Directors Report - Building Common Ground with a Minority Government - Graham Bradley - Business Council of Australia President

Recently I attended the Australian German Association (AGA) luncheon with Graham Bradley – President of the Business Council of Australia.
  
Graham has a lot of insights for business leaders. Graham has been a partner with McKinsey and Company. From there, Graham’s career has included national managing partner at Blake Dawson and Managing Director of Perpetual Limited before being elected as President for the Business Council of Australia. Graham is also Chairman of HSBC Bank Australia, and Stockland Corporation  

 

Graham’s subject of discussion for the luncheon was: 
  
Building Common Ground with a Minority Government. 
  
Firstly, Graham explained about The Business Council of Australia, an organisation which represents over 120 of the largest employers in Australia - representing over 50% of exports and more than 30% of Australia’s GDP 
  
Their membership is united in the need for a strong and productive economy that considers the impact of a regulatory regime on our economy. 


  
  

Graham shared the similarities with Australian and German economies… 

  • Both Australia Germany have federal women leaders in minority governments that are emerging strongly from the GFC
  • We both have a low national debt and unemployment
  • Both economies advocate free trade
  • Another very interesting similarity is our dependence on China

  
Looking at the Differences between Australia and German economies… 
 

  • Germany has a strong trade surplus. Despite 50 year high terms of trade, Australia remains an importer
  • Australia has a strong currency whilst Germany is tied to the weakened Euro
  • Australia’s interest rates are strong whilst Germany’s are weak
  • Australia has a free floating currency whilst Germany is tied to the Euro
  • Australia has a growing population whilst Germany has a stagnant population
  • Australia has a resource based economy whilst Germany is a manufacturing based economy

  
Some issues affecting both our economies are similar. 
  
1)      China – with global imbalances, how does China lead beyond recession 
2)      US and Europe deficits 
3)      Strengthening banks without credit squeezing globally 
4)      How do we achieve energy security (Carbon Emissions) 
5)      Population Policy 
  
The BCA have looked at several things they want the coming government to do to lift productivity, and support a stronger economy and community prosperity and they have been encouraging the government to focus on a few priorities. 
  
The reality is, that with the Rudd majority government there was a lot of discussion, though these priorities were not put into practice. 
  
The key areas of priority for reform in our minority government leadership are: 
  
1)      Gather community support behind future changes 
2)      Focus on a consultative government 
3)      Both parties need to look for common ground 
  
It will be a disaster for Australia if we don’t take advantage of the opportunities we now have to react to the 5 key issues explained above now that we have a minority government. 
  
So what are the 5 priorities that The Business Council of Australia sees as most important? 
  
1) Give us a National Infrastructure Plan 
Currently Australia is behind other countries with a growing population 
A cost benefit analysis is required. 
Infrastructure Australia can help with providing solutions, given the poor planning to date, particularly with State governments. 
BCA recommend an audit of infrastructure priorities and recommend Infrastructure Australia as the best for doing that – independently. 
Our future infrastructure needs with future population growth will require private economy investment to build this investment in our infrastructure. 
  
2) Energy Security Policy 
Future energy needs and costs for power uncertainty still exists. 
If you look at Germany – nuclear power is key 
Australian’s need to know more about where energy is going to come from and what are the costs. 
  
3) Tax Reform – Development of a Common Ground 
Graham suggests that BCA are critical of some elements of the Henry report but it remains a good starting point for a long-term comprehensive tax reform agenda.

An increase in GST is recommended in replacement for a reduction in other taxes that don’t disproportionately favour wealthy people. To date neither government party are committed and the BCA recommends the Tax Summit forum in June 2011 should put all options on the table to find solutions. 
  
BCA responses to government have suggested an increase in GST and reduction in personal and corporate tax rates. These changes will require a process. With no process there will be no common ground. 
  
4) Refocus Council of Australian Governments (COAG) – with common ground 
COAG has become the dumping ground for every policy. With 80 ministerial councils and 82 priorities. 
What’s more important is that the hard decisions do not get traction. 
The BCA recommend COAG are re-focussed, particularly in the areas of competition reforms to energy and transport, business regulation, infrastructure, education and e-health.
  
5) Independent Office of Budget Integrity. 
An independent group with a mandate on their own initiative to review government spending periodically is recommended. 
Looking at the ‘Sacred Cows’ of funding should be embedded in review. Particularly considering 80% of budget spend is based on previous commitments. 
All spending requires independent reviews 
  
Whether all these 5 priorities come into place is to be determined. 
  
