CEO Reports – ‘Improving Leadership and Strategy Execution’– The Storytellers by Global Business Media

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Improving Leadership and Strategy Execution Whatâ€™s Your Story? The Fall and Rise of Storytelling The Power of Inspirational Leadership The Battle of Head versus Heart Leadership for the Future

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The Fall and Rise of Storytelling

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Words versus Deeds Changing our Approach A Change in Development A Business of Passion

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Foreword A

T THE time of writing this, the UK is preparing

employees or creating an external story to execute a

to go to the polls. Aside from questions over

marketing strategy.

the economy, immigration, law and order one of the

Jo Roth will then look at the importance good leaders

key issues will be who will make the best leader.

play in a company. There are plenty of examples of

It’s a timely moment to examine what qualities we

leaders who have been the inspirational face of a

look for in leadership and how business leaders

firm – whether that’s Steve Jobs at Apple, Richard

can improve their own skills.

Branson at Virgin or Bill Gates at Microsoft. They are

The trouble is that not every entrepreneur is born to

integral to the DNA of any firm and when they depart

lead. They may be able to develop a brilliant product or

the company appears somewhat diminished – at least

an exciting concept, but when it comes to putting it into

temporarily – without them.

action, they flounder. Furthermore, accepted notions

We’ll also consider the often overlooked role emotion

of leadership and strategy are being challenged as

has to play in the workplace. Traditional mantra

research offers up new methods based on passion,

might emphasise the theory that emotions have no

empowerment and inspiration.

place in business, but the truth is often the opposite.

In our lead article, we examine the role storytelling

Businesses are increasingly developing their levels of

plays. Allison Esse and Travis Wentworth of

emotional intelligence (EI) as they look to find an edge

consultancy group, The Storytellers explain how

in the modern marketplace.

traditional skills of storytelling play an important role

Finally, we’ll cast our eye to the future. Thinking on

in the workplace. Creating an effective story about

leadership development has changed considerably

a workplace can help to inspire and empower your

over the past few years, but are these new ideas

employees, improving their wellbeing and ensuring

anything more than passing fads or something more

they are ready to go that extra mile.

concrete? We’ll examine the latest trends and what

We’ll continue with the theme of storytelling by

future trends might look like.

looking at those companies which have used the power of stories to improve their own proposition – whether that’s delivering an internal story for their own

Tom Cropper Editor

Tom Cropper has produced articles and reports on various aspects of global business over the past 15 years. He has also worked as a copywriter for some of the largest corporations in the world, including ING, KPMG and the World Wildlife Fund.

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What’s Your Story? Alison Esse and Travis Wentworth, The Storytellers How storytelling can help leaders to bring their people with them to execute strategy and implement change?

OW CAN leaders improve the execution of strategic initiatives? This question certainly hasn’t lacked for attention. There have been around 35,000 business books on strategy published since the early 60s. But what has lacked is a general understanding of the importance of human engagement in successfully executing strategy. A great strategy goes nowhere without a business culture prepared to make the changes necessary to deliver it. We believe that successful strategy execution and culture change relies both on effective, authentic leadership as well as a culture of storytelling. The two go hand in hand. Storytelling can be used as an incredibly powerful and influential tool to help make sense of our work, bring dry, abstract principles to life and inspire and help people understand why what they do matters. Effective storytelling can also help cultivate inspirational and authentic leaders, and create the followship necessary to turn strategy into action.

Leaders can blaze the trail by telling their own stories – the story of why they are the right leader to take the business down a particular path, to build trust and belief in their teams. Then can then align behind the story of the journey the organisation is embarking on and tell it in a way that is clear, simple, and relevant to their teams. Finally, they can encourage employees to share their own stories: stories of change, pride and success that demonstrate their involvement and personal contribution to that journey. A storytelling culture is perhaps the first prerequisite to making change possible. And it’s up to leaders to make sure the stories told are the right stories to illustrate the kind of action and behaviours they need to foster. In this article, we will outline how stories are all around us, and we look at how business leaders can use stories to influence and change people’s attitudes and behaviours – so they can bring their people with them to make strategy a reality.

