Leadership Challenge on the Horizon

In the Monday, November 16th, WSJ there is an article entitled Businesses Mount Efforts to Retain Valued Employees. The gist of the article is that there is the potential for significant turnover and job-hopping in the labor market as the economy slowly recovers. Many employees have "stayed put," tied to their present company due to the severe economic downturn. In fact, the article states that fewer US workers quit their jobs since the DOL started tracking this data in 2000.



As the economy improves, it remains to be seen what the job outlook will be. Some economists have spoken of a "jobless recovery." Almost certainly, some hiring will begin to pick up in some sectors. As this happens, many employees are going to be enticed to test the waters in the job market.



Adversity can make individuals and organizations stronger -- depending upon how they handle it -- or it can take them down. To some degree, companies will be judged by how they treated their employees during adverse conditions. Employees that did not have options during the recession, but believe that their companies didn't sufficiently take care of them or keep them in the loop are going to "vote with their feet."



Communication is critical during difficult times and leaders need to be out in front of their people actively communicating and actively listening to their workforce. One company mentioned in the article scheduled employee breakfast sessions with senior leadership to open an effective dialogue.

Leaders of cash-strapped companies may look to alternatives to traditional compensation to demonstrate that they value their employees. Again, employees are watching and they will remember. Alternative work schedules, telework, career development planning, greater employee involvement in decision-making and recognition programs are all ways that leaders can build and maintain employee engagement.

Money is a basic need, but if a company can keep their compensation within the neighborhood of the going rates, leaders can use non-monetary tools to engage and retain their valued employees. While the WSJ article quotes a study that indicated workers care more about the cash and managers assume organizational culture and employee-boss relationships are paramount, I tend to believe that once a basic monetary threshold is met, culture and workplace climate are huge. When leaders build a culture that employees buy into and become passionate about, they look forward to coming to work and are proud to be part of something special. As Ray Davis plainly states, this passion starts at the top and it's the leader's job to infuse it throughout the organization.

When employees get energized and excited about their work - truly passionate - and they are given freedom within established boundaries, great things can happen. Again, it's the leader that sets the tone.

Companies that understand valuing employees is something that you practice every day down in the trenches and not just slogans that are chanted are in a good position to retain their top performers. For companies who, through their actions, have not valued their employees, it may be time to start ramping up their idle recruiting programs!

Execution

In The Leader of the Future 2, Joseph Maciariello speaks of a "spirit of performance" that focuses on doing the right thing and getting the right things done. Getting things done is about execution. Effective execution requires leaders to employ steadfastness, follow through, a sense of urgency, as well as the ability to make fine-tuning adjustments - appropriate course corrections - along the way.

In Winning, Jack Welch explains that you can have passion, energize others, make difficult decisions, have great people, but "the results stink." That is because effective execution is missing. Welch describes execution the ability to "put decisions into action and push them forward to completion, through resistence, chaos, or unexpected obstacles."

One of themes that seems to be in common with the Gerstner and Davis books is the importance of execution.

Lou Gerster, in Who Says Elephants Can't Dance, defines execution as "getting the task done, making it happen." He refers to execution as the most undervalued quality of leaders. He explains that most business strategies are not revolutionary or unique. What separates the best companies from the rest of the pack is their ability to execute the strategies. Gerstner asserts that execution is successfully played out day-in and day-out in the course of business activities. He also believes that what gets done is what gets measured or inspected - accountability.

Ray Davis says that one of the key attributes of successful growth companies is their ability to execute their strategies precisely. In Leading for Growth, he speaks of the necessity of discipline and that organizational discipline starts with the senior leader. Discipline allows the organization to aggressively pursue their strategy. Davis speaks of the messages that the leader must send and the cues that employees will take. If a leader has poor follow through on strategy and change initiatives, employees will become jaded and view such efforts as the latest "flavor of the month." Leaders that cause and reinforce a "this too shall pass" attitude are undermining their organization's effectiveness and potential.

