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Executive Times |
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Volume
8, Issue 1 |
January 2006 |
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Note
re: links---certain hyperlinks assume that you are registered as a subscriber
to the site. If you are not a subscriber to certain sites, the links will
fail. If you register, the links should work. Also, certain hyperlinks expire
and may not be available when you try to go to the site. Evolutionaries
Executives thrive through evolution,
although some may claim the influence of intelligent design. Whether adapting
to new technology, competitors, regulators, supply chains, markets, or
stakeholders, each executive decides what has to stay the same and what must
change. Those choices apply to the executive personally, to his or her
followers, and to the culture of the organization. The beginning of a new
year can represent a fresh start at waving the evolutionary banner and
rallying all to adapt to those selected changes that will lead toward a
healthier organization. In this issue, we explore some recent stories of ways
in which executives have chosen to lead. As you reflect on how other
executives are dealing with their situations, think about how you can learn
from them in improving your executive performance. Fifteen new
books are rated in this issue, beginning on page 5. Before you start your New
Year’s diet, be sure to read the four-star rated book in this month’s
selection, The
China Study; you may change your plans. Ten books are recommended with three
stars; and four books are mildly recommended with two-star ratings. Visit our
2006 bookshelf at http://www.hopkinsandcompany.com/2006books.html
and see the rating table explained as well as explore links to all 130 books
we’re reading or considering so far this year, including 32 that we added to
the list in December. If there’s something missing from the bookshelf that
you think we should be considering or if there’s a book lingering on the
Shelf of Possibility that you think we should read and review sooner rather
than later, let us know by sending a message to books@hopkinsandcompany.com.
To become an
executive evolutionary, you need volition, not ammunition. Andy Grove of Intel is featured in the cover story of Fortune’s December 12 “Lessons in Leadership” issue (http://www.fortune.com/fortune/ceo/articles/0,15114,1134617,00.html)
and the article explores how Grove may be the best student and teacher of
leadership for the 21st century. Grove even helped the writer of
the article (Harvard Business School’s
Richard S. Tedlow)
ask the right questions of him to get to the truth. Here’s one excerpt on our
theme: “What can others learn from Grove's odyssey? As we face a future where
change is not only constant but accelerating, reality will transform itself
more swiftly than most humans—or most companies—are hard-wired to handle.
Even startups that overturn one reality are easily overturned by the next big
change. Grove has escaped natural selection by doing the evolving himself.
Forcibly adapting himself to a succession of new realities, he has left a
trail of discarded assumptions in his wake. When reality has changed, he has
found the will to let go and embrace the new.” Unlike in the process of
natural selection, executives need the willingness to face new realities and
choose to change. Do you have the will to face new
realities and change? What process do you use to examine what needs to
change? How prepared are you for the next big change that you and your
organization will face? Will you recognize the need for change and act in
time? Will you will to change?
In those
frequent situations when an executive follows someone of long tenure whose
identity was merged with that of the organization, there’s a need to select
the best way to disassociate from that person. Whether the change in leader
was planned or not, taking on a new role provides an evolutionary opportunity
for an executive to act in ways that are different from those of the
predecessor. Two recent examples provide insights into how the disassociation
can occur. We read in an interview with Disney’s
Robert Iger in The Wall Street Journal (12/5) (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB113374725252213739.html)
how he’s started to disassociate with longtime predecessor and colleague Michael Eisner: “I'm trying to take
the spotlight off any one individual and put it more on the company. I think
the company is ready for a change. Not that there was necessarily anything
wrong with Michael's approach, but he'd been there for a while, and change is
something the company could use and wants.” Without disrespecting Eisner,
Iger points to a concrete way in which their leadership methods will differ. Martin Sullivan worked at AIG for 34 years while Hank Greenberg headed the company.
Now that Sullivan has succeeded Greenberg in a forced move, their differences
are becoming clear, as we read in The
New York Times (12/18) (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/18/business/yourmoney/18aig.html):
“The contrast is lost on few: if Mr. Greenberg ordered, Mr. Sullivan asks. If
the former chief knew more than everyone, Mr. Sullivan asks to be educated.
Mr. Greenberg surrounded himself with a tight circle of senior executives,
while Mr. Sullivan eats lunch with midlevel employees who are permitted to
submit anonymous questions ahead of time, lest they be intimidated. And if
the former chief executive and chairman took pride in how he built A.I.G.,
Mr. Sullivan loves to tell midlevel employees that if he can be chief
executive, anyone can be chief executive. ‘Martin's the first to find out, to
listen and to get different points of view,’ said Frank G. Zarb, the chairman of A.I.G.'s board. ‘It's a great quality for a young C.E.O.
