Lancefield on the Line

Summary:The world of business is packed full of terminology, jargon, buzzwords. I’ve probably used too much of it myself. But what do we mean by innovation, customer centricity, agility? Too often we’re not clear so we have parallel conversations, or simply people disengage leaving the important decisions to a clique or the dominant few. My guest in this podcast, Prof. Costas Markides of the LBS, is a stickler for clarity – he thinks that a lack of clarity is one of the biggest problems we have in management. We talk about the critical ‘who, what, how’ questions of strategy, what it takes to win over peoples’ hearts and minds when you’re looking to effect organisational change – he also talks how distributed, autonomous organisations really work. And, importantly, how leaders can turn their intent, their thoughts and words, into action. He concludes by sharing how we measures his own success, and impact, in his research and teaching. More on Costas:Professor Costas Markides is recognised as one of the world’s foremost experts on strategy and innovation. An internationally acclaimed teacher and conference speaker, Professor Markides has researched the topics of strategic innovation, business model innovation, diversification and international acquisitions.His book "Organizing for the New Normal: Prepare Your Company for the Journey of Continuous Disruption".Costas' profile.My resources: Sign up to my Flashes+Sparks for stimuli, ideas, guidance and tips on how to lead your team, organisation or self more effectively, delivered straight to your inbox: If you're not subscribed already and do subscribe to my youtube channel where you can watch the conversation. You can also find me here: LinkedIn Twitter Personal website, which includes more examples of my work, the services I offer and testimonials from clients 

Being competent, solid, committed isn't enough in extraordinary times - of ambiguity, complexity and uncertainty. Impact players do far more than these typical contributors. They:1.     Do the job that’s needed2.     Step up, step back3.     Finish stronger4.     Ask and adjust5.     Make work lightThey have a healthy disregard for rules, although are savvy enough on how to garner support. Focusing their attention on what truly matters means they don't need to over-work. And they find ways to solve complex problems whilst others get flustered or ask for help. They're open to guidance, happy to share the limelight, and committed to serving others. They're remarkable people. Liz Wiseman has studied these impact players from a wide range of organisations, understanding their mindests, habits, and practices. She shares the highlights of the book she's written on the subject, along with some fascinating stories of inspirational people.More about Liz:Her BioImpact Players book.Impact Players resources (practices, guide).Diagnostics.My resources: Sign up to my Flashes+Sparks for stimuli, ideas, guidance and tips on how to lead your team, organisation or self more effectively, delivered straight to your inbox: If you're not subscribed already and do subscribe to my youtube channel where you can watch the conversation. : You can also find me here: LinkedIn Twitter Personal website, which includes more examples of my work, the services I offer and testimonials from clients. 

Summary:Look around you in the worlds of business and politics. Think of leaders and organisations you admire. Or those that disappoint you. How honest are they in their intentions, and actions? How purposeful are they? In his book 'To Be Honest: Lead with the power of purpose, truth, and justice' Ron Carucci argues that these three elements are fundamental to an organisation's performance and positioning.  He  tackles how to eliminate the cultural conditions that prompt otherwise honest people to distort the truth and behave unfairly.He shows that "When these factors are absent or ineffective, the organizational conditions compel employees to choose dishonesty and self-interest. But when done well, the organization is 16 times more likely to have people tell the truth, behave fairly and serve a greater good." The book is based on fifteen years of research, and more than 3,000 interviews, mined for insights using IBM Watson. And it's packed full of riveting and remarkable stories from the world of business and beyond, including FARC terrorists in Columbia, the cave rescue in Thailand, the leadership of New Zealand during the pandemic, restorative justice from tribal rituals in the Congo, and how two companies – Patagonia and DuPont – took different approaches when they realized their products were poisoning people.  More on Ron:Ron has a thirty-year track record helping executives tackle challenges of strategy, organization, and leadership — from start-ups to Fortune 10s, non-profits to heads-of-state, turn-arounds to new markets and strategies, overhauling leadership and culture to re-designing for growth. With experience in more than 25 countries on 4 continents, he helps organizations articulate strategies that lead to accelerated growth, and then designs programs to execute those strategies. LinkedIn profile.Navalent bio.To Be Honest book.HBR articles.My resources: Sign up to my Flashes+Sparks for stimuli, ideas, guidance and tips on how to lead your team, organisation or self more effectively, delivered straight to your inbox: If you're not subscribed already and do subscribe to my youtube channel where you can watch the conversation. : You can also find me here: LinkedIn Twitter Personal website, which includes more examples of my work, the services I offer and testimonials from clients.

