LeadershipFeb 21, 2012

HW for Feb 28

• Write an expense plan for the first 3 years. How much money will you need to start the company? 50%

• Latest marketing results primary and secondary 30%

• How will your company be managed? Show org chart including hires 20%

Great Leaders- Examples

• Science: oppenheimer, millikan, viturbi, jj Thompsom, feynman, baltimore

• Politics: lincoln, mlk, ghandhi, churchill, hitler, mao, • Military: patton, eisenhower, napolean, sherman, • Business: steve jobs, walton, buffet, gross, ford,

rockefeller, • Cultural:lennon, lady gaga, michael jackson, • Chrismatic, rlate to people, strong personalities, make

changes, follow through, had a dream

Great Leaders- What are their Characteristics in common?

Great Leaders- What are their Characteristics in common?

• Communication and Consistency of message• Integrity• Psychological connection with people• Understands people’s motivation and how to

harness them• Manage complexity• Command respect (or fear)• Confident & Assertive• Form a good team

Consider

• Intelligence

• Vision

• Communication

• Confidence

• Competence

Intelligence

Characterizing Features

Broad knowledge or recognition of weaknesses

Ability to learn something new quickly

Combine info

Intelligence

Characterizing Features:

• Reading other people (emotional IQ)

• Can be made to understand the essence of a specialists work

Vision

• Characterizing Features:

Vision

• Characterizing Features:– Knows where the world is going, can see

around corners– Able to adjust to changes

Communication

• Characterizing Features– Positive bias in communicating– See problems as opportunities– Motivate others by example

Confidence

• Characterizing Features

Confidence

• Characterizing Features– I can do it and you can do it– If we execute, we’re going to win– Overcome objects why it wouldn’t work– Right decision: make a decision (many decisions

are made too late)– Sometimes you can make a better decision with less

information– Hire people smarter than you are

Competence

• Characterizing features

Competence• Characterizing features

– Can judge people and hire a great Team– Knows what’s going on– Can do what they say they are going to do

• Ken Lay (example of “incompetence”)

– Are leaders generalists? Zero odds that you are really good at everything.

– Know what you don’t know and know who is good in your areas of weakness.

– Don’t be afraid to ask a “stupid” question.

Emotional Intelligence (beyond IQ)Daniel Goleman (HBR November-December

1998)

• Outstanding Performance driven by – Technical skills (e.g. accounting,

engineering, etc.)

– Cognitive skills ( analytic reasoning)

– Emotional Intelligence

What is Emotional Intelligence?• Self awareness

– Recognize your own emotions and their effect on others (self-confidence, realistic self-assessment)

• Self Regulation– Control disruptive impulses and moods (comfort with

ambiguity, integrity)- shoot from the hip

• Motivation– A passion to work that goes beyond money and status

(optimism even in the face of failure)

Emotional Intelligence (cont.)

• Empathy– Understanding the emotional drives of others

(expertise in building and retaining talent)

• Social Skill– ability to find common ground and build rapport

(effectiveness in leading change)

Other considerations

• What about Toughness? – Do you need to be tough to be a Leader?– How about ruthless?

• How about optimistic?

• How about “energy level”

• How about being an introvert (or extrovert)

Jack Welch- an example of leadership

• Took over GE in 1980. Retired in 2000

• Succeeded a person totally different from himself

• Started to make immediate, drastic changes

Jack Welch• GE was not broken when Jack Welch took over• His Mantra:

1. Be #1 or #2? Why?2. Three circles of businesses. Why?3. Fix, Sell or Close? Why?

Applications of this for start-ups?

Neutron Jack He eliminating 122,000 positions! Isn’t this the height of cruelty!

His Method of Leading• Candor- See the world the way it is rather than the way you

want it to be• Simplicity – Needless complexity obscures the real issues• Self confidence – To be clear and concise about objectives.

To hire people “smarter” than you are. To lead, not manage• Two-way communication- To relentlessly communicate the

message but to gather unfiltered feedback• Evaluation and Reward – To make sure that people are

judged on the basis of these criteria

Jack Welch for a start-up company

• Workout- Town meetings where anyone can question the chief. Is there an equivalent for small companies?

• Can small companies use “Best Practices?”• Developing Leaders- How do you develop

anything when you are in start-up mode?• Stretch Goals • Focus on Quality. What are the benefits?

Another take http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/leadcon.html

• Be technically proficient - As a leader, you must know your job and have a solid familiarity with your employees' tasks.

• Seek responsibility and take responsibility for your actions - Search for ways to guide your organization to new heights. And when things go wrong, they always do sooner or later -- do not blame others. Analyze the situation, take corrective action, and move on to the next challenge.

• Make sound and timely decisions - Use good problem solving, decision making, and planning tools.

• Set the example - Be a good role model for your employees. They must not only hear what they are expected to do, but also see. We must become the change we want to see - Mahatma Gandhi

• Know your people and look out for their well-being - Know human nature and the importance of sincerely caring for your workers.

• Keep your workers informed - Know how to communicate with not only them, but also seniors and other key people.

• Develop a sense of responsibility in your workers - Help to develop good character traits that will help them carry out their professional responsibilities.

• Ensure that tasks are understood, supervised, and accomplished - Communication is the key to this responsibility.

• Train as a team - Although many so called leaders call their organization, department, section, etc. a team; they are not really teams...they are just a group of people doing their jobs.

• Use the full capabilities of your organization - By developing a team spirit, you will be able to employ your organization, department, section, etc. to its fullest capabilities

Nature vs Nurture

• Are Leaders made or born?– While leaders appear to be born, hybrid model

seems most valid– Is ambition genetic?

Nature vs Nurture

• Are Leaders made or born?

Nice exercise- what do I do about it?

• How do you develop these characteristics- if you don’t have them all- or even if you do?

– Let’s begin by everybody rating themselves (1-5 on each, 5 high)

• Do a “360”i.e., ask people around you.

– What are your biggest challenges?– What are you working on now that an

improved behavior could favorably effect?

– Create improvement model• Take from personal observations of leaders you admire, biographical

readings, introspection

• Create some specific goals to move yourself in the right direction for some improvement area e.g.,

– Improve relationship with someone with whom problems now exist– Achieve a leadership position within a group– Create and execute an aggressive, candid, repetitious multifaceted

communication plan– Evaluate what turns you on in a job- peel the onion to improve motivation

– Get feedback from Coach (Could be a friend, mentor, spouse)– Listen!– Track progress

• Iterate