A valuable video full of some valuable ideas on Strategic Planning and Strategic Execution from Business thought Leaders and Leadership expert John Spence.
A big Month: An AUT Business Award, New Name, New Framework & a Global Partnership
Earlier this month we won the AUT Business Excellence Award for Management Services. It was a fantastic night and the culmination of months of work as we provided client and business data to show the results our company and team were achieving as we actively make a difference.
As with any team it is important to pause, celebrate the win and regroup as we move forward. Our clients are fantastic and trust us to provide true trusted Advisory in the area of Strategic Execution and Executive Leadership Development.
The same week we changed our Company name and logo after 24 years as we continue to position ourselves as category leaders as we disrupt the Business Advisory Space.
A new partnership with Leadership Expert and Business Influencer John Spence which he outlines in the video below.
Smashing the Norm: Business Advisory
We are passionate about disrupting Business Advisory.
In fact our Company Mission is to totally disrupt Business Advisory by 2020 as we continue to evolve a premium Advisory Brand focussed on Disciplined Execution and High Performance Leadership.
Why?
Lets face it the current status quo really has to change to meet the demands of modern business leaders who seek support in solving complex problems. Problems created by the increasing pace of constant change and disruption.
Too often conservative middle aged men sit in judgement, dispensing advice backed by education and professional development that ended in the 1990’s and talking about solutions that have worked historically.
At its worst traditional Advisers expect to charge a premium for this advice and yet they have never walked in the shoes of those they seek to influence. They have never led a business, never risked all as an entrepreneur and they don’t have the scars, stories and lessons learnt from experiencing failure, success and from practical application. They are not people leaders and yet they seek to advise, develop & influence leaders who are.
Worse still they don’t typically ask their clients for any feedback nor ensure that what they are doing is effective & of value value. They struggle with practical application of theory & struggle to get clients to execute their advice. Often there is constant muttering & frustration as to why this happens.
I personally have worked with many professional services companies who openly state they are client centric and yet they seek no client feedback. Their fees are dropping so they finally forced to react and seek change.
In one case it had been 12 years since a company had completed any feedback survey of their clients. Think about the arrogance of that. They assume they know what it is their clients need but never go beyond individual opinions.
When surveys are finally deployed they discover to their horror that their current reality does not match their assumptions and that they have a huge training, R & D and leadership development gap to close. Too complacent and comfortable to really care about their clients needs.
Many times I have challenged an absurd desire to spend time refocussing on their client relationships prior to measuring client loyalty or engagement because they fear the results.
Business Advisors of the future must;
- Be experienced leaders who lead by example with their own Business practices and actively see themselves as leaders and influencers. Advisors who make things happen, can influence people through real stories of practical application and who can coach, mentor and guide other clever people. They must have people skills (EQ) and empathy.
- Own the voice of their customer. They must have an up to date (& data based) understanding of what their customers really want and need. In fact the top advisers are pro-active and bring solutions to their customers before they know they need them. They anticipate needs rather than react to immediate situations.
- Have humility and respect always.
- Be future focussed and have a passion for lifelong learning. If you are as good as you will ever be it’s just not going to cut it. Academic qualifications are table stakes and the start point not the end game. They must provide clarity and inspire confidence for those they serve by constantly up skilling and learning.
- Bring researched frameworks & networks of like minded people. The day of the individual guru with all the answers is gone. Business today is simply too complex to know everything. The best Advisors will connect customers to other leaders, professional advisors and collaboratively bring unique solutions to complex problems.
- Measure and manage & clearly demonstrate massive value. This will not always be financially driven either, rather it will vary from customer to customer.
So thats why we do what we do. These are but some of the reasons we are on a mission to disrupt Business Advisory. Business leaders expect and need more and this is not opinion….. we ask them regularly and have done for many years.
Feedback from Over 200 CEO’s: What they Learnt in 2015 and the Challenges They Face in 2016
In December 2015 I went out to a wide network of CEO’s and asked the same two questions I have asked in 2013 (Link to the 2013 results here) & 2014 (Link to the 2014 results here). The questions asked were;
- What were the biggest Leadership Lessons you learnt in 2015 (and/or leadership observations you have made)?
