Diversity In The Crucible Of 2020
The last in a series of articles, by measurement guru Dr Mariheca Otto, exploring diversity in the workplace.
Shocking as it may be, diversity is still a challenge in most workplaces.
This despite the fact that it helps a business innovate and grow.
The more kinds of different you have in the workplace, the bigger the variety of ideas you can draw from.
Still, being a woman in a male-dominated space is no walk in the park.
Measurement specialist Dr Mariheca Otto shares one woman’s experience in the space sector.
As often highlighted by culture and people specialists, racial inclusion and diversity is essential for business success. Diverse teams are proven to out-perform homogenous teams 2:1 because they have a wealth of ideas and perspectives to draw from that culminate in more innovation and a better understanding of potential markets.
In advanced organisational cultures, men are more accepting and receptive to the input of women, compared to the lack of confidence levels women display around innovation, sharing their views and participating. Women often hold themselves back. They are not as confident and risk-taking as men in general - they pull back. We have to encourage women on an individual level to participate.
In some diverse teams, women end up overcompensating by using their voices. Some young dynamic women have strong opinions to the point of being overbearing. That’s because they are used to not being heard and have fought hard to get to the professional level. They have to unlearn this behaviour and start listening better as leaders.
Diverse teams have robust conversations if they are managed in a safe and mature way, resulting in the best solutions, offering creativity, energy and hope.
I spoke to Andiswa Mlisa, MD of the South African National Space Agency, about her experience as a woman in a very much male-dominated space. Mlisa believes that diversity is only achieved by design, it’s not accidental. As often the only woman in the room, and a black woman at that, Mlisa has experienced very little workplace diversity.
“In my technical field, I am often the only woman and South African men especially tend to treat women as just a ‘gal’, flirt and not take them seriously,” said Mlisa. “When I worked in Geneva there was a 50/50 gender balance in our team, an international community representing people from all over the globe. One thing that struck me was how my skin colour did not set me apart. Rather, being a foreigner, an African, did.”
Mlisa believes that two camps tend to emerge around diversity:
Those that want to keep the status quo, regardless if it’s all black, all white, all women or all men.
Those that point fingers towards others saying you must change, I don’t have to change.
There is little acceptance and buy-in of what diversity actually is. People still see diversity as “something for others to do and not for me”.
Embracing diversity in the workplace and doing activities that enable diversity are what changes this. The local space sector has very little diversity and is still very much male-dominated. We need to change the narrative that the only ones who are worthy, capable and belong are the ones who are the same as us. This perpetuates the same behaviours and notions we are trying to move away from.
“In such a male-dominated field, some men undermine and are not equipped to recognise a woman’s value and promote women into leadership. I have struggled to find mentors who don’t have ulterior motives. There are a few gems that have shown a genuine intention to mentor and acknowledge my capability,” added Mlisa.
“I remember being in a workshop in West Africa, I was assigned to chair a break-away session and the rapporteur was a male. The delegates were shocked I was the chair. ‘You’re a girl, you can’t be the chair of our session.’ I had to break the sad news to the 90% male audience, I was the chair. We had an interesting conversation about gender perceptions and biases stemming from the different cultural backgrounds in the room,” she concluded, smiling. “I recall this encounter with fondness as I believe there was a shift in behaviour, at least for some, after that discussion.”
In a male-dominated world, it’s often a lose-lose for women – when you show femininity, you’re criticised for being weak, when you take the masculine approach, you’re accused of trying to be a man. We say forget gender, just look at the capabilities.
About The Author
Dr Mariheca Otto, the measurement guru, founded Motto Business Consulting in 2005. She consults in the field of organisation development and internal marketing (creating buy-in into vision). She works in association with independent OD consultants. She completed a B.Com (Hons: Industrial Psychology and Sociology), HED, M.Com and PhD in Business Management at the North-West University (Potchefstroom University). She has delivered papers at both national and international academic and business conferences. She has almost 20 years of lecturing, training and facilitation experience and is seen as the leader in her field thanks to her groundbreaking work.
Four Reasons Why Diverse Teams Are More Effective
Measurement specialist Dr Mariheca Otto expands on why diverse teams are a no-brainer.
Diversity is important in any situation, and especially productive in teams.
Different people from different backgrounds offer a wider range of ideas and experiences to draw from.
It’s simple - the more colours in a crayon box, the more colourful the picture.
Measurement specialist Dr Mariheca Otto expands on why diverse teams are a no-brainer.
Smart leaders know they need diversity of backgrounds, characteristics and ideas on all levels so that they can attract, retain and make the most of people’s abilities. Diverse teams are proven to out-perform homogenic teams 2:1. That’s because diverse teams have a wealth of different ideas and perspectives that lead to innovation and understanding of potential markets.
