What are the challenges posed to businesses and individuals in a rapidly changing environment?
What are the necessary skills to make the leap from general manager to executive?
In this era of fierce competition, how to enhance your differentiated value and grasp the initiative in the workplace?
CEIBS FMBA's "F-Career Executive Career Development Planning and Personal Growth" event was held by Ms. Haiying Ding, Global Partner of Spencer Stuart, and Mr. Tianrong Jiang, Director of Spencer Stuart, an international leadership consulting firmShare their observations, thoughts and suggestions on the industry, for executives, and for every person in the workplace
Ding Haiying
Spencer Stuart Global Partner
Industry Watch
1.From the perspective of the overall environment, the past 30 years have been an unattainable era, and now it is actually back to normal, and the next era of real skills has arrived.
2.In the face of an economic slowdown, don't passively get through it, but actively look for opportunities. From the perspective of the consumer goods industry, although the data is not as good as before, for many companiesChina is still a promising market, especially if you look at the opportunities in the market segment.
3.In recent years, consumer expectations have been changing, enterprises should speed up the speed of innovation, do more customized things, can not be as large as before, one or two years to develop a new product, now the new product may come out in two or three months,It's not perfect, but it's time to iterateThis is one of the biggest challenges facing businesses today.
4.The trend of the PE industry is buyout, and more people who know how to operate are needed to do post-investment management. Professional managers who cooperate with PE must first be able to produce results quickly in business, because the time given by PE is only 3-5 years; In addition, emotional intelligence must be particularly high, representing both shareholders and enterprises, and both ends must be dealt with, otherwise it will be difficult to survive.
Executive Competency Requirements
1.Business managers should always pay attention to what changes are happening on the client side and think about the impact of these changes on the industry. Once there is no consumer to pay, the product loses its value. Many companies seem to be big, but they collapse because they don't realize that customers no longer recognize the value they create.
2.The risk of executives making decisions based on experience is rising. In the past, most of the decisions were rational and controllable, but now more and more situations are chaotic and tricky, and then make decisions based on experience, the risk will rise, and it is necessary to change the thinking and approach, such as a diversified management team, brainstorming innovative suggestions, and so on.
Stacey matrix: the relationship between the context of change and the control mode of decision-making.
*: Reinventing Finance in a Digital World | aicpa & cima. (2022, december 1)
3.Now the way we think about evaluating executives has changed, which is a big challenge. A previous executive with 20 years of experience in the industry, you will feel that he is very down-to-earth; Now I think, this person has been here for 20 years, can he go to a new field? Is he capable of learning enough? However, we cannot completely dismiss the past experience, and the truly useful experience is those that can prove that you have the ability to learn and can think across borders, and such experience is still very valuable.
4.Compared with three years ago, CXO has two most necessary points: the first is that the requirements for capabilities are higher, more focused, and rely on teams to build alliances, which is not only for executives, but also at every level. The second is the ability to formulate a strategy, and the strategy must be able to be implemented.
Survey data**: Spencer Stuart
5.Strategic thinking is important, and from the middle to the top, many people can't make it up because of a lack of forward thinking. You have to see what your team can't see for you to be valuable.
6.How to develop strategic thinking skills? You can take a long-term view, such as what you want to achieve in 5 years, and then work backwards to find out what you want to do to prepare for it and what factors will help you succeed. If you keep thinking in this way, your whole way of thinking will change and you won't just see what you're looking for.
Advice for personal growth
1.AI automation will affect all industries and functions, and no one can avoid it, and we all need to face up to this reality and evaluate our role in the organization. Everyone can divide the work into four parts:The first step is to obtain information; The second step is to analyze the information and have your own insights; The third step is to influence others; The fourth step is to really implement and produce results. AI will do better than humans in the first two steps, and people in the third and fourth steps may still do better than AI, so people should continue to take a few steps back to do more value-added things.
Information**: CGMA related reports.
2.One thing everyone needs to do every day is to continuously improve their differentiated value. People in large companies and large systems should especially ask themselves: what can I do when I leave my current platform? Am I still valuable? So don't care too much about the position, but about your own abilities.
3.How do you differentiate yourself? Vertically, think more about what your superiors should think about, so that you are actually ahead of your peers, and others can feel your difference. Horizontally, it is necessary to broaden the functions, so that the perspective of looking at the problem will be more multi-dimensional.
Jiang Tianrong
Director Spencer Stuart
Executive Comprehensive Competency Model
career-Career experience: What has been done so far, what has been achieved, this is the most superficial and intuitive.
Ability - Ability to work: Deal with corresponding problems in different positions and different situations.
capacity: including social cognition, self-awareness, critical thinking, etc., deeper abilities that cannot be acquired from work alone and cannot be cultivated in a short period of time.
