YQ2010 Issue 03

ack to the future

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This edition contains:

Publisher: Matthew Sinclair Executive editor: Gurnek BainsEditor: Jock EncombeAssistant editor: Sam GilpinConsultant editor: Jane LewisResearch: Clare Morse-BrownProduction executive: Helen GreenGraphic design: Simon Fincham

Feedback: please send feedback including ideas for future articles to yq@ysc.com

Subscribe: for a complimentary subscription to YQ, please register your details at www.ysc.com/yq

20:20 VisionA shrink-wrapped glimpse into 21st century business psychology.

Follow you, follow me Retro vs modern: which decade forged the best leaders?

Glimpses of YSC behind the scenes A potted history of YSC by one resident old timer, Charles Mead.

On the Couch with CEO Chris MartinWe probe how Irish retailer Musgrave is weathering the storm.

Generation XXThe female revolution about to hit boardrooms.

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Hit parade 20 years of our favourite ideas and super models.

Banking on changeWhy having a social conscience is big business Down Under.

What to watch, what to read A poke in the eye for Facebook... and how to converse with confidence.

Agony uncle: royale with cheese Dr Ken puts in an early bid for a peerage.

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Welcome to YQ

Welcome to the third issue of YQ, celebrating twenty years of YSC. As the ripples of the credit crunch continue to fan out – whether in debt crises in European states, booming growth rates in developing markets, or the first fusillades of currency wars between the US and China – the need for thoughtful reflection and insight becomes ever more important. So we decided to use the excuse of our birthday as an opportunity to pause and reflect, taking a look back over the past twenty years and doing our best to make sense of the next twenty years and beyond.

Looking back, Robert Sharrock reminds us how notions of leadership have changed since the 1970s, and gives his own view of the most important current trends. Also looking back, Claire Garner and Sam Gilpin identify their favourite ideas and models from psychology and leadership. Meanwhile, Rachel Short offers some great tips on how organisations can make the most of their female talent.

Peering into the future, Jock Encombe ponders how developments in neurology and social networking will shape organisations – a theme we reprise in one of our media reviews. Shelley Winter also has an eye to the future as she describes YSC’s ground-breaking work in Australia with Westpac bank and its not-for-profit partners.

The wide diversity of insights from our international offices is again a reminder that

by Gurnek Bains

At YSC our mission is to release the power of people. We do this by combining industry leading psychological insight with a thorough understanding of our clients’ business needs. We work with clients across their entire talent lifecycles, including: recruitment, induction, development, the identification of potential, internal selection, role change, measurement and departure. Our key client offerings include 1:1 and team assessment, executive coaching, organisational consulting and the measurement of change.

About us...

the challenges all organisations face are simultaneously global and local.

We are also delighted to have Chris Martin, CEO of Musgrave, a leading Irish retailer, discussing his leadership journey with us. As I write, Ireland is rarely out of the news. Chris describes how he is drawing on past experience to steer Musgrave through the storm.

In the twenty years since YSC was founded, we have grown from being a collection of five psychologists based out of a small office in London, to a global organisation, spread across ten time-zones, working across a wide range of fields with several of the world’s largest businesses. Charles Mead, who has been a friend, client and, most recently, a consultant with YSC for those twenty years, provides a light-hearted view of that journey.

Birthdays are also times for celebration and thanksgiving. So while we pause and reflect, we also give thanks to all the great leaders we have worked with since we started – and to the many we hope to meet over the coming twenty years and beyond.

Gurnek Bains is the Chief Executive of YSC.

T: +44 (0) 20 7520 5555 / gurnek.bains@ysc.com

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by Jock Encombe

20:20 Vision

What will be the key trends in business psychology over the next 20 years? Here Jock Encombe outlines the major themes that will continue to shape organisations – and focuses on the implications of two big technological changes coming our way.

IBM President Thomas J Watson’s forecast that there would be a world market for no more than five computers is often cited, with good reason, as proof of how hard it is to predict the future. Even in 1979, IBM predicted total PC sales for the 1980s of no more than 295,000: in fact, over 25 million were sold. If one of the world’s most prescient and innovative companies can get it so wrong, then what hope is there for the rest of us?

With the basic features of human behaviour remaining so constant over the ages, psychologists have an easier job of it. So, from an organisational perspective, themes such as leadership, motivation and team-working are always going to be around, and the businesses that can best develop these will always achieve some kind of advantage.

We can also, with a reasonable degree of confidence, predict many of the trends that will shape organisational and leadership behaviour in the coming decades.

Firstly, clients are going to be increasingly demanding of suppliers of psychological services – ever more knowledgeable about what we do, and better able to provide our services in-house or through other channels. In short, if they are to continue paying good money for our skills, they are going to expect even deeper insight into the organisational and psychological challenges they face; and an even richer and more sophisticated picture of how they stack up against their peers and competitors.

The mega-trends of globalisation, climate change and the relative decline of the West also seem certain to continue, though how these play out in any particular organisation or industry will differ widely. Nonetheless, clients will be expecting support with how they manage within and across cultures; with how they work virtually, and with how they manage rapid, structural change.

Demographic trends will continue to follow their inexorable path – with very few exceptions the global workforce is ageing. This will continue to bring into focus issues such as employee well-being, diversity and meaning.

It is likely, however, that the most significant changes to our work will be technology driven. To a large extent it has ever been thus in any area of human endeavour, whether warfare, medicine or the arts. In recent years the rise of electronic 360s and increasingly sophisticated survey and research technologies have influenced our work decisively.

One of the reasons for YSC’s success over the past 20 years has been our ability to remain close to the cutting edge of developments in our field, while staying closer still to what our clients need and value. The next 20 years seem likely to reward a similar approach, though the pace of technological change will make it important to peer beyond our clients’ expressed needs. As Henry Ford said, “If I’d asked my customers what they wanted they’d have said a faster horse’’.

“ “The biological sciences are witnessing a remarkable growth of understanding into the genetic and bio-chemical drivers of human behaviour, and organisational psychology is still only scratching the surface of the implications.

Genetics is starting to provide us with insights into the extent to which leaders may be born rather than made: recent research suggests that around 30% of what makes successful people get to the top appears to be accounted for by genetic factors. More specifically, people with a particular version of the serotonin-receptor gene, HTR2A, appear to have a greater predisposition towards optimism and, therefore, job satisfaction and emotional leadership.

A clearer understanding of the effects of hormones such as oxytocin, cortisol, serotonin and testosterone on human behaviour is also emerging. These are significant, respectively, in affecting our capacities for trust, stress-management, resilience and drive. From a business perspective, these have clear implications for critical, inter-connected leadership issues, such as engagement, motivation, risk-tolerance and empathy.

Applying genetics can pose well-known ethical challenges, which legislation in many countries has already anticipated: for instance, by outlawing the use of

Brain science

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It is likely, however, that the most significant changes to our work will be technology driven

Continued overleaf

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genetic testing for job selection. But even within these necessary safeguards we can envisage biofeedback technologies that would help leaders monitor and improve their unconscious, hard-wired “reptilian” response to situations – and so exert greater control over their ability to manage stress, empathise, build trust, and to make rational decisions under pressure. As one of the world’s leading authorities on brain imaging, Professor Edward Bullmore of Cambridge University, suggests, through the use of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) technology – and its ability to reveal the deep workings of the brain – we are coming closer every day to realising Freud’s goal of making the unconscious conscious.

Coming at the same issue from a different perspective, psychodynamic psychotherapy has achieved significant clinical breakthroughs over the past decade,

through its understanding and application of ‘mentalisation’, or mindfulness-based techniques. Effective mentalisation, sometimes referred to as ‘theory of mind’, is the ability to put oneself in others’ shoes: without which, of course, our relationship skills are seriously diminished.