Although women make up more than 50% of the population, in 2018, it was recorded that only 32% of them are managers. Additionally, only 31.5% of senior management positions are occupied by people of colour.
Increased Bottom Line
Time and again, evidence supports the theory that gender diversity has a positive impact on the bottom line. According to McKinsey, the most gender-diverse companies are 21% more likely to experience above-average profitability.
Studies have shown that a more gender-equal private sector correlates with better business performance and greater economic growth. On average, there is a 27% higher return on equity in women-owned and led businesses, and an 18% increase in sales.
Creativity And Solutions
Every individual brings a fresh perspective to a problem and different racial, gender, political, religious and cultural perspectives add richness to a solution. Diverse teams produce more creative results than teams in which all members are similar.
Creativity is bringing something new by combining two or more pieces of information together to form something useful to solve a problem. It makes sense that the more diverse the ideas available, the more creative the solutions will be.
A Boston Consulting Group study in 2018 found that organisations with more diverse management teams have 19% higher revenues due to innovation.
Better Place To Work
Women are generally team players and women on teams can help improve team processes and boost group collaboration. Researchers have observed that women have stronger skills reading non-verbal cues.
Women don’t generally hog the mike. Groups with more women were better at taking turns in conversation and ensuring that all voices are heard, which helps them make the most of the group’s combined knowledge and skills. Diverse teams aren’t built by themselves, they are achieved by design, not accident.
Diverse teams have robust conversations if they are managed in a safe and mature way, resulting in the best solutions, offering creativity, energy and hope.
Customer Insights
It makes sense that a workforce that best reflects an organisation’s customer base will have greater insight into customer needs and expectations. If you know your customers, you communicate with them better, enlisting customer loyalty and satisfaction.
About The Author
Dr Mariheca Otto, the measurement guru, founded Motto Business Consulting in 2005. She consults in the field of organisation development and internal marketing (creating buy-in into vision). She works in association with independent OD consultants. She completed a B.Com (Hons: Industrial Psychology and Sociology), HED, M.Com and PhD in Business Management at the North-West University (Potchefstroom University). She has delivered papers at both national and international academic and business conferences. She has almost 20 years of lecturing, training and facilitation experience and is seen as the leader in her field thanks to her groundbreaking work.
Why It's Important To Have Women In Leadership Positions
Dr Mariheca Otto nails it home - because the world still needs reminding, and quite often.
Put simply, women make awesome leaders.
They bring empathy and heart to an organisation in a way that men leaders can’t.
In fact, it’s the very attributes that supposedly make them unsuited to leading that make them great leaders.
Dr Mariheca Otto expands on exactly why women are so kickass at heading a team.
“Duh, Mama, why would you want all the same kind of people in a leadership team: women bring things that men don’t have?”
This was my 14-year old son’s response when I bounced the idea of men-only teams in business off him.
My observation and experiences are that women are generally raised to be ‘less than’. It’s not assumed we’re going to be something in life. In most cultures, girls are second grade. So when we land up in leadership positions, women are far more humble and question their decision-making.
Despite our common insecurities surrounding being in charge, we are far more engaging and participative as leaders; we include people before a decision is made. It’s very rare that you find an authoritarian female leader - they usually employ a participative leadership style. In my more than twenty years of consulting, I have never come across an authoritarian female leader.
Empathy comes easily for women. Empathetic and compassionate leadership is highly valuable in a collaborative world. Leaders drive the culture of an organisation, so when women are included in your leadership team, your culture will be inclusive.
When you include empathy and compassion in an organisation, humanity is a result. You create a space of belonging and belonging is a critical driver for most individuals. The world lacks belonging and there is a hunger for it.
I work in the measurement space, so evidence and data are my thing.
If you look at data on staff satisfaction and engagement, there is plus-minus a 17% increase in productivity when people engage. If you move from engagement to inspiration, there is a further 50% improvement in productivity. Organisations that have an environment where there is belonging and inspiration outperform those that don’t almost 2:1.
Female leaders are naturally more inclusive. Teams in an inclusive environment outperform homogenous teams 2:1. Data shows that organisations that include women in leadership, creating a diverse team, out-perform those that don’t. This doesn’t take success related to innovation into consideration. Women tend to be innovative and open-minded in their problem-solving styles. A lack of arrogance means they are open to group contributions. In general, women are able to hold vulnerability far more easily than men.
