Michael Jackson

It may seem strange to be writing about Michael Jackson as a leader on the day he has died. His life was chequered. In some ways he was a leader, redefining pop genres, staging spectacular shows and generating value through his music for millions. On the other hand at times he let himself down. But that is what leaders do. To err is human and as students of leadership know, the humanisation of leaders is important if followers are to truly understand and empathise. What may be more important to reflect on, is the extent that the way he was parented contributed to the person he became. Again, most of us will never know the truth of that although, much of it is a matter of public record. Michael Jackson was never convicted of the crimes of which he was accused. In democracies, we put our trust in due and fair process, irrespective of our own views. We therefore have to settle on a memory of Michael Jackson as an unsettled and deeply flawed human but who was vivid in the way he lived and coloured many of our lives, not only artistically but challenged our views of fame, publicity and morality at the same time.

Sachs of Gold

Credit where it is due. As the world faces a crisis in finance of extraordinary proportions bankers in Wall Street and London alike have drawn fire for their
(presumed) mishandling of taxpayers finances. As an ex Goldman employee, I have some experience of the way the Firm works. Blankfein rose to the top via a more romantic route than the usual Ivy League yellow brick road which most Goldman partners trod. His riches one might assume are more meaningful to him than the rest. Yet amidst this turmoil he has had the presence of mind to cancel his bonus and the Goldman senior executive have followed suit. No before you all cry " big deal, he earned $35mln last year" consider this. Bankers measure themselves on their pay. It is their way of keeping score. So money matters. Moreover, he actually does not need to do this. True, he has probably received much pressure from his old boss at the Treasury, Hank Paulson. But he is his own man now. He has shown good stewardship in the good times and now does the same in the bad. Other Wall Street banks are following suit. Leaders, as Warren Bennis said, do the right thing. Managers do things right. Blankfein has proven what he is.

President Obama

Barack Obama today made a moving acceptance speech. His rhetoric was passionate , emotional and above all gracious. His words of condolence to the losing challengers McCain and Palin were more than they deserved, given the tawdry way that they tried to blacken his name with accusations of consorting with terrorists amongst other smears. Luckily the mud did not stick and today the United States can sleep knowing that at the very least there is the whiff of change in the air. The hard work of leadership though is not to be recognised it is to make things happen. Obama now faces a stiff test. If he is wise he will spend the next three months preparing for government, surrounding himself with the best, listening to the people that matter and getting some rest. World leaders age quickly once they are in role. He will need to be in shape and stay that way. Above all, what Obama brings that the Republicans never could is hope, a commodity in short supply in our world today. The leadership writer Kets de Vries says leaders are merchants of hope. The American people today bought futures in Obama's wares of hope. The next four years will critically test his ability to deliver the goods.

Barack's Family Values

Barack Obama yesterday suspended campaigning for the election in oder to visit his sick grandmother in Hawaii. Insodoing he shows true leadership. Many leaders with whom I work are incapable of putting family priorities above that of their work. Normally this work is, to be frank , immaterial. There is very little we need to do today that could not realistically be done tomorrow. Normally putting off a decision does not result in a fatality. Yet many of us bluster on in the misguided notion that we are very, very important. Now arguably, nothing could be more important than winning this election. It would be fair to say that Obama has put a degree of effort into it. Yet at this critical juncture he has made a decision based on a deep empathy and care for someone who, according to his words, made him who he is. The cynics will no doubt allege it is electioneering. To me it says more about him than any speech about healthcare and is great role modeling for everyone.

India's Disgrace

India has today joined the space race with an unmanned craft destined for the moon. The problem is it is not a race. That particular race was won around fifty years ago by the Russians and Americans. So from a leadership perspective it serves no purpose. Leadership is about creating a vision that looks beyond the horizon. Sending a rocket to the moon far from achieves this. It is neither visionary nor creative. What it is however, is akin to adolescent penis comparison. Those who know more than a jot about geopolitics will be aware that India's preoccupation is to try to better neighboring Pakistan. Pity is that India used to be a bastion of spiritual development and philosophy. With a global recession looming, in which the world's poor will be disproportionately affected this programme is misguided and profligate. How many children will die on India's streets today who might have been saved otherwise? Would this programme have run had India been led by women not a male gerontocracy? We may well wonder. I wonder what Ghandi would have made of it.

Bush Off

Last words on Dubya. Failed during the 9/11 crisis (missing in action), failed in Iraq, failed in Afghanistan...seemed there was not much left in which to fail. And then came the banking crisis. Where is Dick Cheney now? Cheney spent poor old Georgies presidency increasing his power but will never be held to account. It is not Cheney the history books will talk about but Bush. Bush is now caught in the perfect storm. An election looms, his policies have failed and he is just plain unlucky. The crisis could not have come at a worse time. But leaders need a bit of luck. Bush is handing this election to Obama. He lacks any credibility and the world economy will suffer as a result. It is hard to see how anyone could lead less effectively, but in the leadership business you just never know.

Darling of Finance

Alastair Darling stepped up a gear this week. For the last year the grey man of the British cabinet, he made up for in dullness what he lacked in charisma. He seemed doomed to failure. Yet cometh the day, cometh the man. After long consultations with banking chiefs he stepped in with a concrete rescue plan. It was better handled than the US plan which had been thrown out of Congress twice before being accepted. Navigating these choppy waters was admittedly made easier by the fact that the Conservative opposition leader David Cameron had promised full support. Nevertheless, Darling acquitted himself well. He gained consensus, delivered the right package and handled the media with calmness and firmness. He may well slip into obscurity when this crisis passes but will be remembered as the man who saved Britain's finance industry. For that he should be applauded. As a lesson in leadership one could reflect that potential is only realised when crisis strikes.

Hank the Bank

I worked for Hank Paulson. He ran Goldman Sachs while minnows like me ran around on the trading floors trying to add value. As a leader at GS he was often suspect. While he presided over a number of years of spectacular growth at GS people couldn't help feeling he was in the right place at the right time. Making money in those bull market years was like falling off a log. Not hard. Now however he faces the challenge of a lifetime. How has he responded. Not known for massive intellectual prowess, he actually might have got lucky again. The problems crippling the US ( and latterly) global economy are complex. It might be seen as arrogant to try to deal with all of that with a piece of draft legislation that only ran three pages. Yet at times leaders need to simplify complex situations. That is what Paulson is doing. He may not succeed. But his posture is the right one.

Tsvangirai: Courageous Leadership

Nobody likes admitting defeat. Nobody likes letting a bully win. Morgan Tsvangirai, Zimbabwe's opposition leader has today pulled out of this week's election, one that has been marred by violence and perfidy. Along the way, his supporters have been harrassed,
intimidated and murdered.Above you see a picture of him after a recent beating. So why back down? Firstly, it is unlikely that he would have won that much is obvious. Irrexpctive of the actual result, Mugabe would have been a shoo in since he controls theapparatus of the election and he is a cheat. But even so, should not Tsvangirai have battled on? In fact he has shown great courage. Firstly, he has probably saved the lives of many of his countrymen, so from a humanitarian point of view he has done the right thing. Secondly, he has demonstrated tactical nous. He was on a loser anyway, so why not let Mugabe win under highly questionable circumstances than give him the pleasure of winning what he would have declared a free and fair election. Finally he has shown decisiveness and an eye for the long term. Mugabe will die sooner or later. He has no obvious succession plan such is his narcissism, so Tsvangirai will be there to fill the vacuum. Frustrating as it may be for the long suffering Zimbabweans, Tsvangirai has shown courage and leadership.

Cristiano Ronaldo: A Sorry Saga

Cristiano Ronaldo is, if we are to believe what we read, about to quit Manchester United. He has this week, led his country, Portugal, at the European Championships, aged 21 for the first time. His transfer, however, has been a litany of doublespeak and obfuscation culminating in the fury of the United management and wily sidestepping by Real Madrid, his prospective suitor. This sorry tale is analogous to the sort of thing that happens in many organizations. Young talented executive is promoted to a leadership position, in part because if he doesn't get it he will throw a tantrum. But in the end, the fact that there is a latent tantrum is symbolic of the fact that he is loyal to nobody but himself and when the first big offer arrives his ego is so lathered up that he holds a gun to his employers head and leaves anyway. Since the number one criteria of leaders demanded by executives is integrity, Ronaldo will have been seen by the end of this summer to have an integrity vacuum. All the more reason to pay him whatever he likes but Senior Calderon, Ronaldo, like yourself, is no leader.

Production Lyne

On the left Martha Stewart. On the right, new CEO Susan Lyne. No the left, I mean the right, oh whatever!! They say we create leaders in our own image but isn't this going a bit far. Susan obviously came straight off the production line. I am sure she is eminently suitable for the role but please, its like watching a re-run of Village of the Damned.

Russell Brand: Destined for Greatness

Russell Brand is in many ways a leader. Now before all you Daily Mail readers,(along with pundit Alison Boshoff, Brand's UK press nemesis) get all riled up consider this. Think about the characteristics that make leaders who they are, and the rest of us mere followers:
1) They innovate. Brand is a leader in comedic innovation. This is not to be sniffed at in a world of dumbed down irrelevant claptrap, mindlessly churned out by ratings driven
pap merchants
2) He has willpower and tenacity. Granted he had a horrific drug problem that came close to killing him. He has, however, been clean for nearly four years, sending a huge signal to his fans, in much the same way as Tony Adams did at Arsenal FC.
3) He has integrity ( the number one prerequisite according to a survey of 20,000 senior managers). You will never hear him denigrate women, ethnic minorities or any individual. This is unusual in a comedian and in the entertainment industry in general.
4) He is vulnerable. Brand has no qualms about admitting his weaknesses. Whilst in possession of a super-massive ego, he can often be heard admitting his faults. Sex addiction being the most prevalent. He also has a sense of humour about himself.
5) He has intellect. Don't mistake that gnarly East London dialect for stupidity. A close examination of his work unearths a quick wit and a versatile and broader than average command of English. Brand is smart.
If you put all this together in a business leader, you would have nearly the finished article. Brand, that piratical sex shaman, may not cut it at the top of BP. But he will undoubtedly march to the top of Billboard one day soon.

British Scareways

Willie Walsh is presiding over a disastrous start for the new Terminal 5 at Heathrow, (known in the UK as Deathrow,) and for those that have recently traveled through T5, you will understand why. But logistical problems aside, what does this calamity say about Walsh the leader. What kind of operation does he run?

The Guardian this week provided a few insights. Walsh has recently said, " The buck stops with me. I am going not going to find someone else to point the finger at". Interesting then that this week he fired two long standing senior executives with 40 years of service at BA. Accountability is one thing. After all,m if they messed up then why should he not hold them to task. Well, for precisely this reason: Union sources claim the following. That Walsh runs an autocratic regime where people lacked the confidence to tell him about the serious problems in the run up to the terminals debut. Quote:" That's the nature of the ship he runs ( airline surely ). He is an autocrat and that reflects itself in the way his directors operate. Nobody wanted to go to Willie Walsh and say there were problems."

