The Legacy Man

Avoiding the folly of corporate self-aggrandisement

I’ve a new client. Great guy, been around forever, one of the all time great survivors. He’s been through a lot, but always seems to keep on the success-side of the street. Kurt, his name, Scandinavian background, big built, big presence and big, big ideas. I saw him last week in his new role as CEO of a packaging firm and, since I’m trying to get his business to develop some of his key people, he kindly laid out his current strategy.

All was sounding good until he mentioned the “L” word. “I’ve been in business a long time Rudi,” he said, “achieved just about all I ever wanted, but there’s a few things I’ve left to do. I want to retire in

about three years when my contract is over and leave something, behind me, something lasting.” Kurt hesitated or a moment, leaving the word he was about to say unspoken.

I steeled myself, to say it, knowing I’d regret it the instant it popped into my head.

“A legacy, “I ventured, “ almost whispering the word.

“Exactly!”, cried Kurt, jumping up his seat, his blue eyes flashing with passion and obvious, pent-up emotion. “A legacy, that will last for years to come. Something that they’ll always remember me for.”

Oh dear, oh dear, I thought. What have I gone and gotten myself into this time?

You see, I have a thing about this sort of stuff. Attempting to leave a legacy behind you, is not the icing on the cake, but the poison on the pill - it just doesn’t work. It’s tantamount to committing professional suicide. Time after time I’ve seen business leaders, pour thousands of dollars, dinars and dalasis (*) funding chairs of learning (my goodness where would our B-schools be today if not for misguided -or should I say misgifted- CEOs), that they vainly hope will preserve their name long after the pages of corporate history have curled up and faded.

Sadly, there was a dilemma for me. Should I tell Kurt the horrible truth; that trying to leave a legacy will open him to ridicule and worse, as he joins a long list of misguided, swollen-headed leaders? Is it really worth losing a good friend, not to mention his business, just because he’s got a little above himself?

As our eyes met, it took just a nano-second to transmit my look of doubt (was there a small smidgen of disdain in there too?), and I knew that I’d scored. Looking back on it some hours later, I realised that I didn’t actually have to say anything, he knew what I thought. And he was smart enough to know - without missing a beat - that what I thought was exactly the reaction that everyone else would have: the board, the team, the employees the clients, customers the whole kit and caboodle.

The moment was over. He sat back and looked at me, drained his coffee cup, sighed and said, “You know Rudi, being a leader isn’t much fun really, too much to think about, too many responsibilities.”

I nodded eagerly in agreement. “Yes, but a good leader has to know when NOT to do stuff too.” Again our eyes met. I knew that he knew, that he’d made a fool of himself. But he knew I’d saved him from making a massive mistake, a folly of corporate self-aggrandisement that would be difficult to ever live down – just the legacy you DON’T want. My one look of horror, well mixed with disbelief, was sufficient.

We never spoke of it again – not ever. The business school that would have been the recipient of his largesse, went unfunded. No matter. Another poor sap is always only too eager to have a tablet cemented above the door lintel as a tribute to their – and their shareholders - largesse. They don’t do a chair in corporate stupidity yet – maybe they should think of one.

(*) I didn’t make this up, its the national currency of Gambia, but it rhymes nicely !!!

This column on leadership and organizational development is written exclusively for the IEDP by Rudi Plettinx, Managing Director of Management Centre Europe, the Brussels-based development organization. Have a comment or a question? Engage direct with Rudi Plettinx here.

Take-out in a Takeover

The MD of course!

There’s a lot going on in that big bad business world of mine. Most prominently is the present penchant by ambitious leaders to leave a lasting legacy by taking over someone else’s business. It’s sort of like a leader’s right of passage to pay through the nose to gobble up a rival’s business, do the macho media thing, and then sit back and watch the whole thing collapse.

It is a known fact that more than 80 percent of mergers and acquisitions fail within three years. B-schools are packed to the rafters with tragi-comedic case studies. Yet, still otherwise sane, successful CEOs persist in giving it a go.

My old friend, Charles, has done more mergers than anyone I know and he seems to make them work. Has a practically unblemished track record. So what does he do, that others don’t? Why does he get away with it every time against the odds?

We were sitting in the departure lounge in Frankfurt airport, (the one place where it is odds on if you pass through enough times you’ll eventually meet everyone you know) waiting for a plane that seemed reluctant to take flight.
I settled into my comfy chair hugging a Virgin Mary, (vodka can wait ‘til I get airborne) and asked Charles the secret of his uncanny success.

He thought for a while, then turned to me and said. “Really it’s very simple; it’s all about who you fire in the first 24 hours. Stick to that formula, no matter what and you’ll be fine.” Then he smiled, and added, “There are four people who’ve just got to go right away. In fact, the first 60 seconds isn’t a bad idea.”
“Four?” I said, isn’t that a lot of disruption, so quickly?”
“Yes, F-O-U-R” he countered, with added emphasis.

