Effective leadership matters

Dubai: Effective leaders’ role is very important for the success of any organisation and it is an uphill task to win without the people who have the competence to do the right work and the commitment to do it well, according to an expert.

Dave Ulrich, globally famous university professor, author, and management consultant, said investment in human resources and retaining talent has become critical to any organisation’s success in today’s competitive corporate environment across the globe.

In an exclusive chat with Khaleej Times during his recent visit to Dubai, the leading management coach elaborated how organisations build capabilities of leadership, talent and culture by leveraging human resources.

PROFILE Dave Ulrich is the Rensis Likert Professor of Business at the Ross School, University of Michigan, and a partner at the RBL Group — a consulting firm focused on helping organisations and leaders deliver value. He has published more than 200 articles and book chapters and over 30 books. He edited Human Resource Management 1990-1999, served on editorial board of four journals, on the board of directors for Herman Miller, and Board of Trustees at Southern Virginia University, and is a Fellow at the National Academy of Human Resources.

Ulrich, the author of more than 200 articles and book chapters and over 30 books, also discussed the importance of developing data bases that assess alignment between external business conditions, strategies, organisations’ capabilities, human resource practices, HR competencies, and customer and investor results.

Describing qualities of a good leader, he used the term ‘effective leaders’ that differentiate today’s corporate leadership from the past decade.

“We found that effective leaders have two sets of skills. The first set that we call the ‘Leadership Code’ explains 60 to 70 per cent of effective leadership,” he said.

Ulrich said there are five leadership code skills:

Strategist: Have a point of view about the future and allocate resources to that point of view

Executor: Be able to get things done as promised on time and within budget

Talent manger: Managing people today by coaching and communicating with them

Human capital developer: Invest in people tomorrow and build for the future

Personal proficiency: Build personal trust through managing your personal intellectual, social, emotional, physical and spiritual characteristics

“The other 30 to 40 per cent is what we call the ‘Leadership Brand’, or a leader’s ability to turn customer expectations and promises into specific personal actions.

“For example, a company that promises customers low prices will have leaders who are able to manage cost through more disciplined processes while leaders in a company that promises innovation to customers will have leaders who take more risks and act more creatively,” the professor explained.

Transformation strategy

To a question, how a good leader can transform his/her team into an asset to turnaround the company, he said: “We found that leaders matter as individuals, but leadership matters more. Leadership exists when teams work together to get things done, when a culture exists that outlasts the individual leader; and when a team performs well as a team.” Ulrich said effective leaders go through three stages. Elaborating, he said leaders can do the work in first stage and in next phase they can lead a team to do the work by inspiring and motivating others.

“In third and last stage, the work gets done when they are not present because they have created a culture that exists beyond their personal presence,” he said.

Retaining talent

About investment in human resources and retaining the talent, Ulrich said: “I learned early in my studies that ‘organisation’s don’t think, people do’. Every organisation is a collection of individuals.”

He said talent, or people, become critical to any organisation’s success. It is difficult to win without the people who have the competence to do the right work and the commitment to do it well.

“While people make a huge difference to a company’s success, the organisation culture also matters. A culture shapes how people think and act so that they spend their energy on the right issues,” the professor said.

Database development

Ulrich said it is very important to build up a data base that can assess strategies, human resource practices/competencies, customer and investor results.

“Leaders lead by making wise decisions. Decisions are dramatically improved when they are based on good data.” To a question, he said one of the challenges of good data is to be clear about the business decision that needs to be made, the options that could be taken, then to collect data to make sure that the right option is selected. “In some companies today, the passion for data means that information is being collected without regard to the business decision it should inform. More data does not lead to improved results unless it is tied to the right decisions that need to be made,” he said.

Global corporate environment in the Middle East

About global corporate environment and challenges in Middle East for human resources development, Ulrich said: “I am not an expert on the Middle East and Gulf region. But, as countries and companies in this region begin to compete in the global marketplace, they must play by global standards.”

Elaborating, he said Eddie the Eagle represented the United Kingdom in ski jumping in the winter Olympics in 1988. He was awful and finished last. But, he was the best (and only) ski jumper in the UK. Today, he would not make it into the Olympics because there are global standards.

Referring to another example, he said a leader in one of the Gulf countries was proud of his children because they were in the 90 to 95 per cent on school tests. Then, with his guidance they decided to test the students against a global standard, and his children were in the 60th percentile.

“We live in an increasingly global economy and the standards for leadership, strategy, customer service, operational excellence, and financial performance have to meet global standards. This will require a global mindset among Gulf state leaders, a global education platform, and a commitment to being a global player,” Ulrich concluded.

muzaffarrizvi@khaleejtimes.com