META+COACH OUTLINE FOR BUSINESS LEADERSHIP

What makes a really great leader? In our view the most important criterion is that they genuinely care about the success of all their key stakeholders. Obviously, they also have an interest in their own success and ambitions – they have to get something out of the endeavour for themselves – but they are also working for something bigger.

Great leaders take responsibility for the organisation – their job can be the toughest of all. It’s not a reward for what they’ve done in the past, or something they have a right to, it’s something they really want to contribute to, and develop as a legacy for the future.

Many people are in leadership positions, but a surprising few are really great at the role.  This creates a miserable environment for their colleagues, and squanders many chances to maximise success.  Why is this the case?  What makes a great leader? 

All great leaders need to have, and be able to communicate, a clear vision of where the organisation is heading, and why.  They need to be brave and show integrity, honesty, and humility. They must not be afraid to roll up their sleeves and get involved at any level of the organisation.  A great leader understands their own strengths and isn’t afraid to hire and learn from people who are more skilled than them.  Great leaders are genuinely proud of their team’s accomplishments and genuinely care about helping them succeed.

 

Leadership Framework

It’s worth taking time to stand back and clarify the elements that we consider will lead to success as a leader. We may then decide that we’re already well on track, or that to reach success in the longer term we need to review our approach.

As a starting point, it’s worth asking:

1.     Where we are against the elements below?

2.     What would be the benefit of clarifying which are important to us?

3.     What is the likely benefit of adhering to them more closely?

4.     What are the implications and costs of not having a strong leadership framework?

If we want to improve our leadership framework, a good start is to answer the questions in the ‘Creating rules and clarity’ section, and then develop a plan based on what we discover.

What’s important in leadership?

These five elements are vital for great leadership:

1.     Developing an agreed purpose and vision and knowing what leads to success.

2.     Building a cohesive leadership team.

3.     Creating rules and clarity.

4.     Creating a clear meeting structure.

5.     Continually developing leadership competencies.

Each division should have its own vision and purpose that links to the overall vision and purpose, and likewise each area of the company.

LEADERSHIP COMPETENCIES CHECKJLIST 

A great leader needs to determine, in conjunction with stakeholders, which are the key competencies for him/her to help the organisation, the team, and themselves. They continually seek ideas and take action to improve their performance in each. Leadership competency examples, these will vary depending on the context:

1.     Demonstrating integrity.

2.     Encouraging constructive dialogue.

3.     Creating a shared vision.

4.     Developing people.

5.     Building partnerships.

6.     Sharing leaderships.

7.     Empowering people.

8.     Thinking globally.

9.     Appreciating diversity.

10. Developing technological savvy.

11. Ensuring customer satisfaction.

12. Maintaining a competitive advantage.

13. Achieving personal mastery.

14. Anticipating opportunities.

15. Leading change.

KEYS TO SUCCESS

We believe these are the keys to success:

1.     The leader’s purpose is to be responsible for helping all stakeholders succeed.

2.     Success in any project needs discovery, leadership, management (planning and effective use of resources), a safe space to develop action, action, and review.

3.     Creating and achieving buy-in for the vision.

4.     Developing an appropriate culture. Hiring, promoting, and firing as needed.

5.     Creating, implementing, and reviewing strategy.

6.     Setting priorities and measurement.

7.     Building, communicating, and reinforcing clarity almost daily.

Building a cohesive leadership team

The leader’s behaviour sets the tone for the behaviour of the leadership team and, through them, the organisation. It’s based on creating an environment of vulnerability-based trust and creative conflict. Achieving results is dependent on achieving the first four capabilities.

1.     Vulnerability-based trust.

2.     Mastering conflict.

3.     Achieving commitment.

4.     Embrace accountability.

5.     Focus on results (e.g. balance 60% tea, 40% individual.)

DELIVER VALUE BY CONVERTING DECISIONS INTO ACTIONS.

 Knowing how to manage time effectively is probably the most important trait of a leader. Focusing on contribution, impact and efficiency are a leader's primary goals. Yet, success is not a one-man-show: a synergy of communication, teamwork, self-development, and development of others are essential markers for productive organizations.

