Sample the Secrets of Leadership & Management Success - Volume 4

Leadership & ManagementSuccess

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Whether you want to boost your business or build your profile, our experts can show you how. We’ve gathered together excerpts from six of our leading business books to help you to be more successful and get ahead in your career, and more!

Philosopher of leadership, Mark Strom, draws upon the richest ideas from history’s greatest thinkers, showing how we can shape our lives through words, relationships, conversations, stories, and much more.

Rachael Robertson, as one of the first female Antarctic expedition leaders, shares her story on how she was forced to develop strategies to deal with isolation, scrutiny and demands of extreme leadership.

Author and global leadership expert Matt Church gives you the vital skills and strategies to strengthen your own amplification skills and ensure that you’re a leader worth following.

LBDGroup founder and CEO, Janine Garner, presents a savvy guide to the secrets of being authentically yourself. It’s filled with tools, ideas and sugges-tions for a smarter way of thinking that will position you for future commercial success.

Leadership and people-management specialist Karen Gately provides a straight-talking, practical guide of answers and strategies to solve you people-management challenges.

Peter Baines, international keynote speaker, offers a proven plan for implementing an effective strategy that can help organisations transform the communities they work with, while also bringing innovation and growth to their business.

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Leadership & Management Success sampler on your blog or website, or email it to anyone you think would enjoy it!Thank you.

Excerpt from Lead with Wisdom by Mark Strom, published by John Wiley & Sons Australia 2014 © Interpretive Consulting Pty Ltd 2014Excerpt from Leading on the Edge by Rachael Robertson, published by John Wiley & Sons Australia 2014 © Rachael Robertson Pty Ltd 2014Excerpt from Amplifiers by Matt Church, published by John Wiley & Sons Australia 2013 © Matt Church Pty Ltd 2013Excerpt from The People Manager’s Toolkit by Karen Gately, published by John Wiley & Sons Australia 2013 © Ryan Gately 2013Excerpt from Doing Good by Doing Good by Peter Baines, published by John Wiley & Sons Australia 2015 © Peter Baines Consulting 2015Excerpt from From Me to We by Janine Garner, published by John Wiley & Sons Australia 2015 © Curious Minds Pty Ltd 2015

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 (for example, a fair dealing for the purposes of study, research, criticism or review), no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, communicated or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission.

The Story Behind Wisdom and LeadershipChapter 1: WisdomChapter 2: Leadership

The Story Behind PatternsChapter 3: NamingChapter 4: ConversationChapter 5: InfluenceChapter 6: Character

The Story Behind ArtsChapter 7: StoryChapter 8: BrillianceChapter 9: PromiseChapter 10: Grace

The Story Behind ApplicationChapter 11: Leader’s JourneyChapter 12: Leading OneChapter 13: Leading Many

ConclusionAcknowledgementsEndnotes

contents

part I — wIsdom and leadershIp 01

03

05

part II — patterns 47

51

71

part III — arts 131

133

135

155

175

193

part Iv — applyIng the patterns and arts 211

213

215

227

243

257

259

261

ix

xiIntroduction

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Mud. That’s what Aussie bricklayers call mortar. Leadership is a lot like laying bricks. Every day you handle ‘bricks’. These are the substantial things that have to be done, delivered, checked, and signed off. But in and around them is the ‘mortar’ of countless small things. Like the words you use. Or the corridor chats. Or what you did with that nagging intuition. Or if you were really present in that conversation yesterday. Or whether you believe your own strategy. The strength of a wall is in the mortar, not the bricks. This is a book about laying bricks. The ‘mud’ is wisdom.

Leadership needs wisdom. Every day you face oddities that need more than standard answers. Sometimes you just need a great question to unearth what’s really going on. But how do you find a great question? How do you craft a compelling argument for moving forward? How do you do this so people come with you as active authors rather than as passive readers? How do you help them find their brilliance? For that matter, how do you find your own brilliance and become more deliberate about leading from it? This is the stuff of wisdom.

None of this is about numbers and formulas, or even processes. It’s not even so much about answers. It’s deeper and simpler and more human. This is about how words shape our experience. About how people interpret and form meaning. About the power of questions and stories. More than anything, it’s about relationships. How you build true authority and influence. What it takes for people to trust you. How you stay true in the face of fear or opportunity. What it means to be present and attentive to people and ideas. And how you bring conversations alive that stimulate serious innovation and deep, lasting change.

None of this comes quickly or easily. I’ve been a CEO twice as well as advising many leaders over many years. I know that the expectations of leadership can be overwhelming. A lot pushes back at you from outside and inside. The good news is that we don’t need to master any of this. What we need is the desire and confidence to grow.

Wisdom is for dining rooms, lunch rooms, board rooms, and parliaments. Lead with Wisdom offers a map of wisdom for leaders and clues for navigating from it. You can see that map on page 2 and repeated at the start of each section. There are four parts to the map and the book, and thirteen chapters.

In Part I: Wisdom and Leadership, I view wisdom as reading the patterns of life with discernment and applying your insights with integrity and care. I then look at leadership as a pattern of human experience. My aim is to dignify leadership while demystifying it.

introduction

xi

xii

In Part II: Patterns, I examine four patterns of human experience that you deal with every day. I call them Naming, Conversation, Influence, and Character. Simply, they are about how language shapes reality, how meaning is formed in dialogue, how relationship shapes influence, and how the will faces uncertainty and fear.

In Part III: Arts, I examine four arts for working with the patterns. I call them Story, Brilliance, Promise, and Grace. Simply, we learn to work with story to shape identity, intent and community; we learn to draw out people’s capacity to shine; we learn to speak so as to deepen character and hope; and we learn how to strengthen heart through dignity and kindness.

In Part IV: Applying the Patterns and Arts, I share three stories central to how I came to see these patterns and arts and work with them. The first is my own story. I tell it to encourage you to know and tell your own. The second is the story of my friendship with my son Luke through rich and difficult years. The third is an ancient story whose legacy is the contradictions that shape our ongoing attempts to lead with wisdom.

A simple idea underpins the design of the book. Apart from the final three stories and chapters, there is a single idea to each page or double page spread. Think of them as conversation starters that build one upon the other. There are also specific layouts throughout to distinguish different types of content that build and crystallise the whole meaning.

There are one and two page ‘articles’ where I address important tangents. For example, this isn’t a book on strategy but when you link wisdom and leadership to strategy you get some interesting ideas. The illustrations help illuminate the ideas, make key concepts accessible, and hopefully take some stuffiness out of leadership. The ‘Question and Answer’ sections in each chapter are a personal favourite where I’ve tried to anticipate what a reader might want to ask at those points. And every chapter mixes ideas from history and even a little philosophy with everyday stories and practical how-to suggestions. It’s full of tips.

Wisdom is big and old, but it should also stay accessible and fresh. This is a book you can dip in and out of, go deeper on certain topics, pause, skip forward, and easily come back later. You can read from start to back, a chapter at a time, or just browse. May it refresh your heart and mind to lead with wisdom.

lead with wisdom

Wisdom and Leadership

Leadership needs wisdom. Although we can gain wisdom and still not lead well, no-one leads well without wisdom.

PART I

2

lead with wisdom

11 Leader’s Journey12 Leading One13 Leading Many

applying the patterns and arts

1 Wisdom2 Leadership

wisdom and leadership

Why do we need to lead with wisdom?

How do we lead with wisdom?

Where must we lead with wisdom?

3 Naming4 Conversation

5 Influence6 Character

patterns

7 Story8 Brilliance9 Promise10 Grace

arts

WHY?

WHAT? HOW?

WHERE?

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arts

Leadership needs wisdom I never particularly liked the word leadership. I always knew it could be a rich word full of nobility and people doing bold or selfless things to open up a way through great difficulties. But it could also mask something narcissistic or even darker.

Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Mandela, and Mary Robinson are all called leaders who served their people well. We hear stories of unsung people who lead people to safety and action in the face of floods, fires, famine, and war. We’ve also seen and heard manipulation, intimidation, belittling, and hype called ‘being a leader’. Everyone who accepts the call to lead must find a way to think about leadership. For my part, I put it inside the bigger idea of wisdom.

In Chapter 1: Wisdom, I view wisdom in terms of reading the patterns of life. It’s an old idea found in traditions from the ancient Near East to the First Peoples of America. The ways most things happen in the human and non-human worlds forms patterns. We grow wise by paying attention to them and drawing conclusions that help us live well. And living well brings integrity and care into the picture.

In Chapter 2: Leadership, I apply this old insight to leadership itself. What is leading if it too is a pattern? I think this helps sort out some old questions, like: born or made, position or person, formal or informal. Since we were kids just about everyone has led at some time. And, no matter who you are, or what your title or role, you still have to follow. It’s the pattern. That means our positions don’t make us leaders. Our positions are our contexts, where we can lead wisely or foolishly. But we want to lead wisely. So let’s start with wisdom.

the story behind wisdom and leadership

part i: wisdom and leadership

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WISDOM READS LIFE’S PATTERNS WITH DISCERNMENT, INTEGRITY AND CARE. SO MUCH DEPENDS ON HOW ATTENTIVE AND PRESENT WE ARE TO LIFE.

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We know it when we see itPlato recalled Socrates saying, ‘the unexamined life is not worth living’. Whether the old sage was right, we cannot say. But what we surely can say is that the unreflective life seldom leads to wisdom.

No definition will do wisdom justice. It’s simply too vast, subtle, and profound. Yet wisdom is not utterly mysterious to us: we recognise it in the words, actions and characters of people. Perhaps, like love, we know wisdom more tacitly than overtly: we know more than we can say or define. We know love, and wisdom, as much by its absence as its presence, and we can discern the genuine article from pretence. And, like love, we long for the ways wisdom enriches and completes us.

Wisdom is as old as humanity: the accumulated insights of cultures and traditions gained over vast generations. At our best, we live, we notice, we learn, we remember, and we bequeath a better legacy.

Wisdom is as varied as we are. It lives in all our glory and profundity, contradiction and absurdity. We glimpse it in fleeting insights as often as in settled understanding. We name an enduring relationship with our dearest ones as a life of love. Yet not every moment of even the most intimate relationship bears all the marks of love. We cannot live with such intensity. Likewise no-one, not even the wisest, thinks and acts with unbroken wisdom. Just as we lapse into forgetfulness and thoughtlessness toward the ones we love most, so even the wisest lapse into folly.

Wisdom is disarmingly human: always within reach, yet somehow elusive. So how do we recognise it?

Wisdom

Wisdom is the stuff of life

CHAPTER 1

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lead with wisdom

We recognise wisdomWe recognise wisdom in those we admire as honourable, perceptive or grounded. We bring to mind those we believe have made the world a better place. We recall those who have touched our own lives for good.

Imagine if we could invite them all to dinner, the famous along with our own dear friends. What a conversation that would be! One thing’s for sure: they would disagree as often as they agreed. Few would have made the same decision in the same way in the same context. At some point, the simplest might stump the smartest. The obscure might confound the famous. The uneducated might instruct the learned. No-one has a mortgage on wisdom. Wisdom crosses culture and geography, education and accomplishment, personality and experience.

The most precious resource we have for coping with life in an unstable, discontinuous and revolutionary world is not information, but each other. Wisdom is not to be found in a database; it grows out of the experience of living the life of the human herd and absorbing the lessons which that experience inevitably teaches us about who we are.[1]hugh mckay

Wisdom is close at hand

We have known the wiseIn seminars and workshops over the years I have asked people to recall those whom they considered wise. People for whom we are grateful, whose words and lives have influenced ours for good. Many find it odd to speak of others as wise but, as we recall the stories, the word begins to feel apt.

It feels natural to compile a list of attributes. But no list will do justice to experience: stories are the key. The subtlety and depth of the friends we recall lies in their stories. It is here that the textures and hues of wisdom become apparent.

Some speak of friends who gave strong and emphatic direction and counsel. Other friends would not give advice. Instead they made room for us working things out ourselves, and for learning from our own mistakes. Wisdom came in gentle tones — or like a whack on the side of the head! I commend to you the same exercise: to consider those who have been wise in your own life.

We begin to sense that wisdom is contextual. An action in one place may be wise, but in another context it may be foolish. The wisdom sayings are commonly misunderstood as rules or moral guidelines. Sometimes this may be part of the original authors’ intent, but generally they are better read as observations of life. Not ‘life should be this’, but ‘this is what I have seen’.

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Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost you all you have, get understanding.[2]solomon

He who knows others is clever, he who knows himself has discernment.He who masters others has force, he who masters himself is strong.He who knows contentment is rich, he who perseveres is a man of purpose.[3]lao-tse

At fifteen I set my heart on learning; at thirty I took my stand; at forty I had no doubts; at fifty I was conscious of the decrees of heaven; at sixty I was already obedient to these decrees; at seventy I just followed my heart’s desire, without overstepping the boundaries (of what is right).[4]confucius

Imperturbable wisdom, being most honorable, is worth everything.[5]democritus

A man, though wise, should never be ashamed of learning more, and must unbend his mind.[6]sophocles

Everybody ought by all means to try and make himself as wise as he can.[7]plato

Each one has just so much of happiness as he has of virtue and wisdom, and of virtuous and wise action.[8]aristotle

There is no purifier in this world like wisdom.[9]bhagavad-gita

No man is ever wise enough by himself.[10]plautus

If wisdom be attainable, let us not only win but enjoy it.[11]cicero

Wisdom is the conqueror of fortune.[12]juvenal

For what is more agreeable than wisdom itself, when you think of the security and the happy course of all things which depend on the faculty of understanding and knowledge.[13]marcus aurelius

Wisdom has an advantage: She is eternal.[14]balthasar gracian

Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?[15] ts eliot

THE PRIORITY OF WISDOMThe sages differed on many things. But they agreed on one big thing. Wisdom matters most to people and communities who seek to live well.

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lead with wisdom

Law, morality, and formula view life as binary — as involving choices between in/out, good/bad, best/worst. Wisdom views life as a whole — a vast complex tapestry.

For millennia people have looked to their wisdom traditions for guidance. These profound observations of life have instructed and warned generations. But the traditions cannot tell us what to do. The decisions remain ours and through them we grow wise … or foolish.

The wisdom traditions reflect life as it was experienced, not as a moralist might claim it should be. Wisdom is therefore always contextual.

The sayings of the wisdom traditions are very often imbalanced, incomplete and liable to misunderstanding. They cannot offer prescriptions for life since, again, wisdom needs to be related to a specific context. So wisdom leaves us the task of discernment. We must say how, or even whether, their observations speak to our particular situation.

In the Hebrew Proverbs we find two curious contradictory pieces of advice:

Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will be like him yourself. Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes.[16]solomon

These two sayings, arranged one after the other, advise opposite courses of

A useful distinction: Wisdom is observation and insight, not law, morality, or formula

action when confronted by someone spouting nonsense. ‘Do not answer a fool according to his folly’. How many would-be critics end up looking as foolish as the people they judge! Yet sometimes foolishness should be exposed. ‘Answer the fool according to his folly’. There is a time to play the court jester, lampooning the king with his own foolishness.

So how do I know which strategy to choose? I have to make a wise response to my particular context. But how do I make this wise response? By becoming wise! Wait: I’m going in a circle! Yes, it is a circle and there’s only one way ahead: it’s back to reading patterns.

Wisdom views life as a whole — a vast complex tapestry. It urges us to watch, to listen, to read, to discern, and to store up insights we can draw from later.

We recognise wisdom. We know it even though we can’t define it. We see wisdom, and foolishness, most easily in people. And we know that wisdom depends on context. This makes wisdom far richer and subtler than rules, morals systems, or processes.

Wisdom addresses a management paradox. We commonly say that complexity, connectivity, and the pace of change are increasing. We stress ‘big picture’ thinking but may defer to analysing the parts rather than reading the whole. This is the domain of wisdom.

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‘life is a good read’.

Reading lifeNo definition does justice to wisdom. Wisdom is as broad as the ability to live well grounded in good understanding. We grow in knowledge of ourselves and of the world around us, and we learn to make good choices and to live well with others.

Life seems an impossibly complex tapestry. We have the sense of ‘weaving’ — of colours and hues that suggest everything is somehow connected — but the scale of it overwhelms. We would be utterly lost in the vastness of life were it not for our ability to see similarities between situations despite their myriad differences.

Reading is the metaphor used by the ancients:

The mark of wisdom is to read aright the present, and to march with the occasion.[17]homer

The wisdom traditions speak of reading life’s ‘patterns’. We see analogies, links and levels in every facet of life. We see patterns in the natural world. Humility is likened to a river: the river only becomes greater by always descending to a lower place. The industry of ants is a provocation to human diligence. We see patterns in each other — in our behaviours, personalities, and characters. And we see patterns in the events that fill our lives. These patterns are our pathways to understanding.

Wisdom reads well the patterns of life

Reading and living patternsSo here is a working definition of wisdom:

Wisdom is reading and living the patterns of life well.

Let me expand that in two halves:1. Wisdom is ways of being and knowing

by which we indwell and read the patterns of life insightfully — the patterns of our own lives, of each other, and of the wider world.

2. Wisdom is then bringing this indwelling and insight to specific contexts with attentiveness and discernment, integrity and care.

Finding patternsPatterns simplify complexity. We collect memories and hunches of things that went together. Bringing them to mind we say, ‘I’ve seen that before!’ But what’s a pattern?

There’s no end to patterns because patterns are not ‘out there’ like rocks on the ground. The patterns are similarities we notice. They are more in our heads than out there in the world, though they fit what’s out there. I think of them as ‘Ways life goes together that I have noticed’. Kind of like the ‘books of life’ I’ve read.

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lead with wisdom

The patterns of nature teach usIn many traditions, nature is infused with wisdom and the wise read this:

There is no river that permits itself to be concealed; that is, it breaks the dam by which it was hidden. So also the soul goes to the place which it knows, and deviates not from its way of yesterday.[18]the instruction of king meri-ka-re

Earth teach me quiet — as the grasses are still with new light.Earth teach me suffering — as old stones suffer with memory.Earth teach me humility — as blossoms are humble with beginning.Earth teach me caring — as mothers nurture their young.Earth teach me courage — as the tree that stands alone.Earth teach me limitation — as the ant that crawls on the ground.Earth teach me freedom — as the eagle that soars in the sky.Earth teach me acceptance — as the leaves that die each fall.Earth teach me renewal — as the seed that rises in the spring.Earth teach me to forget myself — as melted snow forgets its life.Earth teach me to remember kindness — as dry fields weep with rain.[19]native american ute prayer

Watch life’s patterns and learn

The patterns of people teach usThe traditions urge us to read people well to live well. Watch how people deal with one another. Imitate the ways of the wise. Shun the way of fools:

Do not set out to stand around in the assembly.Do not loiter where there is a dispute, for in the dispute they will have you as an observer.Then you will be made a witness for them, and they will involve you in a lawsuit to affirm something that does not concern you.In case of a dispute, get away from it, disregard it.A dispute is a covered pit, a … wall which can cover over its foes;it brings to mind what one has forgotten and makes an accusation against a man.[20]the instructions of shuruppak

Is a man not superior, who without anticipating attempts at deception or presuming acts of bad faith, is, nonetheless, the first to be aware of such behaviour?[21]confucius

Learning wisdom from the human and

non-human world.

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11

Our lives are shaped by words. An apt word can bring life. An ill-considered word can bring ruin. The wisdom traditions placed great emphasis on a word in or out of season, on speech, and ‘the tongue’:

More than all watchfulness watch thy mouth, and over what thou hearest harden thy heart. For a word is a bird: once released, no man can recapture it.[22]the words of ahiqar

Do not associate thyself to the heated man,Nor visit him for conversation.Preserve thy tongue from answering thy superior,And guard thyself against reviling him.Do not make too free with thy answer.[23]the instruction of amen-em-opet

My son, chatter not overmuch so that thou speak out every word that comes to thy mind; for men’s eyes and ears are everywhere trained upon thy mouth. Beware lest it be thy undoing.[24]the words of ahiqar

Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing. Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue lasts only a moment.[25]solomon

Many men perform the foulest deeds and practice the fairest words.[26]

Words change things

Fine words do not hide foul actions nor is a good action spoiled by slanderous words.[27]democritus

To fail to speak to a man who is capable of benefiting is to let a man go to waste. To speak to a man who is incapable of benefiting is to let one’s words go to waste. A wise man lets neither men nor words go to waste.[28]confucius

Words are the primary tool of every leader. So much depends on the words we use, the ways we speak, and the language and conversations we foster among others. Foolish words bring ruin. Words of value build people of value.

• Let another praise you, not you.• Don’t say every word you think of!• To answer before listening: that

is folly.• Even a fool is thought wise if he

keeps silent.• When words are many, evil

is present.• Whoever spreads slander is a fool.• A flattering mouth works ruin.• A fool shows his annoyance at once.• Arrogant lips are unsuited to a fool.• Fine words do not hide foul actions.• A fortune made by a lying tongue is a

fleeting vapour and a deadly snare.[29]• Don’t loiter where there is a dispute.• Watch your mouth and heart.

Ancient speech tips

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lead with wisdom

Where philosophy beganEver wondered how philosophy began? To oversimplify greatly a very long story, Western philosophy began with one big question: How come there is unity — coherence, order, meaning — within the bewildering diversity of life? (In different ways, this question shaped both Western and Eastern traditions of philosophy.)What we call unity and diversity, the ancients called ‘the One and the Many’. The ‘One’ as in the whole; the ‘Many’ as in the parts.

Ideas arise in social contexts; so did the question of One and Many. Life in each city-state (polis) of what we now call Greece was largely self-contained. The seventh century BC began unprecedented access to other peoples and ideas.

This brought unsettling questions. In what ways were other peoples and conventions the same (One) and in what ways different (Many)? It seemed, for example, that every city had an idea of justice; but not always the same idea. Was justice merely a convention, or was there something

THE BIG IDEA OF THE

Corporations, governments and not-for-profits have adopted a common vocabulary. Merger. Acquisition. Divestment. Centralisation. Decentralisation. Restructuring. Unification. Diversification. Sounds very modern. But they are actually our institutional versions of an ancient question.

ONE AND MANY

universal to the idea? So how should a city frame its laws?

How Plato split the worldSurely, the ancients reasoned, even though there’s so much change (Many), some things must stay the same (One). Or does life swing between being ordered and coherent (One) and fragmented and chaotic (Many)? We aren’t the first ones to feel like life goes back and forth between the two:

At one time they grew to be one alone from being many, and at another they grew apart again to be many from being one.[30]empedocles

The philosophers pondered whether something, somehow, might unify all the diversity they experienced. But what? This was the appeal of the four elements — earth, fire, air, and water. Perhaps individually, or as a whole, the elements were what held everything together.

Then again, some argued, maybe life only looks ordered (One). Perhaps it’s actually really fragmented and chaotic

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and only change is constant (Many). Heraclitus thought so. Or maybe it’s the exact opposite: that change is an illusion. That was Parmenides’ choice. The pre-Socratic philosophers explored every possibility.

The solution put forward by Plato hugely influenced Western thought. Returning to our topic of justice, Plato argued that there is one true, eternal Form (Pure Idea) of Justice, and that every instance of justice we see is a poor copy of that Form. Likewise there is a Form of Goodness, and of Beauty, and of everything else that unifies our diverse experiences and ideas. Every single thing we see is a corrupted copy (Many) of a perfect original idea (One):

We distinguish between the many particular things which we call beautiful or good, and absolute beauty and goodness.[31]plato

Plato’s answer split the world in two. On the one hand, the Forms — pure ideas, eternal and unchanging. On the other hand, Matter — the changeable world of everyday experiences and things. Okay, time for a ditty: In Plato’s scheme, Matter doesn’t matter; only what isn’t Matter, matters. (Did you get that?!)

This strange answer mirrored society. Plato lived a privileged life in a city stratified from those who mattered (high rank) to those who didn’t (low rank). I think we can link his theory with his life: Plato philosophised a picture of ultimate reality that mirrored his own privileged life as an educated man of rank.

This influential theory of a split world — philosophers call it dualism — yielded an ‘upstairs downstairs’ world view. Plato saw people as a microcosm of this split universe: each of us, he said, has a divine element (mind, soul) that grasps the Forms; but we are trapped within corrupt physical Matter (body). This idea reinforced the prejudice of those of high rank against those who ‘worked with their own hands’, a put-down that recurs in over a thousand years of classical literature.

