7/17/2019 Heart2011

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/heart2011 1/4

From the Editor Thought Leadership

Welch of General Electric, recognizedthat repetitive shrinking squeezes thelife out of companies and that the pro-cess of lifting productivity had to beconducted hand in hand with drivingtop-line growth.

  So what do the studies of successfulleaders of growth companies tell us?Sharam & Tichy highlight four points.Successful leaders are acutely aware

that:

1. No company is too big to grow2. No industry is 100% mature3. No market is safe4. No company is too successful to fail

  At the personal level, these leadershave the will and ability to change the“old genetic codes” of their organiza-tions, the DNA that shapes the dynam-ics and quality of the performance.

They change the “genetic codes”by ensuring that:

1. Business development iseverybody’s responsibility

2. The leadership determines thegenetic code

3. Leaders develop leaders atevery level

  Leaders for Growth are driven bythe belief that any company can grow,

no matter what its size... there arevirtually infinite opportunities... andbeyond!

Ed Norman

Leaders Learning for Profit ®

Leadership for Growth“To infinity... and beyond!”

Buzz Lightyear, Toy Story, 1995 

Head & Heart is a collection of ideas, resources and frameworks to support your personal andprofessional development in leading yourself, others and organizations with head and heart.

Dear Readers,

  How many of us have sat through(or led) management presentations

that describe your company’s futuregrowth in number-packed power pointslides?

The numbers seem to tumble downout of nowhere and rather than stimu-lating us into meaningful and alignedaction, we are often left feeling frus-trated or disconnected from the mes-sage and the messengers.

  If you’re not satisfied with how you

and those around you lead growth inyour company, find some quiet timeand review our latest Head & Heart –Leadership for Growth.

  I’m confident that you’ll gain someimportant insights on becoming abetter caretaker for your gardens ofgrowth.

Enjoy your read!Dan Norenberg

Spring 2011

  Growing a business has become ahot topic and will continue to be formany years to come. Leaders recog-nize that they must focus not only onoperational excellence but also ongrowth. Incremental gains in marketshare will not be enough to secure afuture. The stark reality is that if yourbusiness is not growing, it is dying.If your business is not growing, yourpeople are denied the joy of growth

in their work and in this central part oftheir lives, they are quietly dying too.Managing growth is fundamental toan energized organization.

  The pre-downturn strength of econ-omies made almost everyone lookgood. The reckoning of these pastthree years for many has been brutal.Many will not be able to recover andgrow. And there will be more down-turns in the future. The survivors willbe the ones who understand the se-crets of growing profitably.

What are the drivers of profitablegrowth? There has been a dramaticshift in approach to managing growth,from the zero-sum mentality, in whichgrowth only happened on paper,driven by financial engineers with afocus on cost cutting, downsizing andrestructuring, but with no real under-standing of the business and whatwas needed for it to thrive. This led

eventually to the realization that thisapproach did not secure sustainablegrowth, merely short term survival.The champions of growth, such as Jack

&HeartHead

Look Inside

• Leadership for Growth

• Growth: A Different

Kettle of Fish

• The End of Growth

• Word Watch:

Growth & Creativity

• Personal Growth forOrganizational Growth

• Questions for Growth

7/17/2019 Heart2011

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/heart2011 2/4

Point of ViewLeading Self

In the organizations I work with, Ioften see emerging leaders facingthe same challenge. To date in theircareers they have been successful“individual contributors” – technicalexperts doing tasks well under closesupervision from their manager.

  It is when they step up to lead oth-ers that the demands multiply. A com-mon complaint from emerging leadersis a lack of time. While the tasks theyhave are relatively easy, with all otherpeople and issues competing for theirattention, it is hard to find time.

  This is a prime example of whereemerging leaders can take a leaf outof the design engineers’ book. Thechallenges they face have nearly al-

ways been faced by someone else.The questions they need to ask them-selves are: Who else in our organiza-tion has/had this challenge? Who doI know outside that faces/faced thesame issues? What can I learn fromthem?

  Emerging leaders who see time asa constraint, who look outside them-selves and who ask questions, can starttheir own reverse engineering project.Then the challenge gets meaningfuland rewarding, often for the leadersand the business.

Steven Hunt 

  A well-known rule of thumb is thatit takes 10,000 hours to become anexpert in a specific discipline. If this isthe case, why do so many aspiring kidsfail to become sports stars? Because itis not just knocking the ball around inthe park. It is 10,000 hours of focused,persistent, disciplined practice that

will turn you into a Messi or a Mara-dona. It’s what you practice as well ashow much you practice.

  Those who achieve mastery alsopossess intense desire, driven by astrong sense of purpose in what theyare doing. They feel that their work –in this case, practicing – is meaningfuland rewarding. It is the same in anywalk of life.

