Over the last few weeks I’ve shared some of the practical techniques that immediately deliver when CEOs are faced with sleepless nights :
1). From the start focus on creating the basis of an agile culture.
2). Strip away falsehoods to get to the truth to base the decisions.
3). Lead and interact respectfully using the 4 question model.
4). Develop the team’s capability by letting them do their roles.
5). Assertiveness, forgiveness and contrition to deal with mistakes and build trust.
6). Create Action Forums for far faster more robust results.
A business led like this is a business where its employees actually want to come to work. It’s hard to overstate the competitive advantage this offers, and the potential, capacity and capability it unlocks… and the role this plays to develop the leadership.
A CEO taking responsibility for strategy is admirable in many respects, but how does that manifest itself? Without taking these steps they are almost certain to create a deeper or worse hidden crisis: for example the G4S shortfall of 10,000 security people for the Olympics, and the Virgin Galactic tragedy.
Despite overwhelming volumes of information, the captain is often alone unable to see the iceberg.
By contrast, developing an outstanding team leads to the quickest and safest results. A team built on these principles can and do face down anything, and the most valuable people come to the fore. The strategy becomes self aligning, a thousand small decisions every day improving the efficiency and trajectory of the corporate vehicle.
Contrary to company rhetoric: most talent is tragically locked away in organisations. Mobilising everyone is the key to creating extraordinary results.
Next week I’ll be sharing why you will find this almost impossible to do yourself.