Building the Capacity to Fly

	Introduction by Bill McKendree, President

Leading Into Uncharted Territory

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But, when it comes to describing the behaviors that are needed to support their strategic direction, leaders often find themselves at a loss. There are no hard and fast rules on how to approach the more human, and seemingly less empirical, considerations of business. To fill this need, competency models, feedback instruments, and value statements have emerged as means to spell out desired behaviors.

Leaders struggle not only at an organizational level in defining behaviors necessary for success, but also at a personal level. The demands of leading an organization into uncharted territory can make executives question whether they can pull it off. Failure often occurs when executives lack the capacity required in situations with no clear road map.

Building a Success Profile
Organization behaviors define how people - especially leaders - need to operate individually and collectively in order to align with a particular business strategy and management infrastructure. Implicit in these behaviors are the values and beliefs that buttress business decisions.

Working with leaders to describe and select those behaviors most key to their business success, The Clarion Group has developed “The 3Cs,” a pragmatic framework that aligns business challenges with individuals’ capabilities, characteristics, and capacity needed in order to succeed.

1. Capabilities are what people have learned to do. This is the realm of cognition and intellect. It involves how people think and their specific areas of knowledge, such as technical expertise and management skills. It is generally mastered through education, training, and/or hands-on experience.
   Example: One can master the capability to apply accounting principles.
    
2. Characteristics are how people operate. They are a person’s innate traits and styles. Characteristics may be strengthened or modified to a degree through awareness, coaching, and practice, but a person’s essential nature is generally unchangeable. Most often, a person’s characteristics become observable when he or she relates to others.
   Example: One can possess the characteristics of being helpful and supportive.
    
3. Capacity is the resolve and stamina that enable people to give and sustain their best efforts. While not totally within one’s control, capacity can expand or contract depending on the situation. For instance, people experience more physical and mental energy when their work aligns with their values, purpose, interests, and abilities. Conversely, people feel tired when they experience a mismatch between their work and what they can contribute as individuals. In addition, capacity at work fluctuates depending on variables such as the newness of the assignment, events outside of work, the balance of work and personal life, and the peaks and valleys of work demands.
   Example: One can demonstrate the capacity to handle ambiguity.
    

A look at the interrelated nature of a bird in flight provides the best example to consider the significance of the 3Cs. Each individual feather represents the skills, or capabilities, the bird needs for flight. When the feathers are joined and work together in unison as wings, the bird has the behavior, or characteristics, necessary to fly. However, only the living, breathing bird has the will, and therefore the capacity, to actually take flight.

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