Culture is the only truly sustainable competitive advantage and is at the root of delivering strong long-lasting business results.

Many leaders under pressure, look at their business purely through a short-term evidence and measurement based lens. Remembering the Wendy’s fast food chain TV commercial of the 1980′s, it begs the question “Where’s the beef?”.

Executives often embark on “programs” or “initiatives” to improve performance but are only conditionally committed to them.These “programs” usually fail to deliver on expectations or projections over the long-term. Hence the question “Where’s the beef?”

Part of the reason for disappointing results is leaders often fail to realize that success is largely tied to the underlying culture. Culture is where the beef is. 

Culture is also the  magic differentiating sauce that is crucial to having any chance of long-term success. Short-term opportunistic or hot products can and OFTEN DO deliver short-term results, but without a strong culture companies seldom endure.

Research carried out by the Carnegie Institute of Technology revealed that 85% of a company’s financial success is due to skills in human engineering, ones personality and ones ability to communicate, negotiate, and lead. Shockingly, only 15 percent is due to technical knowledge and competence.

But working on human engineering and culture brings challenges.It is very very difficult. It is often viewed as being soft and fluffy but we believe this view is a defense mechanism that many executives use to avoid facing reality.

Consider how many companies are unhappy with their performance AND their culture. Paradoxically this in and of itself provides evidence as to how important and how hard this soft stuff is.If it was easy,people would not shy away from it so much.

The work in this area requires discipline, effort and a willingness to confront and challenge many of our personal beliefs. When leveraging external resources it also requires delicacy, compassion and authentically understanding what is at stake for people in making change. There needs to be massive levels of trust, confidence, maturity and courage for all involved.

Personal change involves knowing and conquering our fears. It is probably the most difficult undertaking for all of us. Many times the change needs to be trans-formational.

The pace of change can vary. It often it occurs one conversation at a time,  one executive at a time,one team at a time,one region at a time,one division at a time and finally one company at a time.

We recommend that this kind of work begin with individuals and in small groups and build from there. We also recommend beginning at the TOP of the organization.

Are there stakeholders in your business ecosystem asking “Where’s the beef?”  If there is, you better go to work to serve some up or the consequences could be very unpleasant.

Every company has a culture or a way of doing business.The traditional route or method for the initial formation of the culture is generally linked to the values and traits of the founder. Often times these values and traits are codified, documented and publicly displayed. They are then used to define or bring clarity to the behaviors that are expected of all employees. Once vigorously enforced in the formative years, particularly when facing difficult decisions, people learn real fast what behavior is expected and what ones will not be tolerated.

For companies that no longer have the founder in place the culture often morphs towards a culture aligned to the new values of subsequent CEO’s. Other companies never document their original traits and values so do not have a clear foundation to work from.

The point of this post is that, each company has a culture and we would contend that the company will have a better shot at high performance if they create the culture on purpose. All stakeholders like having a clear understanding of who they are dealing with, what are the norms of behavior and what the performance expectations are.

A company having an authentic declaration of the values that defines how they will do business, is arguably one of the most powerful contributions to a company having minimal bureaucracy and politics within the organization. Companies that fail to do this, are essentially feeding the enemy within and unwittingly building avoidable complexity that becomes a drag on performance. Many regard complexity as the silent killer of companies analogous to heart disease in human health.

We encourage leaders that if their culture is not optimal today, that they should  build their Culture on Purpose. It may be a little daunting at first, but the rewards are always worth it.

Take a look at Southwest, Jet-Blue, Nordstrom, Wholes Foods, the NEW Ford Motor Company, even IBM as good examples of businesses that have strong actively and well managed cultures.

Over the Christmas and New Years period I was at a few parties. (Maybe even a few too many). What was very noticeable at these gatherings was that there was three consistent topics of conversation.

1. The Newtown Connecticut killing of 20 children and the resultant gun control debate in the US.
2. The US fiscal cliff and the dismay with politicians and the political system in general.
3. The fact that almost every business struggled through 2012 . Followed by the belief that 2013 and beyond looks the same if not worse.

