Grow Your Business - David Reid Group Perth - Strategy, Marketing, Sales, People, Technology, Consulting and Coaching

Skip Bowman

Skip is an organizational psychologist and HR expert specializing in leadership and executive coaching, HR strategy and change management. He is accredited with a comprehensive range of proven psychological tools as part of his leadership and executive coaching roles. He has an undergraduate degree in commerce, and a Masters Degree in Psychology and English.

In this DRG Snapshot, Skip addresses the people challenges in implementing new strategies into a business.

Can you describe how people who run organisations influence the culture of that organisation?

Whether you like it or not, and whether they want to or not, managers are always leading by example. We often find that the many employee problems faced by managers can be solved by adjusting their leadership style. Leadership development is about learning to look in the mirror and see what is really there, rather than what we would like to see. It’s about exploring the little self-deceptions that make us feel good, but which are preventing us from reaching our goals. It’s one of the reasons why psychology can really help business. Understanding how your personal strengths and weaknesses impact on your people can help you become more flexible. Or in other words, by changing your behaviours a little to suit the needs of others, you can become a significantly more effective manager.

What do people who run organizations have to be aware of in terms of their style and its effects upon the workplace?

Many executives have been promoted because of their strengths. However, the higher up the corporate ladder they climb, the more their weaknesses will lead to their downfall. As the challenges increase, more of your personality

is revealed to others, you need to use more of yourself, and it becomes harder to cover up things. Good coaching is about being realistic and being prepared to examine failures, then learning to recognize mistakes before they happen. It’s about acknowledging and working on weaknesses by giving honest and constructive feedback in an environment of trust and respect.

What problems are commonly associated with implementing new strategies?

Many people, including management consultants, often blame the attitudes and skills of the employees. However, it’s only ever just a fraction of the problem, the tip of the iceberg. My experience tells me that the most common problem is that organizational structures and leadership culture are working against or even contradicting your strategy. To solve these problems, what I do is look at the organizational structures, how they develop people, manage performance, communicate, design job roles and lead employees. Then together with the client, I redesign them so that they align. I often start by asking them “what is it that you want your people to do? What are the behaviours that we want them to perform?” Start with that and then work backwards and say: “Right, what are the things that encourage that behaviour? And what are the things that discourage it?” For example, you can’t expect people to take initiative, if there’s no responsibility or authority on an individual level.

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