Great leaders are great storytellers We use storytelling to unleash the potential of people to make change happen.

+44 207 5905454 makechangehappen@thestorytellers.com www.thestorytellers.com @storyacademy

SHARE STORIES OF PRIDE AND SUCCESS THAT HELP BUILD TRUST AND BRING STRATEGIC MESSAGES TO LIFE

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It’s no great revelation to say that storytelling forms an essential part of who we are, but the role stories play in an institutional setting is only beginning to be understood

Changing Our ‘Inner Story’ Why can it sometimes feel so hard to inspire people to act in service of a strategy? Institutions are not inanimate containers of human activity. They have a life of their own. They change people, and vice versa; they are living vessels of institutional memory, culture, aspirations, and, at times, ongoing challenges that can be tough to fix. Another way to describe this idea is through the notion of the ‘inner story’ that shapes individuals’ understanding of themselves, their role, their colleagues, and the journey their organisation is on. Humans instinctively look to make meaning of events by constructing a story in which these events fit. These stories are more like epics than novellas – they go on and on, evolving and cementing key themes and beliefs in our minds that can be hard to shift. They determine how we think, feel, act and behave. For example, a company undergoing change may instigate a major restructure resulting in redundancies. In the absence of a compelling corporate narrative that explains the big picture – why this is happening, its ambition for the future and how change will benefit the business and the people within it – the story in people’s minds often becomes “change means I’ll lose my job. It’s being done to me. I’m a victim.” Uncertainty breeds fear and resistance, and energy, focus and commitment to executing strategy stalls. To head this off at the pass, leaders need to help people embrace change by showing them how they can play a vital role in the new world, empowered to make a difference. They need to put the spotlight on the impact that the new world (and desired actions and behaviours) will have on the lives of their customers (or ‘end users’). In turn, they need to stimulate a dynamic dialogue within their teams where sharing positive examples of success inspires their colleagues to follow suit.

The Power of Storytelling Storytelling inspires people to act. At The Wynn resort in Las Vegas, a guest was checking into the hotel when she realised she’d left a vanity case containing some essential medication for her husband at home in California. When the bellboy heard her talking of going back, he had an idea. He called his brother, who lived not far from the guests’ home, and arranged for him to collect the case from their housekeeper. After convincing the guests to stay, he left, drove through the night, collected the medicine from his brother, and had it delivered to their room by 7am the next morning – right when her husband needed it. Asked why he had taken it upon himself to do this, the bellboy said that both he and his manager could see how his actions would contribute to The Wynn’s story – articulated as a journey to create the ultimate guest experience ‘so they would never want to leave’. This kind of story plays out on broad organisational levels, as well as in more personal ways, even in ways we’re not always conscious of. Stories can help us to relate to complex and abstract principles, often enabling us to imagine ourselves within the story that’s being told. In our minds we believe we too could become the hero. And everybody wants to be a hero. The stories we come up with in our minds to make sense of the information we take in play a large role in influencing how we think, feel, act and behave. Consciously or not, we tell ourselves stories all the time, translating cold, hard facts into something more meaningful. As writer Jonathan Gottschall put it, “Story is for a human as water is for a fish – all-encompassing and not quite palpable.” It’s no great revelation to say that storytelling forms an essential part of who we are, but the

‘HERO’ STORIES HELP TO CREATE ENGAGEMENT AND DEMONSTRATE DESIRED BEHAVIOURS

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role stories play in an institutional setting is only beginning to be understood. Stories are not just a form of communication. As important as such issues as strategy, performance and market placement are, human engagement – the stories of change, empathy, human endeavour and success – plays a vital role in fortunes of the business. These are the stories that engage, motivate and inspire people, and will help create a powerful emotional connection to the business and the journey it’s on. And with emotional connection comes fertile ground for improvement and change. A great example of this emotional connection played out at a leadership conference we once organised for another global hotel brand. To illustrate one of its strategic priorities – ‘showing our guests that we care’ – one of the delegates stood up and shared a story. He recalled a time when a father and his sick son were visiting his hotel. They were popular regulars, as the medical centre treating his son was located nearby. The night before the son’s chemotherapy began, his father explained to the restaurant staff that his son had decided to shave his head from the outset. And to support him, his father had decided to follow suit. His request to the head waiter was that, when they appeared the following morning for breakfast, the waiting staff didn’t pass comment or react openly to their shaved heads, for fear of embarrassing his son at what was to be the start of a very challenging period of his life. When they arrived for breakfast, nobody in the room batted an eyelid nor said a word. Four of the waiting staff, however, had shaved their heads too. Needless to say, many people in that conference were reduced to tears of both pride and empathy as the story was told, and

the story is still being told in the organisation to reinforce the fact that they care. And that’s what caring for guests looks and feels like.