Character: There is no good or bad at this point, and being an executive is more about being suitable or unsuitable. For companies, many times there will be a balance in the personality categories of executives, and companies need business-oriented executives and executives who can cohesive the team.
Head of Department CEO-2 Level Survey Finds:
The core strengths of senior executives at the top level of the department include: rich professional experience, excellent execution and problem-solving skills, focus on logic and structure, and adaptability.
The top executives at the level of department leaders often need to be strengthened in the following aspects:
First, strategic thinking and decision-making. People at the head of department level should find more opportunities to participate in the company's strategic decision-making, rather than just being an executor or being limited to their own part of the business.
Second, broaden your horizons and be willing to learn from others. Most department heads do a good job in the existing areas of the business, but this has the opposite effect of being conceited at times, and they need to listen to more external opinions or invite others to give them something different.
Third, lead the change. As some long-term growth enterprises, there may not be any need for transformation, but when they want to do something different in other directions, their teams are not diverse enough.
[Q&A wonderful view].
Q: How should individuals deal with competition? To "lie down" or "not to lie down"?
Ding:While the market doesn't look as growing as it used to be, it doesn't mean there aren't opportunities. Opportunities always fall in front of those who are prepared, so we must always enhance our differentiated value, especially now that the competition is fierce, it really takes a lot of effort and always be ready.
Jiang:Sometimes lying flat is better than moving around. Of course, it is definitely not to lie down completely, but not to be in a hurry, not to change jobs for the sake of changing jobs, and to transform for the sake of transformation. While facing it positively, don't put too much pressure on yourself, because sometimes it's not a bad thing to make a little less mistakes.
Q: How can I tell when to "stand up"?
Jiang:Everyone should have a list in their mind, which three points are the most important for a career or an individual. When an opportunity is really or roughly in line with what you think is most important, and the risks are manageable, I think that's when you can "stand up".
Ding:There are two points to pay attention to in this process, first, you must always retain the right to choose, don't just see the step in front of you, you can't see 5 steps, at least look at 2 steps, what else can I do after I do this? The second point is that you can't stay in your comfort zone for too long, because if you're not growing, someone else is growing.
Q: What are the characteristics of a good candidate during an interview?
Ding:First of all, we must make things clear, don't think that this requirement is very low, many people just can't do it. As an executive, you must have achieved a lot, but you must be quick to explain what you did and what the results were. The same thing is not only clearly explained, but also has different angles, which makes people feel interesting and remembers your story, which is even more divided. Communication skills are very important skills for executives, and no one is born with them, but they must be acquired through repeated exercises.
In addition, whether the candidate is suitable or not is largely a cultural fit. In many cases, ability is not a problem, and it is a pity to lose points in small places. The devil is in the details, and candidates still have to do some homework, such as understanding the company's corporate culture.
Jiang:The first is to be very good at listening, not only listening to what others say, but to have a keen perception in a short period of time, grasp the things that the interviewer on the other side is most interested in, and then share them efficiently.
Second, you need to have a very clear self-awareness, be very clear about what you do, what you can do, what you are good at, and what you need to unite with the people around you to do.
Third, honesty and respect are important. Maybe this company is not your only choice, but since you are here, you must have enough respect, and the other party will also value this very much.
In addition, most of the best candidates do not come to the interview on their own initiative, but we go to him, whether it is his previous boss or colleagues will recommend him, so a person's market reputation is also very important.
Q: How can you improve your strategic thinking and decision-making skills through the platform of the Business School?
Ding:Coming to study for an MBA is on the one hand the course itself, and on the other hand, it is to open up cognition. Students come from all walks of life, and they can get in touch with areas that they don't usually touch, and they know what other students think, so they should make good use of this opportunity.
Jiang:Business schools are the best environment with a relatively low risk of trial and error. For example, if you want to exercise your communication skills, or look at your shortcomings, you can find a classmate to partner up, and every time you come to talk about it, you will invite him to observe it, and he will say what he is not doing well.
Q: What trade-offs should women make in their career development?
Ding:There are two cases of female executives for reference, one of whom believes that my success is also the success of my family, and that career success is not because of sacrificing family. She asked her husband and children to continue to reap the fruits of success with her, to share these achievements, career and family are not contradictory. Another experience of a female executive is to manage time well and ensure that family activities can be adjusted on the schedule, but never canceled.
Jiang:In fact, in the many executive search projects we have seen, clients have a good perception and recognition of their tenacity and empathy skills while recognizing the "hard skills" such as the experience of female executives. Both male and female executives need to find their own pain points and focus points, and build on their strengths and avoid weaknesses to fully realize their self-worth.
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