Jose Ruiz

A few years ago I had a conversation about change with Mike Osterling. My lean manufacturing mentor and consultant. The topic revolved around change management and how it became easier as an organization embraced constant change as part of its culture. My theory was that at some point there would be no need for change management if change became part of the culture and the operating environment. Mike respectfully disagreed.

At that point our discussion was focused on organizations that struggled with change and struggled adapting to a changing environment. A place in time where leaders had to nudged the members of their organization to rethink the way things were being done. Leaders pushed to reinvent the business and innovate. This was the period in time that made reengineering popular. The challenge of leadership was to make sure the team kept up with a changing environment.

Times are changing. Leaders beware: your challenge when it comes to change management is about to shift.

The generation that entered the workforce with the mindset of building a life long career with a steady hand in a corporation is at retirement age. Leadership positions are now being filled by the generation that challenged the status quo. A generation of leaders that learned to manage change and developed executive skills to push the previous generation towards innovation is gradually facing the challenge of managing a generation that does not know status quo. The dream of a culture of change has been realized. These coming generations are built on a higher rate of change.

Consider that everything we do is based on intervals. Everything we do is a cycle. From communication to our strategic planning. Those intervals are getting shorter.  Our main form of communication has gone from letters to emails to txt msgs. Our planning horizons are shorter. We are iterating faster. We correct faster.  Which is good right?  The next generation of executives is built on speed, multitasking and bursts. A generation that feels a phone call is restrictive because you can only carry one conversation at a time.

We are at the inflection where the challenge of change managment is going to shift from helping teams transition to keeping teams focused and helping them stay on track.

Am I getting old?

About Heidrick & Struggles International, Inc.

 The world’s premier provider of senior-level executive search and leadership consulting services. The firm’s executive recruiters and leadership experts operate from principal business centers in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia Pacific. In Mexico, Heidrick & Struggles operates offices in Mexico City and Monterrey. For more information about Heidrick & Struggles please visit www.heidrick.com

Leadership Change, Jose Ruiz, Leadership, Manufacturing, Mexico Executive Search, Recruiter, Recruiters

A study to quantify and map the quality of human capital in 2008 and 2013

If we consider talent to be a global commodity, as precious as oil or water, then it should be possible to analyze it as a commodity; to predict its supply and demand. The Global Talent Index, developed in collaboration with the Economist Intelligence Unit, explored the distribution of talent in the world in 2007 and 2012.

When we developed the Global Talent Index, only three Latin American countries – Argentina, Brazil and Mexico – were included; their low performance within the global context came as no surprise.  The Latin America Talent Index uses the same methodology but allows closer examination of the region’s talent pool by assessing: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela.

In the past, the challenge for Latin American companies has been access to capital and technology in a market dominated by exporting, mining and agribusiness, oligopolies and government controlled companies. Business interests were dependent on government actions and vice versa. Leadership was important, but not a key success factor in fostering corporate growth and profitability.

Unprecedented advances have occurred since the early-1990s, helped by the opening up of markets, deregulation, the modernization of economies, greater integration and interaction with global markets, the development of local financial and capital markets, and the creation of large global companies headquartered in the region (‘multi-latinas’).  As a result, leadership and talent have started to emerge as important competitive factors. The 2008 global financial downturn has created new priorities and placed new demands on the current leaders. In the short term, companies may be concerned with quarterly results but in the long term the differentiator will be their ability to identify, develop and retain highly qualified talent. The Latin America Talent Index reveals such talent will continue to be scarce over the next five years, posing a challenge to companies and economies eager to continue their growth and consolidation.

Permanently reversing this trend relies heavily on government policies, business strategies and cultural values, and practical results may take time to appear. But as soon as awareness is raised amongst businesses, governments and individuals, and affirmative action adopted, the present and projected talent shortfall will start to be reversed.

This study represents an important first step in this process.

Manoel Rebello, Regional Managing Partner, Latin America
Heidrick & Struggles

| Download Full Latin America  Report (PDF document)

| Download Full Global Report (PDF document)

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It’s not a cliche. Leadership is not about the leader, yet many forget.
By Jose Ruiz

If you collected every single article that defines leadership, you’d probably have reading material for a many years and you’d probably go crazy with ideas and suggestions on how to improve your leadership skills.

