Leadership: Knowing Your Stakeholders
Organisations have many stakeholders or groups of people who have a vested interest in the organisation. This includes:
1. Shareholders
2. Funders
3. Employees
4. Customers or service users
5. Suppliers
6. The media
As a leader you need to understand and be able to respond to the different motivators of the different stakeholders. So how might you do this?
1. Ask them about what’s important to them
2. Listen to them
3. Don’t pretend you know more about their needs than they do
4. Learn from setbacks- these setbacks often provide great opportunities to improve things going forward
Truth is organisations can no longer operate in a vacuum devoid of stakeholder engagement. So what have you found works well when it comes to knowing your stakeholders?
About the Author Duncan Brodie
Since 2006 I’ve worked with in excess of 8,000 accountants and professionals in workshops, seminars and one to one helping them land their next jobs and become better leaders, presenters and business partners. Before that I spent 25 years in accountancy climbing the career ladder from Payments Clerk to FD. I’m a CIMA Fellow, Certified Professional Coach and Team Coach Facilitator.