So who are they?” my curiosity peaked.

Charles held up his fingers. “ONE, The President, MD or founder, goes right away. His or her attachment to the business is just that, bad for business. Remember, you bought this company for its potential, you can’t be all goo-goo about history and people that want to leave a legacy.”

“OK, so who’s next?” By this time I was getting into the spirit of the game, brutal as it all sounded.

“TWO, is the marketing guy. Why? Well he or she wanted to be the next president, so they will be a major barrier to anything you want to do. Get in there and get them out, day one, then we can all get back to doing business with a clear sense of purpose.

THREE, the CFO, he can just mess you around, if he’s bitter can screw you with the analysts and the rest of the financial community. You don’t need him, do you?

“FOUR, and this may come as a surprise, the head of sales. Has to be at the top of my list always,”

I was surprised by his choice, and told him so. “But don’t you need the top sales guy to be on board? Isn’t that about retaining continuity?”

“No, you keep the second best sales guy, but always fire the best one otherwise he’ll tell your customers and suppliers the wrong stories.” Charles looked about him and added in a whisper, “Sales people always know everything because they are out of the office every day talking to everyone. You want them talking UP the business, not talking it down.” Then he quickly added, “Scratch a great sales guy and under the surface they always want to run the business, think they can do it better than anyone else. Have in-built zero loyalty as a default setting, “he sighed, sounding like he was recalling past encounters.

Anything else, I queried?

“Well if you are still into killing off potential troublemakers you can throw in one more. Your legal counsel will always revert to type and be more loyal to their profession than the business. They love building barriers and explaining why you can’t do things. So do you need them?”
Just then my flight was called. I made my excuses and got up to leave. “Sure about those four on the list?” I said as I walked out.
“Absolutely,” said Charles, waving me goodbye, “that’s what I’m doing first thing tomorrow morning.

This column on leadership and organizational development is written exclusively for the IEDP by Rudi Plettinx, Managing Director of Management Centre Europe, the Brussels-based development organization. Have a comment or a question? Engage direct with Rudi Plettinx here.

The Skill of Presentation

Susan Huskisson

Susan Huskisson has personally trained some of the world’s top CEOs, giving them the confidence, credentials and charisma to present. She now teaches personal presentation skills to business schools and corporate executives around the globe. Her book “Easy Eloquence” continues to be a bible for would-be presenters for both senior managers and school students. Susan was one of MCE’s key faculty on presentation skills for over three decades.

MCE: Having good presentation skills certainly can give people an “edge” in the career. Why don’t we place more emphasis on this in schools and colleges?

Susan Huskisson (SH): The US educational system places a great deal of emphasis on communication training.  Students have to present from a very early age. Increasingly, European schools are requiring students to learn to present.  I have taught presentation courses in graduate MBA programs in the US and Europe for many years now, and see the number of these training is increasing, especially in Europe. Since people tend to listen to presentations instead of reading reports, the skill to inform and convince verbally will become even more important.

    

    MCE: The ability to create trust when you speak to an audience, especially your employees or team is hugely important. What’s the key thing to make sure you get right – every time?

    SH: KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE!  Why would they trust a speaker who clearly does not know who they are addressing? ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL.  

•    Show the audience you took the time to tailor that presentation for them specially.  

•     Give them facts, evidence/examples that relate to them. And, of course, be honest. 

•     Up and open body language tends to make people like and trust us as well. So, make sure the message is targeted for the audience and that the body language has good eye contact, posture, open gestures and an animated face. And don’t forget to walk the talk. Actions can speak louder than words.

    

    MCE: You must have made thousands of presentations, what for you was the biggest learning experience, and why?

    

    SH: How important it is to be prepared – but how impressive it is to be able to let go of the preparation and go with the flow instead. Sometimes events are out of our control (no fault of the speaker) and the audience appreciates someone who can deal with the situation with humour and grace.

    

    MCE:  Great orators seem to be rare these days (their words are instantly forgettable). Who would you put at the top of your list as a man or woman of today (not yesterday) who can reach out and touch people?

    

    SH: My favorite has always been Billy Graham.  Whether you share his religious beliefs or not, he has an amazing ability to move his audience. He is not dramatic, as many evangelists are, but modulates his voice, uses gestures and animation, and tells great stories that capture and motive his audiences.

    MCE: Finally, we are buried in a tsunami of digital overload. Any thoughts on how to turn off the world – should we even try, or just surrender?  

SH: In terms of digital overload in our everyday lives, we couldn’t turn it off if we wanted to.  But for presentations, I stress to speakers – YOU are the message – not PowerPoint or any other technology or software you may use.  Start with a blank screen and from time to time, blank it again and just TALK to your audience.  Put the projector and screen on the side so that YOU take center stage.  This puts you, the presenter, up front and center (where you should be).  It gives the audience a break from the normal presentation digital overload – and lets you connect with your audience directly.

