Leaders In the Know

Bring Your Mother to Work Day

I'm really struggling with the stories we're hearing about the parents of Millenials entering the workforce. Increasingly, we hear about moms who call to find out why their child didn't get called in for an interview, wasn't hired, or didn't get the top performance rating. When these kids were young, their working parents could observe them with their caregivers during the day via video cams. It seems they've transitioned to instant messaging - so parent and working child can stay connected throughout the day.

Apparently there are some executives who invite moms to join their new hires on their first day of work. You know, like they did the first day of kindergarten - or college orientation.

I recall seeing a PBS documentary a couple of years ago about the BPO industry in India. At that time it was necessary for the large Indian companies to give tours to the parents of prospective employees concerned about their safety in order for them to permit their daughters to work there. 

I wasn't terribly surprised that the May 2007 HRMagazine, published by The Society for Human Resource Management, featured the cover story The Tethered Generation: How millenials are wired to work differently.

When it hits the cover of Fortune, you know it's gone mainstream. The May 28 issue cover story, You Raised Them, Now Manage Them also observes that Gen Yers (born between 1977 and 1995) are, in the words of generational researcher BruceTulgan, "the most high-maintenance workforce in the history of the world."

As was the case with Gen Xers, Baby Boomers and every other generation to enter the workforce that preceded them, Gen Yers are the product of the economic, political, social and technological environment that shaped them. Labor market conditions play a huge role in determining how cranked up we get about it. Finding it difficult to hire the skilled talent they need and facing the retirement of the boomers, employers need to figure out how to attract and engage Gen Yers.

Personally, I think it's great when new folks come in and shake things up. While not everything will stick, many ideas will. Flexible work arrangements, nontraditional benefits, diversity, onsite fitness centers, business casual - unheard of in 1980 - are now common.

I hope "bringing your mother to work day" isn't one of them. What would be next? Calling your mother when you misbehave? Let's not go there.

Women Presidents in a League of Their Own

A few weeks ago I attended my first national conference as a new member of the Women Presidents Organization. It's a rare event when half the members show up for an annual conference -- but that's exactly what happened. Five hundred and fifty women gathered in Scottsdale to celebrate the WPO's Tenth Anniversary. And a mighty impressive group they are.

I go to a fair share of leadership events and conferences. This one was right up there with the best of them. One of the speakers who was particularly dynamic and insightful was Kevin Roberts, CEO Worldwide, Saatchi & Saatchi. Check out Eight Ways to Attract the New Consumer in the Coming Decade  -- he says it a lot better than I ever will. Kevin's advice: make your customers fall in love with you. No surprise, Kevin's #8 resonated with me: Make the World a Better Place.

Another speaker you may want to check out is Marti Barletta, CEO and founder of the TrendSight Group and co-author of Trends (July 2005) with Excellence guru Tom Peters. Marti talked about achieving marketing and sales results through better communications with women. In 2001 Deborah Tannen broke the code in her book You Just Don't Understand: Women and Men in Conversation -- but one of Marti's insights played out for me the very next day when we returned the rental car at the airport. 

The difference between men and women, says Marti, is that men focus on prioritizing and women are about maximizing. Her example: a big project is completed. The male project leader crosses it off his list and moves to the next thing; the female project leader thinks about what could be better next time. My example: we need to get gas before we return the rental car. The male driver (in this case, my wonderful husband Charlie) follows the directions of his female navigator (me) and gets off the highway at what appears to be the last exit before the airport. In actuality, it turns out to be under construction. Big time. And no gas station for about half a mile. Oh well. We finally maneouver our way back on to the highway and get off at the Return Rental Car exit. Sure enough, there are four gas stations directly across the street. Charlie's reaction: terrific, we're here on time and filled the tank. Anne's reaction: I'll have to remember that gas station the next time we return a rental car in Phoenix. Maybe Marti's got a point.

PS: I also had an opportunity to be interviewed by sbtv.com which was there covering the WPO Tenth Annual Conference. Click here to view Anne's interview.

Web 2.0 Creates a New Corporate Social Order

Web 2.0 is shaking the very foundation of the corporate social order as we know it. Lots of people are talking about Web 2.0 but it's all the obvious stuff. Things like making it easier to work from home, creating buzz for marketing or for the Chief Executive to talk with the troops.

What's very disturbing is that we aren't talking more about the deeper implications of how Web 2.0 will fundamentally change the way companies are organized and run. Which means it will be very hard to get in front of this snowball as it continues to gather momentum.

