Category Archives: Human Value

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ASTD Webcast Download: Neuroscience Implications for Leadership

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Last week I did a webcast for members of the America Society for Training and Development (ASTD). The webcast covers select research findings from the field of neuroscience and their implications for leadership, productivity, innovation and employee engagement. ASTD is the world’s largest association dedicated to workplace learning and development professionals.  The webcast and slides are available at this link. (Note: clicking on the link will begin an automatic download of the webcast and slides.)

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Peter Drucker’s Kind of Leader

I don’t normally post on Sundays, but today I’m making an exception.  Today is Frances Hesselbein’s birthday and in her honor I’m posting a chapter I wrote about her from my book Fired Up or Burned Out.  Mrs. Hesselbein is the chairman of the Leader to Leader Institute.  Recently, she was appointed a Chair for the Study of Leadership at West Point.

Mrs. Hesselbein, thank you for your tireless efforts to advance leadership, your passion for inclusiveness, for kids, and for leaders in the social sector.  And thank you for the personal encouragement you’ve given me over the years.

Happy birthday Mrs. Hesselbein!

With respect and admiration,

Michael

Peter Drucker’s Kind of Leader

The preeminent management sage, the late Peter Drucker, knew some of the greatest leaders of our times in business and government. If he had been asked to name who he thought was a model leader, would he have chosen President Dwight D. Eisenhower, General George C. Marshall, the legendary Alfred P. Sloan Jr. of General Motors, or one of the many other heads of major companies throughout the world he came to know during his distinguished career? It’s an interesting question, given the reach and influence of Drucker. Periodically in his interviews and writings you will encounter what may be his highest praise for a person who, he once said “could manage any company in America.” Who is she?

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Task Excellence + Relationship Excellence, Both Are Essential

I recently attended a meeting where it seemed that everyone was focused on the people or relationships in a business and believed that doing so would bring success.  Don’t believe it.  Great leaders focus on achieving BOTH task excellence and relationship excellence.   This dual focus produces sustainable superior performance.   Managers who are solely task focused eventually burn people out.  Managers who are solely relationship focused don’t set sufficiently high performance standards and challenge the team to accomplish them.   Managers who focus on task and relationship excellence inspire their teams to work together to reach their goal and when they do the sense of pride inspires, engages and energizes the team to keep performing at the top of their game.

You’ll find a passion for task excellence in all the great leaders.  In John Eisenberg’s new book That First Season: How Vince Lombardi Took the Worst Team in the NFL and Set It on the Path to Glory, Fuzzy Thurston, an All-Pro guard who played for the great coach said, “We realized in his first season that we were going to be a very good team…Lombardi wasn’t going to stand for anything less.”  That’s the attitude it takes to be great.  It’s the relationship excellence that keeps people feeling connected to their leader and makes task excellence sustainable.

Most people don’t know that side of Vince Lombardi’s character.  They’ve heard the quote attributed to Lombardi that “winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.”  The quote was actually from a movie entitled Trouble Along the Way. What Lombardi taught was that winning isn’t everything, but making the effort to win is.  It’s similar to basketball coach John Wooden’s philosophy that a winner achieves competitive greatness by giving their very best effort all the time and thus receives a sense of satisfaction from knowing they’ve given their all.

Vince Lombardi had a passion for relationship excellence too.  He loved his players.  He told them they must love one another and said love made the difference on their team.  In addition, he abhored cheating or taking cheap shots at an opposing player.  He viewed it as unethical and illegitimate behavior that was inconsistent with being a winner.  Winning the right way, with character and virtue rather than vice, was what Lombardi believed and taught.  He learned it from the renowned and demanding Jesuit teacher Ignatius Wiley Cox who taught ethics at Fordham University (Lombardi received a “A” in Cox’s ethics class).  This is the side of the great coach that David Maraniss brought out in his outstanding book on Lombardi entitled When Pride Still Mattered.

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Change by Legitimate or Illegitimate Means

Change in organizations can be brought about by legitimate or illegitimate means, with understandably different results. Take a look at this Fast Company article on the methods of consultant Fernando Flores for an example of change by illegitimate means. Typically, coercion, degradation and intimidation are the methods of choice by people I refer to as “Intentional Disconnectors,” individuals who tear others apart for the sake of an unhealthy need for ego gratification. Bob Sutton describes them well in his book The No Asshole Rule.

