The Power of Unity: Rekindling the Spirit of Optimism

SPEAKER SERIES

Panel 4: The Power of Unity: Rekindling the Spirit of Optimism This booklet brings you some of the stimulus shared during our Speaker Series, reflections on what this might mean for Lloyds Banking Group and some practical questions for you to start the conversation with your teams and peers.

Lloyds Banking Group in partnership with the Forward Institute

REFLECTIONS ON

The nature of leadership Our panelists DAN MAKOSKI (Host)

PLATON

Dan is a design executive who leads innovation by design. He is Chief Design Officer at LBG, leading a multi-disciplinary human-centred team with the singular goal of Helping Britain Prosper through empathetic and courageous design.

After working for British Vogue for several years, Platon was invited to New York City to work for the late John Kennedy Jr. and his political magazine, George.

He was Head of Design at the Fortune 1, started Project ARA at Google, designed the original Surface at Microsoft, led design research globally at Motorola, and was the first VP of Design at Capital One. Dan began his career at the world’s top design agencies, and even started his own.

The common thread across his career is the belief that design is most powerful when it's an expression of humble service, and innovation is most impactful when it fosters openness and inclusion. Most importantly, Dan knows seven versions of the running man.

Shooting portraits for a range of international publications including Rolling Stone, The New York Times magazine, Vanity Fair, Esquire, GQ and The Sunday Times magazine, Platon developed a special relationship with TIME magazine, producing over 20 covers for them.

Platon is a communicator and storyteller.

He has been invited to be a keynote speaker on leadership at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Chanel, Nike, Yale University, Oxford University, Wharton University, the National Portrait Gallery in London and International Centre of Photography in New York.

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OUR PURPOSE “A lot of banks don’t have the advanced skills of connecting emotionally. We’re trying to bring the human story into the very technical world of banking.” DAN It is extraordinary for us to have a visionary, an artist, a creator and a photographer to share his craft. Platon does not just do photography, he captures the human spirit and unites us in unexpected ways.” DAN "We’re separated by walls, windows, computer screens and borders but are united in our hearts.”

“Empathy is the secret ingredient to becoming a great leader.

I want you to open up your hearts and your minds.”

“We know we’ve got a common bond – humanity. We’re looking for a key to unlock this cultural and political paralysis.”

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COMPROMISE & CONSIDERATION

“This [left] is not the real Obama, is it?

This [below] is the real Obama. Much more cautious than we expected from that early, charismatic campaign.”

“I took this [above] picture minutes after he announced he would run for president. It marks the beginning of a very complicated journey to the top of the power pyramid.”

“I noticed a book on his desk - “Be quiet, be heard, how to raise delicate issues with an opponent and still find common ground. He was reading about how to compromise.”

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IMPOSTER SYNDROME

“Sometimes in life we’ve got to place all bets on ourself, we’ve got to dare to roll the dice.”

“Have you ever had that moment when time stands still, you talk to yourself and you say: ‘Let’s be honest, I’m a bit of an imposter.’

Maybe they got someone better qualified than me to redo it, to replace me.”

”I got invited to take a photo of Michelle.

This isn’t political, this was cultural. I felt nervous because I knew I had to deliver something special to mark that cultural moment.”

“I told her I was nervous. She stood up, kissed me on the cheek and said: ‘Platon, when all is said and done, I’m just Michelle.’”

“I told Anthony Hopkins I was a fraud. That I wasn’t qualified. He gave me a hug and said: ‘Did it not occur to you that I’m scared too?

I have insecurities and photography exacerbates those insecurities. You have been honest with me and its allowing me to be honest with you.’”

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SEEING YOURSELF IN OTHERS’ STORIES “He said: ‘If you can get people to see themselves in the story that you put forward, you have a chance of achieving greatness. That’s never you personally, that’s something much greater called bridge building.’”

"When he felt me drape a flag over his shoulders, he felt compelled to hold this defiant pose one last time.”

"When you look at this photo you see an effortless and elegant defiance. If you were in the room, you’d have seen something different. You’d have seen a fragile man, frail and struggling to lift his hands.”

“He said: ‘I have a confession to make.

I wasn’t as great as others said I was.

I will tell you what was great. It wasn’t me, it was that people saw themselves in my struggle and in my story.’”

Conversation Questions ﹥ How do we find ourselves as leaders ‘bridge building’? ﹥ How do we lead so that people can see themselves in our story? ﹥ How can we have an organisational story that resonates with people?

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OUR MASK “Every former President I’ve photographed has gone through this reflection.”

