Shayne Elliott
CEO, ANZ Bank
The pandemic disrupted a lot and taught us even more. Our ideas of how work happens, how teams are built, and what constitutes culture will never be the same. As the world scrambled to adapt and respond from their homes instead of offices, organisations and leaders realised that the new normal requires a new mindset.
One such leader is Shayne Elliot, CEO of ANZ Bank. In a fireside with Mohit Joshi, President, Infosys, he outlined the importance of culture in staying agile and delivering change during tough times. The conversation at Confluence APAC 2021 was a CEO’s view of what it takes to not just build, but sustain a strong culture, and how the right mindset can help you grow more even during a crisis.
Key Takeaways
Culture is your core strength
Culture defines how you deliver results. When combined with a sense of purpose, it also acts as a framework for quick thinking and decision-making during tough times, thus enabling resilience and becoming a competitive differentiator during times of crises.
Clarity accelerates adaptability
People crave a sense of direction during uncertain moments. Identifying what’s important and setting priorities right can help organisations step out of people’s way and simplify objectives, freeing them up to focus on the details and execution of what’s next.
People enable change at pace
The pandemic highlighted the importance of being able to deliver change at scale, with speed. Making rapid changes requires people who can sense changing needs, alongside modularity of processes and technology that enables them to respond with agility.
Crises offer opportunities to learn
Times of disruption can help you learn more about people, faster than you would in normal times. From your workforce to your customers, observing how they react, behave and adapt can help you spot opportunities and understand their capacity for change.
Most people in organisations – they know what to do. They know what the problems are. They know how to get stuff done. The organisation’s job is to get out of the way.
