The Digital Maturity Blueprint Podcast: A Fresh Perspective on Transformation
In a landscape saturated with digital transformation podcasts that focus primarily on technology adoption, "The Digital Maturity Blueprint" co-hosted between Nav Thethi and Jaslyin Qiyu seeks to offer a refreshing yet comprehensive approach. This podcast series cuts through the noise by examining digital transformation through four critical lenses that most conversations miss entirely.
Breaking the Digital Echo Chamber
Digital transformation isn't failing because of technology - it's struggling because we're treating it like a series of solo performances instead of a carefully orchestrated ensemble piece. This perspective sets the tone for a podcast series that refuse to chase buzzwords or simplify complex organizational challenges.
Unlike some who are fixated solely on technology implementation, The Digital Maturity Blueprint evaluates transformation initiatives through four interconnected dimensions:
Environmental Impact - Addressing the uncomfortable truth that digital infrastructure has significant ecological consequences
Financial Implications - Analyzing the true ROI beyond surface-level metrics
Operational Efficiency - Examining how digital initiatives reshape organizational workflows
Customer Experience - Measuring transformation through the lens of enhanced customer value
Beyond the Technology Fetish
The podcast deliberately challenges the notion that digital transformation is synonymous with tool adoption. As Nav and Jaslyin both think, "Using co-pilot and chatGPT don't really make companies AI-enabled." Instead, they advocate for a more deliberate evaluation framework.
The discussions tackle overlooked realities like data centers projected to emit 2.5 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide by 2030, and companies utilizing only 58% of their martech capabilities—stark reminders that unchecked digital expansion carries hidden costs.
A Framework for Sustainable Transformation
The podcast goes for a structured approach to each topic. Whether discussing customer-centric models, data-driven decision making, or emerging technologies, each episode methodically examines implications across all four impact dimensions:
On environment: How digital initiatives can reduce carbon footprints through optimized operations
On finances: The genuine cost-benefit analysis of digital investments beyond procurement costs
On operations: How transformation streamlines workflows and enhances productivity
On customer experience: The ways digital maturity translates to improved customer journeys
Practical Wisdom Over Digital Platitudes
The authors try to bring refreshing candor to discussions typically clouded by corporate jargon. When discussing chatbots, they acknowledge that “traditional AI chatbot is a great tool but it sucks!”. This balanced perspective—acknowledging both potential and limitations—provides listeners with realistic expectations rather than inflated promises.
The podcast's examination of data-driven decision making exemplifies its nuanced approach. Rather than simply advocating for more data collection, they explore how analytical insights can simultaneously reduce environmental impact through optimized resource allocation, drive financial efficiency through targeted investments, enhance operational productivity through streamlined workflows, and deliver personalized customer experiences through actionable intelligence.
Leadership Beyond Technology
Perhaps most valuably, The Digital Maturity Blueprint recognizes that successful transformation requires leadership alignment. The podcast emphasizes that "digital maturity is not only a tech team's responsibility" but demands "top-to-bottom alignment" with leaders who "drive the vision and strategy, set goals, break siloed efforts, and keep the organization working together for a common goal."
For organizations navigating their digital journey, this podcast serves as both compass and map—directing attention to what truly matters while providing a structured framework for sustainable transformation.
Through thought-provoking questions like "When was the last time you assessed efficiency of your tech stack?" and "Do we have a clear view of our current technical debt and data architecture - or are we building a penthouse on shaky foundations?", we prompt listeners to examine their own digital initiatives with fresh perspective and renewed clarity.
We hope that The Digital Maturity Blueprint ultimately delivers on its name—offering not just inspiration but a concrete methodology for organizations seeking meaningful transformation rather than digital window dressing.
Catch our weekly episodes here by subscribing to our YouTube Channel. Find out more the different episodes available here!
Mad About Marketing Consulting
Advisor for C-Suites to work with you and your teams to maximize your marketing potential with strategic transformation for better business and marketing outcomes.
The Broken Rung: Persistent Leadership Barriers for Women in 2025
Despite decades of awareness campaigns and corporate initiatives, the most significant barrier to gender parity in leadership remains stubbornly fixed at the first promotional step. This "broken rung" phenomenon creates a fundamental pipeline problem that ripples through every subsequent leadership tier.
The Quantifiable Gap
The data tells a compelling story: for every 100 men promoted to manager, only 81 women receive the same opportunity. This disparity isn't merely symbolic—it creates a mathematical impossibility for achieving gender balance at higher levels. With women making up just 48% of employees entering the corporate workforce, and their representation plummeting to 37% at the senior manager level and 29% in the C-suite, the progressive narrowing of the pipeline is undeniable.
Looking ahead, current projections suggest global representation of women in managerial positions will crawl from 24% in 2023 to a mere 28% by 2050. At today's pace, white women face a 22-year wait for leadership parity, while women of color must anticipate more than double that timeframe.
