Leading Edge: April introduction from John Withers CMgr FIML, Chair of the Board

Welcome to the April edition of Leading Edge.

There’s no doubt we are all living through a time that is nothing short of extraordinary. As we watch businesses and services shut down or move online, as we need to self-isolate away from friends and family, and as we are forced to make tough decisions to keep our society safe, it can feel like our lives have been thrown into uncertainty.

These unique times bring unique challenges and I am sure we have all noted many good examples of the professionalism, courage and compassion of managers and leaders in Australia and New Zealand, as well as others who have been found wanting. As leadership professionals, the impact of COVID-19 has demanded many of us to step up to adapt and tackle adversity with new skills and knowledge we’ve never needed or utilised before.

Clearly the Board and team at IML are focusing on the challenges to ensure the organisation can weather the challenges to this business but ensure we continue to support and service our Members effectively. During this period, the Institute is prioritising support to our Members – from helping your business manage change and providing best-practice leadership strategies. Our focus is to ensure you and your organisation are empowered and equipped with the right resources to effectively navigate the serious business impacts of this crisis, and to help you facilitate a path to an effective recovery when the crisis passes.

In this edition of Leading Edge, we’ll share a few of the important initiatives we’ve implemented to assist you in leading through this period. We’ve aimed to provide a comprehensive suite of services to help managers and leaders at all levels to develop relevant and timely skill sets and expertise around crisis management. We’ve also expanded the range of free support services available to you through your Membership, so that you can get appropriate support to match your personal situation and needs. In addition our corporate consultants are developing bespoke solutions for organisations to match specific business challenges and to complement commercial responses to the pandemic. As the crisis continues to evolve, we’ll be investing in further timely and relevant services to support you and your business. If you have any requests for specific resources that we haven’t yet produced, please get in touch with our team by emailing membership@managersandleaders.com.au, and we’ll do our best to create a solution for you.  

Finally, in the face of a global health emergency, I encourage you to check in with your staff and yourself regularly throughout this period. The impact of this pandemic reaches far further and deeper than our workplaces. It’s important to put a high priority on your mental and physical health and those you lead. This crisis is a crucial test for leaders at all levels, but it is also one of great opportunity for all of us to step up and embrace the challenge and opportunity it presents. There has never been a greater need in recent memory for a strong and united community of managers and leaders than right now. 

John Withers CMgr FIML

Chair of the Board

Learning new ways: Education keeps pace with a changing business landscape

Political tension. Technology disruption. Regulatory change. Economic tremors. The list goes on. Every aspect of modern life seems clouded by uncertainty right now. For managers and leaders, it can feel like the only certainty is that more change is coming.

That presents an enormous challenge for those institutions charged with educating the managers and leaders of the future. How can universities prepare graduates for a business landscape that could be unrecognisable in years to come? Or, to put it another way, how is it possible to prepare someone for tomorrow, when you don’t know what tomorrow even looks like

 

Keeping up with business and education

One man who may have the answer is Professor Tony Travaglione. The University of Newcastle’s Pro Vice-Chancellor of Business and Law has his finger on the pulse of business education in Australia and worldwide. Until recently, he was President of the Australian Business Deans Council, providing leadership to 39 business schools, nationwide. And he is currently on the International Advisory Board at the Institute of Management Technology in Dubai.

Prior to his role at the University of Newcastle, Professor Travaglione held senior positions at the Curtin Business School, the University of Adelaide and the University of Sydney. He has also held the position of Visiting Professor at Stanford University where he taught MBA students at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Throughout his career, Professor Travaglione has maintained close links between the education sector and the business community. He has delivered research and other projects for an enviable collection of organisations including ANZ bank, BHP, Qantas, Nespresso, Main Roads Western Australia, Westrail, Hunter Area Health, and Centrelink. He has also conducted projects for international organisations including Norwich Union, Royal Sun Alliance, Guinness Brewing and the London Underground.

IML ANZ chief executive David Pich CMgr FIML caught up with Professor Travaglione to discuss how the education sector is evolving to meet the changing needs of aspiring managers and leaders.

 

Addressing the issue of graduate employability

DAVID PICH: Employers sometimes lament that university students, upon graduating, are not ‘work ready’ for the business world. How would you respond to that?

