Recent articles on leadership from around the web…
- Is Leadership a Nation’s Most Valuable Resource?
Foreign Affairs points out that after liberalizing its markets, opening up to foreign trade and investment, and becoming a global economic powerhouse, China faces an even bigger challenge: a leadership shortage.
- Better Security Through Better Management
The Washington Post reviews the new book, Meeting the Challenge of 9/11: Blueprints for More Effective Government. Given the great challenges faced by homeland security, it doesn’t come as surprise that it all boils down to good management: “the government needs to focus on training and rewarding managers for operating across organizational boundaries.”
- Three Steps to a Better Presentation
HBS’s Harbus Online gives us three simple tips to better presentations and ends with a warning: “The PowerPoint presentation is just a visual tool… Speakers are challenged to minimize the distractions that visuals may cause from the presentation itself.”
- The Rise and Fall of a Celebrity Chief Executive
The Chicago Tribune traces former HP CEO Carly Fiorina’s roller-coaster ride through documented in her recent book, Tough Choices. “Even though it’s clear she always does things her way, her account of a woman’s rise from receptionist to Fortune magazine’s perennial choice for the most powerful woman in business is useful to anyone looking to succeed.”
Technorati Tags: leadership, management, presentations, CEO, executives, carly fiorina
One of the best leaders I have ever known was a 27-year-old rafting guide who took me and my five closest friends in a tiny paddle raft through class 10 rapids on the Grand Canyon. Not only were we considerably older than our captain, Andrew, but one of our party was an Olympic paddler. In the first 5 days as we prepared for the ultimate challenge of Lava Falls, Andrew won our trust buy guiding us expertly through gnarly rapids, by letting us learn from the experience of turning over (we were sure we could best that 20 foot wave), and by trying out our skills in rapids that were less treacherous.
When we approached Lava Falls (the largest rapid in North America) we knew that the water was very high, that the usual path through that rapid was gone because of the water flow, AND that we were a team with ultimate confidence in our captain. As we committed ourselves to inescapable pull of the water, we saw the boat in front of us fall into a 20 ft hydraulic. While we watched the much larger boat flip over and over in the rapids, we were concerned about the safety of our fellow captain and could easily see that we had a major change facing us. We also knew that Andrew knew his team and had deployed us in the positions that best fitted our skills. We knew that we were completely committed to each other.
As we were drawn into the roar of the rapid and were just over this 20 foot hydraulic, a wave that seemed to go through my ears knocked me to the center of the boat. Andrew, who was in the middle of giving commands to turn left immediately, stopped. He said to me in a completely calm voice “It’s okay, Jodi. Take your time, you will be ok,” and then went back to screaming commands. His calm and caring style allowed me to safely get back to position and add my power to the successful completion of the rapid and the rescuing of the other boat.
Leadership is both about task and relationship activities. Andrew was an expert on rafting the Grand Canyon (task activities) but he also knows how to take care of his team members (relationship activities) to help each one deliver the very best .We would have followed Andrew into any river situation that he asked.
What are you doing today that helps others deliver at their best? That is what leadership is about.
Technorati Tags: leadership, leadership development, rafting, leaders
Imagine that you’ve just joined a new team working on a complex project… minutes into the project, it becomes painfully clear that the person selected to lead has absolutely no technical knowledge of the project. If your leader’s good, this shouldn’t be a problem. But if they’re not, you may be headed for a disaster.
I’m sure we’ve all been there, and with a constant flow of new technologies, privacy regulations, and complex accounting requirements, we’ll all be there again. And this isn’t just a challenge for the corporate world. According to ZDnet (and I’m sure we’ll all agree), this is increasingly becoming a problem facing our politicians as they create laws around technology.
How the less-informed leader acts and relates to their team has a critical affect on whether the project is a success or a disaster. What should you do if you ever find yourself in this situation? We’ve asked the Leader’s Studio Team for their advice… (more…)
Recent articles on leadership from around the web…
- Peer Pressure is Finally Back In Style
The Chicago Tribune reports on the value of spending time learning from your peers in their coverage of an emerging trend of peer-to-peer advisory groups: “All of us are smarter than one of us. That is the concept.”
- Is Leadership Undermining the Organization?
B-school critics face off in the Financial Times: Does teaching leadership in MBA programs put too much focus on the individual, undermining organizations, or does it finally give balance to the science of management?
- FDR, Wilson, and Hoover on IT Management
Computerworld is urging IT managers to achieve clarity by studying history and learning from past American presidents - “be less like Hoover and more like FDR”.
- Uncovering the New Leader
As part of their special report on America’s Best Leaders, U.S. News and World Report tells us that “there is no shortage of people with the capacity to lead.” Instead, the problem lies in their organizations. “People don’t feel empowered to take charge, nor are they rewarded for doing so.”
Technorati Tags: leadership, peer pressure, organization development, IT management
When I lived in Santa Fe New Mexico, my neighbor was Danny Rubin who wrote the original book and screenplay for one of my favorite movies, “Groundhog Day.” It’s a favorite not merely because Danny wrote it, but also because of its implications for aspiring leaders.
If you’ve seen the movie you know that Bill Murray plays TV weather man Phil Connors who is assigned to capture a live broadcast of Groundhog Day ceremonies in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. Phil is a master of sarcasm and cynicism; he’s also in a hurry to have his personal needs met and to receive the acclaim he thinks he so richly deserves. Those around Phil feel the full weight of his self-absorption and find little to admire in his conduct or motives.
The film takes a twist when Phil finds himself forced to relive Groundhog Day over and over. After attempting in several ways to escape this time trap he finally resorts to learning. He learns to be more observant of his behavior and its consequences. He learns to listen to others and to consider their perspective and their value. He learns the value of gratitude and the importance of extending himself to others in need. He learns to take his work seriously and himself lightly. He learns to love someone in addition to himself.
Periodically, all of us feel trapped in Groundhog Day. We seem to face similar problems over and over. We’re forced to repeatedly deal with our poor habits and their consequences. Each of us have certain types of people that provide us with special challenge and these people seem to reappear in different forms like groundhogs until, as a last resort we learn about ourselves and we take a more effective approach to dealing with them.
You may have heard the popular definition for the word crazy: doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. The most effective leaders I have met learn quickly from experiences - their own and others; they capture the lessons; and they continually adopt practices that produce better results. My friend and colleague Robert Ginnett has written a best selling text book on this topic entitled, Leadership: Enhancing the Lessons of Experience.
George Santayana once wrote, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” If you agree or don’t I’d love to hear how you’re learning from experience.
Technorati Tags: groundhog day, bill murray, leadership development, leadership, george santayana
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