Leadership: When company and individual values merge great things happen
Two weeks ago I delivered two sessions for the Hub of Financial Transformation Summit run out of Dubai. In the first session, titled “Leadership Development to Reach the C-Suite Level”, I spoke about the pathway from junior financial staff, through middle management, up to leadership and ultimately the C-Suite. I also shared my perspective on how many companies get professional development in the leadership group wrong, largely because upwards of 70% of leadership development comes from experience, not training.
If you’re in business of any kind, you’re encompassed in the concept of leadership. There are countless books, courses, podcasts, keynote speeches, and headlines in every direction you look. It’s also evolved extensively over time -- what we viewed as leadership success in the 1980s and 90s (cue Jack Welch) is somewhat at odds with the way we view leadership today (cue Tim Cook). The most dominant companies today, such as Apple, weren’t the dominant companies then, like GE. We also see a generation of Baby Boomers on the cusp of retirement while Millennials are the dominant generation in the workforce. Their values, needs, and wants are notably different.
The hype about leadership development is for good reason: the values and actions that make up extraordinary leadership are the foundation of an organization. And while generational values and actions change, as does our world and our work, principles core to leadership is the glue that holds organizations together. How do we nurture the next generation of leadership within a company? How do we prioritize leadership values within our careers?
When I dissect the ideals of solid leadership in a company, I always bifurcate them into two (2) buckets: the individual and the company.
As an organization, how do we find, develop and retain the best people? How do we formulate a pathway for them to grow and develop as workers and individuals?
As individuals, how do we get ahead and further our careers? How do we align our personal and professional aspirations with the goals that the company has for us?
Without sound and sincere leadership, neither a company nor an individual is likely to get very far.
The great news is that if you examine the intersection of both sides, the foundation is generally the same. In contrast to historical examples, where companies could get away with prioritizing profits over people, organizations have increasingly recognized people as their most valuable assets. Therefore, each party can achieve its unique goals by being better aligned. And if both companies and individuals commit to developing people, everyone wins and the figurative pie plus individual pie pieces get bigger. We wind up with a dedicated, skilled, and healthy team capable of advancing themselves and, in turn, the company.
Whether you are a small organization building a talent development program or an individual still earning an MBA, the path to success is similar. It always comes back to people -- hiring well, training and developing them, offering excellent experiences, providing vocational and personal support, and positioning them for future leadership where they can develop the next generation.
Companies: How do we develop and retain the best employees?
Understandably, the process of leadership development all starts with recruiting and hiring the right candidates. How do you identify the people that will fit best with the vision and values of your organization? How can you tell who will stick around for the long run? That’s not an easy task, but in a conversation I had with Brett Kennedy of CIGNA, they seemingly have perfected the process.
To provide context, I have been delivering FP&A leadership development programs to Cigna’s Financial Leadership Development Program (FDP) for the past four (4) years. Brett is the former Director of the FDP. To summarize his wisdom, Cigna has chosen to prioritize skills, like collaboration and leadership, over technical know-how. His theory? Leadership and communication can’t always be taught in the same way that technical skills can. Recall, upwards of 70% of leadership development comes from experience, not technical training. Cigna feels they are better off choosing a candidate that brings the virtues and non-technical FP&A skills the company is known to prize.
2. Build a culture of trust and transparency. Being upfront about the path to success within your organization is the best way to show employees that their time and skills are valued. What exactly is the long-term path from new-hire to Director status? How long is the journey? What percentage of hires complete the goal? Who will they interact with along the way? Paint a vivid picture of what dedication looks like within the walls of your company. Referring back to Cigna, the FPD program rotations are often between six (6) and twenty-four (24) months long, while the entire path lasts for 5-8 years. The program has buy-in from alumni and veteran leadership who serve as advisors and mentors. FDP participants know what their future looks like months and years in advance, and can adequately position and prepare.
3. Create a unique community. If you’ve been reading newsworthy content recently, it shouldn’t surprise you that community, benefits, purpose, and autonomy can often trump all-in compensation. When it comes to retaining employees, it’s true that money matters -- compensation rates high on the list of what matters -- but it’s only one element on a much longer itemization of values. It’s having a culture of employee satisfaction, communication, and closeness that keeps people staying. For Cigna’s FDP program, retention is over 90% year-over-year.
When identifying new recruits and building a team, think about how individual personalities work together and match the company’s culture. Professionals don’t commonly pursue an unknown opportunity by leaving a job where they know, like, and trust their teammates and leaders; feel a sense of purpose in their work; and feel rewarded fairly for their contribution. Create a community where everyone supports one another and prioritizes personal development over percentages.