I am involved in change projects and they are often painful. If organisations don’t change, they die. In this time of COVID-19, that is happening right now. Organisations have to be agile and nimble and sometimes take a 180 degree to survive. When you drive change, one of the keys to success is communication. Speak to your people often, telling the same message simply and emotionally. These are very female characteristics. We talk a lot, we repeat ourselves and we’re emotional. We understand and have empathy for people who are struggling. Women are able to drive change messages because they are generally more emotional. They can feel their own struggles. This gives an organisation the opportunity to reinvent their cultures and to be more agile for the future.
I have always worked independently, but always formed part of my clients’ leadership teams. True leadership is influence, and not power and authority. A shop steward that is strong is so because of influence, not authority and power. I have always used my influence when being part of a leadership team. I use my influence to ask questions. I ask questions to drive change and shift mindsets. People move forward when they discover the answers themselves. I could come in and tell people what to do, but that’s arrogant, and full of the assumption that I know the answers. When you understand people’s mindsets, when they share their perceptions, feelings and thinking, you can predict their behaviour. If you’re clear on the organisation’s strategy, you can influence their stories with other information and knowledge, leading to change. If we help people to understand the stories they tell themselves, we can change perceptions, we can change their minds, we can change behaviour.
If you want a sustainable organisation, then you need women on your leadership team to ensure innovation, adaptability, influence, belonging and engagement. Data proves this.
About The Author
Dr Mariheca Otto, the measurement guru, founded Motto Business Consulting in 2005. She consults in the field of organisation development and internal marketing (creating buy-in into vision). She works in association with independent OD consultants. She completed a B.Com (Hons: Industrial Psychology and Sociology), HED, M.Com and PhD in Business Management at the North-West University (Potchefstroom University). She has delivered papers at both national and international academic and business conferences. She has almost 20 years of lecturing, training and facilitation experience and is seen as the leader in her field thanks to her groundbreaking work.
Top Advice For Building A Kickass Team
What are the healthiest, most productive teams doing right that others are not?
A great team is only possible with an effective leader.
Leaders set the tone in the workplace so it’s important that one invests in being a great one.
A great leader is empathetic and aware that employees have lives outside of work.
A good leader also sets clear, fair rules for the workplace, but is not unbendable.
With everything that’s going on, it’s vital that the rest of the kitchen is on the same menu as the head chef.
It's been an interesting time to lead. Business owners, especially, have had to pull some serious hat tricks in the last few months.
Some have been forced to starting afresh, they've suffered their losses and are trying to build once more despite incoming odds. Others are holding on to the last of their teams, stressed out but having to put on a brave face for their employees. Then there are the fortunate ones, the ones who managed to find opportunities in the chaos and are either starting brand new businesses or scaling on existing ones. Whatever the scenario, being a good leader is especially important right now.
Leading your employees, through successes and failures, is a skill that is pivotal to the success of your business. Teamwork, though, is a fickle beast. It is essential for moving mankind forward but getting the dynamic right is an incredible challenge. People are different and will invariably clash, and yet you need diversity in a team for innovation and cultural growth. So what do you do?
What does it take to build an effective team? And how do you build a team that not only communicates well but is able to work together and innovate even in times of stress?
Create a culture of active listening in your organisation. Don’t just hear the people around you. Tune out your own judgments and responses, and enable yourself to fully engage with what is being said to you. Really listen.
What are the healthiest, happiest, most productive teams doing right that others aren’t?
Set Kitchen Rules
Every chef needs a working menu. What are the laws and codes of conduct that guide your kitchen forward and are they relevant to everyone on your team? Are they applied consistently? A clear vision and a set of values and org-culture guidelines can make all the difference because it means that everyone in the team is on the same page. Set clear objectives, and have a detailed account of each team member’s role in it so that there is no confusion as to what has to be done. Most importantly, be transparent and take the lead.
Pick A Strong Head Chef
The head chef sets the tone in every kitchen. Strong leadership is important for the growth and smooth-running of a team, but what makes a good leader? It’s all relative. Different contexts require different types of leaders. However, for a team to work, certain characteristics are key. As a leader, you must lead by example and set the agenda for how you want your team to behave toward their work and one another. You also need to be consistent and as a result of this, predictable enough in your management style that the people around you know you enough to at least presume decisions in your absence.
Create A Culture Of Listening
The ability to listen is largely underrated. People love being listened to, and listening has a bunch of benefits too. And if ever there was a time for you to listen to your employees, it’s now. A virus is running rampant and fears about work security and mental and physical health issues are rearing up.
So, create a culture of active listening in your organisation. Don’t just hear the people around you. Tune out your own judgments and responses, and enable yourself to fully engage with what is being said to you. Really listen. Listening shows that you give a damn, and when teammates feel cared for, they reciprocate. Good energies are established. People also generally do more for people and causes that they care about so productivity will go up and everyone wins.