TONY TRAVAGLIONE: Traditionally, graduates who undertook business courses such as MBAs found it relatively easy to find employment. However, more recently, we’ve seen a shift where some institutions’ curricula have struggled to keep pace with the speed of change in the world of work. Of course, the flipside is that there’s been huge success for the universities and courses that have reacted positively and quickly.

 

Connecting with industry and staying relevant

David Pich and Tony TravaglioneDP: How can educators adapt to stay relevant?

TT: Working closely with the business sector is a big part of it. One way we’ve done this at the University of Newcastle is in relation to our EMBA, where we’ve consulted with industry. This has resulted in students working on organisational projects. We’re keeping the curriculum up to date by having organisations and employees working on real-life projects, and bringing their learning back to the classroom, and vice versa. So instead of completing textbook assignments, they’re rolling up their sleeves and doing workplace projects.

DP: The University of Newcastle’s links to the business sector now extend to IML ANZ too. We’re delighted to have the University of Newcastle on board as a Pathway Partner for your Executive MBA (EMBA). What excites you about that partnership?

TT: It’s a wonderful opportunity to work with a really professional body like IML ANZ and it helps to address what is missing in MBA programs right now in Australia. To enrol in this program, you need support from an employer. The curriculum supports you in the attainment of a range of skills and competencies, allowing you to graduate as a Chartered Manager in one year if you complete all the eight courses. And, during that journey, students are entitled to IML ANZ Member benefits.

DP: I can’t help but think that’s how education, and particularly tertiary education, has to go: building more of these kinds of partnerships with industry.

TT: Oh absolutely. That’s how to ensure university courses adapt at the same speed that industry does. And equally, if a university is leading the way in terms of research, then that also feeds its way back into the organisations. Everyone benefits from the knowledge that everyone brings to the table.

 

The shifting education landscape

DP: When I think back to my own university degree, it was essentially sitting in an old dusty, draughty lecture theatre. It was really no preparation for the world of work at all. Back then, the gap between work and academia was huge. Has much changed?

Tony TravaglioneTT: If you were to come and attend classes at the University of Newcastle now, your experience would be unrecognisable from what you just described. The analogy I would use is that the old form of learning – hour-long university lectures – was like sitting down and reading a newspaper for 60 minutes. But instead, we now use blended learning.

Blended learning is more like sitting down with three or four friends, and discussing what you’ve learned having already read the newspaper. Then, at a certain point, a subject matter expert (a university academic and/or industry expert) joins you for the discussion to add their insights. All of a sudden, someone jumps in saying, “Well, I found this online yesterday”. Someone else points out something they read in a magazine. And by the time that 60 minutes is up, you’ve covered numerous sources from around the globe and participated in a sophisticated debate.

Given the choice, what would you do: Stick to reading the newspaper for an hour? Or engage in all those interactions with people using all of those sources of information? I think it’s obvious which approach would enrich your learning most.

 

DP: In the past, people would study a tertiary degree then work in a single profession or industry for the rest of their lives. Now, as people live longer and markets are increasingly disrupted, individuals are likely to switch careers several times in their lifespan. That means reskilling and learning will be required throughout people’s lives, not just when they’re in their teens or early 20s. What advice would you have for managers and leaders who want to thrive in such an environment?

TT: The skillset that will be transferable across industries may not necessarily be a technical one. It is more about soft skills which centre around leadership: teamwork, negotiation, understanding culture, harnessing diversity, and so on.

My advice to anyone is that the days of a single qualification are indeed gone.

 

DP: That echoes what we’ve been saying at IML ANZ. If you want to lead people, then technical skills alone are not enough. However, I was interested when you used the phrase ‘soft skills’. I use it too – but I have a problem with it because ‘soft’ sounds easy. Whereas soft skills are actually hard to master!

TT: I agree – we do need to change that phrase. Perhaps we should simply talk about leadership skills? Because to be a successful leader, you’ve obviously got to understand what it takes to recruit, develop and manage a successful team. You’re only able to do that if you’ve got effective leadership skills. You can be the best in the world in a technical area, but if you don’t have those leadership skills, your career will stall. You’re not going to make your organisation as effective as it should be.

 

DP: Are you optimistic about the future of business education in Australia?

TT: I’m an optimist simply because I believe in competition. There is currently competition in the marketplace and that is only going to grow and grow. Yes, we all offer pretty much the same products, but how the products are delivered is what matters. At the University of Newcastle we use blended learning, as I described before.

There are other business schools who would expect their students to turn up to a big lecture room packed with hundreds of students.

