Author: leadershipsuisse@gmail.com

from Lead Like a Guide, Christophe I. Maxwell, 2016

Experienced mountain guides demonstrate 6 leadership strengths :

First we rapidly establish positive interactions with people, which draws on emotional and social intelligence. Second, we accurately sense conditions that call for a change in leadership style, and make the change smoothly. Third, we empower our team members by identifying and building on their strengths, we provide supportive space for growth and development. Fourth, we create an environment of trust, imparting confidence in our own skills as a guide while also helping out team members learn to trust themselves and their teammates. Fifth, we attend to the welfare of our team as weather or mountain conditions change, accurately assessing and managing risk in an environment of uncertainty. Finally, rather than holding a singular focus on the summit, we retain the ability to see the big picture throughout the adventure.

• Successful leaders are socially perceptive. We are able to rapidly establish positive relationships by becoming aware of other people’s motives, feelings, capabilities and actions. This awareness is achieved by listening and speaking truthfully. In doing so, foster positive feelings in the people whose cooperation and support we need.

• Leaders employ a number of different leadership styles. We switch to a more directive style when conditions call for it. Adapting to new situations is critical. We take charge in a firm manner to inspire confidence. We organize the group in accordance with their aptitudes and set a steady and regular pace.

• Empowering leaders delegate authority. We involve others in making decisions, engage in consultative behaviors and use other’s ideas and suggestions, keeping them informed and showing concern for our entire team. Empowering is about removing barriers.

• Trust is measured on past experiences of making good decisions, at any given point in time. It is a process of regularly observing, asking the right questions, and having a good communication. The basis of trust is character (moral qualities) and integrity.

Focus is crucial : only say « go » when you are fully ready and committed !

• Risk management is about assessing potential problems, making a conscious decision to live with and deciding what actions to take to minimize unacceptable risks. It is about taking a step back and finding a way to move to the next piece of ground where we are confortable.

Guides assess risks and uncertainty posed by the weather, the route, the conditions of the mountain and the skills and condition of each team member in a way that provides as much safety while operating in an environment of constant threat and change.

• A good leader needs both to learn to motivate a group to persevere and to know when to help a group to move in a different direction. Guides look at the bigger picture. We look for interrelations and take a systemic view, looking for underlying causes. We look far enough into the future and work back to the present to determine unique ways to reach our goals.

Climbing alpine style means moving fast and light, with only what we really need.

from 7 leadership skills principles to learn from an eagle, author unknown.

Eagles fly alone and at high altitudes. We don’t fly with sparrows, ravens and other small birds. (Meaning : we stay away from narrow-minded people, those who bring us down. Eagles fly with eagles. Keep good company)

Eagles have an accurate vision. We have the ability to focus on something as far as 5km away. No matter the obstacles, the eagle will not move his focus from his prey until he grabs it (Meaning : we have a vision and remain focused no matter what the obstacles and we will succeed)

Eagles only feed on fresh prey, they do not eat dead things. (Meaning : we do not rely on our past success, we keep looking for new frontiers to conquer. We leave our past where it belongs, in the past)

Eagles love the storm. When clouds gather, the eagle gets excited, it uses the storms wind to lift itself higher. Once it finds the wing of the storm, the eagle uses the raging storm to lift itself above the clouds. This gives the eagle an opportunity to glide and rest its wings. In the meantime, all other birds hide in the branches and leaves of the tree. (Meaning : we face our challenges head on knowing that these will make us emerge stronger and better than we were. We can use the storms of life to rise to greater heights. Achievers we are not afraid to rise to greater heights, not afraid of challenges, rather we relish them and use them profitably).

