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Bill Joiner
Stephen Josephs
Leadership Agility
Five Levels of Mastery
for Anticipating and
Initiating Change
Q
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Joiner.ffirs 8/30/06 3:21 PM Page i
Joiner.ftoc 8/30/06 3:22 PM Page iv
Bill Joiner
Stephen Josephs
Leadership Agility
Five Levels of Mastery
for Anticipating and
Initiating Change
Q
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Joiner.ffirs 8/30/06 3:21 PM Page i
Copyright © 2007 by Bill Joiner and Stephen Josephs. All rights reserved.
Published by Jossey-Bass
A Wiley Imprint
989 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94103-1741 www.josseybass.com
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Joiner, Bill, 1950-
Leadership agility : five levels of mastery for anticipating and initiating change / Bill Joiner,
Stephen Josephs.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-7879-7913-3 (cloth)
ISBN-10: 0-7879-7913-9 (cloth)
1. Leadership—Psychological aspects. 2. Organizational change—Psychological aspects.
3. Maturation (Psychology) 4. Leadership—Psychological aspects—Case studies.
5. Organizational change—Psychological aspects—Case studies. 6. Maturation
(Psychology)—Case studies. I. Josephs, Stephen, 1945- II. Title.
HD57.7.J649 2007
658.4'092—dc22
2006020996
Printed in the United States of America
FIRST EDITION
PB Printing 10987654321
Joiner.ffirs 8/30/06 3:21 PM Page ii
Contents
Introduction: The Master Competency v
Part One: What Is Leadership Agility?
1Agility in a World of Change and Complexity 3
2The Five Eds 13
3Four Competencies for Agile Leadership 31
Part Two: Five Levels of Leadership Agility
4Expert Level: Solve Key Problems 43
5Achiever Level: Accomplish Desired Outcomes 64
6Catalyst Level: Mobilize Breakout Endeavors 91
7Co-Creator Level: Realize Shared Purpose 123
8Synergist Level: Evoke Unexpected Possibilities 155
Part Three: Becoming a More Agile Leader
9Assessing Leadership Agility 193
10 Developing Leadership Agility 203
Appendix A: Research Behind This Book 227
Appendix B: Stages of Personal Development 235
Notes for Inquiring Readers 249
References 295
Resources 307
Acknowledgments 309
The Authors 311
Index 312
iii
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We dedicate this book to
Debbie and Noah, Alice and Sean,
and to our parents:
Frances (Bunny) Joiner (1921–1999)
Billy Joiner (1920– )
Teddy Josephs (1914–2006)
Israel Josephs (1904–1981)
Joiner.ftoc 8/30/06 3:22 PM Page iv
Introduction:
The Master Competency
Leadership agility isn’t just another tool for your toolkit. It’s the mas-
ter competency needed for sustained success in today’s turbulent econ-
omy. This book, richly illustrated with real-world examples, shows
what leadership agility looks like in action. It will confirm your best
instincts and introduce you to new forms of leadership currently prac-
ticed by only a small percentage of highly agile leaders.
Leadership Agility draws on a strong research base and three
decades of experience consulting, coaching, and training leaders in
companies based in the United States, Canada, and Europe. Although
most of our stories and examples come from the business world, this
guide is also designed for managers in the government and nonprofit
sectors, in professional firms, in academic and religious institutions,
in fact, for anyone interested in developing as a person and becoming
a more effective leader.
If you’re a leadership development professional, and you sense that
our global economy demands new personal capacities as well as new
leadership competencies, this book is also for you. It not only provides
the first in-depth examination of leadership agility, it also describes
five distinct levels that leaders move through as they master this much-
needed competency.1Strikingly, the research reported in this book
indicates that less than 10 percent of managers have mastered the level
of agility needed for sustained success in today’s turbulent business
environment.2
AN INTEGRAL APPROACH
The prevailing approach to leadership development moves from the
outside in: You identify a leader’s external challenges and then deter-
mine the competencies required to meet these challenges effectively.
v
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An inside-out approach has also emerged in recent years, focusing on
the mental and emotional capacities needed for effective leadership.3
Leadership Agility is based on an integral perspective that approaches
leadership development from the outside in and from the inside out.4
From an outside-in perspective it highlights the skills needed for agile
leadership in complex, rapidly changing environments. More specif-
ically, it identifies agile leadership competencies in three distinct action
arenas:
•Pivotal conversations: Direct person-to-person discussions where
important outcomes are at stake.
•Team initiatives: Initiatives intended to improve a team and/or
its relationship with its larger environment.
•Organizational initiatives: Initiatives designed to change an orga-
nization and/or its relationship with its larger environment.
This book also approaches leadership agility from the inside out:
It identifies the mental and emotional capacities that work together
to enable agile leadership in all three action arenas. These capacities,
which we describe in Chapter Three, make you more agile in antici-
pating and initiating change, working with stakeholders, solving chal-
lenging problems, and learning from your experience.
STAGES OF PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
From an inside-out perspective, this book reveals a significant set of
findings about the relationship between personal development and
leadership effectiveness: As adults grow toward realizing their poten-
tial, they develop a constellation of mental and emotional capacities
that happen to be the very capacities needed for agile leadership. For
example, as adults develop, they get better at understanding and
appreciating viewpoints that conflict with their own. This capacity is
an essential ingredient in what we call “stakeholder agility,” the abil-
ity to lead successfully in situations where stakeholders have views and
interests that conflict with your own.
Our understanding of the capacities that emerge as human beings
develop is so central to leadership agility that we want to explain where
it comes from. At the beginning of our careers, we studied and trained
in a range of disciplines, both Eastern and Western, that enabled us to
vi INTRODUCTION
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help managers develop both as human beings and as leaders. We also
had the good fortune to discover a field called stage-development psy-
chology, which shows that, as people develop, they evolve through a
series of recognizable stages.
Take a moment to imagine the full spectrum of human growth,
from humans at their most infantile to those who are the wisest, most
mature, most fully developed on the planet. For more than eight
decades, stage-development psychologists have researched and clari-
fied this continuum. Studying this field and testing it against our real-
world experience, we found that it provides an exceptionally useful
map for understanding the journey of human development. The fol-
lowing sections present a brief overview of this map.5
The Pre-Conventional and Conventional Stages
By the end of the 1950s, psychologists including Jean Piaget and Erik
Erikson had mapped the stages through which infants evolve into
adults. These begin with the so-called pre-conventional stages, which
mark the process of growth from infancy through the end of the grade
school years.6Then come the three conventional stages, which we call
Conformer, Expert, and Achiever, respectively.7
Most children enter the Conformer stage about the time they start
middle school. At this stage, preadolescents develop the ability to
engage in the most basic level of abstract thought and the ability
to vividly imagine how they’re seen by others. They have a keen desire to
be accepted as members of groups to which they’re attracted. Conse-
quently, they are strongly motivated to conform to the social conven-
tions that govern these groups.8
Some people remain in the Conformer stage for the rest of their
lives. However, what we might consider true adult development—
becoming an independent individual—begins with the Expert stage.
At this stage people develop a strong problem-solving orientation.
They want to differentiate themselves from others by developing their
own opinions and areas of expertise. The great majority of those who
finish high school and go on to college begin to grow into this stage
during their late teens or early twenties.9
A smaller but still sizable percentage of people then grow into the
Achiever stage. Adults at this stage develop a strong individual iden-
tity and work out a consciously examined system of values, beliefs,
and goals to live by. By conventional standards, the Achiever stage
The Master Competency vii
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represents full adult development. Most top executives and adminis-
trators, state and national politicians, influential scientists, and other
highly successful professionals have stabilized their development at
this stage. Even in the world’s most economically advanced societies,
few adults grow beyond it.
The Post-Conventional Stages
Over the past thirty years, researchers have identified further stages of
adult development, sometimes called post-conventional stages, reached
by only a small percentage of people.10 Research has shown that peo-
ple at these post-conventional stages are more deeply purposeful, more
visionary in their thinking, and more resilient in responding to change
and uncertainty. They’re more welcoming of diverse perspectives and
have a greater capacity for resolving differences with other people.
They’re also more self-aware, more attuned to their experience, more
interested in feedback from others, and better at working through
inner conflicts.