You can simply record that lecture and play it over and over again year in, year out. And the students know that. So why would they bother going to classes? When we hear that perhaps students are not attending classes in the same numbers as they might have done 10 or 15 years ago, it’s easy to see why.

Today, some educators are trying to teach students the same way that they did 10 or 15 years ago. And students today are not interested in those outdated forms of delivery.

But I’m optimistic for business educators and institutions who follow a different path – the path of blended learning.

The full version of this article appeared in the December 2019 print edition of Leadership Matters, IML ANZ’s exclusive Member’s magazine. For editorial suggestions and enquiries, please contact karyl.estrella@managersandleaders.com.au.

What leaders need to know about modern slavery laws

By Elizabeth Ticehurst

 

It is hard to reconcile slavery – mostly thought of as a barbaric ancient practice – with the modern Australian workplace. Our employment laws and regulations are amongst the strictest in the world and our minimum wage is easily one of the highest. However, the reality is that practices such as forced labour and debt servitude still exist, even in developed countries, and can likely be found in the operations or supply chains of most businesses. Reliance on imported goods from regions such as South East Asia means that Australian companies are significantly exposed.

Until now, these connections to slavery and exploitation were hidden behind complex global distribution networks. But new legislation will force Australian businesses to inquire into and report on modern slavery risks in their operations and supply chains.

 

WHO WILL BE AFFECTED?

Two modern slavery laws have now been passed in Australia – the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth) and the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (NSW). While both laws have a similar aim and content, the NSW law covers organisations carrying on business in the state with an annual revenue of A$50 million or more. The Federal Act has a higher annual revenue threshold of A$100 million but applies nationwide. Larger companies will not have to report under both schemes, as companies who report under the federal scheme will be exempt from making reports under the NSW scheme.

It is also worth noting that New Zealand organisations with revenues in Australia of more than A$100 million will be also subject to the federal requirements too.

 

WHAT ARE COMPANIES REQUIRED TO DO?

Under both laws, a company must produce an annual report on modern slavery in their operations and supply chains. The reports must be approved by the board of directors and will be made public by the respective governments. Broadly, the reports must cover six main criteria:

 

  • The entity’s structure, operations and supply chain
  • Risks of modern slavery practices in the entity’s supply chain (including any entities owned or controlled by the reporting entity)
  • Actions taken to assess and address modern slavery risks, including due diligence and remediation processes
  • How the entity assesses the effectiveness of its actions
  • The process of consultation with entities owned and/or controlled by the entity
  • Any other relevant information.

 

IS REPORTING THE ONLY OBLIGATION?

The short answer is yes. At present, neither law requires any entity to take concrete steps to prevent or eliminate modern slavery in its supply chain. However, because the reports will be made public, it seems pertinent to ask what you want your report to look like.

Organisations that value their public image will want to produce a report that paints the company in a positive light and highlights the efforts they have made to ensure ethical practices in their operations and supply chains. The federal reporting system in particular will enable a direct comparison between entities in the same industries. It is intended that this will create public pressure on organisations to improve their practices. However, care needs to be taken to ensure that reports are accurate – misleading information in reports can be subject to significant penalties.

 

WHICH INDUSTRIES ARE LIKELY TO BE IMPACTED?

Fashion and apparel is an industry where modern slavery risks are apparent. Oxfam Australia’s #whatshemakes campaign is placing significant pressure on apparel retailers to ensure higher wages for garment workers in developing countries. However, modern slavery risks have also been identified in financial services, property, food and beverage, agriculture, mining and healthcare. When looking at supply chains, factors include where products are produced in high risk geographies (countries experiencing conflict or high corruption levels); or where there are vulnerable populations (migrants or unskilled workers). Reporting entities will need to examine these ‘hot spots’ and consider what controls and due diligence measures they have in place at the procurement stage.

Even within Australia, increased scrutiny is required. Building services, cleaning, travel, security and maintenance services have all been identified as sectors with a high risk of worker exploitation. Surveys conducted by the Fair Work Ombudsman have identified persistent underpayment of wages and other legal and ethical issues in these sectors. Organisations affected by these new laws will need to report on the actions they have taken to address modern slavery from 1 January 2019 onwards. Whilst some organisations will take a ‘tick the box’ attitude, a more constructive view is to see this as an extension of the company’s corporate social responsibility, and an opportunity to provide investors, employees and customers with insight into how the company is managing its modern slavery risks.