Bill Gates has said that the secret of Microsoft's success, is that the bad news travels up. Anybody can go into his office, call him Bill, and tell him something needs fixing without fear of retribution. I fear that if Walsh doesn't change his outmoded leadership behavior, BA will go the way of Pan Am and its ilk. In the economic climate we are now in, collaboration, not directives will be the mantra of the survivors.

Ben Verwaayens Added Value

Ben Verwaayen has moved over as CEO at BT after 5 years. Has he done a good job? According to the press today, not really. Oft cited is the startling fact that BT's share price has barely moved in the period of his charge. Big deal!

Lets get a couple of things straight. The market might be up 40% in the last five years but Verwaayen inherited a company that was flat on its back from two leaders who had made a horrific mess of the company. Its broadband penetration was abysmal at the time and it was a sprawling utility with little direction and pressure from all sides. Verwaayen made BT the broadband player of choice in the UK market so that is part of his legacy. The other more important factor is two pronged. He built a great succession plan and the new CEO is well placed to deliver. More importantly, in his own words, when he arrived BT was a miserable place, with high employee dissatisfaction and little ability to retain its best people. That has been reversed 180 degrees. Given the size and scale of the operation, if a couple of hundred thousand people are happier, healthier and working better together, then BT has every chance to be great. The pundits will never accept this, such is their focus on the filthy lucre, but I for one, see Verwaayen as an exceptional leader.

Child in TIme

Max Mosley, president of world motor racing's governing body and son of fascist activist Sir Oswald Mosley is disgraced. Recent newspaper revelations have allegedly shown him in compromising images with five prostitutes. He does not have much support left, whether true or not. Not only have German carmakers distanced themselves, but luninaries of the track including Sir Jackie Stewart have on him to resign. So far it has not happened yet it probably should. First rule of leadership is to uphold integrity at all costs. Leaders cannot lead without it and he will find it hard to rebound. Cases in point: Conrad Black, Kenneth Lay and Jeff Skilling of Enron notoriety, the list is almost endless. Given time Mosley will undoubtedly have to fall on his sword.

What is fascinating is the manner of his demise. The debauched scene in which Mosley was allegedly ensnared was strongly resonant of images from his early childhood. Mosley was apparently caught with hookers who were dressed as prisoners while others were dressed as guards in what was described in the Guardian as a Nazi themed scenario. He was supposedly heard on the video barking orders in German and spanking them. Mosleys parent were disgraced, arrested and imprisoned before they could do any damage. They never escaped to Germany, yet they were personally close to Hitler. I wonder if Mosley jnr unconsciously was playing out what his parents would so dearly love to have made happen. Moreover, it seems fitting that Max Mosely who was himself an exremist as a young man, will suffer the fate of his parents and end his career in ignominy.

Robert Mugabe: The Dark Side of Leadership

Robert Mugabe has many faults. It is interesting to review though from whence he came. Born to a poor background and, as is so often the case, bullied at school, he typifies the archetypal dictatorial leader who as a successful adult seeks to assert control over his whole jurisdiction. It seems that in these kinds of leader, the need for love is replaced with the need for subservience. It is as if there is a drive for retribution.

Well Mugabe has certainly got his own back. His people live in penury, with Zimbabwe's inflation at a world record 100,000%. Money is valueless in this failed state. Mugabe's demise came when he kicked out the white farmers. Wrong as it may have been for the whites to control most of the premium land, their replacements could not effectively work it to their advantage, and the people starved. Mugabe could not retract his error and stubbornly stuck to his guns. This is why Zimbabwe is in the state it is today.

Yet today, the people will go to the polls. The opposition is stronger than ever. Mugabe rules on with threats and the election will be horribly rigged in his favour. It is time for the people of Zimbabwe to erase their recent history and put Mugabe's childhood demons back in their rightful place.

MIss Speak

So Hilary Clinton" misspoke" last week when she told her audience that she had dodged sniper fire when she arrived in Bosnia in 1990. Subsequent footage shows that not to be the case. And the bamboozling "I misspoke" comment turns out to be that she was just plain wrong. Now the debate centers along bipartisan lines as to whether she is a liar. Of course politicians are masters of this kind of nonsense. Bill Clinton famously replied to an interviewer during his impeachment trial thus:- " It depends what your interpretation of "is"is." Quite!

The problem here is that while politicians often lie (or misspeak) leaders cannot. The first casualty of lying is the trust that ones followers bestow on you. The public expect politicians to lie, sadly. In this case Hillary might simply have got it wrong, or been carried away on a bit of an ego trip. After all, it was not exactly a beach holiday in Bosnia in those days. However, she compounded the error by trying to dodge the issue. There is no shame as a leader in saying you are wrong. In fact, it makes you stronger. This seems to be lost on the Clintons and more is the pity. It is about time we had a female president, but not a weak one.

Hands On

Guy Hands, the boss of Terra Firma is quite a leader. Schooled at my old firm Goldman Sachs, he set up Terra Firma having first been to Nomura. He is now, to coin a phrase, minted, rumoured to be worth £200m. His leadership style is unusual. He does not deny that he is a workaholic. Not only working from 7am till midnight, he freely admits he works weekends and expects total dedication from his team. Why does he get it. Apparently he makes many of the big decisions and is rarely wrong. So a big box is checked: decisiveness and that gets commitment. He is however, subject to volatile moods. According to the FT a senior banker who worked with him said, "He has a hell of a temper. He can blow hot and cold really quickly." This can of course, create a fear culture where employees are afraid to speak up with creative ideas. Not a problem if you are doing well. It can lead to issues around succession.

His start in life was tough. He overcame dyslexia to succeed and win a place at Oxford University.He has the self insight to know that this is his driving motivation. He was bullied at school and has taken his knocks as a professional when in one of his rare failures, he wrestled with the Thresher pub chain for years without a great deal of success. "I have thick skin though" he says. Indeed, he has created a wealth of value for himself, his employees and his backers. It does raise the question what Terra Firma would do without him.

Spat Out

Elliot Spitzer's rapid fall from grace is astonishing. He seems to have found a concealed basement in the political barrel he has been scraping since anointed governor of New York(and I choose the phrase carefully)18 months ago. Since that date, when he was almost as popular as the second coming at a Vatican nuns convention, it has been an out of control downhill skid. What is notable is that for leaders with such a powerful streak of morality, there is often a corollary on the dark side.

From spats over irrelevancies which cost him his popularity, to bully boy tactics which served him so well when Attorney General but made him seem like a latterday MacArthur to the populace, he misjudged a critical leadership issue. He failed to take account of his context and situation. The game had changed. He was now meant to perform, not to crusade. But he could never get out of role.

The prostitution scandal is almost a footnote. Things had already gone horrifically wrong for Spitzer. While I don't condone his actions, it is hardly an aberration nowadays that a politician makes sexual transgressions. Still, he broke the law and paid for it (literally. Moreover, he fell foul of the number one precondition expected of great leaders: integrity. Obviously, in the case of political leaders, if you are capable of personal deception, then you are capable of public deception. His demise was therefore unavoidable.

Had he more insight he may have listened to his own advice. He made a speech last year when he stated the following about a colleague:

"Niebuhr understood that the exercise of power can be shocking and, at times, corrupting. But he also understood that power is absolutely necessary to fight the battles that must be fought. The trick is to fight these battles with humility and constant introspection, knowing that there is no monopoly on virtue."

His spell in the wilderness will no doubt give him pause to reflect on his own words.

Piech's Folly

As I am heading off to Germany this week to teach leadership in a multinational, this is an opportune moment to take a shot at one of Germany's top business leader's. Ferdinand Piech is the grandson of Ferdinand Porsche, the eponymous founder of the sports car company that is now coming to dominate the world. Ferdinand junior has this week sealed a deal with Scania making VW Porsche the biggest motor group in Europe. But at what cost? Piech is not known for his gentle manner. According to one of his allies he now has his sights set on Toyota. The debris he leaves in his wake however is worrying. True, he saved VW from financial disaster in 1993. But he also has foibles. He is responsible for the £1m Bugatti Veyron known locally as Piech's folly and the VW Phaeton was pleasing to him but according to the FT not his customers. Again the FT quotes an industry executive who says:" He is the coldest and hardest to communicate with-person I know. If you are against him it is hell. But if you agree with him he will protect you very well indeed." Not a glowing leadership reference. Sometimes the journey may not be worth the target. Piech has his hands in all the pies and is controversial from a governance perspective too. One director commented" VW is a stain on Germany's reputation" . His legacy might be to have built the world's biggest car maker. I wonder though how many people will come to his funeral.

Old leaders never die...

...they just fade away. Fidel Castro is fading but very slowly. He finally stepped down last week and his brother Raul who has been de facto in charge since 2006 is now President. The problem is that Fidel is not dead. Not that I wish him any ill. His Communist regime has not served his people that well but let's face it, we in the West can hardly crow can we? In leadership terms Raul has a tough job. First he is inextricably linked to the old guard. So he will have a difficult time doing anything new that is recognized as such. Moreover, unless Fidel dies, he will always be seen as the ghost in the wings. That is why when Jack Welch left GE he cleared right off and left his successor to it. There are many corporate examples of CEO's who become Chairmen, just hanging around the place and confusing the workforce. Nobody really knows who to report to. In Communist Cuba this will be less of a problem as it is strictly command and control. I suspect that it will be Raul's successor that really reforms the country unless Fidel expires soon.

Avramovich!

Are two heads better than one? According to the old saw yes but in the case of Chelsea FC, the slow motion car crash we have been watching for the last year continues apace. Avram was never going to make it as we predicted here last year. His results have not been bad. But he is haunted by the specter of the owner, Roman Abramovich hovering over him at every turn. He is accountable but not responsible and it is a leadership nightmare. Now, as Chelsea lose to lowly Tottenham in the Carling Cup final the poultry is looking for its roosting place again. Abramovich, according to the press, is attending training, key players are not showing up, and worst of all, Grant will not tell the players who is being picked for fear they will tell the press.The trust is blown. Organisations cannot be run this way yet many are. The privilege that business leaders have is to see publicly how not to do it. Sports teams allow us that. The shame is that even with the Russian's billions Chelsea are not turning round. They say the fish rots from the head. Abramovich should get rid of the spoiled stars, pick a manager who will build for the long term and leave him to it. Band Aids will not work any more.

Sorry Mate!

Leaders have to make themselves vulnerable in order to appear human. That's how the theory goes at any rate. On the other hand, saying sorry when you are Prime Minister is fraught with peril. It means admitting you are wrong. Normally in politics this is fatal, such is the nature of most bi partisan systems. Kevin Rudd, new PM of Australia has bitten not so much a bullet but a large shell. Last week he apologised to the aborigines for a litany of transgressions over the last century including stealing their land, resettling them, ignoring their traditions and worst of all for the 100 thousand or so children who were forcibly removed from their families.
Does any of this mean anything? Not really. It is a cunning ploy as nobody can really apologise for what someone else has done with sincerity. However, it shows the nature of the man. He has taken on what others have baulked at. Now a line can be drawn and rehabilitation can take place. As leaders go then he is a smart man. For without the vision to do something new for the blighted aborigines this apology would be empty. But since Rudd is a man of conviction, his apology makes him a leader of worth. It is time his peers took a leaf from his book.