The Role of Leaders in Creating Followship Leaders play a vital role in developing a culture of dialogue and involvement, to help uncover and share the stories that will inspire and motivate others, and bring people with them. But leadership is a shared journey: without followers, there are no leaders. Still, the idea of being a ‘follower’ occasionally feels negative. Being a follower takes courage, and is its own kind of leadership. This is particularly true of the ‘first followers’, those who help transform an individual acting alone into a movement that characterises the ‘way we do things around here.’ It’s not always clear when employees become genuine followers. People might obey a CEO or a manager whether they respect them or not, but act without genuine desire or any discretionary effort. This is why such characteristics as emotional intelligence, self-awareness, and communication are also so crucial for leaders. One might also add patience: it can take time to build trust, particularly in organisations that have endured extensive change and uncertainty in the past. Storytelling plays an important role in creating authentic leaders. By sharing their personal story…what influences and experiences have led them to where they are today, and their motivation for working for the business, they can forge a credible and personal connection with their teams. This kind of transparency helps build trust. Sebastian Coe, leading London’s successful bid for the Olympic Games, stopped

Great leaders are great storytellers We use storytelling to unleash the potential of people to make change happen.

+44 207 5905454 makechangehappen@thestorytellers.com www.thestorytellers.com @storyacademy

LEADERS NEED TO DEVELOP A CULTURE OF DIALOGUE TO CREATE A SENSE OF OWNERSHIP AND INVOLVEMENT

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Leadership is a shared journey: without followers, there are no leaders

short of complex rational arguments he could have used to persuade the Olympic Committee. Instead, he simply recalled how, as a child, his ambition to become an Olympic athlete was born when while he watched the grainy, black and white TV images of the hometown runners competing in Mexico City. He decided to start running, and followed his dreams to success. Now, he wanted to inspire the same movement in the next generation. Leaders also need to listen and encourage dialogue, as opposed to telling people what to do, if they want respect from their followers: doing so both attracts followers and encourages them to perform at their best. Research has consistently shown that when it comes to motivating people to perform even rudimentary analytical tasks, the carrots and sticks of traditional hierarchical structures simply don’t work. In fact, they can even make people perform worse.

now operate on a much more level playing field – with similar rules, market access, products and methodologies. What distinguishes a business from competitors now is its degree of human engagement – the extent to which people apply their own discretionary effort to the needs of the business. Focusing on marginal operational improvements may, in fact, send the wrong message to employees, suggesting that their efforts have little effect on the success of the business – that they’re just cogs in a much more meaningful machine. And stories are everywhere. They are created at all levels, from the dominant organisational narrative, to the personal anecdotes that employees tell each other every day, to the inner stories that serve as a lens that shapes people’s understanding of events going on around them. What matters is how we use these stories to create inspirational leaders who can influence people’s mindsets and behaviours, and unleash their potential to make change happen.

LOCALISE THE STORY SO IT’S RELEVANT AND MEANINGFUL FOR YOUR TEAMS

The End of System Thinking Many consultancies and operational experts take the view that businesses are like systems, and that to improve the business you must make the system more efficient. People aren’t so important, but rather the environment in which they operate. We take a different view. Gone are the days when businesses could get a clear competitive edge through operational improvements alone. Ford Motor Company made radical innovations in vehicle assembly, which put them far ahead of their competitors. But businesses

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The Storytellers is an innovative consultancy that has worked with over 150 major organisations worldwide using storytelling to achieve change and performance improvement. www.thestorytellers.com Tel: +44 (0)20 7590 5454 Email: makechangehappen@thestorytellers.com

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The Fall and Rise of Storytelling Tom Cropper, Editor Storytelling is all the rage, but is it here stay? We examine how business forgot, and then remembered, the basics of telling a good tale.