Some of the people who’ve identified and described these stages are
beginning to become known in leadership circles: William R. Torbert,
author of Action Inquiry and other books; Robert Kegan, author of The
Evolving Self and In Over Our Heads; Don Beck and Chris Cowan,
authors of Spiral Dynamics; and Ken Wilber, author of over a dozen
books based on a stage-development framework.11 Wilber’s ideas, in
particular, have become popular among a growing global network of
leading-edge thinkers and change agents.12
Levels of Leadership Agility
During the early 1980s, a series of academic studies produced statis-
tically significant correlations, showing that the capacities managers
develop at the more advanced stages carry over into the way they exer-
cise leadership. These studies also found that, in the great majority of
cases, post-conventional managers are more effective than conven-
tional managers. Why? Because they are more strategic in their think-
ing, more collaborative, more proactive in seeking feedback, more
effective in resolving conflicts, more active in developing subordinates,
and more likely to redefine problems to capitalize on the connections
between them.13
viii INTRODUCTION
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As we incorporated these insights into our work, we found that
developmental stage usually has a significant impact on a manager’s
ability to adopt new leadership practices. For example, managers at
post-conventional stages usually find it relatively easy to encourage
direct reports to participate in making key decisions. Taught the same
practice, Achiever-stage managers are likely to solicit input, hoping to
gain buy-in, but they may balk at allowing direct reports to signifi-
cantly influence their thinking.
As time went on, we wanted to gain a more systematic under-
standing of the relationship between developmental stages and effec-
tive leadership. To clarify the current state of knowledge on this topic,
we created the grid shown in Exhibit I-1, which mapped five stages of
adult development against the three action arenas mentioned earlier:
pivotal conversations, team initiatives, and organizational change ini-
tiatives. When we put existing knowledge into the grid, we found that
a number of the boxes were essentially blank.
To complete this grid we initiated a multi-year research project that
used questionnaires, in-depth interviews, client case studies, and stu-
dent journals to examine the thought processes and behaviors of hun-
dreds of managers as they carried out initiatives in each of the three
action arenas.14 An overview of the completed grid is presented in
Chapter One. Additional detail is provided as the book unfolds.
Two core questions guided our research: What is it, exactly, that
changes as a person grows from stage to stage? and How do leaders
become more effective as they grow into more advanced stages? In a
nutshell, here’s what we learned: As you grow from one stage to
another, you develop a distinct set of mental and emotional capacities
The Master Competency ix
Developmental Pivotal Team Organizational
Stage Conversations Leadership Leadership
Expert
Achiever
Catalyst
Co-Creator
Synergist
Exhibit I-1. Leadership Impact of Developmental Stages.
Joiner.flast 8/30/06 3:21 PM Page ix
that enable you to respond more effectively to change and complex-
ity. In other words, leaders become more effective as they grow into
the more advanced stages, because, in doing so, they become increas-
ingly adept at responding to the degree of change and complexity that
pervades today’s workplace. In sum, the research shows that, as lead-
ers move from one stage to another, their level of leadership agility
increases.
To these inside-out observations, we need to add some outside-in
considerations: As you might expect, experience counts. Often because
they lack experience, some managers haven’t yet developed the lead-
ership competencies that correspond to their stage of personal growth.
For similar reasons, some managers don’t function at the same level
of leadership agility in all three action arenas. These findings under-
score the importance of taking an integral approach to developing
leadership agility: The most effective way to increase your agility is to
use your everyday initiatives to develop stage-related capabilities and
leadership competencies at the same time. We’ll have much more to
say about this in Part Three.
HOW TO USE THIS BOOK
Using the framework of five levels of leadership agility, this book is
designed as a stage-by-stage guide to realizing your potential both as
a person and as a leader.
Part One
In Chapter One we explain the “agility imperative”—the deep trends
in today’s global economy that demand greater agility of virtually all
organizations and their leaders. This chapter presents a vivid exam-
ple of agile leadership, outlines five levels in developing this master
competency, and shows what these agility levels look like in three
action arenas: pivotal conversations, leading teams, and leading orga-
nizational change. You can use this chapter to develop an initial under-
standing of the five agility levels and to think about which levels are
used most frequently in your organization.
Chapter Two, “The Five Eds,” uses a set of five scenarios to give you
a more complete understanding of the five agility levels. It begins by
describing a common leadership challenge: Ed, a bright, experienced
xINTRODUCTION
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manager is hired as the CEO of a faltering midsized company. Inspired
by the classic movie Groundhog Day, the scenarios begin by showing
how Ed would respond to this challenge if he functioned at the Expert
level of agility. Ed then relives this experience four times, each time at
a more advanced agility level. You can use this chapter to make an
informal assessment of your own level of leadership agility, as well as
that of the managers with whom you work.
The first two chapters approach leadership agility from the outside
in. In doing so, they introduce you to two parts of the conceptual
model underlying this book: the five levels of agility and the three
action arenas. Chapter Three introduces you to the rest of the model:
the four leadership agility competencies and the mental and emotional
capacities that support them.
Part Two
The five chapters in Part Two use real-life stories to present the five
levels of leadership agility in greater detail. Each chapter begins with
a short story that shows what leadership means to a manager at a par-
ticular level of agility. Additional stories show what that chapter’s
agility level looks like in the three action arenas: pivotal conversations,
leading teams, and leading organizational change. Each chapter ends
with an overview of the mental and emotional capacities that support
that level of agility. These chapters will help you fine-tune your self-
assessment from Chapter Two, and they’ll clarify what it takes to move
to the next level.
Part Three
The final two chapters of this book will help you use what you’ve
learned in Parts One and Two to increase your leadership agility.
Chapter Nine walks you through a more individualized assessment,
helping you identify areas where your agility is already strong and
areas where it needs improvement. Chapter Ten begins with a story
that shows how you can become more effective within your current
level of agility. It presents a second story that shows what it takes to
move from one level to another. Both stories are accompanied by
guidelines based on our research and our years of experience work-
ing with leaders.
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Additional Resources
At the back of the book, you’ll find two appendices. Appendix A
describes the multi-decade research effort that underlies this book,
and it describes our research methods. Appendix B describes the stages
of personal development as we define them, and it provides a chart
that compares our model with those of other experts in the field.
The “Notes for Inquiring Readers” section provides more detail
about many of the key points in the book. Unless you’re a leadership
development professional or are already familiar with the fields of
leadership or stage-development psychology, you’ll probably want to
stay with the flow of each chapter and not try to read the notes, unless
you come to a point you’d like to learn about in more detail. You can
always come back and delve into the notes later.
At the end of the book, you’ll find a Resources page that shows you
where you can find a variety of aids for developing your leadership
agility and that of the managers with whom you work.
A FEW WORDS ABOUT WORDING
It’s worth taking a few moments at the outset to clarify some of the
language we’ve used in the book.
Beyond the Leader/Manager Dichotomy
Throughout the book, we use the terms leader and manager inter-
changeably to refer to a person’s role in an organization. We do, how-
ever, believe that the now-popular distinction between leading and
managing, as two different kinds of activities, is a meaningful one. For
the past thirty years, this paradigm has served a useful purpose. How-
ever, our framework of levels of leadership agility now provides a way
to look at this distinction through a more refined lens.15
Generally speaking, the Expert level of leadership agility is closer to
a supervisory mode of leadership than to full-fledged management. The
capacities needed for managing in the classic sense of the word develop
at the Achiever level. The more visionary approach to leadership (which
some people simply call leadership) emerges at the Catalyst level. The
Co-Creator and Synergist levels represent ways of exercising leadership
that are relatively unknown in the current literature.
Throughout the book we use the term leadership to refer to a way
of taking action, not to an organizational role or position. Because we
xii INTRODUCTION
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distinguish between five different levels of leadership agility, our def-
inition is a broad one, designed to apply to all five levels: Leadership
is action taken with a proactive attitude and an intention to change
something for the better.16
A leadership initiative, we say, is any action you carry out with this
attitude and intent. This means that you don’t need to be in a posi-
tion of authority to exercise leadership. Leaders at all levels of agility
have found that this way of thinking about leadership helps them to
approach their work in a way that is more proactive and intentional.
Competencies and Capacities
“Competencies”is a term that’s widely used to refer to the knowledge,
skills, and abilities needed to perform effectively. In this book, when
we look at leadership from the outside-in, we talk about the compe-
tencies associated with each level of agility. When we look at leader-
ship from an inside-out perspective, we talk about the mental and
emotional capacities that make these competencies possible. We find
that using these terms in this way is helpful in maintaining an integral
approach to leadership development.
Anonymous Real-Life Stories
This book contains twenty-two real-life stories, based on our experi-
ences with clients and on in-depth interviews. By making the people
in each story anonymous, we’ve been able to provide important details
without violating confidentiality. To ensure anonymity we changed
the names of people and organizations. We often changed demo-
graphic identifiers such as industry or company location, and we occa-
sionally changed gender or ethnic identity. In a few cases, we
fictionalized certain aspects of a leader’s background to fit the “cover
identity” we provided.17
Quotes
The great majority of the quotes in the book come from interviews
with leaders. When people are interviewed, they do tend to ramble a
bit. Consequently, we edited many of the interview quotes, not to
change their meaning, but to make them clearer, crisper, and easier
to read.18
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PART ON E
What Is
Leadership Agility?
