We are all aware of the massive upheavals that the business world has experienced in the last few years in the UK and whilst Andrew Marsh says it is counter-productive to labour on those, what he does say is that we are only at the beginning of change and to continue to move forward successfully and not be left behind, adaptation is key
One thing the North East region has an abundance of is talented leaders, and one thing as a community North Easterners are great at is collaboration. Andrew believes if we strengthen up by putting the two together into collaborative leadership, then this modern approach will be empowering for all; especially in tackling multiple challenges, such as recruitment, retention, staff performance and more.
He says: “On moving forward from such impactful crises as the world has endured recently, there are potentially three main areas that are so deeply affected, that if not addressed in a more collaborative way will see the start of a whole new ‘business world crisis’. As Jennifer Howard-Grenville and Laura Empson stated in their recent article “3 ways to Prepare for the Future of Work” the who, the what and the why of work need to be our collaborative focus – or in other words the needs of workers, how we work, and what work represents to each of us.
“Things we took for granted about all the people within any business can no longer be presumed and the future of the working world needs to shift up a gear in response.
“As well as negative impacts of political, societal, environmental and economic calamities, pressures from digital advancement, particularly AI, are creating a huge shift. Hybrid working, wellbeing demands, demands and priorities of the new ’employee-led’ world are all hurting the norm as we knew it.
“One word and one word only contains a suite of solutions to these three tests – collaboration.
“Any leader not focusing on collaboration as a leadership strategy, is going struggle. Many who have brought businesses through this century are overwhelmed at any current and all future challenges, feeling they may have nothing left to give. That is the perfect environment where support, joint approaches and empowering others means that people feeling similar can rely on others, to help the entire team to thrive.
“In a nutshell, collaborative leadership is grounded in the belief that a shared model of leadership is more creative and effective than any leader working alone. The modern management style encourages collaboration and teamwork amongst the company’s employees and has been proven to create an environment in which employees feel empowered and connected, improving morale and enhanced co-operation.
“In my Vistage groups we practice and encourage this form of collaboration. Through our per group approach and the encouragement of collaboration within our own environments, all of us make better decisions, more quickly, especially by learning new skills from subject matter experts; by sharing best practice; and harnessing the power of the group’s combined experience and knowledge we demonstrate the clout of collaboration.
“Take that into a team throughout different levels in any organisation and you unleash the best in people. By motivating with positivity, a leader can inspire trust, encourage transparency, improve performance, solve problems and mitigate risks.
“When working on the who, what and why of a working environment leaders need to create a safe, open space for communication, with a built-in effective process for collaboration and be present to facilitate conversations. To quote the previously referred to article:
“To address the challenges of the future of work, leaders need to understand that theirs is not an individual responsibility, but rather a collective one that brings together a complex coalition of colleagues across the organisation…
“Key to the success of this is for leaders to work out to best equalise team members desire for autonomy under this collaboration, with the organisation’s need for control, within guidelines like legislation, governance and company articles. Younger workers may need both guidance and reassurance to work within the collective identity, under their own position, while being asked to step beyond it to collaborate.
“Whilst building a collective future, it is also key for leaders to reaffirm their organisations brand, and the things that have worked previously, what has already been achieved and what is good about the current culture to ensure those things are not lost in the drive forward to organic collaboration.
“Alison Reynolds of Reynolds-HR backs this thinking too. She said: “A high proportion of businesses in the North East are SME’s and the leaders are brilliant at their core competencies but can often lack the bandwidth to strategically focus on the future. Collaborating with other SME Leaders and management within their own teams allows them to share specific expertise and knowledge. Being part of a peer group forces time away to think about the business and collaborating with others means that you have a wider “team” with complementary skills.”
“Ultimately, we all crave to be part of something successful, something we can be proud of and that we enjoy committing time and energy to. But as times are changing, organisations need to, and so do we all as individuals. To carry on as before, is to bring old challenges into new scenarios, when what we need to do is transcend, transform and create a new norm, where diversity and inclusivity is valued, and hierarchy is less important than the combined drive to meet everyone’s needs throughout an entire organisation. Only by doing it together, can the future bright.”
Andrew’s mission is growing & supporting the NE & UK PLC leaders, so they make a positive impact on society.
Now an award-winning chair of excellence for Vistage, Andrew has spent the last 25 years specialising in the launch, growth, turnaround and transformation of business ventures.
An accomplished Executive having led & transformed numerous businesses across multiple sectors Andrew has operated in both public and private sectors. He has personally launched several successful businesses, lead numerous M&A integrations. He also coaches business leaders and entrepreneurs in the UK, Europe and North America and is also a NED across the Legal, Digital, Marketing, Retail Marketing, Leisure and Charity sectors.
You can contact Andrew on andrew@marshbusinesstransformation.co.uk