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Many years ago my colleagues and I were waiting for the much vaunted visit of the Global President of the group - a multi million organisation. He was arriving to Western Europe in his Learjet accompanied, inevitably, with an entourage: CRO, COO, VP Human Resources, VP Revenue Generation, VP Legal. Legal? Why always Legal? Ok that’s another blog. We had already been forewarned by another subsidiary in Europe. The President was in a bad mood. Very bad mood. Our sister company Exec team got torn apart the night before. Be warned! Armed with this motivating nugget of information we planned everything in minute detail - even a spectacular lunch with copious quantities of wine designed to accelerate jet lag and dull the senses of these very senior executives. The visit didn’t start well. We got a call from the airport first thing in the morning. “Where is my Limo?” “Er….well there is an executive mini bus waiting for you. Just walk out of the terminal building and……” “I am absolutely NOT going in a coach! The others can do what they want. I want a Limo and I want it now!” Well we didn’t expect that. The next few hours were taken up with us running around like headless chickens, trying to find a limo to rent at short - like immediate - notice. We found a 5 series BMW. It wasn’t good enough. He wanted a stretch Limo. We explained they are not so easy to find in the UK. After 5 hours of him waiting at the airport he finally accepted, under apparent duress, a black Mercedes S class with personal chauffeur at his disposal for the duration of his stay. He was not best pleased with our obvious ineptitude and disrespect. Surprisingly the review meeting went rather well. Restaurant appointment cancelled the President finally turned up at about 2pm whereupon we found a pub still open and plied him and his colleagues with fish and chips and copious quantities of English bitter. Now English bitter, for those of you who haven’t tried it, really does make you go to sleep. My boss at the time launched into his pitch. It was a wonder to behold. He proceeded to bamboozle the increasingly sleepy executives with seemingly disjointed and unintelligible words and phrases. I genuinely had no clue what was being said. I suddenly realised that this is what it must be like to meet aliens on a strange planet with a completely unique vocabulary - like a junior crew member beamed into a strange planet from the starship USS Enterprise. “Well, as you can see in line 23, subsection 14 in our strategic plan, we are compounding the strategic benefit of an independent derivative in the capital markets by hedging our new business portfolio through an optimum mixture of interest rate protection and floating liquidity results at a premium margin”. Or something like that. I genuinely thought I must be utterly stupid. How had I got to a senior position myself without knowing this stuff? And I thought I was a finance professional. Clearly not. Within an hour of this, and with no questions asked, the President announced his satisfaction at our “great performance” and retired to his hotel to catch up on some much needed sleep and his departure to the next set of corporate victims the following day - in his S class Merc sadly but then we couldn't get everything right. Basically he and his colleagues never asked a single question. Clearly they, like me, had not understood a single word. And they couldn't possibly have wanted to display their ignorance of the topic in hand. I tell this story because it displays so clearly one of the many pitfalls of “leadership” today, be it top executives of a multinational company, leaders of a business unit or the young aspiring leader of a small team. Or political leaders. Leadership often seems to encourage arrogance accompanied by a significant dose of ego. And this does not help. As an aside I subsequently asked my boss what the hell he had been talking about? “I have no idea” was his honest reply “but it worked”. Live and learn little boy, I told myself, live and learn. When I look back on my long career and think about all the many different leaders that I have met along the journey I am struck by one common thread; so many of them were arrogant, self serving, manipulative bullies. And really I am being rather generous. Yes, there were also a few exceptional leaders along the way. They mostly subscribe to my Blog! But sadly very few were so good. So few in fact that if my hands were to have a serious argument with a chain saw I would still have more than enough fingers left to count them all. Yet I also observed something quite intriguing. The fact was I knew a few of them before they became so elevated…and so arrogant with inflated overpowering egos and dubious at best, standards of morality. It got me thinking…why did they change? Were they always like that, just hiding their egomania for when it could be unleashed....or is there something else going on? Here is, I think, what happens. You start off with dreams of a better world, where you will be a driving force in that change. (I don't exclude the possibility that you start off thinking “I’m gonna be rich and powerful at any cost!”; but I'm making a point here.) You get promoted. As you get promoted you find one day that you have your own