Persistent Barriers to Advancement
Unconscious Bias: The Invisible Ceiling
Unconscious bias remains the most insidious obstacle to women's advancement. These automatic, unintentional preferences manifest when managers consistently underestimate women's leadership potential despite equivalent or superior performance. The bias stems from entrenched stereotypical associations of leadership qualities with traditionally masculine traits, creating a perception gap that's difficult to bridge without systematic intervention.
Structural Impediments
Beyond cognitive biases, women face concrete structural barriers:
Unequal access to career-accelerating opportunities: Women receive fewer challenging assignments that build leadership credentials
Limited sponsorship: Male leaders tend to sponsor those who remind them of themselves, creating a self-reinforcing homogeneity
Work-life balance challenges: The disproportionate burden of caregiving responsibilities creates career continuity issues
Inequitable HR practices: From performance evaluations to promotion criteria, seemingly neutral processes often contain embedded gender biases
The Regional Context
The leadership gap shows significant regional variations, highlighting how cultural and policy factors influence outcomes:
Australia/New Zealand leads with 38.2% female managers
Europe/North America and Latin America/Caribbean achieve roughly 36-37%
Northern Africa, Western Asia, and Central/Southern Asia lag at approximately 14%
These disparities underscore how policy environments and cultural expectations shape women's professional advancement trajectories.
What's Changed Since 2005?
The past two decades have delivered measurable but insufficient progress:
Increased awareness: The leadership gender gap has become widely acknowledged as a business problem rather than a women's issue
Policy interventions: More organizations have implemented formal mentorship programs, flexible work arrangements, and targeted development initiatives
Board-level progress: Board representation has improved significantly, with some regions implementing quotas
Cultural shifts: Workplace norms have evolved to reduce overt sexism and harassment
However, these advances have largely benefited women already positioned near the top rather than addressing the fundamental first-rung barrier. The improvement at senior levels obscures the persistent challenge of getting women into that critical first management role.
Understanding Unconscious Bias
Unconscious bias represents our automatic, unintentional preferences shaped by cultural conditioning and personal experiences. In leadership contexts, it manifests through:
Association bias: Connecting leadership with traditionally masculine traits
Confirmation bias: Selectively noticing behaviors that reinforce existing beliefs
Attribution bias: Crediting success to different factors for men versus women
What makes unconscious bias particularly challenging is that it operates below our awareness threshold and exists even among people who genuinely support equality. The manager who sincerely believes in women's leadership potential may still unconsciously favor male candidates for stretch assignments or promotions.
Tapping on AI to Address Bias
Artificial intelligence offers promising approaches to systematically reduce unconscious bias, if done right:
Language analysis tools that flag gendered descriptions in job postings and performance reviews
Blind resume screening systems that standardize evaluation criteria
Meeting analytics that quantify speaking time and interruption patterns
Decision support tools that introduce objective decision-making frameworks
The most effective AI applications combine technological capabilities with human oversight—using algorithms to identify patterns humans might miss while maintaining appropriate ethical boundaries and contextual understanding that pure automation cannot provide.
Current DEI Initiatives: Mixed Results
Corporate diversity, equity, and inclusion measures show complicated effects on women's leadership aspirations:
Effective approaches:
Formal sponsorship programs with accountability metrics
Transparent promotion criteria and standardized evaluation processes
Flexibility policies normalized for all employees
Counterproductive approaches:
Box-checking exercises disconnected from business strategy
Programs that inadvertently reinforce stereotypes under the guise of support
Initiatives that create perceived favoritism narratives
The organizations making genuine progress integrate DEI principles into core business operations rather than treating them as separate "programs" disconnected from strategic priorities. I.e., DEI is not an employee program, it should be business-as-usual.
Women as Their Own Worst Critics?
The narrative that women undermine other women requires careful examination. Research generally contradicts the popular "queen bee" syndrome myth, showing that women typically support other women's advancement. The perception of women undermining each other often stems from visibility bias—negative interactions stand out because they contradict expectations.
A more accurate framing is that organizational cultures often pit women against each other through zero-sum structures, limited advancement opportunities, and evaluation systems that reward traditionally masculine behaviors. When only one woman can "make it," competitive dynamics naturally emerge.
True Inclusion: Beyond Demographic Metrics
Genuine inclusion extends far beyond statistical representation. It requires:
Psychological safety where diverse perspectives are actively solicited and valued
Decision-making processes that incorporate multiple viewpoints
Recognition systems that reward varied leadership styles
Cultural norms that celebrate difference rather than mere tolerance
Organizations achieving this comprehensive inclusion consistently outperform peers in innovation, customer satisfaction, and financial performance—making the business case for inclusion increasingly compelling.
