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Monday, November 29, 2010
Are You Ready for Change? Total Executive November Newsletter with Member Benefits
Since Total Executive was launched at the end of April 2010, we have published over 600 articles, interviews, research and skills development tips. Our analytics view which have been most popular. Here are the results of which articles were most popular across the 4 Categories that are the Cornerstones of the Total Executive Business... 
Are you ready for a change into 2011? Currently, Total Executive have two roles available in business partnership and development. One role focusses on Development of People The second role focusses on Communication Development Both roles are contractual positions. To discuss further and receive a position description, please 
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Thank you for your support in 2010. It has been an exciting year as our membership has grown and now includes executives from over 40 countries around the world. We wish you an enjoyable and safe festive season and look forward to further contact as you prosper and succeed further into 2011. Best wishes
Friday, November 19, 2010
"A leader is not a leader, they are a follower." - Manoj Nagpaul
Last week I met up with Manoj Nagpaul - CEO of WiPro Australia
I have known Manoj for many years and have watched the growth of WiPro within Australia with great respect under his leadership.
Speaking with Manoj about his thoughts on responsible leadership, he broke it down to 2 key areas;
- Enablement
- Accountability
Manoj explains...
Every leader who works responsibly will create value for their customers, employees and the community.
Leadership also requires accountability for creation of values - developing them and working within timelines.
Leaders are responsible for making sure requirements are met - for their clients and the business.
As a responsible leader, you look at everything from the end point. The leaders job is to ensure the outcomes planned are achieved and delivered - to the end.
Then Manoj introduced a new concept not previously discussed in Responsible Leadership 2010 interviews - though very complementary of the Indian philosophy in business.
"A leader is not a leader, they are a follower."
Manoj explains...
Successful leaders play a role in every team... Opening communications...
For example;
A WiPro project manager who had recommendations on innovative work to be completed with a major international client spoke with their overall business leader within WiPro.
Their senior manager was instructed by Manoj to listen to the recommendations of the junior staff leader, whilst also recommending Manoj for inclusion in future client discussions - personally.
This is the way Manoj works as a responsible leader. All staff are recommended to call on Manoj as a resource. In this way he mentors and coaches staff.
Manoj can help with presentations, communications, knowledge and more.
However, all staff are empowered and enabled to lead the projects they are responsible for.
Whether you have success or failure with each project, everyone who starts a project are encouraged to follow through whilst enabling and empowering success of those they involve in each project.
What Responsible Leadership means in the Health Industry
Yesterday I had a conversation with Colin Walker who is General Manager of Terumo.
Most of you are likely not familiar with Terumo - they are a leading organisation working in the health industry - their head office is based in Japan. Terumo’s main customer base is within hospitals and the Australian Red Cross Blood Service.
I asked Colin what responsible leadership means to him...
Colin said responsible leadership primarily involves setting the personal example when it comes to behaviour and the many rules and regulations that are set by government, head office and society.
As a leader you need to follow a code of conduct. More so, you need to champion it, taking the lead and encouraging others to follow your example. This begins at the induction of a new employee where Colin discusses the Terumo code of conduct and the ethical framework underpinning it. He also describes how the company code of conduct works in alignment with the medical industry code of conduct.
Colin is the local representative for the Terumo code of conduct and also was involved in the creation of the industry code of conduct.
Colin agrees that responsible leadership covers a lot of areas. These include, for example, looking after employee safety through conforming with OH&S legislation, an obligation that is also written into the Terumo code of conduct. Responsibility to staff and the company must be at the forefront of every manager’s focus. However, Terumo has the underlying philosophy of contributing to society through healthcare. This brings about a patient focussed approach where every interaction with a doctor or nurse is based on the needs of the patient.
Processes can be put in place to help guide everyone, though in the end it comes down to people being responsible for their own actions. If leadership is set at the highest level, others have a direction and example to follow and this makes it easier for them to be responsible about what they do.
People should be given authority to follow through with their own ideas, thoughts and direction. They can add a lot to philosophies and direction portrayed by their leaders. By following responsible leaders they add to the value of the organisation whilst following their leader’s example.
Customers also should have authority to direct the course of business by giving feedback. When engaging with customers, staff should be given authority to make executive decisions within the confines of their authority that are in the best interests of the customer.
This does not mean providing the cheapest price. It refers to providing an agreement valued by both parties that is in the best interests of the customer whilst also fair and providing value to the business.
Relating to society, responsible leadership ensures the business is in touch with society - as a corporate citizen whilst also ensuring sustainability issues are maintained. Currently Terumo are looking at their own head office property in Australia which has lighting designed to turn on across the office, when all rooms are not necessarily used continuously. The alternative is to re-wire the office which is an expense that needs to be considered if they plan to stay at their present location in the long term.
