Being Extraordinary

By Mike Bennetts

'When leaders play ordinary, the organisation can only play ordinary.  When leaders play Extraordinary, the organisation can transform.  However, nothing changes until the leaders change'.

 

As leaders, we sometimes achieve Extraordinary results in business and our lives, yet we never really understand what it takes for these to happen more than just every now and then.  What if we could more regularly and reliably deliver Extraordinary?

 

In Being Extraordinary, Mike Bennetts shares his model of the mindsets and practices to set you on the pathway for Extraordinary results.  By confronting ordinary leadership practices, the 'Model for Extraordinary' explains the necessary conditions that enable Extraordinary outcomes to flourish.

 

Packed with plenty of practical experience and insightful anecdotes, Mike illustrates how he developed and applied the model throughout his career.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mike Bennetts
• Release date: Oct 20, 2023
• ISBN: 9780473694883

Mike Bennetts

Mike Bennetts is best known as the founding Chief Executive of Z Energy, having transitioned the company from its previous global owners in 2010. In thirteen years at the helm of Z, Mike led significant corporate events like launching Z as a brand, an IPO, $3 billion of M&A deals, debt and equity raises, and a takeover response. In 2016, Mike and Z were respectively CEO and Company of the Year in the Deloitte Top 200. Mike was the founding Convenor of the Climate Leaders Coalition from 2017 to 2022, reflecting his commitment to the energy transition and the challenges around environmental and social sustainability. Mike developed cross-cultural leadership experience by working in Africa, Asia and Europe between 1992 to 2008. He has held governance roles since 1999 in joint venture, private and public companies in South Africa, China, Singapore and New Zealand. Mike is currently the Chair of Punakaiki Fund Limited, a $100-million venture capital fund, having started with an initial equity of $1.5 million in 2016. Across his two decades of experience as a CEO, Mike is known for his transformational leadership style and commitment to the development of the people he works with. This is reflected in his new venture as an Executive Coach (Kaiārahi) at Taumata Advisory Limited. Mike’s stated purpose is to ‘realise individual and organisational potential’ through his work as an author, speaker and mentor.

Book preview

COPYRIGHT

For all enquiries, please email [e-mail].

Text © Mike Bennetts, 2023.

Project and publishing management by Tracey Wogan and Catch Phrase Media NZ Ltd.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the National Library of New Zealand.

ISBN 978-0-473-69181-3 (paperback).

ISBN 978-0-473-69488-3 (e-book).

This book is copyright. Except for the purpose of fair review, no part may be stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including recording or storage in any information retrieval systems, without prior written permission. No reproduction may be made, whether by photocopying or by any other means, unless a licence has been obtained from the publisher or its agent.

Book design: Cheryl Smith, Macarn Design.

Printed in New Zealand through Ideal Print Ltd.

INTRODUCTION

Over the past decade, many people have told me, ‘You should write a book’. It was only when I began to think about leaving the corporate world and becoming a ‘thought leader’ and executive coach, that I considered the follow-on questions: why do you think I should write a book, and what should it be about?

Those questions were not meant to elicit feedback about what a top bloke I am. It goes to the heart of thought leadership - what distinctive thoughts do I have, and how might they make a difference for others? Before committing to a book, I did ask these questions of everyone who suggested it and others whose views matter to me.

The answers clustered around people saying I had something worth sharing about leadership, culture and sustaining Extraordinary performance. One person said, ‘All of your Mike-isms need to be shared more widely’. By ‘Mike-isms’ they meant the sayings about leadership and performance I trot out occasionally to make a point, usually as part of some high-impact coaching, such as ‘no result plus a good story still equals no result’. Even my family quote that one back to me!

Whatever I share comes from real-life experiences, enhanced by a willingness to go deep within myself to generate insights on leadership and what it takes to deliver the Extraordinary. My values cluster around learning and development, and I reckon I’ve gone further than most by being willing to do the thinking to blend real expertise from ‘those who have taught me so well’ with my individual and collective experiences.

I often describe myself as knowing a little about a lot. That’s because my corporate life evolved through a wide range of experiences, both good and bad. I have worked in many different organisational cultures and operating contexts. These include corporate turnarounds and transformations in South Africa, high growth in Asia, challenges in the global corporate centre in the UK, both sides of various mergers and acquisitions, to something akin to a start-up in New Zealand. There probably aren’t too many corporate events or operating contexts I haven’t been through at least once.

