Chris revisits the key points made by David Burt, adds his own insights and gives listeners some suggestions for practical actions they can take immediately to help them get where they want to go.
Welcome to every one of our Perspectives from the Top community of listeners around the world to “Reflections on the Top”. “Reflections” is to help you get the best from the series by me reviewing the key insights from our latest guest, Hon David Burt, Prime Minister of Bermuda.
David is a graduate of The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., with a Bachelor of Business Administration with a double major in Finance and Information Systems. He was awarded The George Washington University Presidential Administrative Fellowship and received his Master of Science degree in Information Systems Development in 2003.
An entrepreneur, David started GMD Consulting Limited, an IT consulting company focusing on project management. He served as President since its inception until 2016 when he stepped down upon being appointed Leader of the Bermuda Labour Party in Opposition. Premier Burt was the lead developer for the award winning HITCH Mobile App enabling Bermuda Residents to hail taxis.
He served in the Senate of Bermuda as Junior Minister for Finance before becoming Premier in July 2017. The youngest Premier in Bermudas history.
Davids first key points were that successful leadership is about inspiring people to give you their best, to be prepared to get your hands dirty even though you might be the leader, and to lead by example.
Having been in both the commercial world and the political world he said that to be able to get done what needs to be done with the people its somewhat easier in the commercial world because you people are recruited on capability and can move however often in the political world that's not necessarily possible and that other people may have a different agenda if they are in a different political party. Also he confirmed the core principle that one approach to leadership won’t work with everybody.
But its critical to note in my view the cause of this is the simple fact that people are different. Because people are different they have different skills, capabilities and motivation and therefore what inspires one person to give their best may not be what inspires other people to give their best. So leaders need to know their people. Because if they don't know then they can't utilise the appropriate motivation drivers.
So for all of you listeners out there who are in leadership positions you need to ask yourself that question. Do I know the key motivators for each of the people on my team, do I know what they're good at, do I know what they're not so good at, do I know what they aspire to both in their work and even perhaps in their wider life. Because I believe that unless you know the answer to those questions you cannot truly be an effective and inspirational leader.
David illustrated with the good example that some people, once you have told them what needs to be done, will be able to get on and do it. But there may be other people who don't have as much experience who you have to be more hands on with to guide them through the process. What he has interestingly highlighted here is that the process of delegation is not just about telling somebody what they have to do. It's also about providing sufficient either reactive or proactive support for them to be able to do the job effectively with minimum intervention on your part so they feel empowered.
But he also set out that whilst there are differences between people there are some fundamental commonalities. As David said, and as we have discussed in previous interviews, people want to be appreciated by their boss, they want to know their boss genuinely cares about them. Now some of you listening perhaps, if you haven't heard the other interviews, that might sound like that's just motherhood and apple pie but the neuroscience is quite clear in that our brains are wired to positively respond to people who are positive towards us and who we feel that they are appreciative of us. So this isn't about just being nice. This is about utilising key neuroscience drivers to create an environment where people want to give the best for you. It's also worth mentioning that the neuroscience says that the reverse applies, if you do something that people perceived to be in anyway threatening you are likely to trigger a diluted version of the “fight or flight” behaviour so then you are fighting 250,000 years of human evolution. Just bear in mind the reality is that evolution always wins.
That positive feeling people get from a good boss is essentially an emotional response. But a leader ignoring the emotional side of this has a problem because there's any number of studies which show this is critical to get the best from people. But let me give you one example, Corporate Executive Board say that the employee's decision to give high performance is roughly 60% rational and 40% emotional. What does that mean? It means quite simply that even if you have the best plan in the world if you don't get people on board emotionally you're reducing your chance of success by 40%
In terms of getting leadership right for different situations David went back to his IT roots which gave him a structured systems approach to thinking but he also, from his experience, recognised the importance of the emotional element of leadership as a powerful driver to get things done. I suppose in simple terms it's the classic good plan being implemented by people who genuinely want to make it happen. But an interesting comment he made was something that I have observed with many leaders who have had some form of intense figures based professional training the challenge I've seen is that many of these professional courses have no element within them which makes clear that as well as having the rational elements you have to recognise and utilise emotion to get things done.
