Author Archives: Larry Janis

Changing workplaces call for a new type of leader

Lisa-Sterling_jpgBy Lisa Sterling

Developing effective and empowered leaders is one of the most important things an organization can do to ensure the successful accomplishment of its goals, whatever they may be.

That’s because leadership influences nearly all aspects of a business, such as the selection, engagement, and retention of talent, customer loyalty, and overall brand perception and influence. Yet despite its importance, many companies seem to struggle with leadership development.

Perhaps the biggest reason for that struggle is the new and varied set of behaviors and skills today’s leaders need to be effective. One of the worst mistakes any organization can make is to base its promotions or leadership decisions on tenure. Simply being a long-serving veteran of the organization or a star individual performer does not automatically make someone a candidate for leadership or demonstrate they have the necessary commitment to the role, the team or the company.

In today’s ever-evolving and increasingly complex environment, effective leaders must be able to guide staff through moments of uncertainty, be a trusted source for honest and open communication, and encourage and inspire their teams to take risks without fear of failure. As Deloitte notes in its 2017 Global Human Capital Trends report, leadership is increasingly about the challenges leaders face rather than the “art” of leadership. And those challenges are many. (more…)

Organisational Politics Can Be an Asset to Strategy Execution

michael_jarrettby Michael Jarrett

Identifying the types of political behaviour in your organisation is the first step to using it for positive change.

Dysfunctional politics can sink an organisation, but it can also be a force for good. This makes many executives frown, but the reality is that politics is normal – and too often a hidden barrier to effective strategy execution. In fact, without it, some strategic changes may not be possible.

Political behaviour allows differences to be shared and methods to be employed in strategy execution that go beyond the rules and norms of the organisation. Thus it’s important for leaders to understand the forms it can take and how they can harness it.

While we would be naive to ignore the potentially destructive nature of politics, when deployed effectively it can actually help the company meet its strategic goals and live up to its values, especially during change efforts.

Defining politics

Organisational politics refers to a variety of activities associated with the use of tactics to influence or improve personal or organisational interests.

Studies have shown that those with political skills do tend to outperform their politically naive counterparts. However, political behaviour is relative. It is implicit in many cases. For example, it may be the case that a manager or leader needs to exert a large amount of pressure on a team to get something done by using the power of their position over others. It is also occasionally necessary for employees to work behind the scenes to build coalitions of believers in a new vision. Politics is driven by the conditions of scarce resources, social and structural inequalities and individual personal motivations.

Thus, the first step to using politics requires executives to map their organisation’s political landscape and understand the sources of political capital they have.

 

The political terrain

Most organisational maps are characterised by four metaphoric domains; the weeds, the rocks, the high ground and the woods. Each has a different set of rules for skilful navigation.

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The Biggest Mistakes New Executives Make

 

sabina-nawazby Sabina Nawaz

Organizations invest a lot of time and money in hiring the right CEO or senior executive to set a vision and make the changes in their company. Yet within the first 18 months, there’s a 50% chance the executive will leave the organization. This failure comes with enormous costs, not only in disruption to the organization but financially, too. One estimate puts the cost at 10 times the executive’s salary – sometimes more.

The reasons these individuals leave are many. They often cite poor cultural fit, inadequate onboarding, or the lack of appropriate expectations. But in reality, many new executives inadvertently set themselves up for failure within the first few months of their tenure through their own actions.

As an executive hired from outside the firm, you’ll naturally want to add value and assure your employers and employees that you are the right hire. But based on my work helping executives transitioning into new organizations, I’ve discovered common traps new executives tend to fall in, even as they try to solve problems, make decisions, and improve the company. Fortunately, there are ways to sidestep these traps so you can assimilate successfully into your new organization. (more…)

Sales Leader, RPA-West Coast

iStock_000005061098XSmallOur client is a provider of advanced Robotic Process Automation software that powers the intelligent process automation solutions offered by the most technology advanced BPO providers and Shared Service Organizations. Their mission is to provide a state-of-the-art platform for software robots and help their customers develop an agile robotic workforce.         

 

Summary

The Sales Lead is the executive responsible for finding and developing new business in the High Technology Sector, focused primarily on the US west coast. The Sales Lead owns the end-to-end sales process, including sourcing, managing the solution, structuring and closing new logo client sales; he/she is also excepted to develop and manage a team to support the expanding business.

Responsibilities

  • Overall executive responsibility for High-Tech sector sales
  • Formulating and executing the sector sales strategy
  • Qualifying leads and continually developing a new sales pipeline
  • Identifying and developing value propositions appropriate for the High-Tech sector
  • Communicating with and winning the trust of highly technical client executives
  • Planning for, facilitating and attending client meetings and presentations
  • Understanding the political and organizational structure of each client
  • Developing comprehensive opportunity plans that assist pursuit team members in understanding client value drivers
  • Managing all internal deal reviews and approvals

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Commercial Sales Executive

iStock_000005932499XSmallOur client provides tools to businesses to improve their cash flow through a proven system that helps companies recover money owed to them. In business since 1970, they serve more than 60,000 businesses, including small businesses, banks, hospitals, retailers, universities, cities, and manufacturers – virtually any organization that accepts checks or extends credit. They have recovered three times more money than their competitors at a fraction of the cost.      

Summary

The Commercial Sales Executive is responsible for new logo acquisition in the commercial business segment; primarily utilities, financial services and communications, but extending to all verticals other than government, education or healthcare. (more…)