Essential Leader

Howard Rheingold on collaboration

Another mind stretching presentation from TED, this entertaining presentation by Howard Rheingold speculates that we have only just begun to understand the power of virtual collaboration enabled by the Internet and Social Media like Facebook, Twitter, etc.

Of particular interest to business leaders is the last ten minutes of the video. Rheingold offers up a smorgasboard of eye-opening examples of an emerging collaborative form of business. The leaders of these "new" businesses are working in a form of enlightened self-interest that results in the creation of social value AND wealth.

We Are The Ones - A Short Film by Paul Hopkins

We Are The Ones is Star Thrower Distribution’s inspirational short program that encourages us to look to ourselves for leadership and positive change. Taken from A Message from The Elders, Hopi Nation, Oraibi, Arizona, We Are The Ones will help any organization come a step closer to recognizing and achieving their goals.

 

Download We Are The Ones - A Short Film by Paul Hopkins

 

From The Film

“We have been telling the people that this is the Eleventh Hour. Now you must go back and tell the people that this is the Hour.”

2008 Best In Leadership Development

This year we connected with over 1,000 organizations to determine the best LD programs and practices based on seven criteria:

1.     Vision/mission. Are these statements linked to strategy, meaningful to participants, and focused on target outcomes?

2.    Involvement and participation. How broad is the involvement and how deep the participation?

3.    Measurement and accountability. What ROI measures are made and reported and to what degree is accountability for performance and results part of the program?

4.    Design, content, and curriculum. How well designed is the program? How credible is the content? How relevant is the curriculum? How customized is the program?

5.     Presenters, presentations, and delivery. What are the qualifications of the presenters, how effective are their presentations, and how is the program delivered?

6.    Take-home value. What do participants take away and apply to improve themselves, their families, their teams, and their volunteer work?

7.     Outreach. What is the impact of the program on stakeholders?

We honor the following companies for their efforts and encourage them to keep enhancing their leadership programs and practices. —Ken Shelton

 

2008 - 2009 Top Leadership Development Programs

 

Large Organizations (over 2,000)

 

1.     Ritz-Carlton Hotels

2.    General Electric

3.    Procter & Gamble

4.    Boeing

5.     General Motors University

6.    Wachovia Corp.

7.     Fed Ex/ELI

8.    McDonald’s/HU

9.    Microsoft

10. Qualcomm

11.   Yahoo

12. Caterpillar University

13. Chevron

14. AXA Equitable

15. Farmer’s Insurance

16. MasterCard

17. Northrop Grumman

18. Direct Energy

19. Schwan Food Company

20.    Allied Barton

21. AmTrust Bank

22.    Bank of New York Mellon

23.    Goldcorp

24.    UBS

25.    Black & Decker

26.    Archer Daniels Midlalnd

27.    Textron

28.    Amazon

29.    Disney

30.    Medco

 

Small to Midsize Organizations (under 2,000)

 

1.     Triage Consulting Group

2.    Badger Mining

3.    Carnival Cruise Lines

4.    Wieland (Homes) University

5.     Americredit Financial Services

6.    Container Store

7.     Equity Residential

8.    Johnson Controls

9.    Carilion Health System

10. InsureMe

11.   Analytical Graphics

12. Simonton Windows

13. Acuity

14. Vulcan Materials Co.

15. Genecor International

16. Saltwater Institute

17. Conway Transportation

18. Cross-Country Healthcare

 

Education/Universities/Schools of Management and Business

 

1.     Univ. of Michigan/Ross

2.    Center for Public Leadership, JFK School of Government, Harvard

3.    Univ. of Chicago/GSB/Leadership

4.    UCLA/Anderson

5.     USC/Marshall/CEO

6.    Northwestern/Kellogg

7.     Pennsylvania/Wharton

8.    MIT/Sloan

9.    Harvard Business/True North

10. Utah Valley Univ./CAL

11.   Duke/Fuqua

12. Yale Leadership Institute

13. Stanford/GSB Leadership

14. Emory Univ.

15. BYU/Marriott/Leadership

16. Pepperdine/Graziadio/SBM

17. Carnegie Mellon/Tepper/Leadership

18. Alliant/MGSM

19. Ball State Univ./Ed. Leadership

 

Non-Profit Organizations

 

1.     Center for Creative Leadership

2.    American Society for Training & Development (ASTD)

3.    Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)

