"Should we be talking about...?": Recent Episodes
Keith Wells, Jo Larbie and Gordon Brown
Yes, we should. No subject can be off limits, no issue can be ducked, if leaders want to succeed in this 'next normal'. The challenge is huge, the potential benefits enormous. But it's going to mean new understanding, and new conversations. In this series of discussions, Jo Larbie and Keith Wells ask the difficult questions, and share some of the answers.
"Doing the right thing, even when nobody is watching" seems to be more difficult than it ought to be. But so many businesses, chief among them law firms, claim 'integrity' as a core value, that it's right that we shine a light on their behaviour.
Why, or even how, can trainees learn about ethics, but not integrity? How can firms continue to turn blind eyes to decisions that are self-evidently counter to the idea of integrity? And what happens when a business actually proves its commitment to that idea?
Can an organisation claim to have integrity, or is it purely a personal quality?
In this conversation, Jo and Keith get to the heart of this question and explore why firms - and individuals - need to do much better.
Please get in touch if you'd like to discuss how these ideas might develop for you or your business:
keith.wells@brandwell.uk.com
jo.larbie@inclusiveprofessions.co.uk
Your brand could be your most valuable commercial asset. But it needs to be defined and managed properly....and it's not what most firms understand by 'brand'.
In this conversation, Jo and Keith talk about their experience of developing a brand strategy for Jo's law firm, and how it worked through to transform the firm's culture and performance. They also point out where firms continue to get it wrong, and why it matters.
As ever, they share great practical advice on how to go about it well, and what to expect when you do. If you need a sounding board, or help in taking your thinking further, they'd be delighted to hear from you:
keith.wells@brandwell.uk.com
jo.larbie@inclusiveprofessions.co.uk
Again, yes we should. It's a huge opportunity, but firms are squandering it with their current approach.
In this conversation, Jo and Keith discuss what purpose really is - and, more pertinently, what it isn't. They give examples of the best and the worst, and share their advice for firms to follow. Don't, for instance, think of purpose as a basis for differentiation. And don't hand it over as a project to the Marketing department. Do, however, define it as a way of integrating everything the firm does.
If you'd like to explore how to understand, define, work towards and benefit from 'purpose', they'd be delighted to hear from you:
keith.wells@brandwell.uk.com
jo.larbie@inclusiveprofessions.co.uk
Inequalities have been exposed and accentuated through the pandemic, in all forms. What will firms do in response? At a time of record revenues and earnings for many, will they even want to? At some point, they'll have to: pressure to change will come from their clients and from their talent.
How should leaders ensure true fairness in the way they manage and develop their people? If hybrid working models become the norm, how do they deal with people who are less visible in the office? Will people get the right recognition? And how should leaders who have grown through traditional control structures now behave, when those structures no longer exist?
We're back to Emotional Intelligence and awareness. In this conversation, Jo and Keith go further into the ways in which firms need to address diversity and inclusion issues.
For it to become personal to leaders? For clients to walk away? For everyone finally to "get it"? Or can we find a way to get businesses to do more than simply put together a 'Diversity & Inclusion Policy'?
Jo and Keith continue their conversation, turning more to thoughts on how to get past the façade of ticked boxes and platitudes.
The answer to the question, of course, is "No." There is no reason to wait any longer.
Should we be talking about race? Yes.
Jo speaks from deep personal and professional experience about why and how race is such an important issue, and how Professional Services firms in particular continue to get it all wrong. Policy statements, recruitment statistics and 'sheep dip' training programmes might be well-intentioned, but they fall woefully short.
Hearing the question "How many times a day do you think about being white?" made Keith realise what "privilege" really means, and how far firms still have to go.
It's an important conversation, and we'd love you to join us: keith.wells@brandwell.uk.com and jo.larbie@inclusiveprofessions.co.uk
Successful working together calls for a leadership mindset of being open and willing to offer your knowledge, insights and experiences with others. It’s only by giving that we gain the opportunity to receive. Leaders with a generous mindset are flourishing now more than ever. This enables them to benefit from successful teamwork, while reducing time spent with non-collaborative people. The willingness to share , to offer knowledge and creative ideas, pays big dividends in a world of uncertainty. It’s the glue of effective collaboration, not just for the short-term, but long-term.
