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Executive Times |
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Volume
7, Issue 6 |
June, 2005 |
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2005 Hopkins and Company, LLC 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. Initiative
One consequence of the imperial CEO model
for management is that action is deferred on many issues until the CEO as a
modern Oracle of Delphi weighs in. This wise and all-knowing CEO leads an
organization paralyzed from acting without specific direction. The best
executives delegate effectively, and do more asking than telling. The “better
to beg forgiveness than ask permission” school of management succeeds when an
effective executive sees an action that needs to be taken and acts. That
judgment is then affirmed or denied if it ever makes the light of day. Often,
leadership comes from those who do not have the role or position of
leadership, but see an opportunity to help the leaders succeed. We’ve
selected a few examples of initiative and the need for it in this issue for
your reflection. As you think about what others have or have not done
recently, think about your own behavior in your organization. What have you
done lately to help others lead? How do you shore up others’ weaknesses? To
whom do you look for help in leading where you have shortcomings? Fifteen new
books are rated in this issue, beginning on page 5. One book is highly
recommended with a four-star rating; nine books are recommended with three
stars; and five are mildly recommended with two star ratings. Visit our 2005
bookshelf at http://www.hopkinsandcompany.com/2005books.html
and see the rating table explained as well as explore links to all books
we’re reading or considering this year. Forty one new books were added to the
“shelf of possibility” during May, leading us to fall further behind in our
triage effort to select the 15 books we read and review each month. For your
summer reading, there’s plenty to choose from, but 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, let us know at books@hopkinsandcompany.com.
The notion of
leadership in the United States Senate
may not seem connected to the leadership of most organizations, but in many
respects, similarities exist. The Senate leaders are elected by peers who
don’t always follow the direction set by leaders. Knowledge workers report to
executives, but often act in their areas of expertise without any interest in
the perspective of their bosses. After weeks of posturing by Senate leaders
over the filibuster of judicial nominees and the so-called nuclear option in
changing Senate rules, fourteen Senators, seven Democrats and seven
Republicans, got together on their own on May 23 and hammered out a
compromise. Breaking with their leaders, this gang of fourteen gave their
leaders an escape from the boxed corners they had created for themselves and
their parties. Thanks to the initiative of these fourteen peers, the leaders
could take cover from their majority caucuses which didn’t want them to back
down, and still be able to take credit for moving the issue forward. In other
corporate and organizational settings, executives can become stuck, and need
help in getting out of a difficult situation. Bystanders will watch and
opine. Leaders will step in and act. The fourteen Senators were leaders.
We read a
profile in the May 30 issue of Business
Week (http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_22/b3935105.htm)
about an executive who needs others to bail him out from being the one person
on whom all others depend because it’s clear he’s not likely to take that
action on his own. Abercrombie &
Fitch CEO Michael S. Jeffries
has led the organization since 1992, posting profit gains for the past 48
quarters, facing down complaints about racy ads, settling racial
discrimination lawsuits, and current corporate governance criticisms. “It's
not just questions of corporate governance that have some concerned, though.
‘Abercrombie's biggest weakness is that it is all about Mike,’ says A.G. Edwards & Sons analyst Robert Buchanan.” During his career,
his success has been because of what he’s done or not done. He learned
retailing at the old Abraham and
Strauss subsidiary of Federated
under Chairman Alan Gilman and
with current J. Crew executive Millard Drexler
and others. According to Business Week,
Drexler remembered, “He worked twice as much as any
of us.” Gilman recalled, “Jeffries was so in control that he failed to
develop his staff. ‘A gifted guy who does it himself is different from a
gifted guy who helps people help him do it.’” For the A&F racy ads,
photographer Bruce Weber “says
Jeffries interviews everyone used in his shots.” “To this day, there's no
detail that he doesn't approve, from all merchandise at A&F and the three
other labels he has developed to how clothes are folded on store tables.”
