In the February edition of Leader Guide Magazine, we highlight the practical and yet profound work of Patrick Lencioni with “Ethical, Effective Leadership Solutions to the Five Temptations of a CEO,” CLICK HERE. In it, we look at the most common pitfalls to CEO effectiveness, and the corresponding leadership solutions. Lencioni is founder and president of The Table Group, a specialized firm focused on executive team development and organizational health. There is good reason Ken Blanchard has said Lencioni is “fast defining the next generation of business thinkers.”
Not addressing the pitfalls and solutions for top leaders can lead to professional and personal imbalance, such as was experienced by Dominic Orr, a former Silicon Valley CEO. His personal life was nearly destroyed by the demands of his position, and he finally came to this conclusion: “I wanted to die a complete man. I wanted to make peace with all the people I loved and had hurt.”(1) (As a satisfying postscript, he has started his own consulting company to coach other executives and on the personal front, he has rebuilt positive connections with his children.) Scenarios like this heartrending tale are exactly what Lencioni is trying to prevent through his proven leadership wisdom.
Also based on Lencioni’s work is another new article called “We Lead People: an Executive Can Influence the Lives of People in Ways that few others can.” CLICK HERE. This article is based on Lencioni’s wise insights into the “whys” of leadership. The “why” of maintaining our vision and passion is that “we lead people,” he says. In this article, he gives suggestions on how to better manage the awesome power and potential of top leadership.
LEADERSHIP ETC:
Defining Leadership: “Organizational health is often neglected because it involves facing realities of human behavior that even the most committed executive is tempted to avoid. It requires levels of discipline and courage that only a truly extraordinary executive is willing to embrace." (Patrick Lencioni, February 2008 featured leader)
Inspiring Leadership Quote: “The most effective leaders are those who can cross boundaries, forming partnerships not just in their own sectors, but with other sectors worldwide as well.” (David Gergen, director of the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard)
LEADERSHIP EVENT OF THE MONTH
Our featured leadership expert of the month, Patrick Lencioni, is headlining a “Building Winning Teams” event March 11-12 in New York City, limited to 120 executives. Visit www.hsmglobal.com for more information or to register. Topics addressed include:
• The competitive advantage of a healthy organization
• Addressing foundational and organizational dysfunctions
• Achieving commitment: ensuring alignment around “organizational clarity”
• Creating a culture of accountability and results
• Getting results: purposeful and productive meetings
• Personal commitments and action planning
For more information on Lencioni’s series of New York Times bestsellers, visit www.tablegroup.com
LEADER OF THE MONTH: Ruth Simmons, President, Brown University
“Mentors Matter”
Among the annual winners of the Center for Creative Leadership and U.S. News World & World Report’s top leaders of the 2008 is Ruth Simmons, President of Brown University.(2) Her successful fundraising, and personal charisma have her at an 87% approval rating by Brown students. (2)
While she humbly plays down her humble beginnings as the youngest of 12 children of a sharecropper and maid, she has come far in her rise as an African American in Ivy League educational leadership.
Simmons excelled in the Houston public school she attended. Teachers there encouraged her to pursue and earn a drama scholarship at Dillard University. She later attended Wellesley, where her admiration of President Margaret Clapp was an inspiring turning point for Simmons. “That was defining for me, the notion that women didn’t have to play restricted roles, that you didn’t have to hold back at all,” she says. She credits various mentors and teachers with inspiring her along her entire path. “The faculty demanded that you work up to your potential,” she notes.
REFERENCES:
(1) Kingsbury, Alex; “More Proof that Mentors Matter.” U.S. News & World Report, November 19, 2007, p. 59
(2) Mehta, Stephanie; “Confessions of a CEO; ‘being ruthlessly aggressive’ took Dominic Orr to the top of the corporate world. And it nearly ruined his life.” Fortune, November 12, 2007, p. 65.
