Stephen H Baum Leadership

SUPERBOWL CEO (Part One)

No matter who wins the Super Bowl, we will all be treated to a demonstration of skills that any CEO (or leader for that matter) finds enviable. Peyton Manning’s real-time read of the structure and intent of the defense, consideration of options, selection of pass receiver and intentional arc of the throw is nothing short of a lesson in leadership.

In a powerful analysis by George Bretherton and Carl Nelson writing in the New York Times today (February 7, 2010), they deconstruct the 2.2 seconds – yes, 2.2 seconds! – Manning takes to work through his decision.

Imagine reaching this degree of craft as an entrepreneur or CEO dealing with a crisis, summoning the senior team, understanding the dynamics of the situation and choosing what should be done and by whom.

How did Manning get to this level? Was it inborn? No. It is through a combination of intense homework, thought experiments, planning and many, many real-time experiences on the field. Manning talked on tv yesterday about how he likes to spend his Saturday night before the big game – studying his playbook and his coaches’ analysis of the other team’s playbook. It is said that mastery comes only with 10,000 hours of practice and learning. I don’t know how many hours Manning has spent, but it must exceed that.

In my role as coach to a CEO, we take a recent challenging event and ask what was their read on the situation, what analogy and knowledge they carried into battle, how they chose to whom to assign what role. Then we apply the learning to an upcoming situation. I am told it sharpens an already well-developed informed gut.

That’s just my view. What’s yours?

Stay tuned for Part II: Super Bowl CEO – How Direct Reports Know What to Do

See New York Times, Sports Section, Page 4, February 7, 2010, available at NYTimes.com by clicking on this URL:

Speed Reading A Defense

In this economy, leaders are asking people do do more with less. Whether you call it “Job security” or “upward mobility” or “career insurance,” becoming a “Go-To” is key. In a recent post, I asked you to reflect on situations where someone was being singled out as a go-to: how did you know? what did it look like? what role does the go-to play? And if you are a leader, how can you grow go-to’s on your team?

Yesterday, in a coaching session with one of my business owners, he made a football comparison that resonates. Over the years, he has had on his team each of the following types of pass receivers:

- someone who is hit by the ball (didn’t see it coming or look for it)

- someone who grasps for the ball and drops it

- someone who catches the ball and stops or is nailed in his tracks

- someone who advances many yards after the reception

If you are the boss, have you evaluated your receivers? Have you given them opportunities outside their official scope? Coached them up a notch? Traded out the ones who do not advance the ball?

If you are on or aspire to be on the senior team, which one are you?

That’s just my view. What’s yours?

Leader Among Leaders: The “Go-To”

Ever notice in a meeting when there is one person who is the “go-to” person when others are stumped or at an impasse? Even if it is not in his or her official domain? What do you notice?

Perhaps you observe that others show great respect for the go-to’s opinion or input. That go-to person is playing the role of thought leader. Perhaps you observe that others turn to the go-to person to summarize the discussion to that point or to resolve an impasse or suggest a compromise. That go-to is playing the role of facilitator. Finally, perhaps you observe the go-to being asked to accept difficult tasks or challenges (on their own or pairing with someone else). That go-to is playing the role of booster resource. Perhaps you observe one person being go-to for more than one role.

Such go-to persons are leaders among leaders. I have seen it in a group of business owners and CEOs. I have seen it on a board of directors. And in meetings of peers who are heads of functions within a company (think: HR, finance, IT, Ops….). These leaders among leaders enjoy a special place in their community. It may or may not be a contributor to their career path success. It is clearly a very desirable reputation.

How do you attain the go-to position? A combination of forethought, listening, taking ownership and follow up.

Forethought: what is this meeting really about? What is the desired outcome? What is the dynamic likely to be and how can I be of service?

Active Listening: what is happening in this meeting? Are we making progress? Is everyone on board? Is there a question I could ask that would move the conversation in the right direction? Is emotion getting in someone’s way? Can I address feelings as well as thinking?

Taking ownership: the meeting is intended to serve a larger enterprise. If I were the chief of the enterprise, what would I want to see happen? What can I do, as a go-to, to make sure that this desired result is achieved? Is it ok to put aside my personal short-term interests and, if so, what can I do for the greater good?

Adopting this pattern has moved several people I know from being seen in their pigeon-hole to a go-to person in the organization. And it is as applicable in not for profits or academe as it is in business.

That’s just my view. What’s yours?

Leadership in Difficult Times: A New View of ROI

This is the text from which an interview was conducted today on Jim Blasingame’s treasure of a radio show: Small Business Advocate. It will be posted soon on this website and on Forbes.com.

We are experiencing a selective recovery. Those who successfully battened down the hatches have a lower breakeven and have seen decent profits. Those whose value proposition has always been “more for less” have done well. But many others are struggling to survive. Indicators suggest that we will have either slow economic growth or more stunning setbacks are in our future.

How should business owners be thinking? What should business owners be doing?

Some observations from close range.

Most business owners have already worked through not only the low hanging fruit but the formerly inconceivable: renegotiation with suppliers and bankers, layoffs of senior long-term employees, outsourcing to their own new facility in India, pruning the customer list, process improvement for lower cycle time and cost, to name a few.

