea as the best idea, instead of encouraging people to stretch their thinking beyond the obvious.

Avoids risky alternatives – Consistently chooses the alternative with the lowest risk, which can stifle innovation or promote the status quo.

Doesn’t gather data from others’ perspectives – Doesn't take time to gather other people's valuable insights, in order to make high-quality decisions more consistently.

Identifies and acts on symptoms versus causes – Due to concern about making and implementing a decision quickly, fails to analyze the basis of the problem or opportunity.

Ignores new information – When gathering information, ignores new data that contradicts previous data or could affect desired outcomes, criteria, or decision definition.

1

Contents

Prefers to go solo – Makes decisions without involving others who should be involved or who might help make the right decision.

2

Over Actions

Involves others too much – Tends to involve others too much in making decisions, which hampers the ability to make and implement decisions.

Suffers from analysis paralysis – Spends so much time gathering and analyzing data that the information becomes obsolete by the time the decision is made; misses important opportunities while thinking about the decision

3

Contents

BUILDING COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

Definition:

Advancing own understanding and sharing insight regarding key market drivers; actively using that knowledge to create/seize business and customer focus opportunities and/or expand into new markets, products, or services.

Key Actions

Identifies key market drivers – Unravels the complex issues that affect market penetration and revenue generation, including dynamic factors that determine commercial viability of new business ventures, such as customer needs, pricing, competition, and cost factors.

Energetically pursues profitable business ventures – Aggressively develops and creates profitable business ventures based on the market and business drivers; builds on existing market strengths while balancing an appropriate level of business risk (i.e., takes calculated risk) in pursuing new ventures.

Challenges the conventional – Offers fresh, innovative ideas and/or unconventional approaches to strategies that create market and brand value; willing to pursue fast experimentation with innovative products and services.

Manages matrix and alliance organizations – Understands implications of integrating research, manufacturing, marketing, sales, and other key alliances into the overall customer experience

Pursues customer feedback – Continually scans the market to understand current and emerging customer needs; seeks information from current and potential customers regarding needs, expectations, and business priorities.

Off-Key Actions

Fails to learn from mistakes – permits the failure of a new product or venture without conducting a “lessons learned” post-mortem activity, which can transform the loss into an investment.

Limits ideas – focuses too much on product extensions, new packaging, or other incremental improvements; the entrepreneurial mind-set focuses more on reframing than on simply repositioning.

Ignores the market – continues to advocate for products or services far too long; is too invested in own ideas to notice market indicators.

Over Actions

Depends too much on research – is a slave to market research results; fails to rely, even partially, on intuition.

Pursues too many ideas – Confuses innovative ideas with productive entrepreneurial ventures; just because an idea is new and creative doesn’t mean that it will increase revenue or market share.

4

Contents

Takes too many risks – Fails to differentiate excessive risk taking from taking productive entrepreneurial action with calculated business risk

Moves too fast – are overly impulsive; fails to allow ideas to gel before rushing ahead.

5

BUILDING ORGANIZATIONAL TALENT

Definition:

Attracting, developing, and retaining talented individuals; creating a learning environment that ensures individuals realize their highest potential, allowing the organization as a whole to meet future challenges.

Key Actions

Diagnoses capability and developmental needs – Determines the mix and level of capability required by the business to support current and future objectives; assesses the key strengths and development opportunities of groups.

Scans environment for developmental assignments – Identifies developmental assignments and the potential learning in the assignment; matches assignments with individual developmental opportunities.

Champions talent management – Provides high visibility to individuals with potential; offers challenging managerial assignments that build confidence and credibility; provides such individuals with a personal vision for this future.

Creates a learning culture – Aligns support systems, accountabilities, and incentives, which ensures a learning environment.

Emphasizes retention – Establishes organizational systems to encourage talented individuals to remain within the organization; addresses individuals' needs for flexibility within the organizational structure; provides a clear career path for talented individuals that provides challenge and career satisfaction.

Off-Key Actions

Abdicates responsibility – does not take ownership for building talent and does not hold other leaders accountable; tends to delegate hiring and developing people to the human resources group.

Avoids tough people decisions – is unwilling or finds it difficult to take decisive action against poor performers.

Refuses to make talent development a priority – addresses people development only “once a year” rather than as an ongoing organizational initiative; treats people issues as a distraction, not part of the “real” job of managing the business.

Fails to invest in talent development – treats people development as “soft dollars” and does not properly recognize the actual cost of doing it poorly.

Relies on natural selection – assumes that the best talent will rise to the top without development plans or intentional coaching.

Subscribes to “great person” theory – assumes that leaders are born—not made—and that nothing can be done to develop them.

6

Contents

Stops with assessment – assumes that the hard work is finished once people’s development needs have been diagnosed; fails to ensure that needed development actually happens.

Does not differentiate performers – doesn’t follow through on talent management strategies by making sure that promising individuals are appropriately rewarded and developed while under-performing individuals are weeded out.

Does not monitor progress – fails to review and measure the development progress of potential leaders.

Over Actions

Over-invests – spends too much time supporting under-performing individuals and not enough time rewarding and developing better-performing individuals.

Promotes people too quickly – when considering candidates for promotion, does not ensure that, along with the required technical skills and knowledge, they have the interpersonal competencies required to handle the demands of the new position.

7

Contents

BUILDING SUSTAINABLE CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS

Definition:

Making customers and their needs a primary focus of one's actions; developing and sustaining productive customer relationships.

Key Actions

Seeks to understand customers/clients – Seeks information to understand customers' circumstances, problems, expectations, and needs.

Educates customers/clients – Shares information with customers to build their understanding of issues and capabilities.

Builds collaborative relationships – Builds rapport and cooperative relationships with customers

Takes action to meet customer/client needs and concerns – Considers how actions or plans will affect customers; responds quickly to meet customer needs and resolve problems; avoids over-commitments.

Sets up customer/client feedback systems – Implements ways to monitor and evaluate customer concerns, issues, and satisfaction and to anticipate customer needs.

Off-Key Actions

Doesn’t coordinate customer information – Fails to coordinate customer data – never making it clear what matters most to customers.

Gathers deficient customer feedback – Assumes that a few client visits or the occasional survey keeps one up-to-date on how to meet customer's needs; fails to gain a broad perspective on customers' issues, satisfaction level, and what matters most.