  Ask a young mechanical engineer

whether he would like to design carsfor Ferrari. He’d jump at the chance.An opportunity to work with some ofthe world’s top car designers is notlikely to be turned down quickly.

Although not everyone can work atthe top – there’s a limit to how manyengineers Ferrari needs – the oppor-tunities to grow and do meaningfulwork exist for everyone.

  For a mechanical engineer, a reverseengineering project can be just as ex-citing. Mercedes recently challenged agroup of academics to design a con-cept car. The two requirements wereto maximize internal capacity and fuelefficiency. The academics looked toMother Nature and more specificallyto the boxfish. Despite its largeness,the boxfish is extremely aero-dynamic.The resulting concept car broke newground for Mercedes growth intodeveloping more environmentallyfriendly cars. This is how resource con-straints can drive people on to createnew growth.

Growth: A Different Kettle of Fish The End of Growth

Leaders Learning for Profit ®

Head & Heart Spring 2011

  It is interesting to note that prior tothe downturn, there were many busi-nesses who knew that their bubblewas going to burst, but seemed help-less to do anything about it.

Why do bubbles burst? They burstbecause as they grow, increasinglymore amounts of energy are put intogrowing the bubble than keeping theever expanding surface of the bubbleintact. Some survive by finding equilib-rium between inflating the bubble andmaintaining the right size.

In human terms, the energy thatmakes the bubble bigger is people,their vision, drive, ingenuity, passion,dedication and commitment –  the very

qualities we want to see in our lead-ers and employees. Prior to its crash,Lehman Brothers was an organization“on fire” with passion and success,but, very sadly, accelerating into thebuffers. They were blinded by hubris,trying too hard to “expand” and notinvesting in the “maintenance of theirbubble.”

  Every market runs on a life cycle andso does every business, in a sequence

of:

  1. Ramp up  2. Rapid growth  3. Mature stability  4. Gradual decline

  A business does not have to go intodecline as long as its leaders look be-yond their bubble, stay alert to thedynamics of their business and mar-ket cycles, continuously assess wherethey are and cultivate responsivenessthroughout the organization to adapt.

Ed Norman

Sources of growth for emerging leaders  “All growth trajectories followa life-cycle.”

– Robert M. Tomasko – 

7/17/2019 Heart2011

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/heart2011 3/4

Spring 2011

was a between-module call to checkon progress on individual learningobjectives. The participants were shar-ing success stories and one womantold of delegating a task to a teammember whom she supported to ul-timately create a fantastic result. The

leader at first said she was disappoint-ed that the result was as good as shecould have done herself and she felt“unnecessary.”

I asked if she had given her teammember some support and guid-ance, which she had, of course. I thenasked her if she had had difficulty find-ing something to do in the time shesaved by delegating and of coursethe answer was “goodness no! I foundplenty of things to do which I normally

might not get to.” I asked how it feltto support a team member in learningand growing and she said it felt quitegood, even if somewhat new.

The point is that, up until this mo-ment, she probably believed that her“right to lead” was based on know-ing more than her team. Once shere-framed and understood that sup-porting the growth and developmentof her people is one of her most criti-

cal functions as a leader, she began tosee her experience in a new light. Shegot to activities she normally wouldn’thave – activities that probably re-quired her to learn and grow as well.This is true win/win synergy: personalgrowth and organizational growth.

  What are your personal learning andgrowth targets for the year? What arethose of the people whom you lead?As the saying goes: “If you’re notlearning, you’re not growing.”

Michael Couch

  Leaders are rarely asked to main-tain the status quo in an organization.While growth targets and measure-ments are different from one organi-zation to another, what is common isthe expectation on leaders to achievegrowth. This reality begs a simple

question: how can an organization

grow if its people do not? We all lovedto learn and grow as children and this

doesn’t stop with adulthood.

  Leaders who believe that there is adirect correlation between the growthand learning of the people they leadand the overall growth of the organi-zation create sustainable growth. Thewhole is the sum of its parts – an orga-nization can only sustainably grow asfast as its people.

  I recently took part in a telephoneconference involving members of amulti-module leadership program. It

Personal Growth for Organizational Growth“The growth and development of people is the highest calling of leadership.”

– Harvey S. Firestone

Leading OthersWord Watch

  According to T+D Magazine, cre-ativity is one of the top leadershipskills and characteristics needed tolead growth in the 21st century. 

In the early 1960’s, polymath ArthurKoestler explored the interconnectedprocesses of creativity and imagina-tion. He concluded that humans are

most creative when rational thoughtis abandoned. Furthermore, all peoplehave the capacity for creative activitywhen taken out of their routines.