Eagles test for commitment. When eagles meet, they make sure to establish their level of trust and commitment (Meaning, whether in private life of professional relationship, we test the people intended in the partnership)

Eagles prepare for training. They remove their feathers and soft grass in the nest so that the young ones get uncomfortable in preparation for flying and eventually flies when it becomes unbearable to stay in the nest. (Meaning : leave our confort zone, there is no growth there)

When the Eagle grows old, his feathers become weak and cannot take him as fast and as high as it should. This makes him weak and could make him die. So he retires to a place far away in the mountains. While there, he plucks out the weak feathers on his body and breaks his beak and claws against the rocks until he is completely bare, a very bloody and painful process. Then he stays in this hiding until he has grown new feathers, new beak and claws and then he comes out flying higher than before (Meaning : we occasionally need to shed off old habits no matter how difficult, things that burden us or add no value to our lives are let go of)

The only bird to pinch the eagle is the crow, who sits on its back and bites its neck. Nevertheless, the eagle does not fight with the crow, it simply spreads its wings and starts to elevate in the sky. Finally, the crow falls as it lacks oxygen. (Meaning : we identify stressors and we deploy our energy where we have the most influence)

Be an eagle.

from Eight Paradoxes of Great Leadership, Tim Elmore, 2021

We are experiencing a change of era, not an era of change.

Embracing uncertainty is summarized with the acronym VUCA : Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous.

Leadership styles evolve from Military Commander (values loyalty through authority and submission) in the 1950s to Chief Executive Officer (values productivity through vision and progress) in the 1960-70s, to Entrepreneur (values innovation, by being first and the best) in the 1980s, to Coach (values collaboration through teamwork and morale) in the 1990s, to Connector (values connection through alignment of individuals) in the 2000s, and the Poet Gardener (values empowerment and growth through interpretation and development) today.

As Poet Gardeners, we surround ourselves with a team of leaders, an inner circle that is optimally diverse in their strengths and perspectives while sharing the same vision and values. The Poet Gardener creates a space for his leadership team to meet and ultimately is discerning of the ideas that seem to surface, synthesizes and extrapolates thoughts and champion the best one. We are wordsmiths who articulate the idea until the entire team owns it. As a Poet, we communicate the best idea, regardless of the source. The Poet Gardener Leader reads the situation before leading it. People have agency. As Gardeners, we develop people and act as mentors.

Successful modern leaders embrace 8 paradoxes :

1.Confidence (energy, certainty, passion) & Humility (authenticity, trustworthiness)

2. Vision (provides a target, energizes, stays focuses) and Blind Spots (unconventional ideas, options)

3. Visible (being a model, an example) & Invisible (delegate, empower, mentor)

4. Stubbornness (show tenacity, lead with conviction) & Open-mindedness (adaptable, ready to learn, seize opportunities)

5. Collective (see the big picture, lead by the mission) & Personal (lead individuals, recognize their lives)

6. Teacher (listen when I speak) & Learners (speak and I will listen, seek alternatives)

7. High standards (challenge people, motivate towards excellence) & Gracious Forgiveness (create a safe environment, encourage risk taking)

8. Timely (maintain a moral compass and values) & Timeless (Feeling or relevance, improvement)

from 6 Principles to Build Your Company, Harvard Business Review, 09.2021

Strategic agility is the ability to improve performance — not just survive but thrive — amid disruption. Strategic agility can be broken down into six guidelines to help organizations leverage disruption proactively to our advantage.

Principle 1: Prioritize speed over perfection
Opportunities come and go quickly during a crisis, so organizations need to be ready and willing to act quickly, even if they sacrifice quality and predictability in the process.

Principle 2: Prioritize flexibility over planning

Strategy is often seen as a cascade of choices that are built into strategic plans, in turn devised and approved over a period of several months, and then executed over three or five years, before the cycle repeats. However, in a crisis, a strategic plan can easily become an anchor that locks an organization onto a path that is no longer relevant, instead favour flexibility.

Principle 3: Prioritize diversification and “efficient slack” over optimization

Many organizations struggle — and some fail— not because they are not agile or innovative, but because they are felled by a single devastating blow. To avoid this, ist is best to cultivate diversification and underemphasis efficiency and optimization.

Principle 4: Prioritize empowerment over hierarchy

Systems are most vulnerable at their weakest points. A hierarchy, for example, is most vulnerable at the top. Empowered teams, by contrast, are inherently robust. Since they are decentralized, no single strike or crisis can take them all out. The key is to maintain open and regular information flows so they work from the same page.

Principle 5: Prioritize learning over blaming

Organizational cultures that reward risk taking and tolerate failure move more quickly that those that don’t. If people are criticized for failing, they are less likely to take risks; in a crisis, this can be fatal.