Success happens to companies with the executive ability to "concentrate on the few major areas where superior performance will produce outstanding results," as well defined by Peter Drucker in the inspiring "The Effective Executive" book. This means that management teams must be vigilant and proactively analyze the future, focusing on the opportunity rather than the problem, continuously delivering value , building on company strengths, and setting the pace to differentiate from the competition.

Spending time identifying a company's value and having vigorous debate on scenarios to execute the best plan to bring to market solutions that solve critical needs are managements' most important agenda:

1.     How do we turn knowledge into value and decisions?

2.     Why is it so important to turn decisions into right actions and behavior?

3.     How can effectiveness be translated into outstanding results?

Choose value by making effective decisions

When debating over roadmap priorities and innovation pipelines, it is key to be able to differentiate a generic situation from exceptions. Assumptions are important, validating them even more so. No one wants to develop products for an exceptional/extreme customer, but rather aim for greater scale through a broader customer reach.

Defining management decision's output requires clear specifications, for example, minimum goals, boundaries, and a clear understanding of what's right versus what is acceptable.

For example, executive management may decide to:

·         Concentrate on value performance for the business-partner ecosystem

·         Diversification of the business portfolio

·         Optimization of the customer journey (e.g., access, end-to-end experience)

·         Operational efficiency and productivity

·         Partnerships (e.g., growth in scale, increase in number, strategic interactions)

Drilling down into details cross-department is key to evaluate feasibility (cost, quality, timing). Validating with stakeholders is key to measure utilization and purchase intent, both being critical for estimating growth and scale.

DELIVER VALUE BY CONVERTING DECISIONS INTO ACTIONS

Once the management decision is clear, and the detailed scope is validated, two best practices are important to follow through. First, management should be looking to gain continuous feedback from the field, both to optimize and nurture adoption, and to manage internal bias. Second, the team should invest in continuous testing against other solutions in the market. Only this way can companies guarantee the superior performance of their business portfolio.

Different organizations chose different strategies at different points in time, based on maturity of their products and market. Whether it's enabling cloud-based systems at scale to become agile and efficient, software offerings to monetize directly, or digital offerings that feature advanced analytics or AI; or by adding technologies to enhance existing offerings or building exclusive technology partnerships to access capabilities or integrated offerings, actionable decisions endure when field work is properly done. Having a business process to ensure these steps are ongoing is key for leadership control of plans and fast decision-making to optimize/iterate/pivot or abandon when required.

FINAL WORD : MAKING A DIFFERENCE

"Leadership is an action, not a position." The most effective leaders build bridges between knowledge and decisions, and between decisions and actions, and they act quickly when new action-plans are required. Leaders understand the need to measure action versus non-action to grow a company, differentiate it, and avoid placing it at risk. They generate trust because of their willingness to act. They are not limited by fear or by making a mistake. They are focused on priorities, managing business processes, and educating the market. They are passionate about pursuing dreams and challenging the status quo. Most of them enjoy high-level relationship-building skills, based on trust, respect, and self-awareness. They cultivate comfortable settings that enhance the confidence of peers to express opinions, brainstorm, and embrace new ideas.

When people around them see the successes of working together, overall engagement and productivity climbs. And this is the foundation for an organization to focus on opportunities, to embrace change, create, and innovate. Effective leaders are women and men out there, bringing outstanding results together with their team. True heroes: genuine, confident, humble, trustworthy, positive, and fun!

 With best compliments

                                                          Dr Wilfred Monteiro

our META+COACH MODULES emphasize these common behaviors a 24CARAT PROFESSIONAL© must master

 5 PILLARS  TO BECOME A 

“24CARAT PROFESSIONAL”

 Every tries hard to keep moving up the corporate ladder. But only a few succeed let us call them the 24CARAT PROFESSIONAL; like pure 24carat gold they  shine at the workplace. Not so much for their outward brand image but as much as the instrisic qualities. A 24CARAT PROFESSIONAL©  entails a set of traits that make you come across as respectful, reliable and capable.  It is about how you conduct yourself when interacting with clients and colleagues. Most of all, being a professional is about giving others the confidence that they can actually trust you to do what you are supposed to do. The good thing is that anyone can learn how to look more professional and thus increase their chances of success in the corporate world.

