S1E1 CEO Thinking. Introduction and Leadership

Leading a successful business is a highly complex endeavour.  This Podcast offers ideas to stimulate the thinking of CEOs, leaders, and managers at all levels of companies, whether larger corporates or through to sole operators.

This inaugural episode introduces CEO Thinking, introduces 3 key areas that underpin  organisational success and focuses on Leadership

For more information relating to the podcast and how you can gain access to advisory services to assist you with your business, see www.lseconsulting.net.au

Transcript

CEO Thinking with Philip Belcher

Episode 1: Introduction and Leadership

Welcome to the CEO thinking podcast on Philip Belcher successful, CEO, mentor, advisor, and business consultant. On this podcast. I provide ideas for CEOs, directors, and senior managers to use as they lead their businesses to achieve outstanding results. I’ve applied these ideas to start, run, turnaround, and successfully exit businesses, as well as to mentor my clients that have achieved great results. If I can use these ideas successfully you can use them too   

Thanks for joining me on the inaugural episode of the CEO Thinking podcast. I’m so pleased that you’re listening and sincerely hope that you’ll find it useful.  

The purpose of the CEO Thinking podcast is several.  It’s time out to think.  It should be usually less than around 30 minutes, and it gives you a chance to think about the CEO role, it’s challenges and your approach to addressing them. 

You don’t actually need to be a CEO to benefit from the podcast. The episodes are designed to provide insights to others on the matters that CEOs think about, and business in general.  It will offer insights from others, as well as me, on a wide range of topics that CEOs and business leaders deal with. It should spark ideas for you that may come to mind as the topics are presented and it will give indicators to knowledge from authors and luminaries that you can seek out and refer to.  It will cover topics that support you at a personal level to keep you in shape for the business adventures. 

So a little bit of background on me. I’m a CEO and managing director. I’ve held those roles for Australian listed companies, public companies and private companies with local and international responsibility. I’ve been a senior executive with multi-national and Australian companies and non- executive director and deputy chair of a major Australian TAFE Institute and I successfully started and operated my own small businesses. 

I currently offer my services of mentor, coach, and consultant to CEOs, Boards, and executives as principal of LSE Consulting.  If you want to know more about me you can see my LinkedIn profile under Philip Belcher (that’s Philip with one L) on LinkedIn

The format of the podcast is designed to understand that your time is precious. As I said earlier, the episodes will usually be less than 30 minutes. Each episode I will deal with a particular topic, most usually with three key headings for you to consider and take action on. From time to time, I will interview CEOs and subject matter experts to gain insights from them that you can use. 

You can refer to the LSE Consulting website, which is lseconsulting.net.au for material relating to the CEO Thinking podcast as well as to purchase the books that I referred to throughout the program.

Before we get into the main body of the podcast, let’s consider the role of the CEO.

According to the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD), and you can go to the website and download all sorts of great information, one of the documents that is available at the AICD website is Role of Chief Executive Officer or Managing Director. 

As outlined in this document the CEO is very often the managing director with the titles, CEO and managing director, often being used interchangeably, and is the most senior executive, who is responsible in general terms for day-to-day operations of the business to achieve the results required by the owners and their board. Let’s never forget that businesses exist to provide a return to the owners.

In general terms the AICD in the document spell out that the CEO focuses on achieving the results for the owners by developing plans, budgets, and strategies to be approved by the board, then implementing them. Operating within the set parameters, and informing the board of material developments. Referring matters to the board that fall outside the parameters. Managing risk and taking direction from the board where necessary. Effectively managing the financial and other reporting mechanisms. Appropriately informing the board to enable proper governance. And implementing policies, processes, and codes of conduct and reporting outcomes of them.  So there’s a great many activities that must be undertaken by a successful CEO that delivers on these responsibilities. 

