Confronting a Crisis of Leadership

Like the good leaders we (think) we are, we’re hoping that whatever we write will be a timeless masterpiece. So I’ve always chosen to ignore passing fads and fancies, preferring to ignore, so-called news, that noisy rumble of history being made. These short (hopefully) to-the-point columns are about insights into the leader’s psyche (and those who have the burden of “serving” them), if that’s an allowable word in these days of hyper-political correctness (HPC to you).

What, I would like to think, is that many years from now you’ll pick up these columns on some leadership-linked search engine and it will still seem fresh, vital and relevant to the times in which we live. In a world where b-school professors can make a nice living writing and lecturing about the dubious leadership quirks of 12th century Mongolian warlords, stamping a date on a thought piece about the habits of 21st century CEOs might not be that bad after all.

So, after much soul searching – while sampling a glass or two of excellent Bordeaux - , I’ve decided to throw caution to the winds and mention the “T” word. To be honest, I swore I’d never do it, but just watching our leaders get it so wrong, so often and with such seemingly self-satisfied smugness, I felt I had no choice, but to take up the keyboard and get it out of my system.

In the months that have passed since Mr T (why do I still think of that big guy from the awful TV series the A-Team (*) when I write that ?), all I can say is that, ladies and gentlemen I am shocked.

I am shocked that :
- The pundits didn’t know, but now spend hours talking drivel of what went wrong
- The media didn’t know, never did, never will.
- The politicians didn’t know (but like to pretend they do). 
- The pollsters got it wrong again, and again, and again
- The big bucks-earning,heavy-hitter CEOs were as surprised as you were. Do you know ANYONE who has predicted anything correctly lately?

Ok, ok, it’s easy to mock and make fun, but this is serious guys. All my experience over many years says that the very first test of leadership is that you have a plan. And the second test is you have plan B (because every idiot knows plan A never, ever works – right?).
When plan B doesn’t work you show your true  leadership by having a plan C, at least  to the point that you exude enough confidence so people feel safer, more in control, having some direction in their lives (countless studies show what 99% of all employees want is to feel safe, and if they make money too that’s a bonus).

People didn’t vote to leave Europe; and they didn’t vote for Mr T. they voted because there is no leadership. They are rootless and rudderless.
This is the worst state of leaderless mania I have ever witnessed. There’s just no one to look up to. And, ultimately if you don’t have faith you create a vacuum in which no decisions get made. Currently our leaders have shown they never had a plan A to begin with, forgot what plan B was supposed to achieve  and their in-tray is on fire.

I’ve written extensively that people need direction and they need to believe that someone knows where the boat (be it an organisation or a nation) is going and how we are all going to get there. In 2016 we spent about $10billion on leadership training. For what ? CEOs still pull down huge millions, for leading our organisations on a rocky road to nowhere; Politicians get lauded and rewarded with honours, for making simple, stupid errors. Trouble is we have all forgotten what leadership is about.  Let me make it ever so simple. Leadership is about picking a direction, and getting a bunch of (hopefully) like-minded individuals to follow you and reap the rewards, possibly spreading a little inspirational stardust along the way. Maybe Mr T has that (or maybe we’d just better wish really, really hard that he has). 

Sorry to say folks, but leadership ain’t what it used to be and that’s the simple truth. My question to you is, are we going to do anything about it? Sadly there’s not much sign that our leaders are wonderfully equipped to put the esprit de corps back into the corpse, we’ve left lonely, lifeless and abandoned by the corporate highway as a sad legacy of our own failings. Aren’t we better than that ? Come on let’s go and seek out some inspirational leaders. I’ll be back with a route map soon. Promise.

(*) For those that need to know The A Team was a cult shoot’em up tv show  of the 1980s

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 directly with Rudi Plettinx here.

A Cheer for the Old Dogs

Do you remember the days when anyone over 40 was already on the corporate scrap heap? Used to be a leader who had lost his moxie was doomed to a netherworld of hoped-for and patronisingly-given exec directorships allowing him or her to eke out their days until retirement mercifully kicked in. “It’s a young man’s game,” we were told. There was just no room in the world, where youth was king, for those who fell from grace just too early, still clinging desperately to the success ladder with white, shaking fingers.

