“…[John] Sunderland [CEO of Cadbury Schweppes], [Brian] Pitman [CEO of Lloyds TSB] and Mike Parker, president and CEO of Dow Chemical, are all leaders who have had the confidence to go against the grain of conventional business wisdom or best practice. To begin with, their scorecards are decidedly unbalanced…Second, all three executives have devoted an unusually large amount of their personal attention to managing ‘executive time – that is, focusing senior management on addressing the opportunities that represent the highest
“Our message to young leaders is not that the personality-driven model of leadership is headed for extinction, nor do we believe that it should be. Clearly it will continue in small and start-up companies, and in places where appeals to the human heart must be made in order to bring about drastic change that requires considerable sacrifice…Nonetheless, we believe that more CEOs of large companies may be drawn to the organizational model of leadership for the simple reason that it
“There is a certain mythology right now in the world that thinks the CEO is a kind of superman.But in fact, this business is so darn complicated, and the decisions are so important, there is no one person alone who is going to be maximally effective in making those decisions. I want my executive committee-the seven or eight top people-to collectively run the company. I don’t shirk the ultimate responsibility as CEO. But I don’t want to make the decisions
“We live in a society where nobody is completely in charge of anything. Leaders are managers of complexity, but in a high-tech age, if all information comes from the top, it’s probably ineffective and too late. No grandpa at the helm possesses enough knowledge to make the organization run efficiently. Increased complexity requires that people from all levels of the organization have the freedom to think for themselves-not just obey orders. More than ever, executive leadership means that you have
“It’s not a question of management style. Every leader will have and exercise his own management style, but every leader must believe that everyone working with him is part of his success, not just him. The moment a leader starts thinking that he succeeded and not everyone in his organization, then he stops being a leader in my opinion.” ~Lord Swraj Paul, Chairman of the Board and founder of the Caparo Group and Member of Great Britain’s House of Lords
“…Focus your resources…Assess the strengths of your organization and your people …then focus everything on the greatest opportunities.
…Demand results…A leader should make it crystal clear, every day, that results are the single most important factor in judging an individual’s contribution.
…Listen to your heart. Don’t be blinded by big dollar signs. Pay attention to your instincts and common sense.
…Communicate clearly…In my mind, there’s no substitute for face-to-face, eyeball-to-eyeball contact. Words by themselves are not enough. If they were,
“… Focus your resources… Assess the strengths of your organization and your people … then focus everything on the greatest opportunities.
…Demand results…A leader should make it crystal clear, every day, that results are the single most important factor in judging an individual’s contribution.
…Listen to your heart. Don’t be blinded by big dollar signs. Pay attention to your instincts and common sense.
…Communicate clearly…In my mind, there’s no substitute for face-to-face, eyeball-to-eyeball contact. Words by themselves are not enough.
“I often say that leadership is deeply personal and inherently collective. That’s a paradox that effective leaders have to embrace.” ~Peter Senge, Shambhala Sun, January 2001
