The Tango of Speed and Quality—The Key to Achieving Both

© 2017 Zenger Folkman

The Tango of Speed and QualityThe Key to Achieving Both

Jack Zenger and Joe Folkman


Joe Folkman, Ph.D., is globally recognized as a top leader in the field of psychometrics, leadership, and change. He is a consultant to some of the world’s most successful organizations, a best-selling author, and a frequent keynote speaker and conference presenter. His research has been reported in numerous publications including, The Harvard Business Review, Forbes, CLO Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post, Business Insider, CNN, and others.

For more go to: http://zengerfolkman.com/joe/

Dr. Joe FolkmanPRESIDENT

Jack Zenger, D.B.A., is a world-renowned behavioral scientist, best-selling author, consultant, and a national columnist for Forbes and Harvard Business Review. With more than five decades of experience in leadership development, he is recognized as world expert in the field of people development and organizational behavior. His ability to connect with Executives and audiences through compelling research and inspiring stories make him an influential and highly and sought-after consultant and speaker.

For more go to: http://zengerfolkman.com/jack/

Dr. Jack ZengerCHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER


Data Helps Individual Leaders to Develop and also Reveals Insights


Compare the best against the rest andidentify what separated the two groups.

We Often Analyze the Characteristics of High Performing Leaders for an Organization


Three items were: • Spot problems or trends early.• Quickly respond to problems.• Quickly make needed changes.

In Many Organizations, Three Items Clustered Together

Leadership Speed


Jack Welch in the Chairman’s letter in the General Electric year 2000 Annual Report introduced the mantra:• Speed• Simplicity• Self-Confidence

Is Leadership Speed a New Idea?

Speed was a valuable insight

then. Now we have convincing data to

support it.


Powerful Combinations

• Combinations for competencies are invariably more predictive of overall leadership effectiveness than any one competency alone.

• When we identified leadership speed as a competency, people assumed this was all about how fast a person accomplished work.

• Should leaders focus only on doing work fast?


What is More Important: Doing Things Fast or Doing Things Right?

*51,137 leaders in our global 360-degree database

(A)Doing Things

Fast

(B)Doing Things

Right


If You Are Effective At Doing Things Fast…

(A)Doing Things

Fast

(B)Doing Things

Right

If this IS a strength… But this ISN’T…

The probability of being an extraordinary leader: 2%


If You Are Effective At Doing Things Right…

(A)Doing Things

Fast

(B)Doing Things

Right

If this ISN’T a strength… But this IS…

The probability of being an extraordinary leader: 3%


If You Are Effective At Doing Both, You Get a “Powerful Combination”

(A)Doing Things

Fast

(B)Doing Things

Right

If these are BOTH strengths…

The probability of being an extraordinary leader: 3% +2%

=5%

96%!


Leadership SpeedThe ability to Execute Fast and Execute Right


Quality & Speed are Both Extremely Important, but They are Not the Same

A manufacturing metaphor may be helpful:• Product must meet specifications. • Once met, there is no benefit to going beyond.

Speed has an almost limitless variability:• Greater speed creates greater value (as long as

quality is maintained).• Provides the greatest opportunity for continuous

improvement.


Impact of Speed While Maintaining Quality

• Years ago it took days to exchange dies in a metal fabricating plant.

• That was reduced to hours by the Japanese.• Ultimately, it got down to minutes to make the

exchange, with obvious impact on productivity.


What is Leadership Speed?

Quick Pace +

Quality =Leadership

Speed

Increase the

PACE


Why Leadership Speed is Important?


Impact to You, the Team, the Organization


Impact to You—EffectivenessYou are seen as 2x more effective.

Below the 75th Percentile Top Quartile

Leadership Speed Rating

Ove

rall

Lead

ersh

ip E

ffect

iven

ess

Rat

ing

40th

83rd

2x more effective


Impact to You—Performance

Poor Leadership Speed Great Leadership SpeedOnly 13% received “Exceed” or “Far

Exceed” performance ratings74% received “Exceed” or “Far Exceed”

performance ratings


No downside!

Impact to Team

1 - 50 51 - 75 76 - 85 86 - 95 96 97 98 99 1000

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

4153

6167

73 74 75 81 83

Leadership Speed Percentile

Empl

oyee

Eng

agem

ent P

erce

ntile


Impact to the Organization

Bottom 10% Next 25% Next 30% Next 25% Top 10%0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Leadership Speed Percentile

Perc

enta

ge o

f Hig

hly

Com

mitt

ed E

mpl

oyee

s


Key Takeaways—Impact to You

Improve your effectiveness and performance.


Key Takeaways—Impact to the Team

Increase engagement of those around you.


Key Takeaways—Impact to the Organization

Organizational speed is a key strategic differentiator.


Quantity or Quality Focus is Situational

General

Man

agem

ent

Sales

Marke

ting

Produ

ct Dev

elopmen

t

Informati

on Tech

nology

Enginee

ring

Resear

ch and

Deve

lopment

Financ

e and

Acc

ounti

ng

Manufa

cturin

g

Opera

tions

HR, Tra

ining

Facilit

ies M

gmt, M

aintena

nce

Customer S

ervic

eLe

gal

Administr

ative

, Cleric

al

Quality

Manage

ment

Safety-1.00

-0.50

0.00

0.50

1.00

1.50

2.001.70

1.53 1.46 1.39 1.361.20

0.77 0.76 0.70 0.690.55 0.55

0.230.03

-0.04-0.29

-0.70

QuantityFocus

QualityFocus

High Quantity Focus Functions Moderate Quantity Focus Functions Quality Focus Functions

