Roll up your sleeves CEO, show some heart

Excerpts of an address delivered by Larry Howai, Chief Executive Officer, First Citizens Bank at  the 2003 Living Leadership seminar on November 5 at the Trinidad Hilton & Conference Centre. Howai’s theme was,  “The Power of Executing Greatness.”
 

Leadership is offered as a solution to all of our problems... but what does it really mean? It has often been said that things make leaders happen. I sometimes wonder if I were not the CEO of a major bank how would my leadership qualities have been manifested? Would they have manifested themselves? I like to think that had it been a widget manufacturing company or a hotel rather than a bank ... whatever qualities I have exhibited at FCB would have emerged in the career I had chosen.  Many theorists distinguish between Leadership and Management. The traditional school of thought saw management as planning, organising, coordinating, controlling and supervising. Those concepts took us through the 20th century when the rate at which change occurred was far slower than it is today. The 21st century will see an even more rapid rate of change and this will place even greater demands on those who hold the reins of leadership.  The kind of thinking which satisfied our needs during the 20th century will not take us through the turbulence of this current century.  We need to change the way we think about things in order to make an impact on the world around us.

Leadership vs Authority 
I’ll begin by focussing for a moment on the concept of leadership versus authority.  Holding a position in an organisation doesn’t make you a leader.  It simply gives you the authority to carry out certain activities.  We learn from infancy how to react to authority.  Children are expected to obey authority.  I’m sure that we all have memories of challenging such authority, forming alliances with other siblings to change the status quo whether it be a toy for Christmas, the negotiation of bedtime hours or the deferring of homework.  
These are skills that we all learn as children.  Some theorists believe that these skills are actually knocked out of us long before we become adults, but these are the very skills which are needed to have a positive impact on the organisations we lead and often have to be re-learned. 
I have had the good fortune of being awarded the title “Most Admired CEO.” It is with humility that I carry that title but it has given me the opportunity to reflect on the true meaning of such an accolade.
The positive side is that I have had to come to some conclusions on issues like what accounted for the success of the institution which I lead.  I hope you will understand that there is no single reason to be attributed to the improved circumstances of the bank but that the leadership collectively takes responsibility for the good and the bad.  What might be described as different is that we have come to accept that the learnings are just as important as the outcomes. 

FCB’s Strategy 
I therefore wish to focus on five key learnings which have made a difference to our operations at First Citizen’s Bank.
1. Challenge the process fearlessly
2. Inspire a shared vision throughout the organisation
3. Give employees the tools and methods to solve their problems
4. Get involved to show that you are human too
5. Love the people by showing your heart
Let  me briefly confront the notion that one should challenge the process fearlessly.
If you keep doing what you always did, you’ll get the results you always got.  This simple statement sums up what typically happens in organisations. We are so comfortable doing things our way that any suggestion that we should change is met with resistance or more importantly the question “Why should we change?”  We need to change because it is the very nature of things to grow and develop and consequently change.  The notion “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” has been replaced by a more aggressive notion which compels you to change things long before they become broken. Success requires that the leader see the organisation as being in constant motion — a continuous interaction of power, roles, responsibilities and culture to set the stage for performance and productivity. As a leader it is your responsibility to identify those processes that are at the cutting edge of change and change them to make them more relevant to the organisation and capable of adding greater value. When people see you taking responsibility and changing the process, they begin to think that maybe they could change as well, and you know what! ... The people who work in your organisation are often in the best position to identify those processes, which need to be changed.

Down in the mud
Don’t think for a moment that you can simply legislate on change. The dynamic of change requires that you roll up your shirt sleeves and get down in the mud. That’s what people need in order to believe that the organisation can change.  They need tangible evidence that the leadership of the organisation has come out from the “ivory tower” or from “behind the desks” and is prepared to do whatever it takes.  Ironically, once you engage the change process, there is no escaping.  An unintended consequence of engaging the change process is that you too will begin to change.  
The laws of nature dictate that you can’t impact the process without yourself being impacted upon by the process.  This will provide you with an opportunity to engage in your own personal transformation.  You will have the unique opportunity to identify something personal and work on changing that particular trait or behaviour.  Our first point of sharing has been to challenge the process fearlessly.

Shared vision:
The second concept I wish to discuss is, “Inspire a shared vision throughout the organisation.” It is generally accepted that to be a leader one must have a vision — a persuasive and hopeful image of the future. How the leader arrives at the vision is important because it must address both the challenges of the present as well as the hopes of the future. Should the leader create a vision and then persuade others to accept it or should the leader create the mechanism to discover the vision which already exists even in an incoherent form? Some humility is required here.  My belief is that the best leaders are also the best followers. Any vision which reflects only the thinking of the leader is destined to fail.  The development of the vision is at least a two-way process.  It makes the best use of communication and ensures that long before the vision is printed on the wall it is engraved onto the hearts and minds of the people in the organisation. For people to have the vision stamped into their hearts and minds, it must first be translated into a language that can be understood and absorbed by those you wish to help you attain that vision. The old sales credo that “if they understand they may buy, if they don’t they won’t” is as applicable to leadership as it is to sales.

