A few nuggets of INSEAD gold!

Something I’ve learned over my career is that leaders perform their best when they remain hungry to learn, take time out from leading to become keen students, and invest in learning from the best leadership educators in the world.

INSEAD is one of those great learning institutions that has added an enormous amount of value to my own growth as a leader. In the last few years I've attended INSEAD as part of their Certificate in Global Management program. Each session comprises an intensive week of discussion and debate, alongside a diverse cohort of business leaders, and facilitated by deeply experienced professors. It's great fun and can be a bit like drinking from a fire hose!

I was reflecting on my notes the other day and thought it would be valuable to summarise the key messages I've taken from my time at INSEAD so far (...and the journey continues!).

Each message is a topic for discussion in it's own right, which is why I find it valuable to pause and reflect on each in turn - particularly when I put them in the context of my current goals and objectives!

So, in no particular order and in the most distilled format I can articulate, a few nuggets of INSEAD gold - I hope you find some value to put into practice :

Observe keenly, constantly and deeply. Listen actively and respond to what you learn. Consider beyond what is right in front of you, to properly understand the whole environment.

You can't change a team without changing the people. Change is an individual process, so for a team to change direction, each of the individuals in the team need to change their approach. It's the sum of each of those individual changes that makes the team move forward.

There are three distinct barriers to change: (i) Failure to see the need, (ii) Failure to move, (iii) Failure to finish. Address each specifically and in turn.

Your biggest strength can easily become your biggest weakness / threat. Keep an eye on what makes you the best and aim to disrupt yourself before someone else does!

Make the new reality as REAL as possible, to help people FEEL the need for change. Think of novel ways to bring your desired change to life!

Use leverage to influence others. It doesn't always need to be your voice - Who are the opinion leaders? What informal networks are at play? Build momentum with multiple sources of influence.

Effort, and therefore expectations, are linear, however progress and experience are exponential. The trick is to manage the expectation gap as it widens and hold your nerve until progress inevitably accelerates.

Always check your assumptions, explicitly. It's hard to be aware of every assumption we're making that is influencing our thoughts, opinions and/or actions. Take time to clearly articulate every assumption (explicit and implicit) that is influencing your approach.

Boards and Leaders shouldn't MAKE decisions, we should CHOOSE decisions. This subtle difference can have a big impact on your approach as a leader and the response from your teams. Executives at every level can make the mistake of deferring decisions to their superiors when actually they should present possible decisions (with one recommended or intended) from which the leaders can choose (only when their authority is required). This is different to bringing a solution with every problem - as a leader / director, even if you are presented with a solution, you should still request a decision.

Alignment is the biggest driver of value... at every level of every organisation.

The biggest lever of performance for the Board is the CEO.

The best measure of Board performance is the strength of the CEO.

The 80/20 rule : 80% questions - 20% feedback/instructions... in that order!

Always consider the best mix of fear and greed to feed. Both are always at play and there's real benefit in assessing the impact of each in yourself and others.

Is your network a mirror, a blind or a window? Does it simply reflect what you already know? Does it stop you from learning new ideas? Or, does it truly open your eyes to diversity and opportunity?

Fair Play Leadership: "I will be clear, consistent and inclusive. I will act with integrity, encourage others to have a voice, and be open to change."

Find your best self and turn it up!... Think of what makes you unique and the real comparative advantage you can bring to each situation - double down on that to create and contribute real value!