Last week I caught up with Neil Shilbury, CEO of Kaplan Australia.
For those of you not familiar with Kaplan in Australia, they are part of a US$2.6 billion revenue global educational business serving over 1 million students each year. In Australia Kaplan provides skills in many fields from financial services to degree qualifications. Kaplan is owned by The Washington Post Company.
I spoke with Neil about what responsible leadership means to him?
Neil explained, responsible leadership encompasses so many things. If you look at responsible leadership in education it will have similarities across many other fields.
Responsible leadership encompasses so many areas for business. How are you responsible financially, providing product at the highest level, a safe environment for staff, providing staff development options, engaging clients with good ethics that are high in integrity, morally responsible and looking towards their longer term.
Initially, businesses who conform to responsible leadership principles all look internally - to create the right environment.
Right behaviours are rewarded through recognition and promotion.
Inappropriate behaviours are counselled and in extreme cases - the staff member is removed.
We all need to work with a fair work environment without prejudice, bullying or associated behaviours.
Policies and processes need to be transparent with the knowledge that no-one is beyond investigation - right up to the CEO.
Living together in work, we have the knowledge that all of us live to the values upheld by the leaders of the organisation.
Living to the organisational values, we all know that every complaint is treated accordingly.
Whenever a complaint is lodged, everyone knows it will be considered and reviewed.
Responsibility in leadership is a KPI and everyone knows good performance is rewarded whilst bad performance is judged and undergoes performance management - including counselling and more strict responses.
These principles when measured by KPI's come down to the most basic levels. If someone is not performing correctly, this means everyone else needs to carry their slack. If this is continuous, it it likely these people will leave the organisation.
Often when this decision is made by management / leaders other staff speak up saying why did it take you so long?
Responsible leaders see these problems before they occur - gathering feedback from staff, measuring kpi's to identify when things are not right.
Responsible leaders choose appropriate staff. They make sure their selected staff are paid appropriately and their kpi's are regularly measured. This helps ensure the business continues to provide customers quality product/services of integrity with no hidden fees or expenses.
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