Do we need to dump our leaders?
As the 3D Internet becomes more integrated with the current Web, we see users demanding more from these environments and desiring virtual worlds that are fit for business. Colin Parris, Vice President, Digital Convergence, IBM
By the end of 2011, 80 percent of active Internet users (and Fortune 500 enterprises) will have a "second life", but not necessarily in Second Life, according to Gartner, Inc. The majority of active Internet users and major enterprises will find value in participating in this area in the coming years.
Based on this, there is the possibility of a new leadership paradigm and it is vital that we learn how to make it as accessible as possible.
However, here is a quote I came across from a couple of years ago that perhaps is more reflective of the virtual reality that many of our leadership community live in:
Today's top executives have developed a unique approach to leadership, and a richer and broader set of leadership skills than ever before. They are a new breed of champions, pioneers and change agents, with the courage and vision to power through challenges and spot new opportunities for success. Many are rewriting the rules of engagement in their industries. And some are redefining the perception of their companies by their involvement in the leadership discussion on socio-political issues such as education, health care, foreign policy and climate change. From a session at the 2007 Business Week 50 Forum: Pursuing High Performance.
Now I think you and I both know this is a huge extension of the truth as evidenced by recent events. So how have we got it so wrong? Is it ego? Is it economic conditions, bad luck or an inability and unwillingness to accept that perhaps the old ways are just not good enough?
When we examine the current spend on leadership education, we should be sacking our Learning and Training functions as this investment has resulted in so few capable leaders who can address the storms we face today.
The significant events which are occurring around us are shouting at me that I got it wrong and that we need to adopt much more radical and innovative ways to deal with this sea of change and to provide our leaders with the tools and solutions to lead, not the evolving business models, but the revolutionary and chaotic models that we need to transform into.
Today as we view businesses' environmental challenges, we can realistically say that the world of business is at a tipping point and unless business leaders adopt the appropriate strategies that will change their perilous course, the forecast is grim. It is without doubt a time of great unpredictability and there will be winners and losers. The losers will be the ones whose leaders were grown to deal with choppy waters not tidal waves.
What we are seeing is the convergence of six powerful forces that are changing the world of business forever: -
1. Serious loss of confidence and trust in business brands and professional ethics. I was recently at a Financial Services meeting where I was asked how banks rebuild their customers' trust. I had to tell them that they were misguided as I don't think we ever trusted them! Yes, trust can be rebuilt but only when/if we accept value and trust are not judged by the giver but 100% by the receiver.
2. Seismic economic changes that have demonstrated a serious flaw in our leadership models. The evidence is all there for us to see. Short term thinking, lack of innovation, inability to build an engaging culture and a greed about personal agendas.
3. Substantial disparities in skill levels between an ability to manage a business and lead a business. Many see leaders as the captain at the helm of the ship barking out orders and steering their ship through choppy waters. I do hope that the tidal wave delivers many of these the act of God they deserve.
4. Sweeping demographic shifts as new economies feel the wind of change and they now learn that old economies, with old solutions are just not good enough. I was recently in Africa talking about the leadership models that are necessary to help drive the economy of an unbelievable diverse and cultured group of people. I begged that they did not think about benchmarking Western standards. They deserve better and I believe passionately that they can innovate and develop new and better models than the tired old thinking that many of us grew up with.
5. The speed of need for new leadership capabilities that will be necessary to create winning momentum. Lets take the ER in faster, better, smarter and say we want these behaviours in order to enable results rather than so we can sit at the top of the pile and say how good we are.
6. A lack of integrated speed to market innovation in the application of our business practices or our business strategies. I was recently in the NHS talking about innovation and was shocked by a clear lack of understanding of where the enabling mandate for creating a more open and embracing culture resided. Leadership, leadership, leadership - my brain screamed.
The current economic business challenges can only be met if global organisations cultivate management excellence and develop a new leadership programme that develops and deploys tough leaders who act with speed and integrity and have the right set of values, skills and behaviours. However, we are talking about a group of people who in many instances look to knee jerk reactions and reach for the scythe to cut people first, when the first sign of strain affects their position. Many would prefer to lose the richness of great talent than allow a more considered and long term strategy take time to work. How many times do we need to go from feast to famine and back again on talent?
Is this because we have a soft core of leaders who have grown up in softer times and lack the ingenuity, relentlessness and drive to make a real vision happen. Too late for some but at last there is a recognition that change and real change is needed.
Recent events are compelling some corporations to rethink executive education and make fundamental and sweeping changes that go beyond tinkering. I say, "About time for them and me too." The change needs to not just accommodate the seismic shifts, but also be delivered in a new way. The change cannot be incremental but radical. This means:
Do I think anything will change? I would love to sit here and say yes.
I was reading the Mandelson journals on the Blair/Brown years in the UK. My God, what an appalling mess, that lead us into multiple wars, economic crisis and a mammoth national debt. I was horrified by the childish and manipulative game playing, and I could really only blame one group of people, us the voters. We allowed it to happen, and we endorsed it by re-electing the same demographic group of politicians. When we the voters select and abdicate responsibility so easily, will our business leaders who do not depend on employee sponsorship feel the need to change and transform? But before I turn into either Statler or Waldorf from the Muppets, let me say that not all is doom and gloom in my world. I am saved regularly by ordinary people who come to work to do good. My hope and aspiration is that they will rise up and say no more. I want to be part of that revolution. Maybe it's the Irish in me but we've never had a decent revolution in our history.
By the end of 2011, 80 percent of active Internet users (and Fortune 500 enterprises) will have a "second life", but not necessarily in Second Life, according to Gartner, Inc. The majority of active Internet users and major enterprises will find value in participating in this area in the coming years.