Most people are expecting and getting ready for a 2013 of slow to no growth and continued pressure on margins. Many are projecting that there will be a number of years like that.

At the early stages of the economic downturn  I wrote a blog and developed the image below to represent the typical business response to challenging economic times. It is quite apparent that a significant number of companies began with the retreat approach and MAYBE some progressed to the accept and entrench approach.

There is ample evidence that this is the case as large corporate enterprises sit on large piles of cash and are extremely reticent about spending or investing. While defensive approaches are understandable to a certain extent, the underlying strategic belief behind such a strategy is that ‘all we have to do is wait it out until the growth returns or until our competitors fail’.

Problem is that this strategy is not going to work. The reason is, that we are four years into this global economic downturn, and there is little confidence that there will be any appreciable increase in economic growth around the world for the next few years.

My belief is that growth tends to  hide lots of sins and bad practices. I have always said that you don’t have to be great or even good to do well in a growth environment. All you have to be is better than average, well financed and well positioned.

In a slow growth environment however, unless there is obvious industry consolidation opportunities that leads to the elimination of a competitor, reduction in capacity and increase in scale, then there is only one other option. It is to commit to building a culture that is authentically committed to innovation and excellence.

I am not talking about feigning commitment to excellence like we have seen for the last 20 years. I’m talking about meaningful change that reduces bureaucracy and politics, increases openess and reduces protective behaviors driven by fear.

If you are having strategic planning sessions this year, I encourage you to create the conditions for a differing set of conversations than in the past. Use the above model if you’d like, to see what characterizes your companies strategic response to the recent downturn. Then ask yourself is there an alternate approach and what would that look like.

We wish you all the best for 2013 and beyond.

For years I have been struggling to come to grips with how to explain the concept of Heart and Soul. People constantly use it yet there does not exist any great concise outline of how to explain it.

What does it mean precisely when someone says that he or she represents the heart of soul of the group. Or he or she put his heart and soul into making that product or process work. What thoughts, feelings or images do these types of phrases invoke in you. What are the word associations that pop into your mind. If you are like most people there may be some thoughts of passion, spirit, effort, dedication, and commitment.

Very seldom do we hear any mention of the head in these kinds of declarations. Yet when we hear or speak of business success we are bombarded with metrics and statistics mostly produced (in the head) by left brain thinkers that believe unless it can be quantified or measured it is not real.

There does however appear to be a shifting movement over the past few years to bringing back more of an appreciation for the humanities and a desire to expand beyond the limited view of left brain thinking. People appear to be interested in developing a deeper appreciation and understanding of some of the less quantifiable or less tangible elements of what makes people and society tick and what makes a business successful.

Based on countless hours of thinking and reading I decided to try to give a broad definition of head, heart and soul as relates to the role they each play in the business leaders psyche.

 The Head – Represents the logic and understanding of the tangible.

The Heart – Represents the wisdom of the intangible

The Soul - Represents the spirit of the unknown.

I am not interested in talking about the head as I think most people have a clear appreciaiton that our brain is used for logical reasoning based on the data inputs it receives. I am most interested in going a little deeper into the concept of Heart and Soul.

I like the idea (shared by many) that the heart is where the wisdom is. We hear lots of people say in times of indecision “Listen to your heart”.

The heart has a very strong and palpable connection and association with nature, power and being alive. It is also linked with courage and bravery e.g. the heart of a Lion, and thus so leads us to have thoughts of passion and energy. I believe also that the heart is where our conscience and compassion lies as suggested by the term ” I didnt have the heart to tell him “.

As for Soul, few would argue that the term soul conjures up ideas of a spirit force. Soul is mentioned in many religions but even aetheists I talk to are open to the idea that there is some sort of a spirit world. Some explain it by using reference to Karma, others quote quantum physics, string theory and the belief that we are all just made up of pieces of energy. Of course people of faith speak of a persons soul as directly representing a persons spirit.