Web 2.0 is changing nearly every aspect of how people work, both alone and with others. Seemingly infinite amounts of information are available within a split second. Connecting with someone who can answer a question or make a decision to resolve a bottleneck is a no-brainer regardless of your reporting relationship. So much for corporate silos or traditional chain of command.

What will this mean for planning and decision making? This is just the tip of the iceberg.

Yes, of course, there are lots of business people who don't really know what Web 2.0 is. If this describes someone you work with, you might discreetly suggest they check out Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2 . You'll be giving them the added thrill of actually experiencing Web 2.0 in action.

Even if they haven't visited these sites personally, it's hard to imagine there are many folks out there who aren't aware of the huge popularity of Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Second Life and other blogs, wikis and collaborative spaces. And if so, let's hope they aren't working for you.

Let's not forget about webcasts, videocasts and podcasts. Isn't it great not to have to waste any more time with those in-person meetings? Think of all the new opportunities for multi-tasking. One of my personal favorites is instant messaging. Why waste time with a phone call when you can i-m or text message?

Many companies whose IT departments would have preferred to walk over hot coals than permit hosted applications are now doing just that.

It's almost too much, coming too fast, to get your arms around. So right there, we face our first challenge: responding to a rapidly evolving environment, almost totally beyond our control because it's so wildly popular, complex in its simplicity, and has the potential to create real damage at the same time it yields enormous benefit. 

Not surprisingly, lawyers have thrown up initial warning flares. Be careful of running afoul of Sarbanes-Oxley. Beware the web version of the "slip of the tongue" (disclosing insider information, trade secrets, proprietary or confidential information.)  Better publish a policy describing appropriate Web 2.0 behavior. All prudent advice.

We can do better than that. We have to. The next wave of leaders will.

If you have a comment, a question or an experience to share on this subject, I'd love to hear from you and I'm sure others would too.

What Do JetBlue and HBO Have In Common?

TV?

Daring to be different from the mainstream?

Admiring fans? (Well, ok, JFK ice storm debacle aside.)

Or could it be that their CEOs resigned this week under a dark cloud? Yep, that's it.

HBO chief executive Chris Albrecht resigned yesterday after his arrest last weekend for assaulting his girlfriend. Ironically, after a boxing match. In front of the Las Vegas police, no less. But there's history here. His resignation came after the Los Angeles Times reported that in 1991 - sixteen years ago - HBO  paid a settlement of at least $400,000 to Albrecht's former lover after she accused him of shoving and choking her. Albrecht said he was taking a leave of absence to regain control of his alcoholism. On his watch, HBO produced some terrific movies and off-beat series. Yet, one can only imagine what it must have been like to work for this guy.

Earlier today Jet Blue CEO David Neeleman resigned as part of the "natural evolution" of the company, indicating that his entrepreneurial approach was not suitable for managing a growing business. It seems the cold hard fact is that Neeleman's vision to "bring humanity back to air travel" just isn't practical or profitable. I wonder if this means JetBlue will quietly become just like every other airline where customer service is mostly hype on the preflight video. JetBlue passengers of the future may just have to go back to life in coach squeezed into as many rows as possible, without leather seats, individual TVs or crew who seem to actually like their customers. One can only imagine what it will be like to work for the new, more corporate guy.

Two very different leaders, each with wild successes and a high profile fall from grace. 

Authentic Leaders Steer Toward True North

Starting to think about your summer reading? You should read True North, by Harvard Professor Bill George with Peter Sims. It's an easy read with lots of terrific sound bytes, anecdotes and stories.

A lot of stories. George and Sims interviewed 125 leaders (some you'll recognize and some you won't) representative of leaders in their 20's, 30's, 40's, 50's, 60's and yes, even over 70. What they learned is that it's all about their stories.

"Reading through three thousand pages of transcripts," George writes, "our team was startled to see that these leaders did not identify any universal characteristics, traits, skills, or styles that led to their success. Rather, their leadership emerged from their life stories. By constantly testing themselves through real-world experiences and by reframing thier life stories to understand who they are, these leaders unleashed their passions and discovered the purpose of their leadership."

Today's Harvard Business School e-newsletter HBS WorkingKnowledge contains the following link:

Podcast: The Authentic Leader: http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/5664.html

The best leaders are not the "follow me over the hill" type, says Professor Bill George. Rather, they're the people who lead from the heart as well as the head, and whose leadership style springs from their fundamental character and values. George discusses his new book True North, co-written with Peter Sims.