 

Elizabeth Ticehurst is Special Counsel – Employment at KPMG.

 

This article originally appeared in the September 2019 print edition of Leadership Matters, IML ANZ’s quarterly magazine. For editorial suggestions and enquiries, please contact karyl.estrella@managersandleaders.com.au.

How to manage the ultimate remote workforce

When working life gets particularly stressful, many managers and leaders utter the old adage, ‘We’re not saving lives’. And, for most CEOs, that’s absolutely true.

But what if the organisation you lead actually does – literally – save lives? And then, what if your organisation also happens to be one of the most quintessential Australian brands in existence – right up there with Vegemite and the Sydney Opera House?

Oh, and just to keep it interesting: Let’s say that you and many of your staff spend large parts of your working lives flying long distances at breakneck speeds in tiny aircraft.

Now that is pressure on a whole new level.

Meredith Staib MIML agrees that being CEO of the Royal Flying Doctor Service (Queensland) is not a job for the faint-hearted. But she’s loving her role heading up one of the largest and most comprehensive aeromedical organisations in the world.

BUILT FOR THE TASK

Before joining RFDS, Staib was already one of Australia’s leading emergency assistance executives. She had provided leadership to global organisations such as the Cover-More Group (part of Zurich) and Allianz Global Assistance. Her experience also spanned clinical and corporate management roles in the health, medical assistance and travel insurance sectors.

As if all that weren’t enough, Staib has also held international board positions including being an executive committee member of the International Assistance Group (IAG) in Paris, France. In that role she shared global accountability for the IAG’s continued success and led the board in developing and defining IAG’s strategy.

That career trajectory suggests that Staib must be a strong and implacable leader. But is there anything that does scare her? And how does she manage a remote workforce scattered across more than one million square kilometres of land? IML ANZ chief executive David Pich CMgr FIML caught up with Staib to find out.

DAVID PICH: When someone thinks of the RFDS, it’s obviously the planes that spring to mind. But there’s a lot more to it than that isn’t there?

MEREDITH STAIB: That’s right. It’s not solely an aeromedical organisation. It does so much more. We provide free dental care. We’ve got a big mental health program. In fact, that’s probably one of our most rapidly growing programs. We do about 25,000 primary health consultations annually. We employ about 380 people including pilots, nurses, doctors, allied health professionals, mental health clinicians, dentists etc. We’ve got nine bases across Queensland, with 19 aircraft. In fact, if you combine all the aircraft across all the RFDS sections, we’re Australia’s third-largest airline after Qantas and Virgin.

MASTERING COMMUNICATION

DP: As a leader, how do you manage staff when they’re spread across a vast State like Queensland?

MS: Obviously, our people in Brisbane get to see the senior leadership team a lot of the time in the corporate office. But the experience is different for those based remotely. As a leader, the key to that is communication and making yourself available. You have to be clear on your strategy and make sure everyone knows the vision and mission of the organisation, and where we’re going. It’s important that the senior leaders in the business share that.

DP: What about face-to-face communication?

MS: Technology has made communication a lot easier, of course, with video conferencing, Skype, social media and so on. But as a leader, you really need to walk the floor. I’m a big advocate of that because you can’t sit in an office and expect all the information to come to you. So you need to be out among the people. Within 90 days of starting at RFDS, I made it a priority to get out and around to our bases. I’ve lived in Queensland for a long time but, when I made those trips, it really brought home to me what a vast state this is.

SOLIDIFYING STRATEGY

DP: The RFDS has existed for 90 years and some people might think, ‘Well, the CEO just has to keep the organisation strategy on the same track as before’. Is that the case?

MS: When I joined, the organisation had just formalised a five-year strategy and we’ve just started on that journey. But my experience of strategy is that you can’t ‘set and forget’. You should be reviewing your strategy every six months because things change. It could be technology, it could be people, it could be regulations. You need to be ahead of the game strategically. I think it’s also important to check in with people regularly, to align their work to the wider strategy. Then every year, our board has an offsite strategic board meeting in one of our bases to review the strategy. Are we still on track? Is it still right for the business? After my first 90 days in the role, I had the opportunity to present to the board. I validated that we have the right strategy and, as CEO, I was turning my mind to execution.

DP: And as a leader, a big part of strategy execution comes down to people, right?

MS: Yes, absolutely. People are one of the main pillars of our strategic delivery. I think they are the RFDS brand – that’s how important they are. I’ve been really struck how people are willing to represent the brand, and go the extra mile to make a difference.

