Blog...

The pressures of life at the top

December 14th, 2011

When Antonio Horta-Osorio went on sick leave in early November it was a stark reminder of the pressures that face new leaders of large businesses. The official diagnosis was extreme fatigue brought on by overwork.

He’d been in post since only March 2011, and had inherited the task of leading the troubled Lloyds bank Group in the ongoing tough economic conditions that have beset our financial systems and large banking organisations. What brought him to this state – that was obviously injurious to both to himself personally, and to the organisation’s health in the marketplace?

Some commentators at the time suggested that he should have sought medical help sooner. In fact, he needed to have sought out robust support from the beginning, when he first took up his new role.

The behaviours that brought him success in his old role would prove to be his Achilles’ heel in the new job. “If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always got” – or so the saying goes. However, if the game around you has changed and you use the same approaches around you that have stood you in good stead till now, you’re setting yourself up to fail.

Mr Horta-Osorio’s style had always been one of extreme hands-on involvement. That worked for him in Santander UK. But he had seriously underestimated the changed demands that he would find placed on him at the helm of the Lloyds Group – including the halving of the share price in the first few months, and the relentless external demands of the role, including endless meetings with high-profile ministers and regulators, televised questioning from parliamentary committees, and tough talks over the eurozone crisis.

As the Financial Times reported on 4th November:

“António has a powerful intellect and technical skills – but that is not what makes a CEO able to cope,” says a former colleague. “It is more the vision, drive and resilience.” Those are the qualities that people close to him suggest he may not have in the abundance they first thought.

Another critic is franker still. “He’s a complete control freak,” says one Lloyds employee, who fell out with him. “You can do that in a smaller bank. But you can’t do that in a company the size of Lloyds, which has a lumbering, traditional way of doing things. There was a big culture clash.”

Some analysts believe a fall from grace was almost inevitable, given the enormous weight of expectation that accompanied his arrival at Lloyds. “He descended in a gold-plated chariot,” says one banking analyst. “There was a lot resting on him.”

Having taken on a role that was too big for any one person – he needed to let go of his “macho-man” style of work hard, play hard, and do it all yourself. It can be hard to change and learn to trust other people, and to delegate. But that was what the new role demanded. He didn’t deliver the changes required in himself – and the consequences were potentially life-threatening to his health, as well as his personal and professional reputation.

It’s crunch time this week. While his medical team have declared him fit to return to work – only the board can make the decision. And if he does return, what will he do to put in place the support to look deeply at his ingrained behaviours and working style, and learn to adopt the new ways of leadership that the role demands?

Moving onto the Board

April 30th, 2011

Do you see a board appointment as your next career move? If so, how ready are you? What’s your response to the following questions?

1. Are you prepared to resign at a moment’s notice without compensation if you fundamentally disagree with board policy?
2. Would you accept responsibility, with your colleagues, for any consequential impact of the activities of your organisation?
3. Would you trust your colleagues totally and implicitly in terms of their fidelity, judgement and political motivation?
4. Would you be prepared to set aside your concerns about an issue if you were encouraged to do so in the cause of wider board harmony?
5. Would you through our weight behind a proposal where your natural position is netural-to-unfavourably disposed if in doing so you could secure support for another of your own favoured proposals?

As a board member, you are vesting your trust in your organisation and your colleagues. You need to be above political manipulation. You must also put aside your own vested interests in support of the best decision for the whole organisation.

You’ll find more questions – and answers – as well as key performance indicators of company board membership in The Board Game – Survival and Success as a Company Board Member, Brian Scanlon and Stephen Schneider

Good leadership in a crisis

June 21st, 2010

A way to demonstrate good leadership is to be prepared for a crisis.  As recent events have shown, when a leader fails to demonstrate that he or she is on top of the issues, trust in the leadership evaporates almost overnight.

While we can put together a list of recent high-profile failures – we are struggling to remember an occasion of excellent leadership in a crisis.  Perhaps this is because when leadership demonstrates that it is “in control” we no longer remember it as a crisis?

Values, trustworthiness and trust

February 22nd, 2010

An employee outlook survey conducted last year by the CIPD found that 2 out of 3 employees don’t trust their senior managers. This would probably be true of the general population’s trust of political leadership. The current turbulent economic times continues to test our trust in our leadership.

A recent lecture at the RSA by Lord John Browne of Madingley explored the very subject of Trust and Leadership. Building on the work of philosopher and economist Onara O’Neil, Lord Browne explained that there can only be trust when the organisation/the leader / the political body has demonstrated Trustworthiness. And trustworthiness is built on shared and transparent values. The chain can only be as strong as its weakest link.

Being trustworthy is about doing things consistently well. To build trust is about bringing the barriers down, accepting that people can talk to you, and that you’ll do something about their concerns. Onara O’Neil also points out that deception is the enemy of trust.

Shall we see if values, trustworthiness and trust are clarified as the heart of the political campaigning leading up to the General Election?