Plato’s vision of reality shaped and was shaped by his belief that we should place greater trust in reason than in our senses (mere ‘opinion and irrational sensation’). Our senses are too caught up in Matter. Only reason, Plato believed, could let us distance ourselves enough from Matter to gain some knowledge of the Forms. More on reason later. For now, we note that wisdom holds in tension the parts and the whole, and that we need a fuller account of knowing than reason alone.

Sometimes we see the whole, the One.

Sometimes we see the parts, the Many.

Our eyes and mind move between both.

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Plato’s legacy lives onLook for false distinctions about what’s supposedly most ‘real’ and ways of knowing that are more ‘true’.

You may hear forced distinctions like … • Reason vs emotion.• Theory vs practice.• Intellectual vs practical.• Analysis vs imagination.• Centralised vs decentralised.• Best practice vs our best stories.• Knowledge work vs craft work.

For Plato, reason was like a ladder: we must lift our thinking from what we see to the ‘real truth’ of pure ideas.

For managers, statistics, analysis, and models of best practice can seem ‘higher’ or more rational than the day-to-day realities of how people actually work and relate.

plato privileged

plato dismissed

‘forms’

everyday stuff

big ideas best practice etc.‘strategy’

actual operations & communities

managers emphasise

managers may ignore

re

aso

n

an

aly

sis

HOW TO PICK A

SPLIT WORLD

Plato’s legacy shapes managementLook for ways analysis, models and plans are given more weight than what people actually say and do in context.

You may hear ideas like … • Importing ‘world’s best practice’

without asking if it fits the context. • Treating all ‘problems’ as solvable

by right model + data + analysis. • Using restructures to (supposedly)

change how people think, work and ‘engage’ (i.e. ‘cultural change’).

• Ignoring the pride in craft of workers, calling them unengaged because our vision/mission/values hold no interest for them.

All possible brain work should be removed from the shop and centered in the planning or laying-out department.[32] frederick taylor

Plato sold us a dud when he split the world into what matters and what doesn’t. We keep buying it.

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The topic was always broad, like ‘Frogs’ or ‘Parliament’ or ‘Tasmania’. Occasionally we (or our parents!) got interested and learned something. But that was optional.

The real task was to fill up the sheet with anything we thought was relevant.

Moving to high school, we progressed to essays. Now we had to deal with plagiarism. We decided which quotes to footnote, discard, or ‘put in our own words’. The game was the same: fill the essay with whatever we could find. Now there was a word count. Even at university the game was often still the same. I think we still do it.

Think of boring meetings, presentations, and reports. The slides are full of words and numbers but you can’t find the point. The presenter says everything he thinks he should say, but there’s no argument or key question. It’s like a grown-up school project.

Great ideas need life. Cut the jargon. Find grounded questions. And turn those meetings into places of making.[35]

The gift and curse of abstractionThe Greek philosophers gave greater weight to ideas than to their expression. As philosophy and science became detached from people, ‘(the philosophers became) locked into an abstract cycle of debate in general terms, driven more by the sheer rationality of the tradition than by reference to any actual social situation’.[33]

The intellectual method of abstraction evolved. The idea is to extract the essence of something from the details — like a kernel from the husk. Linked to this is ‘boxed’ thinking: breaking things into categories (boxes) to put everything in its box. If something doesn’t fit the box, it must be irrelevant.

In medicine, science, engineering, and more this thinking enabled amazing discovery and invention. But it can also reduce what is living and changing to fixed and clumsy categories:

If theory attempts to displace skill and understanding in concrete situations, it becomes first a nuisance and later a hindrance to both thought and action.[34]david tracy

Fighting an educational legacyDo you remember doing ‘projects’ in early school? A collage of pictures and words arranged and decorated on a sheet of cardboard? Mum and Dad ‘helping’ at the kitchen table the night before it was due?

Abstraction, or the curse of the school project

16

lead with wisdom

Wisdom is not always balancedThe ancient Greeks believed that balance was the key to resolving the One and Many. Perfection for them was balance, moderation, lack of excess, harmony, the middle way. But balance, what they called the ‘mean’, is an abstract ideal that never occurs.

Half a world away from Athens, Mencius saw the problem well:

To lay hold of the mean without taking into account the occasion, is like grasping one thing only.[36]mencius

Balance is rarely the answer. What we need is the intellectual and emotional strength to hold both One and Many in tension. A wise path way well lie between two extremes, though sometimes an ‘extreme’ might be just what’s needed. But the better path almost certainly does not lie in the middle.

Here’s a simple example. At an offsite to set business plans for the next year, the agenda turned to sales forecasts. There was no shortage of spreadsheets. Then the auction started: ‘Sales will be up by 20 per cent next year’. ‘I think more like 10 per cent’. You guessed it, they settled for 15 per cent. (Funny isn’t it how

WISDOM TRANSLATES WELL THE PATTERNS OF LIFEWisdom helps us read complexity and ambiguity. Often balance is the need, but not always. What matters most is to translate wisdom well in each context.

no-one settles for an ‘irrational’ number like 16.486 per cent, yet it’s all supposed to be based on analysis.) Meanwhile, several seasoned executives have the sinking feeling that the whole discussion is missing the realities of what’s actually happening in the marketplace and internal operations.

Wisdom doesn’t rush to such ‘balanced’ solutions. Wisdom can sit with ambiguity.

We don’t need and can’t have a complete view of anything. Rather, we move between the one and the many — the pattern or principle and the specifics of a given context — searching for insight.

What we need is the ability to consider things from multiple perspectives. This is the heart of thinking contextually and systemically. But only seeing patterns would make us armchair philosophers. Translating these patterns to the contexts around (and within) us takes us into engagement and action.

Wisdom requires the hard work of discerning context. From the storehouse of patterns we have observed, and the instinct to read the present, we choose and translate a particular line of speech or action to meet the challenges of the particular context.

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Translating takes perspective

It’s an iterative processFirst we read the patterns: we attend to them and interpret them. Next we take the meaning we have seen and creatively bring these insights to our own contexts: we translate.

None of this happens like one, two, three. It is iterative. Reading, attending, interpreting, translating — all happen together.

We know by analogies and systems Life is mind-bogglingly inter-connected. So is our knowledge of it. All our knowing uses analogy — we know something by reference to something else.

One of our most successful tricks is to bundle bits of this complexity together and call it a system. Thinking in analogies and systems is a great tool but limited.

We learn to multiply perspectivesEven the systems we create in our minds are too complex. One part of the system, or a big theme in how we think about the system, can serve as a perspective on the whole. Like looking at a scene through a window or pair of glasses.

Once we realise how perspectives enable us to see, we can become skilled at finding and shaping them. And we learn to multiply perspectives. We start to gain richer insights. Then whole new possibilities for interpretation and translation become possible.

1. Immerse yourself in what you’re reading. You won’t get it all.

2. Find the passion.3. Move between looking at the

whole (One) and parts (Many) — you can start with either.

4. Listen for key stories.5. Listen for how your language, or

others’, opens up or shuts down your reading.

6. Try a metaphor. Make links. Sit with it. Don’t get too attached. Expect it to change.

7. Ask if you have succumbed to the ‘school project’ — just saying everything. Put people back in the centre.

8. Try telling a new story. Watch if people come with you.

Searching for perspective

Themes can help us find

perspective. Finding more

themes multiplies perspectives.

18

lead with wisdom

1. The fallacy of balanceSound familiar?

‘Sales will be up by 20 per cent next year’.

‘I think we can only expect 10 per cent’.

‘Okay, we’ll plan for 15 per cent’.

I have heard this kind of bargaining at the centre of many strategy and planning sessions. It seeks balance, or consensus.

There are always lots of numbers to back it up.

But we can be pretty sure the future is not going to lie in the middle of any set of numbers.

It looks rational. But it’s not.

Maybe talking about patterns, One and Many, dualism, and abstraction seems too philosophical and impractical — especially to business. Here are three quick tests to see if these ideas really do have an impact on us today. For any strategy look for one or more of these fallacies:

THREE TESTS FOR

STRATEGY

2. The fallacies of order and certaintySound familiar?

‘Did we include all the data from all the sites?’

‘No, some just didn’t match the model’.

‘So how do we know the model is right?’

‘Well it fits the data we used’.

I have seen this kind of selective data used to make the most ambiguous context look ordered, bounded, and able to be analysed.

The spreadsheets seem irrefutable. Besides things look messy without them.

It looks analytical. But it’s not.

3. The fallacy of presentationSound familiar?

‘We’ve started a project.’‘How far are you?’‘Just beginning. What should we do?’‘A slide presentation’.‘What should I include?’‘Everything. Best Practice. Articles. Lots of stats. Just cut-n-paste your last presentation’.

I have seen this kind of presentation convince a group they are ready for a solution when they haven’t even started to explore the issue.

It looks professional. But it’s not.

There are ways to shape intelligent, even wise, strategy. This is where we are headed.

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Wisdom is so big. Where do you start?

Personally I find it helpful to think in terms of

attentiveness and presence. Wisdom asks me to

pay attention to life; to notice and wonder and

consider. Life is so big. Sometimes I can’t start

‘out there’; I have to start ‘in here’. It isn’t natural

for me to pay attention or to be present to what

is happening around and within me. I’m too busy.

Too distracted. But sometimes, without warning,

a door opens to wonder. I start to pay attention.

Stillness becomes possible. I may find myself

uncommonly present to others and to the world,

its beauty and its travail. This is where my

learning starts.

Q.

A.

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lead with wisdom

Wisdom stays open to the patterns of life

We know and we noticeWe read and we translate that which comes to our attention. Or so it seems. Yet most knowing is tacit: we don’t know what we know (more in Chapter 3: Naming). Indeed, we read far more than we realise: in a sense, we are always reading. Wisdom builds upon this knowledge that we absorb.

You can become blind by seeing each day as a similar one. Each day is a different one, each day brings a miracle of its own. It’s just a matter of paying attention to this miracle.[37]paulo coelho

To learn we must pay attention to life within us and beyond us. We must learn to discern the presence and significance of patterns, picking up nuance and subtlety, congruence and anomaly.

Attentiveness brings wisdom and it is urged in many traditions. We are asked to open our ears and eyes to the significance of the everyday:

Turn your ear to wisdom and apply your heart to understanding.[38]My son, pay attention to my wisdom; turn your ear to my words of insight.[39]solomon

To be attentive is more than thinking. It is to draw near to engage, not to stand apart. It requires us to be present to what is emerging around us and within us. We enter into that which we seek

to know; whether ideas, events, other people, or even our own hearts.

If we liken reading life’s patterns to making maps of reality, then our goal is not to be great map-makers, but to travel. There is an attentiveness to every facet of this: reading the terrain, drawing a map, locating ourselves, plotting a path, and journeying itself.

On staying openLet yourself be open and life will be easier. A spoon of salt in a glass of water makes the water undrinkable. A spoon of salt in a lake is almost unnoticed.[40]buddha

If someone is able to show me that what I think or do is not right, I will happily change, for I seek the truth, by which no-one was ever truly harmed. It is the person who continues in his self-deception and ignorance who is harmed.[41]marcus aurelius

It is never too late to give up our prejudices.[42]henry david thoreau

Open-mindedness should not be fostered because, as Scripture teaches, Truth is great and will prevail, nor because, as Milton suggests, Truth will always win in a free and open encounter. It should be fostered for its own sake.[43]richard rorty

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‘Pay attention!’ Mrs Monaghan was my third grade teacher. For a sweet, kind teacher she had a wicked habit. She would sneak up behind anyone daydreaming and whack the desk with a three-foot ruler! She got me several times even though, due to illness, I wasn’t at school all that often. Seems attentiveness wasn’t a strong point for me.

Now I may just be making excuses but I’d like to think my inattentiveness in class masked an attentiveness of another kind. School certainly did not hold my attention; but life did.

I’ve known many children who were fascinated by life but not by school; my own included. I can’t help feeling that the attentiveness valued at school is too often contrived. The goal seems to be compliance, not curiosity; an attentiveness without presence.

At its worst, a child may learn to pay enough attention to repeat what is given to her, without actually engaging with what is being offered.

Attention is as varied as we are

Running a massive educational system will always work against this. But I do daydream about education that values and encourages the different ways that children attend to life and its patterns. I can’t help but think it would help nurture integrity and care. That ‘distracted’ schoolgirl or boy may be enthralled with another ‘curriculum’. Thankfully there are many, many teachers who know and nurture this deeper fascination.

So what can we say about attentiveness? Why some things more than others come to hold our attention is perhaps unfathomable. One thing’s for sure, it’s as varied as we are.

Tell me to what you pay attention and I will tell you who you are.[44]jose ortega y gasset

What we pay attention to may not be what is

‘prescribed’, but what is most valued.

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lead with wisdom

I posted a question on Facebook: ‘What comes to mind when you think of being attentive to life?’ Here, with their permission, are my paraphrases of some of my connections’ responses:

When curiosity meets empathy, we learn to attend to life and to each other.richard

Attentiveness is like a vulnerable embrace. immanuel

When we are thankful, stillness settles in us … (and) we may read life’s patterns. tara

Attentiveness, encounter, vulnerability, gratitude, and curiosity are most present in the moment of giving and gift. john

Wisdom does not dissect life into parts. Perhaps wisdom is the way of the undivided life. meredith

Attention looks for wholes, for significance, for meaning. The contradictory and incoherent aspects of experience help hone this skill. bryce

Attentiveness and presence takes the courage to look seriously into

the paradox of our own glory and brokenness. jayme

Think of the fracturing forces that have shaped our lives. Perhaps we are only able to face different things at different stages of life. david

Attentiveness and presence is not dissociation: it is the courage and vulnerability of being still and listening deeply.emma

Speech is a kind of risk: to be attentive and present is to trust another and to guard the trust given in return. scott

Paradoxically, attentiveness helps us see life’s ‘non-patterns’ — the discontinuities. Here too lie the things of wisdom and of what it is to be truly human. kenneth

Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other’s eyes for an instant?[45]henry david thoreau

There is a lovely extra layer of meaning in what my friends have provided. Simply, we need others’ insights.

THOUGHTS ON ATTENTIVENESSPeople are attentive to life in different ways. For some it seems more about thinking. For others, more about feeling. I think it’s always both. How do you attend to life?

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Wisdom lives the patterns with integrity

Small stuff mattersSomeone may read life well and have a fine sense of judgement. But if her personal integrity is questionable, we might call her clever or astute, but never wise. Wise leadership needs integrity.

If character is who we are when no-one can see us, then integrity is being the same person no matter who we are with or where we are. It is a living commitment to be true to oneself and to others equally.

If a man is correct in his own person, then there will be obedience without orders being given; but if he is not correct in his own person, there will not be obedience even though orders are given.[46]confucius

My dad taught me that two things test who I am:

First, who do I become when things go wrong? This is the test of truth: what is the truth of my life?

Second, who do I become when I am asked to do ‘lesser’ things? This is the test of humility: how do I really see myself in relation to others?

Anyone can appear to have integrity when things go well. But when things go wrong, then I’m put to the test.

Will I blame, or shift responsibility, or will I humbly acknowledge my

own shortcomings? Will I tear down individuals before their peers, or do I build up the whole? Will I feed gossip, or growth? Will I follow the crowd, or embrace the one who is shunned? These are tough choices.

Integrity reveals wisdom. But I think it runs much deeper. I think we learn what it is to be wise through every small choice to live with integrity.

Small stuff matters. The insights and choices that change us are likely to be small, unheralded, counter-intuitive, even paradoxical. These glimpses of everyday glory and brokenness — wonder, frailty, joy, grief, vulnerability, delight, shame — ground us in life, in integrity, in wisdom.

Practice yourself, for heaven’s sake in little things, and then proceed to greater.[47]epictetus

There are three topics in philosophy, in which he who would be wise and good must be exercised: that of the desires and aversions, that he may not be disappointed of the one, nor incur the other; that of the pursuits and avoidances, and, in general, the duties of life, that he may act with order and consideration, and not carelessly; the third includes integrity of mind and prudence, and, in general, whatever belongs to the judgment.[48]epictetus

24

lead with wisdom

Wisdom lives the patterns with care

Always ask ‘on behalf of’ whomSome words and phrases take us straight to the heart of things.

It was my privilege to work closely with the leaders of a large public education system. I heard leaders there use a little phrase — ‘on behalf of’ — to provoke serious reflection on policies, strategies, and initiatives.

How was such-and-such a policy, they asked, genuinely on behalf of teachers? How was a strategy genuinely on behalf of schools and their communities? How was a pedagogical or curriculum reform on behalf of children, their learning, and their futures? I learned that there is always an ‘on behalf of’ to consider.

The wise act with care. It is care that gives heart to their integrity and makes it more than duty. Like attentiveness, care can be starkly evident where we least expect it.

There is always tremendous power in genuine acts of care by people of high position who act without regard for their own status.

Some years ago I was in an airport and noticed a woman shining shoes. I had never had my shoes shined and I had some time so I sat down. We started to talk. She was from Africa. All her family had been massacred except for three children. She had found her way to America with the remaining children about fifteen years before.

Trained as an engineer, the only work she had been able to get was shining shoes, and she had done it cheerfully to put all her children through university. She was a woman of extraordinary pain, dignity, courage, and faith. Her presence was powerful. She lived and worked ‘on behalf of’ her children. As she shined my shoes and we chatted that day, I had the sense that for those few minutes she was also there ‘on behalf of’ me.

It is care that makes the best students of the patterns of the world. It is care that moulds discernment and thoughtful application. It is care, love even, that sustains one’s commitment to grow in wisdom and to live for a better world.

As the great Russian dissident and novelist observed:

It is a mistake to think that there are times when you can safely address a person without love. In the same way as you cannot work with bees without being cautious, you cannot work with people without being mindful of their humanity.[49]leo tolstoy

‘think, speak, act … on behalf of’.What we care about defines who we are and

how we act in the world. Wisdom is often

evident in selfless acts of care.

chapter 1: wisdom

25

Q.

A.

How does wisdom help you lead?

Wisdom is not a formula or process. Leaders know

instinctively that it’s the people stuff that matters

most. But reading people is hard work. Where do

we start? Wisdom nurtures attentiveness in us. We

listen for the words that free people to give their

best and those that rob them of the power to act.

We look beyond assured explanations. We learn

to give equal weight to unity and diversity, and

to give up the illusion of balance. We learn not to

panic at complexity and ambiguity. Nor to dumb

things down. We begin to think and communicate

by stories more than by abstract definitions. These

are some of the ways wisdom helps me lead. But

we’ve only just begun to address that question.

Thousands of leaders have heard Mark’s keynote addresses or participated in his leadership seminars in Australia, New Zealand, Asia, Europe, and North America.

His retreats, based on the material in Lead with Wisdom, are unique learning experiences acclaimed by leaders in many sectors.

Mark has consulted to commercial corporations, government bodies, not-for-profits, and individual leaders. His expertise lies at the intersection of strategy and leadership, the reframing of innovation and engagement initiatives, and the creation of leadership programs for senior leaders.

Mark can be reached at:[email protected]

Linkedin: DrMarkStromFacebook: DrMarkStromTwitter: StromDrMark

keynotes. retreats. consult ing.

Dr Mark Strom

LEAD WITH WISDOMHow wisdom transforms good leaders into great leaders

Available in print and e-book formats

ISBN 9781118637463Published February 2014RRP AU$29.95 / NZ$33.99

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by Mark Strom

The BookA practical guide for leading others with wisdom, integrity, and humanity.

This book argues that great leadership requires wisdom. Rather than a formulaic managerial approach to leadership, Lead with Wisdom presents the case for leadership based on our shared humanity and the stories that unite us. What emerges is a model of leadership based on learning to read key patterns of human experience: the way language shapes our reality, how we form new meaning through conversation, how relationships determine influence and how we deal with uncertainty.

It presents readers with the tools and illustrated examples to implement the four arts of leading wisely: how to draw out and create a new story in the organisation, how to find and leverage the brilliance of people, how to speak with promise to restore meaning and hope, and how to show grace in dealing with the most demanding people and circumstances.

The AuthorMark Strom, PhD, has delivered keynote addresses, seminars and retreats for thousands of leaders around the world. He consults to corporations globally on issues where leadership intersects with strategy, innovation, and engagement.

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DisclaimerThe material in this publication is of the nature of general comment only, and does not represent professional advice. It is not intended to provide specific guidance for particular circumstances and it should not be relied on as the basis for any decision to take action or not take action on any matter which it covers. Readers should obtain professional advice where appropriate before making any such decision. To the maximum extent permitted by law, the author and publisher disclaim all responsibility and liability to any person, arising directly or indirectly from any person taking or not taking action based on the information in this publication.

LEAD WITH

WISDOM

STROM

LEAD WITH W

ISDOM

‘Mark Strom accomplishes a truly extraordinary task: illuminating how wisdom drives leadership. His approach is

intellectually fascinating and practically simple, and reflects the impressive existential depth of his own life’s course.’

PIERRE GURDJIAN Senior Partner, McKinsey & Company, Brussels

‘A powerful, compelling and beautifully observed map of leadership.’SIR ROBERT ‘BOB’ HARVEY, KNZM, QSO

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Wisdom is the ability to discern and act on meaningful patterns in human experience. As philosopher of leadership Mark Strom explains, it is the defining quality that makes the difference between a good leader and a great one.

Lead with Wisdom draws upon the richest ideas from history’s greatest thinkers, showing how we can shape our lives through words, relationships, conversations, stories, and much more. This results in powerful lessons on how to leverage the insights of wisdom for deep, even game-changing, results.

MARK STROM, PhD, has delivered keynote addresses, seminars and retreats for thousands of leaders around the world. He consults to corporations globally on issues where leadership intersects with strategy, innovation, and engagement.

M A R K S T R O M

HOW WISDOM TRANSFORMS GOOD LEADERS INTO GREAT LEADERS

BUSINESS/LEADERSHIP

First published in 2014 by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd42 McDougall St, Milton Qld 4064

Office also in Melbourne

Typeset in 11/13.5 pt ITC Berkeley Oldstyle Std

© Rachael Robertson Pty Ltd



Author: Robertson, RachaelTitle: Leading on the edge: Extraordinary stories and leadership

insights from the world’s most extreme workplace / Rachael Robertson.

ISBN: 9780730305491 (pbk) 9780730305521 (ebook)Notes: Includes index.Subjects: Robertson, Rachael — Travel — Antarctica. Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions. Leadership — Australia — Biography. Leadership — Antarctica — Biography. Teams in the workplace — Antarctica. Antarctica — Biography.Dewey Number: 998.0092


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DisclaimerThe material in this publication is of the nature of general comment only, and does not represent professional advice. It is not intended to provide specific guidance for particular circumstances and it should not be relied on as the basis for any decision to take action or not take action on any matter which it covers. Readers should obtain professional advice where appropriate, before making any such decision. To the maximum extent permitted by law, the author and publisher disclaim all responsibility and liability to any person, arising directly or indirectly from any person taking or not taking action based on the information in this publication.

ffirs.indd 4 6/27/13 1:19 PM

v

Contents

A note from the author viiAcknowledgements ixPreface xi

Part I: How I got there 1 1 Leadership can be learned, and taught, early 3

2 Very few decisions in life are irreversible, so make some! 11

3 Always look for ways to extend yourself 19

4 Get out of your depth — it’s a great way to learn to swim 25

5 Don’t expect leadership to be an easy ride 31

Part II: Antarctica beckons 37 6 Sometimes the right thing happens for the wrong reason! 39

7 People notice when you try to be someone you’re not 47

8 You know people by what they do, not what they say they do 55

9 First prepare yourself, then leave your comfort zone 63

Part III: Preparing to leave 71 10 Seeing what’s wrong is easy — the hard part is the fix 73

11 Understand the game, and play your hand carefully 85

12 Ask ‘why?’, then keep asking why 95

13 Adventure is not without risk 105

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Leading on the Edge

vi

14 Try to stay positive: even the stormiest seas eventually subside 111

15 A handpicked support team can be essential 119

Part IV: Summer in Antarctica 127 16 Make the right decision the right way 129

17 Step up onto the balcony — but you’ll need time and support 137

18 Ambiguity and leadership go hand in hand 145

19 Feeling stressed and overworked? It could be your boundaries 153

20 Good leaders know when to show emotion 163

21 Think ahead and know what you will do in an emergency 171

22 When you’re spending all your time managing, don’t forget to lead 179

Part V: Antarctic winter 189 23 It’s important to know your people, not just the work they do 191

24 As a leader you are being watched, always 201

25 Find a reason, any reason, to celebrate 207

26 Check in on your people: ask R U OK? 219

27 Take care of the little things 227

28 Judgement comes with experience 235

29 ‘No triangles’ takes effort and persistence 241

30 Watch out for three-quarter time — keep your energy up 249

Part VI: The return 259 31 Go the distance 261

Appendix A: What it takes to be an inspirational leader 275

Appendix B: Build teamwork with ‘no triangles’ 281

Index 287

ftoc.indd 6 6/22/13 6:40 AM

xi

Preface

I don’t know exactly what it was that woke me up that time. It could have been the crash of my laptop as it slid off the table onto the

floor; it might have been the crunch of my neck as I yet again slid up the bunk and whacked my head on the bulkhead. Perhaps it was the series of ship’s noises as the icebreaker crested the 11-metre swells, the mighty rush of water and the 120-kilometre-per-hour winds ripping through the superstructure, the feeling of weightlessness as the ship first hung in the air then plunged downward to hit the surface again with an almighty boom, jarring every rivet, every tooth and every frayed nerve . . . Yes, maybe a combination of these things woke me.

