Posts Tagged ‘Executive’

The Evolution of Leadership

Tuesday, April 20th, 2010

Leadership continues to evolve. First there was the autocrat, then the bureaucrat, and most recently there has been a lot of talk about the visionary or transformational leader. Now, with the massive turbulence in today’s society and organizations, we’re seeing the emergence of a new leadership style to navigate today’s complexity.

L180-100420-The Evolution of Leadership from Ravi Tangri on Vimeo.

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What’s respect got to do with it?

Wednesday, March 31st, 2010

How can you expect your people to respect you as a leader if you don’t respect them?  During my Leadership180.Net interview with Avinash Menon of the Ritz-Carlton, I asked Avinash what one principle made the leadership approach of the Ritz-Carlton so effective, and his response was clear – respect.  That is the foundation upon which their leadership – and their phenomenal service culture – is built.  And yet, how often does respect show up as a leadership competency?

Peace, Love, Unity, and Respect Tattoo
Image by grantlairdjr via Flickr

Far too often, the leader is seen as someone who is ‘above’ and apart from his or her followers.  Respect is expected because of his/her position and respect given is often little more than lip service.  Now, think of your own experiences.  If someone doesn’t show respect to you, what is your natural response?  Is it to fawn over them with adulation and respect for them?  Not often.

In today’s world, where one leader cannot have all the information needed – and thus needs to engage all the other players in co-creating the way forward – respect is a fundamental requirement for leaders.  If you are going to engage others, you have to start from a place of respect, not command.

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The impact of leadership on corporate culture

Friday, December 4th, 2009

It’s said that leadership determines 70% of corporate culture.  I think that’s an understatement.

At the coffee machine. What does it say about ...
Image by TonZ via Flickr

I recenlty started working with a client that I had not worked with for several years.  In the intervening years, they had a CEO who was autocratic, controlling and very negative.  During those years, they were focused on cost-slashing, their turnover went through the roof, and the morale at all levels went down the tubes.  What had been a wonderful place to work turned into a back-biting, everyone-out-for-themselves environment that was highly toxic.  The CEO held on to power with a tight fist, and certainly wasn’t interested in working with us to engage stakeholders to co-create new solutions.

The new CEO is a 180-degree turn to the person who was there before.  He believes in people and their power, and he acts like he does.  He respects his people, he supports them, he encourages them, he praises them.  He’s not a country club leader, though – he still has high standards and holds people accountable to them, and so he gets those results – results the autocrat who preceded him could never have attained.

It’s still a work in progress, but the culture in that organization is finally healing.  It’s once again becoming a wonderful place to work.  People are engaged, connected, supporting each other and working together again, and it’s a pleasure and an honour to work with them in rebuilding a great culture.

My hat’s off to the new CEO.  And I’m humbled again at the power that one person has to shift the culture of an entire organization.

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46% of all managers don’t have faith in their CEO’s ability to lead through this crisis

Tuesday, April 7th, 2009

3D Team Leadership Arrow ConceptImage by lumaxart via Flickr

A worlwide study conducted by Booz and Company in December 2008 showed that:

  • 40% of
    senior managers don't believe that their leadership has a credible plan to
    address the economic crisis
  • 46% of senior managers are not
    sure that their leadership could carry out the plan (credible or
    not)
  • 51% of managers below the CEO and CXO level don't believe in their leadership's ability to make their crisis plan work
  • 1/3 of all CEO and CXO-level respondents don't have confidence in their own plans

What's more, struggling companies aren't doing anything more than they did before the crisis, and companies that are stable and strong are not focusing on building on their strength, but rather on cutting.

This is a pretty stark picture.  As I've said before, the rules of the game have changed, and too many people are still trying to play by the old rules of the game.  What this information is telling me is that people are finally waking up to the fact that the emperor has no clothes.

First we have to recognize that the old ways are not working. Then we can start looking forward to explore new ways to move forward.

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