One thing is for sure, in a minority government where both parties and their political partners are living in a fragility of government, the BCA are seeing more interest in working together with business. 
  
I won’t go into the answers that were privy to people attending the luncheon during question time. To experience these discussions – attend future AGA events. Given the exclusive attendants – questions and answers always provide the best information to complement their presentations – under ‘Chatham House Rules’.

If you like this article you are also likely to enjoy:

A Luncheon with Dr Bob Every - Chairman of Wesfarmers and Boral

A Luncheon with Bill Evans - Chief Economist for Westpac

A Luncheon with Professor Roy Green - Dean - Business UTS 

Another Directors Report by Grant Crossley

Responsible Leadership in the Field of Innovation

Today I caught up with Joss Evans, CEO of INNOVIC and discussed her thoughts on responsible leadership.

Joss believes responsible leadership involves an holistic approach to business. Responsible leadership includes ethics, morality, honesty with your staff and the people you deal with, it also involves the social, cultural and environment aspects of your business.

Importantly, Joss believes you should not  mislead people, particular clients. Within her field as an advisor on commercialisation and innovation, Joss believes this is a very important aspect of responsible leadership.

Innovators approach Joss daily with new  ideas and business concepts they want to commercialise. INNOVIC’s policy is to give honest, objective and independent advice – and not to encourage people to spend money on a new idea that is unlikely to be commercially viable.

“By pointing out the fatal flaws in an objective and sensitive way, it is possible to help people to understand why their idea may not be viable.  They then have an opportunity to address the problems, or simply move on to their next idea -  which may have more merit”, Joss says.  

Conversely, when a client has a good idea it is important to determine the best strategy  for them going forward – a commercialisation pathway that is practical and likely to get results.  When licensing, INNOVIC tries to ensure that any deal that is negotiated is fair for all parties.

Whilst INNOVIC provides practical assistance to innovators, it does not have any funds to give out, and clients looking for finance are often redirected to business angels, venture capitalists and/or advised of relevant grants.

Talking with Joss about when responsible leadership goes wrong, Joss cited a couple of examples of Telcos and banks who she says appear more driven by profit and their shareholders than providing for staff and customers.

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Sweat factories are another example where some multinational organisations produce products knowing that their overseas workers are employed in conditions that would not be legal in Western countries.  Workers may be underpaid, or work long hours in unsafe conditions, sometimes using young children.

So how does innovation help with society and responsible leadership?

Joss believes the growing popularity of social enterprises is an interesting development that uses innovation to solve  social, cultural or environmental problems.

Many social enterprises create jobs for the disadvantaged or marginalised, and/or may have a specific goal, such as raising funds to build a sports centre, etc.

They use market driven systems and models to drive success - just like any other business needs to do.  Many of the social enterprises are not for profit, delivering profits back into the communities or causes they support, rather than distributing them to shareholders.

Joss concludes that everyone has an obligation to embrace the fundamentals of social responsibility – to treat each other with respect and deal with people fairly and honestly.

Dr James Moody's Thoughts about Responsible and Sustainable Leadership

James_moody

Today I met up with Dr James Bradfield Moody. For any of you that watch ABC New Inventors - you will be familiar with James.

Others may be aware how James is the Executive Director of Development for the CSIRO.

Additionally you may be familiar with the book “The 6th Wave: How to succeed in a resource-limited world” that James has co-authored with Bianca Nogrady http://sixthwave.org/

Our discussion was about responsible leadership and as a young innovator, speaker and thought leader, James had a few very interesting concepts that hold true...

James believes truly responsible leaders take a long term view, past immediate gains to the next decade and beyond. They understand that responsibility means looking at the past as well as the future to create a better world for all humanity.

A responsible leader has a variety of dimensions...

  • They honour the past and the lessons we have learnt
  • They look towards the future and how we can develop wealth for future generations - not with cash - with a better life
  • In this way, responsible leaders leave our world as a better place - that is the legacy they live to create.

They also take a much broader view of costs and benefits for business.

James is particularly interested in sustainability...

Sustainable business Leaders understand scarcity will drive innovation to create new products and services and as good stewards for our future, they also understand the importance of involving all stakeholders in their business, from shareholders and customers to employees and suppliers.

Responsible leaders as stewards of our future understand every business contributes and extracts from our society and environment and every product has a footprint of energy, water and waste.

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James believes a responsible leader has a great sense of purpose. By thinking in the long term, generating value and being a good steward of those areas they are responsible for - a leader automatically taps into effective ways of communicating - it becomes second nature.


