LEADERSHIP, CULTURE, MISSION, VISION, SUSTAINABILITY GOALS, COMPANY VALUES, ETHICAL PRACTICES.
For me these words are more than a fancy poster on a wall, a page on the company website or a nicely-written corporate profile.
For me, the importance of aligning concepts such as culture, values, ethics and leadership, defines the identity of a company and its leaders. The great temptation is simply to create these ideas with an expectation that people will comply. But without action, our higher ideals are simply words.
How do we get behaviours off the white board and into our culture?
The one word that will guarantee success is consistency!
To quote the great Greek Philosopher Aristotle, the ‘whole is greater than the sum of its parts’. This does not just apply to business – the same is true for relationships, family, career and life. Success is rare in one of these endeavours without some success in the others.
Every successful company ever created has something in common: strong leadership.
For me leadership starts at the top and is dependent on personal responsibility.
This is best defined by an ancient proverb,’ the fish rots from the head down’. If your company has a culture problem, my advice is, look in the mirror.
Strong leadership is not about management or control – It is about vision and inspiration.
People have to believe in something, especially if you want them to follow. This presents one of the biggest challenges for leaders: today’s generation sees order as control, and predictability as boring.
Since 2020, the world has lost its consistency, its level of predictability. With global pandemics, climate change, war in Europe, threats of nuclear disaster and the death of a world figurehead, life has never been so uncertain.
Predictability has been replaced with uncertainty, and fear is the result.
Today’s generation has been brought up to be permissive. To be free minded, to question everything from the status quo through to the abolition of stereotypes. They see the world as their oyster where anything and everything is possible.
The reality is, this is a fairy tale. Life is not easy, it never has been. To survive or succeed in life we just have to learn to be better.
Leadership is about personal responsibility, ownership and accountability. Everybody should aspire to become the best leader they can be, but it is vitally important to understand the importance of being in a team and knowing your role.
