Susan Steele

An interesting paper from the HR consulting firm Mercer suggests that we have entered the fifth industrial age - The Cognitive Age - thanks to #AI. Mercer sees HR's role in this new age as the "Stewards of Humanity, " whose mandate will focus on "doing good to improve the human condition." I'm all in on improving the human condition. But this seems to be a pretty broad and challenging mandate. For history buffs, the paper includes excellent and short descriptions of the prior industrial ages.

10

I'm Robin, and in this new series, ‘Why Use an Executive Coach’, I'll share how executive coaching can transform your leadership skills. I work with leading companies like Microsoft, Freshfields, and the NHS. My goal? To help leaders communicate better, find clarity in projects, and build confidence. Stay tuned to learn how coaching can help you become a stronger, more effective leader. #ExecutiveCoaching #LeadershipDevelopment #ProfessionalGrowth #LeadershipSkills #Management

19

5 Comments

What has been the impact of this leadership programme? It's always a brave question to ask. And I always ask it. This week I asked a client at the end of a 6 month programme. THIS is why I do this work. https://lnkd.in/eubQ7kDk #leadership #leadershipimpact #leadershiptraining #leadershipdevelopment #executiveeducation

7

🧠 What is Mental Toughness? Our 2nd Video of the series with Doug Strycharczyk explores the concept further, explaining the 8 Factors. AQR International Can you relate? Let's start the conversation! #leadership #psychology #mentaltoughness #resilience

15

3 Comments

Thank you, JJ (Projjal) Ghatak for your contributions to the Balancing Act Podcast. Listen in as JJ helps us understand the difference between "improve feedback," and "celebrate feedback" and which type of feedback leads to better results. #BalancingActPodcast #Feedback #EmployeeEngagement

4

In an era where disruption is the norm, leaders must do more than manage—they must transform. Korn Ferry’s latest insights highlight the power of executive coaching to build leaders who are resilient, adaptive, and ready for change. The future belongs to those who can embrace uncertainty, lead with clarity, and inspire action. 🌟 #LeadershipDevelopment #ChangeLeadership #ExecutiveCoaching #FutureOfWork #Agility #Innovation #LeadershipMatters https://lnkd.in/guxC57Mg

4

Yesterday, Anjli Raval of the Financial Times reported why #CEO succession is so difficult to get right (https://lnkd.in/eb4YD5UX). This is because the CEO succession process is broken as many companies have no meaningful succession plans, and rely on experimental succession plans of headhunters.   Yet, no single task has a greater impact on a company’s future — for better or worse — than the selection of a new CEO. Choosing a CEO is a high-stakes proposition, arguably the most important decision a board can make. And I should know - when Oracle hired a zombie managing director for its thriving UK operation in 1993. During his tenure, nearly all top performing employees in the UK left, and both revenue and profit plummeted. I also saw how Bill Gates’s appointment of his friend Steve Balmer reduced the value of Microsoft by over 60% in a decade. Similarly, I saw how successful CEO succession plan at Mastercard created value beyond imagination when they appointed Ajay Banga.   So, what are the steps a company can take to increase the probability of success? Here are some ideas;-   1.    Align the board on future CEO profiles that are driven by the company’s business #strategy.  2.    Evaluate candidates against the CEO profiles. 3.    Remember that CEO succession is an ongoing process designed to develop the talent pipeline. 4.    Keep CEO succession as a standing board agenda item since it ensures a multi-layered, multi-generational process. 5.    “Cross train” generations of CEO successors with a mix of on-the-job #training, intensive #coaching, #mentoring, #sponsoring and #education. 6.    Become familiar with the potential CEO bench. 7.    Make sure that your talent management and development process is linked to your longer-term business strategy. Remember, choosing a CEO should not be a single decision but an amalgam of thousands of decisions made by many people every day over years – hence CEO succession decisions are never easy. But they are made much less difficult if you start the conversation early and stick to certain rules. Consider a broad pool of your own employees first. Involve the entire board and the outgoing CEO. When identifying the type of leader you want to hire, solve for tomorrow. Invest in candidate development, especially the top tier. Consider the best talent outside your organisation; that will inform and update your thinking. Finally, encourage impartiality until the moment the directors will debate their way to a decision. In the end, of course, you want the CEO you choose to be exactly the right person for the job. And you want everyone else involved to accept that it was exactly the right decision for the company.

