Leadership (Page 5)

In: Leadership, Motivation

The things that you have as a leader that other people need are not conformity, it is what makes you different that makes the difference. Know what your unique contribution is, what is it that you have that others don’t. “Conformity makes you average, otherness makes you remarkable”. Conformity makes you predictable but it is similarity that is the foundation to connection with other people. Your uniqueness empowers your meaningful contribution. “Conformity makes you average, otherness makes you remarkable” Consider the organisation like a team sport, everyone in your company is playing the same game but each team member brings unique skills, capability and experience – that uniqueness represents potential. Having a shared mission (and purpose) that gives meaning to the strategic direction enables the team connection and empowers the unique contribution. Consider using opportunities to integrate your personal story into your leadership narrative, sometimes the things you may wishContinue Reading

In: Agile, Culture, FWOW, Leadership

Transforming your organisation requires a mindset transformation, the excellent illustration below was shared this week on LinkedIn by an ex-colleague and it sums up how organisations need to think about and plan for transformation. Well done to Thoughtworks and Tanmay Vora who created this image. “The most profound business challenge we face today is how to build organizations that can change as fast as change itself.“ Gary Hamel, Global Peter Drucker Forum, Vienna Austria The authors start by pointing out that John Kotter wrote a paper on “Leading Change” in 1996 (required MBA reading) where he highlighted that only 30% of change initiatives are ever actually successful. The reason is that there is a lack of commitment to drive a change of culture. Culture is created and solidified over time through expressed actions and reactions and not cooked up based on generic sounding mission statements that are disconnected from realContinue Reading

In: Agile, Leadership

Agile organisations develop products five times faster, make decisions three times faster, reallocate resources to highest priorities quickly and effectively (McKinsey, 2019). However middle management makes or breaks that agility, remaining a barrier to adoption and blocking the potential gains that come with holistic transformation to the agile way of working. “Managers like to take ownership and enforce a controlled leadership style. For organisations trying to adapt agile ways of working into their business, this presents a real problem as it goes against the very essence of what agile tries to promote,” says Marc-Olivier Hilgers, principal, agile transformation and enablement, at Capgemini. “Middle managers, in particular, are among the biggest challenges in becoming agile”, says Mick Burn, head of organisational change management, Europe, at Infosys Consulting. Most middle managers, rose to that opportunity by building specific leadership skills and competencies, the agile model does not have the same roles whichContinue Reading

In: Virtual Teams, Working From Home

This article reflects on the organisational culture at GitLab a company who is Transparent and Remote. GitLab have been been at the cutting edge of remote work models since the company was formed in 2011. With a staff of over 1300 people, GitLab has been touted the largest all remote organisation in the world (up until now…). Team members are spread across 67 countries. The company is radically transparent, if you look at its website you can see a list of everyone who works there (with a photo), Management Group policies are explicitly shared on the company website where everyone is aware of what is expected. GitLab are a competitor to Github (which was acquired by Microsoft in 2018 for $7.5 billion USD) but while the product is similar the company culture is radically different. Vibrant (virtual) Watercooler Meetings Recognising that an all remote workforce needed to have a structuredContinue Reading

In: Leadership

As the world faces the significant economic disruption that has followed the pandemic, organisations have a chance to create an opportunity out of the crisis by transitioning older workers to new work models There is significant need for smart, agile new startups to be launched by older entrepreneurs, for more than 20 years the majority of US startups were launched by people 45 or older. As businesses cut back and restructure their workforces, old workers are going to need to prepare for a different employment landscape. Older workers are often first to be cut, they are on higher salaries than their younger peers and some may not have some of the newer skills currently in demand. Older employees however are usually the ones with the knowledge and experience as well as the deepest personal networks not just within the organisation but more broadly across the industry and markets they serve.Continue Reading

In: Leadership

This article makes the assertion that many leaders look for successors who have many similar qualities and that the best opportunity for strategic growth for your organisation is for leaders to stop hiring in their own image. Have Data Driven Performance Measures Objective, rigorous, quantitative metrics that ensures the future leaders being recognised based on actual performance rather than politics. It also filters down the list of candidates based on common criteria of what they actually contribute to the organisation and their potential to solve future challenges the company may face. Having the Courage to Change You can only evolve if you are willing to move forward and there is no change without changing yourself. The evolution and innovation of any business is directly connected to its ability to continually renew and to grow. To improve company culture, to re-invent and refresh its leadership. It is very tough to changeContinue Reading

In: Change, Leadership

Why is it so difficult to achieve change? You can get everyone aligned to achieving the goal and yet still deal with significant resistance. According to authors Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahey the main reason is that most of us have a built in immunity to change. “Doctors can tell heart patients that they will literally die if they do not change their ways, and still only about one in seven will be able to make the changes. These are not people who want to die. They want to live out their lives, fulfill their dreams, watch their grandchildren grow up—and, still, they cannot make the changes they need to in order to survive.” Robert Kegan from “Immunity to Change” https://mindsatwork.com/books-publications/ Organisations don’t change – People do Boaz & Fox (McKinsey, 2014) write about how organisations move quickly from setting performance objectives to establishing a program of change initiatives. TheseContinue Reading

Red Teaming

In: Leadership, Strategy

This article explains how to use Red Teaming as a way to develop contingency plans for any potential outcome. Based on experience from Operation Desert Storm, Retired Colonel Sean Hannah writes from his personal experience about how the US Army builds contingency plans referred to as Red Teaming and how you can leverage that is corporate leadership. How do you get a force totaling a massive 150,000 soldiers in strength to execute a substantially changed plan in stride, maneuvering divisions into new positions and directions of attack across an approximately 100-mile front, while maintaining coordination, synchronization, logistical support and effective performance? The US Army operates in Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous (VUCA) contexts where plans are not just likely to change but are expected to change. This thinking is highly applicable to any organisation dealing with VUCA, as most companies are right now during the pandemic. Red Teaming Process hasContinue Reading

In: Career, Human Capital, Leadership, Purpose

Technology is changing the meaning of work but Purpose, Potential and Perspective connect technology to humanity and shape the attributes of the Social Enterprise. This is all according to this years Human Capital Trends from Deloitte, which has been published annually for over a decade. The Deloitte Human Capital Trends Report is a weighty tome, (over 120 pages) and filled with rich insights that come from their consultants and partners all over the world. Accordingly my brief synopsis is just that – a touch on the key points that I observed while reading the report. If this interested you I would definitely suggest you read more in the full report (see link at bottom of the page). The article starts by reflecting on the fusion of technology and people into work and how that is continuing to shape the organisations. The authors begin that there are three bold shifts thatContinue Reading

How are you?

In: Culture, Leadership

Its time to stop asking “How Are You” and have a real conversation, as Dan Rockwell points out that it is time to stop using condescending or out of touch questions such as: How are you? How are you doing? How are you feeling? No one has good answers to these questions and any response you get will be superficial. If you want to connect and have a deeper conversation consider these questions next time: Tell me what challenges are you facing What are working on that is taking most of your time right now Is there something that you are really looking forward to at the moment What is top of the agenda for you today Is there anything that I can do to help you right now As Ashley Fetters wrote for The Atlantic ““How are you?” is a mere pleasantry and not an honest inquiry in searchContinue Reading