Based on my extensive experience in management for over 40 years, and formal postgraduate education, as well as ongoing reading, research, and effective business administration and leadership, I have found that there are really three key areas that the CEO needs to focus on, and in reality, anyone that is a manager or a leader needs to focus on these areas.

Those three areas are leadership, strategy, and execution of those strategies. It was these three areas that I formed the basis for the naming of my advisory practice, LSE Consulting. L for leadership, S for strategy, and E for execution.

In this first episode. I will deal with leadership which I have found is at the heart of success in being a CEO, and for that matter, a manager at any level of an organisation. 

Whilst the CEO is the ultimate leader in the business, the following applies to leaders at all levels of the organisation. Leadership is essential for strong performance, not only for the CEO, but leaders at all levels of the organisation.

The definition of a leader is someone that others follow.

People follow leaders for their own reasons. Attributes of strong leadership, that I’ve found by observing others, and always working to practice myself, include:

Purpose; passion for the organisation; vision for the future; being a cultural engineer; customer focus; being a strategist; getting things done; being a listener; communicating openly; recognising the people for successes; accepting responsibility for when things go wrong; building, nurturing, and maintaining the best team possible; having a level of expertise as it applies to the organisation; being a person with energy and drive; practising the highest ethics; having a good sense of humour; and finally, although it’s last, but not least, nurturing their replacement and knowing when to go.

Let’s talk about these in turn. Let’s start with:

Purpose. 

It’s important for a leader to have strong belief in why they are leading the organisation beyond simply their own personal gain. Jim Collins in his text ‘Good to Great’ (which you can buy, if you don’t have a copy, from the LSE Consulting website) states that “Level 5 Leaders” have a combination of humility and will. If you want to be a celebrity be a performer or become a politician. Being a celebrity, and thinking that you’re going to be a celebrity as a leader, is not necessarily going to guarantee you being successful. 

The term ‘Servant Leader’ is often used to describe individuals that are effective leaders. The question I asked myself is “How am I always benefiting the stakeholders by being the leader?”

Ethics

Ethics are key. I could never lead an organisation that I felt was not adding value, especially with detrimental goods or services or a combination of those that I felt were unethical. So it’s important to have a clear personal purpose as to why you are the leader, especially if you’re the CEO 

Passion.

The next attribute is passion. Successful leaders have a passion for the organisation and its governance be valuable to its stakeholders being the people, the customers, the owners, the environment, and society in general.  

This passion is what drives them in the good times and in the tough times. It’s more than the numbers in the annual, quarterly, or monthly report. It’s about enabling people to be their best. It’s about having a passion to fulfil a need in the market. It’s about being passionate about creating employment and supporting people, their dependants, and the community in general. It’s about having a passion for being the best organisation your people and you can be.

Vision

The next attribute is being a visionary. It’s important that leaders have a vision for the future. A clear picture of where the organisation is always working towards and then sharing the vision and encouraging the people to work with you to achieve the mission towards it. Whether it’s a standalone company, a geography, a division, or a team, the leader must have a clear vision to lead the people to work towards. 

It’s more than the vision statement. It’s a perceivable excellence that you are all enjoying working towards.

Cultural Engineer

The next attribute is to be the cultural engineer. The culture of the organisation will underpin success or failure. The leader is the embodiment of the culture. The culture is the outcome of the things that the leader pays attention to. Things, such as being customer focused, people oriented, and ethical. High energy cultures are led by leaders that demonstrate these traits. People follow what you do not just what you say. To ascertain the culture of an organisation, look no further than how the leader operates on a day-to-day basis.

Customer focus.

The next area is customer focus. Peter Drucker, in his book ‘The Practice of Management’ that he wrote in 1954 which if there is a copy available you should be able to purchase through the lseconsulting.net.au/Books Peter Drucker stated “The purpose of an organisation is to create and retain customers”. 

The leader must be the champion of creating and retaining customers because the reality is that: If there’s no custom there’s no transaction; if there’s no transaction there’s no profit; and if there’s no profit there’s no business. And of course, we all know that if there’s no business then there aren’t any jobs. 