But I see the best leaders executing a new focus on three ideas: Reinforcement, Opportunism and Innovation. You might call it a new ROI.

Reinforcement

More than one of the CEOs whom I coach has become a sort of preacher, reminding the top managers – indeed, the entire workforce – of the keys to surviving and thriving, encouraging continued vigilance on service to customers and on cost. Celebrating wins, no matter how small. And holding mock press conferences in which the next level or two voice what the company offers and stands for, what the strategy is, what is its competitive advantage.

This is one form of reinforcement. It is playing the new music tape, getting all the people to sing the same song.

There is a second powerful form of reinforcement: engagement. Let me give you two examples. Employee of the month is a cliché’ but not when I saw it practiced at USAA. A few minutes before 10 am, a mob of fellow employees gathers out of sight and hearing of the winner. They are marshaled there by an email invitation to do so. At 10 am, they surround the winner’s cubicle and give a standing ovation. I can tell you it raised the hair on the back of my neck. The impact on the winner was even more palpable. Yes, a coupon good for a modest dinner for two comes with it. But the real impact is the experience of fellow employees gathered around.

And if you haven’t seen the “pink glove” video on Youtube, it is a must-see. St. Vincent’s Hospital in Portland engaged every employee in creating the video, one which raises breast cancer awareness. It also raised the awareness of St. Vincent as a wonderful care provider and in the process fired up the pride and purpose of its employees. It all began when a supplier offered pink rubber gloves to raise breast cancer awareness. A St. Vincent employee got an idea. Two days of recording and the rest is a legend.

Opportunism

One of my CEOs has been loath to restore investment in technology, product development and manpower (capacity) from the highly reduced levels that sustained the company through the worst of the storm so far. But when you find a dollar bill at your feet in the rain, you pick it up. That is his view of an acquisition opportunity that presented itself.

A company in his business in an underserved geography was a roll-up of smaller entities. Leadership was underwhelming. A financial firm bought the company and laid on a lot of debt. As the economy worsened, sales declined and profits disappeared. That is why it was available. Why was it available to my business owner? Probably because the bigger predators are preoccupied with bigger problems and otherwise focused elsewhere. After a due diligence process uniquely open and informative because of the desperate condition of the company in a terrible economy, my business owner screwed his courage to the sticking point and made what should be a winning offer. Since the deal is expected to close this month, I will say only that customers will continue to be served (and maybe better served), jobs will be saved and the buyer’s EBITDA has a handsome upside.

Opportunism in 2010 will be highly case-specific, not like in years past when the tide was rising. And it will present itself as a unique hire, a new product or license, an entire company to buy. But opportunity will be there for those willing to pick up the dollar on the sidewalk.

Innovation

Many of my CEOs believe that innovation will be the key to differentiation, competitive advantage and financial success. Not necessarily technology innovation, although that is an element.

What they are focusing on is innovation in products, services, value proposition and marketing by more active listening to the customer – learning more about a day in the life of the customer than they ever knew.

One great story is told by innovation consultants at Doblin. The Ford 150 pickup truck was achieving saturation in its market. What could Ford do to as a next act to stimulate F150 sales? Doblin observed customers’ daily use of the vehicle and discovered these crucial facts: many customers were contractors who used the truck as a mobile office between fixed base and job site; many experienced losses of costly tools in the process. Ford went on to make the truck more like an office (think: embedded printer for employee time records and invoices) and a way of tracking tools. It was all about the real value to the customer.

Innovation does not have to be this big. It can be in how service is offered (think Hertz Gold Card which broke ground in speeding renters to their cars),

But it all starts with a new understanding of the customer perceptions. And, as Jaynie Smith of Smart Advantage showed us in a workshop with our Vistage CEO Group, what the customer needs and perceives is a living condition that changes over time.

R.O.I.

So whether the recovery is slow or the road ahead has deep ruts, focus on R (Reinforcement), O (opportunism), I (Innovation). That’s my view. What’s yours.

Is our behavior in the face of challenge determined at birth or by our environment? Are leaders born rather than made?

My obsession with what makes some ordinary people become extraordinary leaders led to my interviews with dozens of CEOs which Random House published in 2007 and to the Master Class series at Pace. The thesis is that there are particular “shaping experiences” which develop leadership traits and capabilities.

Epi-genetics is the new field of study that is beginning to confirm that nurture determines a lot about us: our behavior, our illnesses and more. Work on animals and on human twins shows that no matter your genome, there is a system of markers that switch genes on and off in a way that controls your reaction to stimuli. These markers are largely from environmental factors from what happened while you were in the womb, to how you were treated in your childhood, to stressful situations to pollution. And the markers you have accumulated can go-awry as you age.

The good news is that by treatment, including drugs, these markers can be added or removed.

Together with breakthroughs in neuroscience (how our brain works during different mental and emotional conditions), we are about to glean powerful new understandings relevant to our lives as well as careers.

For an intro to the field, view the PBS Nova Science Now program on the subject:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/3411/02.html

That’s my view. What’s yours?

EpiGenetics