Top 5 Enterprise Leadership Shifts

Organizations continue to reach out to us to build programs to develop Enterprise Leaders.

Enterprise Leadership is the ability of an executive to think, strategize, and make decisions about the entire organization. In contrast, Performance Leadership is focused on driving results, creating a culture of accountability, and effectively leading a division or silo of responsibility.

Why is this a hot topic? In a recent study by Korn Ferry, less than 14% of executives are performing as an Enterprise Leader. In this complex and ever-changing world, the CEO needs strategic partners to analyze the future, ideate on possibilities, and make important decisions for the entire organizational ecosystem.

Here are the Top 5 Enterprise Leadership Shifts:

1. Empower a Divisional Chief of State – Identify a direct report who is excelling at performance leadership. Empower them to manage the execution including leading team meetings, managing goals, and building teams to execute the goals. This doesn’t have to be a formal position, but more of a captainship for a leader on the rise.

This enables the senior leader to elevate their game and be more strategic.

2. Spend More Time with Peers – Through coaching, we find performance leaders spend at least 50% of their time with their teams. Enterprise leaders divide their time into thirds: Team, Peers, and Network. Peer time includes coffee, site visits, planning sessions, and collaborative brainstorming. Network time includes conferences, online webinars, reading industry studies, and connecting with individuals outside of the company.

3. Be a Curious Learner – Performance leaders focus on executing what they know. Enterprise leaders focus on learning what they don’t know. These executives know the future is changing and they must keep up with the times.

4. Be a Courageous Communicator – An enterprise leader engages with other enterprise leaders through strong listening skills and bold discussions. An enterprise leader is actively speaking up, encouraging ideas, or pointing out challenges beyond their expertise. They are active in the collaborative debate, not just a voter for the final proposal.

5. Realign Incentives – Many senior leaders are incentivized through promotions and annual performance bonuses based on their team/divisional performance against key metrics. Instead, incentivize senior leaders for company performance and their impact on the overall organization’s success.

Stoke Leadership is here to help you identify, develop, and motivate the enterprise leaders in your company. We’d love to have a conversation on how we can help you.