For too long, strategy has been conceived and designed behind closed doors, at the top table. For leaders to invite others to contribute is often seen as a sign of weakness, diminishing the leaders’ stature, authority, and control. However, the reality is that leaders often find it difficult to develop imaginative ideas on their own, shackled as they are by their conventional wisdom and groupthink. It's no wonder that many fail.  Opening up the strategy process through contests, crowdsourcing, communities generates better ideas, more realistic plans, and more effective execution than a traditional, closed approach. We shouldn’t confuse an open strategy process with a free-for-all. There are important nuances of when, how and by how much to open-up the process. Leaders must act forcefully (sometimes unilaterally) to frame the strategic question, choose whom to involve, establish the rules and incentives of engagement, select the platform for participation, and, ultimately, take the decisions. Professors Christian Stadler and Julia Hautz, two of the four authors of the book ‘Open Strategy: Mastering Disruption outside the C-suite’, describe how to do open strategy skilfully and why it matters.More about Christian and Julia:Their book, and resources.Their profiles - Christian, Julia.My resources:Sign up to my Flashes+Sparks for stimuli, ideas, guidance and tips on how to lead your team, organisation or self more effectively, delivered straight to your inbox:If you're not subscribed already and do subscribe to my youtube channel where you can watch the conversation. :You can also find me here:LinkedInTwitterPersonal website, which includes more examples of my work, the services I offer and testimonials from clients.

Think of your favourite role model, superstar, elite professional. It may be somebody who’s won a Nobel Prize, won an Olympic gold, or flown to the moon. What can you, we, learn from them? Surely they’re out of league, in a different stratosphere, literally in some cases? Not so, we can actually learn a lot. They share similar mindsets and practices that helped get them there. When you hear the four elements you might think they’re common sense. And they are. But doing them, all of them, consistently, day in day out takes real dedication, and skill.My guest, Dr. Ruth Gotian, has been studying these superstars for decades now, and has been taking her own medicine, becoming a recognised expert speaker, coach, educator, and now author of the book ‘Success Factor: developing the mindset and skillset for peak business performance’. This episode is packed full of tips, lessons and anecdotes from Ruth. She’s an inspirational professional and person. More about Ruth:Her roles, work and background here. Success Factor book.Mentor show.Articles.My resources: Sign up to my Flashes+Sparks for stimuli, ideas, guidance and tips on how to lead your team, organisation or self more effectively, delivered straight to your inbox: If you're not subscribed already and do subscribe to my youtube channel where you can watch the conversation. You can also find me here: LinkedIn Twitter Personal website, which includes more examples of my work, the services I offer and testimonials from clients. 

What do inspirational leaders do? How do they think? And how do they look after themselves?They certainly have to be able to learn, and reinvent themselves. Build trust with others. They have to see the bigger picture whilst mastering the fine detail of their business. They have to be clear on what they stand for, and and take care of themselves so that they can perform at their best at critical moments.The model of top-down, command-and-control leadership - still prevalent in many large organisations - doesn't work for employees, and stakeholders who want more empowerment, flexibility and care. These are the themes I explore with Paolo Gallo, the author of the book the Compass and the Radar, an executive coach, speaker and Adjunct Professor. More about Paolo:His work and profile here.His book 'Compass and the Radar'.My resources:Sign up to my Flashes+Sparks for stimuli, ideas, guidance and tips on how to lead your team, organisation or self more effectively, delivered straight to your inbox:If you're not subscribed already and do subscribe to my youtube channel where you can watch the conversation. :You can also find me here:LinkedInTwitterPersonal website, which includes more examples of my work, the services I offer and testimonials from clients.

