Shaping Futures The role of senior strategic leadership Doug Parkin Programme Director

2. Shaping Futures The role of senior strategic leadership Doug Parkin Programme Director Leadership Foundation for Higher Education

3. Does strategy matter? • Three words: senior – strategic – leadership • What does it mean to be ‘strategic’ ? • Conceptions of strategy • Four levers for strategic engagement(moving sustainability to the centre-ground) • Collective commitment • If you could change anything what would it be? • Courageous and selfless leadership • Outline 3

5. Tribal wisdom says that when you discover you’re on a dead horse the best strategy is to dismount Of course there are other strategies – • You can change riders • You can get a committee to study the dead horse • You can benchmark how other universities ride dead horses • You can harness several dead horses together • Strategy might matter I think I saw it move...

6. But after all this you’re still going to have to dismount • The temptation to stay on a dead horse can be overwhelming • But the time to start searching for new strategies is long before your horse stumbles • Strategy does matter I think I saw it move...

7. Sir Alexander Graham Bell (1897) • This invention will be so significant it’s likely we will see one in every... • A prominent banker advising Henry Ford (1903) • The horse is here to stay but the automobile is only a novelty – a fad • Thomas Watson, Chairman, IBM (1943) • I think there is a world market for about...computers • Ken Olson, Chairman, Digital Corp (1977) • There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in their home • Sir Alan Sugar (2005) • Next Christmas the iPod will be dead, finished, kaput • Forecasting the future is tough town five

8. Senior Strategic Leadership 8

9. Institution-wide roles • Top of the pyramid • Rich and diverse roles • Long on experience • Ambassador and diplomat • From expert/specialist to the ultimate generalist • Senior 9

10. Organisation in the Future Organisation Now Environment/context Horizon scanning • Strategic Strategic Scenarios Strategic Plan Strategic Position 10

11. Distributed • Situational • Transformational • Authentic • “Leading in a cold climate” • Leadership Leadership: aligning the energy of others behind an attractive goal (Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus, 1985) 11

12. If you walked into someone else’s institution tomorrow, what evidence would you look for that the institution was thinking and acting strategically? • Being strategic

16. If you walked into someone else’s institution tomorrow, what evidence would you look for that the institution was thinking and acting strategically? • Being strategic

17. Being strategic • Shared purpose • Collective commitment • Focussed activity • Inspired and motivated • Clear sense of priorities • What to do – what not to do • Good communication • Alignment – shape, structure and activity • Service: who will benefit – where, when and why?

18. Near, mid and far horizons • Strategic thinking, planning and action • Russian dolls • Line of sight • Strategy, tactics and operations • Up, in and out (values driven strategy) • Strategic influence: inside-out or outside-in? • Conceptions of strategy 18

19. Near, mid and far horizon 19

20. Strategic thinking Primarily an analytic and creative process that explores future options and possibilities, often using scenarios to stimulate powerful strategic conversations Strategic planning The process of converting the results of strategic thinking as a set of potentially actionable strategies into an integrated plan of action that can be implemented Strategic action The implementation of the strategic plan as a series of change initiatives with the support and commitment of “key players” at all levels of the organisation 20

21. Strategy – start diet today... Much of what professional firms do in the name of strategic planning is a complete waste of time, no more effective than individuals making New Year’s resolutions Maister, 2005 – Strategy and the Fat Smoker

22. Institution? Faculty/Area? School/Service? Department? Individual?

23. “For me, it’s more about a job well done and less about the cheese” (Harvard Business Review)

24. Line of sight 24

25. Strategic • Creating a vision (why we are here) • Deciding what we should do • Setting strategic goals • Ideas – policies – core principles • Tactical Alignment Sub-strategies • Translating the vision • Deciding how and who • From strategic goals to plans and targets • Ideas – procedures – talent scoping Feedback • Living the vision (bringing it to life) • The doing – the delivering – the monitoring • Operational objectives and activities • Ideas – efficiencies – people development 25

26. No child should go to bed hungry! • UP • Fundamental drivers: • Values - Principles • Beliefs - Morality Improving the delivery of aid to populations in crisis STRATEGIC VISION OUT The active and aware contribution made to the world • OUT • Impact • Transformation • Community Developing a critical mass of expertise IN Reflecting on our own needs and development • IN • Capacity • Continuity • Reputation 26

27. 27

28. Inside-out strategy Strategy Sustainability

29. Outside-in strategy Strategy Sustainability

30.  Alleviating poverty  Food security  Urbanisation  Population  Energy demand  New technology  Water demand  Climate Change  Ageing population  Non-infectious dis.  Infectious diseases  Biodiversity

31. Four levers for strategic engagement Rhetoric Inspiring and persuasive language Business case Growth – attracting and retaining Values Being and doing; central tenets Impact Change: improving and saving lives

32. Values Being and doing; central tenets Rhetoric Inspiring and persuasive language Impact Change: improving and saving lives Business case Growth – attracting and retaining

33. Personal values: being and doing MODELLING Leadership is about both being and doing BEING DOING Values stated – values seen Values stated – values seen Doing the best we can v Being the best we can 33

