Campbell McPherson is an international business advisor, keynote speaker, writer and award-winning author. Campbell helps CEOs and leadership teams align to a clear strategy, build enabling cultures and achieve the leadership of successful and sustainable change. Campbell, is a leadership development and change expert, who works with The Police College and Henley Business School. We were delighted to welcome Cameron back to the lovely Lygon Arms with 40 business leaders to deliver a session on: Extraordinary Leadership – what it is and how to become one.

We discussed where on the Chequerboard of Leadership and where do our teams lie on the Spectrum of Leadership Teams. Leadership today is not about hierarchy, it is about influence and delivering results through people. This is far from easy, for it involves influencing, herding and managing complex, often irrational, emotional humans. Leadership is not about telling people what to do: that never works (at least not for long).

Campbell explained that in his 25+ years of working with business leaders to be successful and sustainable the possess three core, critical skills:

The ability to deliver sustainable results
The ability to influence, motivate and empower people (Emotional Intelligence)
The ability to build extraordinary leadership teams

Extraordinary leaders focus in the delivery of outcomes that are sustainable, they hone their influencing skills and work on their emotional intelligence knowing that when it comes to leadership, EQ trumps IQ hands down, and they realise that 21st Century leadership is a team game, not a solo pursuit.

When it comes to the first two attributes of individual leadership (delivery and EQ), each different type of leader between the two extremes if woeful and extraordinary can be plotted on a simple matrix that he called the ‘The Chequerboard of Leadership’. It is a chequerboard as the leaders’ position on the board is not set in stone. We talked about where we would put ourselves and other members of our team on the grid – The Disaster Zone? On The Cusp? The Deliveroos?

Are members of the team in The Engine Room? Unlocking the potential of The Engine Room could transform your organisation.

Leadership Teams exist on a spectrum – from dysfunctional to extraordinary. Leadership teams exist at all levels of an organisation – and each one must be functioning as well as they can if the unit, division, department or organisation is to succeed.

It is always a pleasure to work at the lovely Lygon Arms with Christina McKenzie. For any Corporate enquires; dinners, lunches etc. please get in touch with Christina: CMckenzie@lygonarmshotel.co.uk

Campbell is the author of three books and runs workshops and programmes on each of them:

The Change Catalyst (Wiley 2017), which own the leadership category and Business Book of the Year at the inaugural 2018 Business Book Awards, It is about leading change
The Power To Change (Kogan Page 2020), which was a Highly Commended Category Runner Up in the 2021 Business Book Awards. It is about embracing personal Change
You: Part Two – thriving in the second half of your life (Hachette 2021), co-authored by his yogi wife, Jane. Together, they appeared at the 2021 Cheltenham Literary Festival. They use content from the book to help organisations empower their invaluable Second Half employees and forge even closer relationships with their lucrative Second Half Customers.

Contact Campbell for more information: campbell@changeandstrategy.com

Change & Strategy International: Change Management Consultant: Change & Strategy International (changeandstrategy.com)