I admit it, I am a geek. I love HR scorecards. Yes, Managing and Measuring Work is my #1 Competency (out of Lominger’s 67) on my Voices® feedback, and sure, sometimes it teeters into “Overuse”. So, I don’t have to tell you how excited I was when I learned that Dr. Mark Huselid, Professor of HR Strategy at Rutgers University, was presenting at our conference. As you may know, Huselid is renowned for his research and teaching on the development of balanced measurement systems to reflect the contribution of the workforce, workforce management systems, and the HR management function to strategy execution and business success.

His information on The Differentiated Workforce is a way to “dig our way out of the recession” and invest in our talent. The context of business has changed as growth strategy and growth challenges have huge implications for our work in HR and Talent Systems.

Huselid boiled down a larger tactical list to a formula for implementation that was less complicated. He advised us to focus on three key things; 1) How we grow, 2) Determining the capabilities we need, and 3) What should (we in) HR do about it?

Here’s his advice:

Check your Company’s Vision - is it full of gobbledygook?, or “inadequate articulation?” Huselid says, “Strategy is just as much about what you’re not going to do, as it is about what you’re doing.” You should be so clear that when you mention what you do at home your kids understand. Then you’ve got it right.

Have a Strategic Focus – Determine what’s it going to take to win in the future – think about products, markets, offerings, etc. Understand that separating out the parts of your business that need to compete in different ways, also need to be managed differently.

Determine Strategic Capabilities – Create bundles of organizational capabilities (capabilities are to the organization as competencies are to the individual). What do you HAVE to be GREAT at? How good is good enough? Where must you really succeed? What kind of experience is your customer willing to pay for? What does the infrastructure need to look like to make that happen? Plan for the capabilities that allow you to compete. Look at certain jobs as smart investment decisions.

Overall, the formula for implementation Huselid recommended is essentially “the hard part of measurement.” Once you figure out WHAT to measure, the actual measuring is easy.

That just might make “geeks” out of all of us.

Tackling the challenge of integrating talent management takes killer instinct and energy. No wonder Ed Newman, President of the Newman Group channeled the “Chi or Ki” of 150+ practitioners through breathing, movement and an energy summoning warm up. Worried the participants were going to start kicking, I was relieved the activity ended there – but the point was well taken; we’re going to have to come out fighting to combat the issues of integrated talent management.

Ed demonstrated his deep practitioner knowledge and experience through his presentation on:

	What’s Driving Integrated Talent Management? – Ed reinforced, we are squarely in the “Age of Talent.” He illustrated this point with the cake baking example from the book, One Page Talent Management: Eliminating Complexity, Adding Value (Efron and Ort, 2010). In essence, simplicity of the system will win over something thought of as “too complex to implement”. Note to self: learn to bake.
	The ITM Framework – Strategic process integration, common language and scalability will help break through the silos in HR – another plea to keep it simple.
	Workforce Planning - Workforce Planning is the process that provides strategic direction to talent management activities ensuring we have the right people, in the right place, at the right time (and at the right price) to execute the business strategy. I have heard this phrase for years – but tactically the steps of workforce planning make this a reality.
	Process Integration – For those of us systems thinking geeks, I loved the process mapping and swim-lanes Ed provided, along with his mention of SIPOCs: the six sigma acronym that stands for Suppliers, Inputs, Process, Outputs, and Customers. In short, connect with the greater system; or we will never be taken seriously.
	Competency Management – Ed admitted he was “preaching to the choir” in this area (the conference of course attracts attendees with competency know-how), and most of us agree competencies are the “red threads” that weave talent management all together and describe what success really looks like.
	Technology Solutions – Ed spoke of enough techie-related acronyms to make my head swim, but, LMS, CRM, HPRS and the like, are critical to setting a foundation for a talent system to run. He also mentioned a resource he created that focuses on the leading talent management technology vendors used by Fortune 1000 organizations (Talent Management Technologies: A Buyer's Guide to New, Innovative Solutions, by Schweyer, Newman, DeVries, 2009). This should help us sort it all out – even the scary acronyms.

In essence we ended where we started…ENERGIZED. Doesn’t matter whether it’s Chi/Ki (the basic circulating energy of life)...or the verve needed to tackle integrated talent. I think we’re ready. Thanks Ed.

One of the most awaited sessions in any Korn/Ferry/Lominger conference is the “What’s New?” session about products. The Intellectual Property and Research team (Kim Ruyle, Ken De Meuse and Evelyn Orr) started the day with an overview of how they are working to continue the legacy of Lominger founders Bob Eichinger and Mike Lombardo. Here are a few Highlights:

FYI for Engagement™ – Wondering why people seem less-than-thrilled at work? Tasked with measuring engagement? Engagement is a Korn/Ferry/Lominger service offering and product designed to help organizations assess and increase levels of engagement in the general employee population as well as in targeted groups of high-potential employees.

