EXPERT OPINION which a person tracks the pace of other people ’ s behavior and is willing to adapt his or her own behavior to match it , in terms of both speeding up and slowing down .
To make this idea concrete , some examples of the socio-temporal cues that people might use in conversation to indicate a sense of aligned pace include the gentle nodding of one ’ s head and short expressions of “ yes ” and “ that ’ s right .” When one wants to speed up another person , one may look at one ’ s watch , nod one ’ s head more rapidly in a way that suggests moving things along , or express anxiety about taking up others ’ time . Similarly , to slow things down , one may say “ let me stop you there for a minute ” or subtly put up one ’ s hand .
In general , we have found that people who score high on synchrony preference are more likely to notice and incorporate these types of cues into their own mental processing and behavior . By contrast , people who rate low on synchrony preference place more value on maintaining their own rhythm or pace in interaction and tend to ignore social cues that might deter them . And when they do align on pace , it is often because they make a point of filling their teams with people who have similar pacing preferences . We see this , for example , in some professional services firms , where a sense of time scarcity and adherence to clock time can become dominant cultural norms . We have found repeatedly in our own and others ’ research that people tend to like coworkers with whom they feel naturally aligned on pace . Pace alignment is often what people feel when they express feeling ' flow ' or smoothness in an interaction .
In this study , for the first time , we can link the synchrony preference to improved work performance . We have found that people who rate high on synchrony preference not only notice differences in pace with others , but can adjust their own behaviors and , in turn , collaborate more effectively with others in the process . This flexibility is clearly important in a world where constant reinvention is required ; where getting things done depends on teamwork and collaboration ; and where management , more often than not , crosses countries and cultures .
The Synchronous Leader
People who score high on both synchrony preference and time urgency tend to be better liked , and their contributions are more valued in team settings . They are also more likely to hold leadership positions within their teams . Further , controlling for national culture , we found that executives with high synchrony scores tend to view and experience themselves as interdependent with others , rather than independent , and are more open to new information and experiences and more amenable to multitasking .
These findings show that although effective leaders must be able to keep their teams on schedule and manage time effectively to meet deadlines ( something at which time-urgent individuals excel ), they also need to facilitate interpersonal interactions within these schedules to help employees function as a team ( something at which individuals high on synchrony preference excel ).
Based on our findings , we have developed a framework for teaching executives about the importance of temporal perception in management ( see exhibit ). We ’ ve identified four temporal leadership types , depicting the degree to which a leader is high or low on both the preference for timeliness ( the time urgency measure ) and the preference for social synchrony . It also describes how important adhering to selfpacing versus group pacing is considered by different types of leaders .
We find that the most successful leaders fall into the upper right quadrant ( temporally agile leaders ). Most striking , perhaps , our research suggests that a high score on timeliness is no longer enough to get to the C-suite . In fact , those who score high on timeliness but low on synchrony will find themselves limited in both roles and advancement in our high-speed culture . Those who can combine timeliness and synchrony are more likely to affiliate with others and to help them effectively , and less likely to show dominance , autonomy , and impulsivity . They can exhibit give and take . And when a team is under stress , these leaders can pull back to allow team members the kind of breathing room that will lead to long-term resilience .
* Sally Blount is dean and the Michael L . Nemmers Professor of Management and Organizations at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a board member at Abbott Laboratories .
* Sophie Leroy is an assistant professor at the University of Washington Bothell ' s School of Business . Previously , she was an executive at Interbrand and worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers and Société Générale .
Based on Strategy & Reference : www . strategyand . pwc . com
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