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Nancy
Bennett—“Driving Change at General Motors”
 With
341,000 employees, $148 billion in annual revenue, 15% of
the world market and a presence in 200 countries worldwide,
General Motors is a major global force. Yet, when Rick Wagoner
took over the wheel of this automotive giant in 1998, he realized
that the huge company had some big problems:
- GM was historically perceived as slow and bureaucratic
- Intense industry competition demanded faster decision
making
- The company was losing shareholder value
As Nancy Bennett, Director of Change Management
at GM, explained at AMA’s Leadership Forum, “GM‘s
management model was designed in the 1940s and ‘50s.
Then, the world changed but GM didn‘t change with it.
It was a place where bright, talented people learned to sit
in the corner and keep their mouths shut.”
New CEO Wagoner knew that GM needed to change
its culture to survive. The solution was the implementation
of the “GoFast!” program, based on Jack Welch’s
successful “Workout” idea at General Electric.
“GoFast!” uses workshops to engage employees at
all levels in one-day sessions designed to identify barriers
and recommend solutions. It requires leaders to make rapid
decisions about the recommendations and tracks the innovations
on the Web. Over the past four years, GM has successfully
implemented over 30,000 “GoFast!” recommendations.
And the top ten “GoFast!” workshops have generated
over $500 million in savings for the company.
As with any new initiative, the success
of “GoFast!” depends on leadership’s commitment.
GM Chairman and CEO Wagoner models “GoFast!” behaviors,
drops in on workshops, requires all of his direct reports
to lead two “GoFast!” workshops each year and
personally rewards and recognizes “GoFast!” results.
He also highlighted “GoFast!” in his 2003 third-quarter
global satellite broadcast to employees.
 Lance
Berger—“Finding and Keeping Talent”
Speaking on “The Superkeeper Challenge:
Using Talent Management Processes to Proactively Find, Develop
and Promote Leadership Talent,” Lance Berger, CEO of
Lance A. Berger & associates, Ltd., observed how companies
don’t succeed over time unless they are admired. Why?
Admiration means that they are in the position to hire and
keep the best people, as well as to ensure that customers
think positively about them.
Admiration comes from a history of innovation,
high quality management, long-term corporate value, community/environment
responsibility, solid talent management, quality products
or services, financial soundness and proper use of organizational
assets. The author of The Talent Management Handbook,
Berger went on to describe six human resources conditions
for organizational excellence.
These six included a cadre of qualified
replacements for key positions, training, rewards, education,
assignments and development. Identification of competencies—skills,
ability, knowledge and attitudes—are the DNA of successful
companies, Berger observed. Rewards are linked to competencies
to reinforce success factors. These admired companies provide
“best in class” training for today and development
for tomorrow and a “learning organization” through
coaching and mentoring.
 Thomas
Brown—“Upside-Down Leadership”
Leadership models are traditionally
based on top-down thinking—they begin with the executive
committee and are communicated down to the followers. But
no more is that model suitable, Tom Brown, founder and CEO
of Business Jungle Enterprises, told the executives at his
workshop session on “Upside-Down Leadership”
at AMA’s Leadership Forum on “Meeting the Challenges
of Leadership.”
Upside-down leadership requires
leaders to invest time listening to the voices of their followers,
he explained. In today’s times, leaders must do more
than tolerate other viewpoints—they must seek them out.
“If time is invested in the pursuit of understanding
the followers’ viewpoints about visions and values,
the payoff will be in knowledge about how to motivate followers.”
In becoming upside-down leaders,
Mr. Brown suggested that today’s executives need to
develop nine new habits:
- Understand the motivation equation. Brown explained
that the motivation level of the company is the number of
engaged employees multiplied by the motivation level of
each follower.
- Listen to the voices of followers. Quoting from
the book The Cluetrain Manifesto, Brown told his
audience, “When you ignore people long enough, they
begin to feel invisible. They begin to figure it’s
a two-way street. They begin to ignore you back.”
- Embrace fallibility. Why? According to Brown,
fallibility is an endearing trait—we are intensely
uncomfortable with people who have no weaknesses.
- Select goals carefully. There are three important
questions leaders must ask themselves:
—Is this a goal in which my followers can find value?
—How can I demonstrate the value of this goal?
—How can I connect the company’s value of this
goal to the follower’s value system?
- Redefine success. This entails a shift in who
defines success. When it is defined by the leader, it has
a low motivation factor. On the other hand, success as defined
by followers has a high motivation factor.
- Help employees discover their “noble purpose.”
Mr. Brown defined “noble purpose” as “the
heart of values, vision and mission”—another
term for job passion.
- Seek congruency of success. Here, leaders and
followers come together in defining success.
- Ask profound questions of employees. The intention
is to better understand employee values and, thereby, link
corporate goals to these employee values.
- Increase the contribution of employees. Once there
is a common definition of success, there is more likelihood
for achievement of corporate goals.
 Dan
Carrison—“Semper Fi: Business Leadership the
Marine Corps Way”
Just consider: The Marine
Corps has minimum wage employees with 80% turnover and yet
inspires excellent performance. It provides the fewest amenities
of all the military services, but has the highest morale.
There’s a macho culture, but very little sexual harassment.
