Friday 25 July 2008

The solutions to our challenges are beyond politics

I watched the q and a program on ABC television last night. I went to bed disappointed! Few on the panel were able to go beyond self-interest and politics.

In Australia at present we have a weak opposition party (how incredible that in the age of collaboration we still have opposition parties in our parliaments) that doesn't seem willing to collaborate with the Government on solving the big issues facing us and our world such as dealing with climate change. A consequence is continued procrastination, rhetoric, and just plain dribble.

My solution is to side step Governments and bureaucracies at every opportunity without braking the law and get on with the job of building our new world. If we wait for the politicians it will be too late.

Be remarkable
Ian
Strategic advisor to difference makers

Wednesday 16 July 2008

All views count, only shared view matters

Professor Jeffrey Sachs has caused a bit of a stir recently by commenting Australia’s proposed Emissions Trading Scheme may not be the answer as the Government is suggesting it is.

Good on Professor Sachs for expressing his view so openly and against the status quo. One of my favourite authors Sachs in his book ‘Common Wealth’ says “This is the general message that I give to all CEOs regarding the Millennium Promises. Each company needs to be part of the solution and needs to stretch its activities beyond normal market activities. This does not mean to turn the company upside down or into a charitable institution, but rather to identify the unique contribution the company can make as part of a broader effort to solve a major social challenge. This is the real meaning of corporate social responsibility: to operate in a manner that promotes broad social objectives, including nonmarket goals, in a way consistent with core business principles, values, and practices. (page 321 Common Wealth, Jeffrey Sachs, Allen Lane an imprint of Penguin Books 2008).

I believe Sachs is a builder of our new world. He understands strategy precedes tactics. At present the Australian government doesn’t get this basic success premise. Only when we have a shared view about strategy can we progress towards agreement on tactics. At present this Government and most governments confuse strategy with tactics.

Be remarkable
Ian
strategic advisor to difference makers

Monday 7 July 2008

Workaholic leaders must better articulate their strategy

Greg Sheridan, foreign editor for The Weekend Australian, refers to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as a workaholic, an accusation leveled at Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. Says Sheridan in his interview with Ban Ki-moon June 28-29 2008 “But Ban’s laudable work habits, like Rudd’s will be of benefit only if they produce tangible results ... As UN Secretary-General, he doesn’t have the power to deliver outcomes. But he is injecting new energy into the multilateral system. When Ban took over, he told people his style would be Asian. It would be focused on results rather than rhetoric.”

Ban and Rudd are like many modern leaders I observe. They appear to be genuine in their desire to make a real difference to our world and work hard to do so, however they fall short because they have failed to fully enrol others in their vision and therefore are unable to properly spread the workload. This sad state of affairs has much to do with not having a clearly articulated strategy and a failure to break the execution plan into bite-sized chunks that other folk can embrace.

If you are a leader and find yourself working too hard and think others could do more, then check the power of your strategy. Does it engage and inspire others? And then check your execution plan. Is it broken down into bite-sized chunks your people can take responsibility for?

Believe me, I know from personal experience that when we fail as leaders to break things down for others, we fail to engage them, meaning we usually fail to achieve our vision.

Be remarkable
Ian
strategic advisor to difference makers