HEY SAY a lie can make its way around the world in the time it takes for the truth to tie its shoelaces. If that’s true, part of the reason will be because lies are – more often than not – the better stories. Truth-tellers rely on facts, figures and reason, while the lie spins a tale that goes straight to the heart, and that’s what tends to stick in the memory. Today, business appears to have embraced the art of storytelling. It’s being touted in all areas from internal communications to public relations and advertising, but does this have strong foundations for the future or is it another in a long line of fads?

The Age of Reason Storytelling has been at the heart of the human experience ever since we first started drawing on cave walls. Take ancient tales such as the Iliad – the classic story of the Trojans and the Greeks; of ten years of war, a face that launched a thousand ships and the gift that brought down a kingdom. So ingrained into our psyche is this tale that the chances are we don’t need to elaborate any further. However, at the dawn of the 21st Century, the art of the story appeared to be under threat. This was the age when reason had triumphed over superstition. Communication relied less on telling a good story than presenting cold hard facts. The result was that organisations ceased communicating with their customers and their own employees on an emotional level, but began to see them simply as assets which could help them achieve their business goals. Business became progressively detached from its customers and its employees. Reports, such as the 2013 Gallup poll, which found that the majority of people did not like their job1 summed up the prevailing mood. For most people work was a place to be endured until the weekend came around. Reversing that trend and creating a world in which employees are engaged and passionate about a business has long been the

goal of leaders and in storytelling they now believe they have found the ideal tool.

Rise of the Story Tellers Politicians were among the first to truly recognise the value of a good story. Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Ronald Reagan have been among the most adept at using stories to deliver a compelling narrative. Advertisers were next to embrace it. Coca Cola developed a powerful movie, entitled Content 20202, in which it shows how it will move towards what it called ‘Content Excellence.” “The purpose of content excellence is to create ideas that are so contagious they cannot be controlled,” says the video, “and through the stories we tell we will provoke conversations and earn a disproportionate share of popular culture.” The video exemplifies the power of the story over a rational marketing narrative. The rational story behind Coke is that of a fizzy drink and nothing more. A storytelling model, on the other hand, sparks an image of a brand which shows how ‘business can be a force for good’ and sit at the heart of popular conversations. Advertising, though, is only part of the story. Businesses are beginning to weave stories into the fabric of their entire organisation. Leaders are encouraged to integrate it into every facet of life, from interacting with employees, to presentations and emails. By engaging with stakeholders at all levels, on an emotional, rather than purely rational, level they can win arguments, sell more effectively, convince potential investors and inspire their own workforce. Storytelling is, then, at the cutting edge of business and marketing thinking, but is it here to stay? The problem is, until recently, even the most fervent proponents of storytelling struggled to present arguments which themselves relied on anything more empirical than other stories. A consultant might talk about a time when they delivered a successful talk using a story. Now, though, there is a growing body of scientific

Great leaders are great storytellers We use storytelling to unleash the potential of people to make change happen.

+44 207 5905454 makechangehappen@thestorytellers.com www.thestorytellers.com @storyacademy

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Storytelling has been at the heart of the human experience ever since we first started drawing on cave walls

work that shows the power of stories in action and demonstrates what they do to our brains. Stories effectively activate different parts of our brain. If you sit through a dry presentation based on facts and figures, the part of your brain that deals with languages and decodes sounds into words is activated. However, a story is something completely different. Not only are the language areas of the brain activated, but so too are all the other areas which would be activated when experiencing the events described. The result is that you’re more likely to remember the message and embrace its meaning. In one study, Jennifer Asker, a marketing professor at the Harvard School of Business, asked each of her students to give a one minute pitch. Of these, one in ten contained a story while the others relied on facts and figures. She found that only five percent of students could cite a statistic while 64% were able to remember a story.3 The key to the success of a story is its ability to appeal to individuals’ human emotions rather than their rational decision making. Psychology Today