comfy office. Perhaps your own parking space. As you go through the ranks the office gets bigger, plusher and your salary expands allowing you to go on exclusive holidays and drive big fancy cars and live in a fine exclusive detached house. Your parking space gets closer to your office, eventually being right in front of the building entrance. Customers by the way are relegated to the visitors car park far away. Eventually, with a bit of luck, you find yourself in a really top job - perhaps the business unit CEO, subsidiary manager or global leader of a big organisation. Now it really gets nice. You get a big Mercedes, maybe even with a chauffeur. An office on the top floor - with special restricted VIP key code access. An office with fantastic views. It's all so seductive isn't it? So what is missing? Ordinary people. Along with the plushness of your office your circle of contacts becomes ever more 'elevated'. It's the other directors you are seeing mostly. Gradually not even them. Certainly not the 'plebeians'. As you scale the heights of corporate titles you gradually, step by step, with every promotion, every square cm increase in office space, lose touch with the very people who got you there. You convince yourself that you have talent. Incredible talent. After all, you got there and they didn't. 'Cream always rises to the surface' it is said. {What a load of codswallop!} Gradually, because you think you are the most important part of the organisation you lose touch with the organisation. You lose touch with reality. People don't come to talk with you anymore. People whisper “he has changed”. You are blissfully unaware of how 'normal' people see you as you tell your wife you are working late again and then book another romantic dinner with your PA. You get my drift. Honestly I have even seen a CEO try to get planning permission for an external staircase and elevator direct to his own office so that he could deliberately avoid meeting any employees - the “unwashed” let's call them, on the stairwell. I have experienced the executive office suit with its own restricted VIP key cards - so even if an employee wanted to make use of “I have an open door policy” they couldn't, because they couldn't get anywhere near the office suite in the first place. The Exec suite, floor or building are more secure than the United States Bullion Depository at Fort Knox. “Not without an appointment” the PA will bark over an intercom. And let's face it, ordinary mortals, the 'unwashed', are hardly likely to dare do that. It gets worse. I have seen the office suite guarded by a team of security - on the inside - even once you get through the door - like a bad remake of 'Mission Impossible' the visiting senior managers are ushered into a waiting room to wait for the Emperor and his Court to signal that they are ready for you. Finally after an hour or two when you are summoned, it takes ages to walk the 10 metres to the Boardroom because the carpet is so thick that you really need snow shoes to get anywhere. Alpine skis and telescopic ski poles would have been better. I remember once being ushered into my new office early in my career. It was the left over room of a long retired bank manager in a little branch office - it felt a bit like finding the 'Mary Celeste' - I almost expected to find his (and he would have been a man for sure) half eaten sandwich in a drawer. I think I did. It might have been a decomposed bat. But what startled me the most - and I am being deadly serious here - was the different chair sizes. I sat in the chair for the visiting “customer” and almost fell into it - it seemed lower than a normal chair. Then I sat in the managers chair - and hardly needed to sit - I was elevated so high it felt like I was stepping into a Scania Tractor Unit. A couple more centimetres higher in the stratosphere and I would have needed an oxygen mask. I realised of course that this was the old power play trick. Make the “opponent” feel small. And you much stronger. I thanked my lucky stars that the room was just a remnant of a bygone age. Here I was. A youngster on the up. I'm going to change the world. Only to discover in my career that this bygone age was alive and kicking. It still is. Being tough is a sign of strength; humility a sign of weakness. Or so the argument goes. This is not to say that these arrogant egotistical leaders are all stupid. Far from it. A fair few I have met have been remarkably bright (whatever that means). Unfortunately being “bright” doesn't necessarily help with humility. On the contrary. One good example springs to mind. I will call him Dr Grim. One of the youngest Group CEO’s to be appointed he seemed to have a brain the size of a watermelon. He was so clever that whenever he talked he would speak so fast and draw a conclusion on a topic as complex as nuclear fusion so quickly that it left his audience still thinking about point two - in a conversation of 972 points. Unfortunately he was so fast that quite often he simply got stuff wrong. By then it was far too late to correct him because the point at which a normal 'unwashed' mortal realised his logical mistake was usually three days later. In any case, nobody would dare challenge him. For he was, as he always liked to portray, always right. I wonder why he thought that? Not hard