In most of these conversations there is a certain air of mystique and a significant feeling of the unknown and maybe the unknowable. It suggests to me that there is some cosmic force that connects and binds people together.

From a business perspective, the concept surrounding Heart and Soul is directly related to the Culture and unique identity that a company has.

Culture IS the only truly sustainable competitive advantage of any business. The stories and evidence over the past century should really leave little doubt in peoples mind that this is the case. For those that may have lingering doubts all they need do is think of a time when their favorite sports team had their highest level of performance. Clearly competence and capability are always important but it is chemistry and culture that provides the NUANCES that get the extra bit of magic that delivers performance at the highest level.

Do YOU have a Culture that is contributing to your competitive advantage. If not, the sands of time will work against you and MAY render you obsolete and extinct.

Take a look around sometime and see how much of peoples time and energy is spent talking about and engaging solely on problem solving.

People dissatisfied with current situations or conditions either because they dont match current expectations or have shifted away from the prior status quo.Part of the unsettling thing for many people is that the dynamic world that we live in is in a perpetual state of excitation and nothing ever stays the same.

It is important to reflect and be honest about where/what the source of motivation is for whatever you commit your energy to. Those that are driven by and speak the language of problem solving very often spend the majority of their time looking backwards for data and information to fix something NOW for NOW.

Problem in many cases is that while it satisfies the desire to be productively engaged i.e be busy and feel accomplished, it is highly likely to at best just be maintaining the status quo or getting back to an old desired state.

What is worse is that when overly relied upon, it has the likelihood of getting your company to be left behind.

There is an alternate and it relates to shifting from the concept of SOLVE to EVOLVE. At its core, this really is about shifting the way we think and subsequently how we act or behave. The EVOLVE thinking is in the realm of innovation and while the majority of companies throw the ‘Innovation’ word around alot, very few actually are able to get their culture to be truly innovative. What is required is for companies to begin to confront and be honest about the underlying environment that exists within their organization. While it goes much deeper this, below is a high level outline of the typical environments that are associated with a company that is dominated by a problem SOLVE mentality versus an alternate environment dominated by an EVOLVE mentality.

SOLVE : Reactive; harried; celebrates the hero;high levels of control;lots of data to highlight groups performance; looking back constantly;lots of blaming;impatient; low trust;fast talking; meetings begin with lots of energy and jump straight into the problem; little to no quiet time; a handful of people dominate the meetings; you have to fight to get your point heard; whoever can shout the loudest wins; lots of politics and competition for people seeking approval and the hero badge; people tend to be protective and will often withhold support or commitment for chosen solution and essentially sabotage the situation.

EVOLVE : More thoughtful;calm; reflective; open to inputs from all; always looking forward; spirit of possibility; inclusive inputs welcome from anyone that feels that they can contribute;no bad ideas; meetings begin with clear purpose being established and environment is set so that the mood is such that ones brain can actually get to be in a create mode; people build on the ideas of others; extremely high TRUST;teams form and collaboration becomes the norm; challenge is seen as constructive;

Well, you get the picture. I have personal experience of both of these environments and guess which environment delivers the best long term results. Without question, the EVOLVE one.

So what kind of environment do you have within your company and if you are unhappy with what you have what would you do to change it.

As a newly minted US Citizen I feel particularly more patriotic on this national holiday of July 4th.

After returning from a business trip to Europe where I visited Poland during the European Soccer Championship Finals, Euro 2012, I gave witness to the palpable energy and pride as citizens of varying nations embraced and celebrated their national identity.

As I sit here on this day in the US, the country that is the symbol of the free democratic society and a model for others to follow, I find myself with an underlying feeling of sadness for what I sense has been lost in this great country. Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks, captures my sentiment perfectly in his post called An Open Letter: How Can America Win This Election?.