It wasn’t the first time I had been woken that night. By this stage I hadn’t slept through the night in over a week. What sleep I did get was 30 minutes snatched here and there when my body simply shut down. It was cold, uncomfortable, wet and terrifying.

I rearranged my pillows for the twentieth time, searching for some combination of cushioning that would protect the top of my head, my neck and my ankles from the fore and aft sliding along the bunk. But then I would have no protection from the side-to-side rolling of the ship and my sides would be battered!

They say people who have never been seasick can’t appreciate the depths of despair it brings. It’s not just an upset tummy. Everyone’s heard the term ‘green around the gills’ . . . it just doesn’t capture the sallow, pasty sheen you turn when you’re seasick. Plus you feel a million times worse than you look. There are stories of cruising sailors locking up their sick crew (difficult in a small sailing craft!) for fear

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xii

they will throw themselves overboard. Death really does feel like a viable option.

As I lay there, willing myself into a coma, I thought back to our training — three months in Hobart accruing all types of skills, cramming checklists into our already overburdened brains and ‘weather-testing’ our bodies. Our seasickness checklist came to mind:

■ Ginger: Check. Glazed ginger between tongue and cheek now for two weeks — no effect.

■ Water and dry food. Yep, drinking lots of water and eating dry biscuits, which usually take about four minutes to reappear from the same place they went down.

■ Stay above deck in fresh air. Ahhh . . . no. Can’t do that, I’d be blown back to Hobart.

■ Avoid anything that requires small motor skills. Does this include buttons and zippers? I can barely manage to speak, so anything as complex as buttons and zippers is out of the question.

■ Lie down on your back, near the centre of the boat. Check. That’s not working either, for obvious reasons.

■ Avoid strong fumes. This would include diesel, yes? A thin film of the oily stuff covers the cabin floor and my clothes and has leeched into my hair. I can’t avoid this. Showers aren’t an option, even if I wanted to relax standing under the hot water I couldn’t. It takes two hands just to hang on and stay upright. Level of difficulty: 4.5.

■ Steer the boat: Hmm . . . I’m not sure P&O Maritime Services, the owners of our expedition ship, would consider this appropriate!

■ Swallow your pride. Thanks for that. Whoever wrote the handbook obviously had never been seasick! After half an hour, any pride I had is emptied into my bucket — which, by the way, is currently strapped to my wrist.

So as I lay there thinking, ‘This did not end well for the Titanic . . . but you know what? I don’t care’, I worried how my team would perceive my ‘weakness’. On board were 24 full-time ship’s crew and 120 passengers. Well, as far as the crew were concerned we were

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Preface

xiii

passengers, but we considered ourselves expeditioners. We were professionals. We were trained. We had been chosen. We were going to live in Antarctica. For a year. And I was their leader. And I was very, very sick.

My close friend Graham Cook, the incoming Station Leader at Mawson Station, stuck his head in at some stage. ‘Can I get you anything, mate?’ In my head I replied, Yes. You can take your happy bloody sea-dog face out of my cabin doorway, but in reality I mumbled, ‘All good Cookie, thanks’.

Still no closer to my hoped-for coma, and with several new bruises and half a kilo lighter, another knock on my cabin door. The captain, bless him, resplendent in his P&O finery, poked his cheery head in. ‘Morning! Oh . . . no better I see. Still, don’t worry, you’re not the only one.’

I tried to respond, opened my mouth and just . . . squeaked. I had no voice, no energy and barely the will to respond. I opened and closed my mouth like a mute and flapped one hand feebly. I managed to get out one question. I’m not sure how it sounded but the captain understood. ‘The other passengers? Oh . . . pretty much the same as you. In fact, if it’s any consolation, over 100 of you are laid up. Several are even on an IV drip for fluids.’

It alarmed me to learn that out of 144 people, only some of the crew and 16 expeditioners were still functioning. They were probably slogging it out in four-hour shifts trying to keep the ship running. For some reason, this made me feel a bit better. Not physically, of course. But knowing that not only the passengers but even some of the crew were suffering made me feel a little less hopeless.

It’s one thing to be an expedition leader. It’s another thing to be a woman expedition leader. And it’s yet another to be a young woman expedition leader. At 35, I was one of the youngest expedition leaders ever and only the second female leader at Davis Station. And the last time I had even seen snow was on a Grade 6 school excursion to Mount Donna Buang. And seriously, I hate the cold . . ..

Feeling a bit better about myself, I spent the next three hours reconstructing how on earth I had been selected to lead the 58th Australian National Antarctic Research Expedition to Davis Station. Then I panicked!

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Chapter 21

Think ahead and know what you will do in an emergency

There is nothing tougher than living in a community of strangers, in freezing temperatures, around the clock and with no escape.

Well, actually there is. The one thing worse than this is living in the same environment with the same strangers, but this time you’re stuck inside a tent, around the clock, with no running water and no toilet. Oh, and someone forgot to pack the toothpaste!

The plane crashTwo scientists and two pilots were on their way to the Amery Ice Shelf. Our pre-flight checks of the plane, expeditioners and likely landing area were all clear so I sent the plane off with the confidence of a seasoned air-traffic controller. I noted the time in my log and wrote up the time for the check-in from the pilot once they had safely landed.

I didn’t get that check-in. What I got was:

‘VLZ Davis, VLZ Davis, VLZ Davis. This is Victor Hotel Bravo, Do you read? Over.’

‘Victor Hotel Bravo, this is Davis. We are reading you loud and clear. Over.’

‘Davis, we have an incident here. Over.’

‘Repeat please, Victor Hotel Bravo.’

‘Davis, we hit something and our landing gear is damaged. Over.’

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‘Please advise condition of passengers and crew. Over.’

‘No injuries. Over.’

What a relief, but I knew that the safety of the expeditioners was still at risk.

‘Victor Hotel Bravo. Can you please switch over to the satellite phone and I’ll call you now.’

‘Roger. Out.’

This was it. My worst nightmare had come true. Prior to and since arriving in Antarctica I had often lain awake wondering how I would react in an emergency that threatened the lives of my expeditioners. And here it was. VHB was down.

Our planes were brand new. This was one of the reasons they were so popular. We had upgraded from the Twin Otters only this year. The CASA-212 was bigger, faster and quieter, had better avionics and was … safer! The aircraft was put to use by military forces around the world as a medium-sized transport. But it was unproven in Antarctica.

There were many radio sets on station, all tuned to the same frequencies. This brief exchange could have been heard by anyone and I needed to take control of the situation. So I rang the chief pilot on the satellite phone and tried to understand exactly what had happened.

A bolt had sheared off the nose landing-gear after presumably hitting a large piece of ice. The plane could still be flown but as the landing gear had collapsed the nose was dragging in the snow, making it impossible to taxi and therefore impossible to take off.

They were 400 kilometres away, and in rapidly worsening conditions.

I got hold of Bruce, my aeronautical engineer, who talked through the incident with the pilot. He turned and wrote, ‘Get the diesel mechanic up here please’. I hustled down to our expert fitter and turner.

‘Keep it under your lid’, I said to him. ‘VHB is stranded and we need you up in the ops room!’

Quietly, he followed me up and together he and Bruce mapped out a plan to manufacture a replacement bolt for the stricken plane. While

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we had lots of spare parts stored on station, this bolt wasn’t one of them, and there was no hardware store down the road where we could pick one up. It would need some very skilled work to manufacture a replacement on the spot.

Crisis assessmentI collected the rest of the aviation team and my deputy leaders and we discussed how to conduct the search and rescue. The stranded expeditioners had 10 days’ food and plenty of water on board and could shelter either in their tents or on the plane. They were not in imminent danger. However, they were alone, isolated and cold — in the harshest environment on the planet.

We mapped out a rescue mission using our other plane. We could send it out with supplies, mechanics and the tools to jack up the aircraft, fix the problem and bring her and her crew home. But first we needed to speak to the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA). This Commonwealth agency is responsible for the safety of all civil aircraft in Australia and its territories. They manage regulatory items such as aircraft registers, operators, licences and registrations. And they also play a key oversight role in any aircraft incidents.

Our contact at CASA was adamant. Because we could not establish the cause of the accident we could not fly the other plane out. This was the first time these particular aircraft that had been especially fitted with skis had been used in Antarctica, so we didn’t know if the crash was caused by a design fault, pilot error or some other unforeseen circumstance. I agreed with CASA when I viewed it in this light. It just might have been a design fault and I certainly didn’t want eight people and two planes stranded! Until we knew the cause of the incident we had to sit tight. The forecast was for three days of bad weather ahead. I was worried about four of my people living in a tent through a blizzard and foul weather.

I was also mindful that incidents in Antarctica attract media attention, always. I didn’t want the media to get hold of the story before we’d had a chance to contact the families of these people and reassure them they would be okay and would be back on station within a few days.

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Saved by a blizzardSo the forecast blizzard conditions were a mixed blessing. On the one hand, it would delay our attempts to retrieve the team, but on the other hand it would take the immediate pressure off as a search-and-rescue would be impossible. It would buy us the time to make a good decision and do whatever we had to do well. Thankfully, we could stay in contact using the satellite phone. I arranged to speak to the stranded expeditioners twice a day to keep them updated on progress at our end and to hear how things were going at their end.

Wednesday 12th January

My biggest day in Antarctica to date. VHB had a ‘bingle’ on landing and I have four people stranded at Rofe Glacier (400 kilometres away). The front ski hit a large block of ice and the bolt that holds the nose-gear attachment sheared off. We will try and get CASA approval to go out tomorrow with a replacement bolt to attempt a rescue.

I think we handled it well. It was important to stay calm and keep the train on track. I think it’s important to over-communicate to the troops so the speculation is kept to a minimum. I sent out an ‘all-station’ email and plan to send one every few hours just to keep the other 116 people on station well informed.

I’m happy my people are safe but this is huge. It’s like a really bad Gilligan’s Island — they set out for a four-hour reconnaissance flight and now they’re stranded!

It was now 24 hours after the event and alongside my station leadership team and the technical specialists involved, a team had mobilised in Hobart to provide support. Skytraders, the operator of the aircraft, were on standby, along with the team who designed and fitted the modifications. It was a national effort involving dozens of people, but I knew my role was pivotal. It was critical that I make good and sound decisions about the safety of my expeditioners. Less critical, but also important, would be how I led the rest of the expeditioners through the emergency. How I presented myself to the team, conveyed the news, and managed the inevitable gossip and misinformation would make all the difference.

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I had sent a quick email the day of the crash but knew it wasn’t nearly enough. I was only too aware from the store-person debacle that in the absence of real information, misinformation becomes truth. I also knew the station community would be watching me. They would take their cues about whether to be worried from me. Many people wouldn’t be sure how anxious they should be and my actions, language and behaviour would be under close scrutiny.

Crisis leadershipIt taught me a lot about the role of a leader through the tough times. It was not enough to just be ‘in control of the situation’. I needed to be seen to be in control. I decided to be highly visible. I had to be seen about the place often, if not constantly, to give people a chance to ask questions and seek answers. I had to instil optimism but temper that with reality.

So I chose my words with great care. I spoke about an ‘incident’, not an ‘accident’; and a ‘retrieval’, not a ‘rescue’. I was being completely honest when I said I held ‘concerns’ for our colleagues but I wasn’t ‘worried’. These words convey very different meanings: while a leader’s concern will be accepted by people, a leader showing worry will only increase the stress levels.

I decided to provide complete, accurate and timely information to create a sense of calmness and confidence. Information was critical. I kept my expeditioners informed about how the retrieval efforts were going and what impact this event would have on them and their roles. I divulged things that I typically would have kept on a ‘need to know’ basis, such as what our response to the media would be. My expeditioners were fully informed of our discussions with CASA, how the expeditioners were coping and what head office was doing to develop search-and-rescue options from other stations.

The information served three purposes. Firstly, it ensured there were no knowledge gaps — they had all the information I had. Secondly, it sent a signal that I trusted them with the information and valued their input. Thirdly, it created a sense of solidarity — 116 expeditioners and countless others against the elements, all pulling together.

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I cancelled all new science flights and explained why. All air transport, including helicopters, would be focused on the retrieval. I explained that once the situation was resolved and everyone was safely back on station, the leadership team would meet to prioritise and reschedule further flights. This clear and regular communication helped focus people and also removed some stress from the leadership team, who didn’t need to answer questions around ‘when will we get to fly out to do our sampling?’.

People make an extraordinary commitment, and give up a lot, when they decide to undertake their scientific research in Antarctica. The small, roughly eight-week window of opportunity when the weather is suitable to undertake field research can come and go in an instant. The twin imperatives of cost and time put the scientists under significant pressure to complete their work. Any disruptions, be they weather or logistics, just add to an already complicated challenge.

Keeping morale strong and ensuring the rest of the works program stayed on track were considerations in every decision made. While the emergency response was clearly the highest priority, it is important during challenging times that the leader is perceived to keep their ‘eye on the ball’. That is, they are expected not only to manage the crisis or challenge but also to ensure the critical day-to-day business continues.

Saturday 15th January

Well it looks like we’ll be able to get VHB home tonight. We finally got clearance from CASA to send out VHA with the replacement bolts. The guys back home have done an incredible job testing the shear loads, and they determined that VHB must have hit a big (massive) block of invisible ice. The bolts are over-engineered to the max so I felt safe sending out VHA — just for good measure I got the VHB crew to sweep the landing area first!!!

VHA left with the bolts at 1715 hrs and arrived safety not long after 1900.

I’m just exhausted. Have existed on two to three hours of sleep for the last three days but I’m going to try and pin down what I have learned before I forget it.

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What I learned

Deal appropriately with emergencies:

• Be calm in a crisis, or at least appear to be calm even if you are doing internal flip-flops. Take a deep breath, still the voice inside and be calm.

• Be highly visible. Be seen about the place so people can ask questions.

• Provide lots and lots of information — more is better. Don’t gloss over it or hide it from people.

• Provide the same information to everyone — it encourages a sense of solidarity.

• Choose your words carefully. Some words excite passion, others calm.

• It’s okay to admit you don’t know something, as long as you confirm you have a plan for finding out the answer.

• It’s okay to show emotion. People will appreciate your honesty.

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LEADING ON THE EDGEExtraordinary stories and leadership insights from the world’s most extreme workplace


ISBN 9780730305491Published September 2013RRP AU$29.95 / NZ$33.99


Buy it now!

by Rachael Robertson

The BookIf you think your job is tough, try leading a one-year expedition where you’re on duty all day, every day. Where it’s cold, windy, dark and desolate. And you’re stuck inside with 17 strangers.

Rachael Robertson was one of the youngest people to ever lead an Antarctic expedition and one of the first women. In this incredible pressure-cooker environment, Rachael was forced to develop strategies to deal with the isolation, scrutiny and demands of extreme leadership. With no way in, and no way out, she had to make it work.

The AuthorRachael Robertson is one of the most in-demand inspirational business speakers and leadership consultants in the world. After more than 20 years’ experience leading teams in complex and challenging environments, Rachael is now transforming leadership around the globe.

Learn more at www.rachaelrobertson.com.


http://au.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-073030549X,descCd-description.html


152 × 229 SPINE: 16.5 FLAPS: 90

Extraordinary stories and leadership insights

from the world’s most extreme workplace

L E A DI NGO N T H E

EDGE

LE

AD

ING

ON

TH

E E

DG

E

RACHAEL ROBERTSONAntarctic Expedition Leader

RO

BE

RT

SO

N

AU$29.95 NZ$33.99BUSINESS/BIOGRAPHY

What can an Antarctic expeditionteach you about leadership?

More than you might think!If you think your job is tough, try leading a one-year expedition where

you’re on duty all day, every day. Where it’s cold, windy, dark and

desolate. And you’re stuck inside with 17 strangers.

Rachael Robertson was one of the youngest people to ever lead an

Antarctic expedition and one of the fi rst women. In this incredible

pressure-cooker environment, Rachael was forced to develop strategies

to deal with the isolation, scrutiny and demands of extreme leadership.

With no way in, and no way out, she had to make it work.

An inspiring leadership story packed with ideas, insights and

strategies, Leading on the Edge will teach you how to:

• deal effectively with ambiguity and the grey areas leaders face

• generate trust and loyalty in those around you

• understand why respect is more critical than harmony

• check in on people, track progress and manage risk

• inspire through the lean times and lead through the tough times

• survive the scrutiny of leadership and look after yourself.

Whether you lead or aspire to lead, this book is your guide to

becoming an authentic, resilient, innovative leader who gets the best

out of your team.

If you have big ambitions, then being

big on the little things as a leader

is critical. The little things help the

important 4 letter words—care, give,

team and best—come to life. Rachael

is one of the best when it comes to

teaching and inspiring leaders on why

little things matter.

— John Gillam,Managing Director, Bunnings

Rachael Robertson is one of the most

in-demand inspirational business

speakers and leadership consultants

in the world. After more than 20 years’

experience leading teams in complex

and challenging environments, Rachael

is now transforming leadership

around the globe.

www.rachaelrobertson.com

About the author viiAcknowledgements ixManifesto: it’s not just talk xi

Part I: The why 1 1 Do we need leaders? 3 2 Grey matter 27

Part II: The how 35 3 Motivation versus manipulation 37 4 The essence of amplification 45 5 Talking heads 59

Part III: The what 79 6 Speakership: the missing link 81 7 Tongue fu! Noise versus signal 101 8 Memes: the essence of an idea 111 9 Tuning in to leadership 129 10 The 15 questions 145

Part IV: The who 15711 Amplifiers in action 159

Final words 191Index 193

Contents

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Leaders today need to go ‘old school’ — they need to get back to those original base actions of meeting, talking and inspiring the people around them. They need to get out from behind their strategy and bring leadership to life. They need to be able to make a difference personally. Their very role as leaders, the purpose of their existence, is to make a difference and the difference they make is one of amplification.

Great leaders need to be able to make more out of what is going on around them — they maximise what is working. Great leaders amplify the messages that matter; they amplify the commitment to getting things done; they amplify the positive mood in a culture; and they amplify the results they get. Amplifiers are those leaders who make a difference at all levels within a business, a community or a family.

The challenge is that being an amplifier is a choice you make, more so than a promotion you get or a set of capabilities you develop. It’s the choice you make to be a motivational leader, to make a positive difference to the human condition in and around you.

A memo or a slide show are all well and good, but they are minnows when stacked alongside the whale that is motivational leadership. Motivational leadership is the ability to influence culture and drive change. It can be applied powerfully at home, in communities and in organisations everywhere.

Manifesto: it’s not just talk

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Amplifiers

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We desperately need leaders who can lead. We need amplifiers — those leaders who can reduce fear and replace it with confidence, and reduce confusion and replace it with clarity, mobilising us all in pursuit of a better future. Motivational leadership is not a ‘nice to do’: it’s a necessity, and one that becomes increasingly needed as we move further into a technological age where we find ourselves time poor and information rich. We need leaders who can take this data deluge and provide meaning, engagement and relevance around all the stuff that matters.

We need amplifiers.

That need is critical now as the world faces an unprecedented rate of change. In his essay The Future of Work, Jeff Brenman, futurist and designer from Apollo Ideas, says: ‘we are teaching our kids to prepare for jobs that have not been invented yet, solving problems we don’t even know we have yet’.

This era of massive disruption requires less long-term know-how and more immediate do now! Now more than at any other time in history we need to be able to adapt quickly; we need to shift what we are doing at a moment’s notice, take in new information and make well-informed, rapid decisions.

In their book Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work, brothers Dan and Chip Heath, change management consultants, share a framework for making decisions in this new world order. They believe we need a process that saves us from ourselves when it comes to making great decisions. They describe a range of ‘villains’ that prevent us from making good decisions:

If you think about a normal decision process, it usually proceeds in four steps:

■ You encounter a choice. But narrow framing makes you miss options.

■ You analyze your options. But the confirmation bias leads you to gather self-serving information.

■ You make a choice. But short-term emotion will often tempt you to make the wrong one.

■ Then you live with it. But you’ll often be overconfident about how the future will unfold.

And what we’ve seen is that there is a villain that afflicts each of these stages.

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Amplifiers are discerning, they spend time helping people make better decisions. Creel Price, author of The One Thing to Win at the Game of Business, calls leadership ‘decisionship’ because, in his entrepreneurial experience, making decisions is the essence of leadership.

Amplifiers support decision making as a business and leadership imperative. Decisions lead to actions, actions lead to results, results lead to beliefs, which then go on to affect choices. It’s critical to make motivational leadership be about what gets done — otherwise it really is just talk.

We need change makers not change managers. Amplifiers are absolute change makers. They agitate and stir the ponds of complacency and communicate vision in a dynamic, engaging and relevant way so that all are on board, in the right seats and heading on the same journey.

Strategy, it seems, is failing many, as it is almost impossible to create solutions for futures further out than 12 to 36 months. History may end up recording this current era as the Age of Disruption: computer companies are killing music companies; disintermediation (the removal of the middle man) is destroying brokerage businesses; and geo-arbitrage (low-cost labour) is killing age-old ‘safe’ careers such as accounting and law. We are most definitely living in interesting times.

Make no mistake — strategy is critical. It’s simply not all that it’s been made out to be. It is an analytical idea and as such lives in the left hemisphere of the brain, whereas culture is less specific and lives in the right hemisphere. The famous statement by US general George Patton sums it up: ‘A good plan, violently executed now, is better than a perfect plan next week’. Strategy is a great start; it is simply a good plan, though, if the culture that implements it lacks the ability to execute.

Cynthia Montgomery, in her book The Strategist: Be the Leader Your Business Needs, makes the case for the synergistic relationship between leaders and strategy. Montgomery’s concern is that strategy has been outsourced to experts and advisers, to the detriment of business. She suggests that the fixed nature of strategy that most organisations adopt is flawed: ‘What’s been forgotten is that strategy is not a destination or

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a solution. It’s not a problem to be solved and settled. It’s a journey. It needs continuous, not intermittent, leadership’.

Motivational leadership — amplification — trumps strategy every time. Boston Consulting Group, in their Creating People Advantage report, reference the power of culture and people management as the ‘single biggest issue facing business leaders today’. This theme is picked up again and again in leadership texts. Corporate anthropologist and author of Finding True North, Michael Henderson, a global culture expert, states that in his research he has found ‘culture to be eight times more powerful than strategy’.

In other words, the wrong people doing the right stuff is significantly less important than the right people doing the wrong stuff. In a logic-filled, post-industrial world it’s easy to see why the head of business (strategy) has been given a lead role. It’s time for the heart of business and society (culture) to take its place.

Amplification — motivational leadership — is the link between the two. It acts like the corpus callosum in the brain — a thick band of axons (nerve fibres) that connects the right hemisphere to the left hemisphere. It is the missing link between strategy — what we know we should do and attitude (the willingness to do it) — and execution (getting it done).

Motivational leadership is the quality we need to see in the conversations taking place everywhere, from the office corridors to the classrooms in schools, from the boardroom to the ballrooms in business, and from the bedrooms to the kitchen table in homes.

Someone has to lead.

This book will make the case for raising your levels of motivational leadership at home, in your community and in your business. It’s a call to arms for developing the intent to influence; it’s an invitation to become an amplifier.

Famous motivational speaker the late Zig Ziglar highlighted the impermanence of motivation during an interview with an adversarial journalist. The journalist, keen to establish the moniker of

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xv


hype-merchant on Mr Ziglar asked, ‘Mr Ziglar, this motivation thing you peddle — it’s not permanent is it?’

