Occasionally this blog lifts its head and looks at a global issue that needs leadership if it is to be resolved.

Ask anyone for the major dilemmas facing our planet and they will probably cite water and food shortage problems, reliance on fossil fuels, global warming and environmental issues and—perhaps—the difficulties governments face maintaining economies based on growth when the number of jobs falls short of requirements and there are insufficient taxes pouring into national treasuries as a result.

All of which—in my view—are related to a very central issue. Population growth.

A quick fact and a quick forecast: the world’s population reached 7 billion (7,000,000,000) in October 2011. It is expected to grow by 50% (a further 3.5 billion or 3,500,000,000) by 2050.

It’s clearly a big (very big) problem for all of us so you’d expect world leaders to be prepared for a lively debate on the subject when the United Nations hold a summit (as they did at the end of June) on global sustainable development.

They weren’t prepared however. They didn’t have to be.

That’s because reproductive health (family planning) wasn’t on the agenda. That’s despite the 215 million women in the world with no access to modern contraception.

Why is this—the most important subject—being brushed under the carpet? Because it’s difficult. Because it arouses strong opinions. Because some see intervention as contravening human rights. And because population control has had a chequered history with some serious abuses.

Leadership is about many things—but it’s especially about tackling the most problematic issues… going where angels fear to tread.

That will be as true for you in your company as for any world leader right now. You know there are issues which you must engage with at some point.

There’s no time like the present.

Tags: chequered history contraception environmental issues food shortage fossil fuels global issue global sustainable development global warming health family lively debate many things population control population growth problematic issues reproductive health strong opinions treasuries women in the world world leader world leaders
 

Question.

Does leadership include moral responsibility?

Let me explain what I mean by that, using examples.

• Example one.
  Lead generation is working really well, with sales and turnover up. Then you discover that your Marketing people are riding roughshod over Data Protection legislation, cold-calling people late at night and continuing to mail and e-shot people who have opted out of both media.
  Do you put a stop to these practices—or do you kill that goose even if it’s laying golden eggs?
  
  
• Example two.
  Your bank has underperformed. Massively. So badly, in fact, that national government has had to intervene with public money to bail your business out of the mess it’s in. Yet you’re still entitled to a massive bonus.
  Do you cry all the way to the bank—or refuse the bonus?
  
  
• Example three.
  You’re a politician. You’ve seen how you can use the expenses system to subsidise your lifestyle and just about stay on the right side of the rules.
  Do you ‘enjoy all the benefits’ or remain scrupulous, claiming only for those elements relating to your core job?
  
  
• Example four.
  You’re the boss of a top-flight cycling team who’s just discovered that doping among team members is rife.
  Do you turn a blind eye—or turn the culprits over to the authorities?

Although hypothetical examples, I have drawn on actual events to produce the above. And I could probably cite hundreds more.

My point is that leadership and morality cannot be divorced from one another. When you assume a senior position (in whatever private or public capacity) you assume responsibility for taking a proper moral view of every action you take and every action taken by those you lead. Even if that view adversely affects the bottom line.

If you don’t, you’re not only doing your self-respect a disservice, you’re running a legal risk, corrupting your people and reinforcing the lack of moral compass we increasingly see right across the world.

Sounds a bit pompous?
Well… sorry… but I feel morally obliged to say it.

Tags: bank blind eye culprits cycling team disservice golden eggs hypothetical examples late at night lead generation legal risk moral compass moral responsibility moral view morality national government politician protection legislation public money self respect team members top flight
 

I have always thought that extroverts get more than a fair crack of the whip when it comes to recognition in the workplace.

And according to a new book by author Susan Cain, ‘Quiet: The Power of Introverts In a World That Can’t Stop Talking’, my suspicions are well-founded.

Ms. Cain postulates that our extrovert-centric Western corporate culture dates back to the shift from agriculture to industry and big business. That shift saw movement away from a ‘culture of character’ to a ‘culture of personality’—and I for one am very sorry that that’s the case.

Because—in my opinion—this bias towards extroverts has a negative impact on business performance. It means that value is placed on a person’s ability to sell themselves, to be more vocal and more gregarious. None of which has a relationship with the extent to which that person is able to think and to lead thoughtfully.

‘Extroversion has nothing to do with emotional intelligence or competence,’ says Susan Cain. She also argues that ‘… introverts are not necessarily shy or anti-social, they just prefer environments that are not over-stimulating and get their energy from quiet time and reflection’.

