Leadership Ensembles: Keys to Developing the Next Generation · Figure 1: Critical areas of...

Leadership Ensembles: Keys to Developing the Next GenerationRobert J. Thomas, Joshua Bellin, Claudy Jules and Nandani Lynton Research ReportApril 2013

Global companies today are increasingly led not by an individual or even a single team, but by an ensemble of leaders. Consisting of the top one or two percent of executives and experts, ensembles bridge a host of differences—in language, culture, time zone, experience and more. They also make it easy for groups of leaders to configure themselves according to the task at hand.

Sometimes consensus is the goal; at other times, tough debate is required. In some cases, it’s critical for the group to make a decision; in others, the decision has been made, but leadership needs to absorb it and explain it far and wide. In an ensemble, top leaders often flexibly reconfigure themselves to adapt to the changing tasks or decisions at hand.

There’s tension at the top of today’s global companies. On the one hand, any group of senior leaders must be diverse enough to understand the complexity of markets and operations from different enlightened viewpoints. On the other hand, they must be perfectly synchronized in order to get things done – not always easy when perspectives are varied. To overcome this contradiction, executives have told us that leaders at the top need to act more like an ensemble, a group that can collectively join together in a variety of perfectly calibrated ways: different people at the table, different behaviors and different ways of thinking depending on the issue. If ensembles are the wave of the future, to what extent are Human Resources leaders preparing for this new era? To find out, we surveyed nearly 200 HR executives from global companies.

We covered the nature of ensembles in a previous report. (See “Leadership Ensembles: Orchestrating the Global Company.”) We then asked, If ensembles are the wave of the future, do Human Resources leaders see that as true, and if so, how are they preparing for this new era? To find out, we surveyed nearly 200 HR executives from global companies. We found that they are giving priority to several key aspects of ensemble leadership, including a broadly defined focus on diversity and the need for people with strong individual skills who also know how to lead collectively.

Leadership Ensembles: Keys to Developing the Next Generation

2 | Accenture Institute for High Performance | Copyright © 2013 Accenture. All rights reserved.



Two foundations: diversity and collective action

“The future leaders of the company will be more diverse. Diverse in terms of race, gender and so on, but also in terms of their experiences. We will always make better decisions from this vantage point.” – Ellen du Bellay, senior vice president, Executive Office Operations at Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts.

“Diversity of their experiences.” Ms. du Bellay’s comments underscore a critical point: for diversity to work in companies’ favor at the leadership level, it has to encompass more than the visible differences between people and embrace a wide variety of experiences—in terms of teams led, functions overseen and businesses managed.

That’s not just our opinion. The HR leaders we surveyed said that they believe that top leadership groups in the future will be characterized by diversity of experience (and “thinking styles”) even more than by diversity of age, nationality and gender. (See Figure 1.)

59%

Global experience

Thought styles and experiences Demographics

Industry experience

Thought styles

Functional experience

Nationality Age Gender

36

5

53

40

7

52

43

5

50

45

5

38

52

10

34

53

13

30

51

19

To great extent

To some extent

Not at all

Source: Accenture Institute for High Performance Survey, June 2012

Figure 1: Critical areas of diversity for next-generation global leaders

HR executives believe that tomorrow’s leaders will need to be more diverse than today’s—especially in terms of thinking style and work experiences.

"Will your next generation global leadership group be more diverse than today's global leadership group in terms of…"



The second area where they see the role of top leadership changing is around the need for collective action – and here HR and business leaders are also in synch. More than 90 percent of our survey respondents believe that next-generation leaders will need to lead collectively as a team more effectively than leaders do today. (see Figure 2). HR executives who believe they’re at the forefront of cultivating global mindsets among leaders were more likely than their peers to view ensemble leadership as a necessity for the future.1

Frustratingly, it’s often difficult to promote both diversity and collective action at the same time. As research suggests, diverse groups will likely experience more disagreements about their tasks and group processes than homogeneous groups.2 What’s more, foot-dragging on decisions, along with counterproductive debates about how to get things done or which data is “right,” can spawn severe dysfunction in a leadership team.3 But now, with both diversity and collective action being equally important, the question of how to reconcile the two imperatives has become more pressing.