In their book, Execution, Bossidy and Charan state that some leaders make the mistake of delegating execution. They argue that execution is not just a tactic, but a discipline that must be built into the organization's culture and the leader must be out in front leading the effort to instill execution in the organization's DNA. As Gerstner similarly explained, Bossidy and Charan believe that an execution culture enables the organization to have competitive advantage.

In thinking about execution in business, a sports analogy seems fitting: a football coach can draw up the most effective play ever created, but if his team cannot execute the play properly the team will not be able to put points on the scoreboard! It takes practice, discipline, learning, team focus, sychronized effort and dogged determination to execute the play successfully and push the ball across the goal line.

Transformational Small Business Leadership

I came across an interesting article the other day while surfacing the internet. Although it's a couple of years old, I found it to be very thought-provoking.

In the September 2007 article on americanexecutive.com entitled Creative Office Environments: The Future of Work, Bob Delille made some comments about his company that I found really interesting and very insightful.

I know Bob Delille, as he is a former basketball and tennis buddy. While I don't know him in a work setting, I do know of his character and his competitive nature. He likes to win (with class). Louis Gerstner's comments in Elephants about beating the competition and wanting to win remind me of Bob.

Back to the article -- Bob had an outside firm survey Creative's customers to find out their perceptions of Creative Office Environments. The survey found that customers believed that Creative was a great provider of products and services. For many leaders, they would be quite satisfied with these results. Bob was dismayed. He believed that being perceived as a great provider of products and services was a sure-fire way to be "commoditized right out of business."

Bob went on to say that his vision for Creative was to be viewed as a creative problem solver in meeting customers' office furnishing needs. At that point, Bob decided to build his company's business around creativity and innovation believing that intellectual capital was his long-term competitive advantage. I found this to be so cool and indicative of the principled, visionary leader that I believe Bob Delille to be. To successfully make this strategic shift in focus requires a change in how you view your employees' talents, how you develop them and how you set their expectations and how you motivate them - all requiring leadership from the top.

The article also speaks of a strategic shift in focus for the company that builds on Creative employees' ability to integrate technology and furnishings for comprehensive workplace solutions. To me, this was almost reminiscent of Gerstner's recognition that IBM had a unique capability to provide IT integration services. Creative employees are no longer narrowly viewed as salespersons or installers - they are innovators, integrators and problem solvers. The company is re-branding to be seen as experts in the "future of work."

At Creative, Bob led changes in their workplace and organizational culture to support his vision for the company. The article is a great example of a small business leader who has led his company through transformational change.

As listed on the company's web site, the organizational values are:

• Family
• Being the Best
• Hard Work
• Passion
• Trust/Relationships
• Growth

Having known Bob, I know that these values are his values and I absolutely know that he walks the talk. It's not an accident that "family" is at the top of the list. I also note the presence of "passion" on the list - the attribute that Gerstner spoke of in Elephants as being so important to success as a leader.

Great stuff and the insight of needing to move from a great provider of products to a provider of innovative solutions (capabilities-based business) strikes a cord with me.

Creative Office Environments article:

http://www.americanexecutive.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5964

Creative's web site:

http://www.creative-va.com/

Leadership in a Chaotic Marketplace

In the October 21 Wall Street Journal, there were a number of articles centered around the dynamic environment in the information technology industry. In an industry where innovations and change can occur at break neck speed, many companies are struggling to stay ahead of the power curve and trying to figure out products, financial models and pricing structures that will prove successful in the future.

Yahoo Inc's Chief Executive, Carol Bartz has struggled with reduced ad revenue and has focused on cutting costs across the board in an effort to stabilize the company. The WSJ article spoke of Bartz leading Yahoo through change such as implementing a home page on one technology platform. (for the record, I had Yahoo as my home page for years, but I can't stand the look, feel and intrusiveness of Yahoo's new page, so I moved to MSN recently).

In the same WSJ edition, there is an article about a desire among some internet service providers to move to a pricing structure that charges customers based on usage as opposed to the current flat rate model.