Throughout our META+COACH MODULES we emphasize common habits a  24CARAT PROFESSIONAL©  must master to  look more professional. These little things will make you better at your work, which will in turn make you come across as more professional.

1. MASTER PRODUCTIVITY TECHNIQUES  

24CARAT PROFESSIONALs  are well organized. Nothing screams unprofessionalism like someone who does not know how to manage their time. Imagine your boss asking you for an important document, but you can’t seem to remember where you placed it. As you rummage through your drawers searching for the document, your boss will probably be wondering what kind of incompetent person she hired. Being organized means you know what you are supposed to be doing at any particular moment. It means you know the tasks that need to be prioritized or delegated. It means you know the emails that need to be acted on and which ones you are yet to read. Being organized improves your productivity and makes you more efficient, which in turn makes you more likely to receive promotions. To become more organized, Use a planner or a to-do list to keep track of everything that needs to be done to ensure you don’t miss deadlines. Take notes of important things that are brought to your attention. Being a good time manager means being aware of your deadlines and managing your work to ensure you meet the deadlines. It also means respecting other people’s time and being punctual for your appointments.

2.SPEAK THE LANGUAGE OF SUCCESS

The workplace requires you to constantly interact with clients, colleagues and your superiors. The better you are at communicating with these people, the more professional you will appear. Being a good communicator also means communicating effectively through written communication/emails and responding promptly to such communication from others; moreover  you need to be a good listener. We often underestimate the power of good listening skills because we are always in a hurry to speak instead of trying to comprehend what is being communicated to us and preparing what we’re going to say next. You need to learn how to communicate clearly and concisely. Communicating professionally does not mean using complicated words and jargon that will leave everyone confused. Instead, you should use simply language to ensure everyone understands what you are trying to say. The first thing you say when you answer your phone also influences whether you will be seen as a professional or not.  A sound etiquette on phone, with a gentle voice and steady pace will create a good impression to the person on the other end.

24CARAT PROFESSIONALs  convey a positive image by the kind of body language you portray when interacting with others. With studies showing that more 60% of communication takes place non-verbally, you should adopt body language that shows you are a professional who believes in himself and knows what he is doing.  display confident body language: sit or stand upright. avoid slouching; always hold your head high; maintain eye contact when talking to someone; greet people with a firm handshake.

Every workplace  has a gossip mill, and it can be very easy to get sucked into it; avoid it at all costs. Not engaging in gossip also shows that you are someone who respects his colleagues.Avoid talking about others behind their backs or spreading rumours around the office. Talking bad about your superiors behind their backs will only make you seem jealous, immature and unprofessional – the complete opposite of what you are trying to achieve. Concentrating on your work and performance while ignoring any gossip that might be doing rounds in the office shows you are a mature and focused person.

Being a professional requires you to treat everyone equally and with respect. Regardless of your position within the company, you should be respectful to everyone, whether they are senior or junior to you. You should remain respectful even in situations where you do not agree with your colleagues. Similarly, you should avoid being rude to others, belittling their intelligence or giving them sarcastic remarks, even if you think what they are saying makes no sense.

3. EXUDE LEADERSHIP QUALITIES

If you want to  become a 24CARAT PROFESSIONAL; be accountable for your actions at all times. This means that you should place responsibility to get things done on yourself. If you are unable to get things done on time or if you make mistakes, own your mistake and find ways to fix it. If you notice things going wrong, don’t be afraid to bring it to your boss’s attention and propose ways to fix it.

If you want to  become a 24CARAT PROFESSIONAL, you should be willing to step up and take charge, even when the situations is outside your comfort zone. Is there a presentation that needs to be made yet no one is willing to volunteer? Step up and volunteer to make the presentation. Has a mistake been made?

