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.

The business of mindfulness in modern workplaces

By Anthony O’Brien

 

It’s not the start of an Irish joke, but what do search engine Google, retailer Target and bank JP Morgan, share in common? Apart from making plenty of moolah, these corporate heavyweights have introduced a commitment to mindfulness practices into their workplaces in recent years.

While often associated with adherents to the Buddha rather than mammon, mindfulness training courses are becoming common in New Zealand and Australian workplaces as firms seek ways to reduce stress and absenteeism, increase productivity, develop better leaders, and generate more creative workplaces.

The Australian Psychological Society’s website says work-related stress results when the demands of work exceed resources for managing those demands. Another report from the Victorian Government says workers experience stress over organisation culture, bad management practices, job demands, the physical work environment, relationships at work, change management, lack of support, role conflict and trauma.

 

MINDFUL LEADERSHIP

As a leadership tactic, mindfulness helps people to be more effective by directing focus to the most pertinent task at hand, according to Harvard Business Review. Deprogramming multi-tasking tendencies and intentionally focusing with full attention results in higher quality interactions and decisions, says HBR.

Pippa Hanson CMgr FIML, Chief Executive Officer from The Sports Injury Clinic, regularly speaks on the topics of stress management, work-life balance and thriving under pressure. The IML ANZ Member believes the age of the mobile phone and the internet has increased the need for mindfulness. “People are on their emails, not just when they’re sitting in front of a computer but they’re getting access on their phones. They’re carrying those phones around with them, they’re contactable 24/7 if they’re not putting boundaries in place.”

Creating boundaries is being mindful of what limits you’re setting for yourself as a manager and leader, “not only to complete your day-to-day activities, but so you know what your day looks like and what time it starts and finishes,” Hanson advises. “If you allow your day to be interrupted by responding to every email, you’re not mindful of what your day looks like, and that causes pressure, stress, poor mental health, and a lack of productivity. So, a lack of mindfulness has a negative impact on people’s work day.” Hanson also advises managers and leaders to be aware of how many times per day they check emails, while strategies such as turning off app notifications, can improve mindfulness.

 

DEFINING MINDFULNESS

Hanson says mindfulness can be confusing for the uninitiated. “I find some people only associate it with meditation or colouring in. They don’t believe that they’re mindful when they do other activities like crafts,” she says. “Mindfulness is about being present and aware of your current situation, rather than being on a mouse wheel and just going through the motions every day.”

For Hanson, who manages a busy allied health business employing 60 staff including health practitioners and administrators, mindfulness includes taking a midday break to assess the first half of the day before the afternoon shift begins. “I walk, at the end of the day because after a busy schedule of meetings, phone calls and face-to-face contact, just walking and listening to a podcast, radio or music, allows me to switch off from work, before I step back into family time.”

Hanson adds that mindfulness doesn’t just speak to physical fitness, but mental fitness and the ability to cope with pressure, stress, and the unexpected.

 

Mindful leader, Catherine Stock-Haanstra FIML

 

FINDING THE SWEET SPOT

A 90-day mindfulness plan has been around since Warren Buffett was a boy. But it’s only now becoming more widely accepted in business, says Hanson. “Mindfulness has crossed over into leadership in the workplace for health and wellness as well as business strategy and time management.” While practising mindfulness is part of Hanson’s daily routine, it is also a major component of her firm’s broader strategy. “Our leadership team takes a day every quarter to switch off from everything. This day is about focusing on our achievements and where we’re going, but really without interruption and without taking the phone calls and without reacting to the emails. This enables us to be present, slow down and focus without the extra pressure.”

Hanson says individuals will have a unique mindfulness sweet spot. “Mindfulness is different for everyone, and everyone does respond differently, and it’s about identifying that for yourself. There are simple breathing strategies that you can do at lunchtime to slow your heart rate down, and to take those deep breaths, which when you’re rushing and busy you don’t often do. Others might walk around the block, or someone might say, ‘No, I’m going to put my headphones on and listen to music for 10 minutes’.”

Laps of a pool give swimmers plenty of time to cogitate and practise mindfulness, while Hanson says some people gain satisfaction from running or riding. “When you’re focusing solely on something different, your present activity, you are switching off from work, or your family life because you can’t think of both of those things at the same time.”

If managers and leaders can understand mindfulness, they are better placed to educate their teams. “Maybe the phones haven’t stopped and the team won’t take a lunch break or a tea break. However, if managers and leaders can teach their employees about walking away and getting some fresh air and then coming back, it just makes for better relations in workplaces, better relations with clients and better outcomes for everyone.”


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.

