Leaders: Born Then Made

November 17. 2005
In a recent Wall Street Journal poll, 170 business leaders were asked the age old question, "Are Leaders Born or Made?" Forty-five percent (45%) of the respondents felt that leadership ability was an innate quality while fifty-five percent (55%) believed that leadership ability was acquired.

At The McQuaig Institute, we have had the opportunity to assess the temperament of leaders across many industries for three decades using The McQuaig System. We measure the natural tendencies that an individual is born with, such as competitiveness, patience, self-reliance or empathy. Your temperament determines your patterns of behaviour.

After reviewing research data we decided to test a hypothesis that runs contrary to the Wall Street Journal poll findings: Leaders are born as opposed to made.

We reviewed two research studies we conducted in the last six years. A total of 2,153 leaders in the USA, Australia and in Canada were assessed. The leaders were CEOs and Presidents of small to mid-sized businesses.

Here is how we tested the hypothesis:

1. Most psychologists agree that your temperament is genetic. You are wired a certain way when you are born and your patterns of behaviour remain stable over time.

2. If a significant percentage of the leaders in our study have common temperament traits, then it would be reasonable to assume that leaders are born, since they have had these traits since birth.

McQuaig has identified a trait combination that we have found associated with leadership effectiveness in prior studies. If an individual scores strongly on these traits we refer to them as "natural leaders":

1. Dominant > Competitive and Goal Oriented

2. Independent > Self-reliant and Unstructured

Of the 2,153 CEOs we assessed, 78% of them were "natural leaders", well above the percentage found in the business population*. From this we might draw the conclusion that 78% of leaders are born and 22% are made.

We believe a more accurate conclusion is that leaders are born with the right raw materials. If they combine this with the skills, knowledge, values and aspirations they may become effective leaders. Leaders are born, then made.

Succession Planning Implications:

As baby boomers begin to retire, developing the next generation of leaders has become a key focus for many companies. Assessing high potentials is a critical step in the process. If you would like to know about how to identify "natural leaders" within your organization and to develop action plans to help them take it to the next level, please contact us.

Talent War Looms in hiring boom: CATAAlliance

Ottawa, November 7, 2005
A New Report sounds a wake up call for industry, government and academia to take immediate action to avoid major roadblocks in the growth of enterprises reliant on knowledge based workers for growth. Conducted by CATAAlliance, and based on Ottawa as a first study cluster, the Report focused on how Ottawa-based SME's (between 20 and 500 employees) view the current and near future market for knowledge workers. The Report has a wealth of statistical data and analysis (see Survey methodology and highlights section).

"The perceptions, attitudes and actions captured in this survey indicate that once again there is a high demand for skilled knowledge workers in Ottawa. Our research revealed that 75% of the surveyed companies were currently in the process of hiring. More than 45% of these companies indicated that hiring the necessary talent was already somewhat difficult to difficult. Combine this with results that indicated an additional 15% of respondents not actively hiring today will begin to do so during the next twelve months and you have a strong argument that the Ottawa high-technology sector is in the midst of another hiring boom" said Keith Carter, CATA Director and Vice President, Business Development of Procom Consultants Group, adding "Unfortunately, our research indicated that these same companies who achieve business success through process- and goal-oriented practices do not extend a similarly structured approach to what is ostensibly their most valuable asset: human capital. What's more, our results showed that many companies are utilizing the same methods of accessing knowledge workers used widely during the tech boom and bust, a costly mistake that fed turnover, accelerated labour costs and contributed to sizable business losses or closures."

Who said the War was over?

The country's high technology sector is facing the highest employment rate since June 2000: the apex of the high tech explosion. Although 56% of respondents indicated that Ottawa had enough knowledge workers to satisfy their company's demands, 70% of respondents indicated that they will search outside Ottawa when looking for additional skilled labour. This suggests that local demands for skilled labour are already testing the limits of local supply. In combination with short supply issues, recent Accenture research suggests that companies will also compete to keep existing talent as well. It is generally believed that in the near future the labour market will be extremely turbulent and that turnover will be a leading concern for most enterprises. It seems clear that Ottawa tech firms are once again at war with one another for human capital.

Proven HR Management Methods Not Utilized

Of great concern to CATAAlliance was a key finding that the overwhelming majority of SMEs don't utilize best- practices to obtain and retain human capital. It is strongly believed that these practices should be structured and should form the basis for a holistic human capital management strategy. The results indicated that a mere 6% of the companies surveyed used a recognized, certified methodology to obtain and retain their most valuable asset, people. Furthermore, 3/4 of the companies surveyed do not measure ROI as it relates to human capital. When companies talk about their people as being their most valuable asset, CATAAlliance believes they then must quantify those assets the same way they do other aspects of their operations.