Yet another article speaks of Sun Microsystems problems and planned layoff of up to 3,000 workers. The article talks of a potential takeover by Larry Ellison and Oracle Corporation. On the technology innovation side, an article speaks of Barnes & Noble's release of a new electronic book reader. In another recent WSJ article, the financial troubles of the print newspaper industry was detailed - driven largely by the real-time availability of news and information a point and click away on the internet. And of course e-business has exploded.

All these articles underscore the volatile and dynamic environment of the information technology industry and the rapid pace of change. The challenge for CEOs and other senior leaders is how they can get their companies out in front of the power curve to lead the innovation and change rather than be steam-rolled by it. To stay in front, leaders need to form a vision of the future and be willing to take calculated risks. Only the agile will survive.

In "Who Says Elephants Can't Dance," Lou Gerstner showed that an IT executive does not have to necessarily be a super technologist to be a successful leader. Foremost, Gerstner was a superior businessman, decisive and customer-centered. Secondly, he surrounded himself with a select number of very bright, capable people who could help him lead the necessary change. He was willing to make difficult decisions that would be hard for some stakeholders to accept but that were ultimately what was best for IBM. One very "slick" risk that Gerstner took was the decision to sell IBM's component technology, even to competitors. He reasoning, in part, was that by having other companies incorporate IBM components into their products, IBM could ultimately influence future industry standards (to IBM's benefit). This was a very smart way to shape the future and get ahead of the curve.

Today's leaders in the information technology industry must be especially good at recognizing the evolution of technology, the possibilities it presents, and assessing consumers' and business's openness to accepting the cascading of new products and capabilities. This is a challenge because many do not want to be in a constant state of "upgrade mode."

Today's environment, in my opinion, provides many opportunities for creative partnerships and leaders must be open to such arrangements. Probably most importantly, IT leaders must create organizational cultures that embrace and value the rapid pace of change. Additionally, continuous learning and support of risk-taking are critical. This is not an industry where the recipe for Campbell's Tomato Soup can endure for decades upon decades unchanged!

Cultural Chaos?

I read with passing interest a recent article in the Wall Street Journal regarding the Chrysler Group LLC preparing for bad news about its September sales (Chrysler Faces Chilly Autumn, September 15th).

I didn't think much about the article at first, truthfully. Yes, Chrysler is in extremis and needed US government help to navigate through a bankruptcy that was filed on April 30, 2009. Yes, America's number three car-maker has been struggling for some time and it's leaders are now fighting for the company's survival.

I re-read the article and it dawned on me an additional daunting leadership challenge Chrysler faces - one related to organizational culture. Chrysler was recently purchased by Fiat of Italy and is now led by Italian CEO Sergio Marchionne. It struck me how dramatic the changes have been at Chrysler over the past several decades - changes that undoubtedly have had major impacts on the culture of the company.

Chrysler has a long history going back to its founding in 1925. Everyone knows of the turnaround Chrysler made under Lee Iacocca in the 1980's.

From 1998 to 2007, the company was part of the German firm DaimlerChrysler AG. And now in 2009, it is part of an Italian ownership team. When you think about it, these dramatic changes almost certainly have to generate significant changes in the organizational culture of Chrysler. Beyond the typical cultural changes inherent in a changing of CEO's, the added dynamic of differing country cultures is at play. This company, in crisis, has gone from the leadership of an American icon, to leadership from a German company to now an Italian company. These changes couldn't have come easily.

Senior leaders must be skilled at change management and establishing a vision for the new company, absolutely. I would submit that senior leaders must exhibit cultural intelligence to understand the differences between the American and Italian cultures. Perhaps Chrysler workforce has become used to such changes and is very adaptable. From another article in the WSJ, it appears that the new CEO is finding out that his engineering and management talent has been thinned out due to attrition over the past several years. Instead, perhaps, many of Chrysler's employees have decided to get off the merry-go-round.

