Evolving C-suite dynamics: five key takeaways from the InX Leadership Summit
The second InX Leadership Summit took place on Thursday 15th June at 11 Cavendish Square in London. The InX team were joined by our executive community for a talk from Dame Inga Beale, former CEO of Lloyd’s of London and workplace equality advocate, who discussed her fascinating career and offered her tips for modernising the boardroom and C-suite dynamics. Here are our key takeaways from the discussion.
Transformation is timeless
Whether it’s a traditional business looking to digitise or a start-up putting a corporate structure in place to help it grow and scale, transformation is equally relevant to businesses of all types. Dame Inga transformed Lloyd’s of London in a variety of ways, both culturally and digitally, during her five-year period as CEO.
Transformation is also nothing new. In fact, one of the questions raised in the discussion was whether there’s another word for transformation. Evolution? Advancement? Modernisation? It’s not a single, one-off alteration to the way a business works that equips it for the many and unforeseen challenges of the future. It’s a constant state of adjustment and modification.
Culture change must start in the boardroom
“In rugby, you need all sorts to be successful and are valued for the skills you bring to the team.”
Dame Inga’s first female role model was her boss at the BBC. The most important aspect wasn’t that she was a woman – but the fact that nobody talked about her being a woman. “It changed my idea of how I was going to treat my career,” said Dame Inga.
But it was at GE Capital – where she was proactively put into a management role because she was the only woman – that she really understood the importance of diversity in an organisation. “Today we’re still having debates about whether we should proactively put people into roles. I would never have got a leadership role in insurance if I hadn’t been the only woman.”
Stop making corporate clones
While tackling the digitisation of Lloyd’s entire underwriting process, Dame Inga already knew that people engagement was far more important than the digitisation itself: “It’s all about the culture and all about the people and nothing to do with the tech itself.”
In an organisation steeped in its heritage with a very particular set of cultural norms, the first challenge of digitisation was always going to be a human one. Dame Inga was faced with a culture where everyone dressed the same and spoke the same, with dissenting voices being hard to find. Young people came into the organisation, saw what was rewarded and worked hard to fit in (or left), perpetuating existing practices and exacerbating a change-resistant culture that started in the boardroom. Implementing digitisation was the straightforward part. Before this could even start, there had to be a significant cultural shift from the top down.
Continuously evolve … even if you’re successful
“I knew I couldn’t do the digitisation and modernisation without the people.”
Then again, why change if you’re successful? Dame Inga experienced resistance in a very traditional and hierarchical institution where people hid behind committees: “If people aren’t empowered, you will have resistance.” So she set about demolishing these committees and giving people a voice.
The exco team operated in an old-fashioned way, with limited access for non-exec employees to the executive floor and CEO’s office. To break down these cultural barriers, Dame Inga removed the physical ones by introducing an open plan layout and putting the CEO’s desk in the middle of the floor. She also created a diverse shadow board to challenge and provide different perspectives. These measures started to change the culture.
The importance of being open and human
These days, all communications from leadership have to be real. People no longer want to hear a bland, inauthentic corporate message. So Dame Inga introduced a culture of openness and two-way communications, including a leadership blog and reverse mentoring for the entire exco.
The key to your communications? Simplicity. “Expensive consultancy firms often make everything complicated. If you’re making change happen, you need to bang on about the message. It needs to be simple so that your customers understand why it’s relevant to them.”
Honesty’s a big part of that. It’s important to debate contentious topics around the boardroom, get people’s views and openly communicate the reasons for decisions. “I believe that’s the kind of leadership we need today and what people expect of you.”
Many thanks to Dame Inga for her insight and to everyone who attended. We will be exploring each topic in more detail over the next few weeks so watch this space.
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