1. Centre for Leadership studies - Europe
leading-change.co.uk
CLS Europe
What we stand for – the soul of the business
A vibrant company, led by David Wall, is operating in part as the original entrepreneurial,
innovative company founded in the 80’s – whilst underpinning its infrastructure with the
disciplines necessary for success as it continues to grow. What CLS stands for is as
important as successfully accelerating value for organisations and the people within them!
Part of CLS Europe’s success is based on “memorable, innovative, sometimes surprising,
always applicable” new thinking, observations and practices being conceived and produced
regularly – and from an organisation that has clear beliefs about what it stands for. This in
turn demands a high degree of common thinking and understanding within the business –
along with a high degree of responsiveness operationally throughout.
The leadership team in CLS Europe consists of a wide mix of backgrounds led by David Wall
as CEO.
The larger and more dispersed the organisation gets (mentally as well as physically!) the
harder it is to maintain that blend of distinct values, fast paced development of unique
products, and the discipline necessary to run outstanding operational processes that deliver
the performance needed.
Distinctive organisations are born of distinctive characters – and not just the founders.
Individuals emerge throughout the company, its customers and suppliers that are drawn to it
by an affinity with the image and reputation the company projects. They tend to be strong
characters with firm views on a number of issues - and are prepared to share them!. They
don’t just try to do the “right” things for the business: they really “love doing the right things
right” – and they have strong views on what those things are. They a significant part of the
reason companies succeed.
But leading, engaging or integrating such people can sometimes feel like “herding cats”. In
fact sustainable successful groups tend to have a wider mix of different characters who know
how to work together to bring the best out of each other – not the worst. Rather than “change”
people to something they think is better, they focus on the strengths other people bring and
find ways that neutralise the effect of any weaknesses. The thing that actually holds such a
diverse group together is the reason they exist – their purpose as a group and what they
believe in together. If that’s less clear than people need it to be, their character, behavioural
and attitude differences tend to become an increasing source of tension – and the more
influential the group the wider the impact on the organisation.
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2. Centre for Leadership studies - Europe
leading-change.co.uk
So.
What are we all about?
CREATING GREAT PLACES….TO DO BUSINESS WITH, WORK AND INVEST
Making them unique and distinct: sources of achievement, success, pride, affinity.
A model to others :colleagues and competitors alike.
Something worth aspiring to.
Winners in their world.
Multiplying rather than merely adding “value” in their chosen fields.
And accelerating that value by going further … faster.
What makes places so clearly distinctive?
They are a reflection of those who dreamt their possibility - and created their reality.
Their persistence, zest, energy and sheer stubbornness in believing they could just make it
happen.
But more than this, they inspire others towards the same ends and to the possibilities such a
journey might enable.
They make aspirations flourish as achievements, enabling people to grow to become
themselves at their best and ever more realising that “best” is more than they originally
thought it would be!
Very few are well known except locally. Most of the real heroes are those ordinary people we
keep coming across who make that wonderful difference – so often without realising it.
They ARE leaders rather than just DO leadership!
That’s the heart of CLS.
Helping to create great places by energising others to want to do so
Great places to work…to do business with…to invest.
To be a part of and associated with
A way forward
Get the leadership team to grow even stronger by building on the differences and strengths of
its people; focussing them individually and collectively on their common purpose, and the
issues they need to resolve to continue the success they seek.
Developing an already successful lead team is more than running workshops. It needs
workshop style events to start a process moving – and occasionally repeated to sustain the
effect – but it needs a clear connection with the everyday activities of leading the business,
and to be of personal value to each individual as well as the group as a whole.
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3. Centre for Leadership studies - Europe
leading-change.co.uk
There needs to be some clear framework or model that underpins the way a successful
process works – but one which serves the process not masters it.. Our own research and
practice has produced models known as Shaping the Future and towards the Complete
Leader, which we use as the backbone of workshops we run. They help us bring to life the
diverse, often contradictory, yet vital, views and feelings of everyone whilst creating a
“complete” sense of where we’re going, why it’s so important and how we get there!
A key issue is that organisations depend more than ever on the capability of their
management team to sustain and grow the commitment and capability of people to deliver the
achievements and behaviour that differentiates them from others.
The lead team needs to epitomise everything about the company’s purpose and what it
stands for - and this stems from a few core characteristics of the way in which the
organisation is led.
1. A clear, common purpose with a few key attributes that are fundamental to its
success that are widely shared and understood - THE VISION.
2. A translation of that purpose into meaningful activities in the daily lives of those
delivering it to customers, colleagues, suppliers and investors - THE VISION IN
ACTION.
3. A clear framework for the manner in which people are expected to work
together: how they share information, make decisions and behave in a way that
delivers positively memorable performance in the eyes of those around them -
THE CULTURE.
4. A translation of that culture into the every day activities that bring it alive to all
those around us - THE CULTURE IN ACTION.
5. Clear indicators of performance against the main attributes of culture and
vision, both overall, and at the level of individual roles and teams - THE
MEASURES OF PROGRESS.
6. Coherent processes and systems that enable actions to be planned,
undertaken and reviewed for further improvement - THE INFRASTRUCTURE.
7. The specific results that need to be achieved for each attribute, defined as
goals and targets - THE RESULTS.
8. The leadership necessary at every level that inspires continuing commitment -
THE PASSION and emotional commitment
We need to bring these ever more alive within our lead team and throughout the
organisation, by focussing on the real issues we face together. We need to create
“days in a life” of the way things could and should be and how they compare with “days
in a life” today. We must explore changes needed in both what we do and the way we
do those things. We forever discuss issues! We must explore them in more detail,
confront any differences and ultimately commit to something that much better fits the
needs of the business today!
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