Unlock Potential

The number one issue I am seeing at the moment is how to navigate ambiguity. In these complex and challenging times it is vital to learn how to unlock potential to get the best out of individuals, teams and organizations. In one recent scenario working with a new CEO taking over a company Janet thought she had inherited a high performing organization. Prior to starting the numbers seemed rosy and everyone shared good news stories about the great work being done by colleagues to deliver the customer experience. However, during her first 90-day immersion in the business a different picture started to form. Once Janet had dug behind the glossy PowerPoint presentations, she realized a different reality. What emerged was a business with poorly defined success metrics, broken systems, lack of transparency, accountability, and silo ways of working which resulted in failed decision making and execution. We sat down to assess the situation. It seemed a daunting task given the scale of the business and expectation to succeed at pace. 

Janet had a track record of delivery in turnaround situations. She had to pivot quickly away from the false reality she had been led to believe and to confront the brutal facts. The first step was to bring her Executive Committee together for an honest airing of what was going on. As preparation she wrote a short one-page memo about the state of the business with some initial options to consider and shared it with her team. Janet asked everyone to bring fact-based assessments of their part of the business to an offsite. She deliberately chose an understated venue to send a message that ‘looking good’ was off the table and that it was time to address the real issues causing the business to underperform. 

My role was to facilitate the conversation and ensure that everyone genuinely disclosed what was going on without finger pointing. Prior to the offsite I had conducted individual conversations with each team member to provoke thinking and lay the foundations for transparency. It’s always challenging to know if people are being straight with me, however I assume positive intent until proven otherwise. The overall picture I gained did correlate with Janet’s reality, albeit most team members started their conversation with an inflated version of how good everything was working. I distilled the insight into three major obstacles to address:

1. Be fit for delivery – clarify what success looks like and have an aligned approach to deliver the plan 
2. Fix the basics – upgrade systems and processes to enable delivery
3. Create a great place to work – provide the right leadership and environment for everyone to thrive at a time of ambiguity. 

I asked the longest serving member of the Exec to share their view first. This individual had the reputation of being a survivor having endured numerous organizational restructures. They had learned how to play the corporate game and to make themselves appear indispensable. However, they were at a point in their career where there was no need to duck and dive and they were prepared to speak candidly. As COO they were in the best possible position to lift the lid on what was going on. They shared an emotive picture about the unresolved business drivers which resulted in the current chaos. The previous CEO had done a great job boosting investor confidence and winning over shareholders. However, they had neglected the business and had only wanted to hear a ‘positive spin’. The COO spoke about their regret at colluding with this approach as they cared passionately about the health of the business. It was a relief when they received Janet’s memo, although it spiked their conscience. Their belief was that the main interference to progress was the Exec’s lack of candor, which resulted in an unclear plan and implications for the business. 

As we went around the team similar views were expressed. Once everyone had been heard I used a simple and effective tool to address the obstacles based on a hypothesis:

Performance equals potential less interference.

I challenge people to evaluate if the business does have the potential to perform. If the answer is yes (which it usually is) then by identifying and reducing interference you achieve a closer relationship between potential and performance. 

The steps are:

1. Identify the current state of the business. Understand what is working, what is not working and what is missing. Bring together an accurate view about the strengths, opportunities, weaknesses, and threats to the business. 
2. Clarify what future success looks like. Align on the specific outcomes across the business so that everyone is clear about the tangible metrics to achieve.
3. Uncover the interference, blocks, barriers, and limitations that will prevent the business from delivering success. 
4. Recognize where the interference resides. Internal – obstacles that are within the control of the CEO and / or Executive Committee to resolve. Others – obstacles that sit in other areas such as the Chairman, Board, investors, suppliers, customers, community, government, or systems which the CEO and / or Executive Committee can influence. External – blockers that are external to the business, for instance globalization, war, pandemics, environmental disasters, recession. 

Continuing the coaching with the team, we applied the tool to their situation, and they articulated the following:

1. Current state – underperformance
2. Future success – deliver great performance 
3. Interference – lack of strategic framework, broken systems, silo ways of working 

What transpired was that the major interference were primarily internal obstacles for Janet and the Executive Committee to remove.  This insight mobilized the team into action. They agreed to invest sufficient time in co-creating a crystal-clear strategic framework so that everyone in the business could know what success looks like and how their role fits. This shifted behaviors away from ‘looking good’, to providing transparent ways of working as clarity was sought every step of the way. They operated with a simple dashboard highlighting the top ten company metrics and showed progress using a red, amber, and green coding on a weekly basis to galvanize the organization. They fronted proposals to the Chairman and Board requesting the sufficient investment required to fix systems with the priorities being the information management system controlling security and data; the operations management system delivering and managing the company creation of customer value, products and services quality; and the management systems organizing, and monitoring business performance improvement. 