3

New research from businessfourzero - a Heidrick & Struggles company's Chief People Officer Kate Thompson and The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) suggests it’s time to reframe the debate from reward-focused happiness to deeper (and incidentally cheaper) purpose-driven happiness. The study found that connecting your people to your purpose has the power to increase their experienced happiness at work by a phenomenal 12%. Read the Big Think article to learn how leaders can turn workplace happiness into a competitive advantage: https://bit.ly/4dLPOVY. #Leadership #Purpose #Culture #Happiness #MentalHealth

7

💬 "Perks can become an easy way out in the wellbeing space"... That's a quote pulled directly from the article below by Paul Devoy ... and I totally agree. There's a huge gap in how HR and employees perceive the usefulness of the wellbeing support available. For example, whilst 72% of HR decision-makers in businesses that offer gym-memberships believed that employees find them valuable, only 41% of employees in the same organisations found it valuable. Employees want to see the fundamentals of business done right. Things like 🤝 Supportive line-managers 📚 Learning opportunities ➕ Positive work culture Without dealing with the above, the "perks" become pointless. A free mindfulness session isn't going to help someone who feels stuck in their current role... We need to re-frame what people think about when we say workplace wellbeing. Changing the focus from perks, to preventative solutions that tackle workplace issues at their heart. There's still a way to go, but every Wellbeing Lead I am able to talk to about this and re-frame wellbeing in their mind is one step closer! Do you agree? #WorkplaceWellbeing #EmployeeWellbeing #MentalHealthAtWork #WellbeingLead

12

5 Comments

Last month, I asked 300 Directors and senior leaders across my network what their biggest leadership challenge is right now. Here are the top five themes that emerged. • Time management, workload and competing priorities • Navigating politics and difficult team dynamics • Feeling exhausted personally and leading an over-stretched team • Building influence and personal presence with top stakeholders • Overcoming resistance to change - at all levels I’m sure at least one of these resonates with you. But what would you add to this list? And how do you manage these challenges personally? 🗓️ I post leadership tips every single day. 📣 Follow me for daily, proven steps that lead to real-world impact.

30

3 Comments

We all know that gathering data about how our team feels is essential, but it's often difficult to know what to do with it once we've got it. This is a great read from HBR, packed full of useful advice. Some highlights for me? 1. It's not survey fatigue that kills employee engagement, but 'inaction fatigue' 2. Use survey results as the springboard to explore more. Don't assume you know the reason, ask 3. Prioritise your response, don't try to do it all - loving the 1-2-3 model (Choose 1 topic, do 2 things, check in for progress 3 times) 4. Show your workings out - explain how you've come to the decisions you make. https://lnkd.in/ehPxfdBb? #employeeengagement #employeesurveys #managingpeople

8

1 Comment

Emotional intelligence is critical for exceptional leadership. People look to their leaders for clues as to their level of “psychological safety” within an organization or a team.

3

Sharing with you the outcome of a poll I posted recently. The question was:  It could be a long list, however, from the list below, which area of your organisation do you believe presents most risk to your organisation today? 🔵 Executing Strategy came out strong with 51% 🔵 Staff Wellbeing came in at 23% 🔵 Regulatory Compliance came in a close third with 21%, and 🔵 Supply Chain Disruption a mere 5%. While culture eats strategy for breakfast, you still need a good, executable strategy. And you need to assess and re-assess the risks of successful execution as you execute.

1

2 Comments

The 2024 Alix Partners Disruption Index suggests that business leaders are walking a tightrope between delivering value and keeping their staff motivated. The analogy of a ‘tightrope’ is compelling and one that I often invoke, albeit I regard the role of leaders as being to create an environment in which people feel motivated to provide sustained levels of high performance. The key to which being leaders mastering the ‘high wire act’ of balancing appropriate expectation and investment of, and in their people. A beguilingly simple statement but an enormously complex challenge. Maintaining an appropriate mix of expectation and investment in people is an active process. It needs to operate at all levels of an organisation and be contextualised to local need. This is effectively reflected in the linkage of organisation values and behaviours through formal policy and performance practice – it is simply too important to leave to chance albeit a difficult balance to achieve and maintain!

4

2 Comments

Teresa Lilly did a super post on performance last week and posed a question: "...we spend enormous amounts of time, energy and money on an activity that everyone in general dreads. The unfortunate thing is we haven't found a great replacement. I want to hear from all of you - what can we do instead?" This got me thinking over the weekend, should we bin or keep reviews? Then I had a chat with Courtney Branson yesterday and in passing Courtney made some comments that struck me as rather insightful, along the lines of... You can just feel if reviews are needed - mostly because you've got real-time feedback genuinely working. This updated my thinking and to answer Teresa's question, I would say: 1. If you've achieved genuine feedback maturity, it's an option to bin reviews, else, 2. Take the below carousel for spin to understand your alternative #performancereviews #employeeexperience #performancemanagement #hr

21

13 Comments

A common misconception in leadership development is that just relying on 'training' will create the desired mindsets and behaviours, but it often falls short. Q5's recent research highlights that addressing inner barriers is crucial for leadership development, beyond just consuming content. Discover how this approach can drive meaningful change: https://lnkd.in/eepSUJMS #Leadership #LeadershipDevelopment #ExpertInsights

8