ANZ Learn@Lunch on Leading during Turbulent Times

Copyright ©2017 Centre for Executive Education Pte Ltd (CEE)
All Rights Reserved www.cee-global.com
CEE is a Strategic Partner of Executive Development Associates (EDA) Inc.
ANZ Executive Briefing on
“Leading During Turbulent Times”
Prof Sattar Bawany
CEO, Centre for Executive Education (CEE)
Adjunct Professor, Curtin Graduate School of Business (CGSB)
C-Suite Master Executive Coach, Executive Development Associates Inc. (EDA)
12 January 2017 ANZ Ocean Finance Centre (OFC) Office

Every morning in Asia, a tiger
wakes up. It knows it must
outrun the slowest deer or it
will starve to death.
Every morning in Asia, a deer
wakes up. It knows it must run
faster than the fastest tiger or it
will be killed.
It doesn’t matter whether you are a tiger or a deer:
when the sun comes up, you’d better be running…..
Are You a Tiger or a Deer?
2

About
Centre for Executive
Education (CEE)
 Executive Assessment
 Leadership Development
 High Potential Selection
 Executive Coaching
 Succession Planning
 Talent Management
3
CEE is the exclusive Strategic Partner of Executive Development Associates (EDA), a
pioneer in Executive Education, Leadership Development & Coaching since 1982.
3

• CEO of Centre for Executive Education (CEE Global)
• Certified C-Suite Master Executive Coach, EDA Inc.
• Over 30 years’ in executive coaching, group facilitation, executive
education and senior leadership development and training
• Assumed senior global and regional leadership roles with Mercer
Human Resource Consulting, Hay Group and Forum Corporation
• Adjunct Professor with Curtin Graduate School of Business (CGSB)
• Adjunct Faculty of Harvard Business School Corporate Learning
• During the Global Financial Crisis (2008–2009), partnered with
organisations impacted by organisational change, including M&A,
strategy transformation and restructuring.
About Your Guest Speaker
4

Flashback
5
31 October 2016: DBS acquire ANZ’s wealth management
and retail banking business in Singapore, Hong Kong,
China, Taiwan and Indonesia.

News on Singapore’s Economy
6
Singapore's economy is expected to grow by "one-plus per
cent" for 2016, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in his
annual New Year Message on 31 December 2016.

1. During turbulent times and period of uncertainty, authentic
leadership with qualities such as courage and the ability to make
tough commercial decisions under pressure are critical.
2. Crucial psychological and emotional role that leaders must play
during such period of uncertainty is paramount for success.
3. Leaders must understand the dynamics that lie "below the
surface" of their organisations and skillfully address the
unspoken needs of their staff.
4. This takes maturity and skill but will maximize the chances of
weathering the economic storm and will emerge stronger when
times improve.
Current Leadership Challenges
7
Sattar Bawany (2016), “Leadership During Turbulent Times: What happens to employees during such times?” in
Leadership Excellence, Issue 12.2016 (December 2016). Available Online at : www.cee-global.com/6/publication

Outlook of The Future World
8
“What will be new in the years ahead is
the scale and intensity of the VUCA
World. Having spent forty years
forecasting, I believe that the future world
will be more volatile, more
uncertain, more complex and more
ambiguous than we have ever
experienced as a planet before.”
Bob Johansen (2012) “Leaders Make the Future: Ten New Leadership Skills for an Uncertain World”,
Institute for the Future: www.amazon.com/Leaders-Make-Future-Leadership-Uncertain/dp/1609944879

• Shared sense of shock and foreboding (fearful apprehension).
• Negative feelings are compounded (as colleagues and team
members interact) which can be highly contagious.
• This negative dynamic is exacerbated by pressure on staff to
work longer and harder.
• During a recession, workers are also likely to undergo repeated
experiences of loss.
• This is more significant when change is unwelcome and imposed
from outside. Feelings of sadness, anger and guilt prevail.
9
What Happens to the Employees?

• Leaders must understand the dynamics that lie "below the
surface" and skillfully address the unspoken needs of their staff.
• Effective leaders know how to connect relevant leadership
attributes while driving for Results (Results-Based Leadership ).
• The RBL shows leaders on how to deliver results for employees,
for the organisation, for its customers, and for its investors.
• Organisational leaders and team members alike must place a new
emphasis on learning and the harnessing of individual and
collective creativity.
10
What’s Your Role as Leaders?

