Five tips for playing the infinite game

Thanks to his blockbuster TED talks and bestselling books, Simon Sinek has become a well-known name in business leadership thinking. As a motivational speaker and leadership consultant he has challenged many leaders to reconsider the way they view business. He aims to continue doing that in his latest book, The Infinite Game.

 

PLAYING TILL GAME OVER

Sinek questions the validity of the mindset (and language) that prevails among many business leaders. They refer to ‘winning’, ‘being number one’ and ‘beating the competition’ as their ultimate business goal. This characterises what Sinek calls the finite game: with winners, losers and ultimately, an end to the game.

 

THE INFINITE GAME

The Infinite Game by Simon SinekHowever, Sinek posits that to make a significant impact, leaders need to adopt an infinite mindset – focussed not on achieving finite goals, but rather in strategically keeping yourself in the game. In an infinite game, players are both known and unknown and success is based on whether you are ahead or behind. It is the players who disappear, but the game keeps going.

 

In his new book, Simon Sinek outlines five ways that leaders can prosper in the infinite game:

 

1. HAVE A STRONG SENSE OF PURPOSE

Sinek warns leaders not to confuse ‘finite’ with ‘aimless’. Instead, he encourages leaders to strive for progress and momentum to keep propelling themselves and their organisations forward. And the way to move forward is to align all business activities to a strong sense of purpose. You don’t have to be a visionary or even have a unique vision, but you must devote your energy to something bigger than yourself. Sinek adds, “Every job you have should be contributing to the same vision.”

 

2. BUILD TRUST IN YOUR TEAMS

Leadership for Sinek is less like sport and more like parenting: “Leadership is not about being in charge. It’s about taking care of those in our charge. It’s a responsibility.” A perpetual view of the game helps leaders to understand the importance of empowering their teams to do their best. By becoming a nurturing and supportive leader to your teams, you’ll ensure they make it through the long haul as opposed to tapping out after a short sprint.

 

3. CHANGE YOUR VIEW OF COMPETITION

Shifting your mindset from ‘winning’ to ‘staying in play’ requires an adjustment in the way you view other players. Sinek recalls his short-sightedness when dealing with a rival. “His very existence revealed to me my weaknesses. And it was much easier to take that energy and put it against someone than it was to admit to myself that I’ve got some work to do”. In the infinite game, rivals must be seen as a means to identify areas for improvement, rather than someone to take down.

 

4. BE FLEXIBLE

Having existential flexibility means coming to terms with the fact that the game will continue, with or without you. An infinite mindset requires agility, and a willingness to pivot, letting go of long-held notions and ideas that no longer help you, your team or your business.

 

5. LEAD COURAGEOUSLY

“The courage to lead fundamentally means you’re willing to be open-minded, to consider that maybe, just maybe, the way you think the world works may be wrong… And just because everyone’s doing it, doesn’t mean it’s right,” says Sinek. Indeed, it takes real courage to choose people over profit, to challenge the status quo and to shift from a finite to an infinite mindset.

 


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3 Points of View: How can leaders pause to focus on long-term strategy?

In a busy world, how can leaders ensure they are setting aside time to focus on creating their strategy? Three Chartered Managers share their thoughts.

 

Jillian Ritherdon CMgr FIMLJillian Cable CMgr FIML

CEO and Company Secretary, Venture Housing Company

 

As someone who survived a close encounter with terrorists; lost a step-son in a preventable incident; and whose mother died of cancer at a young age; I know that life can be both very short and extremely arbitrary. So, above all, do what inspires you. As a very wise mentor once said to me: “If you lead a life of purpose, your job will be an inspirational journey”.

My practical tips are:

  • Delegate day-to-day tasks. This frees up your time for strategic thinking, helps develop your people, and assists succession planning.
  • Slowly handwriting my ‘to do’ lists on paper and prioritising tasks embeds them in my mind and stimulates thoughts in a way that typing does not. I then set up alerts in my electronic diary. Freed from the fear of forgetting an important deadline, my mind can relax and contemplate the ‘helicopter view’.
  • Self-care is important. Some of my best ideas have come during a massage, riding a horse or whilst mowing the lawn! Sometimes the mind needs to be in a non-work zone for the strategy to emerge.

 

Carol Sutton CMgr FIMLCarol Sutton CMgr FIML

Director, On The Business

 

It all starts with preparation and intention. Make sure you understand what your long-term vision and goals are – and be crystal clear on how you will know when you have achieved them. Then be bold and begin. Just as you would never dream of waiting to start a journey until every traffic light en route was green, you should accept that there will never be a time when all the business conditions are perfect. So get started! (See CE Lindblom’s papers on Muddling Through and Still Muddling, Not Yet Through for a useful and enjoyable read on this subject.)