34. Environmental and economic sustainability (1 of 8) • We want our concern for a sustainable environment to inform every aspect of what we do (1 of 6) • We value sustainability because we know that we can achieve nothing in the longer run if our activities are not sustainable both economically and environmentally (1 of 6) • Being committed to sustainability and the protection of our environment (1 of 10) • An ethical approach to all activities with special reference to the production of food and management of the environment (1 of 7) • Protecting the future – we have to think beyond the short term (1 of 6) • Promoting sustainability thinking and practice (1 of 4) • Environmental sustainability (1 of 10) (1 of 5) • Financial and environmental sustainability (1 of 6) • Working towards sustainability in all we do (1 of 6) • Values statements 34

35. Shopping list • Catch all • Tailored • Unique to us • Bland • Visionary • Values - approaches 35

36. Shared responsibility: • Earth right now: Your planet is changing. We’re on it. (NASA, 2014) Dramatic events: • Please, no more delays, no more excuses... I ask of all of us here, if not us then who? If not now then when? If not here then where? (YebSaño, Doha, 2012) Fearful predictions: • We are heading for a catastrophic temperature rise of 4 degrees Celsius unless we do something to change it (Friends of the Earth – current website) Shifting balance: • A New World Order is required to deal with the Climate Change crisis (Gordon Brown) Sector voices: • Protecting and enhancing quality of life for current and future generations is central to sustainable development (HEFCE, 2013) Dark humour: • Every time someone dies as a result of floods in Bangladesh, an airline executive should be dragged out of his office and drowned (George Monbiot, 2006) • Rhetoric 36

37. Six critical drivers of global change – • Earth Inc. – a deeply interconnected world economy • Operating as a fully integrated holistic entity • The Global Mind – a planet-wide electronic communications grid • Connecting thoughts, feelings, data, sensors and thinking machines • Power in the Balance – shifting influence/initiative from West to East • From wealthy countries to rapidly emerging centres (and private actors) • Outgrowth – rapid unsustainable growth • Populations, cities, resources, consumption and pollution • The Reinvention of Life and Death – new biosciences and genetics • Reweaving the fabric and form of life itself – controlling evolution • The Edge – the balance of power between Earth and humans • Especially vulnerable systems such as the atmosphere and climate • The Future – a map of the world to come 37 (Al Gore, The Future, 2013)

38. Business Case MARKET Attract and retain students REPUTATION Profile, position and perceptions OUTPUTS Active, aware and creative graduates FINANCES Increasing income/ investment or reducing costs/waste Elements of a successful business case COMPETITION Distinctiveness, appeal and efficiency COMPLIANCE/RISK Law, policy and public expectations FUTURE Innovation (technology), growth and new offerings PEOPLE Attract and retain talent 38

39. Infrastructure • Energy – directly connecting the campus and the biosphere • Food – a way to think about soil, landscape and nutrition • Materials – the fruits of extracting natural resources • Community • Governance – conversations with every campus constituency • Investment – the far reaching effects of decisions and policies • Wellness – how humans flourish and nurture one another • Learning • Curriculum – how do our actions affect the earth? • Interpretation – everyone can see what we’re doing • Aesthetics – a more meaningful and beautiful world • The Nine Elements of a Sustainable Campus 39 (Mitchell Thomashow – MIT, 2014)

40. Impact • Change: improving and saving lives 40

41. Values Being and doing; central tenets Rhetoric Inspiring and persuasive language Impact Change: improving and saving lives Business case Growth – attracting and retaining

42.  Alleviating poverty  Food security  Urbanisation  Population  Energy demand  New technology  Water demand  Climate Change  Ageing population  Non-infectious dis.  Infectious diseases  Biodiversity 42

43. 風向轉變時,有人築牆,有人造風車 When the wind of change blows, some build walls, others build windmills • When the wind of change blows

44. The beacon principle • The leader factory • Discovery and innovation • Raising the intellectual sustainable tone of society • Informing crucial decisions • The role of universities How are we going to ensure the sustainability of the university? or How is the university going to help ensure the sustainability of the world? 44

45. Be the change you want to see • Create a compelling narrative • Enable leadership at all levels • Share and collaborate • Work across boundaries • Take a far-sighted approach • Wenigeraberbesser (less but better): do less better • Regard every resource as precious • Be the change you want to see • Collective commitment 45

46. Just one thing! • To create collective commitment... If you could change anything, what would it be? 46

47. Courageous and selfless leadership Starting a movement

48. Bringing together the four levers for strategic engagement • ‘Aha’ moment 48

49. This Award is exclusive to senior strategic leadership at a tertiary education institution. This Award will recognise individuals at the most senior level in... Recognition will be awarded for a combination of institution-wide impact and powerful external engagement. This Award seeks to identify and recognise transforming leaders who are shaping the future and making the principles and values of sustainability central to their organisation at the highest levels • Leadership Award - NEW FOR 2014 49

50. Leadership Foundation Programmes 50