Building Tomorrow's Leadership Culture - “So who owns Wikipedia then?”

Following a series of interviews with senior UK Business leaders and HR Directors, Full Potential Group is publishing a bi-weekly blog reflecting current trends in leadership and the skills business leaders will need to 'build tomorrow's leadership culture' and  thrive in the current volatile business climate.

To launch the series John Blakey, Non-Executive Director at Full Potential Group speaks to Tamsin Webster, Talent Director EMEA at BlackRock, one of the world’s preeminent asset management firms.

For Tamsin, a discussion on building tomorrow's leadership culture needs to start by thinking of those leaders who are already ahead of the curve. What is it that they do that distinguishes them from their peers and marks them out as pioneers in their field? Having herself worked for First National, BT, Lloyds Banking Group, Man Group and now BlackRock, Tamsin has observed many leaders first-hand in different organisational cultures. She picked two, let's call them John and David, as examples of catalytic leaders in their unique and different ways.

John's qualities were that he was highly personable - he connected with people by bringing his whole self to work such that everyone felt they knew him as a person, not as a role. The more I heard about John the more I linked his abilities to a well developed 'heart brain' - someone who built empathy with others and motivated them to go the extra mile by going the extra mile himself in helping and supporting those in his team. Contrast this with David who led from the 'infinite brain' first and foremost - an authentic presence who generated real belief in the vision, opened up possibilities and was often heard saying "Have you ever thought about this...or this....or this?" David 'imagined up' the future and created great stories around this future such that you felt that you were on a special journey with him... and you probably were.

John and David shared the 'thinking brain' quality of drive - both had insatiable energy levels and pushed themselves and their team to achieve ever more ambitious targets. However, later in their careers the 'shadow' side of that drive took its toll when both suffered physical illness burning themselves out whilst still in their prime. It is interesting to remember that a catalyst in a chemical reaction is not used up in the process of accelerating change. In the future, true catalytic leaders will need to emerge from the organisations they help transform as fresh and as energetic as they entered them on day one if they are to live up to this brand. 

However, they were both "technophobes" when it came to technology and Tamsin accepted that whilst it was still possible to get away with this in the nineties and early noughties, both will have had to have adapted to continue to excel in today's networked and virtual world. How would they have created the same sense of team loyalty and closeness in a global business where teams connect through text, conference calls and social media? How do more mature leaders get into this world whilst avoiding what Tamsin refers to as "Cool Dad" syndrome i.e. desperately trying to use technology in a way that is designed to impress their Generation Y colleagues yet somehow falling flat on their faces when asking innocently - so who owns Wikipedia then?' "We need to learn from Generation Y not preach to them," was Tamsin's simple yet powerful conclusion.

In concluding our short discussion, I pointed out to Tamsin that both the leaders she had spoken of as catalytic were male. Tamsin has experienced very inspiring female role models and mentors in her time but has noticed that there can be pressure on female leaders to adopt a more aggressive leadership when gaining a higher senior position. Other female leaders have not felt it worth climbing the career ladder further. Clearly, there will be more female leaders at the Boardroom table in the future - maybe when these female leaders do not feel they have to fight for their position in the first place we might see a liberation of their natural 'heart brain' potential rather than them regarding this as a source of weakness amidst a male and 'thinking brain' dominated business world. What are your thoughts?  

For more information on the Full Potential Group multi-brain model referred to in the blog then please click here.

Want to learn more about how to use our latest thinking on Coaching and Leadership to drive organisational success - join one of our complimentary spring 2012 webinars - for full details click here.

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