Leaders Have To Move Quickly To Match The Pace Of Change In The External Environment

In this conversation led by Adam Bryant and David Reimer, Darrell B. Jackson, a veteran leader and board director at companies including Amalgamated Bank, FTC Solar, Janus Henderson Investors US, and Dome Construction, explores three critical themes shaping modern governance and leadership: the expanding complexity of board responsibilities in an era of AI and geopolitical disruption, the imperative for CEOs to hold leaders accountable for behaviors as well as performance, and the mental agility required to lead through rapid change.

Reimer: How has the growing complexity of the world changed the role of directors?

Jackson: It has become very complicated. AI has been around a while, but it wasn’t proliferating at the pace it is now. Companies are racing to understand not only pitfalls and dangers of AI, but the opportunities to derive some competitive advantage from it. Add in the current regulatory, political, and geopolitical environment and there are just so many things now that have broadened the definition of the responsibility of directors. Boards have to operate differently than they did in the past.

Bryant: Do you find yourself playing a specific role in terms of the dynamics in the boardroom?

Jackson: I really try to make sure that we are operating at the right altitude—that we’re asking concise, strategic questions, and that we are mindful of the role that we play. I will ask difficult questions. I will offer a different opinion than maybe you’ll hear from others. I’m comfortable doing that. I really focus on whether we are functioning optimally as a board. What things can we do to make us more effective and more supportive of management? That’s the role I try to play.

Reimer: How do you think about building culture today?

Jackson: The CEO has to set a clear and compelling vision. That’s critical to getting people aligned. But what pulls them together and keeps them aligned is creating the right environment. Over the years, I’ve come to the conclusion that leadership is simply about creating an environment where everyone has the ability to be the best versions of themselves. That includes moving obstacles and bureaucracy out of the way so that people can really excel at what they do. And obviously the end result of that is performance and results that you’re driving for.

Bryant: With all the coaching you’ve done over your career with leaders and their teams, what do you find are the biggest challenges?

Jackson: I’ve seen many CEOs who are comfortable holding people accountable for their performance, but very few of them are comfortable holding them accountable for their behaviors. They allow bad behavior to continue in their organization, and they carry people who they know they should be getting rid of.

So they keep people around who are like viruses in the organization. And it hurts the credibility of the CEO when people see that they are allowing certain employees to operate differently, as if there were a second set of rules. That really has a negative impact on the company.

Another common challenge is effective communication—being able to communicate in a way so that everyone on the leadership team walks out of a meeting aligned on the message and what needs to be done.

Finally, some leaders have blind spots about the people who report to them. They just don’t see what others are seeing or experiencing in those direct reports. As a result, they allow that bad behavior or misaligned behavior to continue within the organization. A lot of that stems from people who are great at managing their CEOs—they are very good at telling them what they want to hear.

Reimer: What were early influences that really shaped who you are today?

Jackson: An important one came as a result of a very tragic event in my life. My father, who was a Chicago policeman, was killed in the line of duty in 1969. I was 11 years old. I remember the police chaplain and the police brass coming to our home at 2 am. The doorbell rang, and they were standing outside, and my mom, my two sisters, and I were trying to figure out what was going on. They let us know that he had passed.

That night, I realized that I was now the man in house. About three or four weeks before that night, my uncle and my father and I were watching a basketball game in our basement. They were both policemen, and they said, “If anything ever happens to us, you’re the man in the house.” I took that to heart.

So after he passed, I realized that I had to grow up and do things differently and be there for my mother and for my sisters. I took on sort of a different persona. I had to grow up pretty fast, and that meant taking on responsibilities that probably someone in their teens shouldn’t have to do. I felt a real sense of responsibility to support and help people in the early years.

I also had a great opportunity early on. My aunt worked in HR at a bank, and they needed someone to work in the mail room. So in my senior year high school, after I finished my basketball season, I went to work at South Shore Bank in the mail room. I was fascinated to be in that environment. As I did my rounds delivering the mail, I would talk to some of the senior leaders to understand more about banking. I was just very curious. I knew then that I wanted to pursue a career in banking.

Bryant: If you had to hire a CEO, what is your best question to use in an interview?

Jackson: One is simply, what does the CEO we need for the future look like? That question opens up discussions about how they think strategically about the future of the business. I’d also want to ask them about culture—specifically how they think about keeping the organization aligned with the direction of the company.

Reimer: What do you consider to be the hardest part of leadership?

Jackson: The hardest part is being nimble and having the mental agility to pivot when circumstances change. I find that a lot of leaders move too slowly even when the rate of change externally is moving at a much faster pace. They want to have 100 percent of all the information or data before they make decisions. But you can’t wait, and you’re never going to have all the data for the hardest decisions.

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