The future of the workplace is flexible

By Anthony O’Brien

 

‘Working nine to five’ for many of us old enough to remember is more closely aligned with the offices, factories, and workshops of the 20th Century. A phrase also popularised by singer Dolly Parton, working nine to five is giving way to the flexible working arrangements demanded and legislated for, in Australia and New Zealand today.

 

According to the 2018 Deloitte Millennial Survey, the three most essential elements millennials look for from a new employer are pay (51%), culture (57%) and flexibility (44%). With millennials set to make up 42% of the workforce by 2025, Charles Go MIML, Research Product Manager at IML ANZ, says, “Flexibility is becoming a very important topic and will be the norm in the future.” Go hosted an IML ANZ webinar, ‘Navigating the Future of Work’ in April examining the importance of flexibility, the gig economy and the skills managers need to navigate modern workplaces.

 

It’s worth reiterating that workplace flexibility is enshrined in Australian law through the Right to Request Flexible Work arrangements that form part of the National Employment Standards (NES). This right to request flexible working arrangements applies to permanent workers and casuals employed for 12 months or more.

 

Catherine Heilemann AFIML, director at the Salary Coach, explains, “There are some eligibility criteria for the Request Flexible Work arrangements such as being a carer, having a disability, being 55 or older, experiencing domestic violence, being a parent and so on.” In a past career at IBM, Heilemann was the first manager to have a virtual team with a mix of Australian employees working flexibly and outsourced workers in China and India.

 

FLEXIBLE IS BECOMING THE NORM

According to a June 2018 survey from recruiter Hays, the most common flexible working practices employers offer are flexible working hours and compressed working weeks (77%), part-time employment (75%) and flex-place arrangements, such as working from home or an alternative location (66%).

 

“Some employment situations lend themselves towards greater flexibility,” Heilemann says. “It’s tough for some workplaces to offer the kind of flexibility that companies such as IBM offer because they have people working on shifts and who must attend a location to perform their work.

 

“Doctors, nurses, teachers, railway maintenance specialists, factory workers and the like must attend their place of work to do their job.” Although, Heilemann says many shift workers can bid for their start and finish times. “This is a common practice with airlines. Moreover, workplaces allow for staggered shifts starts such as at Sydney Trains, with 6 am, 7 am, and 8 am starts at some maintenance depots.”

 

Billie-Jo Barbara CMgr FIML, Deputy Director of Workforce Planning at Charles Darwin University, adds that her former employer, the NSW Government takes the view of ‘if not, why not?’ She says this encourages employers and leaders to think beyond compressed hours and part-time work towards flexible strategies such as staggered starts and finishes. “This might even be about allowing an employee who currently takes two hours to commute each way in peak times to start later,” says Barbara. “Flexibility looks like a whole different range of things.”

 

ORGANISATIONS MUST ADAPT

Notwithstanding the pervasiveness of flexible working, the concept appears to have limited influence on recruitment and retention, according to the 2018 IML ANZ Staff Retention Report. When asked the main reasons for resignations, only 6.6% of surveyed organisations listed ‘lack of flexible work arrangements’ as a main reason, compared to 75.7% of organisations who listed ‘to seek a new challenge.’

 

Moreover, only 7.4% of those surveyed said a ‘lack of flexible start and finishing times’ were factors in resignations compared to 38.7% that listed ‘insu­fficient financial reward. Despite these findings, Heilemann maintains that if an employer isn’t offering flexible working arrangements in some form, “then they probably won’t be winning any prizes as a great place to work.”

 

Barbara says that trying to implement policies suitable to current and future workforces can be challenging for leaders trying to operate a profitable organisation. “I’ve noticed, for example, more millennials want a portfolio career at the start of their careers rather than the end.” A millennial herself, Barbara has already sat on several boards and been a coach, in tandem with her previous full-time role as a director of human resources with the NSW Department of Planning and Environment.

 

KEEPING YOUR BEST PEOPLE

Concerning staff retention, Heilemann equates flexible working arrangements with a bank account. “While you are depositing, things go well. Retention issues can relate to many things and offering flexible work arrangements to those who value it will add to the bank account.”

 

Go maintains that flexible working makes it possible for a diverse group of individuals to work for an organisation. “These arrangements support returning mothers and aged workers who need to work part-time or from home, as well as workers with health issues or disabilities,” he says.

 

Heilemann believes it is possible for older workers to undertake backfills to cover for employees on parental leave. “But for those who want to stay in the workforce, but not on a full-time basis, flexible working is a sensible option,” she says.

 

As with any change, maintaining the drumbeat on flexible work is crucial. “The IML ANZ 2016 Staff Retention Report found that only 3% of organisations lost staff to resignations because of a lack of flexible working arrangements. In 2018, this number doubled to 6%.

