DisasTruss lessons on leadership
What the shortest-serving PM teaches us about executive transition
Intro
Liz Truss lasted just 45 days as Prime Minister
The purpose in examining this tale is not to dwell on the politics or the narrative around it, but to appreciate it as a very visible example of how power dynamics play out across any organization.
Background
The death blow was Truss’ first major initiative, the mini-budget she and her chancellor, Kwarteng, released that promised £45 billion worth of ‘unfunded’ tax cuts.
In response the pound hit a record low against the dollar as the markets freaked out.
Truss first tried to backtrack by making a U-turn on the budget. That did not work. So she fired her friend Kwarteng.
Shortly thereafter her party rebelled and refused to vote along party lines in an unrelated matter in the Commons and Truss knew she had lost the backing of all her allies. She resigned.
Principle
Results lead to brand
Brand leads to access (informal power)
Access leads to power
This virtuous cycle of results increasing brand, access, and power, enables individuals to deliver more results, which repeats the cycle.
A deathspiral occurs when bad results decrease brand, access, and power, restricting the ability to operate and thus reducing results.
Applying The Principles
1. Early results set the tone and establish power
Your first 30-90 days in any new thing (role, project, company) are vital. It's important to stack early wins because they provide insulation from pressure and reversals (both of which are inevitable).
2. The right results are all that matter. Who are you getting results for?
Knowing your stakeholders' agendas is vital because results are in the eye of the beholder. The Truss U-turn was a disaster.
First she lost all credibility with one half of the population by doing A, then she lost all credibility with the other half of the population by NOT doing A.
If she had been clear from the start that the financial district was her most important stakeholder, she would have checked with them before springing the disasTruss mini-budget on them. If the financial district was not her most important stakeholder, what powerful ally did she have in her corner to protect her from it?
Either she picked the wrong stakeholder or failed to manage her actual stakeholder, or both.
This principle applies to all of us in our roles. Whose agenda are you working on, how much power do they have, and what are the competing forces above your head?
This applies not because you can change these things, but because you can manage what YOU do in acknowledgement of them.
3. Your team are your brand and are therefore your power.
Truss and Kwarteng are old friends.
She gave him too much leeway to deliver an experimental budget. Her allegiance should have been to her stakeholders, not her friend.
In the end, backing her friend completely took them both down.
Truss took additional damage by backing someone with such terrible business judgment both formally and informally. As a leader if you can't choose and empower a good team, what are you there for?
Your team therefore are your results. They are your brand. They are your power.
4. Summary
Stacking easy wins early, keeping your stakeholders close (and being clear who they are), and ensuring your team are top class are VITAL. These are not just good ideas that can improve your performance, they are the fundamental building blocks of the entire game.
You can get the slides from the video here