FYI for Insight™ – Not just a book (albeit smaller and easier to carry than many Lominger resources), but also an on-line assessment…brings about self awareness at the factor and cluster level (of the Lominger library we know and love); Another connection to the importance of “knowing thyself” and being self aware.

Learning Agility Assessment – A new way to assess external candidates and supplement behavioral interviews for Learning Agility – helping us cast a wider net for talent. The Q and A section of this session was lively. How will this new IP be rolled out to practitioners? How does this impact the domain of Learning Agility and the Choices Architect® instrument? Stay tuned…this will be good.

So, the legacy indeed continues…the science-based tools we rely on are consistent and strong.

Kevin Cashman started his presentation this afternoon by stating: “Love is an extreme case of appreciation” and that we were all present at this conference for a key unifying theme. He’s right – everyone here is crazy for the Lominger tools. It’s amazing how many people have laughingly told me they “are sipping the kool-aide”. We’ve formed an amazing following.

When asked in full group who had been touched by the work of Bob Eichinger, the entire room of 150+ stood up and erupted into hoots and hollers of appreciative applause. It was a nice moment and a nice introduction to a presentation on the State of Leadership.

Likely typical of the too-busy leader, I haven’t spent a lot of time concentrating on my own “sense of purpose” or the “significance of my leadership contribution”. Kevin essentially delivered a wake-up call, and brought the “heart” of investing in our own leadership to the forefront. He has a way of shaking us a bit emotionally and bringing us back to the powerful reasons why leaders are called…leaders.

He took us down a path of multiple models to integrate in our Leadership authenticity:

	Model One: Leadership is a State
	Model Two: Leaders Do Not Manage Change, Leaders Accelerate Change
	Model Three: Leadership Development Is both Inside-Out and Outside-In
	Model Four: There May Be a Meta-Competency to Leadership Development
	Model Five: Purpose is the Transformational Force of Personal & Organizational Leadership
	Model Six: Organizational Transformation Begins with Personal Transformation

Listening to him, I thought: self discovery is hard work. But then, a long time client brought it together for me with a final comment during Q &A, He commented, “With this kind of reflection and integration of thought from people like Bob Eichinger, Kevin Cashman, Ken Brousseau, and countless others – we’ve create a powerful alloy.” The client’s word choice struck me. Alloying one component with another often enhances the original properties – making it stronger, yet different -- steel, stronger than iron (its primary element). Together, with the layering of all these element we ARE stronger – we ARE different. And, as followers, we appreciate this newness too.

In a world full of complexity and ambiguity – leaders bring clarity and hope, and accelerate change –in themselves and in others.

The possibilities are endless (or as Kevin said, Googol-esque).

Lominger founder and Leadership Guru Bob Eichinger took us on a whirlwind trip (travel log and quirky vacation snaps included) through the essential Talent Management issues and skills needed to be a Legacy Leader during his keynote speech at the Chicago, Leadership Transformation Conference today. What a path we traveled!

The world has lots of ‘regular’ leaders—we’ve all seen and heard experienced leaders who FAIL for one reason or another. Maybe they were new to the management role (30-50% of managers fail in their first management assignment), or maybe it’s that CEO who failed because he/she mismanaged change. The reasons are numerous, typical and downright concerning – but the truth is, as Eichinger states, “smart people are failing as leaders.” They can’t seem to manage organizations and people through periods of change and turmoil. To make matters even more challenging, jobs are getting bigger, and younger workers may lack the experience to take them on. This issue has been coined as “The Young and Clueless” (Bunker, 2002).

Legacy Leaders leverage essential things: they know themselves, they leverage others, they leverage information, and stay agile in the face of change.

Legacy Leadership travel log and must do list:

Know thyself: While we all may agree with feedback on our strengths, we tend to differ more with others about our weaknesses – especially about our interpersonal weaknesses. Go figure. Bad new: Self assessment is not a good lens for how we come across to others. Lack of self awareness is the real career killer. Check out FYI for Insight™ (launched earlier this month).

Leverage Others – The ability to close your mouth, and engage your ears is not a skill issue – but you knew that already. Eichinger asserted it’s more of an attitudinal issue. How you react to others’ input is really about the benefit received by the person you’re listening to. “Being listened to!” along with the input are the real benefits. No Kumbaya’ here, just smart leadership.

Leverage learning agility (the ability to learn from experience and do well in first time situations). Use GAG assignments (going against the grain) as the best way to bust out of the status quo and challenge others (and yourself) to act differently.


In the end, legacy leadership transformation is a journey. Adjusting our approaches, being adaptable and adjusting to the change around us – is a trip meant for the hearty, rugged, legacy leader … and truly involves a road leaders should travel more often.