#KreabInsights: Senior Advisor Martyn Roper's Top Leadership Tips

I was delighted to start work as one of Kreab London's Senior Advisors this month, after almost 40 years with the UK Diplomatic Service.

As a senior Government leader in my last three posts (Governor of the Cayman Islands, a UK Overseas Territory, Minister/Deputy Ambassador in China and Ambassador to Algeria), I was challenged by the Kreab team to set out my top leadership tips.

My top 10 are as follows:

1) Can your team articulate a clear vision for what you and your team are up to? There is a famous anecdote about the NASA cleaner who, when asked what they did, replied ‘I help to put someone on the moon.’ What is your team’s equivalent of that?

2) Everyone can be a leader at any level in an organisation. Leadership comes in many shapes and sizes. What you do and say has impact on others. Ultimately, it is about building strong relationships, trust and caring.

3) Consciously practise being a leader – think about what your leadership brand is, what do you want your staff to think about you? You can proactively influence that by what you say, what you do and how you do it. Every transaction with a colleague is a leadership opportunity.

4) Know the difference between a leader and a manager. Leaders take a step back and keep focused on the bigger picture, strategy, vision, and keeping delivery on track. Managers deal with the day-to-day. Don’t fall into the trap of getting caught up in fire-fighting, reactive day-to-day issues. Prepare the way ahead and train yourself to be proactive as a leader.

5) A crucial element of leadership is increasing your own self-awareness of how you come across to others and of how you are seen as a leader. Understand your strengths and areas where you could do things differently or better (use training courses, 360 feedback, Myers Briggs Type Indicator, work with coaches, etc.).

6) Be a servant leader and make your leadership more about supporting others. Focus on their needs to help them do the best job they can. Less about you. More about them.

7) Ensure your team are doing the basics of line management effectively – giving praise and feedback regularly, focusing on Learning & Development, empathising, knowing what is on the team’s mind.

8) Empower staff more, feel comfortable pushing responsibility downwards. Be tolerant of mistakes if made honestly and done for the right reasons. We all make them. Making mistakes is ok if we learn from them.

9) As a leader, treat everyone, whoever they are, and wherever they work, fairly, courteously and with respect at all times. Where people do not do that, leaders need to stand up and challenge unacceptable behaviour whatever form it takes. Those who stand up must be supported.

10) Resilience as a leader is essential. Being self-aware and knowing what you need to do to be resilient. Building exercise into my daily routine is important to my resilience. As a leader, I also try to maintain a sense of humour and not to take myself too seriously.

Regards,

Martyn

Martyn Roper OBE, a former British Diplomat who served as Governor of the Cayman Islands (2018-2023), Minister and Deputy Head of Mission in China (2015-2018) and as British Ambassador to Algeria (2010-2014), has recently joined Kreab as a Senior Advisor. Martyn previously served in UK embassies across the world, represented the UK at major multilateral organisations such as the OECD and the UN, and was awarded the OBE for his leadership of the UK response to a major terrorist attack in Algeria in 2013. Drawing upon this extensive experience, Martyn is available to help clients navigate the evolving geopolitical landscape.