Leadership: at Amazon, Apple and Facebook

published: 2011-11-28

Amazon’s amazing. Apple’s the apple of everyone’s eye. Facebook’s the face everyone wants to know. In a recent blog, Seth Godin copied their org. charts as seen by Manu. Perhaps these charts also sum up their leadership styles. If so, what can you and I learn from each – and their differences. Here are some characteristics and then my takeaway. ... read more

Leadership: what's your cool quotient?

published: 2011-08-22

London’s Financial Times commented as follows after Apple briefly overtook Exxon as the world’s most highly-capitalised business. “A cool company run by a cool executive (briefly) ruled the corporate world.” That it “ousted an unhip energy company only made it cooler.” An academic adds that cool comes in two sub-types - what I’ll call “together cool” and “far-out cool”. Perhaps, Rupert Murdoch and Warren Buffett exemplify the first - the older, quieter, more assured version. And, Richard Branson and Larry Ellison the second - more maverick and exhibitionist. The FT recommends* mixing both approaches - but gets sidetracked on style. So, let’s explore what leadership actions might give you “combo cool”. ... read more

Leadership: what's your unbreakable promise?

published: 2011-08-16

As a leader, what are the three things you’ll never do? Break a promise? Fail to show up? Dress someone down in public? Or, what? Seth Godin, the well-known blogger, recently offered a list that he titled “Delivering on never”*. It’s a fun title but what does it mean for your leadership? His focus on customers is spot on for us as leaders. Our teams and other followers are the customers for our leadership. So, here are five things that will help to make them buy. ... read more

Leadership: sparking up your personal creativity

published: 2011-07-11

“Only by forcing our brains to … move beyond our habitual thinking patterns can (leaders) begin to imagine truly novel alternatives.” So say the authors of a recent McKinsey Quarterly article – and it’s hard to argue. They focus mostly on improving team creativity but there are two segments of their article I’ve re-refocused towards personal innovation. Rapid technical, cultural and social changes mean that leaders, who fail to generate new approaches will become victims of change, not its drivers. How would people say you perform on the items in the two checklists below? ... read more

Leadership: great skills, rotten attitude

published: 2011-04-04

Many of us start our careers using a professional skill – as an engineer, accountant, analyst, lawyer or designer. We land our first job based on the quality of our academic results. Early assignments let us show off these skills and hone them – possibly leading to promotion. It’s natural, therefore, to conclude that professional qualifications are our key attribute. Natural, but wrong. We may fail to notice that people don’t like being around us – or may avoid working with or for us. Have you ever faced that realisation? I have: it’s a shock. But, the question is how well you shift – realising technical proficiency is only half a tool kit. Below are two lists that allow you to check this out … and what to do about it. ... read more

Leadership: have you tested yours lately?

published: 2011-02-21

Phil Rozenzweig, a professor at IMD in Switzerland, swims against the current. When asked “What’s the next new thing in strategy”, he replied “That’s the wrong question. There’s always new stuff … and most of it’s not very good.” His advice … “Seek what’s true, not new!” This quote leads an article in a recent McKinsey Quarterly that offers ten tests for your company’s strategy. My list below is identical except I’ve inserted “leadership” instead of “strategy” in each test. Check them out and see how you rate. ... read more

Leadership: LinkedIn and opened out

published: 2010-12-13

Old technologies and ways of doing things always colonise the new. Value only emerges when the unique potential of the new is properly exploited. Early TV was radio with pictures: boring shots of people reading the news. This changed once media companies recognised the mobility of TV cameras delivered powerful on-the-spot reporting – whether of earthquake damage or red-carpet events. For many leaders, social media and networking tools are still little more than an electronic Rolodex. Is that you? Here are five questions I’m answering for myself from engaging with the networking tool LinkedIn. What are your answers? ... read more

LEADERSHIP: HOW WELL DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE NEW RULES?

published: 2010-09-20

Business and leadership articles are of three types. 60% are like water: fit to drink but better left to the fish. 35% are like beer: with a quick zing but nothing to remember. Finally, there’s the 5% of first-growth wines that change our worldview. The winemakers here are the Druckers, the Prahalads and their ilk. Many already dead! But, not Shoshana Zuboff. She’s still with us, thank goodness. Her McKinsey Quarterly article “Creating value in the age of distributed capitalism” is premium wine. Don’t be put off by her title; this is no abstract economic treatise. It’s a must-buy for all leaders. It gives you a taste of the world, in which you’re going to be leading – starting now. It’s as dramatic a shift as that from individual workshops to mass production that was initiated by Henry Ford a hundred years ago. So, how well are you prepared for the new demands? Here are five questions that allow you to check. ... read more