Colin cited a couple of examples of when responsible leadership has gone wrong - like the David Jones story recently in the media. Society in general has finely tuned social and moral antennae and companies that ignore these do so at their own peril. Doing the right thing (being responsible) may not be easiest path to follow but it usually pays dividends in the long run.
Finishing up, Colin summarised that Responsible Leadership is conveyed across a whole gamut of areas and definitions. Senior leaders need to be holistic with their thoughts and communications in order to be a truly responsible leader.
Leaders need to decide whether they are going to follow certain paths into the future as their own staff and society are regularly looking at what they are doing.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
The Key to Responsible Leadership is Empowerment - Narelle Kennedy - Australian Business Foundation CEO ((Tags:Empowerment,Engagement,Executive Leadership,Knowledge,Leadership,Mentoring,Responsibility,Responsible Leadership,Responsible Leadership 201
Today I spoke with Narelle Kennedy, CEO of the Australian Business Foundation.
Narelle has impact via her connections to many businesses, government policymakers and to leading edge researchers - both nationally and internationally
Our conversation began with what Responsible Leadership means to Narelle. Narelle's quick response was...
"What is the opposite of Responsible Leadership? Is it ir-responsible leadership?"
Narelle questioned the meaning of “responsible leadership” as a separate category of leadership focused on ethics, values and corporate responsibility. Rather, Narelle explained, leadership is a broader, more robust idea.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) forms part of the puzzle, as does sustainability, ethics, values and many other elements.
But ‘responsible leadership’ is much broader, it includes an appreciation of facts and mixing those facts with judgement, creativity and insight. Leadership involves both left brain and right brain activities.
Responsible Leadership should be seen in the context of all leadership, fully integrated as a part of being professional.
Leaders are not responsible for people, but they are accountable for the things people who report to them do.
An effective and good leader is accountable for outcomes. That is part of their responsibility. But leadership is not restricted to the top of organisations. Leadership occurs at all levels and in all functions of an organisation.
Paternalistic concepts of leadership, where the boss looks after and is responsible for subordinates, are out-moded. Leadership is more a two-way street.
The key concept is 'Empowerment'.
Perhaps instead of “Responsible Leadership’ we should be talking about “Empowering Leadership.” This is the first key concept.
Empowerment is not freedom to do anything you want. But it is a more dynamic concept than a single, authoritative, strong leader.
It mixes judgement with information, facts, intuition and both sides of the brain.
Empowerment helps those you are responsible for improve their lives, so they can improve the lives of those they care about.
The 2nd key concept for leadership is Context.
Look at what context you work within. If you are a large enterprise, your context is different to a small business.
In every context, leadership manifests itself differently.
There are some leadership fundamentals in any business, like making sure your financial, accounting and governance systems are in place.
But in a small family business, leadership will involve addressing the issues of family dynamics and succession planning difficulties.
If you are a large corporate, then leadership can be tested by your ability to understand the maverick elements of your business, where the next wave of business offerings might be generated.
If you are a charity or not-for-profit business with a social or environmental purpose, then leading your industry in social innovation might be the priority.
The 3rd key issue for leadership is the is Time Horizon.
Leaders at any level of business are focussed on their key business offerings that contribute most oto their successful and profitable business performance today.
But responsible business leaders must always look forward to what new business offerings they will need to create for tomorrow and beyond.
Very few leaders invest enough in the long term viability of the businesses/communities/constituencies they represent.
Responsible Leaders look beyond today’s success to what will make their businesses viable in the future. They look beyond their own tenure to a time when they will no longer lead their organisations.
Responsible Leaders have foresight, built on the knowledge of hindsight, as well as on the uncertainties and wildcards.
They have antennae out to detect options for the future and engage with those who can help provide solutions.
Many people confuse management and leadership. One of the core differences is leaders have the ability to look forward beyond the horizon.
The leader as futurist is often dismissed as irrelevant and impractical for achieving tangible immediate bottom line results. But leaders who avoid ‘futures’ thinking are flirting with danger, as they can be blindsided by unforseen threats and miss unimagined opportunities.
If you look at the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) as an example - many business owners and leaders did not pick it!
Now, people are looking at how to avoid being caught by surprise again.
From an individual perspective through to the largest enterprise it means investing a little in the future - to look at solutions for any unexpected future needs.
James Moody's book The 6th Wave is a classic example of how this can work - looking at the opportunities to be had as trends of resource management and efficiency become mainstream.
Businesses involved in monitoring, managing and considering our environment will be much more in demand into the future - such as smart energy, infrastructure and associated technologies.
Technology and communications are able to transform capabilities in business that we would never have considered in the past. They can transform the capabilities of businesses which leads to greater productivity, not only for individual businesses but for Australia as a whole.