These advances could be hugely useful to the development, and management, of senior leaders. It is not controversial, after all, to argue that the roots of much organisational dysfunction and collapse can be traced to leadership hubris and, its partner in crime, lack of empathy (sometimes referred to as MAME, or Middle Aged Male Ego syndrome). Both research and experience show that the longer CEOs become established in their role, the greater the risk of them losing their capacity for empathy. What is increasingly described as the ‘winner effect’ is the heady combination

of testosterone and dopamine that comes with success – this builds confidence and creativity but, left unchecked, can also lead to insensitivity and overweening, reckless ambition.

More optimistically, research also suggests that the brain has far higher levels of neuroplasticity than previously thought – so that mental “training” of the right kind can be successful in developing effective new leadership behaviours. In the language of brain science, what is meant by “the right kind” is training with high levels of attention density, or intellectual and emotional focus.

If organisational psychologists can, by drawing on these and subsequent findings, help leaders improve their mastery of these dangerous, archetypal impulses – and weed out those incapable of mastering them – then they will be doing a great service to their clients.

The explosion of social networking is a phenomenon likely to continue, whose implications and possibilities we are still only starting to appreciate. In the business world, social networking tends to get attention for negative reasons: because people are spending too much time on Facebook at work; or because young people are revealing too much career-limiting negative information about themselves.

However the ability of this technology to aid individual and team selection is significant. The best internet dating providers are already impressive in their sophisticated ability to match potential lovebirds. So why shouldn’t this be possible in job selection, where a powerful combination of software and search engines could efficiently identify and analyse the suitability of candidates for a job? Or, in large organisations, propose virtual global teams with the best possible

mix of personal styles and capabilities? Several companies have identified this opportunity and it is only a matter of time before it becomes mainstream.

Social networking technology is already being used by organisations to unlock innovation and build alignment. IBM – whose capacity to revolutionise business practises is clearly superior to some of its predictive abilities – has developed an approach to collective decision-making called “the Jam”: a massive electronic global crowd-sourcing forum, which brings to life issues explored in books such as James Surowiecki’s The Wisdom of Crowds. In 2003, IBM’s ValuesJam™ led to the first new definition of the business’s core values for nearly 100 years.

In 2006, an InnovationJam™ tapped into the ideas of over 150,000 IBM people globally, and generated ten new businesses, which were then funded to the tune of $100m.

Social Technology

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Similarly, McKinsey already works with sophisticated email traffic analysis software that gives insight into what companies really think and feel, and into the informal conversations and nexuses that incubate innovation; as well as helping to identify areas of potential concern and opportunity before they would normally hit the radar.

It seems safe to predict, therefore, that social networking technologies will be more widely used in organisations, helping to reap the benefits (and minimise the downsides) of remote working and virtual teams. Despite their Orwellian risks, used wisely they have the capacity to release creativity and encourage the emergence of more distributed, innovative and empowering models of organisation.

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International Perspective:

ScandinaviaAs well as Scotland, YSC’s Edinburgh office covers Scandinavia where we’re working with a range of companies in different industries. The main competitive challenge they all face is how to prosper in a global market increasingly driven to deliver products faster, better and cheaper – a shift epitomised, perhaps, by the ever-longer working hours now demanded across Europe. Yet within this challenge there is an opportunity for Scandinavian companies. Leaders who can combine a stronger, more demanding focus on execution with the traditional values of Scandinavian business and life – work/life balance, treating people well, and giving them space to operate – are more likely to succeed. There are also opportunities to identify smarter ways of working and innovating in order to differentiate their businesses. The Scandinavian education system actively nurtures skills of critical thinking. Leaders who know how to tap into those skills and combine execution focus and a values-based approach have a unique opportunity to emerge as role models for a generation whose expectations of leadership are changing.

Karin Sode is a ManagingConsultant, based in Edinburgh. karin.sode@ysc.com

AustraliaFrom boardrooms to dining rooms, the talk in Australia has been of politics and leadership: the recent election resulted in the first hung parliament since 1940. Traditional leadership models were thrown out. It was a time which saw both voters and politicians crossing party lines and the jury is still out on whether the right choices and judgements were made. In the absence of decisive and compelling leadership from our politicians, business leaders are stepping in to drive change and shape policy. In particular, prominent figures are leading the charge around the environment. There’s also a drive to find more holistic approaches to talent management – we need to develop innovative ways of working so we can maintain the Australian ‘life-style’ advantage without losing our ability to compete globally. CSR is also becoming increasingly aligned with business strategy, rather than a ‘nice-to-have’. Exploring creative options for how business, politics and the community can find new ways of working together is one of the most exciting developments in our field.

Tiffany Scotton is a SeniorConsultant, based in Sydney. tiffany.scotton@ysc.com

Research also suggests that the brain has far higher levels of neuroplasticity than previously thought

Jock Encombe is a Director based in YSC’s Edinburgh office. T: +44 (0)131 228 7940 / jock.encombe@ysc.com

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Seventies to Eighties: Everyone’s a winner?

It was my father who introduced me to leadership development. I remember him returning from the Centre for Creative Leadership some time in the Seventies, armed with personality profiles and plots of his progress against those key elements of leadership: orientation towards the person and the task. He had a firm resolve to change. He talked about it – it made a big impact on him, and probably on me too.

Training was then the intervention of choice. Business schools flourished. The chosen few on the fast track to corporate success were dispatched to Harvard or INSEAD. The use of outdoor training in team and leadership skills was popular too, reflecting the

Notions of what makes a great leader have come a long way since managers donned military fatigues to go on training courses and we debated whether Mrs Thatcher had flexibility issues. Here, Robert Sharrock takes us on a personal trip down the development decades – and discovers we’re still a long way from leadership nirvana.

Follow you, follow me Leadership Development: a Historical Perspective

by Robert Sharrock

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influence of military thinking in leadership development and the idea that leadership could be separated from expertise.

That leadership might depend upon context was an idea from which many took great comfort. US thinkers, such as Ken Blanchard (of One Minute Manager fame), argued that the needs of a given situation should shape the skills required to lead – and that no leader will be equally effective in all contexts. What was needed was flexibility: something that one iconic leader of the time, Margaret Thatcher, seemed to need more of...

The idea of the task and people-centric leader evolved. Developmentally-minded leaders started to think about adjusting their style. Some actually did so. This in turn required self awareness and insight: “Know thyself and you will be a better leader”. Thus enthused, practitioners started to use new tools such as 360 feedback and personality inventories such as Myers-Briggs – now probably the most widely-experienced psychometric in leadership development.

Eighties to Nineties: Human capital, corporate athletes... and lists. As the 1980s progressed, the role of people in business gained even greater attention. No longer seen simply as sources of cost, employees became a valuable resource to be nurtured. Notions of human potential, and how to cultivate it, took root. Professional HR became established, more was spent on development and the success of Japanese “quality-backed” businesses gave rise to new thinking about the need to empower: as well as being bold, leaders needed to listen. The concept of the ego-less leader, as articulated later by Jim Collins in Good to Great, was taking shape.

Then, in 1989 Rosabeth Moss Kanter published When Giants Learn to Dance. I remember it well. Hopeful of empathy, clients would lean forward and intimate to me, a fresh faced business psychologist in the making: “I’m beginning to see I may not have a job for life…”

For the first time, compelled perhaps by necessity rather than ambition, many executives began to think seriously about their development. A trend towards self-directed learning and development began; and the limitations of long-term succession planning were exposed. New skills would be needed to turn leaders into “corporate athletes”. Projects and change management assignments grew in popularity as development opportunities for strong performers.

Some of these corporate athletes went on to make, and lose, fortunes in the dotcom bust. I interviewed a few of them. Because their failures had been so intense – success, followed by loss and mourning – they had thought deeply about their experiences and learned. In all cases, they emerged as different people and leaders. They, if not the leadership gurus, had learned the transformative power of experience.