Chrysler's web site does speak to the existence of a "Global Diversity Council" comprised of senior leaders, so the company may in fact be actively working the cultural challenges.

As the world becomes a smaller place and companies become increasingly global - in reach and in leadership composition - cultural intelligence and a keen understanding of diversity are critical skills that senior leaders of the future must possess. Without the proper leadership and insight, country cultures and ways of doing business will clash. Good leaders recognize these challenges, build upon the strengths and differences of country cultures. With their hands on the steering wheel, they can navigate their companies through the obstacle course that cultural diversity can sometimes seemingly present.

Chrysler LLC:

http://www.chryslergroupllc.com/en/about_us/our_team/?name=

Leadership in Academia

The Richmond Times-Dispatch had an interesting article in the October 4th Commentary Section. The article, entitled "University Presidents Need Integrity, Passion and Endurance," speaks of the leadership traits that are desirable for college presidents. It is written by Charles F. Bryan, Jr., who recently aided the search committee for the Hampden-Sydney College president vacancy.

Bryan suggests the following key traits:

• Integrity


• Self-confidence without arrogance


• Listening and learning skills


• Decision-making ability


• Passion for the job


• Endurance


• Effective communication skills

It is interesting to note that the first trait that Bryan lists is integrity. Honesty was identified in the research by Kouzes and Posner as the characteristic people most admire in their leaders. Integrity and honesty are related but not one in the same. John Wooden argued in one of his books that the difference was clear - bank robbers could be honest (tell the truth) but that doesn't mean they have integrity!

In discussing "listening and learning skills," the RTD article quotes one university president who suggests the university leader is an "anthropologist learning the tribal customs." I thought this was a great comment given the article in "Leaders of the Future 2" by Schein where he suggests that leaders need to "think like an anthropologist" because of their responsibility to create and manage the culture of their organization.

Bryan quotes the UR president, Ed Ayers, as saying "universities are all about learning and those who head them should never stop learning." Indeed, all leaders should seek to increase their tool kits and broaden their perspectives. Our readings in HRM 638U make it clear that organizations must foster cultures of learning as a business necessity and survival strategy. I absolutely believe this. As a personal goal, I am going to try to reflect at the end of each work week on the question "what did I learn this week."

The trait of endurance also resonated with me. The article makes the point that university presidents must have the endurance of an athlete because of the long hours and demanding schedule. While the article doesn't make this point, I would say that endurance is also important in terms of the staying power and steadfastness that leaders need to see critical long term goals through to fruition - this is not typically done with a "sprint race."

Communication skills come into play with the vision and the article speaks to the need to inspire and motivate others to get behind the vision.

Managing/leading diversity is not mentioned anywhere in the article. I believe this is a necessary skill for any leader. Business Acumin is different than fund-raising and I could see where all university presidents must have significant business skill in order to lead a multi-million dollar enterprise.

The author of the RTD article states that fund-raising ability was purposely left off the list because if the president possesses the other attributes he will be able to successfully carry out the fund-raising duties. I am not sure I totally buy that. To turn it around, I wonder how often universities go after a particular candidate because of their superior fund-raising experience without paying attention to all of the qualities that made the list above. Bet it happens!

Attributes a few college search committees have identified:

http://www.austincollege.edu/NewsDetail.asp?NewsID=1506&ItemID=6318

http://www.iue.edu/chancellorsearch/description.php

Leadership in the Community

One of the neat things about the blog assignment is that it causes you to widen your view on stellar leadership examples in business, government, the community and elsewhere. We're on the lookout!!

In The Leader of the Future 2 (great book by the way), Brian O'Connell writes that Peter Drucker said that religious leaders were among the very best leaders in the U.S. In the same book, John Mroz talks about the imbedded leaders that are all around us.