Principle 6: Prioritize resource modularity and mobility over resource lock-in

Since it is difficult to predict how the future will unfold in a crisis, it is hard to effectively plan the allocation of resources. Thus, it is important to build resources that are modular and/or mobile so they can be reconfigured or moved as needed.

In short, incorporating avoidance, absorption and acceleration can be the difference between survival and collapse.

from Jumping the S-Curve, Paul Nunes & Tim Breene, 2011

High performance organisations thrive by successfully delivering some form of innovation to their beneficiaires, their customers. In order to do so, we need to prepare for the future, and gain insight on the potential of change : the Big Enough Market Insight (BEMI). The BEMI needs to be big enough, valuable enough and certain enough.

The idea is to constantly be on the lookout for game changers, anticipating the environment needs, detecting long term trends, listening to the subtle changes, in order to Jump the curve. It is about envisioning a world that would be , thanks to strong insight and early commitment to important market conditions. The secret is about what you do to prepare for the jump on the way up : understanding the beneficiaries’ real problems, the pain points that need to be removed, as well as the specific obstacles that have kept competitors from addressing those issues.

The new game changers are : business analytics (big data) leading to real-time individualized recommendations, digital marketing (social media), cloud computing (software, storage and computing power, innovative products specific to emerging markets, mobility (networking capabilities between devices), talents with a global mindset, smart infrastructure solutions to reduce energy consumption, manage congestion and connect people more efficiently and sustainability.

from The Catalyst, Jonah Berger, 2020

The Catalyst changes minds (triggers reactions) by removing (5) barriers :

1- Reducing reactance (reactance = resistance to persuasion by pushing back, arguing, avoiding, ignoring). To take action, we need to feel that we are free and autonomous and that we are doing what we choose. When given facts and asked what we are going to do about it, we chart our own path and become active participants, provided with a menu of choices, feeling aligned with our own values (internal consistency), highlighted gaps and guided by tactical empathy (active listening and trust building).

2- Easing endowment (endowment = attachment to status quo). Inaction is easy, it results from the comfort bias. To let go, we need to explore the cost of doing nothing. We also need to burn the existing option (which gives no choice but to consider new options).

3- Shrinking distance (distance to change). What I can accept before rejection, what I can live with. This is done by focusing on specific issues where we are likely to shift, by asking for less (one step at a time), and starting with a common ground (confirmation bias).

4- Alleviating uncertainty. When choosing between a sure thing and a risky one, the risky option has to be that much better to get chosen. Change involves uncertainty, and there is nothing we like less. Make it easy to try, use and find useful, reducing risk, thus reducing uncertainty : (a) make something free and find out how useful it is, then willing to charge for extra services (b) reduce upfront costs (c) hand out a free sample (d) make it reversible, a free return cost, loosing nothing in the worst case scenario.

5- Finding corroborating evidence (= compelling information, proof, evidence). Proof brought by a close friend has a certain impact on our opinions, proof brought by a concentration of friends, multiple sources will have even more impact, thanks to social reinforcement. The evidence needs to come from people like us, or better : someone like us who has already gone through the change. The stronger the denial, the more concentrated evidence is needed.

from The 3 Elements of Trust, Harvard Business Review, Jack Zenger and Joseph Folkman, 2019

As leaders, we want the people in your organization to trust us. And with good reason. Trust is leading indicator of whether others evaluate us positively. Here are the 3 key elements of trust : positive relationships, good judgement/expertise and consistency.

Positive Relationships means staying in touch on the issues of concerns of others, balancing results with concern of others, generating cooperation between others and giving honest feedback in a helpful way,

Good Judgement means using of good judgement when making decisions, being trusted for our ideas and opinions, being sought after our opinions, having knowledge and expertise that make us an important contributor to achieving results, having the capacity to anticipate and respond quickly to problems.

Consistency means being a role model and setting a good example, walking the talk, honoring commitments and keeping promises, following through on commitments, being willing to go above and beyond what needs to be done.

The most important is positive relationships.

from True North, Bill George, 2007

True North is the internal compass that guides us successfully through life. Just as a compass points towards a magnetic pole, our True North pulls us towards the purpose of our leadership. When we follow our internal compass, our leadership is authentic, and people naturally want to associate with us. Our internal compass enables us to stay true to who we are, as we remain aligned with ourself. People trust us as we are authentic and genuine, we follow our real passions.