Most importantly though, you will show your teammates that you see them not just as parts of a machine, but as people with full lives and fears, allowing you to connect on a human level.
Respect Your Team
R.E.S.P.E.C.T. Find out what it means to your team. Don’t be surprised when it means different things to different members of your team, be glad for the diversity in your team. Find out what respect personally means to each member of the team and make it a key part of your organisational culture. For some, it’s acknowledging the fact that they have a life outside of the “office”, and being respectful of how much time you ask of them. For others, it could be as simple as the way you talk to them. Figure it out and create your team values from it. Teams are loyal to leaders that pay attention to their needs.
Inspire And Show Trust
Terrible team leaders have similar traits. They don’t listen to their team members and they show a lack of trust by micro-managing, which kills morale and motivation. Team members need to know that they can be trusted to do their work. Let go a little and allow your team the space to run their own workflow. Likewise, teams operate better when they trust and respect their leader. If you are leading a team, make sure you are worthy of the respect you are asking from them.
Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff
Kak happens. It does. Even to the most careful people, so keep this in mind when you interact with your teammates. Don’t blow your gasket, anything can be fixed. And where it can’t, life will go on. Your teammate can’t make it to work? Let them work from their couch, everybody is remote working now, haven’t you heard? If they can’t afford a doctor’s note, let them bring in a pharmacy receipt.
Your Jedi ways will earn you lots of R.E.S.P.E.C.T. from your team.
Finally
The head chef alone cannot cook for a whole restaurant. It takes a team to do that. We’re in the same kitchen and hierarchies are incredibly last century. Treat your team as equals and they will share with you the tasty morsels they normally reserve for their friends.
Really. It’s to your benefit to suck it to bureaucracy.
How To Build A Kickass Team
Teamwork is an interesting beast. It is essential for moving mankind forward but getting the dynamic right is an incredible challenge. People are different and will invariably clash, but you need diversity in a team for fresh ideas and cultural growth. So what do you do? What are the healthiest, happiest, most productive teams doing right that others aren’t?
Teamwork is an interesting beast. It is essential for moving mankind forward but getting the dynamic right is an incredible challenge. People are different and will invariably clash, but you need diversity in a team for fresh ideas and cultural growth. So what do you do?
A meme pops to mind (as they always do) when I think about the way I felt about teamwork prior to experiencing a great team dynamic. It said something along the lines of ‘I want my teammates to lower me into the grave when I die so that they can let me down one more time’. I used to think teammates could only mess up my mojo and stab me in the back because that is what I experienced.
But what if the issue wasn’t with my teammates? What if the issue was the team itself, or the leader, who was in most instances, me?
So I set myself the task of researching just what it takes to build an effective team. How do you build a team that not only communicates well but is able to work together and innovate even in times of stress (as if there are any other times in business)? What are the healthiest, happiest, most productive teams doing right that others aren’t?
Set Rules For The Kitchen
Every chef needs a working menu. What are the laws and codes of conduct that guide your kitchen forward and are they relevant to everyone on your team? Are they applied consistently? A clear vision and a set of values and org-culture guidelines can make all the difference because it means that everyone in the team is on the same page. Set clear objectives, and have a detailed account of each team member’s role in it so that there is no confusion as to what has to be done. Most importantly, be transparent and take the lead.
Pick A Strong Leader
Strong leadership is important for the growth and smooth-running of a team. What makes a good leader? I think it’s all relative. Different contexts require different types of leaders. However, for a team to work, certain characteristics are key. As a leader, you must lead by example and set the tone for how you want your team to behave toward their work and one another. You also need to be consistent and as a result of this, predictable enough in your management style that the people around you know you enough to at least presume decisions in your absence.
Create A Culture Of Listening
The ability to listen is largely underrated. People love being listened to, and listening has a bunch of benefits too. So create a culture of active listening in your organisation. Don’t just hear the people around you. Tune out your own judgments and responses, and enable yourself to fully engage with what is being said to you. Really listen. Listening shows that you give a damn, and when teammates feel cared for, they reciprocate. Good energies are established. People generally do more for people and causes that they care about so productivity will go up and everyone wins. Most importantly though, you will show your teammates that you see them not just as parts of a machine, but as people with full lives and fears, allowing you to connect on a human level.
Respect Your Team
R.E.S.P.E.C.T. Find out what it means to your team. Don’t be surprised when it means different things to different members of your team, be glad for the diversity in your team. Find out what respect personally means to each member of the team and make it a key part of your organisational culture. For some, it’s acknowledging the fact that they have a life outside of the office, and being respectful of how much time you ask of them. For others, it could be as simple as the way you talk to them. Figure it out and create your team values from it. Teams are loyal to leaders that pay attention to their needs.
