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?
• 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
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:– 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– 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
– 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?
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