4.    American Management Assoc. (AMA)

5.     HCI

6.    NYC Leadership Academy

7.     International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI)

8.    HR.Com

9.    IQPC/Corporate University

10. National Management Assoc. (NMA)

11.   Manchester Bidwell

12. Conference Board

13. Berkana Institute

14. Leader to Leader Institute

15. Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL)

16. Baptist Leadership Institute

17. SoL

18. Healthcare Businesswomen Assoc.

19. Addison Avenue Fed. Credit Union

20.    Rush University Medical Center

21. Best Practices in Leadership Devel.

 

Government/Military

 

1.     Defense Acquisition University

2.    U.S. Marine Academy

3.    U.S. Air Force Academy

4.    U.S. Army/Westpoint

5.     FBI Academy

6.    U.S. Navy Naval Academy

7.     NASA/Leadership Alchemy

8.    U.S. Army Rangers

9.    ASQ Baldrige Award

10. U.S. Coast Guard

11.   FAA

12. U.S. National Guard

13. National Defense University

14. U.S. Tactical/Seals

15. Naval Undersea Warfare Center

 

Independent Consultants/Trainers/Coaches

 

1.     Zenger/Folkman

2.    Goldsmith/Katzenbach Partners

3.    Korn/Ferry/Leadersource

4.    Jim Collins

5.     Bluepoint Leadership

6.    Ninth House

7.     Human Performance Institute

8.    Synthesis/Leaders Toolbox

9.    Marcus Buckingham Company

10. Tom Peters Company

11.   Guttman Dev. Strategies

12. Strategos

13. Maxcomm

14. Josh Bersin & Assoc.

15. Lebow Company

16. Liminal Group

17. Benchmark Communications

18. Table Group

19. Chip Bell Group

20.    Leadership Challenge/KP

21. Authentic Leadership Institute

22.    Leadership Development Services

23.    iLeadUSA

24.    Arneson Leadership Consulting

25.    Sensei International

26.    Right Management

27.    ISB Global

28.    The Prosen Center

 

Large Consulting Groups (over 6 employees)

 

1.     Linkage/GILD

2.    Results-Based Leadership

3.    Accenture

4.    Senn-Delaney Leadership

5.     McKinsey/Leadership

6.    HSM/World Business Forum

7.     Vital Smarts

8.    DDI

9.    Lee Hecht Harrison

10. Adizes Institute

11.   Richard Chang Assoc.

12. Dialogos

13. Booz Allen Hamilton

14. Hewitt/Leadership

15. Plante & Moran

16. BlessingWhite

17. Franklin-Covey

18. Ken Blanchard Companies

19. Integro Leadership Institute

20.    Forum Leadership Development

21. Personnel Decisions Intl. (PDI)

22.    Human Potential Project

23.    Crowe Horwath

24.    International Leadership Assoc.

25.    Leadergrow

26.    Kepner-Tregoe

 

Best Leadership Practices
The Excellence 100

 

Clay Shirky: How social media can make history

While news from Iran streams to the world, Clay Shirky shows how Facebook, Twitter and TXTs help citizens in repressive regimes to report on real news, bypassing censors (however briefly). The end of top-down control of news is changing the nature of politics.

What are the responsibilities of a Board of Directors?

 Recently elected to the Board of Directors for a national organization, I went into my first board meeting eagerly anticipating the chance to learn more from the veteran board members. Imagine my surprise when the first comments I heard suggested, no…clearly stated, that few members really knew what they were supposed to do, that no board trainings had ever been conducted, and that the next planned meeting of the board was more than eight months away! What, I wondered, had I just stepped into?

After doing a little research, here are some suggestions for others who may find themselves on a Board of Directors:

Ten Basic Responsibilities of Nonprofit Boards

1. Determine the organization's mission and purpose. It is the board's responsibility to create and review a statement of mission and purpose that articulates the organization's goals, means, and primary constituents served.

2. Select the chief executive. Boards must reach consensus on the chief executive's responsibilities and undertake a careful search to find the most qualified individual for the position.

3. Provide proper financial oversight. The board must approve the annual budget and ensure that proper financial controls are in place.

4. Ensure adequate resources. One of the board's foremost responsibilities is to secure adequate resources for the organization to fulfill its mission.