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When leadership doesn't work well is when it hasn't tapped into and learnt from the past.

The GFC is a classic example of this which has similarities to other financial slumps like the 70’s oil shocks and the great depression.

Another example of when things don't work is when people don't take future generations into account - when the future costs of their actions are much worse than the low value they are currently creating. This can cost them financially as well - as we become a more knowledge capable society.

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When leaders don't subscribe to a higher purpose is the 3rd major problem - then people don't believe in you as a leader into the future.

 

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Going forward, James sees people are a lot more selective on who they will work with. Mobility is available - people can move around.

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Responsible leaders understands that it is a competitive world and as technology and communication methods provide more knowledge and mobility - businesses will need to look more closely at how they develop their business model innovations - to cater for the needs for our future generations over the next 30-40 years.

Future generations are more interested in supporting society and our planet dynamically across locations - rather than settling in one house and occupation.

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James believes there are many ways Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and sustainability will drive growth as we lead into an era of more values driven leaders.

Responsible leadership will underlie the values of most successful leaders who are motivated by generating happiness with their staff, stakeholders, clients and the broader community over the next 30-50 years.

If you are not making the world a better place - the world will not sustain involvement with you.

Are you ready for the 6th wave of innovation as a responsible leader?...

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What happens in the second half of the 2000's? - Well that will depend on what we make of the 1st half...

How Collaboration and Commercialisation works can support a Responsible Business

Today, I met up with Rowan Gilmore - CEO of the Australian Institute of Commercialisation (AIC)

We discussed what responsible and effective leadership means to Rowan and the AIC and he had a few very good points as below.

Before we ventured into what makes a leader responsible and effective, I discussed with Rowan when he had seen responsible leadership at its worst.

Rowan cited the international banking organisations who were seen as responsible in the main for the recent GFC.

The breakdown of many financial institutions was created - often because the right questions were not asked and followed through.

Banks should have long term values over and above the needs to maximise profits and prior to the GFC many people became greedy, self-centred even - not believing or behaving within the core values of their institutions.

Rowan believes leadership should be in line with stated organisational values which then are publicly expressed through desired behaviour of the business / organisation.

Values typically contain expressions relating to ethics (although increasingly these are assumed rather than stated). Often these include ethical values like openness, honesty, caring.

Responsible leadership is aligned with these types of ethical values.

Though many people’s actions - like the bankers referred to above - prove they don't follow ethical values and behaviours.

Rowan went on to discuss how he sees leadership work... This works equally for responsible and effective leadership.

Leadership in business has 3 core areas in the process as Rowan sees it...

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1) Leaders set the vision of where the business wants to head

This is usually presented through scenarios, goals and pictures through carefully chosen words that explain where they see themselves in the future.

This first step in setting the vision will be referred back to and read by staff as what is meaningful to them and creates value.

In the area of commercialisation - vision of the future starts from where the IP all began

Responsible leaders will ensure ethical values are congruent with the vision from the start

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2) Leaders align stakeholders with the vision

All the processes are enunciated, noses are pointed in the right direction so everyone can work in a unified manner.

Responsible leaders will ensure they align with stakeholders who share their ethical values.

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3) Leaders obtain commitment of staff and stakeholders

A promise is a few words until it is delivered.

Leaders ensure tactics are covered and understood

Metrics cover what everyone is doing and when they are all working together...

The visions of the leaders from 1) and 2) above cascade throughout the business or organisation as everyone follows the tactics and strategy that have become their vision.

 

Responsible Leaders take #3 very seriously with their business to ensure it is communicated across all staff and stakeholders so that the ethical values that they have incorporated in their vision are followed.

Responsible leadership ensures everything is measured accordingly and teams are recognised for their achievements.

With these three processes in place, success in business and competitive advantage as a responsible business is defined as everyone puts their best foot forward in replication of their leaders.

Rowan recognises that in theory, this style of responsible leadership is much easier than in practice. 

Often - as with the bankers noted above there are breakdowns because the right questions were not asked and followed through.

He relates this to how leadership within his business in the AIC works...

The Australian Institute for Commercialisation recognises they do not have all the answers for their clients who are looking for how to commercialise their IP in the process of innovation of ideas.

Internally they set up their ideas forum where all staff can share ideas and threads of discussion to enable everyone to put forward ideas.

Every month Rowan works with the management team to evaluate, move forward and discuss how they can commercialise these ideas.

Rowan understands that communication with all leaders and future leaders within an organisation requires support through this communication and decision making.

