Reconciliation– An Exceptional Journey
Karen Dean
Business today is battling through hurricane force winds of change. Against the
backdrop of corporate scandals and global competition, the challenge for leadership
is to become a decisive, inspiring model of excellence keeping the business safe
and competitive, while delivering exceptional achievement. Success can be realised
by unlocking the potential of resourceful individuals, who are operating effective
and efficient processes, working together for a common purpose, of which all can
feel proud.
So why is this model increasingly rare in today’s workplaces? In complex and confusing
organizations there are many possibilities:
The behaviour of the leaders is not consistent with what they claim the company
stands for, they personally are not ‘walking the talk’ of the stated corporate values
The leaders losing sight of their responsibility as guardians of the purpose
of the business and showing little passion for it
Neither the ‘greater good’ nor the external competition is the true focus of
attention, competitive internal wrangling is absorbing much of the available energy
and activity
The leadership is failing to relate to, communicate clearly with and encourage
mature, productive dialogue with the work force
Economic and market turbulence is leading to fear of failure, breeding excessive
control and a lack of openness and belief in the organisation’s ability to achieve
Simple lack of attention by being too busy “doing” and “fire fighting”, consequently
diluting the ability to embrace the long term strategic needs of corporate life
The overwhelming demands on time and resources, the ‘more for less’ treadmill,
increasingly breeding frustration and a lack of professional fulfillment
Few decisions being made in highly complex environments, just when courageous
timely action is needed most
Smaller, faster, more creative and flexible organizations coming to the market
cutting a swathe through the market sharePerhaps one answer is to accept that
the left-brained, straight-lined, logical, male-orientated way of doing things is
simply not enough. It used to be, when there were tried and trusted action plans
and obvious solutions to relatively simple problems in pursuit of the bottom line.
People did as they were told and because they valued the certainty of secure employment
it was a fair trade and the workforce knew where they stood, respecting authority
and responding to command and control. This is no longer the case.
Kjell Nordstrom and Jonas Ridderstrale in their book ‘Funky Business’, highlight
a new international, knowledge-based world of freedom and choice. They say “institutions
used to work to create certainty. Now, the certainties are withering. Blind loyalty
has died. We no longer proclaim lifelong loyalty to institutions, no matter what
they are or what they do. We shop around.” They go on to say,“ We have the power
of choice.” The impact for companies is that they have to look to all aspects of
their performance. Leaders need to make the environment in their business an inspiring
place to be. They need to attract and retain talent for competitive advantage, unlock
the spirit of the work force to achieve the vision and results, navigate change
and uncertainty within the market place, innovate the best options, as well as deliver
cost effective processes and drive revenue. It’s a tough call.
> Part 2: Reconciliation - An Exceptional Journey
