Insightful talk by acclaimed Cass Business School, City University London leadership expert Chris Roebuck
Dubai, 18 May 2014,
As the pressure to increase productivity continues to grow, organisations and leaders are increasingly faced with the challenge of extracting the best possible performance from employees. In light of this, The Capital Club, Dubai's premier private city club and member of the ENSHAA group of companies, in collaboration with Cass Business School, welcomed Chris Roebuck, Visiting Professor of Transformational Leadership at Cass Business School, City University London, for a highly insightful talk on entrepreneurial leader ship.
Speaking about the event, Emma Cullen, The Capital Club's General Manager, remarked, "The need for productivity has never been higher, a fact which we are keenly aware of in Dubai's fast paced business environment. There is immense pressure on companies to continually increase their performance and as we race forward this need will continue to grow. With this in mind we are extremely pleased to have welcomed Chris Roebuck to The Club. His insights into leadership, as well as detailing how simple steps can improve the impact of leadership on productivity, provided a fresh look at leadership excellence that our Members have found incredibly valuable."
First addressing why a change in paradigm with regards to leadership is needed, Chris Roebuck commented on the immense pressures that are being placed on employees across the board, "We are now at a point where we are beginning to reach the mental and physical limits of some of the people in our organisations. To overcome this challenge, one of the most effective solutions is collaboration driven by good leadership - people need to work better together to deliver what the organisation needs. Studies show that the importance of just doing your own work in relation to profitability has fallen from 78% to 51% while the importance of collaboration over and above your own work to deliver organisational objectives has risen from 22% to 49%. This, simple terms, means that if you just do your own work - the organisation will fail, because collaboration requires that you do other things as well. And it is interesting the degree to which that message has not yet gotten through."
He went on to remark that productivity is further hampered by individual's opinion of their employer and immediate superior. "Peoples' views of their bosses are quite often particularly good. One survey showed that most people would only want to work again for one in three of their previous bosses. This affects productivity. When asked only 60% of employees indicated they wanted to do their best for the organisation and of that 60% that want to do their best, 42% stated that they were not able to deliver their best because the organisation obstructed them in their process. This leaves a worryingly small segment of people who are in fact performing optimally."
Roebuck stated that the key challenge is to get people to maximise the effort they give to the organisation, because they want to give to the organisation and then, very importantly, focussing that effort on what really matters.
Giving and overview on his perspective, Roebuck classed leadership in organisations in three broad categories. The first is what he termed to be 'Basic Leadership'. These are organisations that are primarily concerned with maintaining the status quo. In these companies customers, employees, and management are "reasonably happy" and business is just "good enough", yet within this environment around 60% of employees are underperforming.
The next level he describes as Mach 1, which is where the leadership of the organisation is starting to engage employees on a significant level, which is the key to increasing discretionary effort - the additional effort that employees, who are already performing on a satisfactory level, can give. The third level of leadership - Mach 2 - is reached when this additional effort is then effectively channelled into achieving organisational objectives, which is where entrepreneurial leadership resides.
In an entrepreneurial leadership model, each leader is completely focused on efficiently maximising customer service. This is done through encouraging innovation and creativity, taking responsibility as a leader, continuously improving, and gaining a deep understanding of the organisation as a whole, and on a personal level by being a brand ambassador for the organisation.
Chris Roebuck has worked in senior HR roles in a number of global organisations and has advised many others, including HSBC, KPMG, Myanmar Red Cross, UK National Health Service, and the China Space Programme.
He was Global Head of Leadership at UBS during the implementation of one of the most successful corporate transformations, which is now a Harvard Business School Case study on transforming organisational performance, and is the author of a number of leading books, including his most recent title - 'Lead to Succeed - the only leadership book you need'.
The talk formed part of a series of events at The Capital Club aimed at providing the Club's Members with access to the latest developments and trends in the world of business. Previous events hosted this year included a panel discussion on the importance of technology in SME financing as well as an exploration of the Bitcoin phenomenon.
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About Capital Club Dubai:
Capital Club is Dubai's premier private City Club situated in the heart of the financial district - DIFC. A members-only Club in a contemporary setting for Members to network professionally and socially; dine and party; host private meetings; and attend a wealth of social and business events, covering emerging trends in arts, culture, media, social development, cuisine, business and travel. The Club is connected to over 250 premier private clubs around the world as part of its reciprocal club network. Capital Club Dubai is majority owned by Signature Clubs International, a member of the ENSHAA group of companies. As the developer and operator of the Capital Club brand, SCI has over 30 years experience in developing, launching and operating high-end private clubs in the Middle East, Europe and Asia. Its portfolio includes existing Clubs in Dubai, Bahrain and Nairobi, with upcoming initiatives planned in MENASA, Europe and the US, as part of a major five-year global roll out program.
For more information about the Capital Club, please visit:
For more information on Chris Roebuck's book see www.theonlyleadershipbook.com
Dubai Centre was established in 2007 in collaboration with Dubai International Financial Centre as a regional centre of educational excellence for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The Centre operates as a not-for-profit venture. It offers the internationally-acclaimed Cass Executive MBA (EMBA), tailor-made executive education, business services including consulting and high profile networking events and MSc programmes in Aviation. The EMBA offers MENA-based executives and professionals the opportunity to combine demanding work schedules with study near their home and work environments. The programme also attracts students from as far afield as Singapore, the USA and Azerbaijan. It was the world's first EMBA programme to offer specialist Islamic finance and energy modules and students can choose to specialise in entrepreneurship, finance or general management. The quality of education is guaranteed with London-based faculty flying in to provide the programme: www.cass.city.ac.uk/dubaicentre.
Cass Business School in London is part of City University London. Located in the heart of one of the world's leading financial centres, Cass is the business school for the City of London. It delivers innovative, relevant and forward-looking education, consultancy and research. Cass offers one of the widest portfolios of specialist Masters programmes and has the largest faculties of Finance and Actuarial Science & Insurance in Europe. It is ranked in the top 10 UK business schools for business, management and finance research with leading research centers in areas including Mergers and Acquisitions and Pensions. Entrepreneurship is another strength with the Peter Cullum Centre for Entrepreneurship, venture capital fund and sector research. The 2013 Financial Times EMBA rankings placed Cass fifth in the UK and 14th in Europe. The School is in the top one per cent of business schools worldwide to have received the gold standard of 'triple-crown' accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), the Association of MBAs (AMBA) and the European Quality Improvement System (EQUIS). It has a strong alumni network of over 35,000 which extends worldwide across a wide variety of companies and professions: www.cass.city.ac.uk.
City University London is a global University committed to academic excellence, with a focus on business and the professions and an enviable central London location. It is in the top five per cent of universities in the world according to the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2013/14 and is ranked in the top 10 in the UK for graduate-level jobs (The Good University Guide 2014) and in the top 5 for graduate starting salaries (Lloyds Bank).
The University attracts over 17,000 students (35% at postgraduate level) from more than 150 countries and academic staff from over 50 countries. Its academic range is broadly-based with world leading strengths in business; law; health sciences; engineering; mathematical sciences; informatics; social sciences; and the arts including journalism and music. The University's history dates back to 1894, with the foundation of the Northampton Institute on what is now the main part of City's campus. In 1966, City was granted University status by Royal Charter and the Lord Mayor of London was invited to be Chancellor, a unique arrangement that continues today. Professor Paul Curran has been Vice-Chancellor of City University London since 2010:
For more information, please contact:
Carmen Audino
SAHARA Communications
Tel: +971 4 3298996
Mob; 00971 554563251
Email: carmena@saharagcc.com
Web Site: www.saharagcc.com
© Press Release 2014