Nearly 90 percent of the HR executives we surveyed feel confident that their companies’ current leadership development initiatives are effectively preparing next-generation leaders to take the helm of a global enterprise (see Figure 3). But

the most confident respondents – only about 33 percent of all the executives we surveyed – say that their companies are taking action today specifically to address and reconcile the dual imperatives of diversity and collective action. Their responses suggest several key practices that can help companies grow ensemble leaders ahead of the curve: formal initiatives aimed at collective leadership development, providing high potentials with opportunities to practice ensemble leadership before reaching the top, and measuring the outcomes of their leadership development programs.



Poor* Moderate Strong

Entire sample By global mindset (self-reported)

*Extremely small sample size (n=4). Results for "Poor" are directional only. Source: Accenture Institute for High Performance Survey, June 2012

Figure 2: HR and business leaders agree on the need for ensemble leadership

HR executives believe that next-generation leaders will need to work together more effectively than today’s leaders do.

33% 25 29 40

57

6575

61

6 62

"Our next generation global leadership group will need to lead collectively as a team more effectively than today's."

But the most enthusiastic respondents distinguish themselves not just with words, but with actions

90% of companies believe their current initiatives are effectively preparing next generation global leaders…


Figure 3: Who’s acting now to grow tomorrow’s global leaders?

Companies with high confidence in their leadership development efforts are acting now to build ensemble leadership teams.

39%

51

8

2

"Our current initiatives succeed in equipping next-generation leaders to lead a global organization."

Strongly agree

Agree

Disagree

Strongly disagree

Strongly agree

Agree

Disagree



Develop leaders individually and collectively

Companies traditionally have used a variety of methods to develop future leaders – including coaching, mentoring, strategic job assignments, action learning, personality assessments and 360-degree feedback.4 These methods often focus on the characteristics, mindsets and potential of individual leaders.5 Our survey reveals that companies that understand the importance of leadership ensembles augment development efforts geared toward individuals with programs that teach collective skills. For example, their development programs emphasize coaching and mentoring of teams, and they let up- and-coming leaders participate in top-team decision making (see figures 4 and 5).


Figure 4: Individually-oriented leadership development policies

Companies that strongly agree that their leadership-development programs equip high potentials for leadership success report more formal policies aimed at developing leaders individually.

"What individually-oriented formal policies* does your company have in place to develop executives as global leaders?"

Personality and leadership assessment for global leadership

Action learning and reflection for global leadership

Global rotations

360 degree feedback for global capabilities

Global assignments

Coaching

Cultural sensitivity training

Mentoring

66

36

61

33

59

26

59

27

58

38

54

42

47

28

68%

45

Highest self-appraisal of leadership programs

All others



Figure 5: Collectively-oriented leadership development policies

But in addition, they also report more formal policies aimed at developing leaders collectively.

"What collectively-oriented formal policies* does your company have in place to develop executives as global leaders?"

Coaching/mentoring/facilitating teams

Teaching agenda and meeting effectiveness workshops

Regular global video-conferencing or other advanced communications

Allowing high potential leaders to observe or participate in Global Leadership Group decision making

Shared accountability at team level

Encouraging diversity of people and perspectives on teams

Teaching conflict resolution

Connecting talent across the global company into teams or workgroups

Devolving certain enterprise-wide decisions from the Global Leadership Group to committees/teams of high potential leaders

64

43

63

36

62

33

58

28

57

38

55

30

55

34

50

36

64%

37

*A "formal policy" means that the initiative is written down, widely implemented and regularly applied.


Highest self-appraisal of leadership programs

All others



Enable learning through experience

The most confident companies we surveyed differ from their peers in another important respect: they tend to let high-potential leaders experience ensemble leadership firsthand. These companies help their most promising managers gain familiarity with these leadership skills before ascending in the organizational hierarchy. How? They explain the need for diversity in decision makers and team behaviors as well as the importance of focusing on the future, speaking with one voice and considering multiple viewpoints simultaneously (see Figure 6). Managers therefore enter higher positions better prepared for the often con-tradictory demands of ensemble leadership.

