According to Eric Garton for Harvard Business Review, “Effective leadership isn’t generic. To achieve great performance, companies need a leadership profile that reflects their unique context, strategy, business model, and culture—the company’s unique behavioral signature. To win in the market, every company must emphasize the specific capabilities that make it better than the competition”.
In our leadership interview, we asked one of our own inspiring leaders behind award winning brand Albany, to share his thoughts on what attributes contribute to great business leadership. Matshela, The Managing Executive for Baking, talked about the 10 principles that he believes helped shape his career, that can also help teams work together more successfully.
He calls these principles his 10 C’s.
They are:
Consumer / Customer: The purpose a business is to create a Consumer, serve her with passion and retain her at a profit. The MARKETPLACE is the driving force for everything we do. Be humble to listen to internal and external Customers and Consumers to determine how you can better serve them.
Communication: A business must have a clear set of goals and a plan for WINNING in the marketplace. Focus on priorities.
Capability / Competence: Learning is an ongoing commitment. The most important investment we can make is in our PEOPLE. The environment in which we operate undergoes constant change – we must adapt continuously to stay ahead of the game
Commitment: All team members must be engaged and take ACCOUNTABILITY for their roles. We must always meet the expectations of our Customers and Consumers.
Confidence: A winning team BELIEVES in itself and has ‘can do’ mentality. Lead from the front. Seize opportunities and set high standards
Courage: The marketplace is unpredictable. It requires teams face up to CHALLENGES with tenacity, be creative. Face the truth – cold, hard facts – before taking action.
Collaboration: TEAMWORK is a critical ingredient in successful companies. It builds motivation and superior execution in all areas of the business. We are all on the same team and succeed and fail as a team.
Competition: You must all PLAY to win, try harder, keep our goals in focus at all times. It is important to “cross the finish line”. This requires a common vision and acting with a sense of urgency.
Consistency: Good performance must be enduring and sustainable. To do this we must assess performance and improve at all times. Yesterday’s successes do not guarantee today’s. Make winning a HABIT
Celebration: To win in the marketplace one has to first win in the workplace. The team must continuously RECOGNISE outstanding effort and celebrate victories The list is not áll encompassing, but he believes that if teams incorporate the above in their working culture, they will be successful.
