By Jack Cumming
No enterprise, no organization, no corporation can remain fresh without renewal. The key to renewal is people. Are you a CEO? The most difficult part of the job is managing the senior executives and board members. Are you a manager? The most difficult part of the job is persuading people to work together as a team.
Learning From Others
This may seem obvious, but it’s not. I was struck by this truth recently while watching a fascinating conversation with the Prime Minister of Singapore. You may think, “Singapore?” What’s that got to do with senior living in America? The answer is also obvious. People are people everywhere. There’s no business that is more people-intensive than senior living.
The wisdom of renewal, the challenge of achievement, and the difficulty of team alignment are manifest in a short snippet from the longer interview. Take two minutes from your schedule to click on this link to see yourself reflected in the wisdom of a sage world leader.
All About People
This interview is worth watching in its entirety, but if you prefer to read, here’s the transcript of the relevant portion addressing “the hardest part of the job.”
Q: What is the hardest?
PM: The hardest has been really in managing people. You don’t realize the extent of it until you get into this job. Which is that I’m not just prime minister, I’m leading a party … I’m leading a party. I go into elections.
And you have to then think about which are the members of my team who I have to drop because I want renewal. And one of the keys to the PAP’s success [The People’s Action Party is a major conservative political party] has been a full focus on renewing our team every election. And this is not easy to do at all.
It’s very easy to say, let’s just continue with the status quo. I don’t want to offend anyone. It’s OK. We all move along. But then if I do less of the renewal, I will pay the price for it 5, 10, 20 years from now.
So having to look hard at the members of the team, speak to each one of them individually, and say, ”I’m sorry, I’m not able to allow you to continue, I have to drop you,” that was very painful.
Q: So, party management.
PM: Yes, that was very painful. Not easy to do. And I had to steel myself to do it and manage it. And I’m glad we had a good election outcome at the end of the day.
Q: Thank you for your time, and I hope to see you again soon.
There’s much to be learned from the experience of others. The world keeps evolving, and one of a CEO’s responsibilities is to ensure that the organizations they lead don’t fall behind.
Some team members are learners and take advantage of emerging opportunities. Others seek cover in platitudes or in staying inconspicuous. Not everyone who may have been suited to a position at one time is the right choice to lead into the next phase. Addressing staffing challenges is the hardest part of the leader’s renewal job.