I’m reminded of being asked to speak in Dubai at the annual conference of the project management institute on how project managers can be leaders and influences as well as project managers. That’s because one of the problems that the profession had was that too many people felt that just having a great rational plan was enough to get the job done. The groups leadership wanted their members to recognise that the plan was only the starting point and that to get people inspired, to bring the project home on time and in budget actually required leadership powering inspiration which powered action.
It's interesting that David said in his personal perspective this is always a work in progress for a leader, to constantly improve their understanding of people. So if you do come from a numeric profession remember to getting the best out of employees you need to work on using 60% rational and 40% emotional. That ensures you are proactively seeking to engage and inspire with genuine interest.
Inherently in so doing David was recognising that he felt that he had a weakness he needed to develop. You will have heard from previous interviews the majority of guests have said that it is a critical element in their success - self awareness growing as they went on their leadership journey and that this was supported by proactively seeking feedback. For those of you listening who are trying to grow your career maybe I should note at this point that this self awareness and proactive seeking a feedback is a commonly used criteria in many organisations, and I frequently used it, to identify people who have the potential to go further in the organisation, in other words talent, high potential or whatever you want to call it.
Clearly in Davids role as Prime Minister of Bermuda he is at the top of the governmental tree so it's critical for him to create an environment where people are willing to give him feedback so that he can ensure but he is leading effectively. But because of his seniority he has to make proactive efforts to ask people regularly for their feedback and listen in order to create a culture where people feel happy to provide that feedback. It's quite clear from everything that I have seen that as people get more senior in an organisation more junior people become increasingly nervous about providing feedback unless there is a proactive attempt to create such an environment.
It was interesting that David revealed that he had been to a military boarding school which put in place for him at a young age some of the critical elements of leadership that perhaps most people don't get and which they have to discover within their working career mainly via a process of trial and error. One of those basic tenets which David learnt at school was the simple act of giving and receiving feedback. But what he also did was to beautifully pickup on the point that Justin Welby mentioned that, in reality we are never perfect, and to think we are is a denial of simple reality. So therefore at no point in our career do we ever reach a level where we should not be open to feedback from others, because as David said we can all become better.
One of his key points, which is perhaps unusual to hear from someone in the political world, is that leaders have to take responsibility for what happens in relation to the people who work for them. If something goes wrong, even if it's not within their own team but further down the organisation they have to accept responsibility. Not only that, but perhaps even more important to then use what went wrong as, in Gary ridge's words, a learning moment where there is open an transparent discussion about what went wrong, why and how to make sure it doesn't happen again. Too often in organisations this doesn't happen and the leader blames the person who made the mistake. The problem is from that moment onwards a blame culture is likely to build which will kill motivation, kill innovation, kill good ideas, and if it spreads slowly kill the organisation.
My next question to David was perhaps one of the hardest I ever ask senior leaders. How do you manage to cascade your leadership and inspiration down through other levels of leaders to the frontline of the organisation so that those on that front line are inspired to give their best ? He answered honestly saying that this was something he was still working on. That’s to his credit because I don't think I have met a leader in any organisation who has got that cascade right, other than perhaps Garry Ridge CEO at WD40 Company who is almost there with his 93% employee engagement level.
The simple point being even if the CEO and the board are amazing inspiring leaders, and have really great strategy that will deliver success, if the leadership levels between them and those who make it happen on the frontline are not as good, not as inspiring, then the message and the inspiration dies on the way down.
So perhaps that's a message for any of you in senior leadership roles who have a number of leadership levels between you and the people on the frontline. Ask yourself even if you are a great inspiring leader how can you make sure that those between you and the frontline are as good as you.
Again it's worth emphasising here, as David did, that things may not go perfectly to plan. In his example there may be junior leaders who are experiencing a challenging situation for the first time and are unsure how to meet that challenge. Then it’s about providing them with the support they need to understand how they can be successful rather than perhaps, as some people would do, use it as a test to see if they sink or swim. The Darwinian approach to leadership success and assessment is extremely ineffective and highly damaging approach for both individuals and organisations.
David made the interesting transition between being an entrepreneur and then going into public sector. That requires working with more people to get things done.