"I call it a transference of power. Now that Bush had left the White House, he had something that he didn’t have before.

Time.

He had time to reflect on his legacy. What did he get right? What did he get wrong?

I bet you’ll all go through it when your time is up too - what did you get right? What did you get wrong?”

“He put on this fake cheesy big smile in every picture Sometimes the mask tells us more about the truth than the truth does.”

Conversation Questions ﹥ Do we make enough time to reflect? ﹥ How can we learn from what we got right? How can we learn from what we got wrong? ﹥ What does your ’mask’ say about you? ﹥ Are you hiding your truth? ﹥ What will your legacy be? What do you want it to be?

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FEAR “What would you do if you weren’t afraid?

Would your life be different?

Would your career path be different?

Would your relationships be different?”

"The great irony, was that when he walked in the room, he seemed terrified - as if he never read his own poster.” ”There’s a question we need to ask all our tech titans: are they innovators driven by human empowerment and optimism or are they disrupters profiting from our fear of change and confusion?”

“There was a poster nailed on the wall that said: ‘What would you do if you weren’t afraid?’

Friends, that’s one of the most powerful questions we would ever dare ask ourselves.”

Conversation Questions ﹥ What would you do if you weren’t afraid? ﹥ What can you do to confront your fears? ﹥ What can you do to support others in your team to confront their fears?

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THE GENETICS OF YOUR ORGANISATION “Elon talked to me about the genetics and DNA of an organisation.

He said: ‘You can have a huge powerful organisation with all the financial might you could wish for, but within that organisation, if you look at the science and humanity inside it, it's made of many people competing against each other to move up the ladder to promotion to the top’”

“Elon said: ‘A powerful company can be outmanoeuvred, outsmarted and outperformed by a small start-up with a merry band of brothers and sisters who are all working together with a singular goal and mission.’”

Conversation Questions ﹥ How could you unite your team around a singular goal or mission? ﹥ How would you describe the DNA of your team? Of LBG?

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LONELINESS & MORALITY

Ed Said: “What makes an honourable person is when you recognise you’ve crossed to the wrong side of history, and you do everything in your power to bring yourself and those around you back to the right side.”

"I asked if he was a patriot or a traitor while he was holding the flag.

He said: ‘Don’t get bogged down with labels or picking sides. It’s not about us vs them, it's about us coming together to solve common problems and find common goals. What I did was not for my benefit. I didn’t ask for money, I took information and gave it back to the people. I didn’t do anything to gain a label but to give everyone a choice about the world they want to live in.”

“Ed said: ‘Loneliness can be a terrifying thing. But loneliness can also be an empowering thing, because when you are lonely there is nothing but a wall of silence.

Listen to the silence and you just might hear the voices of history.”

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POWER & PRIVILEGE “I asked how can I, a white middle aged man be of service?

She said: ‘Stand with us, not in front of us.

‘Talk with people. Don’t talk at them. Listen to them, don’t just hear them.’”

“I asked what she’d say to leaders.

She said: ‘Recognise your power and do something.’”

“What makes a great leader?’

A good leader stands and speaks but a great leader sits and listens. Mostly, the leaders we admire, are the ones who have empathy, who dared to think about the underdog.”

Madeleine said: “There’s plenty of room for mediocre men, but no space for mediocre women.

We have to strive for excellence every second of our professional lives.”

Conversation Questions ﹥ How could you use your power to make change? ﹥ What more could you do to fight 11 for the rights of others?

EMPATHY & LEGACY “I look back at history and say: Which leaders do we admire?

Which leaders have stained the pages of history?

Which leaders do we hold up as a beautiful example for us to follow?

The leaders that we admire, are the ones who did have empathy, who did cry because they were moved by somebody and who did dare to think about the underdog rather than just navigating the power path.”

“I'm sure there’s a moment where all of you talk to yourself when its quiet. You say “I’m doing ok, but how can I be better?”

“Phobia is infectious but so is compassion and our commitment to belong to something beautiful again. We will not go down as a generation of connectivity that disconnected ourselves.”

“Now is the time for all of us to think about our legacy while we can still shape it.

Are we to be bystanders or upstanders?

Maybe we can earn the respect of history and transform this chaos into a beautiful cosmos.”

Conversation Questions ﹥ What can you do to shape your legacy? Your team’s legacy? The Bank’s legacy?