to see. And therein lies the problem. Every time the arrogant person 'gets away with it' he just has his arrogance reinforced. It doesn’t change the fact that he is wrong. Quite often. In fact I quite liked Dr Grim. I had many an awkward exchange with him. What I particularly enjoyed was that his arrogance made him brave and he had no qualms about embarrassing his superiors. A man after my own heart really. Such was his arrogance. Just like mine really. Probably not a good idea when it comes to your superiors….but quite fun to watch. I digress. Arrogance has no place in leadership. It is based entirely on a myth. That leadership is one big competition. That humility displays weakness and that weakness is bad because you will get eaten by wolves. But its based on a past myth that never really existed. You see the world is far too complex for one person, however “clever” they may be. Pretending that you know everything, that you are superior to everyone else and that you are far too egotistical to ask someone something you don't know simply doesn't cut it. Sooner or later that leader will fail. And fail miserably. Gerald Ratner was a hugely successful CEO of the Ratner Group Jewelry chain. He skilfully and successfully built a small failing family jewelry business into a huge retail conglomerate. Until he got so arrogant he accidentally almost killed the company. In 1991 at a Institute of Directors Dinner he said: “We also do cut-glass sherry decanters complete with six glasses on a silver-plated tray that your butler can serve you drinks on, all for £4.95. People say, "How can you sell this for such a low price?", I say, "because it's total crap." He compounded his disdain for his unwashed customers by going on to remark that one of the sets of earrings on sale was "cheaper than a prawn sandwich from Marks and Spencer’s, but I have to say the sandwich will probably last longer than the earrings". Humility? I don't think so. Customers instantly stopped going to his stores, the value of the company fell by £500 million. It nearly went bankrupt only avoiding total destruction by a complete rebranding, a huge store closure programme and mass redundancies. https://spiceenquirer.com/the-man-who-lost-10-billion-dollars-gerald-ratners-pr-crisis-story/ You can see the answer. Ego leads to ignorance which leads to failure. Arrogance leads to avoidable mistakes which leads to calamity. Humility trumps ego every time. Respect trumps arrogance. Stop hiding in your office. Turn it into a universal meeting room. Somewhere any employee can use for private discussions or calls - you know the kind of thing; calls to their Scottish headhunter, “Beam me up Scotty, get me out of here!” Walk to where the unwashed employees are working. Hint: you will find them on the floors beneath you. Don't be shocked when you discover they are crammed into open plan floors like a Chinese sweatshop. Find the middle. Make your new desk there. On the open plan floor. No walls. Better still - really do 'make' your 'Ikea style' desk unit. That signal of humility will work wonders. Sure a few employees will need to be inconvenienced, moved around, but it will be worth it. Of course you will need to introduce yourself to them. You see they don't know who you are. They have only ever seen you on the company website or in a shareholder annual report. That doesn't help. You are far older and fatter than the picture you use. Peculiarly your hair has gone black too. Work at your desk. Openly. No secrets. Slowly the brave ones might talk to you. Then a few more. You will hear things you wont believe. See things you never thought possible. Slowly but surely you will get the feel for what is really happening. There is one incontrovertible truth that occurs the second you become a manager of people. From that moment on you will never ever hear the unadulterated truth ever again. You job now is to get as close as possible to it [the truth]. The more you step away, the more you are cosseted amongst your own peers, on your own piece of luxurious carpet, the more you will drift away from reality, secure in the deluded knowledge that you truly are the greatest. It will come as a shock to you one day to find out that you don't move like a butterfly and you definitely can't sting like a bee. Because you simply don't have a clue anymore. Back to my introduction. Those global executives who never asked us a question were NOT great leaders. They were - deep down - insecure cowards. Arrogance is not a sign of strength. It is a neon flashing warning sign of deep insecurity and fear. Those executives didn’t ask a question - not because they understood everything - they couldn't - it was totally made up. They didn't ask because they did NOT understand and they were too frightened to admit to their own insecurity. Actually what they really needed was psychiatric help. I'm serious. Many so called 'leaders' do. It really is desperately sad. I can do no better than to quote from the excellent website of Joe Contrera. https://aliveatwork.com/the-single-biggest-cause-of-allleadership-failures/ “Decide your constant striving to feel self-worth and value by winning, being right, seeking pleasure, getting ahead, buying a new toy, buying a new anything, proving you are better than everyone else, constantly comparing