All tagged Leadership

My love-hate relationship with marketing

I’m an accountant, so I am not supposed to love marketing, am I?

When I started in industry, marketing budget were cut, how can you justify the ROI on that spend. So much time was spent understanding the return on money spent, some easier than others to explain.

However, when cash needed to be saved it was the easiest spot. It didn’t impact the bottom line, that you can really measure easy compared with other costs.

The A Team

The A team, how it operated & why it worked?

You know, the team that works well together, delivers outcomes and is a high functioning team – known by Jo as the “A team”. If you have ever been led or been part of the A team, you know what I am talking about.

Life's not always fair, but it's sure made me tough...

Jo Hands writes about what makes her tick, she explains “Life's not always fair, but it's sure made me tough...” When I was a child I was big about justice. I wanted to feel like life was fair. My mother told me that life wasn't fair and I thought that was crap. As I grew up I realised that she was right - life is not fair. Everyone has their challenges, battles and hard times, you are not alone. People want to be perceived as having their life together but no one really does, let's be honest.

How should we think about Complexity? Is it complicated?

Mark Easdown writes about complexity. In the mid 1980s, a school of thought emerged around “Complexity” and “Complex Adaptive Systems” with the formation of the Sante Fe Institute, formed in part by former members of Los Alamos National Laboratory. The institute drew from multi-disciplinary domains and insights of : economics, neural networks, physics, artificial intelligence, chaos theory, cybernetics, biology, ecology and archaeology. Theories on Complexity and Complex Adaptive systems sought to develop common frameworks and understandings of physical and social systems that was an alternate to more linear and reductionist modes of thinking.

Simplicity

Jo Hands is talking about simplicity. It's a theme for 2021... Companies want to drive simplicity, and many CEOs we are talking to consider this to be a key area of focus. As companies grow, shrink and change, they find themselves more complex. But where does it come from? Ultimately complexity is driven by core business functions: process, policy, systems, operating models, and is fuelled further by unclear decision-making.

What kind of leader are you?

Jo Hands asks the question: What kind of leader are you? Leadership is a gift. It's not easy. It's not a popularity contest. It's about setting up your team for success. Sometimes as leaders we get lost. Meetings, emails, approvals and pressure and we lose sight of what is important - taking people on the journey. We've all worked for good leaders and not great leaders and therefore know what good leadership is ...I think I've learnt the most from the bad leaders that I've worked with.

What do I want to do when I grow up??

Jo Hands writes about what she wanted to be when she grew up, and the lessons she learned along the way. She explains “In year 9, we needed to work out what we wanted to be when we grew up to pick our majors / subjects that determined our chance to get into 'the' university course. We were just kids and let's be honest, we didn’t know. Some still don’t know today.”

The Problem Is …. How to Solve It?

Mark Easdown writes about problem solving… Good problem solving needs: cognitive diversity, valuing dissent to mitigate consensus “fails” & “group think”, a clear approach in stressful situations, switch thinking or adding some randomness to process, a healthy power relationship (no hubris or silencing of opposition, a need for participative management & subordinate assertiveness training), multiple approaches to problem solving …

Simplification

Jo Hands talks about the importance of simplification and where to start when trying to simplify in your own business. Companies create complexity as they grow, and action is required to change. You don't want to shave around edges, so instead create a set of criteria - and be very clear on what must change. Then build a program of work around this.

Perspective...

Jo Hands is talking perspective. She explains “There are things in life that result in an increase in perspective. It's normally something unpleasant. So it takes some unpleasant to happen to you or someone you love to create perspective. The perspective needs to be strong enough to drive a change in behaviour. The perspective needs to be consistent / enduring enough to make long term sustainable change.”

Forecasting

Mark Easdown writes about forecasting. The prediction process starts with propositions, then verified, quantified and made actionable. A robust peer review occurs and 95% of predictions are modified along the way. Plummer routinely scrutinises predictions with actual events and these results are highlighted at conferences – championing the successes and sharing insights across those that were wrong. “Nobody here is hired because they’re psychic; there hired to generate insights that are useful – even if they turn out wrong. It’s useful to get you thinking”.

How to deliver a successful transformation program

Jo Hands writes about how to deliver a successful transformation program. Nearly every project today is called a transformation. Most companies are changing, evolving and putting in programs to change the way things are done and these call these programs – ‘transformation project’s. It doesn’t matter what the programs are called, what matters is the that it achieves the outcome you are expecting.

Leadership – your legacy

Jo Hands writes about leadership - and creating your legacy. It doesn’t mean you are old – legacy. What leadership legacy do you want to leave? What kind of leader you do want to be? What do you want to be remembered for? When I think about Legacy I think about leaders that I have had in my career. Which ones have inspired me and which one disappointed me.