Periodically schedule time to check in on your progress and be smart about when you schedule that. I’m a big advocate for active procrastination. Accept that you won’t always be in the right frame of mind to tackle strategy – and don’t feel bad about that. If you struggle to focus on the written word during the afternoon, try and organise meetings or schedule phone calls during that time. (Eisenhower’s decision matrix offers a great rule of thumb for how to spend your time effectively.)

 

Michael Coe CMgr FIMLMichael Coe CMgr FIML

Support Services Manager, Maritime Saab Australia

 

Taking time for reflection can easily be pushed aside due to day-to-day demands. In my experience timing is the key. Ideas can sometimes come from the most unlikely sources and at random times. Capturing these ideas, whether relevant or not at the time, is key to successful planning. This includes process/organisational changes, business opportunities or any other puzzle pieces that contribute to strategic planning. In this way, the time spent on reflection for strategy has more meaning and content.

It is easy to set high-level plans that remain dormant afterwards because they are prepared for representation rather than genuine change. It is pointless attending planning meetings with a blank sheet because that’s unlikely to achieve productive outcomes.

Big picture planning is easier with content. It can sometimes be more effective using a ‘bottom up’ approach rather than ‘top down’. Laying out the opportunities and ideas can make the strategic pathways more apparent. This makes the eff ort spent on reflection and planning worthwhile – delivering real outcomes – and therefore encouraging us to commit our time to it, either individually or collectively.


This article originally appeared in the June 2019 print edition of Leadership Matters, IML ANZ’s quarterly magazine. For editorial suggestions and enquiries, please contact karyl.estrella@managersandleaders.com.au.

What mining teaches about the connections between people, knowledge and success in business

By Ken McDonald FIML

 

About the time that I was learning about business analysis, the managing director of our company, Weipa, assigned me a task that would occupy 100% of my time for about 12 months. In brief, we had to move quickly to be able to supply a more cost-efficient blend of trihydrate bauxite (ore that is the primary source of aluminium) to a leading refinery in Gladstone. If the trihydrate bauxite from a competitor went into Gladstone, it would change the dynamics of future negotiations. There was a major business threat if we did not supply and opportunity if we did supply trihydrate grade bauxite of about a million tonnes per year.

The managing director, Ian Gould, explained the context in some detail and said, “I want you to get trihydrate bauxite from Weipa to Gladstone by the end of this year.”

That was very clear. The reasoning was also crystal clear. How to do it was a foggy highway – initially. I do not intend to bore the reader with all the technical work that took place, but we were successful. There were many restless nights but it was a great case study in problem-solving that goes back to the Jaques stratified systems theory about levels of work complexity. There was some very good teamwork across multiple sites as well.

There were a number of streams of work taking place in parallel. Geologists and technical people who had a good knowledge of the bauxite deposits were combing through historical data to see if there were “pockets” of trihydrate. Chemical and process engineers were developing ways of analysing bauxite chemistry. Drillers at Weipa were drilling and analysing the bauxite to find potential trihydrate pockets near existing mine faces in targeted areas.

Considerable time and effort were also being spent on understanding the fundamentals of the ore. This was critical information for our current project. Interestingly, fully productive operating mines tend to be driven by less-detailed analyses. It is easy to lose sight of the fundamentals if there is no significant change. However, if you are seriously challenged, fundamentals are like gold.

We subsequently sent a trial shipment of trihydrate bauxite which proved a success. When capital was approved, the Weipa operations and Gladstone refinery were equipped to mine, handle and process trihydrate-grade bauxite, thus increasing the output of both operations.

I, meanwhile, learned some valuable lessons:

  • The importance of understanding the fundamentals of a product or resource
  • When you give people clear targets, appropriate discretion and good context, you can be pleasantly surprised with their contribution
  • As a leader, you do not have to be the expert on everything. You do have to be able to out all the pieces of work together in a coherent work plan

This is article is an edited excerpt from Ken’s book, ‘Management, Machinery and Money’.

Why leaders should make time for strategic thinking

One of the most important remits of top leaders is the strategy. However, if 96% of leaders admit to not having the time to think strategically (as they are pulled into managing the day-to-day tasks), is it really as vital as most claim it to be?

 

Keeping strategy front of mind

An organisation’s strategy should never be treated as ‘set and forget’. Today’s business environment is engulfed in a constant stream of subtle discontinuities that may undermine an organisation if they aren’t watchful. Since these are unexpected and irregular, dealing with it requires being attuned to existing patterns, yet able to perceive important breaks in them.

Leaders must also guard against complacency. As success may trick you into becoming content, therefore risking the chance that you lose the edge and intensity that led you to the top.

 

That’s why leaders must make the time to seek out new opportunities, guard against looming threats and take advantage of untapped strengths. That’s why strategies should never be left static.

