Leadership and Boards of Directors - An Interview with John Vines

Yesterday I met up with John Vines, Chairman of IBSA (Innovation and Business Skills Australia)

John is widely experienced on the boards of organisations and I asked what Responsible Leadership means to him.

John explained that responsible leadership means that organisations need to take into account every external environment and how their decisions make impact internally as well as externally.

Many boards of directors need to think more broadly.

This brings with it an implication...

Boards need to recognise multiple stakeholders...

• Staff
• Shareholders
• Beneficiaries

The broader community where their reputation is at stake.

Boards need to look at the broader context of their decisions rather than the immediate context of the businesses they are responsible for.

CSR also varies extensively between companies.

What Andrew Forrest is doing in his work through the employment covenant in supporting the development of employment opportunities for indigenous australians in the mining sector is a great initiative. It sets an example for other corporates in terms of thinking beyond their immediate internal interests and embracing broader community issues.

Supporting community projects with in-kind support is very important into our next decade. It is also a significant factor in being an employer of choice. When employees see a role of an organisation includes appreciation in a social context, they are more likely to be engaged with the company's purpose and look toward longer term employment with them. This is particularly the case with younger generations.

Responsible leadership also  involves embracing the needs of employees to enable them to reach their full potential. Really good companies have strong mentoring within their business to support the development of their employees. Every good manager can reflect back to when they had a good mentor.

Shareholders are also becoming more and more conscious of the chop and change - within boards of directors as well as employees - and see the value of a reasonable level of stability in the organisation. The elements of the employer of choice can have a positive impact in this regard.

Sometimes a total refurbishment is required with a new leader brought in to adjust and change what has developed with the culture of the business in the past. Though in the majority of cases, stakeholders would like to see a business that develops continuously, developing staff through succession planning and mentoring.

John explains that the demystification of concepts is the a key requirement of effective leadership. For many employees concepts such as innovation, corrporate social responsibility and even the term leadership are not fully understood and thus represent missed opportunities for organisations.  He says that the style of management adopted can have significant influence in these areas.

He strongly believes that a leadership/management style which is facilitative rather than directive is required. The facilitative leadership style involves providing opportunities for the maximum contribution of employees at all levels in the organisation and for their ideas and efforts to be recognised and valued. He cites the concept of the leader/enabler as the leadership style which gets most traction in an organsiation.  

So, given John is working in the field of innovation and education, what are his recommendations on how to educate and develop staff?

John defines innovation  as the "exploitation of ideas to add social or economic value" and believes that the innovation spectrum ranges from continuous improvement through to the outcomes from intensive R&D activity". In terms of CSR, he says that the support by a local business for the local football team through to the work being done by Andrew Forrest in this employment covenant represent the spectrum of CSR initiatives. So in areas such as innovation and CSR we need to recognise and encourage the embracing of these concepts at all levels.

As demystification occurs, people understand and embrace what might otherwise be seen as somewhat amorphous concepts.

As the knowledge of leadership is embraced, leadership grows throughout the organisation as people are given responsibility to lead by example.

There are many benefits relating to this demystification of leadership. Corporate Social Responsibility is one key element as people become more aware of how they can impact those around them. In return they develop new ways to improve the processes of business and give back to the community.

Comments

[Frithjof Arp]

Hello John,

It was a pleasure talking to you last Friday at the PRME seminar (Principles for Responsible Management Education) here at Monash Uni's Department of Management.

As mentioned, I am particularly interested in how outsiders (including independent non-executive directors, corporate advisors etc.) can have a positive influence on corporate social responsibility. Outsiders sometimes appear to have relatively more freedom to deal with ethical dilemmas and can "do the right thing" when others cannot. Indeed, they are sometimes expected to articulate perspectives that 'in group' members feel unable to express for fear of 'in-group' sensitivities.
It doesn't even take the "leadership by example" that you mentioned. Apparently, sometimes the mere presence of an outsider can prompt insiders to "do the right thing". This is a clear theme in my research ( see FELO research website )

The outsider phenomenon that I have researched -- Foreign Executives in Local Organisations (FELOs) of emerging Asian economies -- are good examples for this 'in/out group' phenomenon. Some of these individuals, when faced with ethnic and religious divides or cases of corruption and homophobia, have learned to utilise their unique 'in/out group'-status to effect positive change.

Any organisaton, any country, any society has its own 'in-groups'. The anti-dote to 'group-think' (and the ethical dilemmas of responsibility that can arise from it) may often be: outsiders.
It seems that being an outsider can be an advantage, not just a liability, after all !

Kind regards
Frithjof