People are also central to my thinking when I focus on future-proofing the organisation. We rely upon four skillsets that are in very short supply in Australia and overseas: pilots, nurses, mental health clinicians and doctors. So we can’t rest on our laurels there. We need to make sure we’re an employer of choice and we attract and retain talent. We need to support colleagues if they need to go and live somewhere remote, away from their family. Or if they need to work shifts, because we operate 24/7. Or if they need to work out of hours to support fundraising and community events.

DEVELOPING LEADERSHIP SKILLS

DP: Your workforce is clearly very passionate about what they do. They literally change the course of people’s lives for the better. However, that can sometimes come with a flipside can’t it? Passionate people can be amazing with their technical specialism, but not always strong at managing and leading those around them.

MS: I started out as a nurse myself and have worked with clinical professionals for most of my career. You shouldn’t assume that because someone is technically a great clinician, they’ll naturally be a great manager. Leading others is a skill people have to learn. I’ve been fortunate to develop the skills to manage people and drive organisations forward – but that has required training, qualifications, and experience. I think it’s our responsibility as leaders to provide those kinds of development opportunities for technical specialists who want to grow. We need to help them build upon the technical foundation they already have.

DP: Does mentoring have a role here too, do you think?

MS: Yes, I’m a big supporter of mentoring. It’s invaluable if you can have a person outside your organisation offering advice and guidance. That external perspective is so useful. I’ve been both a mentee and a mentor during my career and all those experiences have helped me professionally. When I look back over my own career, I’ve sought to learn something from all the leaders who I have worked with. I think that’s how you develop your own leadership style.

MANAGING RISK AND STRESS

DP: Flying planes in the air and dealing with medical emergencies, your organisation is exposed to a fair amount of risk. As a leader, how do you manage that?

MS: It’s when leaders underestimate risk that you run into challenges. So I take a rigorous approach to managing it. From my previous career experience, I understand health risk. And RFDS has got really strong clinical governance.

I’ve now learned a lot in a short space of time about the aviation side of the organisation too. As part of my leadership role, I hold the Air Operator’s Certificate from Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority. So ultimately, should something go wrong, then that will rest with me as the manager holding the licence. That’s a lot of responsibility but I’m comfortable with it as I have an expert team in the aviation space.

So, I know I’ve got the right people in the right place. We have defined structures around reporting. These people have direct access to me, and I meet with them regularly. I think the main thing I need to do as the responsible manager is make sure they feel that we have an open and collaborative relationship. If they need me to raise any risk issues with the board, then that’s what I’m here for.

DP: Collectively, your organisation deals with life or death situations all the time. On a personal level, how do you manage stress?

MS: Like many people in the health sector, I’m passionate about what I do and consequently it can be challenging managing work-life balance. But my home life is a welcome distraction from work. I like to run and do gardening. I have two great kids and they help me switch off from work. The normal things like, ‘Mum, where’s my school hat?’ and ‘I need help with my homework’. That all helps.

But I don’t think anyone takes a senior leadership role and expects it to be a nine-to-five job. And modern technology means that everyone in today’s workforce is virtually connected 24/7. You can either see that as a challenge or an opportunity. I think it’s quite liberating to be able to work from anywhere in the world.

The full version of this article originally appeared in the September 2019 print edition of Leadership Matters, IML ANZ’s quarterly magazine. For editorial suggestions and enquiries, please contact karyl.estrella@managersandleaders.com.au.

What mining teaches about the connections between people, knowledge and success in business

By Ken McDonald FIML

 

About the time that I was learning about business analysis, the managing director of our company, Weipa, assigned me a task that would occupy 100% of my time for about 12 months. In brief, we had to move quickly to be able to supply a more cost-efficient blend of trihydrate bauxite (ore that is the primary source of aluminium) to a leading refinery in Gladstone. If the trihydrate bauxite from a competitor went into Gladstone, it would change the dynamics of future negotiations. There was a major business threat if we did not supply and opportunity if we did supply trihydrate grade bauxite of about a million tonnes per year.

The managing director, Ian Gould, explained the context in some detail and said, “I want you to get trihydrate bauxite from Weipa to Gladstone by the end of this year.”

