Free leadership articles by Timothy Pascoe

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LEADERSHIP: HOW MUCH DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE?

published: 2009-07-27

We often speak of some part of our organisation running "like a well-oiled machine". But, we all know business lacks that precise and reliable machine-like character. It's organic, changeable and often unstable. Unlike an engine, it's not bolted to a chassis or floor. It floats in a larger organic pool of economic, competitive and regulatory influences. No wonder, therefore, people find it hard to measure (and justify) leadership investment. But, if you've found some good metrics or trustworthy business-performance stats., please let me know (timothy@vectorleadership.com). In the meantime, here are some arguments to consider. ... read more

LEADERSHIP: IT STARTS WITH LEADING YOURSELF

published: 2009-07-20

It's a wry statement but true: every overnight success is preceded by ten years of slog. A serial entrepreneur said this to me recently. He was talking about his current business venture that's struggling to get traction. But, the same statement also applies to leadership. Getting to the top is a testament to discipline and courage. At each stage, the discipline to make a plan. And, the courage to implement it. Do you have that? And, know what it means today? ... read more

LEADERSHIP: FOR SURVIVAL AND BEYOND

published: 2009-07-13

Apart from the paramedics, surgeons and undertakers of the business world, the rest of us are struggling. Only bankruptcy specialists and their like are thriving. Sadly, I'm not one of them. So, I keep fighting; but, I also focus on life beyond the slump. Why? Because we can all learn something from people who've survived gulags and similar camps. The secret is not strength or youth, but vision of a different and better future. So, would your staff say you think beyond surviving the current quarter? And, even if they're impressed with your "fire-fighting", do they sense you're leading them somewhere worth going in the future? From recent discussions, here are some pointers I've heard for leaders to consider. ... read more

LEADERSHIP: LESSONS FROM TIANANMEN SQUARE

published: 2009-07-06

Most of us would rate the Chinese Communist Party as both tough and inflexible. And, we'd be right about tough. But, wrong about inflexible. Reflecting on the twentieth anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, here are some quotes from the May 30th edition of The Economist. "After the massacre, the Communist Party set about transforming itself." And, today, "the outcome is a wholesale reinvention." If colleagues reviewed your leadership over the last two decades, would they report "wholesale reinvention"? Or, more of the same? And, if the Chinese Communist Party can change so radically, what can you learn from it? ... read more

LEADERSHIP: HOW SERIOUS ARE YOU?

published: 2009-06-29

In the years before his conversion to Christianity, St Augustine of Hippo is quoted as having prayed: please make me virtuous but not yet. Similarly, many of us want to be better leaders but won't invest the effort and energy necessary to shift how we operate. So, let's check other areas in which we've all changed in recent years - and contrast these with how (if at all) we've upgraded how we lead those we rely on for the success of our projects. ... read more

LEADERSHIP: ARE THEY RIOTING IN THE STREETS?

published: 2009-06-22

Social networking sites and TV screens have been alight and aTwitter in recent times with voters rampaging through Teheran, Shiraz and Isfahan. These historic cities have been host to massive leadership disaffection and revolt against an apparently rigged appointment. Such disturbances have few parallels in business life. But, many appointments cause concern; and, often leaders lack full support. If we polled your team, how would you rate? What are early warning signs you should watch for? ... read more

LEADERSHIP: OF MID-LEVEL AND FRONT-LINE TEAMS

published: 2009-06-15

Team leaders split their time between "leading" and "doing". But daily pressures (particularly now) drag leaders towards the latter: getting things delivered, resolving technical challenges, responding to HO demands, and keeping the admin. flowing. Too often, they stop leading; and, become managers at best or merely operatives at worst. Sounds familiar? ... read more

LEADERSHIP: LOVE IN A COLD CLIMATE

published: 2009-06-08

Nancy Mitford's novel ("Love in a Cold Climate" - dealing with British high society after the Second World War) is not serious reading. But its title is apt for one of today's most serious leadership issues: making staff feel valued and cared for. So, what have you been doing? If asked, would your people report feeling important to the future of your business? Would they say you care about their well-being and challenges - at work and in their personal lives? ... read more

LEADERSHIP: MULTI-TASKING THROUGH THE DOWNTURN

published: 2009-06-01

Hands up anyone who wants to be a business leader today! No-one? I'm not surprised. If you run a big organisation (particularly in financial services), you're clearly a crook. If it's a small business, the banks won't roll your loans. And in between, you're still a dirty capitalist; and, surrounded by staff fearful for their jobs; and, with customers who've probably already opened the window and jumped. So, what's your leadership strategy going to be? ... read more

LEADERSHIP: INNOVATE - BUT CAREFULLY

published: 2009-05-25

Check out these quotes! "Your planning process is superb." It's "excellent ... a very simple but very effective management tool." And, the resource material is "the best stuff I've seen." Yes, I'm showing off. These three recent comments refer to our online Leadership-Action-Planning tool. And, they're from: the CEO of a web-based business; the local head of a global investment bank; and, the CEO of a specialist insurance business. Sounds good. But, we're still struggling for uptake. So, how's your own (product and process) innovation? In tough times, innovation's key. But, it comes with challenges. So, let's review the lessons. ... read more

LEADERSHIP: IN DRASTIC ECONOMIC TIMES

published: 2009-05-18

Let's start with two fundamentals. First, what's the only thing a leader must have? Yes, followers! People willing and committed to do what's needed. Second, how are people feeling these days? Happy and assured? Not the ones I know. More like: frightened for their jobs; concerned about mortgages; worried for parents about to retire. So, how do you need to lead, if you want these people to follow? ... read more

LEADERSHIP: THE ART OF LIBERATING TALENT

published: 2009-05-11

An article in The Economist (October 5, 2006)* highlights the value of "brainpower (both natural and trained) and especially the ability to think creatively." It states that "the value of 'intangible' assets - everything from skilled workers to patents to know-how - has ballooned (since 1980) from 20% of the value of companies in the S&P 500 to 70% today." Also that "the proportion of American workers doing jobs that call for complex skills has grown three times as fast as employment in general."