It is gratifying that after coming back to be CEO of his company, he is committed to leveraging the brand and its exposure to help contribute to re-awaken the American consciousness to be mindful of our collective obligation to:

1. Re-commit to take care of our communities.
2. Re-energize the spirit of the country, in spite of many politicians (similar to many corporate leaders), who aggressively pursue their own selfish, partisan and short term needs.
3. Give life to the American Dream for the next generations that deserve better opportunities than are currently available to them.

If we need models to follow, let’s listen and support people like Mr. Schultz. It is worth a read and You get a FREE Starbucks TODAY !!

http://www.starbucks.com/indivisible 

This type of leadership and vision reminds me of Bill Ford and Alan Mulally at the Ford Motor Company. They undertook a massive turnaround that shifted the company and it’s people. You can download the paper here:

http://www.bvgintl.com/ford-motor-company-study

(We had the honor of Alan Mulally (Ford CEO) himself read the paper and praise it for it’s accuracy and insights into what he and his whole team were able to create.)

We all live in this large interconnected and interdependent world and it is easy for it to seem that our voice just is a part of the indecipherable noise in a world where we all have been conditioned to have short attention spans and many individuals in powerful positions are obsessed with getting their own needs met, often at the expense of others.

This day could be one where we begin to reflect on what it takes to RECLAIM the spirit of the USA and make it a day where we celebrate a Day of Inter-Dependence.

I encourage you to find your voice and please join in whatever way that makes sense to you.

A few weeks ago a colleague of mine told me of a movement or group called Wisdom 2.0 that is 3 years in existence and whose charter it is, “to explore how we can live with deeper meaning and wisdom in our technology rich age”

It turns out that this organization is making significant progress in having some important conversations. They are creating greater awareness of some of the perils that may lie ahead for society if we don’t pause a little from time to time and be mindful of how we can be our best selves in the world and for the world. They attracted a varied number of prestigious speakers to their annual conference in Silicon Valley in February 23^rd and 25^th 2012. There were many executive representatives from companies such as Google, Facebook, Twitter, Ebay, PayPal to name a few, but the speaker that surprised me the most was a Congressman from Ohio named Tim Ryan.

Congressman Ryan is on his fifth term in the House of Representatives and has just written a book called “A Mindful Nation “that comes out in April 2012 “How a simple practice can help us Reduce Stress, Improve Performance and Recapture the American Spirit.” His views on mindfulness and the potential benefits to society are very powerful. He speaks of influencing school systems, health care systems and such organizations as veterans affairs and generally help build mindfulness  into the main stream of society.

I then had the good fortune to meet and briefly chat with Congressman Ryan at a meet up in San Francisco on March 18^th 2012 and we spoke a little about the economy and business practices in the US. We spoke very specifically about Industry in the United States and of how improving the way we conduct business by having a more sustainable, long term and balanced view can enable the revitalization of the American Dream, which seems to be dying for so many people.

We spoke of some companies such as the Ford Motor Company that have become one of the beacons of hope in terms of helping people to believe again in the American Dream. In 2005 it was a distressed company, then was hit with the deep recession of 2007 and after a transformational change initiated by Bill Ford and led by CEO Alan Mulally, they came back with such resurgence that it proves that people, under the right conditions and leadership are capable of achieving remarkable things.

What I like about the language that Mr. Ryan uses is that it is balanced, practical, sensible and grounded. He speaks of living an integrated and fulfilled/happy life where work has its place as does having time with our kids and our family, not to mention taking care of our own health and well being. He speaks of this being attained by being really Present as much as possible, at the work place, in our schools, in the home and in general with our families and the communities in which we live.

So, watch out for his new book, It sounds very promising. If it ends up as being as grounded as Mr. Ryan seems to be, it could be worth a read and of value in helping us all live a more integrated and fulfilled life at work and at home.

There is no doubt in my mind that long term high performing companies pay attention to creating the conditions for success and that happy and fulfilled people will create a culture that is difficult to compete against. Isn’t it time for America and the Western World to recommit to getting back to this sustainable way of working. The majority are crying out for it.