That was very clear. The reasoning was also crystal clear. How to do it was a foggy highway – initially. I do not intend to bore the reader with all the technical work that took place, but we were successful. There were many restless nights but it was a great case study in problem-solving that goes back to the Jaques stratified systems theory about levels of work complexity. There was some very good teamwork across multiple sites as well.

There were a number of streams of work taking place in parallel. Geologists and technical people who had a good knowledge of the bauxite deposits were combing through historical data to see if there were “pockets” of trihydrate. Chemical and process engineers were developing ways of analysing bauxite chemistry. Drillers at Weipa were drilling and analysing the bauxite to find potential trihydrate pockets near existing mine faces in targeted areas.

Considerable time and effort were also being spent on understanding the fundamentals of the ore. This was critical information for our current project. Interestingly, fully productive operating mines tend to be driven by less-detailed analyses. It is easy to lose sight of the fundamentals if there is no significant change. However, if you are seriously challenged, fundamentals are like gold.

We subsequently sent a trial shipment of trihydrate bauxite which proved a success. When capital was approved, the Weipa operations and Gladstone refinery were equipped to mine, handle and process trihydrate-grade bauxite, thus increasing the output of both operations.

I, meanwhile, learned some valuable lessons:

  • The importance of understanding the fundamentals of a product or resource
  • When you give people clear targets, appropriate discretion and good context, you can be pleasantly surprised with their contribution
  • As a leader, you do not have to be the expert on everything. You do have to be able to out all the pieces of work together in a coherent work plan

This is article is an edited excerpt from Ken’s book, ‘Management, Machinery and Money’.

Why foresight is the essential leadership skill for the future

There’s a myth that experienced business leaders are dinosaurs from a bygone era – typically old white males who only knew one way to lead, and that way doesn’t work anymore. So “of course” it’s inevitable they will get disrupted by younger, more diverse, more tech-savvy, “new” thinkers. But it’s not true. There are many experienced leaders and managers with the right mindset, who are more than willing to adapt in a fast-changing world.

But there’s a trap. The strategies and tactics that worked in the past don’t work anymore, and they won’t work in the future. It’s not that these leaders don’t know a lot (they do); it’s just that some of those things aren’t true anymore. They used to be true, so it’s natural to believe they are still true, and difficult to give up those beliefs.

If you used to believe in Santa Claus, it’s easy to dismiss that now because you were “just a child” and didn’t know any better. The danger comes when you stubbornly cling to other beliefs that also aren’t true anymore.

That’s why you need the skill of foresight: the ability to look into the future and understand what you need to succeed there. You can then decide objectively what you need to do, regardless of what worked (or didn’t work) in the past.

Some leaders and managers “get it”, but unfortunately, they are in the minority. When Accenture surveyed Australian CEOs about disruption, almost 90% of them expected unprecedented technology change in the near future. But the vast majority (more than 80%) thought the biggest disruption would come either from existing businesses or from inside their industry. They were trying to drive by constantly looking in the rear-view mirror.

Less than one in five admitted that disruption could come from start-up businesses outside their industry. And yet, that’s exactly what we think of when we hear the word “disruption”. The taxi industry wasn’t disrupted by a taxi operator, retail shopping wasn’t disrupted by a retail chain, and the hotel industry wasn’t disrupted by a large hotel chain. They were disrupted by Uber, Amazon, and Airbnb, respectively – all outsiders who were late to the party.

Even incumbents who had the tools of disruption already – like Kodak, who invented the digital camera – didn’t recognise their value until it was too late.

In fact, Kodak is the perfect example of a lack of foresight. Kodak went from the fifth-most valuable brand in the world in 1996 to filing for bankruptcy in 2012. There are many myths about Kodak’s failure: It had too much invested in film, it had grown so big it had stopped innovating, the organisational structure couldn’t cope with a digital world, and even a dramatic story that senior management told the employee who invented the first digital camera to hide it because it would destroy Kodak’s market.

But the reality is simpler (and less dramatic). The first digital camera was as big as a toaster, took 20 seconds to take a picture, and the resolution was much lower than a print. Kodak’s management assessed it, but dismissed it because they thought it would never be good enough to compete with film cameras. They didn’t have the foresight to understand exponential growth, which meant digital camera technology improved much faster than they expected. By the time they realised it, digital platforms like Flickr, Facebook, and Instagram had already made Kodak obsolete.


The world has changed – but have you?

