Archive for April, 2009
GM’s Fritz Henderson: The Right Leader for a Turnaround? April 6 2009 no responses
This past Sunday was one of the rare ones when I had the chance to watch all of Meet the Press. After such a big week of news (let’s just throw in a North Korean missile launch for good measure), I was looking forward to the show. In particular, I was interested to see the interview with the newly appointed CEO of General Motors, the 25 year company veteran, Fritz Henderson.
Sorry to say, but Fritz did not pass the “Mom believability test.” You probably have your own version of that. It’s when, as I did Sunday night, you call your mom to catch up on what’s going on in the family and the world. Like me, my mom had watched Henderson on MTP. Her verdict? “He was terrible. He didn’t answer any of the questions.” Nothing quite like cutting to the chase.
So, what can we learn from Henderson and the situation at GM about matching leadership styles with the demands of the situation?
Advice from the Coach-In-Chief April 3 2009 no responses
It’s been a busy week of travel, speaking and coaching and I haven’t had as much time as usual to focus on writing the Friday post. So it seems like a good time to bring on a guest blogger. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the well known leadership coach, President Barack Obama.
Fresh from his maiden performance at the G20 Economic Summit in London, what follows is a verbatim excerpt from the transcript of Obama’s press conference at the Summit. When I first heard Obama’s answer to a question about his approach to participating in the meeting, I thought, "That’s a pretty good definition of what leaders – public sector and private sector – need to do." For ease of consumption, I’ll present his comments in bullet point fashion with some bold face type but, otherwise, this is what he said with no edits:
- “We exercise our leadership best when we are listening;
- when we recognize that the world is a complicated place and that we are going to have to act in partnership with other countries;
- when we lead by example;
- when we show some element of humility
- and recognize that we may not always have the best answer, but we can always encourage the best answer and support the best answer.”
Those seem like five solid principles for any leader. What’s your take?
A Lesson in How to Influence Your New Boss April 1 2009 no responses
With so many things in play, it’s easy to lose track of all the major issues the Obama White House is dealing with. Today the focus is on the global economy and the G20 meeting. A few days earlier it was on establishing a new approach for taking on Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan (Afpak). From the standpoint of media coverage and public attention, a quiet, but key, architect of the new Afpak policy has been Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
As the New York Times reported yesterday, Gates has now worked for eight U.S. presidents including Obama’s immediate predecessor, George W. Bush. Since leaders often have to work with a new boss (is there anyone at GM reading this?), I thought it would be interesting to see what tips can be gleaned from Gates on how to establish yourself quickly with a new boss while making a significant difference in a short amount of time.
Here’s a quick take on what I find both admirable and replicable in Gates’ approach:
Scott Eblin is an executive coach, speaker and author of 
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