Leadership Visions video

MT has teamed up with IBM to bring you a series of video interviews with business and charity bosses, in which we ask them about leadership in a world fraught with uncertainty.

Every two years, IBM compiles a global leadership study, where they talk to more than 1,500 CEOs, general managers and senior civil servants about the leadership challenges they’re facing. In today’s video, Howard Tollit, IBM’s UK & Ireland Strategy and Transformation Leader, talks us through the results of its latest survey. The most significant findings include:

• Creativity and innovation are now the most highly-valued leadership qualities (not integrity)
• Agility and rapid decision-making are the hallmarks of ‘standout’ organisations
• ‘Complexity’ has overtaken ‘change’ as the main challenge facing CEOs across the globe – and more than half of UK & Irish CEOs doubt their ability manage it (the proportion's even higher worldwide).
• Macro-economic factors are now seen as a bigger driver of complexity than technology
• The CEOs of the future will move away from ‘top-down’ command, instead trying to engage their workforce with a more involving, embracing style

The boss of WPP's research division - its largest - on putting power in the hands of your employees.

The second interview of our week-long leadership special (in association with IBM) features Eric Salama, CEO of Kantar Group, talking about the challenges of running a business with over 26,500 employees in 80 countries. Previously WPP's head of strategy, Salama took over as chairman and CEO of Kantar in 2002 – a complex network of more than 20 specialist research companies (TNS was the most recent addition to the portfolio). In his exclusive chat with MT, Salama's tips include:

• If youre leading a large organisation, putting the power in the hands of the employees will give them a shared sense of purpose
• Keep repeating your message; a leader can never over-communicate
• The best leaders learn from their mistakes
• Speaking to your young employees will help you learn about your organisation as a whole
• Rather than micro-managing, offer gentle guidance and let your employees do the rest

The man behind Loch Fyne on leading by example with younger employees.

In the third session of this weeks leadership special (in association with IBM) Mark Derry talks about running BBH, the company behind Raymond Blancs restaurant chain. Derry dramatically expanded the Loch Fyne chain until its acquisition by Greene King for £68.1m in 2007. Derrys leadership tips include:

• In businesses with a primarily young workforce, leading by example is important
• In the restaurant business, leaders need to be experts at everything – from health and safety to property and law
• Hiring a team with better skills than you gives you more time to perfect your golfing skills...
• Regulation may be a threat, but getting pre-occupied with restructuring to make your business more difficult to tax is a waste of time
• Whether its an interesting history or a charismatic leader, brands need character

The Oxfam boss tells MT how the charity has kept donations up during the recession.

In the fourth interview of our week-long leadership special, Barbara Stocking, CEO of Oxfam UK, explains why running a charity during the recession forces you to get creative. Formerly a regional director of the NHS, Stocking took on the role of CEO at Oxfam GB in 2001, and has led the charitys humanitarian efforts in Afghanistan, Iraq, Sudan and during the Pakistani earthquake, while pushing Oxfams turnover above £350m. Stockings points on leadership include:

• Charity leaders have to take faster decisions, particularly during a downturn
• In the face of redundancy, employees need to feel their leader has a firm grip on the companys direction
• If you’re managing an international team, they need to be given freedom – you cant always know whats going on across the water
• The private and public sectors could stand to learn a lot from charities. Meeting different stakeholder needs requires a new set of skills
• If you feel something is right, dont wait – just get on with it.

The former Punch Taverns CEO on the need to balance efficiency with quality.

In the final session of our week-long leadership session (in association with IBM), Adrian Fawcett, CEO of the General Healthcare Group, talks about why a healthcare business is particularly tricky to run during the recession. Formerly the CEO of Punch Taverns, Fawcett has seen revenue increase by 20% since he joined GHG, with company earnings increasing by over a third. Fawcett’s leadership pointers include:

• During a recession, leaders need to balance communicating the need for efficiency with the need for quality to their employees
• A capable team means there’s a wider debate on how to make things easier
• Most savings are made at the lowest levels – so give the people at those levels the opportunity to make important decisions
• Make sure your employees know where the organisation as a whole is going, so different departments can integrate
• Make sure you know your organisation’s financial parameters, so your decisions don’t expose your company to risk.