Inspire And Show Trust
Bad team leaders have similar traits. They don’t listen to their team members and they show a lack of trust by micro-managing, which kills morale and motivation. Team members need to know that they can be trusted to do their work. Let go a little and allow your team the space to run their own workflow. Likewise, teams operate better when they trust and respect their leader. If you are leading a team, make sure you are worthy of the respect you are asking from them.
Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff
Kak happens. It does. Even to the most careful people, so keep this in mind when you interact with your teammates. Don’t blow your gasket, anything can be fixed. And where it can’t, life will go on. Your teammate can’t make it to work? Let them work from their couch. If they can’t afford a doctor’s note, let them bring in a pharmacy receipt or work from their couch. As long as the work is getting done. Your Jedi ways will earn you lots of R.E.S.P.E.C.T. from your team.
Bonus Point
Notice how I used the word ‘teammates’ throughout the article. We’re in the same boat mate, hierarchies are incredibly last century. Treat your team as equals and they will share with you ideas they normally reserve for their friends.
Really. It’s to your benefit to suck it to bureaucracy.
The Most Powerful Skill A Leader Needs
The world of work has shifted phenomenally in the past decade. The days of hierarchies and traditional ways of earning a salary are dead or dying. Today's workers want more than money. They need meaning and crave community in place of colleagues. How does one lead in such a world? Pierre du Plessis has a few ideas.
The world of work has shifted phenomenally in the past decade. The days of hierarchies and traditional, leverage-like salaries and leave time are dead or dying.
Today we have to deal with work swarms, solopreneurs, gig workers, freelancers, remote workers, and millennials (sorry) that quit to take a year sabbatical to find themselves in the outer reaches of Mongolia. 'Authority' as we remember it, or at least some of us, is a thing of the past. Today's workers want more than money. They need meaning and crave community in place of colleagues. How does one lead in such a world? Leadership is necessary if you want to go somewhere. Even with the rise of the robots, you still need people to help you get there. But the truth is that the usual levers don't work anymore, and to be frank, they sucked, to begin with.
Leaders need to do two things: they need to communicate and they need to listen. It is the leader’s job is to define a new reality or, as my friend Rich Mulholland would say, ‘Leaders Speak’. The second, and most neglected action in leadership, especially in the second half of life leadership (a topic I’ll get to in the next blog) is to listen. Listening should be the first thing a leader does. Listen before you speak. It is that simple and it is that hard. A quiet leader seems counter-intuitive, counter-cultural even. Common wisdom today says the exact opposite, leaders need to take charge, take action, be assertive, be bold, be loud, not back down.
The truth is, as any person that really understands leading will tell you, it’s listening that lays the groundwork for action, and movement.
Great leaders learn to listen their way forward. Like a submarine uses sonar to 'see' if there are any obstacles or how a bat uses echolocation to find its prey, leaders needs to use their listening skills to move forward in a world that is increasingly dim and chaotic. Leaders need to listen to culture, to politics, to news, their customers, and to their employees or volunteers.
And true listening isn’t merely waiting a polite amount of time for your turn to speak either. We live in a society where everyone has a megaphone in their pocket and are only waiting for the gaps in conversation to have their say.
Few people truly listen.
In our conversations, we flip through notifications, quickly check email, make coffee, and (my current pet peeve) popping a quick glance at your smartwatch… just in case. Our culture is so listening poor that we pay people, therapists and psychologists, to listen to us. Being heard is, in fact, the biggest part of therapy.
True listening is firstly about creating and holding a safe space. To ‘hold the space’ means, being completely present with the person opposite you, open to what they want to voice and to do this without judgement. In other words, the space needs to be a neutral, safe, trusting, and confidential space. Presence is an unbelievable gift. It is the gift of ourselves. Think about it like this, you have a finite amount of time on this earth. I know that might come as a surprise, but you will die. Sorry.
When you spend your time, give it to someone or they give their time to you, it is the most valuable thing that both of you possess.
They are giving you a piece of their physical existence, which is why we shouldn’t squander it but honour it. Luckily for us, the bar is extremely low at present. So just even slight presence, like not checking your phone or watch during a conversation, is already going to put you in the top 5% of listeners. Larry King said in an interview that this simple principle is a massive part of his success as an interviewer. Having done nearly 60 000 interviews in his 60+ year career, he says that no matter who was opposite him the day before, Al Pacino, and no matter who is on tomorrow, Barack Obama, he is totally present and interested in the person in front of him.
Hold the space, at whatever cost.
