Talking Leadership with The Alexander Partnership - Talking Leadership with David Gregson

Talking Leadership with David Gregson

08/19/20 • 20 min

Talking Leadership with The Alexander Partnership

Leading in uncertainty – the move from blame to aligned interests

There’s no room for the blame game as you lead your business out of the pandemic. That’s the view of boardroom veteran David Gregson talking to The Alexander Partnership’s Lloyd Wigglesworth for this Talking Leadership podcast.

A hugely experienced businessman – David has sat on more than 30 boards and chaired at least half of them – some of his key lessons and advice for leaders include:

be honest that, as the leader, you do not have all the answers
bring people together with diverse perspectives to avoid group think. Reassess whether your talent pool has enough outside views
empower and align people by setting out a direction and a compass rather than loads of rules.

Leading in uncertainty – the move from blame to aligned interests

A hugely experienced businessman – David has sat on more than 30 boards and chaired at least half of them – some of his key lessons and advice for leaders include:

be honest that, as the leader, you do not have all the answers
bring people together with diverse perspectives to avoid group think. Reassess whether your talent pool has enough outside views
empower and align people by setting out a direction and a compass rather than loads of rules.

Previous Episode

Talking Leadership with Kevin Ellis, PwC

COVID-19: leaders have learnt the need for clear, confident communication

As businesses emerge from the lockdown, PwC’s Chairman and Senior Partner Kevin Ellis talks to The Alexander Partnership’s Lloyd Wigglesworth on some of the key themes surrounding business and high-performance leadership.

Kevin identifies several critical areas for business leaders in this Talking Leadership podcast including the importance of clear, confident and simple communication, building rapport virtually, and how leaders have been making key decisions during the crisis with smaller groups for speed and effectiveness.

Talking Leadership with The Alexander Partnership - Talking Leadership with David Gregson

Transcript

Lloyd Wigglesworth:

How do you lead when you don't have the basis on which to make decisions? In this podcast, I talk to David Gregson about leading in uncertainty. David is an extremely experienced businessman. He has sat on more than 30 boards and he's chaired at least half of them. Some of those companies include Phoenix Equity Partners, which he co-founded, the Lawn Tennis Association, and the largest social and healthcare charity, CGL. David works in the UK, but he