When discounting chain Lidl was about to enter an Eastern European country’s market, a leading supermarket was facing disruption. To solve this, the company heads asked its store managers to improve its talent management practices, so that the high employee turnover ratios could be reduced. While this worked at the store level, there was no major change at the profitability of the company. The supermarket chain merely managed to reduce its corporate training costs, but no discernible increase in its revenues. This clearly proves, that it is nearly impossible for team leaders to wear both their ‘people hat’ and their ‘profitability hat’ together. The leader is never infallible, but like any other position, would have his/ her flaws. The X360 is a tool used to unmask such blind spots in a leader. Post company transformation, it is a common occurrence to see the profitability- oriented leaders lose a lot of old hands. Organizations must thus get humanized using this process.

Source:https://knowledge.insead.edu/leadership-organisations/how-leaders-can-maximise-their-impact-10711

Uploaded Date:06 February 2019

A strong leader is one who can influence his/ her team members to perform better, and instils a sense of loyalty. While there may be a sense of fear among people, several rungs below on the hierarchical scale, this is purely out of an intolerance towards mediocrity. Management training programmes conducted by executive coaches for the company leaders often falls short in two parameters. One is that the coach often accepts that the shortcomings in any team may be purely due to the incompetence of the team members, and not the leader. Another is a futile attempt at toning down the fear quotient. This goes badly as such transformations are not sustainable and because it leads to frustration when one needs to compromise on the high standards set. Instead, coaches must strive to building complementary skill sets among the executives. This will help utilize the traits that work well, while muting the ones that may simultaneously have the opposite impact.

Source:https://hbr.org/2018/10/why-leaders-need-to-cultivate-complementary-strengths?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=hbr

Uploaded Date:06 February 2019

There are four kinds of leaders who are expected to thrive in the ongoing Fourth Industrial Revolution. The first group are the Social Supers. These are the kind of people, who believe in their social initiatives to transform the society. Then there are the Data- Driven Decisives. These are people who strongly believe in sound data warehousing, to be later used for decision- making. There are also the Disruption Drivers, who love exploring the unknowns, towards innovation. Talent Champions, have an eye for the true talent. Theybelieve in corporate training programmes in order to develop their existing personnel. These inputs emerged out of a Deloitte study on business readiness for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Source:https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/01/these-four-leadership-styles-are-key-to-success-in-the-fourth-industrial-revolution/

Uploaded Date:02 February 2019

The Third Path Institute is a non- profit form, that deals with the best practices that lead to a work- life balance, especially for business leaders. Contrary to the popular perception, and the image touted by the likes of Elon Musk, Mark Cuban and Tim Cook, this group believes that work- life balance is not a myth for the top performers. They even conduct the Pioneering Leaders summit, where the best talent management practices are discussed. Their strategies include the ‘vacation checklists’ or things to do, when taking leaves from work. Some practices have been identified by different leaders, which can ensure the continuation of such work- life balance, while continuing to prosper at the work place. To start off, one needs to learn how to work differently. Whatever is the plan, one need not deviate from it, but believe in the same. Once set, one needs to speak up to ensure, it is kept up. This plan needs to include a pointer, to keep, family priorities always on top.

Source:https://hbr.org/2018/12/you-can-be-a-great-leader-and-also-have-a-life

Uploaded Date:25 January 2019