A Compelling Strategy for Effective Leadership
Focus on things that matter to you, your people and your organisation
“Not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.” — 1 Per 5:3
I take my learning and development seriously because, over the past 26 years, I have learnt that every step up in my career requires a higher standard of me. And shrinking training budgets have taught me not to leave my development in my employer’s hands.
So, after my recent promotion to Acting CEO, I enrolled on Brendon Burchard’s self-development program — GrowthDay. The program is a treasure trove of courses, models and resources for anyone looking to work on themselves. My competitive nature pulled me towards the challenges section on the platform. But more than that, I signed up for the 5-Day Transformation challenge because I am most effective when I face deadlines. The growth model, journalling prompts and goal-setting tool presented on Day 1 of the challenge provided made my decision to sign up after the 7-day trial a no-brainer. Journalling prompts from Day 2 posed a simple but growth-defining question.
“When it comes to your dream, what are the three major things you must learn in order to achieve it?”
To become an effective and successful CEO, I must improve my leadership skills. I must learn new leadership principles and practices by studying CEOs who model the leadership style I want to emulate. One book presented a compelling strategy I now adopt as my leadership blueprint.
Trey Taylor’s A CEO Only Does Three Things articulate a leadership approach that is practical and simple to understand and implement. As the title states, being an effective business leader is down to having the right focus on the three most important business drivers.
“Everything rises and falls with leadership.” John C Maxwell
1) Culture
In a 2021 Global Culture Survey of 3,200 leaders and employees worldwide by PwC, “67% of survey respondents said culture is more important than strategy or operations.
According to Taylor, every CEO must set his organisation’s Cultural Operating System (COS). As a business leader, I consciously exhibit behaviours and habits that foster respect, accountability, transparency and open communication.
In my new role, I make it a point to interview every new hire to see if they fit our company’s culture.
If you want to retain your best talent, improve your COS. Quantum Workplace’s research showed that disengaged employees are 3.8 times more likely to leave due to culture than engaged employees.
2) People
“It is good people who make good places.” — Anna Sewell.
I believe that our people are more important than the customer because it is our people who serve the customer and power the organisation. Hence it is important to recruit the right people who will fit the company’s culture. Hiring new people into your organisation is like introducing a new fish into your fish tank; the water in the tank represents your company’s culture. If the water is not suitable for the fish, it will die. And if the fish is not the right one to cohabit with the other fishes, it will eat or be eaten by them.
I introduced Taylor’s 4Cs recruitment criteria into our recruitment process — Culture, Capabilities, Compensation and Commitment. New hires who pass the 4Cs assessment are significantly more likely to be good hires.
The CEO is responsible for ensuring the company hires the right talents and placing them in fitting roles that will power the organisation to success.
3) Numbers
“If you don’t know your numbers, you don’t know your business.” — Marcus Lemon
This attribute is right up my alley, being a CFO. The CEO needs to know the right numbers or key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure, monitor and manage. Mastering this skill will help the CEO identify opportunities for growth, efficiency and improve profitability. The KPIs you place importance on must be relevant to your industry.
According to Taylor, knowing what KPIs to measure sets the agenda and puts the CEO in control of the business.
Whether you are leading a small team or a large organisation, to be an effective leader, you must set the standard of how your company operates, be responsible for hiring the right people and set the agenda by identifying what KPIs are important to your organisation.
Your strategy formula, as proposed by Trey Taylor, is Company = Culture x People x Focus.
Two (2) Book recommendations
These two books are a must-read/listen for anyone interested in their development and becoming an effective leader.
a) A CEO Only Does Three Things: Finding Your Focus In The C-Suite. by Trey Taylor
“The first book to explain critical concepts of executive leadership in a way that we can learn and remember when our focus wavers. Taylor’s A CEO Only Does Three Things provides immediately actionable insights that CEOs can use today! I’d consider it a must-read for leaders in business strategy, corporate development and corporate alliances.” — Jim Blachek, CEO, Dynamic Benefit Solutions, Wilkes-Bare, Pennsylvania.
This book is a must-read for business leaders at all levels.
b) The 6 Habits of Growth: Get Unstuck and Create the Life of Your Dreams. by Brendon Burchard
Written in a conversational style, Burchard suggests motivation, focus, confidence, energy, purpose and leadership as the six habits that will help you achieve your dreams.
Three (3) Citations
Here are three quotes for you to ponder this week.
“Only by connecting with other people are we able to achieve our full potential. The trick is recognising and joining the right people.” — Trey Taylor
“A boss has a title; a leader has the people.” — Simon Sinek
“Everything rises and falls with leadership” — John C Maxwell