Hides problems and mistakes – Hides problems and mistakes, making it impossible to analyze, correct, or avoid them in the future.

Imposes solutions – Imposes solutions without considering the customer's circumstances or preferences.

Overlooks change – Overlooks changes in customer circumstances, needs, and expectations, limiting ability to provide solutions to meet the customer’s situation.

Presumes to know what the customer wants – Makes assumptions about what the customers want, without truly getting to know customers, what they value and need.

Treats customers as remote buyers – Fails to cultivate long-term relationships with customers; engages in hit-and-run transactions – the simple exchange of goods and services for money.

Treats no news as good news – Assumes that no news is good news, instead of establishing ways to get regular customer feedback.

8

Contents

Uses customer surveys to pressure employees – Uses customer survey scores to pressure employees to perform, instead of using customer feedback to help the organization understand how it's doing and what to improve.

Withholds opinions – Fails to share knowledge and expertise to help customers make wise decisions.

Over Actions

Harms self for sake of customer – Gets caught up in the frenzy of maintaining the organization's share of the market, adopting the attitude of “anything and everything” for the customer.

Over-involves customers – Asks for the customer's opinion or involvement in situations where one has the best knowledge and expertise for implementing a plan or solution.

Over-commits – To please the customer, agrees to requests that exceed time limits or are beyond the scope of expertise, making it difficult to deliver and satisfy the customer.

Smothers customers – Overly zealous to please, often gives customers too much attention.

9

Contents

BUILDING WINNING GLOBAL TEAMS

Definition:

Using appropriate methods and interpersonal styles to develop, motivate, and guide a team toward successful outcomes and attainment of business objectives.

Key Actions

Builds team(virtual and global) – Evaluates resource needs and recruits, attracts, selects, and retains talented individuals; works to develop teams both locally and across organizational boundaries.

Establishes team expectations – Works collaboratively with colleagues and team members to establish performance expectations necessary to achieve objectives.

Clarifies roles, responsibilities, and objectives – Works with and involves team members in clarifying the team roles and responsibilities necessary for success.

Inspires confidence, passion, and commitment – Communicates high expectations for others' performance and confidence in their ability to excel. Uses appropriate words and actions to help others envision and move toward higher levels of performance; stimulates enthusiasm for potential accomplishments.

Monitors team performance – Stays close to team performance; helps to keep the team on track; facilitates adjustments when necessary.

Provides team support – Offer the team own personal time; helps in overcoming barriers; provides ongoing feedback and appropriate guidance.

Off-Key Actions

Loses line of sight – assumes that team members understand the business impact of their personal contributions; fails to help team members see the linkages between their contributions and organizational success.

Dictates expectations – fails to collaborate in establishing expectations; fails to build commitment to individual and team goals.

Ignores the team – does not pay sufficient attention to the team; skips meetings, or fails to maintain regular contact with team members.

Fails to measure – does not regularly monitor the team’s performance to ensure it stays on track for success.

Discourages divergent thinking – fails to encourage dissenting or different ideas from team members.

Over Actions

Allows too much ambiguity – assumes that team members understand their roles and responsibilities; fails to clarify roles and responsibilities, preventing a clear sense of mutual accountability.

10

Contents

Expects too little – does not strive to improve team performance; assumes the team is incapable of accomplishing challenging team objectives.

Expects too much – tries to get more out of the team than it is capable of giving; fails to consider risks involved in taking the team into areas where expertise is limited.

11

BUILDING WINNING TEAMS

Definition:

Using appropriate methods and a flexible interpersonal style to help build a cohesive team; facilitating the completion of team goals.

Key Actions

Exchanges information freely – Shares important, relevant information with the team.

Builds on others’ ideas – Seeks and expands on original ideas, enhances others' ideas, and contributes own ideas about the issues at hand.

Supports group decisions – Demonstrates and communicates enthusiasm for the team’s decisions and direction.

Subordinates personal goals – Places higher priority on team or organization goals than on own goals.

Models commitment – Adheres to the team's expectations and guidelines; fulfills team responsibilities; demonstrates personal commitment to the team.

Operates with integrity – Demonstrates honesty; keeps commitments; behaves in a consistent manner.

Mentors others – Offers personal time; provides appropriate amount of guidance, instruction, positive models, and opportunities for observation to help others develop skills; provides ongoing feedback.

Off-Key Actions

Blames the team when goals aren’t met – When a goal is missed, blames the team, or even disparages the whole concept of teams, instead of working with the team to analyze why the goals were not met and how to achieve them in the future.

Fails to involve others outside the team – When making plans and decisions, does not involve internal or external customers, suppliers, or other groups who are needed to coordinate efforts.

Makes decisions for the team – Makes many or all of the decisions for the team, particularly when the team is new or temporary, or when confidence in team members' skills is lacking.

Seizes control when the heat is on – Forgets the importance of team members' participation when things get off track, becoming too directive to ensure that things are done right.

Shows inconsistency in upholding norms – Inconsistently enforces team norms or standards, with no apparent reason.

Treats success as business as usual – When the team performs well and is successful, acts as if getting the job done is no big deal; fails to recognize good performance and celebrate success.

12

Contents

Over Actions

Abdicates leadership responsibilities – In an effort to involve and empower team members, turns the team loose without appropriate guidance, coaching, and feedback.

Loses the forest for the trees – Fails to constantly remind the team of its goals and objectives and/or to constantly re-evaluate the utility of support functions.

Over-involves team – Over-involves the team in setting goals, planning, organizing, and structuring the team, and dealing with day-to-day issues, beyond what is truly necessary for success.

Overlooks people in drive toward goals – Focuses exclusively on tasks and puts people issues – like job satisfaction, coaching, and feedback – on the back burner.

Throws people in over their heads – Asks people to take actions they are not ready to take, resulting in failure and frustration.

13

Contents

BUSINESS ACUMEN

Definition:

Understanding the organization’s business model and financial goals; utilizing economic, financial, and organizational data to build and document the business case for investing in workplace learning and performance solutions; using business terminology when communicating with others.

Key Actions

Understands the business – understands the organization’s business model and competitive position in the marketplace; how the business leverages core competencies for growth and profitability; the value proposition to external customers

Understands business operations – understands the organization’s structure, systems, functions, and business processes; how the organization operates, including its planning processes and decision-making channels; information management systems; how products and services are developed, sold, and delivered to customers

Applies financial data – Understands financial goals and interprets financial data related to business success measures, such as a balanced scorecard; reads and understands the implications of balance sheets, graphs, charts, tables, and so forth accurately; performs quantitative calculations in building a business case, preparing budgets, evaluating program impact, and calculating return-on-investment.

