The Happy Burro

(from August 15, 2007)

I attended a great leadership event this past Spring. One of the highlights was a conversation on leadership with Warren Bennis.

He is distinguished professor of business administration and founding chairman of The Leadership Institute at the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business. He has advised fours U.S. presidents and more than 150 CEOs and is author or coauthor of more than 20 books on leadership, change, and management.

Some highlights:

“What do we want from our leaders”

1. Competence (results)

2. Character (who we are; life as a career)

3. Engage (to draw into, involve; engage others in a shared meaning)

4. Culture of learning and growth

How leaders should spend their time

70% listening, 20% asking good questions, 10% summarizing and reflecting.

(notice, no time for talking!).

Does the person you report to approach leadership in this way? Do you?

A favorite quote from Warren: “Leadership is a choice, not a position.”

Remember the first time you found yourself in the position of managing others? Whether on a project, or direct reports in a company, I bet you learned a lot in a short period of time. Did you choose to take the position for the title, the money, the perks, the people, or the organizational challenges? Did you forget about the people until they showed up at your office door, seeking your guidance?

Leadership done right means choosing it as a profession, not a job.  Managing is a job.  Leadership is a vocation.

Joe Raasch :: Jan.31.2010 :: Leadership, Performance Management :: No Comments »

Many of us rush around in the business world, getting tasks completed, making the numbers, meeting/exceeding goals, spending hours in endless meetings, thinking PowerPoint presentations matter, etc.

We pay homage to Godin, Welch, Hamel, or Jobs.  Our bibles are Fortune, Advertising Age, FastCompany, or Harvard Business Review.

In all this hustle and bustle – here is a quote from a poet:

“To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived: that is to have succeeded.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

I’m not talking about slowing down, or not making the numbers, or God forbid, not reading Seth Godin’s blog!  I’m talking about the ‘how’ in our actions.

Aggressive v. Assertive

Aggressive: meeting the goals without taking others into consideration.  Attainment at any cost.

Assertive: meeting the goals while taking others into consideration.  Knowing the human cost.

A Wall Stree Journal article brought to my attention by Jim at Managing Leadership discusses the importance of human capital due diligence for merger & acquisition (M&A) success.  Most M&A deals happen due to the financial opportunities presented.  This financial catalyst should be just that – the beginning.  Each deal plays out through the merging of balance sheets, cultures, leadership styles, egos, processes, etc.

It is ok to get that profit.  My 401k thanks you.  But remember, in all you do:

Relationships Drive Results.

Every day.  Every time.

_________________

(revised from October, 2007)

Joe Raasch :: Jan.21.2010 :: Change Management, Employee Engagement, Leadership, Performance Management :: No Comments »

(revised from November 2008)

Just about every organization in this economy has to learn to do more with less.  Public, private, non-profit: budgets are shrinking across the board. Unemployment is near 10% nationwide. If you are working in or leading one of these organizations, you still have customers that need your services, products and support.  The fact that you have significantly less resources doesn’t mean much to them.  To survive, you need to be better than ever at keeping the clients you have and finding new ones.  Cutting your way to prosperity rarely works.  So how do you accomplish this Herculean task? (hint: it isn’t about focusing on budgets…)

Define Success

Do you have a conference room right now that is packed with finance people, spreadsheets and a line out the door of managers pleading their cases to not have their budgets slashed?  Did the CEO demand ‘across the board reductions’?  Does it appear that everyone is trying to nickel and dime their way to meet budget numbers?

Try this exercise instead: get your senior leaders together and define what success looks like for your organization.  Is it three new products introduced in 2010?  Holding the line on market share?  Increasing enrollment by 5%?  Get that decision and provide guidance for your department managers.

Organize for Success

Have your team look at every department and organize them to specifically deliver on that success.  You may find that you have a few businesses that exist, even profitable ones, that don’t deliver what you say you’re in business to do.  Jack Welch, former CEO of GE, set a goal of being #1 or #2 in every market in which GE had a business – and if GE wasn’t #1 or #2, then fix/sell/close that business within six months.  GE decided that even profitable businesses that did not match the organization’s vision had to go.  What is your business holding on to that isn’t part of the future?

Fund Success

Now we start looking at the budget.  How much does this new world order cost?  If your people were judicious in their work, you should find a minimum of discrepancies in what should be funded.  If they are still holding onto legacy business, unprofitable products or accounts, or programs that do not meet their intended purpose, you have an easier way to give guidance.  Repurpose budget dollars to fund the stated success, and/or increase revenue/donations/partnerships to fund that success.

DEFINE SUCCESS

ORGANIZE FOR SUCCESS

FUND SUCCESS

Joe Raasch :: Jan.18.2010 :: Innovation, Leadership, Organizational Development, Performance Management :: No Comments »