Leadership white paper
- 1. What do the 21st Century CEOs look for in leaders? Executive Summary In the past few months, representatives from H & A International have talked with 85 CEOs and C-suite executives in the Houston area about their views on leadership and what they are looking for in leaders related to leadership development. In this report you will find a summary of those interviews. CEOs were asked following three questions regarding leadership: What do you think of when I ask, what is leadership? What leadership attitudes and aptitudes do you feel leaders should possess? What words of wisdom would you give to a university or a corporate training that is developing or delivering a high-level leadership program? Leadership is… • Being able to balance the many needs of an organization • Having a vision for their organization that is aligned with the organization’s mission and values as well as with their own • Being able to communicate this vision clearly to others • Creating a culture that invokes excitement and passion within people • Being positive, flexible, and focused • Being a team player, and jumping in to help wherever needed Attitudes and Aptitudes • Ability to inspire others to become actively committed to the organization’s goals and success • Ability to communicate expectations and standards, and their alignment with everyday actions • Desire to recognize and understand individual strengths, and to respect others’ differences and values Words of Wisdom • Help people understand interpersonal relationships, and be able to recognize, understand, and communicate what drives others and themselves • Active listening is key • Help students understand the consequences of their decisions • Let students know the importance of face-to-face communication and the risks of social media • Focus on little successes rather than problems The rest of this report covers the responses to the questions in greater detail.
- 2. When asked, “What do you think of when I say, what is leadership?”. . . A leader at the top level must be able to draw the "right" balance in meeting the many and diverse stakeholder interests. (S)he should be immune to the "myopia” syndrome (nearsightedness). Only then will the person overcome the insurmountable challenge of ever achieving strategy implementation. A good leader has to have a vision of what the organization will become and project that vision to employees in a way that creates excitement and passion. “It’s about creating a culture where people want to win.” A leader must get employees to buy into their vision and take it on as their own for a company to succeed. This vision must move from the top management all the way down to frontline employees who make the business run. Leaders must be positive and excited about what they are doing. A company with excited leadership, a compelling story and proper compensation will attract and retain talented people and have the human resources needed for transformation. Good leaders must also check their ego at the door and jump in with sleeves rolled up. In addition, a business that can transform isn’t obsessed with titles. “Good people drift to where they belong. Just let people do what they do.” C-suite leaders must align their actions with their mission, vision and values statements. Those individuals must be given a good environment in which to work. Being able to experiment without fear is a core value of a company that allows leaders to innovate and grow. Everything is measured so it can be understood and learned from, but there may be thousands of ideas that must be crawled over before a right one is reached. If the first wrong answer is viewed as a failure, a company will never reach the right answer. Additional responses given by CEOs when asked, “What is leadership?” . . . Communication • Ability to inspire trust • Verbal communication skills (getting the point across) • Ability to send the message clearly • Clear expectations communicated to employees
- 3. Leading People • Ability to deal flexibly with each person • Ability to rise up to take control and simultaneously empower employees by understanding their strengths • Capability to envision with credibility the future state of business and to persuade other people to see the same vision • Personal dedication to something other than themselves • Ability to cause others to act toward a goal without use of force or threat • Ability to lead transparently, by example, and with integrity Skills • Ability to influence others to change behaviors • Creativity • Ability to follow a goal without constant direction • Entrepreneurial initiative • Ability to learn through wisdom and experience • Ability to determine what is necessary Attitudes • Vision — focus – direction – passion • Making a difference everyday • Intuition • Setting an example that demonstrates what success looks like in their role