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CHAPTER ONE
Agility in a World of
Change and Complexity
Robert faced the biggest leadership challenge of his
career. An executive in a Canadian oil corporation, he’d just been
named president of its refining and retailing company. Competitively,
his company was positioned around the middle of the pack in a ma-
ture, margin-sensitive market where long-range demand was projected
to be flat. With little to distinguish it from other regionals, it was
watching its earnings go steadily downhill. In fact, its future looked
dismal.
Within the company, morale was at an all-time low. People at all
levels were frustrated and unhappy. The previous president had taken
many steps to make the company more efficient, including a series of
layoffs, but these steps had not produced the desired results. The whole
organization was in a state of fear. Privately, the outgoing president
had been considering which division would have to be sold or shut
down. As Robert moved into his new position, everything was truly
up for grabs.
Over the next three years, Robert led his company through an
amazing turnaround. At the end of this period, it not only survived
3
Q
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without selling any of its divisions, it entered a phase of aggressive
growth, clearing $71 million a year more than when he took over. In
the business press, the company went from being a “bad bet” to “one
of the darlings of the stock market.”Why did Robert succeed when his
predecessor did not?
The company badly needed a short-term increase in its stock price.
But Robert wanted to do much more than that. He wanted to trans-
form an admittedly lackluster company into the best regional in North
America. In fact, his vision was to develop an organization whose
business performance and innovative ways of operating would be
benchmarked by companies from a wide variety of industries. By
putting the stock price goal in this larger context, Robert overturned
his predecessor’s assumption that the company’s options were limited
to difficult but familiar cost-cutting solutions. Instead, he decided to
create a set of break-out strategies that would develop a more innova-
tive organization.
Realizing that he and his top management group might not have
all the answers, Robert hired a world-class strategy firm. He also set
up ten “idea factories”: creative strategic-thinking sessions, where em-
ployees and other stakeholders developed ideas for the top team to
consider. People responded with enthusiasm, generating a huge num-
ber of ideas.
Robert then held a two-day retreat where he and his top manage-
ment group synthesized the strategy firm’s ideas with those generated
by the idea factories. As he put it later,“We tried to involve as many
people as possible in the strategic review process. We invested time
and energy up front to listen to people, build trust, and get everyone
aligned. It paid off, because we started to think with one brain. Instead
of being at cross-purposes, we could understand and support each
other’s decisions.”
The new strategies that emerged went well beyond those Robert,
his team, and the strategy firm would have generated on their own.
They resulted in a smaller, more focused organization with a much
stronger “people strategy” designed to catapult the company into the
ranks of high-performing organizations. When the new game plan
was ready, Robert and his team presented it to the employees before
they announced it to the market.
The presentation included some bad news, but the employees gave
it a standing ovation. Over the months that followed, Robert and his
4LEADERSHIP AGILITY
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team repeatedly communicated their new vision and its implications
for employees in many different forums. As the new strategies were
implemented, the top team kept everyone updated on the perfor-
mance of the business. Every year, Robert met with each of the com-
pany’s twenty management teams to discuss objectives and strategies
and check for alignment.
Robert’s participative approach to transforming his organization
not only led to innovative strategies, it also developed the commit-
ment, trust, and alignment necessary to implement them reliably and
effectively. As a result, during his first three years as president, annual
earnings went from $9 million to $40 million, and cash expenses were
reduced by $40 million a year. A once-faltering company had become
one of the most efficient and effective refiners in North America and
one of the top retailers in its marketplace.1
THE AGILITY IMPERATIVE
Robert’s story is part of a much larger drama: The struggle of orga-
nizations around the globe to adapt to a turbulent world economy.
Underlying this turbulence are two deep global trends that have rad-
ically altered what it takes to achieve sustained success: accelerating
change and growing complexity and interdependence.
Every year, new technologies, markets, and competitors emerge at
an ever-increasing pace. As change accelerates, so does uncertainty and
novelty: future threats and opportunities are harder to predict, and
emerging challenges increasingly include novel elements. Further, with
the globalization of the economy and the spread of connective tech-
nologies, it’s increasingly clear that we live in a diverse planetary vil-
lage where everything is connected with everything else.2In this
interdependent world, the most successful companies will be those
that create strong, timely alliances and partner effectively with cus-
tomers, suppliers, and other stakeholders.
This means that, while specific future developments are increas-
ingly difficult to predict, we can make two predictions with great cer-
tainty: The pace of change will continue to increase, and the level of
complexity and interdependence will continue to grow. For more
than a decade, organizational change experts, acutely aware of these
powerful trends, have stressed the need to develop “agile” compa-
nies—organizations that anticipate and respond to rapidly chang-
Agility in a World of Change and Complexity 5
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ing conditions by leveraging highly effective internal and external
relationships.3
Robert is one of those rare, agile leaders who succeeded in devel-
oping his management group into a cohesive leadership team that
could transform their company into an agile organization. However,
as many companies have discovered, developing truly agile teams and
organizations is an unfamiliar and demanding task. Left to their own
devices, the vast majority of today’s managers would not approach
Robert’s challenge in the way that he did. Consequently, very few
firms have developed the level of agility needed to keep pace with the
ever-increasing degree of change and complexity in their business
environment.4
A major reason for this continuing “agility gap” is the need for
more agile leaders, not just in the executive suite but at all organiza-
tional levels. In a recent survey of CEOs in North America, Europe
and Asia, 91 percent said that developing leaders is the most critical
success factor for the growth of their business.5In another survey, se-
nior executives in Fortune 500 companies identified “agility” as a lead-
ership competency “most needed” for the future success of their
business.6Yet although leadership development programs are a pri-
ority for most larger companies, very little attention has been given to
understanding and developing the specific capacities and skills needed
for agile leadership.
Leadership agility is directly analogous to organizational agility: It’s
the ability to take wise and effective action amid complex, rapidly
changing conditions. In the last-mentioned survey, executives said they
much preferred agility to similar-sounding competencies like flexi-
bility and adaptability. Why? By themselves, flexibility and adaptabil-
ity imply a passive, reactive stance, while agility implies an intentional,
proactive stance.
FIVE LEVELS OF LEADERSHIP AGILITY
Based on data collected from more than six hundred managers, we’ve
found that there are five distinct levels in the mastery of leadership
agility: Expert, Achiever, Catalyst, Co-Creator, and Synergist.7In Table
1.1, you’ll find profiles that show how managers at each agility level
carry out initiatives in each of the three action arenas described in the
Introduction: pivotal conversations, leading teams, and leading orga-
nizational change. Note that the competencies you need for agile lead-
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ership evolve further with each new level of mastery. Yet each time you
move to a new level, you retain the ability to use those competencies
you developed at previous levels.
The Expert Level
The name we’ve chosen for each agility level is intended to emphasize
its strengths. Experts are so named because they’re strongly motivated
to develop subject-matter expertise, and because they assume that a
leader’s legitimate power comes from expertise and positional au-
thority. Experts (roughly 45 percent of all managers) are the least agile
of those profiled in the chart, but they’re more agile than about 10
percent who remain at Pre-expert levels. With their tactical orienta-
tion and their capacity for analytic problem solving, the Experts’
agility level is best suited for environments where success can be
achieved by making incremental improvements to existing strategies.
The Achiever Level
About 35 percent of today’s managers have developed to the Achiever
level of agility. These managers are highly motivated to accomplish
outcomes valued by the institutions with which they’ve identified
themselves. They realize that a leader’s power comes not only from
authority and expertise but also from motivating others by making it
challenging and satisfying to contribute to important outcomes. With
their capacity for strategic thinking, Achievers can be highly effective
in moderately complex environments where the pace of change re-
quires episodic shifts in corporate strategy.
Heroic and Post-Heroic Leadership
In their book Power Up: Transforming Organizations Through Shared
Leadership, David Bradford and Allan Cohen distinguish between
“heroic” and “post-heroic” leadership. We found that managers at the
Pre-expert, Expert, and Achiever levels (about 90 percent of all man-
agers) operate from a heroic leadership mind-set.8That is, they as-
sume sole responsibility for setting their organization’s objectives,
coordinating the activities of their subordinates, and managing their
performance.