Whether you are working within a team, whether you are a leader working with other leaders whether you are an organisation working with other organisations or with government or regulators the only effective way forwards is to work in collaboration and partnership. And as Amanda Russell said in her interview around influence, this is all about you reaching out to others to try and understand what they want to achieve, you helping them understand what you want to achieve, and so working together to create a vision which everyone can aspire to.
David talked about the improvements that he the government are trying to make in Bermuda through its government. To make business and the economy more effective for the benefit of the population and about how you encourage people to see the need for change. All of you will have heard the phrase “burning platform” which is where something is going so seriously wrong and that it is absolutely obvious to everybody that something needs to be done. However the fact that there doesn't appear to be a burning platform from my experience and Davids, doesn't mean that there isn't need for change to improve and also that there isn't necessarily an invisible time bomb lurking somewhere in the organisation. Some type of unidentified risk that has the potential to cause serious damage.
But as we discussed when there is no obvious burning platform, when an organisation is doing reasonably well then often people don't see need for change. If that change is only going to make things better rather than the fact but it's an impending risk its less clear and less urgent.
David alluded to the two approaches which political campaigns often take, as we are seeing around this at the moment , either one of uninspiring vision which our party can deliver or of impending doom which the other party can deliver. That might sound like a drastic oversimplification but to some degree the same applies in organisations with a group of people who see an inspiring vision and another group of people who potentially see it as a threat to stability which is what they prefer. But I think there is the challenge for any of you listening in any organisation that is doing reasonably well but where you want to get everyone to be even better. It's vital to present that vision in a way that is compelling to even those who are sceptical about the proposed change. And also test it on the sceptical, not the supporters, before you launch it. Maybe we're back to the simple what's in it for me question.
But from David's perspective as Prime Minister of Bermuda the fundamental challenge for him is that the world is changing and it's changing fast. He needs to ensure that Bermuda keeps up and if possible is ahead of the game because of their heavy reliance on both tourism and financial services. As he says his mission is to get across to the entire populace that this is a constant state of evolution that everyone needs to pay attention to, and also, where possible, predicting the future so that you are positioned to take advantage of it.
But that's not only what prime ministers should be thinking about that's what C-Suite should be thinking about and that's what every leader listening should be thinking about in terms of what's happening in their team and what the role of their team is going to be in the future. Maybe that's a question that you listening who are leaders should ask. Realistically what do you see your team doing in the next two or five years time which is different from now?
Certainly David has achieved some success because by reaching out and creating a common vision he has been able to get business working with him. That’s very positive given that he represents the Labour Party which is not seen normally as an ally of the business community. But he has, with them, working in partnership, created a common vision that all parts of society in Bermuda can aspire to for the good of themselves and for the country. And that even if this requires an element of short term pain the long term will be beneficial for all. The analogy which I used with David, and which I often use is what's the point in arguing about how you divide up a smaller cake when if you work effectively together you're actually going to have a bigger cake to divide up in the future.
He's advice too all of you listening who are leaders, in fact to anyone who is listening, is so simple - to listen to other people, in particular those with more experience than you. The great point also about not always listening to the people who have been successful it's about sometimes talking to the people who might not have been successful. As we all know from our own experience some of the greatest lessons we learn are when things don't go quite to plan. Back to Garry Ridge and his learning moments. David also felt strongly that again, as with other guests, leadership is about leading by example, it's really that simple because if you're a leader people will copy what you do, that's not an assumption that's a fact based on evidence. And as a leader you need to remember that every action and every word everyday contributes to the example that people see you sending out. The classic phrase “engage brain before opening mouth” comes to mind.
David also said that quite simply leadership is also about hard work and dedication and going that extra mile to grow your own capability.
As with the previous guests and now David hopefully you are seeing a pattern of simple actions you can take to be more successful. Share these interviews colleagues who would benefit so they can grow and develop with you. Certainly I will be using these powerful points in my speaking and Masterclasses in the future.
If you have any thoughts or questions connect with me on LinkedIn or via email as detailed on the Perspectives website. Don't forget to sign up to Perspectives from the Top. It's free, so you don't miss any of the great episodes in the future.
That’s it for now, so from me its onwards and upwards until our next episode.