Contingent Workers (i.e., contractors/consultants/part time)

Not Fully Utilized Although almost half of the respondents agreed that accessing the labour market for traditional knowledge workers was at least somewhat difficult the survey also revealed that Ottawa SMEs do not appear to consider contingent labour as an option for addressing this problem and enhancing their overall human capital strategy. The survey results show that although respondents perceive the composition of the entire labour market accurately they don't access the contingent market to the same degree that they perceive it. In short they use far less contingent labour than is available to them. These results contrast current significant research that shows that U.S. companies are heavily leaning toward the use of contingent labour to achieve address shortages, gain flexibility and achieve cost savings.

Carter said "Sadly, these results strongly suggest that most firms in this survey are ignoring the root causes of workforce challenges, with obsolete recruitment processes and no way of measuring their ROI. At the same time leading employers are beginning to recognize that a best-practices approach to human capital is a prudent, cost-effective response that guards the interests of employers and employees alike. Companies that act on this knowledge will establish a cost-effective and sustainable competitive advantage through their ability to measure, identify and retain the region's best talent. Companies that continue with their unstructured and antiquated approaches to recruitment and retention will have failed to heed the lessons of the previous high tech hiring frenzy, and are likely to repeat the same mistakes"

John Reid, CATAAlliance President concluded, " The overall results sound a serious wake up call for the Ottawa and Canadian high-technology sector to take immediate steps to avoid repeating past mistakes. Given the current labour climate, companies seeking growth and shareholder value need to re-examine their overall human capital management process."

CATA mobilized its Board of Directors last week to develop innovative and practical solutions to the problem of attracting, training and retaining skilled talent to propel industry growth.

Study Methodology and Highlights Section

In August and September of 2005, CATAAlliance conducted a survey of local executives in the National Capital Region, which encompasses Ottawa, Ontario and Gatineau, Quebec. All of the respondents represent small-to medium-sized enterprises, or small-to medium-sized operations, with between 20 and 500 employees. The Survey was sponsored by Procom Consultants Group. Out of the 237 companies in the original survey sample, invitations to 180 invites were delivered and 102 companies responded and completed the online survey, for an overall response rate of 43.0%.

Their responses help to answer questions like:

• How is today's executive structuring his or her organization to meet today's human capital requirements?
• Do executive perceptions match market realities?
• Can companies compete in today's labour market using yesterday's hiring techniques?

Presented below are the highlights:
High tech in Ottawa: the current market

• Ottawa SMEs hire the majority of their knowledge workers locally
• 75% of them are currently hiring knowledge workers
• 40% hire in Ottawa exclusively
• 46% find it is somewhat difficult to hire qualified knowledge workers
• 50% believe the contingent labour market is growing significantly

The future workforce and labour market

• 90% of SMEs surveyed plan to hire knowledge workers over the next 12 months
• 70% of them will hire 3/4 of their knowledge workers locally
• 30% hire in Ottawa exclusively
• 40% predict a growth in traditional labour in excess of 10%
• 25% predict a growth in contingent labour in excess of 10%

Perceptions and process in hiring

• 55% of SMEs indicate that primary disadvantage of traditional staff is cost
• 28% of them indicate that the prime disadvantage of contingent staff is lack of loyalty
• Only 6% of SMEs use a recognized/certified approach to hiring traditional staff
• Only 1% of them use a recognized/certified approach to hiring contingent staff
• 92% hire traditional workers directly
• 65% engage contingent knowledge workers directly
• 78% do not use metrics to measure ROI on traditional workers
• 82% do not use metrics to measure ROI on contingent workers

Action Item:: To Obtain a Summary Copy of the Survey and Report (CATA members only), please contact Cathi Malette at email cmalette@cata.ca Full Reports will be forwarded to all survey participants directly.

Job serendipity: Give luck a chance
Globe and Mail
by Kevin Marron

May 18, 2005
New opportunities often arise out of happenstance encounters -- but you have to be open to where they can lead, KEVIN MARRON writes When Tracey Fellowes decided to run a marathon, she had no idea she'd also be running into a chance meeting that would take her career in a whole new direction.

In 1995, Ms. Fellowes was a 37-year-old single mother, earning a modest income as an executive for a cash-strapped, non-profit organization, when she struck up a friendship with another woman in her marathon training group -- a Xerox Canada Inc. executive who urged her to apply for a sales job with her company.

Ms. Fellowes decided to take her friend up on the risky suggestion of changing careers, went to Xerox's sales school and began to work for the company on commission. That marked the beginning of a new career path that led her to senior sales positions at Oracle, EDS Canada Inc. and the former AT&T Canada. Now a senior sales manager in Calgary for Allstream, a unit of Manitoba Telecom Services Inc., Ms. Fellowes looks back on the chance encounter that first opened the door to a successful new career and wonders: Was it luck that got her to where she is today? Or was it just an ability to see an opportunity and run with it?