5. Ensure legal and ethical integrity and maintain accountability. The board is ultimately responsible for ensuring adherence to legal standards and ethical norms.

6. Ensure effective organizational planning. Boards must actively participate in an overall planning process and assist in implementing and monitoring the plan's goals.

7. Recruit and orient new board members and assess board performance. All boards have a responsibility to articulate prerequisites for candidates, orient new members, and periodically and comprehensively evaluate their own performance.

8. Enhance the organization's public standing. The board should clearly articulate the organization's mission, accomplishments, and goals to the public and garner support from the community.

9. Determine, monitor, and strengthen the organization's programs and services. The board's responsibility is to determine which programs are consistent with the organization's mission and to monitor their effectiveness.

10.  Support the chief executive and assess his or her performance. The board should ensure that the chief executive has the moral and professional support he or she needs to further the goals of the organization.

Reference

Richard T. Ingram, The Ten Basic Responsibilities of Nonprofit Boards (BoardSource 2003).

Leadership Traits include Persistence

 

"If you think you're too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito in the room."

Dr. Melanie Booth posted a similar picture to her blog, PrattleNog. After I was done chuckling at the thought of trying to sleep with a mosquito in the room, it dawned on me that this picture embodied a thought that I often share with people who feel like they can’t make a real difference in their place of work. The thought is this, sure, you may not have the power to force changes throughout your entire organization. But you can always have influence in your own small circle of friends and colleagues. And over time, who knows? You might find that you have much more influence than you imagined.

There are many examples of people who persisted in the face of impossible odds to make a difference. Mother Teresa was one. Nelson Mandela was such a person. The key to their success was simply endurance–being a non-quitter. They were persistent.

One journalist wrote of Mother Teresa: "When I met Mother Teresa, I discovered she was very tiny–less than five feet tall–and kept her head cocked to one side. She had gnarled hands and thick peasant feet that protruded from under her coarse white sari. Although there was no mistaking the aura of warmth and kindness that surrounded her, I felt I was in the presence of the most powerful, focused and determined person I had ever met."

Nelson Mandela is another famous example of determined leadership. Mandela’s single goal was to end apartheid in South Africa. Though he was imprisoned for many years, he steadfastly held to his principles. He was committed to reaching his goal and he never wavered from his vision. Mandela was focused and disciplined—a persistent leader.

Those famous examples hold lessons even for those of us who hold less exalted positions in our communities and organizations. We have all heard of persistent people who have accomplished spectacular things—the person with cancer who runs a standard 26.2 mile marathon, the blind person who climbs Mr. Everest, or the single mom with four kids who graduates from college (that was my Mom, by the way). In order to leave this world a different place, be persistent. Leaders don't grow in a comfort zone. Leaders are not people with exceptional talent; they are people who have learned from their mistakes and get up and try again.

Are you persistent in the pursuit of your goals?

Seth Godin at TED

Getting the Right People on the Bus

Recently I had the opportunity to search for a replacement for a valued employee who had moved on, with my blessing, to a position that not only paid more, but also better fit her skill set and desires. In a clear sign of the economic times, more than 180 people responded to a single advertisement on Craig’s List and a quarter inch ad in the local newspaper. After several rounds of resume vetting, the list was whittled down to a dozen of the best candidates who were then invited to a first round of interviews. The selection committee consisted of most of the people in the department where I work as well as one “outsider,” a respected colleague from another department, whose role was to act as a reality check.

By the end of the first round of interviews a few of the candidates clearly warranted a second look. That evening as I pondered what had transpired at the interviews I knew I faced a difficult decision. Two of the remaining candidates were internal prospects. That is, employees from within the organization. The third, and my personal favorite, came from outside the organization. My dilemma: Do I pick one of the insiders because they were a “safe” choice? Or do I take a chance on an outsider?

The inside candidates were the safe choice because they were known quantities in terms of their skills sets, their daily work habits and their personalities. That, combined with the fact that hiring from within is often a morale builder for the organization, especially one like ours where internal promotion opportunities are rare, made this an apparently obvious choice. Alternatively, hiring the outsider would bring a new set of eyes to the team and perhaps help us move in new directions. Not only that, I was just impressed by the preparation of the outside candidate. She had clearly done her homework and knew a lot about us. Her answers to the questions were precise and comprehensive. And her personality was clearly extrovert, which appealed to me because I’ve learned from long experience that I needed to work with someone who could offset my tendency to be an introvert. As I came to work the next morning, I was leaning heavily toward the outside candidate.