- What are the biggest challenges you feel you will face in 2016?
This survey also took in to account the responses from 104 New Zealand CEO’s conducted for The RESULTS Group by an independent research company (Per.ceptive Research).
It is fair to say that surveying over 200 CEO’s (in many varied industries) across New Zealand (mainly), Australia and the USA meant I received a huge amount of feedback. It was a challenge to consolidate this feedback, despite there being some clear common themes. Here are the results.
Question 1: What were the 3 biggest Leadership Lessons you learnt in 2015 (and/or leadership observations you have made)?
- “The importance of company culture and just how difficult it has been to lead both change and people (to change).” Change has been constant especially with technology disruption in many industries. Understanding what needs to change and then to actually get people try different things or new ways, new systems & processes has been really challenging.  The quality of people in the team, their skills and the ability to actually get things done has often been the main point of differentiation over competitors.
- “Establishing the Accountability within your people to get things done/to take action.” There has been more focus & need to have clear KPI’s and measurements in place so as to lift engagement and accountability within Companies. Taking action, executing and making things happen is increasingly important in an environment of constant change. To try new things, fail fast, adapt or simply just to do what has been agreed to is critical. The challenge of holding people to account, measuring and managing has increasingly been seen as vital in business in 2015.
- “Being able to change fast enough whilst keeping it simple.” It has been increasingly harder to keep things simple and to identify & focus on doing the important things. Saying “no” to opportunities, constantly trying to keep things from becoming extremely complex has been a real challenge in a world that tends to expect you to do more and more. “Busyness” is the new plaque and separating the important from the urgent has become ever harder to achieve.
Question 2: What are the three biggest Leadership Challenges you think you face will in 2016?
- “Remaining profitable through Growth.” We all know growth sucks cash and typically businesses are under capitalised. Often the main measure of Business success is profitability and it is widely felt it will be increasingly harder to deliver profits as change increases, profitability shrinks and as businesses grow.
- “Developing future leaders and motivating good people.” Succession is increasingly looming on many company radars. Developing future leaders to take the business forward, to be able to sell the business, to step up as current leaders step back are all challenges many see in 2016. Motivating and engaging good people to stay longer term & to set the business up for future success are skills CEO’s are seeking and actively looking to invest in.
- “The increasing pace of Change in the Market place & the ability to adapt.” It is perceived that there will be more change in 2016 & it is increasing. The ability to adapt to change, embrace new technology tools and compete is seen as becoming more of a challenge for CEO’s to remain profitable and to grow. Developing new products &/or services quickly enough to meet the market and client expectations are key challenges identified.
Every year in business is a different one that brings a mix of the ongoing leadership challenges along with many new ones. Certainly change is now a constant and that pace of change is really starting to pick up. The impact of new technologies in communication, automation, artificial intelligence, online applications and tools & social media are changing things fast. In fact much commentary is suggesting we will face more business change in the next 5-10 years than we have in the last 100.
One thing that does not, and will not change is fact that every Company (and indeed group of people) needs a leader. In fact research shows we all want to be led in some way, shape or form. The importance of a leader and his/her ability to inspire, coach, mentor & influence good people to get important things done in an environment (culture) they enjoy is often the main (sometimes the only) point of differentiation a company can have over competitors in increasingly crowded markets.
Strong leadership & excellent change leadership skills are increasingly the most important skills that will define a businesses chances of long term success. During 2015 our Executive Leadership Program has become the fastest growing part of our Business as we seek to support CEO’s to lead change, achieve sustainable growth and to support them to prepare for sale, economic downturn or industry disruption. More than ever high performance business leaders need & seek good practical smart advice, support, facilitated planning, time out and an unwavering positive outlook to navigate the challenges 2016 will bring.
What are you planning to intentionally do differently to lead Business Success in 2016?