It is a question many successful people ask themselves as they think about the role chance encounters have played in determining the course of their careers. And that role factors in more frequently than you might think.

Countless people have stumbled on new career opportunities from striking up a conversation with a plane seat mate, chatting with a stranger in a movie lineup or turning to the topic of work at a party. Constance Stevens, a career counsellor in Davis, Calif., has coined a name for such encounters. She calls it "career serendipity" and maintains it involves more than just a happy accident. People tend to stumble onto new career opportunities, she says, when they do something different that takes them outside their normal routine and comfort zone. But then they have to be receptive to opportunities that present themselves, she adds.

As Vancouver career coach Marlene Hayley puts it: "People have to make themselves available for luck to show up." You have to be willing to tell people that you are interested in a career opportunity. You also need to be clear about what you want and able to describe your skills. Otherwise, people will not know how to help you, says Ms. Hayley, the owner of Find Work You Love Inc.

Many people find out about opportunities through chance encounters and casual conversations for the simple reason that many jobs are never posted, says career consultant Tim Cork, president of Toronto-based NexCareer. So it is a way to tap into the huge hidden job market. Chance encounters lead to career breaks, he says, "when preparation meets opportunity."

Ted Clarke turned a chance encounter into an opportunity to land a new job soon after he was laid off from a senior human resources management position with a manufacturing company in Kingston, Ont., in 1985. Mr. Clarke recalls how he fell into a conversation with the newspaper vendor from whom he routinely bought a paper. When the vendor observed that he was picking it up earlier than usual, Mr. Clarke explained that he'd just been laid off. The vendor then told him that he'd just been talking to another customer who had also been laid off from an HR position but had received two new job offers -- one of which he would reject. From the news vendor's description, Mr. Clarke was able to identify the other man as a former colleague. He contacted the man, found out about the job he was rejecting and then called the company with that opening. He got the position -- a human resource manager at a medical supply company -- that his colleague had turned down. Mr. Clarke, who now runs his own human resources consulting business, J.

Edward Clarke & Associates in Peterborough, Ont., advises job seekers to tell everyone and anyone that they are looking for work, since you never know where you might find that crucial lead. "Personally, I wouldn't hesitate to tell my barber," he says. "You never know who will be sitting in the barber's chair after you or who was there before you."

Some people seem to be luckier than others in their careers, as in love or other human endeavours, according to Richard Wiseman, a professor of psychology at the University of Hertfordshire in Britain and the author of The Luck Factor. He says people who believe themselves to be lucky make their own luck by having a positive attitude and taking more chances.

Luck is what you make of it, adds David Friendly, a senior oil company executive who got his start in the industry in the early 1970s, while a student working part-time at a Toronto service station. He offered a ride to a customer whose car was being repaired and got into a conversation about his graduate work in environmental studies. The customer turned out to be the chairman of Gulf Canada Ltd. A few months later, he offered Mr. Friendly a job with Gulf's fledgling environmental department.

It was the beginning of a long and successful career with Gulf Canada and then Petro-Canada, which acquired parts of Gulf Canada in 1985. All kinds of career opportunities involve an element of luck, says Mr. Friendly, now senior adviser for total loss management at Calgary-based Petro-Canada. "Is it any different from sending a bunch of rŽsumŽs out and getting lucky enough that one of them gets read by the right person?" he asks.

Ms. Fellowes observes that many people in her profession stumbled onto their career path by chance. "No one went to university and said, 'Gee, I'd like to be in sales,' " she says. And now that she is in a position to hire sales staff for her team, Ms. Fellowes says she is constantly on the lookout for the right qualities in people she happens to meet -- such as the ability to see an opportunity where others would see a risk, and to listen to other people. "You cannot assess those qualities from a rŽsumŽ," she adds. So if you're open to the possibility of a new career in sales, it wouldn't hurt to bump into Ms. Fellowes running along the trails by Calgary's Bow River. "I might just try to recruit you," she says.

Make your own luck

Here are tips culled from experts on how to make your own luck out of chance encounters:

• Know what you are looking for so you will recognize an opportunity when you see it.
• Engage in all kinds of activities -- sports, arts, volunteer work, whatever your interests -- because you don't have chance meetings sitting at home.
• Tell everyone you know you are looking for work or interested in a career change.
• You never know who or what they may know.
• Explain clearly your skills and what you're looking for to give other people a chance to make connections for you.
• Believe in your own luck and take risks.
• You can't win the job lottery if you never buy a ticket.