I was struck by a video interview with Calvin Duncan, a religious leader in the Richmond area. Duncan is a former guard with the VCU Rams who is in the VCU Hall of Fame. I would call him an "imbedded leader." Duncan was orphined at an early age and was raised by his grandmother in a rough area in New Jersey. As a basketball player, he was a top 50 high school senior. He later was captain of the VCU team that finished the season ranked 11th in the nation in 1985 and knocked off an excellent Northeastern team in the NCAA tourny led by Reggie Lewis. He earned his degree and was subsequently chosen as a third round pick of the Chicago Bulls, but chose a different path than the NBA.

I was at VCU during Duncan's tenure. It was not unusual to see him around campus and he always had an entourage. The guy had charisma. At the time, I thought he carried himself with class and it's really neat to see the leadership role he now has in the community.

Here is the video:

http://www.vcuramnation.com/2009/10/ram-nation-sits-down-with-vcu-hall-of-famer-calvin-duncan/

(it is well worth the 9 1/2 minute time investment)

A couple of comments that Duncan made really resonated with me. I don't know if they are original to him, but they are thought-provoking nonetheless. Here they are:

"Your attitude will determine your altitude."

Paraphrasing: A "successful person" - the focus is on self - individual accomplishments. A "significant person" - is marked by the impact he/she has on others.

When I reflect on these statements, I think that they speak volumes to the potential leaders have with their constituents, whether it be in corporate America or the community. How often do we observe leaders who are self-absorbed and proud of their individual accomplishments? Yet the true mark of a leader is the impact he or she makes on others. And the attitude part of the equation should not be underestimated. As a leader, your attitude drives your behavior and employees in the workplace are absolutely attuned to the leader's attitude.

Significant leaders do the following:

• carry out their activities with character and integrity
• truly care about their employees'/constituents' well-being
• support individuals' personal and professional development
• help individual's achieve their potential

Duncan could have become intoxicated with fame and fortune, but the guy is incredibly grounded. There is much to learn from this community leader. There are too few Calvin Duncan's in this world. One can't listen to the video clip without coming away with an admiration for his attitude, conviction and leadership qualities.

Duncan's current ministry: http://www.faithandfamilychurch.org/pastorbios.html

Small Businesses That "Get It"

Wow! In the September 28th Wall Street Journal, there was a special section highlighting the Top Small Workplaces in 2009. What a great read. These small businesses "get it" when it comes to human resources and providing a positive workplace environment.

Some of the companies do creative things with benefits. Some of the companies pay close attention to culture and value communication and openness. Others value a learning environment. The leaders of these small businesses understand that people are more than a resource to control, they are the lifeblood of the company's future. Here are some of the company practices that really caught my eye as cool:

Advanced Technology Institute, an R&D non-profit organization, focuses on talent management. The president named the Chief Financial Officer as the "Chief Talent Officer." Hopefully this individual has an HR background or access to the expertise. It's pretty powerful, though, to marry up the money guy with talent management. Powerful combination and says something about organizational priorities. I also liked that this organization includes organizational history and values in its onboarding program.

Anthony Wilder Design/Build Inc. impressed me with their employee development efforts to have employees "think and act like owners." They provide training to their employees in financial decision-making and help each employee understand how their job affects the bottomline. Again, pretty powerful stuff. My employer, the Naval Surface Warfare Center, wants its employees to understand how their jobs ultimately affect the warfighter - our customer.

Likewise, Railroad Associates Corporation provides technology that allows employees to see budgets and scheduling information to support better decision-making. The goal is to create an ownership mentality.

This "sense of ownership" resonates with me. If an organization's employees' own their actions and can connect them to the organization's goals and performance and can see the value in doing so, this creates a great win-win situation. While definitely a challenge, what a great objective for leaders to envision and work towards!

Bailard Inc., an investment firm, is big on transparency. So big, in fact, that they don't have doors on offices. This promotes openness and allows for better sharing of ideas and colloboration. This, in turn, supports the development of junior staff members.

All of these high-performing organizations have made choices about values and priorities. Leaders have provided organizational cultures that support corporate goals and motivate and excite employees to do their better to attain those goals. It is really impressive to see the insights these small business leaders have and there is much to learn from their successes.

