Develop leaders to prosper

The diversity of global organizations has given Hong Kong an edge in human resource development. If you look at Corporate Knight’s Global 100 list¹, you will find many organizations with a significant presence in Hong Kong. Every one of these organizations is unique. To prosper, top organizations focus on developing leaders who share common values.

A common saying at Toyota is ‘we build people not cars.’ As the auto industry faced the global financial crisis, Toyota also faced a recall crisis that threatened its existence. In this environment, many business leaders would have chosen to go through a round of job cuts, plant closings, and aggressive process virtualization. However, leaders at Toyota chose to challenge team members to find low-cost yet reliable ways to improve quality and reduce waste, as well as ensuring job security for team members.

Deadly Diseases
In the early 1980’s, visionary management and quality guru, W. Edwards Deming, outlined Seven Deadly Diseases facing modern business. These diseases include³:

1. Lack of constancy of purpose
2. Emphasis on short-term profits
3. Evaluation by performance, merit rating, or annual review of performance
4. Mobility of management
5. Running a company on visible figures alone
6. Excessive medical costs
7. Excessive costs of warranty, fueled by lawyers who work for contingency fees

Dr. Deming’s view might seem out of place in a business world driven by endless disruption. Yet, organizations that lack a stable foundation can never be truly innovative; as their structure will not support change.

Shared Values + Leadership = Results
This is not to say that top organizations do not make adjustments. Top organizations, however, align their purpose and values, while developing leadership capabilities to ensure that they not only talk the talk, but that they also walk the walk.

A Balancing Act
Values explain WHY organizations do what they do. Nevertheless, values only come to life through leaders who actively promote the WHY at the same time achieving results.  

So what do leaders do? To paraphrase for General Electric Chairman and CEO Jack Welch⁴:

Cornerstones

The global business environment is uncertain at best. In Hong Kong, the struggle to recruit and retain talent continues to intensify as organizations search for ways to stay ahead of their competitors. To maintain their advantage, top organizations make it a priority to not only identify leadership potential, but also focus on developing a connection to their values. Although small- and mid-sized organizations might not have the resources of a Global 100 Corporation, they can lay the cornerstones to developing leaders.

Walk the Walk
To prosper in an ever-changing environment requires dynamic leaders who promote values. An important lesson learned from top organizations globally, is the need to align purpose and values, while developing leadership capabilities; this will ensure that they not only talk the talk, but that they also walk the walk.