Building on Koestler’s ideas, my dic-tionary “app” defines creativity as theability to transcend traditional ideas,rules and patterns… to create mean-ingful ideas, methods, etc.

  A few years ago Apple introducedthe iPhone with the novel idea of

“apps” (software applications) to beused exclusively on their own phones.The iPhone set the benchmark for“smart” mobile communication. Andwithout a competitor in sight.

A year later, Google partnered witha new maker of apps called Androidto use on its mobile devices. TheAndroid-Google system is based onopen-source software, unlike Apple’s.The result: the non-exclusive Android

is now the world’s best-selling smartphone platform.

  It seems someone at Google founda way to transcend their rational ideasto creatively react and as a result growin the post iPhone world of mobilecommunication.

The next time I feel stuck in a rou-tine of thought or behavoir, I’m goingto look for a situation that will kick meout of my routine and then be open tothe meaningful ideas that result.

Tim Nash

Growth & Creativity

Leaders Learning for Profit ®

Head & Heart

7/17/2019 Heart2011

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/heart2011 4/4

Leaders Learning for Profit ®

to develop an emotional mindset forgrowth.

  This begins when the leadershipteam sets aside significant periods oftime to think about growth opportu-nities and industry evolution. Leadersask questions of themselves and theirpeople to understand the personal

emotions evoked by the growth agen-da. People are encouraged to sharetheir feeling during open debates.Although senior leadership sketch-es the business case for growth, it iseven more important how these se-nior leaders ask questions and listen

to the respons-es shared bypotential par-ticipants in thegrowth agen-da. It is throughthis question-ing processthat peoplefeel heard, feelneeded andfeel that they

can contribute in a meaningful way tothe agenda for growth.

  Growth requires a transformation ofyour business culture and simply re-writing business plans won’t get you

there. But coupled with a passionatepicture of the future and heartfelt,generative listening skills lived by se-nior leaders, this will certainly add toyour success.

Dan Norenberg

  As leaders shift their ambitions fromcrisis management to growth agen-das, we clearly see that some organi-zations are able to grow successfullyand sustainably while others are not.

  Are there “critical success factors”that allow a select few to plan and ex-ecute on their growth agendas while

others fail to grow because they can-not or will not address these factors?

  In the “Alchemy of Growth,”Baghai, Coley & White share threecore aspects to ignite growth in yourorganization; Firstly, gain the commit-ment of the se-nior executiveteam, secondly,raise the bar bysetting ambi-tious targetsand thirdly, re-move organiza-tional barriersto growth.

  While humangrowth and organizational growth areanchored in change, organizationalchange is a rational process (rewritethe processes, reallocate the resourcesor redesign the organizational chart);Human change is an emotional pro-

cess and a highly personal one, too.

  In order to successfully create andexecute on their growth agendas,leaders must encourage and stimu-late key players in their organization

Questions for Growth

Leading Organizations

Editor Dan Norenberg • Layout & Design Andreas Westerbarkey, SmartCreativity

Contributors Michael Couch, Steven Hunt, Tim Nash, Dan Norenberg, Ed Norman,

Mirja Schmidl • e-Mail: info@nvision-learning.com • Internet www.nvision-learning.com

Telephone +49-(0)89-30 63 22-0 • Fax +49-(0)89-30 63 22-99

Head & Heart appears quarterly.

This issue published May 5th, 2011 © N Vision Learning Solutions GmbH

Franz-Joseph-Str. 12 / Das Gartenhaus, D-80801 Munich, Germany.

Amtsgericht München HRB 114 102, Managing Director: Dan Norenberg

All rights reserved.

Food for Thought

“The only limitation to growth is

your imagination.”

Günter Wille (1943 - 93) former CEO, Axel Springer Verlag

Head & HeartSpring 2011

Leadership Facts and Figures 

According to a Booz & Companysurvey of more than 1,800 executives,conflicting priorities foil company

growth. Most execs (52%) don’t feeltheir company’s strategy will lead tosuccess; two out of three respondentsadmit that their company’s capabilitiesdon’t fully support their strategy; onlyone in five (21%) are fully confidentthey have a right to win; and the ma- jority (64%) agree that their companyhas too many conflicting priorities.

Executives report that their biggestchallenges are (a) ensuring that day-to-day decisions are in line with thestrategy (56%) and (b) allocating re-sources in a way that really supportsthe strategy (56%). Booz & Company, January 2011

Challenging Situations?

  What challenging situation wouldyou like us to deal with in a futureissue of Head & Heart? Get ourperspective.

Send us an e-mail at:headandheart@nvision-learning.com We will of course ensure that your chal-lenging situation remains anonymous.

“I never learn anything talking. I only learn things when I ask questions.”– Lou Holtz