Sweden: Democratic Innovation.

Sweden just won the award for country with best innovation inputs globally. What does that mean? In short, Sweden comes up with the most innovative solutions from information provided. So what does that have to do with leadership? Well for one, innovation is the one buzzword that is getting business schools the world over falling over their knickers to provide courses in the subject. Secondly, Sweden is a deeply democratic country. That has nothing to do with its leader not resembling a tinpot dictator. It means that right down to the decisions about how the station platforms are swept, Swedes love a good chat about things. In organisational life this can be a real pain. I have worked with more leaders than I care to mention who just love the command and control, my-way/highway management style. They would last no longer in Sweden than it takes to say smorgasbord.The problem is that while Swedes are great at innovation, they fare less well at turning the ideas into action. This requires pacesetting and authoritative styles to kick in, which gets up Swedes runny noses. Innovation takes time in the boardroom. Democracy gets you there but has its drawbacks. Now if the Swedes got together with the Chinese... there's a thought

Situational Leadership Revisited

I like Fabio Capello, the new England soccer manager. One match in and one win you can't argue with his one hundred per cent record. But seriously, this is a man who knows a thing or two about leadership and has adapted to the losing mentality quickly with a firm authoritarian grip. Here is some evidence. 1) Since getting the post, Capello (who did not speak a single word of English,) has had a two hour lesson every day. When he coached the players this week for the first time he did so in fluent English. Commitment dedication and leading by example (and pretty good for a 62 year old.) 2) Capello enforced that the whole team be at dinner on time spend the whole of dinner together and leave together. Mobile phones were banned from all public spaces except the players hotel rooms. His emphasis was on " togetherness." As he said, " These things are about respect for other people and for each other " He said that if the rules were not adhered to there would be consequences. 3) Golf was banned in the run up to the game. "They can play all the golf they want on Thursday" he said, thereby injecting a strong air of professionalism into the camp.4) He was unsentimental and did not pick David Beckham for his 100th England cap. Good leaders focus on the future not the past 5) He did not name a captain, instead saying he would only do so after the summer thus creating a " beauty contest" and a bit of competition into the team. THis man has a sense of what it takes to lead. We watch with interest, but I suspect it is just what the British Galacticos need.

Obama's Iowa victory speech

...and if you don't think he IS a leader, then spend thirteen minutes of your time and listen to this.

Barack Obama

First leader out of the traps this year is Barack Obama who today won the Iowa caucus. As the Time Magazine photo depicts, he may be on the way to the White House. Since August when we last wrote about him he has resurrected himself admirably. Interestingly he resisted the temptation to involve himself in the general mudslinging that broke out among the Democrats in early December. A poll of 20 thousand senior managers in 2002 elicited that the number one desirable characteristic in a leader is integrity. Of course in other current candidates ( who we will desist from mentioning so as not to join them at the bottom of the barrel) that is open to question. So Obama scores his first point. However, another desirable characteristic is tenacity. Let's see if Barack can stay the course.

Little People Lead in 2008

I read an article on the way home from Morocco this New Year and was moved to tears (although airplanes do that a lot to people I hear). A Jewish Rabbi, Arik Ascherman, and self-professed Zionist, goes daily into the olive groves across the divide in the occupied territories to work with the Palestinians harvesting the crop. He is a human rights activist. Bizarrely, he acts on behalf of the Palestinians. The Palestinians often wonder why he is there. Aren't we supposed to be enemies? One even asked " Why the hell don't you go back where you belong?" But the rabbi presses on, unconcerned with background politics. His aim is to foster peace and change the world person by person, one day at a time.

We spend much time listening to and looking up to our leaders. If not one day Tony Blair then others Bill Gates, Richard Branson or Osama Bin Laden. Iconic people with a mission, not always agreeable, but visible nonetheless. Yet what we teach is that leadership CANNOT be taught but it can be learned. And from that message, is it not in our hands in this New Year to do something extraordinary, something we have not done before? I am no Jew, Muslim, Christian nor Hindu. I do believe in human goodness though. I also believe each of us can lead and make a difference. As Rabbi Ascherman said, " When all is dark, you have to light the first candle". Happy 2008.

Staying at the top | Mao and the art of management | Economist.com

This article is an absolute cracker.Just go there.

Staying at the top | Mao and the art of management | Economist.com

Clogs to Clogs

There is a Dutch expression "Clogs to Clogs in three generations". Generally applied to families with wealth the implication is that if you are a self made man/woman, leaving your wealth to your (generally) ill-deserving offspring, will guarantee that after one more generation, the family will be poor again. Typically, the children lack the proper motivation to invest in a sensible way the enormous accrual of the parent.
Something akin to this is underway in South Africa.
Nelson Mandela, after whose rallying cry I named my consultancy company, transformed the country at great personal cost to his freedom. That much is well documented. Mandela is a great man and a great leader. The reins passed to Mbeki. Let's call him the errant son. Mbeki has led abysmally. He has supported Mugabe next door in the failed state of Zimbabwe, advocated AIDS cures in the form of garlic and herbal teas, leading to the deaths of thousands and now, is handing over the mantle to the third generation Jacob Zuma. Zuma was acquitted on rape charges and will possibly be indicted on corruption charges surrounding an arms deal. Nelson Mandela is said to be distressed at the state of affairs in the ANC, Archbishop Desmond Tutu said neither Mbeki nor Zuma were fitting candidates. Of the 25 million or so people in South Africa it is astonishing that a better candidate could not be found. Africa as a continent is showing signs of recovery. Botswana is relatively corruption free. But South Africa should be holding the torch for leadership of this ailing continent. Zuma is not worthy of the title he will inherit and leaders across South Africa should search within for a fitting replacement.

Orang-Utans, CEO's and Empathy

Birds do it, bees do it, orang-utans apparently do it and CEO's don't do it enough. No not horizontal tango silly...it's called empathy.
Researchers studying orang-utans in their natural habitat think they have discovered the origins of human empathy. The scientists used 432 pieces of independent data from zoos around the world of the apes at play. They not only involuntarily mimicked the facial expressions of their playmate less than a second after the first, but also often checked first for the reaction. According to the psychologist in charge of the study it shows how important this form of communication is. Dr Davila Rose said:- Empathy helps one communicate with social partners, form social bonds and is supportive in terms of co-operation.
As we have said so often, leadership cannot be taught but it can be learned. In this case from our distant ancestors. Just off for a swing in the trees. Happy Christmas to all our readers.

Lewis Hamilton tells all

Lewis Hamilton is a leader in the making. Humble, confident and insightful, this video does him huge justice and offers business leaders a touch of inspiration too. For somebody of this age to show the sensitivity and drive that Hamilton possesses is rare. Looking at sporting virtuosos like Federer and Henry, Hamilton will surely be among the greats. He talks about " we" not I, cites learning as his greatest ambition, and talks about playing guitar in the same way as he talks about driving. If leaders in organisations were this smart at 22, business life would be the better for it.

Steve Jobs Stanford Commencement Speech 2005

As a Christmas gift to all my regular readers, I wanted to share a video that I have watched many times with executive groups. Whatever you may think of Steve Jobs, and I realise there are mixed opinions, this is a wonderful piece of oratory. Jobs covers life love and death in a profound and useful way. For anyone in transition, take fifteen minutes to download and watch this in a peaceful reflective space. For those who don't necessarily have major life or business decisions to make, simply enjoy a splendid speech from a talented business leader of our time.

Gordon Brown: Five steps to Success

Gordon Brown is getting some pretty lousy advice. Either that or he's getting good advice and not listening. The former is condonable, the later is unforgivable. We will probably never know, but his lurching from one crisis to another only serves to make David Cameron look good. A lesson for mediocre leaders everywhere. Rather than rake over the miserable coals of this rather woeful time, I would rather look forward, as all good coaches do. So, with that in mind, here is a five step plan for turning it around quickly:-
1) Set out the vision and quickly. Repeat it often. Even if, as he claims he did this in the Summer, do it again because everybody forgot.
2)Show up more often. Brown looks less and less like a statesman and more and more like a sulk. The cartoons say it all. Weekly press conferences might help. He has little to fear.
3)Stop reacting. Good leaders are proactive. Forget the irritants of the Tory front bench and seize the initiative, setting the agenda himself
4)Surround himself with competence. Great leaders are unafraid to have the best and brightest around them. He needs to take a fresh look at the Cabinet and frankly take out the broom, and soon
5)Get a coach. Brown is desparately in need of objective leadership counsel. I don't believe he can see the wood for the trees at the moment.He needs to show the humanity we all suspect lurks within him.
If he does a couple of these things he might just save himself from an embarrassing debacle in the next couple of years . It is not too late. I have no investment in either side. But given that he has been waiting in the wings for ten years, it would be heartening if the British public could conceive that he had learning something from the rather flawed yet charismatic Tony Blair.

In Praise of Brad Pitt

It's easy to poke fun at celebrities. If it's not flashing their private parts unwittingly (or otherwise) to the gaping paparazzi, or creating some other dismal drama with a racist jibe or drunken rant, it seems that their contribution to society is often limited to the cosmetic. Brad Pitt is a different sort.
A few years ago, a leadership instrument was created called the Leadership Archetype Questionnaire. The author identified eight broad leadership archetypes, one of which was The Communicator. the sub text was:- " Leadership by stage management" All in all that archetype was the least flattering and pigeon holed the leader into showmanship and pitched him or her as a bit of an empty vessel. However...
Brad Pitt has launched an initiative this week to rebuild a swathe of homes in New Orleans. He has created designs for houses on stilts (apparently he has said he would have been an architect if he had not made it in the movies.) Moreover, the proposed dwellings will be in the poorest neighbourhoods in the devastated city and will be subsidised by his charity for the displaced. His proposals have created a ripe stink with the authorities (no doubt jealous they didn't do it themselves, and sooner). It proves too that communicators can also be doers and lead from the front. So hats off to the communicators making the world a better place. Rotten tomatoes to the politicians. Next week, Bono and narcissism...just kidding.

HH The Dalai Lama

It is not often that I step into the troubled area of organised religion, as I am keen to extend my stay on this tempestuous planet and generally faith issues can compromise that. I am however moved to examine the leadership this week of the H.H. the Dalai Lama. Tibetan Buddhism has, for 500 years, elected successors to the exalted position by an arcane process. When one Dalai Lama died, the highest monks would travel far and wide to find an infant who exhibited certain " signs" of spirituality befitting the position. In recent years, those naughty Chinese have sought to derail this process, since as many know the current Dalai Lama doesn't exactly agree with them on just about everything. Indeed, they said they would appoint their own Dalai Lama after His Holiness died. Presumable a communist apparatchik from downtown Shanghai! In a deft move which Garry Kasparov would be proud of, the Dalai Lama has said he may hold a referendum amongst Buddhism's 18 million followers to determine if he " should " be reincarnated after his demise. Brilliant! Sweeping away 500 years of tradition at a stroke, his followers may allow an election and there is a strong supposition that the next Dalai Lama will come from outside Tibet. Glasgow, maybe? Or Sydney? What he has demonstrated, is that he is not only flexible, but visionary and smart. He often says he is just a simple monk. So he has the humility often associated with level 5 leaders too. May he not reincarnate any time soon!

