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Evolving Corporate Universities ForumAdzhar Ibrahim

12:20 ~ 13:00           Leaders Who Lead (And Not Just Manage)

• Unique companies have unique leaders, who create the corporate culture that becomes their competitive advantage

• Companies can’t “have it all” i.e. be perfect in everything. Great leaders choose where they want to excel (and willing to pay the price in the areas where they won’t)

• Great leaders create energy through compelling vision and courage and generosity (and by breaking down barriers to energy)

• Great leaders are innovative, and create environment that encourage innovation (by breaking down barriers to innovation)

• ADZHAR IBRAHIM ~ AIRASIA GROUP OF COMPANIES ~ REGIONAL HEAD OF PEOPLE

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Leaders Who Lead…(And Not Just Manage)

Lessons from Great leaders

“A CEO’S MAIN JOB, BECAUSE YOU HAVE ACCESS TO ALL THE INFORMATION, IS TO SEE THE NEED TO CHANGE BEFORE ANYBODY ELSE DOES”

A certain CEO of a large American hi-tech MNC recently says…

LEADERSHIP DRIVES CHANGE!

Why is leadership so important?

But more than change, its bringing about…

Renewal

CHANGE AND RENEWAL THAT FOCUS THE HUMAN ENERGY – CREATING PASSION AND FUN! (EVEN IF THINGS ARE MESSY FROM TIME TO TIME)

Most important task is…

Leadership is about bringing change and renewal…

• Change and renewal can only come from the top– For good or bad…

• Some parts of the organization will never change– But that’s OK– As long as its not a very big part!

• But the critical parts must change– The parts that deliver your value propositions– And the parts that deliver your employee propositions

• Changing, ability to keep changing, is critical– You don’t change, you die– You change before you are changed

• Renewal must come from the Top…and The Top always has a “Vision…”

–Better motivation, greater flexibility, higher performance, more profits…

–Better, greater, more, faster, better, cheaper…

It’s the having the vision “thing”…..

• “… the organization as a competitive advantage…”

From good to great requires new leaps in mindset

leadership

New leaps…

• In goals

• In key new initiatives

• In execution ability

• Our management of the company

It is about management, mindset and out-execution of competition

The Job is about Managing Mindsets

Dep headDep head

Div headDiv head

CEO CEO

CEOsCEOs

ChairmanChairman

OwnerOwner

Traditional DiGi

Organisation structure ready for change?

• Org is a tool and the tool need to be changed based on the challenges, if we do a change now it must in light of that it will happen again, some lose, some win, things change – stagnation is worse

• Divisional silos unavoidable but must be minimized• One-company culture is not there yet• Overlaps and gaps in current structure that must be

clarified and closed

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Design a management team that is able to lead as a team

– Not too many direct reports…need time to spend on each one, both as a member of the team as well as an indivcidual

– Management meeting has merits but cannot be the only forum for managing the company

– Must create more effective meeting places (like business reviews and investment committees and a marketing war room and employee townhalls) that can foster speed and precision

– Key corporate initiatives to CEO or CEO office or processes with steering committees

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Its about having high ambitions for our organization

•  Thriving in changing landscape – Need to look at the organizations abilities and skills,

and the leading personalities, as a real competitive advantage

– Must therefore be able to initiative, accept and embrace change

– Need to truly live the brand values and strengthen the supportive forces and discourage our internal barriers for positive change

– Must keep/create speed as our core competitive advantage

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Its about breaking down barriers to a great organization

• The focus on what divides us rather than what brings us together– Titles– hierarchies– Office– Company cars– Benefits

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What have been the most important factors?

• Passionate CEO who truly believes and lives it and breathes it– Vision– Courage– Generosity

• All messages must be supportive and consistent• People always on the agenda• Limit to few key focus areas and not too many• Challenging people to change has paid of in

engagement and commitment

• But usually the top lacks “courage” and “generosity”

• Hence its either…– “The more things change, the more they

remain the same”, or

– “Total Chaos”!• Same culture, same mindset, same results

• ..or worse!

• Insanity is when…you keep doing the same thing and expect different results!

Some personal passions

• Simplicity

– The strongest of all business concepts?

– Simplicity is complicated to reach

– Sooo applicable to all aspects of our daily lives

Creativity

Really, everything can be improved

It is fun to ask What If over and over

Various formats might help the creative process

- You cannot be a winner if you copy

One Company

Silo thinking and politics kill culture

A generous spirit of trust should be the vision

We win and lose as one team, one company

Be a Forward force

So easy to rely on yesterday’s strengths

We must always strive for tomorrow

As you know, always time to change!