The Path Forward: Practical Solutions
Breaking the first-rung barrier requires targeted interventions:
Revise promotion criteria to reduce subjective elements
Implement structured sponsorship programs with accountability measures
Normalize flexibility for all employees regardless of gender
Apply consistent evaluation standards across similar roles
Create advancement paths that accommodate varied career trajectories
These measures address both structural and cultural dimensions necessary for sustainable change. The organizations leading this transformation recognize that fixing the broken rung isn't just about fairness—it's about maximizing available talent to drive competitive advantage.
In a business landscape where talent scarcity represents a significant constraint on growth, organizations can no longer afford to underutilize half their potential leadership pool. The time for incremental approaches has passed; repairing the broken rung requires bold, systemic change.
Mad About Marketing Consulting
Advisor for C-Suites to work with you and your teams to maximize your marketing potential with strategic transformation for better business and marketing outcomes.
Citations:
https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/diversity-and-inclusion/women-in-the-workplace
https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/2023-11/forecasting-women-in-leadership-positions.pdf
https://www.maloneconsultantsgroup.com/blog/top-5-concerns-for-women-in-leadership-in-2025
https://knowledge.insead.edu/career/biggest-barriers-women-face-path-senior-leadership
https://www.strategypeopleculture.com/blog/challenges-female-leaders-face-in-the-workplace/
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/women-are-asking-for-promotions-but-men-keep-getting-them
https://www.robertwalters.com.sg/insights/career-advice/blog/female-leadership-in-singapore.html
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/real-world-consequences-abandoning-dei-initiatives-jason-grooms-j37bc
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/business/company-news/2024/08/02/what-is-dei-and-why-is-it-under-attack/
The Future of Work: Navigating the Shift to Flexible Talent Models
As we look ahead to 2025 and beyond, the workplace is undergoing a fundamental transformation that's reshaping how organizations approach talent acquisition and management. This evolution isn't just about remote work or digital transformation—it's about a complete reimagining of the workforce model itself.
The perception around work, employment and career has changed and will continue to evolve thanks to Covid, post covid massive retrenchments at a scale that’s never been seen before and a generational change in perception of what a career should be like, beyond just a job title.
Off the back of such retrenchments, big company names are no longer as attractive as before, which highlights a shift change in employer branding, especially among the younger generation of digital natives.
The Great Skills Reset
The pace of change in skill requirements is accelerating at an unprecedented rate. By 2030, an estimated 60% of employers expect AI to significantly impact their operations, while 39% of workers' existing skill sets may become outdated within the next five years. This creates a fascinating paradox: we're simultaneously facing both a talent shortage and a skills obsolescence challenge.
The fastest-growing skills paint a clear picture of where we're headed:
- AI and big data expertise
- Network security and cybersecurity capabilities
- Technology literacy across all roles
- Creative thinking and innovation
- Resilience and adaptability in the face of change
The New Talent Equation
Today's workforce is increasingly gravitating toward flexible arrangements that offer greater autonomy and work-life integration. This shift isn't merely a pandemic aftermath—it's a structural change in how people view their careers and professional development.
The emerging workforce priorities are crystal clear:
- Control over their time and work location
- Opportunities for skill development across multiple industries
- Higher income potential through diverse client engagements
- Reduced burnout risk through varied work experiences
- Career autonomy and project selectivity
The Rise of Fractional Talent
Here's where things get interesting: the convergence of organizational needs and workforce preferences is giving rise to a powerful solution—fractional talent. This model isn't just a stopgap; it's increasingly becoming a strategic advantage for forward-thinking organizations.
Why Companies Need to Embrace Fractional Talent
The business case for fractional talent is compelling:
1. Cost-Effectiveness: Access to executive-level expertise at 30-70% lower cost than full-time hires, with the ability to scale resources based on actual needs.
2. Strategic Agility: Rapid access to specialized skills without the overhead of traditional hiring processes or long-term commitments.
3. Innovation Catalyst: Fresh perspectives from professionals who bring cross-industry experience and diverse problem-solving approaches.
4. Risk Mitigation: "Try before you buy" approach to critical roles, with easier adjustment of resource levels as needs change.
The Mindset Shift
For organizations to fully leverage this model, several traditional assumptions need to be challenged:
1. From Control to Outcomes: Success metrics need to focus on deliverables rather than time spent.
2. From Fixed to Fluid: Organizational structures must become more adaptable to accommodate varying levels of engagement.
3. From Ownership to Partnership: The relationship with talent needs to evolve from traditional employment to strategic collaboration. Companies need to stop thinking that the employees “belong” to them.
Looking Ahead
The future of work isn't about choosing between traditional and flexible models—it's about creating an ecosystem where both can coexist and complement each other. Organizations that successfully navigate this transition will gain significant advantages in talent acquisition, innovation capacity, and market responsiveness.
