Crispin (Page 8)

In: Crisis Management, Leadership

With the dual pressures of the pandemic and the economic crisis, many executives are challenged dealing with the constant increase in new challenges that appear every day. Many leaders claim that with all this going on they have no time for strategy and planning, often using the excuse that this is a ‘Black Swan event’. The concept of a Black Swan event (a term coined by Wall Street trade Nassim Nicholas Taleb in his 2001 book ‘Fooled by Randomness‘) is an event that is unpredictable, has severe and widespread consequences, and after the event people will rationalise as being predictable (hindsight bias). Previous events that have been broadly defined as Black Swan include: The 1997 Asian Financial Crisis The “Dotcom” Crash  9/11 Attacks The 2008 Global Financial Crisis Brexit Author Michele Wucker describes the current situation not as a Black Swan but rather as “Grey Rhino”. The Rhino phenomenon isContinue Reading

In: Culture, Leadership

The Avocado Leader is a new term coined to reflect a change in management behaviours during the pandemic. The Avocado Leader has a soft and empathetic exterior with a hard business core. Academics from Macquarie Business School together with management consultancy We Are Unity conducted research interviewing senior and mid level executives from ASX200 firms about how management has changed during the pandemic and the impact of COVID19 restrictions. Key findings show the crisis has been a catalyst for transformation in the way that people work, increasing focus on mental health, introduction of flexible and smarter ways of working and the acceleration of digital disruption to future proof the business. The survey found that during the COVID 63% of leaders identified a boost to productivity 57% saw improved collaboration 55% saw improved efficiency 87% believed their organisation was agile in response to the pandemic 74% attributed improved performance to theContinue Reading

In: Entrepreneur, Startup

The best opportunity for your startup survival in a recession and pandemic is to avoid making rash decisions. This article provides some tactics and strategies to manage during these difficult times Minimise There is every chance that when the pandemic hit your revenues reduced substantially. Which may well have sent you looking for funding sources to help you cover the shortfall. Before you seek out any more money from VCs or Investors consider all the costs that you can cut, reconsider the minimum viable product you are offering and what your customers really value. Skinny it all down to ride through the tough times with a plan. Switch If your business is struggling is there an alternative side of the service coin that you can deliver. An example of this is how Israel were world leaders in building Cyber Weapons but then many of the same workers moved to buildContinue Reading

In: Career, Resilience

How to manage anxiety – The pandemic, recession and uncertainty has increased the level of stress and anxiety most people are feeling. Anxiety is fed watered and sustained by the presence of fear, it is such a negative and primal emotion. Designed to keep us safe it can overwhelm our thoughts and emotions. “Anxiety is created when you move into the unknown because your fear response is on high alert. Has your fear produced anxiety because there’s a genuine risk? Or has the fear produced anxiety and panic because you’ve moved into your discomfort zone?“ 1. Stop it at the beginning Fear can trigger physical responses like a racing pulse, high blood pressure or a cold sweat, or it can trigger an emotional response like aggression. Many people are more comfortable with anger over anxiety so they choose it as a way to alleviate the pressure. The problem is behaviourContinue Reading

In: Leadership

This article looks at the different type of power that management use in leadership positions, positional power and personal power. “The most effective leaders appear to exhibit a degree of versatility and flexibility that enables them to adapt their behavior to the changing and contradictory demands made on them Ralph Stogdill (The Leadership Handbook) It is not enough for a leader to just have different styles of behaviour, to be effective they must be able to adapt their style to different situations and the needs of stakeholders and employees. Beyond the style of behaviour every leader needs to be able to assess how that specific style of behaviour impacts others, knowing exactly how they are using the power in the relationship in that circumstance and at that point in time. “While leadership is about the process of influencing people, power can be described as a leader’s influence potential.” The effective delegationContinue Reading