But lately, I’ve been hearing stories – and most importantly seeing evidence – that being on the ropes doesn’t necessarily mean it’s all over.

Last month, one of my oldest friends fell foul of their board and the other got shanghaied in a shareholder revolt. Result? no job, no title, just the pay–off for a job that had taken its toll over the years. Not wanting to admit defeat and say sayonara to a life of getting the golf handicap into single figures, they called some pals and the results were amazing. Within a matter of days, they were looking at job offers from all over the place. What was most interesting about the whole process was the variety. Private and public sector, plus offers of lucrative consulting and turnaround assignments. From an expected vacuum and a real struggle to get back onto the radar, the phone’s been ringing off the hook.

I chatted to both of them about their next moves. Mark is 55 and in good shape with a great track record as an inspirational leader. Joshua is 60, he’s led a whole series of big businesses, done start-ups, M&As the whole thing.

The one question that was on all their minds was the single word - “Why”? 

“I don’t understand Rudi,” Mark told me. “I thought we were supposed to be over the hill, dead and buried like yesterday’s news.”

“It’s incredible,” said Joshua. “I’ve been contacted by so many people; they all want me to sign on tomorrow.”

Talking with these two novices for a time, I’ve come to the conclusion that their career resurrection is down to one thing. Organisations crave experience and battle-hardened warriors. They need to feel there is someone in charge who has been through the ups and downs and come through, battered and bruised but with all flags flying.

It may be good to be a 20 or 30-year-old whizz-kid, hyped up on technology, but most of them are very, very short on street fighting techniques. The oldies offer experience, consistency and wisdom. Being calm in the storm is a whole lot easier when you’ve seen a lot of storms and survived them.

Mark and Joshua with their long track records across industry bring the kind of insight that only serving time can bring. And in a world that’s full of daily surprises, that is the new “we want” currency.

So what will they do? They have four rock-solid offers each. They also have no illusions that nothing is forever – recent history is there to keep them firmly planted in the real world, where there are few fairy-tale endings.

Mark will take on a leadership role with a commodity firm (his global contacts and long-time relationships are worth their weight in the very sizeable package they’re giving him). Joshua isn’t quite ready to step back in. He’s signed up to be a top level mentor to a group of start-ups, bringing sane advice and counsel where it’s needed most. He’s the den mother where his leadership skills will carry a lot of weight and bring about the repositioning of the firm and its culture as it grows.

I wish them well and hope they find satisfaction in the next chapters of their careers. There’s an old saying that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. My two friends, Mark and Joshua are out to disprove that statement. As uncertainty becomes the watchword all of us must lead and manage by, my guess is that those young rebels in the corporate suite will be ever more willing to listen to the grey hairs of their elders and until proven otherwise, presumably betters.

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 directly with Rudi Plettinx here.

Running Scared Is No Way to Lead

Facing the fear of uncertainty that forces wrong decisions and creates low productivity and underperformance. 

Those of you who read these columns will know by now that I’m a pretty inveterate world traveller. Give me a comfortable seat, preferably in business class (‘cos I’ve got the air miles to do it) my trusty tablet, a cold drink and a half decent meal and I can put up with hours and hours in the sky, no problem. And often to while away the passing miles I get to meet the most interesting people. But lately, I’ve found in my travelling companions a new, disturbing phenomenon that doesn’t seem to have been there before – they’re scared. Not of flying, or of whacko terrorists, just plain old-fashioned scaredy-ness. There’s something deeply disturbing about this that has me wondering if we as business leaders are really doing all we should to take some of the angst out off the work equation.

In the past months I’ve been in Africa, the Americas, Asia, the Middle East and Northern Europe.  On every flight, I’ve got into conversation over the plastic pap they serve you that usually begins like this.

