Gresham College Symposium 29 October

 Integrity  Energy  Effective communication  Financial literacy  Ability to deal with ambiguity, uncertainty and paradox  EQ  Take the team with you  Empower others  Do what you say  Inspire and motivate  Passion  Risk taker  Demonstrate ethics  Intellectual awareness  Multiple technical skills  Grow and develop others  Create added value  Seize opportunities  Sponsor talent  A global view  Decision making and make the right decisions  Strategic thinking  Change management  Stakeholder orientation  Future direction  Flexibility and adaptability  Think out of the box  Trust  Social skills  Understand others’ values  Transmit confidence  Vision  Persistence  Facilitate a virtual environment  Make things simple  Cultural awareness  Team work  Role model  Listen 2

Seeing and trusting the person inside the role

5 But How Do Leaders Think?

Do you understand that you are alone? Are you willing to be the one to stand up, take the difficult decisions and the big risks?  Do you realize that nothing will happen until you move? Can you take the first step without thought for your personal consequences?  Can you take people with you and ensure you won’t get so far ahead that you look like the enemy?  Can you keep a good healthy dose of self doubt? Can you keep listening despite the tumult you create by making change happen?  Are you brave enough to fail? Are you resilient enough to try again?

Can you live with grey, rather than the immediate certainty of a black and white answer and take a decision without data? Can you learn to love ambiguity and not become frozen by uncertainty or driven to repeat earlier routines? Can you resist the temptation to close down the debate and decide? Can you create and hold the tension to reach a better answer? Can you retain the power of surprise? Can you hold your mind open to new ideas and change direction in a way that creates more value? Can you hold up and speak to an exciting future vision, even if the way forward isn’t crystal clear?

 Do you have an inner compass? Do you live your life according to clear personal values, including integrity?  Do people know what these values are and can they see how these values guide your decisions and actions?  Do you have an internal sense of the right thing to do? Can you rise above the politics?  Are you authentic? Do you know that this is not just the same as being yourself?  Do you show humility? At the same time, can you retain a strong ego? Do you have the courage not to surround yourself with cronies? Can you keep open to others’ real opinion of you?

 Do you respect the history of the organization?  Can you deal with the tyranny of the present, without being enslaved to it? Can you avoid getting trapped into constant crisis management?  Do you spend enough time thinking about the future? Can you delay gratification and sacrifice instant reward so that you can build the future?  Can you juggle living in three time zones and integrate the stories without getting jetlag?  Can you accept and pass the baton of leadership seamlessly, from and to the former and next generation of leaders? Do you worry less about your legacy and more about your stewardship?

 Do you have the energy it takes for sustained self management? Are you always on?  Can you selflessly bring what the enterprise needs? Do you love the place? Can you become the place?  Do you understand that you can represent the enterprise and shape it, but only at the edges? Can you accept the responsibility of the ‘I’ in leadership?  If you are coming into the organization from outside, can you land well, so that it doesn’t reject you as a foreign body?  If something goes wrong, are you prepared to take it on the chin? Can you step forward and accept the responsibility?