In: Leadership, Strategy

Leadership is a profoundly personal face to face relationship, trust is established when leaders treat each other as valued. Strategic Effectiveness requires leaders build highly resilient highly effective teams that can weather the impacts of the current global pressures. High performing teams require authentic leadership, which involves honouring the moral obligation to care genuinely for others in the teams welfare. “Leaders who are trustworthy create interpersonal relationships based upon open communication, demonstrate personal competence, exhibit by their actions a commitment to others’ welfare, and model unflagging integrity” Schoorman, F. D., Mayer, R. C. & Davis, J. D. (2007). “An Integrative Model of Organizational Trust: Past, Present, and Future.” Academy of Management Review, Vol. 32, No. 2, pp. 344-354. Effective leadership involves establishing relationships that unite individuals and engage them as owners and partners. Relationships with team members need to be based on authenticity and empathy. Many organisations still have leaders thatContinue Reading

In: Innovation

Five trends in innovation identified by Inc. Magazine. None of these are particularly new or transformational, which is an accurate reflection of how innovation is being applied through the pandemic. Organisations are responding to market conditions, planned transformation to Digital and Online Channels have been urgently accelerated. The global trend to enable workforces to work from home has seen changes to the workplace and also to the idea of flexible and dynamic teams. Automation and Artificial Intelligence are required to increate efficiency and make everything more productive. Digital Differentiation is the New Normal: The pandemic has accelerated many companies digital transformation plans. The expectation is that now digital is the primary channel and transforming the supply chain. World Events are Driving Consumer and Corporate Behaviour: COVID has changed consumer behaviour, people are shopping differently. Considering different holiday choices and changing the products they buy. Remote Work Is Everywhere: The changeContinue Reading

In: Agile, FWOW, Leadership, Motivation

Over recent years the term ‘Servant Leadership’ became mainstream in business schools and leadership education. Synonymous with Agile Teams the servant leader empowers and enables the teams, effectively reversing the traditional role of staff making the manager successful. This article from McKinsey Quarterly explores the link between employee satisfaction and how managers are improving the quality of workplace relationships and in particular driving cultural change through servant leadership which includes engaging everyone within the organisation with “compassion and genuine curiosity”. Substantial research has documented that a good workplace is established when managers are able to provide workers with a work environment that is meaningful (clarity, context of the work; as well as autonomy, tools and guidance to do the work) and offers psychological safety (the absence of interpersonal fear as a driver of employee behaviour). “a good manager instills a sense of trust and confidence, with a clear set ofContinue Reading

In: Career, Professional Networks

Professional Networks can make the difference of an individuals potential to be successful. How connected you are helps define your ability to leverage collective knowledge and collective problem solving. It introduces you to new ideas, new places, new opportunities. After establishing the importance of professional networking, what actually is it? “It is a deliberate activity to build, reinforce and maintain relationships of trust with other people to further your goals” (Anders Ostland). Ibarra & Hunter (HBR, 2007) wrote that there are three forms of networking: Operational, Personal and Strategic. Operational – helps manage internal company responsibilities. Personal – builds individual personal and professional development. Strategic – plays a vital role in identifying opportunities for growth and engaging stakeholders Building strong relationships across your professional networks establishes an advocacy, in the words of Jon Burgess founder of Kwan “ADVOCACY is an authentic and purposeful way to live your life and do business…Continue Reading

In: Agile, Leadership

More and more organisations are moving to adopt Agile Transformation not just in standard project methodologies but transforming all resource management. The goal is to better align organisation strategic priorities with scarce resource utilisation ensuring that company is always working on what is highest priority. This article was adapted from an original article published by Forbes in 2018. 1. Today’s Organisation In a recent study by McKinsey 90% of executives identified agility and collaboration as critical to the organisations success. McKinsey also went on explain that in their findings organisations that adopt agile processes do financially better than those that don’t. Agile management seeks to renew itself, adapt, change quickly and succeed in rapidly changing, ambiguous, turbulent environment. As well as the ability to quickly reconfigure strategy, structure, processes, people and technology toward value creation and value protecting opportunities. If you need more proof that agile management works this isContinue Reading