Corporate Leadership
by
David Buckle, Partner at DMB Law
for Darussalam Assets Sdn Bhd
Aim
To stimulate debate on current
leadership issues
1
Objectives:
1. To explore the impact of different leadership
styles;
2. To share a model leadership process;
3. To provide an action check list for
leaders in the DA group of companies.
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The Challenge
- Only 51% of employees have trust and confidence in
senior management;
- Only 36% of employees believe their leaders act with
integrity and honesty;
- 76% of employees observed illegal or unethical
conduct at work over a 12-month period.
Source: Staff Survey by Stephen MR Covey
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A failure of governance or a failure of
leadership – which costs more?
Based on a survey of 1,200 firms, each with a market
capitalisation of $1B or more:
-
More shareholder value has been wiped out by mismanagement
and poor strategy execution than by all of the worldwide
corporate scandals;
-
Among the 360 worst firms, 87% of the lost value was due to
“strategic mishaps”;
-
Only 13% of lost value was due to regulatory compliance
failures.
Source: Booz Allen
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Leadership Style - Exercise
Imagine that you are a member of a Nomination Committee of a listed
company. Nomination committees are responsible, among other things,
for succession planning. The Company trades internationally through a
diverse group of subsidiaries.
Your chairman has announced that he intends to retire in 12 months time
and the Nomination Committee has been tasked with short listing
candidates for the chairman’s position.
Profiles of the first 4 candidates have been made available; the profiles
have been anonymised.
Please consider the 4 profiles and decide whether or not you think the
candidates should join the short list (and if not, why not). If you decide
to short list more than one of the candidates, please rank them in order
of preference, giving your reasons for the ranking.
You have 10 minutes to complete the exercise.
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Leadership Style - Discussion points:
(1 of 2)
-
What influence did academic qualifications and upbringing
have on your judgment of the candidates?
-
Did you discount anyone on grounds of their ethical views?
-
Did you discount anyone because they appeared to be too
aggressive?
-
Will a good manager necessarily make a good leader – and
vice versa?
-
Do you want the chairman to be “entrepreneurial”?
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Leadership Style - Discussion points:
(Continued 2 of 2)
- Will a disability - such as dyslexia – influence your
assessment?
- Would we want a “maverick” as our leader?
- Do you need to be a “team player” to be a good leader?
- Should a good leader take risks?
- Should a good leader be compassionate?
- Is encouraging competition between members of the team
“healthy”?
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….and now for the unconventional “leadership
style”!
His men will follow him anywhere – out of pure curiosity!
Source: personal assessment of a serving junior officer
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My 4-stage process to effective leadership
-
Anticipation - developing corporate vision;
-
Appreciation - clarity of purpose and formulating
objectives;
-
Communication - delegation of authority and developing
the right culture;
-
Control - reporting progress and evaluating performance.
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10 Key Leadership Behaviours
1.
Understand your role. Ensure you have clear terms of
reference and reporting lines.
2.
Accept responsibility for using the powers conferred
on you. Commitment is all important.
3.
Use those powers responsibly and for proper
purposes i.e. for the benefit of the organisation, not
for yourself or for some third party.
4.
Do not wait to be asked to do something if you
already know it is your responsibility to get it done.
5.
If you need clarification, ask! Never make assumptions!
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10 Key Leadership Behaviours
(Continued)
6.
Stay informed – intelligence and information are key to
success.
7.
See change as an opportunity – not a threat!
8.
Keep it simple – complexity (and bureaucracy!) can
operate as distractions and a source of misunderstanding.
9.
If things go wrong be prepared to own up, identify the
reasons why it went wrong – and learn the lessons so the
same mistakes are not repeated.
10.
Ask yourself at the end of the day: what have I
contributed to the effectiveness of the business.
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….and in conclusion
Know your own strengths and weaknesses.
Rely on people you trust to make up for those.
weaknesses
Lead by example.
Learn from your mistakes.
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Questions?
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