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Agility in Agility in Leading
Level of Agility View of Leadership Pivotal Conversations Agility in Leading Teams Organizational Change
Heroic levels
Pre-expert (~10%)
Expert (~45%) Tactical, problem-solving Style is either to strongly More of a supervisor than a Organizational initiatives
orientation. Believes that assert opinions or hold back manager. Creates a group of focus primarily on incre-
leaders are respected and to accommodate others. May individuals rather than a team. mental improvements inside
followed by others because of swing from one style to the Work with direct reports is unit boundaries with little
their authority and expertise. other, particularly for different primarily one-on-one. Too attention to stakeholders.
relationships. Tends to avoid caught up in the details of
giving or requesting feedback. own work to lead in a strategic
manner.
Achiever (~35%) Strategic outcome orientation. Primarily assertive or accom- Operates like a full-fledged Organizational initiatives
Believes that leaders motivate modative with some ability to manager. Meetings to discuss include analysis of industry
others by making it challenging compensate with the less important strategic or orga- environment. Strategies to
and satisfying to contribute to preferred style. Will accept nizational issues are often gain stakeholder buy-in range
larger objectives. or even initiate feedback, if orchestrated to try to gain from one-way communica-
helpful in achieving desired buy-in to own views. tion to soliciting input.
outcomes.
Post-heroic levels
Catalyst (~5%) Visionary, facilitative orien- Adept at balancing assertive Intent on creating a highly Organizational initiatives
tation. Believes that leaders and accommodative styles as participative team. Acts as a often include development of
articulate an innovative, needed in particular situations. team leader and facilitator. a culture that promotes team-
inspiring vision and bring Likely to articulate and ques- Provides and seeks open work, participation, and
together the right people to tion underlying assumptions. exchange of views on difficult empowerment. Proactive
transform the vision into Genuinely interested in learn- issues. Empowers direct re- engagement with diverse
reality. Leaders empower ing from diverse viewpoints. ports. Uses team development stakeholders reflects a belief
others and actively facilitate Proactive in seeking and ap- as a vehicle for leadership that their input increases the
their development. plying keep as is feedback. development. quality of decisions, not just
buy-in.
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Co-creator (~4%) Oriented toward shared Integrates assertive and Develops a collaborative Develops key stakeholder
purpose and collaboration. accommodative sides in leadership team, where relationships characterized
Believes leadership is ulti- pivotal conversations and is members feel full responsi- by deep levels of mutual
mately a service to others. agile in using both styles. bility not only for their own influence and genuine dedi-
Leaders collaborate with other Able to process and seriously areas but also for the unit cation to the common good.
leaders to develop a shared consider negative feedback or organization they col- May create companies or
vision that each experiences even when highly charged lectively manage. Practical organizational units where
as deeply purposeful. emotionally. preference for consensus corporate responsibility and
decision making but deep collaboration are integral
doesn’t hesitate to use practices.
authority as needed.
Synergist (~1%) Holistic orientation. Experi- Centered “within” not “with” Capable of moving fluidly Develops and maintains a
ences leadership as partici- assertive and accommodative between various team leader- deep, empathetic awareness
pation in a palpable life energies, expressed as ship styles uniquely suited to of conflicting stakeholder
purpose that benefits others appropriate to the situation. the situation at hand. Can interests, including the
while serving as a vehicle for Cultivates a present-centered shape or amplify the energy leader’s own. Able to access
personal transformation. awareness that augments dynamics at work in a partic- synergistic intuitions that
external feedback and ular situation to bring about transform seemingly intract-
supports a strong, subtle mutually beneficial results. able conflicts into solutions
connection with others, beneficial for all parties
even during challenging involved.
conversations.
Table 1.1. Quick Reference Guide to Five Levels of Leadership Agility.
Note: Each level of agility includes and goes beyond the competencies developed at previous levels. The percentage figures refer to research-based esti-
mates of the managers currently capable of operating at each agility level.9
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Heroic leadership can be highly effective in certain situations. The
predominant combination of Expert and Achiever leadership worked
relatively well for most companies until the waning decades of the
twentieth century, when the globalization of the economy ushered in
an era of constant change and growing interdependence. In this new
environment, with its increased demand for collaborative problem
solving, teamwork, and continuous organizational change, heroic lead-
ership overcontrols and underutilizes subordinates. It discourages peo-
ple from feeling responsible for anything beyond their assigned area,
inhibits optimal teamwork, and implicitly encourages subordinates to
use the heroic approach with their own units.
In this new century, sustained success will require post-heroic lead-
ership. Leaders who develop beyond the Achiever level of agility retain
the ultimate accountability and authority that comes with any formal
leadership role. At the same time, they work to create highly participa-
tive teams and organizations characterized by shared commitment and
responsibility.10 Unfortunately, as noted in the Introduction, only about
10 percent of today’s managers are functioning at post-heroic levels of
agility: approximately 5 percent at the Catalyst level, 4 percent at the
Co-Creator level, and 1 percent at the Synergist level.
The Catalyst Level
Robert’s story provides a clear example of post-heroic leadership at
the Catalyst level. When appropriate, he exercised Expert and Achiever
power, but he led his company in a way that emphasized the power of
vision and participation. While his Achiever-level predecessor took
the company’s existing culture as a given, Robert, like other Catalysts,
was strongly motivated to create a participative culture capable of
achieving valued outcomes over the longer term. Catalysts, with their
openness to change, their willingness to rethink basic assumptions,
and their visionary orientation, represent the first level of agility ca-
pable of sustained success in today’s highly complex, constantly chang-
ing business environment.
The Co-Creator Level
Co-Creator leaders derive their name, in part, from their under-
standing that everything in business and in the rest of life is interde-
pendent. Because of their principled commitment to the common
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good, many of the Co-Creators in our sample have pioneered new
forms of organization where corporate responsibility is integral to
their bottom line. Whether or not they establish new organizations,
Co-Creator leaders are committed to developing genuinely collabo-
rative team and organizational relationships rooted in a deep sense of
shared purpose. With their emotional resilience, their capacity for di-
alogue, and their ability to generate creative, win-win solutions, Co-
Creators are well-equipped for long-term success in the rapidly
changing and often disruptive global economy of the early twenty-
first century.
The Synergist Level
In conducting the research for this book, we found that the differences
between the agility levels become more subtle as leaders move to each
successive level. This is particularly true of the distinctions between
Co-Creators and Synergists. More than any other, the Synergist level
is best understood from the inside out. Part of what distinguishes the
leaders who function at this level is their ability to enter fully into the
moment-to-moment flow of their present experience. As this capac-
ity for present-centered awareness develops, it gives leaders the abil-
ity, in contentious and chaotic situations, to stand in the eye of the
storm. This ability to remain centered amid competing demands al-
lows them to access “synergistic intuitions” that transform seemingly
intractable conflicts into solutions that are beneficial for all parties in-
volved. We believe that the capacities and competencies developed by
these men and women represent the cutting edge of leadership devel-
opment for the twenty-first century.
AGILITY LEVELS AND
PERSONALITY TYPES
In the next chapter, we provide a more detailed walk-through of these
five levels of leadership agility, designed to help you identify your own
agility level and that of the people with whom you work. Part Two will
allow you to fine-tune these initial assessments by reading real-life sto-
ries that illustrate each level of agility.
Before we turn to the next chapter, we’d like to address a misim-
pression people sometimes have when they first hear about the five
levels of leadership agility: The assumption that we’re talking about
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different personality types or management styles. Over the past few
decades, a number of frameworks that distinguish between various
personality types and management styles have found their way into
the workplace. (Two prominent examples are the Myers-Briggs Type
Inventory and the DISC Personal Profile System).11 Influenced by this
way of thinking, you might assume that some people grow up with an
Expert personality, while others grow up with a Synergist personality,
and so on.
We believe it’s important to understand how personality types in-
fluence leadership styles. However, the levels we’ve just described are
not personality types. As you may remember from the Introduction,
each level of leadership agility correlates with a particular stage of per-
sonal development. Decades of research have confirmed that human
beings move through these stages in a particular sequence. Similarly,
the levels we’ve outlined represent sequential stages in the mastery of
leadership agility. This means, for example, that leaders don’t skip
from the Expert level to the Co-Creator level. To operate reliably at
the Co-Creator level of leadership agility, you first need to master the
Achiever and Catalyst levels. So far, we’ve found no exceptions to this
pattern.12
All our research indicates that level of agility and personality type
are completely unrelated variables. Every personality type can be
found at each level of leadership agility. This means that, no matter
what your personality type happens to be, you have the potential to
master advanced levels of agility—an important thought to keep in
mind as you read the next chapter.13
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CHAPTER TWO
The Five Eds
At this point, you may be asking yourself: What’s my
current level of leadership agility, and what would it be like to move
to the next level? You may also want to assess your colleagues’ agility
levels. Chapter One provided a brief introduction to each level. This
chapter offers the opportunity to assess yourself and others using a
more complete, real-life picture of each agility level. It presents five
scenarios designed to show you how a leader at each of the five agility
levels would respond to the same leadership challenge. In Part Two,
you’ll read about each agility level in greater detail.
A LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE
Ed is the new CEO of Overmyer AMT. During the 1990s, the company
was an industry leader in designing and installing advanced technol-
ogy used in manufacturing plants. Cecelia Overmyer, who ran her own
publishing company, became board chair of the family business when
her father died in an automobile accident. She quickly realized that
the company had lost its innovative edge and that the current CEO
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was a big part of the problem. The search for a new top executive led
the company to Ed.
Ed is a bright manager in his mid-forties, well-qualified for the job.
He has a bachelor’s degree in engineering, an MBA, and many years’
experience in the industry. He has a track record of successful assign-
ments and is known for his initiative and his ready grasp of business
and technological issues. In his last job, he led a small advanced man-
ufacturing technology firm that made inroads into Overmyer AMT’s
customer base.
Cecilia Overmyer has given Ed a clear mandate: Restore profitabil-
ity within two years and reclaim market leadership within three to five
years. Overmyer AMT’s larger size and its more complex array of
products and customers will make this a bigger challenge than the one
Ed faced in his previous job. Competition will be fierce, and customer
requirements for new advanced manufacturing technologies will con-
tinue to change rapidly.
“What we need now,”Cecilia tells him, “is real leadership. I’m con-
fident that you’re the man for the job.” She only hopes that she’s right.
A Little Imagination
As you read the five scenarios, we’re going to ask you to use a little
imagination. Taken as a whole, they’re a bit like the 1993 movie
Groundhog Day. In that film, Bill Murray plays Phil, a jaded weather-
man who’s covering the annual groundhog ceremony in Punxsutaw-
ney, Pennsylvania. After a very frustrating day in a town he hates on
sight, he wakes up to find himself reliving the day’s events all over
again. This bizarre time loop recurs morning after morning, until it
dawns on Phil that he can learn from his experience. Once he decides
to use each day as an opportunity to change his life, he gradually
transforms himself. In the end, with a few basic quirks still intact, he
becomes a happier, wiser, and more compassionate person, open to
the wonder and uncertainty of life.
Reading the five scenarios will be a little like watching Phil gradu-
ally transform as he repeats the “same” day. Each new scenario will
show the same person (Ed) responding to the same leadership chal-
lenge. The only difference is that, for each successive scenario, we
imagine that Ed has developed to the next level of leadership agility.
Throughout all the scenarios, Ed will remain exactly the same age and
have the same IQ and personality type.
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Assessing Your Level of Leadership Agility
As you read about “the five Eds,” ask yourself which scenario best de-
scribes the way you would respond to a similar kind of leadership
challenge. This will allow you to make an initial assessment of your
current level of leadership agility. Reading the scenario that follows
the one with which you most identify will show you what it’d be like to
move to the next level.
If you’re like the vast majority of managers, you have one agility
level that represents your home base—a way of operating you gravi-
tate to again and again throughout your day. But your agility level can
also vary somewhat over the day. For example, you might function
mostly at the Achiever level, sometimes at the Expert level, and occa-
sionally shift into the Catalyst level.
Each scenario shows how a leader at a particular agility level would
typically lead an organization, build a team, and conduct pivotal con-
versations. In reading these scenarios, notice whether your own level of
agility tends to change as you move in and out of these three action
arenas. For example, you might identify with the Achiever level of
team and organizational leadership, but when it comes to pivotal con-
versations, you might identify more with the Expert.1
Here are a few more details to set the stage:You and Ed are friends
but you don’t see each other that often. Seven months into his new
role as CEO, he invites you to dinner to catch up on things. Each sce-
nario will take the form of a brief, informal conversation. Each time,
you’ll ask Ed the same questions about how things are going at work.
The first evening, you’ll talk with Ed1, who’s spent the last seven
months leading at the Expert level. When that conversation is over,
you’ll take a few moments to reflect on it. Then you and Ed will have
a “groundhog day” experience: The next evening at the same table,
you’ll talk with Ed2, who’s just spent seven months operating at the
Achiever level.You’ll continue this way until you’ve talked with all five
Eds. One more thing: You can remember each conversation, but Ed has
“groundhog day amnesia”—he can only recall his current agility level.
Here we go . . .
ED1: THE EXPERT
you: Well, Ed, you’ve been at it for seven months. How’s it going?
ed1: You know that expression, when you’re up to your butt in alliga-
tors, it’s hard to remember you’re there to drain the swamp? Well, this
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place is full of alligators. It’s a tough job, but it’s the kind of pressure I
thrive on—having to use my industry know-how to fix a business. I’m
a quick study, and I like solving problems. Wind me up and I drill
down, figure out the problems, and come up with the right solutions.
The fact is, I’ve got a damned good track record with this kind of thing.
you: How did you get started?
ed1: I went right away after the information I needed to wrap my
head around the business. I met with each of my directs, but I con-
centrated on the main functions—R&D, Manufacturing, and Sales
and Marketing. I studied reports—got up to speed on sales projec-
tions, financials, manufacturing efficiencies, and the product devel-
opment pipeline. I kept in shape lugging two briefcases stuffed with
reports back and forth between home and the office!
I have to admit, though, we have so many different products for so
many different kinds of customers, this business is a little more com-
plex than I’d expected. The learning curve’s been a real bear and I
haven’t climbed it quite as fast as I thought I would.
But it didn’t take me long to figure out some obvious things that
needed to be done. I got R&D to accelerate development on a couple
of products that could really be big for us, and I got Sales and Market-
ing to support faster launches. I told my Manufacturing VP he needed
to cut costs for the year by 15 percent, and I showed him a few specific
budget items to prune. Looking toward improving next year, I told my
R&D VP and my Sales and Marketing VP to work with me on a prof-
itability analysis of all our products. Also, I told my VP of Finance to
start getting me the monthly numbers on time. I gave him a new way
to format the data to make it easier for me to analyze our costs.
you: What’s it been like working with your executive team?
ed1: I get more real work done with my directs when I meet with
them one-on-one. Getting everybody together on a regular schedule,
whether we need to or not, just isn’t productive. Don’t get me wrong.
If we need a group meeting, I call one, but I use those meetings mainly
to keep everybody informed about my latest thinking and review
progress. I usually start with Sales and Marketing, then focus on Man-
ufacturing, then R&D.
By and large, though, group meetings usually don’t get you that
much. People tend to hold back. When you do progress reviews, peo-
ple focus more on making a good impression than on getting down
to the real facts. Everybody else sits back and looks like they don’t want
to be there. I’ve tried all the usual techniques to get people engaged—
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forceful arguments, provocative questions. I’ve even tried to get them
to debate issues. But I usually leave thinking, “No wonder this place is
in trouble. Everyone just sits back and plays it safe.”
To be honest, I’m frustrated. My VPs don’t seem to share my sense
of urgency. I’m also not sure we have all the right people in the top
few levels of management. But I don’t think this is the time to shake
things up with a lot of personnel changes. Right now what I need to
focus on is getting this business back on track and under control.
you: Have you had any conversations so far that have been especially
challenging?
ed1: What pops to mind— Last week, my HR VP asked if she could
talk to me about company morale. I said OK, and she started talking
about this meeting I’d just held with the group that runs R&D. Ap-
parently, some people were offended by some of the comments I made
about how to run a first-class new product development process.
Something about my cutting people off when they reacted to what I
was saying. Well, I had to stop her right there, because the real prob-
lem was that they were defending business-as-usual. I’ve gotta say, I
was pretty disappointed to see how closed-minded they were to new
ideas. I mean, why did Cecilia Overmyer hire me in the first place? Be-
cause in my old job I was taking market share away from this com-
pany! I just wish more people here shared my passion for making this
a first-class operation. Sometimes I wish I could clone myself.
After you and Ed1 go your separate ways, you reflect on what he
said. He expressed a lot of pride in his knowledge and expertise. But
you get the distinct impression that he’s focusing on issues in so much
detail, he’s getting overwhelmed by the complexity of the business. You
wonder how much the executive team’s passive stance is a business-as-
usual mind-set and how much it has to do with Ed1’s behavior. Fi-
nally, there was that conversation with his HR VP, where he cut her off
just as he did with the R&D managers. You know he’s always been suc-
cessful in the past, but you can’t help but wonder how things will work
out this time.
