The Inner Chief

In a moment you and I will be joined by Peter Finn. Peter is the CEO and founder of Face Contracting who provide a range of quality, cost-effective solutions in mining, construction & manufacturing.

We are going to cover everything from self-development to leading a growing company with presence around the world.

See more at www.chiefmaker.com.au/82

In our first two minisodes on leading high performance teams we built your vision and purpose.

So your team now knows where they should be in two to three years and also why (your purpose).

The next logical question is how? And this means pulling the right levers to make the biggest and most effective impact in your area.

For more info check out www.chiefmaker.com.au/81

Many executives make a critical error at the outset of leading a transformation. They don't stand back and clearly assess the current situation, relying instead on a partial understanding of the environment in which they're operating. This error costs them time and money, and it raises stress and resistance throughout the process.

Chiefs spend significant time precisely mapping the territory before they start. Rather than launching projects randomly, they apply deep understanding to the problem.

This mapping gives them an in-depth understanding of the economics, culture, and their team's capabilities. They understand how the departments work together, the legal and market conditions, the technology in play, the finances, the service, and the operational numbers. They understand that they operate in a living and breathing system. Changes within this system have ripple effects that spread throughout the business. Thanks to broad and deep understanding of the operating environment, it is substantially more likely that, at the end of the transformation process, they end up with a smoothly operating system.

Remember, most of the time you're not setting the whole company strategy. The CEO, executive team and board will most often lead that process which focuses heavily on how your organisation differentiates itself from competitors, which parts of the value chain you will optimise over others to maximise profit and how the organisation will leverage branding, pricing, market entry and exit etc.

What you're leading is a critical department transformation that will ensure the success of the company and department vision. And there are generally four big levers to pull that will transform your department's performance:

1. Talent – The right people with the right skills in the right jobs doing the right work (Refer back to the Entourage Chapter for more details)
2. Culture – The operating rhythm, team work and trust, behavioural standards, quality of feedback, mindset for innovation, commitment to stakeholders and customers that drives flow and performance in the team
3. Tools and Systems – The technology, processes, data and other tools that your people have which let's them do their job to their full potential.
4. Service / Operational Improvements – The list and design of services your department provides or operations it delivers and the economics (including pricing or cost), efficiency and quality control of those services or operations.

Stand back and assess your current department and ask yourself, "which of these is currently my biggest problem to achieve the department and organisational vision?"

Now that you have a clear understanding of the levers you want to pull they need to be turned into initiatives that will drive change. This should be fairly logical with a clear line of sight between a project and a performance lift. The most common pitfall here for leaders is not getting the sub-projects right, it's doing too many.

This is the crux of the issue. This is why so many attempts to lead transformation fail right at the beginning. Overload. They create so much busy-ness and activity that its impossible to do it all and none of them succeed.

Chiefs courageously cut through conflicting interests to set clear priorities. Those destined to spend their entire careers struggling ineffectually in management positions let everything happen at once. It's a recipe for certain failure.

Laser focus is necessary to make change powerful and lasting. Tackle one issue at a time. This doesn't mean combining a number of projects so that it feels or looks like you're only pulling one lever when, in fact, you're pulling many of them. When you're trying to spin too many plates, there are consequences. Everything comes crashing down. Quality suffers, innovation dries up, there's poor stakeholder management, stress, missed deadlines and budget blowouts. Projects get cancelled each time you switch strategic direction, and those in your department are left weary and wary of more change.

Have patience and sequence different levers after each other. This way, each new initiative leverages off the improvements of the previous ones. There are often unexpected consequences (some good, some bad) that come in change's wake. These developments might make the next change in line inappropriate or ineffective. At the end of each change initiative, reset as a team and (when necessary) reprioritise. New benefits might be leveraged in powerful ways. There might be quick and easy wins that you're leaving on the table if you move too quickly from one initiative to the next.

Remember as well to underpin the whole change process with sound project management and a governance rhythm to ensure everyone maintains alignment and the focus on driving the results continues.

It says a lot about a person if they can focus on driving highly complex change processes (and stay focused in the midst of them). It tells those above you that you're smart, that you're willing to make tough calls when necessary, and that you understand how to turn theory into practice. It is one of the skills that Chiefs possess.

Time to weave it all together. The All Blacks and Football Federation Australia have both created beautiful examples of vision, purpose and strategy all integrated and working brilliantly in the real world.

For more info check out www.chiefmaker.com.au/81

In our first two minisodes on leading high performance teams we built your vision and purpose.

