The Leader In You

Global Leader

2011-12-15T10:12:00.000Z

200,000,000 People...

yes that’s 200 million people.

That’s how many people have joined the global workforce forthe first time over the past decade. Technological advances have made itpossible for workers living in regions that never before had access to globalopportunities to join organisations across the world. These workers offerincredible promise including new outlooks and perceptions. But this talent canalso be transient, bringing cultural diversity and high expectations whichorganisations either squander or harness.

2012 and beyond represent an exciting opportunity. But itcomes with the challenge of understanding how to build global managers that canskilfully lead teams with very different cultural values and perspectives andto produce the results that organisations require.

The challenge of the next 10 years for leadership will bethe ironing out of Eastern verses Western cultures. This has become even morepronounced with the emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China(BRIC).

Employees of western firms are often encouraged as part ofthe organisational values, to bring different perspectives to work by askingquestions, pointing out issues and offering solutions. Successful Westerncompanies operate an overt culture of continuous improvement through employeeengagement. Consensus is highly valued and seen as a leadership skill.Employees are recognised and often rewarded for their insights in helping theorganisation to move forward. Good managers encourage their teams with straplines like ‘change for the better’ and ‘if you see something, say something’.In many strong organisations employees are empowered to try and solve problemsfirst and then report how they fixed what they found.

In the BRIC, these values are not inherent in successfulorganisations. While the pursuit to make improvement and identify problems andmake exist, the business culture preference is for employees, as subordinates,to hint at problems in the hope that management notices. There will be timeswhen management miss the hint, leaving the problem unaccounted for.

In essence, the cultural difference lies in the westernmanagement assuming problems will be reported, discussed and solved, whereasthe BRIC teams wait for leadership to notice problems and manage them.

As you can see, there are two completely different approachesrequired from leaders. As the global workforce shifts and integrates these twolines will become increasingly blurred and the job of the leader will becomeincreasingly complex. This divergence highlights the necessity for businessleaders to develop skills and capability to be globally and culturally savvy.

The past few recessionary years which have taken placepredominantly in the West have verified that western business methods are notthe only ones that can bring success. Financial instability has silenced therhetoric that capitalism is king, that western business schools have all theanswers and that expatriate leadership is the solution to every emerging marketorganisations challenges.

As Europe and the US falls into great dismay financially,the BRIC, powered by what is an almost opposite business culture, are zoomingahead.

This new paradigm, combined with the reality that theseglobal interactions are relatively new and growing more intense every day, hasleft a vacuum of leadership, because most firms assume employees will just‘figure it out’.

A decade ago, being assigned to a foreign team would requireextensive training, but now, time and speed demand that people ‘hit the ground running’ and too manyorganisations are seeking a quick fix by sending someone in from the West tothe East or visa-versa. The cost in terms of lost productivity and theconsequent movement of human capital is unseen, but significant.

The good news today is that we are experiencing and intenseworldwide effort to engage across business cultures, and the combination oftechnology and leadership coaching allows everyone to engage any-time andany-where in the world, with a degree of understanding of each others issues.

10 years ago the amount of connectivity and accessibility toindividuals around the world was mere theory. Facebook, Twitter, Linked In,high capability smart phones and cloud services have all dramatically changedour world.

We had no idea this pace of change was going to happen. Andwe lost sight of the power of the individual. As people such as the late SteveJobs charged through life to make ‘impossible dreams’ a reality for us all, ourlack of predicative abilities have left our workforce ill prepared for themagnitude of global interactions required for real business and teamtransformation.

The way to harness this opportunity – to really live thevision and promise of integrated globalisation is to build a team of globalmanagers that can deliver for your organisation, with a dynamic capability forinspiration, innovation and vision. Without these leaders, businesstransformation is only a dream.

Author: Simon Teague, Leadership-expert

With extracts from:

Moore, B. (2011). Global managers for a Globalised World. Business Transformation: The transforming world of business , 62-65.

Golden time - breakfast for leaders

2010-05-18T08:07:00.002+01:00

The cruicial role for leaders today is to create the conditions in which individual managers and newly developing talent can thrive.