To which Zig replied, in his Texan drawl:

No son, motivation is not permanent, but then again neither is sanitation! And based on the proximity of our corporal selves in this interview and the absence of a noticeable stench, you must have washed today? And that being the case it is highly likely you will do so again, tomorrow and the next day? Occasionally you miss a day but you are quick to resume the habit. Motivation is most definitely not permanent and that’s why it’s critical you get into the habit of using it daily.

This book contends that, if you are responsible for others, you may as well leave the shower running continuously. If not, you will develop an attitudinal odour, a stinking thinking, and the people you lead will require a ‘check up from the neck up’ to cure the organisational infection that steals hope, belief and fortitude. (Channelled a bit of Zig in that last line, I reckon.)

The book’s premise is quite simple: learn how to use motivational leadership to get things done in and around you. Get really good at being an amplifier: it’s not just talk and you do make a difference!

The problem is that while the principles of motivational leadership are simple, the application of them requires some art, some finesse and no small amount of courage. It takes courage to stand up and shine a light. It is way too easy to leave that to others. There will always be cowards in the dark who take pot shots at those who shine a light on the path of others. One thing though is universally true — you cannot hold a torch to light another’s path without also illuminating your own.

This book is divided into four parts. Part I describes the history and case for motivational leadership. It is an exposé or thought piece on the role of motivational leadership throughout history, and the power of motivational leadership to effect change and make the world a better place. Think of this as the why and if of being an amplifier.

Part II expounds the art and science for developing motivational leadership. Think of part II as the how and part III as the what and part IV as the who of being an amplifier.

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If you are already a convert to motivational leadership, you can jump straight into part II and get to work increasing your amplification skills. If you remain unconvinced but open and willing, then let’s get started working through the why in greater detail.

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Chapter 3

Motivation versus manipulation

This book is about motivational leadership. It’s about inspiring others and doing this in a way that is seriously amplified: not only doing it, but also doing it big and bold. Not only doing it big and bold, but also actively developing it in and around you. In effect, not only being a ripple in a pond, but creating lots of others who are doing the same. It’s about not only being a motivational leader but also developing motivational leadership in others.

So where did all this motivation stuff begin?

Well, depending on how far back you go, you could suggest that we have had world leaders who did this well or badly as good examples. I imagine Genghis Khan and Chairman Mao were pretty good amplifiers; Christopher Columbus and Marco Polo must have used some good rhetoric to get people to believe in their crazy enterprises. We also certainly have some good information on speaking to influence from the ancient Roman school of public speaking in Rhodes during Cicero’s time, but let’s come forward a little closer to now.

The first modern era example of motivational leadership is in the teachings of Napoleon Hill in his classic Think and Grow Rich programs. His first book, The Law of Success, was published in 1928. Much of the material in that book ended up in his Think and Grow

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Amplifiers

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Rich book. So we could say ideas about motivational leadership started formally about 100 years ago.

The story goes — though it might be untrue — that Napoleon Hill, the father of self-help and modern motivational speaking, was interested in messages that impacted others. His desire was to understand how you could use oration and writing to affect people’s lives. Being a man of faith he chose preachers as his mentors and role models. In his day a preacher often ran his sermons from a travelling tent, like a circus. Each month they would roll into a town. Desperate for entertainment and as a way of keeping the faith, people would take the family out for a sermon or two.

Hill would follow the most successful preachers, hoping to find patterns in the sermons. His desire was to see which sermons resonated best with the congregation, and after a while he recognised 16 core messages that seemed to be the most effective. Upon identifying these, he took some time to validate his findings and repackage them in a secular way. Basically, he removed the Jesus from the stories and built what we now know as the 16 mindsets, unpacked in the all-time bestseller Think and Grow Rich. These sermons became the various chapters in his book and modules in his courses.

The Napoleon Hill Foundation website shares a slightly different story on where the ideas in the book came from, built on the narrative and relationship between Napoleon Hill and his patron, Andrew Carnegie. The foundation says his theories came from interviewing more than 500 successful people.

So what does this have to do with your leadership and job as an amplifier? Well, in all things leadership, we need to look at what works. It does not matter much what story you believe — did he track preachers or interview successful people? The point is that Hill’s messages are great starting points for developing an understanding of how to motivate others. These key messages work. They are like the tuning forks used by piano tuners that make the right sound when you tap them, a sound that is pleasing to the ear.

The ends may or may not justify the means but one thing is true: if you need to change how you communicate so that it’s easier for

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39

your audience to hear a message then that’s what you need to do. In communication, the leader takes responsibility for adapting to the audience. If a kid won’t clean their room when you ask them, try different ways of having the conversation. It’s about behavioural flexibility. It’s the same here with Napoleon Hill’s messages — they get the motivation job done. Get good at treating them less like laws and more like themes.

These themes act as hosts for your ideas. An idea that rocks will be shared by others and become viral. Attach any message to, or surround it with, one of these themes and it is more likely to get through and be shared.

You can read Napoleon Hill’s messages as tips on how to be more successful, but students of amplification — motivational leaders — read them as key message tones that will influence and direct behaviour positively. Speechwriters understand them as key hot buttons that motivate and inspire.

Here is the list of messages from Napoleon Hill’s laws of success:

1 The law of the mastermind

2 A definite chief aim

3 Self-confidence

4 Habit of saving

5 Initiative and leadership

6 Imagination

7 Enthusiasm

8 Self-control

9 Doing more than paid for

10 A pleasing personality

11 Accurate thinking

12 Concentration

13 Co-operation

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Amplifiers

40

14 Profiting by failure

15 Tolerance

16 The golden rule.

Many people are republishing Hill’s work and putting their own names on it alongside Dr Hill’s, and the Napoleon Hill Foundation has released unedited copies on Amazon. A full explanation of the 16 laws is shared at the Amplifiers website, www.amplifiersthebook.com. Follow the links to the Napoleon Hill resources.

I have adapted five of these messages and unpacked them below to set them in a 21st century context. Study all 16, but, as an amplifier, get used to working with these top five. These five message overtones become the end point in most amplifiers’ conversations. The five main messages are:

1 Desire. The idea here is that everything begins by first developing a form of wanting among the people affected. Nothing happens unless someone wills or wishes it to be. Amplifiers will work hard to ensure that people want change, or desire growth. An amplifier will do the prep work of aligning desires and exploring desires. One technique that does this well is to simply ask questions such as, ‘Is this something we want? How would this make things better or different?’

2 Belief. It follows that once a desire has been established or identified that belief is the next step. Desire is an internal attachment to something: desire is in the person. Belief is then a question around whether they think it’s possible to get what they desire. If they want it and think it’s possible, they are then required to ask questions that are less reflective and begin to take action.

3 Focus. If the person wants something and believes it’s possible, the next button that needs to be pushed is the one of focus. Focus helps to narrow down options and prevent the huge feeling of overwhelm we get at the start of something new or different. The amplifier’s job at this stage is to reduce the choices available. You don’t have to dictate this restriction: you simply want to encourage people to reduce the options themselves.

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4 Commitment. You will often see a leader make public declarations around what they plan to achieve. This is a technique that dances with the idea of commitment. Commitment is that step between the excitement of new and the harsh reality of what the individual needs to do. It’s not only about the leader’s promises, it’s equally about the promises people make to themselves. Make sure you are including the sobering questions that drive commitment. When you have discussions around such questions as ‘What might we have to give up?’ ‘What might we have to do differently?’ ‘What will we do if we hit some resistance on our way to our goal?’ Here you are addressing commitment directly.

5 Action. Amplifiers have to be about action, performance and results. So it becomes critical that the final word for most conversations that motivational leaders have is on the subject of ‘Do this!’ Or ‘What are you going to do?’ Help people to focus on the few small actions they can take to get the ball rolling.

Here is how the five messages may look at the close of a speech. This shows them in action in one specific use — speaking. What follows is a made-up script. You can put your topic in the space provided and try this out next time you have to close a speech.

I guess, in closing, we need to realise that like most things in life [topic word] is only possible if you really want it. Today we are so overwhelmed with choice that we can have everything we want in life — just not all at the same time. You and I know that desire is not enough.

Whether what you heard today is new or something that is old, as if for the first time, it comes down to belief. Have we covered enough today for you to believe that this time things are going to be different?

But belief and desire don’t mean you do anything. The difference between those who [insert the behavioural result you want] and those who don’t is their degree of commitment to getting it.

Interested in something is not committed to it. [Insert personal story about something you have wanted to do for ages but are simply not committed enough to do anything about.]

So what you need to do is not get distracted by everything you need to do, but to just focus on the three things I shared with you today and nail them.

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One thing that I know, having presented this message in one form or another for years to many people is that it is not the smartest or most talented people who get the best results.

It’s those who take massive action towards their goal.

Whether it’s in the motivational speaker context or a more intimate conversation, these themes are road-tested topics. Building the themes into your commutations will make them more motivational. Keep the top five as a checklist, and each time you have something to say, either to a group or one on one, think about how you can incorporate them to deliver your key ideas effectively.

the master manipulatorThe German prefix über (the literal meaning is ‘above’) has crossed over into the English-speaking world, where it can have connotations of superiority, transcendence, excess or intensity, depending on the words with which it’s combined. Typically über is used in conjunction with other words as a superlative. Many contemporary technology magazines and pop culture blogs use it to describe something as great. So I might call you an über-guru, or über-cool, for instance.

Friedrich Nietzsche, a fervent philosopher who was anti-democracy, anti-Christianity, anti-Judaism, anti-socialist and a self-proclaimed anti-Christ, expressed his belief in a master race and the coming of a superman in many of his works. His theory Übermensch described an elite group of super humans who were better than the rest — mensch being a word used to describe a member of the human race.

We know where this thinking led. Friedrich and his editor, his sister Elisabeth, were both anti-Semites, and the Nietzsches’ philosophies were taken up by Hitler and influenced his horrific views, as published in Mein Kampf.

Hitler was a dark, twisted manipulator and by all accounts he was a motivator — a charming manipulator uses all the right tools for all the wrong reasons. He used various techniques and strategies to manipulate crowds in his public addresses to advance his agenda. He planted people in the audience whose job it was to ‘stir’. They stood in the crowd and interacted with his speech, yelling out support for his

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ideas, cheering and starting ‘spontaneous’ applause. He is also reported to have used audio microphones and feedback loops to echo his voice and the audience response back onto the crowd, a known strategy for hyping up a mob of people.

I bring this up because in any discussion of motivational leadership with senior executive teams, the Hitler dimension usually comes up. This topic is usually raised as a question following any discussion around influence versus manipulation. The distinction is a troubling one for many.

The conversation usually becomes concerned with intent. Essentially the intent driving the amplifier is what draws the distinction between manipulation versus control. ‘If my intent is clean,’ one person will state, ‘then it’s influence. If my intent is not clean, then it is manipulation’.

It becomes a bit goodies versus baddies, and although the explanation sounds black and white, there are a few shades of grey.

The conversation often becomes heated and will typically divert, strangely, to the matter of gun control. Influence is compared to guns, one side of the room saying ‘guns don’t kill people, people kill people’. Others argue that the presence of guns is the root of the problem. The conversation then winds up in a right to bear arms and freedom of speech debate, and then it’s time for doughnuts.

Aaron Sorkin, writer, director and mastermind behind the brilliant television series The West Wing, discussed the challenge of democracy in his movie The American President. Fictional US president Andrew Shepherd says in a press conference:

America isn’t easy. America is advanced citizenship. You’ve gotta want it bad, ’cause it’s gonna put up a fight. It’s gonna say, ‘You want free speech? Let’s see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who’s standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours.’ Now show me that, defend that, celebrate that in your classrooms.

Then you can stand up and sing about the land of the free.

It’s been said that the sign of an advanced mind is the ability to handle ambiguity, contradiction and paradox. No doubt the intent to influence is a serious idea and one that in the right hands is powerful,

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and in the wrong hands — well, it’s equally powerful. This is not a book on ethics or morality; this is not a book exploring whether your intent is good or bad: it’s a book on motivation. In essence, it’s a gun manual.

the intent to influence: seven guiding principlesThese seven guiding principles for the intent to influence are, I believe, the seven things that need to be monitored with advanced leadership to ensure we have an intent to influence rather than a need to manipulate:

■ It’s about service, not ego.

■ It’s about inclusiveness, not exclusiveness.

■ It’s about diversity, not uniformity.

■ It’s about freedom, not control.

■ It’s about momentum, not inertia.

■ It’s about courage, not fear.

■ It’s about love, not hate.

If you put one group down in order to elevate yours, then you are on a slippery slope as a leader. If sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, because it is humour that occurs at the expense of another, then building yourself and your team up by putting others down is the lowest form of leadership.

Amplifiers lift the game, stay on the high ground and focus on results, not on talk. They come from love, not hate; they are building the world, not breaking it down. The intent is to influence and make the world better for all, not better for some. Amplifiers are generous, and, whether consciously or not, ask of themselves ‘Does this come from love?’ before they speak or act.

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Matt Church is one of Australia’s most enduring motivation speakers. He has been named educator of the year by the National Speakers Association and has been awarded pretty much every accolade his peers can give. He is generous with his knowledge and is the name behind many of the world’s leading non-fiction business authors and professional speakers. Matt lives in Sydney, Australia and continues to write, speak and teach the art of oration through his Speakership programs for aspiring amplifiers. In 2001 he founded an international education business, Thought Leaders Global, dedicated to helping clever people be commercially smart. He is the chairman of the business and spends his time developing curriculum and inspiring great thinking and great conversations.

About the author

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First published in 2013 by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd42 McDougall St, Milton Qld 4064


Typeset in 12/14.5 pt Bembo Std Regular

© Matt Church Pty Ltd



Author: Church, MattTitle: Amplifiers: the power of motivational leadership to inspire and

influence / Matt Church.ISBN: 9780730304906 (pbk) 9780730304913 (ebook)Notes: Includes index.Subjects: Leadership. Motivation (Psychology) Self-actualisation (Psychology). Attitude (Psychology).Dewey Number: 658.4092


Cover design by Paul Dinovo

Cover images: © iStockphoto.com/manley099 (background); iStockphoto.com/rambo182 (amplifier)

Author photograph by James Mepham, Jungle Jim Documentary Pictures, [email protected]

Printed in Singapore by C.O.S. Printers Pte Ltd

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1


ffirs.indd 4 20/06/13 7:00 AM

Matt ChurchMatt Church is well known as a fabulous conference speaker. He is known for delivering high energy, high humour and high content speeches to audiences of any size. You can discover more about his public speaking at www.mattchurch.com/speaks.

Along with his business partners at Thought Leaders Global, Matt can run leadership development programs in your business based on the principles in these and other books Matt has written. These program include Thought Leadership Development programs, Public speaking programs and Pitching and Positioning programs. Visit www.mattchurch.com/inhouse.

Online learning solutions are available on any of Matt’s topics. Find out more at www.mattchurch.com/onlinesolutions.

If you would like to teach the principles in this book to others, licencing options are available at www.mattchurch.com/licencing.

badvert.indd 201 20/06/13 11:09 AM

AMPLIFIERSThe Power of Motivational Leadership to Inspire and Influence


ISBN 9780730304906Published August 2013RRP AU$27.95 / NZ$31.99


Buy it now!

by Matt Church


The BookDiscover the secrets of motivational, inspirational, and transformational leadership.

Great leaders do much more than just make decisions; they inspire those around them to excellence and form the vital link between strategy and execution. Amplifiers explains how great leaders use the art and practice of motivational leadership to light the path to success and inspire others to take that journey with them. Written by Matt Church, one of the top motivational speakers in Australia, this practical, powerful guide explores how great leaders move people to action and excellence — and how you can do the same. Church gives you the essential skills and strategies of motivational leadership, from effective communication frameworks and roles to proven guidance on choosing high-impact words when speaking to others.

The AuthorMatt Church is the founder of the international leadership development company Thought Leaders Global. He has been a motivational speaker for over 20 years and is the author of several other landmark business books.

Learn more at www.mattchurch.com.



152 × 229 SPINE: 16.4 FLAPS: 90

MATT CHURCH

This is an extraordinary book for leaders who think big!MICHAEL PORT, New York Times best-selling author of The Think Big Manifesto

Great leaders motivateExceptional leaders inspire

Transformational leaders amplifyAmplifi ers are the rare and extraordinary leaders who amplify the best in themselves and others. They amplify the messages that matter, amplify the positive mood in a culture and amplify the results achieved. They are themasters of maximising human potential and developing other great leaders.

Author and global leadership expert Matt Church gives you the vital skills and strategies to strengthen your own amplifi cation skills and ensure that you’re a leader worth following.

Packed with tips, case studies and the powerful lessons of other great leaders, Amplifi ers will show you how to:

• master the essential communication tools for making an impact

• bring out the best in people and help them to maximise their potential

• employ positive tactics that inspire others to achieve the unimaginable.

Great leaders aren’t born; they are made. Whether you are the CEO of a global company or the coach of your local sports team, this book will boost your leadership skills and bridge the gap between strategy and execution.

The Power ofMOTIVATIONAL LEADERSHIP

to Inspire and Infl uence

CH

UR

CH

AM

PLIFIERS

AU$27.95 NZ$31.99MANAGEMENT/LEADERSHIP

What are Amplifi ers?Amplifi ers are leaders who have the ability to bring out the best in others.

An amplifi er is a device that uses power toincrease the signal. Like an amplifi er in a sound system, leaders who motivate canincrease the power in the people around them to get more done.

Leaders who are ‘amplifi ers’ make a differenceby turning up the talents in people and using that power to make things happen. A businessfull of amplifi ers can be heard above the market’s noise, attracts brilliant people and makes extraordinary things happen.

Amplifi ers are the leaders worth following—they help us do work worth doing and createcultures worth belonging to.

Amplifi ers are those leaders who make adifference at all levels within a family, abusiness or a community.

Amplifi ers replace fear with confi dence, they replace confusion with clarity and their biggest impact is in how they mobilise us in pursuit of a better future.

‘ As one of the best speakers on leadership in the world, whenever Matt Church speaks people listen. When Matt brings his considerableintelligence, insight and laser-like focus to awritten project you, the reader, are provided with the unique opportunity to think aboutleadership in ways you will have neverconsidered before. As with everything Matt does, Amplifi ers is ahead of the normalleadership game. Read this book and applyits approach and you will be too.’

— Michael Henderson, Corporate anthropologist, speaker and author

MATT CHURCH is the founder of theinternational leadership developmentcompany Thought Leaders Global. He

has been a motivational speaker for over20 years and is the author of several other

landmark business books. Learn moreat mattchurch.com.

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Exhausted by the daily grind of dealing with people issues?

Overwhelmed by the unrelenting challenges of leadership?

Eager to fi nd new ways to motivate your staff?

The People Manager’s Toolkit is the solution for you. This book will show you simple, easy-to-use strategies to:

• leverage your team’s potential and achieve outstanding results

• elevate engagement and inspire people to exceed their own expectations

• reduce staff turnover and gain the loyalty of your best and brightest

• earn respect and nip poor performance and absenteeism in the bud

• lead your people successfully through even the most diffi cult organisational change.

If you need simple answers and strategies to solve your people-management challenges, The People Manager’s Toolkit is the straight-talking, practical guide you’ve been looking for.

Karen is an engaging expert in the fi eld of unlocking the vital talents of staff. Her approach to leadership combines corporate compassion with traditional commercial acumen. This is something that has been consistently requested by established managers and those aspiring to lead others.

—Imogene Hewett, National Manager Executive Development, Drake International

KAREN GATELY is a leadership and people-management specialist

and a founder of Ryan Gately, a specialist HR consulting practice based in

Australia. Working with top companies of all shapes and sizes, Karen is a

highly regarded expert in achieving outstanding business performance

through people.

TH

EPeople Manager’s T

oolkitG

AT

EL

Y

K A R E N G A T E L Y

A p r a c t i c a l g u i d e

t o g e t t i n g t h e b e s t

f r o m p e o p l e

AU$27.95 NZ$31.99LEADERSHIP/MANAGEMENT

People Manager’sT H E

To o l k i t

iii

Contents

Preface ivAbout the author viAcknowledgements viiiIntroduction ix

1 People management — the foundations of success 1

2 Vision and strategy 24

3 Culture 45

4 Recruitment 70

5 Communication 101

6 Managing performance 123

7 Learning and development 157

8 Reward and recognition 179

9 Driving change 200

10 Leveraging HR 224

Conclusion 246Index 250

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Introduction

Never underestimate the power of dreams and the influence of the human spirit. We are all the same in this notion: The potential for greatness lives

within each of us.

Wilma Rudolph, American Olympic gold medallist

Whether you are the CEO of a global organisation or a supervisor in a small business, your job is essentially to build and leverage a team capable of achieving outstanding results. While easy to say, this can be hard to achieve. Whether I’m working with small enterprises or large corporations, wherever I go I consistently observe the same challenges in managing and getting the best from people at work. Finding and recruiting the right people, tapping into their discretionary effort and influencing behaviours that enable success are examples of the complexities of people management I regularly encounter.

Even the most capable and experienced people manager is likely to encounter challenges leading their team. Many of those I work with struggle to keep up with the unrelenting demands of their role, and find their focus and time are consumed by dealing with people-related problems. It takes energy and discipline to effectively apply the strategies and approaches needed to meet these challenges, and commitment and strength of spirit to overcome the many obstacles you face.

While there are many inherent challenges in managing people, with the right attitude and approach exceptional standards of performance are possible. Each of the approaches and tools described in this book have the potential to increase your success in hiring great people, leveraging their talent and keeping them engaged with your business for the long term. However, there is no magic wand in the people manager’s toolkit that can make predictable work of leading

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The People Manager’s Toolkit

x

Introduction

teams. Ultimately, the tools we will explore are valuable only to the extent that they are effectively applied.

Focused and disciplined application of these approaches and tools will enable you to:

• hire, develop and retain talented people

• motivate consistently high standards of performance

• inspire discretionary effort and loyalty

• support people to grow with your business

• overcome the challenges of poor performance and unacceptable conduct.

Before we explore the tools and approaches needed to drive success, we will first consider why both human capabilities and spirit matter. In other words, why are influencing the knowledge, skills and experience but also the depth of positive energy people bring to their work critically important priorities for every people manager?

The importance of capable people behaving successfully Great results are achieved when capable, highly engaged people invest energy and behave in ways that enable success. There is no doubt that success depends equally on capabilities and behaviour. When talented people are motivated to bring the full strength of their knowledge, skills and experience to their role, truly great outcomes are possible. A manager’s ability to develop the talents and capabilities of their team and to influence successful behaviours drives the level of performance that is ultimately achieved.

To illustrate this point, reflect for a moment on how often you have observed or worked with the kind of person I refer to as the ‘incompetent genius’. These individuals are unquestionably brilliant, with deep knowledge, skills and experience, but they fail to perform because they struggle to work effectively with other

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Introduction

people. Now think about another common kind of person: they are enthusiastic and work hard but they also fail to deliver because they simply don’t have the abilities needed to get the job done. Finally, reflect on people you know or have observed who bring together both the behaviours and the talents needed, and as a consequence achieve great results.

Understanding team spiritI firmly believe that all human beings have access to extraordinary energies

and powers. Judging from accounts of mystical experience, heightened creativity, or exceptional performance by athletes and artists, we harbor a

greater life than we know.

Jean Houston

Imagine for a moment your team’s spirit as a ball filled with positive energy. The more energy contained within the ball the stronger your team’s spirit. The spirit of each member of your team determines the energy they have in reserve and can unleash in pursuit of their objectives. The vitality, enthusiasm and drive each person brings to their work is drawn from this reserve of positive energy. It is also from this energy source that people draw strength to keep striving through challenging times.

Every people manager plays a critical role in influencing the strength of their team’s spirit, individual by individual and as a team. Their primary focus must be on pumping positive energy into the team’s spirit and doing everything possible to limit those things that have a draining effect. Negative energy doesn’t dilute our spirit; rather, it has the effect of depleting our positive energy. How often have you experienced the draining effect of a negative person’s company? If we are feeling strongly energised, their influence may be only marginal; if we are already drained, however, these individuals can quickly diminish our vitality. Even when we are highly energised, over time such people can drain the life force from us.

