Unleash excellence: Leadership in the Professional Services Industry

Leadership is a crucial component of success in any organisation

In the podcast Beyond the Benchmark, I recently discussed the five pillars of the maturity model, developed by Service Performance Insight (SPI), focusing on the leadership pillar.

Dive into the podcast right here – or read on and get key takeaways in this article.

Leadership and the Maturity Model

Let's start by delving into the foundation of the PS Maturity Model and its connection to leadership.

The PS Maturity Model™ is a strategic planning and management framework developed by SPI in 2007.

The maturity model is part of the Professional Services Industry Benchmark that gives the industry a status based on more than 150 KPIs yearly.

The model is based on optimising five Service Performance Pillars: Leadership, Client Relationships, Talent & HR, Service Execution, and Finance & Operations.

For each pillar, we can measure a certain level of maturity.

What is mature leadership?

First, mature leadership is not measured in years. But mature leaders are the ones able to:

• Inspire and motivate their teams.
• Create a culture of innovation and collaboration.
• Make strategic decisions that drive the company forward.

In other words, successful leadership is defined by communicating a clear vision and strategy, aligning the company's goals with its commercial interests, and inspiring employee confidence.

Maturity in leadership is a prerequisite for and an effect of the company that can grow and evolve. As the company matures, it can better handle growth and development challenges. But it must be supported by strong leadership.

Leadership is essential for guiding a company through the maturity model levels. At each level, the company faces new challenges and opportunities, and the leader's role is to navigate these changes and steer the company towards success.

This requires strategic thinking, commercial understanding, and inspiring and motivating employees.

Leadership and AI – who and what will we lead in the coming years?

The role of leadership will become even more critical.

With the rise of new technologies such as AI and machine learning, companies must be agile and adaptable to stay competitive. Leaders must be open to new ideas and willing to embrace change to keep their companies at the forefront of their industries.

But that’s not all.

We will see teams and organisations change as we have a man and machine-workforce mix.

The leaders who stay ahead in the game will be willing to keep learning, testing, and being wrong. For leaders and companies, the truth is that whatever got you here won’t get you further. This means we must embrace new technologies, ways of working, and ways of leading and managing.

Key takeaways

• Leadership maturity directly correlates with KPIs in every area of the business.
• Mature leadership clearly and thoroughly communicates the company’s vision, mission, and strategy.
• Leadership at the mature stage is primarily strategic rather than tactical and focuses on innovation and operational excellence.
• When measuring leadership KPIs, top companies exhibit exceptional qualities in two areas of leadership compared to the rest: Clarity of vision, mission, and strategy, and focus on innovation.
• Communicating a clear and compelling strategy can help employees find a way to make it happen.
  
  

Meet the man behind the podcast: Per-Henrik (Pelle) Nielsen, TimeLog's CEO

"I bring over 17 years of international leadership experience, with a proven track record in Customer Satisfaction, Employee Satisfaction, Business Growth, and Leadership within Information and Communication Technology," shares Pelle.

Connect with Pelle on LinkedIn to learn more about his insights and expertise in the industry.

Listen to all episodes of Beyond the Benchmark right here!

You can find all the podcast episodes where you usually listen to your podcasts. Alternatively, you can also check out an overview on our website now.