Amal Halouach Kharbichi’s Post

Best Purpose of the Week #159 is “to evolve consciousness so that humanity thrives.” — by Barrett Values Centre, a global think tank and consultancy dedicated to values-led transformation. Founded to develop and spread tools that help organizations translate human values into measurable culture and leadership outcomes, Values Centre operates in multiple geographies, supporting leaders and teams in aligning culture with long-term impact. The organization has pioneered values assessment models such as the Barrett Model®, widely used by corporations and governments seeking data‑driven insights into culture, leadership, and organizational health. Barrett Values Centre articulates its purpose in a statement that frames the organization’s whole approach to values, culture, and decision making. It positions culture as a source of clarity for everyday choices that affect people, systems, and society. Their work focuses on helping organizations recognize and measure values as an actionable fabric of how people behave and make decisions. Through assessments, analytics, and advisory services, Values Centre enables leaders to understand what drives behavior, shapes strategy, and ultimately determines long‑term resilience. Their purpose challenges organizations to ask questions that leaders often avoid: 1️⃣ What does success really mean? 2️⃣ Whose needs are we serving? 3️⃣ How cohesive and lived are the values we claim to uphold? These inquiries are practical leverages for alignment, innovation, and sustainable performance. #Purpose #Values #HumanCenter #Leadership #Culture #MindsetShift #People

Most organizations aren’t failing because they chose the wrong strategy. They’re failing because they’re running yesterday’s operating model against today’s pace of change. Markets shift faster than planning cycles. Technology evolves faster than org charts. Decisions are needed before information feels “complete.” The real challenge isn’t vision. It’s keeping the organization coherent while moving at speed. That’s the problem McChrystal Group was built to solve. Brendan Fitzgibbon explains that we don’t help leaders bolt agility onto broken systems. We help them re-architect how decisions get made, how information flows, and how teams stay aligned when conditions won’t sit still. The result is disciplined adaptability. Organizations that keep pace with change share a few traits: • They build shared understanding before issuing directives • They empower teams without losing alignment • They design for learning, not just execution Change doesn’t slow down. The question is whether your organization was designed to move with it or fight it every step of the way. Read more: https://lnkd.in/ercid2f8 #Leadership #OrganizationalPerformance #TeamOfTeams #ChangeManagement #DecisionMaking

I’m excited to share this piece, blending the learnings from over a decade of helping fintechs scale — and experiencing firsthand the organizational constraints that disrupt performance and limit that growth — with my recent work at McChrystal Group to empower teams to unlock execution. In the article, I detail what fintechs should consider for their operating models to hit ambitious strategic objectives. Product dev, GTM, ecosystem readiness are all top of mind considerations. Why not establish an efficient operating model to increase creativity, share data efficiently and make more informed decisions faster in a highly competitive, innovative and regulated marketplace? Wishing all of you a wonderful holiday and some good reading as you close out the year.

THE CHALLENGER Stop trying to get everyone's 'buy-in'. You are wasting time. There is a prevailing myth in modern management that a good decision is one that everyone feels good about. We have fetishized 'inclusivity' in decision-making to the point of paralysis. Here is the cold reality: Innovation is never consensual. Innovation is, by definition, a deviation from the norm. If everyone in your C-suite agrees on a bold new direction, it is not bold. It is obvious. The enemy of speed is not lack of data; it is the desire for emotional safety in numbers. Leaders seek consensus to distribute the blame for potential failure. If you want to move fast: - Assign single-threaded owners to decisions. - Normalize conflict. Friction generates heat; heat generates energy. - Stop voting. This isn't a democracy; it's a commercial enterprise. Your job is not to make people happy. Your job is to be right about the future, often enough to matter, and fast enough to win. #Unlearning #LeadershipMyths #Speed To operationalize this shift from passive agreement to active execution, use our quarterly protocol. Get the guide: For the The Quarterly Calibration: Converting Strategy into Behavioral Change at https://lnkd.in/gnM-fXw7

Did you miss this month’s Executive Forum: Finish Strong, Start Smarter: Collective Year-End Practices That Build Q1 Momentum”? Here the five ideas that leaders kept coming back to: 1️⃣Don’t slide into year-end — use it intentionally. A brief pause to reflect and reset beats a rushed finish. Several leaders named the same trap: racing to December 31, collapsing, and hoping January somehow fixes everything. Instead, the most effective teams are using the end of the year as a pause point — even briefly — to align, reflect, and choose how they want to start. 2️⃣Reflect just enough. Too much retrospection stalls momentum. Too little leaves teams disoriented. Leaders agreed that spending months rehashing the past can stall momentum — but ignoring the year altogether is just as demoralizing. A short look at what worked, what didn’t, and what to change is the sweet spot. 3️⃣Specific recognition matters more than celebrations. End-of-year parties are nice. What really builds trust is naming real progress and effort — not perfection. One of the most powerful moments came from a leader realizing he’d been too hard on himself — and then modeling a different approach with his team. 4️⃣Alignment beats ambition in December. Teams end the year in different headspaces. Leaders who check where people actually are reduce stress and create readiness - instead of dragging people forward unevenly. 5️⃣Momentum comes from learning, not rigid plans. Rather than locking in detailed annual plans, many leaders shared how they’re focusing on short cycles, clear priorities, and small experiments. Learning itself became the strongest signal of confidence, growth, and trust heading into the new year. ==== Don't miss January's Executive Forum 📅 Thursday, January 22 | 9:00am PT / 12:00pm ET Execution Without Exhaustion: How leaders scale results and culture — without burning out their teams. https://lnkd.in/gV-qZydu