Results-Based Leadership (RBL)
Framework for Turbulent Times
11
Sattar Bawany (2015), “Results-Based Leadership: Putting Employees First Before Customers and Profit” in Leadership
Excellence, 05.2015 (May 2015 ). Available as a download at : www.cee-global.com/6/publication

Results-Based Leadership (RBL)
Framework for Turbulent Times
12
Sattar Bawany (2015), “Results-Based Leadership: Putting Employees First Before Customers and Profit” in Leadership
Excellence, 05.2015 (May 2015 ). Available as a download at : www.cee-global.com/6/publication

1. Prompt and considered action
2. Honest and consistent communication
3. Emotional connection
4. Inspiration
13
Recommended Leadership Practices

“L.E.A.P.” through the Turbulent Times
14
Sattar Bawany (2016), “NextGen Leaders for a VUCA World: Transforming Future Leaders for Success” in Leadership
Excellence, August 2016 (08.2016). Available Online at : www.cee-global.com/6/publication

• As leaders, you cannot avoid or prevent painful events affecting
your team. However, with the support of HR, you can take charge
of threatening situations with alacrity and resolve.
• You need to lead authentically with your team, convey genuine
empathy and create a powerful sense of hope in the future.
• As a result you will help your team to deal more effectively with
difficult experiences and inspire tremendous loyalty and trust.
• You will also succeed in focusing the energy of your team on the
job in hand, helping your organisation to emerge successfully from
recession when the conditions for economic growth return.
• It all starts with YOU as the Team Leader. Act Now!
15
Conclusion: Leading for Success

Prof Sattar Bawany
CEO, Centre for Executive Education (CEE)
Managing Director & C-Suite Executive Coach, EDA Asia Pacific
Email: sattar.bawany@cee-global.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ceeglobal
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ceeglobal
Twitter: www.twitter.com/cee_global
Articles: www.cee-global.com/6/publication
Presentation: www.cee-global.com/7/speaking_engagements
Further Dialogue on Social Media
16

By Prof Sattar Bawany, CEO & C-Suite Master Executive Coach of Centre for Executive Education (CEE Global)
What happens to employees during such times?
Leadership During Turbulent
Times
Business leaders face huge challenges during turbulent times
including period of economic recession. Qualities such as courage,
self-confidence and the ability to make tough commercial decisions
under pressure all come to the fore. Less widely appreciated and un-
derstood is the crucial psychological and emotional role that leaders
must play during periods of acute uncertainty if they are to optimize
the long-term performance of their business.
Leaders must understand the dynamics that lie “below the surface”
of their organisations and skillfully address the unspoken needs of
their staff. This takes maturity and skill but will maximize the chances
of weathering the economic storm and emerging strengthened when
times improve. Those businesses that do not achieve this will find their
commercial problems compounded by destructive internal dynamics
and underperformance.
While leaders may have had setbacks during their career, most will
not have experienced a global downturn. They face a steep learning
curve if they are to succeed in the new business environment.
Managers who harness this unprecedented opportunity for growth,
development, and collaboration, and build bridges between different
generations of employees as well as leveraging on the repertoire of the
various effective leadership styles, will thrive in particular in today’s
turbulent economic landscape. Many managers mistakenly assume
that leadership style is a function of personality rather than strategic
choice. Instead of choosing the one style that suits their tempera-
ment, they should ask which style best addresses the demands of a
particular situation.
What Happens to Employees during turbulent times?
The suddenness and severity of the current economic downturn
has inevitably generated a shared sense of shock and foreboding. The
media’s relentless reporting of the latest bad news fuels this mood and
only adds to of a sense of insecurity and lack of confidence in the future.
Within organisations, negative feelings are compounded as col-
leagues interact. Research and experience demonstrate that feelings
and states of mind are highly contagious.
In the workplace, all employees can be influenced by a prevail-
ing mood of anxiety, which gradually dominates the organizational
“system”. Negative thoughts and feelings predominate while more
positive views become subtly excluded or difficult to express. This
creates an intangible but powerful emotional backdrop that can be
termed “systemic anxiety”.
This negative dynamic is exacerbated by pressure on staff to work
longer and harder. Many organisations control costs by cutting re-
sources and jobs but aim to maintain output. Extra demands are placed
on the remaining employees who generally feel unable to refuse. Fre-
quently they are also expected to demonstrate new levels of flexibility,
covering the work of former colleagues or adapting to new working
8 Submit your Articles18 Leadership Excellence Essentials presented by HR.com | 12.2016