Of Mice and Men

VIEWPOINT: A leader sometimes has to choose to be a man or a mouse. Occasionally swallowing your pride and being a mouse is the true sign of wise leadership, says Rudi Plettinx, Managing Director of Management Centre Europe, in this tenth in his series of articles for IEDP:There is a good friend of mine I see most weeks. He is a pretty big HR honcho (yes HR still does have people like that). In fact he is in a position to make or break careers. As the so-called ‘global head of people development’ if you, as a pushy career-ladder-climber, work at getting this guy on your side, promotions and rewards and responsibilities will surely flow your way. He is, very low-key BUT very influential; been around a while, cultivating his little patch of next generation leaders – the true high potentials. “They’re going places, this is the future of the organization” he tells me. He is building the next generation of leaders like an assembly line… they are clever, keen and ready to lay down their lives for the next step on the rapidly rusting rung of the corporate success ladder. He says it is fun to watch these people develop and he is very into his job. So when I met him recently for our twice monthly drink and a catch-up, quite out of character, he was not the usual positive kind of person I had come to know.

“What’s wrong with you?” I asked half-teasing. “Looks like you mislaid your bonus somewhere?”

“It’s worse than that, he responded, “I just got word that I have to cut 4.3 percent of the headcount by year end.” This sounded crazy to me and I told him so. Two weeks earlier he had been upbeat saying how well the business was doing.

“No choice” he added gloomily, “our main rival announced a four point two cut on headcount this morning. If we don’t match it they’ll hit our share price big time…. The CEO knows what our biggest shareholders think about that.”

“But you’ve spent the last few weeks telling me all about the employee as the brand,” I said, “and what about the millions you’ve invested in new people development, what’s going on?”

 “Very simple,” he said, sadly, “the boss doesn’t dare rock the boat. He can’t afford to, not now. The markets won’t stand for it, they don’t like uncertainty, they want to see a man with a clear vision and solid leadership credentials.”

“But that’s not leadership, that’s copycat knee-jerk reaction,” I countered, with a strong tone of frustration in my voice.  “Where are all the fine words, the pledges to lead from the front. I’ve read the annual report, seems he said all that and more!”

“Simple,” he explained. “The boss wants to look like he’s in total control, that we’re capable of being as lean and mean as our rivals... someone started the musical chairs and we have to play, at least until this self-destruction waltz stops.”

And hereby hangs a tale that any of you would-be leaders need to heed most carefully. No matter how big you are, no matter how well your favourite PR guru has built you up and polished your profile in the best-read business pages, at some point you’ve got to just suck it up. Quite simply, you have a choice as a leader be a man or a mouse. And sadly, ever so often you can’t, realistically, be anything but a mouse. Go with the flow, take it on the chin, swallow your pride, keep the good old share price flying high.

After all, isn’t that the sign of true leadership, making a decision and sticking with it through thick and thin? The truth is, every fibre of your body will say, “we’ll do it my way”. But the facts and history speak for themselves. No matter how great a leader you think you are, you are in a box.... and you will cut, cut, cut - because there is no other action you can take. Your reputation will survive it, the institutional shareholders will praise you and life will go on. In six months’ time as the results come in, no-one will remember that you could have played it very differently. But then, at the end of the day, that is leadership, as we possibly poorly define it - and everybody wants to be a winner and everyone likes one too.

I said as much to my HR pal. He was not talking much. Reflecting, no doubt, on the people he has to move out in the weeks ahead; mentally playing out the “career transition” conversations he was going to be tasked with.

“I saw the CEO in the elevator as I was leaving,” he said, “he didn’t say much. Looked a little shocked, but he’s tough and knows how to deal with this kind of thing.”

I felt I needed to say something; there was a silence that needed to be filled. “He’s done the job he was asked to do, kept the ship upright, navigated the storm safely, that’s what he’s there for. Shame the big plans didn’t quite make it – but, I guess that’s life in the fast lane of leadership. Not too many wounded, a pretty low level body count, could have been worse.”

My HR pal brightened a little at that. “After all he’s still the leader. Could have been worse, he could have tried to beat the trend, then where would we be? We’d have to break in the next CEO, because he wouldn’t have survived if he’d jumped the other way.”

We sat in silence for some minutes, thinking possibly about a scenario of “what might have been.” Then he got to his feet, turned to me. “Got to leave,” he said, “lots to do first thing, we make it official about the cuts first thing tomorrow and I’m sure it’ll keep me busy for weeks.”

This column on leadership and organizational development is written exclusively for the IEDP by Rudi Plettinx, Managing Director of Management Centre Europe, the Brussels-based development organization. Have a comment or a question? Connect with him via Linkedin. 

