The list of distinguished delegates and speakers who gathered in the outskirts of New Delhi for the IRC APAC Summit included 1mg Technologies CEO Prashant Tandon, who championed simplicity as a guiding principle for business processes and innovation. Delegates brainstormed and formed a consensus on what it takes to excel in a world of growing complexity, how to develop resilient teams, anticipate future knowledge needs and transform organisations to be future-ready.
At the IRC EMEA Regional Meeting in London, delegates offered guidance on how to align individual and organisational values, make leaders “future-fit” and organisations “future-ready”. David Haley, Senior Vice President at global outsourcing services provider Atos, emphasised the need to develop talent and leverage technology to prepare for a more competitive and complex future.
The IRC Americas Summit in San Francisco featured Harvest Time Partners Founder David Esposito, who described specific tools that enable organisations to become more effective and resilient. Astronaut Steve Smith contributed cosmic perspective, likening a C-Level executive’s exploratory role to the environment of extreme unknowns faced by cutting-edge scientists pushing the limits of human knowledge.
1. Lead with Integrity, Values and Vision
The three regional IRC summits drew similar conclusions about future-ready leaders and the character traits they share. Future-fit leaders, all agreed, convey a clear vision and a sense of purpose, supported by personal integrity, enthusiasm and commitment. Future-ready leaders are curious, modest, good listeners and technologically savvy. They are also flexible, compassionate and culturally aware, but most of all, they are loyal to the guiding principles and values of the organisation they represent. They are capable of adapting strategy on the fly to maintain competitiveness and growth in a sea of uncertainty. Customer-facing experience and diplomacy are increasingly important skills of future-ready leaders.
An organisation’s vision allows it to promulgate its core values alongside the products or services it delivers, “the red dot on the horizon,” Ridder Group CEO Klaas van de Poppe called it at the IRC EMEA Regional Meeting. Organisations need to set their direction with a long-term vision while remaining nimble to adjust their strategy and fine-tune their course of action to overcome challenges along the way, he said.
Leaders who demonstrate in their everyday conduct that their personal values are aligned with those of the organisation serve to inspire their colleagues to do the same. Values and attitudes change over time, and leaders must stay connected to their teams to ensure the organisation’s values still resonate and employees don’t feel values are being forced on them. Dialogue is a vital part of sharing and transferring values.
Teamwork, mutual respect, innovation and trustworthiness are key guiding principles for any organisation aiming to maintain a high level of preparedness, Harvest Time Partners founder David Esposito told the IRC Americas C-Suite Summit in San Francisco.
Every member of an organisation, beginning with its leadership, should consider five fundamental questions for the sake of clarity and alignment, Esposito said, namely:
- What is the purpose of the business?
- Why does it matter?
- How do we behave?
- What needs to be done?
- What is my role?
Answering these questions allows every team member to internalise their organisation’s core principles and mission, laying the foundation for its achievement.
2. Champion Transparency, Open Communication and Appropriate Technology
“Leadership starts with a dream and the effective communication and transfer of that dream,” noted 1mg Technologies CEO Prashant Tandon in conversation with IRC Global at the APAC Summit.
An organisation’s vision, it’s mission and core values need to be reinforced continuously in internal and external communications. This should begin with the first interaction between a company and a prospective employee, for example, and continue throughout their tenure, to ensure values are aligned.
Future-fit leaders are clear, honest and transparent in their communication with team members, and never attempt to hide the truth. They are also attentive listeners, taking care to include all points of view, including those they oppose.