March' 19
The Effective Executive
Focus
Leading Through Disruption
Block chain technology, augmented reality, payment banks, as-a-service business model, prescriptive analytics, digital twins, etc. to name a few, are the recent developments that have been creating ripples by disrupting the existing structures and introducing the business practices of future. The future is much closer than we imagine. The dynamics in the business world have never been this nimble. The pace of change in the business diaspora has never been this swift. The quantum of Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity, collectively known as VUCA, has never been this high. Leading in an organization amidst this cut-throat scenario is no safer than walking a razor's edge.
In the contemporary scenario, a leader's job is not confined to having a complete understanding of one's own organization. One has to be awake and alert to even a minute development in any of the multiple-components that can potentially affect a business. The leader has the responsibility to put himself and the entire organization on a full-throttle with respect to the factors that could be responsible for growth and decline. The leader has to possess crystal clarity about various factors that can make or break an organization including technology, innovation, organizational culture, diversity, competition and social responsibility, to name a few. Thus, the definition and the DNA of a leader in contemporary times is perhaps much different and more complex than what it was a decade ago.
The current issue of Effective Executive takes a deep dive into understanding and redefining what it takes to lead in the present times.
Dan Coughlin's perspective, "The Main Ingredient of Leadership and How to Get More of It", elaborates on the role of wisdom through leading in an organization. The paper shares some definitions and common fallacies of leadership, taking some insights from the leaders like Martin Luther King and John F Kennedy.
Bob Murray, in his paper, "The Purpose of Business: Why Values, Meaning and Purpose Really, Really Matter", takes the discussion to the core of the issue. He defines some of the core basic concepts like purpose and values through the lens of leadership. He elaborates purpose from the point of view of short-term goals, group, society, etc. He describes values from and their interpretation in the contemporary scenario.
Stephanie Jones and Lawin Ileto share their research in the context of the Philippines in their paper, "New Opportunities for Fueling Development Leading Through Innovation: The Example of the IT Sector in the Philippines". The authors share the story of some of the leading organizations in the Philippines through some of the critical leadership components viz., vision, selflessness, authenticity, trust, leading change, adaptability, etc.
Colin Coulson-Thomas, in his paper, "Board Leadership of Innovation in Contemporary Circumstances", shares his research-based observations on innovation and entrepreneurship that encompass the critical components like risk, organizational change, innovation and organizational culture. The paper elaborates on the board's role in observing a balanced performance towards corporate, social and environmental aspects.
Finally, Pierre Cassuto and Kurt April, in their paper, "Non-Racial Identities of South African Born Frees: Implications for HR Management", focus on South African 'born-free' generation to understand their attitudes towards race and why it remains an important aspect of their identity. The paper elaborates on the factors that facilitated or inhibited the significance of race.
Consulting Editor
The Main Ingredient of Leadership and How to Get More of It
The Purpose of Business: Why Values, Meaning and Purpose Really, Really Matter
The objective of this paper is to show why having purpose, meaning and values is as vitally important in business as it is in individual lives. We begin by answering the question: What do we mean by these terms? We look at them in terms of organizations, groups and teams and individuals. We show how meaning, values and purpose became essential to our ability to collaborate and how they fit into what we call ?human design specs??our DNA. We examine how purpose, meaning and values can help businesses to grow, get commitment and engagement from employees, improve productivity and how they often mean the difference between business survival and failure. We show that in terms of what humans seek from their lives, a business is not just about making money, it is about forming a tribe, a community of people who share values, who find a sense of meaning in their work and have a shared sense of social purpose.
New Opportunities for Fueling Development Leading Through Innovation: The Example of the IT Sector in the Philippines
Innovative leadership can be seen as the ability of a person leading a team to generate and realize innovative ideas. With imagination and communication, they are willing to pull the plug on an idea and redirect time and effort towards an idea with greater chances of materializing. Selfless and authentic, they accept feedback from customers and co-workers. They need to be flexible, adaptable and able to bounce back from failure. The Philippines is now benefitting from innovative leadership in IT to boost its economy. In the past 10-15 years, technology has played a key role in the Philippines? transformation into a leading destination for outsourced services including customer service, finance, and IT, especially business process outsourcing. This paper looks at four examples of successful innovative leaders in the IT sector in the Philippines?with leadership lessons on how to be an innovative leader.
Board Leadership of Innovation in Contemporary Circumstances
The uncertainties that characterize contemporary business and market environments complicate the challenge of leading innovation and responding responsibly to external trends and developments. More than incremental change may be required. However, when confronted with multiple and interrelated challenges and associated opportunities, many boards find it difficult to obtain the objective and holistic advice they need concerning how best to respond and achieve the adjustments, adaptations or changes that are required. Boards need to re-engage with stakeholders, rethink corporate purpose, priorities, approaches, strategies and business models and seek holistic solutions that embrace supply and value chains. They should also periodically review their agendas, compositions and practices and rethink their role and contribution and that of disruptive and enabling technologies, governance arrangements, collaborators and external ideas in relation to stimulating creativity, enabling innovation and supporting entrepreneurship.
Non-Racial Identities of South African Born Frees: Implications for HR Management
Non-racialism has been inscribed in the constitution since 1994, yet race remains an important aspect of identity amongst all South Africans, even those born after liberation. This research focused on South Africans aged 18-24, born between 1994 and 2000, and sought to understand attitudes towards race, why it remains an important aspect of their identity, what factors may either amplify or mitigate it, and whether they believe that non-racialism is a desirable goal. Following a phenomenological approach, a sample of 12 participants, representative of multiple demographic and socioeconomic statuses, partook in in-depth individual interviews as well as follow-up conversations to uncover patterns, enablers and barriers, drawing on social identity theory literature as a guiding framework. The results show that South African youth?s attitudes are eerily similar to those of global Gen-Z youth: embracing generic humanism, rejecting labels and stereotypes, defining themselves as unique, and focusing on their achievements and ambitions. Their mental models are however tainted by their elders and surroundings. The study has implications for general leadership, people management, and public policy-making.