The key to success lies in understanding that this isn't just a temporary trend but a fundamental reshaping of the work landscape. Companies that adapt their talent strategies accordingly will be better positioned to thrive in an increasingly dynamic business environment.
The question isn't whether to embrace these changes, but how quickly and effectively organizations can adapt their talent strategies to this new reality. The future of work is already here—it's just not evenly distributed yet.
Mad About Marketing Consulting
Advisor for C-Suites to work with you and your teams to maximize your marketing potential with strategic transformation for better business and marketing outcomes.
Workplace Culture Evolution: Toxic Work Cultures, Gaslighting and More
In today's hyper-competitive business landscape, workplace culture has emerged as the critical differentiator between organizations that thrive and those that merely survive. Let's dissect the key elements of cultural transformation and why it matters more than ever.
The Toxic Workplace Reality Check
Toxic workplace culture extends far beyond occasional office politics. It manifests through systemic dysfunction, where gaslighting and manipulation become normalized operating procedures. Think less "difficult boss" and more "calculated erosion of professional confidence." When managers consistently deny doing what is right then criticize team members for non-compliance, we're not witnessing simple miscommunication – we're seeing tactical psychological manipulation at work.
The Junior Employee Vulnerability Factor
Here's an uncomfortable truth: junior employees bear the brunt of toxic cultures, creating a problematic talent development pipeline. Why? They're navigating a perfect storm of vulnerabilities:
- Limited workplace navigation experience
- Strong validation needs
- Minimal support networks
- Heightened susceptibility to power dynamics
This combination creates a breeding ground for burnout and career stagnation – exactly what forward-thinking organizations must prevent.
The Leadership Imperative: Why Cultural Change Starts at the Top
Remember the garden analogy: organizational culture grows what leadership plants and tends. When toxic behaviors (weeds) go unchecked, they flourish. C-suite leaders aren't just cultural influencers – they're cultural architects. Their actions, not their words, set the template for organizational behavior.
Practical Steps for Leadership Evolution
For C-suite leaders and managers committed to cultural transformation:
1. Model Transparent Communication
- Share decision rationales openly
- Demonstrate accountability
- Create clear feedback channels
2. Implement Structural Safeguards
- Establish robust anti-harassment policies
- Create anonymous reporting systems
- Provide comprehensive mental health support
3. Develop Leadership Capabilities
- Invest in emotional intelligence
- Build conflict resolution expertise
- Foster inclusive decision-making
The Customer-People Connection: A Strategic Necessity
Here's the business case that gets the CEO’s attention: customer experience will never exceed employee experience. I first learnt of this concept during my time in OCBC when I was part of the pioneer customer experience team. It has inspired my work ever since. The math is straightforward:
- Engaged employees = Delighted customers
- Toxic culture = Compromised customer service
- Healthy culture = Sustainable competitive advantage
Think about it: How can we expect employees operating in toxic environments to deliver exceptional customer experiences? They can't – and that's the bottom-line impact of cultural negligence.
Building Integrated Experience Systems
Modern organizations need frameworks that align employee and customer experiences:
1. Cultural Assessment Metrics
- Track employee experience indicators
- Map customer journey touchpoints
- Measure psychological safety
- Monitor engagement patterns
2. Communication Architecture
- Define clear information flows
- Set response expectations
- Create constructive feedback loops
- Enable cross-functional collaboration
3. Diverse Perspective Integration
- Establish mentorship programs
- Create inclusive dialogue forums with actionable and measurable steps
- Enable cross-cultural learning
- Foster innovation through diversity
The ROI of Cultural Excellence
The investment case is compelling:
- Reduced turnover costs
- Enhanced productivity
- Improved innovation through psychological safety
- Stronger employer brand- Higher customer satisfaction
- Sustainable competitive advantage
Moving Forward: The Integration Imperative
In today's experience economy, treating employee and customer experience as separate domains is a strategic mistake. The most successful organizations recognize these elements as an integrated system requiring holistic management.
Remember: Culture isn't just what you promote – it's what you permit. What's growing in your organizational garden?
The question isn't whether to prioritize culture transformation – it's how quickly you can make it happen before your competitor does.
What's your next move in creating a workplace that drives both employee and customer success?
Mad About Marketing Consulting
Advisor for C-Suites to work with you and your teams to maximize your marketing potential with strategic transformation for better business and marketing outcomes.
What Authenticity Means in the Corporate World
There is much talk on authenticity and its importance recently, including being our authentic selves. A big part of authenticity is communications and being able to communicate authentically.
Some folks have asked me what it really means, and if it means they can literally just communicate whatever they want and anyhow they want even in a corporate setting.
