As a global multinational CEO or senior leader, what keeps you awake at night?
To survive in business today, leaders must:
- Act and deliver with speed, urgency and decisiveness.
- Interpret and visualize the future while engaging employees and key stakeholders.
- Have an adaptive mindset to continually reposition the business.
- Lead from the front with humility and respect.
As with good Leadership, the first, and probably the most important rule in Wildlife photography is to get the focus spot on. This is a key rule. Next, ensure the camera speed is just right. A third element of successful wildlife photography is to capture the “light in the eyes”. It is such an exhilarating experience getting a really good photo of the Big Cats such as Cheetah, Lion or Leopard. If one is able to get the focus, speed and the light in the eyes just right, it makes for a great outcome.
We are often confronted with necessary disruption or change in the organization. A good leader is also a good change agent or coach with a strong ability to help focus the organization in its change efforts. As such, senior leaders are able to play an important and highly supportive role in helping drive change. I once had a mentor who told me that there are only two reasons why people change – they either see the light or they feel the heat! This truth stayed with me and I often use this metaphor to describe how change eventually occurs within people and organizations.
As a leader and change agent, how do we help the organization “see the light” rather than “feel the heat,” and how do we help initiate successful transformation? There are a few key elements we have to look out for and help initiate:
- Focus on the problem – Understanding and defining the burning platform or business opportunity is critical in any change process. It sounds logical, but often Leadership is not clear on what the problem is that needs to be resolved.
- Act decisively and with speed – When the organization is confronted with change, it makes most sense to just get on with it. The best advice is to stop over-analyzing issues, and apply the 80/20 rule to help stop procrastinating the obvious. Change is not comfortable, why drag it out?
- Crystal clear end result – What is it we are working towards? Do we know what success looks like? Make sure your goal is clear. Be precise as to what the team should be working towards, and understand what the deliverables are.
The light is the end game – Successful Leadership in an organization has the ability to “show the light” and lead the way. No change initiative can be successful if the leadership is not able to light up the path and show employees the way forward.
How DO YOU support your organization with its change efforts?
DO YOU inspire and engage your teams?
ARE YOU delivering transformation through culture and accountability?
WHAT STOPS YOU from achieving excellence?