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found that customers used the part of the brains designed to process emotions when making a buying decision and that an advert’s likability rating would be key to its ability to increase sales.4 In brief, then, stories act very much like Homer’s Trojan Horse. It is a message hidden within the context of an outward story. Because the listener recognises it as a story and not an advertising message they are more likely to accept its argument and to dismiss weaknesses. If, on the other hand, you approach someone with data and information, they will be on their guard; they will subject any data to subjective analysis and will be less likely to accept what it contains. Stories, then, have a major role to play and there is now enough scientific evidence to convince even the most cynical of business leaders of their value. However, understanding their power is one thing, knowing how to use them is quite another. That’s why significant resources are now being sunk into convincing the next generation of leaders and advertisers how to use story-telling to their best advantage.

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The Power of Inspirational Leadership Jo Roth, Staff Writer A great leader can inspire businesses to great heights, but is great leadership something that can be taught?

T’S OCTOBER 2011 and after a long battle with cancer, Steve Jobs – the founder of Apple and the man who introduced the world to the iPad – passes away. As news breaks, shares in the company fall 5%5. During his reign, shares had risen 9,000% and the company had briefly become the most valuable in the world. The fall was as clear an indication as the markets can give of the value they place on a strong charismatic leader. In most respects Apple hadn’t changed. It still produced the same products, his death had long been expected and succession plans laid. Even, so the removal of this symbolic head was enough to dent investor confidence. Elsewhere in the world of business we have plenty of examples of strong leaders lending value to their company through the force of their own charisma. Think of Richard Branson – his own leadership gives his business empire Virgin a distinct place in the market. It is a company with a promoting model of business that goes beyond profit. This is despite a portfolio which includes a highly polluting airline, and a private care service which has been the centre of much controversy for profiting from the NHS, and its tax dealings.6 The conclusion is that for businesses such as these, the profile and personality of a leader can be even more powerful than the company itself. His or her image becomes intermingled with that of the company, which can enhance its position in the marketplace. Not only are they a tool for external promotion, they can also improve the loyalty of their own workforce. According to surveys of their employees, the majority of graduates starting work at Google believe it is the most inspirational company in the world. That kind of loyalty inspires people to continue working for the company and to bring ideas and innovations into the workplace – all of which feed in to improve the overall performance of the business.

The Secret of Inspirational Leadership Of course one thing the world’s most influential leaders have in common is an innate charisma and showmanship, and not everyone will feel they have the personal traits to follow in the same path. However, there are many lessons every business leader can learn to be more inspirational in the workplace. 1. B e passionate: Howard Schultz of Starbucks has repeatedly expressed the importance of passion in leadership. The majority of workers – at all levels – are looking for more than just a salary from their job. They want to be engaged and passionate about what they are doing. Speaking to CNBC, he outlined his vision for the role business can play in inspiring people and society. “I think business has a significant role here to play to reinvent the role and responsibility of a public company,” he said. “To demonstrate that you can make a profit, you can give back to your community and you can carry your people in a major way.”7 2. Selling the benefit: A key contributing factor to disengagement within a company is not knowing why any actions are being taken. Leaders need the ability to sell their suggestions to workers – to communicate not only the ‘how’ of any question, but also the ‘why’. Plenty of entrepreneurs have seen their ideas flounder because they were unable to communicate the benefit of their products to potential investors. Equally, many leaders who feel their workforce is not actively engaged in the process have failed to sell the benefit of any instructions they give. The result is employees who are unhappy or ambivalent about their work and will spend half their time updating their CVs.

Great leaders are great storytellers We use storytelling to unleash the potential of people to make change happen.