To quote Adam Grant, “according to conventional wisdom, highly successful people have three things in common: motivation, ability and opportunity…[but] there is a fourth ingredient: success depends heavily on how we approach our interactions with other people. Do we try to claim as much value for [ourselves] as we can, or do we contribute value…? It turns out that these choices have staggering consequences for success.”
How can you as a leader, put yourself in another person’s shoes? How can you adapt to a situation in which other people’s interests and success come first? What steps do you need to take to shift the cultural and structural behaviours that no longer serve your firm or reflect where you want to get to in the ‘next normal’?
Remuneration drives much of the behaviour of professional services firm. So, how do you change behaviour when financial reward is the key indication of success? If it’s true that what gets measured gets done, what behaviours and qualities should be rewarded in the ‘next normal’?
Professionals are now feeling more exposed and more vulnerable – and don’t have the luxury of time to learn how to do the things need to do to survive.
These were all live issues and challenges for individuals but, Covid-19 has pushed them to the top of the agenda for leaders of those firms. How should they adapt their thinking, and what concrete actions do they need to take to ensure that they and their firms do more than just survive in the ‘next normal’?
It's about having the courage to step out of your comfort-zone and to be different
Innovation is a mentality, not a department. And it's certainly not a synonym for ' technology'. In this short conversation, Jo Larbie and Keith Wells talk about the need for Professional Services Firms to show more courage when it comes to innovation.
The old coaching mantra of "To be different, you have to do different" needs to be turned around. For firms to do different, they and especially their leaders, need to be different.
Have the courage to get things wrong. Have the courage to do "possibilities thinking". And have the courage to 'go big': true innovation, and change, on a large scale inspires far greater performance improvement than the 'steady as she goes' incrementalism.
Where, then, should the professional services leader start?
“Courage is not the absence of fear but the triumph over it. The brave are not those who do not feel fear, but those who conquer that fear.” Nelson Mandala
What is Courage?
Courage is a response to fear however, you can’t demonstrate courage unless you’re afraid.
To be courageous is to stay and confront fear even though you’re afraid – this means allowing yourself to stay present with your fearful feelings and then deal with them. When we demonstrate courage, the best of ourselves emerges and who we are becomes more visible. Self-satisfaction comes from knowing we are doing something which is difficult for us.
Courage is often defined as acting despite being afraid. The key point is that courage is fearful. Having the courage to be courageous means backing-up our courageous words in the way that we behave and in our actions.
When we think of courage, we tend to think of situations where our back is against the wall. It is easier to be brave when the only other option is defeat! Harder still can be the courage that is called for when as leaders we try to do things differently, because we think that is the right way to go. It’s about moving out of our comfort zones to take us from good to best. No one else is asking for it or expecting it, only ourselves.
Jo Larbie, of Inclusive Professions, and Keith Wells, of Brandwell, continue their discussion of the Charisma Index dimensions of leadership - and in particular, how the quality of Courage should be understood and expressed.
"Emotional intelligence is twice as important as IQ and technical skills in determining job success. The higher up an organisation you go, the more important Emotional Intelligence becomes" - Daniel Goleman.
This is a time of unprecedented complexity, contradiction and uncertainty. The traditional skills that have taken people to leadership positions are no longer sufficient for them to solve the problems we face individually and collectively. Goleman defines Emotional Intelligence as the capacity for recognising our own feelings - as well as those of others - and the basis for motivating and developing relationships.
Many leaders of professional service firms are in those positions based on their technical expertise, coupled with an ability to generate high fees and lead a team of like-minded professionals. However, in a leadership role the ultimate goal is to build the current and long-term value of the firm. Leading a people-based business with emotional intelligence is a significant challenge but, essential both in leading through uncertainty, and future success.
Self-awareness is the key, enabling the leader to understand their own emotions and their impact on decisions and behaviours towards others. With this understanding, the leader is better able to acknowledge what others expect of them, and to meet or exceed those expectations.
In this conversation, Jo Larbie of Inclusive Professions and Keith Wells of Brandwell introduce the Charisma Index and discuss in detail Consciousness as one of its six dimensions, and Emotional Intelligence...and what this means for leaders of Professional Services Firms.