We here at the Business Value Group are working hard to do our part to contribute ideas, energies and efforts to help us all move forward. Our bias happens to be that Better Business leads to a Better World. There is great honor and pride in people finding meaningful work that contributes to healthy societies. We are here to do our part, and will be continuing to work to influence and drive positive change in our free enterprise and capitalist system.

It’s the beginning of 2012, the world has NOT ended yet and many put on their game faces to get ready for the New Year. As people embark on their next adventure in life, I am compelled to share a perspective that many found helpful in 2011, it revolves on the premise that NOBODY CARES!!!

What a chilling thought that is for so many people, the idea that nobody cares. Well they don’t, or at least not as much as you THINK they do. While there are exceptions, I believe that it is sage advice to reflect, think and be open to the premise that people simply do not care about your challenges anywhere near as much as you would like or expect. The reasons are multifaceted but mostly center on the fact that they have too much of their own stuff to focus on.  People are so absorbed or occupied with their own self-interest that your needs or concerns simply do not register high enough on their priority list.

I have been continuously working in various differing capacities for 20+ years of my professional life on fixing or improving organizational and business performance in some way or another. As an active agent and student of life within these businesses, (or living systems as I refer to them,) I have constantly encountered people telling “THEIR STORY”, their version of events or their excuses for why something did not get done. Many, do this as a simple expression of frustration about not getting THEIR needs met or getting their own way. The underpinnings for many of these, often centers on the avoidance of responsibility, the search for sympathy and sometimes the request for permission to fail. These behaviors or actions often suggest a low level of personal and situational awareness about what is really taking place in their environments. The act or process of telling ones story is often a vehicle to assuage ones current anxiety, but the benefits are only short-term at best.

However, it doesn’t stop there. After people essentially give their power away with this practice, something else happens. The stories progress to the next level and complaining begins. Complaints in the workplace (the primary focus of this blog) cover issues such as lack of resources, poor systems and tools, bureaucracy, politics, incompetent leadership, poor strategic vision or lack of executive support. Really it can be any number of things that enables people to feel that they can project blame onto others and deflect attention away from themselves.

This in the end causes many people NEVER to face up to the reality as it really is. Neither do they confront what their own contribution is to the issue that they are complaining about. The most common resultant outcome of complaining is that it leads to frustration, anger, resentment and it may cause people to disengage or give up the quest to work at making things better. The outcome sometimes may even be that people resort to begin colluding with a system, culture or environment that is broken. They essentially become an embedded part of the dysfunction they refer to, after having found a way to operate within it. They may in some cases, create a temporary and artificial safe haven of fellow complainers or people that are also disenfranchised. In this community, people tell each other whatever they want to hear and they share in their collective misery. According to them, people outside their group are to blame. So their desire to be right (the root of many disputes) is served and they can all be right together, while others look on and see things completely differently than them..

Well here’s the KICK and get used to it.  NOBODY CARES. As I said at the outset, nobody cares about your story as much as you do or as much as you would like them to. The MOST that you can reasonably expect in the majority of cases is the courtesy of a temporary sympathetic listening ear. You might also get some reflection or feedback on whatever actions you have in mind (if in fact you actually have some plan of action in the first place, which very few complainers have). In rare cases you may experience empathy and advice or suggestions/directions as to how to proceed and that along with the sympathy may be enough to satisfy or sustain you, until the next session of complaining begins. Very often though, much of this complaining transcends the workplace to friends and family who generally have absolutely zero ability cause anything to change.

Be aware and don’t be misled. This practice of storytelling and complaining is wholesomely unproductive and in the majority of cases is a royal waste of time. This is partly because the people that you complain to (i.e. those that are actually willing to listen) often have no power, interest or ability to influence or change things. In fact it can set you off on a very negative and unhelpful path. This path can lead you to being labeled as a complainer or anti system individual as opposed to a doer that invests energy in trying to fix or improve whatever it is that you are complaining about.

So the choice is always yours. If a situation exists that disappoints you, do you choose to look at it from as many angles as possible, be open to the fact that you MAY actually have contributed to the problem. Do you suspend judgment and authentically explore how to make it better, OR do you do like so many and just look to judge, apportion blame, deflect attention and absolve yourself of any obligation to work to make things better.