Being authentic means being our true selves in terms of our identities, core values and to a certain extent, our personalities. However, we are not all angels or have charming and kind personalities. Truth be told, if everyone is so nice, kind and loveable, there wouldn’t be so much courses and writings on ways to navigate corporate politics, petty squabbles and power tussles. Truth also be told, if we bring our true selves to the corporate world, some of us might even get fired for being rude, abrasive or worst verbally abusive.
We are usually our true, authentic selves when we are with our loved ones, our families or simply people we are most comfortable with. These are usually not our colleagues or bosses.
Perhaps an unpopular opinion for some, but to me, being authentic in corporate shouldn’t be overly simplified or generalized that way.
While, we can bring our true identities in terms of say our gender orientation and sexual orientation to workplaces that are open and welcoming of it, it doesn’t mean bringing our true personalities, temperament, personal problems, warts and all to the work place.
I think it’s more important to be empathetic in the delivery of our communications and being authentic in the content we are delivering. The emphasis is on content as that’s what really matters to employees and stakeholders. No one wants a fake message that’s layered with lots of fluff or corporate spiel but when unwrapped, the essence of it either doesn’t mean much, cause more confusion or worse, reeks of lies. Don’t communicate for the sake of saying something.
Empathy in our delivery is critical so we are considerate of people’s feelings, their communications style and situations to tailor the way we deliver the message without changing the gist of the content. Being empathetic doesn’t mean fluffing up the message or lying about the content. It’s balancing the logical with the emotional side of the delivery approach. It’s also how you offer up support thereafter for feedback or questions.
Another way to reference it would be being professionally authentic and empathetic in our communications by putting ourselves in the shoes of the audience, and how you would relate to the intended message.
About the Author
Mad About Marketing Consulting
Ally and Advisor for CMOs, Heads of Marketing and C-Suites to work with you and your marketing teams to maximize your marketing potential with strategic transformation for better business and marketing outcomes
Be the Good Leader You Never Had
Not everyone is born into leadership at a young age; most would have made it after years of working. I had the honour of being invited to a few networking sessions last week, including one that talks about women empowerment and leadership in the workplace. This topic is always close to my heart as I have worked with numerous leaders and people managers in the course of my career since 2000.
I like to differentiate between leaders and managers as there is a clear distinction between both per what I wrote in my earlier post around leading versus managing. Most people I have observed, including peers I have worked with, are more managers by appointment rather than true people leaders as they either lack empathy or are purely self centered in their outlook.
The worst would be people who have been so affected and influenced by bad people managers that they failed to learn the right lessons and instead become one of them. It might have been an unconscious choice or shaping of the behaviour simply because they just have not been exposed to a positive management style.
This article is specifically targeted at this group of folks, especially if they have been told the ugly truth in the employee surveys/performance reviews or they have a sneaking suspicion that their admiration by their reporting lines are as real as the smiles they get whenever they tell their subordinates bluntly to “do as they are told; because I said so”.
If you even have trouble remembering the name of your reporting lines and you are managing less than 20 people who are all located in the same country/office as you; you’re likely to be one of the so-called “bad managers”.
If you enjoy layering your reporting lines as much as you enjoy layering your club sandwich and not make an effort to talk to your one-downs’ reporting lines at least once a quarter or check in on how they are doing even if it’s through your direct managers; you are also likely to be one of the so-called “bad managers”.
Regardless of what your personal experience have been with previous managers, as long as you now have a chance to be a people manager, remember how you felt back then when you had that bad manager.
Ask yourself:
What was so bad about that person’s management style?
What did you wish he/she would have done differently?
How would it have made you act/think/behave if he/she had a different management style?
Are you spending more time just managing upwards instead of downwards?
In a nutshell, be the kind of people manager and leader that you never had but wish you did. Be the kind of leader that you would want for your kids/siblings/partners/friends and not the kind of leader you wish on your worst enemy.
As leaders, you are responsible for shaping and nurturing the next generation of leaders. Cause and effect; what goes around, comes around and karma can be a bitch sometimes. Karma aside, it is a wonderful opportunity and privilege that not everyone can have, so why not make something good out of it.
About the Author
Mad About Marketing Consulting
Ally and Advisor for CMOs, Heads of Marketing and C-Suites to work with you and your marketing teams to maximize your marketing potential with strategic transformation for better business and marketing outcomes.
Corporate Succession Planning: When the King of the Jungle Vacates and Monkeys Run Amok
I liken the corporate environment for certain organizations to a jungle sometimes in terms of the power plays that come into the picture when the king of the jungle vacates its position for whatever reason.
This happens often in organizations that are undergoing transitions or that lack a good succession plan to prepare for senior movements. This, I have come to observe is regardless of organizational size and years in existence. The situation worsens for sure if both are true for the organization - lack of a good succession plan when you are undergoing a transition.
