embracing the paradoxes of leadership and the power of ... · saïd business school, university of...
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Embracing the Paradoxes of Leadership and the Power of Doubt
Dr Michael SmetsSaïd Business School, University of Oxford
icon - future of leadership II
Brussels, 19 November [email protected]
@michael_smets
#CEOReport
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Has the Role of the CEO Changed?
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Leading at the Intersection
Once business was impervious. ... [but] now ... business and
what’s happening outside are actually one.
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Everybody has a voice, and what's more important,
everybody's heard and everybody wants to
engage.
Significance
Speed
Sc
op
e
A Multi-Dimensional Approach to Change
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You have to separate the noise and the normal stuff
from fundamental shifts ... and then be able to
determine how quickly those shifts are going to manifest
or disrupt what you’re doing…
You have to begin to sort out the results you’re
getting. Are they a result of a broader macro-
economic or industry shift taking place, or are they more enterprise-
specific?
We need to be more worried about uncertainties that can
affect us in a systematic structural way … and less
concerned about micro-managing the effects of pace.
S3 Change: Speed, Scope, Significance
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Ripples over Ripples…
7The CEO Report
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A CEO must have the ability to very quickly have a
change of lens – to have lenses that can zoom in and out quickly, and with this put themselves in the right place
with the right attitude.
Leading with Ripple Intelligence
[I try to anticipate the] second bounce of the ball—you make a decision and there are follow-on repercussions ...
sometimes those issues can be as big as the first one you dealt with.
A CEO Early Warning System…
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Source: Global Risks 2015, 10th Edition. World Economic Forum
… To Connect the Dots
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Source: Global Risks 2015, 10th Edition. World Economic Forum
Do you ever doubt yourself?
Working Through Tough Decisions
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A certain level of professional doubt should be the quality of any good
leader.
If you don’t doubt yourself in a constructive, positive way, you are
borderline dangerous for your company.
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Mapping the Landscape of Doubt
I have taken myself out of the second-guessing game, because it will
drive you crazy.
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It’s never black and white […]. So there’s
an anxiety - which in a way almost gives
youa bit more clarity.
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One of the most important things is
having people around you that tell you
how wrong you are.
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The idea that you're crystal clear at those moments - for me anyway - it’s an artificial construct, because if you're that clear, you've probably
missed something.
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If you are not carefuland you think that you are indestructible, then
that’s where the dangers lurk.
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The Power of Doubt
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Finding Balance
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Finding Balance
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1. Doubt
2. Realism
3. Conviction
4. Patience
Because all the decisions fall on the CEO, you have to have a clear vision and purpose and philosophy
about where you are going.
And you try to connect that to the organization.
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Continual Learning and Renewal
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What struck me washow much more in the publiceye CEOs are now courtesy
of the media … you don’t really quite ever get the
preparation for the external face of the business that you
become.
I think most CEOs aren’tnecessarily as carefully
crafted when they arrive in the role as they might like
to make out.
I think there is probably more learning on the job that goes on than people
get.
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