Fred 'the shred' Goodwin vs. Gordon Brown demonstrating the leadership spectrum

On the one side we have a man who ran a commercial enterprise with a reputation of ‘shredding’ the cost out of a business and on the other we have a man who is in public service.

Fred ‘the shred’ Goodwin’s salary £3million’ish vs. Gordon Brown’s salary £187k

Now the Executive Coaching Guru makes one observation that the one refuses to relinquish any of his £693K per annum pension, whilst the 2nd shut parliament for a day in order to honour a colleague who has suffered the horrible loss of his child.

They are of course different scenario’s, but they do I think indicate the fundamental line of variance that exists in the market place.

For me the next decade will see a swing towards the ability of a leader to not only run the show, but do so with a level of humanity that is present in the behaviour of Gordon Brown, but not Fred Goodwin.

The business you lead in today, whether you recognise it or not is made up of people that are witnessing a huge shift in the drivers that propel our wealth generation. The banks WILL be different, reward will be for ‘sustainability & legacy’, not the quick turn around.

If ever there was a time for the individual to consider their role and responsibility as a leader then this is it, your people are ready for the kind of leadership that sees the value in the person, not just the dollar.

Women leaders less tolerant of same sex than male counterparts

A recent study by Professor Joyce Benenson and her  team from Emmanuel College in Boston ‘found that men were far more tolerant of other males when it came to showing more understanding and empathy towards workmates of the same sex, the research suggests women will quickly form a negative opinion of female peers who make a mistake or under perform.’

I am not sure if this is one of those things that falls under the heading of ‘well it’s scientific so it must be true’ or ‘well they can prove anything they want to can’t they?”, however what a fabulous bit of research to get the discussion flowing; I have to say there is a part of me that wants to voice an opinion on this, but then again I have another part saying ‘keep your trap shut buddy!’

There is one thing I do know and that is that even if this is right, both men and women in this current age are pulled towards making calculated judgements as to the value of association to another person, in order to calibrate their own ‘brand’ in relation to who they associate with. Frankly this is a shame, because the more we grade, evaluate and grid our relationships, as opposed to just allowing them to have their natural place, the more we incrementally find ourselves planning who we do or do not ‘connect with’.

So take a little notice of the research, but not too much and ask yourself, “How often do I calculate a persons value to myself by way of the value of the association, as opposed to merely having this person on a long list of colleagues I engage with (each in their own different and unique way).

Leadership behaviour in a Blackberry world

I am doing a lot of development at the moment with senior leadership groups and am finding something rather insidious that only seems accessible through the kind of immersive development that braver companies are willing to go after.

The fact that the business leader of today is being pulled and stretched like never before is not a new thing, this has been running directly in tandem with the lives that we are all living, I know my life has got quicker and increasingly full of economic, social and personal pressures in the last 5 years (which may well have something to do with reaching 40 years young).

But I can honestly say that things seem to really ramping up a notch, with a what I can only describe, as a sense of perceived helplessness for many senior business leaders. Within the current climate there is literally  no room to vote with your feet, many are trapped in a role that was not necessarily a vocational choice but it rewarded handsomely, moved them up the career ladder, satisfied various levels of personal validation and this covered for the fact that itself it wasn’t intrinsically rewarding. (It’s possible to swallow a bitter pill if you think the outcome is paid off  mortgage and a decent pension).

BUT and its is pretty big but, what happens when the climate changes and it goes into melt down, when the pressures of the role are such, that they threaten your ability to leverage your own position off a free market, when the market looks even more dubious than the situation you are in.

One of the programmes I am involved in, is I feel one of the most progressive leadership development experiences available today and there is a simple 5 minute segment of this 10 day, 5 module process that simply asks the participants to go outside and take some time with and for themselves (this isn’t quite as simple as it sounds as it sits a top of at that point: 3 days development, 360 feedback and a pretty full-on coaching session) and you know it never ceases to touch my heart that people sit down afterwards and say simply, “I can’t recall the last time I took 5 minutes just for me, not just watching TV to wind down, but actually just to really be with myself”.

Why does this matter and why does it happen? Because as Lynda Gratton from the London Business School says, “people become bewitched by their own agenda” and for me this means that one outcome of this can be losing ones identity to an agenda that envelopes us and slowly, cunningly, deceitfully takes away our true selves and thus our ability to truly lead.

So the Executive Coaching Guru offers the following thoughts:

1. When you find yourself talking to people, but you are thinking of what you are doing next, instead of being fully present with the individual(s) in front of you then. Stop, Breathe, Think, Re-focus. 
2. When you realise that you have too much work on. Stop. Talk to your staff, explain the workload and ask for their help and guidance and where needed. Coach, Support, Delegate, Direct.
3. When your bosses behaviour is without focus and reacting instead of leading. Create a moment in time, when you can look them in the eye and truly converse about how things are for them and how you can work together.
4. When you are at home and yet still at the office. Remember that to truly lead you need to be complete as a person and that ‘wholeness’ comes as a foundation from the home.

These are without doubt challenging times, for the last decade we were able to sail through, now it requires navigation.