Professor Nelson Phillips Professor of Strategy and Organisational Behaviour Crafting and Communicating a Vision © Imperial College Business School 1

What do really effective leaders do? Spend 5 mins thinking about what, in your experience, really effective leaders do? © Imperial College Business School

1,093 Patents Menlo Park - …‘a small thing every ten days and a big thing every six months’ … Edison’s “Muckers” Arthur Kennelly stated, “The privilege which I had being with this great man for six years was the greatest inspiration of my life.” © Imperial College Business School Thomas Edison

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CEO from 1920s – 1950s Started as a teacher IBM had 400 employees when he took over By the 1970s, IBM was widely regarded as the world’s most innovative company Famous misquote – “I think there is a world market for about five computers” © Imperial College Business School Thomas Watson

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Founder of Apple, Pixar, Next “Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water, or do you want a chance to change the world?” – Steve Jobs to John Scully Innovations include Mac, iPod, iPhone, iPad © Imperial College Business School Steve Jobs

People in the company had very mixed feelings about it, everyone had been terrorized by Steve Jobs at some point or another, and so there was a certain relief that the terrorist would be gone. And on the other hand I think there was incredible respect for Steve Jobs by the very same people, and we were all very worried what would happen to this company without the visionary, without the founder, without the charisma. - Larry Tesler © Imperial College Business School

Mark Zuckerberg Founder of Facebook “It's OK to break things in order to make them better” World’s youngest billionaire with a net worth in excess of $10 billion Time Magazine 2010 “Person of the Year” © Imperial College Business School

Mark Zuckerberg Instituted ”hackathons" held every six to eight weeks where participants would have one night to conceive of and complete a project. The company provided music, food, and beer at the hackathons, and many Facebook staff members, including Zuckerberg, attend regularly. “The idea is that you can build something really good in a night”, Zuckerberg said. “And that's part of the personality of Facebook now... It's definitely very core to my personality.” © Imperial College Business School

What is the role of the leader? © Imperial College Business School

People are not motivated because you tell them to be... © Imperial College Business School

Leader’s role in innovation The fundamental goal is aligning actions against the vision Real alignment comes from understanding, commitment and trust A leader’s job is to set context, communicate effectively and build relationships This is done through stories and a series of conversations © Imperial College Business School

“We reason by stories at least as often as with good data. ‘Does it feel right?’ counts for more than ‘Does it add up?’ or ‘Can I prove it?’” --Tom Peters, In Search for Excellence © Imperial College Business School

Group Activity I will show you one of the most influential and successful advertisements of all time. Then consider the following questions. 1.What is it about the advertisement that makes it memorable? 2.What is the core message of the advertisement? 3.Would you say that it is effective in getting across the intended message? Be prepared to present back one to the group if asked. © Imperial College Business School

Making the connections for your team A compelling vision… Is simple Is memorable Conveys what is important Connects with the listeners interests Stimulates dialogue Evolves through an iterative process © Imperial College Business School

A “sticky” story What is it about some stories that make them stick? Halloween Urban Myths Climate change © Imperial College Business School

What makes a vision stick? Principle 1 – Simplicity Finding the Core of the Idea If you say three things you don’t say anything at all…. Simple = Core + Compact Avoid “Feature Creep”! E.g., Southwest Air © Imperial College Business School

What makes a vision stick? Principle 2 – Unexpectedness Nordstrom Avoid the obvious © Imperial College Business School

What makes a vision stick? Principle 3 – Concreteness “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.” Or “Something that is valuable and certain is better than something better and uncertain.” © Imperial College Business School

What makes a vision stick? Principle 4 – Credibility Authority Anti-authority Detail (world cup and a dog named Pickles) © Imperial College Business School

What makes a vision stick? Principle 5 - Emotion Connect to the concerns of your audience Big goals © Imperial College Business School

Telling a good strategy story... I am going to show you a good example of a leader telling a strategy story and providing context for his employees and to other stakeholders. While you are watching think about the following: 1.What was his core message? 2.What did you notice about how he framed his message? 3.What key lessons can we learn? © Imperial College Business School

Making the connections for your team Set the Stage – Shape the Context What is the situation? Why is it important? To you? To your audience? Introduce the drama What is at risk? What is the potential gain? What obstacles need to be overcome? Make it personal What is in it for your target audience? Why is this an immediate need? Reach resolution Describe the destination Where are we going? What do we need to get there? Have your audience be engaged in and inspired by the destination © Imperial College Business School Elements of a story

Part one: Work individually for 15 minutes: Develop a story for a new member of your team that conveys how your team fits into the broader picture of achieving your firm’s strategic objectives. Your story should address: Where are you headed? What is critical to your success? What is the role of innovation? What obstacles or challenges are you likely to encounter? How will these be overcome? What does success look like? This story will be the foundation for dialogue; it is not supposed to be “perfect” or “exhaustive”. What do you want to introduce as a basis for an ongoing conversation? Creating a Compelling Vision

Part Two: Work in groups of three : 5 minutes - Individual (manager) tells story to other two (team members) 5 minutes - Two team members: ask questions and engage with the strategy story provide feedback on what was clear, what areas need improvement and other advice to the leader how “sticky” is the story? Creating a Compelling Vision

Taking it home Engage your team in a dialogue Remember the process is iterative Refine your story over time Keep the Made to Stick principles in mind © Imperial College Business School