McLaren's Final Farewell

It is no suprise for those of us that study leadership that Steve McLaren has been fired from the England management. His tenancy of the position has been a farrago of ineptitude. The problem with these thoughts is that he was and is a nice guy. It says something about how we give feedback to those that are incapable but nevertheless pleasant. It is after all, much easier to fire someone who is arrogant, pompous and self involved. McClaren was not. Unfortunately he suffered from the Raphael Benitez school of indecision. One minute Beckham was out never to return, the next he was in (brave decision but too late.) His total lack of understanding of team psychology, namely that teams however they are performing need elements of consistency to glue them together, was missing. Finally in the last and sorry epilogue to his career, he made serious, one might say desperate changes to a team that was just about hanging together with shocking consequences. Translated into the boardroom, McLaren would have been catastrophic. Luckily all he cost us was a place in the European Championships. Next time the selectors at FA central will be more choosy and wait for the right man. Leaders essentially drive team performance. When weak, the team reflects that in its results.

Old habits die hard (with a vengeance)

We all have our nasty habits from surreptitiously picking our nose at the traffic lights, to kicking the odd tin can on the street instead of putting it in the litter.It's not right but it doesn't really do anybody any harm. One nasty habit that has come to the surface (no pun intended) is the Japanese pastime of hunting whales. What has this got to do with leadership you might well ask. My answer is simple: Lack of it. Or rather worse still setting an atrocious example. Everybody knows that marine livestock has been decimated in the last few decades. There is barely any cod left in the North Atlantic, nor any tuna in the South Pacific. The poor old humpback was hunted to near extinction by the 1960's. The Japanese having left them alone for a while now see fit to resume the slaughter. The justification: "It's an ancient Japanese tradition," said the minister for fisheries. Yes, well so is drowning witches by tying them to a stool in England and slaughtering a child to bury next to a nobleman in mediaeval Sweden. Anyone voting for a return to that? I leave you with a picture of the carnage, not the minister. He does not deserve it.

" Life is just an audacious adventure, or it is nothing"

So says Justin Henin, world number one ladies tennis star. Well actually, she didn't say it she found it in a book. But all credit to her. For this year has seen revolution in her life. Those that follow tennis will know that Henin has had her fair share of problems with her family. She has had very little contact with them since her teenage years. In 2007, she divorced her husband, visited her brother who was in a coma having been in a serious car accident, reunited with her parents, in her words "for life" and regained her top spot in the tennis pantheon. Are all these things a coincidence? Unlikely! Working as I do with groups of executives in a clinical setting, one thing has become extremely clear. Leaders who re-engage actively with their past, both the good bits and the bad bits, not only start to see life more clearly but lead better as a result. In the end the past catches up and all leaders have to lay their demons to rest. The eternal question though is if I face these demons, will I lose that bit of my DNA that makes me successful. I think Henin just answered that question. In her words ( and these really are hers< " I refound my little girl smile"

Oh Woe is Roh

South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun has received a categorical leadership whipping in the Korea Times Nation section today. It is so damning it is almost as if he took the leadership textbook and did precisely the opposite. The list looks like this:- 1)Failure to create a vision and set out a practical agenda. That is the sine qua non of any leader.
2)Focusing on what is important not what is urgent. I don't have too many qualms with that. It is his only saving grace.
3)Personnel and people management was atrocious. Constant rotation of key people and failure to surround himself with strong advisers.
4)Poor sense of priorities. Focused on the wrong things at the wrong times. 5)Organisational and managerial skills were pathetic.
6)Finally arrogant and self-assertive leading to people disowning him personally and in the end not having followers which let's face it, defines leadership.
All in all pretty disastrous. One wonders if a little learning before getting on the job might have helped a bit. There can be few others who have been so utterly inept.

Dressed to Lead

A ridiculous article in the FT recently claimed the following:- Leaders dress the way they do because they represent the image that we want to be ourselves or see ourselves in the world. To back this up, they cited the fact that all American Presidents with only the exception of Eisenhower, have been tall men with a full head of hair. The implication was that this was what most Americans aspired to. I would be interested to hear the opinions of the 100 million or so American women on that one. Bizarrely the article was written by a woman. It went on to talk about the dress sense of Hilary Clinton and the newy elected President of Argentina, Cristina Fernandez The premise of the article is plain wrong. Politicians are elected on how they will manage the economy, either because the incumbents have messed up, or because they are ostensibly more competent. If that were not the case then how on earth would Sarkozy have beaten the rather exotic Segolene Royale. In the boardroom, leaders are often rather odd looking to say the least. Take a look at the CEO's of many investment banks for further proof. THere may be something aesthetic about the choices we make about our leaders. It is not as stark as the FT would have it.

Randy Pausch

Leaders come in many types: Thought leaders, action leaders, political leaders, and the rare level 5's who quietly lead with humility and humanity. Those who have not heard of Randy Pausch should now engage with his message. On September the 18th 2007, Dr Pausch delivered his Lecture of a Lifetime at Carnegie Mellon University. Dr Pausch is dying. In his speech, he addresses the need to pursue the things that one holds dear , whatever the situation you are in. His speech is unsentimental, generous and objective. Self pity you will not find. For those who need a modicum of inspiration, follow this link. It will take a couple of hours of your time but may change the rest of your life. That's what good leaders do!
http:/cmu.edu/uls/journeys/

Chuck Prince: Another sorry tale...

It's all very well for Chuck Prince to be fired but what does it tell us about leadership. We see this in sports too often. A couple of bad results, the fans get annoyed, the press picks it up and suddenly the coach is clearing his desk. With Chuck Prince the saga has been rolling on for a while. Dropping $11bn is no small beer. The problem is that Prince had an issue that was never going away. Unlike at GE where Welch had the good grace to hand over the reins to Jeffrey Immelt lock stock and barrel and go on his way, Sandy Weill never managed it. Weill hung around in the background, like the proverbial back-seat driver and waited for Prince to make a mistake. Eventually it was bound to happen and Weill had his day. The situation reminds me of a New Yorker cartoon that shows an executive with a huge knife sticking out of his back. The doctor behind him is saying: "Well we can take it out, but I suspect it belies a bigger problem". Like Fed Chairman Bernanke, who always seems to have Greenspan in the wings, it seems that when you take over the helm it is wise to make sure the previous king is dead or fled. Otherwise like Hamlet's ghost, he may be back to haunt you.

Brian Ashton: A man, a plan, a persona? Two out of three ain't bad...

Now that the furore of England's incredible renaissance at the Rugby World Cup has abated, it is worth taking a look at the leadership qualities of one of the unsung heroes of the tournament, coach Brian Ashton. Unprepossessing in extremis, he lacks any charisma in front of a camera. In fact his whole appearance has been scrutinised and described at times as dishevelled. So in the light of that what on earth does he do right? His leadership capabilities are tacit yet some interview quotes from those who are close shed some light:-" He treats players like grown up's and let's them make their own decisions " said Will Carling former Captain."He is not a young man out to prove himself. I would be very surprised if he accepted a new contract." I don't think he likes the limelight at all" he continued.Unlike his predecessor, Sir Clive Woodward, who was seen as a controlling personality who micromanaged almost all aspect of the game, Ashton is more hands off:- He takes the blame when things go wrong, avoids the media, simplifies rather than using advanced management technique and delegates responsibility to the players. The problem is England came second, unlike under Sir Clive when the team won the whole tournament. It raises interesting questions. But that said Ashton is probably by far the nicer boss.

Stan O' Neal

Stan O' Neal is in a tight spot. Presiding over the biggest write-down in Wall St history($8bn)his position as CEO of Merrill Lynch is under scrutiny. His career has been remarkable. Son of a farmer and grandson of a former slave he undoubtedly has his eye on the past when managing a business renowned for its millionaires and greedy public image. Now it seems he is coming unstuck. The problem it seems is twofold. On the one hand O'Neal appears to be friendless in the boardroom. His reputation as an ice cold tough cookie has served him well in the good times. Unfortunately, as things suddenly turned sour, he has "nobody inside his tent pissing out" ( as Lyndon Johnson might have observed.) Moreover, even if he does get the boot, which seems likely, he has apparently not built a succession plan so no obvious heir apparent is visible. Those students of Jim Collins will know this is a cardinal sin and puts him in the Level 4 leadership camp. One comment in the FT this week sums it up:- He is the most brutal person I have ever worked with...he lack a human touch and it has got worse as he has gotten more powerful". Not a nice legacy and if O'Neal is lucky enough to stay in his job, he might reflect on these two issues.

Yahoo, I'm in charge! Well maybe not...

Life has become hard for Jerry Yang. This recent quote is revealing: " As a founder everyone loves you and wants to tell you everything. When you become CEO the behaviours change. It's a lonely job because you have to make all the tough decisions" Thanks to the FT for providing this gem but it speaks volumes. I have worked with a number of founders of fairly serious companies who, the minute the company ran into choppy waters, took over the reins. Admittedly they were never as big as Jerry Yang. But the principle remains. The problem is that as CEO you need to chop of the odd arm or leg of your baby. No parent would ever be able to do that. It's like asking a surgeon to operate on their family. The emotions are mixed and the ambivalence to great. Hence, the psychological backdrop lends itself to stasis. I am going to be pretty blunt here. While Yang is CEO, Yahoo will not outperform. Yang is a creative entrepreneur. He does not have the surgical DNA required to turn around his faltering empire. He is simply too nice. If smart he will quickly find a successor ( from GE or another industry titan) to manage Yahoo through the storm. If not Google will eat Yahoo's lunch and move on.

Tesco? Let's go!!

Something evil this way comes. At Tesco, Britain's largest retailer, a fifth senior executive has left in as many months. If you doubt the significance of this then read on. First, empirical evidence suggests strongly that employees leave their boss more often than they leave an organisation. The implications are therefore that something is wrong with the leadership at Tesco. It is not uncommon for ambitious and talented executives to use great companies as proving ground s for their skills before going on to senior positions at other companies. GE has ( and continues to be ) a great example of this. But Tesco has no such credentials. What is more worrying is the radio silence emanating from headquarters. Billed as a brain drain, it does not bode well for the short term future of Tesco. Great companies retain the best and brightest by offering them good job content, confirmation and high salaries. They also offer hope. One of these key ingredients is clearly missing. We await news with interest.

Benazir Bhutto

As Benazir Bhutto returns to Pakistan and survives a near fatal assassination attempt it is maybe worth highlighting the darker aspects of leadership. The politics of the situation are irrelevant. What is clear is that strong leadership has a psychologically polarising effect. We see this in many organisations from Ryanair to Apple. Moreover, courage tends to be somewhat overvalued in leadership circles, partly because it is more visible and demonstrable than say, critical analysis. However, the events in Pakistan do amply symbolise how far people are prepared to go to remove leaders who send strong and direct signals to constituencies who oppose them. CEO's who do this generally have a bumpy ride and need a thick skin. Margaret Thatcher was a political leader of this ilk. It does raise the question though of whether to be long term effective one needs to occupy the hallowed centre ground and lead through iterative dialogue rather than divisive opinion. Let's hope Ms Bhutto is around long enough for us to find out.