yourself to others is futile because it is an insatiable need that can never ever be met externally for any length of time.” In the end you will be only really successful for one reason. Because you have built and nurtured an amazing team around you. One that you trust and in return they trust you. You have rewarded them with your confidence and your admiration. You have put THEM on a pedestal, thanked THEM for their success, put THEM on the stage for the awards, not yourself. You humbly retreat into the background, seemingly invisible, just your hand lightly on the tiller helping to keep people guided and in the right direction. Helping them to reach their own potential. When that is done, when they themselves are leading by your own example - with humility and real strength, then you know you are becoming a truly great leader.

Forget Mad Cow Disease. There is something even more contagious that has gripped the corporate world for decades. It's called Mission Statement Madness (MSM). So contagious that sooner or later every “leader” will succumb, and start a MSM project of their own. Image by Peggy und Marco Lachmann-Anke from Pixabay Google ‘Mission Statement’ and millions of consulting firms will appear only too willing to confirm that without a Mission Statement your organisation is doomed to failure. And these consultants have the expertise to solve this problem. Funny that. Yet I have never seen any conclusive scientific research to say that a Mission Statement, Vision Statement, Purpose Statement or anything else of this kind of genre makes the slightest difference to a company’s performance. Indeed, there are an awful lot of companies with carefully crafted Mission Statements that fail - and fail spectacularly. Remember Enron? They failed big when they were found to be deliberately defrauding investors - ie pensioners. A snipet of their Mission Statement: “We treat others as we would like to be treated ourselves….” Or how about Lehman Brothers who filed for bankruptcy after deliberately manipulating their balance sheet to hide “at risk” assets. Their Mission statement didn’t seem to help much either: “We are one firm, defined by our unwavering commitment to our clients, our shareholders, and each other“ And when Theranos declared in its mission statement that it wanted to “empower people everywhere to live their best possible lives” did that actually really mean the lives of Elizabeth Holmes and Sunny Balwani at the expense of everyone else? Either way, it didn’t seem to work. Wander into any corporate reception area and you are more than likely to find a “Mission Statement” hanging on a wall somewhere. Even though I do not own a crystal ball or know of any distant Romany Gipsy relatives in my family tree, I can with a high degree of probability, predict what it says. Here goes: “we put our customers first…..blah blah blah….we value our employees…..blah blah blah…..we are fair and loyal to our suppliers….blah blah blah”. They might even be well up to date and mention something about “equal opportunities” and “environmental greenie-ness”. Sometimes they will include a nice picture of employees behind the directors, who will inevitably be white, middle aged, and male. Except perhaps for the HR director who will be white, middle aged and possibly female. Actually to be fair, the directors are usually not white but grey. The funny thing is, if we were to walk in and cover up the mission statement with a tea towel, I can almost guarantee that the reception staff will be unable to tell you what it actually says. Or for that matter any other employees. Or indeed the directors. Strange that. Because although we haven’t seen it, you or I could describe it with a fair degree of accuracy. I, for my sins, have also been involved in several MSM projects. And I'll admit that i have even succumbed to the MSM disease myself. But one especially memorable experience stands out. A dozen or so senior managers were tasked by the C suite to define a “Leadership Team Mission Statement”. We were to produce a document which, like many an aspiring american corporation, we would then be expected to sign to prove our unwavering support of the new corporate mission enshrining our fantastic collegiate culture.. Divided into two groups, we were each to produce our own draft. Off we went like little schoolchildren with flip boards and pens in hand. My group quickly established that this should not be a set of minutely crafted words but a brainstorm of key features we believed were important. Unfortunately, as we were soon to discover, the other group saw it differently. They set about crafting a legalistic document that even the skilled lawyers knife of Perry “ironside” Mason wouldn't be able to penetrate. While both groups were all in their unique ways trying to figure out how best to express a nurturing, kind, supportive, progressive and positive culture, the C suite were also busy. Having grabbed their own flip chart, off they went to identify those of us in our groups that should be fired. Really. You just couldn’t make it up. You probably won't be surprised when I say that once we realised what was going on we found it rather difficult to maintain our 'Mission Statement' motivation. The exercise wasn’t exactly a success. The so called 'Mission