- You can link here to the CEO blog summary doc which shows the comparable results of all 3 surveys.
7 Deadly Sins of Ineffective Governance
We get to work with many Advisory Boards and Boards of Directors as we facilitate Strategy & support Strategy Execution & support business owners to either initiate, restructure or optimise their Governance. This requires us to facilitate meetings, sit on a number of Advisory Boards and I currently act as Chairman on one Board of Directors. Sadly I would have to generalise that Boards are, in the main,  either ineffective or not as valuable as they could be. In fact one of the big opportunities that will ensure Business success I see is to successfully implement highly functional governance. Those that do have it in place have the opportunity to get the maximum return on their investment by taking it to the next level.
Here are what I call the 7 deadly sins of Ineffective Governance;
1. Undermining the CEO: Unknowingly they get in the way of their CEO by getting involved in the workplace, not supporting or trusting the CEO’s recommendations or initiatives. In fact  many do not trust or have confidence in their CEO full stop and worse still do nothing to address it.
2. Discussing the “how” but never defining the “what”. Many Boards Spend most of their valuable discussion time dealing with management decisions ie How should this be done? Yet they never pose & define the big questions such as what are we building? Where are we taking this? What could and should we become as a Business?
3. Not understanding the sacred relationship between Chair and CEO. It is a special relationship and the most critical one. It is an employment relationship and one in which the Chair should coach, mentor, guide and support the CEO to succeed. This includes professional development and tough conversations around delivering outcomes. It involves building trust and confidence and aligning the Board to support their CEO.
4. Never altering the composition. The Board should regularly change or include leaders with the skills the company needs as it develops and grows. As the company grows and evolves so too should the BOD as they keep the CEO and Management ahead of the game.
5. Sweating the small stuff. Particularly prevalent in family businesses is the tendency to never get breakthroughs on the sacred cows. The same conversations, fears, egos repeat at every meeting. The elephants in the room are never addressed and therefore they never go away.
6. Focussing on the negative. It is very easy to see what is going wrong but never acknowledging what is going right. Negativity kills culture and creativity. Problems must be addressed but seeing the good stuff and encouraging more of it is a key role of any leader and Directors are leaders. Negative meetings that focus on what has not worked and never inspire what could be great are unfortunately common place.
7. Not defining success. Clever strategy, KPI’s & metrics must all be measured and success defined so the CEO knows he/she is on track and so that management measures can also be clarified. Too much time in Board meetings is dedicated to historical results ie they can’t be influenced. Whilst reviewing the results and banking lessons learnt is very important, so too knowing the business is on track for the the future is arguably more important and productive. You can’t influence the past nor be inspired by it. The role of Governance is to take a business forward and to help Management to navigate the ambiguity of the market.
By getting the agenda right, tweaking the composition, by becoming future looking and building complete trust in the CEO, a BOD can very quickly make a massive impact on business performance in a very short timeframe. Sadly it is poorly done and this inspires mediocre results.
How is your Governance? Do you have any? How effective is it? What could it achieve for your biggest investment?
The Lessons I have learnt as a CEO & Consultant to CEO’s in 2014
This year has been a very busy and professionally rewarding year. As a Company The RESULTS Group has grown and moved into a different area. Our core business as “The Business Execution Experts” has remained the same and we have proven our “5 Pillars” framework (Vision, Strategy, Engagement, Accountability and Cadence) across every industry and every sized company imaginable. Ranging from the small 20 person company, the family held medium sized company through to larger NZ & foreign listed Companies, Government organisations and into several big organisations with a Billion or more in revenue. From the straight forward to the incredibly complex, from construction to the professional services (law, accountancy, survey, HR, Banking) to the technical world of IT and fast growth IP.