methods. This fuels longer working hours and associated problems.
During a recession, workers are also likely to undergo repeated
experiences of loss. This is an inevitable consequence of the cutbacks,
project cancellations, job freezes, redundancies and retrenchment
businesses engage in to survive. In his book Managing Transitions,
William Bridges emphasizes that change - even when desired - always
involves a loss. This is more significant when change is unwelcome
and imposed from outside. Feelings of sadness, anger and guilt prevail.
Role of Leaders during Turbulent Times
Leaders must understand the dynamics that lie “below the surface”
of their organizations and skillfully address the unspoken needs of
their staff. This takes maturity and skill but will maximize the chances
of weathering the economic storm and emerging strengthened when
times improve. Those businesses that do not achieve this will find their
commercial problems compounded by destructive internal dynam-
ics and underperformance. Leaders also often fail to appreciate how
profoundly organizational climate influence organizational results.
Research has shown that it can account for nearly 30% of financial
performance.
It is not enough to gauge leaders by personal traits such as character,
style, and values. Rather, effective leaders know how to connect these
leadership attributes with results. Leaders may adopt the Results-Based
Leadership (RBL) approach developed by the Centre for Executive
Education (CEE) which is designed to assist executive manage their
day to day managerial leadership challenges effectively. It shows
executives how to deliver results for employees, for the organization,
for its customers, and for its investors.
Today’s turbulent business environment demands that individuals
and organizations perform at higher levels and with greater speed than
at any time in the past. Organizational leaders and team members
alike must place a new emphasis on learning and the harnessing of
individual and collective creativity.
Too often in times of turbulence the temptation is to “batten down
the hatches” and seek safety by focusing on what can be controlled.
Typically that means turning inward and acting “defensively” to avoid
damage and minimize risk. Caution and prudence, like most other
leadership behaviors, are useful only in conjunction with the exercise of
good judgment. In stressful circumstances, leaders need to remember
that not all risks are bad, not all opportunities for growth disappear, and
a broad, externally-focused perspective is more important than ever.
Recommended Leadership Practices
There are four key behaviours that leaders must master in order to
provide the workforce with the best possible sense of psychological
“containment”. This set of behaviours takes considerable insight,
resourcefulness and maturity on the leaders’ part but the stakes are
high. If achieved, they will:
• Reduce anxiety, fear and anger
• Build trust, loyalty and commitment
• Generate resilience and optimism
Behavior 1: Prompt and considered action
When an organisation enters turbulent times, the first behavior
its leaders must demonstrate is a prompt and energetic response
to the difficulties facing it. The workforce needs to know that its
leaders recognize the seriousness of the situation and are addressing
it. However, the leaders’ actions must not be the result of impulse or
panic. Leaders should immediately announce that they are making
the problems their absolute priority while explaining that they need
time to finalize the best course of action.
Behavior 2: Honest and consistent communication
Though reassured by seeing their leaders “in action,” employees will
inevitably be preoccupied with what the downturn means for them.
In the absence of reliable information, rumors and speculation flour-
ish. To reduce these and build trust, leaders should provide honest
and timely information (within appropriate constraints) about the
challenges facing their business and the measures that may need to
be taken as a result.
Behavior 3: Emotional connection
A speedy response and honest communication are not enough to
maximize “containment”. Leaders must also maintain an emotional
connection with their workforce. They must:
• Acknowledge the painful impact of bad news on their workforce
and resist moving on too quickly to something more positive out of
discomfort, guilt or insensitivity.
• Find an authentic way of disclosing some of their own sadness,
concern or disappointment so employees know they genuinely care.
• Let staff vent their feelings, listen and empathize - even though
they cannot make the bad news go away.
Behavior 4: Inspiration
The most impressive leaders go one step further. While remaining
realistic about tough conditions, they find a way to motivate and inspire
their followers to perform. To achieve this, they must draw on deep
reservoirs of leadership energy, fuelled by a powerful combination of
self-confidence, personal humility, passion and belief in the future.
This fourth behavior must be founded upon the three previous
leadership behaviours action, honesty and empathy. It is only when
a leader has demonstrated these that their “call to arms” will be ex-
perienced as truly authentic and compelling.
Conclusion
Together, the leadership behaviours described will provide a sense
of psychological safety and emotional containment in organisations
undergoing great uncertainty, instability and often painful change.
Leaders cannot avoid or prevent painful events affecting their people.
However, with the support of HR, they can take charge of threaten-
ing situations with alacrity and resolve. They can deal honestly with
their people, convey genuine empathy and create a powerful sense
of hope in the future.
Leaders who achieve this will help staff deal more effectively with
difficult experiences and inspire tremendous loyalty and trust. They
will also succeed in focusing the energy of the workforce on the job in
hand, helping their organisations to emerge successfully from recession
when the conditions for economic growth return. LE
Leadership During Turbulent Times
19Submit your ArticlesLeadership Excellence Essentials presented by HR.com | 12.2016
Sattar Bawany is the CEO & Certified C-Suite Master Executive Coach
of Centre for Executive Education (CEE). CEE offers human capital
management solutions for addressing challenges posed by a multigenera-
tional workforce including talent management and executive development
programs (executive coaching and leadership development) that help
leaders at all levels to develop the skills and knowledge to embrace change
and catalyse success in today’s workplace.
Visit www.cee-global.com
Connect Sattar Bawany
Would you like to comment?