Although staying flexible in strategic terms doesn’t mean jumping from strategy to strategy. What it requires is continuous incorporation of new ideas to maintain the effectiveness and relevance of your strategy.

 

In Leadership Matters: 7 Skills of Very Successful Leaders, IML ANZ chief executive, David Pich walks leaders through the crucial skill of setting strategy. Here are three things we learn from Pich about why leaders require strategic thinking time:

 

1. To recognise when the strategy needs adjusting

According to Pich, successful leaders can detect when the strategy needs to be tweaked or changed. He warns, “there is a tendency for today’s leaders not only to believe that they have all the answers but to believe that these answers must be the right answers, every time.”

To fight against what Pich calls ‘strategic stubbornness’, it’s important for leaders to pause from time to time (and not just during the allocated ‘strategy day’) to gauge where the strategy is at and what adjustments must be made.

 

2. To involve others in strategic planning

Pich also cautions against setting strategy in a vacuum. He points out the need for buy-in from those who need to support and implement the strategy.

It’s imperative that leaders make time to meet with relevant stakeholders when assessing the fitness of the current strategy. Resist the temptation to go at it alone because that might be the quicker route. Involve others to ensure you receive the support you need to deliver the strategy.

 

3. To avoid feeling daunted

For Pich, setting strategy is the equivalent of eating the proverbial elephant. You need to cut it down to manageable chunks rather than trying to tackle it as a giant whole.

In his experience taking the helm at IML ANZ, Pich said, “We sliced and iced the big hairy elephant! Over the course of two full days (and with very significant pre-work), we arrived at what we called [IML ANZ’s] four strategic pillars.”

There are no shortcuts to a great strategy. Invest the time and keep checking in on yours to ensure that it sets you on the path to success.


Sources (these articles are available to IML ANZ members via Leadership Direct):

Harmony at Heart

By Lisa Calautti

 

Preventing heart disease and improving the heart health and quality of life of all Australians is at the core of the National Heart Foundation ACT’s mission. For its CEO Tony Stubbs, a vital element in ensuring this quest is a success depends on a united team of staff focused on this mission.

 

PEOPLE AND PROCESS

Stubbs, who has been at the helm of the foundation for a decade, manages a mixed team of 12 staff, comprising of part-time and full-time employees, as well as some volunteers and contractors. Respect for each team member is crucial to ensuring everyone works as a team, he says. “Regardless of whether they are a volunteer or a leader of a major project, it’s about listening to them and also empowering and supporting them,” Stubbs explains. “But generally giving people your respect and giving them the opportunity to grow and develop and do the best they can in the particular role they’ve been given is vital.”

That doesn’t mean that achieving team nirvana is easy for Stubbs. Quite simply, he explains it all comes back to process. It is remembering the foundation’s mission, key strategy areas and work plans so people can see how their role fits into the broader picture. Once this is set in motion, bringing all team members together to deliver a strategy is possible. “Once that’s at play, then people get on board and actually start to deliver in their programs as they are clear what they need to achieve,” he says. Once a collaborative effort is put in place, a sense of unity ensues, and a sense of accomplishment is achieved, he explains.

 

GUIDING MISSION

Keeping the foundation’s mission of reducing the impact of cardiovascular disease in the community at the fore of employees across all departments from finance, to marketing to health is vital. “Importantly, it’s about saying to them, ‘What are you doing to ensure you are working towards the mission?’” Stubbs says. “It’s also them being aware of the key strategies and what they are doing to link to the mission and support them to develop their work plans that are linked to these, so they can see what they are actually doing that ultimately goes towards achieving the mission but also the impact it has on individuals in the community.”

For Stubbs, good teamwork comes back to staff understanding how they fit into a ‘bigger team’. “Teams fall apart when there is a lack of clarity around what they are trying to achieve,” he believes. “It’s having that clear process around roles and responsibilities.” Regular performance reviews, staff meetings of all employees and frequent internal communications help foster and maintain a united workforce, Stubbs believes.

 

ONE NEW HEART

Educating the public about heart disease, its warning signs and the services available to those living with a heart condition, has helped inform the organisation’s new One Heart Strategy. “We all work in very different areas,” Stubbs notes. “For example, marketing and health program areas are different parts of the business that do different bits. But, if you allow them to go ahead and do their work alone, they’ll end up doing it solo.”

The key to achieving the strategy is ensuring all teams are working collaboratively together to develop the best possible product and be clear who is leading each process, Stubbs says.

 

PERSONAL CONNECTION

On a personal level, the values of the foundation strongly align with Stubbs. His aunt died of a heart attack on the doorstep of her GP’s practice and the effect her death had on his family was something that had a lasting impact. “She didn’t know the warning signs of a heart attack or that heart disease was an issue for women,” Stubbs says.