You won’t develop foresight overnight, but you can start by asking these three provocative questions:

  1. What assets do we have that a start-up company would be happy not to have?
  2. What “impossible” technology would make our business obsolete?
  3. If somebody bought this business today, what is the first change they would make?

 

These questions are designed to challenge your beliefs, because some of those beliefs are rooted in the past and might not be useful anymore. As Josh Billings said:

“It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.”

 

Gihan Perera is a business futurist, speaker, and author who works with business leaders to help them lead and succeed in an uncertain but exciting future. He is the author of ‘Disruption By Design: Leading the change in a fast-changing world’. For more about how Gihan can work with your leaders and teams, visit GihanPerera.com.

Managing the business vision

There’s no shortage of talk about strategy. But behind every good strategy, there must be a clear vision – after all, we all need a destination before mapping out our journey’s route. So, on top of managing the day-to-day and adjusting the strategy, how can leaders ensure they don’t neglect to manage the vision?

An organisation’s vision should be its North Star. It needs to be the aspiration that everyone strives to meet.  In other words, it needs to help managers think beyond the daily details and think ahead to the type of future they wish to achieve.

So essential is a leader’s vision that many CEO’s are either marked by their lack of it when they fail or they are exalted for it when they succeed.

At any stage of your leadership career, managing the vision and ensuring that it remains the guiding light is vital. So, here are three ways leaders can manage the organisation’s vision:

 

Align everything to your vision

The Golden Thread Model provides an excellent visual on how to practically align all activities to the organisation’s vision. It represents the link between vision, analysis, systems and people, amounting to a shared understanding of how the vision, goals and values of the organisation relate to daily work.

By using this model, leaders enable the development of clear metrics which align business goals with measures of success and ensures that individuals are aware of and accountable for their contribution. This makes it easier to drive business success as everyone in the organisation is heading in the same direction.

 

Motivate through the vision

In addition to drawing direct relationships between the vision, strategy and metrics for success the model also encourages the creation of team and individual objectives that tie back to the vision. This is important for maintaining lasting motivation. Unlike hitting targets, aiming to move the organisation closer to the vision takes incremental steps and the cooperation of all. That means your teams will aim to complete a marathon rather than running a sprint.

Leaders should, therefore, be conscious of providing their teams with an update on how their individual or team efforts bring the whole closer to its vision.

 

Tell compelling stories about the company’s future

The reality for leaders is that not everyone will be driven by metrics or inspired by stats. Vision-focused leaders appreciate the importance of shaping a powerful and compelling story of their companies’ futures. Beyond crafting an inspiring narrative, it also serves as a powerful engagement builder. Stories have the power to turn aspirations into reality – even if it’s just in the mind. That, in turn, gives employees the clarity they need to visualise something that often can be too abstract and feel out of reach.

Sources (these articles are available to IML ANZ members via Leadership Direct):

Thinking bigger for business development

By Adrienne McLean MIML

Thinking bigger about what your business offers to customers can propel the business into areas of growth never imaged. It also keeps the business relevant, agile and in step with changing market forces locally and internationally.

But if something isn’t broken you don’t fix it, right? Sticking to the same way may seem reproducible and efficient, but is it limiting your business? While being able to offer a service or product well is of course good business, remaining stagnant in the way you do things means business efficiency could suffer. If you think of a wheel, it fundamentally hasn’t changed but its features have adapted to suit the needs of today’s modern vehicles.

It’s worth asking if there are new markets your business can go into. Or could you offer new products to your current market?

The business development process may simply involve implementing a culture of continuous improvement or it may require you to look for the next big growth step. Whichever stage the business is in, these five steps are important for thinking bigger about the business and focusing on what the business is offering customers and prospects.

1. Innovate

Coming up with new approaches and better delivery of the service/product to the customer are the driving forces for innovation and growth. Awareness of what is happening in the industry and the market is also essential. If you don’t keep track of these, beware – other companies certainly do and they can overtake you.

Thinking bigger about your business offerings drives innovation. Wanting to be the best, wanting to offer a brilliant service, wanting to reach more clients than ever thought possible – all these mindsets will help drive the innovation your business needs for business development.

2. Plan

Boldness and aiming high will get the business out of its comfort zone and propel it forward. However, change and improvement require more than just new ideas and aspirations – you must support it with a plan. Set goals against implementation timeframes. Whether these are long- or short-term periods will all depend on the size of the change and what you are trying to achieve.

Set down a pathway for growth that involves everyone in the business – from management to staff. Inform everyone of their involvement in the change to ensure a smooth process.