“There are two things we can say with certainty about the future: it
will be different, and it will surprise. Now, more than ever, leaders have
to navigate unfamiliar, challenging times, a quickening pace of change,
increasing expectations, and a rising tide of rapidly-evolving conditions.
This new and different environment (VUCA) is challenging leaders to find
new ways to lead their organizations and achieve sustained success. And,
because of these circumstances, there is a thirst for leadership, yet leaders
face a whirlwind environment laden with remarkable opportunities and
daunting challenges through which to lead their people and organizations.”
- Bonnie, Hagemann, Prof Sattar Bawany et al (2016)
‘2016 Research on Trends in Executive Development:
A Benchmark Report’
VUCA: What It Means and Why It Matters
VUCA is an acronym that emerged from the military in the 1990s.
It describes the “fog of war” — the chaotic conditions that are encoun-
tered on a modern battlefield. Its relevance to leaders in business is
clear, as these conditions are highly descriptive of the environment in
which business is conducted every day. Leadership as usual, including
creating a vision, is not enough in a VUCA world.
1. Volatile: Things change unpredictably, suddenly, extremely,
especially for the worse.
2. Uncertain: Important information is not known or definite;
doubtful, unclear about the present situation and future outcomes;
not able to be relied upon.
3. Complex: Many different and connected parts: multiple key
decision factors, interaction between diverse agents, emergence,
adaptation, co-evolution, weak signals.
4. Ambiguous: Open to more than one interpretation; the meaning
of an event can be understood in different ways.
Leading in a world that is Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Am-
biguous (VUCA) not only provide a challenging environment for
leaders to operate and for executive development programs to have an
impact: it also provides a much-needed range of new competencies.
The new reality is resulting in the realization that new and different
capabilities are needed to succeed.
Importance of Cognitive Readiness
In a VUCA world what is needed is Cognitive Readiness: the pre-
paredness and agility to handle the situation at hand and still prevail.
Chief among the new VUCA-related competencies that leaders need
to develop is a high level of Cognitive Readiness, which is the mental,
emotional, and interpersonal preparedness for uncertainty and risk
(Hagemann & Bawany, 2016).
Critical Thinking, the more common and tactical of the thinking
skills, involves strategic thinking, creative thinking, problem-solving,
and decision-making. It has been a hot topic for the past six years in
the EDA Research on Trends for Executive Development. In the latest
2016 Survey, respondents also identified the importance of developing
Cognitive Readiness in order to be able to effectively think critically.
Organizations are prioritizing the development of Cognitive Readi-
ness as the one of priority for leading in a VUCA business environ-
ment. This may reflect recognition of its importance for current and
emerging leaders and a serious commitment to developing these
mental capabilities, or it may simply reflect curiosity about the latest
leadership development topic and a desire to avoid being left behind.
Either way, two issues are present. First, organizations will need to
think creatively about the processes they employ to accelerate the
development of Cognitive Readiness in High Potential Leaders.
Second, organizations may want to explain why, in practice, Cogni-
tive Readiness is important to their success and then define in much
greater depth their expectations of perspective.
Leading In A VUCA Business
Environment
Leveraging on cognitive readiness and RBL for organisational success
By Prof Sattar Bawany

