09-09-09 Report: In Shape For September 27/08/2009
Message to the CEO: learn to keep a distance
“Throughout my career I’ve often been labelled as slow. Perhaps that’s not really important considering it is only upon reaching the finish that prizes are handed out. I might have been slow, but I was often first in receiving those prizes.” In his plea – not using PowerPoint! – at In Shape For September, CEO Tony Mary compared eastern to western company leaders. He came to the conclusion that time is money and that a lot of money is lost by CEOs who want to save time and act without thinking. Remarkably, this plea for keeping distance and thorough decision-making was one almost all speakers agreed on. It appears reflection and inspiration are essential to sustainable leadership.
Tony Mary anecdotally starts out with “When I was first promoted to a management function at IBM, my CEO at the time said to me: ‘Tony you can now stop working and let other people work for you.” “Still, it is not that simple to motivate hundreds of people everyday to completely give themselves to the company. While it may be true that you no longer work yourself, you still have to be present on an fulltime basis and commit to company seven days a week.”
Also in times of crisis
Tony Mary underlined that being a CEO implies permanent engagement and that it requires clear perseverance and a sense of calm: “Throughout my career I have always held on to 4 key values and it is those values which have in turn determined the strategy of the organisation. Once the basic principles have been set out, you have to stick to them. The worst thing a CEO can do is let himself get caught up in heated situations.” Today, as he counsels other CEOs in times of crisis, this has become a guiding principle: “Stay calm and make financial health a priority ¬– that’s the message. If you need to restructure, first develop a plan, take a step back from the problem and study it from all angles. A next step is to communicate appropriately: communication is one of the CEO’s essential tasks. Do not delegate communication! Take a look at how Johnson & Johnson’s Ajid Shetty does it. Finally, if you need to restructure, do it in one smooth motion and immediately focus on the wellbeing of the survivors. Make sure they remain reassured and motivated towards the future.”
Thinking like Da Vinci
Bernard Lernout, pioneer of Accelerated Learning in Business & Education in Flanders and the founder of Het Leerhof in the Flemish Ardennes has a similar message for CEOs: “In times of crisis, don’t resign but remain on post. Demonstrate you have the courage to stick through tough times; think of solutions rather than run away from problems.” Lernout draws his wisdom from a study published by Michael Gelb. Based on Leonardo Da Vinci’s manuscripts, sketches and paintings, Gelb drew up an image of the renaissance artist /scientist brain. In his new book, Het Leonardo Kompas (The Leonardo Compass), which will be published shortly, Lernout uses this study to draw up four key guidelines:
- Look for soul. Aim for ‘soulful’ leadership. Meditate, take a step back and be alert for the signals sent to you in your daily life.
- Use your head when you do research into what motivates you and what your reason for being is.
- Be open to discussion. Here Lernout makes reference to a new style of communication which is being put into practice by people like Obama: don’t speak aggressively but rather invitingly.
- Act NOW and with respect.
Now-management
It appeared almost as if they compared notes ahead of time, when infotainer and In Shape for September co-organizer Paul Meert also made a plea for NOW management. Vandeven’s motto is to “Stop thinking, because thinking comes too late.” Meert deals with the theme with a lot of humour and anecdotes providing the audience with several key insights:
- There are no excuses not to act.
- Listen to the ‘other’ you, not your ego.
- Live by the CAN-principle: Choose All (Always) Now!
Sportcoach Wim Vandeven’s anecdotes and lessons also illustrates the parallels between the different speeches. Vandeven also talked about taking a distance: “Only by focussing on technique or goals does it become possible to get into the flow you need to achieve top performances.”
A new era
While the word ‘crisis’ was not on the menu this last In Shape For September, it was made clear that rethinking a lot of decisions and acts would be much more useful than simply thinking. Peter Coeckelbergh (BCT Coaching & Training) also promoted this idea in his talk on Value Thinking In Business: “The salesman is becoming more and more of a business developer who aims to create added value a along the value chain. This has an enormous impact on ways of thinking and communicating. The salesman will ask other, more profound questions on other themes and at best this will impact the way in which his customer evaluates value.”
Practical tips
Another aspect of an InShape-day is the practical tips the speakers bring along with them. Sylvie Verleye demonstrated how to successfully integrate PowerPoint into a presentation, Jan Vermeiren concretised the use of Linkedln for networking, Bert Verdonck taught all those present how to lifehack and Patrick Maes presented us with the techniques to turn around a salesteam in six weeks. All speakers were focused on getting the audience in shape for September!
In Shape For September is an initiatief set-up by Paul Meert, Patrick Maes (CPI Consulting) and Bert Verdonck. Next year’s session is planned for 26 August 2010.
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