 

“At the moment, it is only a small percentage of employees who are linking a resignation to lack of flexibility,” says Go. “However, the concern is that both resignations and the desire for workplace flexibility is trending upwards. It’s crucial managers and leaders champion flexible working arrangements.”

 

IML ANZ itself celebrates the benefits of flexible work for people and organisations in a number of ways, including Chief Executive David Pich CMgr FIML being an ambassador for Flexible Working Day.

 

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT

An area Heilemann has identified for improvement relates to those leaders who don’t trust their employees with flexible work arrangements. “These leaders don’t necessarily discourage working flexibly but do not encourage it with real intent,” she explains. “I’ve seen leaders in recent times who talk flexible work, but the team says behind their back: ‘oh they don’t like it.’ This discourages people from asking for flexible working. To those leaders, I say: set the guidelines for flexible work. Then let your people have it. Be sure to lead and manage the outcomes, not the hours at the desk working away or pretending to work.”

 

Barbara subscribes to the view that many employees aren’t aware of the flexible arrangements on other. For example, when Barbara worked in a human resources role for the NSW Government she wasn’t aware of provisions for a career break. “And, I worked in human resources! It wasn’t until I moved to the NSW Department of Planning that I became aware this provision existed.

 

The conversation about workplace flexibility is not just about women working part-time continues Barbara, “But it is about taking a study break, or the opportunity to try a different career path. Successful workplace policies are dependent on the culture of an organisation and the willingness of employers to enable these policies.

 

“The smart employers have recognised the research that workplace flexibility will help attract and retain good people. For some organisations, there is a lack of awareness, while the incidences of employers deliberately denying these policies are in the minority now.”


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.

Demystifying Agile methodology

By Nicola Field

 

In today’s fast-paced world, the term ‘agile’ has become ubiquitous. Ask any manager or leader if they’re agile, and the response is bound to be a resounding “Yes!” But an innovative project methodology is redefining what agility is all about – and it has applications across a wide range of industries and organisations.

At this stage, some distinctions are essential. Lorna Worthington CMgr FIML, is Managing Director of Baker Worthington, and a Registered Agile Practitioner. She explains, “Agile leadership and/or management is the style. Agile Project Management is the tool or concept used for execution of projects.”

Even with this clarification, to the uninitiated, Agile methodology can appear baffling. It comes with its own language that speaks of scrums, sprints, Kanbans and stand-ups. And, as Agile first arrived on the scene around 20 years ago, a range of methodologies have evolved including Prince2, Prince 2 Agile and SCRUM. It can all seem very confusing.

Tom Lynam, Client Engagement Lead at Management Consultants – Tanner James, acknowledges that one of the first challenges of the Agile methodology is to understand what it’s all about, and how it can benefit an organisation. To build a clear picture, he says it’s worth heading back to where Agile first began.

 

FASTER, TIGHTER, MORE ADAPTIVE

As Lynam explains, “Agile originated in the world of software development. It was a way of working that allowed new software to be developed in smaller, shorter cycles – or bursts of activity. This way, ‘Version 1’ could be quickly completed, and then improved upon to reach ‘Version 2’. There was no point doing months of work if the customer’s needs changed or if the requirements changed over time,” adds Lynam. “So the process was simple: Develop, test and learn, then build on the product from there.”

As Lynam points out, this methodology allowed software developers to get a product to market quickly, achieving something close to customer requirements while incorporating feedback along the way.

 

REVOLUTIONISING PROJECT MANAGEMENT

The Agile approach is very different from the more traditional ‘waterfall’ system of project management. The latter involves a sequential, linear process spanning several distinct phases that typically include project initiation, project planning, project execution, and project completion.

A key downside of the waterfall approach is that it can hinge on very specific, rigid assumptions being in place from the outset. A sudden change to the project’s parameters have the potential to render much of the work completed to date useless, and this can throw timelines and budgets into disarray. Agile can help to overcome such risks.

Worthington explains, “Fundamentally, Agile is a bottom-up approach that empowers teams to make decisions and drive change. The approach focuses on gathering the experience of customers, staff, managers and other key stakeholders, then looking at how that information is acted upon and leveraged within the organisation.”

 

WIDELY APPLICABLE

As with any innovation, it may initially be unclear how Agile can benefit an organisation. It can be helpful to refer to the 12-point ‘Agile manifesto’ that was drawn up in the early days to encapsulate the key aims. While many are specific to software development, all industries can take relevance from several of these founding principles, including:

  • Welcome changing requirements, even late in development.
  • Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done.
  • The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is face-to-face conversation.
  • Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility.
  • Regularly reflect together on how to become more effective, then tune and adjust team behaviour accordingly.

 

Moreover, in today’s environment where managers are under pressure to accelerate, Agile leadership can offer distinct advantages.