“L.E.A.P.” through the Fog in a VUCA World
To lead successfully in the VUCA World, leaders need to LEAP
through the fog and demonstrate the cognitive readiness competencies
as explained in the next section and also possesses the following traits:
Liberal: open to new behaviour or opinions and willing to adapt or
discard existing values if and when necessary to adapt to the new world
Exuberant: filled with lively energy with sense of passion and op-
timism in engaging the team and other stakeholders
Agility: proficiently change and evolve the learning organisation
with nextgen leadership competencies including cognitive readiness,
critical thinking and emotional & social intelligence amongst others.
Partnership: Build trust-based partnership with teams (intra &
inter) as well as externally with other stakeholders including custom-
ers and suppliers.
Cognitive Readiness – Beyond Critical Thinking
Traditional Critical Thinking is the ability to recognize assumptions,
evaluate arguments and draw conclusions. The traditional Critical
Thinking competencies typically include strategic thinking, creative
thinking, problem-solving and decision-making.
In the 2016 “Trends for Executive Development – A Benchmark
Report” by Executive Development Associates (EDA) has defined
Cognitive Readiness, on the other hand, as the mental, emotional,
and interpersonal preparedness for uncertainty and risk. It comple-
ments Critical Thinking by emphasizing non-rational, non-logical
skills (Hagemann, Bawany et al. 2016)
EDA has defined the following set of Cognitive Readiness com-
petencies:
1. situational awareness
2. attentional control
3. metacognition (thinking about your thinking)
4. sensemaking (connecting the dots)
5. intuition
6. learning agility
7. adaptability
8. dealing with ambiguity, and
9. managing emotions
Overall, heightened Cognitive Readiness allows leaders to maintain
a better sense of self-control in stressful situations.
Results-Based Leadership Framework
There is growing evidence that the range of abilities that constitute
what is now commonly known as emotional & social intelligence
plays a key role in determining success in life and in the workplace.
Extensive longitudinal research by Centre for Executive Education
(CEE) has uncovered links between specific elements of emotional
and social intelligence and specific behaviours associated with lead-
ership effectiveness and ineffectiveness in developing an impactful
organisational climate that is supportive in driving enhanced employee
and customer engagement resulting in the achievement of the desired
organisation results (See Figure 1).
Managers often fail to appreciate how profoundly the organizational
climate can influence financial results. It can account for nearly a
third of financial performance. Organizational climate, in turn, is
influenced by leadership style—by the way that managers motivate
direct reports, gather and use information, make decisions, manage
change initiatives, and handle crises. There are six basic leadership
styles. Each derives from different emotional intelligence competen-
cies, works best in particular situations, and affects the organizational
climate in different ways (Bawany, 2014).
Figure 1 – Results-based Leadership (RBL) Framework
Conclusion
The skills of creating a vision and engaging others around it can be
powerfully developed through mentoring and coaching. The “hands-
on” approach of mentoring can enable leaders to observe what someone
who has mastered these important skills does, and to solicit advice,
input, and coaching on how to transfer what they have observed into
their own work. It may be more challenging to find a mentor who has
also highly developed Cognitive Readiness skills, so being mindful of
the mentor’s skillset will be a key to success.
Executive coaching also has significant potential for developing
leaders’ capabilities around creating a vision, engaging others around
it, and the Cognitive Readiness skills needed for a VUCA environ-
ment. This type of coaching would need to be focused on all of the
skills in an integrated manner, and the executives, human resources
partners, mentors, coaches, and others involved in the development
program may agree on specific goals and followed by regular meetings
to discuss progress. LE
References
1) Bonnie Hagemann, Sattar Bawany et al. (2016), Research on Trends in Executive Devel-
opment: A Benchmark Report, published by published by Executive Development Associates
(EDA); Pearson TalentLens and Performance Assessment Network (PAN), February 2016.
2) Bonnie Hagemann & Sattar Bawany (2016), Enhancing Leadership and Executive De-
velopment - Latest Trends & Best Practices in Leadership Excellence Essentials, Issue 03.2016.
3) Sattar Bawany (2014), “Building High Performance Organisations with Results-based
Leadership (RBL) Framework” in Leadership Excellence Essentials, Issue 11.2014
Leading In A VUCA Business Environment
Would like to Comment? Please Click Here.
Prof Sattar Bawany is the CEO of the Centre for Executive Education
(CEE). He is also concurrently the Regional Managing Director & C-Suite
Master Executive Coach of Executive Development Associates (EDA) in
Asia Pacific.
Visit: www.cee-global.com
Connect: Prof. Sattar Bawany
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It is evident that conventional leadership development practices
are no longer adequate. Organizations globally need to incorporate
the next generation leadership competencies in order to address the
development needs of their rising leaders. This expanded group of
upcoming leaders need to have a broader skillset, one that equips them
to think and act globally in a VUCA business environment. They
must do so while embracing cross-cultural diversity and cultivating
collaborative relationships within and outside their walls. These are the
hallmarks of the mindset needed to develop effective global leaders.
The rapidly evolving demands of the 21st century include everything
from climate change to demography, shifting customer requirements
and expectations, the rise of technology, globalization, new markets,
and new attitudes to work. Leaders must now operate in a way that
inspires and engages people, while simultaneously addressing changing
customer requirements and delivering results. Finally, all of these needs
to be achieved with a sense of urgency, as the experienced leaders of
the “Baby Boomer” generation continue to retire at pace (Hagemann
& Bawany, 2016).
A company’s leadership pipeline is expected to deliver its “next
generation” of leaders who are capable of leading now. The payoff
is a supply of leadership talent that simultaneously achieves targets,
strengthens and protects ethical reputation, and navigates transfor-
mational change in pursuit of a bright, competitive future. Because
customers’ changing requirements are so significant, and customer
focus is a “hot topic” for executive development leaders, investing an
appropriate amount of time, energy, and other resources to develop
the capabilities of high potential leaders in these areas will be very
important. Mentoring, feedback and coaching, and training programs
are all potentially valuable ways to address this need.
Leading in a VUCA World
Leading in a world that is Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Am-
biguous (VUCA) not only provide a challenging environment for
leaders to operate and for executive development programs to have an
impact: it also provides a much-needed range of new competencies.
The new reality is resulting in the realization that new and different
capabilities are needed to succeed (Hagemann, Bawany et al., 2016).
“L.E.A.P.” through the Fog in a VUCA World
To lead successfully in the VUCA World, leaders need to LEAP
through the fog and demonstrate the set of cognitive readiness com-
petencies and also possesses traits as shown in Figure 1.
Building the NextGen Leadership Pipeline
Having a robust leadership pipeline remains as one of the critical
talent management issues facing organizations around the world
operating in a VUCA business environment as this would contribute
towards the development of a sustainable competitive advantage of
the organization. This is achieved by cultivating emerging talent early
while enhancing organizational capability. Developing a leadership
pipeline starts with identifying and then transforming high-potential
individuals to a variety of developmental opportunities and experiences.
Figure 1 – Competencies & Traits for Leading in a VUCA World
Organizations are facing unprecedented new leadership challenges,
including developing different generations of leaders including Gen
Y, meeting the demand for leaders with global fluency and flexibility,
building the ability to innovate and inspire others to perform, and
acquiring new levels of understanding of rapidly changing and emerging
technologies and new disciplines and fields. As experienced leaders,
managers, and professionals continue to leave an organization, their
intellectual capital and tacit knowledge, unless codified, will be lost,
creating tremendous challenges at a time when the market is growing
more global and dynamic. This translates to tougher competition in
the marketplace, making the search for high-potential people exter-
nally more difficult and future success more elusive. Further, there is
a sense of urgency for organizations today to accelerate the time to
competence compounds the challenge of building a strong leadership
pipeline from within.
Executive and leadership training programs may be strengthened,
broadened and deepened to include inspiring and engaging others,
as well as Cognitive Readiness and Critical Thinking skills. These
capabilities can be addressed by incorporating specific activities and
exercises designed to increase awareness of their impact and impor-
tance in familiar techniques, such as case studies or applicable business
simulations.
Additionally, opportunities for application and practice can be
provided in experience based approaches where participants work
to apply the concepts and skills directly to real business issues, while
colleagues and facilitators provide feedback based on behaviors they
observed during their work together.
Development of High Performance Organisation (HPO) for a
VUCA World
Leadership in a VUCA World is all about the ability to have impact
NextGen Leaders For A VUCA World
Transforming future leaders for success
By Prof Sattar Bawany