                                                                                   

The Leadership Grand Gesture

VIEWPOINT: Just occasionally leaders need to make a grand gesture to get their message across, Rudi Plettinx, Managing Director of Management Centre Europe, offers valuable insight on when and how to do it, in this eighth in his series of articles for IEDP:Newly appointed leaders often have a shrinking window of opportunity to get the team they’ve been given to manage on their side. My view is that you need to get their attention from day one, the first hour if at all possible. I think it is vitally important to send a message that will make the organization know you are serious about getting things done. This is particularly true if you are being parachuted into a situation where there is low morale, high turnover or some similar corporate malaise. But getting people to sit up and pay attention sometimes calls for a grand gesture. Something truly memorable. The stuff of leadership legend that will be talked about whenever the business ‘war stories’ are recalled and retold. Just in case you need to make a grand leadership gesture one of these days, here are three real-life examples that might just get you thinking the next time you feel you need to make some instant impact: A newly appointed general manager was sent into an organization where communications had broken down and employees were all suffering from low morale. Day one the manager arrived with a tool box in his hand. As headquarters staff watched open-mouthed, he took out a wrench and a screwdriver and removed the door to his office and had it taken away. The message was crystal clear. “My door is always open, don’t hesitate to come and talk to me.” This dramatic gesture achieved its goal. Within seconds (thanks to the power of email) the whole company knew what had happened at headquarters. This no nonsense, hands-on approach was the beginning of a spectacular turn-around in the organization’s fortunes. Not quite so dramatic, but equally successful, was the manager sent as the new leader of an ailing division of a software provider just before the Christmas period. The day she arrived top management sent a memo to the whole company saying that – due to budget restrictions – there would be no Christmas parties that year. The newly appointed manager tacked up a memo on the notice board inviting everyone in her new division to her Christmas party – which she paid for! Again, it sent an instant message to everyone and was the starting point of a turnaround: which, of course, resulted in a nice, fat bonus for the ‘generous’ manager. Or how’s this for total leadership chutzpah? Sent in to shake things up by his U.S. electronics firm, the new head of Europe sent a very definite message just hours after his plane landed in Brussels. Taken to a Michelin starred restaurant in the city as a ‘welcome to Europe’ gesture by his top 50 managers he came up with a bigger, bolder gesture of his own! He only stayed for the soup, saying, “well guys you may have time for lunch, but I haven’t.” There was more to come. A keen skier, the new boss started each day running up the 20 plus floors to his office as part of his keep-fit regime. His personal team was ‘encouraged’ to do the same. The message, “we are here to do a job and we can’t do that wasting time eating lunch or even waiting for elevators.” For leaders, grand gestures have their place. Only you can’t do them too often. So my advice is save them for when you really need to strike a chord, sending a message that won’t, ever, be forgotten. You’ll also have fun doing it too. Whoever said that leadership shouldn’t be fun? Not me.  Do you have a story about a CEO, or senior manager who made the grand gesture to get a point across ? If so we’d like to hear it. This column on leadership and organizational development is written exclusively for the IEDP by Rudi Plettinx, Managing Director of Management Centre Europe, the Brussels-based development organization. Have a comment or a question? Connect with him via Linkedin.

How to re-establish leadership balance in a boundary less world?

Gone are the ‘good old days’ where we could list on the right hand side of our screen or page what “defines” a manager and on the left hand side of the page the “features” defining a leader.

In today’s busy business and work world, we are continuously bombarded with information through all sorts of channels & technology, on an ongoing 24/7 basis. As a result, our jobs need our constant attention. We need to be able to solve problems, make decisions, strategize, and support our virtual and non-virtual teams and all of this at the speed of light. It can be really difficult to keep any kind of boundaries and sometimes nearly impossible.

Managers need to be leaders and leaders need to be managers. Referring to leading and managing as ‘either or’ won’t help us to navigate the complex realities of our work environment nor those of the global economic, social, political or business landscape.

At MCE, we believe that Management and Leadership is not only expressed and best applied alongside a ‘continuum’ (see below graph #1) but it is also 360 degree and holistic.

#1 like this:

  

Getting the right balance between knowing and managing yourself, knowing how to lead others and knowing the business is key in being a successful manager today. As a manager there are times when you need to manage functional tasks and others times when you are required to take important strategic decisions, have a vision, and to inspire others to outperform. The ability to demonstrate and apply both is critical.

Many other boundaries or limits are also being effected by the fast moving world we live in. For example a clear separation between work life and private life is becoming more difficult to achieve. There are many ongoing contradictions that make it more difficult to define a clear identity and clear roles. Technology is no longer a ‘means’ to an end or a channel of communication for example, but it defines who we are and blurs the lines between private life and business life. We are always connected. So, knowing yourself (Leading Self) and ‘being in balance with yourself’ is even more critical than it ever has been.

But how can you know if you are in balance if you don’t know what your boundaries should be? How do you know what is right and what is wrong? When should you stop responding to emails that come to your mailbox 24 hours a day?