When it comes to succession planning, just having bums to fill seats is not good enough. It needs to be the right bum for the right seat so you avoid a square peg in a round hole situation. You also need to ensure these transitional leaders are actually capable of leading and not just PowerPoint slide reviewers or campaign and content approvers since both roles can be replaced by Gen AI strictly speaking.
By leading it means, they need to be capable of planning, developing a strategy and capable of engaging their new teams as part of the planning process. In short, treat them like people that matter and not treat them as just arms and legs to do the work that you don’t wish to do or are incapable of doing yourself.
This is also where the power plays start coming into the picture like monkeys having a field day calling the shots and insisting that every animal should only eat fruits and nuts like them and swing around by their tails from tree to tree because that is how they know to eat, live and act. There is a reason why monkeys are not the king of the jungle just as there is a difference between a leader versus a manager by appointment.
Although it’s normal to have layers of reporting lines if you have a huge team of more than 15 people or where you need to split the team into sub functions and appoint team leads or function leads, I personally believe every leader should still remain connected with even the most junior member of their team. This is especially during times of transition and if you are a newly minted lead. Until you are fully confident and sure of your functional leads or team leads’ capabilities as well as alignment on the way forward as a team, you should ensure the rest of the team is not left behind in terms of important communications, planning sessions and not being relinquished to silent executors or you will end up with a bunch of quiet quitters.
The power plays become more evident especially when you have team leads or functional leads who are actually in a square peg, round hole situation and act out their insecurities with a few obvious actions, including:
pushing down work and delegating all the hard to do stuff to their one-downs, who might not even be able to do the work without guidance or clear direction of how this fits into the intended plan or bigger picture. I.e. they are told to just do blindly.
fighting for the limelight by focusing on presenting the nice and showy stuff instead of doing actual work that matters to customers. I.e. power point becomes their best friend and their one-downs spent most of their time doing slide after slide showcasing how well they have done, so they can in turn present that to their bosses.
taking credit for others’ work or worse, not giving credit to their one-downs for fear that they themselves will be made redundant.
thinking and acting selfishly by not working with other colleagues on projects that they know would be relevant to what they are doing currently and by working together, it would enhance the output. Instead, they choose to shut them off having access to the project so they can be seen as the sole owner for that project though it would create win-win outcomes for their customers.
Organizations therefore should always take succession planning and leadership development seriously, regardless of whether they are in transition mode or not. Succession planning should not be a game of thrones, musical chairs or a case of appointing people you are familiar with or like even if they don’t actually have the capability to be that bum on the seat without breaking the chair.
About the Author
Mad About Marketing Consulting
Ally for CMOs, Heads of Marketing and C-Suites to work with you and your marketing teams to maximize your marketing potential with strategic transformation for better business and marketing outcomes.
Helping Employees Cope with Transitions & Transformation
When companies go through transformation and restructuring, it’s almost inevitable that some roles might be displaced. Similar to coping with loss and grief, some employees are more emotionally and mentally impacted than others, be it whether they are the ones being displaced or seeing their peers or managers being displaced.
Just based on personal experience of what’s been done well and what has room for improvement, companies who are truly people centric will try to do the following to help their employees:
1) redesign the roles that are to be displaced and work with the employees to reskill and realign to the new scope if possible
2) help the displaced employees to look for alternative roles within the organization and options for them to be reskilled if needed
3) help the displaced employees to look for roles outside of the organization and options for reskilling, coaching, counselling and resume reviews where needed.
I have intentionally positioned this in sequential order as I think companies should ideally start from 1) and utilize 3) as the very last resort. I recall when I was involved in a transformation exercise in a previous company, I had to go through this flow and after discussing with the direct manager and CEO potential options, I eventually went with 2) for the employee concerned as it was simply the right thing to do in order to be truly people centric and empathetic. Also from a business viability perspective, as long as your company is still planning to remain in business, you will save more time, resources and money with 1) and 2) as the recruitment as well as onboarding process usually take an average of 6 months to a year in totality, depending on the seniority of the role.
There is a reason why certain talents are hired to join you in the first place and it should go beyond their hard skills or academic background to the soft skills. These employees should also have accumulated new skills and knowledge with you as their employer over the years. If you say these are no longer needed, it’s as good as shooting yourself in the foot and saying you have basically not done a good job with developing your own employees with viable skills to help your company’s growth. The question then you also need to ask yourself is - what have you been doing all this while? What processes then do you need to relook to improve upon that?
In terms of employees who are impacted by other employees leaving in option 2) and 3), it is ideal for companies and their senior leadership to be both transparent and timely in communicating such impact to them. Openly acknowledge the decisions made and consult the outplaced employee beforehand as well if he/she would prefer to be present when the news is shared or would prefer to be the one sharing the news to his/her team concerned.