We exchange a “hello,” swap names, explain what we do, who we work for and then one of us always asks THE question, “So, how’s business in the XYZ industry?” Depending how confident we feel (or how many aperos we may have had) we tend to bend the truth a little (bullshitting it’s called), usually giving the impression that all is right with the world and our business is floating along smoothly at 35,0000 feet like those clouds outside the window of seat 3A.

Normally, these chats with total strangers are a pleasant diversion (sometimes you even learn a thing or two from the experiences of some ageing corporate soldier like myself). Then the wheels hit the tarmac and you go on your merry way to the next client meeting and the same soulless hotel room (whoever writes about hotels as a “lifestyle experience” should be locked up in one of their own rooms for a millennium).

But recently these candid, virtually anonymous exchanges, have taken on a new, ever so slightly, sinister feel. Sure, people still tell you how good their business is, but behind the false bravado there’s a real, tangible frisson of fear. It’s not about under performance either. It’s about doubts. How long they’ve got until the dice rolls the wrong way just too many times? In simple terms these big deal, business-class travellers are scared that there is just too much uncertainty in the world. And it seems no matter how they try to plan for it, how many contingencies they’ve got up their sleeve, something big and bad is going to happen. And there isn’t a darn thing they can do about it.

Take Carlos, met him on a flight to Dubai last week. He’s got the jitters like a professional golfer with the yips that’s ruined his putting stroke. And he can’t say why.  Or Andrea, a hard-boiled vice president, who frets if she’ll be in a job by year end. And Frank who’s so worried that he’s has a tremble in his voice as he nervously describes his concerns about what happens tomorrow.

Seems to me they are all dealing with the one thing that all their training, experience and get-up-and-go can’t give them – UNCERTAINTY. It’s like a disease. It weakens you. Forces you into wrong decisions and creates low productivity and underperformance big time.

What to do? Well, we as leaders have to step up and just get good at fighting the big, bad, bogeymen that are pervading our workspace and workplace. We need to take the time to reassure our people and our top teams (tuck them up with a warm drink and a teddy bear and make sure they get a dreamless sleep, with no nasty corporate nightmares).

Of course, there’s plenty of people who will say we shouldn’t bother, we reward our people to be tough, resilient - they should just get on with it; but is that right? If we can try just that little bit harder to reassure our people that all will be well; if we can coddle them just a bit more, surely it will pay off in better performance and probably less anti-anxiety pill-popping, an epidemic that is now an established, de facto part of today’s corporate culture.

Leaders aren’t just supposed to know stuff. They are there to reassure the troops, be able to think the unthinkable and make their top performers feel better about the uncertainty in a world we have inherited.

Maybe a leader needs to face that uncertainty, admit it to themselves, then go and help the rest who are struggling. From my experiences, and the frightened confessions I’m hearing in seat 3A, I can vouch for that.

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.

Facing up to a Close Shave

VIEWPOINT: Take time everyday to really know what business you are in, says Rudi Plettinx, Managing Director of Management Centre Europe, in this thirteenth in his series of articles for IEDP: That greatest of management gurus, Peter Drucker, had a fine way with a quotable quote. So much so that Druckerisms have gone into the annals of management myth. Did he really say that; or did someone, wished he had coined that apt epithet?  We may never know the answer to that question. All we know is that in this fast-paced modern world, Drucker’s musings take on more relevance every day.  The most certainly apocryphal story that as a young consultant, Drucker had the temerity to ask that giant of management, GM’s legendary CEO Alfred P. Sloan, “what business do you think you’re in Mr Sloan?”, got me thinking that far too many business leaders take who they are and the business they are entrusted to run for granted.

Me? Well, I’m old fashioned and I like to reflect on the business at the one time of day when I am face-to-face with myself? As an old, much respected, friend of mine used to advise, “No matter who you are, you have to shave each morning, so use that uninterrupted three minutes to ask yourself, “what business am I in and what am I going to do with it today?” That brief diurnal opportunity, reflecting in your reflection, is a sobering habit that we need to do more of. In case I’m accused of not being all-inclusive in my remarks, those female CEOs can do the same while applying their make-up.

