Essential Leader

Today is Flag Day

Mythos is a Greek word meaning "story, legend, plot" and may refer to Myth or Mythology: the shared elements, characters, settings and themes in a set of works. Durkheim asked, “What holds a society together?” Marx wondered, “What changes society?” In both cases the answer is Mythos.

In its original form, mythos refers to the stories that were passed via oral tradition, having threads of religious, social, gender role, and contextual meanings. These stories give us, members of a society examples of appropriate behavior within our culture, for better or worse. This includes models for interpersonal interaction, as well as definitions of self. Myths are the cement that hold a society together through reinforcing community values, by making the mores highly visible and well known. In a modern context we get our stories from a much more diverse set of media: print, radio, television, and the internet.

Myths, like cultures, are not constant; rather, mythos are revamped and reinterpreted over time to fit with new information and peoples within an evolving culture. Shifts in cultural paradigms are reflected in the changes in the myths that each of us carries within ourselves. While this is a natural phenomena, shifts in cultural paradigms cause anxiety as  we struggle to assimilate and adapt to the new myths. If the changes come too quickly or are too jarring, we may reject them. In times of extreme duress, we may find ourselves reexamining our original myths as we struggle to make sense of the swirling currents of change. I liken it to resetting a locked up computer to an earlier “restore” point.

Flag Day is one of those “restore points.” It is a time when we look back in order to make sense of that which is coming. And so this morning I share with you one of my restore points. Red Skelton was one of my favorite shows as a kid. His gentle humor and slapstick antics on his live comedy show were often best when he threw out the script and improvised. I will never forget this special show that he broadcast in 1969: http://proof-proofpositive.blogspot.com/2010/06/pledge-of-allegiance-red-skelton.html. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Integrative Thinking

The concept of integrative thinking can be boiled down into one phrase - “what should I think?” Roger Martin, The Opposable Mind; How Successful Leaders Win Through Integrative Thinking (Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA:2007), argues for a different way of thinking – one in which uses the best of all minds and formulates a new model or way of thinking. It is a brain that can see different perspectives and value in each. Integrative thinking is a neither-nor concept. It is taking the best of both arguments and combining them to create a new order, or way of knowing. Good leaders don't take sides, but understand that there are elements to many different ways of looking at something and take what works.

This term has been a struggle of focus – or so I thought. Reading The Opposable Mind I realized it wasn't focus and much as needed synthesis, a connect-the-dots if you will. I have a highly creative and oft scattered mind. And in this very deductive world we live in, I have viewed it as handicap – something to overcome, not embrace. But even with this definable concept, temperance and discipline in order to synthesize. A good leader should see both sides; but she needs to discover the validity and merit of points within the argument.

Tylenol Recall, Revisited - Take Notes BP!

 

When I first read of the problems discovered in the Children's Tylenol and Motrin products, I was beyond angry. I give these products to my children and have noticed the strange flecks, but thinking them merely a concentration of dye, I dismissed it. After all, there is protocol and the FDA. I read the Tylenol debacle in Kolp & Rea and while impressed with the drastic steps they took in removing their products from the shelf, I was disappointed they had not done the same this time. But they had, I had just missed the story. (Or it wasn't as widely reported on, thinks this skeptical news reader of a completely biased industry.)

I happened to come across this video - http://money.cnn.com/video/fortune/2010/05/13/f_500_tylenol_motrin_recall.fortune/

in which Bill Weldon, CEO of Johnson & Johnson apologizes. Several times. I realize what a rarity in these litigious times to hear someone actually apologize. Lawyers implore that their clients not apologize – it assumes guilt. Insurance companies preach in case of an automobile accident to never say sorry. Training at a big retail store where I worked warns against apologies if someone trips and falls.

“We have to apologize; we have done a dis-service” emphatically states Bill Weldon. “First we do right by our patients. Then we figure out how to fix it.” I am completely dazzled by this accountability. And I think that is sorely lacking in today's world. The anger at BP might not be as intense if they hadn't started their PR campaign by pointing the finger at others. They have a responsibility to not only the Americans affected by this tragedy, but to the world as global ramifications are not yet known. Instead, they pointed the finger causing distrust and anger. James Carville ran into Tony Hayward, BP CEO, and when asked by Mr. Hayward, “what can we do to let you know we will take care of this?” Carville answered, “I don't trust you.” http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/06/02/carville-bumps-into-bp-ceo/

Accountability begets trust. Johnson & Johnson have once again proven to be virtuous leaders with their courage to do what is not safe and lawyer approved, but to do what is right.