Much of the prevailing thinking about leadership then – at least in the West – came right out of the top drawer of the scientific tradition. Look at Richard Boyatzis’s The Competent Manager. You will see tables of data, statistical tests and probabilities. Leadership as a concept was being dissected and, at the same time, sanitised. The personality was being taken out of it. Lists of competencies were constructed, and remain common today as organisations wrestle with the very real need to describe and develop leaders in a consistent way.

Then, to cap off the 1990s, Daniel Goleman coined the term Emotional Intelligence (EQ). How people adapt to others, their listening, their capacity to empathise and read what

is needed in a situation, were all lumped together in one best-selling term. It was to become the leadership theme of the next decade.

Noughties: where have all the leaders gone? In the meantime, there were the leadership failures of the new millennium to ponder – encapsulated in the corporate scandals of Enron and Arthur Andersen. In response, Bill George opened the first chapter of his seminal 2003 book Authentic Leadership with the question: “Where have all the leaders gone?” He made a plea for a new breed of leader: true to him or herself, connected with others, with a clear sense of personal and organisational purpose; someone capable of showing solid values and leading from the heart. More recent research proves the business case of this: authentic leaders create high levels of engagement, and this makes for productive and creative organisations.

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What was needed was flexibility: something that one iconic leader of the time, Margaret Thatcher, seemed to need more of...

Continued overleaf

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The growing emphasis on connecting with others led to a re-casting of leadership, which some management thinkers now define as creating “followership”. The title of Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones’s book, Why Should Anyone be Led by You, summed up this newly democratic corporate mindset. No surprise that 360 feedback is now being looked at with renewed interest as leaders are being forced to ask themselves whether those they lead want to be led by them.

Into a new decade – Keep it authentic In the 21st century business world, it’s quite possible to talk about spiritual leadership without resorting to the Bible as a management text. In Geshe Michael Roach’s The Diamond Cutter, for instance, Buddhist philosophy is applied to strengthen relationships, achieve a positive mindset and encourage self-examination (through meditation and other contemplative techniques) of the role played by thoughts and emotion in leadership. More recently, in the Fall of Human Intellect the Indian management writer and philosopher Parthasarathy has urged leaders to look inward to their own mental and spiritual resources. All this, of course, just when they’re being encouraged to look outside of themselves to information and analytics, and to focus their EQ on others!

With attention swinging so dramatically from one theory of leadership to another, leaders could be excused for feeling somewhat confused. Even in the Nineties, when there was emerging interest in consensus-building as a recipe for change management, I recall a paper in Harvard Business Review entitled “Whatever Happened to the Take Charge Manager?”, which was trying to address a perceived imbalance – as though business was in danger of becoming overrun by socially-minded consultants.

Moreover, even if you accept the value of a model-driven approach to leadership, making it work is far from easy. Approaches to leadership that have authenticity and EQ at their heart require levels of self-insight that are hard to attain. To bring such ideas to life, leaders need to figure out their inner purpose and core values in a way that says something more distinctive than “I love my family”. Similarly, cultivating a deep awareness of others requires constant monitoring of what they do, and how they do it. Again, no easy matter – particularly when research on the mental state of leaders suggests most action takes place on “automatic pilot”.

“ “The Final Reckoning

Leaders are being forced to ask themselves whether those they lead want to be led by them

No model fits all. Indeed, the growth of ever more subtle and complex notions of leadership has doubtless spurred the trend for one-to-one coaching, at the heart of which lies a simple but powerful need: that of help.

Standing back from all this, I sometimes wonder whether leaders need to forget the imperatives of the “shoulds and should nots”. They might find it more helpful to nurture their confidence by playing to their natural strengths while accepting that, like everyone else, they’re not perfect as leaders. To use the term coined by YSC in Meaning Inc, the “good-enough leader” develops by being more open-minded about their learning, rather than self-critical. He or she might use ideas about leadership as an artist uses paint on the palette: gradually applying feedback, advice and specific ideas from the experts onto the canvas of his or her experience. The result is a natural and unique “signature” style, which can never be fully captured by gurus, lists or theories.

Robert Sharrock is an Executive Director of YSC, based in the London office. T: +44 (0)20 7520 5555 / robert.sharrock@ysc.com

International Perspective: GermanyGermans are proud of their soccer team, which performed better than expected at the World Cup and can claim to be a model of diverse teamwork: nearly half of the team’s players have an immigrant background. A pity, then, that this success hasn’t been reflected on the national stage, where political debate about the future of society – and how people with an Islamic background can be successfully included within it – has been fraught with conflict. That issue is symptomatic of a much wider concern about the role of government. Radical protestors have been demanding a return to grassroots democracy, while others fear the loss of governability. Politicians seem to lack both the vision and the processes to tackle these issues. But other German institutions – notably schools and companies – are aware of the need to establish a new culture of communication and make the most of Germany’s diversity. The old norms no longer apply. We need leaders who are prepared to work closely with individuals from all backgrounds – in pursuit of a common future.

Wolfgang Ottmann is Head of YSC Germany, based in Ratingen. wolfgang.ottmann@ysc.com

Glimpses Of Ysc Behind The Scenes By Charles Mead, The Resident Old-Timer

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My experience of YSC goes back to a hot summer’s evening in 1990. Gathered in a small Mayfair office were the new enterprise’s well-wishers and potential clients (including me). The evening was drawing to a conclusion when someone realised that nobody had proposed a toast to YSC’s success. After tossing a coin for the privilege, I won: the toast was made and drunk. Three organisational traits were already evident: modesty about self-promotion; a strong sense of partnership between the firm and its ‘connections’; . . .and that its partners are sometimes more organised than us.

Fast forward to 1996. I am the HR director for a UK private bank. We want to use 360 feedback as part of an internal selection process. I phone YSC. “Yes we do 360. Sure we can help you use it for selection. Yes, we can meet your deadline.” A later visit to the YSC office reveals a secretary surrounded by a thousand faxes attempting to create 360 reports for 52 bankers. Nonetheless we get a perfect result of quality 360s delivered on time.

Three more YSC traits have come to the fore: uninterrupted growth in revenues and staff; constantly pushing ourselves to do more; and self-managing individuals and groups: the hallmark of our outstanding administration team.

On the 1st May 1999, I join as consultant number 13.

At our 2000 Strategy Day we set ourselves two goals: to become

international; and to move from success to significance. How will we achieve this? The now traditional strategy day phrase is coined: “It’s a mystery”.

Some highlights of the ten years from then to today:

We open offices in the US, Edinburgh, Hong Kong, Australia, Germany, India and South Africa. In 2005 we move to our smart Covent Garden offices. In 2007 we publish Meaning Inc. In 2009, YSC Online (YOL) goes. through a comprehensive system overhaul, which lets us collate 360 feedback even more effectively (no more faxes!). Today we have 90 consultants worldwide, with total staff of 150 from over 18 nationalities, working in 13 offices.

Looking back over 20 years, I believe that YSC has thrived because of the diversity of our people and of the challenges we set ourselves; because of the close relationships we develop with our clients, who keep stretching us; because we strike the right balance between individuality and collective effort; and because we allow people to play to their strengths and tailor their contribution to what makes work meaningful for them.

From that hot summer’s evening in 1990 to the global YSC of 2010, it has been a wonderful adventure. No doubt we will set ourselves some new goals at our next strategy event in January 2011. Our mongrel DNA will remain the foundation of future success, but as to how we’ll get there? Well, “it’s a mystery”.

On the couch with . . .

Chris Martin

Ireland’s most influential grocer discusses surviving recessions, rebounding from setbacks and what he learnt from Topshop supremo Sir Philip Green

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Musgrave

Chris has been working with YSC to evaluate and develop potential leaders at Musgrave. He was recently a speaker at our 21st Century Leaders Programme.