What I’m getting at here is that, it doesn’t matter what gender you are, the very fact that you are supposed to be a leader comes with a responsibility that many of us are all too willing to abrogate. Don’t we need a quiet minute to remind ourselves what we are here to do; have we forgotten our mission? In a world where someone somewhere invents a new business every day, don’t we need to assure ourselves of what business we are in? Go on, ask yourself that question tomorrow morning while you’re staring at the mirror. Will you like the answer you give yourself? If you are honest, you may be surprised at the real answer you get.

As it turns out the great Alfred was wrong. There he was, standing in his vest, braces round his waist, shaving all those mornings simply assuming he was an auto engineer, when he was really providing a customer service.

History doesn’t recall if the young Drucker got thrown out of Mr Sloan’s office, but 70-odd years later it still has a telling effect and provides a real rule for any business leader: don’t be complacent. Revisit why your business exists and who it serves every single day. OK I know it’s easy to regard this as a simple gimmick, but good leaders seem to intrinsically know when things aren’t quite right. And if they want to wrong-foot the opposition you can add another question you demand of yourself. Not just, “what business am I in, but what business do I want to be in?”

That question opens a box-full of possibilities. And with the rapid changes in technology, geopolitical and social upheaval, knowing what comes next has to be on every leader’s agenda. For example, how many business leaders didn’t spot the oil-price plunge and consequent financial mayhem until it was too late to change direction, to name just one incident of many?

That daily habit of staring face-to-face with yourself into your shaving mirror while asking yourself those questions bring me to another Druckerism that fits the shaving scenario just perfectly.

Drucker is said to have suggested, “Results are gained by exploiting opportunities, NOT by solving problems.” But if you don’t know what business you are in, you can’t exploit anything, can you? Who’s next for  shaving ?

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.

Leadership: Wily by Nature

VIEWPOINT: Successful senior leaders need the bounce-back resilience of a cartoon character, says Rudi Plettinx, Managing Director of Management Centre Europe, in this twelfth in his series of articles for IEDP:

I’ve just spent the weekend with my old friend Gary. I love Gary. He’s so delightfully old fashioned when it comes to business, and when we talk leadership there’s no one to touch him, he just seems to naturally know how to get everyone behind him - every time. As a leader, I may have had my moments, but for me Gary is the numero uno, the big banana - and he makes it look easy too, getting results and energising people in a way most of us can only dream of.

“How do you do that?” I asked him. “ How do you reach those people, who if they were honest would all like to see you fall, crash and burn, yet, perversely, seem contented to follow you anywhere?”

He paused for a second, then his eyes brightened and he leaned over to me. “You know what they call me in the markets, don’t you?” he asks with a grin on his non too handsome face. I shook my head, somewhat mystified by his attitude.

“Wile E Coyote!” he answered, triumphantly, “like the kid’s cartoon." slapping his hand down hard on his antique desk. “They know that whatever they throw at me. I’ll always be back for more.” I’m like the creature in the cartoon, they can’t kill me off, I’m always still going in the last reel. That’s why the other fella is always looking over his shoulder, because they know I’m out there somewhere and I’ll get that deal done one way or another.”

He adds, “They also know that like the cartoon character I’ll be back next week and the week after that. I can’t be killed off, they need me. I provide continuity, certainty. Sure, a few people may laugh, but I get the star billing. What’s a few bruises, when you always win long-term?”

That got me thinking. Is Gary a good definition of a leader - super hero style indestructibility, but one with real-life staying power?

In reality, although I’m sure Gary hasn’t sat down and analysed this (it’s not in his ‘can do’ DNA to do it), Gary is a real leader in every sense of the word. By his very nature of always being there no matter what happens, he is a rock, a permanent fixture people can relate to and rely on. He can shrug off setbacks, ignore bad news and the disapproval of his peers, and get on with the job in hand. Demonstrating single-minded purpose when all around have given up. He’s also inventive, but most of all, he’s THERE. Rain or shine you know that Gary, if he’s on your side, will be there to see things through whatever the odds are against him pulling it off.

