What we do in Curated Leadership Conversations

In January I start a new series of Curated Leadership Conversations with the six directors of one organisation. I’m really looking forward to it.

Early on we distinguish between doing, managing and leading.

The “doing” chart is easy to fill. That’s our day job, fulfilling a technical function. It could be engineering: designing a bridge or working out why the retaining wall has slipped. This is our comfort zone, what we’re good at, what we qualified in and have been doing for years. And even when we get promoted to the top level, it’s still what we identify as: “I am a civil engineer”.

Working out the difference between managing and leading is trickier.

I ask “What’s the difference between management and leadership?” They work through it and eventually all three flip charts have their lists of bullet points, distinguishing engineering, management and leadership.

I flip the first two over so that only leadership is visible, because that’s what we’re there to talk about.

Each time we get together, I put a leadership concept or tool on the table and we talk about it in the context of their business.

Whenever they veer off into technical or management stuff I bring the conversation back to leadership. It’s pure headspace, free from distraction, time to think and talk about the messy art of leadership and how they are going to create the environment for all of their people to do their best work, together.

This is a rare programme, and a rare opportunity. When they make real progress on this, they become the leadership team that everyone wants to follow, and the magic starts to happen. Effective leadership works.

When the leadership function is neglected, the organisation scrapes through, but it’s relentless hard work. People go through the motions and complain “there’s no leadership around here”. Few stakeholders inside or outside are happy. Even the high flyers are dragged down. Entropy sets in.

This is what a recent customer said:

“My team has just completed a ‘Curated leadership conversation’ with Dave. This was a new concept he was trialling and proved very effective in pulling the team together, creating recognition and empathy for individuals’ strengths and weaknesses and building the relationships that enable the team to thrive, an ideal programme for newly formed and existing teams that want to step up to and operate at a leadership level.”

Thanks, David Hollingsworth, Executive Director, BWB Consulting Ltd.

And some early outcomes are now showing through in business top and bottom lines:

• Directors operating at leadership level;
• Pulling together as one team;
• Confidence and morale are up;
• Exec freed up to operate at a higher level.

Long ago, I was in a leadership position although I was unprepared for it. I was expected to be a good leader as I was okay in mainly technical roles.

For the last 25 years I have coached leadership teams and many have achieved remarkable results. I watch them and how they go about getting the best out of their people. I also read loads of leadership books. I have become a student of leadership.

In Curated Leadership Conversations, I share some of what I have seen, acquired and learnt and the participants talk it through in the context of their business. Their agenda shifts upwards and they start operating permanently at a higher level. Their leadership manifests and success ensues.

It all starts with a conversation, a curated leadership conversation.