I recently interviewed Dr. Alicia Aitken , managing director
Asia Pacific, Human Systems International (HSI), to talk about the ins and outs
of leadership in today’s competitive business landscape. Aitken is a keynote speaker at the upcoming ProjectWorld & World Congress for Business
Analysts 2014 conference in Seattle. She will be presenting a keynote session
entitled, “Benchmarking Risk Management: What
Good Looks Like.”
Check out what Aitken
had to say:
IIR: How do you,
as a leader, stand out in a crowd in this competitive business world?
Aitken: Being
authentic. Today’s world is full of leadership models, business school taught
methods and processes. Leaders stand out by being authentic and true to who
they are and who they are leading.
IIR: What are
characteristics of a GREAT leader?
Aitken: For me,
great leaders are those that are not only visionary but are able to bring
people on the journey with them to share and understand the vision and inspire
them to want to work towards a better future state. Great leaders take the time
to know themselves as well as their team and work to leverage each team
members’ strengths on the journey. Great leaders lead with authenticity
and courage.
IIR: How does a successful
leader communicate?
Aitken: Often and
in many different ways. People hear and understand in different ways, it’s
important for leaders to work hard to find and use all the different
communication techniques, one-on-one, group messages, email, notice boards, texting
and most importantly, listening.
IIR: Can you name
a person who has had a tremendous impact on you as a leader? Maybe someone who
has been a mentor to you? Why and how did this person impact your life?
Aitken: Dr. Lynn
Crawford has been the most influential leader in my life. She has taught me not
only about project management but how to succeed in life by following your
passions, having the courage to live by your values no matter what, constantly
reflecting on your own practice to ensure you’re always improving, to open
doors for good people along the way and to have the courage to walk through
doors opened by others for you and the good grace to thank you as you step
through.
IIR: What are the
most important decisions you make as a leader of your organization or team?
Aitken: Who joins
the team.
IIR: As an
organization gets larger there can be a tendency for the “institution” to
dampen the “inspiration.” How do you keep this from happening?
Aitken: Encourage
all team members to voice ideas and try new things and have the self-control
when some of them inevitably fail not to get angry but talk through how we can
learn from the lesson.
IIR: How do you
encourage creative thinking within your team or organization?
Aitken: I try to
hire people with diverse backgrounds and diverse education paths so that my
teams are mixtures of different ways of thinking. The mix of people generates
ideas that spring from different origins which fosters creativity simply by
coming at problems from different perspectives.
IIR: Which is
most important to your organization or team? (mission, core values or vision?)
How do you communicate the “core values” to your team?
Aitken: Core
values are most important as they are the stable. The core values underpin the
delivery of changing missions and visions over time. The core values are
communicated both implicitly (I model them) and explicitly (I talk openly about
what the core values are, how they manifest in behaviors and why we have them).
IIR: How do you
help a new employee understand the culture of your organization?
Aitken: I talk to
them. We are small enough that I can talk to everyone one-on-one. As we grow
this will become less one-on-one and more through group sessions.
IIR: What is one
characteristic that you believe every leader should possess?
Aitken: Self awareness.
IIR: What is the
biggest challenge facing leaders today?
Aitken: I’m not
sure there are challenges that relate to today in particular. Leadership is a
base human need. It has been around for millennia and will continue into the
future.
IIR: What is the
one behavior that you have seen derail more leaders’ careers?
Aitken: Hubris.
IIR: Can you
explain the impact that social media has made on you as a leader?
Aitken: It has
given me one more mode of communicating and bonding with my team. It has
slipped into the mix along with everything else we do.
IIR: What advice
would you give someone going into a leadership position for the first time?
Aitken: Asking
questions shows you care not ignorance – listening is one of the best skills
you can employ with team members, clients and co-workers.
IIR: What are you
doing to ensure you continue to grow and develop as a leader?
Aitken: I am
constantly looking for people I think are good at things I am yet to learn and
try to model from their example
Aitken will be speaking at ProjectWorld
& World Congress for Business Analysts 2014, taking place in Seattle,
Washington September 22-24th at the W Hotel. The 2014 program is designed with
courses for all training levels, a robust agenda, and most importantly tangible
lessons which you can begin implementing the day you return to your office,
making you even more valuable to your organization. PW&WCBA offers
attendees 36 PDU/CDUs - that's more than half of the required credits necessary
to maintain your certification in just one place.
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