For example, Mechtilde Maier of Deutsche Telekom tells us how the behaviors that are expected of top leaders apply to managers throughout the organization – meaning that future leaders will be well-versed in these practices as they come up through the ranks. These principles include “Team Together, Team Apart.” According to Maier, “It means we passionately discuss a decision, but set our passions aside when a decision has been made. We communicate decisions as team decisions.”

Consider also how global toy company Hasbro prepares the next top level of global leaders. Dolph Johnson, the chief human resources officer, noted at a 2012 global leadership summit that Hasbro’s top leadership team sometimes includes 10 potential successors in executive meetings. The senior leaders benefit from hearing new perspectives, and the younger leaders take a stake in decisions that will affect the company’s future. In effect, Hasbro grooms “the next 10” for ensemble leadership by enabling them to experience it directly.



Figure 6: Experiencing ensemble leadership firsthand

Companies convinced that their leadership development programs equip high potentials for leadership success give promising managers opportunities to practice ensemble leadership behaviors.

"To a large extent, high potential managers in our company have the opportunity to practice or learn the following skills…"

Bringing different decision makers to the table depending on the focus and impact of the decision

Varying decision making behaviors depending on urgency and risk level

Speaking with one voice to the organization as a whole

Maintaining clear and commonly-understood methods of how the group should operate

Maintaining a clear charter (written or unwritten) that delineates the group’s unique role

Focusing on the future of the company rather than on short-term concerns

Consistent exposure to unconventional perspectives

Ensuring they have asked the right questions before debating answers

Encouraging multiple and contradictory thought styles

47

26


46

25

47

28

54

33

49

25

51

26

45

29

49

24

51%

34

Disciplined Agility

Foresight

Synthetic Intelligence

Highest appraisal of success

All others



Diversify, customize and measure

Companies with an ensemble leadership mindset bring a level of rigor and dedication to their leadership development initiatives that goes beyond that of their peers (see Figure 7). Companies which are ahead of the curve will, for example, routinely insist that program participants reflect the company’s global footprint in terms of diversity.

They also recognize that diversity extends to learning styles – individuals respond in different ways to teaching, coaching, mentoring and action learning. They therefore avoid taking a one-size-fits- all approach to learning. Finally, they measure results of their initiatives.

We did not find significant differences between the most confident and their peers in terms of what HR executives prefer to measure. However, we saw that executives at leading companies are more inclined to understand the measures and be willing to recalibrate their programs based on the performance on the metrics they track.

Herve Borensztejn, former executive vice president for HR and communications at Converteam (a French subsidiary of General Electric), gives an example: “The ability to integrate into a new culture is a key leadership trait which we did not really measure before. But now, we’re not only looking at whether [leadership candidates] performed in a similar situation in the past – we’re looking for their ability to adapt to new situations in the future.”


Figure 7: Diversifying, customizing and measuring

Companies embracing ensemble leadership ensure that program participants are diverse, they tailor programs to diverse learning styles and they measure the results.

"When it comes to our initiatives to develop executives into global leaders, we strongly agree that…"

The participants in our initiatives are as diverse as our global footprint

Our initiatives can be easily tailored to accommodate different learning styles

We can usefully measure the results of our initiatives

49

20

49

23

65%

20

Highest appraisal of success

All others


Figure 8: Measures of development program effectiveness

Business results, customer satisfaction and employee engagement are important measures of development program effectiveness.

"What are the top three important indicators/criteria you use to measure the outcomes or your formal of informal initiatives to develop executives as global leaders?"

Business results

Customer satisfaction

Engagement and satisfaction of all employees

Teachable lessons based on experience from program alumni

Retention and loyalty of program alumni

Reputation assessments of program alumni

71%

67

54

39

38

32




Invest in tomorrow’s ensemble leaders


Figure 9: Roadblocks to ensemble leadership development

HR executives identify lack of budget, lack of time and cultural differences as the three greatest roadblocks to implementing global leadership development programs.

"What are the top three roadblocks that your company faces when implementing programs that develop leaders' global capabilities?"