- 4. When asked, “What are leadership attitudes and aptitudes do you feel leaders should possess?” Good leaders know what needs to happen to move forward and can communicate goals inspirationally to bring about enthusiasm, engagement and commitment. There are no "stars": each one is a star in his or her own right, striving and contributing to the overreaching mission and vision. Good leaders are aware of the many interested parties they need to work with and know what added value others bring personally, to the company and their country, with minimal prejudice. Leaders must understand cultural differences and the strengths of each person. Three keys to successful leadership are: 1) interpersonal skills, 2) empathy for others – what is important to them, 3) willingness to commit to the goal and take it on as if it was their own. Here are additional responses given by CEOs when asked “what makes a leader standout from others” Communication • Listening – compassion – drive – decision making • Empathetic • Commitment to what is expected • Ability to personalize contact (don’t push your agenda until you have heard the ideas of others) • Ability to communicate expectations and standards • Adaptive approach to communication • Establishing a safe environment to say what you think • Looking people in the eye Leading People • Can inspire others and influence them • Prior leadership a must for career path • Willingness to take action during difficult times • Reputation of doing what you say you can do • Practice what you preach • Results-based leadership with creativity • Need to help others figure out what is leadership and what they do • Team player – NO LONE WOLF • Collaboration leadership • Ability to want others to work with them • “A leader with no followers is just taking a walk”
- 5. Skills • Eye on the bottom line • Confidence – good presentation • Creates a good culture • Effective delegation • Decision-making skills • Interpersonal skills • Base skills of the organization (“understand the matrix of the organization”) • Attempts to turn everyone in the company into a risk manager • Some skills in your chosen field for credibility • Uses best practices • Awareness of change • Self-awareness--knowing what they are good at to fill the gaps • Knows what they are doing and what makes the company tick • Ability to maximize team results • Willingness to challenge and to be challenged • Staying current with technology being used in business • Hand on the pulse of the company • Stays on the edge of your business Attitudes • How they can make a difference • Take responsibility • Take criticism well • Emotional intelligence • Sincerity • Traits (courageous, charismatic, conscientious) • Care about ethics • Strong morals and ethics • Sense for knowing when to bend the rules • Taking responsibility • Willingness to work hard • “It is what you can do, not what you can’t do.” • Turning mistakes into a learning opportunity • Can take criticism without reprisal Making a Difference • Stay focused on what you are dealing with • Don’t confuse effort with results • Community involvement • More exposure to different roles and environments • Group activity in college • Charity work • Thirsty to learn and always improve
- 6. When asked, “What words of wisdom would you give to a university or a corporate training that is developing or delivering a high- level leadership program?” Help people understand interpersonal relationships and being able to communicate what drives others. People don't care how much someone knows until they know how much the person cares. MBA and EMBA graduates need to keep this idea in mind: They possess lots of knowledge through formal training, but they must also be active listeners, listening to even those who may offer absolutely no perceived benefit to themselves. Teach the students to have an entrepreneurial outlook, even if they are bound to work in a corporation. Look for intern possibilities—previous internships can be critical. Here are additional responses given by CEOs when asked, When asked, “What words of wisdom would you give to a university or a corporate training that is developing or delivering a high- level leadership program?” . . . Potential Leader or Student Goals • Have the potential leaders or students take on projects as leaders • Goal setting by building a playbook • Plan for their career goals • Exposure to people outside of the university or corporation • Focus on little successes rather than problems • Care about people Suggestions for Teaching • Help them understand the consequences of their decisions • Develop common sense in people • Help the potential leader or student to be intuitive • Incorporate more face-to-face communications—don’t overdo social media • Teach that leadership comes in all shapes and sizes • Introduce more inclusive and less charismatic leadership • Coach talent management • Surround yourself with people with a passion for the goals of the corporation • Benchmark what others are doing, be sure it is international • Reward them face to face or with hand-written notes • Become a magnet for leadership • Write a mission statement and the values that support the potential leader or student
- 7. Conclusion As a result of the information we have gleaned from these CEOs and their expertise and experience, we have begun a number of initiatives at H & A International in our leadership training and coaching programs. Specifically, we are using this information: - to revamp our Leadership Development coaching/training programs; - to enrich the experience we bring to our senior leaders; - to inform our efforts as we create improved coaching and leadership training that will track senior leaders leadership experiences and learning throughout their engagement; and to upgrade our current leadership and coaching programs. We will continue to study leadership from a number of vantage points with a goal to continuously improve our leadership programs and the experiential learning of the leaders. We aim to meet the leader’s needs of the top companies in the 21st Century. Curriculum Goals • Include basic Chinese and understand that culture. Business is going to the Pacific Rim • Test it – Keep it current – challenge it • Spice up courses with well known leaders • Make it the real world (less theory and more practical applications) • Grade on what really matters • Bring in leaders and have the leaders grade the students on that info • Teach critical thinking skills, systems thinking and analytical skills • Don’t ignore basic, long standing tried and true standards