Does Your Organisation Exhibit the "Triple Threat" Leadership?
posted 19th May 2016
I've often spoken of the need for a holistic approach to project delivery at focus groups & clan meetings. Every so often at these conferences and seminars, I've noted that fellow professionals had little or no idea of this phenomenon.
The World as we know it is changing rapidly, and the business world needs help to keep up. With technological advances, Companies are packing up, and competing with the big players is becoming nearly impossible. It's, therefore, no surprise as to why 50% of IT projects fail. Lack of resources, i.e. competent team members, also contributes to the failure (Innotas 2013). I do not doubt that project and innovation failure will continue to arise unless the project environment realises and implements what is known as the "Triple Threat" leadership.
Triple Threat leadership originated from the idea that leaders can:
1. Articulate a project's 'why' and communicate the product or service vision.
2. Possess the necessary capability to articulate the Process and Strategic direction of the product.
3. Drive the change through the human aspect of change management.
The Triple Threat leader must excel in areas such as Product, Innovation/process and People. To exhibit Triple Threat Leadership, an organisation must be Strategic, Visionary and keep its audience Engaged with the latest development. In addition, knowledge of the Why, What, Who and How should be vital to delivering a project or improving a process. Gone are the days when professionals raise their hands in glory to say; hey, over here, I am a Subject Matter Expert, or I am a genius of a product A and B.
Take a moment and imagine a company like Apple. A friend recently bought me an iPhone 6s Plus for my birthday (my first ever Apple phone), and as thrilled as I was, my excitement was met with excellent customer satisfaction with the people and the processes. The purchasing process was almost timeless, and a receipt was sent immediately to my email (even though I had purchased the phone in-store and not online). Have you noticed that Apple rarely spends money on marketing and advertisement (unless a new product is coming)? I have never walked past an Apple store and observed a queue. Apple has its stores staffed with individuals who share the same strategic vision and knowledge as those at higher level management - a concept implemented by the late Steve Jobs and adopted by the current CEO Tim Cook.
Many Organisations strive to be at the top but need to utilise the inter-relationship between Products, Innovation/processes and People. I firmly believe that dissection of these areas would reveal the need for a "Triple Threat" leader in an environment where leaders are responsible for Managing Projects, Analysing the Business and Controlling Change. In other words, a great "Triple Threat" Leader can utilise project management skills, business analysis tools and techniques and change management qualities to affect the "To-Be" of an organisation. It is also worth noting that a single individual may not have the time to perform the Triple Threat function; however, an organisation that sees itself as a leader will do well to have Triple Threat capabilities instilled within departments, agile teams and management teams.
Integral Agile has made it easy for leaders to attain Triple Threat leadership by looking at transformation and change from an integral perspective. Next time you embark on a new project or process improvement, take a leap of faith and become your team's "Triple Threat" leader. You will be amazed that you would have realised the bigger picture and added tremendous value to your team and organisation.