ED2: THE ACHIEVER
you: Well, Ed, you’ve been at it for seven months. How’s it going?
ed2: It’s moving forward. The big challenge is shifting people’s mind-
sets. This place has an interesting history. In his own time, Cecilia
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Overmyer’s father was a pretty innovative guy. During the 1990s this
company was a real industry leader. But they fell into the success syn-
drome mentality.You know, everything’s working, you have a lot of
pride in what you do, and you just keep doing it. Pretty soon, you lose
your external focus, you miss changes in the marketplace, then com-
petitors start to eat your lunch. That’s the basic problem here. I’m
working on getting everyone’s head back into the marketplace, think-
ing further out and looking at things from the customer’s point of view.
you: How did you get started?
ed2: For the first six weeks or so, I mainly just took a lot in. Got to
know the executive team, did skip-level interviews, talked with cur-
rent customers and ones we’d lost, walked around the factory, and
generally made myself visible. Even did a town meeting. I think lead-
ership has a lot to do with the personal qualities you bring to your
mission, that ability to challenge and inspire others to go beyond what
they think is possible.
I know the industry quite well. The company’s biggest strategic prob-
lem is that it’s lost its innovative edge. In this industry new technologies
quickly become commodities, so we need to reignite Overmyer’s tradi-
tion of innovative leadership. We need to revamp our new product de-
velopment process and some of our other business processes so we can
be more responsive to our customers. From a strategic point of view,
we also need to deal with commodification by improving and expand-
ing the services we offer.
The other thing I did at the outset was look at our people. Having
the right strategy and infrastructure is essential, but to execute, you’ve
gotta have the right people.
you: What’s it been like working with your executive team?
ed2: We usually meet once a week, unless something major comes
up. I start by doing updates and sharing important information, but
I try to reserve most of the time for group discussion of important
topics, either strategic or operational. I know I need to motivate them
to focus more externally, so in every meeting I try to introduce at least
one agenda item that stretches them in that direction. For example, I
instituted a more meaningful customer survey process, and I make
sure we talk at the executive level about results and implications.
Several months after I got here, I started a strategic planning exer-
cise, and that’s worked really well. Nothing too detailed or ponderous.
I used it mainly to make sure my team and their directs are all work-
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ing off the same data. Even more important, we’re driving for the same
outcomes. By having them work on how we’re going to achieve Cecilia’s
mandate, I got them to buy into the mandate itself! Not only that, I got
them to sign off on some new strategies that really worked for me in
my last job.
I can’t say that it’s all been smooth sailing, though. I don’t think
everyone’s going to be up to the challenge in front of us. One guy in
particular I got very concerned about—Ray, my VP of Manufactur-
ing. I could tell he hadn’t really bought in to the need to change, that
he was just going through the motions. A few others in the top ranks
are question marks right now. But Ray’s performance really stuck out
like a sore thumb, so I knew I had to deal with it.
you: Have you had any conversations so far that have been especially
challenging?
ed2: The meeting I had last week with Ray. These discussions are
never easy, but I know from experience that if you avoid acting on
major performance issues you can be sorry later. I had a number of
conversations with Ray, starting early on. Before long, I was telling him
what he needed to do if he was going to stay with us. I asked our HR
VP to help me be sure I was handling this the right way. She was ac-
tually very helpful.
The previous VP of Manufacturing was a guy named Dan. When
Cecilia’s father went from being CEO and chairman to just being
chairman, he promoted Dan to CEO, and Dan tapped Ray to take over
Manufacturing. Unfortunately, Ray got promoted to a level over his
head. He was hanging on, doing the old turtle routine, keeping his
head in his shell and hoping no one would find out.
It finally came down to this: I realized I wasn’t going to achieve
Cecilia’s mandate with Ray in that role. Last week, I finally told him
he had to move on. We got him a good package, and I’m probably
going to replace him from outside. We may need to let a few other
people go as well.
Afterward, comparing this conversation to the one before it, it
strikes you that Ed2’s approach is quite different from Ed1’s. While
Ed1 focused mainly on discrete problems, Ed2 is more outcome-
oriented. His top priority is achieving Cecilia’s mandate. Whereas Ed1
seemed to lead primarily by giving orders, Ed2 wants to motivate peo-
ple to adopt a strategic mind-set that’s more focused on customers
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and marketplace dynamics. Ed2 also seems more prepared for the
give-and-take of tough conversations: Unlike Ed1, he initiates discus-
sion about major performance issues, and he accepts feedback and ad-
vice from his VP of Human Resources.
Then a few questions come to mind: Are his VPs really as support-
ive of his objectives and strategies as he thinks they are? Will the strate-
gies that worked so well for his previous company be on target for the
new one? What about the managers at the next level, which include
people managing the company’s overseas offices? Is Ed2 placing his
VPs in a situation where they’ll wind up getting things done by giv-
ing Ed1-style orders to their organizations?
ED3: THE CATALYST
you: Well, Ed, you’ve been at it for seven months. How’s it going?
ed3: It’s quite a challenge, but I’m excited about where we’re going!
Overmyer AMT definitely lost its edge after Cecilia’s father stepped
out of the CEO role, but I’ve always respected this company’s tradi-
tion of excellence and innovation. In the martial arts, they say you
need to aim right through and beyond your target. That’s what I want
to do with Cecilia’s mandate. I envision a company that will not only
regain its status as industry leader but also become a benchmark for
other industries—a participative, high-performing organization that’s
a great place to work. To do that, people need to learn to lead and
manage this place in new ways. It’s going to be challenging for every-
one, but I think the great majority will be able to rise to the occasion.
you: How did you get started?
ed3: I got to know people at the top levels, but I also walked around
a lot and started following some of the social networks. I sought out
the innovators, learned what they’re doing, and gave them some en-
couragement. I also met with key customers, including some former
customers, and I’ve asked my VPs and their people to do the same.
Then we talked about what we learned.
A couple of months in, I had a two-day off-site with my directs and
their directs, a good-sized group that included our top overseas man-
agers. To help design and facilitate the meeting, I brought in a facili-
tator I worked with in my previous job. I started by saying a few things
about myself and my respect for this company and its people. I said
I’d been in their place a few times before when a new leader came in,
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and I could easily imagine the questions they might have about the
company’s plans and their own future. I reiterated our mandate to
achieve profitability and industry leadership, and I said,“To achieve
these objectives, we need everyone to contribute their best work and
their best ideas. That’s what’s going to secure your job and mine, start-
ing right here in this meeting.”
Then I said that, these days, sustaining industry leadership takes
more than innovative know-how and a can-do attitude. If you look
out across different industries, I believe that the best companies are
those that intentionally set out to establish an organizational culture
based on participation, mutual respect, and straight talk—and that’s
what I intend for us to do, starting with this meeting. Of course, that
kind of talk makes people nervous, because they’re not used to man-
aging or being managed that way. But I got right into it by asking for
questions. A few brave souls spoke up, and we were off and running. It
was a hugely productive two days. We only touched the tip of the ice-
berg, but our facilitator captured everything in writing, and it really
opened things up.
you: What’s it been like working with your executive team?
ed3: In many ways it’s like a laboratory. I’m trying to develop an ex-
ecutive team that can serve as the prototype of a participative culture,
which they can then disseminate to the rest of the organization. This
is so important that I try to spend two hours a week with the team en-
gaging in important strategic and operational issues. They know I
make the final decisions, but they have a lot of influence. I may put
my ideas on the table and ask for their critique, or I may just throw
out a topic and let them go at it for a while. They may have fallen
asleep at the wheel before I got here, but they know a hell of a lot
about this company. Sometimes I wind up changing my mind, and
sometimes I don’t. But the main thing is that they see I can be influ-
enced by their ideas, and they know it’s not just a game to get their
buy-in. I’ve already made some better decisions with their input than
I would’ve made on my own. Not only that, it creates an environment
where anyone can step in and exert constructive leadership. It also
models what they can do with their teams.
Another vehicle I’m using is the strategic planning process. In ad-
dition to the usual process with the executive team, with their people
playing supporting roles, I said I wanted to set up a way to get mean-
ingful input from a cross-section of people at all levels. Not just as a
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feel-good thing, but because I think people at all levels can come up
with interesting ideas—strategic as well as operational—that can be
really useful.
The team batted the idea around a while, then dove in. A few weeks
ago, we started a series of focus groups to capture ideas from a broad
cross-section of employees. We also tasked a couple of groups to get
ideas from outside stakeholders. This process is generating a lot of
positive energy, which we really need right now, and I know from past
experience that we’ll get some ideas that will really make us think.
When my VPs see what this generates, I think it’s going to help change
the way they lead their own organizations. That’s the first step toward
creating a new culture.
We also need to reexamine our core business processes, especially
product development. We’ve also got some huge opportunities to
make our manufacturing processes more efficient and more environ-
mentally responsible at the same time. Lots of cost savings possible
there.
you: Have you had any conversations so far that have been especially
challenging?
ed3: I can think of several. I’ve been coaching some of my VPs. But
about three months ago, I asked my executive team for feedback on
my leadership approach. After some hemming and hawing, some peo-
ple actually spoke up! Parts of that discussion were a little difficult,
but it was very helpful overall.
