Navigating the New Norm: The Leadership Blueprint for Fortune 500 Marketers & Creative Agencies
Russell M. Kern
I work with CEOs, CHROs and Senior L&D Executives to develop Team Leaders and Managers to get their teams to start working like a team. I reduce team conflicts, improve collaboration, creativity and increase retention.
In an era where unpredictability is the new normal, Fortune 500 marketing leaders and large creative agencies are navigating a sea of transformative shifts.
These adjustments are not mere blips on the radar; they represent a seismic change in the way businesses operate and teams function.
The onus of leading teams to peak performance has never been more challenging.
As someone who started and scaled a large creative agency (Kern) to 400 employees, and who spent decades working alongside Fortune 500 marketing leaders, I discovered something: The key lies in understanding and harnessing the collective strengths of your team.
The New Age Challenges
The business world has always been turbulent, but recent years have amplified its unpredictability. External factors, technological advancements, and the global socio-economic landscape have all played a role in this.
Leaders are not just battling conventional organizational challenges; they're deciphering a new rulebook. The McKinsey 2023 State of the Organization Report delineates 10 paradigm shifts that leaders must acknowledge and embrace. These shifts, while challenging, also present an opportunity for organizations to evolve and thrive.
Some key insights from the report include:
Resilience & Agility: Beyond buzzwords, these attributes are now the cornerstone of successful businesses. Cultivating a culture of empowerment and continuous learning is paramount.
Hybrid Work Models: The pandemic has reshaped our working norms. Establishing a symbiotic relationship between organizations and employees has become crucial, ensuring productivity irrespective of geographical boundaries.
Cultural Adaptation: The global talent pool is diverse. Reimagining roles, redefining success metrics, and adjusting working norms to resonate with this diverse talent landscape is essential.
Self-Aware Leadership: It's no longer just about command and control. Crafting leaders who are introspective, empathetic, and can inspire networks of teams is the need of the hour.
Data-Driven Decision Making: In a world awash with data, leveraging it to make informed decisions, predict trends, and preempt challenges is a significant advantage.
With that said, there is no “silver bullet” for achieving optimal team performance. A quick team-building activity or weekend workshop won’t produce long-lasting, consistently high-performing team behaviors.
Understanding, practicing, and consistently applying the principles of a strength-based team takes time.
The Strength-Centric Leadership Approach
Addressing these challenges requires more than just tactical strategies; it demands a shift in perspective. This is where Strength-Centric Leadership comes into play.
This isn't just a belief or a mere methodology. Strength-Centric Leadership is a research-proven leadership methodology, backed by over 50 years of research by Gallup.
It has been utilized by over 20 million workforce members globally. The approach is rooted in the CliftonStrengths® assessment, which emphasizes the power of collective strengths.
It focuses on leveraging individual strengths within teams, fostering synergistic collaboration, and creating an environment where every team member operates at their peak.
The essence of this approach is not about rectifying weaknesses but about amplifying strengths, celebrating them, and using them to the organization's benefit.
Imagine a team member with exceptional analytical skills but a discomfort with public speaking. Instead of pushing them into client-facing roles, a Strength-Centric leader would place them in data analysis or strategic planning roles, capitalizing on their analytical acumen.
Another pillar of this approach is continuous feedback. Unlike traditional feedback mechanisms that often highlight areas of improvement, Strength-Centric feedback accentuates positive reinforcement, celebrates achievements, and comprehends how a particular strength led to that success.
Effective managers using this approach don't just focus on individual strengths. They assess the collective strengths of their teams, understand how they can complement each other, and structure their teams accordingly. It's about crafting a mosaic where each unique piece contributes to a magnificent whole. This not only enhances team performance but also augments morale, job satisfaction, and employee retention.
Elevate Your Team's Performance
In a world that's rapidly evolving, clinging to old paradigms will only hold you back. The Strength-Centric Leadership is not just a solution; it's part of the new Workforce management strategic imperative.
(Note: You can go here to learn more about how Kern and Partners helps our clients achieve this and other leadership and employee learning breakthroughs.)
The question isn't whether you can adapt, but how quickly you can.
Are you ready to lead the charge, pivot, and elevate your team?
Ready To Talk?
Our mission at Kern & Partners is to help senior executives, team leaders, and their team members elevate employee engagement, passion, and creativity by providing the highest quality, most industry-proven team and leadership development programs customized to our client's needs and goals.
We do so by providing the highest quality, most industry-proven team and leadership development programs customized to our client's needs and goals.
If you’d like to learn more, visit us online or connect with me here on LinkedIn to get the conversation started!