As Worthington points out, an Agile leader doesn’t direct or manage projects. Rather, they offer support by removing bottlenecks. Most importantly, they articulate where the organisation is going and guide the team towards this broad vision.

 

ADAPTING TO AGILE

While Agile has its benefits, leaders and managers need to assess whether this approach is right for their industry, their organisation and a particular project.

Lynam believes that some industries are better suited to Agile than others. “Software development is at the far end of the scale. It is very well suited to an iterative approach. But if you’re looking at something like the construction of, say, a major bridge, the iterative approach may be less suitable.”

Academic research shows that Agile has been used with success across a variety of industries, from marketing and food manufacturing to the development of nuclear power plants.

However, even if the industry is suitable, Agile is not right for every organisation.

Lynam notes, “Agile will struggle in a ‘command and control’ environment. A core concept of the methodology is that the people doing the work are best-placed to make the decisions. This means you need a lot of trust in employees.” He is quick to add that organisational culture may be more of a blocker to Agile rather than a reason not to adopt it: “It may be that the organisation needs to change its culture.”

 

TAKE IT SLOW

Making the decision to adopt Agile methodologies can be invigorating for leaders and managers – and their teams. However, there are pitfalls to avoid.

Lynam explains, “A typical mistake we see when organisations aim to adopt the Agile methodology is tackling wholesale change from the outset. We recommend starting small. Bring Agile into smaller projects, test and learn using one team, and understand what worked and what didn’t.”

There can be other challenges too. Staff scheduling can be an issue as Agile projects call for a group approach. Teams can also be impacted by change requests – and approvals – which can occur quickly. This highlights the need for every team member to be able to interact, and more importantly, accept that rapid change is a possibility at any stage of a project.

As Worthington notes, “Change generally translates into varying levels of disruption, and operating in this environment demands a flexible, bottom-up approach to management and leadership.”

 

BECOMING AGILE

For managers and leaders interested in gaining accreditation in Agile methodologies, a variety of courses are available. Some are available online, others involve attending multi-day courses.

Lynam urges care in the choice of trainers explaining that while there is a wide range of price points, “You get what you pay for”, he cautions.

“Before investing in Agile training, due diligence should be undertaken to be sure you have the right support and the right level of training and coaching,” says Lynam. “Plenty of organisations sell silver bullets, but in business there are none. It’s a matter of looking at what’s available and taking best practice and tailoring this to your organisational structure.”

Lynam notes, “Formal training allows individuals to spend time with someone who has ‘been there and tried it’, and who should be able to provide pragmatic advice on how to implement the techniques in the Agile method. That said, training only gets you so far, and on-the-job training is highly valuable.”


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.

Six ways leaders can inspire 21st century employees

By Sam Bell FIML

 

Many leaders struggle to inspire others. Yet, according to a survey conducted by Bain Research, employees are more than twice as productive if they are ‘satisfied’ employees. This suggests leaders who can inspire might provide a powerful competitive edge for their organisations.

In a similar vein, Harvard Business School gathered data from the assessments of more than 50,000 leaders, and the ability to inspire stood out as one of the most important competencies. It was the single trait that created the highest levels of staff engagement, and it separated the best leaders from everyone else. Crucially, it was what most employees wanted to see in their leaders.

Underscoring the importance of inspirational leadership inside workplaces, Gallup identified in their State of the Global Workplace report that 51% of employees are unengaged in their work and 17% are actively disengaged. This means that, on average, only 32% of employees are actively engaged in the workplace. Ultimately, organisations cannot survive or perform well with statistics like these.

 

TWO TYPES OF INSPIRATIONAL LEADER

I believe inspirational leaders can be placed in two distinct categories. Firstly, there are leaders who inspire a diverse population of people whom they have never physically met. These are usually leaders in their field – sport, politics, military and business – whom people admire because of their vision, their struggle, their achievements or their failures. Perhaps the most highly acclaimed inspirational figure of recent times who falls into this category is Nelson Mandela. People admire his lifetime of struggle and leadership for his nation on becoming President. Whilst most of us never met the man, we felt inspired by his journey.

In the second category are the people you know and see every day who give you the inspiration to do better in your daily life. This category of inspiration is by far the most important in my opinion. These people might be your family, friends, colleagues and yes, your workplace managers and leaders. It’s these ‘everyday people’ who give you a vision to be better, to improve, and who provide a purpose in life. These leaders understand the shadow they cast over others and ensure that, within their shadow, people know where they are going and the role they are playing to get there.

Today’s workplace leaders in this second category often lack the playbook to inspire today’s workforce, which is increasingly made up of employees who expect more meaning and value from their workplace. Where today’s leaders have typically cut their teeth in the workplace of the 20th century, today’s employees are increasingly products of the 21st century! The critical question when solving this leadership dilemma is: how do today’s ‘everyday leaders’ inspire the people they lead?