Importantly, acknowledge the contributions of the displaced employee and be transparent as well if the remaining employees are to expect further displacements to take place. Be upfront of the options explored and offered as well, so they know what to expect if their own roles are likely to be transformed or made obsolete during the transformation process.
Be sure to avail avenues of two-way communications to them, be it directly to the senior leadership or an independent channel similar to a counselling hotline for those who just want a listening ear to voice their fears and distress.
Companies and their leaders should always bear in mind that their decisions and actions, including the way they have handled the entire process and managed the communications will have a downstream impact on their employer brand reputation. Such impact is often longstanding and no amount of employer related awards can help salvage once the damage is done.
About the Author
Mad About Marketing Consulting
Ally for CMOs, Heads of Marketing and C-Suites to work with you and your marketing teams to maximize your marketing potential with strategic transformation for better business and marketing outcomes.
Leading Others, Managing Self
I believe that leadership is something that is attributed by others and not something that you bestowed upon yourself. Management on the other hand is given as a result of your title and official responsibility but leadership is earned and not given.
Having spent the last two decades both being managed under various types of leaders and managing others, I can safely say I have a pretty clear idea of the type of leadership that works for me. Alongside that, I also have a good idea of the type of leader I aspire to be.
I believe that leadership is something that is attributed by others and not something that you bestowed upon yourself. Management on the other hand is given as a result of your title and official responsibility but leadership is earned and not given.
I have met several outstanding managers who are inspiring leaders that command respect no matter where they go and what they do.
On deeper reflection, I have narrowed down to the following admirable traits that serve as a personal guide to me:
Knowing what you want and how to get it
Good leaders are decisive, confident in their decisions and not easily influenced and swayed without good and sound reasoning. They don’t let their emotions get the better of them, especially in times of extreme stress and pressure. Eagle-eyed in their target and end goal, they know the path to victory and though the course might change along the way, the end goal is crystal clear once their minds are made up.
Instead, they inspire others and ignite excitement in them to follow their vision and work jointly in their own ways to achieve success.
Good decisions are not always popular
If they are in only to be popular, they will never be a convincing leader that does the right thing. Leadership is not meant to be a popularity contest. The best leaders often make the most difficult and unpopular decisions if these are deemed to be for the greater good in the long run.
They are not afraid to face up to the judgment of the people especially those who don’t see the benefit of it from the onset. They know they cannot please everyone and their purpose is not to please everyone but to do what is right.
Empowerment, trust and impartiality
Everyone has a place and a role to fulfil within the organization in accordance to their expertise and talent. Good leaders know and appreciate that. They know they are not supposed to know everything and be able to do everything themselves. Instead, they empower and trust the people working with them to do exactly that and giving advice where needed along the way.
Importantly, they don’t let the politics get in the way of empowering and disempowering people to take on certain responsibilities for the common goal they set out to achieve. Micromanagement and favouritism have no place in good leadership.
Admitting to your own fallacies
We are not meant to be saints and good leaders know that. They don’t let their egos get in the way of admitting to their mistakes when certain wrong decisions have been made. Instead, they bite the bullet like everyone else, are not afraid to apologize and own up to it instead of throwing their employees under the bus.
Good leaders know as well that when mistakes are made, there is no time for finger pointing. They don’t get lost in their mistakes and wallow in them for too long. Instead, they quickly pivot to the right course of action, taking recommendations as well where needed from the people they have empowered.
Having your life together
It’s not about having the perfect life, if there is such a thing but keeping how you manage it in check. Everyone has their own issues to sort through but what’s more important is how you deal with your personal versus professional life.
Good leaders are not emotional rollercoasters and by that it doesn’t mean to be a cold and heartless person. Instead, it is to be able to compartmentalize and segregate the issues and whatever emotions you’re facing at the home front and the work front.
An easy way to do a sound check on yourself is when you observe people walking on tip toes around you and do ‘weather checks’ before they speak to you.
Being connected and seeing the bigger picture
Interpersonal connection doesn’t come naturally to most people. This has to do with the level of connectivity you have with the team on the ground and understanding their challenges and issues faced.
It’s only then that you can see the bigger picture of how it works and how your team can put their skills and talent to good use collectively. It involves looking beyond their background, what they have done on the surface and actually understanding them as a person, how they work and mentoring them to be better.
Good leaders should not find themselves so far removed from the ground that they no longer see the complete picture but a blurry mirage that will soon be out of their grasp of reality.
Personally good leaders and managers should not be mutually exclusive but the former is a lot harder to achieve. There is no golden rulebook or educational pathway to being a good leader.
Some people do have certain personality traits that put them in a more favourable position then others but all in all, it comes as part of our experience on the field and willingness to learn, adapt and improve.
About the Author
Mad About Marketing Consulting
Ally for CMOs, Heads of Marketing and C-Suites to work with you and your marketing teams to maximize your marketing potential with strategic transformation for better business and marketing outcomes.