Our consultants have been challenged and pushed as they have focussed on our purpose of “Making a Difference” and ensuring our clients get the clarity so they they can execute their plans and lead change. It has been a year of change for us as a company and we have truly lived our core value “Live What we Teach” as we have sought to execute our own plan in amongst the busyness that “Business as Usual” presents. We have had to challenge ourselves to focus on the important rather than just the urgent which is the constant challenge of every CEO. So what have been my big lessons across 2014 as a Consultant, Executive Leadership Coach and professional CEO? I keep a journal reflect on the work I do and what I have learnt most days which makes it easy to look back and to reflect on the important stuff over the year. In no particular order;
- Better, faster, cheaper: These are  most common approaches that Companies have. These are not Strategies. Own the voice of your customer and look after them. Ask them often for feedback and listen to it. The magic will start.
- Hope is also not a Strategy. You have to be deliberate and decisive in order to avoid being a victim of the market or dealt to by competitor moves.
- A CEO adds at least 15% to the bottom line. (Research shared by Psychologist Dave Winsborough) by being inspirational, creating culture, expectations, a Vision and driving execution. The impact of good leadership is huge and measureable.
- The number of senior leaders seeking to leave Corporates and the Public sector so they can have autonomy and so they can actually make a tangible difference is truly staggering! A sense of purpose is critically important to people.
- A lot can happen in a year. Good & bad. Roll your sleeves up and make good stuff happen.
- CEO’s are often afraid to be human. The soft skills, the least talked about and trained for are the most important ones. Being able to be vulnerable, to make mistakes and learn from them……so important for leaders and so often missing.
- Making clear and concise powerful decisions is often a missing skill. Making good decisions based on the best information at the time and backing yourself to alter them if they need it is a really critical skill especially in times of constant change. Just make a decision!
- The potential talent pool in women leaders is massive. I feel this is one area that is truly undervalued. We created a woman leadership group this year to address and discuss this and have also included a woman speaker (Melissa Clark-Reynolds) at our “John Spence” Leadership event planned for 25 March 2015 in Christchurch (Link here for details).
- The value of having a massive network of people who you can support, ask for advice, learn from and add value to is truly priceless. I have so many people who support and contribute to our business and it is humbling to be able to support them in their roles and in their companies.
- Any leader needs many mentors. Business and personal to grow in the complex world of modern business.
- Formalising network Hubs or groups of people who can give you ongoing referrals and support is of high value.
- John Spence taught me “you become like the 5 people you hang out with the most” Choose them carefully.
- Hang out with those who know and ask a lot of questions. Learn from people with experience and acumen.
- Lead from the front. Just lead and learn. People want to be led well. Make it a passion and never stop getting better at it.
- As a CEO you need to make the big things happen. Get the rocks or cornerstones in place and make the things happen that move the Company in that direction happen. This is what CEO’s do.
- Don’t seek to change people, seek to influence their activity, their behaviour and how they make their decisions. Seek to create an environment whereby they make consistently good decisions.
- The art of reflecting and making clear observations and to be able to take an overview of the situation allows for better clarity. Practice it or have your team challenge you to do it.
- Be tough. Firm, fair and consistent, but be tough in your standards and expectations of people. Be restless, seek excellence and constantly ask “Have I done enough?”. If the answer is no then step up and do more. Be the toughest on yourself……with power comes great responsibility.
- Culture is king and Cash. No one can steal your culture. In fact thought leaders such as Tom Peters, Collin Powell, Richard Branson and John Spence all say that your culture is really your only truly defendable and significant point of difference. No one can steal it and if you get it right it will attract and retain top talent who in turn will look after your products, services and deliver excellent service to your clients. get that right and the magic begins!
- Sadly in most companies the culture is just adhoc. No one plans it, discusses it and if they get it right it is by getting lucky. The best cultures in high performing companies are planned, a priority and protected by selecting only the best and by dealing with mediocrity very quickly. Leaving your company culture to luck means you are leaving a critical component of your “mission” success to chance.
- Planning the year ahead in detail on a year planner (Sounds basic but try it) remains one of the activities that CEO’s rate as “most valuable”. Map out key dates, board meetings, reviews, training, holidays etc and plan the year ahead. Insist your team plans and gets clear around the year ahead.