Leaders and Time Management

In Joseph Maciariello's essay on Peter Drucker's perspectives on leadership effectiveness, he discusses that one effective executive practice is time management. He goes on to state that time is expendable and once it is gone, you can't get it back. The essay talks about some practical techniques for time management such as keeping a log of how your time is used during the workday, but I was struck that Marciariello did not speak about effective delegating skills. From my perspective, the demands on leaders and the break-neck pace of today's workplace demand that leaders effectively work through others. Inability or unwillingness to do so is simply a recipe for failure. By prioritizing tasks, deciding what others can do and then delegating those tasks to the appropriate individuals, the leader can reduce the exorbitant demands on his time.



According to the web site Time-Management-Guide.Com, "delegation skill is your ability to get things done by using work and time of other people." The article claims that delegating is a critical survival skill for leaders. http://www.time-management-guide.com/delegation-skill.html

This web article talks about identifying win-wins, where the leader is ability to delegate and reduce time demands (win) and by doing so he provides an opportunity for an employee or work group to perform a new task which can be a valuable learning experience (win). This win-win approach creates momentum by empowering employees to do new and challenging things. These "stretch" assignments benefit the organization in the long term and help the leader to make better use of time. As with any assignment, there must be the proper goal-setting and feedback mechanisms in place to provide the conditions for success.


Another important condition for success is delegating to the right individual. A leader does this by truly knowing his employees. In First, Break All the Rules, Buckingham and Coffman describe "one of the signs of a great [leader] is the ability to describe, in detail, the unique talents of each of his or her people - what drives each one, how each one thinks, how each builds relationships."



In Execution, Bossidy and Charan state that "getting things done through others is a fundamental leadership skill...if you can't do it, you're not leading." Yet, many new leaders struggle with this basic skill. Why is that? It seems to me that self-confidence and trust come into play. If the leader is insecure and feels that he must control or do everything himself in order for things to be done right, delegating isn't going to happen. Likewise, the leader must have confidence to trust his employees with important assignments that they are given to do. One important way for the leader to develop this trust is to truly know his people as I talked about previously.


And like all skills, delegating can be learned and it must be practiced. As with a sport or learning the lines for a play, the more you practice the skill the better and more comfortable you will become performing it. Delegating is one of many skills in the leader's tool kit and it must be practiced effectively for the leader to make the best use of his time. Frankly, with the mind-boggling demands on most leaders, delegating is a means to maintain one's sanity!

The History of the MBTI

After taking the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) for class, I was interested in learning a little bit more about how it was developed and when.

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a tool that helps individuals identify their basic personality type preferences. The 16 type preferences are based on four dimensions:

• Extroversion (E) -- Introversion (I)



• Sensing (S) -- Intuition (N)



• Thinking (T) -- Feeling (F)



• Judging (J) -- Perceiving (P)

All types are considered equal and there are no "right" or "wrong" types. The MBTI is based on the work of Swiss Psychologist Carl Jung and his book, Psychological Types, published in 1921. Jung was a disciple of Freud's but he ultimately distanced himself from some of Freud's theories.

More on Jung: http://www.carl-jung.net/biography.html

Extensive follow-on research to Jung's work was conducted by Isabel Briggs Myers and her mother Katharine Briggs. Briggs had been intrigued since her youth with the differences in personality that people exhibit. She was determined to understand the differences and health people value the differences in order to improve or enhance relationships among people. By the 1940's Myers and Briggs had developed the MBTI tool, expanding on Jung's concept of psychological types and translating the work into something more understandable to the layperson.

Decades of data collection and analysis have validated the MBTI tool. The tool was administered to family members, employees of a company the Myers worked for and to an entire class of Swarthmore College. Many of the original research notes of Myers are housed at the University of Florida. Today the instrument is used throughout the world and it has been translated into many different languages. It is used in business settings, marriage counseling, individual counseling among its applications. Others have built upon the work of Myers and Briggs. An example is Please Understand Me by Keirsey and Bates.