3. Set goals

This is about setting your focus and involves the following steps:

  • Set SMART goals – Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Realistic and Timebound
  • Keep goals easy to see as reminders
  • Check in daily and weekly to track whether you’re on target
  • Celebrate when tasks are completed, and goals are achieved
  • Reset to goals that will stretch you and the business further

4. Collaborate

Constantly search for strategic partners who can help you in the pursuit of your aspirations. You may (or may not) currently do business with them but always keep an eye out for those who can help you get where you want to go.

Building collaborations will also help with secure referral partners and affiliate marketing – therefore growing your connections and the opportunities to get your message out there.

5. Measure

Measurement is pivotal as it keeps the business honest. Select metrics that are relevant to your goals and what you are trying to achieve.

You can measure several metrics including:

  • Financial: Measure the impact on the profit and loss or cash flow statements
  • Sales and marketing: Track the number of leads in pipeline, website views or sales calls against acquisitions
  • People and teams: Set metrics to measure not only what your people are achieving but also if they remain motivated

Thinking bigger is a mindset of growth and development about your business offering. It’s the way to build the business and achieve your aspirations. Focusing actively in on innovation, planning, setting goals, collaborations and measurement will propel business development on a successful pathway.

Do an audit on your business and check where you are at with each of these five steps. This will highlight steps for the business to think bigger and look at growth strategies.

Adrienne McLean is the founder and principal marketing and speaking coach for The Speaker’s Practice – which runs workshops, coaching and events that help professionals to improve their marketing and communications.

IML ANZ Members in Sydney are invited to join Adrienne at the Professional Services Marketing Conference on August 17th, 2019. This information conference takes delegates on the business development journey starting with marketing and digital marketing, going through to sales topics with mindset topics covered throughout the day. IML ANZ Members who book by July 17th enjoy a 15% discount when they use the code IMLEB. To book or find out more, visit www.professional-services-marketing-conference.com.

Using plastics to save the environment

By Nicola Field | Photo by Anna Rogers

 

FNQ Plastics is a custom fabrication specialist with an environmental focus and an end goal of reducing waste into landfills. Lesley Van Staveren is quick to point out that the products they sell are either made from recycled plastic or can themselves be recycled.

“We’re educating people that plastic is a good material if it’s used in the right way,” she says, noting that the HDPE tanks sold by the business can be recycled into surprisingly diverse products such as decking or privacy screens.

 

ECO-FRIENDLY OFFICE

As the 2017 Cairns Businesswoman of the Year, Van Staveren brings her eco-friendly approach to the workplace. “We don’t have any single-use products in the office,” she explains. Even employee bonuses are handed out in re-usable keep-cups and, not surprisingly, the entire FNQ Plastics team shares Van Staverens’ passion.

“We have a very strong team, with a pro-active culture where opinions are shared, and everyone gets involved,” she says.

 

BECOMING WASTE WISE

Living on the doorstep of Australia’s iconic Great Barrier Reef has played a role in Van Staveren’s commitment to recycling and waste reduction. “When people see the devastating impact of waste on this pristine environment, they want to have a voice,” she notes.

It’s this voice that Van Staveren is bringing to her community.

A little more than two years ago, she set up the Cairns Committee for Waste Reduction, galvanising locals to get involved. “I picked up the phone and contacted different interest groups, businesses, and people to gather a broad cross-section of ideas,” Van Staveren recalls.

A year later, the Committee is having a big impact at a grassroots level. “We provide workshops, help businesses become waste wise, and later this year we’ll host an awards ceremony to recognise waste wise enterprises.”

 

AN EQUAL PARTNERSHIP

With three children aged under five, Van Staveren admits she couldn’t manage her hectic schedule alone, and it’s the strong, equal partnership she shares with her husband that makes it all possible. But Van Staveren isn’t content to rest on her laurels.

The couple are hoping to open a plastics recycling plant. With an estimated cost of A$4 million it’s an ambitious project, however initial funding under the federal Regional Jobs Investment Package has allowed some early research to go ahead, and now it’s a case of watch this space.

A commitment to sustainability has allowed Van Staveren to build a strong team and a healthy business while also giving back to the community she loves. But what of those raised eyebrows when she mentions she owns a plastics business? “It’s certainly a conversation starter,” Van Staveren laughs. “But it also brings the human element back to the issue of recycling – and that’s a good thing.”