I would suggest that we have all been extraordinarily conditioned to the cult of the extrovert. Look, for example, at the way in which open plan offices dominate. I know of at least one introvert who found the move from having his own office to an open plan office absolute torture. His job performance went downhill as a result—and no doubt his annual appraisal commented on his lack of adaptability.

Look too at how managers lionize sports-mad, wise-cracking, meeting-dominating extroverts and hold their behavior up as ‘best practice’.

The phrase ‘It takes all sorts to make a world’ should be just as true of corporate life as it is generally.

Tags: absolute torture all sorts bias business performance competence corporate culture cult emotional intelligence environments extrovert introvert introverts negative impact no doubt personality postulates quiet time reflection suspicions whip
 

Been out with some friends to a restaurant lately? Was getting out their smart phone and putting it on the table the first thing they did after greeting you and sitting down?

It’s funny how etiquette changes—and how we accept those changes. Yet throughout the meal I bet more than one person wondered whether the person they were talking to was only half concentrating—with the other half of their attention looking out for an ‘important’ email or social network alert.

Look. I am no dinosaur. I understand the tremendous benefits today’s amazing technology, particularly mobile and telecommunications technology, confers on business.

But I am very concerned about the effects of an ‘always on’ corporate culture, a concern which—it seems—researchers at Harvard Business School now share following their recent study of 1,400 Boston Consulting Group (BCG) employees.

Harvard’s Professor Leslie Perlow carried out the study when she discovered that 26% of BCG employees out of a sample of 1,600 managers and professionals slept with Blackberries or iPhones by their beds.

The study required that BCG sample employees be banned from monitoring their work after 6 pm once a week. This down time was given the acronym PTO, or Predictable Time Off.

The outcome? Predictable Time Off got predictable results. 59 per cent of those who embraced PTO agreed with the statement ‘I am excited to start work in the morning’ compared with 27 per cent of those who dismissed PTO. And 78% of those who now enjoying one evening off per week said they felt satisfied with their jobs, compared with 67% of those partly accepting PTO and 49% of those who rejected it.

Other research results confirmed that the performance of those employees who were always on was variable.

‘All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy’. There’s a reason these old adages stand the test of time you know!

So PTO please. Predictable Time Off - and (to use PTO’s older meaning)… Please Turn Over a new leaf. That way we can all enjoy our meal outings, our personal lives and a renewed enthusiasm for our work.

Tags: amazing technology bcg blackberries boston consulting group corporate culture dinosaur down time dull boy harvard business school iphones leslie perlow old adages personal lives predictable results professor leslie results smart phone telecommunications technology test of time time off turn over a new leaf
 

I’d like to take just a moment to thank those who regularly drop by and read some of the entries in this blog.

That took me about three seconds to type, illustrating the point that (as they say) common courtesy does not cost a lot.

I was reminded of this phrase this week when an acquaintance told me of their experience in telephoning their Doctor’s surgery and asking whether blood test results were now available. My acquaintance said ‘Good morning’, introduced himself and was mid-way through his question when the receptionist interjected saying, “… can I just interrupt you there, we cannot look at blood results until this afternoon …”.

My acquaintance, slightly surprised both by the interruption and the strange bureaucratic quirk that permitted only pm viewing of the blood results, said he would call back later.

The receptionist did not:

• greet my friend
• say who she was
• explain fully why the results would not be available until the afternoon
• undertake to get someone to call him back
• empathize in any way with someone who might be concerned about the results of a medical investigation.

The receptionist’s behavior betrays many things. She might be in the wrong job, which is a recruitment issue. She might lack training. The surgery might be under-resourced. These are issues for the way in which the medical practice is led.

But that’s not really where I am going with this. I think her behavior is symptomatic of a trend I have noted for some time in business and, in fact, the world at large …a growing lack of courtesy and respect for each other. I sometimes put this to business leaders when I suspect that a lack of courtesy is part of the culture in their company and that this might be having a negative impact on morale, on customers and therefore on business performance. Most trot out the old cliché about this being a business and that the strive for cost-efficiency sometimes means that a lack of courtesy is unavoidable. I tell them that they are missing an opportunity to differentiate their customer experience from competitors as well as contributing to a negative aspect of modern society. Some take the point on board, while others ignore it (very rude of them!).

Oh—and my friend’s blood results were fine by the way.

Thank you for asking.

Tags: acquaintance blog blood results blood test results business leaders business performance cost efficiency customer experience interruption job medical investigation medical practice negative impact phrase quirk receptionist recruitment issue
 

Looking back over this website’s blog entries, I am struck by lack of reference to one of the biggest challenges business leaders face today.

Globalization.

Globalization is big subject to tackle in relatively short blog entry and there are many reasons why it’s challenging for business leaders.

