The ideal leader is a person who builds
internal and external partnerships.
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In a recent study we interviewed over 200
high-potential leaders, asking them to
describe today’s ideal leader. The results
were clear. The ideal leader is a person who
builds internal and external partnerships.
Internal partnerships include direct
reports, co-workers and managers.
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Partnering with
direct reports. Traditional “bonds”
between employees and organizations have
changed. Employees no longer expect that
their organizations will provide them
with job security. As security has
diminished, so has blind loyalty. Most
high-potential leaders see themselves as
“free agents,” not traditional
“employees.” Their ideal leader is a
person who develops “win-win”
relationships and is sensitive to their
needs for personal growth and
development. In return, they feel a
responsibility to deliver value back.
They see the leader of the future as
their partner, not their boss!
Managers of knowledge workers—people who
know more about what they are doing than
their mangers must be good partners.
They won’t have a choice! If they are
not great partners, they won’t have
great people.
-
Partnering with
co-workers. Successful leaders will
share people, capital, and ideas to
break down boundaries. Since the CEO is
rewarded by the success of the
organization, the CEO knows that people
need to be shared so that they can
develop the expertise and breadth needed
to manage; capital needs to be shared so
that mature business can transfer funds
to high-growth business; and ideas need
to be shared so that people can learn
from both successes and mistakes.
While these advantages are easy to see
from the vantage point of the CEO, they
can be difficult to execute. Leaders
will need to develop skills in
negotiation and “win-win” relationships.
They have to learn to share people,
capital, and ideas. In some cases, they
may choose to experience a short-term
loss, so that the organization can
achieve a long-term gain. In the past,
many leaders have competed with
colleagues for people, resources, and
ideas—and been rewarded for “winning”
this competition. In the future, leaders
will need to collaborate as partners
with co-workers.
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Partnering with
managers. The changing role of
leadership will mean that the
relationship between managers and direct
reports will have to change in both
directions. Many leaders will be
operating more like the managing
director of a consulting firm. They will
be partners leading in a network, not
managers leading in a hierarchy. At the
consulting firm McKinsey and Company, a
Director may often have less detailed
knowledge about a client than a more
junior partner. Leaders are trained to
challenge their managers when they
believe that the direction they are
being given is not in the best interest
of the client. This philosophy teaches
leaders to have very responsible
relationships with their managers.
Future leaders will work with their
managers in a team approach that
combines the leader’s knowledge of unit
operations with the manager’s
understanding of larger needs. Such a
relationship requires taking
responsibility, sharing information, and
striving to see both the micro and macro
perspective. When direct reports know
more than their managers, they have to
learn how to “influence up.”
Outside the
Organization
Leaders must also partner
with customers, suppliers, and competitors.
-
Partnering with
customers. As companies have become
larger and more global, there has been a
shift from buying stand-alone products
to buying integrated solutions. One
reason for this shift is economy of
scale. Huge retail corporations, like
Home Depot or Wal-Mart, do not want to
deal with thousands of vendors. They
would prefer to work with fewer vendors
who can deliver not only products, but
systems for delivery that are customized
to meet their needs. Also, many
customers now want “network solutions,”
not just hardware and software.
As the supplier’s relationship with
their customers continues to change,
leaders from supply organizations will
need to become more like partners and
less like salespeople. This trend toward
building long-term customer
relationships, not just achieving
short-term sales, means that suppliers
need to develop a much deeper
understanding of the customer’s total
business. They will need to make many
small sacrifices to achieve a large
gain. In short, they will need to act
like partners.
-
Partnering with
suppliers. As the shift toward
integrated solutions advances, leaders
will have to change their relationship
with suppliers. For example, more of
IBM’s business now involves customized
solutions incorporating non-IBM products
and services. While the idea of IBM
selling non-IBM products was almost
unheard of in the past, it is now
common—to the benefit of customers and,
to IBM itself. The same trend is
occurring in pharmaceuticals and
telecommunications.
In a world where a company sold
stand-alone products, partnering with
suppliers was not only seen as
unnecessary, but unethical! The
company’s job was to “get the supplier
down” to the lowest possible price to
increase margins and profitability.
Today many leaders realize that their
success is directly related to their
supplier’s success. In fact, some
include commitment to suppliers as one
of their core values. They seek to
transcend differences and focus on a
common good—serving the end user of the
product or service.
-
Partnering with
competitors. The most radical change
in the role of leader as partner has
come in partnering with competitors.
Most high-potential leaders see
competitors as potential customers,
suppliers, and partners. Most
organizations that rely on knowledge
workers have varied and complex
relationships with competitors. When
today’s competitors may become
tomorrow’s customers, the definition of
“winning” changes. People have memories.
Unfairly “bashing” competitors to ruin
their business could have harsh
consequences. While competitors should
not expect collusion or unfair
practices, they should expect integrity
and fair dealing.
The six trends toward more partnering
are reinforcing each other. As people
feel less job security, they begin to
see suppliers, customers and competitors
as potential employers. The fact the
leaders need to learn more about these
other organizations, build long-term
relationships, and develop “win-win”
partnerships means that the other
organizations are even more likely to
hire the leaders. This is often seen as
a positive by both organizations. As the
trend toward outsourcing increases, it’s
difficult to determine who is a
customer, supplier, direct report,
manager or partner.
The leader of the future will need to be
skilled at managing these relationships.
In many ways, telling direct reports
(who know less than we do) what to do is
a lot simpler than developing
relationships with partners (who know
more than we do). Working in a “silo” is
simpler than having to build
partnerships with peers. “Taking orders”
from managers is simpler than having to
challenge ideas that don’t meet customer
needs. Selling a product to customers is
simpler than providing an integrated
solution. Getting the lowest price from
suppliers is simpler than understanding
their complex business needs. Competing
with competitors is simpler than having
to develop a complex
customer-supplier-competitor
relationship.
The challenge of leadership is growing.
Many traditional qualities like
integrity, vision, and self-confidence
are still needed. But, building
partnerships is becoming a requirement,
not an option, for future leaders. LE
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amin@aiminlines.co.th
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