+44 207 5905454 makechangehappen@thestorytellers.com www.thestorytellers.com @storyacademy

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The world’s most

connect better with any issues. We are emotional animals and we make decisions based not just on numbers but also on instinct and emotion.

famous business leaders

5. Inviting feedback: A key difference between good and bad leaders is a willingness to listen to feedback. Poor and ineffective leaders fear what that feedback will be and instead put their head in the sand. Instinctively they understand that they are unpopular with their workforce, but rather than face and resolve the situation they hide from it. Instead, by listening more, they can better understand the motivations of those around them and take in lessons which can improve their own performance as leaders.

perform the role of brand hero. Their fame is as great, or greater, than the company they represent

Brand Heroes

3. Praise: According to Richard Branson, praise is a key factor in effective leadership. “As a leader of people, you have to be a great listener, a great motivator, very good at praising and looking for the best in people. People are no different from flowers,” he said. “If you water flowers they flourish, if you praise people they flourish, and that’s a critical attribute of a leader.”8 4. Storytelling: Good leaders are effective storytellers and they use this in every facet of their life, from external promotions, to emails. Presentations can come alive when using stories about a leader’s own personal experience. They inspire and motivate as well as helping people to

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The world’s most famous business leaders perform the role of brand hero. Their fame is as great, or greater, than the company they represent. However, it doesn’t just have to be a leader who performs the role of brand hero – it can be anyone in the company. A care company could promote stories about its frontline care workers. Equally, a firm could highlight individual employees who have gone above and beyond the call of duty. It all helps to give customers and employees a vision of what a company is trying to represent. Unfortunately, according to endless surveys, inspirational leadership remains in short supply. The majority of workers are not engaged with their jobs. They either do not care or actively hate their working day and are motivated only by the pay cheque at the end of the month. Often there is nothing any leader can do about this – they may simply be the wrong people in the wrong job. However, by inspiring individuals in the message of the business and helping them to maximise their own potential, business leaders can get more out of their people than they ever thought possible.

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The Battle of Head versus Heart James Butler, Staff Writer Why embracing emotions can be key to successful decision making for businesses of all sizes.

“

HERE’S NO room for emotion in business9.” So says one of the UK’s best known businessmen Alan Sugar. However, while there are many others who would share that opinion, the truth is emotion can play a crucial role in every part of the business. Studies show it can help build employee loyalty, establish effective leaders and make key business decisions. In truth business is all about emotion and embracing that can lead to success.

The Art of the Irrational Sugar’s view is one that has been echoed by mainstream business for years – when it comes to doing business it’s best to be like Mr Spock and keep emotions out of it. They can cloud your judgement and lead to irrational decision making. They can lead you to keep an employee out of sentiment even though they are no longer able to execute the business strategy. They can run up costs and see a good business grind to a halt. However, there is a weight of scientific opinion which suggests emotional intelligence can play a key role in business success. Indeed, it’s not difficult to see the business value that emotions can play. You can see it in the lines of people awaiting Apple’s latest release. They manufacture tablets, MP3 players and smart phones which are as good, bad or indifferent as any of the other leading manufacturers such as Samsung or HTC. However, the brand loyalty of Apple’s customers – based on their irrational love for the product – ensures they retain top spot and also charge a considerable premium in comparison to their competitors. This is just one example on how emotions can help a business.

Inspiring Loyalty Just as emotion can be important in inspiring customers, so it can also inspire the people who work for you. In a post-recession world, the modern workplace is not one in which loyalty is always valued. A survey from Metlife in 2012

showed that employee loyalty was in decline. One in three employees stated that they planned to leave their job within a year . In a world in which we can all expect to have many different jobs, developing an emotional connection to a company is not top of the agenda. However, many of the largest companies in the world are investing huge sums in promoting loyalty. Google regularly tops Fortune’s Best Places to Work list. Much is made of the generous employee benefits schemes, but the real secret lies in how they treat their people. The company works employee satisfaction into every layer of its DNA. They empower them in every aspect of their decision making and ensure they feel an integral part of the project. It’s a simple formula based on the principle that, if your workforce are happy they will do a better job. Equally, if you develop a reputation within your industry as being a good place to work, the chances are you’ll attract the best people – giving you a crucial competitive edge on the competition.10

Great leaders are great storytellers We use storytelling to unleash the potential of people to make change happen.

