I am lucky enough to work one on one with many prominent CEO’s, Founders and senior leaders across NZ, Australia & the USA. These are highly motivated professional leaders already achieving some amazing things. They seek to be more intentional in their leadership role and to stay ahead of the crowd/competition. The courage to seek external help really sets them apart because the average CEO stops their professional development once they reach the top role whilst the top performers know the journey is just beginning. You are only as good as your last game and as with anything in the high performance space you need to apply top of mine application to it.
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.
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. 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. “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. “Technology and the Younger Generation of Workers is having a major Impact”: 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. 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”: 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”: 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;
Enabling Leaders: Live to lead
Leadership at the CEO level is about leading through others. In a nutshell this means enabling good people to lead others in the wider organisation to succeed. It is about setting people up for success, supporting, guiding, mentoring, developing your functional heads of department (or whatever you call them) to deliver the agreed deliverables for the company and to ensure they do so consistently.
This means constantly investing in their development and supporting them through the good and the bad. I have to constantly challenge myself to get better as not only a leader but at how I can enable others working at the top of their game. Last week in my capacity as a Reserve Army officer I assisted the NZ Army to select potential Army Officers to undergo Officer training. This involved working in a close team and assessing candidates over a three day period. I learnt a lot more about what to look for and how to assess leaders and it was my first time in that Army environment where I was not being tested myself. Not only was it a pleasure to see smart young people giving it 100%, it was hard work as part of the assessment team and given we were making decisions about peoples future lives and the Armys future leaders we were pushed to make clear and justifiable assessments.
Yesterday I did some self reflection after going through an hour long debrief with a psychologist looking at the results of my “Hogan” profile. An in depth look at who I am, how I lead and some of the things that I need to leverage and be aware of so as to lift my leadership to another level. Already I have seen a return on this investment through the conversations it has opened up with my team and with clients.
This morning I will be working with a high performance leader for three hours as he invests time into his leadership style, skills and actions. Leadership is a lonely space and those committed to constant and incremental improvement achieve great things for not only themselves personally but their organisations and those they lead. It is a really positive journey of growth and an opportunity to try new things, make mistakes and from that comes the true gold = Lessons learnt!
What have you learnt lately in you role as a leader? How do you stay at the top of your game as a leader? I’d love some feedback and thoughts on this.
Leading from the front 