The most challenging was a series of meetings with Ray, my VP of
Manufacturing. After a couple of months, I saw that we weren’t going
to turn this place around if he stayed in that position. These conver-
sations are always tough, but I finally just told him, very straight, what
I’d observed about his attitude and his performance. I checked out a
few assumptions I had, asked him how he saw the whole situation, and
gave him a lot of room to respond. Pretty soon he opened up and ac-
knowledged that he was over his head trying to manage an organiza-
tion on an international scale.
After we reached that level of honesty, I said, “If you could invent
any job you wanted, what would it be?” Turns out that Ray loves being
a plant manager. After I talked it over with other key players, I con-
cluded that he’d be a great asset back in a plant manager role. He said
he’d love to do that, even with the pay cut. I won’t go into detail about
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how it’s all going to work, but it’s opened the door to several other im-
portant personnel changes.
After you part company with Ed3, you reflect on the differences be-
tween this conversation and the previous one. Ed3 has a more ambi-
tious vision that involves creating a company that not only is an
industry leader but also has a model organizational culture. In fact, in
just seven months, he’s already doing things to shift the culture in that
direction: that first three-level meeting, the way he’s leading his man-
agement team, and the strategic thinking process he and his team have
instituted. This participative approach might go a long way toward
addressing the commitment and execution questions you had after
your dinner with Ed2.
The other thing that strikes you is the difference between how Ed2
and Ed3 dealt with the VP of Manufacturing. Both confronted the
issue, but when Ed3 got Ray to open up, it led to a more creative so-
lution. Actually, Ed3’s whole approach sounds pretty good. You just
wonder how he’ll handle the tension that might develop between the
people who commit themselves to the transformation he’s starting
and those who’d rather continue with business as usual.
ED4: THE CO-CREATOR
you: Well, Ed, you’ve been at it for seven months. How’s it going?
ed4: It’s challenging and exciting at the same time. Something of a
roller coaster. But I feel like we’re already revitalizing this place. The
company’s tradition of excellence and innovation gives us a lot to
build on. The other night, just as I was drifting off to sleep, I got this
image that brought together everything I’m trying to do here. The
image was three waves. The first, short-term wave returns us to prof-
itability, and we become an industry leader. On the medium-term
wave we develop the culture and the infrastructure of an agile, high-
performing organization that’s a magnet for the kind of people we
need. The long-term wave establishes us as the leader in creating the
AMT industry of the future, not just in technical innovation but also
in social and environmental responsibility.
For example, if you look at the future of advanced manufacturing,
you see highly skilled computer-control jobs driving out lower-skilled
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jobs. Yet here in the States, our students are way behind their worldwide
counterparts in math and science. I put together a task force to see what
we can do about this, and they tapped people from the education sec-
tor and some of our client companies. They’ve already identified a lot
of good ideas, like IBM’s practice of developing new career options for
senior employees. Instead of retiring, they stay with the company and
get certified to teach technical subjects to the next generation.
Each wave is longer than the one before it, all starting now and build-
ing over time. I think this could be the most meaningful assignment of
my career. As far as I’m concerned, I’m in this for the long haul.
you: How did you get started?
ed4: During the first six weeks or so, I got out and felt the pulse of
the place—learned a lot and had lots of “vision conversations,” where
I told people what I think this company can become and elicited their
dreams for this place. My vision for the company is so far-reaching
that I was surprised to find so many kindred spirits—including quite
a few closet environmentalists—along with many who’re stuck in the
mind-set that being environmentally responsible automatically makes
you less competitive.
I also met with key customers—and some former customers—face
to face, I sought out a number of other stakeholders, and I encour-
aged my VPs and their people to do this, too. I also instituted a process
where, every month or so, we pick a customer company in the area,
and we invite a few people—like a plant manager and a manufactur-
ing engineer—to spend an hour with us talking candidly about ways
to strengthen our relationship.
A couple of months in, I had a two-day off-site with my executive
team and their direct reports, including our top overseas managers.
By then I’d connected with just about everybody in the room, so when
I talked about where we can go as company, I knew I wasn’t just speak-
ing for myself. Then we moved into some facilitated discussions that
helped us get the company’s issues on the table. The two questions I
kept asking were: Where are the internal and external obstacles to
reaching our potential? and How can we overcome them?
you: What’s it been like working with your executive team?
ed4: If the three waves of change are really going to happen, I can’t
lead them by myself. I need to build a collaborative leadership team,
where every one of my VPs feels accountable not only for their own
function but also for the company as a whole. I have no intention of
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giving up my final decision-making authority, but I want my execu-
tive team to function much like a collective CEO, where company-
wide issues aren’t just my purview—they’re everyone’s responsibility.
A real team where each of us helps all of us succeed.
We’re still in the early stages of development, but I already see signs
we’re moving in the right direction. A few months ago, we decided to
create a scenario-based strategic thinking process that will incorpo-
rate input from a broad cross-section of employees, plus some out-
side stakeholders. We had a big meeting to launch the process, where
people from all levels made presentations. During the week before the
meeting, there was this incredible buzz as people prepared—lots of
energy and excitement. I was really impressed—moved, actually—by
the panel of manufacturing supervisors. They were so nervous and so
real. They had lots of good ideas, and you could see what it did for
them to be thrust into that role.
Ever since, we’ve been hearing how much our people liked the
meeting. But it was also a great opportunity for the VPs. They got to
experience themselves as a leadership team—empowering others but
also empowering themselves. It also gave me a chance to see how they
interact with people at different levels.
I also want the executive team to get to the point where we have
enough trust in each other that anyone can step in and exercise lead-
ership. I don’t want to be the only person in the room who confronts
Ray when he doesn’t walk his talk. I can do the tough one-on-ones
when they’re necessary, but I’d want to see a more collective sense of
responsibility, and I’ve told them that. I think we’re getting there, but
it’s still early days.
YOU
:Have you had any conversations so far that have been especially
challenging?
ed4: The toughest I’ve had so far was a conversation with Cecilia
about social and environmental responsibility. The first time the sub-
ject came up was during the interview process, when I mentioned that
I’d cut costs in my old company by increasing energy efficiency and
cutting environmental waste. I could tell that this whole way of think-
ing was unfamiliar to her, and we didn’t pursue it further at that point.
Later, when I discovered some environmental co-conspirators in
one of our local plants, I gave them some money from my own dis-
cretionary budget so they could do a pilot program, under the radar,
and demonstrate how environmental efficiency cuts costs. But some
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good old boys from the plant got the word to Cecilia that I was “wast-
ing money on nonessentials,” and she called me on the carpet. She was
very angry, insulting actually. Said she’d explicitly told me to hold off
on doing anything like that. In fact, she hadn’t told me that explicitly,
but I knew well enough how she felt.
I just sat there at first, listening to her, aware of some very negative
feelings her rant kicked off in me. I didn’t agree with what she said,
but I think I managed to respond without being too defensive. I re-
flected back what I heard her say, then I asked if she’d be willing to
hear my rationale for doing the pilot. She said OK and seemed to calm
down. I explained how I’d done this on a larger scale in my old job
and gotten some fairly quick and impressive returns on the invest-
ment. Long story short, she agreed to withhold judgment until we
could review the results of the pilot together.
I guess that’s a pretty good overview of how things are going. Have
any advice for an old friend? I can use all the help I can get.
You think for a moment and then say,“You seem to be spending a
lot of time on what many managers might consider peripheral issues.
You’re trying to create a collaborative culture, and you’ve got teams
focusing on social and environmental issues, when the company is
struggling with profitability. Are you really sure about starting all three
waves at the same time?”
“That’s a very good question,”he replies. “In fact, it’s come up in
our executive team meetings. In terms of environmental efficiencies,
there’s enough low-hanging fruit in this area that it will help us, not
hurt us, in becoming more profitable. Things like the IBM idea that
have short-term costs and longer-term paybacks—we’ll have to play
those by ear. I’m trying to develop an executive team that can raise
and manage exactly these kinds of dilemmas. For me to be truly strate-
gic as a CEO, I think participation and collaboration are essential. The
faster we develop a cohesive, straight-talking executive team, the faster
we’ll return to profitability and industry leadership.”
ED5: THE SYNERGIST
you: Well, Ed, you’ve been at it for seven months. How’s it going?
ed5: It’s been exhilarating and almost all-consuming. Right now, I’m
in search of a little more balance between work and the rest of my life.
