Leading Across Differences
I recently met a small South African company owner who was facing a serious challenge. Their customers were complaining about product delays. The staff morale was low due to failed promises. To make matters worse, costs were rising due to growing inflation and fuel prices. Most of the issues were driven by external factors. The leadership team had to find a way forward to rescue the situation or risk losing the company. My mandate from the Managing Director, who was at his wit’s end, was to inspire the leadership team so they could address the challenges while keeping their teams engaged.
At the meeting it was clear that the senior team was composed, as with most companies, of very different leaders.
After the introductions I asked; “What is the biggest challenge you are facing?” The boardroom filled with simultaneous voices as each executive tried to share their story. “One at a time!” I pleaded.
I asked the Finance Manager to kick off the proceedings. His feedback began with listing the challenges with the import policies, the lack of detailed reports, discipline issues as well as compliance concerns not to mention results of the latest audit. He ended by saying, “Before we make changes, we must understand the process, the legal implications, the governance requirements and the operational risks.” “How long will this meeting take? I have a full agenda today?”
Next was the Head of Sales. Impatiently she leaned forward not even waiting for the Finance Manager to finish. She said, “We have spoken about this for months. Customers are unhappy with the delays and leaving. We need decisions, targets and visible action now. Sales cannot do everything!” She sat down after delivering a message that was short and to the point.
The baton was passed to the HR Manager who slowly stood up, paused, and looked at each person in turn. He then shared that he was concerned about the pressure in the room. “If we don’t calm down, we will never solve this problem”. He highlighted the importance of rest and noted that the team needed to deal with the inter departmental conflict.” After the lengthy prologue. He said, “Our people are tired. If we push another change without listening, we will lose trust. We need to bring employees up to speed while encouraging them to work with us.”
Finally, the Product Management team lead shared her concerns. Armed with a pile of printed reports, she focused on the effectiveness and productivity which had been declining over the last six months. She had been quietly reviewing her research and the data she brought to the meeting. When quizzed she was ready to respond and provided an abundance of information, much to everyone’s frustration. The Head of Sales rolled her eyes as more and more facts were shared. At one stage she threatened to leave. Eventually the Product Engineer ended her speech by saying; “The problem is not only attitude or effort. The numbers show bottlenecks in three areas. We need to understand the root cause before we blame people.”
It was clear that they were irritated with the different ways of dealing with the challenge! During a crisis each person insists on their way of doing things. This makes it very difficult for any leader to cohesively work with the team to deliver results. I had to simplify the complexity of those in the room. It started by understanding their values! After a while the team understood and took the same information to their teams.
Fortunately, before the meeting I had shared the following link with all participants https://bit.ly/U-VitaBANK .Each person was able to determine their highest value car by arranging four cards with 12 values on each. The four main values and colours are, Blueprint (Blue), Action (Red), Nurturer (Yellow) and Knowledge (Green). A detailed “values report” provided information on each Value and how to work with those with different values. Each person has a combination of the Four Cards.
The Finance Manager valued their highest card as Blueprint (Blue); the Head of Sales Action (Red), the HR Manager and the Managing Director valued the Nurturer (Yellow) values. Finally, the Product Engineer from Product Management valued Knowledge (Green). There are 24 different combinations of the Four Cards.
What I could see in the meeting was that the Blueprint leader felt the Action leader was rushing. The Action leader felt the Blueprint leader was blocking progress with all the processes. The Nurture leader felt the team was forgetting the human cost while the Knowledge leader felt everyone was reacting before understanding ALL the relevant information.
The Managing Director then stepped in and said: “We are not here to prove whose values are more important or who is right. We are here to solve our business problem. “We need all of you to understand your values so that we have structure, urgency, people and insight.” When they discovered the magic of their own values they were able to understand each other better. No particular Value is more important. A combination of all four delivers the best results.
The Blueprint leader created a clear implementation plan with roles, timelines, accountability and compliance safeguards.
The Action leader drove momentum, removed delays and made sure decisions turned into visible progress.
The Nurturing leader held listening sessions with staff, rebuilt trust and helped managers communicate the change with empathy.
The Knowledge leader analysed the data, identified root causes and helped the team focus on facts rather than assumptions.
A mere month later, customer complaints were reduced, staff engagement improved and the business became more responsive. This change was not because everyone thought the same. The leadership team learned to lead across differences.
In South African business, the difference is not unusual. It is our reality. We lead across differences in language, culture, race, generation, education, work experience, personality, values and economic background. The danger is that we often judge differences too quickly. We call the Blueprint leader “too rigid.”, the Action leader “too aggressive.” We call the Nurture leader “too soft.” and the Knowledge leader “too analytical.” When we view people through the lens of values as indicated by the BANK values, those are not weaknesses. They are different forms of value and our strength!
We do not need leaders who erase differences. We need leaders who can translate differences into trust, performance and shared progress.
Paul Tanton
Leadership Entrepreneur and Coach
