colinpowellleadership.ppt

Click to edit Master title style,Click to edit Master text styles,Second level,Third level,Fourth level,Fifth level,*,General Colin Powell,Chairman(Ret),Joint Chiefs of Staff,A Leadership Primer,LESSON 1,Being responsible sometimes means pissing people off.,Good leadership involves responsibility to the welfare of the group,which,means that some people will get angry at your actions and decisions.Its,inevitable,if youre honorable.Trying to get everyone to like you is a sign,of mediocrity:youll avoid the tough decisions,youll avoid confronting the,people who need to be confronted,and youll avoid offering differential,rewards based on differential performance because some people might,get upset.Ironically,by procrastinating on the difficult choices,by trying,not to get anyone mad,and by treating everyone equally nicely regardless,of their contributions,youll simply ensure that the only people youll wind,up angering are the most creative and productive people in the organization.,LESSON 2,The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the,day you have stopped leading them.They have either lost,confidence that you can help them or concluded that you,do not care.Either case is a failure of leadership.,If this were a litmus test,the majority of CEOs would fail.One,they build so,many barriers to upward communication that the very idea of someone lower,in the hierarchy looking up to the leader for help is ludicrous.Two,the,corporate culture they foster often defines asking for help as weakness or,failure,so people cover up their gaps,and the organization suffers accordingly.,Real leaders make themselves accessible and available.They show concern,for the efforts and challenges faced by underlings,even as they demand high,standards.Accordingly,they are more likely to create an environment where,problem analysis replaces blame.,LESSON 3,Dont be buffaloed by experts and elites.Experts often,possess more data than judgment.Elites can become so,inbred that they produce hemophiliacs who bleed to death,as soon as they are nicked by the real world.,Small companies and start-ups dont have the time for analytically detached,experts.They dont have the money to subsidize lofty elites,either.The,president answers the phone and drives the truck when necessary;everyone,on the payroll visibly produces and contributes to bottom-line results or theyre,history.But as companies get bigger,they often forget who brought them to,the dance:things like all-hands involvement,egalitarianism,informality,market intimacy,daring,risk,speed,agility.Policies that emanate from,ivory towers often have an adverse impact on the people out in the field,who are fighting the wars or bringing in the revenues.Real leaders are,vigilant,and combative,in the face of these trends.,LESSON 4,Dont be afraid to challenge the pros,even in their own backyard.,Learn from the pros,observe them,seek them out as mentors and partners.,But remember that even the pros may have leveled out in terms of their,learning and skills.Sometimes even the pros can become complacent and,lazy.Leadership does not emerge from blind obedience to anyone.Xeroxs,Barry Rand was right on target when he warned his people that if you have,a yes-man working for you,one of you is redundant.Good leadership,encourages everyones evolution.,LESSON 5,Never neglect details.When everyones mind is dulled,or distracted the leader must be doubly vigilant.,Strategy equals execution.All the great ideas and visions in the world are,worthless if they cant be implemented rapidly and efficiently.Good leaders,delegate and empower others liberally,but they pay attention to details,every,day.(Think about supreme athletic coaches like Jimmy Johnson,Pat Riley,and Tony La Russa).,Bad ones,even those who fancy themselves as,progressive visionaries,think theyre somehow above operational details.,Paradoxically,good leaders understand something else:an obsessive routine,in carrying out the details begets conformity and complacency,which in turn,dulls everyones mind.That is why even as they pay attention to details,they,continually encourage people to challenge the process.They implicitly,understand the sentiment of CEO leaders like Quad Graphics Harry,Quadracchi,Oticons Lars Kolind and the late Bill McGowan of MCI,who all,independently asserted that the Job of a leader is not to be the chief organizer,but the chief dis-organizer.,LESSON 6,You dont know what you can get away with until you try.,You know the expression,its easier to get forgiveness than permission.Well,its true.Good leaders dont wait for official blessing to try things out.Theyre,prudent,not reckless.But they also realize a fact of life in most organizations:,if you ask enough people for permission,youll inevitably come up against,someone who believes his job is to say no.So the moral is,dont ask.Less,effective middle managers endorsed the sentiment,If I havent explicitly been,told yes,I cant do it,whereas the good ones believed,If I havent explicitly,been told no,I can.Theres a world of difference between these two points,of view.,LESSON 7,Keep looking below surface appearances.,Dont shrink from doing so(just)because you,might not like what you find.,If it aint broke,dont fix it is the slogan of the complacent,the arrogant or the,scared.Its an excuse for inaction,a call to non-arms.Its a mind-set that,assumes(or hopes)that todays realities will continue tomorrow in a tidy,linear,and predictable fashion.Pure fantasy.In this sort of culture,you wont find,people who pro-actively take steps to solve problems as they emerge.Heres,a little tip:dont invest in these companies.,LESSON 8,Organization doesnt really accomplish anything.Plans,dont accomplish anything,either.Theories of management,dont much matter.Endeavors succeed or fail because of,the people involved.Only by attracting the best people will,you accomplish great deeds.,In a brain-based economy,your best assets are people.Weve heard this,expression so often that its become trite.But how many leaders really walk,the talk with this stuff?Too often,people are assumed to be empty chess,pieces to be moved around by grand viziers,which may explain why so many,top managers immerse their calendar time in deal making,restructuring and,the latest management fad.How many immerse themselves in the goal of,creating an environment where the best,the brightest,the most creative are,attracted,retained and,most importantly,unleashed?,LESSON 9,Organization charts and fancy titles count for next to nothing.,Organization charts are frozen,anachronistic photos in a work place that ought,to be as dynamic as the external environment around you.If people really,followed organization charts,companies would collapse.In well-run,organizations,titles are also pretty meaningless.At best,they advertise,some authority,an official status conferring the ability to give orders