So your team now knows where they should be in two to three years and also why (your purpose).

The next logical question is how? And this means pulling the right levers to make the biggest and most effective impact in your area.  

For more info check out www.chiefmaker.com.au/81

In today's episode we meet Ronsley Vaz.

Ronsley is a speaker, author and marketer. He is the author of the book AMPLIFY – How to raise your voice, boost your brand and grow your business. His podcast, 'Bond Appetit', is Australia's #1 food podcast on iTunes and receives between eight and twelve thousand listeners a day. Ronsley is also the founder of content marketing agency Amplify, which has grown from zero to twelve staff in just ten months.

Ronsley sits on the board for freetoshine.org, an organisation that prevents sex trafficking. He has an MBA in Psychology and Leadership and a Master's in Software Engineering as well as a Diploma in Financial Services. Ronsley's journey has seen him specialise in a variety of different industries. Before killing it as an entrepreneur, he worked as a DJ, software engineer, financial adviser, restaurateur and chef.

His newest venture, Amplify, is all about converting audio into a content-marketing echo chamber. He and his team help clients create content and turn it into genuine assets that allow their businesses to grow.

We cover:

1. The labels we carry and boxes we put ourselves in that stop us growing
2. How to find your inner voice and execute
3. The future of the audio world
4. Knowing your impact on your team maintain empathy
5. Dropping entitlement syndrome

See more at www.chiefmaker.com.au/80

In today’s episode we meet Ronsley Vaz.

We cover:

The labels we carry and boxes we put ourselves in that stop us growing

How to find your inner voice and execute

The future of the audio world

Knowing your impact on your team maintain empathy

Dropping entitlement syndrome

See more at  www.chiefmaker.com.au/80

Last minisode we spoke about Vision which is the what you're going to achieve. The destination. Purpose is all about your why, your spirit, serving the greater good.

Simon Sinek, author of "Start with Why" says, "People don't buy what you do, they buy why you do it."

And that goes for people buying your products and people buying into your business or team plans.

If you don't put purpose at the heart of what you do you'll never know what it's like to have someone in your team go the extra mile for the team.

You can find our more at www.chiefmaker.com.au/79

How Does purpose give us energy and make us kick out of bed in the morning?

Purpose unleashes oxytocin, serotonin and dopamine because when we do something significant that is for the benefit of others and the world these so called Happy Chemicals release into the body making us feel great and improve our bodies immune system and flow.

Every time I've had a huge week and it gets to Friday and I need to record a minisode I picture someone listening in their car and on the train and that they get just one thing from it that changes their approach and then it ripples. This get my juices flowing...and sparks me with energy.

No purpose and all business leads to a stail existence. One where stress and overwhelm thrive. This is the land of Cortisol a stress hormone that is more like the unhappy drug.

When we live with purpose everyone around us starts to the thrive and feel happy. You see when we see other people doing good things for others it triggers the happy chemicals too. Not only that but when we do it as a team the ripple effect of our work can change the world.

Get your team together and ask:

• How can we make the world a better place because of our work?
• What are all the things we do or can be doing to?
• What are the causes we are passionate about?
• Who can we serve and make their life better?
• Sometimes it can help to flip it on its head and ask yourselves what annoys you? What articles do you read that fire you up?

The next step is then connect this with your Vision. If you can align your Vision and Purpose then mountains can be moved.

Let's remember the NASA Story, President John F Kennedy set the vision and goals, "We chose to the go to the moon. To send mankind to the moon and bring them safely back to earth again within the decade."

Then he incorporated the purpose. "We mean to be a part of it--we mean to lead it. For the eyes of the world now look into space, to the moon and to the planets beyond, and we have vowed that we shall not see it governed by a hostile flag of conquest, but by a banner of freedom and peace. We have vowed that we shall not see space filled with weapons of mass destruction, but with instruments of knowledge and understanding."

Without purpose your life and work will feel heartless, soulless and all business. The running around will not make sense. You'll constantly feel like your just in the rat-race and search for an out. But put it in your life and it'll all feel worthwhile. You'll be more resilient, more focused and just more happy and everyone will see it. They'll always remember that you had values and character and cared more about the planet and others than yourself and profit.

This is the way of GREAT chiefs.

You can find our more at www.chiefmaker.com.au/79

Last minisode we spoke about Vision which is the what you’re going to achieve. The destination. Purpose is all about your why, your spirit, serving the greater good.

And that goes for people buying your products and people buying into your business or team plans.