LEADERSHIP: TURNING AROUND FAILURE

published: 2010-09-06

I’ve just discovered that my favourite blogger, Seth Godin, is also a columnist with the Harvard Business Review. However, even in this mainstream venue, he retains his quirky preoccupation with what’s wrong in the world. He prises open our minds and this is certainly true when he redefines failure, so we recognise various forms of “getting by” as actually various ways of failing. Below are his eight examples with his introductory wording. For each, I’ve appended an action option – taken from my V|E|C|T|O|R Leadership framework. Ask yourself this: how would colleagues rate you on your readiness to take such actions? ... read more

LEADERSHIP: HOW’S YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND COURAGE?

published: 2010-08-30

What do lobsters, scorpions and bees have in common? Yes, a capacity to inflict a nasty bite. But they also all lack a spine. An exoskeleton (the lobster’s hard shell) is all that holds their bodies together. There’s no internal bone structure. Some leaders are like this. Outer toughness and a nasty bite: the cutting remark or petulant decision. But little inner structure or resolve that makes for true leadership that will deliver results and build respect. What would people say about you: outer show or inner strength? Here are some action options. ... read more

LEADERSHIP: THAT ONE KEY LESSON

published: 2010-07-07

How do you rate yourself on the following five actions? Showing self-awareness?. Demonstrating authenticity, integrity and compassion? Understanding and engaging people as individuals? Showing self-leadership and adaptability? Communicating, particularly listening well – and widely? These are my phrases but, taken together, they encapsulate nearly 80% of the responses to a recent online survey that asked “if you could teach one thing to a young leader, what would it be?” From my decades of working with leaders (and being one), I can’t fault any of these suggestions. Even though, at times and to my cost, I’ve ignored some! But, notwithstanding their importance, they’re less than the full picture. Let me explain why – and suggest what else might be needed. ... read more

LEADERSHIP: GOING BACK TO GO FORWARD

published: 2010-06-07

Australia’s Prime Minister, Treasurer and hapless Government have locked themselves in a citadel of denial. They’re defending a resources super-profits tax, that’s been ill-conceived and badly introduced. The local media are full of it – as are key overseas financial reports. In Australia, not only mining people but also ex Labor Ministers, retired public servants, industry analysts and “friends” of Labor are trying to make the Government see sense. The tax, as proposed, is a national risk. Other countries are welcoming it as reducing Australia’s competitiveness in both attracting investment and exporting minerals. This same week, I’ve had a client CEO attempt a similar denial. Here are some thoughts on getting free. ... read more

LEADERSHIP: WHEN IN DOUBT, DISAGGREGATE

published: 2010-05-31

Seth Godin is part blogger, part public intellectual. Some days, he really nails a topic. Here’s an abbreviated introduction to a recent posting*.

“The typical American buys precisely one book a year … (but) when it comes to books, there is no typical American. There are a lot of Americans who buy zero books … and then there are people like me who buy 400. The average is irrelevant.”

It’s the old warning of the non-swimmer, who drowned in a river of one-metre average depth. So, what’s the equivalent for your leadership? Are you just taking “average” one-size-fits-all actions? Here’s a three-step alternative.

LEADERSHIP: THINK BIG BUT ALSO SMALL

published: 2010-05-24

Successful leaders offer both an uplifting goal and the steps to get there. The secret’s in the balance. If you’re only visionary, your legacy may well be just that: a high-potential but unrealised dream. People love it, but nothing happens. Equally, if you’re only focused on action and implementation, your people may be busy as hell but going nowhere. On long flights, I sometimes cook up an idea and enjoy the experience of what the outcome might look like – truly the view from 30,000 feet. But later, back at my desk, I have to think about how we’ll get there and my interest wanes. Too much hard work. Which would your people say you are: the dreamer or the detailer? Test yourself: which of the following two statements is more your home territory? ... read more