Collaboration is also very important to help them evaluate IP and proceed with commercialisation.

Working collaboratively with patent attorneys and other specialist firms enables the AIC to work together on many more projects than they would have been able to do alone.

In the field of responsible leadership, collaboration is also key to the future as those who share similar values work together on solutions to major projects facing our society from many different locations.

Many solutions to global concerns can only be treated internationally - through collaboration.

There will also be many more ways to commercialise these solutions moving forward as new generations start to take over more and more leadership positions across business, education, enterprise, government and community focused organisations.

This process will develop opportunity for many people into the future as jobs that currently exist are replaced.

Recent Responsible Leadership Survey Results - HERE

Have you completed the latest Responsible Leadership survey yet?

If not, complete the Responsible Leadership 2010 survey here.

You will help our development of the...

International Road-Map for Responsible Leadership into 2011 and beyond...

We appreciate your support in spending 2 minutes completing the survey.

One question in our survey is an open ended question...

"I believe responsible leaders should...

Here are some recent responses..

  • Seek to serve their people, their planet and their community
  • Lead by Example and take every opportunity to promote ethical behaviour in the boardroom and in public
  • Influence the way in which the business world links with the community
  • Be ethical and motivational, be empowering to their people, provide clear direction, be consistent
  • Take accountability for the results of what they do and what they don't do. We all live in many systems and everything we do impacts them in some way.
  • If we take a wider view of responsibile leadership not just to the people we directly impact but to the community - business or social, society as a whole and the environment we live in, we start to see our impact and imprint on the world.  Then we act as if everything we do and every choice we make matters in some way.
  • Find the right people and work with their strengths to build sustainable organisations that give back to the community they serve
  • Act in the best interests of the country, society, those they manage and the business they are involved in to achieve long term ethically responsible and sustainable outcomes that improve quality of life where possible
  • Set challenging goals and strive towards them
  • Look after their people and at the same time maintain/enhance a performance culture
  • Be motivated to support the best interests of their staff
  • Contribute their time to emphasise their vaules and lead by example in fund raising and elevating the cause they believe in
  • Discussions on corporate - community investment should be initiated from CEO to CEO so that the two sector leaders agree on mutual business strategy and how each will complement the other - Effective leadership requires multiple touchpoints within each busines from Board through management and staff
  • Understand how they can contribute to the community and to building future capability. These leaders cannot be 'scared' to articulate their values and to live their values
  • ..keep it real....never lose their common touch...
  • ...make this the focus of everything you do, not just everything you say....people do come before profits and not at the expense of profit
  • Look ahead to the liniage of their children - behave and design a world as they wish for them
  • Recognise the direct and indirect impact their choices and leadership behaviours have on people today and in the future - postively and negatively
  • Balance or even better integrate people, planet and profits so that organisations do good and ideally do no harm
  • create the environment and culture to support people development, high performance  and sustainable business success without ecological offence
  • Turn the heads of their tactically thinking colleagues to a longer term view
  • To begin I - don't like the word "should"... I believe responsible and effective leaders take responsibility for an intention to learn how to be effective personally and professionally knowing that each thought, feeling and action has an effect locally and globally
  • First and foremost be an example to others - lead the way with new initiatives and "paying it forward"
  • Driving cultural change where needed
  • Supporting community development
  • Developing people and communities that surround them
  • Invest in human resources, proved clear strategies for the long term, communicate consistently with all stakeholder providing consistent messages. Business focus should look to building capacity, growth and profit, though sometimes recognize these are sometime competing interests
  • Overall businesses should look to support the community and be cogniscent on their environmental footprint
  • Know, understand and respect our clients by delivering quality people, supported by excellent management processes in an environment of teamwork and achievement
  • Listen
  • Seriously consider the long term impact on our world of plans - think beyond today's $ to what the world will be like 50 years' hence - be brave in facing up to those who disagree on emotional (vs factual) grounds; have stewardship as a personal core value and live it to the fullest
  • Have compassion, conviction, and respect

We look forward to your thoughts that will contribute to our Responsible Leadership 2011-> RoadMap.

Look forward to your contributions here

Cornerstones of a Responsible Leader

Yesterday I caught up with an old friend who resides in Cisco

Some of you might not even know what they do...

Many of you will know of Cisco as one of the world’s leading technology companies with a particular interest on communication and collaboration and intimately involved with the evolution of the Internet (but now into all sorts of products and services like phones and wireless ...rather different from the days of phones after you dialed and asked for the operator as in those black and white movies)

Either way - they are an international company who have massive influence on how we communicate these days.