LEADERSHIP: PROVIDING THE NECESSARY RESOURCES

published: 2009-05-04

Speaking of the Battle of Britain, Winston Churchill immortalised the heroic few, whose bravery saved the lives of many. History is full of similar (but often less upbeat) stories. One that comes to mind is the WWI landing at ANZAC Cove in Turkey, where bungling by Churchill and other leaders left a small contingent of Commonwealth troops outnumbered and under-resourced. Many died in attempting the job they'd been given. In terms of your own leadership (particularly in the current downturn), what would your people say about your provisioning and support - in the context of what you've asked them to do? ... read more

LEADERSHIP: A QUICK COVER-UP

published: 2009-04-20

Warren Buffett famously quipped that it's not until the tide goes out you find who's been swimming naked. He was referring to financial risk-takers. But, he might as well be talking about leaders. With the tide rising, we all look fine. But with the lake sucked dry, we may be caught. So, as you stand in front of your team today, do they see you clad - or threadbare? Are there holes where it's better to be covered? ... read more

LEADERSHIP: G20, GEE PLENTY

published: 2009-04-08 - Comment count: 1

Committees are often the worst way to get things done. Particularly in nervous times. And, the pre-G20 vibes were net nervous. There was positive energy (particularly from Barack Obama) about working together to restore financial and economic vitality. But, from others, finger-pointing - for example, at bankers and, more generally, those with "blue eyes". And, insistence (from Nicolas Sarkozy) that it would be his solution or none - with a walk-out threatened for good measure. And, as always, cries for legislation and regulation - noisily slamming stable doors after the credits have bolted. Sadly, it's often no different in business. When things go bad, there can be a rush to blaming - and backside covering. Also, pushing personal solutions. So, how have you and your people behaved in the downturn?
... read more

LEADERSHIP: NEITHER BORN NOR BRED

published: 2009-04-06

What do Kim Jong-il, Margaret Thatcher, Bill Clinton, Carly Fiorina, Dick Fuld, Lakshmi Mittal and Conrad Black have in common. Yes, fame (or infamy). But, not necessarily life stories. For me, the link is their role as potential exemplars in the debate about leadership being either the result of "nature" or of "nurture". "Nature" being about genes, family and early life; "nurture" about job experience and training. So, which is the dominant driver of your leadership approach? ... read more

LEADERSHIP: AVENGING ANGELS OR GADARENE SWINE

published: 2009-03-30

Dramatic economic downturns inflict pain both widely and deeply. People lose their jobs, homes and self-worth. No wonder they join in seeking scapegoats. Tearing into Bernard (Ponzi) Madoff in America or Fred (the Shred) Goodwin in Europe deflects our own pain. But, as a leader, how much time do you spend reviewing your own responsibility for what you've experienced recently - for your own organisational and systemic failures? ... read more

LEADERSHIP: WHICH HALF IS WASTED?

published: 2009-03-23

As Sam Wanamaker famously said: I know that half of my advertising dollars are wasted ... I just don't know which half. He might equally be talking about leadership training and development. Checking Amazon, I find they have over three hundred thousand titles under "leadership". And, how many have you read? Or should you? Perhaps two or three! The key test: does this one give me a tool to diagnose what my team needs from me, in their current circumstances and facing their particular challenges. Anything else leaves you reliant on theory or anecdote. As a leader, you practice a craft: customising your leadership actions. Not borrowing, copying or mass-producing! And, the output has to be a personal Leadership Action Plan. So, how would such a tool look? And, what does it need to do? ... read more

LEADERSHIP: HAS GEITHNER GAGGED?

published: 2009-03-16

The US Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner, hasn't asked my advice. But, he looks as though he needs some. He's like a stalled driver on a railway crossing and the runaway financial express is already on top of him. His lack of resolve is worrying both Americans and investors across the world. Obama's land of "hope" and "yes, we can" is at risk of becoming a desert of "nope". Many CFOs (and their CEOs) face similar challenges - albeit smaller. So, how are you going? Perhaps this advice may be of help to you as well! ... read more

Leadership: twilight of the gods

published: 2009-03-09

Richard Wagner's Ring Cycle ends with Valhalla, the lofty abode of the gods, collapsing in flames into the rising tide of the River Rhine below. And the stolen gold, whose theft triggered the gods' downfall, sinks beneath the flood back into the hands of its rightful owners, the Rhine Maidens. It takes 15 hours (and four operas) to tell this story. And, it's all rather reminiscent of the recent boom and bust of the global financial system. Pride, dishonesty and rejection of basic good sense. So, how in our new and darker world of business leadership should we all behave? ... read more

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