David and Goliath

It's a hundred days since Gordon Brown took over as leader of the Labour Party and of Great Britain. As predicted in this column he just blew up for the very reasons we suspected he would. David Cameron has done nothing special. Sure, he made an impromptu one hour long speech without notes and showed he had a vision. Bold and courageous. But not ground breaking. Brown made a rather pedestrian speech by comparison. Laboured and rather trite. By warming up the press for an election he put himself in the position of having to make a decision. That was unnecessary. Then he committed a cardinal sin. He vacillated while Cameron taunted him to " bring it on". As we said in our earlier column, when critical decisions are needed Brown resorts to analysis. And so he did for five days while sentiment piled up against him. Leaders need integrity first ( he has it) and decisiveness second ( it's absent). Unless he acquires the skill to follow his guts when required, as a leader he is doomed. He has now come out and said that if he had called an election that Labour would have won. Here he entered the realm of supreme folly. Not only is this counter-factual but it is actually lame. If that were the case he would have done so. Brown's days are numbered unless he changes. It could be a long and excruciating wait both for him and the electorate.

Vladimir Putin: Scary Monster

I take my life in my hands here but I cannot help but comment on Vladimir Putin today. I have resisted the temptation to date, but for me he finally showed the colours that many suspected were lurking under his black cape. Unsurprisingly he has just stated that he will "probably" (come on Vlad who are you fooling?)run for Prime minister when his presidential mandate expires next year. All very well and let's face it he is a mite more democratic than his mates in Kyrgyzstan and Belarus. But who is he kidding? Unfortunately what he has failed to realise by this move is subtle but important. His biggest asset is the trust the Russian people bestow on him. By positioning himself again at the centre of Russian politics his power will be unassailable. However, in the back of even the dimmest Russian mind will be the notion that he is guilty of obfuscation. That will push him down one path as his unpopularity rises: More executive power. His instincts are questionable. Not good for Russia and if history is an indicator, not good for the world.

Carlos Slim. Rich in more ways than one...

Carlos Slim, telecom magnate and world's richest man ( that's right it's not Bill Gates ) made good copy this week in the FT. A few nuggets for all those out there chasing rainbows. Apparently well known for not being terribly interested in money he lights his Cohiba cigars with a disposable lighter, owns no properties outside Mexico, claiming hotels are far more convenient and wears a cheap watch. Commenting on what he feels about being the world's richest man ( $53bn) he said, " It's not a football match." As with many of the super rich he has turned his attention to legacy. When asked why he did not begin his philanthropic activities earlier he replied " I was too busy working." Nota bene all CEO's. Tellingly, a vintage car given to him by his kids sits gathering dust under a sheet in the garage. " I never drive it, " he said, " but I often open the door, get behind the wheel and sit there thinking about life and about my father. Remember:- "All you can take with you is that which you give away."

Martin Jol: In need of Resuscitation

It is interesting how often sport is an appropriate metaphor for life and leadership in big organisations. The board of Spurs has been undermining its hapless team coach Martin Jol for weeks. From flying to Spain to have " secret " talks with another manager, to allegedly phoning Mourinho the minute he was " leaving Chelsea by mutual consent" (and we all know what that means), the Tottenham board have come close to painting themselves into a very sticky corner. The players like Jol. That much is clear. Moreover, he has improved their lacklustre performance dramatically over the last couple of seasons. It seems that the top men, however, are getting impatient. But if they let this drag out, and Jol is dragged through the gutter, the board will stand little chance that their new man, whoever that is in the future will get a good reception. And if they fire Jol now ( and if that is their intention they should just get on and do it for the sake of both parties) they risk both a dressing room revolution of the sort about to happen at Chelsea and a spell without a decent manager. The board at Spurs should shut up and let Jol do his job for a decent period or get off the pot and fire him. The current strategy will only lead to woe.

In Praise of Aung San Suu Kyi

The current crisis in Burma is unfolding rapidly and unpredictably. At the centre is one of the world's quietest leaders. That however, is not by her own design. Aung San Suu Kyi, Nobel Peace Laureate, has been under house arrest for 12 of the last eighteen years. She has maintained dignified silence, neither threatening violence nor seeking to stir up or foster revolution. When Buddhist monks arrived at her door this week she made a brief public appearance and prayed with them. Aung San Suu Kyi is the new Nelson Mandela. She demonstrates that leaders can be charismatic without uttering a word. These leaders very existence coupled with the unspoken but powerful awareness of their mission, in this case a Democratic Burma, is enough to get their followers behind them. The situation in Burma may yet have a tragic end. History suggests that will be the case. The military regime is brutal and heartless. In leadership terms it is incredible how one person can so silently tower above them.

Avram Grant

Irrespective of what you think of his credentials, Avram Grant, the new Chelsea manager is unlikely to succeed. He has been put in an impossible leadership position. The players had a deep loyalty to Mourinho. That will not erode easily. Grant will become the container for the pent up frustration they feel about Mourinho's bundled exit. Unfair, but that's how it goes in leadership. Consequently, their hearts will not be in it. And Grant will not have time to build trust before the results start to go against him. When this happens he will lose credibility with his Chairman and his players. Abramovich should have read some psychology. He may have a stack of dollars but he has cost himself dear with the handling of Mourinho's sacking. It seems everyone is a loser

Ban-ki Moon: An apology

Earlier in the year we were critical of the leadership of the new Secretary General of the UN. It seemed he was lacking in impact and generally going out of his way to avoid becoming unpopular. Behind the scenes other things were happening. Ban Ki Moon had set out his stall when he attained the leadership by saying that the situation in Darfur was of paramount importance. Quietly and with determination, he has not only addressed the issue but gone quite some way to getting the warring parties to agree.As readers will know the genocidal actions of the Janjaweed militias have caused atrocious suffering in the region which hitherto many agencies have been powerless to stop. If Ban Ki Moon achieves little else, he will have succeeded. It demonstrates in some ways that charismatic leadership is not necessarily the most effective. An apology to the Secretary General is in order.

Jose Mourinho; Dogged Out.

Back in March we wrote about Jose Mourinho and his rather dramatic leadership style at Chelsea FC. Today, he has left the club " by mutual consent" as we predicted. At his core, Mourinho was an emotional man. He was also proud and whilst many things he did were flawed he was subject to one of the most difficult leadership paradigms that any manager can face. He had authority without the accompanying power. Abramovich , the paymaster at Chelsea wanted things done his way. When you have several billion dollars, I suspect that is a state of mind you can easily fall into. Mourinho for all his faults was a footballing brain with a good track record. Things came to a head when he was forced to hire two players he felt were superfluous to his needs ( Ballack and Shevchenko )by his boss.The drama played out in the worst possible way. Since Mourinho could not kill the " King" insted he kicked his " dogs" and Ballack and Shevchenko suffered mightily by being sniped at by Mourinho through the press and being dropped from the team. It was only a matter of time before Abramovich lost patience. Mourinho was never going to win this one. The next manager of Chelsea had better learn how to kneel.

The "Bunk" of England

So the grand Old Lady of Threadneedle Street has rolled into the gutter. Mervyn King the Bank's governor has had a torrid week. First attempting to take the intellectual high ground, he refused to provide liquidity to banks that had overstretched themselves. So far, not bad. It was decisive and active. Then came the crisis at Northern Rock. As customers queued round the block to withdraw savings and other banks appeared at risk he did a dramatic volte face. Still OK. He reacted to changing circumstances. What is not OK however, and this may seem harsh is that in the first place he was wrong. Leaders, as with the rest of us, have no monopoly of wisdom. However, when crises hit, and the current one is a once in a career occurrence, they have to be right. King was not, and I suspect what we will now see is the boys fighting in the sandpit trying to shift responsibility either to the Government or the FSA. If King is smart he will resign and let them get on with it. Otherwise he may find he is defending the indefensible.

Leadership 2007: Ken Chenault's plans for American Express - Sep. 19, 2007

Leadership 2007: Ken Chenault's plans for American Express - Sep. 19, 2007

Here Chenault talk about his vision for Amex and how driving a feedback culture is at the top of his leadership agenda.

Top Companies for Leaders 2007 - FORTUNE Magazine

Top Companies for Leaders 2007 - FORTUNE Magazine

Follow this link for a leadership quiz and a couple of interesting articles about leadership.

reportonbusiness.com: Managing change: Coach them, don't boss them

reportonbusiness.com: Managing change: Coach them, don't boss them

I can't vouch for the book but the questions at the end of this article are worthy of note. Happy reading.

Abe update

Well Japanese Prime Minister Abe took our advice and fell on his sword. Finally! No but seriously we wrote a few weeks ago about how the Japanese Prime Minister was broken, how his opportunity to lead was diminishing daily and that he ought to resign. Same went for the Photo-Me bosses who we wrote about a few weeks later. Now they have gone and a good thing too. New broom required in both places. Other updates from previous commentary: Steve McClaren is starting to show results as England Soccer coach. We commended him for having the guts to change his mind about Beckham. Fact that England have won twice without Beckham is irrelevant. McClaren has put together a team that seemingly works and wins. Fredrik Reinfeldt of the Conservative party in Sweden is having a disastrous start to his premiership. It won't be long before Sweden reverts to its old Social Democratic ways.He has done a George Bush...failed to plan for the aftermath. All very well getting into power but what to do when you get there. He is like a stunned mullet. And George Bush...well we've been calling that right all along. So here is today's nugget: "Leaders start with open minds but soon become prisoners of their results."

Anita Roddick

Anita Roddick's untimely passing today gives us pause to reflect on her achievements. She was a hero, not only for the manifold causes she championed but more in the style in which she conducted herself. Roddick floated her company at a time when entrepreneurs and the business landscape was almost entirely dominated by men. She was a tough contender but never sacrificed her integrity or her principles to play the game the way they would have wanted her to. This at times made her unpopular in the way Richard Branson has been unpopular. Single-minded and visionary, she saw through the Bodyshop brand, even when the City had lost faith and made it an international household name. Moreover, her restlessness led her in support of a number of other worthy causes, Amnesty International and Save the Rainforests the notable examples. Selfless leaders are rare. Anita Roddick did what she did out of passion not for money. As an example of what women can do she was a paragon. The world is worse off without her.

