You’ve taken on a new challenge or you see big changes ahead for your organisation and its people. You know that the trajectory towards success begins with you and how you lead.
Developing the right business strategy is one thing. The trickier part is leading people to real agreement so strategy is put into effect. How will you instil confidence when there are good reasons to be uncertain? How do you mobilise everyone to be ‘one team’ when the demands of business and stakeholders seem to tug in different directions?
Fundamentally, your ability to lead is based on the quality of relationship each person believes s/he has with you, regardless of culture, professional expertise or education. Does s/he trust you?
You must also be adept at navigating the human and moral dilemmas inherent in resolving differences in culture, ambition, background in order to create shared purpose and alignment.
You must first know your talk and then consistently walk it.
This type of leadership rapidly takes you beyond a technical focus into new territory, both personally and professionally. And it’s a path you don’t have to walk alone.
Her approach enables you to integrate the different elements of your make-up into a ‘symphonised’ way of leading – which is entirely your own. She will challenge your thinking and assumptions so you create a framework for understanding and solving problems that properly serves you and the people you lead. A framework to harness not just your own power but the power of the many around you.
Bob McDougall, Vice President – Sales Operations, South East Asia, Asurion.
“Meeting with Ruth over the past year has provided me with an invaluable break from my busy routine to share challenges and gain a fresh perspective. She is an excellent listener who is able to provide powerful and often elegant insights for problems ranging from maintaining focus and setting goals to management situations. An hour with Ruth is time well spent, no matter how busy I am.”Melody Sheridan, CFO Asia Pacific, Asurion.
“Leading through difference, rather than despite difference, is what makes the difference.
The most successful businesses are the ones with high levels of engagement around a shared mission, which gives people’s individual efforts meaning.
Developing leaders who can establish the environment for this shared mission to be created and lived by each person in the organization is the focus of my work. This begins with deepening the leader’s understanding of themselves and all that they bring to their role. The exciting part is when leaders truly challenge their own thinking and perspective on the value and power of diversity in the team. That’s when amazing things happen.”
Ruth brings over 20 years experience to enable senior business leaders to develop an integrated approach to leadership: one which engages the whole person and establishes a different level of thinking and operating – and the ability to inspire the same in others, regardless of their background or culture. Her personal experience of working across difference is significant having coached a huge variety of people over her 20 years in the field including leaders of $billion-plus revenues, people returning to the workforce or changing career, first world and developing world business leaders, profit and not-for-profit and everyone in between.
Her approach builds on the positive drivers and values which have underpinned your success to date and combines deepened self-awareness with very down to earth strategies to establish your unique and ‘symphonised’ leadership style. The outcomes are enhanced resilience, adaptability, personal power and greater wisdom in your decisions and actions. She is also a skilled facilitator of value-adding, yet challenging conversations within leadership teams to establish shared purpose, values and guiding principles to navigate change.
Previous clients include Cisco Systems, BHP Billiton, Sun/Oracle, Telstra, BT Financial, Baxter Healthcare, Swisslog and Asurion.
Ruth understands the challenges leaders face working in fast-changing and culturally diverse environments, leading virtual / distributed teams. Her clients are typically senior executives from around the world who are navigating change either for the organization or for themselves as they transition into new roles.
Leading through
DIFFERENCE,
rather than
DESPITE
DIFFERENCE ,
is what makes the
DIFFERENCE.
The most successful businesses are the ones with high levels of engagement around a shared mission. Microsoft: “a pc in every home”. Unilever: “creating a better future every day”. Such organisations tap into the multiplying effect of the power of many by giving people’s individual efforts collective meaning and direction.
Leading an organisation like this involves building the environment or ‘holding space’ for a shared mission to be created and lived by each person. The foundations for this holding space are trust and an openness of heart, mind and will. Fundamentally, a leader leads through the quality of relationship or connection they establish with each person, regardless of rank, education, age, location (isolation) or culture.
Learning to lead like this is a journey – one which begins with harnessing the power of one – our own power. We must be grounded in our own being, our values, mission, beliefs – and blind spots. The journey quickly takes us into the lives and lands of others and the power of many, as knowing ourselves entails understanding and honouring how we are different. This is where we become adept at navigating the human and moral dilemmas inherent in diversity and can start to shape shared meaning.