The start point is to have a clear head, focused strategy of supporting people to develop and grow and a clear vision of future success. This all comes through planning and putting aside quality time to THINK.

This webinar by Peter Baxter gives you real insight into how to set aside Golden time to enhance your effectiveness.

Calm before the storm

2010-04-20T07:33:00.005+01:00

Just when you thought the climate was changing and the sky is the limit, mother nature showed she is ultimately the one in charge. The Icelandic volcano has been bubbling away under the surface for years and it was time to remind the world of her existence, in the form of a spectacular PR exercise!!

It may not have escaped your notice that things have also been very quiet on this blog (and although you might think I am being somewhat arrogant comparing my impact on the world with a volcano!), but I have been bubbling away under the surface, preparing my campaign and soon it will erupt onto google. Why?

Well ultimately because I want to be able to bring you something that is actually useful. Something that will help you cut through all the rhetoric and day to day bombardment of information, with one goal in mind - to help you become a more effective leader.

We would all agree there is so much incredible, constant change out there. Many of your competitors are falling by the way side - mainly because of poor leadership skills. It's time now to gain a stranglehold on your marketplace, enhance your brand and win the day.

In the next 3 weeks, I will be launching a content rich, information free, 'helpsite' specifically designed for you to become the ultimate leader, at work, in business, at home and in your school or community. Watch this space for the transformation...

Meeting Of The Minds - Teague & Covey

2009-10-20T14:34:00.004+01:00

Success comes from structure. Every successful individual and organisation has become so through organised, repeatable actions which have moved them forward at a faster rate than their peers and competitors.

Too many people and companies are focusing on old style improvement techniques. In leadership for example they focus on competencies and seek to improve attitudes and behaviours.

If you want to make minor improvements work on attitudes and behaviours. If, however, you want to make quantum transformation, work on paradigms. A paradigm is a mental model, an assumption or a route map to an ambitious destination.

We are gradually waking up to the fact that every single one of us not only has the right, but also has the capability of reaching our full potential and that potential can be to reach ‘impossible’ goals.

Since the beginning of time we have seen a significant shift in human evolution. We have travelled through the ‘hunter/gatherer age; the farming age; the industrial age and now we are firmly in the knowledge age, where the true power of the human mind is being discovered and we are unleashing a rate of progress faster than ever before believed possible.

Consequently we have achieved more in the last 5 years than in the previous 50, more in the previous 50 than the preceding 500; and more in that 500 than the previous 5000. At a time when the top 10 in demand jobs in 2010, did not even exist in 2004, one has to wonder what will be the next stage of our evolution. And how quickly will it be upon us?

The sad fact is that 90% of people (particularly those ensconced in corporate ‘bubbles’) are still adopting ways of managing, doing and thinking that belong in the industrial age.

Dr Covey highlights 5 fundamental traits belonging to each era:

Industrial age

Job Descriptions and competency profiles
Employees and subordinates
Hierarchical and Controlling mindsets
Focus on Developing weaknesses and performance plans
Managing things and tasks that don’t have the power to choose.

Knowledge Age

Unique Contributors

Partners/associates

Collaborative, synergistic, tribal (Body, mind, heart and spirit mindsets)

Unleashing talent. Focusing on strengths only.

Leading people who have the power of choice.

Leadership, in particular, is no longer about control. It’s about unlocking an individual’s ultimate power within themselves, unleashing their talent, enabling them to reach their own worthwhile goals and reaching their full potential. The leader is now a supporter, helping to clear a path for the individual to explore.

Supervision is an obsolete concept. If it continues, people leave either by choice or because the company’s strategy is placing its own performance into decline and therefore people have to leave.

Today it’s essential to create an environment where people are empowered. The leader will have tapped into their ‘voice’, playing the team to their strengths in a culture where everyone believes in their own worth and potential and can nurture growth physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

Leaders do whatever is necessary to help people magnify their own potential.
This is a paradigm shift - one that’s essential to success.