Background: Chris Martin is steering Ireland’s largest grocery and food distributor through the worst economic crisis in the country’s history. Founded in 1876 in Cork, Musgrave supports some 3,000 independent retailers in Ireland, the UK and Spain, and is collectively responsible for more than 50,000 people – making the company, and its retailers, Ireland’s second largest employer. Banner brands include SuperValu, Centra and Daybreak (Ireland); Londis and Budgens (UK); and Dialprix and Dicost (Spain). Still privately-owned, the group retains a strong family legacy and, under Martin’s direction, has focused on building an entrepreneurial relationship with its army of smaller partners. A cricket-loving Yorkshireman, Martin’s lengthy retail pedigree includes senior positions with Asda, Pizza Hut, Storehouse and Mothercare, where he was CEO until 2002. In common with many retail stalwarts, he has seen his fair share of ups and downs – and possesses the resilience and grit of a survivor. Now 50, Martin divides his time between family homes in County Cork and Buckinghamshire. He relaxes by watching sport, reading biographies, and listening to the Blues.

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What is the mood in Ireland? We are dealing with a consumer whose confidence is at rock bottom. Initially, there was guilt following the excesses of the Celtic Tiger – and people accepted the first round of cuts. But as the problems with the banks continue, there’s a sense of the hole getting deeper and deeper. The fundamental issue is the fear of unemployment. People are facing the future with trepidation. That said, the Irish mentality of getting on with it, and applying energy to a problem, is formidable. We finally have clarity on what the issues are. What we need now is clear leadership. How tough is trading? It’s been tough but we’re faring well, even in the Irish context: we’ve actually seen business grow in terms of volumes. When sterling fell sharply against the euro in 2008-09, there were busloads of shoppers travelling north for cheaper groceries. Since then deflation has taken hold – the cost of the average trolley is down 16% – and we’ve been heavily involved in reducing prices. In Spain, where we’re mainly in the tourist area around Alicante, we saw growth in the last quarter. There’s been a tightening in the UK, but business is going well; we’re on target to meet our plans in 2010. The question is whether there’s going to be a double-dip consumer reaction as government cuts kick in. Having cut Musgrave’s debt from £400m to virtually nil, we have a firm balance sheet with which to support our retailers –

that’s particularly important given the state of the banks.

You’ve witnessed several severe downturns. What did you learn from them? Living through the early 1980s recession in Britain was one of the reasons I chose to study economics at Newcastle University. My father [an engineer based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire] had his own business and struggled with the cuts. Training as an accountant with Coopers & Lybrand in Leeds, I got first-hand experience of their impact on industry giants like British Steel – and on the small mining villages of South Yorkshire. What I learned then was that in business, as well as politics, you have to tell it as it is.

And when you were in management? A decade later, during the recession of the early 1990s, I was working at Pizza Hut and it became clear to me there that the key to surviving and prospering in tough times is the brand: knowing what it is, where it sits and ensuring it evolves with the changing consumer. That’s the fundamental guiding light.

How important are corporate values?Very. Musgrave’s family business roots (there are members of the family still on the board) have given us a very down-to-earth set of values: Honesty, Working Hard, Achievement, Not Being Greedy and Long-

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for the food supply chain, we encourage them to buy as much fresh local produce as possible. Our role is to provide a wide range of support, including logistics and distribution, staff training and brand marketing. We’re always challenged to provide a better service than anyone else and we think long-term. Over 30 years in Ireland, we’ve only ever lost one SuperValu franchisee.

Which retailer do you most admire? I probably learned most from Philip Green. In 2000, when I was finance director at Storehouse plc [the UK retail chain formed by Sir Terence Conran in the 1980s which, at its peak, included Habitat, Heals, Bhs and Mothercare], I sold Bhs to him. His mantra was product. I sat in a room with Philip for about four or five months. He once threw a Kelly blouse at me. “How many buttons has that got on it? How many stitches?” I didn’t have a clue. He, of course, knew. And he

knew exactly what impact each extra button would have on the business’s bottom line. At the time, Green had a certain reputation – our City advisors warned us as much. But, in fairness, he did exactly what he said he was going to do: he bought Bhs and he turned it round.

It was a difficult period at Storehouse then. How did that affect you? I came into the group when it was going through its death throes. It had already sold Habitat and Heals and was left with Bhs and Mothercare. Once we sold Bhs, Storehouse was renamed Mothercare plc, and I became CEO. The strategy was to take out cost from the back of the business by re-engineering the supply chain, changing agreements with franchisees, and setting up online. It was absolutely the right strategy, but we rushed it – partly because of pressure from outside to maintain quarterly figures. I had to issue several profit warnings over a period of three-to-four months, before eventually resigning.

It can’t have been nice being under that spotlight...It was horrible – on quite a few levels. Once you’ve issued a profit warning, it can be very hard to change people’s impressions – shareholders are in and out very quickly if they lose faith. And then there’s the press... Once a brand is damaged on the back business pages and makes its way to the front, it’s very difficult to change perceptions. It just spirals. I had

a lot of sympathy with BP chief Tony Hayward when he found himself in the Star Chamber over the summer.

How did you recover from the experience? I was off for ten months. Then I saw an advertisement in the FT for a finance director at Musgrave. One reason I went to Ireland, if I’m honest, was to get away from the UK. But I was immediately very taken both with Musgrave and the Irish. It was a real opportunity to do something different. And after the short-termism I’d experienced in the City, I found Musgrave’s traditional values very refreshing. I firmly believe in planning for the long-term – not just for a quarterly statement.

How did it change you as a leader?One thing I learned from the Mothercare experience is that you should avoid becoming anxious: it impacts on your decision-making and, eventually, every aspect of your life. You end up getting wound up over small things and forgetting the big picture. Now I make a point of stepping back. I think one of the key conditions of enabling people to grow with a business is making sure there’s no fear of failure.

You became Musgrave CEO within two years. What changes have you made?Apart from majoring on growth – turnover is up 40% since I started

“ “I firmly believe in planning for the long-term – not just for a quarterly statement.

term Stable Relationships. They’re an excellent reference point, both in business and in private life. You can hold them up anywhere. The vast majority of our retail partners are, like us, family businesses, so these values resonate with them. And we really put them into practice. In 2008, we took the decision to reduce our own profit by €20 million to support our independent store partners.

How does that partnership work?We own the name, they own the store. It’s not a “hard” franchise like Pizza Hut or McDonald’s [in which the uniformity of branches is a given]. These retailers are close to the communities they serve. They can put their own name over the door and we work on the basis that they will bring some of their own flair to the business. We focus on building a strong relationship, but it’s important they see themselves as entrepreneurs. For instance, although we’re responsible

– the big change is the focus on brands and the investment in teams. One challenge I faced as CEO was that the talent hadn’t kept pace, so we started a talent identification and development process for which we eventually won a Sainsbury Award for Learning and Development. The past three or four board appointments have all been promotions from within – you need people who really understand the business.

What do you see as your main talents as a manager?I’m reasonable on clarity, being close to the basics and building teams.

What do you need to work on? I’d have to work at patience...

So how do you unwind?When I’m working I tend to go hell for leather: I’m on a plane two or three days a week. But I try to make sure I’ve always got a holiday with the family in sight

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South AfricaYSC South Africa is continuing to grow. Key client challenges include: how to become “sticky” to talent by building a compelling employer brand and culture; how to marry short-term commercial success with sustainability and growth; and – specifically here – how to “transform” racial composition and gender equity successfully. Rather than merely hitting targets, these objectives require deep cultural transformation. We have co-designed and delivered an innovative “equity talent” programme that may be rolled out across Africa. We continue to be “point” for the continent, so approaches developed here are increasingly seen as applicable across the whole of Africa. Ethical leadership is an increasingly important lever in overcoming tainted governance legacies. However important this “values” focus is, tackling South Africa’s historically poor performance in terms of world competitiveness is an equal priority. Our leaders need to “get fit” for global leadership roles.