 

SIX WAYS LEADERS CAN INSPIRE OTHERS

  1. Be passionate about the vision and mission. Sharing a vision and mission in a way that enables others to feel passionate is a useful starting point when inspiring staff. The vision and the mission provide essential anchors for empowering others to feel that their work has a purpose and meaning beyond everyday tasks. When a leader communicates the big picture regularly it can assist in reinforcing why the organisation exists.
  2. Listen to your employees. People need to see their ideas being incorporated into the team and into the organisation and/or they need to understand the reasons they weren’t adopted. The ability to inspire others is not only about doing; it’s about listening and explaining.
  3. Make people feel included. Feeling inspired is about feeling connected to the actions and processes that lead to the achievement of the organisation’s goals or to the decisions made. When a leader includes people in the decision-making process they feel a sense of ownership of that decision.
  4. Demonstrate integrity. While vision and passion are important, employees must also trust a leader. Trust stems from seeing that a leader’s behaviour is aligned to what they say. They speak and live by their values and behave ethically. Leaders set the pace through expectations and example.
  5. Establish an environment of continuous improvement. This includes providing opportunities for employees to grow and develop, both personally and professionally, and can be achieved by setting goals and targets, allowing for secondments to other parts of the business, establishing special projects or encouraging further study.
  6. Recognise achievement. While financial reward is undoubtedly a significant motivator, recognition plays a vital role in making employees feel important and appreciated. Indeed, research has shown that a key source of inspiration for employees is speaking directly to them about the value of their work to the organisation.

 

It’s vital for workplace leaders to remember the influence they have over others. Take action to become an inspirational leader. Someone is always watching.


Leading Well book
This is an edited extract from IML ANZ’s latest book, Leading Well: 7 attributes of very successful leaders (Major Street Publishing, A$34.95).

The book highlights seven attributes that ignite inspiring leadership. It focuses squarely on the personal attributes that can transform managers into leaders and good leaders into great leaders.

Order your copy here.

 


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.

Career Doctor: How do you know if you are behaving ethically?

By Peter Cullen FIML

 

Whilst facilitating, I often see a lot of blank faces when I ask the question ‘How do you know if you are behaving ethically in your workplace?’

These blank faces reflect the fact that ethical behaviour is not promoted or alive in many workplaces. This can expose organisations to all kinds of problems, leading to legal ramifications or worse. The intentional disregard for ethics by some led to the recent Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry whose findings rocked the sector and shocked people from all walks of life across Australia.

 

LEARNING ETHICS

Ethics is a very broad subject. In Australia alone, there are more than 20 bachelor’s degrees offered in the subject. One of the many topics covered in a degree is business ethics. This represents the practices that any individual or group exhibits within an organisation that can positively or negatively affect the business’s core values. It applies to all aspects of business conduct and is relevant to the conduct of individuals and entire organisations.

There is also the question of morals when discussing ethics. Morals refer to an individual’s personal principles regarding what is right and what is wrong. It is very easy for a person’s personal principles to guide their behaviour rather than adhering to business ethics. There can also be personal conflict between the two, making some situations even more difficult for individuals.

 

HUGE POTENTIAL CONSEQUENCES

Unethical behaviour by leaders can lead to catastrophic outcomes for an organisation. Widespread and continuous unethical behaviour by staff can cause untold damage to culture and reputation.

The downfall of Enron in 2001 is a classic example. It led to the imprisonment of several of its senior leadership group and destroyed one of the world’s largest audit firms Arthur Andersen. Charges laid on the senior leaders included manipulating accounting rules, money laundering, bank fraud, insider trading and conspiracy.

 

ETHICAL GUIDELINES

A quick question: Do you know your organisation’s core values, code of conduct, policies, procedures, processes and systems and do you live them in your workplace?

If you do, congratulations. If you don’t or are unsure, you have some work to do because those values probably define the ethical expectations in your workplace. In addition to the values, there is also legislation such as the Fair Work Act, Work Health and Safety Act and others. A great place to start if you are unsure about any of these is to speak to your human resources team.

There are many benefits when all employees from top to bottom are behaving ethically. They include trust, honesty, integrity, transparency, consistency, fairness, improved decision making, productivity and many more. Ethical behaviour creates an environment where people feel safe to speak up and challenge unethical behaviour knowing they are supported by the organisation.

Every person in every organisation – whether large or small – is responsible for behaving ethically in the workplace. Leaders are role models and must lead the way with ethical behaviour. People will observe their leaders’ behaviours and whatever they do becomes permissible for others.

Become a role model for others by embracing and living ethics in the workplace.

