This month's theme:
It can be lonely at the top - if you let it
Welcome to the September edition of Sharpening the Axe.
Four years of success in leading a footsie 100 company is as close to the top as you might want to get and my recent interviewee, Justin King, has achieved precisely this at Sainsbury’s. Justin has a host of advice and insights to impart but for me, one of the most telling was his thoughts on the loneliness of the CEO. To read the full interview click here.
When asked what the toughest thing was about stepping up to the position
of CEO, Justin immediately responded with “people stop telling
you things because no organisation naturally orientates itself to keep
the boss informed.” When asked what it is about him that his people
most relate to he replies “I always ask the question I don’t
really want to hear the answer to”.
His philosophy is that anyone in a leadership position who retreats to the comfort of their ivory tower and shuns the realities of their position is sure to fail.
Justin’s previous role was head of food for M&S and it struck me that this company provides a great example of what happens when the top person does just this and stops listening. The CEO in question was Sir Richard Greenbury. In the late 1990s the company was seen as a continuing success story, with record profits. But Sir Richard and his team became out of touch with their customers and stopped asking those difficult questions. Do you remember when the company arrogantly told us it would not take credit cards? How about the stories told by shop workers of being ordered to bring in extra colleagues from nearby stores whenever the ‘royal visit’ was planned so as to give the impression of strong service and high efficiencies. Can you guess what happened next?
Well the Emperor had no clothes on and no one said a thing. By 2001, a matter of just 3 years, the company’s share price fell by two thirds and profit collapsed from £1 billion in 1998 to £145 million in 2001.
Staying in touch clearly matters and this is particularly true during these difficult economic times.
So loneliness at the top does not simply mean you need a few friends around you. It also means you must not get isolated and out of touch. It doesn’t matter whether you are Justin King at Sainsbury’s or the leader of a team, department or division, the advice rings true for everyone. Don’t deny your situation, however grim it might be. At times like that, people need clear and visible leadership more than ever before and they want to know that someone up there is in charge and is taking decisions.
A final tip from Justin is what he calls “top to bottom management”. He works relentlessly (a word he uses often) to ensure that his direct reports are given the framework and freedom to achieve their goals and then spends as much time as possible keeping in touch with the face of the business. During my time speaking with Justin he has never mentioned the city and the stock price once. Of course these are top of mind but he realises that these things are outputs that will only be delivered if he gets his people on track and supported. He likens it to a tennis match. The scoreboard is helpful but you don’t look at it during each rally, you concentrate on watching the ball and the results will follow.
Be the company you want to be. Values Matter
You know what values are. They are those twee, fluffy things that make nice reading and hang on the wall of the office. Admit it, you must have questioned how relevant they are outside of the occasional team build.
If that is your view of values then I suggest you think again. Values are all about what you want to be as a business. They determine the types of behaviour you will adopt and ultimately, these behaviours set your culture.
Sainsbury’s have 6 golden values. These include ‘getting better every day’; ‘individual responsibility, team delivery’; ‘keep it simple’; ‘respect for the individual’. Justin knows them all off pat when I spoke with him and gave me several examples of where they have been used recently during road shows and in store to hold a mirror up to colleagues and their behaviour.
It is what values do, not what they say that matters. Those of you who know me well will have heard me preach this time and again. Values are worthless if they become trite.
Integrity, Communication, Respect, Excellence all sound pretty good
values don’t they.
Well those are the values that Enron preached and how meaningful were
they?
Values matter only if the leaders in the business use them to establish
what you want to be as a business.
A top tip is to unpack the values in terms of behaviours that you believe support the values and those that contradict them. Communicate them in simple, straightforward terms and you know what. Your people will get it! Don’t agonise over the exact wording, just make sure that they mean something to people in their jobs and let them adopt them. By the way, did I mention that you need to communicate them? Well do so relentlessly.
Top Tips for Effective Leadership
- Top to bottom management. Give your direct reports direction and freedom to do their jobs and then spend as much time keeping in touch with the face of the business.
- Always ask the question you don’t want to hear the answer to.
- Be relentless. Your momentum, your tone has the ability to change your workplace.
- Get it right seven times out of ten. This means you are travelling at the right pace and making fewer mistakes than the other guy.
- We are where we are. Learn from the past, don’t live in it.
- If something has gone wrong, only haul over the coals to learn stuff and put it right quickly.
- In difficult times don’t follow the pack. Have the spirit of your convictions and do what is right for your business right now.
- People don’t want to hear doom and gloom from their leader. They don’t mind hearing that times might be tough, but they need to know that they are well equipped to be successful.
- When times are uncertain people want to see clear and visible leadership like never before; somebody in charge and making decisions.
- Don’t deny where you are as a business. If the position is dire, tell your stakeholders this and get agreement as to where you are starting the journey from.
- Communicate, communicate, and communicate. Be relentless.
- Values are the lifeblood of your business. Make them simple, straightforward and meaningful to people. Create examples of behaviours that support and contradict the values and keep people to account regarding these.
Good to Great
by Jim Collins,
isbn 7126 7609 0
One of the seminal books. I know you probably all know it and may even have it somewhere, but have you read it recently?
Having built this newsletter around the musings of Justin King, I am recommending Good to Great because the contents of chapter two entitled ‘Level 5 Leadership’ espouses the approach to leadership that really seems to be working at Sainsbury’s right now.
What is Level 5 Leadership? Well it is summed up by the Harry Truman quote on the opening page of the chapter “You can accomplish anything in life, provided that you do not mind who gets the credit.” Collins defines this level of leadership as an executive who “builds enduring greatness through a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will.”
It struck me how similar this definition is to Justin’s reflections on the unique combination that makes a top leader. Justin’s observation is that you need self belief bordering on arrogance, but have sufficient humility to constantly listen and value others.
So if you skip the other 260 pages and just read this chapter it is a good investment of an hour or two. Your people might just benefit too.
Sharing can be so creative
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The next issue of Sharpening the Axe will be out in October.
In the meantime visit our web site. Or click here to send a copy of this issue to a colleague.