What am I talking about? The rise and fall, success and failure......
Too often the immediate focus is on procedures, equipment, strategies and tools where in most cases it is all about relationship, a person and character. The core of Leadership Elevation is with the individual and his/her character. If sound character is not in place then all leadership development becomes vulnerable under pressure.
In a recent interview with a leading global lifestyle conglomerate CEO, Alain Bejjani stated the following: "We spend a lot of time looking at the monetary/commercial aspect of our businesses. We manage it. We analyze it. We understand it. We try to read it in as granular and effective a way as possible. But the element that allows all of this to happen is people. And when you look at how much we spend on people versus how much we spend on the asset side of the business, you see a huge imbalance. For example, we might spend three years looking at a project. By the time we decide to go ahead, we will have cut it, sliced it, and diced it in every possible way. We will have analyzed it, understood it, and it’s under our skin. Then it might take us a week to determine who’s going to lead the project. My point is that the element that is going to determine whether the project is a success or a failure takes up the least amount of time. The problem is not what we’re doing on the monetary side. We should continue to do it and do it better. But we should be at least as good on the people side."
When I mention Steinhoff, is it poor strategy and process or people maybe a person that comes to mind for their fall?
When we talk about McKinsey, do you think dodgy company or does the conversation go to certain people who were involved making poor choices?
Tiger Woods and Jason Rhode to name a few, do you question their competence that lead to their fall or does character and relationships dominate the conversation?
We can add many names to these recent examples and the talking point or the tipping point remains the same, it is about a relationship, a person and their character.
Alain Bejjani continuous to say that 'we always look at leadership through the lens of leading teams, leading others, leading businesses, and leading change. But the most daunting task, for the most junior and the most senior among us, is leading ourselves. It’s a duty we have, first, toward ourselves, and then toward our business and toward our people, to support them in their leadership journey and development.
Historically this was left to what I call “the hazards of life.” In other words, it was left to personal initiatives and personal commitment. But I think businesses can shape their future by implementing their people agenda and making sure that their teams are like no other. It’s not just about a senior person in the organization, whether the chief executive or the human-capital officer, doing it. It is about each and every one of us being a human-capital officer. The people agenda in an organization is everyone’s agenda.'
Leadership Elevation supported with sound mentoring on a regular (monthly) basis has become a non-negotiable towards achieving and sustaining success. Leadership have changed and it keeps changing like software with any new approach or program being outdated within 3-5 years. The only constant in leadership is the individual and their character.
No company today can afford any leader on their executive team to be vulnerable. Do you as a Board Member know the health of relationships influencing the executives in your organization? With social media and global economy the pressure and stress on relationships and character have increased tremendously. What are you willing to do under pressure to be successful....or rather, to avoid failure?
The cost to take this risk today have become to big. What are you willing to do about it?
Your organization is worth it, the people you are responsible for are worth it and yes, you are worth it!
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