Uses business terminology to gain credibility – translates technical jargon into business terminology that stakeholders will understand and respect; speaks the language of the business when applying professional expertise.

Recognizes business priorities – tracks the changing needs and expectations of external customers; identifies links between internal demands and external needs; works to understand business priorities to achieve greater success.

Creates a value proposition – establishes the link between business needs and specific solutions; documents how solutions will achieve targeted business results; identifies outcomes that will result from implementing solutions; creates a compelling business case.

Advances the business agenda – understands how decisions are made in the organizational structure and how power is exercised; recognizes key stakeholders and their priorities; leverages understanding of politics across business units and decision makers; presents and defends the business value of solutions.

Off-Key Actions

Focuses too narrowly – overemphasizes one component of the business equation (e.g., either one financial indicator, one business unit, one functional area, or one market segment), to the exclusion of other variables.

14

Contents

Fakes knowledge – overcompensates for lack of business acumen by cramming to learn financial jargon and then overusing or misusing it in communications.

Underutilizes resources – relies on others to provide data, but neglects to seek their business insights.

Lacks due diligence – falls in love with an idea and fails to back it up with an ROI analysis.

Misuses data – uses business analysis, but only after the fact to prove ideas are right, instead of using the data first to choose the right strategy.

Ignores “soft” issues – overemphasizes business results at the expense of people and relationships.

Treats internal initiatives less rigorously – neglects creating a business plan for ventures launched within the organization.

Adopts transactional perspective – views financial role as ensuring a series of solid transactions instead of as a strategic decision maker who can transform the organization’s economics

Over Actions

Overuses data – overcomplicates explanations and presentations with financial data that others won’t understand.

Overestimates knowledge – assumes too much expertise; fails to seek financial advice from others.

Over-emphasizes near-term results – focuses on short-term numbers at the expense of long-term financial results.

15

Contents

CHAMPIONING CHANGE

Definition:

Encouraging others to seek opportunities for different and innovative approaches to addressing problems and opportunities; facilitating the implementation and acceptance of change within the workplace.

Key Actions

Encourages boundary breaking – Encourages individuals to question established work processes or assumptions; challenges individuals to ask why until the underlying cause is discovered; involves stakeholders in continuous improvement actions and alternatives.

Values sound approaches – Consistently remains open to ideas offered by others; supports and uses good ideas to solve problems or address issues.

Rewards change – Recognizes and rewards individuals who make useful changes.

Addresses change resistance – Helps individuals overcome resistance to change; shows empathy with people who feel loss as a result of change.

Manages complexity and contradictions – Tries to minimize complexities, contradictions, and paradoxes or reduce their impact; clarifies direction and smoothes the process of change.

Off-Key Actions

Confuses disagreement with resistance – Assumes any disagreement means the person is resisting change; fails to consider legitimate concerns and often creates resentment.

Fails to act on others’ ideas – Asks for improvement ideas, but then fails to act on them or to communicate their viability and status back to the group.

Fails to actively promote and support change – Often reluctant to support changes; shares criticisms of them with the team.

Fails to ask others for ideas – Relies on own ideas, rather than soliciting ideas from others, limiting the number and quality of ideas generated.

Punishes failures – Asks others for ideas, but then punishes failures, leading to a scarcity of new ideas.

Talks about change but fails to implement new processes – Talks positively about changes that are needed, but fails to implement specific new processes in order to realize those changes.

16

Contents

Over Actions

Challenges too many processes or assumptions – Challenges too many work processes or assumptions, in an effort to continuously improve; loses focus on the changes that would have the most impact.

Micromanages the change process – Manages the plan too closely when implementing change, limiting the creativity of the team.

Promotes others’ ideas indiscriminately – In an effort to encourage new ideas, promotes any ideas generated by the team without first evaluating their utility or merit.

Recognizes and rewards exclusively on making changes – Focuses on recognizing and rewarding the team based solely on changes made and ignores other positive behaviors within the team.

Rushes change – Attempts to rush through changes; does not allow adequate time to understand and accept the changes.

17

Contents

COACHING

Definition:

Providing timely coaching, guidance, and feedback to help others excel on the job and meet key accountabilities

Key Actions

Sets challenging performance expectations – Clearly communicates high expectations for performance and confidence in individual's ability to excel; checks for understanding of performance expectations; appropriately gains buy-in to performance goals; establishes means for follow-up.

Evaluates – Monitors progress against expectations and addresses performance gaps; communicates any development needs and the importance.

Provides support – Offers personal time; provides appropriate amount of guidance, instruction, positive models, and opportunities for observation to help others develop skills; provides ongoing feedback.

Provides feedback and reinforcement – Gives timely, appropriate feedback on performance; reinforces efforts and progress.

Continuously develops – Actively seeks ideas or suggestions for performance improvement; collaboratively develops alternatives; builds on good ideas and implements the ideas.

Champions positive results – Looks for opportunities to reinforce, reward, and celebrate the accomplishments of individuals.

Off-Key Actions

Coaches everyone the same way – Uses only one coaching style; often fails to provide the correct amount of direction for the situation or the individual.

Coaches only after the fact – Waits to react until someone has made a mistake or has missed an opportunity, creating a negative environment.

Delegates and then abdicates – Knows how to delegate tasks but fails to provide the coaching that leads to task completion and individual development.

Gives feedback only on what’s wrong – Provides feedback only on what others do wrong, creating a negative learning environment in which people are afraid to take risks and make mistakes.

Passes on technical knowledge instead of coaching – Uses strong technical expertise to lead less experienced individuals toward a good solution without allowing them to gain the ability to solve future problems.

Sugarcoats feedback – Attempts to spare individuals’ feelings by sugarcoating negative feedback; hides the message that corrective action is needed.

18

Contents

Takes over the task – Resolves problems personally rather than coaching others to find solutions.

19

Over Actions

Dictates solutions – Offers too much guidance; tells other people what to do without asking for their ideas or suggestions.

Gives blunt criticism – Is too honest in giving feedback, evoking anger and hostility, which results in resistance to coaching.

