I really love to listen to what the CEOs of blue chip companies have to say, Definitely if you know where you are going, you have to listen to people who have been there before you to develop an insight into what it takes to be successful in a highly competitive and challenging environment. You might not necessarily be the chairman of a blue chip company, but even in your little team, the family unit, non profit organisation or even in personal self development, these salient points come in really handy.
And today as I read the article written by Mark Weinberger, Chairman and CEO of EY, I felt it was too good to be kept to myself. I will share it with you all. Its quite interesting however to note that the very simple things, we do, is what makes the difference. Sometimes we think to be successful, we have to apply a complex set of rules. Not necessarily. It is the little bits we ignore that leave a lasting impact.
Which of
the following factors can render your business model obsolete almost overnight?
a)
Geopolitical issues
b)
Macroeconomic volatility
c)
Disruptive technologies
d)
Government intervention
e) All
of the above
If you
answered “e,” you’re on to something. But there’s one skill that, if a business
leader can master it, can help hedge against all of these: building trust.
Plainly
put, people find it very difficult to trust business leaders. Recent surveys
show that CEOs still rank near the bottom of the list of trustworthy job
titles.
We can –
and must – do better. As leaders, we all need to work harder at building trust and
confidence in business.
So what
are the skills that successful leaders need to rebuild trust? These three
capabilities are critical.
1. We
have to put forward a clear, long-term vision for our business.
To gain
our stakeholders’ confidence, we need to clearly explain our company’s purpose
and how it delivers value to the groups we serve. Make sure you spend time
talking to your employees, investors, regulators and other constituents not
only about what you do but also why you do it. For example, at EY we’re focused
on building a better working world by improving trust and confidence in the
companies, markets and economies we serve. Without trust and confidence, we
don’t have growth. So what is the primary purpose of your organization?
2. We
must communicate better.
Leaders
need to build more open, trusting relationships with shareholders, employees,
regulators, governments and the public. How do we accomplish this? By being
better listeners. We should be able to listen at least as well as we speak.
Earlier
in my career, I spent time as a government regulator. This was a great
experience because it taught me how to listen to different viewpoints and sift
through varied information. It also taught me that title is not authority; you
have to persuade people to follow you. In business this means, we need to
answer questions about all aspects of our vision and the value our company
generates.
Employees
at all levels want to hear what they can do to make their organization’s vision
a reality. This is critical because engaged employees have a direct impact on
the bottom line. The publicly traded companies among the Great Place to Work
Institute’s “100 Best Companies to work for” have outperformed major stock
market indices consistently over the past 15 years.
Rising
government involvement in business and an uncertain policy environment require
leaders to really listen to the concerns of lawmakers – and their voters. For
global companies, this means engaging in conversations not only in Washington
and Brussels, but also in Beijing, Moscow and New Delhi.
3. We
have to build our bench strength.
As
leaders, we need to become better at building high-performing teams around us.
In today’s complex, interconnected world, no one person can listen to every
stakeholder and offer all the answers. We should surround ourselves with nimble
teams of people who have different views, various specializations and diverse
backgrounds – people who resemble our client base. We need to remember that no
one of us is smarter than all of us. While the leader is ultimately
accountable, it truly does take an agile team to drive growth in today’s
organization.
For many
leaders, improving these three skills isn’t easy – but, then again, nothing
worthwhile is easy to master. By basing our leadership on these three building
blocks – a clear vision, better communication and inclusive teamwork – we can
restore trust in us. This will lead to improved business performance and,
ultimately, a better working world.
(http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/-three-critical-skills-today-s-leaders-need)
No comments:
Post a Comment