Cost/budget

Lack of time

Cultural differences

Administrative complexity

Lack of internal know-how/skills

Lack of executive support

Difficulty working with outside vendors (e.g. business school executive education)

Lack of participants' (students') engagement

49%

42

41

40

32

25

24

23

Clearly, approaching global leadership development from an ensemble perspective will require a new mindset. HR professionals recognize the value of an ensemble approach, though they also acknowledge roadblocks to achieving the required new mindset. In particular, they cite constrained budgets, limited time, administrative complexity and inadequate accounting for cultural differences (see Figure 9).

HR executives seeking to develop ensemble leaders would benefit by first taking stock of their existing global leadership development strategies and actions. (See “Is your HR organization grooming ensemble leadership talent?”) Those who can surmount the roadblocks and help their companies build leadership ensembles now will stand the best chance of maximizing returns on those investments tomorrow.

Key attributes of the leadership ensemble Leadership ensembles demonstrate unique approaches to making decisions and solving business problems.

Consider how top leaders at global beverage giant Diageo routinely shift and flex depending on the group’s objective. Gareth Williams, head of HR, notes that when the executive team gets together to assess the company’s performance and operations, the agenda is often routine and involves a fairly predictable array of faces around the table. But when their discussion turns to the question of

Table 1: Three attributes of successful leadership ensembles

What is it? Why is it important? How does an ensemble accomplish it?

Disciplined Agility

Changing decision makers and decision styles while remaining aligned around purpose

In a complex and ambiguous environment, no single decision-making style is appropriate for all decisions

• Knowwhattypeofdecisionmakingisrequiredand when, depending on urgency and risk level

• Varydecisionmakersdependingondecisionfocus and impact

• Remainclearaboutfocusandpurpose• Demonstrateprocesscompetence•Drawonself-insightandcollectiveawareness• Remaindedicatedtosupportingtheenterprise• Tolerateambiguity• Speakwithonevoice

future growth, the composition of the group changes to include regional executives. The group’s behavior shifts as well, with more viewpoints expressed. For example, a series of discussions examining consumer and value-creation dynamics through a diverse set of quantitative and qualitative data ended up challenging team members’ past assumptions. Top leaders decided together to make a shift in strategic intent and invest-ment targeted at the emerging middle classes in the world’s high-growth markets.

As this example suggests, effective leader-ship ensembles are characterized by three defining attributes. First, rather than perfect

a single decision-making routine and establish fixed governance roles for the sake of speed and efficiency, they exhibit disciplined agility. That is, they enlist the widest array of perspec-tives while also maintaining discipline in how they make decisions and speak with one voice. Second, rather than react to events as they unfold, they exercise foresight as a means to change ahead of the curve, using different forms of insight generation to actively “live” in the future. And third, the best leadership ensembles apply synthetic intelligence – asking the right questions, embracing paradox and reconciling con-tradictory points of view. (See Table 1 for more information on these three attributes.)

Foresight

Synthetic Intelligence

Adapting to change while also preempting it by bringing the future into the room and growing tomorrow’s leaders

Great minds coming together in a way that encourages a bias toward diversity and fast experimentation

Volatility and uncertainty on the global stage require the dedicated stewardship of the top team to claim the future before rivals can

New situations and diverse perspectives call for a greater tolerance of complexity and enhanced coverage of the unknown

• Usesimulation,testingandscenarioplanning• Directlyobservewhat’shappeninginthe

world and conduct exploratory offsites• Gainexposuretounconventionalperspectives

and expert opinions• Treatstrategyasacontinuousexercise• Owntheleadershipdevelopmentprocess• Linkbusinessstrategyandtalentstrategy• Promoteandrewardlearningagility• Rotatetalenttogeneratemeasurableoutcomes• Growglobalnetworksofleaders

• Integratedifferencesarisingfromdiverse thinking styles• Fosterdialogueandsuspensionofjudgment• Understandviewpointsfrommultiple

perspectives• Courageouslyexplore“whitespaces”• Balanceactionwithlearning• Prioritizetherightquestionsoverthe

right answers• Conductactivethoughtexperiments





Grand Total

To a small extent

To a large extent

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

DISCIPLINED AGILITYWe have formal initiatives that enable our high-potential managers to practice…

