Episode 8: Do Today’s Leaders Have the Right Skills to Lead Today?

A lot has changed since yesterday’s business school. Many leaders have spent careers learning how to navigate the traditional issues like supply chain disruptions or labor disputes or marketing challenges. Do they now have a new one: How to navigate today's cancel culture?

Transcript 

Chris Riback: I'm Chris Riback. This is Call In with Dr. Alexandria White. We discuss business leadership in our time of social change when to call in, when to call out, and how to build sustainable business value today.

Today's topic: Are women managers burning out? Before our conversation though, an ask from us to you. We hope you like these call in conversations. And if so, we'd appreciate if you take a moment, go to Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen, and if you're so moved, leave a five-star review. The ratings really matter. They go a long way to helping other people find the podcast.

Dr. Alexandria White: Our show is brought to you by Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, which is committed to a more diverse and inclusive future. Let's call in.

Chris Riback: Dr. White, how are you? Great to see you.

Dr. Alexandria White: I am doing well, Chris. Great to see you as well.

Chris Riback: Excellent. I have been looking forward to asking you the question and discussing with you, do today's leaders have the right skills to lead today? So there are two ways that I wanted to ask you about this topic from tactical skills and behavioral skills. Let's start with the tactical. You don't need me to tell it's a topsy-turvy world, Alex, where the requirements of being a senior leader for many people seemingly evolved overnight.

Many people listening to this podcast have spent a career learning how to navigate the traditional issues like supply chain disruptions or labor disputes or production line failures or marketing challenges. Do they now have a new one: How to navigate today's cancel culture?

Dr. Alexandria White: Chris, I fundamentally believe there are new challenges for today's leaders, everything from the pandemic to mental health, to social justice issues. So according to the Harvard Business Review, businesses, leaders, CEOs, CHROs that put empathy and emotional intelligence ahead of everything else is one of the leading aspects of how to build their business. A leader that lacks empathy nowadays is looking for lots of resignations in their company, so yes.

Chris Riback: You put that ahead of everything else, ahead of financial skills, ahead of operational skills? Is that how you mean “put it ahead of everything else?”

Dr. Alexandria White: Well, I think it's being able to understand it. It doesn't have to be an arms race. A good leader is going to be able to balance both of those and understand and notice those. Like you said before, maybe years ago leaders were more adept to think about supply chains, the production demand. But now it's kind of those essential skills, being an empathetic leader, understanding what's going on with work-life integration. Those are the skills that are more prevalent and needed in today's business world.

Chris Riback: I had a feeling that you might say leaders today need to know how to navigate today's cancel culture.

So tell us though. You know as well as I do. It feels to many folks and not just leaders that our social requirements they're continually shifting. What can we say and not say, do and not do, think and not think? So question, how can leaders educate themselves besides taking notes on this podcast, of course?

Dr. Alexandria White: One word: curiosity. In order to be a leader, you've got to be curious. You have to want to educate yourself about this changing dynamic. There are some seasoned leaders that do have a stagnant mindset. They've been in their position for years and they're comfortable with how things have been ran. It takes curiosity to want to understand this new cancel culture, this new #GreatResignation. And where do you find these resources? Social media.

Yes, social media can be a curse in a blessing for business leaders. Utilizing social media in a productive and meaningful manner is a skill that the new business leader must have. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or even TikTok. And so there are companies that have to go to TikTok to find out that some of their key positions are leaving. Connecting with people through social media is essential to navigate the changing culture.

Next, having candid conversations with your workforce. How do you do that? You do it virtually through town hall. You do it through anonymous feedback. You'd ask the questions about mental health, pay equity and yes, social justice issues. So these are some of the things that leaders can do to educate themselves, but being curious and wanting to know more and grow more is essential.

Chris Riback: Okay, I hear you on that. And I also hear and I know that you hear from leaders. "It just takes too much time, Alex. I don't have time to do my real job." All of these issues, complaints, concerns. Let's even agree they come from a positive, constructive place, but they mean I have to take my eye off the ball whether that's, again, supply chain or customers or inflation protection and so on. These are the business issues that can destroy my business right now, Alex. Isn't my CEO responsibility to focus on those?

Dr. Alexandria White: Yes and a CEO's responsibility is to understand what's going on and to use their judgment. Using their judgment means who can I delegate this to? Who can I support? What do I need to understand at this moment? And I think using your judgment as a CEO to balance those is an ever-evolving tool and skill. When we talk about judgment, there are so many fires that CEOs have to put out daily or hourly. And understanding that they can't do everything.

A tactic is to learn how to delegate, having people around you that might be able to help you with some of these "business fires." And that is understanding if it's essential, how will it impact productivity? Will it be on social media in the next news cycle? All of those are questions that CEOs have to ask themselves sometimes in the moment, or they might even get an email or a press release so that they can help with their judgment-

Chris Riback: Some other kind of nudge.

Dr. Alexandria White: Yes.

Chris Riback: I love your point on judgment. I completely agree with that. That is what, in my opinion, certainly a professional leader is in the end being paid for: She's being paid for her judgment, her analysis ability to make decisions oftentimes we know with imperfect information. And listening to you as well thinking on my own time that this becomes another ingredient to the judgment cocktail that a CEO or other manager, senior leader has to maintain. Would you agree with that assessment?