Amy Winehouse

Amy Winehouse is causing a stir. Not only is she creating waves in the music world but there are cross currents in the press. Amy hits the drinks and the drugs hard. Latest is checking into rehab to try to fix among other things a dependence on cocaine, heroin and no small intake of alcohol. The debate in the press has centred around whether Amy as a role model to " the kids" should knock it on the head. Whether she knows it or not she is a leader by dint of the fact she has followers. But Amy is showing the dark side of leadership. Legions of fans will unconsciously infer that her behaviour is fine and take a cue from that. Irresponsible commentators say it's for the good of her art. That's as may be. But I am not sure that I would want that responsibility on my hands if I were her. I have no position on drugs other than the admissible fact that they are illegal. But I am tempted to say that the greatest exponent of soul to emerge for at least a decade might think, in a moment of clarity, how clichéd the addled pop star has become. Show some leadership Amy and do it differently. But don't stop singing that way!

Chrysler's New Broom

Bob Nardelli has been sweeping through Chrysler. And he hasn't even waited for his first hundred days. Tut tut! Didn't you read the management literature Bob? Seriously though, given his reputation as a bit of a hit man he has done well to restrain himself as long as he has....about a month. This is partly attributed to the fact that Chrysler is now private, making it in Nardelli's words " quick and flexible". Take note all you becalmed listed companies. That said, he did pay lip service to the established modus operandi that he would "listen and learn." He has obviously processed the information quickly. In comes Deborah Wahl Meyer from Lexus as Chief Marketing Officer. The CFO slipped quietly away just before Nardelli arrived. And the new director for transformation is just 38 years old! Nardelli learned his trade from Jack Welch. Chrysler may not be a buy yet, but in leadership terms Nardelli is blue chip.

If you shoot at the king, better make sure you kill him

The King in question is David Dein. Six months ago the Arsenal football club board unseated vice-Chairman David Dein, long time shareholder and avid supporter of the team. It was an astonishing turn of events for the man who to a great extent had led the club to incredible success partly because of his ability to identify the great manager Arsene Wenger, who has turned the team around. Dein has cashed in his chips, selling his stake in the club to Russian oligarch and billionaire Alisher Usmanov. His master stroke is that together, the oligarch and Dein have formed a new company in which Dein himself will be Chairman. Dein is also friends with Stan Kroenke, US billionaire who has hostile intentions and over 14per cent in the club. This triumvirate will be a force to be reckoned with and I would say that time is now running out for the parochial remnants of the board at Arsenal. I suspect that Dein will soon be back like Hamlet's ghost to haunt them.

Ships Leaving a Sinking Rat

Regular readers know that I am no supporter of George Bush. But politics don't drive this column, leadership does. So what are we to make of it when we here the sound of the last nail being driven into Bush's political coffin. Now that Alberto Gonzales, the largely discredited Attorney General has slipped quietly from office, Bush is totally isolated. What should he do?The vagaries of the political system in the US prevent him from retiring as a judicious business leader or European politician would do in the same circumstances. But to make a fist of it, he needs to get into action. One of the success stories until recently was the economy. He could do worse than wheeling out my old boss Hank Paulson and putting him centre stage. Hank is smart sensible, and an uncontroversial public face. The second thing he could do is to appear ( if not be) a tad conciliatory and not hole himself up in his ivory tower. Finally, he might think about getting on a plane. It feels as though he has not been abroad for ever. A whistle stop tour of Beijing or even South America to shore up some support and a much needed photo op might help.Sitting in the White House licking your wounds just ain't gonna cut it, George!

Mc Leadership

Jim Skinner of McDonalds is quite a guy. Interviewed recently in the FT it appears he is doing quite a few things right. Not only is the business expanding at quite a rate since his "back to basics" strategy took effect, but he has also set up a McDonalds leadership university for 1400 global directors, following the well trod path of Jack Welch "We have learned thought our own distress that we need to have people available to do the job" he stated.
He got the CEO job by default when two contemporaries fell sick. In many ways it qualifies him more because he never really expected to get it. This undoubtedly inspires him to try harder. He surrounds himself with people who want to "get up in the morning and do things better". Innovative too he put a Frenchman in place as head of European ops, the first time a non-American has held the position. He is not complacent either. " Everyone is tempted by success" he says (I worry) that somehow we will forget how we got here." Like it or not, Skinner is taking forward a business that a few years ago was having its McBreakfast eaten by the competition. Seems as though Skinner is the right man at the right time.

An Ananchronism Waiting for an Alarm Clock

Nice that the governor of Texas is showing such empathy nowadays. Texas has just passed the milestone of 400 executions since the death penalty was reintroduced in 1976. Governor Rick Perry covered himself in glory as he condemned EU meddling in the issue. The EU had sought to highlight that the death penalty is a cruel and unusual punishment. Perry's retort was " "Two hundred and thirty years ago, our forefathers fought a war to throw off the yoke of a European monarch and gain the freedom of self-determination.

"Texans long ago decided the death penalty is a just and appropriate punishment for the most horrible crimes committed against our citizens.

"While we respect our friends in Europe... Texans are doing just fine governing Texas."

Most pedants, ( this writer included) will alight on the first phrase "..long ago". Leaders are expected to move with the times. This anachronism at least needs to be looked at. Far be it for me to meddle in US politics, but maybe the fact that the US is alongside, China, Iran, Sudan and North Korea on this issue might just give Perry pause for thought. What a legacy!

Photo-Me

Photo-Me bosses agree to go but investors twist the knife | | Guardian Unlimited Business

Bosses that don't do succession planning properly get forced into the street. That is what happened this week at Photo-Me. Activist shareholders, sick to death of vague pronouncements about when and indeed whether the CEO and Chairman would retire lost patience. You can read the full story above but suffice to say that it is a good lesson for all leaders. Start planning succession the minute you are in the job. Groom your people and in the end make yourself redundant. Nobody can relish the ignominy of these two unfortunates who did not heed the rule.

Napoleon: Not Yet!

FT.com / World - Sarkozy’s uneven first 100 days

It is worth catching up again with our new knight leader Nicolas Sarkozy as he completes 100 days in office. The British press can't help knocking everything successful hence the current clutch of negative articles. Also it's August and good news stories are rare. Unlike most British hacks Sarkozy has been working most of August and setting an example to his French workforce. From fighting with American journalists (well verbally at least) to hyperactively driving several agendas simultaneously he has, in our humble opinion, checked most of the leadership boxes. Vision, yes. Clarity, check. Brought together a team. Definitely (even a few socialists :"Keep them inside the tent p****ing out," as Lyndon Johnson said.) The snipers are fretting about his financial record. One moans "unemployment has started going up again." Metaphors of tankers in mid-ocean spring to mind. Give the guy a chance and let's look again at Xmas!

Ben Bernanke: A firm hand on the Tiller.

Ben Bernanke always had a job on his hands. We have written about him before. It is never easy to step into the shoes of a so-called guru and we are all familiar with the "hard act to follow syndrome". Frankly though in the last week he has shown leadership of the highest order. As the crisis in sub-prime spread like contagion through the markets over the last week, the Fed did not react. Or rather they did when they raised the discount rate but not until a few hedge funds were crying in their beer. This created some disturbance among the more histrionic of pundits like Jim Cramer, who can be seen on YouTube berating the Fed chairman for inaction. Sometimes though, inaction is an active decision. As Cramer and his fellow hedge fund managers felt their pips squeak, Bernanke and his crew implicitly sent a message to the financial community. Namely ,if you want to be in the risk business sometimes you lose. We are not going to bail you out. More importantly he set a precedent for the future which was both brave and wise. Cramer is experienced enough to know that these market oscillations will pass. He should also know that special interest groups do not drive Fed policy.

Barack O-Crikey

Someone needs a little leadership coaching. Here at the Leadership Space we are all in favour of adaptable leadership. In fact leaders who are not adaptable fail quickly. It's empirically proven. But Presidential hopeful,Barack Obama has committed a couple of egregious errors. The FT today gives full vent to this. Firstly circumstances have not changed so his changing style is superfluous. Yet the pressure of televised debates has caused him to resort to sound bites. The pressure of this has caused one or two missteps. After threatening to kick Pakistani behind in the hunt for Bin Laden he also said he would meet the leaders of N. Korea, Venezuela and Cuba and Iran unconditionally. Not likely to endear him to Middle America is it? Mitt Romney quipped he had gone from Jane Fonda to Dr Strangelove in the course of a week. As Adlai Stevenson amusingly commented " The support of all thinking Americans is not enough, I need a majority" Personally my money is on Hillary even though I would love to see Barack in the Oval Office. But I think he should stop listening to his political advisers and start reading some management literature. If you want to be a leader you have to have followers and if he continues to flip flop on style nobody will know what they are following.

Ed Balls living up to his name...

.. and finally before I decamp to London to catch a shower or two, if you want to see charisma in action just take a look at Ed Balls the new Education Secretary for the UK on You Tube. He makes John Kerry look like James Brown ( may he rest in peace). Under the title " The Prime Minister goes to Preston Manor High" Balls can hardly string his sentences together and is fatuous in extremis. Still, on The Leadership Space we are not advocates of charismatic leadership. But we are advocates of eloquence. Balls has a few months to brush up before the election thankfully.

Turd Blossom

It is interesting to me that Karl Rove, affectionately known as Turd Blossom by our dear friends in the Republican Party, a man leaving his boss in a shockingly lame position and with a diabolical legacy, has escaped proper scrutiny for so long. When thinking back to the Globe Leadership study which highlights that the number one leadership attribute, as voted by around 20 thousand senior managers is integrity, how on earth did he hang on for six years? Fact is that in organisational life, managers who lack integrity are either surrounded by sycophants or fired. In public life of course, especially if like Karl Rove,Cheney and latterly Rumsfeld, if you are unelected, your integrity quotient is immaterial. No wonder Turd Blossom had tears in his eyes when he resigned yesterday. Tears of gratitude presumably.

Voting with Their Hearts

A quick recommendation: New book by Drew Westen called The Political Brain offers a diagnosis as to why George Bush and Bill Clinton were able to use a stunning combination of emotional intelligence and guile during their campaigns to ensure victory. In so doing they made Gore and Kerry look third rate. There is a great synopsis in the Guardian under the title Voting With their Hearts on the 8th of August which you can read on their site. It corroborates what many of us have known for a while: If leaders do not know how to work the emotions of their audience, followers simply will not buy in.

Bogus Mbeki

There are not enough women in leadership positions. Around 1 percent in senior executive pools and only marginally more in government except in Scandinavia. That is why it is so galling when the talented ones are sacked. This is the fate of Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge, ( former) deputy health minister who made the serious transgression of traveling to a global AIDS conference in Spain without the permission of her boss, Thabo Mbeki, South Africa's President. Things in this blighted country where 5.5m people are affected by the disease had started to turn around under Ms Routledge. Unlike in previous times where Mbeki advocated the use of beetroot and garlic as alternatives to HIV medicine, she even publicly took an AIDS test with her whole family in an attempt to de-stigmatise the issue. Mbekis disgusting leadership on this issue will undoubtedly define his presidency the way Iraq has defined that of George W. Bush. Shame on him.

The Sage of Omaha

Just back from the beach. Co-incidentally read a nice little epithet from Warren Buffet which dovetails nicely with my recent experiences and is a good quote for the boardroom:-
" It's only when the tide goes out that you learn who has been swimming naked."