Jumps in to coach before assessing the situation – Jumps in to coach people or corrects their performance before gathering information and assessing the situation carefully.

20

Contents

COMMUNICATING WITH IMPACT

Definition:

Expressing thoughts, feelings, and ideas in a clear, succinct, and compelling manner in both individual and group situations; adjusting language to capture the attention of the audience.

Key Actions

Delivers clear and succinct messages (oral and written) – Uses appropriate vocabulary; is in command of the message; logically and simply conveys ideas; uses effective vocabulary.

Adjusts language to meet audience needs – Communicates clearly and understandably; sequences information in a logical manner to aid understanding; uses appropriate grammar and punctuation; avoids jargon or technical words; uses a tone and format suggested by the topic and audience.

Makes complex issues meaningful – Frames message in line with audience's experience, background, and expectations; uses terms, examples, and analogies that have meaning for the audience.

Listens and responds to questions and objections – Involves the audience by soliciting questions and input; clarifies as needed to help achieve the goals of the session.

Remains open to ideas – Listens to others and objectively considers others' ideas and opinions, even when they conflict with one's own.

Off-Key Actions

Oral communication: Assumes others are interested – Fails to explain the purpose and importance of the conversation at the beginning, keeping people from seeing why they should care, too.

Oral communication: Jumps right into the “heart” of the discussion – Forgets that others don't know the topic as well or might have their minds on something else; tries to save time by starting with details that confuse listeners.

Oral communication: Sends inappropriate nonverbal signals – Uses nonverbal signals that interfere with communication (e.g., not smiling, postures that appear confrontational, not making eye contact), and that make people uncomfortable in a variety of ways.

Oral communication: Uses lazy or inappropriate words – Uses informal, racist, sexist, or otherwise inappropriate language; creates an extremely negative first impression.

Written communication: Acts or responds before checking understanding – Doesn't carefully read communications and check understanding before responding, causing conflicts and confusion.

21

Contents

Written communication: Assumes others are interested – Assumes that others will feel the same way about ideas or problems; fails to explaining why the communication is important to the reader.

Written communication: Figures no news is good news – Fails to follow-up on important written communications when no response is received.

Written communication: Writes when a brief phone call would do – Wastes time and resources by communicating in writing when phone communication is more appropriate.

Written communication: Writes when face-to-face communication would be better – Communicates in writing to avoid confrontation or debate when concerned about negative reactions.

Over Actions

Oral communication: Belabors the point – Overwhelms listeners by using too many examples, analogies, and metaphors to make the point.

Oral communication: Dominates the interaction – Interrupts, talks over others, or rams home the point without hearing from others.

Oral communication: Over-prepares the communication – Prepares too much and sounds scripted or stilted; has trouble adjusting to listeners' needs or to unexpected things that happen.

Oral communication: Oversell the idea – Presents thoughts with excessive enthusiasm, causing others to resist or suspect ideas or motives.

Written communication: Over-perfects – Spends excessive time "wordsmithing" or creating perfect graphics, when the extra impact is not worth the effort.

Written communication: Over-relies on software tools – Depends too heavily on software spelling and grammar checkers; misses important errors.

Written communication: Overuses graphics and formatting styles – Spends too much time on formatting and graphics, and not enough on the message.

Written communication: Sends the message in too many formats – Duplicates ideas through either too many repetitions and examples or too many modes (e.g., voice mail and email).

22

Contents

CUSTOMER ORIENTATION

Definition:

Cultivating strategic customer relationships and ensuring that the customer perspective is the driving force behind all value-added business activities.

Key Actions

Seeks to understand customer – Actively seeks information to understand customer circumstances, problems, expectations, and needs.

Educates customer – Shares information with customer to build their understanding of issues.

Maintains customer trust – Listens and responds with empathy to customer issues or ideas; acknowledges customer contributions to discussion in a manner that maintains esteem.

Takes action to meet customer needs and concerns – Considers how actions or plans will affect customer; responds quickly to meet customer needs and resolve problems; avoids over-commitments.

Develops a partnering relationship – Adopts a long-term perspective in developing mutually beneficial business relationships with customers.

Recognizes customer service issues – Identifies when actions or decisions will affect the customer in a positive or negative way; expresses concerns to others.

Creates win/win solutions – Uses understanding of customer needs and expectations to generate mutually beneficial solutions or alternatives.

Off-Key Actions

Assumes understanding of customers – in strategic-planning sessions, fails to obtain real data to support discussions of customer needs and expectations.

Compromises strategy – commits to delivering solutions that are inconsistent with the organization’s strategy.

Overgeneralizes customer needs – assumes that products and services will have worldwide appeal just because they have done well with one customer or in one market; employs too few methods, uses unrepresentative samples, or fails to segment the customer population into meaningful groups.

Fails to follow-up – after following the formal complaints procedure, assumes that the customer is satisfied with the outcome and the process.

Over Actions

Overcommits to customers – fails to manages customers’ expectations to avoid committing to things that are beyond the organization’s internal capabilities.

23

Contents

Hides problems and mistakes – fails to inform customers about issues, even small ones, or the corrective actions being taken; does not permit customers to become part of the solution.

Makes every customer problem a personal mission – takes inordinate personal responsibility for resolving customer complaints, beyond what is practical.

24

DECISION MAKING

Definition:

Relating and comparing; securing relevant information and identifying key issues; committing to an action after developing alternative courses of action that take into consideration resources, constraints, and organizational values.

Key Actions

Seeks information – Identifies/Recognizes information gaps or the need for additional information and obtains it by clearly describing what needs to be known and how it can be obtained; makes relevant, clear, and specific inquiries to verify facts and obtain additional information.

Organizes information – Organizes qualitative information and data to identify/explain trends, problems, and their causes; compares, contrasts, and combines information to determine underlying issues; sees associations between seemingly independent problems or events to recognize trends, problems, and possible cause-effect relationships.

Performs quantitative and qualitative data analysis – Organizes and manipulates quantitative data to identify/explain trends, problems, and their causes.

Develops and considers alternatives – Generates and encourages others to generate options for action to address an issue or problem; develops decision criteria based on factors that affect customers, employees, and the organization; compares options to criteria by considering the opportunities and risks; selects the best course of action.

Gains commitment – Involves those affected by a decision/action in a manner that demonstrates understanding of their needs and gains their commitment to the action; builds consensus when appropriate.