Results from 4,934 Respondents


Quantity or Quality Focus is Situational

-3.00

-2.00

-1.00

0.00

1.00

2.00

3.00 2.642.232.14

1.811.811.781.781.731.631.621.611.531.461.261.101.060.970.950.840.770.64

0.360.330.220.110.020.00

-0.25-0.52

-1.81

QuantityFocus

QualityFocus




Quantity or Quality Focus and Productivity Per Hour

Switzer

land

Belgium

Netherla

nds

France

Australi

a

Irelan

d

United K

ingdo

m

Singapo

reSpain

Greec

eIta

ly

Canad

a

United S

tates

German

yBra

zil

Hong K

ongIndia

New Z

ealan

d

Costa

Rica

Thaila

nd

Mexico

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

-0.50

0.00

0.50

1.00

1.50

2.00

2.50

3.002.64

2.23 2.141.81 1.81 1.78 1.78 1.73 1.61

1.46

1.10 1.06 0.97 0.95 0.84 0.77 0.640.36

0.11 0.02

-0.25

Quantity - Quality Productivity

Pro

duct

ivity

per

Hou

r

QuantityFocus

QualityFocus




Quantity or Quality Focus and Perceived Need for the Organization to Move Fast

Top Management Senior Management Middle Management Supervisors0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

0.00

0.20

0.40

0.60

0.80

1.00

1.20

1.40

1.60

1.801.63

1.31

1.07

0.13

77%

69% 70%

62%

Quantity - Quality Need for Org to Move Faster

% A

gree

QuantityFocus

QualityFocus




Most People Feel a Need to Increase Their Speed

75% 60% 67%

Too often I am frustrated that our

organization moves too slow and gets stalled.

If this organization were to move faster, it would

substantially influence our success.

I feel that I am often expected to move faster

and do more.


“Human beings have never opted for slower.”

—Historian Stephen Kern


What Can You Do to Increase Your Pace?

• Get things moving faster in the morning with showers, make-up, shaving, and dressing.

• At work, there are ways to increase the pace of conversations, accelerate meetings, delegate tasks to others, and use the latest technology.

• One elects to either walk slowly or briskly. Pace is within each individual’s control.

• Each person listening to this webinar can think of specific steps they could take to move at a more rapid pace.


Meeting Speed

• 15 percent of a workweek involves attending meetings in most organizations.

• Speed of the meeting depends upon the skill of the person facilitating it.

• Development of leaders can accelerate the pace of meetings.


Be a Role Model of a Quick Pace

“The speed of the leader determines the speed of the team.”


Be a Role Model of a Quick Pace

• Jeffrey Immelt, the CEO of GE, told a group of leaders inside that everyone to have a personal plan of development.

• One audience member asked him “So what is your plan for development?”

• Immelt quickly replied, “I need to accelerate the pace of my decision-making.”


• We define leadership speed as the ability to do things fast and right.

• For some people, a quality focus encourages them to slow down, but others are able to achieve quality and have a faster pace.

HBR.org “The Traits of Leaders Who Do Things Fast and Well” by Jack Zenger and Joe Folkman

How Does Quality Impact Speed?

Quality - Slow Pace Quality - Fast Pace0

102030405060708090

100

50 50

Per

cent

age

What did these people do that helped them to

have high quality and a faster

pace?


Levers:Cross-training orCompanion Behaviors

CommunicatePowerfully

Sets StretchGoals &

High Standards

Inspires andMotivates

Others

Foster Innovation

Clear Strategic

Perspective

Sets StretchGoals &

High Standards

Courage to Change

Leadership Speed

External Perspective

Leaders who had both high quality and a

fast pace.


• Lack of a clear strategy will both decrease speed and increase quality problems.

• Sometimes leaders are clear about the strategic direction but fail to share their vision with others.

Clear Strategic Perspective


Stretch Goals AND High Standards

Leaders who set stretch goals increase the pace.

• Samsung Galaxy Note 7— goal to beat Apple to market with new phone

• Had the stretch goal, but not the high standards


• Communication is the most malleable skill but people often don’t communicate well, which can decrease speed and increase errors.

Communicate Powerfully


• It is the willingness to risk and face the truth that seems to help people move more rapidly.

Courage to Change


It’s easy in business to get so caught up in internal politics, problems, and issues, that we lose sight of customer issues, competitors or global changes.



• Most leaders know how to “PUSH” others to deliver.

• But when leaders also know howto “PULL” or inspire and motivate others, they are able to deliver faster with higher quality.

Inspires and Motivates Others


• There is always a better way!

Foster Innovation


People Can Improve Their Capability in Pace and Quality by Focusing on a Few of the Companion Dimensions

CommunicatePowerfully

Sets StretchGoals &

High Standards

Inspires andMotivates

Others

Foster Innovation

Clear Strategic

Perspective

Sets StretchGoals &

High Standards

Courage to Change

Leadership Speed


Leaders who had both high quality and a

fast pace.


Challenge

• Talent?• Take some time for development!• Only 10% have an action plan for development


• Our research shows the positive impact of speed in both individuals and organizations.

• We have developed a NEW WORKSHOP where leaders can learn to increase their speed.

• To fit with the content—the program is very short and efficient—which is what all our clients have been asking for over the last few years.

• Many organizations are utilizing this program as an energizer in group meetings or events.

• We’d love to talk to you about it.

Leadership Speed


THANK YOU!Better Leaders.Better Results.Zenger Folkman exists to develop better leaders. Why? Because extraordinary leaders transform the world. They form more productive, creative, and flourishing organizations—ones that are simply better in every way.

We do this by conducting continuous research on leaders from all over the world. We then turn this research into insights that are delivered to individual leaders in a personal and constructive way. These scientifically derived insights result in prescriptive actions that become measurable business results.

zengerfolkman.com

The Tango of Speed and Quality—The Key to Achieving Both

Leadership & Management