Leading from behind

There’s a guy I know really well. He’s hugely successful at one thing – leading from behind. Once you know him, you’ll all too quickly realise that there’s just no question that you’ll ever find his bloody and battered, all too finely tailored tweed suit, torn and stained after the battle is over and the ink jets have sputtered their last dribbles of magenta ink, he’s too smart for that. Those amongst you who like historical novels will no doubt have read about the ‘Forlorn Hope’ that misguided band of soldierly derring-doers who in less civilized times, in the vague hope of getting a quick promotion hurled themselves bodily into the gaping jaws of death (read missed budget sales targets) dying messily under a hail of bullets shrapnel and associated grapeshot in the final battle for global product domination.

Yet, stride over the ruins days later as senior corporate honchos hold lengthy meetings called post mortems and you’ll never see Jean-Claude anywhere near. No whiff of that expensive after-shave will even be able to eradicate that acrid taste of decaying market share.

For Jean-Claude has learned the secret. He’s bullet proof, he’s smart – and he ALWAYS leads from behind: you’ll never see his grass stained knees as evidence of brawling over a tense turf war.

Let me tell you -  as you are obviously a seeker of ever higher office in the corporate hierarchy of things – how it works.

First, meeting Jean-Claude for the first time, he’s everyone’s ideal recruitment poster squeezed into one bright package. Fast thinking, sociable (oh that warm smile and ‘can-do’ nod of the head!) He’s open, makes good unblinking eye contact and wins your confidence 30 seconds after you’ve met him.

Second, he is a serial volunteer. Never passes up a chance to offer to do the impossible (looking back it always is just that - IMPOSSIBLE).

Third, due to his ‘can-do’ determination, he’s usually chosen to be the team, task force or project leader. And he always pretends it’s a surprise, but he always says “yes.” The others are also happy too, they are caught up in the aura of Jean-Claude’s world – a place where good things SHOULD happen. They believe in him (because we’ve been told just how good he is), a bit like they used to believe in the Easter Bunny. Nice to look at- dangerous to live with.

I saw him just the other day, fresh from dodging his way out of the equivalent of yet another corporate car crash. Bouncing along the moving pavement at Frankfurt Airport (FACT! Eventually, everyone earning some sort of executive-level salary HAS to pass through Frankfurt Airport at least once every five years. Don’t even argue about it, it’s the third law of Executive Coincidence, (the same one that specifies that mega-rich hedge fund managers live until they are 95 and never have trouble sleeping at night).

As I passed by, there were news feeds on monitors in the Executive lounge with earnest-faced anchor-men gleefully listing the meltdown of Big Bucks Business XYZ, while Jean-Claude, oblivious to his latest self-induced disaster movie playing out in front of him, waded thigh high in his old so well polished, boots through yesterday’s doom and gloom headlines. Markets might be tumbling. Masters of the Universe may be biting their finger nails but Jean-Claude was doing just fine.

Why? Well, you see, they’d paid him off again. Jean-Claude’s ace-in-the-hole his secret talent is a work of genius. Albeit a work in constant progress. When Jean-Claude volunteers to lead the faithful to the next Holy Grail, they lap it up. Every last ambition-clouded corporate soldier will follow to the ends of the earth. Only when they get there, he’s gone. You see they never catch Jean-Claude holding the wrong end of anything, he’s too smart for that. And the levels and multi-layers of embarrassment make it easier to pay him off (a couple of millions plus in this case). It’s a small price to pay as one of his victim’s recently said, “for looking really silly.”

I can see you shaking your head. Thinking I’m making this up. I’m not. There’s a lot of money to be made for not looking stupid. It’s the corporate equivalent of pass the parcel. When the music stops, the last man holding the box is subject to a lifetime of public ridicule (still, don’t believe me try going to a soccer match and hear the comments aimed at the jowly men in blazers - they’re the ones still drinking the good Bordeaux). Jean-Claude succeeded because he led from behind, letting all the other eager beavers out front get mown down by opposition machine gunners. And it was so embarrassing. We started the war and we had to pay a high price to cover our retreat and save our reputation – again!

He’s on the loose again now. Confounding all those sensible chaps tasked with corporate oversight. He’s leading a charge from behind backed by the finest PR machinery yet devised. There should be a UN resolution to ban corporate stupidity. Sadly, leading from BEHIND is perfectly legal, but boy isn’t it embarrassing? They used to say money talks. The fact is it keeps quiet, very quiet, which is why it will keep on happening and Jean-Claude will keep right on smiling as he leads from behind!


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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

Leader! Get Those Priorities Carved in Stone!