The experiment

I am here to realise individual and organisational potential. That has been my purpose since 2000, with my fifteen years of working life before then serving an ‘apprenticeship’ of leadership and culture within one of the world’s largest corporates, across four continents and fifteen diverse roles. My purpose has been recently fulfilled through my role as Chief Executive at Z Energy Limited (Z), one of New Zealand’s largest companies.

For exactly thirteen years, I conducted an experiment at Z to prove my hypotheses on leadership, culture and Extraordinary performance. Coming in as Chief Executive, I had some beliefs, some proven and some untested, about people and organisations and what was required to deliver awesome outcomes for employees, customers and stakeholders. People and circumstances frequently challenged those beliefs to the extent my beliefs today around what it takes to be an Extraordinary leader are a much-improved version of my 2010 model.

For all that, I’m very thankful to the employees and directors at Z from 1 April 2010 to 31 March 2023. Some may not have realised they were in a grand experiment, but I’ve had plenty of feedback with most appreciating the experience of being at Z and what made it distinctive for them. Most importantly, we achieved some Extraordinary results.

A tiny portion of those Z and pre-Z global experiences are mentioned explicitly in this book, but the main content relates to tasting the ingredients in this meal of Being Extraordinary. There may be more seasoning required for some of you, or perhaps it is too salty, or too much to consume. It was never intended to be a satisfying or comfortable meal, but instead to cause a shift in your leadership mindset and practices.

I was introduced to a version of being an Extraordinary leader through a training course in South Africa - four lots of three-day sessions spread across a year. It was a long time ago, and, in my view, that course would now be significantly outdated. However, since learning about the concept, I have been developing my authentic expression of Extraordinary leadership given what I have experienced throughout my time in roles in Asia, the Middle East, sub-Saharan Africa, the UK and Australasia.

I’m inspired by the whakataukī (Māori proverb): He toa taumata rau - courage has many resting places. I recognise this in my own development so I am committed to creating many resting places where someone can demonstrate their courage in pursuing what Extraordinary means for them. This book is just one of the resting places I offer. There are others, which is why I also offer executive coaching through my business Taumata Advisory Limited.

The Swiss Cheese Model

This book is written by a leader for leaders, acknowledging leadership is an ongoing journey and we all have moments of being Extraordinary. Fundamentally this book is about the mindset and practices that enable a more regular and reliable delivery of Extraordinary results.

The notion of regular and reliable is something I learned from the Swiss Cheese Model for safety developed by James Reason. This model describes the various layers of defence in any system, represented by multiple ‘slices’ of Swiss cheese stacked together. Swiss cheese is used as the conceptual model because it is a type of cheese well known for its distinctive holes. These holes are created during the cheese- making process, as carbon dioxide produced by bacteria is trapped in the curd and forms bubbles. The size and distribution of the holes in Swiss cheese varies, giving each cheese a unique appearance and texture.

In this model, each slice of cheese represents a layer of defence or protection that can prevent a hazard from causing harm. However, no layer of defence is perfect, and each layer has holes or weaknesses. These holes or deficiencies can be considered latent errors within a system. When these latent errors line up across multiple layers, they can create a clear path for an accident to occur. This path is known as the ‘accident trajectory’.

The Swiss Cheese Model highlights the importance of having multiple layers of defence to prevent accidents. It also emphasises the need to continually monitor and improve each layer of defence to ensure no significant holes or weaknesses could lead to an accident.

My Model for Extraordinary works to a similar concept. However, instead of avoiding an accident by relying upon the holes in the cheese slices not lining up, the Model for Extraordinary lines up the mindsets and practices that shift the slices of cheese to create a pathway to being Extraordinary. We start with a predictable future and end up with an Extraordinary outcome. We do that not only by adopting new mindsets and practices for Extraordinary, but also by confronting where we are ordinary in the eight areas of the model.

Following these mindsets and practices enables a more regular and reliable delivery of Extraordinary. This is what I call the ‘Extraordinary trajectory’.

In my experience, no profound mindset or singular practice results in Extraordinary. Like the Swiss Cheese Model, it is the accumulation of taking action with each and all the mindsets and practices in the model that line the holes up so the only possible outcome is Extraordinary.