So if you are now looking for answers as to how to achieve such a seismic shift you don’t need to look any further than these three real life examples:

· Country
· Company
· Individual

Country:

When Ghandi captured the imagination of 200 million people was it through the use of force? Did he have an army of men at his disposal?

No. He possessed a unique quality of humility and persistence that won over men’s hearts and inspired them through visualisation of an India that could prosper through internal collaboration, synergy and mutual care.

In short, the people began to dream impossible dreams. And now they are fast becoming one of the emerging global leaders in the knowledge era:

· The top 28% of people in India with the highest IQ’s exceed the total population of North America
· They have more honours graduates than the total population of all the graduates in the UK and USA put together!
· In the time Dr Covey was on stage 60 babies were born in the USA, 244 in China and 351 in India.
· In India they know, understand and apply family values that transcend into workplace ethics and entrepreneurial traits.

The world will be a very different place in 5 years time thanks to the vision of one man.

Company:

Take a look at the Central American small airline company Copa Airlines. A business transformed by setting out a clear purpose and goal from the bottom up. In 1991 they ran just 8 routes and less than 50% of their planes arrived on time.

They asked their customers what was the one most important thing above all else that they wanted. The answer – “to leave and arrive on time, every time”.

Every associate of the company was asked how they thought such an ‘impossible’ goal could be achieved. Every single ‘transaction’ from the initial purchase of tickets, loading of baggage, finding and checking in every passenger, right up to the time when they leave the baggage reclaim area happy and stress free, was measured. If you can’t measure it you can’t improve it says Jorge Garcia, Vice President of the Commercial Department.

Their stats speak for themselves:

· A culture where everyone knows the vision and no 1 goal is to be the best for on time arrival.
· Synergy, whereby everyone knows the role they have to play and works together to achieve the desired outcome for passengers.
· Significant business growth going from 8 routes to 36 and on time arrivals from below 50% to the current industry leading figure of 91.5%
· Average aircraft turnaround times down from 58 minutes to 35 minutes – the fastest in the industry.
· An unrivalled reputation for reliability.

Everyone has become accountable for the culture. The sandwich is out!

Individual

I recently saw Christopher Howard in action at the Millionaire Entrepreneur Bootcamp at the O2 Arena. Here is a man who has made it from the depths of financial despair to the ‘big time’ through the power of right thinking, using philosophies which have unleashed the power of the mind within. This power exists in each and every one of us and has been written about by countless philosophers such as Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, Einstein, Haanel and Napoleon Hill.

Originally only available to the few, these earth shattering truths are being explored by millions of entrepreneurs through books like The Secret. Strangely, those in corporations are being shielded from its power. If they only knew of the opportunity and potential, they would demand a shift towards knowledge leadership, which staid old HR managers are ignorant, unprepared or too afraid to deliver.

Chris has a goal in life to help thousands of people to find a way of unlocking their full potential. He takes you on a journey of discovery to see the bigger picture and the crucial role you have to play. Exploring our earliest memories of things we did well and as a result loved doing. Finding the structure that inspires us to stretch, excel and discover our ‘voice’.

Summary

Dr Covey offers the following words to sum up the situation many people are experiencing as they seek to find their ‘voice’ and their own personal fulfilment in the knowledge society. Maslow refers to it as self actualisation. I call it simply achieving your hopes, dreams and aspirations.

Knowledge Age

Overall Philosophy - Unleash Talent
Leadership - Mentor and coach. Servant leader
Culture - Complimentary team. Orchestra.
People - Primary asset. Leveraged. Voiced.
Motivation - Internally inspired
Management - Culture is responsible for results

So, how possible is it to change a culture, both that of an individual damaged by ‘failures’, a corporation stuck in its ways or a country spoilt by bad decisions?

This change in culture can happen very quickly. Remember the human mind can achieve anything it sets out to achieve. Nothing is impossible – but it all begins with you.

I met Dr Covey and made sure he signed the copy of his new book entitled The 8th Habit. Perhaps this would be a good starting point for us all.

211 Degrees At The O2

2009-10-05T09:58:00.000+01:00

You could be forgiven for thinking this was a huge corporate event, provocatively staged as an extravagant statement of success, when all around are wallowing in media recession and misery.