While the foundation’s work can be seasonal, with National Heart Week in April and May being a particularly busy period, 2019 has a steady program of events, where Stubbs concedes staff will be quite busy with little breaks between campaigns.

Major campaigns this year will include a ‘warning signs’ campaign and another targeted at people aged 45-plus to educate them about the importance of getting a heart risk assessment with their GP.

The impact the foundation’s programs has on the community, and the feel-good factor of helping others is a shared passion among the foundation’s team, says Stubbs. “In most jobs unfortunately, people get caught up in the day-to-day operations and forget what is at the heart of their work,”

Stubbs says. “For us, it’s really getting back to what are the key things we want to do to achieve our mission.”

Regularly reviewing projects and campaigns and seeing data on how many members of the wider public have benefited, in addition to hearing about specific case studies, is a rewarding aspect for all of the team. “We focus on impact not output, and it’s more about what impact our projects are having on the community,” Stubbs notes.

The Lowdown: Project delays and bust budgets

How can you minimise the risk of a project’s timeline and budget blowing out as you work through to completion? By being aware of the inherent biases in our brains, and examining the landscape for insights into similar projects. By Vanessa Mickan.

Sydney’s light rail expansion is – surprise, surprise – massively over budget and behind schedule. I’m trying to imagine the planning meetings at the outset of the project, which will (eventually) add 12 kilometres of track to the city’s public transport network. I think we can safely assume the discussion did not go:

 “Let’s dig up some main roads to cause chaos and bring retailers to their knees.”

 “Then let’s surprise them by doing it for at least a year longer than we said we would.”

 “Don’t forget to make it cost more too. Like a billion dollars.”

 “Are you sure about that, only a million?”

 “No, no, I said billion, with a b.”

 “Genius idea. Taxpayers love that! All in favour say aye.”

Like most of us when we tackle a big project, everyone probably went into the light rail project believing they could get the job done on budget and on time.

So why is it that despite our best intentions and planning, big projects inevitably end up costing more and taking longer than we think they will? And as a business leader, what can you do about it?

Be aware of optimism bias. Four out of five of us have brains that are wired to present a rosier view of what will happen to us, according to cognitive neuroscientist Tali Sharot. For instance, about 40 per cent of people get divorced, yet newly married people rate their likelihood of splitting up at zero per cent. Step one in stopping the optimism bias from derailing your next big project is to simply start being cognisant of it.

Don’t fall for the planning fallacy. This common psychological quirk means we’re usually confident our project will go according to plan, even though we know other similar projects haven’t. Almost half of Olympic Games go over budget by more than 100 per cent, and many struggle to finish construction on time. Yet still Games organisers get taken by surprise. The Rio Games in 2016 are a memorable example, but the Montreal Games in 1972 hold the record: they were 720 per cent over budget and workers were sweeping up building debris as the opening ceremony began. The solution? Study data from similar past projects, and learn from them.

Streamline your communication. Tech innovator Justin Rosenstein designed the collaboration software Asana because of his frustration with wasting so much time at Google making sure the left hand knew what the right hand was doing – or what he calls “doing the work about work” – rather than developing products. But if it makes you feel any better about your own big projects, it took Rosenstein three years to launch his software … which just happens to be three times longer than he thought it would.

When fiction masquerades as fact

The Cambridge Analytica scandal left ethical questions for all marketers and business leaders to ponder.

By JANE CARO

When I first started out in advertising back in the Stone Age (the 1980s), I remember having to deal with clients who wanted me to guarantee that my little 30-second TVC, radio spot or print ad would infallibly convince anyone who watched it to buy their product. My stock answer was to say that I never gave guarantees. I couldn’t even guarantee that my kids would grow up to be worthwhile human beings, I’d tell them, but I was still in there pitching. I’d finish up by saying that there was no foolproof method of getting people to part with their money against their will and, if anyone ever came up with such a thing, it would soon be illegal to use it. My, how times have changed!

If the fuss about data crunching, opinion manipulating organisations like Cambridge Analytica is correct, it seems someone has come up with such a method and it is not – as yet – illegal. The company itself is now defunct but no doubt others will use their techniques to undermine political candidates or influence purchase decisions (a vote is a purchase decision) in ways we previously thought impossible. Given the grilling of Facebook supremo Mark Zuckerberg by the US Senate committee looking into allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, such opportunists had better move fast. As lawmakers gather in the wake of the scandal it looks likely that my decades-old prediction that such sophisticated manipulation would get banned may be vindicated. However, wherever there is demand, there is supply, so illegal or not, I suspect such techniques – now tried and tested – may prove too tempting for some.