If you don’t put purpose at the heart of what you do you’ll never know what it’s like to have someone in your team go the extra mile for the team.

You can find our more at www.chiefmaker.com.au/79

This week you and I are joined by Siobhan Hayden, the COO and Board Advisor of HashChing a progressive and innovative fintech start-up. HashChing is Australia's first online marketplace for customers to access verified mortgage brokers.

Siobhan is also a Director of Running for Premature Babies and former CEO of The Mortgage & Finance Association of Australia (MFAA) the peak industry body providing service and representation to more than 12,500 Professional Finance Brokers.

We cover:

• How she rose from bluecollar roots to lead one of the most exciting fin-tech businesses
• What she learnt from becoming a black belt in multiple martial arts forms
• How to stop being a victim and accelerate your career
• How to look at the person in the mirror and like what you see

Full show notes at chiefmaker.com.au/78

This week you and I are joined by Siobhan Hayden, the COO and Board Advisor of HashChing a progressive and innovative fintech start-up. HashChing is Australia’s first online marketplace for customers to access verified mortgage brokers.

Siobhan is also a Director of Running for Premature Babies and former CEO of The Mortgage & Finance Association of Australia (MFAA) the peak industry body providing service and representation to more than 12,500 Professional Finance Brokers.

chiefmaker.com.au/78

Leading HP Teams - Part 1 - Vision www.chiefmaker.com.au/77 Over the next 25 weeks I'm going to share the 25 elements that form the Chief Maker HP Teams - Tx Model. The aim is that every Monday we'll introduce one element so you can spend the week focusing on improving it even just 5 or 10%. After 25 weeks you should have made real world progress and have a measurably higher performing team. These 25 elements fall under the 5 pillars of the Chief Maker HP Teams model are:

1. Mission
2. People
3. Culture
4. Tools
5. Execution

A MISSION A clear vision and goals steeped in a bigger purpose with a clear strategy & metrics to align the group PEOPLE We have the right people with the right capability in the right roles CULTURE Our team is united,constantly improving in a challenging and enjoyable environment. TOOLS My people have the systems, processes and hardware to perform their role with excellence EXECUTION We have strong governance of our transformation to keep the clock ticking To kick things off over the next 5 weeks we'll focus on your team Mission which has 5 critical elements.

1. Vision (What)
2. Purpose (Why)
3. Strategy & Tactical Plan (How)
4. Values & Identity (Who)
5. Goals (Proof)

CRAFTING YOUR VISION All teams must have a vision. It must be crystal clear. Imagine for a minute you're building a house and you have some workers turn up. You wouldn't just say, "we are build a art-deco modern house, now let's go to it." No, you'd givem them a detailed set of drawings, with descriptions of fittings and everything so they know exactly what they have to do with their time. A vision isn't just a strap line. It should be co-developed into a colourful picture of the future, full of symbols and written stories of where you will be when the vision is achieved. It is proudly shared and hung on the walls throughout the work spaces and anyone can describe what you aim to achieve over the next 2 - 5 years. It captures your true spirit and aspirations as a team and leaves a legacy that everyone is proud of Cameron Herold, COO Alliance, NY Times Bestselling Author advocatess developing a Vivid Vision. It's a detailed, three to four page document that lays out a clear, logical vision of what your company will look like in three years. When completed, it's meant to be woven into your company's or team's culture, guiding your employees decision making and giving all involved clear goals to strive for. Usually, creating a Vivid Vision is a very involved process that can take quite some time to get right. For a large business that should be as long as six months to get right for smaller teams with less complex challenges it can be shorter. He offers these tips when developing your vision:

• It's important not to get caught up in the 'how' of things. Instead, dream big and worry about the 'how' later
• You'll need to be free of the day-to-day worries of running your business. You need freedom to visualize your future
• Get out of your office and go somewhere inspiring where you can let your mind wander
• Turn off your computer. No matter how much willpower you have, the temptation of email or web surfing will be a distraction
• Get out of your comfort zone, think out side the box—choose whatever cliché works for you. Just be creative, even outlandish. You'll be amazed at what you can come up with. It's a sure fire way to create a fun, dynamic vision you and your team will love to strive for.

Your focus for this week is as step one in building a high performance team is look at your teams vision. - How crystal clear is it? - Is it aspirational enough that is challenges the group to be better? - Has everyone bought into it and is across it? - Does is it align to the wider business? Your vision becomes a vital filter for all decision-making and strategy development. So give it the time, energy and investment required. All GREAT chiefs spend a lot of time here and get very good at vision development.