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At this moment, I’m just enjoying this opportunity to clear my head,
reconnect with you, and savor some good food!
When I was first offered this job, I wasn’t at all sure about it. I ac-
tually had a lot of questions about staying in the industry. In my last
job I had a lot of success demonstrating how much money an AMT
company can save by being environmentally efficient. But when I
looked at what’s happening globally, changing one company seemed
like just a drop in the bucket.
I thought about becoming a corporate responsibility consultant,
but I’m really more of a leader than a consultant, and manufacturing
is in my blood. Then one morning, just as I ended my morning med-
itation, this question hit me from out of the blue: What would a man-
ufacturing industry look like that’s really good for people and the
planet—both in the products it produces and in how they get pro-
duced? Could I develop a new kind of AMT company with an over-
arching mission to help create a truly sustainable manufacturing
industry on a worldwide scale? What if we started by becoming a
model company and then added consulting services to help our cus-
tomers follow our example?
The more I thought about it, the more exciting and scary the whole
idea became. It seemed like way more than I could possibly accom-
plish. But I also had this persistent feeling that, somehow, this was
what I needed to do.
you: How did you get started?
ed5: I did all the usual things—the stuff that, by now, feels very nat-
ural: Got to know my direct reports, started to build relationships, and
tried to understand the social networks. Had conversations throughout
the company, many about vision and innovation. Found quite a number
of highly competent self-starters and a number of co-conspirators and
gave them all a lot of encouragement.
I talked with customers and other stakeholders and got my VPs and
their people to do the same. I also held “opportunity conversations,”
where I’ve pulled our executive team and other groups of managers
together.We pooled our knowledge about emerging customer needs,
new technologies, what competitors are doing, and environmental is-
sues—even had a few speakers in. Then we brainstormed where our
best opportunities might lie.
A couple of months in, I had a two-day off-site with my executive
team and their direct reports, which included people from overseas. I
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gave a short talk to help them get to know me and let them know I’d
been in their shoes. I focused on profitability and industry leadership,
and then I planted a little seed that I’ve been watering ever since: Being
an industry leader isn’t just about market share. This industry is con-
stantly changing, sometimes in very new and disruptive ways. Being
a true industry leader means influencing how the AMT industry
evolves, which could mean influencing the future of manufacturing
itself. I was brief—just planted the idea.
After some Q&A, we spent the rest of the time in roundtable dis-
cussions on two sets of topics: First, what are our strengths? What ini-
tiatives are already moving us toward industry leadership, and how
can we build on those? Second, what are the obstacles to regaining in-
dustry leadership, and how can we remove them? It felt like a great
start. I could feel the energy shift as we began to talk about our
strengths and how we can build on them.
you: What’s it been like working with your executive team?
ed5: My aim is to transform the executive group into a truly collab-
orative leadership team that can essentially function as a collective
CEO, which will free me to focus more on long-term vision and ex-
ternal relationships. They’re already showing a lot of promise. They
designed a very successful meeting to kick off the scenario-based
strategic thinking process we initiated. That meeting generated a great
deal of buzz and lots of good ideas. Great developmental opportunity
for the VPs.
Within the first month, I knew we had the wrong guy as VP of
Manufacturing. We had some heart-to-heart discussions, and he ac-
tually acknowledged that he was in over his head. By mutual consent
we moved him back into a plant manager role and this allowed us to
make some other needed personnel changes. We’re about to replace
him with an extremely competent and innovative guy, someone who
shares my audacious vision for the company. He has extensive expe-
rience creating high-performance, team-based manufacturing
plants—exactly what we need going forward. Very exciting!
you: Have you had any conversations so far that have been especially
challenging?
ed5: The most challenging and interesting conversations have been
with Cecelia. In the early months it was extremely important to her
to see that we were taking tangible steps to return the company to
profitability. However, as she’s gotten more comfortable with me and
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more confident about what I’m doing, she’s been able to relax enough
to have some heart-to-heart conversations about what she wants as
her family’s legacy. I’ve encouraged her to talk about her values, and
we’ve also started to talk about ways we might begin to integrate those
values more fully into how the company operates.
For example, she was willing to support the pilot we’ve started,
where we’ve added environmental efficiency criteria into some process
redesign work we’re doing in one of the manufacturing plants. Down
the road, she’d like to be doing something to support better education
in math and science. But what really sparked her interest is this wild
idea a few of us came up with: Just before I was hired, my predecessor
was thinking about selling off the company’s old tool and die unit, the
last vestige of the Overmyer Tool & Die Company founded by Cecelia’s
great-grandfather. Our idea is to take the unit into the third world
where it can be used to support the development of micro-enterprises
among the poorest of the poor. It’s kind of a crazy idea, but once we’re
profitable again, we might just find a way to make it work.
Overall, I’d say I have a tiger by the tail! You’ve been a very patient
listener. I’m interested in your perspective on all this.
You tell him you think he’s pretty gutsy, and you ask him if he ever
worries that he’s being too idealistic—that he’ll overreach and wind
up crashing if others don’t ultimately share his vision.
“Yeah, sometimes I worry about that,” he replies.“Sometimes I feel
very confident. At other times, I feel I’m being stretched beyond my
capacity. Who knows how this will turn out? The thing is: The under-
lying vision is so compelling, I feel like I just have to go for it. It sure
keeps me on my toes!”
You respond and continue the conversation and before long you
realize that you’re talking about important things in your own life.
Ed5 has become the listener.
INITIAL SELF-ASSESSMENT
Some people who read these scenarios wonder if the post-heroic lev-
els we’ve portrayed aren’t a bit idealistic. A few even want assurances
that these levels are based on sound research.2In fact, although the
preceding scenarios are fictional, each one is research-based, crafted
to be consistent with what clients and interviewees operating at that
agility level have said and done in similar situations. When you get to
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Part Two, you’ll see many connections between the scenarios presented
here and the real-life leadership stories presented in those chapters.
This would be a good time to flip back through the five scenarios
and consider which one best represents the way you exercise leader-
ship.3(You could also use Table 1.1). As we noted earlier, you may find
that you function at somewhat different levels of agility in different
kinds of situations. If so, it’s helpful to note where these variances tend
to occur. Does your level of agility change mainly when you move
from one action arena to another, or are there other situational fac-
tors that cause you to act from different levels of agility?4
You can also begin to ask yourself: Having seen the full spectrum
of leadership agility levels, am I satisfied with where I am now? Sup-
pose you usually operate at the Achiever level, and you’d like to move
to the Catalyst level, but you’re not sure you’d ever want to be a Co-
Creator or Synergist. That’s fine. To shift fully from one level of lead-
ership agility to another requires time and intentionality. So take it
one step at a time. Once you’re firmly established in the next level, sub-
sequent levels may or may not attract your interest.You won’t know
for sure until you get there.
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CHAPTER THREE
Four Competencies
for Agile Leadership
How can you become a more agile leader? We ad-
dress this question more completely in Chapter Ten, but here’s the
short answer: The fastest and most reliable way is to use an integral
approach, one that combines the usual outside-in approach to lead-
ership development with an inside-out approach. Fine, you may say.
But what, exactly, does that mean?
You can increase your agility from the outside-in by developing
agile leadership competencies and putting them repeatedly into ac-
tion. The scenarios in Chapter Two identify behaviors associated with
each of the five agility levels. However, they only hint at the mental
and emotional capacities that make these competencies possible.
Why, for example, does Ed3, the Catalyst, lead his organization in a
more participative manner than Ed2, the Achiever? To answer this
kind of question, we need to understand leadership agility from the
inside-out.
As we noted in the Introduction, leaders develop the capacities
needed for a particular level of agility when they grow into the corre-
sponding stage of personal development. Through extensive research
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and analysis, we have discovered that each developmental stage is es-
sentially a constellation of eight mental and emotional capacities. Each
time you grow into a new developmental stage, this constellation of
capacities matures to a new level. Further, all eight capacities con-
tribute directly to your effectiveness as a leader.
An example of a developmental capacity is stakeholder complex-
ity, the ability to understand and empathize with perspectives that dif-
fer from your own, whether or not you agree with them. One reason
that Ed3’s leadership is more participative than Ed2’s is that Ed3 has
a greater capacity for understanding the perspectives held by his stake-
holders. Achiever-level leaders are frequently advised by coaches and
consultants to act more like Ed3.Yet these behaviors often don’t stick.
Why? It’s usually because achievers haven’t developed the mental and
emotional capacities needed to support participative leadership.1
As you’ll see in Chapter Ten, an integral approach to leadership
development makes it possible to develop new capacities and learn
new leadership behaviors at the same time. When you use this ap-
proach, new leadership behaviors come more easily, and they feel
more natural.2
THE