Published in Fall 2023
Aug. 29, 2023, was a beautiful day in Akron, Ohio. At Goodyear’s international headquarters, associates celebrated the company’s 125th anniversary. With the Goodyear Blimp flying overhead, Goodyear’s CEO, Rich Kramer, provided some remarks.
Rich’s comments connected Goodyear’s past to its present and pointed toward its future. While our history presents us an opportunity to revisit the past, it’s also a great time to focus on the opportunities that Goodyear has for the next 125 years.
Moving From Priority-Driven to Purpose-Driven
Reflecting on our CEO’s remarks, it would have been easy to take the all-too-familiar path of creating a list of development priorities for leaders. But the reality is that these times call for a paradigm shift in leader development. Our focus in learning and development (L&D) needs to shift from priority-driven to purpose-driven. Given our current landscape, I propose that a purpose-driven approach would be to focus on enabling leaders to be “ready for anything.”
We can begin with emotional intelligence (EQ). Amid so much ambiguity and change, leaders that demonstrate interest and concern for people are more necessary than ever. From EQ, we can expand to other “quotients” that are essential for leaders who are ready for anything:
- AQ: Adversity quotient.
- DQ: Digital quotient.
- CQ: Connection quotient.
High AQ: Essential for Managing Change and Disruption
Change and disruption is now a reality of organizational life at all levels. For global manufacturers like Goodyear, disruptions in global supply chains, a war in Eastern Europe and the varying levels of inflation are phenomena that leaders and their teams must be ready to contend with daily. Higher AQ leaders are more capable of adapting their teams to operate effectively through change.
High DQ: Unlocking the Value of Data
Digitalization is now the main driver of everything organizations do, from products and services to internal workflows and business-customer interactions. There is a massive amount of data available now available to teams. This means leaders must direct teams in managing, leveraging and protecting data, as well as using it to evaluate risks. An example of this at Goodyear is our . High DQ leaders deliver value by enabling their teams to unlock value embedded in data to the benefit of the organization, its customers and partners.
High CQ: Connecting Teams to Get Work Done
Today’s teams work across various environments, with many toggling between varying degrees of on-site, remote and hybrid models. Our workforce also includes a greater mix of full-time, part-time and contingent workers. Through all this, effective leaders know how to play the role as master orchestrator, or “connector,” fostering ties among team members and connecting them to internal networks and the larger culture that unites the organization. Goodyear recognizes this complexity and the importance of the leader’s role in managing it, recently releasing an immersive program to ready leaders for leading teams in an evolving environment. Leaders with a high CQ are the key to helping teams stay connected and adapt, no matter what is required to get work done.
Taken together, these four elements — EQ, AQ, DQ and CQ — are an example of the foundation for a purpose-driven framework that simplifies what we expect and want from leaders. Every leader I know has a list of challenges. Shifting to a purpose-driven approach in L&D offers some welcome news for those we serve: “Leaders, we will not be adding anything to your list today! Instead, we are shifting our focus to give you tools to be ready for anything so you can tackle challenges on your list, in whatever form they may take.”