I know that can be hard, especially at first, so here is a little bit of practical advice. When you find yourself drifting to another thought, have the urge to take out your phone or glance over their shoulder to see if there isn't someone more interesting or more important to talk to, just gently return to the space. I do this by refocusing on my breath, feeling the sensation of the air on my upper lip, like mindfulness meditation. This practice pulls me softly back into the present, and into the space.
The second thing that needs to exist in this space, or rather should not be present, is your judgement. You should delay decision making and your response for as long as possible. People that are great at leading can hold the tension and live in the grey areas, suspending decision making till the perfect moment. Judging what the person is saying while they are saying it sends them the nonverbal clue that you are or have placed yourself in a superior position. This will break the space and the trust, and jumping to conclusions and quickly heading into advice-giving or fixing robs the other person of discovering the truth for themselves.
The only advice we ever really take is our own, isn't? Practically, after the person has said their bit give it some time to hang in the air and wait to respond, take a deep breath, and give it a few seconds. Ponder what they have said. The silence honours what the person has just told you, and it gives you the time to gather your thoughts before you respond (it also makes you look very smart).
"I remind myself every morning: Nothing I can say this day will teach me anything. So if I'm going to learn, I must do it by listening."
- Larry King
Listen, ponder, then first reply with questions, not statements. We are afraid to ask questions, especially in a work environment, fearing that it might make us look incompetent or foolish. Yet, asking questions goes hand in hand with listening, trying to 'get' the other person's world. This takes some practice, but it isn't hard because most people love talking about themselves.
Ask open and honest questions.
Think of the type of questions a toddler asks - they ask because they truly do not know. We ask because we have an agenda, a goal, and we want to steer the conversation or give advice 'hidden' in a question. Tell me why you are not committing to the project? Bad question. What is happening with you right now? Good Question. The sooner leaders realize that you have little to no idea what is going on inside another person, the better. This is the exact reason why we need to be inquisitive, asking open and honest questions whilst suspending judgement.
People want to be heard, seen, and recognised. Listening does this. When you are truly listening, the person will feel validated, respected, included and seen. Which is what we all want. It is a basic human desire, hardwired into us, to be included in the group. Creating a safe, sacred space where they can voice what they need to voice opens creativity in the person being listened to. The more you listen to your team, the more the trust and creativity will grow.
To be listened to is an honour, the greatest honour in the world. It is an exchange of precious life itself. Just to be quiet is the most powerful tool any leader has. Guaranteed.
Get skin in the game, learn to listen
Pierre
About the author: Pierre du Plessis
Pierre du Plessis is a business consultant, creative director, writer and world-class public speaker. In a chaotic world Pierre helps people build meaningful lives, and do work that matters.
Pierre is currently the CEO of his passion project, HumanWrites, an organisation that gets storybooks to kids who need them. Pierre is also an educator at DUKE CE University and has spoken at BMW, KFC, Adcock Ingram, FNB, Nedbank, and has been featured on TEDx stages numerous times. He has worked in fashion, advertising, trend analyses and branding. Pierre leads a contemplative community of faith in the heart of Cape Town, is a published author and has received the Desmond Tutu Gerrit Brand literature prize.
He believes he is the love child of Gertrude Stein and Jason Bourne.
He lives in Cape Town with his wife, two kids, and his iPhone. For more information, visit www.thisispierreduplessis.com.
This Company Is Unlocking Africa's Leaders. Here's How.
Heavy Chef sat down with Richard Jamieson, the Senior Associate from Lockstep. Lockstep is a company that assists clients who seek customised leadership solutions. What that means is that they are building leadership skills that will ultimately drive strategy and delivery performance. We wanted to find out how you train leaders to be leaders. Jamieson gave us some fascinating insights.
Heavy Chef celebrates people who walk the talk, who practice what they preach, who eat their own food. We’re constantly uncovering companies and organisations across Africa that are involved with inspiring work on the continent.
Heavy Chef sat down with Richard Jamieson, the Senior Associate from Lockstep. Lockstep is a company that assists clients who seek customised leadership solutions. What that means is that they are building leadership skills that will ultimately drive strategy and delivery performance. We wanted to find out how you train leaders. Jamieson gave us some fascinating insights.
Richard, I'm curious, we have met many leaders at Heavy Chef and they come in all shapes and sizes, with a variety of personalities and characteristics. What does it take to be a great leader?
At Lockstep we believe that different people lead in different ways, so we don’t have one blueprint for leadership. However, what we have identified is that for an individual to become the most effective leader they can be, they need to be willing to do the introspection necessary to identify where their coping mechanisms are preventing the from connecting with and influencing others in the ways they need to.
Are there fundamental differences between startup leaders and established company leaders?
