For this episode, I had the opportunity to connect with Mara Swan who is currently an Operating Partner with Stonepeak, a leading alternative investment firm that invests in companies around the world.
During our conversation, I asked Mara what she thought were the most important leadership capabilities needed to be effective in today’s world. She quickly responded with leaning into change and driving performance. And so, that was our launch pad for our discussion on change and performance.
A bit about Mara Swan. She is currently an Operating Partner with Stonepeak, and her strategic role is to focus on talent. Prior to Stonepeak, she was an executive with ManpowerGroup, a $20B global workforce solutions company with over 30,000 employees across 80 countries. During her time at Manpower, she was responsible for Strategy, HR, Marketing, PR & Communications, ESG, Thought Leadership, Risk Management, and the Right Management brand.
Prior to ManpowerGroup, Mara was Senior Vice President of Global HR at MolsonCoors Brewing Company.
Today, in addition to Stonepeak Mara is on several private and public boards and provides guidance on HR strategy, talent and leadership.
SHOW NOTES:
Takeaways around embracing change and driving performance.
- Change continues to be a common thread within organizational life and it’s not slowing. Changes impacting talent and leadership include: changing demographics of the workforce, globalization of the supply chains, individualization, decreasing health of the workforce, increasing competition, and the list goes on.
- Leaders need to be aware of these external changes and not just benchmark against themselves.
- These cyclical changes are impacting the supply of talent, and it’s important for leaders to think of themselves as being “talent magnets.”
- Leaders are responsible for developing talent which not all leaders believe is their role or responsibility.
- Leaders have to be better at structuring work. Stress levels are high, and when the conditions are such leaders tend to get busy and bogged down.
- Leaders need some basic tools for structure their work such as bringing a scientific analysis to problem solving, using data sets to make decisions, exploring new options, and then making recommendations on how best to move forward.
- A leader’s job is to help their teams and team members do the work, not do the work themselves. The job of the leader is to get resources.
- Leaders need to be better at fostering creativity that leads to agility. Creativity can look like asking more questions, getting people to expand their thinking, and looking to outside books/mentors for ideas, to name a few.
- Cultivate more positivity within teams and organizations.
- Define what a win looks like, define clear expectations.
- Make sure you have the right people in the right positions.
My 3 big leadership practices to grow and develop
- Become a talent magnet. Your job is to attract and develop your people. Get your people to want to work for you.
- Go back basics – set clear expectations, provide regular feedback and coaching, hold people accountable for results.
- Maintain a spirit of positivity. You have to believe you can do it. Winning is a positive tool for getting people engaged. Overcommunicate on what winning looks like!