Will executives at A&F take the initiative to pull Jeffries out of these
details? How do the other gifted workers at A&F feel about his
involvement at such a low level of detail? After so much time doing what he’s
been doing as CEO, can Jeffries change and let someone else decide how the
clothes are folded? Stay tuned. Is it time
for you to stop doing some of the things you did to succeed in the past? Can
you rely on others to make decisions on some details? Are you willing to give
a gift to someone in your organization who isn’t letting others help him or her
by helping them delegate effectively? How do you control without
micromanaging? How do you engage your talented workers in getting things
done? How do you help someone in a transition from a doer to a delegator? Birds Life at work
can become frustrating for those individuals who feel pigeonholed into a
specific role, when they want to stretch their wings and take on new
experiences. A recent ‘In the Lead” column in The Wall Street Journal (5/24) (http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB111688945561441129,00.html)
called attention to this problem. “Executives talk a blue streak about the
importance of developing talent. But many quickly form rigid opinions of
staffers, and then resist changing those views despite evidence that
employees have matured, become more seasoned or possess talents that weren't
apparent when they were first hired. … Those who resign themselves to being
pigeonholed by the boss end up contributing at a fraction of their potential.
… Pigeonholing persists in part because it is efficient, at least in the
short term. Top executives depend on certain tasks getting done, day in and
day out. The easiest way to accomplish that is to assign employees to jobs
and functions in which they have experience. But rigid typecasting also
discourages initiative and innovation, not only among lower-level employees
but also among middle managers.” Before your talent flies to competitors for the challenges
they want, are you willing to take a chance on someone with desire? What
actions can you take to overcome ways in which you’ve been pigeonholed within
your organization? What steps can you take in the next few months to expand
your experience? How can you communicate effectively your interest in
broadening your expertise? What do you do to ascertain the aspirations of
those who report to you, and how do you find ways to help them fulfill their
dreams? Choices How resistant are you to change? To what extent have you
mastered the ability to change? How can you help those who report
to you choose to change? Is your organization better prepared to die
than to change? Are you? Here are
selected updates on stories covered in prior issues of Executive
Times: Ř
Within
days after the release of the May 2005
issue of Executive Times, an
astute reader informed us that we failed to buy a terminal vowel when we
commented that former Ford CEO Alex Trotman
chose to live in Ř
We
stated in the May 2005
issue of Executive Times that the Senate
vote on the nomination of John Bolton as Legacy
Succession At the May 18
annual meeting of Intel, Andy Grove stepped down as Chairman
of the Board and became Senior Advisor, another transition in his career with
the company that began in 1968, and included outstanding leadership as CEO
from 1987 to 1998. Thanks to Intel, Andy Grove, and his colleagues, the world
has changed in the computer revolution because of a progression of faster and
cheaper chips leading to enhanced computing power. In his final message in
the latest annual report, Grove said, “I am asked sometimes what I would like
to be remembered for. My answer is always the same. I would like to be
remembered for helping to build an organization that sustains itself long
after my tenure. Ultimately, that is what succession planning is about.” At
Intel, Andy was a product of good succession work through diverse work
assignments and focused attention to areas in which he needed to improve to
succeed at the next level. He continued that approach in
helping the Board choose his successors, as both CEO and then as
Chairman. When Grove shifted from CEO to Chairman, he embraced the challenges
of corporate governance as the scientist he is: discovery through
experimentation and attention to what works and what fails. Grove’s lifetime
accomplishments are legion and he’s written books to pass along his wisdom
and his personal story (see our review
of Swimming
Across). His clear thinking resonates throughout. One speech at a
2000 Harvard conference on the Internet and society contained this blunt
advice: “For governments, do no harm, first and
foremost. Individuals, embrace that which confounds you most. And for
businesses, do more and talk less.” Grove has done a lot, and the
organization he helped to build is poised to continue doing more, thanks to
his wise and effective stewardship. 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 2005 bookshelf at http://www.hopkinsandcompany.com/2005books.html).
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2005 Hopkins and Company, LLC. Executive
Times is published monthly by Hopkins and Company, LLC at the company’s
office at To subscribe to Executive
Times, sign up at www.hopkinsandcompany.com/subscribe.html
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your corporate logo on each copy. About
Hopkins & Company Ř Coaching:
helping individuals or teams find ways to do more of what works for them, and
ways to avoid what's ineffective Ř Consulting:
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strategy, service to market, performance and relationship management Ř Communications:
helping executives improve their written and oral messages To engage the services of Hopkins &
Company, call Steve Hopkins at 708-466-4650 or visit www.hopkinsandcompany.com. |
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