Dear Petrus. Welcome to this edition of the Leadership Platform.
LEADERSHIP CONVERSATION WITH: Mardia Van der Walt-Korsten, CEO T-Systems
It is only appropriate that we hold a leadership conversation with a woman leader, seeing as it is woman's month.
Two years ago I wrote my first article about Mardia Van der Walt-Korsten, CEO of T-Systems and former Businesswoman of the year. At the end of that article I stated: "Towards the end of 2008 T-Systems SA was way over their targets set for the year. 2009 will of course be the real test. But, with her positive attitude, which at a fundamental level is one of looking at what she receives in life, rather than looking at what she does not receive, I will place my bet on the T-Systems team." Did my bet pay off?
Over the last two to three years they have moved from being a 600 million revenue company to becoming a close to 3 billion revenue company; 600 employees to almost 2700. Five years ago when she became CEO their challenge was that they were shrinking and becoming irrelevant in their market space. They set a target to achieve 1 billion revenue by 2010, which they achieved by 2008. By 2010 they doubled their 1 billion revenue to 2 billion. All this happened in the middle of a recession.
They needed to expand their footprint, become a known entity and build scale in order to serve large customers like Transnet, Sasol, Eskom, government and so on. The big leap was the acquisition of Arivia.com, following which they became the number one ICT Outsourcer in the market.
Of this acquisition Mardia reveals: "it was a huge challenge, but it is something we are very proud of". Like with all acquisitions there were challenges because at least 15% reductions in staff had to happen due to overlap in responsibilities, especially at managerial levels. And, they preach values and therefore had to stay focused on aligning actions with these values, to set the tone for the culture of their much larger organisation, rather than destroy it.
They decided to be incredibly fair by not favouring T-Systems employees over Arivia employees, to simply look at who would be the best person for the job. At one stage they had about 60 internal and external consultants working on the integration process. The aim was to do it "with heart". People were taken through CV writing skills sessions, counseling sessions, training sessions and much more.
Finding the balance between saving costs yet putting in place a winning structure and culture was challenging. Van Der Walt-Korsten says: "I noticed the chairs of many Arivia staff were dilapidated because they were in serious cost saving mode in order to prevent a takeover. I decided to buy a new chair for every person." Some felt this was an unnecessary cost to incur while some were losing jobs, but she argued "that to expect them to deliver a world class service for a world class customer while sitting on a chair balancing on a brick was unacceptable".
As CEO she did a lot of the communication, discussions and interaction with people. Van der Walt-Korsten recognises that "the process wasn't perfect and people did get hurt, but feedback indicated employees felt like human beings". The way they went about the entire acquisition was recorded and presented overseas in Germany (Head Office) and today serves as best practice throughout the group worldwide.
The road forward is a different one. They sat down as a management team end last year to decide where to? Was their direction to stay number one? Van der Walt-Korsten answers: "We decided to move from success to significance". And how would they know when they have become significant? "When we are the best partner for our customers, where customers truly believe this; and when we are the best company for our employees", she responds.
T-Systems' management team also decided that all of this should be achieved in the context of becoming the best FOR South Africa, which according to Van der Walt-Korsten is different from becoming the best IN South Africa. They believe the latter does not necessarily mean the company achieves significance while the former steers more clearly towards also becoming significant, while succeeding at indicators like EBIT, revenue and size, etc, after all, they are running a business.
This Clinical Psychologist by original 'trade' is a strong believer in driving a strong sense of purpose within the organization. She believes in the theory by Guy Kawasaki that one should start or run a company not to make money but to make meaning, which could happen in one of three ways, if your product or service can: 1) Increase the quality of life of people; 2) Right a wrong; 3) Prevent the end of something good. As Kawasaki says, if you make meaning you will probably make money.
At T-Systems they started realizing that when they assist Eskom to run their business more effectively they also contribute towards bringing power and light to South Africa. T-Systems' road towards significance also includes becoming involved on various platforms that drive values and ethics into society. They stand for ethical business and among other activities also co-sponsor the HeartStart National Values Campaign.
Van Der Walt-Korsten and her team are starting to "make meaning" at T-Systems. My bet paid off and though I am not a betting man, for now I would continue placing my money on them.
Cultivating ownership
This article is written by Louis Groenewald from Leadership Platform
The ability to cultivate values of excellence ranks as one of the most valuable skills of leadership. It is probably the essence of the task of the human resources executive, amongst a multitude of other duties in the modern workplace. How do we foster a spirit of unity, loyalty, diligence, good humour, a positive attitude and a passion for excellence in the job? How do we motivate others to honesty and also to tolerance at the same time? How do we marry an employee's passion to progress at work and at the same time motivate him or her to support the imperatives of transformation?
