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Management mindsets that work: A leader’s guide

Matters of the mind ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ 
Leading Off

Brought to you by Liz Hilton Segel, chief client officer and managing partner, global industry practices, & Homayoun Hatami, managing partner, global client capabilities

For a long while, self-awareness and mindfulness were popular notions in new-age circles—though in the corporate world, not so much. After much research and, yes, contemplation, we now understand the connection between our internal and external environments to be critical to the success of leaders at all levels, and of the people they lead. An introspective, emotionally intelligent mindset is especially important for CEOs, whose words, behaviors, and decisions have an outsize impact on their organizations. This week, we look at the mindsets that great leaders bring to work.
An image linking to the web page “CEO excellence: How do leaders assess their own performance?” on McKinsey.com.

Whether you’re on the front line or the management team, some skills are bound to come more naturally than others. Indeed, McKinsey senior partners Gautam Kumra, Joydeep Sengupta, and Mukund Sridhar report that CEOs can be self-aware and aren’t always superhuman. Early results from a self-assessment of CEO performance show that corporate leaders tend to rate themselves highest on managing their personal effectiveness and lowest on engaging their boards of directors. While CEOs tend to say they have good relationships with their boards, they rate themselves lower at tapping the board’s wisdom and focusing board meetings on the future. The good news is that time and training can improve these skills. So can a mindset shift: the best CEOs think about the board’s expertise more expansively, embracing directors’ perspectives rather than relegating them to the sidelines.
An image linking to the web page “How to prepare for the CEO role” on McKinsey.com.

After interviewing exceptional CEOs for their bestselling book, CEO Excellence, senior partners Carolyn Dewar, Scott Keller, and Vik Malhotra uncovered an abundance of insights about this group’s habits—then distilled them into six mindsets that leaders of all stripes can learn from. In a recent interview, Dewar and Malhotra note the ways in which the best CEOs’ mindsets can make the difference. “On aligning the organization, the mindset of treating the soft stuff as hard stuff is a critical one,” Malhotra says. “On mobilizing through leaders, many great CEOs focused on the question, how do you create not just a team of stars but a star team?” Another key insight: that great leaders are built, not born. “Great CEOs come to the role with a certain drive, background, and education, but that’s a small part of the equation. The eight or ten roles they held before becoming CEOs prepared them to be bold in setting direction or to focus on what only they could do in their leadership models. Those are learned skills.”
An image linking to the web page “Overwhelmed? Just Say ‘No.’” on theatlantic.com.

Lead by bringing your best self to work.

– Edited by Daniella Seiler, executive editor, Washington, DC

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by "McKinsey Leading Off" <publishing@email.mckinsey.com> - 02:07 - 11 Mar 2024