 


Peter Cullen is an education and training facilitator. He conducts three-day programs that engage participants in developing and implementing their capabilities as managers and leaders.

 


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.

Must Read: Leading Well: 7 attributes of very successful leaders

Derek Parker offers an in-depth look into the latest book that examines seven attributes of inspiring leaders.

 

This is the follow-up and companion to the 2017 IML ANZ publication Leadership Matters: 7 Skills of Very Successful Leaders. That volume was concerned mainly with the technical abilities required in senior roles – what David Pich CMgr FIML, Chief Executive of IML ANZ, describes as “the perspiration of leadership” in the introduction to the new book. Leading Well focuses on the inspirational side of being a leader: the personal, emotional, and psychological aspects. The seven attributes – respect, integrity, emotional intelligence, ability to inspire, authenticity, self-awareness, and decisiveness – were chosen through consultations with IML ANZ Members.

Respect was rated as essential in a survey, a point underlined in the chapter by Pich and Jamie Getgood. The key to respect is a willingness to listen to others, talk through their concerns, and empathise with their viewpoint. This is not easy in an era of diversity but the authors take the view that Australians are a tolerant bunch when it comes to cultural differences. They look at IML ANZ’s public statement on same-sex marriage as an example, noting that it was the result of discussions with Members. Respect, they say, is not about agreeing with everyone but about understanding and consideration. An expression of genuine gratitude is also a component of respect, and something that can go a long way in building strong relationships.

It is something of a balancing act but that is true regarding many of the skills examined in the book. Michelle Gibbings’s discussion of integrity acknowledges the difficulty of acting consistently and ethically in the face of competing stakeholder demands. She sees an ongoing tension between personal courage and consciousness of the business environment but she comes down on the side of having the courage to do the right thing. Integrity, once lost, is almost impossible to rebuild.

Allison Keogh’s contribution on authenticity picks up this theme. Authenticity is about aligning thoughts, words and actions, all stemming from a core of values. Say what you mean, mean what you say: it’s the same message whether applied to individuals or organisations. If you want an example of what not to do, she says, look at some of the practices in the financial services industry uncovered by the recent inquiry into banking.

Self-awareness is the first step to becoming a great leader, according to Margot Smith FIML. It means acknowledging your weaknesses and blind spots, but it also requires taking action to improve. She suggests some training methods although honest discussions with peers and mentors can also do much. It means admitting vulnerability but it is often the only way to move forward.

Many of the themes of the book come together in the final piece, an examination of decisiveness by Bill Kernoczy and Luke Challenor. Having to make the final call on a difficult issue is often seen as the central test of leadership. And, indeed, any issue that gets to the senior levels of an organisation is going to be difficult: the easy ones are decided elsewhere. Once upon a time a CEO would tick one or another box and walk away but Kernoczy and Challenor argue that the complexity of modern business means that the gut-feeling method no longer makes sense. Instead, they lay out a process of definition, analysis, evaluation, and consultation. They look at a number of models for making decisions, establishing the common thread as a need to follow through on implementation, review and feedback.

This is consistently useful stuff. In fact, all of the chapters in the book make a point of moving from theory to practice, with step-by-step guides and tools for self-diagnosis. Another important section is a series of interviews, conducted by IML ANZ chair Ann Messenger, with outstanding leaders. Each discussion has its worth but the views of Georgie Harman, the chief executive of the beyondblue organisation, are particularly interesting, especially in the areas of authenticity and humility.

Each of the chapters of the book has important things to say but it is taking the package as a whole that provides the most insight and direction. Whether you are already in a senior position or aspire to be there, you will find a great deal of value here.

 


Leading Well book
Get your copy of IML ANZ’s latest book, Leading Well: 7 attributes of very successful leaders (Major Street Publishing, A$34.95).

The book highlights seven attributes that ignite inspiring leadership. It focuses squarely on the personal attributes that can transform managers into leaders and good leaders into great leaders.

Order your copy here.

 


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.

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.

How to leverage skills from all ages to create an optimum workforce

By Michelle Gibbings CMgr FIML

 

As organisations grapple with more complex decisions and an ever-increasing pace of change building a workforce equipped with the skills and experience to thrive in this environment is critical.

Finding this depth and breadth of talent requires leaders to build a diverse workforce, which covers full spectrum diversity including, for example, age, ethnicity, gender, thinking styles, disabilities and sexual orientation.

This means leaders need to challenge their decision making patterns.

 

Seek out difference

It’s natural to want to work with people you like and find easy to work with, and consequently when you are building a team or forming workgroups you often seek out such people.

This is either done consciously or subconsciously.  In the case of recruitment, for example, search criteria often specifically reference the desire to find a candidate who is a good cultural fit.

