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Developing Leaders Today and for the Future

For most of us, PIE conjures up good memories and associations.  Moon Pie, lemon pie, American pie, even humble pie, if it's the other person who has to eat it.

This issue will take a look at a different kind of PIE.  Performance, Influence and Exposure, are the ingredients today in leadership success.  As leaders rise in any organization, Performance maintains its importance, but Influence (personal brand) and Exposure (networking) become equally important.

In fact, the breakdown becomes 1/3 Performance, 1/3 Influence, and 1/3 Exposure in the recipe for continued success.

We will take a fresh look at ways to enhance Performance by intelligently and intentionally using your Influence, virtual, visual and verbal, as well as expanding your Exposure in your business network.

The first piece of the PIE is always Performance.  Without measurable results, good intentions and worthy efforts don't count. Successful execution of goals and financial results add direct, tangible value to the organization.  Wall Street looks at stock price to determine whether a company is performing.  Bosses use performance reviews and balanced scorecards to measure individual performance. 

Historically, raises, bonuses and promotions depend on whether performance standards are met.  In fact, most of us believe that if we keep our head down, work hard, and produce, then moving up in the company is a given.  The recipe for leadership success is more than that.  Performance will get you in the game, but it is only one-third of the PIE.

Leaders today will not be successful without the second critical piece of the PIE:  Influence.  Think of the many ways in which you have the opportunity to influence.  While Performance is what you do, Influence is how you do it. Influence includes communication style, image, personal brand, reputation, and credibility.  It includes the ability to be effective and intentional in your day-to-day interactions with others. 

Influence is the ability to negotiate, deal with conflict and get people excited about a vision. It is the poise to handle stress and pressure, say you're sorry, project humility and really listen.  It is the wisdom to know how to manage impressions, adapt to different situations and environments, speak in a way that resonates with an audience, and be authentic through it all. 

What is said about you when you are out of the room?  How are you known?  Can you get buy-in? Do you have the ability to build trust?  Your personal Influence determines the answers to all of these questions.

The final piece of the PIE, Exposure, brings it all home.  You can have excellent Performance and Influence, but if no one knows about it, both are diminished.  Exposure is the visibility piece.  It's whom you know.  More importantly, it is who knows you.  Do the people who make decisions about your career know what capabilities you have to take a project, a division or your company to the next level?  Do your peers know the resources, insight and value you can bring to something they are working on?  Does your external business community know who you are?

Exposure is the most difficult piece of the PIE to establish.  It takes the most time, as it demands that you've planted the seeds for your network over a period of time; that you have regularly invested in long-term relationships.

So how do you make your PIE more robust?

1. Evaluate each piece.  On a scale of 5 to 1, with 5 being "I exceed expectations here, and 1 being "This area needs a lot of work", where would you rank yourself in terms of Performance, Influence and Exposure?  If you've given yourself a 5 in Performance, but know that your Influence skills are a 1, you've identified an area to develop.  
   
   
2. Get feedback.  How are you perceived?  What leadership strengths do others see in you?  What, if not developed or tempered, will derail you as you take on more significant initiatives and reach higher levels in the organization? 
   
   
3. Engage in a coaching process, take classes, and partner with someone who has a strong skill set in the areas you want to develop.  Step out, reach up, and move forward.

Any way you slice it, leadership is more than Performance.  Leadership will always require the building of relationships through Influence and the visibility of being a known resource via networking and Exposure.  PIE is a proven leadership model.  Use it to become an even more successful leader this year.