And you can understand that temptation. Along comes a whizz bang organisation incorporating the name of a world-famous university (no actual connection, of course, just the same name), offering you the opportunity to understand what motivates consumers in ways marketers have previously only dreamt about. And I have heard at least one well known Australian business leader admit they were approached by Cambridge Analytica about a project. Sensibly they declined the approach (anything associated with Breitbart founder and ex-Trump adviser Steve Bannon smells pretty stinky). I’ll bet they are deeply relieved they did now.

And therein lies the trick. If something looks too good to be true, we used to say it probably was. Now, given the apparently limitless abilities of technology, it may be true but it is probably a very bad idea.

Anything that can manipulate people without their knowledge, anything that masquerades as editorial, or a comment with no hidden agenda but which is actually a commercial message that has been bought and paid for is unethical. Anything that presents lies as facts, that sets out to distort and undermine without clearly identifying its source and agenda, anything that calls itself news, but is, in fact, propaganda, is unethical. If you write an opinion piece (I write them all the time, see this column) that is fine, as long as it is presented as such.

There is nothing new about people flying very close to the wire pretending advertising is editorial. I once complained to the Press Council about a regular insert in a major newspaper that called itself “a special supplement”. It was clearly an advertising supplement and, I believe, should have been labelled that way. Advertising supplements are a revenue earner for media publications, and that’s fine, as long as they are clearly identified. The publication writes editorial about a particular sector or industry (travel, real estate, private schools) in return for members of that industry taking paid ads in the supplement. As you can imagine, the editorial is rarely critical and the more an advertiser pays, the more mentions they get. No problem, but a “special” supplement it wasn’t. Sadly, my complaint was not upheld.

I have always argued that advertising is the most honest of the dishonest professions because you all know we’re trying to sell you something. Or you used to know. I am not so sure now and I am glad that I am no longer in the industry because the lines have become so blurred. Indeed, I am so paranoid about this that I refuse to boost my posts on my public Facebook page (oh, OK, I am too stingy, as well), because I don’t think they are ads.

I have been asked to use my social media following to promote services occasionally (reminding older women to get a mammogram and younger women to look to their superannuation so far) and I’ve been paid to do so, but I have been punctilious about making that clear when I send a tweet or write a Facebook post about them.

For me, the line is clear. It’s fine to sell so long as you are upfront about it and – this is crucial – do not set out to gain an added advantage by deceiving. The minute you hide something – who is paying you, that anyone is paying you, or that what you are publishing is false – then you are being unethical.

It’s fine to research your audience. It is important to understand them and learn how they see the world. If your work, skill and insights help you to attract their attention to your message, I have no problem. But the minute you hide your commercial agenda or conceal your ulterior motive, not only is it wrong but one day – and this is the only guarantee I’ll give you – it’ll come back and bite you on the bum, hard.


Jane Caro runs her own communications consultancy.

She worked in the advertising industry for 30 years and is now an author, journalist, lecturer and media commentator.

The courage to lead

IN 2007, LORNA WORTHINGTON PUT HER HAND UP TO BE A CANDIDATE FOR ELECTION TO THE CITY OF BUNBURY COUNCIL IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA. THAT WAS WHEN SHE REALISED INVESTING IN HERSELF — AND HER LEADERSHIP SKILLS — WAS A LOGICAL STEP IN SELF-DEVELOPMENT.

STORY NICOLA FIELD | PHOTOGRAPHY CAMERON RAMSAY

Lorna Worthington CMgr FIML is Managing Director and Principal Strategist of management consultancy Baker Worthington. Her interest in developing management and leadership skills began many years ago when she was elected to the City of Bunbury Council in Western Australia. At that point Worthington enrolled in a Master of Leadership and Management because “I felt I owed it to the community to be the best leader I could be”.

Worthington admits the investment in herself paid off. And her leadership journey has continued to this day. She recently become a Chartered Manager (CMgr) through IML, a process Worthington describes as “amazing”. She takes up the story saying, “Despite having a number of other professional qualifications I’m sure I didn’t get off any more lightly than others in relation to the questions the assessors asked and the thought I had to put into answering each question.”

“That process enabled me to reflect quite considerably on the business and on the people that work with me – and what it is I really do.”

Along with the global recognition and portability of the qualification, Worthington says a key benefit of becoming a Chartered Manager through IML was reflecting on pivotal issues such as “am I saying or am I doing? And if I am doing, what impact is it having?” She explains, “This was very much the essence of the questions that were put forward.”

For Worthington, gaining formal recognition of her skills as a manager and leader was a critical driver. “Management and leadership is not recognised as a profession in its own right,” she notes. “I think the Chartered Manager designation is at least an attempt to rectify that. The landscape is changing and it’s important that individuals can validate their experience, so the designation is definitely helping to carve out a profession in its own right.”