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EXECUTIVE QUESTIONS AND FEELINGS HOW EXECUTIVES FELT BEFORE THE SESSION STARTED

QUESTIONS FROM EXECUTIVES “Have you ever declined to photograph someone?” DEBBIE BURTON “What’s the shared attribute of the people you’ve met who have inspired you? And is there a shared attribute of those who you would not like to emulate?” MADELEINE MCDOUGALL “Is there anyone you have photographed where you have really struggled to build a connection?” KIM “What advice can you give us? What should we do more of? DAN MAKOSKI “You said you didn’t see service in the eyes of the world leaders you photographed. Is service a proxy for empathy? DAN MAKOSKI

HOW EXECUTIVES FELT AT THE END OF THE SESSION

“What attributes do you dislike in a person?” MADELEINE MCDOUGALL “How do we take this precious gift of your craft and stories and what can we do differently?” DAN MAKOSKI “Did you provide Boris Johnson with the Union Jack handkerchief?” BENEDICT BROGAN

Conversation Questions ﹥ How do we, as leaders, demonstrate humanity and vulnerability? ﹥ How do we identify our moral compass and identify what more we could be doing? ﹥ How do we take back this notion of service to our teams? ﹥ How can we offer the hand of friendship to others, even when we have very little to share?

TAKING ACTION Starting conversations WHAT TO DO NEXT If the conversation stops with the executives who were able to hear our speakers, we are limiting our potential. We encourage you all to lead courageous conversations with your teams – share this stimulus, explore the provocations and reflect on what this means for you and for Lloyds.

SHARE THIS RESOURCE

Facilitation tips Set the tone Do model openness and vulnerability.

Don’t assume people will feel comfortable to be truly honest unless they feel they have permission and have seen you truly take the lead.

Be inclusive Do consider different thinking and communication styles. Create space for reflection.

Don’t let a few of the most vocal or extroverted thinkers dominate.

Own it together Do enrol participants in what success looks like and make it everyone’s job to get there.

Don’t carry responsibility for a great conversation alone

Conversation questions to start you off ﹥ How could you encourage team members to share vulnerabilities more?

How can you role model for them? ﹥ Which leaders do you admire, and why? ﹥ How can you emulate the leaders that you admire? ﹥ How can we incorporate the wellbeing of others into our work?

START THE CONVERSATION

If you want to watch the session to refresh your memory in advance of a discussion with your team, you can watch the session here. You can watch the post event reflections by Platon and Dan by clicking on their names on page 2.

Use the stimulus to start a conversation with your team about leadership within Lloyds and reach out to people within your parts of the business to find out how we can benefit from the lessons on the nature of leadership covered in this speaker series.

“We’ve all got to dare to be honest with each other. It's not a sign of weakness for a leader to be honest and show vulnerability. It's the opposite - a huge show of strength.

Never think you’re letting your capacity down because you’re daring to show vulnerability. You’re building a beautiful bridge for people to cross.” PLATON 14

the edge Open to all senior executives, grade H+, the edge is designed to provide development opportunities to explore and strengthen your leadership. If you were really interested in Platon’s points about empathy, compassion and learning about those around us then you should sign up to a community connection or quest.

Programmes include: External provocation Speaker Series Leadership conversations offering thoughtprovoking stimulus from external panellists, conversations with peers and space for reflection on our leadership. Any areas you’d like to explore, or brilliant speakers you have heard? Get in touch.

Community Connections Forward Institute - A programme of virtual dinners A mini-series of curated dinners which will provoke and challenge you and allow you to connect with community groups and experts.

The next experience launches in Q3.

Responsible Leadership Forward Institute – Fellowship and Exchange programmes Build cross-sector connections on the Exchange programme, join an 18 month exploration of responsible leadership through the Fellowship or build connections with inspiring community leaders.

Leadership styles Harvard Business School Cultivate your empathetic leadership style, improve strategic ability and deliver purpose driven growth.

Behaviour change YSC - Breaking the Pattern Practical tools to help you to form new habits and mindsets to re-energise your work and shake up your routine.

Access the latest details, register your interest or sign up to explore opportunities from the edge on the Hive platform.

“While no single conversation is guaranteed to transform a company, a relationship, or a life, any single conversation can.

Speak and listen as if this is the most important conversation you will ever have with this person.

It could be.

Participate as if it matters.

It does.”

SUSAN SCOTT HEAD TO HIVE

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The Forward Institute is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to building a movement for responsible leadership, working with 30 cross-sector organisations. We work in partnership with Lloyds to support responsible leadership in executive development at the Bank.

12a Charterhouse Square, London EC1M 6AX www.forward.institute