The Art of Decision Making A surprising area in which emotions are key is decision making. In 1994 a neuroscientist named Antonio Damasio discovered something surprising. While studying people who’d suffered brain injuries that impaired the part of their brain that felt emotions, he learned that they were unable to make decisions. These people were otherwise normal, except for the fact they were unable to experience emotions and while they could rationally explain all their actions, he discovered that they found it incredibly difficult to make even the most simple of decisions. The clear lesson is something which can be taken away for business today – decisions are made in the heart and not with the head. This is shown clearly when debating a course of action. One individual may have an overwhelming weight of evidence on their side – enough to convince them that nobody could fail to be swayed. Even so, time and time again, people

+44 207 5905454 makechangehappen@thestorytellers.com www.thestorytellers.com @storyacademy

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There is a weight of scientific opinion which suggests emotional intelligence can play a key role in business success

dig their heels in and refuse to be persuaded. Their emotional and instinctive reaction is enough to over-ride reason. People often view this in terms of the conflict between the powers of reason and the powers of emotion and in business they believe that sooner or later reason has to win out. However, you can have much more success when you blend the two. Emotion is a critical part of any decision and, without it, reaching a conclusion can be almost impossible. That’s because the more you think rationally about a problem, the more complicated it can seem. Every issue has several sides to it, with pros and cons associated with each decision. Breaking these down into the most advantageous choice is fraught with difficulties. On the other hand, a decision based on emotion is simply a case of “what do I want? Will this help me get it? And is this advantageous to me?” When negotiating with someone it’s highly unlikely you’re going to persuade them by

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telling them what to think. Instead, you have to put yourself in their shoes – to understand their problems and how they are seeing the challenge. You then present your proposal as being a solution to their issues. In so doing you help them arrive at the conclusion themselves and have more autonomy.

Conclusion In conclusion, then, the old ethos of keeping emotions out of business is wrong. Far from confusing the issue and clouding judgement, they can inspire customers and employees. They can help you make better decisions and ensure your firm remains on the cutting edge of innovation within your industry. That’s not to say there are times when emotion can’t be a negative factor but, when properly controlled, there is a growing body of evidence showing that it can be an integral factor in the success – or otherwise – of a business.

SPECIAL REPORT: IMPROVING LEADERSHIP AND STRATEGY EXECUTION

Leadership for the Future Tom Cropper, Editor

Companies have a greater recognition of the importance of leader, so how can they work to train up the next generation?

VER THE last few years companies have invested more money in the development of their top executives. Even so, confidence in leadership remains low and many leaders fail to put their words into action. As we move into the future, therefore, the question is how can businesses close the gap between aims and reality, and how can they provide more effective training for the next generation of top executives?

Words versus Deeds Businesses, large and small, have been investing significantly in leadership training. Even so there has been only limited improvement. A report from Deloitte found that there was a gap between what leaders said and what they did. While most expressed outward confidence in their ability to outperform the opposition, many were not acting with confidence in their business decisions. Furthermore, the current generation of leaders did not have confidence in the quality of future leadership. 52% of CXOs and 59% of CXOWs said they did not think people lower down the chain of command had the ability to assume greater powers of responsibility.11 Jim Moffat, CEO of Deloitte Consulting said: “In my conversations with CEOs, growth and talent consistently come up as the top challenges facing businesses,” he explains. “It’s clear that today’s business leaders recognize the importance of talent development, but are challenged with identifying the right investments that will make the most meaningful impact on employees.” More generally, there is a lack of confidence in both political and business leadership. A poll by Harvard University found that 70% of Americans blame poor leadership as being a factor in economic decline12. We’re therefore in an unenviable situation in which individuals have little faith in the current generation of leaders and current leaders have limited confidence in the abilities of those who will come after them. Something, therefore, needs to change.

Changing our Approach It is a curiosity that, although there is a widespread recognition of the importance of leadership, there is still little consensus on how to achieve it. In general, though, the last ten years have seen a gradual move away from the autocratic style of leadership towards one which recognises collaboration, human development, imagination and innovation. It’s one where leaders are being encouraged to be more hands on with their employees and to infuse their own passion into the DNA of a company. Key to this will be recognising the abilities of the younger generation. The millennials are reaching an age where they will begin to infiltrate senior executive positions. As they do so, they will bring their own outlooks and perspectives to bear. According to a paper by the Boston College for work and family, millennials are ethnically diverse, team players, confident, optimistic, trusting of authority and keen to achieve in everything they do. They are also the first generation to have grown up entirely in the age of high performance digital technology and so it stands to reason that they will have a different idea of how to do things than many of their predecessors.