From here, Worthington is focused on continuing her professional development as a Chartered Manager. She says, “Professional development is about using, developing and expanding on what it is that we are learning. That’s a real shift; not just doing it, but holding each other to account for doing it.”

Recently, Margot Smith, IML’s General Manager Membership — Strategy & Engagement, caught up with Lorna Worthington to discuss her views about leading, managing and inspiring both her team and her clients.


Margot Smith:   Lorna, in business you’re effectively selling the talents of your team. How do you get your people to buy into the values of the organisation?

Lorna Worthington:   I built the organisation based on what I have learnt over many years. Selling your organisation is easy if you really believe in your values, and people can see the values transpiring. Qualities such as honesty, integrity, courage, valuing people and creativity – these are all things that people will readily buy into. As long as you espouse these values, people can see that you operate by them.

My team, the people who work with me, are fabulous and they’re all unique with lots to contribute. They absolutely live and breathe our values. It’s pretty easy to get engaged with us, because you feel it, you don’t just see it.

MS:   Do you recruit based on these values or do you believe top talent can be encouraged to take on an organisation’s values?

LW:   I have a unique way of having people come and work with us. I like to understand what really motivates a person, what they’re passionate about, and what it is they think that they have to offer. Based on that I dare to ask, “what is it you think that Worthington could offer if you came on board?” Job candidates get quite excited about that. So, I often recruit people based on what it is that they’re passionate about and what it is the “Bank of Worthington” can sell to them.

MS:   How do you live up to valuing the individual on a practical level?

LW:   Everybody has their own way of working; everyone has their own habits and idiosyncrasies. We encourage each other to be who we are and to be valued for that. When you get to know people you end up in a great place because people are a lot more giving and it creates some resilience.

The other aspect around valuing individuals is in relation to how you operate. It doesn’t matter what level a person is if we’re labelling people, what matters is that they have the freedom to speak and to create and to have a voice. We try to flatten the organisation in relation to brainstorming because it doesn’t matter who you are, you can contribute to making the organisation successful.

MS:   It sounds like you create an environment where everyone can bounce off each other and thrive on each other’s individuality, thoughts and ideas. Could you describe how it feels to walk into that culture and environment?

LW:   The feeling is one of ease. When you come into the organisation you see people engaging with each other, people are spontaneous, they are respectful, and they encourage each other. The atmosphere is quite energetic, electric and there’s passion around. You can feel the camaraderie, the creativity and you can feel the willingness and the want to be there.

I’m privileged having people like that around me. They go above and beyond on a regular basis. It’s just amazing, that essence, that sense of engagement.

MS:   Not everyone is comfortable with change, yet you encourage individuals to contribute to the future. How do you develop and encourage the spirit of innovation among your team, and also among your clients?

LW:   We don’t talk about “change”. There’s a western way of talking about change and it’s very linear, with a beginning and an end. But most people feel that the end never actually comes, so don’t worry about it because someone else will change their mind shortly, and so on.

I’m very cautious about this notion of change. We talk about the evolution whereby, in fact, as things evolve they grow into whatever that new end point might be. People aren’t then pressured with the stress of change, they embrace it. They embrace the feeling of continually contributing to whatever the end point is.

MS:   I like that because there’s often a negative connotation with change. People talk about change fatigue. What about that spirit of innovation in general? How do you foster an environment of innovation?

LW:   First of all by valuing your staff. Valuing people at all levels, all walks of life. Grand innovations come from conversation, from an environment of safety, an environment of non-competitiveness and certainly non-ego.

MS:   The pitfall of being a micro-manager can be hard to avoid for those coming up through leadership ranks. How can leaders break away from this and take a big picture view?

LW:   It’s important for leaders and managers to know themselves really well and to be accountable for how people develop around them. Micro managing tends to come from a personality trait – and sometimes, insecurities. I find it particularly useful when you know you have a particular trait to call it out. That way, if you’re micro managing then your staff would know it, and secondly, someone would have the courage to say “Could you give me a little bit of extra leeway on this”, or “I don’t need quite that much supervision”.

I think it’s important for leaders and managers to be reflective and to understand their impact on others.

MS:   Negotiation is obviously a key skill. What do you believe are some of the key aspects of being a good negotiator?

LW:   Honesty, integrity, respect, don’t win at all costs. Negotiation is an art. There’s a fine line between negotiation and selling. If you’re genuinely negotiating, then you’re looking for a good outcome for all parties.

MS:   For emerging leaders thinking about moving into strategy or management consultancy, what should they consider on their career path?

LW:   Definitely consider organisational behaviour, but more than just the theory side of it. When you are going into an organisation and coming in as the assumed expert, you don’t actually have to be the expert, but you have to be good at hearing what people are saying. You have to understand the dynamics of the organisation, what’s really going on. If you’re going to be responsible for assisting people who develop strategy you must get in deep and understand what it is they’re trying to achieve.