Adapting their team composition to match the right people to any given situation

Flexibly responding to problems and opportunities as they arise, irrespective of managers’ location or hierarchy

Sharing information and knowledge across our global footprint

Getting people of various cultures to work well together

Morphing into different team structures as needed

FORESIGHT

We have formal initiatives that enable our high-potential managers to practice…

Focusing on the future rather than on short-term concerns

Engaging unconventional people and ideas

Learning to extract insights from experience

Having structured and cohort-based experiences inside and outside their home country that place them in an unfamiliar territory or function

Staying current with developments in different parts of the world

SYNTHETIC INTELLIGENCE

We have formal initiatives that enable our high-potential managers to practice…

Asking the right questions over finding the right answers

Accommodating multiple and contradictory thought styles

Capitalizing on their peers’ breadth of experiences and perspectives to think together and make decisions about the future

Engaging in field experiments and exploring white spaces

Pursuing multiple paths of investigation in the interests of reaching a more refined conclusion

Did you make the grade?

Total all your ratings. Here’s what your results suggest:

15 to 39 = Basic. Your leadership development practices aimed at developing global leaders are missing the mark. Changes in the global business environment could catch your high-potential managers off guard and leave them ill-prepared to adapt, grow and think quickly. You need to connect your company’s global challenges to your leadership strategy. Start by creating widely varying conditions that give your high potentials ample time and opportunity to practice an ensemble approach to global management.

40 to 59 = Progressive. Your formal leadership development practices are starting to create the structured experiences that cultivate the skills required for ensemble leadership. Examine activities to which you assigned a 3 or below, and take action to address them. Building a repeatable formula for growing strong, agile and forward-looking leadership teams takes energy and dedication, but this investment will pay off. You’ll help build a cadre of global and future-ready leaders who are agile, eager to experiment, willing to embrace diversity and able to see far and wide as they detect and act on changes in business conditions ahead of competitors.

60 to 75 = Leading. Your leadership development practices provide the conditions and experiences that cultivate many of the skills expected of ensemble leadership teams. Strengthen any activities to which you assigned a 3 or below to enhance your pipeline and bench even more. Your greatestriskiscomplacency.Keepexperimentingto build strong, agile leadership ensembles, not individual stars. And keep stretching ensembles’ ability to maintain the discipline, foresight and intelligence needed for successful global leadership.

Is your HR organization grooming ensemble leadership talent?

Use this checklist to assess your HR organization’s effectiveness at building leadership ensembles.

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5



Appendix

About the research

Accenture’s survey of leadership development practices was conducted in June 2012 with a sample of 197 global human resources and leadership development professionals. We defined our sample of “global firms” as companies that operate in four or more countries across two or more continents. All of the companies we surveyed met these criteria. Collectively, their headquarters spanned five continents, and they represented a wide variety of industries and firm sizes (see Figure 10).


Figure 10: Our sample profile

Head of HR or equivalent

Diversity Officer, or equivalent

Direct report to any of the above

Other

<USD500million

>USD500milliontoUSD1billion

>USD1-5billion

>>USD5billion

UnitedStates

Brazil

India

South Africa

China

Germany

Russia

UnitedKingdom

60%22

5

14

20

42

27

11%

20%

15

1515

8

78

14



Selected country data

Figures 11-14 provide selected country data from our survey.

713

10 8 3 7

80

67

83

62

41

59

23

64

13% 20 7 3155 3477 36

Germany Russia UK Brazil US China India South Africa

Strongly agree

Agree

Disagree


Figure 11: The importance of collective leadership

"…Our next generation Global Leadership Group will need to lead collectively as a team more effectively than today's."