I am an ISFJ - I took the MBTI about 15 years ago and my recent taking re-validated my type preference. I am thinking about sharing my type with the employees who work for me directly and am also thinking about suggesting to my boss that the leadership team all take the MBTI if they haven't done so recently.

The MBTI is a fascinating tool that I personally think is very valid and useful. For those in leadership positions, it is important to understand yourself intimately in order to be a good leader as Kouzes and Posner have pointed out. The MBTI provides valuable insights and can help a leader understand his/her preferences. Ideally, the information can help individuals in the workplace understand differences and look for ways to complement the differences. For example, different types will have different approaches to solving a problem. Different perspectives can be a powerful way to collectively solve a problem. Differences should be viewed as a strength and not a weakness.

More on MBTI:

http://www.myersbriggs.org/

http://www.capt.org/mbti-assessment/mbti-overview.htm

The Wisdom of Grace Hopper

In The Leadership Challenge, Kouzes and Posner describe leaders as "fundamentally restless. They don't like the status quo. They want to make something happen. They want to change the business-as-usual environment." Smart leaders know that creativity and innovation can flourish in an environment where individuals are encouraged to push the boundaries, share their ideas, and take risks.



Smart leaders know that risk-taking can lead to creative breakthroughs. By providing a work culture that supports experimentation or trial and error - with a mindset that much can be learned from the false starts and mistakes - innovation can be hastened. Kouzes and Posner describe this environment as a "climate for learning."


I thought about risk-taking and leadership and came across some classic quotes from Rear Admiral Grace Murray Hopper, a true pioneer in science and leadership. She was an innovator and a change agent.


Admiral Hopper was the first women to be awarded a PhD in Mathematics from Yale University. She later was commissioned into the Navy during World War II. She also worked at Harvard University, becoming the first programmer of the Navy's Mark I computer (a project my current employer helped to sponsor).




The Mark I Computer was invented in 1944. It was literally of roomful of noisy metal parts and was 55 feet long and 8 feet high. It was used by the U.S. Navy for gunnery and ballistic calculations.

She later was the co-inventor of the COBOL programming language which allowed computers to respond to words instead of numbers. Hopper frequently joked that this innovation was necessary because she couldn't balance her checkbook. Later in her professional career, she became the first woman Naval Reservist to be recalled to active duty. Her professional career culminated with her promotion to Rear Admiral by presidential appointment in 1983.




I first heard of Rear Admiral Hopper because of a 60 Minutes profile in that same year. I am not a technical guy and I wasn't impressed by the military, but after all these years I remember how impressive she was.


Rear Admiral Hopper was a great advocate for innovation and breaking the status quo. She frequently spoke on the subject as she toured throughout the U.S. speaking at conferences and professional meetings. Here are some of her famous quotes:

• "It is often easier to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission."

(Lou Gerstner doesn't think organizations that operate this way can sustain success)

• "The most dangerous phrase in the language is, "We've always done it this way."


• "A ship in port is safe, but that is not what ships are for. Sail out to sea and do new things."

How often to we as leaders and as employees get too comfortable? Do we get complacent? Is our competitive advantage in jeapardy? Have we stopped raising the bar for organizational performance? Are we providing an environment where our employees can stretch and "build a little, test a little?" These are great questions in light of Grace Hopper Murray's statements above!

More on Rear Admiral Hopper: http://gracehopper.org/2009/about/about-grace-hopper/

The Point Guard Analogy

I'm a huge college basketball fan and I frequently relate leadership or other workplace challenges to hoops. As I thought about leadership topics to write about, it occurred to me that a team's point guard, in many ways, can be a metaphor for leadership. The "floor general" must demonstrate leadership qualities that parallel those that an organizational leader must possess.



I've heard many coaches extolling the qualities of a particularly gifted point guard by referring to some of the following attributes:

• Able to see the entire floor


• Able to see two or three passes ahead of the next pass


• Able to create and get others involved

Adept at communicating verbally and non-verbally with teammates

A steady hand when the pressure is on

These attributes readily translate to some of the qualities an organizational leader must possess to be effective.



