A recent study was conducted on the S&P 500 companies’ CEOs to understand what exactly makes some of them exceptional. The study encompassed this substantial sample, but focused on the top five percent who had managed to steer their companies’ shareholder returns by more than five-hundred percent. Three lessons emerged as pivotal in establishing these leaders in the top positions of the chart. Firstly, it was realized that most of them were outsiders. External hires were twice more likely to take the bold decisions as they could steer clear of internal politics more easily. These top CEOs were also adept at maintaining organizational balance. When they became CEOs, they had several options to choose from to convey digital transformation. They could have opted for cost-reduction programmes, mergers or acquisitions, geographic expansion, new product launch, managerial reshuffle or even an organizational redesign. But most significantly, they chose to opt for a review of the corporate strategy. This does require some trade-offs such as cost-cutting in low-priority projects to free up resources.

Source:https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/what-makes-a-ceo-exceptional?cid=other-eml-ttn-mkq-mck-oth-1712

Uploaded Date:06 February 2018

Leadership has generally been understood to be a function of mobilizing subordinates to perform better. The leader must thus be adept at honing team skills, talent recruitment to ensure proper team composition, building trust and managing performance. However, a study conducted by McKinsey has clearly stated that beyond managing down, an effective leader also needs to perform the same upwards and sideways. Horizontal and upwards engagement is in fact more important for business and personal career success. Functions to engage with senior leadership involves a focus on the bigger issues, orientation towards the returns and working with service suppliers. Horizontal talent management encompasses skills such as storytelling, role modelling and walking the halls.

Source:https://www.mckinsey.com/global-themes/leadership/why-effective-leaders-must-manage-up-down-and-sideways?cid=other-eml-ttn-mkq-mck-oth-1712

Uploaded Date:06 February  2018

In a recent book titled Athletic CEOs: Leadership in Turbulent Times, the concept of effective leadership is explored but from the viewpoint of emerging markets. Certain leaders have been feted for their ability to maneuver past disruptions and ensure an engaging transformation. Those leaders tend to be pragmatic but explore business innovations that will add value. They do not believe in conventional management hierarchies but forge strategies with room to grow. They are excellent at talent management, as instead of guiding team members at each level, they simply maintain a vigil and intervene only when needed. These leaders hog the limelight. Under normal circumstances, this would not be considered a quality, but in this case, them getting all the attention keeps the pressure away from others to perform their tasks quietly. Those like Eugene Kaspersky, also act as figureheads and motivators to the rest of the team. These athletic leaders are publicly loyal towards authorities but follow the concept of feeding and milking. This involves paying all legitimate taxes, but ensuring this forges good connections, so that they get implicit support of regional authorities.

Source:https://knowledge.insead.edu/leadership-organisations/five-practices-of-the-most-change-ready-leaders-8181

Uploaded Date:06 February 2018

The Penguin Random House has come up with an excellent recent book on leadership titled The Captain Class. This is authored by Sam Walker. He wanted to find out the greatest sports teams’ DNA and what separated them from the others. So, he went on a data warehousing spree, collecting information about top sports teams in the NBA, English Premier League and field hockey in the Olympic games. He finally came down to the conclusion that all these teams were driven by leaders who had the single-minded focus to win things above all. The book also provides anecdotes on how these leaders and subsequently the teams overcame some of their toughest challenges such as the 1957 NBA finals involving Bill Russell or the explosive game between Real Madrid and Barcelona involving Luis Figo playing for the former. A lot of these leaders were not the archetypal athletes, or great speakers, but simply those who were influential, often from behind the scenes.

Source:https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/243390/the-captain-class-by-sam-walker/9780812997194/

Uploaded Date :06 February 2018