Leading people is becoming a dying art

Yeah, thanks very much. I'm pleased to be here. Yeah, it's nice. Let's try and do something useful.

I prefer people than spreadsheets, basically, that's the truth. I you know, f finance was just a a route to leadership, really for me. I'm not particularly interested in finance, I'm not passionate about finance. but the opportunity to to lead people was really what attracted me. And I d I don't know whether someone told me this or already, I don't I'm not sure but Someone said, you know, Abraham Lincoln said you can't help the poor by being one of them. And I remember when I was in th that large scale multinational environment, I saw some things that in my younger days I thought could be done better. And I complained a lot, basically, and made a nuisance of myself. And I think someone was trying to helped me find a better way to use my energy. So it's look if you want to change things, try and get to the top and change from the top. So that's why I ended up in the position I ended up. Obviously I wasn't there for 21 years. I started as a a trainee like most people do. Well actually I'm not sure people do these days and maybe that's an issue in itself, but I did. And okay I ended up in that leadership position. and and that was really a really formative part of my thinking for the future. And I I always wanted to r run my own business. And so when the time came right, I thought, yeah, what is it I really like or I'm really passionate about and I'd had some leadership coaching from Siemens as part of my development, which I am forever grateful. First of all because it worked, it improved me, and secondly because I was able to go on and make a a new career out of it. So at 39 and three quarter years of age, I left a very, very good job, much to the amazement of many people around me, not least my own family. And I think I'm still paying for that to this day, but anyway, that's life. and then started this business. in its first version, it it was purely one-to-one leadership coaching, and that's all I believed I was going to do. But you can't control the market, basically. So things have changed and now things are very different. Nearly twenty years on, two thousand and seven, started this business. So yeah, very interesting journey.

Okay, well that's a that's a r a recent a recent focus and there's th there's two reasons for that. Th the first reason is some preparation for the future in terms of my own role. Currently I am in the main A managing director of a leadership development company that provides an array of services. And in that role, I don't get to do as much coaching as I I would like to do. And a lot of the time it's about leading the business, particularly the front end of the business, the you know, promoting, obtaining work, etc., dealing with the customers, which I love. But in the future I would like to get back to the roots, which was purely just the coaching. and in order to do that, I want to start a focus on what I now see as the biggest area to help leadership as a subject. through the work that I've been doing and that is I call it lonely leaders. What I really mean is it's about isolation. So when leaders get isolated and we the the you know, okay different definitions of isolation, but essentially when they feel they are alone, this causes a big impact on their performance. And this is a very common piece of input I get. And I'm in a privileged position because coaching is or should be a confidential intervention. And I I've built my whole career on that. I mean I I could start World War Three with what I know, but obviously I never will do, or take it to the grave with me. But when people have a confidential space and they trust the person they're with, they will be very honest. and I know from personal experience it's not easy when you are in a role in a in a senior position to be totally honest with those around you. sometimes not even your own family, because you don't want to burden them, or if you did tell them. what you were thinking they might not react in the best way. So having a a safe space to be open is good. And in these interactions, people, leaders, tell me about this isolation. And they tell me about the impact it has on them. And I believe out there there are thousands, thousands of leaders who If they were listening to this, would know what I'm talking about. They might not use the tag lonely leader. It's like not being lonely like you are at school if your friends stop talking to you. It's not that type of loneliness. but they would absolutely know what I'm talking about. And they would know the impact it has. the the organizations themselves are aware of this or can be aware of it, but it it is quite difficult for the organization to tackle it because what they could offer is internal support, and by the very nature of it nature of that, it it's not totally confidential, much as people would like it to be, and therefore it doesn't quite hit the mark. So Where does somebody go if they're feeling isolated? Another great example is a leader is considering a career change, leaving the company that they've been with for many years. Who would they tell about that? Who would they seek input from? Very, very few people. You know, they may tell their best friend. Who's in a completely different world to them probably thinks they've gone mad anyway. So don't get much for that. Just on that note alone, that's good. Now, if someone was to argue with me, a company may argue with and say, Well, why could we should we or would we even help that situation where somebody might be leaving? Well, just out of a sense of humanity, it it it It's the right thing to do to help your employees further their careers, perform better and to live a better life. So why wouldn't you? And you may, you may, as an organization, lose one or two people along the way, but I can also tell you statistically, The work I've done has kept far more people in their companies as senior leaders than it has promoted them to depart the company. And so on that basis I think it's a valid, valid area to focus on. so that that that's where that it that is. Another fundamental part to the future would be the following: that the lonely leader coaching in a terms of a business model. is effectively in the future going to be business to consumer and this is a shift so at the moment the 21st CLC is like any other supplier organization it contract with the organization business to business I want to make my lonely leader coaching available to anybody in the the world it online obviously So that they can get a credit card and pay for it themselves if they really want to. So they're not constrained by their organisation or or don't feel constrained by their organisation. so that's a slight change.

