Our last article with leadership lessons from the world of poker resonated with so many people (leaders and poker players alike), here are a few more lessons to raise your game at work.
Evaluate the Situation, Learn the Players, then Adapt - David Sklanksy, one of the top all time poker players of the world, takes a first step before sitting down for any game. He evaluates the table to determine 1) is the game worth playing? and 2) how do I adapt my style of play for these particular players? Another successful poker player slowing down to influence in a strategic way. Many leaders we assess are originally rated low by others on “strategic thinking” (which may or may not be coachable) when the skill they actually need to improve is relationship based persuasion (which is often quite coachable). Most have the capacity to think strategically, but never stop long enough to evaluate the situation, learn who the critical stakeholders are, and then adapt their own style of influence. Shifting successfully to this “other” focus used by Sklansky is a shift that can be learned and leveraged at work to great advantage.
M x A = P (Motivation x Ability = Performance) - Ken Warren, author of “Winner’s Guide to Texas Hold’em”, contends that motivation combined with ability is what makes a good poker player for the long term. We find that companies select leaders for ability (as they should), but do not do enough due diligence for the other critical factors such as level of engagement, motivation and aspiration. Why not? It takes more time, effort and $’s and leaders are sometimes wrongly incented to fill roles quickly rather than fill roles successfully for the long term. Poker compresses the time it takes to evaluate ROI…one can keep throwing money at the table but you will not win the game over time if the skill, will, and desire are not there.
Notice and Handle Reactions – December means that managers are scheduling year-end performance conversations. In our assessments, we have found that many leaders are woefully unprepared in anticipating how people might react, and are even less skilled in actually detecting or handling negative reactions when they occur. If only these leaders knew more about the power of poker “tells” (defined in poker as “any physical reaction, kind of behavior, or habit that gives (or tells) the other players information about a hand”). Obvious, unconscious but often reliable signs of reactions in others are often missed during year-end conversations. This year, keep your eyes open for non-verbal reactions (such as a flushed face when someone is angry), deflections in the conversation (such as blaming others), and misplaced superficial responses (such as “sure, no problem” after someone has just received bad news). Noticing the subtleties will likely provide the opportunity to deal with the situation effectively whereas missing the subtleties might prove just the opposite.
It isn’t luck that differentiates between good and great leaders, it is the daily decisions that really matter – shuffle up and deal.
I love these poker leadership lessons!! I've been watching a bit of the World Series of Poker myself and it is so true how you can apply all of these lessons to the workplace. Brilliant! Thanks for the good read.
Posted by: Claudia | 11/29/2010 at 02:18 PM