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Workplace influencers of spiritEach person is unique, and to influence their spirit requires an understanding of what makes them tick. Here is a brief summary of the five most common influencers of the human spirit at work.

1 Personal valueOur sense of personal value reflects how we feel about ourselves as well as how we believe others feel about us. Positive emotions we should encourage include:

• how I feel about me: valuable, qualified, capable and successful

• how I believe others feel about me: valued, trusted, respected and accepted.

2 RelationshipsThe quality of our relationships at work can influence our spirit. Whether with our boss, colleagues or staff, or with clients or service providers, what we feel from other people and what we feel towards them matters. The types of positive emotions we want people to feel include:

• what I feel from others: appreciated, supported and safe

• what I feel towards others: trust, respect and regard.

3 Purpose and meaningThe extent to which we are able to find purpose and meaning in our work also plays a role in energising or draining us. How we feel about what we and our organisation contribute matters. Doing a job that has an altruistic purpose energises many people, while for others purpose and meaning derive from the harmony between their values and those of the organisation they work for. Still other people want to feel a part of something bigger than themselves or to contribute to

Introduction

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the organisation’s success. Examples of the types of positive emotions we want people to feel include:

• what I feel from what I and my organisation do: satisfied, fulfilled and rewarded

• how I feel about what I and my organisation do: proud, ambitious and passionate.

4 BeliefThe strength of our belief is reflected in how we feel about the future and our ability to influence that future. For many people, belief is a vital source of strength and resilience. Examples of the types of positive emotions we want people to feel include:

• how I feel about the future: hopeful, optimistic and encouraged

• how I feel about my ability to influence the future: confident, empowered and certain.

5 EnjoymentLiking what we do matters. All too often I meet people who are fundamentally unhappy in their work. If we don’t like our job or enjoy doing it, it is unlikely to energise us and will likely drain our spirit. Examples of the types of positive emotions we want people to feel include being entertained, interested and amused doing what they do.

The relationship between spirit, behaviour and performanceThe strength of a person’s spirit influences the behavioural choices they make. Whether consciously or otherwise, each person on your

Introduction

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team chooses the behaviours they bring to any given situation. A strong spirit enables people to make positive choices even if at that moment they don’t feel particularly happy about their situation. Those with plenty of positive energy in reserve are better able to choose effective ways of behaving. If their spirit is weak or drained of positive energy, however, the same feelings may lead to poor choices of behaviour.

When they feel capable, trusted, respected, accepted, included, appreciated or empowered, the vast majority of people enjoy an energised spirit. Energised people are far more likely to behave in ways that enable success, such as being driven, courageous, honest and committed. Equally, when people feel betrayed, disregarded, insecure, bored, worried or confused, their positive energy is likely to become drained. When that happens they are likely to behave in ways that diminish success. For example, they may become withdrawn, resistant, lethargic, hesitant, pessimistic and even destructive.

Central to a people manager’s role is influencing their team’s spirit and, in turn, the behavioural choices they make. Among many important reasons for focusing on the strength of your team’s spirit is the value of tapping into their discretionary effort — that is, what they do because they want to, because they have emotional ownership of the results. Tapping into the energy people are willing to invest when they are passionate can yield superior performance. The managers who are able to leverage this passion are those most likely to lead the way, to break new ground and to achieve long-term success through their team.

The people manager’s toolkitSuccessful leaders not only approach their role in ways that inspire people to follow; they effectively leverage the tools available to them to build the strength of the human capabilities and spirit needed to drive results. Included in every people manager’s toolkit are the essential systems, processes, policies, programs and

Introduction

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resources that underpin an effective approach to human resource management. In some organisations specialist expertise is also provided through services delivered by HR staff and external suppliers. When close working partnerships are formed, this expertise influences people management strategy and practices, and therefore success.

Across the diverse range of industries I work with, regardless of the organisation’s staff numbers, turnover, profit, growth, prospects or stage of development, when it comes to managing people the same principles always apply. These core ingredients of success are the focus of the chapters ahead. There are lots of books written about each of the topics we will explore, great books that provide deep insight into particular theories, models or experiences. In this book I will focus on the things that matter most as fundamental priorities for every people manager.

Included in The People Manager’s Toolkit are strategies and practices focused on:

• vision and strategy

• culture management

• recruitment

• communication

• performance management

• learning and development

• reward and recognition

• change management

• HR services.

These essential tools, and how to leverage them effectively in your organisation, provide the framework for this book. Our focus throughout is on how to apply each tool to build the capability of your team and to nurture the strength of their spirit. First, in

Introduction

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chapter 1, we explore the foundations of a successful approach — the ways in which every manager of people must behave in order to earn the trust and respect needed to inspire people to follow their leadership. We look at the key characteristics of the approach to managing people that is most likely to get the best from them.

Next we explore in depth each of the tools in the people manager’s toolkit. The first priorities we look at, in chapter 2, are creating an inspiring vision for the future and mapping the road to success. We reflect on why confronting your current reality with honesty matters and the most important things you must do to get every member of your team on board and playing their part. Proactively building confidence in your team’s ability to succeed together and an accurate perception of what it will take to get there are fundamental to the approach advocated.

From there we explore how to create and manage the culture of your team or business. We look at how to identify the behaviours you need from every member of your team and the core values these reflect. Central to the focus of chapter 3 are the priorities you must set and the actions you must take to embed your organisation’s values in the way people behave. As an effective people manager you will not only espouse your core values but proactively operate in line with them to create a healthy, vibrant and successful workplace culture.

In chapter 4 we look at how to find and recruit the right people when you need them. We explore how to develop pools of talent you can tap into from within and outside of your current team. Fundamental questions to reflect on and discuss with others when assessing the suitability of each candidate include: How well is she suited to the role you are looking to fill? What is the likelihood that he will cope with the inherent challenges of the position? Are they likely to bring culturally aligned values and behaviours? We explore in detail approaches to planning and implementation that will ensure that each candidate hired fits with both the capabilities and behaviours needed.

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Communication is an important enabler of all successful relationships and teams. In chapter 5 we examine the most important ingredients of effective communication. We explore productive approaches to communication that ensure the right people are informed or consulted at the right time in the most effective ways. We look at the two-way nature of good communication and how best to balance telling, asking, listening, questioning and challenging.

Chapter 6 focuses on how to leverage your performance management efforts for best results. We look at how to set clear expectations and enable performance through productive feedback. We also look at the crucial coaching role a manager plays and how to hold people accountable for achieving acceptable standards. This chapter guides you to inspire and lead people to achieve standards of performance that reflect their full potential.

In chapter 7 we look at how to grow the capabilities of your team through targeted learning solutions. We examine how to identify the right development needs and the initiatives most likely to add real and lasting value. This chapter investigates the approaches most likely to enable and realise development objectives including training, coaching and on-the-job learning experiences.

Rewarding and recognising people for the contributions they make and the standards they achieve are critical to your ability to inspire commitment and drive performance. Chapter 8 focuses on how to demonstrate appreciation both for the things people achieve and for the ways they go about it. We look at rewarding the right behaviours and outcomes as well as approaches to maximising the positive impact and benefits of these efforts for the individual and the team.

Guiding teams through periods of transformational change is a common concern for people managers. In chapter 9 we look at the core competencies for leading change and the important role of your ability to build and maintain trust throughout. Driving change well demands that you understand its impacts, assign clear roles and responsibilities, and engage stakeholders every step of the way. We

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look at these priorities and the influence of team culture on your ability to achieve ambitious and sustainable change objectives.

The final chapter of The People Manager’s Toolkit is dedicated to the role of human resources and how the partnership between managers and HR professionals influences an organisation’s success. We reflect on the characteristics of a successful approach to HR while taking an honest look at the common reasons many organisations struggle to realise benefits from HR services. We identify the most important capabilities you should look for in HR people and key indicators of performance you should consider when determining the value of HR services available to you and other people managers in your business.

As we work through each of the chapters, the extent to which these tools combine and influence one another will become increasingly evident. The manager’s approach and the tools they apply form a web of interacting factors that collectively influence the spirit, capability and ultimately performance of the team. For example, your hiring decisions can create challenges or strengths in the areas of performance management, learning and development, and culture management. How you manage performance reflects and influences the culture of your organisation. The culture you create will influence your approach to rewarding and recognising your team. How you reward and recognise people will be reflected in your approach to performance management and learning practices. And so it goes on — every tool in your toolkit needs to be leveraged as part of a greater whole that ultimately leads to team success.

How to use this bookThis book is intended to be a practical reference guide that points you to the things that matter most when it comes to getting the best from people at work. If you are an inexperienced people manager just setting out, follow the step-by-step instructions and utilise the checklists provided. If you are more experienced, apply the frameworks and success measures offered to appraise your

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current approach and effectiveness. Use them to regularly audit what you currently do and identify ways you can keep improving. If you are a manager of managers or an HR professional, leverage the pragmatic and uncomplicated guidance provided to grow the people management capabilities of others and ensure a consistent approach across your business.

Included in the ‘What success looks like’ section of each chapter are key performance indicators (KPIs). These reflect the most significant measures of successful application of each tool. Leverage these KPIs to continually monitor and measure the effectiveness of your people management efforts. In some cases performance standards can be quantified, while in others measurement is based on observation and qualitative assessments of the extent to which each tool supports you to meet relevant people management objectives.

Each chapter sets out key priorities that individually and collectively define a successful approach. While there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution, more often than not each of these priorities is important to successful application of the tool in question. Consider these priorities and be honest with yourself about how well you typically focus on and apply each when you need to. Remember, each tool will add value only to the extent to which you apply it well.

Also included at various points throughout this book are checklists designed to provide you with specific guidelines relating to the topic in question. Again, carefully consider each point and its relevance to what you are working to achieve. Each chapter concludes with a checklist summarising the absolute priorities that will enable successful application of each tool discussed, together with a summary of the most common mistakes or obstacles to success I have observed that you would be wise to avoid.

Each chapter includes a story about people and organisations I have worked with. Names have been changed to preserve the confidentiality of the people whose stories I have shared. These case studies illustrate real-world applications of the approaches discussed. Reflect on each story and consider any lessons that could be applied

Introduction

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to your own approach and circumstances. Consider the actions that enabled success in each case and reflect on how they may be applied in your team or business.

This book describes approaches and priorities relevant to all people managers, but it is important that you focus on the specific objectives you are working to achieve and on what will add the most value to your business. While broadly applying the guidelines, you will need to adapt your approach to suit your unique circumstances or objectives. As you work through the book, note the aspects of people management that you need to place greater focus on, change or improve. If you are a manager of managers, reflect also on their development needs. Leverage what you learn by taking the steps necessary to enable you or the managers who work for you to develop in these areas. A flexible yet structured approach will allow you to apply the lessons that will add the most value and achieve the best possible outcomes.

In summary, use this book to establish approaches, monitor their effectiveness, and continually improve and grow your approach to managing and getting the best from every member of your team. Ultimately the key to getting maximum value from this book is putting what you learn into practice!

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Recruitment

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Chapter 4

Recruitment

I am convinced that nothing we do is more important than hiring and developing people. At the end of the day

you bet on people, not on strategies.

Lawrence Bossidy, former chairman and CEO of AlliedSignal Corporation

The decisions you make about who to appoint to each role are crucial not only to the individual’s success but also to the performance of your business as a whole. Whether recruiting from within or outside your organisation, appointing talented people who bring culturally aligned values and behaviours underpins your ability to achieve great results through your team. Far more than merely an operational process focused on fi lling vacant roles, recruitment has signifi cant immediate and longer term impacts on any business and must be seen as a strategic priority.

In this chapter we will explore:

• developing talent pools that enable you to fi nd the right people when you need them

• how to identify the most important capabilities and attributes needed in a role

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Recruitment

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• the hallmarks of a successful recruitment process

• assessing the competence and cultural alignment of potential employees

• what it takes to get the best from the recruitment consultants you work with.

While far from the only contributing factor, many of the people challenges managers face can be traced back to poor recruitment decisions. Appointing people who are unqualified, unprepared or reluctant to take on the demands of a role inevitably leads to substandard performance and often costly mistakes. Hiring people who drain the spirit of your team and induce a culture of inappropriate behaviour can lead you down a path that is fatal to the success, if not the viability, of your business.

When you get recruitment right the positive effects are profound. Appointing people who are capable, energised, optimistic, driven and respectful not only brings strength to their role but also influences the success of others around them. The right people can bring both knowledge and behaviours that help a team turn their performance around. In this chapter we will focus on the most important things you can do to ensure you make the right hiring decisions every time. We will also explore the common pitfalls and obstacles to success and how to avoid them.

What success looks likeThe ultimate indicator of the effectiveness of your recruitment strategy and practices is the performance of your business. Measures of both the quality of your hiring decisions and the effectiveness of your process are included in the following lists.

(continued)

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The People Manager’s Toolkit Recruitment

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What success looks like (cont’d)Key indicators of high-quality hiring decisions include the following:

•Behaviours of new team members are strongly aligned with the values of the business.

•Promoted staff contribute to a positive and productive workplace culture.

•Successful candidates are able to perform the role to the standard expected.

•Newly appointed staff quickly and fully integrate into their team and the organisation.

•New team members have the ability to grow with their role and the organisation.

•Most new staff commit to the role for at least two years.

Key indicators of high-quality recruitment include the following:

•A well-planned and consistent approach is adopted throughout.

•No adverse impacts to operations are experienced because of capability or resource gaps.

•Time and cost objectives are met.

•Recruits understand the key objectives and responsibilities of their role.

•Candidates express satisfaction that they have been provided with a fair and lawful opportunity.

•All candidates have a positive perception of your business and culture.

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Case study Fit for purpose

Among the most important recruitment decisions an organisation makes are those relating to the leaders they promote or invite to join their team. How often have you observed a newly appointed leader infl uence the success and even the wellbeing of a team? While the suitability of every person hired matters, leaders in particular can have a direct impact on the success of others through the priorities they set, the decisions they make and the actions they take. They set an example of what is expected and what is accepted, and ultimately dictate the extent to which a cohesive and high-performing team is even considered important, let alone realised.

While consulting to a fi nancial services organisation I witnessed a powerful example of the importance of getting recruitment right. A publicly listed company with close to 350 staff nationally had been struggling for a number of years to improve the engagement and performance of their team. Their engagement results had been declining for years, and they faced growing challenges in both attracting and retaining talented people. The engagement survey they conducted shortly before we met revealed that only 23 per cent of staff at that time were willing to recommend the organisation as a good place to work. The most common reason people gave for leaving was the organisation’s culture — in particular, the way they had been managed.

While the organisation’s challenges were clearly not the fault of the CEO, Michael, alone, he had played a lead role in creating them both through his own behaviour and in failing to manage others eff ectively. When Michael abruptly and unexpectedly left the business a search to fi nd his replacement began. Recognising the opportunity they had to substantially improve performance,

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the board placed an uncompromisingly strong focus on people leadership capabilities.

The search and assessment process adopted was robust, to say the least. Candidates who did not demonstrate a solid track record of leading successful teams were simply not considered. Those who did make the cut were asked to participate in a series of interviews not only with members of the board but also with selected general managers who were regarded both as high performers and as aligned with the organisation’s desired culture. Psychometric testing and extensive reference checking were also important tools leveraged in the assessment and selection process adopted.

Six months after Michael’s departure it was announced that a new CEO, Stephen, had been appointed. By this time morale was at an all-time low and turnover at an all-time high. It is reasonable to conclude that most people waited with a degree of trepidation for the new CEO to start. Talk among the troops was heavily focused on what Stephen would bring to the role and whether the organisation would change or continue to operate as it had.

In stark contrast to Michael, Stephen brought with him a philosophy that every member of the team was critical to success. While he advocated a compassionate and respectful approach to leading people, he placed equal focus on accountability. Stephen believed that the number one priority of every leader was to influence the success of each individual on their team. Just as important was his view that while leadership mattered, every team member must also take personal ownership of not only their own success but the success of their teammates too.

Over time the approach Stephen adopted had a significant impact on the spirit of the team, and while some people were asked to leave those who remained reported a growing sense of loyalty and commitment. In the time I worked closely with that organisation I observed staff turnover plummet from a high of 36 per cent to 16 per cent. Significant progress on many of the organisation’s strategic priorities was also clearly apparent. While further work

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needed to be done to achieve the success they were striving for, it was easy to see the profoundly positive impact Stephen’s appointment to the role of CEO had had on that business.

Stephen’s appointment is just one example of getting the recruitment process right. Unfortunately, all too often I have also observed the consequences of poor hiring decisions. As much as Stephen uplifted his team, I have witnessed other new leaders undermine the spirit and capability of teams and ultimately the success of their organisations. These impacts are not limited to those in leadership roles; even one new member of a team can enable or detract from the success of the group.

Adopting a strategic approachDeveloping the capabilities needed now and in the future is an important strategic priority for any business. Recruitment plays an essential role in enabling you to acquire the knowledge, skills, experience and behaviours required to achieve both immediate and longer-term goals. Too many managers treat recruitment as an operational process, however, simply reacting to the need to fill a new or recently vacated position as it arises. Often these managers adopt an approach that is not planned or even considered, which inevitably leads to challenges in finding or selecting the right people when they need them. Too often I observe these managers, eager to fill the role, compromise and make hiring decisions that ultimately lead to performance, engagement or behavioural issues down the line.

Being strategic in your approach requires that you take steps that enable you to find and recruit the right people for your business long before you need them. Establishing a reputation for being an employer of choice and developing a pool of talented internal and external candidates are important strategic priorities. In other words, not only should you develop a pool of candidates to tap into as required, but you should also influence these candidates’ desire to work for you.

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Just as important are the strategies you employ to find candidates when they aren’t already known to you. Ideally you will have people waiting in the wings, but when you don’t, how you go about searching for candidates is crucial to success. At times the best way to do that is to work in partnership with recruitment consultants. Getting the most from these relationships takes a focused and deliberate approach that we will explore later in this chapter. Once you have found potential candidates, then the priority shifts to ensuring you make the right decisions and persuading candidates to sign up for the opportunity.

In the sections ahead we will explore these strategic priorities and the steps you can take to ensure your approach is planned and ultimately successful.

Developing talent poolsIntensifying competition for talent and the increasingly global nature of that competition is driving a growing need for organisations to proactively develop a pool of talent from which they can draw candidates. While millions of people are unemployed, unfortunately this does not always mean the capabilities your business needs are readily available. Finding quality candidates is increasingly the real challenge. As baby boomers leave the workforce, knowledge and skills will also be retired, and the workforce in many countries is expected to steadily decline over the decades ahead. These demographic changes will inevitably impact on the availability of a diverse talent pool from which employers can recruit.

Leading HR outsourcing organisation Talent2 defines a talent pool as ‘a community of qualified internal and external candidates who are actively interested in your organisation, your industry and your success and are engaged over time to fill vacancies and refer people they know’. Building talent pools is a necessity to create and sustain competitive advantage. Smart organisations are already building and executing the relevant strategies required, ensuring they take a measured and proactive approach to engaging with their current and future talent.

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The most important steps to adopting a talent pool strategy include the following:

Consider and plan for the future. Define what talent you will need in the foreseeable future. Understand the outcomes you are looking to achieve and the tasks that need to be undertaken to make them happen. What capabilities are needed to complete these tasks?

Understand the talent landscape. Where is this talent now? How many people are already in your business versus working for somebody else or themselves?

Consider your options. How can you access the talent needed? For example, do you need to hire permanent staff or is there an end date, which means you would be better served by engaging casuals, contractors or consultants?

Prioritise internal recruitment. Adopt a ‘grow-your-own’ philosophy and strategy that sees you invest in the development of the people you already have on your team, keeping them with your business.

Manage your relationships with external candidates. Once you start attracting people to your business you need to be ready for them. It’s time to start regularly engaging with them. The advent of social media is dramatically changing the way you can stay in touch with people who are interested in working for your business in the future.

Take an annual view. Every year take the time to project what skill sets you will need based on predictable attrition and business strategy.

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Growing an internal pool of talentRecruitment is not just about hiring people from outside your organisation. Adopting a ‘grow-your-own’ strategy is a powerful way of building a pool of talent within your own business that you can recruit from. By providing your team with exciting development and career opportunities, not only can you access the talent you need but you also improve your ability to retain talented people.

Be disciplined, patient, supportive and creative in finding ways to develop and promote talented and committed staff. Focus on developing leadership, management and role-specific competencies internally, and whenever possible promote your staff into more senior positions before searching for external candidates. Remember, however, that it is not always possible to recruit from within. While a grow-your-own strategy is an important priority, never compromise the quality of your hiring decisions. Appointing someone to a role for which they are neither suited nor qualified can have a devastating impact not only on your team’s success but also on that individual’s career and confidence.

In particular, be careful when considering promoting high-performing staff into management positions. Time and again I have seen organisations appoint their most successful team member into a management role when they are far from the best person for the job. The capabilities and attributes required of a successful manager are vastly different from those typically required of someone in an individual contributor position. If your team member is performing highly in their current role, this does not mean they are necessarily qualified or suited to leading others.

Developing external talent poolsIt’s wise to remember that in any external recruitment process there is an element of both ‘buying’ capability into your business and ‘selling’ what you offer. Talented candidates who understand their value in the market are typically assessing you as much as you

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are evaluating them. Building a pool of quality external candidates means proactively and consistently fostering interest in working for your business and team. The goal is to build a pool of people eager to explore opportunities within your organisation when they arise.

To promote your business, first you need to understand what you offer — that is, your employment value proposition (EVP). It’s crucial that you are able to articulate the benefits of joining your team. Reflect on the things you provide your employees, such as career or development opportunities, your culture and your approach to leadership. Are there financial incentives or rewards that set you apart? Do you offer benefits that allow your team to balance the demands of work and life? Fundamentally, you need to understand how attractive your organisation is to the talent you want to attract and then tell them about it.

Regardless of how you choose to present your organisation to the external world, the most important driver of your reputation is what your current and past team members choose to say about you. Don’t underestimate the power of their influence, and focus your efforts on providing an employment experience that is worth promoting. Inspire your staff to speak positively about what it’s like working for you. To the extent that it’s possible, work to ensure that when you part ways with members of your team you maintain a healthy relationship. Treating people with respect and consideration, irrespective of the circumstances of their departure, will go some way to influencing their willingness to speak positively about your business after they have moved on. Don’t hesitate to ask your staff to promote your business proactively; if they are proud of working for you they will do so gladly.

There are many ways you can spread the word and build a strong reputation for being an employer of choice, including through:

• talking to prospective employees in your networks, and at seminars and conferences

• building relationships with recruitment consultants willing and able to promote your business

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• soliciting for media mentions and articles that showcase your culture or team successes

• investing thought and energy into building your ‘career page’ on your website.

Often organisations fail to leverage their efforts to attract people effectively — for example, when approached by candidates of high potential or interviewing more than one suitable person for a role. Their biggest mistake is failing to keep track of these people, making it difficult to contact them when a suitable opportunity arises. When you believe a candidate is worth considering further, keep a record of your assessment and any roles you think they may be suitable for down the track. Let these people know you are interested in staying in touch and encourage them to do the same.

Ways you can keep the lines of communication open include sharing news through newsletters or blogs, using online tools such as LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter to stay in touch, and even meeting with those with whom you would like to foster a relationship. The most important starting point is choosing to take a proactive approach to maintaining a connection with those you have worked hard to attract in the first place.

Planning to succeedQuality outcomes are underpinned by a well-considered and well-planned approach. A common mistake managers make is to launch into a recruitment process without first giving enough thought to what they want to achieve or how to go about it. This is among the most common reasons I observe for poor hiring decisions that ultimately lead to substandard performance, unsuccessful behaviour and turnover in a role.

Before getting started it’s crucial that you have a clear view of the candidate you are looking for. This includes distinguishing between the ‘non-negotiable’ capabilities they must bring and those that would be ‘nice to have’. Just as important is having a good

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understanding of what it will take for the right person to fit in with the rest of the team. Later we will explore how to develop selection criteria that will guide your search and assessment of each candidate throughout your entire recruitment process.

Documenting the role and your selection criteria in a position description (PD) at the start of your process is crucial to success. It’s not the document itself that matters; real value comes from the thought process you go through and the clarity that results. A well-developed PD will help everyone involved in the process keep focused on what and who you are looking for. It can also be leveraged to provide applicants with a clear picture of the role on offer and what you are looking for from the successful candidate.