and influence on your followers so as to engage them towards achieving
sustainable results of your organisation which is operating in a fast paced
globalised business environment which is ever increasingly volatile, un-
certain, complex and ambiguous.
We are operating in a hypercompetitive VUCA business environ-
ment. The world moves faster today when compared to 20-30 years
ago. Companies feel the pressure to decrease time to market and
improve the quality of products while delivering on ever-changing
customer expectations to maintain competitive posture – that is, be
adaptive and nimble. Driving results in High Performance organisa-
tions (HPOs) is difficult even for companies who have the benefit
of dedicated and knowledgeable employees and business leaders to
leverage (See Figure 2).
Today, people often point to the importance of various leader-
ship competencies including cognitive readiness (critical & strategic
thinking skills), emotional & social intelligence, managerial coaching
and leading team for performance, effective negotiation & conflict
management and cross cultural communication & diversity manage-
ment in driving results and achieving organisational success in a high
performance organisation (Bawany, 2014).
Figure 2 – Framework for Development of High Performance
Organisation (HPO)
There are two things we can say with certainty about the future: it
will be different, and it will surprise. Now, more than ever, leaders
have to navigate unfamiliar, challenging times, a quickening pace of
change, increasing expectations, and a rising tide of rapidly-evolving
conditions. This new and different environment is challenging leaders
to find new ways to lead their organizations and achieve sustained
success. And, because of these circumstances, there is a thirst for leader-
ship, yet leaders face a whirlwind environment laden with remarkable
opportunities and daunting challenges through which to lead their
people and organizations. LE
References
• Bonnie Hagemann, Sattar Bawany et al. (2016), Research on Trends in Executive
Development: A Benchmark Report, published by published by Executive Development Associ-
ates (EDA); Pearson TalentLens and Performance Assessment Network (PAN), February 2016.
• Bonnie Hagemann & Sattar Bawany (2016), Enhancing Leadership and Executive
Development - Latest Trends & Best Practices in Leadership Excellence Essentials, Issue
03.2016.
• Sattar Bawany (2014), “Building High Performance Organisations with Results-
based Leadership (RBL) Framework” in Leadership Excellence Essentials, Issue 11.2014
NextGen Leaders For A VUCA World
Prof Sattar Bawany is the CEO of the Centre for Executive Education
(CEE). He is also concurrently the Regional Managing Director & C-Suite
Master Executive Coach of Executive Development Associates (EDA) in
Asia Pacific.
Connect Prof Sattar Bawany