That’s why I aim to bite off a bit at a time, returning to globalization occasionally in future blog entries.

For now, then, let’s consider a dilemma. Your company has made widgets for years. Customers bought your widgets because they value their high quality. But now a competitor is pressing for market share and clients are attracted to their aggressive prices, even if product quality isn’t quite so good.

What do you do? Well, globalization offers a potential solution. You could relocate your manufacturing operation to a third world country where low wages and other overheads offer a chance to cut your costs dramatically, and therefore lower your prices.

Some might say this is a straightforward and obvious business decision. But is it? Moving the operation abroad means the loss of local jobs… and that could mean an adverse public relations impact on your brand in your domestic market. Then there’s the ethical question over whether your company is exploiting the poorly paid in your new manufacturing country.

And will the high standards so integral to your brand values be compromised? And will lower prices also adversely affect customer perceptions of your brand?

I don’t have the answer. What I do know, though, is that globalization has created uneven playing fields.

And this will remain the case as long as some countries
remain resistant to basic worker rights and culturally tolerant of abject poverty.

Tags: abject abject poverty aggressive prices blog entries brand brand values business decision challenges competitor customer perceptions dilemma globalization high quality jobs market share potential solution poverty product quality public relations third world country wages widgets
 

Suddenly, the numbers don’t add up.

You need to cut costs.

Now we’ve already established the dangers associated with attacks on the Marketing and Corporate and Social Responsibility budgets. If I have persuaded you that cutting these should not feature in your cost-reduction options, where else can you save money?

Ok—here’s my top five.

• Attendance. Do you know what your sick absence levels are and how much they’re costing? If your HR people aren’t monitoring attendance and addressing sickness levels (in a firm yet sympathetic way) and other absenteeism-related issues, then your productivity will be suffering. You won’t need to hire new people if existing staff turn up!
• IT. Is your company harnessing IT constructively? By this I don’t mean handing Blackberries out to all staff so their lives can be made miserable in the middle of the night. I mean, for example, are your people teleconferencing instead of incurring the often huge costs attendant on face-to-face meetings? If not, then your business is missing a serious trick. And what about using customer access to your website to replace paper communications?
• Efficiency. Go and meet a few of your customers. Talk about their experiences in dealing with your organization. I bet, unsolicited, they will share with you just how inefficient your company is. From duplication of communications through to failure to renew lapsed contracts through to how your departments fail to liaise with each other… you will be amazed. More importantly, you will have an efficiency ‘to do’ list
• Remuneration. So your company is struggling but you and your fellow directors have voted yourselves above-inflation salary increases. You can’t do that! How about putting a greater percentage of reward against achievement? And how about extending that to staff at all levels?
• The patently obvious. Right now, there’s a room in your headquarters or other premises with a light on and no one in it. Probably several rooms, in fact. There’s a tap in a wash room that’s been left on. There’s several hundred laptops and PCs switched on with nobody in front of them. There are contracts with suppliers that are never reviewed for performance or better tariffs. There are staff members using the internet and their phones for non-business purposes.

  Attend to these and you’ll save your business a small fortune.

  
  

Tags: absence absenteeism attendance budgets contracts efficiency experiences failure fellow directors inflation premises productivity recession reduction options remuneration salary increases social responsibility tap
 

If you’ve kids, then the chances are you’ll have taken them to school.

Now… I don’t know what the routine might be where you live, but in my experience (with younger children), you wait in a queue for the school gates to be unlocked and then escort your child to the right classroom and make sure they’re safely ensconced.

What makes this process particularly interesting is the behavior exhibited by some of the parents as they wait. Regardless of what their child is trying to say to them and oblivious of any queuing etiquette, their focus is getting the child to their classroom and getting away as fast as possible thereafter.

And… and this is what really gets me… dealing with the various texts and emails they’re getting on their mobile/Blackberry.

All of which is symptomatic of the corporate and working life culture that I from time to time decry in this blog.

So, let me say this to all the CEOs, MDs and other senior managers who point proudly to their company’s Corporate and Social Responsibility document that clarifies their business’s attitude to:

• the environment
• compliance
• the immediate and wider community
• health and safety
• suppliers and customers

etc etc.

You need a section on how your management of staff lends itself to the betterment of our society.

And gradually, we might not only see less school queue jumping and parents attending to what their children are saying… but parents who have real time for their children and communities rather than feeling the pressure to constantly prioritize their jobs above all else.

Tags: attitude betterment blackberry blog ceos community health compliance health and safety jobs life culture mds parents queue real time safety suppliers school gates senior managers social responsibility texts