Key customer related leaders must constantly liaise with the current and prospective customers. And these relationships must be meaningful, not merely a figurehead. 

Strategist. 

Next, the leader must be a strategist. The leader has to clearly define and communicate the goals. They have to have an ongoing understanding of external conditions, both current and potential, and then take a risk assessment, both positive and negative, due to the conditions. They have to define the organisations capabilities, capitalising on and building on strengths and identifying and addressing the weaknesses. 

They have to understand the opportunities and how they can capitalise on them. Then they have to identify the threats and work with the people to mitigate them. Once they’ve taken these assessments, they can then devise their plans for the near, medium, and long-term to execute in pursuit of the purpose. And then of course, being a strategist, they constantly update the strategy due to the changing circumstances.

Getting things done.

Once you’ve got the strategy, you’ve got to get things done. Leaders are responsible for getting things done. Barak Obama was asked in an interview, that you can find on YouTube, for his best career advice that he would offer. His response was, and I quote: “Just know how to get stuff done!” 

There’s no point developing strategy if the execution is flawed. System orientation is key to effective execution. The leader has to be the champion of devising, implementing, monitoring, and continually adjusting systems that will get things done. The leader builds a team of experts, then deputises to them, so that they can devise and operate the systems, and then continually reviews the outputs, supporting ongoing process improvement.

Listening

Leaders need to be listeners. Listening is imperative for effective leadership. Feedback from the people at all levels of the organisation, the customers, the suppliers, the owners, the competitors, community, etc are vital as input for the leader. 

The grapevine of the organisation is a wonderful source of candid feedback. The leader learns how to tap into this grapevine and how to learn from it. Especially listening to the front line from the people is a rich source of information to form and adjust strategy. 

Open Communition

They have to communicate openly, with appropriate confidentiality. It’s best to share news as candidly as possible. Often the best kept secrets are already known by people within and also outside the organisation. Open communication enables management of the impact of information. People can’t, and generally won’t, operate in a vacuum. In the absence of the facts, they will draw their own conclusions, and this can quite often derail any initiatives that the leader is trying to implement. 

Especially, communicate with people where they are. There’s a term called ‘management by walking around’, and this enables the leader/manager to meet with the people where they are, and to communicate with them openly, not from just a meeting or some town hall communication, but where they are. 

Immediately people see a leader that operates mostly behind closed doors, or with the gatekeeper, they know the leader is out of touch with the organisation,

Recognise the people.

It’s important to recognise the people, As the leader you cannot achieve success on your own, even as a soul trader there will be suppliers that you rely on, and there will be others that support you on the way through. It’s important to recognise people for their successes and let them know they are appreciated. This reinforces their commitment to the mission of the organisation, and to support the leader in working towards the vision. 

People are motivated to continually improve their abilities when they know that they’re being recognised and recognising the people demonstrates that they are appreciated and that others, especially the leader, do not take credit for what they had achieved. 

Best Team.

It’s important the leader rings together the best team possible. The mark of a strong leader is the quality of their people. Ongoing development of the people is imperative. Where it’s identified the team members need learning and development, it’s an investment in the organisation to do so. The leader must demonstrate that having the best team is a high priority. Where a team member cannot properly contribute, even with focused development, they must be moved on. Leaders cannot afford to tolerate having the wrong people on the team. It’s highly demotivating for the rest of the team, and candidly it doesn’t do that individual any good staying on in a role where they’re not performing. 

Expertise about the business. 

Leaders should have expertise at being a strong leader, but of course they should also be expert at management. Then they must have a working level of expertise related to the core competence of the business. Whilst financial literacy is necessary, a good understanding of the offering to market enables the organisation and its customers to better trust the judgement of the leader. 

It is no coincidence that many of the great leaders came from the background of what their organisations offered. A few examples to consider would be: 

Henry Ford, of Ford motor company. He built cars before he became the leader of that organisation. 