Get Real and Take Charge

So what is one to do? The most important first step in any challenging situation is to recognize what is happening and learn to see what it is that you are doing or not doing. Then begin to take ownership and responsibility for your role in whatever it is that is bothering you and stop complaining. Next then is work to understand the situation as much as possible by looking at it with a fresh and objective perspective (easier said than done). It helps if you get to a state of emotional detachment (again a very difficult task) and maybe even get some HONEST inputs as to how others see this situation and your role in it and explore with you options for moving forward.

Perhaps the greatest contextual advice after that can be derived from what has become known as the serenity prayer written by Professor Reinhold Niebuhr in 1943, the most common form of which is:

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.

But whatever you do, don’t deceive yourself about what it is that you are doing (by complaining) and what is going on. Try to get to a state of being where you can let go. The world is full of people that will disappoint you, so as opposed to viewing challenges through a negative lens, I suggest that you think of this approach as reality based thinking. As a great friend once said to me, try to shift from being disillusioned to being  DE-ILLUSIONED. You simply see the reality in a new light and make more intelligent or thoughtful decisions as to how to move forward. If it fails the first time, try again and again, and again, as success only comes after you never quit or give up in whatever it is that you are most passionately committed to.

Good Luck !!

As a long time supplier, partner and customer of H.P. and a great admirer of this companies past history and success, I find it difficult to sit and watch what has been happening over the past number of years.

Rather than embark on a judgemental crusade and criticize the varying leadership of the past regimes (including the board), I think it is important and more helpful to provide a differing lens through which to view where H.P. currently sits in its corporate journey. Lets look at the model below.

It has become very evident over the past few weeks/months that H.P. was still struggling to architect a way forward out of its current downward spiral. It appeared to me that there was not a sufficient appreciation at a macro level as to where H.P. was in its company evolution. This resulted in not being able to develop an approach that could provide sufficient confidence on a way forward.

So looking back to the founding of the company, I decided to view the company evolution through a series of crisis points. All companies go through certain crisis points and each company has their own particular and unique history.

I have loosely correlated the crises at H.P. to leadership changes and some other significant events such as an acquisition. Acquisitions or divestitures are significant events in and of themselves, as after each CEO change each new leader (in most companies) tries to put their mark on the company and get on another growth or differentiation curve. The evolving series of crises at H.P. are pretty self explanatory and I am convinced that H.P. is currently having a very serious crisis of identity.

How the new CEO, Meg Whitman recognizes and then handles this crisis of identity, will determine her success and ultimately the success of H.P. as a whole. A large company such as HP only has the resources or capacity or indeed the internal fortitude to handle so much change. Even currently the companies valuation and balance sheet are under significant pressure. Further declines and risk of de-valuation will unquestionably put H.P. in a prime position for being acquired or being the subject of a hostile takeover.

We are essentially watching history unfold. Will we see the successful transformational change of H.P. or will we give witness to the death of a great Silicon Valley institution which is unquestionably the father of Silicon Valley.

There is a definite and clear path forward in solving this identity crisis and I hope the current leadership has the courage, humility and faith to learn/discover it and then commit to implementing it. This is probably going to be THE most defining period in HP’s history since it’s founding. Like many I am rooting for its success.

In continuation to the previous Blog on what transformational change is, this Blog speaks to the conditions and competencies necessary to effectively execute a transformational change. Unfortunately, more often than not, transformational change is only embarked upon as a last resort when all else has failed. It often coincides with the capitulation point where people say “Well what have we got to lose?” or “It can’t get much worse” or other similar phrases. While there are countless examples of failures, there are many large examples of successful transformational changes in Corporate Enterprises in the US,

