#64
Unleash Your Inner CEO
Jeremy Blain
Today’s guest has undertaken some interesting and unique work in organisational leadership. Jeremy Blain is the Chief Executive of PerformanceWorks International – an organisation that accelerates business and workforce transformation through award-winning training, hands-on consultation and executive coaching.
Jeremy is the author of The Inner CEO – Unleashing Leaders At All Levels. It is an excellent piece of work which focuses entirely on developing leaders right across an organisation; not just at senior levels of management.
Jeremy challenges leaders to define and implement strategies around digital and human capital change within businesses, and – more than anything else – make sure they are fit and ready to be the right kind of leader for their organisation.
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Summary
02:40 Workplace practices and culture were due a big change
- The pandemic has accelerated the changes in the workplace
- Before the pandemic, almost half the companies in the UK didn’t ever consider remote working
03:50 Jeremy’s background
- He started his career in sales at Proctor & Gamble
- He ran his own business during the dot-com bubble burst
- Jeremy then became a consultant on the operational aspect of businesses
06:51 Some common traits Jeremy sees in the leadership landscape
- 20th century leaders are often resistant and struggle to transform, and 21st century leaders know they don’t have all the answers and have to learn at a fast pace
- There is a narrowing gap in capabilities between the executive team and the rest of its organisation
09:12 On writing ‘The Inner CEO: Unleashing Leaders at All Levels’
- It came from noticing that there was a significant knowledge gap in existing research and publications
- Many leaders focused on just digital transformation – when they should have focused on an entire organisational transformation
- ‘The Gig HR’ is the rise of the independent workforce
14:55 Why gig economy workers should be more networked in organisations
- The largest demographic coming into the gig economy today is Generation X , aka “leaders in waiting”
18:42 Henry Mintzberg’s idea of emergent strategy
- ‘Emergent strategy’ refers to unintended patterns or consistencies in the behaviour of organizations over time, as distinct from their planned or deliberate strategies
- “One CEO is not enough”
- We need to be more ‘how-focused’
23:10 What makes great leadership
- It delivers great people, great profitability and great productivity
- The rise of asynchronised working
- Great companies like Spotify and Nike have moved away from performance management into performance support and encourage experimentionation
- According to Spotify, the secret is chaos – “that’s where the magic happens”
26:12 How Jeremy’s insights can help company’s retain great talent
- There is a disconnect between employees and leaders believing that they are ready for the future
- We need to focus on creating a culture of empowerment
- Jeremy has written his book as a practical how-to manual
- Empowerment is not about doing more
30:40 How to ensure high performance through a supportive role
- Recognise and reward targeting behaviours as much as the results
- Create pyschological safety
- There are two types of empowerment: stepping up and stepping out
- “Be enablers, not supervisors, of the process”
36:19 How public service frontline organisations can embrace performance support
- Frontline workers are ‘owning’ what is happening on the frontline
- The British Army is a great example of an organisation which transcends mission command and control
42:02 Mindset shifts needed for traditional CEOs
- There is a triple transformation: digital and the workplace environment, a more empathetic approach to leading, and keeping up with the pace of change
- Consider distributing leadership across your organisation in a more strategic way
46:01 On authentic leadership
- Jeremy calls it ‘the enlightened leader’
- Embrace that you are not the smartest person in the room
- Gucci went through a journey of rediscovery, empowering their frontline employees to share ideas with the top e.g. the Gucci Life campaign
50:14 The opportunities of working with multiple generations
- Diversity and inclusion has come to the forefront, including having a multi-generational mix
- Over 60% of people leave a company because of their boss – not because of the company
- We need a more empowered and flatter structure
55:42 The most important traits and skills for leaders
- Human-centered skillsets are the most in need, e.g. empathy and relationship-building
01:01:09 Representation amongst the workforce
- Diversity isn’t enough – we need representation
- “Are you representing in a way that’s right for your business, your purpose, and your people?”
- According to Jeremy, a better word for ‘Inclusion’ is belonging and involvement
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