1. Leadership systems that
create powerful companies
From Unconsciousness to
Authenticity
Five Stages of Organizational Life
HRPA
January 23, 2015
Presented by: Heather Hilliard
Behavioral Change & Leadership Expert

2. What you will learn
 Concept of authentic organization
 Stages of organization life
 How to take your organization to the next stage
 Implications for HR practitioners
 How to bring consciousness and authenticity to
your organizational and leadership practices

3. Leadership systems that
create powerful companies
Are you part of
an authentic
organization?

4. Let’s find out…
YES…
 Clearly define ‘who you
are’
 Experience or reality
matches; intentional
 Accept reality of your
leaders and work with
them
 Decisions made
objectively
 Espoused values tangibly
present
NO…
 Unclear who you are;
maybe different depending
on who you work for
 Don’t do what you say or
deliver on promises
 Complain, withhold and/or
blame
 Decisions made to avoid
conflict or discomfort

6. Why is it important?
 Being authentic isn’t easy
 Key to achieving potential
 Inauthenticity is a barrier to
growth and performance
 Over time, leads to
organizational dysfunction

7. 5 Stages:
from unconscious to authentic
Stage 1:
Unconscious
Competent
Stage 2:
Becoming Conscious
Stage 3:
Designing the
Authentic Organization
Stage 4:
Building the
Authentic Organization
Stage 5:
Working in the
Authentic Organization

8. Unconscious Competent
 Product or service that the business owner is
competent at building, delivering or providing
 Leader or leaders are workers
 Focus on survival of the business
 Lack of branding or consistent
identity internally and externally
 Absence of business systems and
processes
Stage
1

9. Crisis of Growth &
Stuck Point
 Growth of the business leads to:
 increase of internal chaos, acting out &
dysfunctions
 conflict due to lack of boundaries, role
definitions or organizational structures
 energy spent fixing problems
 no longer “high” on business
 feel powerless in own business
Stage
1

10. Unconscious Competent
To move to Stage 2:
 Think of the business as an entity
with structural & functional needs
 Address absence of leadership that
creates chaos
 Give up beliefs that are getting in
the way
 Identify real issues & brainstorm
solutions
Stage
1

11. Becoming Conscious
 Recognize business can’t
sustain growth without
infrastructure
 Can identify issues but don’t
know how or have time to
resolve them
 Experiment with solutions to
issues in a non-systemic way
 Delegation of authority,
adding another level of
management
Stage
2
A body without bones
will flop…. So will a
business without a
sound structure.

12. Crisis of Growth &
Stuck Point
 Growth of the business leads to:
 autonomous decision making
 issues aren’t dealt with; leads to
power struggles; high turnover
 employees feel complain, get
away with non-performance
 unpredictably, chaos, confusion
 leaders feel they can never do
enough
Stage
2

13. Becoming Conscious
To move to Stage 3:
 Consider needs of organization as a whole
instead of addressing issues
 Consider people & system needs
 Focus attention internally, investing in building
the foundation for the organization
 Address the importance of the employee
experience to the success of the business
 Recognize the need for external expertise;
support and hire experts
Stage
2

14. Designing the Authentic
Organization
Stage
3
 The turning point
 Stepping back from the focus on
making money to building awareness
of who the business is, it’s ecosystem
that governs behavior and productivity
 Need to ask:
 What is your organizational identity?
 What is your organizational
ecosystem?

15. Your Organization’s Identity
 The three organization’s identity questions:
 Who do our customers think we are?
 Who do we think we are?
 Who are we, really?
Stage
3
Culture Identity Image

16. Your Organization’s
Ecosystem
 Complex connections between environment, functional
areas, people, leadership, supply chain, etc
 Comprised of constituents and elements that are
intended to function interdependently to achieve a
desired result
 Interdependence is necessary for an ecosystem to
function in a healthy, productive fashion
 Ensures alignment of actions, behavior & outcomes
Stage
3

17. Your Organization’s
Ecosystem
 By mapping the points of
interdependence, systems are
designed to support the efficient
functioning of employees
 The map shows gaps between
behaviors and the organizational
identity, vision and strategy; defined
employee & leadership behaviors;
communication; etc
 Shows importance of all employees,
raising employee engagement, sense
of their value and job satisfaction
Stage
3
Behavior, systems &
processes must be
aligned to a single
identity to move
ahead.

18. Designing the Authentic
Organization
To move to Stage 4:
 Create Organization’s Identity & Ecosystem through
assessment & audit of current reality
 Design systems & processes to link departments &
elements of the business
 Deal with employee resistance to the change process,
conflict, etc.
 Build trust with employees by engaging them in the
design of the systems and change process
 Leaders need to be prepared to walk-the-talk
Stage
3

19. Building the Authentic
Organization
 Build a comprehensive change
plan, including training needs that
emerge
 Implement the change process
 Deal with resistance, issues
 Communicate, communicate,
communicate
 Recognize employee’s needs and
fears during the change process
and stay in close communication
Stage
4
You know the value of
investing in your
business to increase
bottom line results

20. Building the Authentic
Organization
To move to Stage 5:
 Ensure systems that have been
implemented are used
 Ensure that employee experiences are are
constructive
 Look for gaps in ecosystem design and make changes
 Regular review of employee and team behavior,
providing feedback and making adjustments
 Regular assessment of leadership performance to
ensure leaders are walking-the-talk
Stage
4

21. Leading & Working in the
Authentic Organization
 Consistent assessment of alignment with organization’s identity &
ecosystem
 Strategies & initiatives chosen carefully, with long-term commitments
and goals
 Employees engage in the planning process so everyone has a full
understanding of their role
 Macro-management approach; congruent approach to leadership and
management
 Employees are given expectations and objectives and work on own to
achieve them; accountability system ensures engagement
 Leaders maintain close contact and communications; act as a
sounding board for decisions; coach and mentor employees
Stage
5

22. Best Practices for the Authentic
Organization
 Constantly evolving the organizational
identity
 Recognize that identity develops with the growth of
the business
 Yearly assessment to ensure that stated identity is
consistent with state of the business
 Make required changes to brand, communications,
practices, etc.
 Ensuring Alignment with Organizational
Identity
 Ongoing assessment to ensure that the organization
and people accurately reflect their stated mission,
goals, and brand promise.

23. Best Practices for the Authentic
Organization
 Ongoing Commitment to Authentic
Experiences
 Ongoing Self-Assessment and Transparency
Practices.
 Willingness to objectively assess performance,
behavior, etc. and to hold oneself and others
accountable
 Ensuring Consistency
 Framework is in place to ensure consistent practices

24. Questions?
For more information, contact us:
Heather Hilliard
hhilliard@caliberleadership.com
416.406.3939
www.CaliberLeadershipSystems.com
www.StrivingStyles.com