Statement' quickly became a document of such legalistic complexity designed to stop any kind of freedom of thought or action. It needed to be signed of course. I didn’t bother. Not many of us did to be fair. Subsequently it was filed. And never referred to again. If you haven’t been involved in a mission statement project yet then don’t worry. You will soon. It's impossible to go through a corporate career without it. For every company - or rather every leadership team - will at some stage be infected with MSM. It often starts like this. New Leader. First 100 days. Need more profitability. Prove myself. Damn. Its going to take 2 years before any changes have a material effect. Let's do a corporate culture project. I know. We need a [new/revised] mission statement. And so the MSM fly has bitten. Now leaders are not stupid. Well. Not all of them. So they will realise that they can’t just write one and expect everyone to suddenly adopt the new religion. Remembering a bit of their 2 year Executive MBA programme that they took online at ‘WhatsApp Business School’ they decide that a project group is needed to ensure employee “buy-in”. The fun begins. A group is formed. Either a small group (like the leadership team) thus ensuring that it cannot possibly be representative of the organisation. Or a much wider group that will still only represent less than 1% of the organisation / customers / suppliers thus ensuring that it cannot possibly be representative of the organisation. Before long any degree of motivating, real, fundamental, unique and inspiring content will be argued away. A draft will be presented. The 'Leader’ will point out that one or more of ‘customers/employees/ suppliers’ have been left out and it needs to go back to the drawing board. Finally, after weeks of meetings, conference calls and revisions the new “Mission Statement” will be unveiled. Put on the wall. And promptly totally and utterly forgotten. The bottom line is that I have never ever met a customer who has placed an order (or not) because of a mission statement. Or an employee who has changed their behavior because of a mission statement. Or a supplier who has chosen to supply you because of a Mission Statement. Does that mean that a Mission Statement is a waste of time? Ask yourself this question: Why do I really need a Mission Statement? are any of the answers the following? Because all big companies have one I need one to make me look good The company culture needs to change My employees can't possibly work without one My boss will be impressed There is a blank space on the wall in reception that I need to fill If the answer is yes to any of the above then, honestly, you got the whole thing the wrong way round. So is a Mission Statement is a waste of time? Well. It depends. You see the mistake in all of this is staring us in the face. It's not the mission / vision / purpose statement that changes culture. It's the leader. It all starts from there. If you as the leader do not have the passion, the compelling vision, the inner moral compass and the downright determination to make a positive difference then how can you possibly expect a corporate Mission Statement to do it for you? Statements are not the start of change. You are. And change will happen through your actions. I don’t mean the projects you start. Or the consultants you hire. I mean what you say, what you do, the decisions you make, the kind of risks you take, the people you support, the beliefs you express and fight for....popular or unpopular…..every day, every hour, every minute. Your force of character, your dedication to the extraordinary and positive change will create the culture the Image by Tumisu from Pixabay organisation needs. Everything else is either clutter, diversion, or alternatively a form of supporting the main act: YOU and YOUR vision. It always starts with you. And when you can see that it's happening, that the culture is something people see, feel and believe, because they believe in YOU; then so too can you begin to feel proud , that your team can see and believe that the aspiration is worth striving for. And when that happens, and only then, should you crystallise your 'Mission Statement'. By then it will have become obvious anyway. Because by then you will have shown it in your heart. You will have proven that you live and breath it. That you believe in it. And therefore your employees will too. Then take your Mission Statement. Hang it pride of place on the wall in reception. And be proud. Very proud.

....the project will come back again only with a different name. Apart from wrinkles and Gout, plus a garage full of useless stuff, as one gets older one also gets wisdom. All things being equal of course. Wisdom is gained through experience. And experience is nothing more than the realisation that we all make exactly the same mistakes all of the time. The advantage of youth of course is precisely that you are unconstrained by annoying wisdom. The world is your oyster, just waiting for you to arrive and make a mess of things. That’s why the “Organisational Change Project” was born. When you first arrive in your Leadership position you are acutely aware of the incontrovertible law of corporations; “the first 100 days”. Yep. You have got to make your mark. Fast. Like a dog on a walk. You absolutely