Leader Letter
Linda M. Hatcher
Leader Letter Editor
May 2007’s Theme is “Efficiency”
It’s a major milestone in the history of American business: Japanese-owned Toyota has overtaken General Motors as the #1 automotive retailer in the world with higher sales this year. Toyota’s success boils down to the theme of this merry month of May: EFFICIENCY.
Toyota’s milestone is instructive in what they did, and did NOT, do in the achieving this level of efficiency. They did not pursue efficiency as if it were an entity alone. They DID go about their daily business with a commitment to the customer, with a relentless pursuit of “Kaizen” (continuos, incremental improvement), and the full engagement of their employees (who give about 64 new suggestions in per year vs the United States per-employee average of .4). See the article “Efficiency” in our new Leader Guide Magazine.
Continuing with our theme of Efficiency and using Toyota as a fitting “poster child” of the same, we also have a feature on their global leadership perspective as exemplified by the leadership wisdom of both North American President James Press and Japanese President Katsuaki Watanabe. “Being a ‘Green Tomato’ is How Toyota Stays Efficient.”
In another new article, we present Part 3 of 4 of the Top Leaders series. “If you’re going to hold your finger in the wind…you’re not going to be an effective leader(5),” says Joel Klein, Chancellor, New York Public Schools. Klein is among four top leaders featured who share their leadership wisdom.
In “Values” in this Leader Letter, Mr. Manske presents part I of IV of “The Effective Leader Sets the Direction.” He writes, “What you do as a leader exerts far more influence on followers than what you say. “ See his full article below.
LEADER OF THE MONTH, MAY 2007
Bob Corcoran, Chief Learning Officer and Vice President of Corporate Citizenship, General Electric
Corcoran is GE’s representative on the Business Leaders Initiative on Human Rights (BLIH), a group that aims to develop corporate approaches to human rights issues around the world. It’s reflective of Corcoran’s enduring commitment to GE’s corporate responsibility, which he believes goes back to the company’s learning and development foundation.
“The culture and company is based very strongly around a meritocracy. People know their rewards, their opportunities and their careers rest on the merits of their performance and their contribution. The culture truly is a learning culture. We learn everyday. If you stop learning, it’s the first day of the last days of your career,” he says (Sosbe 2004).
Corcoran’s participation in the BLIH is based on what he calls a need for “a level playing field.” GE’s firm commitment to ethical practices, he says, means that in such developing markets as China, “The government knows when it deals with GE, it’s a straight-up process” (Roner 2006).
Learning and development at GE is not a program, but a commitment, Corcoran says. “The DNA of any organization rests with its leadership and talent pipeline, and what better way to strengthen how we operate and work in the world as a responsible corporate citizen than through the way we develop our people? Our culture is very, very strongly around leadership and people development.” (Sosbe 2004)
LEADERSHIP ETC…..
Defining Leadership: “Delegating work works, provided the one delegating works, too.”--
Robert Half
Inspiring Leadership Quote: “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” --Albert Einstein
FEATURED LEADERSHOP ITEMS OF THE MONTH
WE HAVE CORPORATE TROPHIES AND AWARDS! Feel free to email us inquiries about the quality corporate recognition line we lmhatcher@bellsouth.net
OUR CLASSIC LEADERSHIP DUO: Secrets of Effective Leadership and Spirit of Leadership, books that will help you stay focused on the proper ethical principles to achieve your goals.
Copyright 2007 © Leadership Education and Development, Inc.
SOURCES
Roner, Lisa, North America: Business and human rights: corporate leaders group putting human rights in focus, www.ethicalcorp.com, Feb. 3, 2007
Sosbe, Tim, Bob Corcoran: The Power of GE Education, Chief Learning Officer, March 2004
