Thanks for joining us for the third episode of The Amicus Leadership Podcast. We’ve got great conversations and insights into military and business leadership in bucket loads in this series.
This week we’re talking to John Deverell, CBE, CEO at https://www.thepreparedmind.net (thepreparedmind.net)
In this episode John shares his insights from three decades in the British army and years of experience in a number of high profile roles across the private and public sector. We talk about the importance of trust in leadership and how effective delegation is a powerful addition to your leadership toolkit.
Make sure to subscribe now so you don’t miss an episode.
Let’s get going…
Thanks for joining us for the second episode of The Amicus Leadership Podcast. We’ve got great conversations and insights into military and business leadership in bucket loads in this series.
This week we’re talking to Graham Elliott, CEO of https://www.azuruw.com (Azur Underwriting Ltd).
Graham has had a very successful career and during the conversation he shares some fantastic insights into his leadership philosophy and experience. In this episode he talks to us about leading by example, why it’s so important to trust your team and why you should be nurturing different personalities too.
Make sure to subscribe now so you don’t miss an episode.
Let’s get going…
Thanks for joining us for the first episode of The Amicus Leadership Podcast. We’ve got great conversations and insights into military and business leadership in bucket loads in this series.
This week we’re talking to Paul Ford, Founder and CEO of Operational Risk Data and Intelligence business, https://acin.com (Acin).
Paul talked to us about his growing business, how he mobilised his team whilst also building capital and why leadership has played such an important part in his career to date, both in the military and the start up world.
Make sure to subscribe now so you don’t miss an episode.
Let’s get going…
Grant Thornton continuously research and survey what is happening in the workplace.
Their latest programme included asking over 800 women at work what life was like for them during lockdown and how it has affected them.
The survey results which will be published in full shortly were discussed on a Podcast and Grant Thornton TV where the guests were; Elaine Gray Partner – Carey Olsen and President of the Guernsey Chamber of Commerce, Jennifer Carnegie President of the Jersey Chamber of Commerce, Carly Parrott Director – Opus Private and Grant Thornton’s Human Capital Advisory Director Susie Crowder.
Watch the discussion in full or go to Spotify Grant Thornton Channel Islands to hear the podcast, the headlines under discussion were:
- Businesses need to embrace flexible working to a much greater extent
- Employees needed to be trusted to work away from their office
- Much more investment needs to be made allowing flexible working to flourish
- An office culture with a 9 to 5 mentality is not part of the new norm
The survey results:
- 84% of respondents stated that their employer had sufficiently supported them during lockdown – 12.8% however felt that their employer did not support them sufficiently
- 21% of respondents suggested that they had invested as much as 40% of their working day in home-schooling their children, whilst 33% stated they invested up to 50% of their working day
- 41% of respondents stated that their productivity had diminished during lockdown
- 43.5% of respondents claimed that they were not granted special leave during lockdown (annual leave/sabbatical/unpaid leave, etc)
- 77% of respondents stated that they had suffered with stress
- 77% stated that they had suffered with exhaustion
- 70% stated that they suffered with frustration
- 51% stated that they suffered with loneliness
- 89.7% of respondents agreed with the following statement: “The increase in unpaid care and domestic work, job and/or income loss, and the implications of lockdown on mental or physical abuse are among the factors that may be contributing to higher rates of stress and anxiety among women”.
With economic pressures building, organisations will be keen to build some resilience back into their balance sheets. COVID-19 has accelerated “efficiency programmes” in an attempt to ensure the longer-term sustainability of the business. Meanwhile, (some zombie) businesses continue to be propped up by government support resulting in a likely further phase of closures in due course. This has resulted and will continue to result in a sharp increase in unemployment across most sectors, not least as we battle our way through a recessionary period on the world stage.
Susie Crowder, Director of Human Capital Advisory commented “We need a corporate agenda that supports a multi-stage life with multiple entry and exit points at different stages and ages. A greater emphasis on wellbeing and flexible working will play a significant role in building back better.”
Teams made up of people from diverse backgrounds (cultural, socioeconomic, gender, etc.) have the potential to respond most effectively to a crisis. Why is this and how do we go about realising the innovation capacity of diverse teams?
- The science behind diversity for innovation.
- CEO experiences of building diverse teams.
- Examples of success through diversity.
Join Amicus for an exclusive interactive webinar where we unpack why team diversity is so important for delivering innovation in a crisis.
Duration:
1 hour
What we’ll cover:
- The difference between macro-level (at the organisational level) and micro-level (at the team-level) diversity.
- Research on the challenge and potential inherent in overtly diverse teams.
- The importance of overcoming our tendency to stick with what and whom we know (homophily).
- Understanding and integrating seemingly conflicting perspectives and ideas (frame-switching).
Amicus Limited is a specialist leadership consultancy focused on organisational health, resilience and performance improvement.
Panel:
Sir Peter Wall, Amicus Co-Founder, Former Head of the British Army
Peter has completed a full career in the British Army, retiring as its Chief in 2015. He led the Army’s most significant transformation programme for decades, whilst sustaining its operational focus. He is a co founder of Amicus.
Angelika Love, Amicus Associate, Social Psychologist (DPhil University of Oxford)
Having completed her Doctorate at Oxford University, Angelika is an expert on social networks, relationships across group divides, and the psychology of overcoming inter-group conflict.
Bal Bagary, Country Manager Barclays Singapore and CFO Barclays Asia Pacific
Having lived in Asia for the past 20 years, Bal is also a Board Member of Singapore Anti-Narcotics Association and a male mentor for the Finance Women’s Association of Singapore.
