A “hot leadership topic”

Frances Hesselbein

After deciding that “diversity” is a “hot leadership topic,” Frances Hesselbein then realized that the topic has three parts to it:

“You can’t ‘do’ just two: mission, innovation, and diversity are one powerful message. The initiative, the imperative for a bright future, is grounded by values that are palpable. With values that we live by, as mission-focused, values-based, and demographics-driven, we lead into the future. This is the organizational life we are building, the leadership life we are leading. We are the future.

“It is only the beginning to have a vision of ‘a society of healthy children, all children, strong families, good schools, decent housing, safe neighborhoods, work that dignifies, all surrounded by a healthy, diverse, cohesive community that cares about all of its people.’ It is quite another to find great thought leaders: leaders of quality, character, and generous hearts who share the vision, who help build the organization, we write, speak, inspire, and are always there. I think it’s called ‘for the greater good.’ ‘Mission, innovation, diversity’ began a long time ago – the imperative that is more critical than ever before measured against the darkness of our times.

“When ‘mission-innovation-diversity’ is our rallying cry, we shine a light. To serve is to live.”

From The AMA Handbook of Leadership, co-edited by Marshall Goldsmith, John Baldoni, and Sarah McArthur, published in 2010 by AMACOM.

How much is an idea worth?

This is a question worth asking, especially given the current and imminent economic conditions as well as the challenges most of us will face in the months (if not years) to come.

The cost of a one-year subscription (10 issues) to Harvard Business Review has been reduced from $119 to only $79.

Here are five of the most valuable business books published in recent years, with the Amazon cost of the hardbound edition in parentheses:

The American Entrepreneur ($19.77)
Freedom, Inc. ($18.15)
Good to Great ($17.99)
Maestro ($13.23)
Reality Check ($11.98, a special “Amazon Bargain” discount)

Obviously….

Those who can’t find at least one idea in each issue of HBR worth at least $7.90, especially at the reduced rate, shouldn’t subscribe to it…

…and those can’t find at least one idea in any of these five books, especially at the reduced price (ranging from $11.98 to $19.77), shouldn’t buy it.

Chances are, they won’t find an idea anywhere else, either.

Five Ways to Bungle a Job Change

Boris Groysberg

In an article that appears in the January-February (2010) issue of Harvard Business Review, Boris Groysberg and Robin Abrahams identify, discuss, and suggest strategies to avoid five ways to bungle a job change. Here is an excerpt:

“The average baby boomer will switch jobs 10 times, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The worker as free agent – a concept popularized in the 1990s – remains a reality regardless of economic conditions, making it incumbent on all of us to take greater control of our careers…This is your career we’re talking about. The occasional misstep can be forgiven, but a careful and conscious assessment of the risks and realities will help you avoid making too many mistakes or ones that amount to a major setback.”

Here are five most common mistakes:

1. Not doing enough research. For example, not doing enough homework on the job-market realities for the given industry or function, not paying enough attention to a potential employer’s financial stability, ignoring cultural fit, and assuming that the given job title and description accurately reflect the position.

2. Leaving for money without taking into full account the value of current relationships and associations, professional growth, and what has been (until now) a congenial culture.

3. Going “from” rather than “to”: Because many people are so upset about real or perceived injustices and inadequacies, become desperate to get out and make decisions based on emotion rather than on reason.

4. Overestimating yourself. Groysberg and Abrahams quote one executive search executive who suggests that people “believe they contribute more than they actually do and undervalue the strengths of their organization in helping them achieve their objectives.” Many people are excessively optimistic about their prospects and underestimate the time and frustration usually associated with a job search.

5. Thinking short term. This mindset focuses on various issues such as compensation (“When will I be paid more?”) as well as recognition and appreciation (“When will I be promoted?”). It extends to leaving the current position (“How soon can I get out of here?) and then to the job search (“ When will I be hired?”).

Robin Abrahams

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This article’s ID# is R1001M and can be purchased online, as can a subscription to Harvard Business Review for a substantially reduced discount, at http://hbr.org/magazine.

Marshall Goldsmith on “passing the baton”

Marshall Goldsmith

In my opinion, Marshall Goldsmith is the most reliable authority on succession. In part this is explained by the fact that no one offers better advice on executive coaching.

