Finding world-class talent requires a partnership with a trusted outside advisor. Visit TRANSEARCH International to discover our wide-ranging approach to leadership acquisition.

Tag: organisation culture

Any form of change that moves beyond improving 'what is' implies working on the organisation's culture »
Posted

Any form of change that moves beyond improving 'what is' implies working on the organisation's culture.

In a world where agility, ideas, collaboration and global reach dictate who wins and who fails, tomorrow's organisation will, of necessity, be fast, flat, flexible, focused and structured as a network of networks.

Think of a team of teams … not traditional top-down leadership. Think jazz ensemble … not a marching band. Think work … not employment. Think community … not tribe. Think contribution … not title. Think collaboration … not cooperation. Think ideas … not ideology. Think values … not rules.

As for leadership, the market for talent will put a premium on software savvy, the capacity to leverage big numbers, speed of learning, comfort with ambiguity, personal resilience and the capacity to build community.

The dilemma: top talent is going to be more difficult to find than ever. Think hiring with tomorrow's culture in mind … not hierarchy. Think leading the charge … not being in charge. Recognise that we will need super teams more than we need superstars.

Insights from "If It Can Be Digitalised, It Will Be Digitalised" by John Burdett.

Talent management is a system within a system: the organisation's culture »
insights.transearch.com
Posted

Talent management is a system within a system: the organisation's culture. Get talent management wrong and the organisation's culture will be misaligned with the customer's emerging needs.

Tomorrow, of necessity, talent management will be about resilience, reinvention and recognising that the ideal organisation design reflects how, given a choice, people would choose to work together.

Talent management is ultimately about hard data and tough choices – who to hire and promote, investing in the most efficient and fastest way to develop talent, putting muscle behind the succession process and, generally, building a cadre of leadership talent that will allow the business to survive and thrive in turbulent times.

If you can't imagine it, you won't reach it. If you don't measure it, you can't manage it. Strive to develop tomorrow's leadership competencies with purpose, precision, pragmatism and no little passion.

Insights from "Future-Oriented Leadership Competencies: Today's Talent Management Lynchpin" by John Burdett, Leadership advisor to TRANSEARCH International.

Talent management is a system within a system: the organisation's culture »

There is one fact of life that is impossible to ignore – tomorrow will be (very) different »
insights.transearch.com
Posted

There is one fact of life that is impossible to ignore – tomorrow will be (very) different. More specifically, the rate of change is getting faster – and about to get much faster. Being faster, however, is ultimately all about how people learn. It's a matter of adapt or perish.

How and what we learn is a product of the:

  • Nature of the experience,
  • Mental model (metaphor, theory, hypothesis, conceptual template) used to access the learning,
  • Quality of the questions posed,
  • Time set aside for reflection, and
  • Follow-up.

Ultimately, an investment in learning is about orchestrating change. In pursuit of that goal, learning starts with the experience. And it's not just learning fast at an individual or team level but building an environment where speed of learning becomes an organisation-wide competitive advantage.

If you're not fast, you're going to be last!

Insights from "Speed of Learning: The Ultimate Competitive Advantage" by John Burdett, Leadership advisor to TRANSEARCH International.

There is one fact of life that is impossible to ignore – tomorrow will be (very) different »

If you are a top executive, you don't owe it to yourself to be coached, but you do owe it to all of those whose lives you touch »
insights.transearch.com
Posted

If you are a top executive, you don't owe it to yourself to be coached, but you do owe it to all of those whose lives you touch. The coaching conversation must be informed by the emerging economic environment, tomorrow's customer's needs, and the business strategy. A number of coaching disciplines are common:

  • Coaching is about framing the conversation such that the coachee finds their own way (power to).
  • What the coach believes, the coachee will perceive. The coach must therefore work from the belief that the agreed outcome will (not might), could or should happen.
  • An experienced coach learns how to work from a beginner's mind.
  • To coach is to listen in the way the coachee has always wanted to be listened to.
  • To coach is to help connect the coachee with their own story, ask great questions, introduce a new metaphor, share a compelling story, open the door to best practice and personally model the behaviour being sought.
  • Coaching mastery draws on a robust coaching model, meaningful executive experience, cultural relevance, interpersonal sensitivity and mental agility.

Insights from "Coaching the CEO" by John O. Burdett, Leadership advisor to TRANSEARCH International.

If you are a top executive, you don't owe it to yourself to be coached, but you do owe it to all of those whose lives you touch »

Speed of Learning: The Ultimate Competitive Advantage »
transearch.com (PDF)
Posted

There is one fact of life that is impossible to ignore - tomorrow will be (very) different. More specifically, the rate of change is getting faster - and about to get much faster. It is a matter of adapt or perish.

Flexibility, a flatter structure, enhanced freedom to act, and a laser-like business focus represent part of the answer. Being faster, however, is ultimately all about how people learn.

In this excerpt from the book 'The A–Z of Organization Culture', John Burdett explains why the speed of learning is quickly becoming the ultimate competitive advantage, and presents several innovative ways of introducing effective learning experiences into your organisation.

Speed of Learning: The Ultimate Competitive Advantage »

The 7 Questions Every CEO Should Ask About Culture »
transearch.com (PDF)
Posted

For a great organisation, culture isn't an abstract or vague concept … it's real … it speaks to people. It's not a competitive advantage … it's a competitive imperative.

To survive is to adapt. "Are you managing your culture?" If any of the seven questions that follow receives a negative response, the answer is, almost certainly, "not so much."

The 7 Questions Every CEO Should Ask About Culture »

Tomorrow's Leadership Will Be Different »
transearch.com (PDF)
Posted

When the environment changes dramatically, it changes for everyone. If you don't adapt, extinction is inevitable. Yesterday's success may well sow the seeds of tomorrow's demise. And agility really is a make-or-break issue.

Other than know-how in technology, which is a given, leadership competencies differ depending upon the role. That understood, five leadership competencies are emerging as having future primacy.

John Burdett is a best-selling author on leadership and organisation culture, and is Leadership advisor to TRANSEARCH International. In this download (PDF) John explains in detail what leaders need to know now to embrace mastery in each of these competencies.

Tomorrow's Leadership Will Be Different »