Why leadership strategy matters

Maeve Neilson, Chief People Officer, New Zealand Qualifications Authority, shares her practical tips on how HR can make a difference to strategic leadership.

When I was asked to write this article on why leadership strategy matters and how HR professionals can influence the shape of this within an organisation either at the top table or by influencing the top table, I had two immediate thoughts: Why me? And what tips can I offer others that may help?.

The first pātai (question) was the classic case of imposter syndrome. So, I gave myself a wee pep talk and stopped procrastinating. The second pātai had me reflecting on my career and what I have experienced. I don’t have all the answers, but have a few tips that may be useful.

Leadership at all levels in an organisation is about setting the direction and focus, and then aligning kaimahi (employees), resources and work activities with that organisational strategic direction.

Strategic leadership is the ability of leaders to guide and influence an organisation’s long-term direction, growth and success by making decisions that balance short-term demands with longterm objectives. It involves not just managing day-to-day operations but also envisioning and shaping the future of the organisation. Strategic leaders think beyond the present, anticipate changes and align resources and efforts toward achieving key strategic goals.

A well-defined leadership strategy supports this by developing, managing and aligning leadership capabilities with the organisation’s priorities or objectives, enabling leaders to gain the skills needed to connect kaimahi to the vision, values and deliverables.

Well, that all sounds idyllic. Is there a role we have as HR professionals to lead strategically, helping your executive team to develop a leadership strategy that guides, influences and develops employees to achieve the organisational priorities, while aligning to the vision and purpose, the values and culture the organisation wants?

Step by step “what goes in a leadership strategy” is as close to you as a chat with a fellow HR professional, Google or ChatGPT. I’m not going to spell all that out for you, rather give some tips and tricks that may help your strategic thinking as you work with your executive team to embed or improve how your organisation leads.

TIP 1KNOW YOUR BUSINESS.

Know your business. Yes, ChatGPT will write a beautiful leadership strategy for you, but it may not fit within the current and future context of your organisation. Read everything: Board papers, executive papers, ministerial expectations, key stakeholder or client communications and strategies.

Truly appreciating what the organisation is trying to achieve, the challenges and opportunities will enable you to align the leadership strategy and subsequent kaupapa (work programme) with the organisational priorities. This alignment will support buyin and address any obstacles from your executive and leaders because they will be able to see the connection between leadership capability and organisational delivery.

Know your business. Yes, ChatGPT will write a beautiful leadership strategy for you, but it may not fit within the current and future context of your organisation.

TIP 2PULL YOUR DATA AND DO THE ANALYSIS.

Pull your data and do the analysis. Workforce analytics will enable you to consider current capabilities, forecast future needs and optimise the workforce to meet strategic goals. What are the engagement results saying about leadership, connection to vision and delivery on priorities? What does your current leadership capability look like? Do you have a leadership talent pipeline and succession plans to address gaps? Do you need to consider initiatives that foster an inclusive and equitable culture? What is coming across your desk in terms of problems or issues from an employment relationship perspective that might provide a narrative around leadership capability?

What are your employee engagement and retention data sets showing? What insights do you have into the employee experience and wellbeing?

All of this enables you to form a strategic view of what may need to be considered within leadership strategy.

TIP 3SOUNDS EASY, RIGHT?

Sounds easy, right? Read the strategic documents, understand the vision, get the internal and external context, understand the data, build the strategy and plan aligned to the vision and organisational priorities. I’d challenge you to go a little further and engage with your stakeholders – early.

Talk to your chief executive. What are they looking for in terms of leadership capabilities at a senior level and down the organisation? What gaps do they see, and what’s the impact of those gaps in achieving the priorities? How quickly do they want any capability gaps closed? Do they see the leadership strategy and programme of work as one-off or enduring, that adapts over time?

Don’t be afraid to offer your insights. Be mindful that qualitative data and observations are useful; but balance them with facts and not just ‘gossip’.

Talk to the executive team members. While they hold the role of ‘first team’, they also need to meet deliverables within their business line. Is there a conflict between what they are trying to achieve as a business group and the organisational priorities? How is that playing out in leadership behaviours and how might those challenges be addressed in the strategy and subsequent work programmes? What are the outcomes they are looking for from this work?