Damien Anciano is an Executive Director of YSC, based in Johannesburg. damien.anciano@ysc.com

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Chris Martin spoke to Jane Lewis, YQ’s Consultant Editor.

International Perspective: India

Given the sheer pace of growth and internationalisation among Indian conglomerates, a hot boardroom topic is where will India get the leaders it needs to compete on a global playing field. High-profile searches for successors to Tata Group’s chairman, Ratan Tata, and Infosys’s founder chairman, Narayana Murthy, have further fuelled the debate. We see many more corporates wanting to “hold up the mirror” and drive executive assessment to gain a richer insight into the capability and potential of their talent. Many are also trying to get on the front foot, developing and grooming leaders through joined-up development initiatives, including a more systematic use of coaching. Looking ahead, the challenge will continue to be to embed talent management approaches that are simple, relevant, integrated and future focused, while keeping up with the relentless speed of change in a very competitive landscape.

Elisa Krantz is a Director and Head of YSC India, based in Mumbai. elisa.krantz@ysc.com

“The winners in this business will be the innovators

“and I find exercise – either going to the gym or swimming – very cathartic.

Where do you see yourself in ten years’ time? I would still like to be involved with Musgrave. The winners in this business will be the innovators, and the great thing about independent retailers is the way they innovate. Whatever happens, I’d like to still be involved in retail or distribution in some form.

So do you now consider yourself an honorary Irishman?I don’t feel at all Irish. I have huge admiration for the energy and enthusiasm, but outsiders like me are known as “blow ins”. Mind you that also applies to most other people in Ireland. Round here, they still talk about the People’s Republic of Cork.

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It’s easy to look back over the last 20 years and note the lack of women’s progress in the corporate arena:

• Equal pay hasn’t happened.• Representation in the boardroom remains

minimal.• Professional elites remain male-dominated.• The case for gender diversity is still hotly

debated and therefore only partially accepted and acted upon.

Women start out with the same level of educational attainment, ambition, and commitment as men; yet comparatively few reach the top. Thanks to a wealth of applied research on the subject, however, we now have a better understanding of the real root causes of the gender gap at the top:

• Women opt out of routes to corporate leadership more frequently than men. They often lose appetite for the politics at the top of large corporates. Satisfaction with

their positions is significantly lower than that of men. Their personal values become decoupled from those of their employer and they seek meaning elsewhere.

• Work-life balance for women is a chimera. Across the globe, women leave the office to start a second shift of focused family and home management before logging on to their third shift as a remote, out of office hours worker. The dual burden of management at home and at work saps women’s energy.

• Notions of male-centric leadership abound. Several studies have found that while a successful male leader is decisive, assertive, go-getting, ambitious, and visionary, identical behaviours in a woman are likely to give rise to pejorative attributions, such as “ball-buster”, “queen bee”, or “bitch”. Women are expected to be socially and emotionally attuned, caring and concerned with others’ wellbeing. These gender-related attributes

often conflict with the concept of a leader as a mover and shaker.

• Structural hurdles remain intact. The glass ceiling, glass escalator, and more recently the glass cliff, are real phenomena. Appointing women into high profile leadership roles is the exception to the norm and therefore viewed as a risk. Women are promoted to CEO often when there is little left to lose, i.e. in highly precarious circumstances.

• Personal dynamics and professional networks. An aspiring female leader will have to manage more complex interpersonal dynamics to navigate acceptance by a senior, often older, and mainly male network. Frequently, it’s easier to stick with what feels familiar. However, all-women networks are no panacea – typically women find that their female colleagues and mentors are not as influential as male equivalents.

Companies will be fishing in a small and increasingly competitive pool of candidates, unless they start developing their own emerging female talent for boardroom responsibility, says Rachel Short.

The rocky road to female success in the boardroom is about to ease

by Rachel ShortGeneration XX

Although in 2010 this remains “a man’s world”, the view for women in the next 20 years is more hopeful:

• The law of supply and demand will kick in. The world will have an increasingly urgent need for female leaders. In some emerging countries, the gender imbalance will put a premium on females per se, both as potential wives and mothers, but also as champions of female-friendly products, services and organisational cultures. In the developed world, societal shifts and legislative pressures mean organisations will be forced to address their recruitment biases for senior level positions.

• The ‘female’ model of leadership will come of age. The need for connectivity, meaning and emotional intelligence in our corporate leaders will begin to outstrip the need for authoritative, directional and macho leadership. In a globalised, networked world, women’s traditionally

• Out of sight and out of mind. Women fail to promote their own interests and don’t speak up. Whether the result of early social conditioning or a belief that deep competence is required to add value, women tend to minimise their own contribution to success, and hold back from putting themselves forward for promotion.

• The price of success is high. On average, the higher women climb up the corporate ladder, the fewer children they are likely to have, whereas the reverse is true for men. Women have to make a conscious choice to prioritise their career over their family. The same choice does not appear to have the same consequences for senior male leaders.

Macro socio-economic changes mean we are also clearer as to why the gap matters:

• The war for talent continues. Europe can expect to see a shortfall of 24 million people in the active workforce by 2040. Businesses need to draw on the widest possible talent pool.

• Fostering a better understanding of customers. Women represent an increasingly large part of the consumer market with a major influence on purchasing decisions.

• Promoting collective learning. There is some evidence of group-think on boards comprised of those individuals who share the same background and experience. Recent very public corporate mishaps

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“Women opt out of routes to corporate leadership more frequently than men

“

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could arguably have benefited from the traditionally viewed female insistence on ‘celebrating mistakes’ and less tolerance for empire-building behaviours.

• Better corporate governance is linked with the presence of women on the board. Men learn to communicate using direct, confrontational speech. Women learn to maximize intimacy and minimize conflict. A blend of both is necessary for transparent, collective problem-solving at board level.

• Organisational competitiveness. In 2009 market capitalisation for those FTSE-100 companies with women on the board was significantly higher than those without. In Europe, companies with more women on management and supervisory boards produced an average ROE (return on equity) of 11.4%, against 10.3% for a comparison group. Where women were well represented on boards, profits grew 11.1%, against 5.8% for the comparison group.

perceived areas of strength will come to the fore as essential leadership qualities.

• Social equity will become a key driver of legislation. Almost all European countries now have some form of affirmative policy enshrined in their legislation. The EU is considering hardening its approach to gender diversity for member states. Spain and Norway have already taken the initiative in setting quotas for women in senior positions. Corporates will be forced to become more transparent about their gender balance at the top.

• A critical mass of senior female leaders will level the playing field and may also change the game. Equity in status through more equal representation at senior levels will lead to greater levels of acceptance. The notion of leadership as ‘male gendered’ will fade from consciousness. Women will continue to take time out of the workplace to perpetuate the species. However, the career ‘penalties’ they have historically paid will slowly but surely cease to exist.

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• Broaden your horizons – see the world. Early on in your career, make sure you have an international posting under your belt before family commitments anchor your career to one place for a number of years. Later in your career, think globally. Of 14 women new to FTSE boards in 2009, only one was a home-grown Brit.

• Don’t expect your results to speak for themselves. Don’t wait until you are sure you can succeed at the next level before putting your hat in the ring. Men will put themselves forward with only a 50% assessment of having the skills for success, whereas women tend to wait until they have at least 80% of the requisite skillset for the role.

• Once you are over 40, start planning your exit. Your chances of promotion are likely to be increased as an external candidate. Women CEOs are nearly twice as likely as men to have been appointed to the job from outside the company.

• Watch your figure(s). Get a good grounding in finance. Three of the 14 new FTSE-100 first-time female directors in 2009 were appointed as finance directors.

• Get out more. You need to be serious about networking to stay abreast of your male counterparts. YSC’s psychometric research suggests that networking should be an area of strength for women. Source yourself a senior mentor and use him/her to introduce you to other senior leaders.