There’s great diversity, yet brotherhood. And, although
the Marine Corps is the smallest service, it has the biggest
reputation: “A few good men.”
How do the Marines do it?
And what can business learn from it? The key is training.
That’s what Dan Carrison, former Marine, co-founder
of Semper Fi Consulting, former columnist with The New
York Times syndicate and co-author of Semper Fi:
Business Leadership the Marine Corps Way, told his Forum
workshop audience.
Put your biggest investment
in training people “closest to the task”—no
matter how low the level, Carrison said. In addition, it’s
important to keep your goals realistic, but expect your
people to win. Discourage subcultures or silos by putting
everyone “in the picture.” Encourage subordinates
to ask “why” and create self-confidence and
independence within the ranks by allowing them to come up
with the "how to" of a directive. In fact, Carrison
contends that it’s the number one responsibility of
any manager to cultivate leaders throughout the organization.
According to Carrison, one
of the most important elements of success is a proactive
HR department that acts on behalf of the employee, as well
as the company. HR professionals should emulate Marine recruiters
who stay in communication with recruits throughout the training
period and then become advisors. They should be “company”
men and women who believe in the organization’s mission
and have the ability to instill company pride and loyalty
in staff.
Carrison closed with the
final question: “Would you want your company to compete
with the Marine Corps?”
Susan
Hastings—“Finding Your Leadership Voice”
 Susan
Hastings, founder of The Creative Communications Center
and an experienced AMA seminar leader, opened her workshop
at the AMA Leadership Forum with the statement: “A
leader is someone you want to follow… a person who
can craft compelling messages that inspire action and produce
results.” Developing the ability to deliver effective
messages is, therefore, critical to becoming a successful
leader.
The first step in creating
compelling messages is pinpointing the desired results.
Managers need to identify what they want the audience to
know, believe, feel and do. Then they need to package their
ideas in the style most likely to get those results. Success
depends on choosing the most effective communication mode
(spoken, written, symbolic), the right context or framing
for the message, the right arrangement or sequence of ideas,
and the best word choice.
Ms. Hastings then discussed
the problem of handling tough and touchy situations. She
offered several options or plans for conveying bad news,
unpopular decisions and/or unpopular changes. She covered
when to be direct with the news and when to take a more
indirect approach. She also outlined situations that called
for more emotional delivery and when to hold back any emotion.
Ms. Hastings closed with
the counsel, “When preparing a message, don’t
assume that everybody ‘gets it.’ And remember,
mistakes are not failures. They are just opportunities for
growth.”
John
Hunter—“Creating High-potential Talent Throughout
the Organization”
John Hunter, senior vice
president of customer service at QVC, shared his company’s
approach to finding high-potential talent throughout the
organization. With responsibility for customer service and
distribution worldwide in fast growing call and distribution
centers, Hunter instituted a program that enables the company
to make decisions about which managers should be transferred
from other locations to new centers in the U.S. and abroad.
Hunter found that QVC, with
a growth rate of 18% annually, needed a formal approach
to internal staffing and consequently implemented the Management
Leadership Review Process throughout QVC. The assessment
system, which is the product of the staff and management
teams working with Hunter, utilizes the best practices from
Fortune 500 companies. Critical to the program’s success
is that it is line-driven. The goal is to develop a core
leadership team of internal people to start up a new call
center within 18 months. In addition, staff transfers from
existing call centers have to result in minimum disruptions.
Area managers are responsible for training staffs that conduct
MLRP assessments.
To ensure consistent implementation
across all sites, a small group of coordinators, made up
of one area manager from each site, was created. Equally
important to the program’s success, development plans
are created to address potential employee weaknesses and
leverage employee strengths.
In the four years since the
program was implemented, QVC has made continual improvements
in the competency-based program. Today, each center has
a complete succession plan for development and assessment
of every employee to improve his/her current position or
successful transfer to another position. There is a common
language for the competencies around all sites. The components
of every QVC job have been identified. Peer input is included
and, though time-consuming, it is also most constructive,
in Hunter’s viewpoint.
Robert
Mai—“Becoming a More Effective Communicator—and
Leader”
 Robert
Mai, Associate Professor at the Center for Leadership and
Renewal at St. Louis University, opened his AMA presentation
by telling the audience that “Today, communication
is the critical leadership competency.”
Right now, said Mai, leaders
must come up with communication strategies that will help
them deal effectively with three key challenges:
-
Building a climate of trust in the organization
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Staying on course while leading the
organization through change
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Capturing and sustaining competitive
advantage through renewal and innovation
He cited a Gallup study that
outlined the communication factors that define a strong
workplace:
- Knowing what’s expected of you
- Receiving regular recognition for good work
- Feeling your boss cares about you as a person
- Having someone encourage your development
- Feeling your opinions count at work
- Feeling your job is important because of mission
and purpose of the organization
- Receiving periodic feedback on performance
To illustrate the communication challenges
leaders face during times of uncertainty, Mai divided the
AMA audience into small groups and led them through an exercise
where they had to decide what they would tell their employees
about an impending consolidation of their company’s
branch operations. In each case, the groups decided that
the most important talking points would be to assure workers
that the leader would share information as it became available
and that he/she would maintain an open door policy.
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