Size does not matter to believers

By VICKI JAYNE

Good news, chaps: size doesn't matter - but confidence does.

New Zealand may be a bitty blob on the global map but it could gain a lot more clout from its unique set of strengths if it ditched its small-country complex and developed a keen sense of self-worth, says leadership consultant Rob Maybery.

"We need to acknowledge what we have in this country; to engender a sense of positivity about what we do well and stop comparing ourselves to Australia or anywhere else."

Mr Maybery speaks with an almost missionary zeal. Originally from South Africa and with 16 years of international corporate and consulting experience under his belt, he chooses to base himself in New Zealand because he would rather work in a business environment he describes as more innovative and progressive than he has found elsewhere.

"I believe that in terms of its cognitive and technical abilities, New Zealand is in the top 5 per cent worldwide. There's a lot of talent here and a willingness to test new ideas."

What we lack is the confidence to chase growth on our own terms rather than emulating others.

"The country really needs to focus on what it does well; to build on the business niches that are already emerging here - viticulture, biotechnology, software, tourism, etc - rather than be distracted by what we are not."

What we are not, of course, is big - but business enterprises do not need size to be successful.

Mr Maybery blames the seduction of scale for prompting local companies to launch themselves across the Tasman despite evidence (Air New Zealand is one recent example) that this can be self-destructive.

"We seem to have this real fascination with being bigger than we are instead of recognising what we do well."

His diagnosis: emotional under-development. A lack of confidence in who we are and what we are capable of is stunting business development, not size or skills.

That is an area he is keen - and qualified - to address.

A clinical psychologist who also has a law degree, Rob Maybery's background includes extensive research and consulting in leadership assessment and development.

He was part of a research team which identified key leadership behaviours of chief executives that were integral to the consistency of top-performing South African companies, and has been involved in developing new leadership assessment tools and programmes.

"The challenge is around emotional competence and the real focus of my return here is to work with big and small corporates to develop the levels of emotional intelligence in business leadership."

He has worked in New Zealand before, immigrating here to build a consulting business in the mid-90s, before being driven away by a sense that the country had seriously lost its way.

The National Government, mired in micro-economic issues and the "petty politics" of MMP, squandered opportunities to take the country onto its next growth level, says Mr Maybery.

It failed to appreciate the fundamental attractiveness of New Zealand and to enhance the learning/knowledge economy by tapping "very talented people."

The failure in national confidence both reflects and is reflected by a lack of self-confidence at individual leadership level. And chief executives who are psychologically and emotionally insecure destroy businesses, says Mr Maybery.

"That's because their insecurity generates political fiefdoms, poor communication and anarchy within the business.

"For too long we've had people in leadership positions who are emotionally bankrupt. They are clinical, detached and inner-directed in terms of feelings and emotion."

Self-absorption makes it hard for managers to identify and accept their own areas of fallibility and to be generous in encouraging others, Mr Maybery says.

"Praise for a job well done is not a luxury commodity, it's an everyday necessity and psychologically a great cornerstone builder of self-confidence. But it's something sadly missing in most companies."

Another problem is executives who pay lip-service to leadership credos but fail to walk the talk.

"A chief executive has to be committed and authentic.

"There are inauthentic leaders out there who profess to practise certain behaviours but do something quite different.

"That is the whole tenor of my work with executives - creating the sense of self-awareness and self-knowledge that gives their leadership authenticity.

"Our greatest challenge is for people to become more individualistic, to be more in touch with their own emotions and be able to communicate that."

Lack of confidence leads to business conformity. For example, he believes both Australia and New Zealand have been besotted, to their detriment, with shareholder value creation.

"A lot of business CEOs could gain from reading the interview with Nestlés Peter Brabeck [in February's Harvard Business Review] in relation to resisting the pressure for short-term profits from Wall St analysts and money managers. There is nothing wrong with slow, steady growth.

"We really must choose not to conform. My experience in Australia is that what is holding that country back is lack of tolerance to difference.

"I call it psycho-sclerosis - a hardening of attitude that causes loss of flexibility.

"We lose the ability to entertain different ways of thinking and of working."

But the central tenet to success is self-belief: "Talent and hard work will get you so far but in the absence of self-belief, you will seldom achieve."

* vjayne@iconz.co.nz