Great leaders are great storytellers We use storytelling to unleash the potential of people to make change happen.

+44 207 5905454 makechangehappen@thestorytellers.com www.thestorytellers.com @storyacademy

A Change in Development A paper by Nick Petrie of Harvard University, illustrates the need to change attitudes to development13. Respondents to the survey said that old fashioned forms of competency based WWW.CEOREPORTS.COM | 13

SPECIAL REPORT: IMPROVING LEADERSHIP AND STRATEGY EXECUTION

Leaders are spreading responsibility throughout the organisation, widening the pool from which ideas and innovation can come

training for leadership focused only on what they needed to do rather than how they could develop the skills. What was needed, he argues, is a move away from horizontal development to vertical development, which focuses on the stages individuals pass through before they reach any level of maturity. He also points to the emergence of collective, rather than sole, leadership models in which individuals were empowered to take on greater ownership of issues. “The question will change from, ‘Who are the leaders?’ to ‘What conditions do we need for leadership to flourish in the network?’ ”, he writes. The last ten years have seen a transition from an individual leadership model to one of a network of leaders who focus on collaboration in order to secure the innovations needed for success. By doing so, leaders are spreading responsibility throughout the organisation, widening the pool from which ideas and innovation can come and empowering employees to make the best of themselves. The age of a single guiding genius is coming to an end – instead, modern leaders will be seen as facilitators – people who can inspire others within their organisation towards ever-greater success.

A Business of Passion Some of the most prominent leaders in business today talk about passion. They work to harness

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the enthusiasm and talent of their employees in delivering success to their businesses. To do this, they need to engage with the workforce and imbue them with the same passion about the organisation and the industry as the leaders feel. They cease to become drones working within the office and are instead innovators and inventors, using their collective skills to lead the business into the future. Leadership has therefore become a much more complicated animal than in the past. The model of leading through fear and by example is being outmoded in favour of something much more collaborative and engaging. It’s a model which recognises the value of the human capital within a company and knows that they can hold the secret to overall success or failure. Even so, recognising that need is one thing – transferring the skills to the next generation is something different. As millennials reach leadership positions in companies, they are bringing new ideas and new ways of working. These will challenge the established order and have the potential to create friction with those used to certain methods of working. For this reason, effective leadership training is something that must be instilled throughout the organisation, helping those that lead to improve and those who follow to engage more effectively with their managers. Much will depend on the success with which business adapts to this changing landscape.

SPECIAL REPORT: IMPROVING LEADERSHIP AND STRATEGY EXECUTION

References: 1

Worldwide, 13% of employees engaged with their job: http://www.gallup.com/poll/165269/worldwide-employees-engaged-work.aspx

Coca Cola Content 2020: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LerdMmWjU_E

Selling your product means selling a story: http://women2.com/2013/05/07/the-power-of-stories/

How emotions influence what we buy:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/inside-the-consumer-mind/201302/how-emotions-influence-what-we-buy 5

Apple stock price falls: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/oct/06/apple-stock-steve-jobs

Virgin Care among firms with lucrative NHS deals and a tax haven status:

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/mar/21/ow-lucrative--deals-go-to-firms-that-use-tax-havens

Howard Schultz – the best leaders come from the military: http://mob.cnbc.com/us_news/102161514

Richard Branson – a brand leader’s influential role: http://www.insight180.com/sir-richard-branson-a-brand-leaders-influence-role/

Stylist Meets Lord Alan Sugar: http://www.stylist.co.uk/people/stylist-meets-lord-alan-sugar

Declining employee loyalty: http://www.stylist.co.uk/people/stylist-meets-lord-alan-sugar

Deloitte survey reveals confidence gap among America’s top executives:

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/deloitte-survey-reveals-a-confidence-gap-among-americas-top-executives-788650845.html 12

6 Leadership development trends of 2015: http://switchandshift.com/6-leadership-development-trends-for-2015

Future trends in leadership development: http://www.ccl.org/Leadership/pdf/research/futureTrends.pdf

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