·       Bill Gates, at Microsoft, wrote software.

·       Jack Welsh, who turned around GE, was an engineer 

·       Hudson Fysh of QANTAS, one of their founders, was actually an aviator.

·       Lisa Su from AMD, the micro processor company, has a PhD in semiconductors.

·       Etc 

All of these leaders had a strong understanding of the core competence of their companies. 

Drive and Energy

The leader has to demonstrate a high level of energy and drive.  As the cultural engineer high performing organisations have leaders with energy and drive. 

It’s not about working ridiculous hours. It’s about demonstrating a strong work ethic. Determination is contagious. An ‘I’ll work until the job is done’ approach demonstrates that it is the culture. Being personally fit and able to demonstrate leading with ease engenders confidence. 

Ethics.

Trust is essential for success is a leader. The leader needs to demonstrate the highest ethics. 

People, customers, and the community demand the highest ethics for leaders now, more so that ever before. The focus is on ESG; that’s Environment, Social, and Governance, and it’s now part of the basics for good management and being demanded by boards. For that matter it’s being demanded by the community and the legislators from the boards and therefore, it’s incumbent on the owners. 

There are many examples of leaders that failed because they demonstrated poor ethics.

Sense of humour.

The leader has to have a good sense of humour. A leader with a good sense of humour will build fun into the culture. Of course, they take the organisation and its business seriously, however they know their constituents want to enjoy themselves. 

Balance is required. No one wants to deal with a clown but nor do they want to deal with an ogre. Focus as a leader, balanced with a good sense of humour, and appropriate fun, supports a high achieving culture. 

Successor and Know When to Go

Finally, it’s important to nurture a successor and to know when to go. All good things come to an end. Effective leaders understand this and build the capability within the team to handover at the appropriate time.

Handing over to someone that’s been nurtured for the role enables the new appointee to mould their leadership in the full understanding of the organisation, its offering, and its stakeholders. 

Knowing when to go is imperative. Leadership demands a lot from an individual. The astute leader recognises when they have performed the mission and when it is time to handover to their successor. 

Alright, that wraps up the attributes with regards to leadership that I intend to cover in this episode. 

So, in summary, the three key areas of leadership, strategy, and execution will determine the success of your business and should be front of mind for the CEO and all managers. 

Especially, leadership at all levels of the organisation, particularly by the CEO, is fundamental to success. 

I recommend that you assess yourself against the attributes I’ve covered in this episode. You’ll find the list of them at lseconsulting.net.au. 

I suggest that you be very proud of the areas that you are strong and work out how you can leverage them. Where you find that you have areas of improvement, focus on them with a view to improving those areas to your satisfaction. 

I would suggest to you that a mentor can assist you in this evaluation. If you’d like to discuss this further, contact me via the LSE Consulting website.

So, let’s wrap this up: CEO Thinking.

As a leader, it’s up to you. As a CEO and a leader, take time out to think, and continually assess the business from an objective viewpoint. Remember, it’s not necessarily a lot of information that prompts great ideas; asking insightful questions stimulates thinking and leads to the pursuit of innovation to stay ahead of the competition. 

You’ll gain access to useful information in future episodes of CEO Thinking, as well as being asked to consider challenging questions designed to stimulate fresh ideas and thinking. 

I look forward to engaging with you for more with regards to CEO Thinking in future episodes. 

Thanks for joining me for this episode of the CEO Thinking podcast. 

If you’re in value from this episode here are three actions for you to take:

First. Click subscribe on Apple podcast or on the app you used to listen to this podcast, so you don’t miss future episodes. 

Next, please leave me a review in your podcast app so that other listeners can learn how you gained value and… 

Finally, to help you to use the ideas to drive your business, go to lseconsulting.net.au for the show notes and other resources you can use. 

I’m Philip Belcher and I’ll look forward to talking to you in the next episode.