TOO MANY BOSSES, TOO FEW LEADERS: GALVANISZE Large Numbers

RAJEEV PESHAWARIA

FREE PRESS; 222 PAGES

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PART 2: ENTERPRISE LEADERSHIP

2.1           GALVANISZE Large Numbers: Enterprise Leadership

An enterprise or organizational leader is when the number of people under your command is so large that it is not possible for you to have a close one-to-one relationship with everyone, and when there are more than 2 levels of organizational hierarchy below you.  Energizing a whole organization or a large number of people is different from energizing yourself or your direct reports individually.

At this level, your full time job should be to create conditions in which your people can do their work successfully.  The important thing is to control and shape the 3 most important levels of sustainable business growth:

·        The BRAINS – vision and strategy (shape and set direction)

·        The BONES – organizational architecture (design the organization to execute the strategy)

·        The NERVES – culture an climate of the organization (foster a culture of long-lasting excellence)

Just like in the human body that need all the 3 systems – the BRAIN, BONES, and NERVES – organizations also need those to function in perfect harmony to maximize longevity and performance.  These 3 should be the most important focus area for an enterprise leader.

The key is in staying focus on them.  A common mistake bosses make is to think that setting direction, designing the organization, and defining the culture are only periodic activities.  The setting of direction is something which is done once a year.  The organizational design is believed to happen only at the start of business or when there’s a major shift in business conditions.  Similarly, once culture values have been defined, they are done with the ‘soft’ issue of culture.  Leaders need to manage the BRAINS, BONES and NERVES all year long, every year.  This is their full time job.

As in the example of Alibaba.com, they realized that in order to stay united and focused on the main mission, the company needed a common set of values which would guide behaviour.  By proactively staying focused on the BRAINS, BONES and NERVES, Alibaba’s CEO had built a strong organization.

Alibaba’s 6 values

Customer First Teamwork Embrace Change Integrity Passion Commitment