“The handoff is imminent. Sooner or later, you will have to pass the baton of leadership to another leader who will take your place. It is up to you, the leader, how successful the handoff will be. As in a relay race, there are two important steps. The first is that you will have to slow down so that you and your successor do not drop te baton during the pass; the second is that you will have to coach your successor up to speed so as to carry the baton to the finish line.”

I presume to insert an observation of my own. When coaching a successor to accept the baton without dropping it, you also have the opportunity to demonstrate to the successor how she or he should make the handoff to someone else at some point in the future.

“During the handoff, you can’t just concentrate on the pass. You have to keep a close eye on your competitors and your organization’s short-term quarterly results, as well as its long-term goals, to ensure that everything runs smoothly and successfully during the transition….

“Then, after a successful handoff, you will disappear quietly into the sunset. There will be no great fanfare because, if you have done your job of developing your successor well, your organization will be even more successful after you leave! Your legacy will be that of a leader who ensured that the values of the organization lived on even after your departure.”

From The AMA Handbook of Leadership, co-edited by Marshall Goldsmith, John Baldoni, and Sarah McArthur, published in 2010 by AMACOM.

Is America on the Decline? Can it Rise Again? — Insight and counsel from James Fallows of The Atlantic

We are in the midst of a lot of soul searching right now.  As a nation, we are worried that we have lost our way.

It turns out that this practice is a very American one, so it is no surprise that it is happening again.

The book that I have presented at the First Friday Book Synopsis that deals most directly with this issue is The Post American World by Fareed Zakaria.  I have blogged a number of times about this book.  (For example, here).

James Fallows

In the latest issue of the Atlantic, James Fallows has a substantial, substantive, terrific article entitled: How America Can Rise Again. An award-winning author, Fallows also has lived abroad more than once, most recently in China.  So, he has an international perspective to bring to this question, and he begins the article with this:

Since coming back to the United States after three years away in China, I have been asking experts around the country whether America is finally going to hell. The question is partly a joke. One look at the comforts and abundance of American life—even during a recession, even with all the people who are suffering or left out—can make it seem silly to ask about anything except the secrets of the country’s success. Here is the sort of thing you notice anew after being in India or China, the two rising powers of the day: there is still so much nature, and so much space, available for each person on American soil. Room on the streets and sidewalks, big lawns around the houses, trees to walk under, wildflowers at the edge of town—yes, despite the sprawl and overbuilding. A few days after moving from our apartment in Beijing, I awoke to find a mother deer and two fawns in the front yard of our house in Washington, barely three miles from the White House. I know that deer are a modern pest, but the contrast with blighted urban China, in which even pigeons are scarce, was difficult to ignore.

He echoes a number of the concerns raised in Zakaria’s book, and provides a well-documented list of examples of the American acceptance of the validity of the Jeremiad:  “the bracing “jeremiad” tradition of harsh warnings that reveal a faith that America can be better than it is.”

One point made by Zakaria that Fallows reinforces is this:  the Post-American World is not a signal that America is in decline, but that the rest of the world is rising.  Here’s an excerpt from Fallows:

One kind of “decline” is inevitable and therefore not worth worrying about. China has about four times as many people as America does. Someday its economy will be larger than ours. Fine! A generation ago, its people produced, on average, about one-sixteenth as much as Americans did; now they produce about one‑sixth. That change is a huge achievement for China—and a plus rather than a minus for everyone else, because a business-minded China is more benign than a miserable or rebellious one. When the Chinese produce one-quarter as much as Americans per capita, as will happen barring catastrophe, their economy will become the world’s largest. This will be good for them but will not mean “falling behind” for us. We know that for more than a century, the consciousness of decline has been a blight on British politics, though it has inspired some memorable, melancholy literature. There is no reason for America to feel depressed about the natural emergence of China, India, and others as world powers.

I read this on the same day that we learned that the automobile market in China has now surpassed that in the United States.  The growth of the economies of some of the world’s most populous countries is simply inevitable in a modern era.

Though the article points out a lot of problems (among them, our infrastructure is truly crumbling…), the Fallows article is actually encouraging, emphasizing a great belief in our future, because America is a place where the future can be built, changed, rebuilt, re-envisioned, over and over again.

But he does have a hefty warning of just what could be deeply wrong that can threaten our future.  I’ll let you read the article.  It provides quite a question to ponder.

This is one of the best essays I have read in quite some time!