• Intel: In 1984 Intel shifted away from memory devices and into the microprocessor market when due to massive price pressure, they could no longer compete. Arthur Rock (the first VC to fund Intel) tells of how the company was at a very vulnerable financial state. He stated that management essentially made a bet the company move, had significantly large layoff’s and committed 100% to microprocessors, which he says was not as obvious then, as it looks to have been now.
• IBM: When Lou Gerstner took over at IBM in 1993, the writing was on the wall and IBM was not far away from going out of business. He was actually an outsider to the tech business but he truly knew what the difference was between a turnaround and a transformation plus he knew about how to have effective value based market and customer focused strategy. It took five years before they were getting their newly re-invigorated model began to reliably perform.
• Apple: Before Steve Jobs returned to the helm at Apple Computers (as it was known) in 1996 it too was in a treacherous financial state. It was ninety days away from filing for bankruptcy. Additionally, the organization and the culture was focused on its past glories. Its subsequent reputation for re-invention and innovational change since then is unparalleled. Notice that it did not occur overnight. It took several years before the new i-mac came out that began the recovery. Steve Jobs prior to his death had been at Apple this time around for 16 years.
• Ford : Almost bankrupt in 2006, the Ford Motor Company had to put the Ford Blue Oval brand up as collateral to get enough financing to enable Alan Mulally and Bill Ford to architect the most recent notable transformational change. This was executed in one of the most competitive, complex industries during the worst recession since the great depression. Again this was done with a leader from outside the industry, but like most transformational change leaders the Ford CEO epitomizes a transformational change agent.

Nowadays many executives are declaring almost like a slogan, that they are embarking on the transformational change of their company. Many make these declarations without ever realizing the real depths of what a transformational change really involves.

Additionally, there is a new executive level role emerging called the Transformational Change Officer. The problem is that very few people have the competencies and capabilities to be able to perform this job and many CEO’s and Boards do not create the conditions for success. There is also a great danger (unless the structure is designed properly) that this position can become a proxy for allowing the CEO and board to have someone to blame if things fail. Essentially they ensure they have a get out of jail free card. Senior executives that have a deep level of appreciation for transformational change are very scarce.  There is significant turnover at the CEO level as people search for people that understand the nature of such change but struggle
to find them. Part of the problem is that boards continually look for safe low risk options and in many cases do not go deep enough to understand exactly what
kind of a person is really required. Prior success during growth stages of a business teaches little about managing a transformational change. Getting the person with the right skill sets is even more important than picking someone from within the industry. Given the general poor appreciation of what is involved in transformational change, it is not surprising that poor hires are made.

Just as dangerous for the long term sustainability of a company, is the overuse of financial engineers disguised as turnaround or transformational
change agents. Too seldom does financial restructuring alone lead to successful turnarounds. They rarely solve systemic issues at root cause level or create the conditions for a prosperous culture for a long term sustainable and vibrant organization. These activities related to
financial engineering services do however provide a tremendous source of large fees in the short term for external companies/consultants, which actually has led to the creation of the turnaround professional association, which is marketed under the banner renewal. While many do great work and provide desperately needed capital sometimes, transformational change as in the examples noted above needs a lot more that just addressing the short term
viability of the enterprise.

So what are some of the competencies/capabilities of a truly capable Transformational Change leader?

Here is the beginning of a list:

• Exceptionally business savvy (knows how to diagnose the problems of any business model in any industry),
• Is mature, courageous, visionary, humble,(no inflated Ego), intelligent, intuitive,
• Is a systems thinker and comfortable with complexity and ambiguity,
• Is a great communicator and  good at simplifying complex concepts,
• Possesses  patience, energy, enthusiasm and passion,
• Is a good listener, builds trust quickly, maintains confidences, is decisive and consistently exercises good judgment.
• Has  a deep appreciation for change at an individual and large scale level

It is important to also note that change is managed through a process and there are many consistent distinct phases and stages. However every change has its characteristics and exhibits its own unique challenges, so being able to adapt and be creatively flexible can often make a big difference.

So if you are considering a transformational change, I advise you to pay particular attention to the leadership that you engage/employ. It is one of THE crucial keys to success.