As Cambridge Professor Alan Hughes’ analysis of Australia’s Productivity Growth in a recent study for the Australian Business Foundation shows, it is the high tech users, not the high tech producers, that are reaping the benefits of enhanced productivity. View the download here:
Australian Productivity Growth
So how does Narelle as a leader of businesses across so many levels see the attributes of business leaders in the area of responsible leadership?
Narelle summarises...
Responsible leaders...
1) Have an enquiring mind.
They generally never accept the first right answer. They are intellectually curious. They probe beyond the obvious and they consult, they are open to different perspectives and ideas and they can tolerate dissenting opinions.
But while being a consultative leader, they back their own judgments and are decisive at the end of the day. They have confidence and assurance to listen to critics and diverse opinions and incorporate this knowledge into the final decision.
2) Translate complex ideas so that they make sense.
The ability to translate the complex to be easily understood and acted on is a key feature of effective leaders.
In this way you make it easy for everyone to follow your decisions and thoughts.
Knowledge should be accessible and understandable for all staff and stakeholders.
3) Buck stops with you!
Effective leaders have no fear of being the decision maker, with informed appraisal of the facts and sound judgement of the alternatives. Leaders take responsibility for results.
Narelle volunteered Catherine Livingstone, Chair of Telstra and former Chair of the Australian Business Foundation as someone epitomising these leadership attributes and has proved to be a great mentor for Narelle.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Helping leaders’ brains to work better: NeuroLeadership Summit, Boston 2010
By Kristen Hansen
I have just returned to Sydney highly stimulated by a whirlwind trip to Boston for the NeuroLeadership Summit 2010. Why was I so excited by this event? Many people have asked me about it, personally or via my online networks. Well, the conference confirmed the dramatic and rapid evolution of understanding about the brain due to technology such as PET scans and fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging). There is more and more evidence creating the “science” of leadership for the first time in history.
My own current postgraduate studies in the neuroscience of leadership are part of the world’s first Masters of Science in NeuroLeadership degree at Middlesex University. While learning core lessons that underpin my work as a coach, trainer and facilitator, I am also making deeply personal discoveries. We live our entire lives without really understanding our brains but here finally are some answers. They are also concrete tools for leaders to generate personal and team peak performance.
The NeuroLeadership Summit is a global initiative bringing together neuroscientists and leadership experts to build a new science of leadership development. This gives leaders a greater understanding of how to 1) solve problems, 2) regulate emotions, 3) collaborate, and 4) facilitate change.
Despite 60,000 books on leadership there is no real agreement on what makes a leader successful. A 2008 study showed that improving leadership was the second most urgent human capital imperative for most companies’ business strategies. (Rock, 2010)
Here are some of the many highlights from the Boston conference:
Neural Challenges for Senior Leaders: Moderate Stress, Good Sleep, Positive Affect
Jessica Payne, from the University of Arizona, presented brain research on the challenges for the senior leader, identifying three key factors that lead to optimal brain performance. They are: 1) moderate stress 2) good sleep, and 3) positive affect. Target and improve any one of these and it benefits all three. Conversely, not achieving any one of them impacts all three. When overstressed, we do not sleep well, which impacts our mood (reduces positive affect), which in turn makes our focus problem-centred rather than solution-centred, creating more stress – and so the downward spiral continues.
Why the requirement for “moderate stress”? Peak performance certainly requires some level of stress. With too little stress leaders can be easily distracted and even bored. Without a certain amount of dopamine, a neurotransmitter in the brain, we underperform. But beyond optimal or peak arousal, performance levels fall. This is not dissimilar to the Flow principle (Csikszentmihalyi 1990).Too much dopamine creates stress at harmful levels and increases negative emotional memories. Cumulatively this explains why stress can lead to depression. Ongoing stress impacts health. As stress increases, the hippocampus, the area in the brain responsible for memory, undergoes a very clear size reduction. In summary, stress reduces our memory.
Fortunately neuroscience has identified proven ways to substantially reduce the impact of stressful stimuli. Other speakers described these approaches.
i) Emotion Regulation
Kevin Oshner PhD, a founding father of the social neuroscience field and head of the Social Cognitive Neuroscience Lab at Columbia University, described emotion regulation and strategies for dealing with stress. Among these, reappraisal is proving to have considerable impact: one methodology is that described in Peter Gollwitzer’s Implementation Intentions (1993), a popular and brain-friendly way to regulate emotions. This involves identifying the contexts where stress occurs and the stimuli that trigger it, then generating a statement in the form “If… then….” – a cognitive link between the context and stimuli that can provide a mental trigger or anchor which re-engages the pre-frontal cortex (our executive thinking) and moves us out of a limbic (emotion-based) reaction..
ii) Mindfulness
Mindfulness has been shown to reduce stress dramatically and increase an individual’s ability at meta-cognition, or awareness of their own thinking. Of course, Buddhism has been espousing the benefits of mindfulness for thousands of years. Finally science has caught up and seen the dramatic improvements in brain function and emotion regulation abilities of trained meditators..