Leadership is much like parenting. You can read a lot, you can be taught, you can be mentored and guided, but in the end your leadership style will be unique to your experiences and specific situations. There will seldom be black or white answers. However, just like parenting, the one irrefutable characteristic about true leadership is that it is not about you. Good leadership is not reflected in the leader’s actions, it is reflected in the impact and effect of those actions on the team.

This is not a plea for servant leadership, a humble leader, leading from the back, or leading softly. I believe in that, but I don’t believe a good leader can, or should be that all the time.  A leader should adapt to the environment and what the team needs today without losing sight of what will be needed tomorrow and always preparing for that moment when he or she will no longer be there. Guaranteeing the growth and sustainability of the team and the individuals that comprise it beyond the leader’s time is the ultimate trait of a great leader. In fact, the true success of a leader can not be measured without considering the results of the succession plan.

About Heidrick & Struggles International, Inc.
The world’s premier provider of senior-level executive search and leadership consulting services. The firm’s executive recruiters and leadership experts operate from principal business centers in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia Pacific. In Mexico, Heidrick & Struggles operates offices in Mexico City and Monterrey. For more information about Heidrick & Struggles please visit www.heidrick.com

Leadership Jose Ruiz, Leadership, LinkedIn, Mexico Executive Search, Mexico Recruiter, Mexico Recruiters, Succession Planning

Back in 1997 FastCompany published this must read article by Tom Peters in its 10th issue. The article takes on a new meaning in today’s web 2.0 environment. Sites like Facebook, Twitter and the blogsphere are a few of the tools that we currently have to brand ourselves and like Tom puts it: be the CEO of Me Inc.

- Jose

The Brand Called You
by Tom Peters | Fast Company, Issue 10, 1997

Big companies understand the importance of brands. Today, in the Age of the Individual, you have to be your own brand. Here’s what it takes to be the CEO of Me Inc.

It’s a new brand world.

That cross-trainer you’re wearing — one look at the distinctive swoosh on the side tells everyone who’s got you branded. That coffee travel mug you’re carrying — ah, you’re a Starbucks woman! Your T-shirt with the distinctive Champion “C” on the sleeve, the blue jeans with the prominent Levi’s rivets, the watch with the hey-this-certifies-I-made-it icon on the face, your fountain pen with the maker’s symbol crafted into the end …

You’re branded, branded, branded, branded.

It’s time for me — and you — to take a lesson from the big brands, a lesson that’s true for anyone who’s interested in what it takes to stand out and prosper in the new world of work…

| Read Tom’s article here

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Celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, the AESC (Association of Executive Search Consultants) recently marked the occasion with its annual conference in New York City, themed Globalization: The Leadership Challenge. In recognition of this milestone anniversary, there was a special Gala Dinner honoring search industry leaders past and present, including our very own, Roger Stoy (New York).

The presentations and panel discussions explored the leadership challenge in this new era of globalization. Joined by other CEOs from the executive search industry, Kevin Kelly, Heidrick & Struggles’ CEO, participated in a lively panel discussion focusing on the demand for executive search, the effects of globalization on the industry and how we operate, the pros and cons of the traditional retained executive search business model and the future of advisory services offerings.

Almost no one’s looking to fill top jobs right now–except banks, and no one wants to work for them. …Part of the problem is a “supply and demand issue,” said Kevin. “People don’t want to take the jobs that are available as CEOs of financial service companies.”

Discussing the possible threat of social-networking websites and other job sites to the executive search industry, Peter Felix, the association’s president commented, “I don’t want to be completely cavalier, but LinkedIn is terrific for what it does, but it doesn’t do senior-level assessment and recruiting. I am convinced there is a need for high-quality, high-touch, highly professional service at this level of management.”

The AESC’s annual conference provides high caliber content and top level attendees from the worldwide executive search industry.

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By Jose Ruiz

What a difference context makes in our perceptions of leadership.  After 9/11 I once asked a group of friends from New York what they thought of Rudolph Giuliani. They unanimously replied that he was a great leader – decisive, assertive, and determined, with the ability to inspire a sense of security in a time of fear and crisis. When Mayor Giuliani later ran for President I asked the same group the same question.  They then said, again unanimously, that he was a poor leader – stubborn, hard-headed, and prone to making unilateral decisions. 

In a context of immediate crisis, Giuliani’s character and management style had made him appear to my friends to be an exemplary leader.  But when the context changed from an immediate crisis to the challenge of leading a nation of many voices and political differences over the long term what they had once seen as decisiveness and assertiveness struck them as inflexibility.  