MS:   What kind of skills does a strategy management consultant need? We talked about an open mind, and active listening skills. What else do you think there is?

LW:   That’s an interesting question for me, who generally recruits based on a person’s passion and whatever skill set they bring to an organisation at any point in time. I often talk about leadership management being a skill in its own right. It’s the same as being an engineer or a nurse, it’s just not recognised that way. If you do leadership management well, you can do anything. You can learn the subject matter.

What I look for are people who have the ability to lead and to manage, and get the best out of different teams.

You’re also leading and managing organisations because people look up to you, and people try to have a voice through you. So managing the voice in a really appropriate way that benefits the organisation and keeps the person or people sharing that information safe is quite an art.


Leadership in 60 seconds

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Snapchat?
Facebook.

Phone, Email, or face-to-face?
Definitely face-to-face.

Which leader do you admire and why?
Julia Gillard. She’s done amazing things and she’s been so courageous. She has absolutely put herself out there and has copped a lot for it but is still resilient and is still motivating to people that aspire, women especially.

Sum up your view of leadership in just three words.
Courage, integrity, and resilience.

Complete the sentence, leadership matters because…
You impact people’s lives, every day.

Which three guests would you invite to dinner to discuss leadership?
Napoleon, Albert Einstein, and Martin Luther King. I think that you would learn a whole lot in your living room.


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5 Ways To Improve Your Cash Flow

By Toby Smith

 

As a successful manager, you’re well aware that the survival of any business – regardless of size and profitability levels – ultimately depends on cash flow. Most businesses that end up in liquidation reach that point because they run out of cash.

This article outlines a number of measures you can implement to achieve sustainable cash flow improvements. Even if cash flow isn’t a major concern for your business, following these steps can help you to free up capital to invest in infrastructure improvements or growth opportunities.

 

1 – Regular financial reviews

Having detailed and up-to-date knowledge of your financial performance is critical. If financial management isn’t your strength, engage a strong finance team to advise you, and ensure they maintain a steady focus on cash flow and profitability rather than growth rate.

Your schedule should include a monthly analysis of your financial statements, looking not just at your current financial status, especially your free cash flow, but also at past performance (your trends and trajectory, particularly your profitability ratios and return on capital employed (ROCE)) and at forecasts for the immediate and longer-term future.

Regularly drill down and examine the financial performance of each of your product or service lines and sales channels, as well as your stock levels, debtors and assets.

This information will help you to make informed strategic decisions about your operations and enable you to identify potential issues in time to take corrective action to protect your cash flow. For example:

  • Organising short-term finance to cover working capital shortages
  • Matching the timing of expenditure to income if you have fluctuating income (by delaying discretionary purchases or negotiating with creditors)
  • Adjusting your stock policy if you’re tying up cash in excess inventory (be wary, for example, of buying extra stock to take advantage of vendor discounts or rebates, as savings can quickly be lost to storage costs)
  • Tightening up your credit terms or collection policies if too much cash is tied up in bad debts, and imposing purchase restrictions until debts are cleared, or even ending relationships with clients that have a poor payment record.

 

2 – Regular strategic reviews

Unfortunately, for many businesses, a strategic plan is something that’s created once then either forgotten or followed rigidly without review. As a result, precious cash gets tied up in obsolete stock, irrelevant marketing campaigns, bad debts and unnecessary assets.

To stay competitive and keep your cash flowing freely you need to regularly re-examine every aspect of your business to make sure that your:

  • Product lines or services still meet your customers’ needs
  • Sales channels are aligned with your customers’ preferences
  • Marketing initiatives are successfully attracting new customers
  • Technology and equipment are appropriate for your needs (it can be tricky to find the balance between staying efficiently up-to-date and not wasting cash on unnecessary upgrades).

Being willing to change direction and redefine your strategy – including making tough decisions on the future of product lines, sales channels, marketing strategies and assets that are draining your cash flow – is critical to long-term success.

 

3 – Cautious growth

One of the main reasons companies run out of cash is that they grow too fast.

The risk is that in order to meet the demands of new customers or clients, you’ll have to invest heavily in infrastructure, materials or labour. That up-front investment can wipe out your working capital reserves and leave you dangerously exposed until you receive the funds from the extra sales.

If you don’t have the cash to meet your financial obligations in the meantime, your business may not survive to reap the benefits of that sales growth.

Focus instead on steady, cautious growth that won’t exhaust your cash reserves or stretch your resources to the point where your service levels (and reputation) will suffer. And be very wary of funding growth with borrowings, especially when interest rates are rising.