Putting the customer first has been the mantra of many
companies for a long time. But, however correct the mantra
may be, perhaps it’s time to question the wisdom of it. Some
companies already have, that is, put the customer second, after
employees. The results are surprising and enlightening – engaged
and contented employees and companies cited for their best prac-
tices. Moreover, customers are satisfied. This article presents an
operating model and proven approach for putting employees first.
Steady, long-term competitiveness requires an organization
to be committed to putting employees first and developing
quality training programs that are linked to its strategic ob-
jectives. Without a true commitment to the employees at all
levels throughout an organization, the journey to enhance or-
ganizational performance will be an elusive adventure. Quality
employees equate to organizational success. Unqualified and
poorly trained employees equate to organizational failure.
Putting Customer Second
An organization’s employees have always made the difference
between a truly successful organization and a mediocre entity,
but it’s amazing how often managers overlook or discount this
fundamental recipe for economic survival. Organizations with
cultures that focus on their people and that invest in their future
will in the long-run, be more competitive than cultures that
view employees as mere costs to be reduced in times of trouble.
Extensive published research including from CEE’s own con-
sulting engagement, have resulted in the understanding that the
organization that plans every action around its employees will
thrive in the marketplace.
Results-Based Leadership
Putting employees first before customer and profits
By Prof. Sattar Bawany, CEO & C-Suite Master Executive Coach, Centre for Executive Education (CEE)
22 leadership excellence essentials presented by HR.com | 05.2015Submit your Articles