- Meetings are your number one leadership opportunity. Make them high value, fast, refer to good data/KPI’s and have fun. Most meetings in business today sap the energy from those who attend. Flip that around because leaders do people, leaders communicate and meetings are your number one opportunity to influence and live your culture.
- Have more fun. Enjoy the ride. Its not a rehearsal.
Its been a big year and I have loved every minute of it. I’d like to thank my team and our awesome clients for everything. I can’t wait to be a part of the work we do in 2015 and all the challenge, fun and learning it will bring.
Keep safe out there.
Feedback from Over 200 CEO’s: What they Learnt in 2014 and the Challenges They Face in 2015
Last year I went out to our Company network of Clients, thought leaders & Business leaders and asked them what they had learnt in 2013 and what they felt they would face in 2014. I was overwhelmed with the response and it took a lot to collate the feedback and to be able to articulate it. The resulting blog was one of my most read across 2014 (Link to it here).
This year I asked the same network (which of course has now grown quite extensively) the same questions. This includes Chief Executives of both publicly listed and privately held Companies across a vast range of industries. Mainly New Zealand and Australian Companies but also the USA and Canada. Some good friends (including John Spence) put it out to some of the Chief Executives in his North American network who also happily contacted me. Â I also asked my wide Military network of leaders (many still serving & many leading organisations all over the globe) and included senior leaders from other Government Enterprises. During 2014 we also had ongoing feedback from over 1000 business leaders who attended our speaking and leadership training events. Many of these were introduced through ASB Business banking and partner relationships with other professional services leaders including Accountants, Legal Firms and Leadership and Strategy Consultants and some of the Business Bank staff themselves from both Westpac and ASB.
I got some fantastic feedback and I thank all those who put so much effort into answering the questions I posed. Many commented to me on just how valuable they found it to have a reason to sit down and reflect on 2014 and the year ahead. Many also realised just how busy they have been, how much change they have been leading and just how much they have achieved. I worked through all this feedback before rereading the blog I wrote in November 2013. There are similar themes around talent but it shows definitively that the rate of constant change has really started to increase. More so than in 2013. This is particularly so in Christchurch (post earthquake boom) but is also reflected across all markets, countries and is the new big challenge for Chief Executives regardless of the size of their organisation.
What were the Leadership Lessons you learnt in 2014 (and/or Observations you have made);
1. Â “Change is Constant and is Both the Opportunity and the Challenge”: The Rate of Change is Increasing. Almost every respondent referred to the impact and effects of change and the challenge of getting things done (Execution). There is more change and it is constant. Leading through change is challenging and many referred to “expecting the unexpected” or the possibility that anything could happen (especially unplanned) and there was a need to iterate, be flexible and involve your people. To avoid stress the best method was learning “not to sweat the small stuff” or to “roll with it”. Self reflection was important as was having someone external who could help a leader to see the bigger picture and to take a more “unemotive” view point as to what was going on within their team/company. Planning was seen as important and doing more of it than ever before. Many feel it is important to develop new/better leadership skills to be able to lead change and to be able to get “stuff done”.
2. Â “Technology and the Younger Generation of Workers is having a major Impact”:Â Technology change and innovation is now affecting all leaders in some way. New cloud based software applications and mobile smart phones (and devices) are allowing for better information. This brings the challenge of training to use them effectively, integrating different software solutions and needing the work force to have different skill sets. Talent is hard to find, attract and retain and they expect different things. Collaboration (and a sense of fairness) is how young, smart, technology savvy employees work and thrive and this is now starting to show across the board. Challenging top talent, encouraging innovation and new ideas and building a high performing culture is key to retaining top people. Â On top of that, holding employees accountable to doing what they say they will do and getting them to consistently be highly productive has been a big challenge in 2014. Learning new leadership skills, building cultures that allow a “work/life” balance and training people has been a focus for many Chief Executives. Dealing with non performers is recognised as critical, most want to be better at it and have a desire to weed the “culture killers” out faster than they currently do. The challenge of growing as a “Leader” was referred to time and time again.