 

4 – Prudent borrowing

Loan repayments can be a major drain on your cash reserves, and unless you’ve locked in fixed interest rates you’re always at risk from rate increases that can play havoc with your forecasts and quickly deplete your cash reserves.

The most important measure you can take to minimise your cost of borrowing is to make sure the term of your loans match your business needs:

  • Never use short-term facilities like an overdraft or credit card to finance the purchase of long-term assets. Not only will you pay higher interest rates and charges, you also run the serious risk of having the facility withdrawn before the asset is paid off – leaving you with an instant cash flow crisis.
  • Avoid using long-term funding to boost your working capital. Many long-term loans have penalties for early repayment, which can you leave you locked into paying for finance you no longer need. Instead, opt for at-call finance to smooth out fluctuations in your cash flow, so that you’ll only pay interest on funds when you need to draw on the facility.

Shop around for business finance, especially if you need a fast cash injection – the ‘fintech’ alternative loan market is booming in Australia, offering a competitive source of funding for businesses of all sizes. Be aware, though, that alternative lenders aren’t regulated in the same way that Australian banks are, and some may seek to impose restrictive loan conditions in order to reduce their risk.

 

5 – Putting your cash to work

While most cash flow improvement measures focus on finding ways to increase cash reserves, it’s actually possible to have too much cash, earning negligible interest and leaving you with poor ROCE.

If you do happen to have large cash reserves – more than you need to meet your working capital needs, fund your loan obligations and cover an extended downturn in sales – you may want to consider reinvesting those funds in your business.

One way you can use excess funds to improve cash flow is to repay loans (if you can do so without incurring penalties) since the interest you earn on your savings will never match the amount you’re paying on your borrowings.

Being decisive and winning the dog fight

Written by Paul Mead – Performance Consultant, Paul Mead Consulting

As leaders, we understand that having a strategy is an essential part of success. But a strategy without action is just a pretty piece of paper. The strategic leader needs to be able to turn this plan into action, understanding how it is to be used in the current environment and bring along the rest of the organisation with them.

 

According to some recent research, an adult makes up to 35,000 decisions per day. Many of these decisions are minor impulsive type decisions (we make over 200 decisions each day about food choices), but others, especially for leaders are critically important ones. So, as leaders, how do we take decisive action when it is required?

 

As an ex-New Zealand Army Officer, I like to look towards my military education to find insights for leaders. One lesson that has stuck with me and rings true for strategic leaders of all persuasions is the OODA Loop.

 

Colonel John Boyd, a US Air Force Fighter Pilot introduced a concept in the 1950’s called the OODA Loop. Observe, Orientate, Decide, Act.

Paul was the National Winner of the 2016 ALEAs Emerging Leaders award

Col. Boyd noted in the Korean War, that despite the US aircraft being less maneuverable than the Russian made MIG’s, they were winning the majority of the dogfights.

Part of the reason being, the US F-86’s had a better field of vision and hydraulic controls that enabled faster maneuverability. This ability to observe and then orientate themselves faster, meant they could disrupt the actions of their enemy.

He emphasised to his pilots the need to observe and orientate faster than their enemy in order to make superior decisions that ultimately would save their lives.

This concept of the OODA loop can be directly applied to the process that exceptional strategic leaders display, in taking decisive action around those important decisions, within the 35,000, they make every day.

 

Observe – The strategic leader is constantly observing the environment in which they operate. They can identify what is a risk to their organisation and where opportunities to exploit lie.

 

Orientate – The strategic leader orientates their organisation into a position to either mitigate the risk or take advantage of the opportunity.

This ability to orientate the organisation should not be underestimated. This is where the strategic leader earns their title. A failure to correctly orientate will spell disaster in the next two stages.

 

Decide – The strategic leader is decisive in their decisions. They know when they have enough information and when the timing is right to take action. They decide on a course of action and launch into it with full force.

 

Act – The strategic leader acts at the right time, always. Their action is well planned and they have contingencies in place for when the situation changes. Success is likely, rather than as a consequence of luck.

Strategic leaders know that the ability to orientate their organisation takes more than charisma. It takes the ability to clearly communicate the need to implement change or transform a business process through a clear vision. This vision is built upon observation that is rooted in research, analysis, experience and gut feelings.

When it comes time to make the decision, the strategic leader has motivated their team to adopt the vision as their own, knowing that the challenge is to ensure that the odds are stacked clearly in their favour. The strategic leader knows that their tactical leaders have the information they require to influence, lead and win their dogfights, contributing to the broader strategic plan.

 

This is the art of strategic leadership, one dogfight at a time.


Paul will be one of many speakers at our upcoming Brisbane Conference on the 2nd November 2017. Book Now to hear Paul and many other specialists in their respective fields discuss attributes of successful leaders at this full day event.