People need to feel part of a vision if they are to give it their full commitment.  When we reflect on history, the name Adolph Hitler springs to mind.  His destructive power is almost incalculable but he caught the imagination of the German people partly because he was passionate and single minded about his cause. It led to the catastrophe of World War 2.  What’s my message?  To inspire a vision in people, the leader must exude confidence, passion and simplicity. By now we accept that organisations need vision but it is neither their only need nor their most important one. Organisations also need to give their employees the tools and methods to solve their problems. Many years ago I heard a story about an administrator who began working at a University. After observing the lecturers for a few weeks he implemented a strategic move by ensuring that at the beginning of each lecture period every classroom had adequate chalk. This relieved the lecturer of the onerous task of finding chalk to begin lecturing. The net result of this was a ten-minute increase in the lecture time for each class. While organisations that you may be involved in have more complex problems than providing chalk the story does capture the essence of one important aspect of a leaders role that of enabling others to act.

Tools and more tools 
We cannot expect our people to perform at their best if they don’t have the tools and methods to solve their daily problems.  But sometimes they themselves do not have what they require and it is your job to help them solve the riddle. What works in one area or department may not work in another, so the one size fits all solution is the least preferred option when it comes to tools and methods of doing their jobs.  Leaders need to devolve power and authority for identified activities to persons closer to the centre of those concerns. The devolution of power is however insufficient.  People need to understand and believe that their suggestions for solving problems will be implemented where ever possible.  They need to believe that they have the power to make a difference.  I am in no way suggesting that we abandon the concept of standardisation of methodologies, but do establish your tolerance limits and allow some latitude within those bounds.  You might be pleasantly surprised that internal benchmarking is often an inspiring mechanism.

There is a level of cynicism in our country today which results in the prevalence of negative conversations.  As a leader you have a responsibility to discourage or even stamp out the negative conversations. You see, I believe that what we say, we manifest so I am prepared to rip away the negative conversations and replace them with positive conversations about what the company has done and what it intends to do in the short, medium and long term.  It is only when we experience the positive discourse of others that we understand the importance of the nature of the dialogue we encourage and facilitate. Re-dedicate yourself to providing the tools and methods for organisations to solve their problems.

Get Involved
My fourth learning is to, “Get involved” to show that you are human too.  In other words demonstrate your leadership by your level of participation.  Workers derive tremendous satisfaction when they can cite examples of working alongside the boss. A Hay’s study examined over 75 key components of employee satisfaction and found that “Trust and confidence in top leadership was the single most reliable predictor of employee satisfaction in an organisation.”  People want to be led by leaders whom they trust and respect.  As the leader of the organisation, you are continuously under observation.   What’s the old cliche, “People don’t do what you say, they do what you do”!  It is from this position of observation that they determine who you really are. People are looking to their leaders for leadership which is ethical, decisive and caring.

CEO, show some heart
This brings me to the fifth learning.  “Love the people by showing your heart.” Just making this statement makes people cringe because to show your heart is to show your vulnerability and corporate life has historically placed a value on stoicism.  Let’s for a moment, kick our shoes off and consider that next to the home, the workplace is where most of us spend one third of our lives. Shouldn’t it therefore be a place of comfort and understanding.  For sure, it shouldn’t be a battle field where we count the “body bags.” The concept of “love” is largely absent in the work-place today.   Managers are unable to talk about their love for the people... it is far more comfortable to love the organisation but we have no organisations without people.  Our love of fellowman must manifest itself in the organisation when we meet heart to heart ... when we listen with our intellect ...  when we understand and accept others, limitations and all ... when we are fearless in our decision-making but show compassion in our action ... when we have the courage to administer tough love under all circumstances. Without love, there is no sense of community and the organisation will become a heartless battleground. Despite our discomfort... leaders need to add a little love to our organisations.

At the end of the day, our success is measured by the results we achieve.  Long term success requires behaviour change such that employees acquire good habits that are sustainable.  It is often necessary to re-programme people’s attitudes in order to achieve this sustained change.   People development programmes offer different ways of achieving this. While successful training programmes are based on reaffirming positive behaviour in ways that appeal to as many of the senses as possible we must recognise that behaviour change is an iterative process requiring repeated affirmations at different intervals. Leaders must have the patience to allow the process to evolve.  Leaders have to build into their systems mechanisms that re-enforce appropriate behaviour. Leaders must be the walking manifestations of every virtue I have extolled.  Walking the talk takes on new meaning when you understand the consequences of leadership.