What does leadership mean to you?
Inspiring others with a vision and a belief they can make it happen.
What do you see as the key attributes of great leadership?
Courage, wisdom, kindness - delivered consistently whatever the circumstance (success or setback), with good humour, confidence and persistence.
What do you find most rewarding about leading?
Making a lasting difference - to people and to organisations.
What have been your greatest leadership challenges and how have you overcome them?
Tackling deep-rooted resistance to change from people who feel threatened or inconvenienced by it (often senior managers).
Overcoming this challenge through active engagement (discussing their concerns and what's-in-it-for-them personally as well as professionally) and relentless, but good-humoured, perseverance while simultaneously creating ‘coalitions of change-agents’ around them to help create an environment where change happens and resistance becomes increasingly unfashionable, then unacceptable, and ultimately unthinkable.
How have you enriched your own leadership experience?
Through change and taking risks:
- changing roles and companies, countries and cultures
- creating and communicating visions that will drive improvement, but which may fail.
How has your view of leadership changed over time?
At the same time that the workplace was changing and leadership was moving from command & control military-style leadership to servant leadership with collaborative coalitions, I was working my way up the ladder and was seeing some impressive styles of leadership where leaders were engaging and inspiring large groups - seizing hearts and minds (and, if necessary, throats) to make things happen.
What advice would you give to emerging leaders?
Build trust - without, it you’ll struggle to achieve the big stuff, but with it, you’ll move mountains. In the trust equation (the numerator is Competence + Reliability + Intimacy, while the denominator is Self-Orientation (i.e., Ego).
Finding common ground (e.g. interests, sport etc) can be powerful and help accelerate trust-building and action. Using humour as a tool to engage others, build a bond, and drive change can be powerful too.
And remember:
1. All the world’s a stage: sometimes, especially difficult times, you’ll need to put on an act to maintain the confidence of others.
2. Perspective: be professional, but also be personable - keep a sense of proportion and a sense of fun.
3. HumanKIND: work hard and be nice. Always be respectful and polite to everyone at every level. Acknowledge their contribution.
Mark Fensome - EVP, Group GRC of Saudia Airlines Corporation
Mark gained experience in various 1st, 2nd and 3rd lines of defence roles (Operations, Group and Audit) that has enabled him to be successful in:
- delivering effective and pragmatic Governance, Risk & Compliance frameworks tailored to the needs and the culture of the organisation by
- combining high quality thought-leadership with strong stakeholder engagement
- managing ambiguity (politics), diversity (cultures) & complexity (operations)
- creating a can-do/ positive attitude to change.