I believe there is an imperative to develop leaders who inspire shared meaning ACROSS difference and not BECAUSE of difference. Our most creative and hopeful future lies in a world lead through shared meaning which is inclusive, not one which binds people by defining who is excluded. In an inclusive world like this, solving our most complex issues becomes possible.
I help develop such leaders by meeting them ‘where they are at’ on their leadership journey, guiding them to clarify their long-term intention as leaders which shapes both overall trajectory and next steps and then enabling them to address current challenges from this new perspective. Together we uncover the some very powerful and deep-seated levers which can be reset to generate enormous change in relationships, culture and the future they are creating- for themselves, the business and all the people they influence.
The power of one and the power of many go hand in hand. It is a self-reinforcing system. As we stretch ourselves in any one area, we deepen our awareness in others.
When exploring the power of one, most people get stuck or choose to stop when they have created a more positive internal dialogue and feel more comfortable in themselves. The current business paradigm generally provides sufficient reward for people operating at this level to feel pretty successful.
The courageous or curious ones keep digging further. The more we dig into ourselves the more we discover about others and from that empathy grows.
We then enter a different way of relating to people that truly shakes up our world view as we discover what gives validity to their (perhaps opposing) position. Take for example the people who negotiated the Good Friday Agreement between the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and the UK. Their first step was to discover what they had in common: the deep fear they felt for the future of their children.
This is a major crossover point between the power of one and the power of many as we then start to see problems differently. Some things stop being problems at all when we realise we have been focusing too narrowly. We start to take into account different view-points and needs when we think about solutions, which means we start to address issues at a systemic level.
We never get to the power of many without the power of one being firmly established.
This sheds light on the experience of many people, who eagerly engage with the huge amount of insight and expertise available on how to lead. They feel they have been ‘enlightened’ and rush to put their learning into practice. They then become disappointed or feel inadequate because they are unable to turn their new understanding into sustained practice. I believe that the integrated nature of the elements of good leadership is not fully understood and pre-requisites to new skills are assumed to be in place (a simple example is having the beliefs and self-awareness in place to ensure your first nano-second response to your ‘empowered team member making a mistake’ is what you would consciously choose).
I help develop such leaders by meeting them ‘where they are at’ on their leadership journey, guiding them to clarify their long-term intention as leaders which shapes both overall trajectory and next steps and then enabling them to address current challenges from this new perspective. Together we uncover the some very powerful and deep-seated levers which can be reset to generate enormous change in relationships, culture and the future they are creating- for themselves, the business and all the people they influence.
It’s an amazing journey and one I invite you to share with me.
When embarking on any journey where you know the risks and rewards are great, it makes sense to have a guide.
Ruth McCance is guide, confidante and coach to help you stay on track, develop your uniquely symphonised leadership style and build leadership fitness on the way.
The process is directed by you, based on what you’re trying to achieve and the opportunities or challenges in the way of fulfilling that. So getting this clear at the outset is very important.
Our work together will follow an overall structure and flow. The specific roll out will be tailored to your world to ensure insights and strategies can be applied straight away.
To discuss your leadership journey, contact Ruth
At the same time, you know you’re stepping into the unknown. The race is on to come up to speed and make a difference, yet experience tells you that acting too quickly will burn relationships or risk finding yourself spending valuable time and energy backtracking later.
There is risk for the person making the appointment as the company needs the leader to succeed. Have they picked someone with not just the right skills and experience, but the interpersonal and cultural nous to fit in? Someone who will ideally catalyse positive changes throughout?
The Induction Coaching Program during the first 120 days in role sets the foundation: guiding leaders in transition in establishing right relationships, discerning what’s truly important to learn about the business, negotiating realistic expectations, yet delivering value sooner than people hope.
In addition to supporting the leaders, the Induction Coaching Program is an essential support and partner with HR, aligning with HR’s induction and providing a natural lead-in to the HR talent program.
To explore how this could work for you or your organisation Contact Ruth
If you have are facing new challenges or wish simply to explore how you can grow as a leader, please get in touch.
Ruth’s promise is to engage with you wherever you are at on your leadership journey. Together we will uncover the some very powerful and deep-seated levers which can generate enormous change in your relationships and the future you are creating- for yourself, your business and all the people you influence.
ruth@ruthmccance.com