People who are not accountable will often look for people or things to blame whenever they make mistakes. Looking for scapegoats every time you mess  things up will make you look unprofessional and will affect your workplace relationships with your colleagues and superiors. Take charge and rectify it, even if you did not make the mistake. Does your team need to do something yet the team leader is not around? Step up and get the team started instead of waiting till the team leader arrives. The willingness to take charge, especially in times of crisis will go a great way in establishing you as a professional.

A 24CARAT PROFESSIONAL  is always  dependable . Being reliable means clients and colleagues know that they can trust you to do what you said you will do, when you said you will do it. It means being consistent with your work. Being reliable also means that you can step in and save the day when things are not going as they should. Most of all, being reliable means not giving people any unwanted surprises, such as going missing on the day you were supposed to make an important task .

A 24CARAT PROFESSIONAL  is proactive and can be entrusted with even more responsibilities, you should be willing to go above and beyond in whatever you do. Don’t just do what is required of you and sit back. Instead, once you have performed your required set of duties, anticipate things that need to be done and do them. If you have ideas that can improve efficiency or productivity, share them with your boss. If a colleague is overloaded with work, offer to help. The motto is doing more than is expected of you

4. MAINTAIN A POSITIVE ATTITUDE

A 24CARAT PROFESSIONAL  are always  exude self-confidence. There is a strong link between confidence and occupational success. Confidence is a state of mind where you know what you are doing, what you are good at and what you stand for. Confidence also involves acting in a manner that shows others you know what you are doing. Confidence makes you look professional for a number of reasons. If you are confident, you won’t be afraid to share your ideas and opinions. You won’t be afraid to take up challenges and responsibilities. You won’t be afraid to make decisions or take risks at the workplace. In addition, others are more likely to believe in you when they can see that you believe in yourself. 

A 24CARAT PROFESSIONAL  is positive and motivated in whatever they do. Having a positive attitude means that you are willing to keep pushing even when things are not going as they should. It means that you are always upbeat about the work you need to do. Positive people are willing to look for solutions and will motivate others to give their all at work. Positive people are also more receptive to feedback and criticism.

Positive people gratefully listen to negative feedback and  use it as an opportunity to learn and improve themselves. Positive people are easier to work with, which in turn makes your colleagues and bosses view you as someone who is professional. A negative  person drains your energy; he is  always complaining about how he is being overworked and being underpaid, the next minute he is complaining about how useless a certain colleague is; such behaviours only make you look immature and a repulsive companion.

5. LET ETHICS BE YOUR BUSINESS  TACTICS

a 24CARAT PROFESSIONAL  is always  works with ethics. Being ethical is about how you conduct yourself at work. It is about doing the right thing at all times and being a person of integrity. It is about striving to achieve excellence in whatever you do while holding the interests of your clients at heart. 

Being honest and trustworthy is rare especially in today’s world where people are so used to deceptive behaviour. So being honest can really make you stand out. Being honest also makes it easier for people to trust you and to forgive you whenever you make a mistake. For instance, if you make a mistake and own up to it, your supervisor will accept your honesty and will be more likely to let it slide. They are also more likely to trust you with something else in future compared to someone who tried to lie about their mistake. Honesty also means being truthful with what you can do. Don’t promise to do something when you know you won’t do it, thereby inconveniencing other people.

BE A LIFELONG LEARNER

A 24CARAT PROFESSIONAL  , you should be aware of the latest trends and practices within your field of work. Knowing the latest news about your industry not only positions you as a professional, but also makes it easier for you to do your work and allows you to stand out to your management by proposing solutions and new methods of doing business during company meetings. To keep abreast of the latest news in your industry, you should make a habit of reading widely about your field. Follow major blogs related to your field, read industry magazines and attend industry events.

Learning is best when your  boss  gives you feedback on your performance at work. If you want to learn , you should treat feedback as an opportunity for you to learn and improve. When receiving negative feedback resist the temptation to get angry or defensive. Keep in mind that the feedback is not about your personality, but rather giving you pointers on how to perform better at work.

LAST WORD

Nobody is born a  24CARAT PROFESSIONAL … the good thing is that it is something you can learn. By following and implementing these simple tips will bring you closer to the success you want.

With best compliments

Dr Wilfred Monteiro