One member of his team, Corrie Newport, senior manager, loan administration, comments: “With ‘Old David’, we used to deliver because he used to delegate tasks and specify exactly how he wanted them done. Now, we all still deliver, but we may get there in different ways. And we want to get there for him. I personally feel that I would never want to let him down.”
Lloyds TSB, under the conservative regime of chief executive Eric Daniels, avoided the riskier investments and large exposure to debt of other banks. Inevitably, though, it has been affected by recent events. The bank received government support and, at the time of writing, has just completed its merger with Halifax Bank of Scotland to create the Lloyds Banking Group.
In the asset finance division, the cohesive nature of the leadership, teamwork and reorganisation has helped the group cope with the unexpected. “We have much more adaptability,” says Morpeth. “When certain decisions have to be made, people unite behind those decisions. That’s very important, when you’re driving change, otherwise you have the doubters on the sidelines.”
Cheques and balances
This sense of cohesiveness would have been much harder to achieve under the leadership of Old David. Morpeth’s earlier promotions at Lloyds TSB had come about through a strong sense of drive and a commitment to sales and growth. These were considerable strengths, but his style did not always get the best out of his team. “I had been delivering great results, but it became very apparent that to progress to the next level of management, my personal style had to change.
“I became more aware that my [previous] style could leave people feeling uninvolved, negative about the approach, and possibly pressured into doing things they didn’t agree with. “What the coaching work helped me better understand was that there are different ways to get to the same end result. It was a case of getting me to lift my head away from the paper.”
Aside from the coaching, Morpeth attended an open course, run by Sheppard Moscow, on increasing personal power. The coaching process was closely linked to his role in organisational change and development. Lloyds TSB was streamlining operations removing duplicated areas of activity and seeking to improve services further. These challenges required a leadership style that engaged the staff.
When a company is restructuring, a more directive style of management may appear to be the most business-like. Concern for employee engagement is sometimes set aside during the post-restructuring phase. If the question is redefined in terms of risk management, however, the onus shifts. Success now depends on the commitment and performance of all the staff.
“In terms of business risk, if the whole team are not aligned with what we need to be doing, there’s a great chance that what we want to deliver isn’t delivered in the correct way,” says Morpeth. “In fact, nothing may get delivered. And a consistent message across the broader teams is very important; we are managing 650 people here.”
Morpeth’s need for improved communication and engagement stemmed directly from the organisation’s need for consistency of message and engagement of staff to ensure the effectiveness of the restructure.
His role within this included the unsentimental analysis of revenue streams in the asset finance division, duplication of functions and requirement for streamlining. In 2006-07, the division consolidated in two centres: Edinburgh and Cardiff.
Credit control
Morpeth could have simply set up new structures, made a list of things to do and instructed people to complete the tasks. But that would have been Old David. “Following that reorganisation through [with New David’s leadership style] opened up opportunities for feedback, for discussion, for asking: is this the best way of doing things? Those sorts of conversations tend to come up with a better solution.”
Agreement that his leadership style needed to change was only the starting point. “For me, it was a case of taking a big step that made me realise that at a certain level in this organisation I can get great results, and those results get recognised, but the skill-set I used to do that won’t wear well at a different level in the organisation.” It was “uncomfortable” for him. There were times when the temptation to resort to Old David was powerful. “It happened on a frequent basis,” he says.
In the black
Owen used the fact that Morpeth is highly intelligent and driven, and an accomplished project manager, to her advantage. The fact that he was results-oriented made him a joy to coach – once he was convinced of the need to change, she says. “He was very clear about what he wanted to achieve. He was easy to coach in that sense.
“We agreed a mix: some very structured tasks, and some work that was more about raising his awareness, and helping him to reflect on his own style. For example, noticing that in a team meeting he would enter into discussions quickly and squash people, then find it difficult to get contributions from them.”
As the work progressed, he began to notice that “when he held back, things still got done”, says Owen. Corrie Newport says: “I remember David talking about one of the courses he went on and it got quite deep-rooted. [His leadership development process] became really uncomfortable, but sometimes you have to explore that side of yourself to understand your values. So he really connected with what his core values were, and that’s how he understood how his leadership was and how he wanted it to be.”
So his team members do not feel that they are now experiencing a synthetic leader. Quite the opposite: they feel that coaching has let the real personality come through. Nigel Harries, senior manager, customer services, observes: “The Old David was quite contrived. The New David is probably closer to what he is really like as a person, and you can see it. He’s so much more natural.”
Bottom line
Morpeth’s new board director, though, questioned his team’s drive: “One of his comments to me was, ‘You don’t seem to push your team members particularly hard.’ That made me think: have I eased off in terms of performance output? But there is no longer the need for that intensity of management.”
Another team member, Graham Isle, senior manager, lending, says: “The business is better today than two years ago. And yet, with the changes the business has gone through, we’re still delivering all the necessary risk requirements, customer service requirements, and the people in the business are growing as individuals. The expectations have risen.” As the culmination of this remarkable process of personal change, the team decided to put Morpeth forward for a “Leading Wales” award. He won.
Visit www.sheppardmoscow.com to see a podcast of David Morpeth and his team.
Volume 4, Issue 2