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Intrapreneurs: Find a Work Environment to Help You Thrive

If you aspire to be a successful intrapreneur, seek a healthy work environment. There are organizations with healthy work environments that energize employees and others that suck the life out of them.  Unfortunately, the latter dominate.  According to research from Gallup, over the last decade, 75 percent of American workers reported that they were not engaged in their jobs.

Here’s what you should be looking for in a work environment that will help you thrive.

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Connection Critical to Healthcare

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about healthcare organizations.  I recently spoke in New Haven to nearly 500 managers at Yale-New Haven Hospital and in Philadelphia to a group of CEOs that included several leaders from the Cancer Treatment Centers of America.  I’ve written from the patient’s perspective about my wife Katie’s battles with breast and advanced ovarian cancer and about Dr. Herb Pardes, head of New York-Presbyterian Health System, and how he is leading his organization to deliver patient-centered care. Recently, I interviewed Bill Shannon, Chief Wisdom Officer, at DaVita, Inc., the leading provider of kidney dialysis services and shortly I’ll be hosting a webcast with Pat Charmel, CEO of Griffin Hospital, a perennial member of Fortune’s best places to work list.

Two books I recently read reminded me again just how critical connection is to health care.

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Connection — and Connectors — in Federal Government

Recently I’ve been spending more time in Washington, DC.  Earlier this year I spoke at the General Services Administration, the Executive Development Exchange Network (EDEN) and at  Senior Fellows and Friends.  In the coming months I’ll be speaking at the US Treasury Executive Institute, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Government Accountability Office.

Washington, DC is abuzz with energy, enthusiasm  and a “can do” spirit.  Some government employees meet on their personal time in groups such as Senior Fellows and Friends and 13L to exchange ideas that  make government more effective.  They have come up with innovative practices and programs such as Flash Mentoring and FedPitch.  The private sector could learn much from these thoughtful civil servants who dedicate their professional lives to a cause greater than self.

Yesterday I had the privilege of joining Martha Dorris, the Deputy Associate Administrator at the GSA’s Office of Citizen Services and AM 1500 Federal News Radio hosts Chris Dorobek and Francis Rose in an hour long discussion about my book, Fired Up or Burned Out, and creating Connection Cultures in Federal Government.  Martha is a dynamic leader and an intentional connector who is developing a Connection Culture at the GSA.  Chris and Francis are outgoing, intentional connectors too.  Their radio programs are thoughtful and encouraging.  They inform, educate, inspire and help federal government workers feel more connected. You can listen to our radio conversation by clicking on leadership and employee engagement in federal government.

During this critical time in history when we are rethinking the roles of the government, private and social sectors, government is playing an increasingly important part in shaping our collective future.  To this end, President Obama is challenging federal workers to make a difference.  He inspires them with a vision of positive change, values their service and contributions, and gives them a voice by seeking their opinions and ideas. And I’m looking forward to spending more time in DC to encourage and advise leaders about how to develop Connection Cultures that will help release the genius of the dedicated individuals who work in federal government.

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Rotman Magazine Interview

Rotman, the award-winning magazine of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, just published an interview I did with them on Connection Cultures, leadership and employee engagement. The Spring 2009 issue also features fascinating interviews with Warren Bennis, Prof. Renee Mauborgue of INSEAD and Prof. Richard Thaler of the University of Chicago. You can subscribe to Rotman magazine or purchase the download by clicking here. Following is the text of the interview.

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New Articles on Pixar and Selecting CEOs

Here are two new articles I wrote that will appear shortly in publications in India and the US. As with all of the articles I write they relate to leadership and employee engagement. Email me at mstallard [at] epluribuspartners [dot] com if you have any comments or suggestions. Thanks – Michael

The Competitive Advantage of Pixar’s Environment  

By Michael Lee Stallard

At the Technical Academy Awards ceremony in Hollywood, the Associated Press reported that it wasn’t the host, actress Jessica Beil, who attracted the most attention.

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Employee Engagement During Difficult Times

Here’s another article I’m working on. If you have any suggestions, please email me at mstallard@epluribuspartners.com.

During difficult times it’s natural for anxious individuals to retreat into isolation, a state that nearly always results in diminished productivity. When it comes to the amount of effort employees put in their work, research by the Corporate Leadership Council has shown that emotional connections are on average four times as important as rational factors.  Emotional connections arise when employees feel: 1) proud of their organization’s mission, values and reputation, 2) valued by their supervisor and colleagues, and 3) informed and that their opinions and ideas about matters that are important to them are considered by decision-makers before decisions are made. 

Recently I visited an impressive organization that is poised to continue performing well even through the challenging economic environment we are presently facing.