Yeah. Hmm the most common one is the misconception that you have to be tough. And and this is regardless whether it's male or female, it doesn't matter. There is this perception that if you are the senior leader or the lead you must be tough. And therefore, you know, maybe one of the most obvious things that people think when they think about people who are lonely is that there's something not right, they can't cope, they're not tough enough for this modern world or this world, whatever. And that in itself is totally and utterly false. but there's no reason to let people get to that situation just before you prove that that's the case. And it's better to support people to avoid that situation. That's coming at it from a negative point of view, if I come at it from a positive point of view. The reason for looking in this area is to enhance performance. If somebody feels supported and able to take a really difficult challenge somewhere to get some help without feeling it's going to cause them harm, then this is surely better for the individual, surely better for the individuals That they are leading and surely better for the organisation that the situation gets attention in this way. So on every level for me, eradication of of that loneliness and let's say isolation, just to make it sound a bit more corporate, let's say, is is a valid is a valid area a valid concern in the first place and a valid area to focus my efforts in rectifying it. And and and and just to you know to briefly say how that takes place, it takes place because you have in this process honest and open conversations with people. And okay, maybe with my style There's an element of directness that is injected that is somebody once said to me recently, they said, that was brutal but refreshing. And I asked them what they meant, and they said, Well, nobody's ever said that to me before. And at first, when you said it, I wasn't happy with what you said, but then I then I agree with what you've said. And now I know that I need to do something about it if you see it like that because other people will probably see it like that. so yeah. So so it's yeah, you see it's one of those areas that we can do something about to improve leadership. And why would we improve leadership? We'd improve leadership because in my humble opinion, leadership of people is a dying art. And it is the key for the future. The ability to lead others is going to be a critical asset to any individual and any organization in the go forward. Because let's assume, and this might be an example of it, let's assume that the next generations that are coming through, yourself included, are geniuses with the tech. You probably are. And they absolutely get AI. And what you can do with AI. And by the way, I'm I I've seen some stuff and you can do some stuff with it. It's really cra I'm really impressed with it by the way. But it's got to be the interpretation that it is the focus area for leadership. It's it it's not about the in-depth technical knowledge. It's about the application and it's about the impact of the application on the people. And since the pandemic, I am absolutely clear and I've seen too many examples to to quote of where even people who before the pandemic were good people leaders lost something after the pandemic and people leadership is not as i i it it's not as well delivered as it used to be. And some people call this progress in some areas. Some people get confused about Creating performance out of people and setting standards and holding people to account. And they've sort of said, that's no we don't need to do that anymore. We we there's the new world, it's fine, there's lots of we can trust everyone, it works, and and the reality is it may do to a point, but then There's always the other side of it. When it doesn't work, what do you do? And because nobody's had any practice at let shall we say the lesser interventions, the less serious subjects, then when it does get serious, lots of people run and hide. And they don't tackle the challenge in front of them with the person. And this grows and grows and ends up in something that nobody wishes to have.

Okay, yeah. Now this first one might sound as though I've not listened to the question, but I have listened to the question and you did say senior leaders. Yeah? And the the first answer is still the first answer, and it's to get self awareness, to have a an incredibly high level of self awareness. It's the first base on every level. Now you would think maybe that surely that's where you start anyway, and didn't you get that when you were younger, etc., etcetera? the answer is you have to keep refreshing it. And unfortunately, certainly in what I'm seeing in the next generations coming through, the companies seem to have let go of that. So lots of people I see in leadership positions now, they've not had the basics, they've not had that. And the first thing I ask them is so for example, d have you ever done a psychometric on yourself or had one done for you to give you some insight into who you are, how you made, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. And it's like, no, no. And then when I, for example, do that straight away, which I do with every person I ever involve myself with, they're like they're like, Wow, this is amazing. It's like Really? Is this surely, surely it can't be that amazing. But anyway, it's good news. Well I find it good news anyway. So they get this. Self awareness is absolutely the first thing. Continuous revisiting of the subject. Are you sort of and what are you doing with it? Yeah, so being aware step one. Two do something with it. Know what you're doing with it. Understand why you're doing it. experiment with what you're doing, w find the way to make it usable, put it into use in le within leadership, and then that's the second thing, implement. And the third thing is be authentic. Be you. Don't become the manifestation of what the entity you work for wishes you to be. Navigate the tension between that and so just be clear here. I'm being clear that I appreciate and believe that the organization itself has it every right. to specify what it wants from its employees, even down to if necessary, what clothes they wear. I I think they're allowed to do what they want as an organisation, to get the results that they need as an organisation. It's totally justifiable. And in fact s in some organization the the the the quality with which they do that has a massive impact on how successful they are. And if they do it well, they might be even more successful than they could have been. So they're completely legitimate for them to do that. But what I'm saying to the individual is do not let them strip away your authenticity in that process. And don't just run away or fall out with them, the organization. Engage. Hold attention. Have the difficult conversations. And it's a two-way process as well. So, for example, middle leaders with senior leaders. If you're a senior leader in an organization, you represent the organization, you have to be able to hold attention with the person who's challenging you, the next generation. Not just dismiss them or boot them out because you're, you know, hierarchically or further up the chain. That's not developing talent, that's just getting rid of talent. We can all do that. So you've y you've got to find your authentic self as a leader. And be it. And and and okay, and someone's gonna say, Well it doesn't work everywhere, Chris. That's true. Well spotted. Find where it works and go where it works. Don't go where it doesn't work. You can't be all things to all people. You know, and I I I I did listen to one of your other podcasts and the gentleman mentioned it and he he used he quoted the you know, the the English product Marmite. You either love it or you hate it. Okay, that's a bit of an extreme position and I'm not advocating that should always be the case. But there's an element of truth in it. You can't everyone can't like you. And leadership's definitely not a popularity contest. So don't worry about it. The authentic.

b best LinkedIn. Go on LinkedIn, send me a message, ask to connect, well just make contact on LinkedIn with me, please. Explain you've seen this, then I'll know what you why you're asking. and then we can take it from there. And I will I'll speak to anyone about th these subjects and find out how they think it it it can work or they can be helped. yeah. Okay.

Thank you very much. It's been an absolute pleasure. And I'll take you up on that offer by the way when I'm traveling. So see you soon.