It’s amazing what your kaimahi will tell you when they are given space to do so. Connect with unions, staff networks, non-executive leaders, the biggest champions and the biggest nay-sayers in your organisation to gain their perspectives and outline what you are trying to achieve. Because they are the groups affected by the strategy, their perspectives and insights will help with development, implementation and assist in reducing resistance.

TIP 4BE OPEN TO HEARING THE RESISTANCE.

Be open to hearing the resistance and open to addressing it. Not everyone will support what the organisation is trying to do. For many of us ‘seasoned professionals’, we know culture change and leadership capability shifts are complex and take time. Think through what types of change management strategies you might need to successfully develop and embed a leadership strategy.

TIP 5BE OPEN TO INNOVATION.

Be open to innovation. Many of us are working in constrained environments. We may not have the resources to bring in the experts to build our strategy or to support the programme of work within it. Have the conversations with the executive, leaders and kaimahi to be clear on boundaries and constraints and then consider what can be achieved within that.

I was blessed to spend time with Jeanne Liedtka when she was in Aotearoa, sharing her insights into Design Thinking. As mainly public service attendees at the hui, we mentioned to her how hard it is to innovate in a constrained environment. Her insight was “it is somewhat easier than you think”. You know where the boundaries are, you can still innovate within those.

Be open to innovation. Many of us are working in constrained environments... Consider what can be achieved within that.

SUB TIP: RUNNING PILOTS IS A GOOD IDEA. Start with one team or a section of the organisation and test your strategy. Provide feedback to the executive on what worked and what might need to be adapted before broader implementation.

SUB TIP: DON’T MAKE IT TOO COMPLEX. Leaders are busy people often in that challenging role of inspiring others, managing others and doing a bit of the doing. They need space to think, to embed and learn, in an easy-to-digestand-implement way. Think about how you position this with your executive, who may want to do all the things right away. Starting small, measuring success, reporting on that success, and then building on that success will be essential for the executive to see.

TIP 6BUILD OFF, DON’T BIFF.

Build off, don’t biff. In other words, no leadership strategy will last forever; however, building off what has gone before is often more powerful and allows for more pace when seeking the change you want from your leadership strategy. By measuring impact, you can work with the executive to adjust and adapt the strategy and programme of work. This, again, comes back to data and insights; look for those qualitative examples, yes, and back them with the quantitative data (shift in engagement, retention, talent development and growth into and across leadership roles, customer/stakeholder feedback and satisfaction around deliverables).

Build off, don’t biff. No leadership strategy will last forever; however, building off what has gone before is often more powerful.

About nine years ago, Transpower went through an organisational transformation that included the introduction of a leadership strategy to significantly transform how leaders collaborated, engaged and delivered, aligned to the organisational priorities. I was lucky enough to spend time back at Transpower last year. It was really heartening to see the build-off that the Executive General Manager of People is doing on the programmes put in place nine years ago, under a different GM. This approach to sustainable but adaptive growth, linked to organisational strategy, is important for executives who may challenge a ‘lurch’ from one approach to another.

TIP 7BE STRATEGIC THINKERS AND STRATEGIC LEADERS.

As HR professionals, we play a critical role in shaping and executing leadership strategies. That requires us to be strategic thinkers and strategic leaders. The good news is that all the supporting infrastructure we need to do this is at our fingertips. We have the data and insights that provide a picture of the current capabilities, capacity, culture and behaviours and how well they are enabling the organisation to achieve what it needs to. Take the time to think beyond short-term tactical and into long-term strategic approaches.

As I said at the beginning, I can offer insights and tips that may be useful. What I really enjoy about HRNZ is the connection across the profession. The opportunity is there to attend a programme to upskill, gain knowledge and meet others. The Branch networks allow for local connections where you can share issues, seek advice and bounce ideas. Make use of those opportunities. We don’t have all the answers, but many of us have shared similar challenges and may have insights that can help.

Maeve Neilson is an outcome-oriented senior leader with over 20 years’ experience across diverse sectors and functions. She specialises in transformative change, translating organisational strategy into sustainable operational outcomes by improving system performance, capability, productivity and engagement. Maeve has led a range of complex challenges from managing large operational functions, organisational transformations, disputes and negotiations, and responses to significant incidents and workplace fatalities. Maeve is passionate about developing and empowering people to achieve amazing results for the organisations they work within and for themselves.