Dr. Alexandria White: Yes, I completely agree with that.

Chris Riback: Terrific. Your validation is always very meaningful to me. You know that. Alex, our conversations as well are always connected to active news in the headlines. And The Boston Globe recently ran a piece titled, “The next generation of business leaders is entering a changed world. Will their education prepare them?”

And the piece highlighted MIT Sloan professor Erin Kelly who specializes in work in organization studies. And Professor Kelly says, "This period of change is an opportunity for managers to reconsider how to support employees in creative ways. Individual wellness initiatives are helpful, but the problem lies in the way many people are asked to work." Do you agree with that analysis?

Dr. Alexandria White: I completely agree with it. Do you remember the song by Dolly Parton 9 to 5? My mother loves Dolly Parton.

Chris Riback: Of course I do.

Dr. Alexandria White: So she would always play it. And so the lyrics go, “Working 9 to 5, what a way to make a living. Working 9 to 5 they got you where they want you.” And so when I think of those lyrics, I think of how many employees were at the mercy of employers. The lyrics tell you that it's 9 to 5, that there's no change in it. And that's how you have to provide for your family. Well, in 2022, the dynamics have changed. Employees want flexible work arrangements. They want to have a better quality of life. They want companies and organizations to reimagine what the workforce looks like.

We've mentioned this before in other podcasts, #GreatResignation. So the problem lies in how employers have to look at employees now. No longer are employees waiting around for a promotion or working for a boss or supervisor that has toxic traits. LinkedIn just gave some great statistics that over 92% of people were on LinkedIn looking for another job.

And so when Professor Kelly talks about how managers have to reconsider, it's so important to be aware that your judgment as a CEO, as a business leader impacts your workforce. The approach to the former workplace is no longer relevant.

Chris Riback: So let's get to the part that the people been waiting for out, Alex. You always got to give the people what they want and I think that that's Dr. White's wisdom. How-

Dr. Alexandria White: Go ahead, Chris.

Chris Riback: You've outlined to a significant extent what leaders need to do focusing on judgment. But how do they do that? Wrap it up for me with Dr. White's wisdom. What do today's leaders need to do in order to have the right skills to lead today?

Dr. Alexandria White: All right. So before I give you some skills and some resources, I want to go back to being curious. Being curious is something that I want to reinforce for all leaders, even for all employers, employees. Curiosity and being empathetic are some of the skills that are going to amplify you in your professional journey. It's going to take a concerted effort to pivot and meet the demands of this current culture.

Managers are judged on their ability to produce results. Therefore, having judgment to navigate this cancel culture starts with understanding that a power shift has happened between employer and employee. So I mentioned social media as a resource. Go to TikTok. People are resigning on TikTok and publicly blasting companies for their lack of mental health resources, lack of attention to social justice issues or not having flexible work arrangements. And so the judgment of a current business leader right now is to understand that impact.

Now, let me share some words of wisdom. They're not mine today. They're actually from Zenger Folkman. Zenger Folkman wrote an exceptional think piece, on how to be exceptional. Definitely check it out. I'm going to give you a snapshot of some of the things that were mentioned in this powerful book. Today's leaders need to inspire. You've got to inspire and motivate people to perform at their highest capacity.

You've got to communicate powerfully and prolifically. Establish stretch goals. Make people feel excited about doing their job. Develop strategic perspective. And that's through all areas of your company. Solve problems and analyze issues. And some of those issues are pay equity, social justice issues, flexible work arrangements. And so using some of those skills will help you and prepare you to lead today.

Chris Riback: What I really love about that, Alex, is I don't hear you saying, "Oh, the way then to become a curious, empathetic leader with improved judgment is to simply listen to all of the feedback no matter what it is from everyone and change course and react." You can't be a manager. You can't be a leader anymore. You have to be something else or this other form of leader. But these pieces of wisdom that I hear from you, you're quoting Zenger Folkman. Inspire and motivate, communicate powerfully, establish stretch goals, develop strategic perspective, solve problems, and analyze issues.

You're not saying back away from those skills and the tactics that you need to have as a leader. You're saying, I think, you'll correct me if I'm wrong: Integrate additional components, integrate additional perspectives. To quote you, "Yes and." But don't move away from the core capabilities of what a leader, what a manager needs to do to grow a business and advance employees. Am I hearing you correctly?

Dr. Alexandria White: You are hearing me correctly. I consider myself a lifelong learner and I know many successful business leaders have that sentiment as well. And so being a lifelong learner is being able to add everything that you said already to your personal style. When you add those skills from How to Be Exceptional book, it allows you to pivot. It allows you to understand that things are not the same as they were even in the '80s and the '90s and three years ago.

Chris Riback: Or last week, I think.

Dr. Alexandria White: Yes, or last week. So definitely being a lifelong learner in that regard.

Chris Riback: Well, I appreciate the sense of being a lifelong learner. I appreciate your guidance to remain curious. Luckily, Alex, I'm curious to learn more from you. So thank you for today and I look very much forward to our next conversation.

Dr. Alexandria White: Thank you, Chris.