Cultural fit can mean different things to different people.  Typically, if you ask people how they define cultural fit they will give comments such as, someone who:

  • Lives the organisation’s values
  • Is able to work well in the team
  • Will fit in with the rest of the group
  • Understands the organisation’s objectives and buys into its vision

 

However, when you strip away the layers and get to the base level drivers, what the person is looking for is someone who they feel comfortable with.  That is, someone who they connect with because they can see aspects of themselves in that person.

 

Avoid likeability bias

It’s often suggested that one of the key success criteria for a job interview is to ensure that the interviewee comes across as likeable.  The premise being that the hiring manager has already positively assessed the applicant’s CV for the required technical skills because they are being interviewed.  Now, all the hiring manager is seeking to test is whether they want to work with the person or not.

This likeability isn’t just about being friendly and a nice person. It’s about whether the hiring manager finds similarities with the person they are interviewing. Research shows we like people who are similar to us in terms of interests, backgrounds and experiences, and this has consequential impacts for hiring decisions.

Kellogg University found that getting hired for a job was not so much about the “soft or hard dimensions of the role”, but rather how similar the person being interviewed was to the person conducting the interview.

It is very easy for leaders to want to hire people who are like them.  Similarity makes a person feel comfortable.  However, when you hire people like yourself, you are filling the team or workgroup with people who have similar backgrounds, experiences and thought processes.

 

Diversity improves decision making

Homogeneity can negatively impact how decisions are made. The more alike people are, the more likely they are to think along the same lines and therefore there is less room for debate, discernment and disagreement.

Separate research from Kellogg University found that diverse teams make better decisions.  That diversity is not just about gender or ethnicity, it includes age, experience and backgrounds.  The diverse groups outperformed more homogeneous groups, not because of an influx of new ideas, but because the diversity triggered more careful processing of the information that’s discussed.

‘Complex problem solving’ and ‘critical thinking’ are the top two competencies that the World Economic Forum identified in its Future of Jobs report. This involves challenge, exploration, suspending judgement, and being equipped with the cognitive capacity to look at problems in a different way. All of which is aided by having a diverse workforce.

Successful sustainable organisations recognise the need for their workforce to be equipped with the capability and capacity to dig deeper into the mental models that drive their thought processes and be ready to acquire knowledge from multiple sources and environments.

Consequently, leaders need to be prepared to challenge their assumptions and expectations when they are building their team.  This involves:

  • Acknowledging the potential for bias, because we all have it to varying degrees
  • Actively seeking diversity of experience, background, ethnicity, age and gender (and all forms of diversity) when forming teams and workgroups
  • Recognising that the person at work who really annoys you is often the person you need to spend more time with. Why? Because the source of tension comes from their seeing the world differently to you and this challenge to your frame of reference is good for your thought processes
  • Inviting other people into the decision-making process who can shift and provide alternate perspectives

 

Build on strengths

As part of this approach, it helps for leaders to understand and then leverage the strengths of their team.

Research conducted over the last 30 years shows that taking a strengths-based approach leads to greater work satisfaction, engagement, and productivity. This is evidenced in Tom Rath and Barry Conchie’s book, Strengths Based Leadership, where they detail how working with strengths helps leaders be more effective.

Leaders play a crucial role in bringing strengths to life at work – for both themselves and their team members.

It starts with the leader understanding their own strengths and how they are best used at work. The next step is to help team members:

  • Appreciate the strengths they bring to their role, and
  • Recognise and value the strengths their colleagues bring to their role

 

This is best done through a series of team development activities, which help the team best understand and leverage the individual and collective strengths of the team.


Michelle Gibbings is a change leadership and career expert and founder of Change Meridian. Michelle works with leaders and teams to help them accelerate progress. She is the author of ‘Step Up: How to Build Your Influence at Work’ and ‘Career Leap: How to Reinvent and Liberate your Career’.

Why your leadership reputation is a catalyst to business growth

When you run your own business – and you’re not a large operation – the basics of success might seem simple. Business booms when more people want to buy from you, existing customers want to stick with you, and your staff are happy to work for you.

But anyone who’s run a family-owned or small to medium enterprise will know that driving business success is a complicated matter. After all, it takes an investment of your time, effort and resource to grow the business, keep your employees engaged and build your brand and reputation.

Plus, the smaller your operation, the larger the effort, time and resource required to stay competitive in any market.

What if you’ve overlooked a highly valuable driver in achieving business growth, employee engagement and customer loyalty? Your leadership reputation. It’s no wonder that legends of the business world hold it in such high esteem. Warren Buffet identified it as an even higher priority than profits.

This principle applies just as strongly for small to medium enterprises. The difference is that it is you, as the owner and leader, whose reputation is the anchor for your business.