Cultural contributions (biases)

• I want to go early home– I want you to go early home– If you go late home, I am not impressed

• I will not sacrifice family for networking

• I want meetings to be short and efficient

• I don’t need to prove that I understand all details

• I don’t point fingers at questionable performance, we solve problems as a group

• I want people to make mistakes, otherwise they are not taking enough risks

• I find it difficult to respect people who take themselves too seriously

• I want people to enjoy working

• I like to develop talents

• I get provoked by passivism

• I am pragmatic and want managers to be generous

• I will delegate tremendous responsibility to managers who I trust want the same as I for the company and who share my basic values

10 things they don’t teach you at most MBA programs

Morten Lundal

1. Businesses are getting stuck in an old model - and; its all invented!

2. Don’t read management literature

3. Most companies are dysfunctional, read Dilbert

4. Decisions are often taken in irrationality

5. Skip the budget and the tie and the fixed phone and the office and the titles and the benefits differences and the yearly assessment/promotion/ salary increase cycle, and, and and…

6. Celebrate Mistakes, challenge you leader, have trust and give responsibility

7. Office politics is everywhere, One- Company-Mindset is hard to achieve but so liberating when it’s there

8. Simplicity is one of the most important business concepts

9. Leadership is about Managing Mindsets through Symbolism, Rhetoric and Good Judgment

10.Don’t work too hard

LEADERSHIP AND HR…

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HR can’t bring about change…

• We are not the change agents– As much as we’d like to think so

• Sometimes HR are the worst culprits fighting the change– As “advocates” of our employees

– Or keeper of traditions

– Or “to keep us out of troubles”

– Or because it will affect our own “power” and position

• …only True Leaders can– But HR can be part of the leadership

But we can help make it happen…

• As “contractor” and “project manager” making the master plans of the “architects” happen

• As “keeper” or “conscience” of the organization to make sure value and ethics are kept and maintained and serve as guiding lights of the change

• As communicator and channels to ensure values are kept alive and relevant

• As the Auditor to check whether the values are relevant

Boss’s Expectations on me…

1. that we increase the quality of our recruitment process, so we make an aim to recruit only the people we are very, very comfortable with will fit and contribute to the Company we want to create.

2. that we find a way to incentives and reward all / key people in the organization.  I need your proactivity on that one, I want you to feel the urge to take it to its conclusion and implementation! The board would rather give out restricted shares or cash than options. 

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And…

…and HR driving more change and performance culture

•        Our vision of a well performing management team is realized to an even higher degree

•        You focusing your energy on organizational hotspots with energy, high ambitions and real impact (I really feel you can push more here)

•        You (and we) should formulating and delivering on some exciting overall change-ideas for the year

Top scores for AirAsia: clarity, culture and structure

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

Top Scoring Questions

AirAsia has a

compelling vision

3.6

AirAsia has a clear

and unique identity

which inspires its

employees

3.4

AirAsia’s employees

behave with high

energy and perseverance

(bring 110% to the job )

3.4

AirAsia’s organizational

structure is as simple as

possible given business

demands

3.1

Av

g

Sco

re

(4

=

stro

ngly

ag

ree;

1

=

st

ron

gly

d

isa

gre

e)

Compellingvision

Uniqueidentity

Highenergy

Simpleorg

structure

Clarity Culture Culture Structure

AirAsia’s winning culture stems from a unique personality and 6 high performing attributes

Unique personality

and soul

2. External focus

6. Openness to change

5. Individuals who team

1. High aspirations (desire to win)

4. Bias to action

3. Think like owners

Management’s view on the greatest strengths of AirAsia’s organization

Source: AirAsia diagnostic (n=67)

Larger font represents higher frequency of strengths

identified by respondents

Our Tagline

Now Everyone Can Fly!

Our Success

8,000 Passionate Human Engines

Strong Brand

Aggressive Marketing

Discipline on Cost

Lowest Fare Online

Seamless Booking

Innovation

Incredible Network + Frequencies

25 minute Turn-Around

Credibility & Reliability

8,000 Passionate Human Engines

Strong Brand

Aggressive Marketing

Discipline on Cost

Lowest Fare Online

Seamless Booking

Innovation

Incredible Network + Frequencies

25 minute Turn-Around

Credibility & Reliability

My HR philosophy…

• To comfort the disturbed

To disturb the comfortable

END

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