The ability to understand and master the basic principles of motivating others to take ownership of organisational imperatives and values is much sought after! To a great extent the purpose of most training programs and day to day management priorities is to motivate others to take ownership of their jobs.
Let's briefly look at some of the key factors that contribute to cultivating a spirit of ownership:
1. To possess or take ownership is a basic driving force of humankind.
The above statement may seem a bit odd to those of us who battle to understand why so many of the people we are involved with seem to have no interest whatsoever in taking possession of the requirements of their job. That concern is understandable. Yet the truth is that everybody has a sense or instinct to possess and to belong. The instinct to possess is a basic attribute of human behaviour and it helps us immensely to come to terms with this reality. The question is not: Do all people have a passion to take ownership? But it should really be: How do we channel their instinct to possess into taking ownership of their jobs? These are very different questions!
The great leader does not doubt that all people are driven by the instinct to possess and to belong. Such leaders constantly ask themselves: What do these people want to possess and how do I channel their instinct to possess in such a way that they want to possess the values and objectives of our organisation?
As we come to terms with the principle that possession is a basic driving force or instinct in all people, we start looking at people in a different light.
Even the laziest of the staff has a sense of possession, though it may well be the 'possession' of a negative attitude towards his colleagues and job. It is generally accepted amongst social scientists and psychologists that a person's self image consists of perceptions and experiences that are very often based on a negative sense of values. That person may 'possess' certain attributes and perceptions that form the core of their self image.
All people cling to their self image. They will not really change until empowered to take possession (ownership) of higher and nobler values.
2. Taking possession is a mental as well as emotional process
One of the things that puzzled me a great deal as a young and inexperienced manager was the inability of planning and training sessions to bring about lasting attitudinal change. Perhaps you have experienced this as well. The tone in such sessions is often positive and decisions are taken that seem to indicate a higher level of unity and passion for excellence. Yet so often those feelings seem to subsequently slide to the back burner and many of us default to our usual mode of operation.
We learnt through research that the missing factor was very often a lack of emotional involvement in the process of arriving at mutually acceptable objectives. Women may instinctively understand the principle better than many men. One supposes that 'men are from Mars and women from Venice' makes some sense! The point is that all of us (both men and women) need to understand that taking possession of ideas and concepts cannot effectively lead to changing behaviour until it is accompanied by a process that addresses the need for emotional involvement as well.
In practical terms it means that whatever process we may use to bring about behavioural change, it should include identifying and respecting the emotional components of both negative as well as positive perceptions. This is a basic principle involved in the process of taking ownership or possession of 'new' ideas or concepts.
We must bear in mind that the self image of all participants will determine the emotional reaction to the issues being raised. Participants may or may not be willing to raise their deepest emotional reactions to the ideas involved. Often they may not even realise what their deepest feelings really are and they may respond in a 'politically correct' manner. This could be for a variety of reasons.
3. Can people change entrenched behavioural patterns?
The honest answer to the above question is Yes! with a secondary NO.
Why NO in some cases? On occasion negative behavioural patterns are so strongly established that people simply do not want to change or they feel they cannot change. In some instances psychological counselling may be required, sometimes over an extended period of time.
Having said that, it is important to note that the people who work in environments that are reached by this article are in general almost always receptive to attitudinal change. This often has to do with background and educational opportunities.
We in Leadership Platform have experienced countless situations where people have experienced attitudinal changes of behaviour, sometimes dramatically so. Exterior factors can have a profound impact on the ability and inclination of people to change their behaviour to the pursuit of excellence. Let's look at some of these 'exterior' factors.
4. A positive organisational culture
The organisational culture has an immense influence on staff at all levels. When a solid set of organisational values are well established in the organisation, the chances of effecting attitudinal change for the better increases exponentially. Trainer/manager/coach as well as staff members are impacted positively if the culture is one of excellence.
A note of warning. We use the expression 'the CONC factor' in Leadership Platform terminology. By this we mean 'the cost of non-compliance' (CONC). When certain elements in the organisation are committed to bring about a negative climate around them, management should take note and take action. The cost of non-compliance to a positive climate in the organisation can be a very expensive one.
5. A behavioural change culture
By the term 'behavioural change culture' we mean that the organisation should be committed to a top class culture of disciplined and trained leaders and models that are equipped to deal with all kinds of behavioural change challenges. The culture should include coaching of senior management as well as training staff in models and know-how how to address behavioural change situations.