Demonstrates decisiveness/action – Takes or initiates action to address an issue, prevent a problem from arising, or solve a problem.

Off-Key Actions

Under-involves – fails to involve those who are affected by the decision.

Not defining the problem correctly – doesn’t take time to gather information, interpret it objectively, and understand the root cause of the problem or the source of the opportunity.

Gives in to biases – seeks information that supports one’s current point of view; ignores information that runs counter to one’s decision.

Avoids changes – makes decisions that maintain the status quo despite information pointing toward the need for a change.

Under-analyzes – does not weigh the costs and benefits of chosen actions; over- or underestimates potential outcomes.

25

Contents

Takes “cookie-cutter” approach – offers the same solution across the board without taking into account unique requirements or individual situations.

Avoids confrontation – fails to communicate the rationale for decisions clearly, especially in politically sensitive or emotionally charged situations.

26

Over Actions

Delays decisions – makes decisions too slowly because of procrastination or over analysis.

Decides too quickly – rushes to a decision before considering all possible alternatives; fails to encourage others to stretch their thinking beyond the obvious

Under-delegates – makes every decision oneself; misses opportunities to delegate decisions and involve others in the decision-making process.

27

Contents

DRIVING EXECUTION

Definition:

Translating strategy into operational reality. Breaking down strategies or business initiatives into key tasks and identifying accountabilities. Aligning communication, people, culture, processes, resources, and systems to ensure effective implementation and delivery of required results.

Key Actions

Determines critical goals and tasks – Determines tasks and actions required to implement a specific strategy or business initiative. Breaks down long-term goals into short and medium term milestones. Adjusting tasks and activities as circumstances change.

Establishes communication strategy – Clearly conveys strategy, plans, information, and ideas to individuals or groups in a manner that engages and motivates people and helps them understand their role in implementing the strategy. Develops process and systems that enable the communication relating to the strategy implementation to flow back and forth.

Creates accountability for execution – Works with those involved in implementation to ensure their alignment with objectives and to improve their understanding of their role and required outputs. Ensures that people are accountable for actions, have the authority to act and implement consistent with organizational values.

Ensures skills and readiness – Identifies and develops people capability to drive specific strategies and objectives which may include training and/or acquisition of needed skills and knowledge. Coaches people in areas where skills are not strong.

Integrates, aligns, and sustains disciplined processes and systems – Identifies and aligns systems and processes to support implementation of specific strategies.

Creates measurement discipline – Establishes criteria and systems to track implementation steps and results, including both lead and lag measures.

Off-Key Actions

Confuses effort with results – gets caught in an activity trap where a lot gets done, but little progress is made toward achieving strategic priorities.

Fails to assess talent – is unaware of direct reports’ capabilities and where they can contribute the most.

Promotes ambiguity – fails to provide clear expectations or role clarity.

Accepts substandard performance – accepts poor results or unnecessary delays; fails to reinforce accountability.

Under-communicates plan – creates a great implementation plan but fails to communicate it clearly and in a way that will inspire appropriate action.

28

Contents

Ignores measurement – fails to define the desired results up front; fails to measure the criteria for a successful implementation.

Uses incomplete measures – focuses solely on the lead measures or solely on the lag measures of strategic results instead of using both types of measures.

Over Actions

Ignores people issues – overemphasizes task accomplishment at the expense of meeting people’s personal and practical needs.

Fails to champion change – eases through the organizational system any changes that are needed to support strategy implementation; takes too long to change rewards, training, communications, organizational structure, and policies.

29

Contents

DRIVING FOR RESULTS

Definition:

Setting high goals for personal and group accomplishment; using measurement methods to monitor progress toward goal attainment; tenaciously working to meet or exceed those goals while deriving satisfaction from the process of goal achievement and continuous improvement.

Key Actions

Assumes ownership for outcomes – Accepts responsibility for outcomes (positive or negative); admits mistakes and refocuses efforts when appropriate.

Targets business opportunities – Systematically evaluates business opportunities and targets those opportunities with the greatest potential for producing positive business results.

Takes calculated risks – Determines probability of success and consequences of failure; initiates action despite uncertainty of outcome; is willing to accept the consequences of failure.

Achieves goals – Works tenaciously toward and derives satisfaction from achieving stretch goals related to positive business results.

Stays focused – Remains self-disciplined; measures progress and evaluates results; reprioritizes as appropriate; prevents irrelevant issues or distractions from interfering with timely completion of important tasks.

Uses measurement to monitor results – Collects and reviews data on a regular basis to determine progress, anticipate needs, and make necessary adjustments to personnel or processes.

Off-Key Actions

Accepts others’ excuses or resignation – Accepts others' excuses or resignation; fails to hold others accountable for their work and address problems properly.

Believes that meeting a deadline – in and of itself – is “excellence” – Focuses only on meeting deadlines; neglects other important elements, such as meeting customer expectations, getting the job done right and achieving high standards.

Fails to plan ahead or assumes the best-case scenario – Fails to plan ahead for potential problems and obstacles; is unprepared when problems occur and quality is being affected.

Pushes responsibility off on others and blames others or outside factors – Runs away from or denies one’s responsibilities by blaming others or outside factors, preventing real problems from being addressed.

Avoids risky alternatives – Consistently chooses the alternative with the lowest risk, which can stifle innovation or promote the status quo.

30

Contents

Over Actions

Beats oneself up because of what more could have been done – Dwells on what was done wrong, sapping morale and ability to make improvements.

Imposes standards, is coercive, bulldozes obstacles – Attacks problems too strongly and forces standards on others; demand perfection in others when it doesn't meet the organization's needs.

Wastes time and alienates others by being too perfect or rigid – Expects perfection in all situations; fails to balance cost, time and quality in order to meet a deadline, finish a job under budget, or meet customer needs.

31

Contents

EMBRACING CHANGE

Definition:

Maintaining effectiveness when experiencing major changes in work tasks or the work environment; adjusting effectively to work within new work structures, processes, requirements, or cultures.

Key Actions

Tries to understand changes – Tries to understand changes in work tasks, situations, and environment as well as the logic or basis for change; actively seeks information about new work situations

Approaches change or newness positively – Treats change and new situations as opportunities for learning or growth; focuses on the beneficial aspects of change; speaks positively about the change to others.

