New Book: Newwork

Recently I received the book “NewWork“. The book is by Christiane Brandes-Visbeck and Susanne Thielecke. Recently, I wrote a contribution to Generation Y that was very well received: On the one hand, there was a lot of criticism, but also a lot of approval from people like me who have had a similar experience with the changes. Time to deal more intensively with the topic of New Work. At the weekend I finally had time to do so. A short statement:

I have the feeling that the book is written exactly for me as a target group:

New forms of work are described without claiming to be feasible in any form of organization. Topics such as CoWorking, Design Sprints or Business Modell You are introduced more objectively. The reader is not shown that the different forms are a “must have” for everyone.

What critical people quickly notice is that different scenarios would not be feasible. I think that for many companies I know, this would also be true for the current management. The authors Christiane and Susanne make no secret of the fact that support from senior management would be indispensable for the introduction of new models and new Work Settings in a modern Business World. But they go one step further: examples by Thomas Sattelberger (Telekom) or Fabian Kienbaum (Kienbaum) illustrate how a transformation process is implemented in practice. I personally found these sections even more exciting than the sober presentation of the various techniques. Not only agile and/or aspects of the modern toolset (“Design Thinking”) are considered, but also well-known tools such as “Home Office” are put to the test and their modern integration into everyday work is presented. This tools are even known, but not in  best practice in every company used.

The myth “work-life-balance” is cleared up: work is a part of life and no balance has to be created, but it has to be integrated in a way that is compatible for all participants. Classic career paths are broken down: Not every career today is as linear and plannable as it was 30 years ago.

The book is in German, has 224 pages, published in the Redline and here buyable. The book is great for all people, who are interested to learn something new.

 

New Work

How to handle toxic Leaders

Intro

The Digitisation  or Digital Disruption (What exactly does that mean now?) requires a rethinking of management structures. New ideas need creativity. And in order to do this, employees must be given more of them. But that also means letting go and turning away from micromanagement. For many executives, this means a change, and some of them will fail.

How to handle “toxic” Leaders

On Twitter I once asked: How should you deal with toxic executives: The micromanaging choleric man who spreads fear and terror among his co-workers. The answer I received from different quarters was clear: Disposal. But could this the right solution?

With the same implicitness as NewWork and trust is propagated, I was made clear to me: Out with such people. However, most of these executives have not earned their position because they have a bad management style, but nevertheless. This means that these people have qualifications. In addition, there is the empathy paradox: the focus is on skills that have been conditioned away in the hierarchies for years. Even if the management style is to be criticized, a new way of thinking also requires new solutions.

If I want to build a new culture of trust, a bad start is to catapult out people, who have been doing a job for years: Then don’t I lead the claim ad absurdum? Trust cannot be earned by a brutal start.

First, I need to identify these toxic executives. There are various possibilities for this (employee surveys, fluctuation measurements, etc.), but often it is enough to stay in the coffee or smoking area.

The following is the interview with the toxic leader: How can I use the human being, meaningfully and without snubbing him/her: There are solutions, often in the staff area. This is something to remember: Just because there is a lack of leadership, these people almost always have excellent skills that should be used. “Disposal” is only one last option….. which should have taken place even before the organisation had been converted and transistioned.

A credible reorganization of an organizational structure is only possible if you take all, really all, employees with you. And no one should be left behind.

The Global Female Leaders 2018

Intro

We are proud to be Partner of the next year Global Female Leaders in June 2018. Especially in Germany, the gender pay gap is Reality and so, Networking of Global Female Leaders is a must have for the future. It is this year in Germany.

Global Femal Leaders 2018

The global female Leaders 2018

Global Female Leaders Summit 2018 – an international economic summit for women – will take place for the 5th time from the 3rd till 5th of June, 2018 in Berlin, Germany.

The intention for this international economic summit for women was to establish a global network of high-ranked female executives and thus to provide a platform for women to share a variety of thoughts, perspectives and solutions – we establish the “Davos for women“.

And we are on the right path; more than 250 high-profile women from the business world, and more than 60 internationally renowned speakers were present this year and had an inspiring dialogue. The dynamic developments of globalisation, the effects of digitalisation, the incredible possibilities of artificial intelligence, the working worlds and our values ​​in leadership are topics which be our central challenge over the next few years. At our summit, we learn not only from each other as people working in the economy, but also about geopolitical risks. The motto of the 5th summit is: “The Values ​​of Leadership in Times of Transformation, Disruption and Artificial Intelligence”.


To learn more about our summit and to get some impressions from previous events please visit our webpage:
http://www.globalfemaleleaders.com

Some of our high-class speakers in the past were: Cherie Blair, CBE, QC, Founder of the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, Martina Hund-Mejean, CFO, MasterCard, USA, Baroness Catherine Ashton of Upholland, former First Vice President of the European, Labor Politician and Member of Parliament, Anne Berner, Minister of Transport and Communications, Government of Finland, Janet Henry, Global Chief Economist, HSBC UK, Kristalina Georgieva, Vice-President of the European Commission, European Commissioner for Budget, Human Resources and Security.;

Do we see us, there? Registration is opened and can be reached here.

Digitisation…. let`s buy smartphones for our employees

Recently I read a remarkable article: The drugstore chain DM, one of the biggest player in Germany,  procures 25,000 smartphones for its employees:

For a long time, the drugstore chain DM was regarded as a digital despiser. But now the company has ordered 25,000 smartphones for all store employees and is obviously serious about digitizing.

Digitisation is a decisive breakthrough in the processes: AirBnB and Uber have made it clear that they are looking to penetrate established markets and enter the process with well thought-out solutions for the end customer. This is how parts of the margins, which are nowadays usually tight, are being used up.