LEADERSHIP: FUTURE-FIGHTING, NOT FIRE-FIGHTING

published: 2010-03-29

"Harmony has tremendous appeal. Yet a good leader still asks how the business can do better. And, a great leader fights for what he or she believes in." This edited quote from a recent HBR article* urges us all to strive for what's game-defining, not what's marginal. Where do you and your team spend time: on operational fights with few serious implications; or, strategic challenges that can transform the business? The authors offer three checks of fight-worthiness - outlined below. ... read more

LEADERSHIP: YOUR KEY TO ORGANISATIONAL AGILITY

published: 2010-02-22

What would you give to achieve higher revenues, more satisfied customers and employees, improved operational efficiency and a faster time to market? That's what Donald Sull of McKinsey & Company offers if you achieve organisational agility. He defines it as identifying and capturing opportunities more quickly than your rivals. He quotes the heightened volatility of recent decades - and the acceleration during the GFC. But, what does this mean for you as a leader? Here are some thoughts. ... read more

LEADERSHIP: FOR GOODNESS SAKE MOVE ON

published: 2010-02-01

As John Maynard Keynes so aptly put it "The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from old ones." An example is how old technology always colonises the new. Initially, TV news was just talking-heads - radio newsreaders filmed reading the news. Until, of course, producers realised the new medium allowed them to cut away to the accident, political leader or fashion show being described. Today, many businesses struggle to reinvent themselves online and exploit its new and hugely different potential. Is the same true of your leadership? Are you stuck in old approaches - even some perhaps, which may never have worked all that well for you? Here are six things to check. ... read more

LEADERSHIP: POWER AND PURPOSE

published: 2010-01-28

US decline and China's inexorable rise are much talked of.  But, in a recent article, Josef Joffe* concludes his rebuttal thus.  "Gainsayers will still dramatise China's growth rates as a harbinger of a grand power shift.  But as the 21st century unfolds, the US will be younger and more dynamic than its competitors."  Whether right or wrong, it's an important issue.  And, his arguments have resonance for the durability of leaders, as well as nations.  He stresses the requirement for "requisite power and purpose."  If asked, would your colleagues say you still have these? ... read more

LEADERSHIP: 7 HABITS OF HIGHLY INEFFECTIVE MANAGERS

published: 2009-10-26

I'm no techo, nor a digital native.  But Langdon, V|E|C|T|O|R's technology manager, tries to educate me.  And, recently forwarded an article by Nari Kannan from www.it.toolbox.com* - and, I've borrowed its title for this Potshot.  It's a play on a famous book title and the seven negative habits he lists are all too common - and, not just in IT.  So, why not check below and rate yourself - and see what options you have to overcome such habits! ... read more

LEADERSHIP: ARE YOU AMATEUR OR PROFESSIONAL?

published: 2009-10-19

Heading for work recently, I ran into a neighbour I don't see very often.  He was leaving for his Wednesday, early-morning game of golf.  I noted his smart, all-weather jacket and his bag of high-quality clubs.  Clearly a serious player, I thought.  But, from our brief conversation, I soon learnt that though he'd played for years, he was still a hacker.  Sadly, many of us are like that with our leadership.  We do it every day and we've been at it for years.  But we make little improvement.  We're paid (and are therefore professionals) but we lead unthinkingly, like total amateurs.  So, what do serious golfers and leaders do?  And, could you do the same? ... read more

LEADERSHIP: BEWARE SELF-DELUSION

published: 2009-09-28

Half a dozen times in the last 20 years, I've worked with a CEO, who'd completely lost touch with reality.  In discussing strategy, they believed themselves as informed and proficient as they'd been in their prime.  Whether talking about customers, markets, technology or staffing, they knew it all - and, worse, felt no-one was ready to succeed them.  But, in each case, their colleagues (particularly their immediate team) saw the fading powers - and the growing self-delusion.  So, how would your team rate you on objectivity versus conceit?  Are you honest about your strengths and weaknesses - and your use-by date?  Here are six check-points. ... read more

LEADERSHIP: BEING THE BEST

published: 2009-08-17

They say history's written by the victors. But, in business, the victors also win the customers, gain market share and make the best profits. Sounds good to me.