So let us review some quick tips to help you focus on what matters and to set the boundaries that we need to be better leaders, managers, partners, individuals, parents…:

• Set boundaries: start with defining what these are for you. It starts with you and managing yourself: stop and reflect.  What does life balance mean for me? What do I need to be in balance?
• Define the most important areas: Which areas of my life are important to me and which out of these do I personally rank as my top three: (e.g.. spending quality time with my family, doing outdoor sports, seeing friends, contributing to society or to the community, travelling, time to reflect etc.)
•  Reflect: To what extent I am honouring these or neglecting these areas? What’s the possible negative impact this lack of balance is having on myself, my environment and the way I manage and lead?
•  Act: What behaviours and habits am I willing to change to re-establish my personal balance and by when and how will I do this?
•  Measure: How do I know I have succeeded to get my balance back? (E.g. more time for myself, more energy, more helpful to my team members, less stress etc.)

To be great managers and leaders in today’s demanding world where little boundaries exist, our first job is to be conscious of the boundaries we need to set to enable us to act as great leaders. These can be different for different people. Once we are aware of these, we need to assess whether they are being challenged by outside demands and if so, how we can get back our control over the way we manage our environment, not the other way around. The best leaders are those who are versatile. This means they can manage and lead whenever it is needed and they can adapt and be holistic in their way of leading (self, others, business). However the most important aspect is to get a good balance. Being out of balance will lead to stress, low energy, lower productivity and ultimately less good people & business leadership.

In the next post we will explore further, the impact of your lack of balance on your personal health, your team’s engagement, and your creativity.

About the author: 

Natalie Schurmann

Natalie Schurmann supports MCE with the design and quality of the open enrolment programmes. Natalie Schurmann has over 15 years’ experience in leadership development, executive coaching, leadership training and design and psychometric assessments. Natalie’s global delivery has impacted numerous regions including Europe, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, India, Russia, and Africa.

"Wicked problems", the most important problems a business has.

Dr. Patricia Seemann is a Swiss surgeon and the founder of The 3am Group, with a specialty like no-one else. Her unique expertise is diagnosing and treating the most complicated and intractable issues that plague large global corporations … the “Wicked Problems” that, left unaddressed, can endanger the entire enterprise. She is a former member of the Group Management Board of a major financial services firm and has 15 years of experience in helping CEO identify and deal with “Wicked Problems.” She will be addressing those issues in a keynote presentation at #MCE55 Event in Brussels in April 2016 (19-20 April 2016).  

MCE: Does EVERYONE, no matter how driven, successful, ruthless, or misunderstood genius they may be, have that 3 a.m. trauma in their make-up? Why ? and what is it ?

Patricia Seemann (PS): Some will claim they don’t. The idea is to project complete command over everything. As one guy told me: If I were losing sleep, it would reflect a lack of competence on my side. Vulnerability isn’t in the make-up of conventional leaders. They don’t know that there is a whole bunch of stuff they don’t know. Which is what makes them so dangerous.

In a recent paper, two journalists interviewed about 60 leaders (government, military, corporate) who all agreed that Leadership is failing because individuals cannot have the answers anymore. The word has become unknowable.

What keeps them awake? Some things never change: where do I get real talent from? How can I get my team to play nice, etc. Today it is also a kind of impostor syndrome, feeling deep down that they aren’t up to the job. The thing is, in a way nobody is.

You can help but helping them acknowledge that having the answer is no longer the requisite or even possible skill. What is critical is the ability to ask the right questions and to draw on the collective intelligence of the firm. That of course predicates a very different leadership model

MCE: Can YOU cure them of these night time bogeymen the “something” lurking in the shadows ?

PS: I don’t know whether curing is possible, but certainly helping the cope, yes.

MCE: Does guilt, unfulfilled dreams, unrequited ambition and the need to be top dog play a key part and should certain behaviours act as a warning flag? Can YOU do anything about it?

PS: Well, Carly Fiorina had a larger-than-life portrait hung in the lobby of HP. I think that is a pretty clear signal that she has a problem. Would I have been able to change that, probably now, because she wouldn’t seek counsel from people like me. Of course all the things you point to can and do play a role. I cannot change deep rooted character traits. But what I can do is show them how working on some of their behaviours is to their advantage.

MCE: We’ve seen a whole slew of M and A’ s seriously derail because tough CEOs want to empire-build to the exclusion of all rationality. Will that always be there, or is it inherent in the “beast” that is the 21^st Century CEO?

PS:Certainly! But it is also the inability to think in non-linear, messy ways. People assume that doubling the size of the firm doubles complexity, in fact it increases on a logarhythmic scale. They also rarely understand the notion of company as social systems with deeply tribal characteristics. Tribes really don’t like to be brought together.  Note also the role of the bankers. They can make any deal look compelling good on paper. The numbers are always pretty. But they do not reflect reality, because that is grounded in humanness, not numbers. And finally scale means something very different in a knowledge economy than if you are producing bricks.

MCE: Finally, If you had to say (or gently whisper) one word or phrase to a CEO with his or her eyes wide open at 3 a.m., what would it be?

P S: Build a company that’s smarter than you Then you can rely on it.