must pee everywhere to signal its now your territory and woe betide anyone else trying to muscle in on your patch. If you have the ability to fire people then that’s a good start. The hierarchy love that. Its a sure sign of strength and has the added benefit of installing your minions with a fear of your almighty power. But that alone won't cut it. Not with those old men - and they are invariably men - white men - old men - right at the top of the tree. You need something else to impress. Welcome to the “Organisational Change Project”. The name of the “Project” should of course be catchy if possible and it should always always be ultimately about efficiency, or revenue or both. After all, the only thing that matters to old men is profits….or……anything that you as a leader are targeted with…..which of course means profits. Now here comes the skill. For the unwary its a real pitfall…I know….I have done it myself. Never ever name your project the same as a previous one that people will remember. Lets all be honest, Jaws II was never as good as Jaws and both of them were rubbish. And its exactly the same with projects. None of them make the slightest difference except to hinder the business, slow it down, make everyone totally frustrated and ultimately depressed. Once you have done that your work is done….until a month or two later when you realise that to keep the hierarchy believing in you and that you are achieving impact you will need another change project. With a new snappy name of course. It actually matters little if the project is Lean, Six Sigma, Time and Motion, Agile, Scrum, Waterfall, Critical Path, Kanpan or even a mixture, like “Lean Six Sigma”. Genius that one. Top marks. All you need to remember is that the project is your own, supported by whatever tools you choose (or rather your project manager chooses - you will be the sponsor - for good reason - you don't under any circumstances want to take any responsibility). Just think of a snappy name. Get a few consultants in to add weight and “independence”. Consultants are brilliant at asking your employees for their ideas, which they are only too willing to provide, and which are then repackaged as “independent thought” with anything that doesn't agree with your bias removed to ensure prompt payment of very very large consultants bill. I know. I have seen consultants cut and paste my own report - word for word. With the “difficult bits” removed. You see my point is this. There is no such thing as a new project. They really are all the same. Just a different title. Perhaps a slightly different emphasis. But the outcome and the way you get there is always, and I mean ALWAYS, the same. Trust me. I have the experience. And I know that if you keep your notes you will know exactly what to do, when to do it, and indeed what the result will be. Just cut and paste from an identical previous project - there will be one I promise. Remember to update the terminology to the latest fad. You see when the project calls for centralisation as the answer to all corporate ills you can absolutely guarantee that this will become a total disaster, ready for the next leader to come in and start a new project which will lead to decentralisation. And when that fails there will be the next leader, another round of redundancies and a new project. You can kind of see where this is going. Of course, even though most change projects fail [https://hbr.org/1995/05/leading-change-why-transformation-efforts-fail-2] I have not actually come across any that have failed officially. In worst case the targets are re written, the numbers manipulated, and if all else fails you can be sure that something else will turn up to muddy the waters (like Covid 19 for example). So, seriously, my advice to you young whippersnappers is: never throw your notes away. There is no such thing as a new project. its the same as one before, just with a new name and different terminology. Build a portfolio of notes of three projects - you get at least one a year depending on the current fad and it will set you up for life. Extract the right project file from your database. It will save you so much time. Your knowledge will impress. As a consequence of your remarkable wisdom gained at such an impossibly young age, you too will then become one of those new leaders. Just remember one thing please; be kind to those you meet on the way up. You will meet them again on the way down. With or without notes. Top Tip: Don't loose heart. Give your best. Nobody wants a misery or a nay sayer on their team. Only fight the battles you can win - as a member of the project team you cant win this one. Above all don't argue with management or cast your doubts. They will be looking for someone to blame by the end! Work hard and do your utmost. But keep a sense of proportion. To quote the wise words of a well respected CEO when he reached his retirement; 'nobody got to the end of their career and wished they had spent more time in the office'. This is not about the project. Its about you. Your education. Learn the tools. Watch, learn and note the the pitfalls. Keep good notes. And when finally you get into your own leadership role you can make the changes you want in a new way. You can make it real and rewarding. Just dont make it another corprate 'project'.