Observation
December has been quite a month. On the same day that my reflections dropped in to your inbox, I was checking in to London Bridge Hospital for a radical robotic prostatectomy. I have been diagnosed with early stage prostate cancer. Fortunately it looks like the surgery has been successful and though I still have many months of monitoring ahead, the prognosis is good and I am optimistic.
At the exact time the laser guided blade was rearranging my insides, Jack was taking an early morning call from Laura, the Head of the Bain Atlanta Office, to say that he was being made a partner. Nine years from undergraduate to partner of one of the great global consultancies – ‘the boy done good’ and I am a very proud dad! One week later we then received a photograph from Jack and Sam but were asked not to open it until they were FaceTiming us. I assumed it was some sort of get well message – in fact it was an ultrasound image, Sam is pregnant and baby Turner is due in June! I am going to be a grandad!
As I am sure you can imagine it has been an emotional rollercoaster, my tear ducts have never been so tested, even though I am partial to a good cry. I am well aware that my experience is far from unique. I suspect most, if not everybody reading this has been affected by cancer in some way or another and part of the joy of being a parent, certainly in my view, is the opportunity to be proud of our children’s achievements and share in their developing lives. Having said that, the intensity of the last few weeks has caused me to think and therefore here are my top five leadership reflections based on that experience :
Maintain perspective – as companies, teams and individuals we all have bad days, don’t let them consume you, hard as that may be, because they will pass.
Time is precious – we just don’t have enough time to do all the things we might want to, therefore align your time spent with what you think is important, as a leader, partner, parent, friend and human being. Important doesn’t necessarily mean the biggest, sometimes it is the small things that matter most.
If in doubt share your emotions – I have been overwhelmed by people’s kindness and concern. The messages I treasured the most were those that expressed feelings in a way which felt like the sender understood and, in some small part, shared my pain.
Joined up customer service really matters – one of my lowest moments came the first night after the surgery. A variety of events conspired to make me particularly uncomfortable and unfortunately this coincided with a shift change. Over the next hour six different nurses, I am sure with best intent, only made matters worse by coming up with different solutions and undoing the work of their previous colleagues.
The basics are important – I am not always good at doing the basics but in this case I had attended to them. I have great medical insurance, regular check-ups and did not let the inconvenience of COVID prevent me from following up on the routine but as it turned out, incredibly important follow through. I suspect the business parallels include: having robust MI and acting on it, investing in the infrastructure, disaster recovery may not be sexy but as we now know one day it will be needed, and most of all having a mindset that encourages your leaders to take their roles responsibly and act them out in full, not just the selective bits they enjoy or are good at.
… and finally, if you are getting married, I can recommend ticking the box ‘ in sickness and in health’ !
‘Everything shall pass’
George Harrison
Current Leadership Challenge
Inspiration and Perspiration : As A Leader You Need Both
I have just finished reading a biography of Ronald Reagan. As I am one of ‘Thatcher’s Children’, Reagan was probably the first US President that I can meaningfully remember. Over the years I have taken part in many lively debates about whether he was he a great leader who facilitated the end of the Cold War or a jelly bean eating, B movie star who had Alzheimer’s, possibly beginning while he was still president? Based on the book I have come to the conclusion that I am not a fan as he lacked many of the core characteristics that are, for me at least, important to being a great leader. These include being :
On top of the detail – he famously prepared for nuclear disarmament talks with Gorbachev by watching ‘Rambo – First Blood’. I realise this story is probably apocryphal but there are many examples of when he did not put in the necessary preparatory work.
Strategic not sentimental – he appears to have been more influenced by individual encounters than understanding the core underlying issues and developing systemic solutions
Tough with the top team – he avoided conflict at all cost, which engendered infighting amongst a weak leadership team. Nor did he control Nancy’s interference and in particular allowed her astrologer to influence the timing of presidential activity!
… and yet Reagan is amongst one of the most admired presidents and in many surveys only FDR is significantly ahead of him. It would be easy to put this down to the inadequacies of group think, but it does cause me to reflect on what was good about Reagan and therefore what can leaders learn from him. He was undoubtedly:
Believable – when he declared ‘this is a new morning for America’, it appeared that people not only wanted to believe him but that they did believe him
In tune with his audiences – it wasn’t the content of his speeches, like all presidents most of the content was created by speechwriters, it was how he delivered them with utter conviction and tuned in to the needs of his audience.
Consistent – his message rarely changed.
Bold – it doesn’t get more gutsy than ‘Mr Gorbachev tear down this (Berlin) Wall’
Lucky – he survived an assassin’s bullet and enabled a nuclear arms agreement, nobody believed possible.
I have always believed that leadership is much more like ‘great art’ than ‘paint by numbers’. I am unequivocal that leadership needs to involve hard work but it also requires the inspirational. Unless as a leader you try to have some of Ronald Reagan’s more impressive qualities, I suspect you will be much less of a leader than he was, despite his jelly beans, astrologer and TV dinners with Nancy!
Practical Action
Going In To 2021 : Take A Leadership MOT And Act On It!
I have always found that one of the most practical actions a CEO can take is to create the space to reflect on their own leadership and decide what that practically means for the year ahead. Here is my framework for doing that:
As a leader am I …..
Owning The Narrative
Shaping a coherent story which enables belief and gives direction?
Continually delivering that message in a disciplined and inspirational way?
Acting as a role model for the message?
Driving Performance
Articulating what great looks like and translating it into clear priorities??
Finding formal and informal data points to track and shape action?
Provoking the team to continually raise their level of performance and act on what is important?
Building The Ecosystem
Creating a high performing leadership team?
Setting the organisational drumbeat of meetings and processes and injecting energy into that system?
Nurturing and developing the culture?
Investing In Self
Acting out the life that I want?
Shaping my role so that I have maximum impact as a leader?
Managing my energy in a sustainable and effective way?
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