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Category: Leadership

Are you “People” people?

Posted on by admin_kingston

Business landscape is rapidly evolving, interpersonal skills are crucial across all departments, not just in sales and human resources. At Tesla, a company known for its ground-breaking innovations and disruptive approach to the automotive industry, this principle is particularly evident.

Tesla’s executives have demonstrated that relational know-how encompasses a broader range of abilities than many executives realise. Like Musk’s ability to articulate complex technological concepts to the public, some individuals excel at translating high-level ideas for mass consumption.

Tesla’s success can be attributed, in part, to its recognition that employees perform best when their work aligns closely with their interests and skills. By considering employees’ relational strengths when making personnel decisions and project assignments, Tesla has created a highly productive and innovative work environment.

Similar findings were discovered by the authors Timothy Butler and James Waldroop, after their psychological assessments of over 7,000 business professionals. They identified four key dimensions of relational work:

  1. Influence: The ability to persuade and motivate others.
  2. Interpersonal facilitation: Skill in resolving conflicts and fostering collaboration, essential in the fast-paced, high-pressure work environment.
  3. Relational creativity: The capacity to generate innovative ideas through social interaction, vital for continuous product development.
  4. Team leadership: The aptitude for guiding and inspiring groups, is critical for managing diverse and specialized teams.

To build a well-balanced team, managers may want to consider these four dimensions when hiring and assigning roles. During interviews, candidates’ relational skills can be assessed through targeted questions. For instance, to gauge relational creativity, an interviewer might ask a candidate to describe their favourite innovative product design and explain its effectiveness.

Understanding these four dimensions may enable leaders to:

  • Optimise employee performance
  • Provide appropriate recognition and rewards
  • Assist staff in setting meaningful career goals
  • Make informed decisions about their own professional development

By embracing this multifaceted approach to relational work, Tesla continues to push the boundaries of innovation while maintaining a dynamic and effective workforce. As the company expands its reach in sustainable energy and transportation, these principles of people management and leadership will undoubtedly play a crucial role in its ongoing success.

So if you are planning to have a team meeting next time, apart from work, use that time to also create a space for conversations by asking open-ended questions concerning your team’s likings and values. Throw a question about their favourite football team or their recent experience at a new restaurant. Ask about their personal projects and why do they like being part of that. It goes a long way.

Disruptive Innovation: Yay or Nay?

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In today’s fast-paced business world, the mantra for small and medium-sized enterprises and businesses (SMBs and SMEs) is clear: disrupt or be disrupted. But what exactly is disruptive innovation, and why does it matter so much?

Coined by Clayton Christensen in “The Innovator’s Dilemma,” disruptive innovation refers to a process where a smaller company with fewer resources successfully challenges established businesses. These innovations often start in low-end or new market footholds, initially underperforming established products in mainstream markets. However, they gain traction by offering more suitable functionality—often at a lower price—and eventually move upmarket to challenge industry leaders.

To understand disruptive innovation, it’s helpful to contrast it with sustaining innovation. While sustaining innovation improves existing products for current customers, disruptive innovation targets overlooked segments, often with lower initial quality but at a lower price point. It introduces new business models and carries higher risk, but with the potential for industry-wide change.

Some of the real-world examples abound; Netflix disrupted traditional video rental with its DVD-by-mail service and later streaming, transforming entertainment consumption. Airbnb created a new market for private accommodations, challenging the hotel industry. Tesla’s electric vehicles and direct-to-consumer model accelerated the shift to sustainable transportation. Uber’s ride-hailing app revolutionized urban transportation, disrupting the taxi industry.

So, how can SMEs foster disruptive innovation? Here are key strategies:

  1. Create a culture of experimentation, encouraging risk-taking and learning from failures.
  2. Focus on unmet customer needs through extensive market research and design thinking.
  3. Invest in emerging technologies and consider partnering with or acquiring promising startups.
  4. Prioritise long-term success over short-term profits; means sustainable business model and practices.
  5. Embrace open innovation by collaborating with external partners and diverse perspectives.

Innovation experts emphasise the importance of this approach. Clayton Christensen warns, “Disruptive innovation can hurt if you’re not the one doing the disrupting.” Steve Jobs asserted, “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” Jeff Bezos advocates for customer focus, allowing for more pioneering work. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings notes, “Companies rarely die from moving too fast, and they frequently die from moving too slowly.” Ignoring disruptive trends can result in loss of market share, obsolescence of core products, and declining revenue and profitability.

For those wanting to dive deeper, recommended reads include “The Innovator’s Dilemma” by Clayton Christensen, “Zero to One” by Peter Thiel, and “The Lean Startup” by Eric Ries.

It’s important for us to realise that the change is constant and disruptive innovation isn’t just a buzzword—it’s a survival strategy. By understanding and embracing it, small and medium sized business leaders can stay ahead of the curve, create new markets, and drive meaningful progress. The choice is clear: disrupt or be disrupted. Do you agree?

 

Leading with Purpose and Authenticity

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Mastering your capacity to be the best business leader comes along with finding your purpose, being your authentic self, and most importantly, not worrying about what others think.

But living in a world where performance and competition are rewarded from a very tender age, it becomes increasingly challenging not to get affected by the opinions of others. So, when your concept of self is inherently built on the preoccupation of what others think of you, often individuals, who are leading a workforce of hundreds and thousands, get on an inauthentic, mediocre, and joyless road; a path that only takes one to ineffective leadership.

So, how do high-performance coaches help their clients achieve what otherwise seems incessantly difficult and how do Fortune 500 companies still thrive in high-stakes environments? Mindset-training.

In his book, Finding Mastery, Michael Gervais talks broadly about why training our minds is the most important step in designing, building and strengthening a self-concept that we think truly matters to us. Not to others, but to us.

He explains, that our mind is our constant companion, accompanying us wherever we go – to the pitching deck or the boardroom. It serves as the unifying thread, weaving together our feelings, thoughts, and ability to concentrate on the tasks at hand. Whether grappling with emotions due to losing clients or tackling an internal company conflict, our mind is the ever-present tool that guides us through. Here is how you can also train your mind to master any area of your life or your business. The three things it comes down to are,

Identifying the principles that matter most to you in your life. Be radically committed to it. Once you know what those are, hydrate them and keep them alive in your action.

Mental Training: The greatest trick you could play on your mind is to tell it what you want it to hear. Imagine it for it to manifest.

Deep focusing is what many neuroscientists and Yoga practitioners recommend, but it is another way of refocusing. Keep coming back to what your purpose is and bring the focus back to it. Every time you get side-tracked by life’s or business challenges, deep focus and realign your mindset and actions with core principles.

In the end, mastering leadership comes to tune into your signals and strategically refusing to entertain noise by others.

We explore more about leadership and Innovation in Help to Grow Management:

Help to Grow: Management Course | Kingston University (kingstonuniversitybusinesstraining.com)