Based on this, there is the possibility of a new leadership paradigm and it is vital that we learn how to make it as accessible as possible.
However, here is a quote I came across from a couple of years ago that perhaps is more reflective of the virtual reality that many of our leadership community live in:
Today's top executives have developed a unique approach to leadership, and a richer and broader set of leadership skills than ever before. They are a new breed of champions, pioneers and change agents, with the courage and vision to power through challenges and spot new opportunities for success. Many are rewriting the rules of engagement in their industries. And some are redefining the perception of their companies by their involvement in the leadership discussion on socio-political issues such as education, health care, foreign policy and climate change. From a session at the 2007 Business Week 50 Forum: Pursuing High Performance.
Now I think you and I both know this is a huge extension of the truth as evidenced by recent events. So how have we got it so wrong? Is it ego? Is it economic conditions, bad luck or an inability and unwillingness to accept that perhaps the old ways are just not good enough?
When we examine the current spend on leadership education, we should be sacking our Learning and Training functions as this investment has resulted in so few capable leaders who can address the storms we face today.
The significant events which are occurring around us are shouting at me that I got it wrong and that we need to adopt much more radical and innovative ways to deal with this sea of change and to provide our leaders with the tools and solutions to lead, not the evolving business models, but the revolutionary and chaotic models that we need to transform into.
Today as we view businesses' environmental challenges, we can realistically say that the world of business is at a tipping point and unless business leaders adopt the appropriate strategies that will change their perilous course, the forecast is grim. It is without doubt a time of great unpredictability and there will be winners and losers. The losers will be the ones whose leaders were grown to deal with choppy waters not tidal waves.
What we are seeing is the convergence of six powerful forces that are changing the world of business forever: -
1. Serious loss of confidence and trust in business brands and professional ethics. I was recently at a Financial Services meeting where I was asked how banks rebuild their customers' trust. I had to tell them that they were misguided as I don't think we ever trusted them! Yes, trust can be rebuilt but only when/if we accept value and trust are not judged by the giver but 100% by the receiver.
2. Seismic economic changes that have demonstrated a serious flaw in our leadership models. The evidence is all there for us to see. Short term thinking, lack of innovation, inability to build an engaging culture and a greed about personal agendas.
3. Substantial disparities in skill levels between an ability to manage a business and lead a business. Many see leaders as the captain at the helm of the ship barking out orders and steering their ship through choppy waters. I do hope that the tidal wave delivers many of these the act of God they deserve.
4. Sweeping demographic shifts as new economies feel the wind of change and they now learn that old economies, with old solutions are just not good enough. I was recently in Africa talking about the leadership models that are necessary to help drive the economy of an unbelievable diverse and cultured group of people. I begged that they did not think about benchmarking Western standards. They deserve better and I believe passionately that they can innovate and develop new and better models than the tired old thinking that many of us grew up with.
5. The speed of need for new leadership capabilities that will be necessary to create winning momentum. Lets take the ER in faster, better, smarter and say we want these behaviours in order to enable results rather than so we can sit at the top of the pile and say how good we are.
6. A lack of integrated speed to market innovation in the application of our business practices or our business strategies. I was recently in the NHS talking about innovation and was shocked by a clear lack of understanding of where the enabling mandate for creating a more open and embracing culture resided. Leadership, leadership, leadership - my brain screamed.
The current economic business challenges can only be met if global organisations cultivate management excellence and develop a new leadership programme that develops and deploys tough leaders who act with speed and integrity and have the right set of values, skills and behaviours. However, we are talking about a group of people who in many instances look to knee jerk reactions and reach for the scythe to cut people first, when the first sign of strain affects their position. Many would prefer to lose the richness of great talent than allow a more considered and long term strategy take time to work. How many times do we need to go from feast to famine and back again on talent?
Is this because we have a soft core of leaders who have grown up in softer times and lack the ingenuity, relentlessness and drive to make a real vision happen. Too late for some but at last there is a recognition that change and real change is needed.
Recent events are compelling some corporations to rethink executive education and make fundamental and sweeping changes that go beyond tinkering. I say, "About time for them and me too." The change needs to not just accommodate the seismic shifts, but also be delivered in a new way. The change cannot be incremental but radical. This means:
- We need to challenge ourselves and our businesses to maximise the new generation web opportunity in leadership education and our ongoing partnership with institutions of higher learning, who need to re-invent and re-image themselves as agile communities of expertise - empowered, but not bound by brand, platforms, campus and location.
- We need to build teaching in virtual world environments that will allow greater and more sustainable knowledge transfer and explore their use for global teaming and other critical business applications.
- We need to learn how virtual worlds are powering new ways of acquiring, representing and using actionable business intelligence and potential leadership development: from market modelling and simulation, to business strategy scenarios, to product prototyping and usability analysis, to real-world data visualisation, to new 'hybrid social network' models for identifying and sharing expertise.
Do I think anything will change? I would love to sit here and say yes.
I was reading the Mandelson journals on the Blair/Brown years in the UK. My God, what an appalling mess, that lead us into multiple wars, economic crisis and a mammoth national debt. I was horrified by the childish and manipulative game playing, and I could really only blame one group of people, us the voters. We allowed it to happen, and we endorsed it by re-electing the same demographic group of politicians. When we the voters select and abdicate responsibility so easily, will our business leaders who do not depend on employee sponsorship feel the need to change and transform? But before I turn into either Statler or Waldorf from the Muppets, let me say that not all is doom and gloom in my world. I am saved regularly by ordinary people who come to work to do good. My hope and aspiration is that they will rise up and say no more. I want to be part of that revolution. Maybe it's the Irish in me but we've never had a decent revolution in our history.