No. This is The Millionaire Entrepreneur Bootcamp. In this stadium there are 11 premier division multi-millionaire players (plus subs!) being watched by over 7,000 “One day Rodney, you’ll be a millionaire” supporters.

Why did these players form this team?

Why did the supporters turn up? (seemingly from no-where – and everywhere – even as far flung as the Philippines – though not sure how he’s going to get his £125,000 Bentley through customs – more on that later)

The answer to both questions is a beacon in all the darkness. That of a man named Andrew Reynolds, who 12 years ago went on one such conference and as a direct result, has since amassed a fortune of over £50 million. His goal in life is now to give back to society, creating more millionaires by sharing all his secrets (and those of other self made millionaires) and by giving back loads of his time and money to heart-rendering children’s and poverty stricken charities.

This is a truly once in a lifetime opportunity to hear how 11 ordinary, non celebrity people have made their millions (without the glory or distraction of wags!). The listeners are all keen to ‘stand on the shoulders of giants’ and emanate their success. For what incredible success these guys have experienced (and yes they are all guys, so come on all you millionaire ladies, where are you?) .

This is their showcase – their chance to share some of their golden nuggets with like minded people who at the moment simply don’t possess that one extra degree, inch, contact or click! And, in some cases, that’s all its going to take to make the supporters millionaires too.
I’ll say this for now, because I’m probably the only one that will, and then we can focus on all the good stuff, but there’s a lot of ‘mustard’ in the audience. This is where Coleman’s and Reynolds make their millions. The serial conference goers, ever in search of the answers as to why they aren’t successful, when the answers are staring them in the face. Failure to act; doubt and ‘Shelf Development’ are all common traits of the majority.

For those who stand a real chance of making it – the risk takers, those with a burning desire to succeed, those people totally committed, dedicated and well prepared to implement all the secrets to success – these two awesome days represent the planting of a seed of the tree of abundance in their lives.

Sure, money doesn’t buy you happiness, but used as a resource in the right way, it can bring happiness to so many, as Andrew Reynolds demonstrates. ‘Did you know, for example, if we could take all the money in the world and distribute it evenly to every single person on the planet, we would ALL be millionaires. What does that mean? It means that if you aren’t already a millionaire, someone else has got your money! (Andy Harrington)

So, how do we all become millionaires? The secret formula rests in the words of wisdom from current day wealth generators, activists and thinkers.

When water reaches 212 degrees that’s the defining moment of incredible change. It boils. Its properties, efficiency and dynamics totally transform.

That’s the difference between the person standing on the stage and the person in the seat. 1 degree. We are all warming up and some of us feel very close to 211 degrees, but it’s the 1 degree that separates the millionaire men from the hungry boys.

This 1 degree boils down to one thing.

Total control.

This team has total control physically, spiritually, mentally and emotionally. Every sense of their being is focused on a success formula they discovered, either by accident or through sheer hard work and persistence or through some incredibly difficult times, when most of us would have given up. ‘Never follow an unscarred General’ (Pat Mesiti).

Each one of these guys’ different success formulas, work and for many in the supporters club that’s all that matters. However, the one reason the formulas work is control. 212 degree mindset focused, and action based control.

Evangelists of ‘The Secret’ beware – these guys have the edge, because success does not come through ‘attraction’, but through modern day thinking, dreaming, planning, goal setting, collaborating, acting and automating and by looking into the future as well as the past.

The conference ends, having raised over £700,000 for The Wishing Well Charity, with over 212 secrets having been shared – God I hope these people were listening! For one budding millionaire, who travelled all the way from the Philippines, Andrew Reynolds had his ticket drawn ‘out of a hat’ and he drove home (I think!) the proud owner of Andrew’s Bentley. Enjoy the walk back to Brighton Andrew!

If you want to know more about the Millionaire Bootcamp, watch this space and this author, because this site is soon going to become red hot.

PS the audience spent over £20 million at this weekend conference. What recession – we refuse to participate in any recession!