Q1 is where many leaders unintentionally lock in the year they’ll later complain about. What I mean is this: we often treat the first quarter like a launch sequence. We press the gas pedal, fill our calendars, and introduce new initiatives. It feels like progress. But what it usually does is confirm a set of defaults. In my work with more than fifty CEOs, I’ve seen how quickly early decisions (or non-decisions) become entrenched policy by summer. In other words, the ambiguity tolerated in January rarely disappears on its own. Half-made choices have a way of sticking. This isn’t a discipline problem. It’s a design problem. Think about it this way: Q1 is often the last low-cost moment to decide what actually matters, who owns which decisions, and what won’t be pursued so the right priorities can breathe. Once execution accelerates, changing direction becomes expensive. Not because leaders lack resolve, but because the calendar has already won. By the time Q2 arrives, most organizations aren’t choosing their year anymore. They’re operating inside the defaults they quietly installed in January.

Vulnerability in the Boardroom: Strength, Not Weakness 💡 What if admitting vulnerability in the boardroom could be your greatest competitive edge? In today's fast‑moving market, leaders who show authentic vulnerability build trust faster than those who wear a mask of invincibility. 🤝 It’s not a sign of weakness; it’s a strategic asset that fuels collaboration and innovation. Here’s how to turn vulnerability into strength: - Encourage open dialogue by asking, “What challenges are we really facing?” - Model transparency: share a recent mistake and the lesson learned. - Celebrate learning moments, turning setbacks into collective growth. When teams feel safe to speak up, creativity surges, decisions become data‑rich, and the organization moves forward with confidence. 🚀 Embrace vulnerability and watch your boardroom become a launchpad for lasting success.

🔍 How does asking the right questions influence better decision-making? Let's explore the power of curiosity in leadership. Reflecting on the essence of leadership, it’s about steering the ship, not just optimizing the engines. This begins with the questions we ask. Think of a detective unraveling a mystery. The detective’s success doesn’t hinge on knowing everything upfront. Rather, it’s their knack for asking the right questions that lead to the truth. This analogy holds true in corporate governance. 🔄 Practical Scenario #1: Switch your lens from ‘problem-solver’ to ‘question-asker.’ - Say your organization struggles with innovation. Instead of pouring over failed products, ask: - "What market needs did we miss?" - "How do our competitors approach these challenges?" - Foster a culture where curiosity is valued over immediate answers. 🔄 Practical Scenario #2: Adapt to a shifting market landscape through strategic questioning: - "How are current trends reshaping consumer behavior?" - "What are the underappreciated risks we face?" Empower your team to delve deeper into these questions to create informed strategies. 💡 Questions don’t just uncover challenges, they ignite possibilities. By asking better questions, you unlock dialogue that harnesses diverse expertise and nurtures innovation. 💭 What questions will you explore today to drive effective change? #ThoughtLeadership #StrategicQuestions #InnovativeThinking #LeadershipDevelopment

Some of the most meaningful shifts inside an organization don’t begin with a big announcement. They start when people choose to see the system as it actually behaves, not as we assume it behaves. Lately I’ve been reminded how powerful it is when teams lean into two often-overlooked competencies: 🔎 Systems thinking — tracing the threads between decisions, incentives, constraints, and outcomes until the real leverage points reveal themselves. 🚀 Complex adaptive leadership — treating the organization as a living ecosystem, not a machine; creating the conditions where people can sense, experiment, coordinate, and evolve together. When these two mindsets come together, something remarkable happens. Silos soften. Patterns surface. Teams start designing solutions that are resilient, not brittle. And change stops feeling like “initiative fatigue” and starts feeling like progress with purpose. Grateful to be part of work that continues to show just how much potential organizations unlock when they invest in these capabilities. The future doesn’t need more heroic efforts; it needs connected, adaptive ones. 🎖️ Here’s to building systems that learn, leaders who listen, and organizations that can thrive in complexity. 

Leadership Reflection: Growth, People, and Long-Term Value In today’s competitive landscape, many organizations are navigating lean teams, ambitious delivery goals, and strong profitability. Tight headcounts often mean a small group of professionals consistently stepping up, wearing multiple hats, and ensuring outcomes are delivered without compromise. While financial discipline and margin protection are critical for sustainability, there’s also an important long-term conversation around how value creation is shared. When organizations reinvest profits not only into systems, tools, and expansion—but also into the people driving that success—it creates a powerful flywheel: • Higher ownership mindset • Stronger retention of critical talent • Sustainable execution velocity • A culture where people grow with the company, not just for it Compensation isn’t just about numbers on paper—it’s a signal. It communicates priorities, appreciation, and vision alignment. In high-impact, low-redundancy teams, even small gestures of recognition can compound into significant loyalty and performance gains. The most resilient organizations I’ve observed are those that balance profitability with people strategy—because in the long run, talent retention costs far less than talent replacement. Just a thought worth reflecting on as we plan for the next phase of growth. 🚀 #Leadership #PeopleFirst #SustainableGrowth #EmployeeExperience #LongTermThinking #OrganizationalStrategy