23leadership excellence essentials presented by HR.com | 05.2015 Submit your Articles
It’s the employees who breathe life into an organization for it’s
their skills and abilities that give an organization its competitive-
ness. It is often forgotten that productivity and the economic
rewards that go with it are achieved through the people of an
organization. A fundamental rule of organizational survival is
to put employees first and develop their abilities and skills by
establishing a quality training environment.
Leadership Styles in Engaging Employees First
Many managers mistakenly assume that leadership style is a
function of personality rather than strategic choice. Instead of
choosing the one style that suits their temperament, they should
ask which style best addresses the demands of a particular situ-
ation.
Daniel Goleman brought the notion of “Emotional Intelli-
gence” (EI) and “Emotional Quotient” (EQ) to prominence as
an alternative to more traditional measures of IQ with his 1995
mega-best-seller Emotional Intelligence. According to Goleman,
“A leader’s singular job is to get results”. But even with all the
leadership training programs and “expert” advice available, ef-
fective leadership still eludes many people and organisations.
One reason, says Goleman, is that such experts offer advice based
on inference, experience, and instinct, not on quantitative data.
Research has shown that the most successful leaders have
strengths in the following emotional intelligence competencies:
Self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and rela-
tionship management. There are six basic styles of leadership;
each makes use of the key components of emotional intelligence
in different combinations. The best leaders do not adopt just
one style of leadership; they are skilled at several, and have the
flexibility to switch between styles as the circumstances dictate.
Each style has a distinct effect on the working atmosphere
of a company, division, or team, and, in turn, on its financial
performance. The styles, by name and brief description alone,
will resonate with anyone who leads, is led, or, as is the case with
most of us, does both. Commanding leaders demand immediate
compliance. Visionary leaders mobilize people towards a vision.
Participative leaders create emotional bonds and harmony. Demo-
cratic leaders build consensus through participation. Pacesetting
leaders expect excellence and self-direction. And coaching leaders
develop people for the future.
Since leaders lead people, the style with which you do it is
important. It must truly represent you, fit with the situation, the
results you wish to achieve and the people you hope will follow
your lead. In truth, having a particular style is not as essential
to being a leader as having a vision of what could exist, being
committed to the vision, bringing great energy to realising that
vision and having people to support you.
How to improve employee loyalty is one of today’s most difficult
problems that troubles business leaders. Research has consistently
shows that by putting employees first you can actually deliver your
promise of customers first. If you do not put the employee first – if
the business of management and managers is not to put employee
first – there is no way you can get the customer first.
We have found that the Employees First approach produces far
more passion than any motivational or recognition program. Why?
Because it proves that management understands the importance of the
work being done by the employees in the first place. It demonstrates
that we are actively helping them in ways that make it easier for them
to do their jobs. It shows that we trust them to do what needs to be
done in the way they believe it should be done. And it shows that we
respect them for the value they bring to the company.
We give them understanding, help, trust and respect–which are the
drivers of employee engagement.
There is growing evidence that the range of abilities that constitute
what is now commonly known as emotional intelligence plays a
key role in determining success in life and in the workplace. Recent
research has uncovered links between specific elements of emotional
intelligence and specific behaviors associated with leadership effective-
ness and ineffectiveness.
Like parenthood, leadership will never be an exact science. But
neither should it be a complete mystery to those who practice it.
In recent years, research has helped parents understand the genetic,
psychological, and behavioural components that affect their “job
performance.” With the latest published research, leaders, too, can
get a clearer picture of what it takes to lead effectively.
Leadership is all about the ability to have impact and influence
on your followers so as to engage them towards achieving results of
your organisation through both Ontological Humility and Servant
Leadership & Level 5 Leadership Styles blended with elements of
Socialised Power/Social Intelligence Competencies. With the latest
published research by CEE, leaders, too, can get a clearer picture of
what it takes to lead effectively. And perhaps as important, they can
see how they can make that happen. The business environment is
continually changing, and a leader must respond in kind.
Hour to hour, day to day, week to week, executives must play their
leadership styles like a pro—using the right one at just the right time
and in the right measure. The payoff is in the results. LE
Results-Based Leadership
Prof Sattar Bawany is the CEO & C-Suite Master Executive Coach of
Centre for Executive Education (CEE Global). CEE offers human capital
management solutions for addressing challenges posed by a multigenerational
workforce including talent management and executive development programs
(executive coaching and leadership development) that help leaders develop
the skills and knowledge to embrace change and catalyze success in today’s
workplace.
Email sattar.bawany@cee-global.com
“Research has consistently shown that by putting em-
ployees first you can actually deliver your promise of
customers first. If you do not put the employee first
– if the business of management and managers is not
to put employee first – there is no way you can get the
customer first.

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