Leadership in an Age of Convergence

Jens Maier is Lecturer at the University of St. Gallen, Fellow at London Business School (Centre for Management Development) and the Founder of CE Convergence Engineers.

He is the author of “The ambidextrous Organization-exploring the new while exploiting the now”; Palgrave Macmillan; 2015 and will be presenting a keynote session at #MCE55 Event in April (19-20 April 2016). 

Convergence between markets and technologies happens around us. The perfect Storm of ubiquitous Technologies (smartphones, cloud computing, big data, social media and the internet of everything), often characterized as „digitization” is by itself challenging enough. When coupled with a megatrend such as aging population, the implications are felt across most industries.

MCE: You’ve introduced "the ambidextrous leader” as a viable concept and a “must- have” for today’s successful corporation. But doesn’t the evidence indicate that a lot of senior managers can’t use even one hand effectively to steer the corporate boat?

Jens Maier (JM): Sure, there are always exceptions: that individual leaders fail at running the existing business smoothly. However, years of benchmarking, continuous improvement, black belts etc. have helped to raise the professionalism in most industries. Therefore, I have observed that senior managers have become quite proficient at using the hand of “exploiting” the current business.

Now, the perfect storm of technologies such as smartphones, cloud computing, big data, social media and the internet of everything has a huge impact on the future of most existing industries.

This current phenomenon, often summarized as digitalization, creates new competitors in the existing business and is simultaneously offering opportunities for new businesses. Therefore, organizations are challenged to develop the capability of exploration. It is no longer just about playing existing game better, shaping game is now required. In shaping game organizations are fighting for relevance in the next phase of their industry. Witness Nokia and Blackberry fresh in our minds as examples for organizations struggling to move beyond efficiency to stay relevant.

Relevance therefore is the result for an organization’s capability to reconcile exploitation (efficiency in the existing busing business) and successful exploration of new opportunities beyond today’s core business. Organizations have to develop the organizational “bandwidth” to reconcile exploitation and exploration.

MCE: What’s your recipe for getting respect as a leader? What would you mandate/demand that CEOs-in waiting MUST experience, learn, adopt or get enthused about on their way to the top.

JM: Respect is earned and due when a leader can demonstrate both authenticity and adaptability. In the book I use the analogy of the T-model. We find that initially first time team or project leaders tend to repeat the leadership behaviour that brought them success in the previous assignment. If the “hammer” was successful, in the next, larger assignment a bigger “hammer” is being used. This brings leaders success in their functional area of expertise or to stay with the analogy, as long as the challenge presents itself in the shape of a nail... However, we have learned about the high levels of de-railment that take place at the transition from the vertical line of the T-model to the horizontal line, the transition from functional specialist to general manager.

At the level of general management, the CEO role is just the broadest version of general management, a leader has to demonstrate additional competencies such as “influencing”.

This means that the leader has to develop the necessary “bandwidth” of behaviors over and beyond the preference for the “hammer”.

Now, in the current age of “digitization” the need for developing bandwidth in leadership behavior has been added one important new dimension, the requirement to be able to do both “exploitation” and “exploration”.

In their role as leader, individuals are required to prepare their organizations for the future, in short to innovate. Now, as leaders progress in their careers they usually assemble a good track record around exploitation, the continuous improvement of processes and products. However, in the age of digitization, exploration as a key competence has to be acquired. Again the new dimension for increasing personal bandwidth is the competency to do both exploitation and exploration.

MCE: We keep hearing about phrases like soft skills and mindfulness, but it’s a tough, real-world out there. Doesn’t the ambidextrous leader need an iron fist in a velvet glove to gain respect? So how do you reconcile these opposites to be the real leader so many of us want to follow?

JM: This is where the idea of individual bandwidth comes in: There are times when a leader has to apply the iron-fist, or the hammer. This may be necessary to apply exploitation. However, during our times of digitization, when it is important to explore new approaches, the competence to develop a vision, a point of view is also critical. This exploration competence includes winning the hearts and minds of followers, includes influencing inside and outside the organization. This could be described as the velvet glove. This means that leaders have to develop their individual bandwidth to be adaptable to both exploitation and exploration requirements and to stay authentic.

MCE: If you could sum up your book’s message in one phrase that any would-be leaders should keep in mind everyday to repeat as a mantra as they start their day’s work, what would it be?

JM: Ambidexterity is about personal and organizational bandwidth – what do I do today to improve both my personal and our organizational bandwidth.

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The best route to being a successful leader

A series of interviews with experienced players and experts in human resources and organizational development. Here we ask the questions to professional executive recruiter Anthony McAlister of Thorburn McAlister, a London-based consulting firm, with a worldwide client portfolio in the energy, financial and transportation  sectors.

MCE :You’ve frequently commented that leaders who fail rarely get their top job back. How do you get back on top after a fall?