Priority 1: design the roleTo attract and retain quality candidates first you need to make sure the job is designed well. Creating a role with various responsibilities that demand capabilities, attributes and preferences that are vastly different from one another can make finding suitable candidates extremely difficult. For example, a role that requires a candidate to have strong strategic capabilities and yet most of the time perform highly operational functions is likely to be difficult to fill. When designing roles, consider each of the elements included in priorities 2 and 3. Be pragmatic about the type of candidate needed and the likelihood of success in finding that person.

Priority 2: understand the role Create an inventory of the most important things you need to understand and be able to articulate about any role for which you are recruiting. Such a blueprint, which will help you not only to select the right person but also to establish clear performance expectations once they join, should include the following:

• primary objective (what the role is there to achieve and how success is defined)

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• scope of responsibility and accountability

• level of direction given and autonomy permitted

• key tasks regularly performed

• standard of performance expected

• complexity and challenges anticipated

• important relationships (the people the role often collaborates or interacts with, including colleagues, clients, managers or service providers).

Priority 3: determine who will be the best person for the jobThe next step is to develop a profile of the person most likely to succeed. Develop selection criteria focused on both essential requirements and those on which you can afford to be flexible. Include not only the capabilities the best person will need but also the approach they must adopt. Make sure you understand the required:

• knowledge and skills: What are the minimum requirements for a candidate to be considered? Consider technical, organisational and interpersonal capabilities. For example, do they need to be able to establish plans, organise processes and people, impart information, persuade or influence others, or deal with challenging personalities or conflict?

• experience: What scenarios or environments must they have experienced before and performed well in?

• qualifications: What is required or what is preferred (for example, a degree, trade certificate, licence)?

• values and behaviours: What must they bring in order to fit your culture?

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Priority 4: decide what your assessment process will involveBefore you start to search the market be ready to explain to applicants the process you are asking them to participate in. When deciding what steps to include, ensure you allow for a thorough assessment while avoiding an excessively onerous process that may deter some high-quality candidates from applying. While it may be tempting to take short cuts, in most circumstances it is important to have interviewed the successful candidate more than once. Ideally those who are shortlisted from the first interview will be invited to attend a second.

While planning is important, so too is flexibility. Wherever possible, work broadly within the process you establish but be prepared to adapt your approach when needed. You and your candidates will need to know:

• the format of interviews (individual or group)

• the number of interviews the successful candidate is likely to be expected to attend

• whether you will use assessment tools such as psychometrics, abilities tests or assessment centres, or written assignments such as case studies or presentations

• acceptable referees for reference checks and the person who will talk to them.

Priority 5: establish the selection panel It’s important to decide upfront who will be involved in the process and in what capacity. Identify those who will share their opinions to support your decision and those who will actively participate in the selection of the successful candidate. Decide who will participate in interviews or any other assessment processes you adopt and the role you need them to play.

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Priority 6: determine how you will go about finding suitable candidatesConsider first whether or not you already know potential candidates within your internal or external talent pools. If you do, is a broader search necessary or are you confident you can progress immediately to formally assessing them? If a candidate search is necessary, what avenues will you take? Refer to the next section for further insight into finding suitable candidates outside of your organisation.

Finding external candidatesIn this section we will explore how to optimise your ability to attract quality applicants for the role. We will look at how to design effective job advertisements, encourage staff and colleagues to refer candidates, and get the most from working with recruitment consultants.

Option 1: encourage staff referralsOne of the most effective ways of finding candidates is by encouraging your staff and colleagues to refer people. Often they will already know quality candidates, whether they are colleagues from previous workplaces, people they have met at seminars and conferences, friends, friends of friends or candidates they have met through other recruitment processes.

Tap into this network by asking your team to refer those they believe meet the requirements of the role and fit the culture of the business. Most people will avoid recommending candidates they are not confident meet the brief. While not always the case, most people are careful about who they recommend out of concern for how the person will reflect on them.

Offering to pay staff who recommended candidates who successfully complete the first six months of employment can be an effective way of incentivising people to contribute. This is typically a more cost-effective approach to sourcing candidates than engaging the services of a recruitment consultant.

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Option 2: tap into networksReflect on your own network and whether you know people who can recommend candidates. Ask your colleagues to consider their networks and who they know who may be able to help in the search process. Sometimes you may know someone who knows someone who can recommend people worth approaching. Potential candidates may know, or be known by, past employees, industry colleagues or consultants. Referrals may also come from your clients, service providers and partners. For example, do you or someone in your network know outplacement agents and career transition specialists working with candidates looking for a new direction or job? Some of these people have been made redundant despite being qualified high performers and are worth finding.

Option 3: advertiseIf your networks have yielded little or no return, it may be time to consider advertising. When deciding where to advertise, consider which forum or medium is likely to have the greatest impact in attracting the type of people you are looking for. Keep in mind that often the best candidates are not actively searching for a new job and may not see your advertisement placed on a job board or in the career section of a newspaper. Options you should consider include:

• promoting the role through industry journals or professional associations

• online job boards such as www.seek.com.au or www.monster .com, which are typically cost effective and convenient to use

• newspapers, which, while often costly, can add value, particularly for senior management vacancies

• your company website, particularly if you have a strong employer reputation and people are likely to visit your site for career opportunities

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• your company newsletter or other regular publications you may produce and share with an audience outside your business

• social media and networking sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, which are fast gaining momentum as effective ways of finding candidates.

An effective advertisement will attract not only more applicants but also the right type of candidate. A well-written and -formatted advertisement is easier to read, making it more likely a job seeker will understand the role, their suitability and how it may fit with what they are looking for, including their career aspirations and lifestyle preferences.

To write an effective job advertisement that achieves its objectives, ensure you:

• include relevant and informative content

• first list the things most important to you and most appealing to candidates

• present information in a logical order and use subheadings to break up the content

• use bullet-point lists to keep the word count down and make the detail easy to scan

• provide enough information without being verbose.

You should always include the:

• primary objective of the role

• work environment and culture of the company

• essential skills, experience and qualifications needed

• opportunities the role or business will offer the successful candidate

• location (not everyone is willing to travel or relocate, and it is better to eliminate these candidates upfront).

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Option 4: work with recruitment consultantsEngaging a recruiter to help you source and attract candidates can be an effective solution, particularly when you have neither the time nor the expertise to manage the process directly. Often this can be a relatively costly option, with success highly dependent on the capabilities of the agency and recruitment consultant engaged. How well you work with recruiters profoundly influences the likelihood of success. Included later in this chapter is a comprehensive guide to getting the best possible service and value for your money.

Candidate assessmentA common mistake managers make is to place too strong a focus on a candidate’s technical knowledge, skills and experience. Some underestimate the value and importance of ensuring that the people they hire are a culture fit, are motivated and have career aspirations aligned with the direction or future needs of the business. Others may hire the ‘best of a bad bunch’ when they find it hard to attract quality candidates or the position needs to be filled quickly.

Managing the process wellIn this section we will explore how to facilitate the assessment process, accurately assess each candidate and ultimately make the best hiring decisions.

Priority 1: understand the ‘buy and sell’ equationRecruitment is a two-way street; not only are you looking for the best candidate, but they are looking for the best job and employer. Leverage the process to promote the benefits of the role and working for your business while being careful not to exaggerate or over-promise. There is no point pursuing someone to join your team if they are likely to be disappointed or unprepared to tackle the challenges involved.

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Priority 2: keep the process moving quicklyBeing thorough is important, but keep in mind that an unreasonably lengthy or stalled process can lead to quality candidates pursuing other options or losing interest. Don’t compromise the process by taking short cuts, but endeavour to move forward quickly and keep candidates informed.

Priority 3: use psychometric tools wiselyPsychometric tools can help you assess candidates but remember they are indicative, not predictive. Use them for guidance rather than as a stand-alone decision-making tool; information gleaned should be used to design interview questions and guide conversations with referees.

Priority 4: document Keep notes to help you accurately recall your assessment of each candidate; this will be important when comparing the people you have met and selecting the best person for the job. Equally, it will ensure you are able to demonstrate why you reached the decision you did if challenged by an unsuccessful candidate on the grounds of lawful compliance.

Priority 5: leverage your recruitment panelImmediately following each interview take the time to discuss the extent to which you and other interviewers believe the candidate fits your selection criteria. When you have interviewed all candidates reconvene to compare each against the other and discuss the best way to move forward.

Assessing culture fitWhile it can be tempting to hire the person with the most experience or impressive technical qualifications, never compromise the importance you place on cultural alignment with your business.

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Never hire someone if you are not confident they will bring values and behaviours that fit with your culture. Assess how aligned every candidate’s approach to doing their job and being a member of your team is with the way you want people to behave in your workplace.

Time and again I have observed leaders make the fatal mistake of hiring people based on their technical capabilities or experience while ignoring clear signals of culture misfit. I have yet to see such decisions turn out well. Without exception the appointed candidate leaves the organisation soon after joining, becomes a disruptive or destructive influence, or performs poorly.

In chapter 3 I introduced three core values that in my experience matter most to the success of any individual, team or organisation: behaviours that reflect trust, respect and personal accountability will underpin the quality of any hiring decision you make. While there is no way of predicting exactly how people will behave, there are things you can do to maximise your chances of getting it right.

Here are the most important things you should do to assess the culture fit of every candidate:

Identify the values and behaviours you want to assess and ask questions that expose the candidate’s alignment with each.

Read between the lines and observe attitude when reading application documents, conducting interviews or completing reference checks.

Assess the candidate’s priorities, philosophies, beliefs, prejudices and motivations. Consider the likely impact each will have on their approach to doing their job and dealing with others.

(continued)

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Observe how they engage with you and other people before, during and after interviews and other face-to-face interactions.

Notice shifts in behaviour or expressions of attitude towards individuals and groups. For example, does the candidate respond differently to people they perceive to be senior, level or junior to them?

Assessing competenceBeing competent takes more than having knowledge, skills and experience; it’s our ability to effectively apply these capabilities that ultimately determines success. As we explored in the introduction to this book, it is critical to ensure that the people you hire bring both talent and behaviours that allow their effective application. No matter how qualified or experienced a candidate is, keep in mind and assess the potential for them to lack common sense or struggle to work well with others. Consider the extent to which they are likely to apply their capabilities consistently, particularly in the circumstances unique to the role you have on offer.

In an ideal world every person you hire will have the competencies needed on day one. However, often even strong candidates will only partially meet your selection criteria. Understanding which capabilities are non-negotiable and which are ‘nice to have’ is an important starting point. Then you need to consider whether or not you have the time and resources to provide any training or development needed. Before making your hiring decision understand which is more important — their ability to learn or their capacity to immediately ‘hit the ground running’.

Assessing competence shouldn’t be limited to the individual you are considering hiring. It’s important to consider the capabilities of your whole team and understand how this candidate needs to fit in. Do their capabilities need to complement or supplement those

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already available? Are you looking to strengthen the group’s abilities in specific areas or are you simply searching for someone who can do the same things other team members can also do?

To assess competence, look for evidence that the candidate has:

• the ability to apply their capabilities consistently within the context of the role

• an awareness of the core objectives, responsibilities, challenges and complexities of the role

• the levels of knowledge, skill and experience needed to perform at the standard expected

• the ability to plan and integrate a number of different tasks to achieve an outcome

• the ability to respond to irregularities, breakdowns and other unanticipated events

• the capacity to deal with the responsibilities and expectations of the work environment, including working with others.

Assessing role fitThe characteristics of a role with the same job title are likely to vary from one organisation to another. For example, an HR manager in one business may spend most of their time focused on policy interpretation and process coordination, while in another organisation development and talent management may be important priorities. The type of candidate suited to each of these roles is vastly different.

It’s important to assess the extent to which the core functions and requirements of the position match not only what the candidate is capable of doing, but also what they are looking for in a job. Important considerations include the following:

•Will the role provide enough reward and challenge to ensure job satisfaction? If yes, for how long? Does this suit your requirements?

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• Do most tasks and responsibilities align with the candidate’s work preferences?

• Do their skills and attributes (such as their communication style) suit the job?

• Is it likely that the candidate will be motivated to grow with the role over time?

Assessing career fit How often have you hired someone only to have them leave a short time later because a better offer came along? Have you engaged the services of someone only to have them work to elevate their role beyond the scope of responsibilities for which they were hired? To keep talented people with your business and engaged with their role for any reasonable period of time, make sure the job you have to offer is aligned with their career aspirations.

Take, for example, the client service supervisor looking to become a manager. They may well accept your offer of another position as supervisor; however, they are also highly likely to leave if a management role somewhere else comes along. Offering anyone looking for advancement a job that has them performing tasks they believe they have already mastered is risky.

If keeping people for the long term is important, then consider also how likely it is that you will be able to offer them a step-up in their career beyond the role you are hiring for now. Of course aspirations change, but understanding what the candidate wants to be doing down the track will give you some sense of whether or not those plans fit with the future direction and priorities of your business.

To assess career fit effectively, make sure you understand the candidate’s:

• ideal next role

• longer-term aspirations and time horizon

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• drive and determination to achieve their aspirations

• self-perceptions and beliefs about their ability to advance as intended.

Conducting effective interviewsInterviews are an important opportunity for you and your candidates to get to know one another and assess the extent to which the role is the right next step for them. The value you get from any interview comes down to how prepared you are and how well you facilitate the meeting. Too many managers choose to ‘wing it’ and fail to fully leverage the benefits of an interview.

Planning and preparationHere are the most important things you can do to avoid that approach.

Priority 1: prepare an interview guide for each roundA well-structured interview guide includes questions you will ask and a rating scale to assess the quality of responses you receive. The most useful questions are those that ask for examples of when the candidate has performed a task, assumed a responsibility, confronted a challenge or achieved an outcome. Asking candidates to reflect on past experiences allows you to assess the depth of their competence and observe the attitudes and behaviours they brought to each situation.

Priority 2: select and secure an appropriate venueMake sure you have a confidential and comfortable setting in which to conduct interviews. A public venue such as a café may be distracting or uncomfortable for your candidate. It’s important also to protect the candidate’s right to confidentiality, so select a private venue where no-one walking by would be able to observe or overhear your conversation.

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Priority 3: coordination It’s important to know before you begin who will be responsible for what. If there is more than one person interviewing, what role will you each play? Who will lead? Who will ask the questions? Just as important is making sure everyone on the selection panel has a copy of the candidate’s CV as well as the interview guide. Inform everyone well in advance of the time and venue for each interview.

Priority 4: preparation on the dayRefresh your memory before greeting the candidate. Using the wrong name or being unaware of which role they have applied for is not a good start to the process. Take the time to review their application and remind yourself why you invited them to attend the interview. Make a note of anything you are unclear about or on which you would like additional information to ensure you explore these areas adequately.

FacilitationThe way in which you facilitate an interview will affect your ability to accurately assess each candidate and positively influence their perceptions. Included in this section are the most important things you must do to leverage the benefit of each interview.

Priority 1: put candidates at easeAn interview should never be conducted as an interrogation or be overly rigid. It is far more effective to have a conversation with your candidates. Avoid adopting an excessively formal style; rather, conduct interviews in a way that encourages people to relax and speak freely. By doing so you are far more likely to see who they really are and be able to assess the extent to which they are suitable.

Encourage candidates to let you know if they are unsure what you are asking and assure them it is not your intention to try to ‘catch them out’. Explain that the purpose of the interview is to help you understand their ability to perform the role, as well as what

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they are looking for next in their career. Let them know that you understand they too are assessing the opportunity and that you are happy to answer any questions they have about the role or your organisation.

Priority 2: be flexibleWhile it is important to follow your interview guide, you should also be flexible and allow the process to flow. Ask unplanned questions when a candidate’s response doesn’t tell you everything you need to know or creates a perception that you are eager to validate. Keep in mind that candidates may not always understand what you are asking, so it may be necessary to rephrase some questions.

Priority 3: interview etiquetteApplying professional standards of conduct will go a long way to ensuring you conduct interviews not only effectively but also appropriately.

Here are the most important things to do or avoid in the interview:

Be polite and friendly.

Thank the candidate for their time and interest in the role.

Maintain eye contact and demonstrate interest in what they are saying.

Be conversational but make sure you are listening more than talking.

Avoid interrupting unless the candidate is being overly verbose.

(continued)

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Never argue — candidates aren’t there to hear your opinions.

Don’t ask personal questions that may be interpreted as inappropriate or discriminatory.

Avoid comments that may make a candidate feel uncomfortable.

Avoid forming a fixed view based on your first impressions; give candidates a reasonable opportunity to make their case. However, if your gut instinct persists in ringing warning bells, listen and explore why!

Priority 4: explain what will happen nextAt the end of an interview it is important to let candidates know when they are likely to hear from you again and what the next steps are likely to be. Keep in mind that your preferred candidate(s) may be considering other roles and the timing of your process could bear on their commitment and interest. Whether or not you have a favourable impression of the candidate it is a matter of professional courtesy that you keep them well informed.

Getting the best from recruitment consultantsIt is crucial to select and work with the recruitment consultants who best suit your needs.

Priority 1: select the right agencySkilled and committed recruitment consultants demonstrate interest in understanding your business and the role you want to fill. They adopt a strategic and proactive approach and work hard to influence your preferred candidate’s decision to join your team. In contrast, some simply play a numbers game and rely on their process to

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connect employers and candidates, with limited value added. The best recruiters are skilled at assessing candidates, understand your business and are well positioned to find qualified people through their extensive networks. Those who rely heavily on their database or responses to job advertisements are unlikely to perform well.

Priority 2: build your relationship and work in partnership As in any relationship, success is influenced by the commitment of both parties. Support your recruitment partners to succeed by giving them the time and information they need. Help them to understand your business and the role they are hiring for. Provide constructive feedback along the way to enable them to adapt and finetune their approach until a good result is achieved. It’s important to understand that there must be mutual benefit and respect in the relationship or they are unlikely to be motivated to work hard for you. It is typically more effective to retain a single agency to manage an assignment, but if you do choose to brief multiple agencies make sure you are upfront and honest with everyone about that.

Priority 3: value adviceTo leverage maximum value, expect and allow your recruitment partners to provide more than a résumé referral service. Invite and listen to the advice they offer about both the approach taken and the candidates presented for consideration. If you have chosen the right consultant, allow them to earn your trust and put faith in their advice. Remember that a skilled recruitment consultant can add value throughout the process including sourcing strategies, candidate assessment and negotiations.

Priority 4: dedicate the time needed More often than not you will want to fill a role in the shortest possible time, but speed should not be the focus of your recruiter’s

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approach. It is important to be reasonable in your expectations and allow recruiters the time they need to do the best possible job for you. Of course that is not to suggest you shouldn’t encourage a sense of urgency, but be careful not to compromise the quality of the process by demanding that specific time frames be met. Keep in mind that it can take a few weeks before you see a shortlist, especially if you use a good-quality service that includes sourcing and screening applications, interviewing candidates and obtaining reference checks.

Priority 5: expect drive and commitmentThe best candidates don’t remain on recruitment databases for long, regardless of how competitive the job market is. Attracting great candidates will often take more than a passive or reactive approach. Securing them will often involve competing with other organisations. Ensure that the recruiters you work with are committed to an active search process and able to sell the benefits of working for your business.

Priority 6: candidate careWhether or not they are the best person for the role, every candidate deserves to be treated with respect and courtesy. Ensure the approach adopted by consultants working on your behalf is considerate, ethical and professional. Keep in mind that their approach reflects on you and your organisation’s culture.

In summary, to optimise the return on your investment in hiring recruitment consultants it’s important to set clear expectations and hold them accountable to acceptable standards of performance. Important measures of a recruiter’s success are:

• an open and honest approach

• high standards of candidate care

• the recommendation of quality candidates that meet your selection criteria

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• a demonstrated commitment to placing the best possible candidate for every role

• a thorough understanding of your business, culture and the role you are looking to fill

• an intimate understanding of the market and where to find quality candidates

• the delivery of time- and cost-effective recruitment solutions.

Chapter summary: the most important things to do and avoid

Must-do checklistThe most important things you must do to achieve your recruitment objectives are to:

✓ adopt a planned and strategic approach

✓ grow your own: develop people already on your team and look for opportunities to promote them

✓ proactively build external pools of talent

✓ leverage your networks to find the best people

✓ select candidates based on competence, culture fit, and career and role fit

✓ ensure candidates have an accurate view of the role and what they are signing up for.

Common mistakes to avoidThe most common mistakes I observe people managers make that undermine their ability to successfully recruit include:

✘ launching into a recruitment process before knowing what and who they are looking for

(continued)

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Chapter summary (cont’d)✘ failing to take the steps necessary to allow them to

accurately assess each candidate

✘ compromising on culture fit because a candidate has the skills or experience they are looking for

✘ being closed-minded to some candidates who don’t immediately fit their rigid view of the best person for the role.

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About the author

About the author

Karen Gately is a passionate optimist with an unwavering belief in the power of the human spirit. A speaker, adviser and educator in the fields of human performance and leadership, Karen brings a fresh perspective to the art of being a successful manager. With her focus on leveraging both talent and energy, Karen shows leaders how to drive performance through inspiring, results-based leadership.

In this and her first book, The Corporate Dojo, Karen presents a compelling argument for why focusing on both results and people is critical to success. Karen does away with ambiguous concepts and arms leaders with realistic strategies and practical solutions. Her pragmatic, uncomplicated and down to earth approach sets her apart from many other commentators in her field.

Throughout her corporate leadership career, Karen has worked in client service, strategy and planning as well as quality-management roles. After eight years with The Vanguard Group, where she was the head of human resources for the Asia–Pacific region, Karen founded Ryan Gately, an HR consultancy based in Melbourne, Australia. Together with her team, Karen works with organisations large and small across a broad range of industries to support them in building and leveraging talented and energised teams.

Karen’s approach is deeply rooted in the 25 years she spent training and teaching karate. At the age of 14, Karen was the youngest person to be awarded a 1st dan black belt in Shukokai karate. She then went on to be graded to 3rd dan after many more years of dedicated training and teaching. A multiple-time winner of state, national

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vii

About the author

and international titles, Karen was also a highly accomplished tournament karate competitor.

Karen holds a Bachelor of Applied Science and Master of Business (Human Resource Management). She lives in Melbourne with her husband, Kevin and their three children — Jordan, Callan and Tamsyn.

Connect with Karen:

Website: www.karengately.com.auTwitter: @karen_gatelyFacebook: www.facebook.com/karengatelyAUBlog: karengately.wordpress.com

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The BookEssential tools busy managers need to get the best out of their teams and people

People who manage people face a number of challenges, from keeping workers engaged and performing at a high level to dealing with absenteeism and bad behaviour in the workplace. In The People Manager’s Toolkit, leadership and people management specialist Karen Gately offers a suite of practical tools for optimising staff performance and dealing with a wide variety of “people issues.”

Avoiding all human resources jargon and complicated management theory, this straightforward how-to guide shows you practical everyday solutions to common problems. You’ll learn to effectively leverage the tools to improve business results, whether your issue is getting people to do more than just the bare minimum, deciding on appropriate financial incentives, or any other issue that involves people and those who lead them.

The Author

Karen Gately is a leadership and people-management specialist and a founder of Ryan Gately, a specialist HR consulting practice based in Australia. Working with top companies of all shapes and sizes, Karen is a highly regarded expert in achieving outstanding business performance through people.



BUSINESS

Cover Design: Xou CreativeFront cover image: © Guy Downes

Subscribe to our free Business eNewsletterat wiley.com/enewsletters

Visit wiley.com/business

Can an organisation’s corporate social responsibility program both improve the lives

of the community and grow a bottom line?

Doing Good by Doing Good offers a proven plan for implementing an effective strategy that can help organisations transform the communities they work with, while also bringing innovation and growth to their business.

Filled with illustrative case studies from organisations around the globe, it shows how these companies have increased morale and engagement, improved brand awareness, engaged new customers and delivered strong economic returns.

This book will help readers:

• understand the concept of shared value and recognise why corporate philanthropy is no longer enough

• evaluate the current landscape to define an effective strategy that promotes better business and makes a real impact

• identify the hard and soft key performance indicators that help keep your program on track

• gain insight into each step of the process, from interest to implementation.

Doing Good by Doing Good presents a fool-proof plan for building a corporate social responsibility strategy that can effectively balance consumers’ expectations around giving back to the community and shareholders’ demands to see dividends soar.

Peter Baines OAM is an international keynote speaker on the topics of leadership, change management and corporate social responsibility. He offers insight into the lessons learnt from the challenges he faced as a police officer, forensic investigator and founder of the Thailand-based charity, Hands Across the Water.