The Startup Leadership Survey that Lockstep ran a few months ago outlined a few key things:
● A startup leader needs to be a jack of all trades - a good generalist who is equally comfortable in the trenches and in the war room.
● They need to have the ability to motivate others in uncertain waters, and without access to some of the traditional tools (money and other incentives).
● They have to be able to adapt and change their leadership approach as the company grows.
● They need massive passion and resilience to stay the course under intense pressure.
We also believe that startup leaders have a pretty unique chance to shape a nascent culture, relative to how difficult it can be to shift a culture that’s already established. Some would go so far as to say that you only have one chance to set helpful behaviour in place in the startup phase. Beyond that, one has to undo and unwind behaviours before you get a chance for another fresh start. One of the practical tools we offer is helping leaders identify how they can influence their culture in concrete, intentional ways, and how these can be broken down into actions that can be built into that leaders weekly routine.
What common myths can you point to, that people believe are inherent in great leadership?
Some believe that leadership is the visible stuff - rousing speeches or inspired decisions, we believe that true leadership is practiced in a million small and often invisible interactions over a period of time. Leadership happens inside conversations, not from the podium. Especially in a startup environment, leaders have to be in the trenches alongside the people they are leading.
Which startup leaders do you admire in South Africa, or Africa - and why?
Firstly, let me say that any startup leader who has a going concern has my respect. As someone who has co-founded three businesses, and who has observed many startup leaders first hand, I know the hard work, the pressure, and the sacrifices that they require, usually in service of making the world a better place (as well as making a profit!). Having said that, we do believe that there is a distinction to be made between entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial leaders (As Derek Lidow puts it in his excellent book, Startup Leadership). The former can come up with a viable business idea, and get the ball rolling, the latter are able to take that idea through the different stages of growth, leading and inspiring a team to see the idea through to fruition.
Here are some of the startup leaders that I (and colleagues of mine at Lockstep) have had the privilege of working with:
Paul Galatis (of Names & Faces, previously Yuppiechef) - Paul is a great storyteller, and a genuine champion of people and relationships in the workplace, something he has used as inspiration for the creation of Names & Faces. He has an amazing knack for unearthing talent and creating teams of diverse people doing great work together.
Andy Walford (of OceanRock) - Andy brings phenomenal rigour and thoughtfulness to the process of building a growing team of outsourced financial professionals.
Sam Paddock (previously of GetSmarter) - Sam has a massive amount of infectious energy and enthusiasm, a genuineness that’s undeniable, and the willingness to chase an entrepreneurial dream from an early age. He and his team built GetSmarter from a startup into a R1.4bn business.
Bevan Ducasse (of Wigroup) - Wigroup is well beyond the startup phase nowadays, but Bevan has taken them from startup to where it is today. He’s done this by remaining clear at all times on his purpose and how that translates into the value proposition that Wigroup offers. He’s also been intentional about building great relationships with all stakeholders and building leaders throughout his business..
You outline a toolkit for leaders in your Lockstep Workshop. Can you give us a sneak peek at what to expect?
We want to look at six things in particular: purpose, values, culture, strategy, motivation and self care.
Purpose
Many startup leaders say that they have a high degree of purpose in their work, which is almost a given. However, what we can help with is a process of first making sure that that purpose can be expressed and conveyed in a concise and articulate way, and secondly that it can be connected to everyday work, and can be ‘alive’ in the sense that it informs that leaders motivation every day – the thing that gets him or her out of bed every day.
Values
We’ll spend time thinking deeply about the values that leaders want to instill in their people. We believe that setting values involves making hard choices, not just putting a list of aspirations on the wall. Starting from some of the latest academic work that’s been done on intrinsic human values, we get down to the two or three key values that each leader most identifies with.
Strategy
This is not a strategy workshop, but there’s no way to talk about leadership without considering strategy. We challenge the group to simplify their strategy statement down to at most a single A4 page, and then to get clear on how to communicate it to their stakeholder base in a compelling way.
Culture
We help each delegate come up with their own set of actions for intentionally shaping an maintaining culture over time.
Motivation
We work towards the creation of a team map detailing motivational strategies for every member of their extended team.
Self Care
Burnout is a risk for any startup leader, threatening to undermine all of their hard work just as it is potentially about to pay off. We help the leaders craft a set of concrete strategies for rest, renewal and recovery.
Ultimately, all of the above have to connect to the overall performance of the business, something we make sure we never lose sight of. We help leaders get clearer about how their actions in some of these less tangible areas are contributing to the concrete performance of the business.
To find out more about the work Lockstep is doing, read more here.
Lockstep partner and CEO Rowan Belchers in action.
