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This warning came from Bob Gandossy, Leadership Consulting Practice Leader for Hewitt Associates, speaking in the session ‘Developing a New Standard of Leadership’. “In today’s world you can’t afford to leave growing leaders to chance. The world is too complex, too fast, too global and too diverse,” he added.
Yvan Legris, Global Consulting President for Hewitt agreed: “At a time like this conventional thinking is not enough,” he said. “HR needs to make sure they have the right leadership to bring people together in a way that encourages the kind of collective thinking that can challenge convention.”
As part of the session, Bob shared some of the secrets from Hewitt’s 2007 Top Companies for Leaders research - the most comprehensive research on leadership in the market today. Since its inception in 2002, the study has examined how organisations choose and develop leaders, and the links between leadership practices and financial results.
Four leadership disciplines
Two successful organisations identified as European Top Companies for Leaders in 2007 - Lufthansa and BBVA - joined Bob to describe how their companies are breaking the mould to deliver leaders with all the attributes necessary to keep their organisations at the top of their field.
Dr Michael Christ of Lufthansa commented “One of the best ways that leadership supports HR is by asking the right questions. HR has to supply clear answers to the business and these can only be produced with a talent management structure and processes that are compatible worldwide and allow information sharing.” “Leadership must give the vision and understanding to inspire,” he added. “Creativity and innovation must never be allowed to die.”
Juan Ignacio Apoita of BBVA underlined the importance of efficient communication and succession planning processes: “Companies can no longer be based on the leadership of one person,” he explained. “We need to build leaders and provide the tools and support they need to lead and manage teams so that they can deliver on corporate strategy.” Consistency and working towards shared goals are also important: “Every year we assess the skills of all our managers and compare them with the standards defined by corporate strategy,” he added.
Sharing his perspective on how to transform corporate challenges into new competitive advantages, Matthew Barrett, former CEO of Barclays, said: “People need to trust their leadership and believe that they genuinely care about them and their welfare. Good communication must convince both their heads and their hearts. While they have to understand that our raison d’être is to maximise shareholder value we must also convince them that success will bring enormous pride in themselves, their colleagues and the company’s brand. I wanted my employees to see work not as a necessary evil but as a source of great satisfaction.”
About the Top Companies for Leaders study
This is the fourth time that Hewitt has conducted the Top Companies for Leaders study. The first two studies inspired the book Leading the Way – now translated into multiple languages. For the first time in 2007, this was a truly global study – conducted in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America. The Top Companies for Leaders study was conducted by Hewitt in partnership with Fortune and RBL and published in Fortune Magazine (1 October 2007 issue). |
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