Think back to when you started your business. A large foundation for what it is today would have been because of your contacts who became your first clients. Your knowledge and expertise evolved into your current products and services. Your vision is the glue that formed your first team.

Your leadership reputation might have been instrumental in setting you up but why is it even more essential for running a successful business into the future?

Here are just three reasons:

 

 1. Your leadership impacts how you attract new business

Reputation is sometimes misunderstood. It’s often thought to be the same as your brand. However, unlike your brand, your reputation is not something you create and then project. The public formulates reputation based on what they know about you.

Investing in your leadership reputation is a worthwhile venture. In fact, one study found that a good reputation can increase a customer’s intent to purchase from you by up to 6.3%.

The challenge for busy small business owners, however, is that you can be so consumed in the day-to-day tasks that you might neglect setting time aside to build on the elements that influence your reputation. Also, being the boss can sometimes mean there’s no one keeping you in check about your leadership skills.

Dr Travis Kemp, an organisational psychologist, independent company director and adjunct professor at the University of South Australia’s Business School, faced the same challenge.  “Because I run my practice and lead organisations, there are very few people who I actually have to report to,” Kemp recalls.

But Kemp understood the importance of being accountable for proving to the public that he was a capable leader. So, he sought accreditation to benchmark his leadership standard. He needed to find a way to make his skills, “understandable and acknowledgeable by other people… An external validation and accountability for [his] experience.”

Strike a balance: While caring for your reputation as a leader is a must, finding the time can be difficult. That’s why accreditation is a great solution. Find a professional designation that doesn’t take away too much of your time from running the business but at the same time validates your skills, experience and expertise.

 

2. Your leadership impacts employee engagement

Starting a business is an exciting time of discovery. But as your business evolves, you and your staff will face new challenges. As a leader, your people will look to you for guidance and solutions when facing these issues.

That’s why it’s important for business owners like you to ensure your leadership skills are up to standard. If your staff can’t trust you to pull them through tough situations, then you can’t expect them to give their best at work. And when they fail to give their best, business performance suffers. Research by the University of Melbourne’s Centre for Workplace Leadership found that many leaders fail to master fundamental leadership skills and unsurprisingly, more than 40% of Australian businesses do not meet their targets for return on investment and profitability.

Unsurprisingly, Kemp recommends investing in leadership skills. “I think leaders’ impact can be incredibly positive when it is directed in the right way, to the right people at the right time. Leadership has always been part of my life. I have been an active leader, I have grown companies, I have even started companies”.

Lead to engage: As a business owner, you’re not just managing products and services – you lead people too. So, seek out ways to benchmark your leadership skills up to the highest standards. You simply can’t afford to leave the wrong impression about your leadership with your employees.

 

3. Your leadership impacts customer loyalty

Can the reputation of just one person really affect the trust of customers? When one employee of United Airlines damaged their reputation by violently removing a passenger, the airline’s stock price lost $1.4 billion – investors simply lost trust. If that is true for the actions of one employee, all the more so for the actions of a business owner – regardless of business size.

While financial results matter for all businesses, there’s a lot more value in keeping loyal customers. It’s no secret that it costs more to acquire new customers. So, your trustworthiness as a leader and business owner is key.

Kemp observed how important it is to be a trusted leader. “We come back to the notion of ‘good people, doing good things’ and for the right reasons. Sometimes that gets lost in our pursuit for commercial gain,” said Kemp. But he adds, “It is important to raise the standard of leadership around the notion of ethics and values in decision making.”

Earn others’ trust: Once again Kemp looked toward an accreditation that displayed his commitment to sound leadership practice. Don’t keep your customers guessing. Show your trustworthiness by gaining the right leadership accreditation.

 

Great leadership helps your business to grow

Leaders with strong reputations carry their teams towards success, outshine the competition and reap financial rewards. If you want your reputation to be that of a leader who gets results, then you need to equip yourself with the accreditation that confirms it.

The Chartered Manager accreditation is the highest status that can be achieved as a manager and leader. It is awarded on experience, expertise and a commitment to management and leadership. The three-step application process involves just 12 hours and can be completed at your own pace – essential if you’re a time-poor business owner.

By becoming a Chartered Manager – like Travis Kemp – you’ll ensure your leadership drives the success of your business. In fact, the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) in the UK, found that Chartered Managers:

  • Help businesses grow: One in three Chartered Managers have used their status as a competitive advantage, citing it in tenders to win new clients
  • Deliver engaging leadership: 62% of Chartered Managers said their designation improved their people management skills
  • Build client loyalty: Two out of five Chartered Managers maintained business turnover

 

Drive business success by accrediting your leadership – become a Chartered Manager.

To find out more or to apply, visit managersandleaders.com.au/chartered-manager.