Figure 12: The value of diversity

"To a great extent, our next generation Global Leadership Group will be more diverse than today's Global Leadership Group in terms of…"

Global experience

Industry experience

Functional experience

Thought styles

Nationality

Age

Gender

67%

53

47

47

27

13

33

20

47

33

40

20

40

20

85

69

69

62

46

46

38

24

45

38

31

41

31

34

59

46

33

51

36

21

31

79

61

75

75

36

46

39

86

72

69

66

48

41

28

52

41

45

45

41

38

21

Thought styles and experiences

Demographics

Germany

Russia

UK

Brazil

US

China

India

South Africa



Germany

Russia

UK

Brazil

US

China

India

South Africa


Figure 13: Effectiveness of existing leadership development initiatives

"To a great extent do you agree with the following statements about your formal or informal initiatives to develop executives as global leaders?"

Germany

Russia

UK

Brazil

US

China

India

South Africa

Our current initiatives succeed in equipping next-generation leaders to lead a global organization


We can usefully measure the results of our initiatives

Our initiatives can be easily tailored to accommodate different learning styles

27%27543149503833

402062745544830

2713461732544526

2713462129325229



Significant difference between groups (at the 95% confidence level)


Figure 14: Roadblocks to effective development programs

"What are the top three roadblocks that your company faces when implementing programs that develop leaders' global capabilities?"

Cost/budget

Lack of time

Cultural differences

Administrative complexity

Lack of internal know-how/skills

Difficulty working with outside vendors

Lack of participants' (students') engagement

27%53314867325559

5373463441214148

2727314536684531

3320314538572455

4040462121293845

201331452672417

13384533182810

Germany

Russia

UK

Brazil

US

China

India

South Africa



1 We defined “global mindset” in our survey questions broadly as, “the ability to see the world from multiple local perspectives.” The term “global mindset” can be conceptualized in a number of ways, ranging from specific skill inventories to individual thought styles. See Orly Levy, Schon Beechler, Sully Taylor and Nakiye A Boyacigiller, “What we talk about when we talk about ‘global mindset’: Managerial cognition in multinational corporations,” Journal of International Business Studies (2007) 38, 231–258. In our sample, the group of companies self-reporting a strong global mindset represented a wide variety of companies. It corresponded neither with the largest companies nor with the most international companies (by footprint or by foreign sales ratios).

2 See Harry C. Triandis, “The psychological measurement of cultural syndromes,” American Psychologist, Volume 51(4), April 1996, 407-415; and Tahira M. Probsta, Peter J. Carnevale and Harry C. Triandis, “Cultural values in intergroup and single-group social dilemmas,” Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes Volume 77(3), March 1999, 171–191.

Notes 3 For example, see David Nadler and Janet Spencer, Executive Teams (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1998).

4 Through action learning, individuals tackle real problems or issues and then reflect on what happened and what they learned. Promoters of the method express the goal in the terms given by psychiatrist and writer Ronald Laing: “The range of what we think and do is limited by what we fail to notice, and because we fail to notice that we fail to notice, there is little we can do to change, until we notice how failing to notice shapes our thoughts and deeds.”

5 For a comprehensive review of leadership development practices, see David V. Day (2001), “Leadership development: a review in context,” Leadership Quarterly, Volume 11, 581-613.

Copyright © 2013 Accenture All rights reserved.

Accenture, its logo, and High Performance Delivered are trademarks of Accenture.

About Accenture

Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with 257,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world’s most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. The company generated net revenuesofUS$27.9billionforthefiscalyear ended Aug. 31, 2012. Its home page is www.accenture.com.

About the Accenture Institute for High Performance

The Accenture Institute for High Performance creates strategic insights into key management issues and macroeconomic and political trends through original research and analysis. Its management researchers combine world-class reputations with Accenture’s extensive consulting, technology and outsourcing experience to conduct innovative research and analysis into how organizations become and remain high-performance businesses.

About the AuthorsRobert J. Thomas ([email protected]), the managing director of the Accenture Institute for High Performance, is the author of Crucibles of Leadership: How to Learn from Experience to Be a Great Leader (Harvard Business Press, 2008) and The Organizational Networks Fieldbook (Jossey-Bass, 2010).

Joshua Bellin ([email protected]) is a research fellow with the Accenture Institute for High Performance.

Claudy Jules ([email protected]) is a senior principal in Accenture’s Management Consulting practice.

Nandani Lynton is a professor at China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) in Shanghai.

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