Adjusts behavior – Quickly modifies behavior to deal effectively with changes in the work environment; readily tries new approaches appropriate for new or changed situations; does not persist with ineffective behaviors.

Maintains interpersonal effectiveness – Adapts interpersonal style to effectively interact with a variety of people.

Off-Key Actions

Dwells on negative feelings or consequences – Dwells on negative feelings about a change; hurts motivation and worsens coworkers' attitudes and responses to the change.

Responds emotionally to rumors – Responds emotionally or negatively to rumors, gossip, or hearsay related to change; wastes time and effort that could be better used to gather information necessary for adapting to the new situation.

Undermines the change effort – Undermines change efforts by refusing to cooperate or by withholding information.

Over Actions

Adjusts too many behaviors – Tries to adjust too many behaviors or approaches when dealing with change.

Oversells the benefits of change – Oversells the benefits of a change by displaying too much of a positive attitude – being too excited about the change.

Seeks too much information on the change situation – Seeks too much information about a change situation; gets stuck in the information-gathering phase.

32

Contents

ENGAGEMENT

Definition:

Demonstrating a willingness to actively commit to one’s work and to invest one’s time, talent, and best efforts to accomplish organizational goals.

Key Actions

Commits to work – Expresses sense of loyalty and attachment to the organization; exhibits a sense of responsibility to one’s current role in the organization; communicates an intention to stay in the organization for an extended period of time.

Cooperates with others – Works collaboratively with others to establish and maintain positive work relationships; acknowledges others contributions; engages in joint problem solving and idea generation.

Retains focus – Demonstrates resilience and flexibility in the face of obstacles; effectively channels emotions to manage job challenges and stress; handles disappointment without losing effectiveness.

Welcomes new experiences – Seeks new learning opportunities; pursues intellectual challenges; enjoys changes in one’s work responsibilities, work processes, or work environment.

Drives toward success – Possesses an energetic and assertive achievement orientation; seeks opportunities to solve work problems and accomplish challenging work goals.

Expresses self-confidence – Approaches work challenges with a “can do” mind-set; considers oneself at least as capable as others; assumes that hard work will lead to successful outcomes.

Off-Key Actions

Criticizes the job and organization – continually expresses negative comments about the organization and current role; blames others for causing dissatisfaction.

Fails to collaborate – works independently and doesn't involve others; refuses to collaborate with certain people; resents it when others ask for help.

Gives up too easily – abandons tasks or projects too quickly in the face of obstacles.

Causes stress by being inflexible – causes stress by being too rigid in the way things are done.

Avoids change – resists changes in work responsibilities, work processes, or work environment.

33

Contents

Over Actions

Tries too hard – spends too much time helping others; repeatedly offers help to others after they have politely declined; behaves in an overly friendly manner.

Sets unrealistic goals or overextends – sets unrealistic goals without considering strengths, developmental needs, and learning preferences.

Is overly confident or independent – fails to ask for feedback or help when working on a new task or on a difficult problem.

34

GLOBAL BUSINESS ACUMEN

Definition:

Developing and incorporating an understanding of the competitive global business environment as well as an awareness of economic, social, and political trends that impact the organization's global strategy.

Key Actions

Integrates – Seeks opportunities to better understand the organization's global approach, including strengths and weaknesses that are likely to impact the organization's ability to compete in a global business environment; gathers information on relevant countries' history, economic environment, and politics.

Maintains global awareness – Keeps current on key economic, social, and political trends throughout the world.

Understands the application of financial strategies and systems – Uses appropriate financial strategies and systems to maximize cash flow and limit risk to the organization.

Recognizes impact – Integrates understanding of the organization's global approach with awareness of global trends to identify business opportunities and threats.

Off-Key Actions

Ignores details – assumes that it’s not necessary to get involved with the details.

Ignores learning opportunities – relies too heavily on the technical, functional, or market expertise that made one successful; misses the bigger global picture or opportunities to develop new skills.

Ignores people issues – underestimates the importance of building relationships, generating commitment, and demonstrating cultural sensitivity while pushing for bottom-line results.

Focuses on self – builds an empire at the expense of the organization’s global strategy.

Applies generic strategy – assumes that a strategy that worked well domestically will also work well globally; fails to give international partners the leeway to modify corporate initiatives to meet their unique customer needs.

Is over-confident – is so self-assured that conflicting information is overlooked or feedback, advice, or ideas from international partners are dismissed.

35

Contents

Over Actions

Over generalizes customer needs – assumes that products and services will have worldwide appeal just because they have done well with one customer or in one market.

Is over-sensitive – adapts business practices to local needs at the expense of effectiveness.

36

INNOVATION

Definition:

Generating innovative solutions in work situations; trying different and novel ways to deal with work problems and opportunities.

Key Actions

Challenges boundaries and status quo – Identifies assumptions in the way problems or situations are defined or presented; sees alternative ways to look at or define problems; is not constrained by the thoughts or approaches of others.

Leverages competitive knowledge and diverse resources – Draws upon multiple, diverse sources (individuals, disciplines, bodies of knowledge) for ideas and inspiration.

Thinks expansively – Combines ideas in unique ways or makes connections between disparate ideas; explores different lines of thought; views situations from multiple perspectives; brainstorms multiple approaches/solutions.

Evaluates current and emerging solutions – Examines numerous potential solutions and evaluates each before accepting any.

Ensures market relevance – Targets important areas for innovation and develops solutions that address meaningful work issues.

Off-Key Actions

Assumes problems can’t be solved – Gets overwhelmed by complex problems and gives up without trying to find a solution.

Confirms data only for a single idea – Fixates on a personally favorite idea; searches for evidence that supports only that one idea.

Considers too few perspectives or information sources – Blocks innovation by assuming a know-it-all attitude; fails to consider others’ perspectives.

Disregards others’ thoughts or approaches – Considers innovations to areas, people, products, or processes without consulting others who have more information; tells others how to innovate without regard for their thoughts or approaches.

Focuses on least important problems or opportunities – Spends too much time identifying product or process improvements that yield no real benefit to the organization or customer.

Over Actions

Researches or examines too many options for too long – Gets caught up in exploring too many innovative ideas over too long a time; misses opportunities to capitalize on good ideas.

37

Contents

Wants to change too many things – Challenges too many organizational paradigms; loses credibility and is often thought of as someone who makes changes just for the sake of doing so.

