Can you remember situations in your life that defines who you are? I have a few of those in mind. One situation is linked to being a young in-experience cross country coach for a bunch of kids in my local skiing club, NSP - back in 1980's. There was a fundamental respect among all the older skiers, the trainers and thus the influence on kids like myself. A few resourceful people made sure that respect for each other was a fundamental value in the club - and this has been shaping me ever since. To this day I think that respect for other people is so integrated in my approach to life, to my way of leading and to my surroundings. Another situation is linked to my time with Arctic Winter Games, where I had the privilege of working with more than 1000 volunteers. Working with volunteers over a period of almost two years gives a special insight into what tools you can use as a leader to inspire and motivate. I believe in extreme empowerment and involvement, which can only be successful if you communicate clearly and are able to delegate at a high level. Again I think that respect is intricate to success. The people around you can FEEL you - and if there is mutual respect, then you can also MOVE people. To me being humble about the role you play as a leader is important. You are not more special than others - you only have a bigger responsibility. What are your thoughts on this?
Kultur er vigtigere end strategi
Culture & Strategy
Best visualizing effect on how Culture overrules Strategy. Very important to have a vision, a mission and a strategy to stretch for - -but without an eye for the culture of the company you will NOT succeed. Your colleagues are the road to success.
Culture eats strategy for breakfast →
Recently I had the opportunity to talk to business leaders first in Denmark and then in Gibraltar. The topic was change management and how culture influences on the ability to implement strategy in a company. To the best of my knowledge culture in a company is the single most important factor in any transformation process. In my opinion you can not move a company through a huge transformation without both understanding the current culture in the company and the underlying dynamics in the organization. From what I have seen in a lot of other companies most Management does not take this serious enough, which incidentally can explain why a lot of strategies ends up not being implemented.
I believe in teamwork, I believe in transparency, I believe in empowerment of the individual in an organization. And I sincerely believe a lot can be accomplished if you have an OPEN and DIRECT feedback culture in the company. If it is not there - then create it! Imagine what kind of energy that can be released if every individual have a strong sense of commitment, understanding of direction AND motivation to make a difference. THAT creates a strong culture.
I use simple tools to enhance group dynamics, which I will go into in another blog. It works and it creates engaged colleagues and commitment across organizational boundaries. Interested? Then write to me.
What are the challenges in your industry?
A lot of business models are under attack and the big question is HOW the different sectors will adjust to this. I have a background in the Airline industry, which has been riveted with changes over the past decade. New business models from lowcost carriers with dramatic revenue drop as a result, point of sale changes because of the internet as the main sales channel, huge impacts from the 9/11 event, the Financiel crisis and continuing increased taxation from the airports and vendors. During some talks with a good friend and ex-colleague from the airline industry, I found out that all these changes and adjustment to changes have made a big impact on how I view changes in the environment. Now that I have gone into the Telekom sector I can see that my new industry are about to go into the exact same dramatic change - and that it will require the incumbent Telcos to make equally dramatic changes in their business models. So tools like revenue optimization and dynamic pricing schemes will be a necessity if the "old" dinasour Telcos want to survive. OTT players like Whatsapp, Skype, Facebook will take a stronger foothold in the market and bypass the Incumbents business models that typically charge minuts and not data. Interesting how you are able to look at structural changes from one industry to another, which incidently is the big consultancy companies thrieve on.
How do you see the challenges in YOUR industry? And are you learning from another industry that are experiencing major structural changes?