Mindfulness expert Ellen Langer Ph.D, a professor of psychology at Harvard University, lectures all over the world and is author of over 200 publications and 11 books. A movie is currently being made about her life, starring Jennifer Anniston: Hollywood latches onto neuroleadership! Langer described mindfulness as an active state of mind characterised by being in the present, noticing subtle differences, being sensitive to context and perspective. By paying attention to small changes in everything, we are mindful.
Children can tell when we are not mindful: they will demand attention until they have undivided, mindful attention. Mindless attention is worth very little and yet this is how, in a multi-tasking world, with ever-increasing demands, most of us walk around – lost in our thoughts of yesterday, tomorrow’s meeting or the next conversation, planning and ruminating and ‘multi-tasking’. It may feel functional and even efficient, but it is not. It dramatically affects memory, but worse, it stifles creative insights. With a noisy brain, we miss the significant connections. Insightful people have a quietened brain, have trained themselves to be present to stop the constant noise, and have much greater ability to tap into their unconscious processing. It is the ability to make distant links and create innovative solutions that sets the senior leader apart – even if it is more and more challenging to achieve with competition for attention from stakeholders, employees, information and technology.
Quality Sleep and Memory
Jessica Payne’s second key area that can affect the senior leader’s brain capabilities is quality sleep. Getting enough of the right kind of sleep can have a big impact on memory. Interestingly, the old saying “Sleep on it” if things get heated between people is now proven by neuroscience to be the right medicine. After sleep, we retain the memory of an upsetting emotion but the negative impact is reduced. An area that is reduced during sleep, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, is responsible for cognitive control, rationality and decision-making. This explains why in dreams we can make such absurd connections and bring together quite distant relationships. It is also why we often wake up with completely new perspectives to problems: insights are generated when distant relationships are formed within the brain.
As we age, our memory is challenged and lack of quality sleep helps increase the demise of memory. The real issue as we age tends to be our inability to not get distracted by so many other memories. That is why something as simple as getting up to make a cup of tea can be confusing. We get to the kitchen and have been distracted by a number of other memories on the way so by the time we arrive we have no recollection of what we are doing there! It is more a focussing than a memory issue. Mindfulness, again, can improve focus and reduce distractions. Simply being more aware of the wandering mind can draw our attention back to the present.
Positive Affect
The third area that impacts the leader’s cognitive abilities is Positive Affect (put more simply, being happy). While happy, we improve our creativity and problem-solving. Higher hits of dopamine (the positive-reward neurotransmitter associated with novelty) create a continued positive spiral of improved thinking. Unlike when we are over-stressed, when happy we retain neutral and positive memories, which keeps us feeling positive and resourceful.
Issues arise when a leader becomes isolated by being overly involved in their work – sometimes so much that what makes them happy (friends and loved ones, exercise and hobbies) becomes hard to fit into the expectations of their senior corporate position. This is why executive coaches often focus on a senior leader’s personal life as much as their business goals. This can make an invaluable contribution not only to their happiness but also to business outcomes.
The best news about this is what has been called the “greatest discovery in neuroscience in 400 years” by Norman Doidge, MD, author of the recent best seller, “The Brain that Changes Itself”. We previously believed the brain to be fixed and rigid, only disintegrating from its peak. Neuroscience has now discovered “neuroplasticity” – the ability for the brain to change. The key to this is attention. By working with goals and paying regular attention to them (mindful attention with attention density) – which can occur through working with a professional coach – the brain can change.
A brain may actually prove that “every cloud has a silver lining”. Thus a brain that has formed habits of procrastination can become one of action. A brain constantly full and never present can learn to be in charge of thinking rather than a victim of it. A brain that has only ever led people from the front, rather than creating leaders at every level, can become a leader of leaders.
Neuroscience and NeuroLeadership are changing our understanding and relationship with thinking, processing, memory, influencing and collaborating abilities, and ultimately our happiness and success in life. It is no fad to be finally cracking the code of leadership from a scientific, brain-based perspective. We are all hungry to understand human nature and how we can maximise our performance and outcomes, and the brain is the source of it all.
For more information on these topics, please contact :
Kristen Hansen of EnHansen Performance atKristen@enhansenperformance.com.au or
+61 414 504 797
Monday, November 15, 2010
Benefit from Your Support of the ROAD MAP to Responsible Leadership
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