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Leadership: are you in love with yourself?
published: 2011-05-09
The Life Styles Inventory offers a well established and highly regarded suite of tools. Over a million managers (the employees of over 240,000 companies) have used them. That is hugely to be admired. And, with this scale, you can’t question their comparative data. But, I do question some underlying assumptions as they apply to helping leaders become more effective. Here are four things I shared with a client recently, who asked me how my own Leadership-Action-Planning approach differs from tools like LSI and Myers Briggs (MBTI). ... read more
Leadership: McKinsey's approach is too self-centred
published: 2010-11-08
I worked at McKinsey and Company many years ago and still hold the firm in high esteem. But, an article in their Quarterly (October 2010) worries me on two grounds. First, its starting point for successful leadership is what motivates the leader rather than those being led. Second, it relies on self-assessed evaluations (by leaders), in which much evidence seems tautological. Like asking a golfer which iron she uses most proficiently. Say, a sand wedge. Then seeing proof of something in a later answer that she’s good at getting out of bunkers or sand traps – when that’s what a wedge is for. So, I’m concerned that McKinsey’s “centred leadership” is possibly self-centred – and even self-deceptive. Would people say that of your leadership? ... read more
Leadership: when appearances count
published: 2010-10-11
We’re often told: don’t judge by appearances. It’s a nice sentiment. But, in the real world, it’s bunk. Appearances count, particularly for leaders – both in terms of “being visible” and considering “how things look”. George Bush’s tardiness in visiting New Orleans post Hurricane Katrina was a double black cross on his card. He wasn’t there; and, his misjudgement of priorities looked bad. Similarly, it was a negative call for BP’s CEO, Tony Hayward, to take time for a sail with his son rather than focusing (and being seen to) 24x7 on the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. How do you stack up in this regard? What would people say? ... read more
LEADERSHIP: TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT – AGAIN
published: 2010-10-04
Stars work smarter, not harder. Hence the famous invoice: to hitting machine with hammer – $10; to knowing where to hit – $1,000. The marketplace values outcomes: goals achieved, tournaments won, contracts signed. Think about it: what distinguishes the super salesperson from the talker, the winning golfer from the hacker, the high-return investor from the punter, the artist from the messy painter? It’s not about doing more or tiring yourself out. As the author, Antoine de Saint Exupery, highlighted: perfection is not when there’s nothing more to add but when there’s nothing further to take away. So why does leadership training and development so often leave leaders still below par? Here are some thoughts. ... read more
LEADERSHIP: TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT - BUT HOW?
published: 2010-07-13
Google returns 16 million responses for leadership training and 29 million for leadership development. But this begs the question of what is the best approach to either – and a deeper question: do current practices work? From my experience, much of what businesses spend is sub-optimal or wasted. Let me explain. ... read more
LEADERSHIP: BREAK THE HABIT
published: 2010-03-01
A recent article in The Economist ("The three habits ... of highly irritating management gurus"*) focuses on generalisations that gurus pass off as wisdom. The article makes plain that many of their "new" ideas are old; and, most of their case examples lack merit. For me, though, the absurdity is expecting you to replace your own default behaviours with theirs. Why swap one set of habits for another, when leadership should be about problem-solving: working out what to do in a specific situation that brings together a particular group of people and a particular set of business challenges. It's about something new; not what worked elsewhere or for someone in a different situation. It's certainly never about a single approach. So, are you a guru-child or your own leader? ... read more
LEADERSHIP: DEMONSTRATE SUCCESS NOT HUMILITY
published: 2010-02-08
When someone commented to Winston Churchill that Clement Atlee was a modest man, he famously replied that Atlee had "much to be modest about." I suspect Churchill (in contrast to gurus like Jim Collins) would find the current fashion for bland CEOs unacceptable. Collins says the best are "humble, self-effacing, diligent and resolute souls." Diligent and resolute sound good to me and my four decades of business involvement say they're needed characteristics. But, humble and self-effacing contradict my experience. Some CEOs cultivate quietness and consultation but that's not the same as being humble or self-effacing. So, what kind of CEO are you; and, is it working? Here are some things to ponder. ... read more
LEADERSHIP: WHEN GOOD-TO-GREAT IS ONLY LUCK
published: 2009-11-23
Business gurus and their books are full of magic formulae for achieving business and career success. It's alluring: we all want to succeed. And, they often clothe their advice in research across hundreds of companies or thousands of leaders. Very impressive on the surface. But, at bottom, it's all just another medieval philosopher's stone - promising to transmute stodgy lead into winner's gold. Lovely words but not for real. And, all too often, later review will indicate this "great" company has now slipped back, and that exemplary leader has fallen from grace - or, worse, is doing time. But is there something we can learn here?
... read more
LEADERSHIP: BE SPECIFIC AND PRACTICAL
published: 2009-11-02
Twenty years ago, which was also twenty years into our marriage, my wife and I nearly separated. But with professional help, we reviewed what we each wanted and how this could be achieved. We set goals and negotiated actions. What saved us was specifics, not general principles. In most areas of life, the principles are pretty obvious. However, the specifics are what's tough and personally challenging. And, that's particularly true of leadership, which is perhaps a strange sort of legalised polygamy. A relationship between a leader and his or her followers. So, like many marriages, it may need some help - and here are some thoughts. ... read more
LEADERSHIP: THE V|E|C|T|O|R PROMISE
published: 2008-11-30
V|E|C|T|O|R Leadership® is an online leadership action-planning tool. It helps you do two things: first, diagnose what your colleagues need you to do, if they're going to follow and support you; and second, turn this into a plan. Sounds simple - but it's not often done. The cost: as little as $75 - and you can update your plan, email it and access lots of resource material. It's certainly new, and we believe unique.
... read more
LEADERSHIP: IT'S WHAT YOU DO THAT COUNTS
published: 2008-06-09
Action is the language of leadership. As elsewhere in life, it's what you do that counts. Yes, you need to meet with people and talk a lot. But, the bottom line is "walking the talk." Action, not theory.
... read moreLEADERSHIP: IT'S ABOUT LEADING, NOT READING
published: 2008-03-31
Throw out all those books on leadership, and the pile of articles on your desk! Reading what other leaders do (or recommend) is like going to the movies or watching TV. It’s entertainment. Sometimes inspiring but mostly irrelevant - and soon forgotten. Most of us don’t need to be General Patton or Rupert Murdoch. We just need to lead that team we see, talk and do things with every day at work. ... read more
LEADERSHIP: BEING GOOD AT WHAT YOU DO
published: 2008-02-11
Richard Rumelt’s CV includes conquering both mountains and new territory in business thinking. In the latter, from an analytical base, he’s disproved many old assumptions. One of his most notable findings is as follows: being in the right industry does matter, but being good at what you do matters a lot more – regardless of your industry. ... read more
LEADERSHIP: LET A THOUSAND FOLLOWERS FLOWER
published: 2008-02-11
“Increasingly, followers think of themselves as free agents, not as dependent underlings. … A confluence of changes – cultural and technological ones in particular – have influenced what subordinates want and how they behave, especially in relation to their ostensible bosses.” I like that expression: ostensible bosses. Are we ever much more than that? Each day and in each situation, we have to win our followers to the cause or journey, for which we’re responsible. So, how are we to do that? ... read more
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