In today’s mixed up and complex world, there are far too many so-called leaders who don’t inspire the confidence they should. No wonder shareholders and institutional investors run for cover, there’s no Gary out there to come to their aid. What we want is a real-life cartoon character who can be blown up in a market bubble, pushed off a fiscal cliff and stretched to the nth degree of credibility and still bounce back. 

For my money that’s my pal Gary. Sadly he’s so busy being there and being successful he doesn’t really see it that way and wouldn’t believe me if I told him. But while everyone is still pointing and laughing at Wile E. Coyote, who’s collecting the winnings?

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.

Getting fired is GOOD for Leaders

It’s strange the things that trigger your ideas and attitudes about leaders. I'd just been on a train to Paris, catching up on a month’s worth of reading (I’m the kind of guy who tears out pages from business mags and newspapers and squirrels them  away to catch up when I have the time). It’s messy, totally non-digital, deeply uncool, but it works for me. Often some of my best ideas come from reading some ink-smudged newspaper clipping months out of date.

In the midst of rapidly skimming through 30 or 40 pieces I’d collected, I was suddenly struck by one thing. Most of what I was reading was about failure, specifically CEOs who’d crashed and burned - usually taking a large slice of that year’s profits in severance settlements with them. “My goodness,” I thought, “there’s an epidemic out here. It’ worse than top-of-the-league soccer managers. CEOs are getting it from all sides, are we learning nothing about squandering all this talent? ”

I was still musing on this accident-prone CEO syndrome when I arrived to meet a client. Well, not a client actually, but hopefully soon to be one. I’ve known him for years. He’s just arrived into the hot seat of a large transportation firm. Lucky to be there, I thought, got fired about six months ago. Messy corporate divorce, but he looks OK – confidently exuding the air of man in charge of his personal destiny.

We shook hands, and I sat down across from his aircraft carrier-sized stripped pine desk. As I opened my folder, all my carefully hoarded clippings I’d been reading on the train, spilled, embarrassingly, to the floor.

“What’s that?” asked my host.

I quickly explained my dinosaur-like way of staying in tune with the times. As it was a very informal meeting, and I’d met him before, I also wished him luck in his new role, boldly referring to his last job and how I hoped it would work out well. He smiled at me. “Well after these last months, I reckon it’s not going to be too bad, at least I know how to play the game now.” He added, “You see I’m qualified. Got the t-shirt, been there done that. “

My host, then went onto describe in fascinating detail how he lost his job, how the forces massed against him had combined to bring him down. Over the next 30 minutes he itemized in detail what had happened, what he learned from each twist and turn and how he had got out clean, certainly richer but a whole lot wiser as well. By the end of it he had come across as a very professional operator, one I’d be happy to vouch for as a man who’d keep his head in any crisis that came along.

Finally, he sat back in his chair and said, “ So you see Rudi, getting fired taught me all I needed to know, to stay on top- it’s been my finishing school my post graduate business degree.  I’ve an MBA from the best school money can buy, a stellar track record, but now I know how to play the game better than anyone else.” He went on, “I Can deal with boards, investors, analysts, the media, over-ambitious lieutenants. None of them concerns me now. Quite frankly, you can’t be a real leader unless you know how to recognize and deal with all those things happening to you every day. Now I know how to build loyalty in my team   (I was just too busy before); avoid the sniping of the financial analysts (never bothered to take them seriously – now I do); ignored the media (I make sure I’m seen, heard and my image is polished like the brass plaque outside our HQ).”

Was taken aback by his words, and his enthusiasm, “ So what about the caring leader,” I asked, “ is it all just a fiction; are we led to believe that a CEO who takes care of his people is THE real leadership model we  should aspire too? “

He stared at me for a good 20 seconds, saying nothing. Then he smiled and finally said, “That’s what the book says that’s what all the management courses preach, but that isn’t real-life. Quite frankly, the reason I’m worth this huge salary they’re paying me is for one thing. I’ve been fired – I survived and I learnt all the lessons better than anyone else.  I have been shot at but now I’m bullet-proof Now when I come to choose my successor I know  where I’ll be looking. “

He got up to leave, shook my hand warmly and opened the door for me. “Walk you down to reception,” he said, got to do my daily tour, keep the people pleased by knowing I look pleased too.”