• Manage your profile. Female leaders are judged on their appearance more so than their male counterparts. Decide what you want people to remember about you and make sure they do.

• Provide mentoring for your junior female talent from really senior leaders. Also, make sure your junior female talent gets a succession of great female line managers early in their career. Role-modelling is incredibly important for engagement and aspiration.

• Really engage your senior female talent in roles and projects that feel meaningful for them – or eventually they will walk. This will create a depleted talent pool just below main board level. Hiring in female talent externally at main board level will further deter your remaining female talent from staying around for the top job.

• Enable flexible working for women who want to work on their own terms. Ensure they have an environment that allows them to be effective in their jobs alongside other conflicting priorities. Measure their levels of engagement regularly and listen to their ideas for improvement.

• Encourage mobility (functional and geographic) in early career. YSC’s research confirms that both international experience and P&L responsibility are key building blocks to success in later career. Make it easy for your female leaders to explore their options without losing their way.

• Put your money where your mouth is. Don’t make pious public statements about the organisation’s commitment to diversity if the reality doesn’t marry up. Don’t massage the statistics. If they don’t look good, start doing something different.

“Better corporate governance is linked with the presence of women on the board

“YSC’s top tips for women to beat the system

YSC’s top tips for organisations to hothouse senior female leaders

Rachel Short is a Managing Consultant in YSC’s London office and the Head of YSC Online T: +44 (0)20 7520 5555 / rachel.short@ysc.com. This article was written with research support provided by Agata Szymanowicz, Research Consultant, YSC London T: +44 (0)20 7520 5555 / agata.szymanowicz@ysc.com

To celebrate twenty years of YSC, we’ve put together ten of our favourite ideas and models from leadership and psychology

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by Sam Gilpin & Claire Garner

HIT PARADE

Authentic LeadershipIn a nutshell: Great leaders lead by connecting to their core values and purpose, providing the frame of reference for their focus and leadership style. It is related to emotionally intelligent leadership and the need to behave mindfully and intentionally.

Originated by: The core ideas are as old as the hills, but its current popularity is doubtless influenced by recent leadership scandals (from Enron to the banking collapse) in which a lack of mindfulness was arguably a key contributing factor.

How it works: Great leaders need a deep understanding of themselves so they can align their actions with their higher purpose and beliefs. It’s being yourself – but with skill.

Why we like it: It boils down to a deeply humanistic approach to leadership (as outlined in our book Meaning Inc).

The Leadership PipelineIn a nutshell: Developing your ability to take on roles of greater responsibility and seniority is not a linear process of doing more of the same, but a series of “turns” requiring a radical change in what you do.

Originated by: GE – explained in The Leadership Pipeline (2000) by Ram Charan, Stephen Drotter, and James Noel.

How it works: Leaders are encouraged to let go of old behaviours (often those that have led to past success) and acquire new skills that enable them to perform effectively at the next level.

Why we like it: It reframes leadership development from just doing things better to changing how you think, what you value, and how you spend your time.

Leadership SpikeIn a nutshell: Great leaders are brilliant in one or two areas (their “spike” or “spikes”) which they should focus on and leverage, building teams to support them in the areas where they are less strong.

Originated by: YSC, from research assessing thousands of business leaders.

How it works: Although understanding and working on weaker areas of development is important, in order to maximise your potential you need to spend as much time – if not more – building on your strengths.

Why we like it: It helps leaders create a distinctive “signature” through which they are able to link what they excel at with their sense of deeper purpose.

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FlowIn a nutshell: When we have challenge and capability in balance we become totally absorbed in a task, which is intrinsically fulfilling.

Originated by: Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. His seminal work is Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience (1990).

How it works: There is a sweet spot where challenge, capability and situation meet, which results in a focused attention and a sense of effortlessness. It’s commonly known as being in the groove.

Why we like it: The model hits the mark when used with leaders, and gives a simple yet profound framework in which to explore stretch, skill-building and consolidation – all important for personal and professional growth.

The “Good Enough” Leader

In a nutshell: The best leaders are not “superwomen” or “supermen” who need to make every decision and solve every problem themselves. Instead, they develop their people and delegate authority.

Originated by: YSC – inspired by the concept of the “good enough” mother developed by the British psychologist D. W. Winnicott.

How it works: Leaders are coached to change their mindset from “being perfect” and “responsible for everything” to seeing themselves as orchestrators and enablers.

Why we like it: Just as children need room to learn, grow, make mistakes and become themselves, so do adults – and organisations.

YSC’s Relationship Model

In a nutshell: Great relationships come from a combination of Respect (for the other person and yourself), Positive Intent (seeking mutual benefit), Deep Understanding and Empathy (really stepping into the other person’s shoes), and Trust and Candour (putting everything on the table).

Originated by: YSC, building on humanistic psychology and academic research into relationships.

How it works: It provides a framework for understanding why and where there is a problem in a relationship – and how to address and improve it.

Why we like it: Great relationships are fundamental to business performance – especially in complex organisations – but are often overlooked as “soft” and unimportant factors

Confident LeadershipIn a nutshell: The ideas that help sports people maintain peak performance can be applied to leaders by focusing on the right mindset to foster positive behaviour and healthy habits.

Originated by: A holistic programme, with roots in sports psychology, developed within YSC to support leaders in turbulent times.

How it works: The programme focuses on Meaning, Coherence, Flow and Resilience as four areas which need to work in concert for leaders to act in a confident, positive way (see YQ 1 for more).

Why we like it: It takes key research findings from another area of psychology and applies them thoughtfully to our field.

5 YSC’s Potential ModelIn a nutshell: The underlying psychological drivers that sit behind success are an individual’s Judgement, Drive and Influence (see YQ issue 2 for more on the model).

Originated by: YSC, with an online psychometric developed in partnership with Saville Consulting.

How it works: Potential is a dynamic quality which changes over time, manifesting itself differently through the stages of a leader’s lifecycle. This model helps individuals and organisations understand and develop their potential in a nuanced way.

Why we like it: It democratises potential (by making its drivers explicit), and it’s practical.

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NetherlandsThe Netherlands has become a nation divided as it tries to get to grips with becoming a multicultural society. Geert Wilders’ anti-Islamic party made big gains in the recent election and traditional Dutch values of tolerance and consensus are being put to the test. That’s far from the only worry. The new government plans unprecedented cutbacks, and the public sector is holding its breath. More than ever, leaders will have to demonstrate an ability to lead change and create a new sense of purpose for their slimmed-down organisations. Hope lies in the business world, which is warming up again for growth. One of the main challenges for tomorrow’s leaders will be how to get the best out of a culturally diversifying workforce. In their war on talent, leading-edge employers, such as Philips, Unilever and Ahold, have begun focusing on ‘YEPPIES’ (Young Ethnic Professionals). Ultimately, it may be down to them to lead a revival of the country’s traditional values.

Jürgen Hell is Head of YSC Netherlands, based in Arnhem. jurgen.hell@ysc.com

International Perspective: USA, West CoastFrom politics, to sports and business, the buzz in the Bay area has moved from recovery to a focus on agility. Recent political debates presented starkly differing views about how to respond to current challenges – notably, the largest budget deficit of all US states – without abandoning California’s tradition of creating the future. When the San Francisco Giants won the World Series baseball, despite being clear underdogs all year, locals gleefully noted that being the most talented is less important than the agility to leverage good talent to anticipate and master challenges. We are seeing this insight in business too. West Coast companies are focused on recession recovery but even more importantly on strengthening muscles to anticipate, innovate, get ahead of the curve and pioneer the possible. Agile organisations, like gymnasts, need to be strong, purposeful and precise, while remaining graceful, responsive and nimble.