38

MANAGING FOR PRODUCTIVITY

Definition:

Establishing courses of action for self and others to ensure that work is completed efficiently.

Key Actions

Prioritizes – Identifies more critical and less critical activities and assignments; adjusts priorities when appropriate.

Determines tasks and resources – Determines project/assignment requirements by breaking them down into tasks and identifying types of equipment, materials, and people needed.

Schedules – Allocates appropriate amounts of time for completing own and others' work; avoids scheduling conflicts; develops timelines and milestones.

Leverages resources – Takes advantage of available resources (individuals, processes, departments, and tools) to complete work efficiently; coordinates with internal and external partners.

Stays focused – Uses time effectively and prevents irrelevant issues or distractions from interfering with work completion.

Off-Key Actions

Fails to coordinate/communicate with others – Fails to keep people informed and up to date, wasting others' time, money, and patience.

Inappropriately prioritizes – Inappropriately prioritizes tasks and assignments, making the job harder than it needs to be.

Over-/Under-estimates resources required – Doesn't accurately calculate the time, people, materials, equipment, and money needed to complete an assignment.

Procrastinates – Puts off unpleasant or unrewarding tasks.

Works reactively, not proactively – Resolves things only when they reach crisis proportions; avoids routine tasks until they become major hassles; must always play catch-up with deadlines and performance goals.

Over Actions

Complicates simple tasks – Organizes even simple tasks down to the last detail, making things more complicated than they need to be; micromanages simple assignments.

Spends more time organizing than working – Focuses on lists, diagrams, charts, schedules, timelines, files, and organizational plans, but never seems to achieve any outcomes.

Technology becomes an end instead of the means – Uses technology in creating documents, communications, and processes when technology isn't necessary to be effective.

39

Contents

Tightly schedules all available time – Completely fills schedule with meetings and tasks; is unavailable for unexpected issues or problems.

40

MOBILIZING RESOURCES

Definition:

Managing staff and resources consistent with organizational goals; proactively negotiating and accessing resources outside one's immediate domain when necessary.

Key Actions

Prioritizes – Identifies more critical and less critical activities consistent with organizational goals.

Develops and considers alternatives – Generates and encourages others to generate options to address issues and utilize available resources; evaluates/selects alternatives considering business priorities, available resources, and the availability of additional resources.

Deploys resources – Prioritizes and utilizes resources consistent with organizational goals; negotiates and accesses additional resources (including those outside of immediate domain of control) when necessary for critical tasks.

Off-Key Actions

Fails to coordinate schedule and activities with others – Fails to coordinate schedule and activities with other work units, causing schedule conflicts, redundant efforts, and lack of buy-in from stakeholders.

Fails to take advantage of available resources – Relies too heavily on the same resources or fails to use resources by doing too much oneself

Over-commits – Attempts to do too much, causing missed deadlines, broken commitments, damaged relationships, and wasted time.

Sets inappropriate priorities – Gets off target and pursues activities that aren't consistent with organizational goals.

Over Actions

Develops elaborate plans for simple assignments – Creates plans that are overly complicated, even for simple assignments; confuses people with too much detail, leaving them unable to follow the plan.

Emphasizes plans and efficiency at the expense of relationships – Gets so immersed in prioritizing, planning, scheduling, leveraging resources, and staying focused that relationships with others are damaged.

Resists the need to change priorities, plans, or schedules – Fails to adapt when priorities, plans, or schedules change; misses opportunities, loses spontaneity and creativity, and neglects urgent matters.

41

Contents

RAISING THE BAR

Definition:

Continuously raising expectations of team performance; motivating and supporting team efforts to achieve goals while upholding organizational values and standards; tracking progress toward goals.

Key Actions

Sets standards for organizational excellence – Establishes criteria and/or work procedures to achieve a high level of quality, productivity, or service.

Sets stretch objectives goals – Creates a performance culture in the team to continuously improve and develop; establishes challenging goals for self and others that are designed to achieve positive business results.

Drives the urgency and focus of the organization – Reinforces the importance of discipline; measures progress and evaluates results; reprioritizes as appropriate; prevents irrelevant issues or distractions from interfering with timely completion of important tasks.

Takes accountability – Accepts responsibility for outcomes (positive or negative) of one's work; admits mistakes and refocuses efforts when appropriate.

Encourages others to take responsibility – Provides encouragement and support to others in accepting responsibility; does not accept others' denial of responsibility without questioning.

Off-Key Actions

Accepts others’ excuses or resignation – Accepts others' excuses or resignation; fails to hold others accountable for their work and address problems properly.

Believes that meeting a deadline – in and of itself – is “excellence” – Focuses only on meeting deadlines; neglects other important elements, such as meeting customer expectations, getting the job done right and achieving high standards.

Fails to plan ahead or assumes the best-case scenario – Fails to plan ahead for potential problems and obstacles; is unprepared when problems occur and quality is being affected.

Pushes responsibility off on others and blames others or outside factors – Runs away from or denies responsibilities by blaming others or outside factors, preventing real problems from being addressed.

Avoids risky alternatives – Consistently chooses the alternative with the lowest risk, which can stifle innovation or promote the status quo.

42

Contents

Over Actions

Beats oneself up because of what more could have been done – Dwells on what was done wrong, sapping morale and ability to make improvements.

Imposes standards, is coercive, bulldozes obstacles – Attacks problems too strongly and forces standards on others; demand perfection in others when it doesn't meet the organization's needs.

Wastes time and alienates others by being too perfect or rigid – Expects perfection in all situations; fails to balance cost, time and quality in order to meet a deadline, finish a job under budget, or meet customer needs.

43

SETTING STRATEGY AND DIRECTION

Definition:

Establishing and committing to a long-range course of action to accomplish a long-range goal or vision after analyzing factual information and assumptions; taking into consideration resources, constraints, and organizational values.

Key Actions

Gathers information on broad business approaches – Identifies/Recognizes the need for additional information and obtains it by clearly describing what needs to be known and the means to obtain it; asks relevant and specific questions to verify facts and obtain additional information.

Organizes dynamic information – Organizes qualitative information and data to identify/explain trends, problems, and their causes; compares, contrasts, and combines information to identify underlying issues; sees associations between seemingly independent problems or events to recognize trends, problems, and possible cause-effect relationships.

Performs complex analysis – Organizes and manipulates quantitative data to identify/explain trends and problems and their causes.

