Perishable goods
I meet so many executives that say, in one way or another, that they feel like being a stretched elastic band that just won't revert to shape.
Executives have to manage the time, energy and money of their organisation in order to develop and sustain competitive advantage in a knowledge world. But firstly we all have to manage our own time, energy and money.
Senior people have to learn how to allocate their own personal resources across the main areas of their life which could include work, family, hobbies and community.
And since our circumstances are never the same, this learning never stops.
Role reversal
Whilst it is true that all top people need a mentor, then sometimes you have to be prepared for the relationship to change as time goes by. It is just that circumstances are never the same and as circumstances change we have to decide how to adapt to these changes.
This became apparent recently when as a result of some health challenges I was facing I learned that one of my executive coaching clients is also going through a similar situation. I had to admit that I was struggling with medically imposed lifestyle changes. Now to begin with it feels strange and maybe confusing, because after all, you are being paid to help someone else. However it is possible to just turn off the clock for a while, particularly if your client would like to help you in this way.
In the long run, none of this need impact on your coaching, but it can be seen as part of the intimacy that is implicit in this type of work. It can even make the relationship with your client still stronger.
Old fashioned it may be
I have noticed an increasing trend for very senior people to say they will do one thing but actually end up doing something else, or even doing nothing at all.
These people leave a trail of puzzled, perplexed and frustrated colleagues, staff and customers in their wake. It is as if they are saying that their agenda, their way of seeing things, is the only way. The reality is that there is an over inflated ego at work. It demonstrates a fundamental lack of respect for other people and this behaviour will always damage trust in any relationship.
If this occurs during a director appraisal, I try to remind the culprit that only they can make a success of their life and work but that they cannot do it alone.
Negotiating nous
You can cut a deal that you claim to be win : win, but in fact you know, deep down, that it is win : lose. When this happens the gain is nearly always short term.
I used to be a buyer. Years ago I bought the bubbles in Strongbow, the leading cider brand at the time. Using a matrix that I had designed I could see the true value of spending one pound, when you included trade discount, settlement discount and length of credit. No salesperson can work this stuff out in their head if they don’t have the matrix; I saved the company a lot of money.
I don’t use the matrix any more. Somehow I prefer deals that rely much more on word of mouth, a handshake and a smile. The better the quality of relationships you have with colleagues, stakeholders and customers, the better will be the performance of your business.
You don’t get this result if everything boils down to a number.
Meant to happen
When something happens that is not unusual in itself, but it leads to something else and there is a link between these happenings, experience has taught me to take note.
I had the privilege of being the keynote speaker at the CMI leadership conference in Derby this week. There was a contingent of some ten MBI students from Africa. At one stage in my talk I asked if there was anyone from Botswana in the audience. A lady raised her hand and I said that we would have to meet and continue to discuss the point she had raised during lunch.
At lunchtime the restaurant was buzzing with 150 delegates milling round so I dropped my case in a seat at an empty table for twelve. Ten minutes later the table was full and as I sat down with my meal I realised that I was sitting opposite the lady from Botswana.
During our conversation, one thing led to another, and who knows, I may be speaking in Botswana next year.
Politics – the scourge of best practice
How many times I have witnessed the damage that politics, coming in all shapes and sizes, wreaks on organisations large and small, be they private sector, public sector or ‘not for profit’. I have been known to bracket politics with dishonesty and hidden agendas as the root cause of countless dysfunctional organisations.
Yet there were extraordinary scenes at Stormont today where avowed enemies are finally coming together to work for the good of Northern Ireland. That is only possible with politics. So what is happening here? Have I been wrong about politics all these years? I certainly don’t understand politics; I just cannot see how it can play a part in organisations needing to develop and sustain competitive advantage in a knowledge world, certainly not at the operational level.
I guess that most organisations just haven’t got time to wait twenty years for the top players to sort themselves out. The Northern Ireland thing is amazing, nonetheless.