Scientific Drivel

Some real drivel is written about leadership. Embarrassingly the worst of it is written by psychologists. And one of the worst I have read to date can currently be found in the Scientific American under the headline " The New Psychology of Leadership". If you are interested go look it up. It is quite pathetic and only the risk of being sued prevents me from excerpting some of the utter nonsense contained therein. However I can't help but give you some flavour. Clearly the writers are on the payroll of Cheney, master puppeteer when they suggest:-
1) When Bush suggested he was going to " Hunt down the folks that did this " after 9/11 he was using language that united America.
2) That his numerous verbal gaffes are somehow deliberate and signify a disconnection with the Republican elite thus making him more appealing to Middle America
3) That his jeans and cowboy boots ditto.
All of this apparently proves that leaders are defined by circumstances and not by charisma or intellect. Little mention that Bush is variously described as the worst American President in history. Time does not allow a look at his record but it is incredible how spin can seemingly change the game. I guess in the photo above he was also somehow trying to connect with middle America. There is a psychologist somewhere at this moment trying to work out how.

Who's Best in the Kitchen

Leadership in the Kitchen rears it's head again. Below is a lovely piece written in the Observer. Succinctly put, irritable chefs may grab the headlines but more even tempered ones get the Michelin Stars. I know who I would rather work for.

"The truth about cheffy deportment is, of course, dull - and a real lesson in people management. Who is the nicest, happiest chef of all? Who has the most loyal, hard-working and happiest brigade of anyone in the country?

It's someone who doesn't seek the limelight much any more, a chef who, in fact, decided some years ago that the competitive sport of collecting Michelin stars is a mug's game, and retired from running the then-most successful restaurant in the country and opened a private dining club, to which restaurant-guide inspectors are not invited or welcome. It's the Swiss-British chef, Anton Mosimann who was the youngest-ever Maitre Chef des Cuisines at the Dorchester Hotel, presiding over the Michelin 2-star Terrace Room as well as the other restaurants and the hotel's huge banqueting division.

Before he did anything else in the morning, Mosimann shook the hand of every single member of the brigade (around 90). If he detected anything amiss, this young man would enquire kindly of his employee whether everything was all right at home and at work. If he detected tiredness, the cook was relieved, for this shift, from the lunch or dinner service, and put on breakfasts or tea.

His staff saw this as commiseration, not condemnation, and worked the harder for it. This, more than any recipe, cooking technique, secret ingredient or swanky setting, is the secret of Mosimann's continued success -- and it's not difficult to emulate.

Raymond Blanc doesn't shout at his staff either. Though his kitchen could not have been a picnic when he employed Marco in it. Indeed, Marco once challenged Raymond to a cook-off, and Raymond told me of how much effort he put into winning, as he knew his victory was essential for staff morale. In his memoir, Marco doesn't remember it quite that way. Indeed, he emphasises the shouting, effing and blinding in every kitchen he ever worked in, as does Gordon in his autobiography. Add to this the portrait of the chef as a Bad Boy in the books of Anthony Bourdain and Bill Buford.

But you know what? I don't believe it actually works this way. Bourdain, of course, has never worked in a good restaurant kitchen, and wouldn't know the difference. But evil-tempered chefs do not turn out (at least, not consistently) good food. The reason for the myth of the chef as a cross between Grendel's Dam and Godzilla is the usual one, the hunger for celebrity.

"Quite nice guy serves decent nosh" just doesn't cut the headline mustard. I hope Marco and Gordon Ramsay won't issue a writ for my writing this; but, actually, I think they're both very agreeable chaps."

Leader with Red Sox

A fascinating story appeared on the Major League Baseball site yesterday.Mike Lowell of the Red Sox has fought his way back from testicular cancer to lead his team to a number of triumphs. Typically, he was self deprecating when described as a leader by the press. He is apparently a highly emotionally intelligent team player who uses his language skills to bridge to players on opposing sides who are from different ethnicities. He exhibits the qualities of a level five leader though who just feels he is in the right place at the right time, shows courageousness in adversity and is revered by his team mates from whom he feels no different. He is what Warren Bennis would call " an equal amongst titans"
Read the full story here.

Fall on Your Sword!

Shinzo Abe has today taken a total hammering in the Japanese polls. His 9 month premiership has been dogged with scandal and he has been ineffective as a leader. Although the scandal of the missing pension documentation for thousands of Japanese did not happen on his watch he has not only failed to make his mark but been unlucky too. As Napoleon said the number one quality he wanted in his generals was to be lucky. Moreover, after all this Abe refuses to resign. This could never happen in corporate life but it is a strange quirk of politics that he feels that he is the fittest to carry on at the vanguard of his party. Any honourable leader, and more importantly one with a future, would do the right thing. It seems Abe has yet to learn this valuable leadership lesson. Inevitably, with such hubris he will suffer the same fate as Caesar.

The Role of the Good Lieutenant

Nicolas Sarkozy, new President of France is making ground in a number of ways. His leadership has been widely admired as he includes former enemies to his cabinet and sets a different tone from his predecessor. His wife Cecilia has been castigated in the last few days for involving herself in the fate of the Bulgarian nurses, who have, thanks to her, we understand, been released. Whatever the moral tenor of the situation which has been widely debated, it is interesting to see how a good number two, a worthy lieutenant, can slip under the radar and do good work in the background unencumbered by the spotlight of leadership. There are many examples of this: Al Gore with climate change, Jeffrey Immelt next to Jack Welch at GE, Winnie Mandela for women's rights in South Africa. The list is seemingly endless. It is emblematic of one thing: Great leaders surround themselves with strong, decisive number two's.

Burning Platforms

Tony Hayward created his personal burning platform yesterday when delivering latest BP results. In hos first presentation as CEO, he pointedly stated:- " We know what we have to do. I aim to have some of these issues rectified and we will see steady improvement through 2008"

Leaders rarely do this. He inherited a more sickly company than he expected from John Browne but he has taken some risk in his pronouncements. Says one analyst:-

``The market knows what the issues are... he stuck his neck out today. He has determined and decided that by the end of the year, some of these issues will be rectified. If they are, he'll be credited. If they aren't, he'll start to take some heat.''.

This in marked contrast to Gordon Brown's decision paralysis shows leadership at its best. Decisive, accountable and honest.

Four Ears, Two Books and One Brain.

Tony Blair and Gordon Brown may not be singing from the same hymn sheet any more but they sure must be reading from the same Bible. A couple of weeks ago Gordon Brown said during his phoney campaign for the leadership of the party that he was going to "listen and learn". Now in a revelationary move Blair, who has just become the Quartet envoy to the Middle East, showed up in Jerusalem and said precisely the same thing. Two points to make about this. Somebody at Labour HQ obviously bought a job lot of "The First 90 Days" by Michael Watkins since this is practically Page 1 advice to new CEOs. Maybe they read no further. Secondly (and more cynically I am afraid,) it's a pity they didn't both read it ten years ago.

Better King for a Day than Sheep for a Lifetime!

I am off to celebrate work life-balance again but I leave you for a week with the following quote if any of you doubt the wisdom of hiring heterogeneously

"Andrew Higgins, who built landing craft in WWII, refused to hire graduates of engineering schools. He believed that they only teach you what you can't do in engineering school. He started off with 20 employees, and by the middle of the war had 30,000 working for him. He turned out 20,000 landing craft. D.D. Eisenhower told me, 'Andrew Higgins won the war for us. He did it without engineers.'"—Historian Stephen Ambrose/Fast Company

The Great Giveaway

Sir Tom Hunter, Sean Connery lookalike and more importantly Scotland's richest man via his retailing interests has announced that he will divest himself of his £1bn fortune over the next ten years.

Joining an ever growing list of business leaders who are pursuing philanthropy as a way to self actualisation, Sir Tom gives an enlightening interview which can be seen today on the BBC news website. His final utterance " With great wealth comes great responsibility" should be a lesson to us all. Watch it by using the link below.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/default.stm

Ban Ki Moon

Here we see a picture of Ban Ki Moon, the new(ish) leader of the United Nations, an institution in which we have so much hope invested, being sworn in six months ago to do err..absolutely nothing so it seems. So rarely has he shown up in the public eye he has become an anonymous or possibly reluctant leader. At this critical juncture in world history, scholars of situational leadership would argue that a strong decisive charismatic leader would have been more suitable. Given the UN's predisposition to take aim at its own feet we should not be surprised to see Mr Moon at the helm. History awaits...

Conrad Black

So the mighty have fallen..again. Another embarassing episode of corporate greed comes to an end, pending appeal of course. Anyone with a mere modicum of psychological insight might have guessed however it would end this way. We are, if nothing else, a reflection of our primary experiences. Consider this from The Guardian:- "The son of a wealthy Canadian brewery boss, Conrad Moffat Black showed his first sparks of rebellion as a teenager when he was expelled from an exclusive private school for selling stolen exam papers." Need I say more...

African Proverb

I came across this African proverb which leaders and managers might use as a motivational teambuilder:
"If you want to go quickly, go alone, if you want to go far, go together"

Bill Clinton: Former leader still leading

A couple of weeks ago Bill Clinton, former President took time to join his wife on the campaign trail. During the speech he took time to talk about her achievements and how he would not have done so well had she not been alongside him. Telling the crowd that " Hillary is better qualified to be President than I was the first time around" and looking at the body language, low key and not centre stage, testifies to the humility of the man. As Jim Collins says " Level 5 leaders combine deep personal humility with intense will" it seems that he fits the Bill!

Psychos in the Boardroom

One more thing before I take a week in the Arctic Circle where the sun never sets at this time of year. A new book entitled Snakes in Suits: When Psychopaths Go To Work details the reality that there are many leaders walking around in our companies today with deep pathologies. Having worked in boardrooms now for a number of years I can testify that there are some borderline personalities at the very top. Highly talented, highly motivated and thoroughly unscrupulous, they need to be managed effectively and leave a nasty wake. The book should be interesting and I will write more about this soon.

Gordon Cooks the Troops

I get more interested in Gordon Ramsay the more I see him. Let's face it authoritarian rule is discredited not only in political spheres but also in organisations. Gordon is the master of totalitarian leadership, command and control. This raises the age old question about situational leadership.Can you be successful any other way? In a kitchen do you need military order to gain and retain those elusive Michelin stars? And what would his leadership style look like in most organisations? Pretty horrible, I suspect yet he is so immensely talented you can't help believing that some would stick it out. Ramsay's top chefs have been with him ten years or more. For a leadership style like this go look up Al Dunlap on Google. Known as Chainsaw Al he ran his companies like boot camps. Was he successful? Yes, in short bursts like machine gun fire. But ultimately he failed. I think GR may last longer.

Handover

Today Blair hands over to Brown, So many questions have been raised by this tiresome episode that one could write a book about it that would sink a small ocean going craft. It will be fascinating to see what happens next not least because Blair has made such a pig's ear of his last few years. Willing to admit he lost the trust of the electorate he nevertheless soldiered on and now looks like he will be offered a post spearheading the effrot in the Middle East. I guess this proves that you can screw up and still be promoted. Thankfully Blair has an IQ of over 111 ( the number recently ascribed to Bush) so he might make a fist of it. What happens to the unelected Brown will be interesting to observe. One aspect of this is to ask how effective one can be as a leader if one does not have absolute support.

