Leading transformation
The complexities of today’s business landscape mean leadership has never been so challenging. In a four-part series, Lynda Ennis, Founder and CEO of automotive executive search and research firm Ennis & Co, discusses leadership in a changing world with Stevie Fine, Founder of the executive coaching and talent development company, Inspire. Today, they discuss leading transformation.
Lynda Ennis: I’d be interested to hear your thoughts about how leadership is adapting, or needs to adapt, to the changing business landscape. In automotive, it’s as if the industry is unable to make up its mind what it wants to do. Technology is developing rapidly, driving new business models and new entrants to market, while external factors such as supply chain, globalisation and sustainability are adding to the unpredictability. On top of this, we’re seeing a lot of UK organisations being acquired by overseas groups who are up ending the traditional British way of doing things and bringing in new working cultures and structures.
The changes and the complexities of the new business world mean leaders now have to be agile both in style and delivery. They have to be comfortable with uncertainty and to live in a world where they’re trying to predict what the market is going to want before the market even knows it, which is an extremely difficult place to be.
Stevie Fine: What automotive organisations are dealing with is a complete transformation of who they are and what they do, and you have a dichotomy between legacy businesses and future businesses. The challenge of leadership is that legacy businesses need to transform to a new world and new business models, but leaders continue to use legacy cultures and legacy leadership traits and behaviours to solve the problems of the future.
When businesses go through significant change, the transformation programme is directed initially from the top – the board, the executive team, the CEO – and they tend to see transformation through the prism of systems and processes, because that’s what they are familiar with. It’s all about restructuring the workforce or buying a new IT system or hiring a strategy consultant.
Of course, certain processes do need to change. In automotive, the move from combustion engines to EVs means businesses are having to change their entire manufacturing processes. But, in an increasingly complex world, what is often forgotten is that organisations employ human beings. People sit at the core of every single business in the world and it is a myth to think businesses will reach the promised land simply by implementing changes to systems and processes.
Lynda: Having worked for companies that were constantly changing, I’ve seen a lot of consultants being brought to tell the organisation what it needs to look like, often with little understanding of how the business works in practice. In nine years at Manpower, I had to do five restructures and I became more and more cynical about the process. I don’t know anyone who loves change, and some people were in complete panic mode during my last two restructures.If you’re on a journey from combustion engines to electrification, there has to be transformation, but it is the job of the leadership to take people on the journey and present the changes as a positive thing rather than negative. Business is evolving for a reason, and that’s a good thing, a great thing. It’s about the language you use in explaining the development of the business and how you will maintain stability and continuous revenue to keep the business moving during the period of development. In other words, it’s about providing clear direction rather than causing confusion or anxiety in your people.
Leading Transformation with resilience
Stevie: This brings us on to resilience and wellbeing. Human beings find change difficult and yet what we’re seeing now is the biggest societal transformation in generations. To navigate the changes taking place, never has it been so important for the leader, the leadership cohort and the workplace to be resilient. Resilience and well-being are not just ‘nice to haves’ any more. The truth is that resilience and wellbeing enable better productivity and better performance, and businesses need to acknowledge that how people manage change will be a key determinant in the success of the transformation.
Unfortunately, too few leaders are conscious of the need to invest in building resilience and wellbeing. Instead, many are stuck in a repeating leadership trap, investing in management consultants to tell them what system and process changes they need to implement without thinking about the parallel human changes that are required to make it succeed.
Businesses need to think about the leadership behaviours that will allow the transformation to succeed. I’ve mentioned resilience and wellbeing, but they also need to think about the other behaviours that underpin effective leadership – things like self-awareness, integrity, trust, authenticity and healthy conflict.
Lynda: With all the changes taking place in the market, I totally agree that resilience has never been so important for leaders. Without resilience, they simply cannot survive in the modern world. What I would add to that is the need for leaders to really understand their marketplace in this changing world, which means going about and having direct interactions with customers. They also need to articulate that understanding clearly so that the people in the organisation are absolutely clear about who they are working for, why they are working for them, the culture of the organisation and the direction of travel.
Leadership is key to a successful business. We find amazing leaders for amazing brands. This is how we do it.
This is part 2 of a 4-part series on Leadership. Read our previous blogs here.
How can you lead if you don’t know your strengths and weaknesses? Look out for the third part of our series, which will be published soon.
