The Core Four Growth Accelerators
Some skills are more equal than others in large organizations when it comes to your career growth and success. Whether you define ‘growth’ as increasing responsibility for people, a function, and budget, or having an oversized impact on your organization, these four skills and behavior sets are accelerators:
- Communicating with confidence, clarity, and impact in high-stakes situations
- Projecting presence to command credibility and lead at scale
- Thinking critically and creatively about strategy and decision-making in the face of uncertainty
- Building the influence needed to bring initiatives and transformations to life
Very few in most organizations bring all four of these to the party, and most individual development plans fail to recognize the need for strengthening in these areas. The possible exception is that many people have been informed they need to strengthen their ‘executive presence’ and then are left to figure out what that might mean, much less how to do it.
Where’s leadership on the list?
Interesting observation. There’s no doubt that cultivating your leadership chops is critical. This comes with time in situ, leading, and is supported by a solid character and a desire to do your best for people. I can’t coach or teach character, and while I guide people on leadership growth, the Core Four Accelerators are the building blocks of leaders who create impact.
A quick breakdown of the Core Four Accelerators
Communicating with confidence, clarity, and impact in high-stakes situations.
There’s a lot going on in this category. I’m way beyond attending a public speaking workshop here. Success here demands knowing your audience, designing the right message, understanding and applying the tools of psychology and persuasion, and manifesting the right presence for the situation. They’re also great storytellers. The best communicators in high-stakes situations are masters in these domains and work relentlessly to hone their communication craft. (My list of communication favorites is long. Drop me a note at [email protected] if you want my recommendations. If you want a great start, consider Dr. Mark Goulston’s Just Listen.)
As an early mentor offered to me, “Art, you’ll go as far as you are able to communicate.” Maury was right.
Projecting presence to command credibility and lead at scale
How do people experience you? How do you know? How do you want them to experience you? How do they talk about you in talent review meetings? And my favorite from Adam Bryant in Leap to Leader, “What does the invisible sticky note on your back say about you?” (ABC is great at, but… .)
One doesn’t have to be an extrovert or the loudest person in the room, but rather someone who, as executive presence (EP) expert Joel Garfinkle shares, projects gravitas, commands authority in the moment, and expresses themselves effectively. (His book and the 3×3 Executive Presence Model are great resources.)
In my experience, strengthening your EP demands understanding how you are perceived or experienced by others and, importantly, defining how you want to be experienced. While I cringe just a bit at the use of the word ‘brand’ here, this is your personal brand.
Want to accelerate in your career and scale your impact? Your executive presence is a critical element.
Thinking critically and creatively about strategy and decision-making in the face of uncertainty
Yet again, there’s a lot packed into a category. In my work as an MBA educator, typically working with individuals approaching graduation, I doubled down on this category. The technical skills we learn in b-school are fine, but the ability to reframe, ideate, think differently about market situations, and bring strategies to life by making the tough decisions — that’s the stuff of impact and success.
Want to sharpen your skills here? Consider some of my favorite resources, including: Leigh Thompson at Kellogg (Creative Conspiracy), Rebecca Homkes at Duke (Survive, Reset, Thrive), Richard Rumelt (Good Strategy/Bad Strategy), and Thomas Wedell-Wedellsborg (What’s Your Problem?).
Building the influence needed to bring initiatives and transformations to life
One of the biggest limiting factors I encounter with talented individuals is the expectation that their good work will speak for itself. The world isn’t wired that way. Organizations are inherently political — not a bad thing, just reality — and some small group of people decides the priorities and who works on what. If scaling your impact is important, you either need to be one of those people or have solid relationships with them. In all cases, building your influence takes deliberate work.
Becoming the “complete” employee
One of the highest compliments I received in a performance evaluation was being called a “complete” employee. While the view of me as complete was in this manager’s eyes and may or may not have been true, I like the aspiration and I like supporting my team members for growth in the Core Four.
Bottom Line
If I’m an effective leader, I develop and coach the individuals around me to cultivate skills and strengthen the Core Four Accelerators. Those who bring these four sets of behaviors and tools to their work create an outsized impact on our organizations. We’re all works in progress. Where do you need to strengthen?
Art’s Emerging Executive Accelerator Program and Large Scale Corporate ACCELERATE programs emphasize growth in the Core Four. Reach out to Art at [email protected] to explore a program for your group.