ENTERPRISE LEADERSHIP: Powering Progress

“No big thing gets done by one individual. What defines modern companies and work, is #collaboration.” These words from Satya Nadella , CEO of 微软 , hold so much meaning in today’s increasingly disrupted and interconnected world. This is where Enterprise Leadership comes in – a concept which at its heart involves adopting a collaborative mindset and behaviors to ensure success and progress for all.

Organizations today must be super responsive and hyper curious to stay relevant; success depends on the ability to join up people, ideas and thinking. Through an #EnterpriseLeadership approach, organizations are in the best position to look beyond silos – thinking, inspiring and acting across and within to spur the innovation needed to excel. Through this article I reflect on some of my favorite highlights of the Enterprise Leadership concept:

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Beyond Control

Decisions shouldn’t just benefit one team or business function, but the greater good of all associates, stakeholders, consumers and wider communities. While executive leaders can sometimes assume everything is in someone’s area of control, enterprise leaders take responsibility for the spaces in between. This requires a shift to thinking across and beyond, expanding their circle of influence over and above individual functions. Leaders who embrace Enterprise Leadership can ultimately #empower everyone to think beyond their immediate day-to-day roles to see the bigger picture at play. By ‘filling in the gaps’ leaders are better equipped to solve today’s larger business challenges while creating greater opportunities for everyone.

Perform and Transform

Enterprise Leadership pushes forward the concept of focusing not only on achieving what is needed today, but also on planning for the future. If too focused on #transformation on its own, organizations risk underperforming; and by focusing just on numbers and targets they risk falling behind. While it is not easy balancing both simultaneously, the two ultimately are meant to interplay and strengthen one another. This dual responsibility requires courage, agility and being intentional with decisions and actions. The ongoing exercise of balance and rebalance is a constant dynamic, not a static, nor isolated strategy decision. While certainly a challenge, this dual focus helps not only ensuring results, but also pushes the enterprise to think strategically and creatively, unfolding new opportunities and more efficient ways of working.

Empowered to Empower

Enterprise leaders work to ‘connect the dots’ across the organization by empowering teams to think beyond their functions and to make important decisions before escalating. When teams are given the confidence to be ‘leaders’, they feel accountable, solve problems fast and perform at their best. This requires putting trust and confidence in individuals, making them feel empowered to think big and beyond. At the heart of Enterprise Leadership is #inclusivity and recognition; it spurs on everyone to feel motivated and capable of driving change and that their talent, passions and expertise count. This empowerment helps teams feel energized to spark ideas and the collective spirit to solve, overcome and #perform. It encourages everyone to speak up, collaborate and feel unafraid to share even their highest dreams.

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In today’s challenging world, the only thing we know that will remain constant is that global disruptions and uncertainties will continue to change and accelerate. Joined-up collaboration is needed to overcome organizational challenges, but also the most critical priorities of our time when it comes to global issues. Enterprise Leadership is a mindset that can be used not only within organizations but also to face global challenges; such as the #sustainability of our planet. Just as one person or community can’t solve big global issues, it takes everyone to bring about the collective, positive change needed to see real progress.

Consumer-led organizations are required to keep responding to a fast-changing consumer behavior and macro disruptions through cross-functional expertise and action. Traditional siloed and controlled ways of operating are no longer accepted nor agile. With this concept front and center, leaders and organizations around the world will be in a better place to have real impact beyond their walls, and into external communities – for a better industry and a better world.