4. Provide as robust of a training development program as possible. In my experience, small and mid-sized companies usually don’t have formal leadership development programs. Progress through middle management and into leadership often happens over time and when a vacancy at the top presents itself. In larger organizations, training and development are more structured but programs vary from company to company. When I recently polled human resources (HR) and financial planning & analysis (FP&A) leadership, who together are largely responsible for hiring, retention, and development, they shared that their biggest hurdles were time, resources, and a measurable return. Not every company can afford to build as robust of a development program as FedEx or Netflix. You can, however, take the time to identify and document how high-potentials can and will reach the leadership group. You can also research what the big players -- like Raytheon, Walmart, and Target -- are doing, how they’re executing leadership development effectively, and adopt ideas that make sense at your company. Committing your company’s resources to a thorough development program and experiential pathway is one of the best ways to show staff you care. A robust program tells your people: “We believe in you, we support you, and we take everyone’s success seriously.”
5. Empower your management team. Why would today’s new-hires want to become tomorrow’s Directors? They need to see an example of what outstanding leadership looks like. Allow management and leadership to set this example by serving as coaches, mentors, and alumni -- not just professionals with more experience.
Individuals: How do I get ahead and further my career?
Identify your ultimate vocational and personal goals. The days are gone of putting together a ten-year career plan. While it’s healthy to envision the future direction of a career, the reality is that economies, industries, companies, and careers change so rapidly that a ten-year plan may become outdated within a short period of time.
For a high-potential FP&A professional looking to advance into middle management, Directorship, leadership, or the C-suite, be encouraged to perform a ‘gap analysis’. That is: 1) what are the characteristics, requirements, experiences, education, and skills possessed by a financial leader; 2) what are the characteristics, experiences, education, and skills currently possessed; and 3) what steps need to be taken in the coming months and years to bridge the gap? At the same time, be honest about what will be gained and given up in that process. A move from staff to management means more focus on people and less on ‘doing’, whereas a move from management to leadership often means more focus on strategy and less focus on doing the work. While advancement brings higher compensation, recognition and title, it also often requires more travel, more responsibilities, and distance from day-to-day technical tasks.
2. The framework for a leadership development discussion. With a clearer vision of where to go, the current state, and the gap in between, there’s greater context for a conversation with management. While more mature organizations, with established leadership development programs, will have a structure for advancement, having a tangible idea of how individual aspirations align with organizational goals is always wise. Managers and Directors, with a vested interest in lifting others, should be encouraged to better align high-potential pursuits with company needs.
3. Work in the fringes. A financial professional should be granted access to the leadership group when they’ve been demonstrating those leadership capabilities for at least six (6) months, if not longer. It exemplifies the ability to work at a higher level consistently and for an extended period of time.
However, the challenge for self-motivated staff lies in finding and landing work and opportunities at that higher level. As part of the gap analysis, identify what future opportunities touch upon current projects or scopes of work in the fringes. In other words, what projects or scopes of work can be expanded upon rather than repeated? To provide an example, an FP&A professional may perform a pricing and product rationalization analysis on one product category; however, this same analysis could be expanded to other product categories, the entire portfolio, future product releases, facility planning, financing plans and more.
Identifying opportunities for professional evolution, and offering to tackle them, is vital for development. This is in contrast to waiting for leadership to initiate the initiative and offer only certain projects to certain people. Be willing to provide a plan, do the work, and deliver. Doing so allows experience in the fringes, an expansion of the professional network, and demonstration of ability at the leadership level.
4. Continue to upskill and self-educate. Education doesn’t just mean introducing new information into the brain. Education means blending knowledge, skills, experience, and reflection together for development of a stronger cognitive machine -- a machine that can solve more important, complicated problems.
While most leadership development happens through experience, experience doesn’t take shape without blended education and mastery of underlying skills. This could mean a return to school for an MBA, pursuing a university certificate program, joining a mastermind, enrolling in training from professional associations or at conferences, or just taking on new projects with a commitment to listening and learning from the current leaders of the organization. No single source of education is the single means to reach leadership. They all complement one another. Embrace them all with an open mind and an understanding that learning is never complete.
5. Be willing to take risks. For most business professionals, they’ve moved well beyond the linear career, where they’re likely to stay on the same career path within the same organization for the entirety of their working lives. Instead, most business professionals will work for various companies, exploring different or somewhat-related careers. The best professional moves can often be unintended, following a lead or opportunity to do something a little different, a little uncomfortable.
Be willing to put yourself on the outside of your comfort zone, keeping your eyes, ears, and network open. Let those with whom you’re familiar -- closely and as mere acquaintances -- know what you’re looking for and how they can connect you to others. It’s these soft connections that can often lead to the most hidden but promising opportunities, within and outside of current companies.
In summary, leadership development doesn’t usually happen as a byproduct of technical success. It happens through intention, connection, and mastery. Whether you’re a leader in a company looking to bring in and keep great people -- or you’re a driven finance professional with an eye toward the top -- a structured, yet flexible, development pathway with clearly-identified elements is vital to the progression.
If you’re interested in learning more about how this can be done at your organization, please reach out by emailing carl@seidmanfinancial.com.