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Peter touches on some very interesting and timely concepts in his book Doing Good by Doing Good. I agree with his views that many organisations are attempting to do the right thing and certainly have the right intent when it comes to CSR, but few are executing their strategy to bring about the best return. Peter’s advice to the charity sector to step up and change their ways, shifting from the old paradigm of just seeking donations, is encouraging and if heeded will lead to a more engaged sector and deeper relationship between corporate and charity. If you are in business, part of a foundation or leading a charity, you would be served well to read Peter’s latest work.

— Chris Cuffe, Company Director, Investment Professional and Philanthropist

Baines makes a highly practical contribution to how the best businesses create value by having a more positive social impact. And considering his track record of actually doing so, who better to listen to.

— Peter Sheahan, author, founder and CEO of ChangeLabs™

Peter Baines has correctly written that innovation and a sense of the entrepreneurial spirit are the key to the future, irrespective of industry or academic discipline. This is advice offered at an important time in our collective search for best practices and the truth.

— William E. Strickland Jr, President and CEO, Manchester Bidwell Corporation

v

Contents

Acknowledgements vii Preface ix Introduction: Clarity comes with action xiii

1 Is there a better way? 1 2 How to engage 23 3 Business benefits of engagement 49 4 Small business: the multiplier effect 71 5 Medium-sized business: aligning values

and purpose 85 6 Large business: strategic investment 103 7 The Origin story 121 8 Charity taking the lead 137 9 Journey to shared value 15110 Measuring and reporting 16911 Value of shared experiences 19112 Selecting a charity partner 213

Afterword: Looking forward — what’s on the horizon 231 Index 241

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Preface

So how does a former police officer come to write a book on corporate social responsibility? I often ask myself the same question, as the path from where I began to where I am now has hardly been a predictable one.

After leaving school I soon found myself in uniform. I worked at Merrylands and Cabramatta police stations in the late eighties and early nineties. It was frustration over attending back‐to‐back domestic disputes rather than a passion for science that led me to join the Physical Evidence Section (later to become the Forensic Services Group) of the NSW Police. I found my place there and would spend the next 15 years ‘on the tools’, attending major crime scenes and incidents.

For 10 years I lived in rural New South Wales, where my three children, Lachlan, Kelsey and Jack were born. After years of driving up and down the New England and Newell highways investigating scenes of death and destruction, I was promoted to inspector and returned with my family to Sydney. When terrorism arrived on our doorstep with the Bali bombings in 2002, I was deployed as part of the Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) team. The work of the Australians in Bali cemented our important regional role in disaster response in Asia–Pacific.

Just over two years later, while on a family holiday at the beach on the south coast of New South Wales, I watched the 6 pm news lead with the tsunami that had just struck South‐East Asia. Within days I returned to my DVI work, this time on a much larger scale, in Thailand. In what remains to this day the

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world’s largest identification attempt undertaken following a disaster, 5395 bodies were recovered. I spent several months in Thailand, leading both the international and national teams in the disaster response. We faced unprecedented challenges that required unique solutions and strong leadership. I worked alongside some amazing people and had the opportunity to meet many individuals, both Thais and foreign visitors, who had lost family members.

But it was meeting the children who had lost their parents that would really change things for me. It was August, some eight months on from the tsunami, and there were 32 of them living in a tent, which was the only home they had. I couldn’t change what had happened, but I felt it was within my power to change what happened next in their lives. This was the birth of the charity Hands Across the Water.

During the final two years of my career with NSW Police I worked on a counter‐terrorism project with Interpol in Lyon, France, and with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in South‐East Asia.

I began raising money for Hands through paid speaking engagements, during which I talked about leadership. Pursuing the corporate speaking circuit and holding down a full‐time job, while at the same time trying to build the charity, proved to be unsustainable over the longer term. I knew I could no longer do justice to all three and had to make a decision. At the end of 2008 I resigned from the police force after 22 years, putting my faith in my ability to draw an income from my speaking and my new consulting practice.

I have been fortunate enough to travel the globe speaking to audiences of all sizes, from all industries, and meeting some amazing people along the way. The more I spoke, the more Hands grew; as Hands grew, so did my corporate speaking, and I was able to turn what I learned into a successful consultancy.

Hands has grown to cover all points of the compass in Thailand. Several hundred children have found sanctuary in the seven centres we run across the country. At one centre we were able to halt the alarming mortality rate among children with

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HIV‐related illnesses. Thirteen of our children from the tsunami home are now at university.

One of our major sources of income, our sponsored bike rides, now sell out in a matter of hours, and a high percentage of riders return year on year based on the strength of their experience. And I get to lead corporate bike rides in Thailand, which has prompted me to wonder whether I can now describe myself as a professional cyclist when filling out my customs form on the journey home.

These days travel, both domestic and international, is something I do every week. I absolutely love it and feel incredibly fortunate. When I’m not travelling, home for CT, my very patient, loving and supportive partner, and me is the Northern Beaches of Sydney.

In 2011 Pan Macmillan published my autobiography, Hands Across the Water: the children of the tsunami, and one man’s crusade to make a difference, which is now in its fourth printing and continues to sell well. Then last year I was approached by the team at Wiley: would I be interested in writing on the concept of corporate social responsibility? It took some time for me to warm to the idea, but as I sat and planned what the book might cover I became increasingly enthusiastic about the opportunity to share my own experiences and especially those of others who are, in my opinion, doing corporate social responsibility well. What excites me most about this book is that I can see tangible benefits flowing both to business and, importantly, to the charity sector from the initiatives outlined here. As you’ll see, it really is a case of doing good by doing good.

If you would like to get in touch, you can email me at [email protected] or visit www.peterbaines.com.au.

Part of the proceeds of the sale of this book will go to Hands Across the Water. For more information on Hands, please visit www.handsacrossthewater.org.au.

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.peterbaines.com.au

http://www.handsacrossthewater.org.au

xiii

Introduction

Clarity comes with actionIf we do nothing, then nothing will change.

The Chinese philosopher Lao‐tzu (604–531 BC) famously said that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Certainly not as enduring, but with a similar meaning, I often say that clarity comes with action. The more you do, the clearer your thinking will become. When you start something quite new you don’t have all the answers — you don’t even know what all the questions will be — but with action comes clarity.

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Shared valueA large part of this book is devoted to the concept and worth of creating shared value. Shared value is economic value created

by addressing the needs and challenges of the community. In effect, it’s a company putting their resources into a community or social need and by addressing that need bringing value back to the company. The value may be in a new, previously untapped market;

it may be in securing raw materials from local suppliers, ensuring continuity of supply; or it may be demand‐led innovation that forces change to their product.

The obstacles to creating an integrated shared value model within a business will be tied to the change that is required. There may be significant investment in change to manufacture and certainly there will be risk, with returns not immediately forthcoming. Investment in research to identify the opportunities within the marketplace will reduce the risk, but the resources required to conduct such research may be beyond the means of all but the larger corporates.

There are lessons for all of us in the concept of shared value, even if it is not a fit for those just looking to bring a level of giving into their businesses. The overarching theme is that we should be doing good by doing good. This book looks at how to maximise the giving to create a return. When there is a return that can be measured there will be greater enthusiasm for the giving. If we can identify and articulate those returns that are positive for the business, we are likely to give more and become more sophisticated in our giving.

Shared value is economic value created by addressing the needs and challenges of the community.

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In the chapters that follow we will look at the following questions:

• What are the benefits to business of getting involved in community problems?

• If you’re going to get involved, how do you select your partners?

• What are the options around getting involved, and how much involvement do you really want?

• Why does the concept of shared value make sense?

• How do you make your investment in the charity sector a profit centre?

• Why is it in everyone’s interest that you’re doing good by doing good?

Who should read this book?I think there are five main groups of people who are going to take the most value out of reading this book:

• those with an interest in business who are looking for new opportunities to improve end‐of‐year returns

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• those working within, or hoping to expand their knowledge of, corporate engagement

• those involved in the charity sector as charity leaders or directors on not‐for‐profit (NFP) boards

• those who call themselves philanthropists or who play a role in foundations that distribute money to charities and NFPs

• social entrepreneurs who love the excitement of building new business ventures while at the same time benefiting others.

In the following pages we’ll explore how each of these groups stands to benefit from the case I’m going to make.

Essentially, the book represents my observation and interpretation of those who have worked within this space and have added immensely to their business or the company they work for and to their own personal wealth, and along the way have also managed to feed their soul. What ties them all together is that their pursuit of doing good has resulted in their doing good, and therein lies the magic.

xvii

The book contains a collection of case studies from public and private companies of various sizes who have adopted corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the past but have jumped ahead of the pack in developing a new style. In most cases they have changed the course of their giving in order to create a deeper impact in the communities they are working with, and consequently they have seen a direct improvement to their business. The improvement they have seen may take the form of raised morale, deeper engagement, a tighter workforce, new customers or increased brand awareness, and a number of these companies have already seen increases to their bottom line. But what you will see is that many of these results were incidental to and not the driving force behind their change in community engagement.

I should declare a personal interest in a number of the organisations I have profiled in this book, insofar as I have worked with them on a consulting basis to implement or overhaul their strategy for contribution and engagement with the community. There are also a number of case studies from companies whose presence or position I would love to take

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the credit for, but sadly I cannot. The entrepreneurial vision of Blake Mycoskie, the founder and ‘Chief Shoe Giver’ at TOMS, is an obvious choice. What I love most about the work of TOMS is the sheer simplicity that sees the model work so effectively. No messy formulas, no percentages from gross or net profits, just one for one. As a businessman Mycoskie has done very nicely from his social venture, and in my mind there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. The community can only benefit by encouraging and applauding those who, like Mycoskie, bring their skills and vision to this sector, rather than losing them to the corporate world.

Mycoskie doesn’t have all the answers to the problems in developing countries; he doesn’t pretend to. Is his model the only one to follow? Maybe not, but there are several million people in the developing world who, but for TOMS, would not have shoes on their feet today. And that has to be a good thing. Mycoskie was always going to be a huge success and make a stack of money, given his eye for opportunities and ability to turn concept into reality, and the children of Argentina, Nepal, Malawi, Kenya and Ethiopia are better off as a result of TOMS’ commercial success.

If you have CSR attached to your job description, unless you are with quite a large organisation, there is a good chance this is not your only role. You may also be wearing a marketing or internal communications hat and CSR is just something the executive team thought should sit with you when they looked for a home for it on the org chart. Their thinking reflects how they see it: ‘It’s a nice thing to have in the organisation, but it’s not sales, that’s for sure. It’s not operational. It’s the softer side of things.’ Even those of you who are working in a dedicated CSR role will probably have come from marketing, PR or internal comms. How does the fact that you work in marketing or communications qualify you to make the best decisions on something that can be so important to the business, and has so much potential if the resources are appropriately allocated?

You might rightly ask the same question of me. How does working in the forensic area investigating major crime for 20 years make me an authority on this? My answer is: the

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experience of setting up the international aid organisation Hands Across the Water, a charity that now operates in three countries and raises several million dollars a year for distribution to hundreds of children across various sites in Thailand. And it’s not so much the establishment of the charity as it is observing the success that has come from creating opportunities for our supporters along the way to share in the experiences.

I’m fortunate that I can travel on both sides of the road. As the founder and leader of the charity I see what type of sponsorship, involvement and relationships work best for the charity. Contrary to popular belief, just because you draw a seven‐figure salary or work for an international accounting firm, it doesn’t mean you have all the answers for small to medium‐sized NFPs. A recent comment in The New York Times from the head of a charity summed it up pretty well: ‘If I get another volunteer I am going to go out of business.’ As a consultant building these programs for businesses, I understand what they are looking for and where the opportunities lie. I understand what is going to work with the charity and create lasting relationships. By playing in both spaces it’s a bit like running with the foxes and hunting with the hounds.

The messageWhat I hope that those working within the corporate or business world will take from this book is the idea that there is another way of interacting with society. It’s not wrong for your business to benefit from the interaction; in fact, it’s a damned sight better for all involved if you do benefit commercially from your activities in this space. The position that Unilever Global has taken on business growth and sustainable activities is ‘out there’, to say the least. It has attached its sustainability goals to the remuneration packages of its senior management team. Now there is a company that is driving its stake firmly into the ground.

There are a couple of shifts I see that are needed to move from the old paradigm of giving without any real expectation of return, other than publicity as a good corporate citizen, to the Intr

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new paradigm of integrating shared value into the business. The first is the recognition that real benefits do exist and it can drive new business opportunities. The second, and probably most important for Australians, is being okay with saying, ‘I want to make money out of our social venture’. When those words can be spoken without drawing gasps or looks of disbelief around the room, we are on the way.

The message in this book for the charity and NFP is accepting there is another way of doing things. If you don’t accept change you won’t grow, and you are likely to see your effectiveness and influence diminish over time.

Many charities, particularly those that have been around for some time, either have accepted the need to change and continued to evolve in their operations, with their funding

attached to the provision of services, or are watching their market share of the charity dollar slip further and further. For charities to grow or even survive in such a competitive marketplace they need to do things differently.

This means not simply asking for money. Dan Pallotta, a charity founder and someone with strong views on how charities

For charities to grow or even survive in such a competitive marketplace they need to do things differently.

xxi

should spend their dollars, believes that people actually want to contribute and reach their full potential. And the traditional support of charities through the donation of a portion of people’s income is not coming close to tapping the potential.

I spend a lot of my time in front of other charities of small to medium size who want to know how we at Hands have successfully captured our share of the marketplace. Usually my advice can be simplified to these points:

• Create an experience to bring your supporters closer to what you are doing.

• Ensure you tell the story of what you are doing and the difference you are making, and inspire them sufficiently to want to tell your story.

• Help your corporate partners to find a way to maximise their investment in your charity.

It should go without saying — but I’ll say it anyway — that if a charity already has the heart, mind and wallet of a supporter, it will stand to benefit if that supporter can improve their business through the relationship. If charity leaders are better educated about why business would want to engage with them and how their partners can profit from the experience, then the power in the relationship will shift towards one of equal footing. Rather than sending off your founder or chief fundraiser to ask for more, like a grown‐up Oliver Twist, enable your charity leaders to bring value to the table. A lot of the lessons in this book are not rocket science; in fact, none are based on science on any level at all. Rather, they are based on the concept of shared value and looking to create mutually beneficial relationships. The book will provide the charity leader with a road map for helping their partners to find rewards in the way they give and to measure their returns.

Charity boards seldom have the same pressure to perform as a commercial board does. The shareholders of a company have skin in the game, they have a voice and they have a vote. They expect the directors on the board to perform and bring them a return, or they are out the door. The expectations on a charity board, while not insignificant, are different and generally

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less onerous. They are seldom held to account in the way a commercial board is. What comes with this greater tolerance is a level of complacency, an acceptance of the status quo and a resistance to change. As US writer Seth Godin puts it, ‘If you are not upsetting people, you are not bringing about change’.

Too often directors on charity boards lack the necessary level of competence, or hold their positions well beyond their use‐by date. The boards of charities need to be challenged in

their expectations that people will donate because they have in the past or that they should get services for nothing because they are a charity, ignoring the well‐known truism that ‘you get what you pay for’. Charities need to challenge the status quo, they need to provide value on both sides of the equation — for those they are

supporting and for those who are funding them. There needs to be an enhanced level of shared value for sustainable growth.

Dreamers of the dayIf you asked me what I would like to do ‘when I grow up’, the answer would be to sit at the head of a large foundation that makes grants to charities and NFPs. What’s the attraction in that? I see huge opportunities within those foundations to drive change in the charity sector. There would be serious incentive to implement change if the bankers of the charities attached productivity change to their dollars — not through imposing sanctions, but through paying bonuses for the implementation of change programs that will drive shared value. Access to grants from many foundations is by a process of filtering out charities based upon a diminishing criteria. The criteria will often start with the need for deductible gift recipient (DGR) status, then they might include the requirement that those charities who receive the funds only support Australian children living in rural areas that come from single‐parent homes, are under the age of 12 and have a low attendance rate at school. They are

Charities need to challenge the status quo, they need to provide value on both sides of the equation — for those they are supporting and for those who are funding them.

xxiii

clear on who they want to support and on the projects they want to support. Many also require the provision of reports on how their money is spent. But very few look at the effectiveness of the charity or NFP or at how change to that organisation could see the better utilisation of many donors.

A case in point is the annual ‘Failure Report’ produced by the NGO Engineers Without Borders. The name of the organisation makes it clear what it does and where it works. This insightful report looks at what it has done (nothing new there) and also what didn’t work. It then looks at the lessons to be learned and makes recommendations for next time. It’s a wonderful, honest and courageous document and so refreshing to read.

An interesting report from Engineers Without Borders that speaks to this point concerned funding for the implementation of a water project in an underdeveloped area. The funding was to a Canadian group and was for the installation of a water system — specifically, a new system. While they were installing the water system, they were stepping over and removing the US‐installed system that had broken down. The water would be drawn from the same source and delivered to the same community via very similar technology. The report found that for a fraction of the cost of the installation of the new system they could have made repairs to the US system that already serviced the community. They could not do that, however, because the funding conditions did not allow for maintenance or repairs but only for the installation of a new system. It didn’t make sense to those on the ground and still doesn’t make sense. It’s a clear example of a donor determined to take sole credit and showing inflexibility in the use of their funds. It also shows where the power lies. Not equally between donor and NGO, not even close. My point is that if those at the foundation level choose to form a partnership rather than believing that because they have the money they should make all the decisions, the foundation’s or donor’s money could be more efficiently utilised.

The final group I see deriving real value from this book is the social entrepreneurs. These individuals may have worked in a dozen different jobs, following three or four different ‘careers’ by the age of 25, but haven’t yet taken control of the company

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so have decided the best way to make their mark is to do it for themselves. The socialpreneurs are best described by T. E. Lawrence: ‘All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible’.

The socialpreneurs defiantly dream by day and more often than not they make it happen. They make it happen quickly, and if it doesn’t come to fruition they move on and keep trying until it works. The best example in this book of a socialpreneur dreaming and making it happen,

while epitomising the concept of doing good by doing good, is Blake Mycoskie, the founder of TOMS. He had kicked around a number of business ventures, some of which returned a nice profit, but they weren’t feeding his soul so he walked away from them.

Actually he headed to Argentina to learn to play polo — and the rest, as they say, is history.

The socialpreneurs I’ve worked with don’t need approval to make things happen. They don’t conform to the limitations of funding through foundations or conditions attached to grants. They are driving a for‐profit with a clear social benefit, and therein lies the magic; this is why it becomes sustainable and why they can set the course without the mindset limitations of those who believe they know what works best. When it is your money, rather than a gift or grant, a different level of freedom exists. I don’t believe this is the only way forward, but it’s one worth investing in and worth keeping an eye on. Plenty of them will fail, plenty will have dumb ideas, but among the coal there will be diamonds, and often those diamonds are worth a tonne.

‘ … The dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible.’

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I was part of a panel of judges at a humanitarian conference in the Philippines where we listened to presentations made by university students from places across Asia, including Nepal, Pakistan, India, Indonesia and many other countries. It was a bit like the reality TV show The X Factor, but for those with a social conscience. Just like the TV show there were plenty of auditions and pitches that never made it to the stage, and of those that did there were a few that were brilliant, and others that had the passion but were unlikely to crack the market, for now anyway. What was most inspiring about every one of the presentations was the desire, the lateral thinking and the headspace they were in. They had the courage and audacity to think they could tackle some huge social issues, and in some cases you knew they would.

So if you’re in business looking to make a profit, working in the for‐purpose space wanting to make a difference or you’re a socialpreneur who wants to do both, fast, then together we can explore what works, what doesn’t and what your best approach might be to doing good by doing good.

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First published in 2015 by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd 42 McDougall St, Milton Qld 4064


Typeset in 11.5/13.5 pt Palatino LT Std

© Peter Baines Consulting 2015

Illustrations © Guy Downes 2015



Author: Baines, Peter, author.Title: Doing Good by Doing Good: why creating shared

value is the key to powering business growth and innovation / Peter Baines.

ISBN: 9780730314844 (pbk.) 9780730314851 (ebook)

Notes: Includes index.Subjects: Business enterprises — Charitable contributions. Social responsibility of business. Goodwill (Commerce) Success in business.Dewey Number: 658.153


Cover design by Xou Creative

Front cover and internal illustrations © Guy Downes


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Doing Good By Doing Good: We hope you have enjoyed this sample from

by Peter Baines

Why creating shared value is the key to powering business growth and innovation

Pre-order it now!

ISBN: 9780730314844Available February 2015

RRP AU$34.95 / NZ$39.99

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BUSINESS

Cover Design: Xou CreativeFront cover image: © Guy Downes

Subscribe to our free Business eNewsletterat wiley.com/enewsletters

Visit wiley.com/business

Can an organisation’s corporate social responsibility program both improve the lives

of the community and grow a bottom line?

Doing Good by Doing Good offers a proven plan for implementing an effective strategy that can help organisations transform the communities they work with, while also bringing innovation and growth to their business.

Filled with illustrative case studies from organisations around the globe, it shows how these companies have increased morale and engagement, improved brand awareness, engaged new customers and delivered strong economic returns.

This book will help readers:

• understand the concept of shared value and recognise why corporate philanthropy is no longer enough

• evaluate the current landscape to define an effective strategy that promotes better business and makes a real impact

• identify the hard and soft key performance indicators that help keep your program on track

• gain insight into each step of the process, from interest to implementation.

Doing Good by Doing Good presents a fool-proof plan for building a corporate social responsibility strategy that can effectively balance consumers’ expectations around giving back to the community and shareholders’ demands to see dividends soar.

Peter Baines OAM is an international keynote speaker on the topics of leadership, change management and corporate social responsibility. He offers insight into the lessons learnt from the challenges he faced as a police officer, forensic investigator and founder of the Thailand-based charity, Hands Across the Water.

CONTACT: XOU CREATIVE (XOU.COM.AU) | WIL035 DOING GOOD BY DOING GOOD Cover: w152mm x h229mm SPINE: 12.5mm (TBC) FLAPS: 90 mm TURNAROUND: ? 09/09/2014

152 × 229 SPINE: 16.6 FLAPS: 0

fmatter1 vii September 1, 2014 9:13 AM

vii

Contents

About the author ix Acknowledgements xi Introduction xv

Part I: 1

1 Th ere’s an evolution going on 3

2 Change is opportunity 19

3 Bye‐bye beige 41

4 Th e Me economy 51

Part II: 61

5 Commercial collaboration: the principles 63

6 ReConnect Principle 1 — Be brave 83

7 ReConnect Principle 2 — Build a diverse network 105

8 ReConnect Principle 3 — Full disclosure 123

9 ReConnect Principle 4 — Disrupt 139

10 ReConnect Principle 5 — Exchange value 153

11 ReConnect Principle 6 — Th ink bigger 169

12 ReConnect Principle 7 — Sponsor others 185

Conclusion 201 Index 205

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xv

Introduction

Coming together is a beginning; keeping together isprogress; working together is success.

— Henry Ford, businessman

What does collaboration mean to you?

Are you aware that commercial collaboration is the key to endless opportunities to future‐proof your business, your career and your own success?

Great potential can be created when you move from being solely focused on Me — my skills, y my job, y my business, y myleadership challenges — to working freely in a world of We,where there is active collaboration and sharing of knowledge, insight and intellect. Where you openly talk about failures, and equally share knowledge; where honesty, integrity and a belief in opportunity and possibility can create the freedom to invent,to innovate and to disrupt the status quo and, ultimately, to future‐proof yourself.

Sounds easy, doesn’t it? Well, if this is the case, why aren’t more people doing it? Why hasn’t commercial collaboration become the business norm? Why do we continue to feel that that the only way to deliver results, profi ts and performance is to do it ourselves? We continue to fi nd it challenging to actively open doors for someone else to achieve success and to expect nothing in return. Th e automatic operating system for many is one of ‘I must protect myself ’, ‘I must not share my thoughts or ideas’, ‘the competition is out to get me’ and, fi nally — ‘I know best’.

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Th is is not the mindset for commercial collaboration. Tocollaborate commercially is not about: t■ the close‐minded, protective, ‘take, take, take’ of ideas and

intellectual property from others■ the business card swap‐fest associated with traditional

networking events■ survival of the self (or even of the fi ttest).

