I had the good fortune to hear Lord Victor Adebowale, CEO of Turning Point and one of the first ‘People’s Peers‘ speak yesterday about leadership. It was a personal discussion where he talked about his experiences as he turned a not for profit health care entity that is heavily regulated into a ‘business’, growing it from 900 people that was about to be cut off by the government to a highly successful 2800 person team of professionals that is green across the board and delivering on their promise of ‘Turning Lives Around’.

A few discussion points stuck with me:

• The first lesson in leadership is that it is a risky business. When you are leading, risks need to be taken and the responsibility lies with you. In his role, he was the 5th CEO in as many years.
• Change will feel very uncomfortable. He discussed how there were people in the organization trying to change when he go there and they were not well liked because they were not part of the cultural norm, ‘doing it differently’. Many of those people and their unique projects were fostered and in the end became some of the biggest growth and innovation areas.
• There are times where you just have to say ‘Just get on with it’. Buy in and discussion is required, but some times you just have to go!
• Most organizations have an ‘us’ and a ‘them’ mentality (i.e. Front line staff and management). To be successful, it needs to be ‘we’.
• Individual brand buys fellowship, whether you are a CEO or a line manager.
• During the change, when at the lowest point, he had to keep reminding himself to remain neutral in viewpoint. Do not celebrate the positive too much, it could be false and do not get despondent about the negative, it could be short term pain. Remain neutral and realistic, keep that steady head.

On a personal level, he is an admirable man. When asked where does he take his inspiration from, he did not turn to Nelson Mandela or some great theologian, he talked about the guy who drives the bus who lives in public housing, in a rough neighborhood, who has raised 3 children who are all off to university. You could tell, he is an authentic leader and he does wake up each day ready to turn people’s lives around.