Bill Ayers

President & CEO

Tel:  212.889.7788

bill.ayers@ayers.com
 

Leadership is always an issue in the business world.  It’s what lies at the heart of our practice in organizational effectiveness.  But we at The Ayers Group have never seen a time when leadership was more crucial than it is today.

 

We’re all operating in a business environment that is increasingly competitive and global, with cycle times that are growing ever shorter.  It’s an environment in which business news has become general news—consumed as avidly on Main Street as on Wall Street.  Access to information has made customers, employees, shareholders, and other constituencies savvier.  And in the wake of well-publicized corporate governance failures and scandals, pressure for transparency and the return of good stewardship has grown stronger.

 

Today, like never before, the ability to compete successfully is a function of having the right leadership in place at all levels throughout the organization.  And future success is secured by having the right leaders in place tomorrow.

 

Johnson & Johnson Chairman and CEO Bill Weldon, who spoke at our first leadership breakfast program, summed it up in his response to a question his son once asked him: “What keeps you awake at night more than anything?”  His answer:  “The future leadership of the company—who’s going to sit in my job when I leave.”

That’s what keeps me up at night, too, as it should any CEO.  Not planning for the future—for a smooth succession that ensures business continuity—is a formula for failure.

Are companies paying enough attention to this? Are too many CEOs simply paying lip service to leadership development?  In my experience, anyone who talks about the issue has most likely spent some time addressing it.  Because once you put it on the table—especially in the current governance environment—dealing with it becomes obligatory.  And you will be held accountable.  I find that the ones who don’t talk about leadership development really haven’t done anything about it.

It’s really not a matter of choice.  Sarbanes-Oxley and other new governance rules and regulations have upped the ante.  Savvy leaders in human-resource management today know they’re going to be held more accountable for what they do in their practice.  It all ties in to organizational development and effectiveness—leadership training and development, teambuilding, diversity, succession planning—which must be based on a solid understanding of the organization’s culture, strategic direction, and objectives.  There are implications for one of the most important issues we’ll see in the next year:  retention, which will become especially critical as the job market warms up.  And it comes back to the basics:  employee relations, mobility, and benefits and compensation.

Leadership also becomes more critical at a time when organizations have become leaner.  The smaller the crew, the greater the need for a steady hand on the helm and good guidance.  You need stronger leadership to ensure everyone’s adherence to the organization’s principles.

At our leadership breakfast, we heard about the ethics and the Credo that are central to Johnson & Johnson’s business.  With all the lapses in the business world in recent years undermining reputations, you marvel at an organization such as J&J that can stand proud.  As a CEO, you have a responsibility to lead an ethical organization.  From my point of view, it’s a pleasure to manage people who have a strong degree of ethics.

Leadership development is a core competency, and it has to be a permanent part of any organization’s strategy.  This is something we at The Ayers Group can help you with, through our Organizational Effectiveness Consulting practice.  And it’s something we plan to continue exploring through our leadership program series.