3. “What your Client Thinks and Says about your Company is Critical to Growth”:Â The last big theme to come through was reputation, brand strength and client loyalty. In an increasingly global economy and with the impact of social media, it is important to have people who love your products or services. Many Chief Executives referred to “getting cut through” in a busy market, being close to key clients and asking them regularly for feedback. It was generally accepted that print media is dead and that the future lies in the online, digital and social media space. Smart branding, immediate feedback (positive and negative) has a major impact on business growth. Most Chief Executives want to get better in this space, many are very involved and some (approximately on third of respondents) felt they would never catch up or get ahead of the change in this space. Many felt that getting their culture right and by having engaged and well trained people that clients would be taken care of and there was a desire to be able to canvas clients more easily (for feedback) and to measure it.
The next question I asked was “What are the challenges you feel you will face as a Leader in 2015?”
1.  “The challenge of finding, recruiting, training and retaining top people is the Number one Challenge”. By far the most respondents considered the challenge of getting good people to join and stay in their Company as the biggest challenge they feel they face in 2015. Making it happen, getting better at recruiting, identifying top performers and then leading them is considered to be a major development area for the future of their organisation.
2. “Leading in Uncertainty”. A big challenge in 2015 is being able to lead in uncertainty. How to lead young people, other leaders, people in their team who are smarter and more technology savvy during times of change & uncertainty is a concern of many respondents. Understanding how to motivate and lead when the way ahead is unclear or simply unknown is something may want to learn about. A fear of making big mistakes, a need for good advisers (Financial, Strategic, Governance) was a major theme as was the feeling that the leadership space is a lonely place. More mentors and people they can trust, as well as interaction with peers and other leaders in similar situations were identified as being of high value to them in 2015 and leading in the future. Delegating to others to get things done was also seen as being critical to growth in the year ahead as was getting closer to customers and planning at the operational and strategic level.
3. “Focus and Getting things Done”:Â How to get “cut Through” or “focus” is seen as being more and more importance. 2015 will require more execution of the important things. Many want to spend more time planning and getting things done. Separating the “urgent from the important” is increasingly important to maximising production, resources and profitability. It is also getting increasingly harder to achieve. Focus on which customers to deal with, where and how to Market, what technology tools to invest in etc are all seen as key to getting really clear on what needs to be done. Then the challenge is to actually “make it happen”.
These were the main feedback areas that i have been able to collate. Of course there were hundreds of other comments, thoughts and reflections. Some themes that came through in not particular order;
- A desire to have access to like minded networks of people.
- Many are preparing for the next economic downturn and actively wanting to retain people & capability.
- There were many who face the challenge of remaining profitable and competitive and the challenge of retaining and growing market share.
- There were many facing succession challenges.
- Getting better governance was a theme. Really valuable Board level advice.
- More planning and third party reviews.
- Specialist and generalist Leadership training is in high demand. In fact a recognised need for training in general is constant.
- Learning to negotiate and lead in partnerships and in a more political (competitive) environment is needed by some.
- Delegating and learning to trust.
- Many Directors spoke of the need for them to get out of the way more. To let their people step up and own their roles.
Overall this has been an interesting and humbling experience. It is a privilege to interact with clever and busy leaders and to hear their reflections and desires. It is useful for us as an organisation that “Leads Business Leaders” because in effect it helps us to deliver better high value services which will truly support and assist those who we work with. That said most of the stuff identified here does not cost a lot of money. In the main it requires a focus on some of the Leadership or “softer skills”. The ones that are least talked about and the least trained for. It requires some change to the way you may interact, spend your day as a Chief Executive or what you will measure and therefore manage.
So what have you learnt in 2014 and what do you think you will face in 2015? Are you planning to succeed? Are you doing enough to stay ahead of change, technology and do you really know what your clients think about you?
Have a happy and safe Christmas and New Year and a big thanks to all those who have offered their feedback and thoughts.
Other stuff I you might like;
Leading from the front 