This book is designed to be read chapter by chapter, effectively building up the slices of cheese for your Extraordinary trajectory. In later chapters there are mindsets and practices that build upon concepts from earlier chapters. I have summarised the key points at the end of each chapter and finish with ‘one more thought’, which is intended to confront where you may be ordinary with that step in the model. These summaries allow you to come back to that slice of cheese at any point if there is something still missing for you in how the whole model works, or where you want to better appreciate those core concepts as part of understanding a later chapter.

Emptying your glass

Some of you reading this book are already very experienced leaders. Some of you may be at the beginning of your leadership journey. Whatever your background, you will need to give something up or let something go for these mindsets and practices to be effective. This may include giving up a belief about leadership or letting go of your desire to be right. You could consider yourself as one of the slices of cheese which inhibit regular and reliable delivery of the Extraordinary. Please let go of the notion that you already know the full story.

In that sense, think of a glass filled with water. What happens when you go to put more water into the glass? Actually, the water already in the glass does not get displaced, and all that happens is the new water bounces off the existing water and spills over. It’s an illusion that the new water is displacing the current water.

The same experience (and illusion) comes from new learning. You will get better value from this book if you are willing to release some ideas that you already know, much like emptying some of your existing water. I don’t mean that you should empty your whole glass; I’m sure there is much about your existing skills and capabilities that new learning can build upon.

There will be times where I get a little ‘edgy’ or thought-provoking in what I have to say, such as when I ask you to confront where you are likely to be ordinary. No doubt you’re up for that, given you’re reading a book with the subtitle ‘By Confronting Your Ordinary’!

As these moments arise, I’ll use this icon (see left) to indicate you might consider emptying some water from your glass (letting go of what you already think you know) and give yourself the best chance of learning a new idea.

Throughout this book, I have taken the liberty of capitalising certain words, effectively making them proper nouns, such as Extraordinary. Proper nouns are used in writing to indicate particular entities rather than general concepts or categories. As you read this book, they are a signpost to empty your glass a little. Although you may already have a definition or working understanding of that capitalised word, when it has been capitalised I am asking you to let go of your previous definition to make room for how I have defined it in this book. As you will learn, language matters a lot for the Extraordinary.

This book doesn’t suggest that working harder is the way to get improved results. Just like in the Swiss Cheese Model, where an accident can happen through the slices of cheese aligning without you expending significant effort, so too can you more regularly and reliably deliver Extraordinary results without expending significant effort when each step of the model for Extraordinary is in place. Although you will find each group of mindsets and practices require intellectual and emotional rigour to get you to the point of competence and on your way to mastery, this is a small effort relative to what you are already doing today. By confronting where you are being ordinary, you will be able to stop or lessen the effort around tasks and practices that simply don’t matter.

I’m guessing your current success formula predominantly relies upon working longer hours, moving one step further into Agile project management, experimenting with the latest productivity tools, doing more with less, and delegating more effectively. These are all very management-orientated actions.

I also reckon your current success formula is to limit or reduce the potential impact or scale of the things you are willing to take on, i.e., you don’t commit to the Extraordinary. This comes from a diminished leadership orientation. You might only commit to things with a 100 per cent chance of success, and revel in finding even more reasons to remain in your comfort zone. You will not take on anything putting your reputation and status at risk.

We all have moments of being Extraordinary and/or delivering Extraordinary results and outcomes. Sometimes we know exactly why that was the case. Most of the time, we thank our lucky stars it turned out so well. In doing so, we miss the opportunity to learn, generate insights and build muscle memory for next time. More than that, we also miss the chance to share what we’ve learned with others, which severely limits organisational potential.

Authentic or vulnerable?

Some may have found that last section confronting. That’s because this book doesn’t just focus on the mindset and practices for the Extraordinary; it also shares the mindset and practices for confronting where you are being ordinary. I refer to this as ‘confronting’ because that is what it feels like - well, it certainly did for me when I realised this is what it would take for me to more regularly and reliably deliver Extraordinary.

To get to Extraordinary, you will need to be up for being authentic. I have chosen this word carefully, instead of the more frequently used ‘vulnerable’. Vulnerable and authentic are two different concepts - here’s how they differ in the context of being Extraordinary:

Vulnerability refers to being open and exposed to the possibility of harm or attack, either physically or emotionally. Being vulnerable can involve being honest and transparent about your feelings, experiences or weaknesses, even if it puts you at risk of rejection, criticism or failure.