Organisational excellence is mostly the result of skills in transferring ownership of positive values to others.
TowerStone Solution Corner - Cultivating ownership of cultural alignment
As a follow up to his previous article, Louis Groenewald talks of the importance "cultivating ownership" with regard to the living of our values.
"How do we foster a spirit of unity, loyalty, diligence, good humour, a positive attitude and a striving for excellence in the job? How do we motivate others to honesty and also to tolerance at the same time? How do we marry an employee's passion to progress at work and at the same time motivate him or her to support the imperatives of transformation?"
How does TowerStone cultivate ownership of cultural alignment?
Leadership makes strategy happen - without the right leaders at all levels, an organisation cannot deliver on its brand promise to customers, its financial promise to investors, its social promise to community stakeholders or its cultural promise to employees . In fact, research shows that differences in Executive leadership explain as much as 45 percent of an organisation's performance .
TowerStone's Culture Alignment Journey facilitates alignment and empowerment of leadership, so they can effectively lead the organisation to fulfill its purpose.
The Journey is conducted in three phases:
Phase 1: Executive Direction & Empowerment
Phase 2: Leadership Empowerment
Phase 3: Employee Alignment
Impact is monitored regularly throughout the Journey through a series of assessments, to ensure that the desired outcomes are being achieved.
Phase 1. Executive Direction & Empowerment
Phase 1.1. Culture Definition
The Executive team initiates the Journey by defining the desired culture. Culture Definition comprises the following:
1. CEO Engagement
The CEO provides context, sets the tone and the purpose for the Journey. A communiqué then goes out to the organisation from the CEO, to inform the organisation about the alignment journey they are about to embark on.
2. Team Culture Assessments
The Executives are the key decision-makers in the organisation, so it is important to understand the values that drive those decisions, and assess the degree of alignment. Barrett's Culture Transformation Tools (CTT) are used to determine values alignment in the Executive team. This includes a collective Team Values Assessment (TVA) and Individual Values Assessments (IVA).
3. Leadership Interviews
The quantitative results from the Individual Values Assessments are then unpacked and discussed during 1:1 interviews with each executive - to gain insight into leadership style, business challenges and perspectives on the Executive and organisation culture.
4. Culture & Strategy Alignment workshop
The next step is to align culture to strategy during a facilitated workshop. This is achieved by first defining (or refining) and agreeing to a three- to five-year strategy. Then the Executive team culture is defined in the context of the long-term strategy (using the results from Steps 2 & 3). The gap between current reality and desired future is highlighted, leadership and team growth areas are defined, and a clear Culture Alignment plan is built, to close this gap. The plan is reviewed and updated on a 6-monthly basis, providing a series of milestones for the Journey.
5. Leadership Brand workshop
To execute the defined Cultural Alignment plan requires consistency in leadership values, qualities and behaviours at all levels - aligned to the organisational Brand. The creation of a Leadership Brand sets these standards for consistent leadership through the organisation. The Leadership Brand determines how the desired culture is cascaded into the organisation - ensuring that the approach is consistent across all divisions in the organisation, rather than leaving leaders to their own devices - which will result in misalignment. This Leadership Brand then informs the organisation's competency framework and is incorporated into performance measurement for the leadership.
6. Employee Engagement Strategy workshop
The final step is to build a strategy for aligning the entire organisation to the defined strategy, culture and Leadership Brand. TowerStone uses branding best practice to facilitate the development of an Employee Engagement strategy. This strategy is the basis for building a culture of brand ambassadors. The deliverable is an Employee Engagement plan, which is the blueprint that integrates all alignment programmes throughout the Journey.
Phase 1.2. Executive Empowerment - BreakThrough© "Leader as Coach" programme
Now that the desired organisational culture and Leadership Brand are clearly defined, it is the responsibility of the Executive to not only model the organisational values and Leadership Brand behaviours, but also coach the next tier of leaders to follow suit. The BreakThrough© "Leader as Coach" programme empowers the Executives to coach the future leaders of the organisation.
TowerStone's BreakThrough© programme is a solution for empowering leaders to develop future leaders through a coaching approach. It is a systemic programme that addresses individual, team and organisational leadership. Key coaching concepts are blended with practical, experiential learning through peer coaching, to encourage application in the workplace. The learning is further embedded through peer review and the use of relevant case studies.
360
A 360° assessment is used to determine areas for personal leadership growth. The assessments are conducted before, midway through, and after completion of the programme and incorporate feedback from 10-15 colleagues to track strengths, areas for growth, and next actions to develop the personal behaviours defined by the Leadership Brand.
