1: “The Tour de France is one of the world’s most grueling sporting events,” McKinsey consultants Carolyn Dewar, Scott Keller, and Vikram Malhotra write in their book CEO Excellence: The Six Mindsets That Distinguish the Best Leaders from the Rest.
“Over three summer weeks,” they note, “about twenty teams with eight riders each push themselves to the limit, pedaling through two thousand miles of terrain including the breath-stealing hills of the French Alps.”
However, the reality is that the winner is determined long before the three-week race through the mountains begins.
“Preparations start only a few months after the riders cross the finish line on Avenue des Champs-Élysées,” Carolyn, Scott, and Vikram write. “The riders and their coaches know that over their long training season there’ll be a strict rhythm to the way the team works out for the upcoming race.”
The training process typically starts “with a low-intensity focus on aerobic activity,” they note. “Later on in October or November, when the route is announced, they fine-tune the selection of the team members and their plans.
“Five months out, the intensity and tempo ramp up. Three months out, they shift to race-specific training, and then the week before the competition, they taper down, riding only an hour or so a day or even taking a day off.”
Coaches work with each team member so that they understand their roles and responsibilities to optimize their performance when the race begins.
2: The same mindset applies in the highly competitive business world.
“Coming out on top similarly requires organizing the year to ensure the right work gets done, at the right time, by the right people,” Carolyn, Scott, and Vikram write.
“The best CEOs proactively shape the operating rhythm of their team to drive the company’s strategy forward. Once that sequence and cadence are determined, they then keep it disciplined, even when the ride is grueling.”
The best CEOs design and implement “a clear and effective operating rhythm,” the authors observe, so that “every member of the top team can synch the rhythm of their specific area with that of the company as a whole.”
“When people know there’s an organizational rhythm,” explains Galderma CEO Flemming Ørnskov, “it allows them to be more efficient. They know where in the organization to go to get decisions—and which body makes which decisions.”
Before joining Galderma, Flemming was CEO of Shire, a global biotechnology company. He and his team at Shire tripled company revenue from $5 billion to $15 billion in just five years. “He improved the company’s margin from 36 to 44 percent and then sold the company to Takeda for an impressive $62 billion,” they write.
3: Flemming then became CEO of Galderma, Nestlé’s $10 billion skincare spin-out, Galderma. Upon starting his new position in 2019, he discovered an operating rhythm that was “not coordinated, not clear on its processes, and not quite sure of prioritization,” Fleming recalls.
His first priority was creating an operating model to match the firm’s new strategy.
“Creating the right operating structure for my team that is intense and focused enables me both to best leverage the great people that work for me,” Flemming relays, “and ensure I have the right amount of time outside of meetings to think, meet with customer or other stakeholders, take time off, exercise, etc.”
What was the key question he asked himself and the team? “Where do I need to be involved, and what are the decision-making bodies I need to create?”
Flemming ultimately created separate committees to focus on performance, platform, and growth.
First, “I have what I call an In-line Committee,” he notes, “which is where one day a month I discuss performance with all the relevant P&L owners.”
Second, he assembled an innovation committee that meets monthly to focus on future growth drivers. “I call that Pipeline,” Flemming explains.
Third, he established a Corporate Committee that meets monthly to “discuss capital allocation and investment,” he says, “as well as people-related and operational issues, always focusing on creating a lean and efficient company platform.”
Following these monthly meetings, Flemming meets with the entire team to ensure everyone is on the same page.
“It structures my month very clearly,” he reports. “I have three days I need to focus on these things. Then when I’ve been through that, I have a half day with the executive committee where we gather, summarize, and implement the things covered on the other three days.”
The result? “The decision-making bodies are crystal clear for all issues,” Flemming states, “whether performance, platform, or growth-related. Once you get that rhythm and predictability into the organization, things can move quickly.”
More tomorrow!
__________________________
Reflection: Does my organization have a clearly determined operating rhythm to drive the overall strategy forward?
Action: Discuss with a colleague or with my team.
What did you think of this post?