What does it take to promote yourself in the best possible way? And how do you do it in a non-obnoxious way?Work on your self-awareness - explore your values, preferences and motivations. Get some insightful feedback (not forgetting your peers) on how you show up and understand what's valued by people who matter. Develop your executive presence, and your voice on topics that matter. And supercharge your strategic thinking. These are the elements of the Promotability approach pioneered by Amii-Barnard Bahn. More about Amii:Her work and profile here.Promotability Index Guidebook.Promotability Index Assessment.My resources:Sign up to my Flashes+Sparks for stimuli, ideas, guidance and tips on how to lead your team, organisation or self more effectively, delivered straight to your inbox: If you're not subscribed already and do subscribe to my youtube channel where you can watch the conversation. : You can also find me here: LinkedIn Twitter Personal website, which includes more examples of my work, the services I offer and testimonials from clients.

In complex times we've come to expect the future to be predictable, as strange as that sounds. Seduced by an algorithm or the prediction of a confident economist we think less, become more anxious, and lose some of our creativity and imagination. We become passive and gullible, relying on simplifications or false determinism.My guest in this episode is Margaret Heffernan, six-time book author, mentor and former CEO of three companies as well as a BBC producer.  She argues that we must get comfortable with uncertainty and ambiguity about the future, especially when facing complexity. And we need to be prepared to experiment, explore, and question.To shape better futures for ourselves and the coming generations  will require leaders to have a backbone — to care — and to have the courage to experiment, not rely slavishly on lessons from the past or promises for the future.More on MargaretHer work and profile here.Her book 'Unchartered: how to map the future together' (including a synopsis).Resources from me:My review of Margaret's book for Strategy+Business.Sign up to my newsletter Flashes+Sparks for stimuli, ideas, guidance and tips on how to lead your team, organisation or self more effectively, delivered straight to your inbox: http://bit.ly/36WRpriIf you're not subscribed already and would like to join this youtube channel you can do so here: http://bit.ly/3cFGk1kYou can also find me here:LinkedIn. https://bit.ly/2Z2PexPTwitter: https://bit.ly/36XavNIPersonal website: http://bit.ly/3jA0MlN

Summary:If you’re an ambitious person, you’ll be working out what it takes to be exceptional at work (and everywhere). You’ll know that working super hard helps, but won’t be enough – and might eventually burn you out. Getting candid feedback on what you need to change is critical. It goes hand in hand with compassion, funnily enough. You’ll want to strive for something far better than you have, in order to work out how far your strengths take you. Only that way you’ll know how to fill the gaps. Finding moments – for yourself and those around you – that activate the parts of your brain (your seeking systems) helps. And you’ll want a hand in shaping your career, team, organisation; after all, it’s pretty debilitating to be told what to do, or to copy somebody else’s work.In this conversation Prof. Dan Cable shares his research on how to inspire exceptional performance at work. More on Dan:You can find out more about Dan here: https://dan-cable.com/His latest book is called 'Exceptional': https://dan-cable.com/books/He hosts a podcast called 'Squeezing the Orange from Social Science' with Akin Omobitan https://squeezingtheorange.podbean.com/Resources from me:Sign up to my newsletter Flashes+Sparks for stimuli, ideas, guidance and tips on how to lead your team, organisation or self more effectively, delivered straight to your inbox: http://bit.ly/36WRpriIf you're not subscribed already and would like to join this youtube channel you can do so here: http://bit.ly/3cFGk1kYou can also find me here: LinkedIn. https://bit.ly/2Z2PexPTwitter: https://bit.ly/36XavNIPersonal website: http://bit.ly/3jA0MlNHighlights of my workEvery Leader Has Flaws. Don’t Let Yours Derail Your Strategy (HBR): https://hbr.org/2021/09/every-leader-has-flaws-dont-let-yours-derail-your-strategy5 strategies to infuse diversity & inclusion into your organisation (HBR): https://hbr.org/2021/05/5-strategies-to-infuse-di-into-your-organization4 actions transformational leaders can take (HBR): https://hbr.org/2021/05/4-actions-transformational-leaders-takeFour building blocks of transformation (S+B): https://www.strategy-business.com/article/The-Four-Building-Blocks-of-Transformation?gko=5a1aaHow to be a visionary leader and still have a personal life (HBR): https://hbr.org/2020/11/how-to-be-a-visionary-leader-and-still-have-a-personal-lifeHow to practise strategy in an uncertain world (Strategy+Business): http://bit.ly/2OaojhB10 principles of strategic leadership (S+B): http://bit.ly/3q14kQmHow to reinvent your organisation in the middle of a crisis (HBR): https://hbr.org/2021/02/how-to-reinvent-your-organization-in-the-middle-of-a-crisisHow to convince people that a crisis is also an opportunity (Forbes): https://www.forbes.com/sites/lbsbusinessstrategyreview/2020/04/28/how-to-convince-people-that-a-crisis-is-also-an-opportunity/?sh=441e32b830f8 