Evaluates/Selects strategies – Generates options to achieve a long-range goal or vision; develops decision criteria considering relevant factors (e.g., cost, benefits, risks, timing, buy-in, and organizational goals and values) and the decision's impact on employees, the organization, and customers; considers the opportunities and risks associated with various options; selects the course of action with the highest probability of success.

Develops timelines – Analyzes short- and long-term strategic goals and determines long-range objectives; develops broad, initial timelines based on these strategic goals.

Off-Key Actions

Considers strategy options that do not fit the data – Considers strategy options that do not fit the data; either doesn't understand the data or ignores it and bases decisions on wishful thinking.

Fails to create clear implementation plans – Has many good ideas and can formulate a cohesive, long-term strategy, but fails to create implementation plans with clear expectations and accountabilities.

Fails to focus team on strategy – Fails to focus the team on activities that advance the strategy and to direct them away from non-strategic tasks.

Fails to organize data – Collects relevant and accurate data but fails to organize and summarize the information.

Gathers insufficient data – When collecting data required for understanding strategic issues, fails to gather sufficient data or to fill in gaps in the information.

44

Contents

Makes decisions that do not support strategy – Is easily distracted off strategic course, making decisions without considering whether or not they support the strategy.

Selects strategies that lack innovation – In considering and making decisions about strategy options, selects strategies that continue the policies of the past, rather than innovative strategies.

Over Actions

Adjusts strategy execution plan too frequently – Adjusts strategy execution plan more often than is necessary or even practical; causing frustration and chaos.

Changes strategies too often – Continuously revises existing strategies or selects new ones.

Considers or selects unattainable strategies – Either selects more strategies than the organization can handle, or considers and selects strategies that are too ambitious for the organization to achieve.

Creates excessively detailed implementation plans – Strategy execution plans are too detailed to be effective.

Wastes time gathering too much data – Spends too much time trying to obtain "complete" data, which is often impractical.

45

Contents

SELLING THE VISION

Definition:

Passionately selling an organizational strategy; creating a clear view of the future state by helping others understand and feel how things will be different when the future vision is achieved.

Key Actions

Paints the picture – Vividly describes organizational strategy in a way that helps others see and feel the vision.

Influences movement – Influences others through sound rationale and persuasiveness in a way that encourages movement toward the vision.

Compels action – Conveys the opportunities of the vision in a way that energizes team members and business partners to actions.

Leads through vision – Uses the vision as a reference point in conducting own day-to-day activities; translates the vision for employees by describing how what they do on a day-to-day basis impacts customers.

Off-Key Actions

Assumes understanding and commitment – Assumes that everyone understands the importance and significance of the vision and values – and that people will commit to them simply because they understand them.

Doesn’t walk the talk – Promotes the vision and values to employees, but doesn't behave personally in a manner that is consistent with the vision and values.

Fails to translate the values into behavior – Fails to set clear behavioral expectations that are aligned with the values by translating them into observable, measurable actions and standards.

Ignores behavior inconsistent with the values – Ignores individual behaviors that are inconsistent with the vision and values; fails to point out inconsistencies and take action to correct them in order to communicate that the vision and values are to be taken seriously.

Ignores values when setting priorities – Sends mixed messages by endorsing the vision and values but ignoring them when allocating time, money, and resources.

Relies on slogans and symbols – Forgets that the slogans and symbols are just reminders of the action individuals can take to achieve the vision and values.

Resists feedback about own inconsistent behavior – Gets defensive when others point out that one’s own behaviors are inconsistent with the vision and values.

Treats living the vision and values as routine – Doesn't reward individuals who take action consistent with the vision and values.

46

Contents

Over Actions

Makes living the vision and values seem easy – In an attempt to inspire other to live the vision and values, mistakenly downplays how difficult a task it is.

Over-communicates the vision and values – Over-communicates the vision and values by discussing them in every conversation with individuals or by communicating them using every possible medium.

Publicly confronts people about inconsistent behavior – Addresses the inconsistent behavior of individuals in public forums, causing embarrassment.

47

TEAMWORK/COLLABORATION

Definition:

Developing and using collaborative relationships to facilitate the accomplishment of work goals.

Key Actions

Seeks opportunities to collaborate – Tries to build effective working relationships with other people.

Clarifies the current situation – Probes for and provides information to clarify situations.

Demonstrates inclusive behavior – Establishes relationships with and learns more about people of other cultures and backgrounds; continually examines own biases and behaviors to avoid stereotypical responses.

Champions diversity – Advocates the value of diversity to others; takes actions to increase diversity in the workplace (e.g., by recruiting and developing people from varied backgrounds and cultures); confronts racist, sexist, or inappropriate behavior by others; challenges exclusionary organizational practices.

Develops others’ and own ideas – Seeks and expands on original ideas, enhances others' ideas, and contributes own ideas about the issues at hand.

Subordinates personal goals – Places higher priority on team or organization goals than on own goals.

Facilitates agreement using good interpersonal skills – Gets partners' agreement to support ideas or take partnership-orientated action; uses sound rationale to explain value of actions. In words and actions, makes people feel valued, appreciated, and included (enhances self-esteem, empathizes, involves, discloses, supports).

Off-Key Actions

Acts in self-interest only – Focuses on how the relationship will help oneself without considering or being concerned about how the other person can benefit.

Damages trust – Engages in activities that damage trust, such as breaking confidences, being dishonest, giving misleading information, or asking others for input and not using it.

Doesn’t believe in give-and-take – Overlooks useful opportunities for win/win situations by not understanding how give-and-take is used in work relationships or feeling that it is inappropriate or manipulative.

Gathers “friends” instead of strategic partners – Gathers a lot of friends, rather than identifying individuals who can help him/her the most.

Isolates self from others – Keeps to oneself, which is counter-productive in today's collaborative workplace – limiting success on the job and appearing unfriendly.

48

Contents

Over Actions

Always demands reciprocity – Expects an equal amount of help from those helped in the past, which is not appropriate or realistic; hesitates to help someone until determining what will be given in return.

Assumes agreement of commitment from others – Once a good relationship is established, assumes that the other will be supportive in any situation; takes others for granted.

Goes overboard – Interacts too frequently with others; is overly friendly, which can appear manipulative and insincere.

Shares too much information – In an effort to appear helpful or encourage trust, discloses too much or inappropriate information.

49

Contents