and,induce obedience.But titles mean little in terms of real power,which is the,capacity to influence and inspire.Have you ever noticed that people will,personally commit to certain individuals who on paper(or on the organization,chart)possess little authority,but instead possess pizzazz,drive,expertise,and genuine caring for teammates and products?On the flip side,non-leaders,in management may be formally anointed with all the perks and frills,associated with high positions,but they have little influence on others,apart,from their ability to extract minimal compliance to minimal standards.,LESSON 10,Never let your ego get so close to your position that,when your position goes,your ego goes with it.,Too often,change is stifled by people who cling to familiar turfs and job,descriptions.One reason that even large organizations wither is that,managers wont challenge old,comfortable ways of doing things.But,real leaders understand that,nowadays,every one of our jobs is becoming,obsolete.The proper response is to obsolete our activities before someone,else does.Effective leaders create a climate where peoples worth is,determined by their willingness to learn new skills and grab new,responsibilities,thus perpetually reinventing their jobs.The most,important question in performance evaluation becomes not,How well,did you perform your job since the last time we met?but,How much,did you change it?,LESSON 11,Fit no stereotypes.Dont chase the latest management,fads.The situation dictates which approach best,accomplishes the teams mission.,Flitting from fad to fad creates team confusion,reduces the leaders credibility,and drains organizational coffers.Blindly following a particular fad generates,rigidity in thought and action.Sometimes speed to market is more important,than total quality.Sometimes an unapologetic directive is more appropriate,than participatory discussion.Some situations require the leader to hover,closely;others require long,loose leashes.Leaders honor their core values,but they are flexible in how they execute them.They understand that,management techniques are not magic mantras but simply tools to be,reached for at the right times.,LESSON 12,Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.,The ripple effect of a leaders enthusiasm and optimism is awesome.So is the,impact of cynicism and pessimism.Leaders who whine and blame engender,those same behaviors among their colleagues.I am not talking about stoically,accepting organizational stupidity and performance incompetence with a what,me worry?smile.I am talking about a gung-ho attitude that says we can,change things here,we can achieve awesome goals,we can be the best.,Spare me the grim litany of the realist,give me the unrealistic aspirations,of the optimist any day.,LESSON 13,Powells Rules for Picking People:”,Look for intelligence and judgment,and most critically,a capacity to anticipate,to see around corners.Also,look for loyalty,integrity,a high energy drive,a balanced,ego,and the drive to get things done.,How often do our recruitment and hiring processes tap into these attributes?,More often than not,we ignore them in favor of length of resume,degrees and,prior titles.A string of job descriptions a recruit held yesterday seem to be,more important than who one is today,what they can contribute tomorrow,or,how well their values mesh with those of the organization.You can train a,bright,willing novice in the fundamentals of your business fairly readily,but,its a lot harder to train someone to have integrity,judgment,energy,balance,and the drive to get things done.Good leaders stack the deck in their favor,right in the recruitment phase.,LESSON 14,Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers,who can cut through argument,debate and doubt,to offer a solution everybody can understand.,Effective leaders understand the KISS principle,Keep It Simple,Stupid.They,articulate vivid,over-arching goals and values,which they use to drive daily,behaviors and choices among competing alternatives.Their visions and,priorities are lean and compelling,not cluttered and buzzword-laden.Their,decisions are crisp and clear,not tentative and ambiguous.They convey an,unwavering firmness and consistency in their actions,aligned with the picture,of the future they paint.The result:clarity of purpose,credibility of leadership,and integrity in organization.,LESSON 15,Part I:Use the formula P=40 to 70,in which P stands,for the probability of success and the numbers indicate,the percentage of information acquired.”,Part II:Once the information is in the 40 to 70 range,go with your gut.,Dont take action if you have only enough information to give you less than a,40 percent chance of being right,but dont wait until you have enough facts to,be 100 percent sure,because by then it is almost always too late.Today,excessive delays in the name of information-gathering breeds analysis,paralysis.Procrastination in the name of reducing risk actually increases risk.,LESSON 16,The commander in the field is always right and the,rear echelon is wrong,unless proved otherwise.,Too often,the reverse defines corporate culture.This is one of the main,reasons why leaders like Ken Iverson of Nucor Steel,Percy Barnevik of Asea,Brown Boveri,and Richard Branson of Virgin have kept their corporate staffs,to a bare-bones minimum-how about fewer than 100 central corporate,staffers for global$30 billion-plus ABB?Or around 25 and 3 for multi-billion,Nucor and Virgin,respectively?Shift the power and the financial accountability,to the folks who are bringing in the beans,not the ones who are counting,or analyzing them.,LESSON 17,Have fun in your command.Dont always run at,a breakneck pace.Take leave when youve earned it:,Spend time with your families.,Corollary:surround yourself with people who take their,work seriously,but not themselves,those who work,hard and play hard.,Herb Kelleher of Southwest Air and Anita Roddick of The Body Shop would,agree:seek people who have some balance in their lives,who are fun to hang,out with,who like to laugh(at themselves,too)and who have some non-job,priorities which they approach with the same passion that they do their work.,Spare me the grim workaholic or the pompous pretentious professional;”,Ill help them find jobs with my competitor.,LESSON 18,Command is lonely.Harry Truman was right.Whether youre a CEO or the temporary head of a,project team,the buck stops here.You can encourage participative,management and bottom-up employee involvement,but ultimately the,essence of leadership is the willingness to make the tough,unambiguous,choices that will have an impact on the fate of the organization.Ive seen,too many non-leaders flinch from this responsibility.Even as you create,an informal,open,collaborative corporate culture,prepare to be lonely.,“Leadership is the art of accomplishing,more than the science of management,says is possible.”,