Authenticity refers to being genuine, honest and true to yourself. Being authentic means expressing yourself honestly without pretending to be someone you’re not, conforming to social norms or seeking external validation. It involves embracing your unique qualities, values and beliefs and aligning with them.

So, vulnerability involves being open and exposed, while authenticity consists of being true to yourself. While both concepts can include honesty and transparency, vulnerability typically implies risk or uncertainty, whereas authenticity is more about self-expression and integrity.

Think about that. Who would sign up immediately for a meeting involving risk or uncertainty versus the excitement for a meeting arising from self-expression and integrity?

We also relate to vulnerability as courage in others but a weakness in ourselves. This also gets in the way of being vulnerable. Changing the language to authentic deals with that and frees us up to confront where we are being ordinary, especially in conversation with others who have insights and perspectives beyond our own, which can help us with being Extraordinary.

This switch in language shifted something I previously found confronting to now seeming more like gaps to close. I’ve developed my capability with this, and you can do the same. It is not a free hit; you must go through the confronting phase. Approaching this from the viewpoint of being authentic rather than vulnerable means you will get through the confronting phase more quickly than I did. Either way, I promise you it’s worth confronting where you are being ordinary.

A black and white circle with a glass of water and a faucet Description automatically generated When leaders play ordinary, the organisation can only play ordinary. When leaders play Extraordinary, the organisation can transform. Most importantly, the organisation doesn’t change until the leaders do. Confronting this idea is how you begin the journey to sustaining Extraordinary performance.

A light bulb with a black light fixture Description automatically generated with medium confidence

You don’t need to have extraordinary efforts to achieve extraordinary results. You just need to do the ordinary, everyday things exceptionally well.

- Warren Buffett

1

SUSTAINING EXTRAORDINARY PERFORMANCE

The first thing to confront about being Extraordinary is that based on our current actions, there is a future already written for each of us. This future is our default, predictable future, which I call the Drift. The Drift is something we organically and naturally follow.

Think about it as if you are in a kayak on a river, floating downstream with the current. With little intervention from you, the kayak heads down the river, but does it end up where you intended? Or in the timeframe you intended? Or with the quality of paddling experience you intended? Or alongside other kayakers with the same intention around destination, time and quality?

It’s a normal human response to go with the flow (the Drift) because it requires minimal effort to follow the course of events or the actions of others. When we go with the flow, we don’t have to make decisions, take risks, assert our preferences or beliefs, or stand for anything. We can drift with the current, which feels less stressful than trying to swim or paddle against it.

Additionally, going with the flow can be a way to conform to social norms or expectations. It’s easier to follow the crowd than to stand out or go against the grain. Many people feel a sense of physical and emotional safety and belonging when they are part of a group, and going with the flow can help them feel connected to others and avoid social rejection or isolation. This is relevant both in organisations and outside your workplace.

However, while going with the flow can have benefits, it can also be limiting. It can prevent us from exploring new opportunities, pursuing goals or authentically expressing our true selves. It is essential to balance going with the flow and taking the initiative to make the most of our lives and reach our full potential - as individuals and organisations.

Think of the Drift as the ongoing and subtle shift taking us away from what is possible for ourselves and our organisations in our role as leaders. The Drift certainly takes us away from what matters most to us, whether we have consciously thought about what matters or not. When you do not turn your mind to where you may already be in the Drift, it becomes easier and easier just to go with the flow.

Confronting where you are ordinary

Some years ago I had the privilege of spending time with Tom Whittaker, a notable mountain climber known for his remarkable achievements despite facing physical challenges. Tom embodies perseverance and determination. In 1979, at the age of 29, he was involved in a car accident which resulted in the amputation of his right foot. Despite the setback, he did not let his disability deter him from pursuing his passion for mountaineering. In 1981, he became the first person with a significant disability to successfully climb Mount McKinley (also known as Denali) in Alaska, the highest peak in North America.

Tom’s most outstanding accomplishment came in 1998 when he became the first person with a disability to reach the summit of Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak. This incredible feat involved extensive planning, determination and a specialised prosthetic leg. This ground-breaking achievement was an inspiration to many. Tom first attempted to climb Everest in 1996, but had to turn back due to bad weather and challenging conditions. His second attempt in 1997 was also unsuccessful, with Tom and his team again encountering treacherous weather conditions. Finally, in 1998, he made the summit on his third attempt.

Tom is an inspiration to people with disabilities and has actively promoted the idea