Rosanna Ventrone is a Managing Consultant based in San Francisco.rosanna.ventrone@ysc.com

Positive PsychologyIn a nutshell: You can see your world in a more constructive, positive way and lead a happier, more fulfilling life.

Originated by: Martin Seligman (recently) but the idea tracks right back to ancient world Buddhist psychology.

How it works: We all have a set range of happiness (from our genetics and environment) but we can improve on this by training ourselves to think and view our world differently by learning gratitude, optimism and self-efficacy.

Why we like it: It is an empowering set of ideas which focuses on what’s going well, and what is under our control to change – easily absorbed and put into practice by leaders.

Goal settingIn a nutshell: If you set yourself SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Ambitious, Realistic and Timely) then you are more likely to reach your objectives. Simple, huh?

Originated by: Surely no-one would claim sole provenance of this! Goal setting is rife in leadership and management theory, as well as in broader behavioural change programmes (like Weight Watchers). Locke and Latham’s A Theory of Goal Setting and Task Performance (1990) is seen by many as a seminal work.

How it works: You need to align your long term goals (or vision) with short term objectives to help you get there. Either one in isolation is unlikely to work. For example, a long-term goal of losing 5 kg may prove elusive if I choose to eat chocolate daily.

Why we like it: Rather than an either/or frame of reference, goal-setting acknowledges that both long-term goals and short-term actions are vital for change.

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Sam Gilpin is a Managing Consultant based in YSC’s London office T: +44 (0)20 7520 5555 / sam.gilpin@ysc.com. Claire Garner is a Director based in YSC’s Hong Kong office T: +852 2804 6006 / claire.garner@ysc.com

Westpac, one of Australia’s four “pillar banks”, is renowned for the support it gives to corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. So it’s unsurprising that its Organisational Mentoring Programme is at the cutting edge of social philanthropy. The bank is transforming the way it interacts with not-for-profits (NFP) organisations and social enterprises – creating unique development opportunities for employees along the way.

The programme is led by Sandy Blackburn-Wright who put her traditional HR job on the line because of her belief in the vision. A passionate organisational development professional, she leads the initiative with zeal and commitment. She tells us,

“I get 100% of injection of meaning from the work I do every day. I work on things that matter to me, every day. That is pretty rare.”

At its core, the Organisational Mentoring Programme is a skills transfer initiative

designed to help build and drive continuous improvement, innovation, collaboration and sustainability in the NFP sector. Westpac’s policy is to partner with suitable NFP leadership teams for at least two years. The bank identifies the drivers needed to create change and then builds a team of its professionals to act as mentors.

Blackburn-Wright engaged YSC Australia to provide specialist leadership assessment and coaching to support the individual CEOs of each NFP. As she explains,

“I did not want us to fall into the trap of becoming an Executive Coach without the appropriate experience and professional background. Partnering with YSC has allowed the CEOs to access this kind of insight and support during what is a very challenging change process for them personally. They tell me the combination is magic.”

In the first phase of the work, YSC coached six CEOs from organisations ranging from the

One of Australia’s biggest banks has found that tapping into its social conscience is a two-way exchange – employees are getting a lot back too.

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by Shelley Winter

Spotlight onBanking On Change

“

“We are beginning to talk about creating a social economy. The lines between the corporate, NFP and government sectors are blurring. There is a growing recognition of what each can learn from the other.

Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation to the Queensland Rural Women’s Network.

While the coaching areas were specific to each individual and context, some common themes emerged:

• Helping leaders manage complex stakeholder relationships internally and externally, including their boards.

• Enabling them to find the right balance in a challenging people management agenda (having passion for a cause creates a sense of meaning, but it also makes it more difficult to ask people to change or make commercial decisions about resource allocation).

• Helping leaders learn to delegate effectively and let go.

• Providing insight into the different motivations of employee segments in their organisation.

On average, Westpac’s NFP partners rated the programme’s ability to create positive sustainable change as an 8/10.

“Working with someone as skilled as my coach helped me get a deeper insight into what ‘great’ could look like for me, as a CEO of an NFP and as a leader more generally. The process of assessment, coaching, and ongoing review provided strong accountability, by showing evidence of me ‘doing’ and not just ‘talking’,” says Mike Wilson, CEO, of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Australia.

The programme was also a unique development opportunity for the Westpac mentors: 78% say they’ve been able to apply what they’ve learned to their work in the bank.

“We are beginning to talk about creating a social economy. The lines between the corporate, NFP and government sectors are blurring. There is a growing recognition of what each can learn from the other,” says Blackburn-Wright.

At a time when trust in organisations – especially in the financial services sector – has diminished significantly, this programme has helped Westpac employees rediscover a sense of pride and meaning in their work and in their organisation. It has boosted employee engagement and enhanced Westpac’s reputation: 90% of partners said they would be more likely to stay or bank with Westpac as a result. Blackburn-Wright is also proud of the significant new NFP business it has brought.

“This gets executive attention and is part of what gives the programme its internal credibility.”

Blackburn-Wright acknowledges that the programme is not for every NFP.

“We call what we see and that can be uncomfortable for some. We are very careful about the organisations we choose to partner with. We need to know we can have a real impact; and that they are up for the journey.”

But she hopes the Westpac programme will set the bar for future initiatives.

“I hope other businesses mimic what we are doing so that the corporate sector lifts its CSR game. That is the legacy I want to leave. That is why I will tell anyone who gives me a chance about it. When it comes to social impact, the more people I can tell the better.”

International Perspective: Hong KongOn a plane from Hong Kong recently I read an article about a group of nine MBAs who have set up a new restaurant in Shanghai. They had been classmates on an international MBA run jointly in China and Canada and, though of different nationalities, were all ethnic Chinese. This little story is symbolic of a much wider phenomenon across Asia as young entrepreneurs and professionals return to their roots to participate and profit in the region’s growth. The ‘returnees’ – typically extremely bright and capable high achievers – are ‘bilingual’, not just in the usual sense, but in their knowledge of values and norms of both their home country and the West. The opportunities they present are obvious; the management challenges less so. Returnees often expect more from employers than their local counterparts, and can struggle to find their own social and corporate identities. They will be leaders. The critical question is whether established companies have the capacity to realise that potential – or whether these high-flyers will seek success and fulfilment elsewhere.

Phil Smith is a Director & Head of YSC Hong Kong. phil.smith@ysc.com

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Shelley Winter is a Managing Consultant based in YSC’s Sydney office T: +61 (0)2 9252 3332 / shelley.winter@ysc.com

There is a growing recognition of what each can learn from the other“ “

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by Nicholas Hastings

What to Watch

The Social Network documents the rise to fame of Facebook and its brilliant, yet controversial, founder, Mark Zuckerberg. From Harvard dormitory to Palo Alto HQ, Zuckerberg converts a simple idea to connect students into a global phenomenon now worth over $30 billion.

As the movie’s trailer highlights: “You don’t get to 500 million users without making a few enemies” – and much is made of how entrepreneurship and commercial acumen are rewarded over loyalty and compassion. Having allegedly stolen a fledgling concept from fellow students the Winklevoss twins (still a matter of legal dispute in real life), Zuckerberg is portrayed as selling out on his co-founder and friend Eduardo Saverin. His single-mindedness dominates the story.

Perhaps that is simply a reflection of the cut-throat, no-nonsense nature of modern business. Tom Brady, writing in The New Yorker, exposes a “generational divide” between older people who see Zuckerberg as mean, and younger people who view him as a hero. If the current behaviour of Lord Sugar’s UK Apprentices is anything to go by, Zuckerberg may be the first of a new generation of ruthless young leaders willing to go all out for success.

In The Social Network, Zuckerberg’s real-life relationships are pushed to the side by Facebook. This is mirrored in our increasingly matrixed and virtual world of work, in which face-to-face contact is often subjugated by quick-fire emails and teleconferences. Doing business without ever meeting colleagues or business partners is now commonplace for many people. But does this automatically mean we are more cut-throat and dispassionate as a result?