Martin is responsible for the Asia-Pacific public sector consulting practice in Cisco’s Internet Business Solutions Group and provided his thoughts on responsible leadership.

I started with asking what Responsible Leadership means to Martin - personally.

After a couple deep breaths, Martin responded with a wealth of knowledge in 4 succinct elements...

"Responsible leadership sounds simple, though it is not. The most obvious response to 'Who is a Responsible Leader?' is the notion of people acting in ways that take account of their longer term consequences and outcomes of their actions."

Martin went on to explain his #4 cornerstone elements of a responsible leader...

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Cornerstone #1

Responsible leaders are not short term thinkers. They think about the sustainability and longer term impact of their actions

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Cornerstone #2

Responsible leaders are authentic. They exemplify openness, honesty and fair dealing

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Cornerstone #3

Responsible Leaders are consistent. They do what they say and say what they do

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Cornerstone #4

Responsible leaders manage to mix a strange mix of strong ego and humility.  They earn respect from those they engage with by acting often with an amazing absence of ego, which means they allow others around them to shine and grow.

How do you measure up with these cornerstones?

And let's add one more...

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Responsible Leaders are Present.

They care. They Listen. They interject and provide feedback that is encouraging

Will Australia remain the Lucky Country?

Last week I had the privilege of meeting with Tara Cheesman, Executive Director of

Corporate Responsibility Network Australia (CORNA)
and
Executive Women Australia (EWA)

We enjoyed an interesting discussion about Australia - current and future...

As Tara explains – Australia is the ‘lucky’ country because it is where we hope to make our fortune and leave a legacy. Whilst contributing to Australian GDP, we can also choose to contribute to our nation’s environmental and social wealth.

Much emphasis is often placed on cultivating our nation’s GDP, however Australia will continue to become the most livable country in the world (note the Business Council of Australia’s mission and vision) as we preserve our nation’s environmental wealth. As we’re reminded at football grand finals ‘our land abounds in nature’s gifts of beauty rich and rare’. We need to empower Australian business to showcase their responsible leadership by contributing to our bountiful natural environments by making decisive actions to implement commercial practices which preserve the planet and reduce (cease) those activities which pollute it.

And Australia will continue to become the most livable country in the world  as we contribute to our nation’s social wealth. We need to prevent travelling down the road of the US, where the gap between rich and poor continues to grow (approximately 1 in 7 Americans are currently falling into poverty). We need to empower Australian business to showcase their responsible leadership by planning for the types of neighborhoods they want to live in – both locally and globally.  By taking decisive action to implement equitable, diverse and flexible working conditions, support non-profits which address cyclical poverty and through supporting broader community contributions such as sporting and arts programs we will continue to cultivate our nation’s harmonious society.

Solutions begin with responsibility, at all levels of business. We all need to create our own portfolio for responsible leadership. One that creates opportunities for environmental gains, social wealth and business capital.

Tara has a strong belief in the involvement of women to influence the future of Australia’s collective prosperity.

Women have the ability to be leaders across all echelons of society... socially, government, corporate and education.

What happens when women are leaders?

AXA surveys show that Australia has one of the most benevolent populations. However when researching who is willing to share their personal wealth it is interesting to note that many contributors are women. A recent UNICEF survey showed that 85% of their monthly contributors are women.  This is common trend between similar charities and not for profits.

This example extends further when you look into women’s contribution as mothers as and personal carers. Women leave their careers for many reasons - like having a child - and helping them grow up, or looking after family member who needs a carer.

Though when they attempt to re-enter work, its difficult.

There is still much work to be done to develop simple, streamlined methods to provide 'ramp on / ramp off' options for women - so we don't lose their knowledge and skill.

If we are indeed to follow the Business Council of Australia's mission to make Australia the best and most livable country in the world we need to ensure we are creating opportunities for everyone to make their fortune and leave a legacy.

Tara and I discussed many other elements of Australia's future with the input of women – the subject of future discussions.

If you liked this article, you will probably enjoy these here

The Consequences of Thinking and Behaviour Part 1

Yesterday I met with a colleague to discuss leadership and as has recently been the case more and more we strolled into the subject of responsible and effective leadership.

Jon has a very strong interest in the area of sustainability, particularly after years working with management in the mining field. Though given his years of success, more and more he realises that responsible leadership is the key to the future.

Now it is not just about the fact that on this planet we have plenty resources for everyone - if we were to distribute them more equally - and many would argue - more correctly.