Courses
The core 20-day BreakThrough© programme is made up of seven courses and runs over 12-18 months, dependent on availability of participants:
Personal Leadership Conversations are 1:1 coaching sessions, conducted by a TowerStone coach between courses, to facilitate application of the learning in the workplace. The coach becomes the participant's "leadership conscience" by stimulating open conversations about the course material, reflecting on the measurement outcomes and assisting participants to identify growth areas. This ensures that participants become "leadership fit" during the programme, and develop healthy leadership habits that are in line with the defined Leadership Brand behaviours.
The Personal Action Plans built during these sessions are then used for ongoing performance measurement, career-pathing and succession planning.
BreakThrough© Benefits and Outcomes
- Shaping a culture of coaching for ongoing leadership creation and succession planning.
- Strengthening the culture by coaching employees to contribute with their hands, minds, and hearts (creating a culture of Brand Ambassadors).
- Developing the capacity for authentic leadership.
- Inspiring great leadership to set the platform for others to be great - developing leaders of leaders.
- Enabling leaders to see the connectedness in business systems and the levers for change that will result in sustainable behaviour change.
- Building a learning organisation to break down the silos that are barriers to future growth.
Phase 2. Leadership Empowerment
Phase 2.1. Culture Validation
Culture & Strategy Validation workshop
Culture, Strategy and Leadership Brand validation workshop - The senior leadership is accountable for aligning the organisation to the culture and strategy, and ensuring that the rest of the organisation is aligned to the Leadership Brand. The outputs of Phase 1 i.e. the strategy, Culture Alignment plan, Leadership Brand blueprint and Employee Engagement plan are internalised and validated by the senior and middle management teams.
This is done through a three-day facilitated workshop. As with the Executive team, the leadership teams undergo a Team Values Alignment (TVA) assessment beforehand to set context for the workshop.
As with the Executive Alignment workshop, the gap between current reality and desired future is analysed, growth areas are defined, and a clear action plan is built to close this gap. In tandem with the Executive reviews, the action plan is reviewed and updated on a 6-monthly basis, providing a series of milestones for the Journey.
Phase 2.1. Leadership Empowerment - BreakThrough© "Leader as Coach" programme
The senior and middle managers then embark on the BreakThrough© programme, in order to cascade the coaching culture, defined at Executive level, down through the organisation. Management follows the same process as the Executive Empowerment (Phase 1.2) i.e.:
360
Complete three 360 assessments (before, midway and after).
Courses
Attend the BreakThrough programme (7 courses over 18 months).
Personal Leadership Conversations (8 sessions interspersed with the courses).
The Personal Action Plans built during these sessions are used for ongoing performance measurement, career-pathing and succession planning.
Phase 3. Employee Alignment
Phase 3.1. Employee Engagement programme
The programmes defined in the Employee Engagement plan (built in Phase 1.1) include the following:
Our Reason For Being
"Our Reason for Being" is a one day experiential workshop designed for everyone in the organisation to interrogate, unpack and reflect on the purpose, vision, mission and values of the brand and how each individual can live that brand. The entire day centres on around one question: "How can I become a Brand Ambassador who lives the qualities of the Leadership Brand". The workshop becomes a key element of the cultural alignment programme.
Cultural Values Assessment (CVA)
A culture measurement survey for the entire organisation to measure the extent to which employees experience espoused values in the organisation, and identify the values they would like to see in the organisation. This empowers leadership to understand the gap between the espoused leadership culture and the actual organisational culture. This assessment measures, over time, the ability of leadership to align corporate culture to the espoused values, and also provides benchmarks to track the impact of cultural growth on organisational performance.
Internal Communication programme
As per the defined Employee Engagement strategy (built in Phase 1: Executive Direction), this is a policy-based schedule of communication activities which are based on the strategy and cultural alignment plans. This programme ensures that all employees are informed about the organisation's current performance and understand their role in building the desired future.
Group Accountability programme
A four-phase project-based programme that makes use of cross-functional teams and solutions forums to close cultural gaps identified in the CVA, and resolve other business challenges that arise. This programme includes ongoing measurement and performance management.
Phase 3.2. Employee Development programme
Shaping Brand Ambassadors who live the vision, mission, values and Leadership Brand requires development of leadership and people skills. Based on the cultural assessments and Employee Engagement plan, TowerStone will scope and recommend a series of learning modules to empower the Brand Ambassador - appropriate to the level, needs and skills required. The learning curriculum is extracted from accredited Supervisors, Management and Leadership Development programmes as appropriate.
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