What ultimately distinguishes the great leaders are the personal, inner qualities : character, substance and integrity (instead of charisma, style, respectively image). As authentic leaders, we pursue purpose with passion, practice solid values (with integrity as key value), lead with heart (demonstrating courage and compassion), establish enduring relationships (based on trust and commitment) and demonstrate self-discipline (by setting high standards and holding accountable). Most leaders are self-taught and we develop ourselves constantly.

By constantly reframing our life stories we understand who we are and we unleash our passions and discover the purpose of our leadership. Our stories provide the inspiration to create our future. They include crucibles that allow us to grow. Thanks to self awareness and self compassion, we are able to connect the dots between our past and our future.

Our internal compass helps us stay focused and get back on the track of our purpose. Loosing sight of our purpose happens in several situations : we want to get ahead and let no one stand in our way (the imposter, loses purpose), we blame external forces (the rationalizer, loses values), we seek visible signs of success experiencing envy and feeling empty inside (the glory seeker, loses heart), we believe we can make it on our own and reject honest feedback (the loner, loses relationships) and we leap forward without being confronted with the results of our decisions (the shooting star, loses self-discipline).

Most leaders have experienced a transformative experience that enables us to recognize that leading is about empowering others to lead. The shift is the transformation from the “I” to the “We”. It is about empowering others to work together towards a shared purpose.

Because our circumstances, opportunities and the world around us change, we keep calibrating our compass thanks to 5 areas of development : self awareness (what is my story, what are my strengths and weaknesses), values and principles (what guides my leadership), motivations (how do I balance internal and extenal motivations), support team (who can I count on to guide me and give me honest feedback) and an integrated life (joining all aspects of our lives to find fulfillment).

How to reach authenticity : the more stress we are under, the more we revert to our old patterns. This allows our blind spots to emerge. Story telling allows us to reveal our life, fears, ambitions and failures. It is all about peeling the onion to get to the core of we believe and how we envision our place on earth. Our authentic self has several layers of protection (closest to our core moving outwards) : the first layer includes shadows, vulnerabilities, blind spots and life stories ; the second layer reveals values and motivations ; the third layer shows our strengths and weaknesses, needs and desires ; on the outmost layer we build appearance, attire, body language and leadership style. The journey of self awareness requires unconditional self-acceptance and self-compassion.

With the center of our compass solidly grounded in self-awarness and supported by self-acceptance, we are ready to focus on our purpose, inspire and attract others towards a shared purpose.

” Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life ? ” Mary Oliver.

from several sources (summary)

Leaders demonstrate the following capacities :

take initiative, nurture resilience, practice self-development, drive for results, display of high integrity and honesty, inspire and motivate others, develop others, make bold statements, build relationships, pilot change, establish stretch goals, collaborate in teamwork, connect with the outside world, communicate powerfully and prolifically, solve problems and analyse issues, lead with speed, innovate, demonstrate technical or professionnal expertise, develop strategic perspectives, monitor risks

from High Performance Boards, Improving and Energizing your Governance, Didier Cossin, 2020

Governance is the quality of decision-making at the very top of the organisation.

It has become critical to success and is about balance, responsibility and genuine personal accoutability.Board members need the necessary maturity and self-possession.

A board’s effectiveness rests on 4 pillars :

1. People
2. Information architecture
3. Structures and processes
4. Dynamics and board culture

Due diligence is made on the Board thanks to a relevant set of questions :

1. People : who is on the virtuous board and what is each member’s unique contribution (skills, background, personality, expertise ) ? how dedicated is each member ?
2. Information architecture : what is the quality and pertinence of the information accessed to make decisions on strategy delivery and risk monitoring ? what are the board brief papers like ? are there other sources of information ?
3. Structrues and processes : what kind of processes and structures does the Board have in place to stay ahead of trends and regulations ? how does it ensure directors have a sufficient board-level view of risk (growth strategy, key vulnerabilities) ? Does it have a risk committee ? an investment committee ?
4. Dynamics and board culture : what is the virtuous boardroom culture like ? what is the style of the Chair ? what kind of dyanamics / interractions are at play ? how much passion about the firm ? how does each director view the contribution of one another ?