This will require co-operation on a larger scale than has ever been done and require people to release assets and ego's like never before - which is a very big step for modern society Jon argued.

So Jon brought it back to how leaders manage their people...

Firstly, as a leader - how do you spend time with staff?

Do you assign tasks - then rush off - expecting them to be completed?

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You MUST NOT delegate on the fly...

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  • Come prepared to a meeting with staff
  • Get their feedback
  • Respond to their feedback
  • Be willing to 'BE PRESENT'
  • Treat everyone as if they have value

It will be the best present you can give your staff and they will remember your presence for a long time after the meeting.

There is an old Zulu greeting -

Showu Bona

'I see you and all your potential'

The response is -

Sikhona

'Thank you for seeing me and my potential'

There is plenty of research that shows how we see people and what are expectations of them is how they become.

 

Can you remember a teacher or coach who gave more as an assumption of your future greatness rather than who you were at that time?

How did that affect you?

There are some people who respond to negative engagement and transfer it to a positive as well - this is not as popular an example - though you will no doubt recall...

Those who have rebelled against what their teachers and coaches said and became heroes.

 

 

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The key point for leaders is to never assume the potentiality of who everyone can be.

An assumption of who they are now

Or who we think they are

based on scant and skewed data

is a reflection of poor perception

If you liked this article, view more insights from Jon Pratlett here 

The Consequences of Thinking and Behaviour Part 2

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"If you are Looking for the BAD you will find it...

If you are looking for the GOOD you will find it"

For those who haven't read part 1 link to it here

Today Jon gives insights into the Pygmalion affect.

You may be familiar with the Pygmalion affect from books and movies like

My Fair Lady

Looking at My Fair Lady - you have an actor who is approached by another actor and together they show how someone can move between classes with support from someone who believes in their potential.

What is more interesting - the real world and an example of the Pygmalion Affect is explained succinctly by the case of Jane Elliott's Blue Eyes Brown Eyes.

In response to the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. over thirty years ago, Jane Elliott devised the controversial and startling, "Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes" exercise. This, now famous, exercise labels participants as inferior or superior based solely upon the color of their eyes and exposes them to the experience of being a minority. Everyone who is exposed to Jane Elliott's work, be it through a lecture, workshop, or video, is dramatically affected by it.

To learn more - contact Jane

Essentially, class students arrived at school after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr to discover separation of classes - in the classroom.

Brown eyed students were told they were bad

Blue eyed students were told they were good - smart, intelligent, well mannered

and

deservered more time in the playground

Kids obviously picked up on this as shown in this video

The next day, they switched roles.

As shown in various video's - when people returned many years later - the responses were profound. Google Jane Elliott Blue Eyes Brown Eyes video.

This example of education is not likely to happen in todays society.

However, it provides an example of how quickly thinking and behaviour can change.

As a responsible leader - which perceptions about those who are guided by you do you work with?

Learn more about Jon here

Responsible and Effective leadership - is this a contradiction of terms?

The other day I caught up with Lanning Bennett - founder of the COI Group which is a highly regarded diagnostics provider based in Sydney with international clients. Lanning provided some interesting insights into how 'Responsible' and 'Effective' leadership could be seen as contradictions - though are still measured using the same diagnostics...

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Responsible and Effective Leadership

Is there a contradiction in these terms? Many would say so. Sometimes to be effective certain responsibilities may be forfeited. Responsibilities require compromises to maintain effectiveness. The balance between these two are in constant review.

Lets talk about measurement – how do we know a leader is responsible. How do we know they are effective? Do the measures change depending on the circumstances – the type of leader, their role, their challenges. Of course situational leadership would say so. I would agree.

However this is not to argue that different situations require different measures, simply a different balance of the same measures.

Lets look at this further.

Leader A is running a bank branch with an established team and a well known bank branch. What makes this leader responsible and effective? An attention to detail? Good people skills? Good infrastructure? Compliance? Yes to all of this.

Leader B runs a creative team in an advertising agency. What does she need? Creativity, innovation, responsiveness? How does she balance responsibilities – to her team, client, organisation? 

As we all know these two situations require totally different leaders, but do they require different measurement systems, systems to asses their effectiveness?

I would say no.

In business we use one reporting system for all companies regardless of their size, product, market etc. Same with leadership. We measure the same things but assign them different priorities depending on the circumstances.

A good leadership diagnostic will take this into account and report accordingly.

Lanning Bennett
Founder
COI Group