So is it true, can you really get better as a leader by experiencing the seamy side of corporate existence? My betting is my new friend – and he’s a new client now - has got it right. So, go get fired, learn from it and be the leader you should have been all along!

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. 

Is LEAD - a four-letter word?

VIEWPOINT: ‘Leadership’ is an overused term, too often used as a lazy catchall. Rudi Plettinx, Managing Director of Management Centre Europe, calls for a focus on what it means to be a real leader, in this ninth in his series of articles for IEDP: Four-letter words are no-no’s and often none seems to come much bigger than the simple, single syllable statement LEAD. For instance, attach the “L” word to practically anything and you instil in it some kind of supernatural power. “He’s a business leader” is expressed in hushed tones as though we should all be impressed. “Sign up for our seminar on business Leadership and you’ll never look back” is a frequent favourite, hinting at practically guaranteed success. It seems to me that in today’s world the word LEAD is being used in a LAZY way. Users, it would seem, reckon that that the simple evocation of the “L” word conveys mystical powers (allowing those that use it to charge a good 50 percent premium on the services they are offering). Consequently every consultant manages to work the L-word into their product and services. Therefore, it is not surprising that practically every conference, seminar book and research project is based on the thoughts of business leaders which will give you the magical insight to being a real Leader yourself. But isn’t it time we stopped over-using leadership as an all-purpose, over-contrived superlative - an unnecessary and distracting adjectival device? Come on think about it please. Sure we know that most of us would rather be seen as leaders, but surely we have to earn it and be recognised for our abilities before it can be applied to us mere mortals. Calling ourselves a leader does not really work if no-one believes, or has day-to-day confidence, in our talents and abilities. Certainly, we can all read the right books attend the best programs and employ the best coaches, but none of that will make us a leader not for one nano-second. There is a very old saying that you can fool most of the people most of the time. But you just can’t fool your people by proclaiming you are a leader when you are not. All the certificates in the world won’t be of any use when you are in charge and another “L” word appears in you working vocabulary – a- LONE; because that is where you will be -on your own. And that is when we all get to find out how good we really are. Also there is another old adage that suggests that you can get away with not being a very good leader as a Number 2 but never as a Number 1. You can fake it , practically forever, as number 2 but take it from me - and  the many examples I’ve seen time and time again -  if  you have faked it, if you are not really what it says on the box, you will LOSE – big time.  Because, I can guarantee that circumstances will always conspire to make sure you meet that other “word and LOSE.  I have been around the business a long time and I have never seen a fake Number 2 ever succeed as a successful Number 1 – it just does not happen, and I don’t think it ever will. So, yes, I do think the word LEAD and its bigger brother Leadership is overused and badly misunderstood. I think we spray the “L” word around without much thought. But tell you what.  When it all happens one day, you will personally know (deep inside) if you are really a leader or not. And, more important, your people will know that too right from day one– oh yes, indeed they will!! I have been scanning the world’s media and it is amazing how many just do not make it. And all too often they may get to Lead for a while but they don’t last LONG either. In our dumbing- down on LEAD as a word we have managed to reduce the average CEO tenure to less  than five years- so much for another Word victim –LONG evity ! But there is even more of a twist to this when you bother to stop and think about it. What worries me most of all is that we could end-up mistaking that simple, yet highly evocative word Lead for the similarly spelt LEAD. Otherwise known as a very heavy metal……. Chances are you get it all terribly wrong and the people you have come to lead will - if you don’t have it… sink out of sight like a lead balloon…….  In the Periodic Table of corporate life LEAD is most certainly a downer, not what naturally springs to mind when we think of ourselves as all conquering heroes saving the organizational universe. 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 2015 Global Leadership Development Study

Key findings:

1. Global development that begins with first-level leaders or individual contributors fuels success. Delaying such efforts until candidates reach higher leadership levels has a negative effect on development effectiveness.
   