The team agreed to champion collaboration as a behavioral priority for the business. They decided to model the way by having shared ownership of metrics outside their immediate areas. They set up cross-functional steering committees resulting in colleagues from across the business working together to drive value adding projects. This action impacted the talent capability gaps as it gave greater exposure to what development needs were required to help lead, manage, and deliver the strategic plan. As a consequence, Janet prioritized learning and development throughout the business ensuring that everyone formulated a meaningful personal development plan to accelerate their progress. 

One of the main responsibilities of a CEO is to remove interference. This has been expressed in different ways by CEOs in my research. Richard Solomons, Chairman, Rentokil Initial plc reflected: ‘As CEO it is ironic that you have less direct ability to make stuff happen than in a functional role. There are only a few times you can bang the table to make things happen. The role is about creating a vision and then influencing people to come with you. In a big organization if you try and control others it will limit your breadth of influence. If you are a bad delegator, and a control freak you will be the bottle neck to getting stuff done! The best CEOs have the ability to let go of control, enable others and are the most open to new ideas and ways of delivering the business.’ 

John Holland-Kaye, former CEO, Heathrow was clear about his role to remove interference: ‘My leadership approach is to choose great people, set the strategy together and let them get on with delivery. I aim to lean in when particular help is needed, or where I can add specific value. My focus is to do the things that only I can do. Having a great team and trusting them to deliver is also an effective way to attract and retain top talent.’ 

Dr Sam Barrell CBE, CEO, LifeArc called out a couple of key factors to manage: ‘Never get complacent. It’s important to remain clear about the value you’re adding. This isn’t a “one-off” hit. You need to consistently add value and demonstrate that you are doing so.  Maintain your energy and drive as this will transmit to others.’ Sam also shared: ‘All organizations are political. Do not be naïve about this. Remember to listen carefully, engage with colleagues, and key stakeholders, and create allies. Learn to trust people and, when you do, allow them the freedom to flourish whilst always keeping close enough to provide support if and when it is needed.’

A valuable exercise is to anticipate interference and manage ambiguity by setting aside time to think ahead. Joel Burrows, CEO, Lindt UK & Ireland shared his experience: ‘As a leader you need to have an inbuilt curiosity about what’s going on and why. It is essential to look at a mix of data from the marketplace to understand the context, competition, consumer, customer, and community requirements so that you can define your problems and put the resource against them. Learn from what you have done well with all aspects of the business. Constantly look at what is being delivered, what is working well, what can be improved and how to build a better business. Make sure you apply the same rigour about people development and succession as you do about financial metrics, or any other metrics of success.’ Employing this level of discipline to understanding what’s going on means that to the best of your knowledge you take ownership for protecting the business from unnecessary interference, and when major obstacles do arise you are up set up to overcome them in agile and effective ways. 

I wanted to conclude this section about unlocking your own potential on a personal level as there are multiple interferences to manage as leaders. Sophie Maloney, CEO, Sky New Zealand highlighted some of the areas to watch: ‘I was told that being a CEO is lonely. At the outset I rejected the concept because there are so many opportunities that come with the role. However, what I have realised is that it is quite isolating. Having sat at the Executive table previously and stepping up into the CEO role meant that I needed to make some people changes. I am empathetic but not to the detriment of the company, and these decisions caused me to feel isolated. I learned that it is not straightforward to take the temperature of the organisation as CEO. You need to be intentional about getting feedback across the business so that you can be connected with what’s going on in a way that doesn’t disrupt the flow of leadership. For instance, I love hearing what people are doing. I show natural enthusiasm. However, I have to be careful about the “office of the CEO” because people can have time with me which then quickly translates to “Sophie wants….” You need to be conscious about how you frame meetings. I now clearly signal when I am here to listen and learn, rather than to make decisions, otherwise you can end up with unintended consequence and people acting upon your good intentions. I have also come to recognise that little moments can matter more than the big set pieces. People are always looking at you therefore it’s important to be present. I describe being present as a “superpower.” The way you look and listen makes a huge different through being present in meetings and demonstrating conscious leadership. The simple fact is, you are “always on” as a CEO. It is not acceptable to bring your baggage to work. It’s your responsibility to be aware of your shadow.’

At a time of ambiguity it becomes even more important to lean in, understand the barriers and concerns people are facing so that you can help remove interference to enable people to perform and maximize their potential. 

Part of my way of unlocking potential is to connect others.  We have formed a LinkedIn group to develop a Purpose-Driven Leadership for a Wellbeing Economy community https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13085230/

I would love your feedback on the topic. Write to be [email protected]