My corporate journey is not uncommon — I worked likea maniac to get to where I thought I wanted to be, where Ithought I should be: at the top of a highly coveted corporate dsector. I do not discount the journey, or the thrill of makingit to the pinnacle. What I found when I got there, however,was that although the spirit for commercial collaboration may have been present … as the old saying goes, the corporate fl eshwas weak. Th ere were times when I felt we had some brilliantfl ashes of team thought and engagement, but unfortunately they weren’t sustained.

So, three years ago I came to a realisation. If I wanted to surroundmyself with the kind of thought leadership, diversity, knowledgeand idea sharing that I knew was needed in commercial life,I had to strike out on my own. Th is was how the LBDGroupwas born. Th ere was a niche for a community of like‐minded,results‐oriented businesswomen who wanted to interactcommercially at a level that wasn’t currently available — eitherwithin their own corporations, or with other entrepreneurs intheir own sectors.

LBDGroup is unique. Th is is not only my opinion. Th ecross‐pollination of ideas, IP, talent, leadership, thought andvalues is honestly something that I cannot put into words.Th e interaction and exchange of cutting‐edge innovation,both in terms of the intangible and the tangible, is somethingthat the businesspeople involved are actively embracing asthey connect, collaborate and contribute to drive innovativethinking, new solutions and strategies to secure their careersand business futures.

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Introduction

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Th e level of commercial collaboration that has resulted from this community has proven very clearly the essential points of this book: when one turns from the solitary space of Me, as satisfying as it may feel at the time, to the collaborative space of We, the benefi ts it brings are overwhelmingly positive and lead to that amazing lightness that only comes with future‐proofi ng one’s career and success path.

Th e heartbeat of commercial collaboration is understandingand appreciating the change that is needed to future‐proof businesses, careers and leaders. It is a new operating system that requires an equally new set of skills. It needs courage and a willingness to be authentic. It requires us to disrupt current norms, to proactively collaborate to drive change — and it willnot occur in a vacuum.

Commercial collaboration is putting into practice Aristotle’s philosophy that ‘the whole is greater than the sum of the parts’. When in balance, working together serves a greater purpose. Ultimately it will drive you, your business and your potential to heights that you never imagined possible — and probably would not achieve if you continued to go it alone.

Imagine a diff erent world. One where: ■ we are inspired and encouraged to openly share thoughts,

opinions and knowledge ■ working environments respect the needs of the ‘whole’

employee ■ individuals can thrive on the freedom to create, to explore,

to be curious about new possibilities ■ workers can add value and contribute to the big‐picture

goals ■ leaders are authentic and honest ■ we are constantly learning and evolving as a result of

embracing diversity of position, thought, gender and age ■ we embrace uniqueness

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■ we respect each other’s visions and dreams ■ we create actions that drive continued success for each

other■ we create space for people to share their amazingness■ we have the courage to lead, to share and equally to ask

for help■ we appreciate the human in people as much as the fi nancial

return and the big‐picture vision■ there is no political game‐playing, no saying one thing and

doing another, no abuse of power that protects position, self, ego

■ collaboration is valued strategically and aligned positively to continued growth, evolution, creative thinking and future‐proofi ng for all.

So what to do? Th e answer is simple.

Collaborate.

Talk.

Engage.

And, most importantly, fi nd a way to stop being all about ‘me,me, me’ and looking inward for answers that simply aren’t there.Find a way to turn with confi dence and openness from Me to We, to working collaboratively.

Th e barriers between genders, between generations, betweencultures, between the inventors and the investors, betweenthe change-makers, the visionaries and those that make ithappen — these all have to be broken down. Th is is all a partof the evolution of Me to We. Th is is all a part of collaborativebusiness.

To collaborate is to lead. To lead with inspiration, and gusto,and innovation and heart.

xix

Introduction

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Th is book is essentially about why a new operating system yis needed, and how to move from Me to We and collaborate wcommercially. It will break down the nine essential steps to enable you to answer ‘What do we need to do?’ and then examine and explain the seven ReConnect Principles leadersand businesses will need to adopt to collaboratively reconnect and do what they do best: survive, thrive and future‐proof their success. Th e ReConnect Principles are:

1 Be brave

2 Build a diverse network

3 Full disclosure

4 Disrupt

5 Exchange value

6 Th ink bigger

7 Sponsor others.

We need to develop and disseminate an entirely new paradigm and practice of collaboration that supersedesthe traditional silos that have divided governments,philanthropists and private enterprises for decades and replace it with networks of partnerships working together

to create a globally prosperous society. — Simon Mainwaring, CEO, We First Inc.

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3

chapter 1

There’s an evolutiongoing on

Every successful organisation has to make the transitionfrom a world defi ned primarily by repetition toone primarily defi ned by change. Th is is the biggesttransformation in the structure of how humans work

together since the Agricultural Revolution.

— Bill Drayton, CEO and founder of ASHOKA

Anybody who believes that the business landscape is the same as it was in the ‘old days’ has their head well and truly buried in the 20th‐century sand. Th ere is an evolution going on that is aff ecting the business world and how we lead and manage within it.

We are all being forced to rethink how we behave and what we do. Th e changes of greater society — changes in generations,gender dynamics and technology — are leading to a shift inbusiness from large, highly structured corporate entities to agile, innovative entrepreneurial enterprises.

Th is evolution isn’t about to stop any time soon — if anything,the pace of change is only going to increase exponentially — and it is challenging us to rethink what we do, how we communicate with each other and how we will operate as leaders and businesses into the future. It is challenging us to develop new operating systems to future‐proof success. It is challenging us,

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as managers, to learn to lead movements in a way that makesour teams secure enough to think and act collaboratively.

As leaders, business owners and individuals, we are caughtbetween two worlds: one that thrives on volatility and onethat craves stability. Th ere is an ongoing tug of war betweenthe pursuit of growth on one side and a desire for control andconstancy on the other. In the pursuit of growth, we actively seek knowledge and experience, looking to others for inspirationand ideas, creating big‐picture visions for our future self. Onthe opposite side of the tug of war is the need for control: ourexisting work streams and structures prefer predictability,productivity and control.

Th e evolution is making:■ leadership styles change from ‘tell’ to ‘engage’, with

leadership now about inspiring and becoming truly authentic

■ traditional business structures far more fl uid and blended■ innovation and invention essential business tools as

consumers want better products and services deliveredmore quickly than ever before

■ agility and decisiveness prerequisites in our teams and inour leadership.

In this chapter, we will explore the current business landscape,and how a collaborative approach is integral to surviving andthriving into the future.

The world where you live Th e future is so uncertain that many organisations andconsultants have adopted a term originally coined by theUS Army to describe the results of the end of the ColdWar — the acronym VUCA. VUCA describes a world that isincreasingly Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous.Th is world is fast, change‐focused and demanding. Agilethinking, decision‐making and action are now the norm.

5

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And the result? Individuals and leaders are left feeling alone, exhausted and uncertain about their place in the future. Th e rapid changes that are taking place are aff ecting how we operate. We are forced into the space of Me — one where we reassess, consider options, invest and focus on theself. We protect what we know, learn what we don’t and thenhope that we can fake it till we make it.

The collaborative economy So what approaches will work in our rapidly changing environment? Th e collaborative economy is where networks of connected individuals, communities and businesses — asopposed to centralised closed‐door thinking and business planning — work together to drive success. Th e power of this is inestimable as it connects people, businesses, skills, services, products and space to drive new opportunities and strategies for future‐proofi ng. Who could have imagined, for example, that one day — and that day is now — NASA would be using LEGO building blocks to educate astronauts in the International Space Station, and in turn providing LEGO with inspiration for their designs? Or that Coca‐Cola would be working with ECO Plastics to develop sustainable and ethical bottles? Th eir agreement marks a turning point in the processing of industrial waste in the UK.

Collaboration is so much more than the sum of its parts. Th e nuts and bolts of sending an email, being on social media, placing a paid advertisement or doing a mass mailing are no longer enough in terms of ‘engagement’. What consumers and internal clients are asking for is that businesses understand them; that they speak to them as human beings, not numbers. Th ey are demanding a customer‐centric approach to decision‐making and new product development. Th ey want to know the depth behind the logo, the thinking and the rationale behind the leadership.

Th e collaborative economy is a space where if we are authentic,play by rules of openness and transparency, and follow our

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passions, we have the opportunity to build collective intelligence,trust and connection, and to surprise and infl uence many.

Future uncertainty Th e phenomenal speed of change that got us to the21st century’s technological frenzy is not going to slow downany time soon — and it is creating an uncertain future on aglobal business level. In Th e World Is Flat , Th omas Friedmantsuggests that the changes that we are experiencing now are‘directly or indirectly touching a lot more people on the planet’than ever before. In an increasingly decentralised and digitally connected economy, companies and people need to constantly explore ways to improve — and if they don’t, what is the risk?Fall behind. Lose momentum. Flatline. Fail.

Th e future is uncertain for the following reasons:■ A worldwide unstable economic environment continues to

place increasing pressure on governments, businesses and individuals.

■ Th e changing political structures around the world aff ectconsumer confi dence and stability.

■ Evolving social trends and behaviours are infl uencing the individual needs of society and the labour force.

■ Th e growth of entrepreneurialism and more agile, fast‐moving, disruptive businesses is challenging the traditional corporate structures, growth strategies and decision‐making.

Figure 1.1 shows that we are at the juncture of three distinctareas of uncertainty: innovation, socio‐economic dynamicsand business change. Th ese three critical areas are summarisedon pages 8 and 9 and will be covered in more detail in chapter 2.

7


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Figure 1.1: the future is uncertain

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Innovation We are living in a highly connected world where informationand resources are readily available 24/7. Th is access toinformation is supporting consumer awareness and self‐education, and enabling research and ongoing improvementsto products, communication methods and delivery solutions.In the ‘old’ world, intelligent thinking, high‐quality products,services and the breadth of range that is available now simply didn’t exist. Consumers would do their research, fi nd what they want and make a purchase. Now everything is everywhere inmass supply and we want it better, quicker and cheaper.

Increased technology, increased knowledge and economicinstability — all of these are driving a demand for innovationon a continuous basis for large and small businesses alike. Th eentrepreneur is everywhere; new businesses are born and new products created overnight. Evolution is essential for survival,for economic viability, for customer engagement, and mostimportantly, to keep staff engaged and secure in the knowledgethat our business is where they want to be working.

Socio‐economic dynamics Economic changes, changing family structures and globalisationhave altered society forever. Th e main changing dynamics are:■ the role of women in the workforce. More women are

entering higher education, participating in the workforceand becoming increasingly wealthy than ever before.

■ generational change. We are experiencing four generations of people at work — Baby Boomers, Gen X, Gen Y and Gen Z. Each generation is bringing to the workplacea pre‐determined set of values, work ethic and career expectations.

■ work-life balance. Th e work-life balance debate is evolving as more people are talking about creating balanced lives.

9


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Business change While some industries and corporate environments remain more rigid than others, there is no doubting that both business etiquette and the ‘rules of engagement’ have moved on. It may not be as rapidly as some of us would like, but nonetheless, thegoalposts — and the goals — of modern leaders are shift ing.And only for the better.

Business processes, structures and operations are evolving at a much faster pace than ever before in an eff ort to keep ahead of change while future‐proofi ng business. Consumers are becoming increasingly vocal about their expectations. Th e fi ght is on to fi nd talented and skilled employees. Competition for products, sales, profi t and people is now global. Two of the areas business is changing in are as follows: ■ Th e make‐up of our future workforce. Jobs that are secure

today may not even exist in the future as they are replaced by technology or outsourced to other areas in the world. Equally, who knows what jobs may exist in the future given the speed of change that we are witnessing?

■ Th e ubiquity of entrepreneurship. Many economistsbelieve that the growing trend across the world towardsentrepreneurship will drive economic and fi nancial stability over the coming years. Th e impact of small business cannot go unnoticed as it continues to be the incubator for innovation and employment.

The Me to We shift Th e question being asked by many in this VUCA world is ‘Whatdo I have to do next?’ Th ese rapid changes are demanding anew operating system — one where we can bring our skills,strengths and talents to the table and together amplify and share expertise to create progressive, results‐oriented solutions.

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As shown in fi gure 1.1 (see p. 7), the sweet spot of opportunity is at the juncture of innovation, socio‐economic dynamics andbusiness change. It is a place where things happen diff erently,creative thinking is accepted and disruption and innovationare the norm. A place where commercial collaboration driveschange and shift s results. Th is juncture requires a shift fromMe to We; it asks us to jump with both feet into the space of commercial collaboration.

Commercial collaboration is the key to future‐proofi ngbusiness, leadership, careers and success. Th e uncertain futureis demanding us to work together, engaging intellect and insightfrom diverse inputs, disrupting the way things have been tothrive in the ever‐evolving future space.

Figure 1.2 illustrates the journey from status quo to leveragingand leading, to future‐proofi ng success through commercialcollaboration.

The status quo is the enemy Th e status quo is the enemy of change, new ideas, innovationand invention. Th e status quo is not a friend of commercialcollaboration, and stepping out of it is the fi rst step of movingfrom Me to We.

Change resisters risk falling behind the competition. Acceptingthe status quo, resisting change and refusing to explore alternatethinking and solutions results in complacency and the risk of failure in an uncertain future. In fact, it is my belief that thosethat are happy with the status quo will see no progress; they willfl atline and eventually decline in performance.

Th e high achievers refuse to accept the status quo; they evolveand align opportunity for themselves and their businesses withthe opportunities around them — and they do this all the time;they are restless.

As Th omas Edison said, ‘Opportunity is missed by most peoplebecause it is dressed in overalls and looks a lot like work.’

11


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Figure 1.2: commercial collaboration is the key

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From Me to We

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It starts with a question Questioning the status quo opens up a world of opportunity.It’s the catalyst for change that can alter your outcome and helpyou become an inventor and explore the possibilities. Alwaysassume there is another way.

If you want anything to change, you have to be the one to makeit happen. Changing the status quo requires questioning tounderstand the current situation and to seek ways to improvethe present. Driving change requires ongoing exploration of what could be and active inquiry into the options available.Without questioning and exploration, doors to the future areslammed fi rmly shut, the lens of opportunity becomes blurredand thinking becomes contracted.

Th e power of questioning is illustrated with the followingexamples: ■ McDonald’s was born when Ray Kroc asked the question,

‘Why can’t I get a good hamburger at the side of the road?’■ Instagram was created when Kevin Systrom and Mike

Krieger questioned how images could be shared on smartphones.

■ Jodie Fox questioned why, if men could get customisedsuits from Asia, women couldn’t get their own shoe designs in the same way. With business partners Michael Fox and Mike Knapp she created Shoes of Prey to provide just that service, and they are now expanding internationally.

One thing is certain. Many successful individuals do not becomesuccessful by sitting in the status quo waiting for success tocome to them. Th ey make it happen, they are curious — and itall starts with a question.

Perspective is a choice Questioning leads to a new perspective. Th is in turn presents achoice. Are you going to choose to have a wide perspective onyour future or limit your thinking?

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A new perspective opens up new possibilities: opportunities as well as risks. It kick‐starts the internal drive to move away from the status quo to a new future. For the individual this could be exploring new skill sets, training opportunities or career choices. For a business it could be new product development, new distribution channels, new services or new solutions to existing problems.

For example, who would have imagined that anyone, anywhere, could monetise a spare room to travellers? Yet in just six years Airbnb has moved to the forefront of the collaborativeeconomy, building a community marketplace featuring more than 600 000 listings in 192 countries. It is a collaboration between entrepreneurs, an oversupply of product availability and consumers matching the supply with an ever‐increasing demand.

A 2012 Harvard Business Review report, ‘Train Your People towTake Others’ Perspectives’, shares that ‘successful collaboration between stakeholders starts with what social psychologists call perspective taking: the ability to see the world through someone else’s eyes’. Developing a new perspective and choosing to enable change is crucial for development and evolution. It’s about opening yourself to what is happening around you, being curious about solutions and exploring possibilities.

Connection: Safe or diverse? Perspective brings new connections, and the more diverse the connections the more opportunities can be leveraged.

It’s part of human nature to seek out like‐minded people as we search for further growth and development. But if we only connect with people exactly like ourselves, from the same industries, with the same skills and knowledge, this can lead us right back to sitting in the status quo.

In the report ‘Managing Yourself : A Smarter Way to Network’, Harvard Business Review found that the diff erence between thewtop 20 per cent of successful executives and the rest was that they ensure the network they connect with is diverse. It was

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From Me to We

c01 14 September 1, 2014 8:59 AM

found that these diverse networks consisting of people fromdiff erent backgrounds, industries and skill bases created new discussion and insight into problems and encouraged open andcreative thinking.

Connecting with a diverse network requires confi dence in yourexpertise and value. It requires courage to actively speak up,debate and share and it pulls on vulnerability: the ability toshare openly what you don’t know.

Leveraged contribution Building the right connections and contributing to each other’ssuccess leverages opportunity for all. Connecting with othersis only the start of commercial collaboration — the next step isone of contribution.

Contribution only happens with a willingness to openly shareknowledge and insight and to being risk tolerant and open tochallenge, new ideas and opportunities. Contribution is notsimply about sharing a business card, or sitting at a networkingevent or business meeting and saying nothing.

Commercial collaboration happens when courage and bravery kick in. When you connect, and with honesty and, to someextent, vulnerability, share your own ideas, insights and failureswith the aim of adding value to others.

Leverage happens when there is an authentic desire to improvethe positions and opportunities for others. It is about openly sharing your expertise — with no expectation of anything inreturn — combined with honesty about what you don’t know and a willingness to listen to possible solutions and advice.

Disruption Contribution leads to disruption — the next step on the ladderin fi gure 1.2 (see p. 11). Disruption happens because changehas to happen. Disruption creates a shift in thinking, drivesinnovation and changes behaviour.

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When disruption happens, it does the following: ■ displaces existing methods, markets and technologies ■ invents something new and more effi cient ■ uncovers a previously untapped market or solution to a

problem ■ drives intrigue, interest and trial by new adopters.

Th ose who choose to collaborate to drive commercial successare the ones who drive disruption.

Infl uence is magic in action Without infl uence change cannot occur. Th e opportunity to build trust and infl uence, one to one and many to many, has never before been so accessible. Social media and the internethave created a platform of infl uence on a signifi cant scale.

Once connection, contribution and disruption create results, others notice. Th is is when businesses and individuals become known as change‐makers; they have the ability to infl uence many. Th ey are capable of more than they everwere on their own, operating outside of the safety zone of protecting themselves to contributing to new ideas and solutions as part of a larger community of We thinkers with a high‐growth mindset.

Future‐proof and lead Future‐proofing ourselves and our businesses requires a new operating system — one of commercial collaborationto actively engage, connect and share with others to drive mutual success.

Commercial collaboration requires people to move from a place of Me to a collaborative place of We. Collaboration: ■ creates momentum ■ drives new thinking

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From Me to We

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■ builds resilience and determination to succeed ■ enables individuals and businesses to explore possibilities

and develop strategies to future‐proof success.

Th is is not about a revolution; it’s about evolution. If yourcompany makes glass jars, it’s not about suddenly stoppingmaking glass jars and starting making shoes. It’s aboutquestioning your current position, exploring the best possibleway to make glass jars that engages and involves your people,and considering what you need to do to disrupt the statusquo and move forward. It’s about giving your team a voice inyour methods, collaborating and being open to conversationand advice, and creating the freedom to think, debate, createand invent.

A challenge for big corporates? Absolutely. Unattainable?Absolutely not.

As leaders, we need to be the ones motivating and guiding, theones disrupting and thinking diff erently. We are the ones towhom others are looking for inspiration. We must always be onthe lookout for potential new ways of doing business — we mustbe prepared to test diff erent approaches. And any approachmust involve every member of our companies.

Are you willing to step into the We space and benoticed? Are you prepared to contribute more than you think you are capable of? Are you ready to change the rules and stepout from the expected masses?

Th ere’s an evolution going on. Make yourself a part of it. Bewilling to instigate change, to give yourself and your team acommon purpose — a say in what they are striving towards.Because it’s the way not just of the business future, but of thepresent.

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Summary Th e world today is volatile, uncertain, complex

and ambiguous, with ever‐increasing amountsof information creating the need for commercial collaboration.

We are at the juncture of three distinct areas of uncertainty: innovation, socio‐economic dynamicsand business. A shift from Me to We is critical tofuture‐proof business, careers and success.

Opportunity will come from questioning the statusquo, developing new perspectives, connecting withand contributing to others, exploring ways to disruptthe norm and infl uence others.

Commercial collaboration drives infl uence, innovationand invention.

fmatter1 ix September 1, 2014 9:13 AMx

ix

About the author

Janine Garner is passionate about commercial collaboration, driving courageous conversations, infl uential leadership and, above all, future-proofi ng business.

She is the founder and CEO of the LBDGroup, a community of su ccessful and results-oriented businesswomen and entrepreneurs working collaboratively to drive continuedchange and success.

Janine is also the founder of Australia’s fi rst gift -giving circle, First Seeds Fund, which is committed to supporting Australian women and children in education and employment.

She has won an International Stevie Award, has been voted one of the Top 10 DARE Devil Women of 2013 by DARE magazine,Eis listed in 2013 as one of Australia’s ‘Most Inspiring Women’ by Madison magazine and has been nominated for the Telstra Businesswomen Awards.

Janine is a sought-aft er keynote speaker, mentor and business adviser. She writes every week for her own blog and is a regular commentator in business print and online media.

fmatter1 vi September 1, 2014 9:13 AM

First published in 2015 by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd 42 McDougall St, Milton Qld 4064


Typeset in 11/13 pt Minion Pro

© Curious Minds Pty Ltd 2015

Th e moral rights of the author have been asserted

Author: Garner, Janine, author. Title: From Me to We: Why commercial collaboration

will future-proof business, leaders and personal success / Janine Garner.

ISBN: 9780730318491 (pbk.) 9780730318507 (ebook) Notes: Includes index. Subjects: Business networks.

Strategic alliances (Business). Strategic planning. Organisational eff ectiveness.

Dewey Number: 658.4012

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 (for example, a fair dealing for the purposes of study, research, criticismor review), no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrievalsystem, communicated or transmitted in any form or by any means withoutprior written permission. All inquiries should be made to the publisher at theaddress above.

Cover design by Wiley

Cover and internal image: © iStock.com/donatas1205

Illustrations by James Henderson


10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Disclaimer Th e material in this publication is of the nature of general comment only,and neither purports nor intends to be advice. Readers should not act onthe basis of any matter in this publication without considering (and if appropriate, taking) professional advice with due regard to their ownparticular circumstances. Th e author and publisher expressly disclaim all andany liability to any person, whether a purchaser of this publication or not, inrespect of anything and of the consequences of anything done or omitted tobe done by any such person in reliance, whether whole or partial, upon thewhole or any part of the contents of this publication.

From me to we: why commercial collaboration will future-proof business, leaders and personal success

we hope you have enjoyed this sample from

by Janine Garner

ISBN: 9780730318491Available January 2015

rrP AU$29.95 / NZ$33.99


Janine Garner

Why commercial collaboration will future-proof

business, leaders and personal success

from

TO

FRO

M M

E

WE

TO

WWEE

Cover design: wiley

Cover illustration: © iStock.com/donatas1205

Garn

er

You’re a great leader. You’re in control of your own career or business. You’re accustomed to working alone, internalising thoughts, ideas, creativity. But the business landscape is changing at an incredibly fast pace. The future outlook is one of uncertainty and constant challenges, and that ‘Me’ space you’ve lived in for so long isn’t enough anymore. To succeed on a long-term basis, you will need to engage and understand the value of your team—those who ideate, who create, who support. You will need to embrace the worth of commercial collaboration, and enter the ‘we’ space.

Janine Garner’s From Me To We is a savvy guide to the secrets of being authentically yourself. It’s filled with tools, ideas and suggestions for a smarter way of thinking that will position you for future commercial success.

In this book you will learn how to:

• step out of the danger zone that is the status quo

• align opportunities for yourself and your business

• contribute more than you think you can

• build a diverse network that pushes boundaries and stretches thinking

• use your voice and share insight and learnings.

Apply the principles outlined in From Me To We and you will generate a highly engaged and motivated community that will future-proof your business and create success.

Janine Garner is the Founder and CEO of LBDGroup (Little Black Dress Group), a community of results-oriented businesswomen and entrepreneurs working collaboratively to drive change and success.

BUSINESS/SUCCESS

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