Anthony McAlister (AMc) : All our research shows that employers value a leader’s sector experience  a great deal more than success.  The rule is, if you fail publicly you must clearly explain what went wrong and what you have learned as a result.  You must also balance the story with ALL the good things you achieved.  However, you must be realistic about your age and length of tenure as it will effect your ability to climb back on the success ladder. You should always have a plan B and – critically -  time limit your job search.

MCE : What’s the best route to being a successful leader, what should you study, what experience should you have?

AMc :Three words – operations, operations, operations.  It’s best  if you come from a general management route, running parts of the business with international experience and a track record of turnaround/profitability.  CFO’s often step up but usually because it’s a safe/cheap/fast option and cost cutting is required.  Unfortunately, as track records show,  they are more likely to reduce shareholder value.

MCE : And the much discussed MBA ( from a good business school ), do you really need it, or should you spend your time and energy on something else??

AMc : An MBA is a useful learning experience, but will never be valued more highly than experience and success.

MCE : And the tendency for corporate leaders to suffer from the need to leave a legacy... what’s your advice on that – does it ever serve a useful purpose.?

AMc : Apart from the a handful of  tech wizzkids I don’t really recognise this. CEOs of public companies are fixated on share price: nothing else matters to the board, the analysts, or the shareholders and, in fact,  themselves. Controversially, emerging research is showing how little real affect CEOs have on their businesses. So, leaving on a high is  perhaps, sadly, just a matter of both luck and judgement.  The legacy that’s unfortunately left is  a declining share price, profit warnings and restructuring.

MCE : Finally, you are noted for your encouragement of women in the C- suite. What’s the biggest obstacle to getting (and staying) on top?

AMc : Traditionally women have been attracted to project-based professions that allow for raising families like accountancy and law.  This is why we see so many female NEDs (non-executive directors) coming from these backgrounds. However, this trend is changing and marketing and business development are now common NED profiles.  But what do we mean by C- suite ?, look at most large public businesses and you will see female HR and Communication specialists prominent in the mix.  But to get to CEO it always comes back to operational experience.  Staying there is easy, (consistently good performance) – most effective  women  leaders don’t seem to  have a problem with this.

"HR has to demonstrate to the senior decision makers in an organization that it speaks their language"

Lance Wright 

A series of interviews with experienced players and experts in human resources and organizational development. Here we ask the questions to Lance Wright a seasoned HR professional who has just published a new book – “HR In The Boardroom” packed with advice on how HR can get themselves invited to the top table.  

MCE : In your new book, you talk about HR’s desire to be “IN” the boardroom. How close do you think they are to realizing their dream for being a real, accepted part of the decision–making process?

Lance Wright (LW) : This  actually gets at something that has concerned me for years that I address in the book. Frankly, despite the increased number of executives that have the title chief human resources officer, or CHRO, who may in fact sit in the executive suite, I think we are still a long way from most HR professionals being a real accepted part of the business decision-making process. Let me explain. 

I believe a large part of the problem is many HR professionals and senior executives operate within a bifurcated paradigm -whether they consciously realize it or not - where there is “the business” on one hand and then there is HR on the other. I refer to this as an economic and business inefficiency that has been around for a very long time.  This, in many respects, is at the root of the complaints we hear from many HR people about not having a seat at the table. Granted, many businesses and other organizations have gotten a lot smarter about the importance of HR. However, those HR people who made it to the executive suite and the boardroom that have a seat at the table are often not fully involved in developing business strategy or in making decisions that will impact the course of the business. This is reflected in the surveys and studies that are conducted on a regular basis about HR and the relationship it has with CEOs and other senior executives. In a nutshell, the surveys and studies show that HR often believes it has a greater impact on the business than the CEO, and other senior executives, may believe.  

There are certainly occasions when HR is asked for advice on what may be considered “people issues.”  Even then, it is possible that the opinion of other senior executives who may or may not have any real HR experience is given more weight than that of the so-called CHRO.  HR people who are considered savvy business professionals who are given the opportunity to express an opinion on the nuts and bolts aspects of running the business are in the definite minority. 

Unfortunately, the odds are stacked against HR having the ability to be intimately involved in business decision making. In the book I reference a comment by David Ulrich who is a recognized HR guru. He has made the observation that HR’s involvement as a strategic business partner could be plotted as a 20-60-20 bell shaped distribution. According to Ulrich, 20% of the curve at the front end represents HR people who are very much involved as a strategic business partner with the CEO and senior management. The 20% at the other end of the curve, for lack of a better description, don’t have a prayer of the influencing the CEO or other members of the executive suite, or the board.   The 60% bulge in the middle represents companies who have not yet made full use of HR as a strategic business partner but may or may not do so.

Anyway you cut it, there is a long way to go before HR is real accepted part of the decision making process in most companies.

MCE : What is it that HR need to demonstrate to get the “ear “of top management (the CEO)?

