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Executive Times |
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Volume
10, Issue 1 |
January 2008 |
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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. Tuning
Turning the calendar page to a
new year can provide a convenient time to conduct some executive fine tuning.
For some executives, this means being determined to slough off those
activities and behaviors that are less effective and to try to focus on the
activities and behaviors that get the right things done. This issue of Executive
Times calls attention to some recent articles in the news that
might stimulate your own determination at making those changes that you think
will improve your effectiveness. To whatever extent you can learn from the
experience of others, these articles may help you think about your situation
in new ways. Fifteen
new books are rated in this issue, beginning on page 5. Two books received
highly recommended four-star ratings; ten books are rated three-stars, and
three books received two-star ratings. Visit our current bookshelf at http://www.hopkinsandcompany.com/2008books.html and see the rating table
explained as well as explore links to all 165 books read or those being
considered this year, including 18 that were 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.
You can also check out all the books we’ve ever listed at http://www.hopkinsandcompany.com/All
Books.html. Context Strategic
leadership makes all the difference in achieving organizational success, but
the obstacles in achieving strategic changes can be formidable. There’s a
comprehensive article on this topic in strategy
+ business titled “A Blueprint for Strategic Leadership” http://www.strategy-business.com/press/article/07405?gko=0a739-1876-26510307)
that might help. According to the article, “…the quality of individual
leadership matters. In case after case, in organizations and in society at
large, when the single individual at the top is replaced, everything else
changes — either for the better or for the worse. But the effectiveness of leaders
depends, more than is generally realized, on the context around them. Over
time, the leader’s capability is shaped by the top team’s quality, and by the
capabilities of the full organization. These can either provide invaluable
support for the changes a leader wants to make or render those changes
impossible. Hence the best leaders pay a great deal of attention to the
design of the elements around them: They articulate a lucid sense of purpose,
create effective leadership teams, prioritize and sequence their initiatives
carefully, redesign organizational structures to make good execution easier,
and, most importantly, integrate all these tactics into one coherent
strategy. … Through their actions, leaders have a great deal of influence
over an organization’s culture, but very little of that influence is direct.
They can’t make a team more skilled or committed through directives alone;
requirements mean very little if they cannot be translated into specific
behavior changes. … A design for strategic leadership is … not a new
approach; it is simply the practiced, considered strategy for change that the
best and most long-lived companies have always used. There is no real mystery
to it, but it takes the kind of commitment, dedication, and respect that
truly makes a company a great place to work.” The full article fleshes out the components of a
design for strategic leadership and is worthwhile reading for any executive
struggling with implementing strategic change. How clear is the “why” or
purpose of your organization or your unit within the company? How effective
are you and other members of the leadership team? How well do you prioritize
and sequence strategic initiatives? How well do you integrate everything into
a coherent strategy? Excuses What’s your attitude about excuses? How do you
give and receive them? How easily do you accept reasons for why something
important can’t be done? How do you help overcome obstacles? Do your own
excuses invite others to emulate you? Imagineering Could any of these efficiency
tips help you in 2008? Is your effectiveness constrained by the inefficient
ways in which your day is structured? What changes can you make to get more
of the right things done every day? Prescription Some
executives feel guilty when they spend time on hobbies that seem unrelated to
work. Here’s a prescription for 2008: take hobby time as needed because it’s
good for you. We read in the Career Couch column (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/02/jobs/02career.html)
in The New York Times (12/2): “Hobbies can
enhance your creativity, help you think more clearly and sharpen your focus,
said Carol Kauffman, an assistant
clinical professor at Harvard Medical
School. ‘When you’re really engaged in a hobby you love, you lose your
sense of time and enter what’s called a flow state, and that restores your
mind and energy,’ she said. In a flow state, you are completely submerged in
an experience, requiring a high level of concentration. Research shows strong
correlations between flow states and peak performance, said Ms. Kauffman.
Being in that heightened state of concentration raises the levels of
neurotransmitters in your brain — chemicals like endorphins, norepinephrine
and dopamine — that keep you focused and interested in what you’re doing and
that energize you, said Dr. Gabriela
Corá, a psychiatrist who is managing partner of the Florida Neuroscience Center … ‘Making time for enjoyable
activities stimulates parts of the brain associated with creative and
positive thinking. You become emotionally and intellectually more motivated,’
she said.” So,
take some hobby time and feel better at work. What activities do you love
that sharpen your focus and help you think clearly? What energizes you? Are
you doing enough of those activities to remain at peak levels of overall
performance? Lessons Before
leaping into a new year with a lengthy to-do list, it makes sense to examine
the lessons learned from the recent past. To help jumpstart your examination
of recent lessons, here are a few of the lessons shared by lawyer, writer,
actor and economist Ben Stein in
the 12/9 edition of The New York Times
(http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/09/business/09every.html)
titled, “Lessons From the Pits of Travel and Investment:” “As I went
through my financial and travel records for 2007, I realized that — as usual
— I had made a great many mistakes. I’d like to help you to avoid making the
same mistakes, so here they are. … When it comes to travel, do not trust a
certain airline as far as you can throw it when it tells you a flight is on a
wide-body plane. … never take a room on the top floor of a hotel without
careful examination. Noisy, vibrating air-conditioners are often right above
you, driving you crazy. Be warned. … As I was looking at my stock statements
for 2007, I noticed I had done fabulously well — by my very modest standards
— on my large, broad-market index funds (especially Fidelity Spartan Total
Market and Vanguard Total Stock Market), on my Canadian and Australian index
funds and on an emerging-market index fund and a developed-market index fund.
But many of my individual picks had been clobbered. My belief is that I am
not alone here. Unless you are a thorough genius like Warren E. Buffett,
buying individual stocks is tricky, especially in a wildly down market for
financial stocks. My resolution for next year is that I will buy only broad
indexes and Berkshire Hathaway, if I have any money left over after feeding
our three dogs, six (yes, six) cats and my endless extravagance.” What lessons from the pits have
you learned from recent experience? Which of your recent mistakes have you
acknowledged, accepted and used as an impetus to do something different in
2008? Follow-up Here’s
an update on stories covered in prior issues of Executive
Times: Ø In the March
2004 issue of Executive Times
we speculated about the messy leadership changes at Coca-Cola but never revisited what happened. Not long after that,
E. Neville Isdell returned to the
company from early retirement in Barbados and as CEO oversaw the process of
stabilizing the company and moving it forward. We read in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (12/6) (http://www.ajc.com/business/content/business/coke/stories/2007/12/06/CokeCEO_1206.html)
that Isdell announced that in mid-2008, the company will split the role of
Chair and CEO, and Muhtar Kent,
whom Isdell brought back to Coke a year ago, will become the new CEO. The
article anticipates a model transition will occur. Ø In some prior years, we’ve
noted Fortune’s annual list of the
101 Dumbest Moments in Business. Here’s a link to the 2007 version that
appears in the 12/24 print issue: http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2007/fortune/0712/gallery.101_dumbest.fortune/index.html.
Legacy
Control 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 2008 bookshelf at http://www.hopkinsandcompany.com/2008books.html).
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Hopkins & Company, call Steve Hopkins at 708-466-4650 or visit www.hopkinsandcompany.com. |
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