2. Business and financial acumen are fundamental capabilities for leaders, but insufficient; social skills are the real differentiators, enabling leaders to apply influence and inclusiveness to drive greater productivity.
   
3. Experiential learning is an essential element of blended development programs. Live classes, simulations, games, and specific work assignments deliver active learning effectively.
   
4. Global mindset is a distinctive characteristic of effective global leaders. Embracing cross-cultural diversity and driving collaborative relationships within and beyond organizations are hallmarks of this evolved perspective.
   

To read more, please click here.

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.

"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.

Europe’s Cross-border Leadership Emphasises ‘Softer’ Skills

VIEWPOINT: Europe’s emerging leadership style is leading the way. Rudi Plettinx, Managing Director of Management Centre Europe, offers valuable insight in this fourth in a series of articles for IEDP: One of the great aspects of my job is that I get to meet so many people from many different places and professions.  When we meet – often in a leadership development environment – I am regularly asked one simple question: “Tell me Rudi, is it harder to be an effective leader today than it used to be?”  When I reply : “Yes, I think it is,” the same question always follows: “so how is it different ?” Well from my travels and experiences there is one thing that separates today’s leaders (and by ‘leader’ I mean people at all levels in an organization) from those of, say, a decade ago. Nowadays they have to lead in a far more complex world. And much of that complexity comes from the fact that an increasing number of us are leading and managing in a global marketplace. Interestingly, in Europe virtually every business, small, medium and large has an increasing exposure to external influences. While they may not have factories and offices in other countries, most businesses export, import or exchange services on an ever growing cross-border basis. My view is that successful leaders are going to be those that understand today – right now – that the criteria that have worked for us over the last 20 years are not going to be sufficient for the demands of tomorrow. And if I am right, then Europe is quite possibly ahead of the U.S. in getting to grips with this new model. Why? Well the European business model – grounded deeply in sociological orientation – is a much closer fit to these emerging leadership requirements than that of the U.S. where the free-market rules and ‘making the numbers’ is a recurring corporate mantra. (See my blog on ‘Making the Numbers’ published in May) As I move around Europe, I’ve developed some interesting views on how Europe and the U.S. differ as we search out an emerging leadership style. A new generation of leaders realize that to be an effective leader in 2015 requires meeting the expectations of the workforce (insourced and outsourced). To do that consistently requires an emphasis on those more collaborative skills – include persuasion in that too! – that will create respect and involvement within our businesses of tomorrow. As I explained earlier, we may not have paid enough attention as to how this evolution of the leadership skill-set is coming about, but as I travel around Europe and see the on-the-ground reality, I am deeply encouraged by the way the next generation is tackling the leadership challenge. So, today, when I get asked that question, “so how is [leadership] different?” I have a new answer. It goes like this, “Don’t ask me. Look at what you are doing and what you have done. You are leading the changes, so you tell me what’s different, because I need to learn from you.” I have a great job, watching a new generation in a new Europe find new ways to lead. Sure, I and my colleagues can help to put the practice and principles of leadership into focus in a learning environment, but it is in the offices and factories that the basic elements are assembled to create a new leadership focus: one that seems to be grounded in collaboration and mutual reward. Cross-border, cross-functional, cross-industry, cross-cultural, Europe’s business leaders in the 28 member states have rapidly learned a host of lessons that are being put into practical use on a daily basis to manage an emergent economic area. This is creating leaders comfortable with complexity, ambiguity and constant change and challenge. It is going to be very interesting and exciting to see where this journey takes me and everyone else who has a true interest in the concept and practice of leadership, because – while the basic tenets of leadership are constant – we must recognize and welcome the emergence of new ways to take our businesses forward. Leadership is, after all, a competence grounded in understanding and adapting to change. 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