LEADERSHIP: HOW MUCH DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE?

published: 2009-07-27

We often speak of some part of our organisation running "like a well-oiled machine".  But, we all know business lacks that precise and reliable machine-like character.  It's organic, changeable and often unstable.  Unlike an engine, it's not bolted to a chassis or floor.  It floats in a larger organic pool of economic, competitive and regulatory influences.  No wonder, therefore, people find it hard to measure (and justify) leadership investment.  But, if you've found some good metrics or trustworthy business-performance stats., please let me know (timothy@vectorleadership.com).  In the meantime, here are some arguments to consider. ... read more

LEADERSHIP: FOR SURVIVAL AND BEYOND

published: 2009-07-13

Apart from the paramedics, surgeons and undertakers of the business world, the rest of us are struggling.  Only bankruptcy specialists and their like are thriving.  Sadly, I'm not one of them.  So, I keep fighting; but, I also focus on life beyond the slump.  Why?  Because we can all learn something from people who've survived gulags and similar camps.  The secret is not strength or youth, but vision of a different and better future.  So, would your staff say you think beyond surviving the current quarter?  And, even if they're impressed with your "fire-fighting", do they sense you're leading them somewhere worth going in the future?  From recent discussions, here are some pointers I've heard for leaders to consider. ... read more

LEADERSHIP: HOW SERIOUS ARE YOU?

published: 2009-06-29

In the years before his conversion to Christianity, St Augustine of Hippo is quoted as having prayed: please make me virtuous but not yet.  Similarly, many of us want to be better leaders but won't invest the effort and energy necessary to shift how we operate.  So, let's check other areas in which we've all changed in recent years - and contrast these with how (if at all) we've upgraded how we lead those we rely on for the success of our projects. ... read more

LEADERSHIP: A QUICK COVER-UP

published: 2009-04-20

Warren Buffett famously quipped that it's not until the tide goes out you find who's been swimming naked.  He was referring to financial risk-takers.  But, he might as well be talking about leaders.  With the tide rising, we all look fine.  But with the lake sucked dry, we may be caught.  So, as you stand in front of your team today, do they see you clad - or threadbare?  Are there holes where it's better to be covered? ... read more

LEADERSHIP: STAY AHEAD

published: 2008-11-10

If you can’t keep up, you're part of the problem not the solution.  And, this is true for leaders, as for anyone else.  If you don't understand how your business works today – the market trends, new technologies, economic drivers and so on – then, people won't want to follow you.  As in a primitive tribe, they’ll leave you to die. 

LEADERSHIP: CREATIVE DESTRUCTION

published: 2008-08-04

General Motors was once a paragon of American business.  It's now in serious decline.  Its plight illustrates what a famous economist called “creative destruction.”  New industries, products and services rise to prominence; but, later lose their traction.  Horse-drawn carriages gave way to automobiles - ushering in gas stations but destroying buggy-whip manufacturers.  Gas guzzlers had their time on the road, but were overtaken by energy-efficient compacts.  And now hybrids; and, so on.

LEADERSHIP: STAND TALL AS THE BEST MANUFACTURER

published: 2008-06-16

My father had an engineering business - making furnaces and other products.  And, I worked summers in factories, while studying engineering.  So, I love that hot, noisy world of clanging metal as it's formed and worked with presses and punches.

LEADERSHIP: A STEP UP FROM MANAGEMENT

published: 2008-04-14

Are you a leader or a manager?  And, what's the difference?  For me, the distinction is one of degree not kind.  Most managers spend time leading; and, leaders also manage. 

LEADERSHIP: THINKING IS OFTEN THE LEAST OF IT

published: 2008-03-10

"How Successful Leaders Think" is a classic HBR article: big-name leaders (yes, Jack Welch is there), a handful of anecdotes (passing for evidence), a strong metaphor (we can all understand) and a simple diagram.  A revolutionary idea and leadership made easy.  Except that the core "opposable" thinking (thesis/antithesis/synthesis) is as old as time, as is also the CEO’s unique integrative role across conflicting needs of individual business units, functions and market groups.  But, above all, leadership is about much more than thinking. ... read more

LEADERSHIP: MOBILISES TALENT AND KNOWLEDGE

published: 2008-02-04

“The formal structures of companies, as manifested in their organisational charts, don’t explain how most of their real day-to-day work gets done.” That’s what the authors of a recent article claim; and, many would agree. But, being consultants, they have a solution. Establish “formal networks” – and more about these below. But, let’s keep it simple. Why not appoint more appropriate leaders to run the company as it’s already structured? ... read more