Changing your Tune

Good for McLaren. He changed his mind about Beckham which was a good footballing decision. But not only that, he was big enough to own up that he had made a mistake. Good leadership and on the basis of the Brazil result the right thing to do. Rolled into this is drama is the exemplary ex-leader Beckham who used to captain the side. He not only has recovered from his narcissistic injury but played like a dream. A testament to the fact that he was the right leader for England for many years.

Here is the new book. Anyone interested in the psychology of leadership should take a look. Apart from the fact I wrote one of the chapters, ( so I am unashamedly self publicising) the rest of the authors are extremely talented, insightful and forward looking in their approach to leadership.

Bush About Face

"The lady is not for turning". said Margaret Thatcher famously, one of George W Bush's heroines. Well he has now enacted three stunning Voltes Face. The latest on climate change where he has basically contradicted just about every position he ever took on the subject. A moot point is whether leaders can or should ever do this. Admission of vulnerability is one thing and once in a while is helpful. Saying you were totally wrong on a regular basis simply shows you are inept. Whatever your political persuasion, it seems the jury is back in on this Bush presidency.

Different day, same old paranoia...

So here is the latest and possibly last offering from The Special One. Rule One about leadership: Humility pays enormous dividends. If you don't believe me then read Collins in Good to Great. Old Jose just can't resist bigging himself up:-
Reflecting on his style of leadership, Mourinho said. "Leadership can be felt in the smallest of things, in the smallest details, with a look from, or just the presence of, the leader himself," he said. "I have players who say to me that when they do a drill in which I do not take part my absence makes all the difference."

Thus proving he is after all a level 4 leader. Without him everything implodes. As students of Collins know, if you're level 5 then when you move away your team,it goes to greater places (implicitly proving your outstanding leadership abilities. This is why Mourinho will be replaced. Tomorrow we will go back to Blair and why he has created for Brown what the HBR describes as the " Set up to Fail Syndrome"

Jose Mourinho: The special One

At risk of being utterly cliched, and having followed Mourinho for three years it is time to start writing the obituary. He has after all this week, talked about his career after Chelsea for the first time. If he doesn't know he is going then everyone else does. His leadership has been faulted in many ways yet he did one outstanding thing: He constantly and persistently stood in the way of the critics and his team. His players were always defended whether the criticism came internally or from the press. He shouldered much of the flak.

Unfortunately he did many things badly. Self delusion set in early notably the oft quoted "I think I am the special one." which reminds me of a quote once discovered in a lovers diary: If there is anyone in the world I would most like to make love to it is myself. Needless to say they went ex- shortly after.

And this "We are on top at the moment but not because of the club’s financial power. We are in contention for a lot of trophies because of my hard work." says a lot about his ability to test reality.

He has been at times humourous, a good leadership quality. On Manchester United" "I saw their players and manager go for a lap of honour after losing to us in their last home game. In Portugal if you do this, they throw bottles at you!"

But in the end he is a fatalist:- "So I know all about the ups and downs of football, I know that one day I will be sacked."

Jose, I think you might be right.

Napoleon

...when asked what characteristics he most admired in a leader he replied simply:- "Luck"

Damned by Faint Praise

So Gordon Brown will be next Prime Minister of the UK. That much is a racing certainty. Whether he will be elected come the first poll is debatable and this author strongly believes not but we will save that for another day.

I do however think he will be weak and ineffective and am prepared to start building that case now. Here are a series of remarks distilled from a recent Economist article.
1) Brown painstakingly analyses all his decision making with independent advisors. He then draws his conclusions and opens the topic for national debate. Armed with the facts and figures and a predetermined view he crushes internal dissent and opposition.

Great leaders encourage debate. As Andy Grove said " We let the debate rage". Brown has authoritarian tendencies.

2)Brown has conducted 30 independent policy reviews since 1999. Wating for the outcomes is interminable. Brown is paralysed by analysis.

Great leaders are flexible and at times spontaneous. The sine qua non of leadership according to the Globe Survey is decisiveness. Not Brown then.

3)As chancellor Brown has run his life according to a set piece calendar. As Prime Minister he will have no such luxury. The world doesn't work that way. He will need to be intuitive and flexible.
Not exactly QED and the choices for alternatives are decidedly thin on the ground but Brown is an excellent number two, not a premier.

Book of the Year

Book of the Year is The Leader on the Couch by Manfred Kets de Vries. Insight,wisdom, analysis and briliant narrative, this book is a must for those those who want leadership through the psychodynamic lens from one of the current masters.

Delegation

Ever see this in organisational life? George W. Bush, semi-acknowledging that his Iraq policy is a total disaster, delegates to an independent group of wise men, to help solve the issue...and then completely ignores the findings. Brilliant George. Great Leadership. But better still check out the leadership style of arch lackey and blunderer in chief Rumsfeld. I quote from General Eric Chineski, who told Rumsfeld he needed an extra several hundred thousand troops in Iraq and was effectively fired by him:-
" We had a responsibility to speak up. Say what you will about Wolfowitz but he was always on the phone with those of us who were downrange asking how things were going and what we needed. But while we were serving (Rumsfeld), even some of the generals who later turned on Rumsfeld, would give the answer they thought they were supposed to give him: Everything's fine sir."
As they say in even the most basic leadership textbooks, leaders are very often told what they want to hear not what they need to hear. And apparently if you tell Rumsfeld what he needed to hear you got fired. Who's sorry now?

Jean Paul Garnier/Soundbites

Can't resist this:- He's been in charge of Glaxo Smthkline for 6 years which is quite impressive by today's standards. Today in the FT he had this to say:-
ON LEADING: I don't see myself as a manager I see myself as a leader. I get people aligned with my views show them the passion I have and that they can be part of an exciting venture. It's very important that you state the goal in terms that are exciting. If you say " let's get another two points on the margin, they won't follow"

ON INSPIRATION: "My heroes are not CEO's. The person I really admire is the blue collar worker who puts his kids through college and then dies of a heart attack. I have met lots of famous people:they all put their pants on the same way."

He's right on the excitement and passion. Not sure if having a heart attack is so great though even if you have put your kids through school. I hope he has an eye on work life balance at GSK!

Fredrik Reinfeld, New CEO of Sweden

Let's do some tracking. Admittedly, hardly anyone in the world is looking at Sweden's new prime minister. I for one have not been spending a whole lot of time doing so. As a case study however, he makes an interesting prospect. He is newly minted, has never before had power and is 42, so in the CEO age bracket.

Let's follow his first 90 days and see if we can predict if he is going to make it:-

Fact One. Two days after he became prime minister he appointed Carl Bildt as Foreign Minister: Previous government experience, older, ex- EU commissioner.They had even had a public spat prior to the appointment. Very Brave decision Fredrik! Let's award him an 8/10 for demonstrating that if you want to be a great leader surround yourself with great people.

To be continued...

Why Big Bonuses are Overrated

Why Big Bonuses are Overrated

So the Christmas season rolls round again and in financial services, grown men will step into the men’s room to compare the size of their bonuses. I say grown men, because, in general, women are woefully underrepresented at the higher echelons, but we will save that for another day.

The annual bonus round invariably makes headlines and the public can only look on enviously as the City fat cats sup cream at the doors of the temple of Mammon. As an executive coach, and former employee of Goldman Sachs, I have seen both sides of the coin (pun intended).

The mid-December meeting with my boss became a ritual over 15 years into which a huge amount of psychological investment is placed. After all, for most, the bonus is a yardstick: It tells them how they are performing relative to their peers and helps to confirm them as individuals. The problem is that the half-life of this effect rarely lasts past the January sales. The reality is that whatever you are given, it’s just a number. I would be the first to admit that a good bonus goes a long way to saving first base on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. But most City bonuses go way beyond that. Once the mortgage is paid, the kids are schooled, the Lamborghini is valeted and the Tuscan Villa is staffed, life often becomes a tad meaningless, another working year a chore.

Unfortunately a high proportion of the clients with whom I work, discover just that. Many successful financiers scale the heights armed with a combination of gilt-edged academic credentials and a sizeable dose of insecurity, providing the fuel for ambition. They climb quickly and steadily, but often in mid-life, take pause in the rarefied air and for a variety of reasons, reflect on the scenery. The view can be unsightly.

A pile of cash is one thing. An unhappy wife, however, 80 hour working weeks, kids you only see at the weekend raised by a nanny, three weeks a year annual vacation which for the most part is spent asleep in order to recharge, is not quality of life. HL Mencken said “The chief value of money is that we live in a world in which its value is overestimated” If the likes of Bill Gates are giving it all away, shouldn’t we really ask ourselves why we are bothering to accumulate it in the first place?

Who Am I?

Graham Ward

Graham Ward, founder of Amandla AB and a Programme Director at INSEAD Business School’s Global Leadership Centre, specialises in coaching executives at board level and managing change programmes in London’s financial centre. He spent the bulk of his 22 year career in finance working for Goldman Sachs, the world’s premier investment bank, where for seven years he co-headed the European Equity business. Prior to this he worked in commodities as a pit trader and on the floor of the London Stock Exchange as a stock jobber. He is currently a board member of Hampstead Capital Global Hedge Fund, listed on the Irish Stock Exchange.

In 2000, Graham spearheaded an initiative to introduce a Coaching and Development office at Goldman. This effort culminated in the remit covering three continents and deepened to include diversity, mentoring, recruitment and succession planning to senior management level.

Graham received his MSc and Diploma from HEC/INSEAD(2002) in Consulting and Coaching which focuses on psychodynamics in organisations. His thesis was entitled “Deconstructing the Termite Mound: Inside the Mind of an Investment Bank” In 1994 he received a Diploma of Investment Management from London Business School.

Graham was an invited speaker on the subject of Mentoring for Change at the EMCC in Brussels in 2001 and is a keynote speaker at this year’s event. He is an affiliate member of the APA (American Psychological Association), a member of the ISPSO (International Society for the Psychoanalytic Study of Organisations) and a member of the newly created ICCO (International Clinical Coaching Organisation)

Graham has undertaken individual training at the Tavistock Centre in London from a specialist in Group Dynamics. He is a Programme Director of the INSEAD Global Leadership Centre and regularly coaches on a number of executive programmes there including the Management Acceleration Programme (MAP), Advanced Management Programme (AMP), and Executive MBA (EMBA). He is the permanent programme director for the International Executive Programme and has facilitated a number of company specific programmes including Borsa Italiana, Manpower, TNK/BP, HSBC, and the NHS. He has also worked as visiting faculty at ESMT (European School of Management and Technology) in Berlin and Stockholm School of Economics in Sweden. Privately he has worked with Tesco AstraZeneca, Deutsche Bank, E.On and BP.

Recently accepted as a Doctoral student of Leadership in Amsterdam, Holland he is co- author of the book Coach and Couch, Developing Great Leaders published in 2007. Graham lives on the Stockholm Archipelago with his wife and four children. www.amandlaconsulting.com