Former Boss Of Woolworths, Truworths, SAB Shares Six Lessons From 60 Years Of Leadership
Colin Hall is a veritable titan of South African business. He has spent over 60 years managing some of the most legendary names in the African corporate world: SAB, Woolworths, Truworths and Massmart. Most recently, he's been consulting to the leaders of blue-chip clients around the world. in his remarkable Leadership Masterclass scheduled in June 2019, Colin will speak of the six most salient lessons that will truly surprise you. In this sneak preview, Colin reveals some of the highlights of the session and provides interviewer Caley Africa some food for thought.
Colin Hall is a veritable titan of South African business. He has spent over 60 years managing some of the most legendary names in the African corporate world: SAB, Woolworths, Truworths and Massmart. Most recently, he's been consulting to the leaders of blue-chip clients around the world.
At his peak, Colin had over 50,000 people under his leadership. Colin has been nominated for corporate leadership awards more times than he can remember, and he is regarded as one of the finest leaders of the last three decades. However, in his remarkable Leadership Masterclass scheduled in June 2019, Colin will speak of the six most salient lessons that will truly surprise you. In this sneak preview, Colin reveals some of the highlights of the session and provides interviewer Caley Africa some food for thought.
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How Your Inability To Succeed At 'Impression Management' Can Break Your Career
Marc Rogatschnig is a Clinical Psychologist, surfer and published author who is currently completing his PhD at Unisa. He is also an entrepreneur and leadership coach to some of the largest blue chip companies working in Africa, Europe and Middle East. Marc writes about how developing character is as much about managing our true selves and the impact of our actions on those around us as it is about managing our the impression that people have of us.
Marc Rogatschnig is a Clinical Psychologist with over 15 years of experience. Marc is also a surfer, public speaker, entrepreneur and family man. This is the first of a series of articles focusing on character development and the mental fortitude it takes to succeed in the digital age.
The phrase of my week is ‘Impression Management’. Oh and I love it, for how aptly it describes much of the superficiality in our society. It immediately reminded me of a story shared by an accounting executive who was rebuked for nestling his second-hand, seven-year-old car in the Partners dedicated parking. The message to him ‘either upgrade your car, or downgrade your parking booth’. Impression management!
I was digging through some academic articles from the late 1990’s and discovered that in North America over 50% of all externally hired executives either failed or were fired within their first 12 months. To my surprise, tasks, skills and capabilities were not the primary cause of their demise – those were all expertly vetted in rounds of psychometric assessments and panel interviews (we seem to have overloaded our approach to finding the best people with even more of that). What had in fact stalled their integration and rise within the c-suite, was their inability to sustain their ‘Impression Management.’
In other words, they revealed their true selves and exposed the inherent nature of who they were. What the organisation saw was unpleasant and incongruent, and consequently they had to go. It seems that when the chips were down, and the stress was rising, those who had glossy, manicured images designed to seduce and be essentially likable and impressive (impression – impressive, see the link?), couldn’t sustain their charade.
More interesting to me, is what it was that they were trying to hide. And what was revealed? What were their intentions? And what was the impact of the dramatically changing impression they left with others?
In all cases, what emerged under pressure was the extent to which they could (or couldn’t) manage their impulses, emotional reactions, feelings and drives. Those that managed these poorly, were perceived to be low in judgement, and over time, their integrity (built on their reliability, consistency and honesty) was eroded too. They might have tried to bully with positional power for a while but then completely lose their ability to take others along with them. They became desperate.
It then dawned on me: judgement and integrity are two fundamental components of character. Character is shaped, developed or stunted by all the experiences of a person’s life. In short, those with weaker character have less self-awareness and poorly regulate their impulses and emotions under pressure. They exposed their aggression, flight-or-fight tendencies, immaturity, self destructive behaviours and selfishness, and damaged the relationships around them (a current US president offers a daily showcase of what that actually looks like, and scarily there is a lot of Trump in many of the people around us).
Those with strong character tend to think as much about others as themselves when under pressure, and expertly manage the rising distraction and power of their inner selves.
I have spent the past 10 years designing and delivering leadership development programs, really good ones, which have filled many heads and hearts with skills and awareness, but never, not once, have we considered (or even named) the critical importance of understanding, defining, measuring and developing character. Maybe that is why so many managers and leaders with reams of certificates and course attendance notes, still fail to inspire confidence through their judgement and integrity. It is my next crusade, to put character at the forefront of the way we think and appreciate the leaders and colleagues around us.
To peer into the Leadership Blind Spot!
This article first appeared on Marc's blog 'Culturesmiths'.
As entrepreneurs we tend to grab every opportunity in front of us, but when do you let something go and when do you turn the back burner off? When do you stay and when do you leave? When do you keep going and when do you quit? Pierre du Plessis explores.