How do you make difficult decisions under pressure? How do you avoid being "triggered" by some bad behaviour, choice words or a surprising event? These are important questions for any executive, professional or entrepreneur, daily. Managing your mind is critical. In practice, this means developing greater conscious of what you're thinking, what you're paying attention to, how you're feeling. Tapping into your inner voice - and an imaginary third party (you in the future, or a person you respect) - in order to work out the best course of action. My guest, Josie Thomson, master coach, author and speaker, talks about how to tap into your Wise Advocate.And she describes what it takes to coach somebody effectively - deep care, listening, attention and using your intuition as to what you observe, feel and sense in the moment. This is a wide-ranging, deep conversation about the human condition - our frailties, strengths, potential - and how we can nurture it, informed by a greater appreciation, understanding and application of neuroscience.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------For details about Josie see: https://josiethomson.com/Her book (with Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz and Art Kleiner): The Wise Advocate: The Inner Voice of Strategic Leadership: https://josiethomson.com/product/the-wise-advocate-the-inner-voice-of-strategic-leadership/Take Josie's resilience test: https://josiethomson.com/quiz/------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Sign up to my newsletter Flashes+Sparks for stimuli, ideas, guidance and tips on how to lead your team, organisation or self more effectively, delivered straight to your inbox: http://bit.ly/36WRpriIf you're not subscribed already and would like to join this youtube channel you can do so here: http://bit.ly/3cFGk1kYou can also find me here: LinkedIn. https://bit.ly/2Z2PexPTwitter: https://bit.ly/36XavNIPersonal website: http://bit.ly/3jA0MlNHighlights of my workEvery Leader Has Flaws. Don’t Let Yours Derail Your Strategy (HBR): https://hbr.org/2021/09/every-leader-has-flaws-dont-let-yours-derail-your-strategy5 strategies to infuse diversity & inclusion into your organisation (HBR): https://hbr.org/2021/05/5-strategies-to-infuse-di-into-your-organization4 actions transformational leaders can take (HBR): https://hbr.org/2021/05/4-actions-transformational-leaders-takeFour building blocks of transformation (S+B): https://www.strategy-business.com/article/The-Four-Building-Blocks-of-Transformation?gko=5a1aaHow to be a visionary leader and still have a personal life (HBR): https://hbr.org/2020/11/how-to-be-a-visionary-leader-and-still-have-a-personal-lifeHow to practise strategy in an uncertain world (Strategy+Business): http://bit.ly/2OaojhB10 principles of strategic leadership (S+B): http://bit.ly/3q14kQmHow to reinvent your organisation in the middle of a crisis (HBR): https://hbr.org/2021/02/how-to-reinvent-your-organization-in-the-middle-of-a-crisisHow to convince people that a crisis is also an opportunity (Forbes): https://www.forbes.com/sites/lbsbusinessstrategyreview/2020/04/28/how-to-convince-people-that-a-crisis-is-also-an-opportunity/?sh=441e32b830f8