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Making
things happen - with integrity. A weekly CyberMemo designed to keep you on task. Monday September 23, 2002 Volume IV Number 38 |
FOCUS - Squigglies
Is it just me… or is there contradiction in the air?
On the one hand, there are those who seem to think that if only the government agencies responsible for such things had at the time gone public with the information it now appears they possessed, the terrible tragedy in New York one year ago may well have been prevented. We didn’t take what we knew seriously enough, they say. Someone should be held to account, perhaps even bear some measure of responsibility for the tragedy because of their silence, their cover-up, or worse, their indifference.
On the other hand, in our post 9-11 world, everything is a matter of public record. No public official or private citizen dare keep even a hint of knowledge of a potential plot secret. We now go straight to the media and then to the authorities, usually in that order. It’s almost routine now, to hear about terrorist activities within our borders, and weapons of mass destruction either in development or in hiding and at the ready with unthinkable consequence and in spite of the horrific unfolding of events last September, these warnings seem to have little effect. The Office of Homeland Security raised their warning to Level Orange two weeks ago and the nation barely noticed. Most municipalities and major cities and state and county governments shrugged, all but ignoring the alert.
If we do end up going to war with Iraq and attack Saddam Hussein for his past atrocities and participation in terror and the threat he poses to world peace, the element of surprise will be no advantage. In the current climate, the entire battle plan it seems, must first pass muster in the opinion polls and the United Nations and the Congress. Might as well fax in the maps, and check in with Baghdad before the whole thing starts. There’s not much the enemy doesn’t know, and for certain, can’t anticipate. Not that this foreknowledge will help.
But here’s the contradiction as I see it. If there is a general state of indifference to the clear and present danger now even in the light of what we know about the devastation just one year ago, what makes us think we would have been any more alert back then?
I think about the way we were before 9-11. There was a kind of collective arrogance, an arrogance rooted in a generalized naiveté about the fragile nature of a life that regards comfort as a primary priority. That innocence is gone. We now know something more about our vulnerabilities. But I don’t know that we fully understand the diligence required to stand guard. To keep watch.
Perhaps it is a good thing in the aftermath of tragedy to find out who knew what and when and bring it to light and at least raise the question about why some were indifferent to a complicated plot which resulted in such awful destruction. But this idea that people would have believed the prophets of doom if only they had a better hearing back then just doesn’t ring true.
Today, there are such prophets with pretty hard evidence.
But even now, not many listen.
* * * * * *
Jim Collins devoted his career to studying successful companies. In the process, he and his staff of researchers also perform autopsies on business failures. He’s on a quest to uncover the basic principles which predict success in a large enterprise. Along the way, he’s identified the warning signs that can spell corporate disaster.
The thesis of his most recent book can be simply stated. Most people would like to work for a great company. Some would like to build a great company. Everyone would like to invest in a great company. But what is corporate greatness?
He wrote a book about that first. In it, he suggested that a great company is a company that is Built to Last (the title of this first best-seller). In his second book, he suggests that the most significant barrier to greatness in business is the widespread tendency to settle for the good. Good companies are comfortable because they are good. Consequently, they will never be great.
So the enemy of great, according to Collins, is good.
His second book is called, you guessed it, Good to Great.
The key question is “how do you take a good company and make it great?”
Think about it. Greatness is really a rather obscure concept. But you know it when you see it. We say, what a great book or what a great movie or what a great athlete or what a great speaker or he’s a great guy or she’s a great lady or great kid or great pet or great vacation or great moment. We mean it goes beyond the ordinary or the mundane. It hits a new level, an extraordinary level. It’s memorable. Remarkable. Inspiring. Striking. Worthy of praise. Exceptional.
According to Collins, the way to make a business great is to get beyond good.
The key, he says, is leadership.
He coins a new phrase – Level 5 Leader. Great companies have great leaders, but his research surprised him and his staff. These Level 5 leaders did not fit the general mold for the expectation that seems so common these days. Boards of Directors in this era when the success of a company is measured primarily by market capitalization and the standards of Wall Street analysis, look for super-stars to be their CEOs. They go outside the company. They look for glamour. Glitz. Pizzazz. They want CEOs who would look as good on the cover of PEOPLE Magazine as Business Week. They bring in CEOs who boast a résumé of corporate workouts and mergers and downsizing and outsourcing and cost cutting and ROI (return on investment). And if the charts document a rapid growth that beat the over-all market, then this polished veteran of corporate leadership gets the job and the perks and the stock options.
Collins suggests that this caricature of high powered leadership is anything but Level 5.
He documents the recent tragedies - good companies dismantled and lost forever under the tyrannical control of ego-centered leaders who failed to understand the needs of the people who make business work.
Great companies are led by a different kind of leader, according to Collins. He calls them Level 5.
The surprise for Collins staff came from the unassuming nature of the Level 5 leader. There was no entourage. No fanfare. In fact, the code word which typified Level 5 leaders in great companies was least expected – humble purpose.
Level 5 leaders possess a unique combination of determination and self-effacement. They are unassuming, but focused. They are not looking for credit as much as they are looking for results. They are team-builders. Loyalty comes more from camaraderie than coercion. They create an atmosphere of excellence; not from making demands or writing tough memos or setting impossible standards and then forcing accountability but rather drawing out the best in people around them.
These leaders are committed more to shared values and high principle than creating an image. They care more about substance than form. They are ambitious – but their ambitions are for the company and those around them rather than ambitions for personal fame and fortune.
Level 5 leaders, in time, can make a good organization great.
* * * * * *
Effective leaders face the facts. The hard facts.
Collins uses a terrific illustration. What happens when you lift up a big rock that has been sitting on the ground for a long time, over there on the edge of the garden? Chances are good that underneath you will find squiggly creepy crawlers that will send cold shivers up your spine. Those black and brown little wigglers will have an immediate effect. You may pull away. You may just look away. Your face may grimace. You may get an involuntary hit of adrenaline. You’ll draw in a quick blast of air, filling your lungs. Preparing for escape.
Some of us will drop the rock back in place, and hope beyond hope that we will forget what we saw. We’ll pretend it never happened. Those critters under the rock will remain as our little secret. Should never have looked, we’ll tell ourselves. The garden is so delightful, we’ll turn back to its beauty. Leave well enough alone, we’ll say.
A few of us, the Level 5 among us, will do the hard thing. We’ll get over our repulsion, study the critters, and determine which among them are helping the garden and which among them must go.
We’ll pull in our support staff, together inspect those revolting little beasts and make our determination.
Effective leaders deal with it. Even the underbelly stuff. The stuff most people ignore.
Level 5 stuff some think matters little.
But strong leaders know.
It matters a lot.
* * * * * * *
It’s Monday morning. You are a leader.
You’ve never been content with the mediocre, even though sometimes you feel like you don’t have an alternative. You want more.
In your corner of the world, you really want Level 5.
After a tragedy, a certain vocal segment of our society becomes obsessed with the question of blame and responsibility. But not you. You’ve got better things to do. You have a life. You have a calling.
And that’s good.
Once in awhile, as an aspiring Level 5 leader, go ahead and pull up the rocks. The big ones out there on the edge. Look for the hidden stuff that most people ignore, but has a direct impact on your pursuit of something great. Analyze it. Deal with it. Make some decisions. Hard decisions.
Because you need to.
You are in the company of Level 5.
It’s where you belong.
Posted in Carmel Indiana
© Copyright Kenneth E. Kemp 2002
Special Thanks to my good friend David Belcher, owner of Rhino Media Group and creator of WisdomGram
LeaderFOCUS is a service of Good Stewardship Associates
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