I recently assumed the role of Global Managing Director of Hays Talent Solutions, where I’m responsible for ensuring that our clients benefit from intelligent resourcing solutions that are consistent and “world class”, regardless of their geographic location. I’m really excited about the expansion of the role. My plan is to build a globally aligned strategy that supports our evolution and growth, delivered through investment in our people, processes and technology.
Whatever reservations and anxieties you may harbour, your boss can’t fire you for asking for a pay rise. It’s simply a case of, if you don’t ask then you won’t get.
Have you ever considered that you might be in the wrong career and that now is the time to do something about it? Weighing up your options and then deciding to make the switch can be understandably nerve-racking. In my case however, taking this risk to pursue something I was passionate about was the best decision I ever made.
Being invited to an interview is exciting, and you may be keen to make an instant good impression on the employer and interviewer. One way not to do so, however, is to send a LinkedIn connection request to the interviewer.
Great leaders are one thing above all else, selfless. They are successful because they always put the team first. Everything they do is geared towards maximising the potential of their people, thus achieving the best collective result.
How do you bring scores of individual performers into one harmonious team? That’s the demanding task of Ian Maclay, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra’s Managing Director.
What drew you to the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO)?
I believe that every junior can learn an awful lot from their superiors
I came to the Royal Philharmonic by accident. I studied music intending to play professionally, but when I met my peers – who were far better players than I was, and still weren’t earning a living – I decided to work in music, but not as a musician.
I joined as a bookkeeper, working my way up (with extraordinary luck) and learning as I went. I owe the Orchestra everything in terms of my career. I believe every junior can learn an awful lot from their superiors (and their mistakes), and that if you stay around long enough, you might get a chance to put it into practice.
What do you enjoy most about your role?
I enjoy the company of the musicians immensely, and everyone at the RPO is afforded the chance to enjoy the end product of our work. That’s not something every organisation allows.
How do you recruit the players?
Each recruitment is a two-year process of audition tapes, trial periods and performances.
All the players have been playing at a high level since their mid-teens, and been through orchestras, scholarships and elite academies – perhaps even being loaned an instrument worth hundreds of thousands of pounds. Those who can manage all of that time and cost might then choose to apply for a job at an orchestra such as ours.
We have 84 players, but there can be 300 applicants for each post. Each recruitment is a two-year process of audition tapes, trial periods and performances. Once we have a position down to perhaps six brilliant applicants, it can come down to how well they settle on a long tour of the US, for example, or how the principal conductor feels their style complements the rest of the orchestra.
Is managing performers difficult?
It’s a relationship that has to rely on mutual respect, but some conductors can be difficult to work with
The orchestra is a workers’ cooperative, with new players buying themselves in as those leaving sell their shares. The players employ people such as me to work for them, and they are really driven by a mutual interest in perfection. Getting the top performance is down to the conductor, and my team and I act as talent scouts to sign rising conductors to the orchestra for several years, before they become too popular and expensive.
Interestingly, as the conductor reports to the company, the players in effect employ their manager and management team. It’s a relationship that has to rely on mutual respect, but some conductors can be difficult to work with, even if they are talented. It’s my job to hire the ones that draw the very best performances from our orchestra.
If you enjoyed the above blog then you might also appreciate these other articles, which too originally appeared in the Hays Journal:
It may sound crazy to ask the above question; after all, isn’t the answer obvious? Isn’t high performance just about consistently delivering results? Yes, in part, but I’d call that a performing team, not a high performing team.
Ultimately, a high performing team meets and exceeds its goals, and it does this by ensuring the team’s performance is more than the sum of its parts.
Why are high performing teams so rare?
Senior team leadership is both the most challenging and the most rewarding aspect of a leader’s role
Only one out of five teams are high performing (Wageman et al, 2008). Leading a top team to high performance is an art and a craft that can take years to practically learn and then master. Yet, most senior executives find themselves leading teams without the requisite skillset to do so; by that I mean, without the necessary training, development or comprehensive tutelage from role models throughout their own career.
Senior team leadership is both the most challenging and the most rewarding aspect of a leader’s role. It’s a craft that demands constant refinement and improvement.
Top teams do it differently
High performing top teams pull together to achieve more than the sum of their parts. They relentlessly strive for success, and challenge themselves to achieve ever greater performance and effectiveness.
High performing teams pull together to achieve more than the sum of their parts
As with top athletes, many high performing teams consult with coaches to increase their performance. Coaches assist the team to review and fine-tune their performance and assist in making sure that their energy and focus are being channelled correctly.
Two essential behaviours of a high performing team
Clarity of objectives. You’d be amazed at how many top teams I coach that haven’t set clear goals. Without goal you can’t be clear on what success looks like. If we don’t know where we want to go, we’re unlikely to arrive!
The difference with a high performing team is that they have team goals which move the business towards greater success. If the only goals your team sets are individual performance targets, then you’re making the common mistake of aiming for the sum of the parts. If you have team goals, you are setting your sights on optimum performance.
High Performance Team Activity 1
Work as a team to identify the game-changing, transformational goals that the team needs to collectively achieve in the next 6-12 months that will deliver outstanding performance.
Collective focus on objectives. When you focus on goals as a team, you’re leveraging the collective wisdom and talent of everyone; engaging the whole team towards achieving success for both themselves and the organisation.
If you have team goals, you are setting your sights on optimum performance
In my experience, it is common to find a senior team where some members only focus on their own outcomes and performance. Without shared focus on team goals, it is common for some team members to appear to be ‘high-flyers’ at the expense of those who are ‘low flyers’ – known so only because they are forced into doing work that the ‘high-flyers’ have surrendered themselves responsibility of.
High Performance Team Activity 2
After you set your collective team goals, focus your team’s energy on achieving these goals. To be a high performing team, the whole team needs to be focused on completing the collectively agreed top priorities to a high standard.
If team members are doing other things that aren’t in alignment with the new team goals, how can these lower priority tasks be redistributed, delayed or delegated so that the top team can focus on achieving the new goals? Agree together what success looks like and work together to make it happen.
