How CEOs Can Design the Organization of the Future

According to Deedee Myers, Ph.D., in this latest episode of the CUES Podcast, more and more CEOs are looking at their organizations and asking themselves, “What does it need to be in the future?” The answer to that question, she says, has to be put in the context of unprecedented times with the hybrid remote work environment taking hold and the need for leadership skills really changing.

“As humans, we need to ‘North Star’ right now,” says Myers, CEO of DDJ Myers, an ALM First company, a CUESolutions provider and the sponsor of CUES’ Advancing Women publication. “We need a reason to come to work. We need to come together with one voice and have a place to go. Call it a vision or North Star organizing principle, we need to know why we matter every day. That’s lost right now in a lot of organizations. That's why a lot of CEOs are looking at the organization of the future. What is that compelling reason?”

Myers suggests that when CEOs are designing the organization of the future, they should talk with many stakeholders about “three time zones.” That is, they should have conversations about the credit union’s past, where it has been, what it has done; the credit union’s present, where it is, what is working, what is not working, what has stayed the same, what is changing; and of course, the credit union’s future, what it could be.

Myers suggests CEOs listen to not only what board members have to say but also executives, middle-level leaders, front-line staff and trusted vendors, including fintechs.

Going on such a “listening tour,” Myers emphasizes in the show, requires CEOs to look to remove their biases so they can get a fresh perspective and practice really good listening skills.

“I think the CEO has to shape themselves in a way that people will want to share and go below the surface,” she says. For example, it might seem simpler to have this conversation with the whole board at once. “But when we pick up the phone and talk to each board member, we get to hear really what they care about, and what they’re concerned about.”

The show also gets into:

• How to set the ground rules to support a successful listening tour
• The value of CEOs having a personal centering practice to help them listen to all feedback, even the difficult-to-hear feedback
• The value of intention and awareness in being a good listener
• Special considerations for new CEOs and female CEOs
• What to do with the information collection on a listening tour
• Identifying both low-hanging fruit leaders can address readily and deeper work the organization needs to do

Links

• DDJ Myers, an ALM First company
• Become a CUESolutions provider
• DDJ Myers sponsors Advancing Women
• Podcast 73: How to Smash a CEO Interview, with guests Deedee and Peter Myers