VIEWPOINT: Agreeing the ground rules is key to leading change, according to Rudi Plettinx, Managing Director of Management Centre Europe, in this seventh in his series of articles for IEDP: I had a call from my old friend Charlotte the other day. She’s one of those corporate trouble-shooters who get sent to problem parts of an organization when the going gets too hot for everyone else. Is she a leader? You bet. But talking to her about her last challenge made me think just how poorly prepared many of us are when we take on one of those tricky assignments. Here’s what Charlotte told me about her recent experiences. “Often the problem for me is that I’m only called in when others have failed to do their job. So the number one issue, especially if you are sent to clear up a mess, is to be certain that the firm has given you all the tools you need to turn things around.” “don’t ever let the initial euphoria stop them from getting some very basic rules agreed” She went on to say, “If you aren’t sure just how far you can go (and don’t have it in writing) then you’ll never achieve anything. My belief – based on a great deal of ‘combat’ missions – is that you need maximum autonomy (and authority) to get a job like that done well. You can’t build respect and develop and engage employees if you – as the leader – are unsure of what you can and cannot do. Hesitation and prevarication aren’t options out there on the battle front.” Charlotte’s belief is that the biggest trap any manager moving into a new job can fall into is letting the initial euphoria (of their so-called promotion) stop them from getting some very basic rules agreed between them and their boss. As she explains, “time and again I hear of newly appointed managers who were so excited by their new promotion they forgot all the basics – that’s a recipe for disaster.” She continues, “sure, have that bottle of celebratory champagne, but next morning sit down with your boss and get the rules agreed. AND get them in writing. If they aren’t carved in stone they aren’t rules at all.” She adds, “without that you can’t do the job you are being asked to do.” So what are Charlotte’s rules ? “Any manager heading into a new assignment needs to have at least these clear from day one,” she stresses. “Not just clear, but agreed in writing before they begin.” What are my short-term goals? What are my long-term goals? What is the time frame for reviewing, correcting and revising these goals? What is the report-back relationship and how and when does this happen (weekly, monthly etc)? If my personal compensation is related to performance, what are the parameters? Is the budget for my group agreed and what autonomy do I have in using it? What is my expense approval threshold? What are my limits on hiring new personnel? What are my limits on dismissing existing personnel? She concludes, “There are more than this, but get these basic ground rules agreed and you will at least know where your limitations are. This saves a lot of grief and hand-wringing later on.” Charlotte tells me that she is consistently successful because she and her boss both know the rules. “This way there are no ambiguities, nosurprises. I know where I stand and the company knows what it has asked me to do and the parameters that have been set.” My question: Is that how the rest of us work ? 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.

Faculty in the spotlight: Marc Feyen

Marc Feyen

At least 150 faculty work with MCE. Everyone has their own way of working, but they share a common passion : transferring knowledge. So, we decided to put each time a faculty in the spotlight to get to know more about them and about their expertise. 




Marc Feyen is delivering the Mini-MBA chemicals for MCE since 2013. He is delivering the part that is covering: Global Trends, Leadership, Strategy, Sales & Marketing and Supply Chain. The Financial section is delivered by a specific financial specialist. He offers a very pragmatic and result-oriented approach to coaching and developing leaders and managers to keep the business moving forward.

MCE: How this Mini MBA could help the future participants in their career, research?

Marc Feyen: 

1. First of all the participants will see all major parts of a company and business and importantly how they are “inter-connected”. This is crucial for potential and future leaders to understand this. They need this global view in order to successfully lead a business or company, especially when they are going through major changes, which can be a result of change in strategic direction or restructuring. The business environment is today so complex and quickly changing that a full understanding of ALL aspects of a business is inevitable for success.  

2. The Chemical industry is also a difficult industry. More strict regulations (f.i. Reach), sometimes still the bad image that the chemical industry has created in the past, the future challenges in new environmentally friendly technologies and products (read Bio-economy), requires strong and skilled leaders with a clear vision for the future. The Mini MBA for the Chemical industry will help them to understand and develop this further.

 MCE: As a trainer for this Mini MBA Chemicals at MCE, Could you tell us what is the “Future of the bioeconomy”?

            MF: During the next decades, the world will be faced with an increased shortage of natural resources, while the world population is further growing. So an increased competition for it will be the result of it.

            Therefore, a transition towards a more optimal use of renewable biological resources is an absolute must. Europe and the rest of the world will be forced to move to technologies and products that needs less input, requires less energy to produce, create less environmental impact and reduce further the CO2 emissions.

For Europe this will be a serious challenge as it will be a crucial element in order to keep her competitiveness towards other large economies. However, in my opinion, it creates also an unique opportunity for Europe to become a more resource efficient society that can rely better and more on renewable resources while still achieving economical growth.

The bio-economy is wide comprehensive: primary production and industrial into the food industry, waste treatment, pulp & paper, a large part of the chemical industry and of course the energy industry.
 

MCE: According to you what is the impact of the new technologies on the chemical industry?

            MF: It is estimated that the bio-economy represents a market value of more than 2 trillion Euro annually already today in Europe. It provides employment to more than 21 million people. These estimates makes it clear that the chemical industry can strongly benefit from it. The bio-economy will drive the companies to be more innovative, creative and very "open-minded thinking” in order to develop new sustainable technologies and products for the future. This will change the way of leading and structuring companies. It will require more R&D people, creative minds and innovators in the chemical industry. In other words: bio-economy is very much “Knowledge-based. The leaders of the future needs to be very much “Entrepreneurial” oriented in order to create (invent) new collaboration and business models. The bio-economy will be also very interesting, in my opinion, for the so-called “medium sized” companies. There are many companies in this segment, like f.i. agriculture industry. They excel mostly in their specific knowledge, but the commercialization is often difficult and expensive. Cooperation with larger companies is then needed to develop further and commercialize these new sustainable technologies. I strongly believe that not only in the food industry, but also in the chemical industry a very big future is ahead of them in the search for new, ecological sustainable product and technologies.