We sat down with one more candidate who had been unable to meet with us on the previous day. By the time she had finished answering the first question, I knew that we had found the perfect candidate. The difference? Her personality and attitude were authentic and she “clicked” with every member of the selection team. On paper, she had nearly identical qualifications to the other leading candidate. Where the other leading candidate had a sparkling presentation and attitude, as one member of the selection team commented, she seemed “almost too perfect.” Ultimately, I chose to go with the last candidate because her personality fit with the dynamic of not only the team who interviewed her, but also with what I knew to be the personalities of the people who were not in the room, the rest of the organization.

 Jim Collins repeatedly said in his book “Built for Success” it is all about getting the right people on the bus. Peter Carbonara wrote in “Hire for Attitude, Train for Skill” (Fast Company, http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/04/hiring.html) that “the single best predictor of future behavior is past behavior.” Sam Greengard, in Workforce Management noted, “you can’t turn a curmudgeon into a cheerleader” (http://www.workforce.com/section/06/feature/23/47/86/). So far, it looks like we brought the right person onto the bus.

Two Critical Leadership Qualities for This Moment

This item is from Harvard Business Publishing:

 

"Many important qualities good leaders possess become even more critical during tough times. Especially now, you must demonstrate personal integrity and maintain personal credibility. When faced with unpleasant tasks like downsizing, many leaders lose sight of these and give into the temptation to cut corners.

To combat this, you must tell the truth. Talk to customers, engage employees, find a firm picture of the reality and then share it, even if it is difficult news. In this environment, your entire company could fail if you don't make hard decisions when they're needed.

And, you must be authentic. Across an organization, all leaders must demonstrate rock-solid integrity, honesty, and the ability to confront reality. If you soft-pedal bad news, employees won't trust you, will miss the urgency of the situation, and won't follow you."

 

In my experience, not too many people wake up each morning thinking, "Today is the day I'm going to cut corners." or "Today, I'm going to do something dishonest." Most leaders do wake up with the best of intentions. But something gets mis-communicated or mis-understood and before anyone is even aware of it, mis-deeds and mis-conduct take root.

 

As powerful as modeling the way is. It is not enough to simply show people how to behave. Leaders must also demand these characteristics of those are being led.

The Worst is Yet to Come

There is a scene in the movie Jurassic Park where skeptical scientists are about to take their first ride through the dinosaur-inhabited theme park. Back in the control room, the park's skeptical chief engineer (played by Samuel L. Jackson) watches events unfold on a monitor, leans back in his chair and mutters under his breath, "Hold on to your butts."

A similar sentiment is expressed in five Foreign Policy essays by economists who correctly predicted the current global financial meltdown. They warn us that "The Worst is Yet to Come" (the title of the collection) and that we had better buckle up for a long, rough ride.

What can we expect? In the U.S., a recession for at least the next 24 months, maybe longer. This in turn will have a ripple effect that may drive the global economy into a downward spiral of recession that will be the worst in 75 years. Because of the complex interweaving of the global economy, the economists predict that no country will escape unscathed.

We are starting to see the effects of economic freefall here in the U.S. Normally, I receive maybe one unsolicited resume a month from educators fishing for an adjunct teaching position at Marylhurst University. But starting around Thanksgiving, I've been receiving on average, one inquiry a day. Even the students applying to the business degree programs, which usually include a small share of career-changers and right-sizers, has grown to include some pretty impressively credentialed professionals looking to reposition themselves for a changing and increasingly competitive job market.

So is there a light at the end of the tunnel? Even the experts can’t answer that with certainty. According to the five economists, it is going to take a complex, internationally coordinated, unorthodox approach. Needless to say, it is not going to be easy. David M. Smick, editor of The International Economy magazine and one of the five experts cited in the article, suggests that the potential solution lies in the untapped financial reserves being held in money market funds and other places. According to Smick, “It’s simply sitting on the sidelines, including $6 trillion in global money market funds alone.”

The world’s leaders, including one newly elected U.S. President, have a huge task ahead of them. If we reframe the challenge in a more positive light, we could call this a terrific opportunity to excel. We wish them Godspeed. In the meantime, hold on to your butts.