Sally Clark, Executive Coach and Associate at Pelham Street Coaching, NED at Metro Bank and Strategic Advisor at Regtech firm ACIN.
Recently embarked on portfolio career post 33 years in financial services culminating in Chief Audit role at an international bank. Passionate about people and their development, and about creating the culture and environment where they can all thrive.
Bukola Adisa, Founder, Career Masterclass
Award winning Senior Governance, Risk and Controls experts who has held leadership roles in global financial and professional services organisations
Currently the founder/CEO of Career Masterclass which is a platform dedicated to enabling the progression of Black and Minority Ethnics (BAME) professionals in the workplace. Through webinars, live events and the annual STRETCH conference, she teaches practical career tips to a varied BAME audience which has resulted in tangible career progress for the participants.
Recently listed in the 2020 PowerList which celebrates the achievements of senior professionals from an African background.
Sir Peter talks Best Practice for Control Functions within the First Line of Defence at the 1LoD Summit in London on the 16th November 2017.
Below is the latest article in the Bailiwick Express:
Jersey-based consultancy, Amicus Limited, has been announced as one of the 2018 Financial Times leading management consultancies.
The list reviews the top UK management consultancies across a range of sectors.
Over 8,000 firms were reviewed by survey firm Statista, using input from industry experts and clients, to compile the list of top companies.
Formed in 2014 by General Sir Peter Wall, the former Chief of the General Staff for the British Army, and Mrs Jennifer Carnegie, a senior executive with experience in the commercial sector, Amicus delivers bespoke leadership and organisational support to a range of blue-chip international clients, as well as Jersey firms.
Sir Peter, as Chief Executive, commented: “We are delighted to have been recognised as one of the top performers in our industry in the category for ‘People and Performance’. This is a real accolade and demonstrates our contribution and commitment to our clients.
“With our blend of military and commercial experience we have been able to offer bespoke solutions to help our clients thrive in an increasingly complex market place. At Amicus, we like to be seen as a ‘critical friend’ – experienced people you can trust and rely on to guide your future, as partners.”
Jennifer Carnegie, the Chief Operating Officer, commented: “Our strong results and the relationships we have forged with our clients have been key to our success and to our place in the Financial Times list of Leading Management Companies. We are very grateful for their support.
“Whilst we work internationally, as a company we never forget our home base. It gives us immense satisfaction to work with our clients and friends in Jersey, and we feel a real responsibility to share our expertise for the benefit of local companies and the Jersey economy.”
Amicus has been highly recommended by the Financial Times in the People and Performance category of it’s recent survey of management consultancies. The 187 best performing consultancies are listed from over 8000 included in the nationwide survey.
This is a great start to the year for us and reflects the commitment of our team and the expertise we can bring to assist businesses in getting the very best from their people. We have delivered real benefit to our clients in terms of alignment, organisational health, culture and leadership development, as well as supporting key leaders as critical friends. This has enhanced their business performance and employee engagement.
We look forward to making a real difference to our clients in the year ahead and would like to thank everyone for their support.
Click on the link below to read the Financial Times Special Report:
Whether you decide to adopt a control-based or a trust-based approach to the leadership challenges posed by uncertainty, communication is at a real premium when your people are unsettled.
This is the time to be crystal clear with employees and communicate your message frequently and consistently. They need to understand what you want from them, what might happen to them and, above all, they must be convinced you are telling them the truth. Empowering middle leaders to inform their own people through a cascade system builds confidence if it is done well. Open letters to all employees are also a useful fall-back if you can’t get the message to everybody in person in a timely manner – our people deserve to hear it from us first, rather than from the media.
Then get out and about and speak to people in person. Walk the floors and let employees talk to you, and challenge you with their fears and concerns. Truthful answers are vital – no matter how grim the news, they will respect your honesty.
We all think we are communicating enough, but invariably we aren’t – all of us have an insatiable appetite for knowing, repeatedly, what is going on. In awkward times, we must sustain the trust and hope of those who will be critical to our collective success.
I hope you have enjoyed these articles on Leading in Uncertain Times and I welcome any feedback. Thank you for staying the course. If we can help you on any of these topics do please get in touch.
In evaluating whether to opt for a centralised, more controlling leadership culture or a more enlightened, trust-based approach this comparison may be of interest.
Centralisation is the natural tendency of the cautious and risk-averse. It accretes apparent power to the senior leadership in an organisation, whilst denuding the organisation of its true power. In engineering terms power is the rate of doing work – and less useful work is done in organisations with a centralised culture. The ability of mid-ranking and junior leaders to optimise their impact and learn is significantly reduced. Such people lose their courage for the initiative and become dependent on being told what to do, and how to do it. Trust is often replaced by suspicion in this working culture.
Trust is a vital component of an empowered leadership culture. This type of leadership approach is harder to engender but the effort is well worth it. The most proficient organisations in the world sustain high levels of excellence through acquiring the most talented people, training them and nurturing their development. The very best of those organisations run on trust-based leadership. Trust is less costly than control and considerably more fruitful, provided you have good people who are crystal clear what they are trying to achieve and why. My experience of working in this type of organisation is that employees are emotionally healthier and more contented in their work, develop their own leadership skills better, will go the extra mile in a crisis, and tend to remain in the organisation for longer, recycling their experience in support of a stronger bottom line.
In the final part of this series, Part 6, I will address the heightened importance of communication at times of uncertainty.