Across industries, CEOs have found that nurturing the right kind of talent to complement their own ... [+]
Yuan Chu Zi Lao, an MBA student at McGill University, contributed to this story.
This last fall and winter we had over 50 CEOs visit the MBAs at McGill virtually in the midst of the ongoing global pandemic. It was a different set of conversations than in the past in our MBA CEO Insights class, yet there were some timeless insights. One of our outstanding MBA students, Yuan Chu Zi Lao, put down some her thoughts on the course and I added in my two cents. Here are our three key takeaways.
The invited leaders came from diverse backgrounds, whether from a cultural, social, or educational standpoint, which allowed for engaging conversations with the class. It was even more interesting to observe how, despite running different types of businesses, many of our guests shared similar lessons on leadership.
Leaders are often required to act like an extrovert or as an introvert depending on the situation. During the pandemic, particularly the early days, strategy was more emergent because there were too many unknown variables. In such times of crisis, introverts seem to have fared better as they are used to spending time listening to others and analyzing the situation. Introverted leaders’ ability and greater willingness to pay attention to what is happening throughout the organization allows them to fine-tune their plan and adapt quicker. Concurrently, extroverted traits, such as the ability to inspire a team and to push for action, are also useful during the pandemic. Being able to address each situation by seamlessly navigating from one style to another becomes a valuable skill. I recently had an article with Duke University’s Dialogue magazine titled We Are Ambiverts Now, which explores this advantageous ability.
Another fascinating observation that came out of the course is that many CEOs did not follow a straightforward path to the top, opting instead to take detours along the way. Whether they started as an accountant or as an Olympic athlete, these future executives acquired skillsets throughout their career that remained useful when they took on a role in the C-suite. Indeed, amassing more competencies along the way helped them become more well-rounded individuals and more successful leaders.
An important caveat is that, while exploring career paths is a good thing, successful leaders are still intentional about the choices they make. Several CEOs spoke about finding the sweet spot at the intersection of what they enjoy doing, what they do well, and what brings good to humanity. This advice resonated with MBA students, many of whom espouse altruistic values, care deeply about humanitarian causes, and are discovering their purpose in life.
Another key takeaway is that some opportunities can and will arise simply because someone believes in you or has a favourable impression of you. One guest speaker summarized it well when he said that "at the end of the day, what you have is your good name.”
A good reputation starts with treating everyone with respect. However, simply being nice to someone may not be sufficient to turn them into an ambassador; you also must show genuine interest and connect with them on a deeper level. The goal is not to collect as many acquaintances as possible, but rather to form and maintain meaningful relationships. In fact, an interesting theory called Dunbar’s Number suggests that our cognitive capacity limits the quantity of relationships we can maintain to about 150.
Many of our guest speakers also shared the understanding that companies should become people-centred, as there would be no business without employees. They agreed that any organization should be concerned with attracting and retaining the right kind of talent to help it grow and succeed. The era of the charismatic CEO acting as a one-man-show is, for the most part, behind us. More and more, leaders are comfortable knowing that while they may be great at one thing, they may not be the best at everything else. They no longer strive to be the smartest person in the room and, instead, seek out great talent to surround and complement them.
While effective leaders should hone their ability to find talented individuals, empower them, and invest in their success, they also need to learn when to say goodbye. Different people are beneficial to a company at different stages of its development. Holding onto them for too long can prevent a company from scaling up to its full potential, and start-up lore is peppered with such cautionary tales.
A final takeaway from the course is that being flexible and adapting quickly is imperative for survival in an ever-changing environment. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, many long-term projects had to be shelved to reallocate resources, both in terms of time and money, to immediate initiatives such a transitioning to work from home. Leaders are often asked to contrast long-term vision against short-term gains when making decisions for their organizations. A delicate balance is required to remain competitive.
As we reach the first anniversary of the COVID-19 virus reaching North America, we can’t deny that the business world will be forever changed. It will be exciting to meet next year’s cohort of CEO speakers as they share their war stories and explain how their vision and strategy have been shaped by the ongoing crisis.
