The 3 Imperatives of Becoming a Great Leader

Linda Hill Susan Zeidman

Author, Being the Boss American Management Association

Today’s Presenter

Linda A. Hill Ph.D., is the Wallace Brett Donham Professor

of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School.
She is the faculty chair of the Leadership Initiative and has
chaired numerous HBS Executive Education programs,
including the Young Presidents' Organization Presidents'
Seminar and the High Potentials Leadership Program. She
is the coauthor with Kent Lineback of Being the Boss: The 3
Imperatives of Becoming a Great Leader and Breakthrough
Leadership, a blended cohort-based program that helps
organizations transform midlevel managers into more
effective leaders. She is also the author of Becoming a
Manager: How New Managers Master the Challenges of
Leadership (2nd Edition). In 2014, Professor Hill
coauthored a book entitled Collective Genius: The Art and
Practice of Leading Innovation.

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 ARE YOU GOOD ENOUGH?

Value Creators

Game Changers

© Copyright 2014, Linda A. Hill

IDENTIFYING & CLOSING GAPS

We Could

We Should Opportunity
Gap
Performance
Gap
Where We Are Now

Source: Adapted from Tushman & O’Rielly

© Copyright 2014, Linda A. Hill

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 THE THREE IMPERATIVES

Managing
Yourself

© Copyright 2014, Linda A. Hill

Imperative 1:
MANAGE YOURSELF

© Copyright 2014, Linda A. Hill

3
 CAN PEOPLE TRUST YOU?

Character + Competence = Trust

© Copyright 2014, Linda A. Hill

Imperative 2:
MANAGE YOUR NETWORK

© Copyright 2014, Linda A. Hill

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 THREE TYPES OF NETWORKS

 Strategic
 Operational
 Developmental

© Copyright 2014, Linda A. Hill

PREPARING FOR THE FUTURE

 By leveraging my strategic network, I can keep abreast of key trends
(priorities, constraints, capabilities) in my organization that impact my
area of responsibility.
Extremely Extremely
Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 Agree

 By leveraging my strategic network, I can keep abreast of key trends

(opportunities and challenges) in the competitive environment that impact
my area of responsibility.

Extremely Extremely
Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 Agree

© Copyrighted 2011, Linda A. Hill and Kent Lineback, Being the Boss: The Imperatives for Becoming a Leader

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YOUR STRATEGIC NETWORK

Build Outward, Not Inward

© Copyrighted 2011, Linda A. Hill and Kent Lineback, Being the Boss: The Imperatives for Becoming a Leader

ENTREPRENEURIAL NETWORK

© Copyrighted 2011, Linda A. Hill and Kent Lineback, Being the Boss: The Imperatives for Becoming a Leader

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 THREE TYPES OF NETWORKS

 Strategic
 Operational
 Developmental

© Copyright 2014, Linda A. Hill

YOUR OPERATIONAL NETWORK

Describe the extent to which your relationships
are characterized by the following?
Scale from 1 (not at all) to 5 (a great deal)

Mutual 1 2 3 4 5
Expectations

Mutual 1 2 3 4 5
Trust

Mutual
1 2 3 4 5
Influence
© Copyrighted 2011, Linda A. Hill and Kent Lineback, Being the Boss: The Imperatives for Becoming a Leader

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 COHESIVE NETWORK

© Copyrighted 2011, Linda A. Hill and Kent Lineback, Being the Boss: The Imperatives for Becoming a Leader

WHAT IS YOUR POSITION?

© Copyrighted 2011, Linda A. Hill and Kent Lineback, Being the Boss: The Imperatives for Becoming a Leader

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ARE YOU NETWORK IMPAIRED?

The Wrong The Wrong The Wrong

Structure Relationships Behavior
The The
The Formalist Disconnected Superficial
Expert Networker

The
The Biased The
Overloaded
Leader Chameleon
Manager

Source: Cross and Thomas

© Copyrighted 2011, Linda A. Hill and Kent Lineback, Being the Boss: The Imperatives for Becoming a Leader

SUMMARY OF TACTICAL ADVICE

 Overestimate dependencies
 Periodically assess your networks
Missing or underrepresented
Over-reliant
Underutilized
Cultivate, maintain, repair, strengthen
 Think long-term
 Broaden your view
 Bridging and brokering
 Develop a style that works for you

© Copyright 2011, Linda A. Hill and Kent Lineback, Being the Boss: The Imperatives for Becoming a Leader

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 Imperative 3:
MANAGE YOUR TEAM

© Copyright 2014, Linda A. Hill

WHAT IS YOUR PLAN?

Who Did You Consult?

You
Priorities

Who Knows?

© Copyright 2014, Linda A. Hill

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 TEAM EFFECTIVENESS
How effective is your team?
Scale from 1 (not at all) to 5 (a great deal)

Performance 1 2 3 4 5

Member 1 2 3 4 5
Satisfaction & Development

1 2 3 4 5
Capability of
Team to Learn & Adapt Together

© Copyright 2014, Linda A. Hill

IMPERATIVE 3: MANAGE YOUR TEAM

CULTURE

CAPABILITIES

© Copyright 2014, Linda A. Hill

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 ASSESSING YOUR PREFERRED STYLE
Unleash Harness

Individual 1 2 3 4 5 Collective

1 2 3 4 5 Confrontation
Support
Learning & 1 2 3 4 5 Performance
Development
Improvisation 1 2 3 4 5 Structure
Patience 1 2 3 4 5
Urgency
Bottom-up 1 2 3 4 5
Top-down

© Copyright 2014, Linda A. Hill Copyrighted © 2010 Hill, Brandeau, Stecker

DEVELOPMENTAL STRATEGIES
Fit/Learning
Opportunity
Stretch Network of
Assignments Relationships

Expertise

Results

Track Record/
Credibility
Stretch Assignments/
Positional Power
Network Grows/Centrality
(Relevance, Autonomy,
Visibility) Begins to Grow
Expertise

Results

Track Record/
Credibility
Stretch Assignments/
Positional Power
Network Continues to Grow
(including Formal Authority)
Begins to Grow

© Copyright 2014, Linda A. Hill

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 DEVELOPMENTAL NETWORK

CAREER PSYCHO-SOCIAL

Sponsorship Role Modeling

Coaching Counseling
Protection Acceptance
Exposure Friendship
Challenge

© Copyright 2014, Linda A. Hill

THE THREE IMPERATIVES

Managing
Yourself

© Copyright 2014, Linda A. Hill

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Thank You!

Linda A. Hill, Ph.D

WOMEN’S
LEADERSHIP CENTER
Connect, Learn, and Thrive
www.amanet.org/WLC

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AMA recommends:

Executive Presence for Women

Seminar #2179

Developing Executive Leadership

Seminar #2501

The Voice of Leadership: How Leaders

Inspire, Influence and Achieve Results
Seminar #2530

Playbook Blog: playbook.amanet.org

LinkedIn group: AMA-Women's Leadership Network

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The Women’s Leadership Center
April 20 Webcast
Your Own Terms: Taking Charge of Any Negotiation with
Yasmin Davidds
July 13 Webcast:
Training our Brains: What Neuroscience Can Teach Us
About Leadership
with Dr. Stacie Grossman Bloom
September 21 Webcast:
Get Big Things Done: Unleash your Connectional
Intelligence
with Erica Dhawan

Find out more about the Women’s Leadership Center

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