Effective organizational leaders must be able to see the entire floor - the big picture and all of its moving pieces. By seeing several passes ahead, the leader is a visionary. She knows the ultimate destination and can visualize the passes (steps) necessary to get there. She is able to create or foster creativity within the workplace and do so collaboratively. The leader is a strong communicator and ensures effective two-way communication up and down the organization. She is also the individual that others look to in difficult times to provide direction and a calming influence. She provides the focus in the face of adversity.



An effective point guard has confidence in his abilities, understands who he is as a player, his strengths and weaknesses, and earns the confidence of each of his teammates. Similarly, the organizational leader must display a quiet confidence and must understand herself in order to be a good leader. Kouzes and Posner talk about how, as a leader, you must "first know who you are" in order to act with integrity.

Whether the analogy is basketball player or orchestra conductor, many parallels can be drawn to the work of the leader. By thoughfully examining the analogy, the leader can reflect on her style and identify opportunities to improve her leadership qualities.

The best point guard just wins - it's not about them personally - it's about the team and its success. The best organizational leaders have this same perspective!

Here is an article that takes a different spin on leadership using basketball as the analogy:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3616/is_199606/ai_n8740493/

Good Leaders Stay Connected to Their Employees

My boss is a voracious reader (history-related books especially) and loves the Sunday NY Times and Washington Post (and the WSJ!!!). I mentioned to him my blog assignment and he told me about a column in the Times that he has enjoyed. It's called the Corner Office and I decided to check it out.

In the August 30th NY Times Corner Office column, Deborah Dunsire, CEO of Millennium in Cambridge, Massachussetts, spoke of the importance of "walking around" to counter the "processed and managed" information that a CEO is unusually given. She speaks of the trap of the ivory tower mentality which causes a gap between the CEO's perceptions of the workplace and reality. In the previous Sunday edition of the Times, Brian Dunn, Chief Executive of Best Buy, described staying connected by calling the company's call center, visiting stores and talking to associates about what is working and what's not. This got me to thinking about how leaders can best interact with their constituents.

Management by Walking Around (MBWA) perhaps has become a cliche. The concept is certainly not brain surgery. Cliche or not, it's a sound practice. It's a practical way that a leader can connect with their employees - it keeps the leader grounded. Of course, employees are very perceptive. If the leader is going through the motions, employees will pick up on this in a heartbeat. But if the leader is truly sincere, employees will appreciate the interest shown and the leader can gain valuable insight into the health and pulse of the organization. So, what are some questions the wandering leader may want to ask:

• What are you working on today?


• What about your work most excites you?


• What is really bothering you or causing pain?

Answers to this questions can be potentially very telling. Many of us have had the experience of having a senior leader show up at the worksite unannounced, resulting in stress and concern ("who screwed up?"). What a sad commentary that the leader is only visible when there is a problem.

So MBWA is a very practical, easy concept for leaders to put in place? Why do some leaders choose to stay in the tower or not make interactions with their associates a priority? Why do some leaders choose to manage by email - yes, many do. Leaders would do well to examine how they spend their time and re-shuffle their priorities to stay connected to their employees by walking around. To do so, they send a powerful message to their workforce and the power of the connections will be immeasurable!

Here are some simple ideas I suggest for incorporating MBWA into a leader's routine:

• Make it a priority - allocate specific time each week to walk around whether it be a 1/2 hour each day or an hour every Friday morning


• Make plans to visit specific areas and rotate in order to cover your organization entirely


• For you introverts out there, push your comfort zone. The purpose is defeated by interacting with only those you know or are comfortable with


• Be yourself, be genuine


• When you return to the office, allocate time to take notes on what you learned and make note of action items that have been identified


• Follow through! If the water cooler on the first floor isn't cooling and you committed to getting it fixed, make sure it happens.

Good leaders stay connected to their employees...