He doesn't have his mind made up before he has the facts.’” In many respects,
just be being himself, Sullivan disassociated himself from Greenberg. For
those who want to emulate their bosses, there’s a lesson here about being who
you are, not trying to be someone else. As the right next step in your evolution as an executive,
how might you need to disassociate from some of your colleagues? In what ways
are you imitating the behavior around you and acting in ways that don’t
reflect who you are? How can you be yourself and be an effective part of your
organization at the same time? Have you become so closely associated with
your boss that his or her behavior and yours are indistinguishable? Fittest An
organization’s success or decay depends on the people an executive chooses to
perform selected roles. The unnatural selection process in most organizations
can involve labyrinthine methods of culling individuals for various jobs. We
read in The New York Times (12/6) (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/06/business/media/06westin.html)
about the way in which ABC News
president David Westin may have
pleased everyone in how he chose the replacement for the late Peter Jennings as anchor of “ABC
World News Tonight.” According to the Times,
Westin said, “One of my concerns was, in deciding what to do after Peter left
us, not simply who would be on the air at 6:30 every evening East Coast time,
but how we could restructure and redefine what we were doing.” He ended up
selecting Elizabeth Vargas and Bob Woodruff to be co-anchors, but
not before negotiating three months with veteran newscaster Charles Gibson. After Gibson and
Westin couldn’t come to terms on tenure, Westin selected the new team. “He
got his anchors in place without opening himself to accusations that he had
passed over the most respected senior newsman in his shop. And he also
managed to avoid threatening the popularity of ABC's most profitable news
program, ‘Good Morning, America’ - which might have had the unwelcome result
for Mr. Westin of discomfiting another important constituent: the leading
lady of ABC News, Diane Sawyer.” While the process may have been lengthy and
convoluted, it seems that Westin made a choice that fit ABC’s total
situation. The real evaluation of his decision will appear in the form of
ratings. Stay tuned. What
process do you use in selecting individuals for specific roles in your
organization? How do you ensure that all the pieces fit together to ensure
the most promising outcome overall? How do you take into account the
stability of leaving a person in place versus the change to a new role that
could provide new energy and experience? How do you go about selecting the
fittest individuals for your organization?
Rigor Some organizations become well-known and succeed based on their
precision, the rigorous way they go about conducting business. As with many
good qualities, when carried to excess, advantages can become shortcomings.
Or, in our evolutionary theme, rigor can turn into rigor mortis, especially
when a flexible alternative emerges. The poster companies for this condition
in December were Viacom’s How do you
know when to apply precision, and when to be flexible? Are you prepared to
step in when a competitor stumbles? Does your culture show signs of rigor
mortis? How do you invigorate your organization? Transformation We read four ideas on becoming an effective executive from the late Peter Drucker
in Fortune’s
December 12 issue: build on people’s strengths; know your
market; control your time; and pull the weeds. Read the article at http://www.fortune.com/fortune/ceo/articles/0,15114,1135362,00.html
to find out what he means and how you might apply his ideas to your situation. How are you
progressing as an evolutionary executive? What do you need to focus on in
2006 to transform yourself and your organization? Follow-up
Here are
selected updates on stories covered in prior issues of Executive
Times: Ø
In
the October
2004 issue of Executive
Times, we noted that Pfizer VP “Dr. Peter Rost stated publicly that
importing drugs is safe and will lower costs. Pfizer has consistently warned
that importation would place Americans at health risks.” It should come as no
surprise to readers that Pfizer fired Rost, and
he’s now suing them. Ø
We
called attention in the October 2005
issue of Executive
Times to the pressure from Mississippi insurance commissioner George Dale on carriers to settle in
favor of the consumer in any case where there’s a doubt about whether or not
Hurricane Katrina property was from wind (covered) or water (not covered). We
read in the Insurance Journal
(12/16) (http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southeast/2005/12/16/63098.htm)
that Mississippi Senator Trent Lott
has sued State Farm Insurance over
his claim for coverage on his beachfront home that was destroyed in the
hurricane. ‘“Today I have joined in a lawsuit against my longtime insurance
company because it will not honor my policy, nor those of thousands of other
south Mississippians, for coverage against wind damage due to Hurricane
Katrina,’ said Lott, R-Miss. ‘There is no credible argument that there was no
wind damage to my home in Pascagoula.”’ The pressure increases, and the wind
or water controversy storms ahead. Legacy
Independent While some
leaders succeed through conformity with what’s expected of them, many make
their mark through taking a path that is unconstrained by what anyone else
has ever done. One of the most independent individuals we’ve ever observed died
at age 90 in the middle of December, leaving behind legends about how he
followed the beat of his own drum. William
Proxmire entered the national stage in 1957
when he won a special election to complete the term of Latest Books Read and Reviewed: (Note: readers of the web version of Executive Times
can click on the book covers to order copies directly from amazon.com. When you order through these links, Hopkins
& Company receives a small payment from amazon.com. Click on the title to read the review or
visit our 2006 bookshelf at http://www.hopkinsandcompany.com/2006books.html).
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ã
2006 Hopkins and Company, LLC. Executive
Times is published monthly by Hopkins and Company, LLC at the
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Company, call Steve Hopkins at 708-466-4650 or visit www.hopkinsandcompany.com. |
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