The Sandwiched Leadership
The majority of us who have been working for at least two decades and grown into people management roles can probably identify with what I’m about to say.
Not all of us are able to move into the C-Suite level at this point, meaning the bulk of us would be sitting somewhere in mid to upper mid management with direct and indirect reports.
Concurrently, we would also have both direct and indirect managers hovering above us and around us.
This makes us a sandwiched leadership as we constantly need to think about upwards and downwards management and best ways to manage both without tipping that intricate balance.
Team management is not something for everyone nor does having the title automatically makes you a ‘real’ manager.
Having been in roles where I have inherited teams and grown teams from scratch, each has its own unique challenges but also satisfaction when the team flourishes over time.
Team management is also not about micromanaging or throwing them into the pits and leaving them to their own demise. Again, it’s a fine line as it depends as well between individuals. One man’s meat is another man’s poison as we say.
It’s also not about talking down or talking up for that matter but about paving the way to enable your team’s success while managing your bosses’ expectations and enabling their own success.
We are not expected to know everything and be a specialist in every single area that we’re managing but rather, we need to have the strategic view, forward looking vision and appreciation of the ground up challenges and pitfalls to be addressed.
The majority of our time is spent anticipating issues and identifying ways to prevent or address them. We also need to balance the dynamics of the team’s emotions, strengths, weaknesses, chemistry and expectations towards each other. The last part is simply shielding them from the upper management’s own expectations, pressures and politics so they can function seamlessly.
It’s not a walk in the park and one thing at least to me for sure is that one can never effectively lead a team to succeed without genuinely caring for them as people.
With that said, I think the sandwiched managers have it the hardest and it’s also not surprising that many have given up, especially when they don’t get the appreciation or support needed from their managers as well as their own teams.
Some simply decided to go back to being individual contributors while others might decide to just venture out to smaller companies where they can be the top management instead with a more manageable leadership structure.
There’s no right or wrong but companies who truly cherish talent and their people should pay more attention to the sandwiched managers before it’s too late.
In my upcoming post(s), I’ll highlight a few key challenges facing sandwiched managers, the impact they have on business continuity and culture, as well as how companies can better support them.
About the Author
Mad About Marketing Consulting
Ally for CMOs, Heads of Marketing and C-Suites to work with you and your marketing teams to maximize your marketing potential with strategic transformation for better business and marketing outcomes.
The Dying Empathetic Leadership
Empathy is something not every senior management or leader has unfortunately and it’s very telling in their behind-the-scenes speech and actions.
In all my years of working, I have come across very few truly empathetic leaders who are genuine in their treatment of their employees and customers.
Some I wish I can work with them longer when I choose to move on for other reasons as I know they would have taught me a lot more than I know now in terms of thinking, doing and communicating with empathy.
Empathy is something not every senior management or leader has unfortunately and it’s very telling in their behind-the-scenes speech and actions.
It’s undervalued simply because leaders don’t really get rated on their ability to connect with their employees and treat them with empathy.
I have witnessed many failures in terms of leaders in 1) not communicating emphatically to their people, 2) not showing true empathy in trying to understand the challenges faced by their workforce and 3) not listening with empathy when their employees provide feedback through forums.
It ends up being lip service or more trying to appear to do what is expected of them to look good and not because they genuinely care.
Classic examples are when there are organizational layoffs or restructuring.
The onset of how decisions are made have nothing to do with empathy but rather the bottom line of cost, profitability and returns.
That is why things never really change for the better in the longer term for most organizations and their leaders that make decisions without empathy.
Over the years, I have been privy to how such decisions are made, sometimes callously and without even sound logic. Rather, it’s more a stop-gap and band-aid approach where true impact on the people are not even considered in the decision making process.
What is worse though is the way such changes are communicated or not communicated to the workforce.
They talk about stock prices, shareholders equity and customers but forget their employees, the backbone of the company carrying that mission on their shoulders and believing in the promises made during the town halls, leadership emails and pep talks.
Poorly worded communications, which is as clear as mud and clueless management sitting around trying to find the right things to say or lend some insights to their team doesn’t help either.
Good, solid, reliable and empathetic corporate communications is a dying art in this sense.
For any self respecting CEO, my advice is to at least make sure you have a solid and empathetic communications advisor if you, yourself are not empathetic by nature.
Empathy might not bring you immediate revenue but it will have longer term benefits to the organization as you will make decisions that actually solve problems for both your customers and employees for the longer term.
Less attrition, less churn and more sustainable growth.
About the Author
Mad About Marketing Consulting
Ally for CMOs, Heads of Marketing and C-Suites to work with you and your marketing teams to maximize your marketing potential with strategic transformation for better business and marketing outcomes.