Zuckerberg starts out as a teenager with an idea, and ends up in charge of a considerable workforce. What of his leadership? Although his hard-nosed decisions clearly had a role to play in Facebook’s success, the question is whether he can balance this decisiveness with an ability to foster a sense of meaning

Nicholas Hastings is a Consultant based in YSC’s London office. T: +44 (0)20 7520 5566 / nicholas.hastings@ysc.com

and purpose in others that extends beyond treating people as a currency or commodity.

The central irony of this modern morality play is that, despite connecting people across the world, the Zuckerberg of the film is incapable of basic interpersonal skills. Ultimately, he pays the price for this lack of empathy – wooed by venture capitalists who make him rich, but rejected by a girlfriend who sees him as more cyborg than human. At the end of the film he is quite alone. “People don’t want you Mark, they want your idea,” is Saverin’s cruel closing line. Only Zuckerberg’s staff will know if this is really the case.

The Social Network

Writer: Aaron SorkinDirector: David Fincher Publisher: Columbia Pictures 2010

““Zuckerberg may be the first of a new generation of ruthless young leaders willing to go all out for success.

We all know the problem. Straight after an ill-fated meeting we are perfectly capable of analysing what went wrong. So what stops us from steering clear of disaster in the middle of the conversation? Perhaps emotion took over; or maybe we didn’t take the emotions of others seriously enough. Whatever the reason, we end up ruing, “I wish I had/hadn’t said that”.

Although first published way back in 2002, the bestseller Crucial Conversations is still the best guide to staying in control of the sort of sensitive and tough conversations that come your way as a leader, whether negotiating or leading change. No surprise perhaps that Joseph Grenny is now one of the most popular speakers at leadership conferences worldwide, and that the book has recently been translated into Dutch, German and French.

The message contained in this immensely readable, encouraging book – full of illustrative examples – is that we can manage our primary instincts in tough

conversations by applying sensible psychology, thereby boosting our chances of success. The authors point out the pitfalls of “either/or” thinking (referred to as “sucker’s choices”). Deciding whether to take an honest aggressive approach, or being kind and remaining silent, is a false dichotomy, they argue. There’s no reason why dialogue shouldn’t be honest as well as polite.

The book is clear in structure and contains useful checklists and conversational techniques – as applicable to private life as they are to business. Like most management literature, it tends to over-rely on a methodical approach (to my mind, intention is often more important than technique), but that’s a minor quibble given the insights provided into the key principles of communication and negotiation. Filled with real-life situations and self-tests to determine personal style, Crucial Conversations is a hands-on book, which should ensure that you never again put your foot in your mouth.

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What to ReadCrucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High

Author: Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny et alPublisher: McGraw Hill 2002

Jürgen Hell is Head of YSC Netherlands, based in Arnhem. T: +31 (0) 651348517 / jurgen.hell@ysc.com

by Jürgen Hell

International Perspective: EnglandAs the UK enters a new age of austerity, resilience is going to be a key quality in determining which businesses thrive rather than merely survive. No-one knows for sure how severe the public service cuts will be, or how exactly they will bite. But sheer uncertainty means people are likely to continue being cautious about spending, and conditions will probably remain tough. So what makes a business resilient? The most successful firms stay focused on their true purpose: they take a long-term perspective and see current events within a broader context. In the coming months, they’ll need to be realistic about what is in their control and stay optimistic about what can be achieved. Forging partnerships and new forms of working will be crucial. So will organisational learning: companies need to explore the reasons for setbacks rather than burying them. Ultimately, the firms that emerge from this difficult period as winners will be the ones that didn’t expect it to be easy, but remained confident in their ability to succeed.

Rachel Robinson is a Director of YSC, based in London. rachel.robinson@ysc.com

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To seek advice from Dr Ken, please email your question to him at DrKen@ysc.com

Dear Dr Ken

I have an amazing opportunity to join a firm which would increase my visibility in the public eye a hundredfold and provide me with a lovely set-up for the rest of my life. The role, however, is quite alien to me. I will be filling some very big shoes – although the whopping sapphire is making the prospect easier – and am anxious about how I’ll be perceived. Even though I have a lovely gentleman mentor in my fiancé, I would appreciate some counsel on how to approach such a massive challenge. Should I give a royal damn about how I come across in the press, or just rest on my golden laurels and let the paps do what they like?

Yours in ermine

Kate

Dear Kate

Thank you for your letter – although it did confuse me somewhat. What are paps? Leaving that aside, the problem you face is very familiar to us at YSC. Technically, it’s called a “TRANSITION CHALLENGE”.

We psychologists have found that people making a transition into a new organisation have 100 days honeymoon to establish credibility and learn the ropes. During this time, it’s important to take stock of your strengths and the assets that you can bring to your new role. You also need to get a good sense of the key stakeholders you’ll need to influence. Don’t just think about the paps (whatever they are). Be clear what you want your brand to be.

I found your letter interesting, Kate, partly because of what you don’t talk about. You make no mention of the challenges of moving into what is in effect a big institution. Are you partly in denial? I’m also intrigued by the way you refer to your future husband as “a lovely gentleman mentor”. You seem to be placing yourself in a subservient position with regard to him. Are you feeling inadequate?

If so, psychology offers some hope – in particular, a theory of leadership developed by a famous psychologist

called Holland, which states that when moving into a new organisation you must gain credibility before you can challenge the system. It’s about building up ‘”IDIOSYNCRASY CREDITS”: once you have enough in the bank, you can then start creating havoc, basically.

So be very careful in the early days; behave yourself and do your utmost to accommodate any pernickety senior stakeholders. At a certain point, you may then be in a position to confidently change things.

A celebrated French psychologist, Moscovici, has shown just how effectively a “MINORITY INFLUENCE” can change a group’s attitude. The trick is to stay firm to your view, even in the teeth of pressure, and over time the group will begin to see the situation in exactly the same way. I predict, you’ll soon have The Firm marching in line with you. But be confident!

I hope this advice helps. Do remember, though, that if it all goes belly up we also offer a service to help individuals with “offboarding challenges”. Hopefully that won’t apply to you...

Yours on bended knee

Dr Ken

Dear Dr Ken

As a result of continued client demand for our services we are currently recruiting across all geographies. We are looking for senior business psychologists to join YSC’s primary consulting team and also more junior psychologists (including graduates) to support our growing middle-management level practice, YSC View. YSC’s clients include almost half the FTSE100 and also government bodies and non-profit organisations. We are a collegiate, global company with 13 offices in 8 countries and 150 staff (of whom 90 are client-facing consultants). Successful applicants for both types of role will bring intellectual challenge and edge to their environment and a real commitment to business development. Candidates will demonstrate outstanding insight into individuals, teams and the culture of organisations – as well as the capacity to work with clients in a relaxed yet professional manner. A post-graduate degree in Psychology would be highly desirable, but not essential if you have a proven track record of success and can demonstrate extensive, relevant business experience in the following areas: • Deep psychological assessment• Developing leaders and high performing teams • Executive coaching • Organisational consulting • Workshop design and facilitation • 360 feedback If you are dynamic and ambitious with a real passion for leadership consulting, creating meaning for executives and organisations, developing new business, managing client systems and innovating with colleagues to find the next big thing in our field – we’d love to hear from you. Please send your CV/resume and a covering letter, based on the geography you are interested in, to: recruitment@ysc.com (UK & Hong Kong)sydney.reception@ysc.com (Australia)germany@ysc.com (Germany)netherlands@ysc.com (Netherlands)usa.recruitment@ysc.com (USA)india@ysc.com (India)southafrica@ysc.com (South Africa) Please note: you must be eligible to live and work in the country to which you are applying. For more information about our story, products and services, please visit www.ysc.com

Business Psychologists – All Regions

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