LW : To get the ear of the CEO and the top management team, they must first “hear” HR.  In order to be heard, HR has to demonstrate to the senior decision makers in an organization that it speaks their language.  And to be able to speak their language fluently, HR must understand the business from front to back, as well as the numbers and the other concepts that represent the language of business.  Bluntly, HR has to demonstrate it has something worth listening to before it will be able to get the ear of the CEO and the top management team. 

The best way to get the ear of a CEO, or another senior executive, is to have that person think of you as a peer and a trusted advisor. The HR professional should demonstrate the sort of business understanding and savvy that would prompt the CEO to say, “…this is a person who thinks like me, understands what I am attempting to accomplish, and what I am up against. HR has to know the business strategy and be able to poke holes in it based on a thorough knowledge of the business, the competitive environment, and the capability of the organization and its talent to get of the ear of the CEO and other senior executives.  In a sense, HR needs to be able to perform a classic SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis as well as any highly paid management consultant that may be brought in from the outside. There are many, well intentioned HR professionals who will describe themselves as a “people person.”  Some of these HR professionals may not have, or be able to demonstrate, the business skills needed to get the ear of the CEO so they don’t.  The HR function does not operate in a vacuum but in the context of the business. While almost every CEO mouths the words that people are the most important asset of a business or any organization, most senior leaders are hoping to have at their side a business person who understands the people part. An HR professional who hopes to get the ear of the senior management team has to demonstrate business acumen and ability.

I point out in the book that, in a general sense, to get the ear of the CEO and other members of the executive team HR has to be viewed as credible and knowledgeable. HR has to demonstrate the ability to give consistently sound business advice over time. The CEO and senior team members will also appreciate an HR professional who demonstrate the courage to give advice that may not be pleasant or welcomed. An HR professional has to be viewed by the CEO and other members of the executive team as an impartial and independent arbiter to get their ear. Unfortunately, as we discussed earlier in the other question, there are some CEOs and senior management teams whose “ear” HR will never be able to get. 

MCE :If you were advising an ambitious young HR professional, what would you tell him or her to study and get experience in what areas of business?

LW : Operating as a senior executive in a business is similar to being an airline pilot. There are certain skills and capabilities that should be developed by any young person who hopes to make it to the top of an organization, not only a young HR professional. All pilots understand the physical aspects of lift and drag and are able to land and take-off safely whether they are piloting a Piper Cub or an Airbus 380.  Any young professional who wants to eventually be a senior executive in the C-Suite, and the boardroom, has to understand how businesses work, financial concepts and theories, and the ins and outs of financial statements. Many young professionals who have math, or science, or engineering, or finance backgrounds often have the computational and numbers crunching skills needed to operate at the senior levels of an organization which, in the past, has given them a leg up on most young HR professionals. In my book, I give the advice that a young HR professional needs to know what an MBA knows. This doesn’t mean every young HR professional needs to obtain an MBA degree. Many young HR professionals may pursue the degree – increased numbers are doing just that.

Along the way, young professionals should develop the other skills and capabilities needed to be a senior executive. The ambitious young HR person should concentrate on developing the qualities that are looked for by most organizations. There isn’t a lot of magic to the list.  So in addition to the hard skills we just discussed, young HR professionals should also pay attention to developing these other qualities:

·         Vision creation - Do you have the ability to help others see what the future will be if certain actions are or are not taken. 

·         Leadership -Work on what it takes for people to be willing to follow you. 

·         Business acumen - Learn all you can about business in general, not just the company or industry in which you work. 

·         Strategic thinking - Concentrate on learning to “connect the dots,” and challenge the conventional wisdom. 

·         Decision making – And learn to be decisive. Decisiveness is one of the qualities that virtually every senior executive has to develop – and display – to be successful.

MCE : You’ve spent your entire professional career in HR, out of that long career, what would you say was the most rewarding, experience?

LW : My stint in financial services early in my career gave me the foundational number-crunching and financial skills needed to make it the senior level of an organization.

All in all, the most rewarding experience of my career has been serving as a trusted advisor and confidant to various organization leaders who have sought my counsel on a range of business issues and not just those that were people related. The really rewarding part is I have been able to play that role in a number of different countries around the globe. My last position as a member of the executive committee of a publicly traded company was certainly a highlight of my career.

.... and the one, you would most like to forget ?!!

Oh, for sure there have been some experiences I would like to forget that were not at all rewarding. During one of my assignments in Europe many years ago, I reported to the head of an affiliate who acted as if I was his personal butler. It made for some tense situations when I had to stand up for myself.

However, this was trivial compared to the very difficult experience of dealing with the unexpected death of an employee. Because of the length of my career there have been a few times when I have had to deal with this. The first time I had to deal with this was in the first year of my career. I was 22 years of age at the time. One of the librarians at the university had committed suicide and her parents were eligible for payment from our self-insured program as her beneficiaries. My boss and I personally delivered the check to express our condolences. I remember the sorrow of those parents and how heartbroken they were. That has stayed with me over the years and has been very hard to forget.

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