Certainly, decisiveness, assertiveness, and determination are typically cited as key traits for a great leader.  So are integrity, intelligence, self-confidence, and – in the world of commerce – general and industry-specific business acumen.  But as the work of Heidrick & Struggles with boards and CEOs over many decades shows and as a series of recent conversations with leaders and others confirms, there are other, often overlooked traits of leadership that enable leaders to stand the test of time.  It is these traits, coupled with the other more obvious leadership qualities like decisiveness, that are particularly valuable in times of deep and prolonged crisis like the current recession.  

“The key is adaptability,” says Gilad Langer, Product Strategist and Technical Leader at Camstar Systems, a leading provider of enterprise manufacturing execution and quality systems.  He explains that people who are continuously perceived as great leaders adapt to what is required at each moment to remain effective influences on the teams they lead.  As business technology consultant Gary Clarke, puts it, “The qualities of leadership that are respected and admired by others shift with the demands of time and as the group’s needs and perceptions shift as well.”   About the current economic situation he says, “Right now, someone who can demonstrate empathy, clarity and sacrifice would be nice to see as opposed to greed and aloofness.”  George Dakos, Managing Director of Stedima Business Consultants, Athens agrees. “The great leader,” he says, “should be able to act as a beam of courage and optimism for others when they are hit by the crisis blues.”

However, that doesn’t mean that employees want to be shielded from the truth.  Most people when asked what they expect from their leaders in times of economic crisis say they want honest communication and transparency. Avi Singer, Director of Organizational Development at Undertone Networks, an online advertising network, calls it “sincerity.”  He points out that people would much rather hear bad news, prepare themselves, and act rather than live in anxiety. As an executive from a Fortune 100 company observed after she was laid off: “I’m concerned about my future, but I’m grateful to the organization for the way they went about doing things. The public announcement regarding cuts was made on Monday. They told us who was being laid off on Tuesday, and on Wednesday the CEO announced it was over.”

Many people agree that empathy, transparency, and other traits that provide comfort and stability are what employees want in their leaders now. However, a leader’s responsibility goes beyond what people want now.  Leaders must also bear the burden of balancing current needs against the needs of the future, a balancing act that requires courage, especially in times of economic crisis.  Says Kevin Kelly, CEO of Heidrick & Struggles, “Courage in leadership is about making decisions that are for the benefit of the organization over oneself.” 

As these conversations indicate, these uncertain times call for leaders with a subtle mix of characteristics.   They must provide comfort and stability, show empathy, exude optimism, proceed transparently and sincerely – all while making difficult decisions, taking courageous action, and decisively guiding their teams.  That’s a tall order, but we’ve seen it fulfilled time and again by great leaders in times of crisis.

Jose Ruiz is a Principal in Heidrick & Struggles’ Monterrey office. As an Executive Recruiter / Executive Search Consultant he has served multinational clients in industrial sectors and consumer markets. He can be reached at +52 (811) 1771-4507 or jruiz@heidrick.com

About Heidrick & Struggles International, Inc.
Heidrick & Struggles International, Inc. is the world’s premier provider of senior-level executive search and leadership consulting services, including talent management, board building, executive on-boarding and M&A effectiveness. For more than 50 years, we have focused on quality service and built strong leadership teams through our relationships with clients and individuals worldwide. Today, Heidrick & Struggles executive recruiters and leadership experts operate from principal business centers in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia Pacific. In Mexico, Heidrick & Struggles operates offices in Mexico City and Monterrey. For more information about Heidrick & Struggles please visit www.heidrick.com

Leadership Executive Recruiter, Leadership, LinkedIn, Mexico Executive Search

I remember asking a group of friends from New York after 9/11 what they thought of Rudolph Giuliani. The response was that they believed he was a great leader. They described him as decisive, assertive and determined, able to inspire a sense of security in a time of fear and crisis. When Giuliani was running for President I asked the same group what they thought and they said they believed Giuliani was not a good leader. He was stubborn, hard headed and made unilateral decision. It was obviously not the answer I was expecting but made me realize that at the time, in crisis, Giuliani’s character and management style made him a good leader but his style was not perceived flexible enough and at least this group of individuals felt that he did not evolve as circumstances and the environment changed.

What makes a good leader? His character and style? My hypothesis is that that it is his/her ability to adapt to what is required at the time to successfully guide the people that he/she leads. What makes a good leader in times of economic crisis?

Please comment!

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