The Washington Post has launched a new site On Leadership. It's worth a look.
The hook for the site is a "one stop shop" to find out what top thinkers think about a leadership issue of the week. What a week to get started - what with the three auto maker musketeers and Rod Blagojevich to choose from.
Another feature is a video that's a series of minute or two clips on leadership. So you can look at one or all; a title slide makes it easy to find a clip you might want to look at again if you missed it by going through your email or cleaning off your desk while watching.
This week's video is of Fed Ex CEO Fred Smith, who leads 300,000+ employees. One of the things he talks about is the importance of fairness. He cares about it so much that the company posts a Guarantee of Fairness. Any employee who thinks a management decision isn't fair can get it reviewed by someone higher up in the ranks - or by peers. See the clip for more.
There are a couple of other features about this site that are particularly appealing to me. First, the panel is a diverse group of thought leaders - including my Wharton colleague, Mike Useem. (OK, I know I'm biased; but when Mike talks, I listen.)
The panel's question page is set up so that it's easy to quickly scan the one liners that sum up each panelist's opinion and link to the rest of their individual blog post.
In case you were wondering, the auto makers won. Maybe they'll get to the Illinois governor next week.
The question: What More Could Auto Execs Have Done? Some responses were along the line of "throw the bums out," others thought they should have come to Washington with detailed plan in hand. Some may even surprise you... like the ethics expert and lawyer who says, "Executives shouldn't work for nothing: They need incentives to meet their new commitments." Huh?
But Barry Posner's observation struck a cord for me:
They brought to the table a vision of the past,
rather than some sense of imagination about the future.
Words for all of us to live by.
Fed Ex's Smith (talking about self-discipline as a leadership trait) speaks of how hard it is to pick the right people, give them authority to act and then let them run with it - even if you don't agree with them. Something I really believe in.
But that got me thinking about what more the auto execs could have done. (And maybe the financial execs as well.)
Empowerment is a wonderful thing. But shouldn't the leader have the discipline to seriously question faulty thinking, self-serving decisions and lack of imagination about the future that puts their organization at risk?
Whether it's selling subprime mortgages or bigger and bigger SUVs, it appears that some leaders who should have known better put their bonus ahead of their judgment.
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