How to establish completely new processes? This requires creativity. These can be generated by employees. Employees continue to be the most valuable potential to leverage creative ideas.

This includes a departure from micromanagement: new ideas do not thrive by atomizing existing processes and tracking them down to the smallest possible level. Just as a proverb says that electric light was not created by the consistent further development of the candle.

One of the most important bases for this is courage for new, different decisions that do not necessarily correspond to the previous mainstream of the company. This must be exemplified by top management. This is the only way to gain the necessary trust of the employees, to try out new ones or to question business processes that have been practiced for a long time. To depict the future in the dark and to assume that courageous competitors lack social competence is of little help here.

To return to DM: The fact that the procurement of a modern tool is worth a headline shows that there is still a lot of potential. A smartphone is not a gift for an employee, it is a tool. But not every employee can deal with it immediately, but “experts” should give recommendations for action: How and when can I use it how and above all, in the interest of the customer? An easy access to central databases and / or Google is a minimum requirement here, what you might expect in the project.

Speaking of trust: Most of the 25,000 devices, that DM delivers will probably not have a SIM card. Trust in employees in 2017 should look different

We don`t need a CDO

Intro

I`ve read a great article by Julie Teigland on LinkedIn. In her main oppinion she suggested, that a CDO would help, to getting over the digital Transformation. In my opinion, a CDO can be a first step, not a solution. I have a tweet about it with similar content:

Why we don`t need a CDO

There are some Arguments for a CDO. I think, the most important one is, that a Person in an organizational structure is responsible for all the activities, to make a Company great for the future. But can one Person load such a Job? I think, the whole Management is responsible to transform a Company for the future: If there is one, the Management is saying “This is the Job of the CDO”.

To transform the whole Company, all are responsible: Board, Senior and Middle Management. The digital Transformation is not only an IT Job: Think about uber or AirBnB: These are old Business Process, but with a new Point of View: Customer Experience. The last decades, the same processes were optimized, again and again. But to have great new ideas, the way of thinking has to Change. A new Mindset in all Management hierarchies are necessary /(German Blog by Matthias Wrede). Especially the Middle Management is trained for years, making Solutions for small Problem. Thinking in new ways has to be learned again. But this is trainable, like thinking as kids (German Blog of Easy Leadership, aka Marcus Riesterer). The next years, the culture of mistakes must be changed, too: To learn the new process Thinking will be a way of trial and error. Nice to read the Roadmap by capgemini. So courageos Leaders must take the first steps. The normally employees aren`t able to Change the way of thinking. This ways can bring new ideas for creating ways of customer satisfaction. Big Data or IoT are only Tools, to improve this, not the epic Centrum of the digital Transformation.

But I don`t want to Version contradict Julie Teigland completely: A CDO is able to drive the digital Transformation in an organizational culture and bring the Spirit of New Work to all departures. So should be “Service” not only a departure anymore, it should be the Driver for new products or ideas. Think about it: The digital transformation Needs Attention by the whole Management, not only by a CDO.

We need more couragous Leaders!

Intro

New Technologies, the international crisis and other factors has shown: We need more leaders, less managers. But what is the difference? A short, but great Synopsis, I`ve seen:

Boss vs Leader

Courage for Leadership

We don`t have a solution for all the Problems. A new Generation of Leadership, based on Courage and Integrity, can bring all of us the solution:

1. We Need responsible Leadership

  • the ability to encourage and motivate people, employees and customers
  • to guide and coach them in good and bad times on their way to the common goal
  • to be successful jointly and have better results as a team
  • The key factors are – trust of the people in the right leadership – adjusted approaches of „right“ leadership in different situations – a responsible guideline for social responsibility.
  • other important factors are personal qualities like charisma, willpower, trustbuilding, strenghth, courage and decisiveness
  • a responsible crisis management – i.e. to be cool headed in critical situations, but with authenticity and integrity

2. We Need the leadership of tomorrow!

  • after the age of number-oriented management decision making follows the era of business culture driven leadership
  • What is competence? today: fact oriented decision maker  tomorrow: enabler and engineer of decision making processes
  • What is character? today: compliance tomorrow: personal integrity
  • What is culture? today: apply the company values tomorrow: business culture creation and formation

3. New role of the business leaders

    • Ethical behavior not only as individual, but as well as institution
    • incentivation i.e. boni longterm and related to sustainable results
    • decision making processes adjusted to ethical values (i.e. no discrimination, „Red Flags“)
    • CEO and leadership team as „role models“ demonstrate christian values
    • appreciate human capital
    • fairness for all stakeholders
    • sustainable entrepreneurship
    • show responsibility and reliability
    • open and transparent communication
    • social engagement and common good-Engagement
    • Pope-encyclica „Laudato Si“ = „our planet is our common house“

Extro

This Blogpost based on a presentation by Stephan Werhahn, board member of the German IoD.

Digital Transformation requires a new mindset

I read often articles about the digital transformation and changes in Leadership. But why is this topic so important? In the moment, services and products are in change. The digital transformation dominates the discussion about the future of all topics of business.

Why is this important for Leadership? For understanding take a look for some newcomer: AirBnB and Uber: This companies don`t start with great techniques, Apps or Pages: They start with an idea. The services aren`t new. The ideas were bringing a value to the customers. This both companies doesn’t start with a complete new idea. They found business processes, which weren’t optimal and used them, to dig margins.

Leadership and business processes

No more bosses are needed: The age of Micromanagement has ended. New business models arises by creative employees. Managers but cannot command creativity. They have to install a framework, that supports new ideas. Failures are part of this new culture. This mindset has to be part of the common Leadership.