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    The Company You Keep: Leading and Managing in the Era of Shareholder Value
    The Company You Keep: Leading and Managing in the Era of Shareholder Value
    The Company You Keep: Leading and Managing in the Era of Shareholder Value
    Ebook91 pages1 hour

    The Company You Keep: Leading and Managing in the Era of Shareholder Value

    By BookBaby

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    About this ebook

    This entertaining book is different from any other of its kind. The “shareholder value” era has meant the transition of corporate governance from "retain and reinvest" to "downsize and distribute." The changed landscape has been the root cause of anxiety and insecurity from the executive suites to the shop floor, and is the primary source of corporate dysfunction today. The author, a retired senior executive, takes on many of the sacred cows and enduring problems, including the leadership industry, the “culture change” epidemic, HR’s preoccupation with metrics, poor communication, death-by-meeting, and, especially, the mistreatment of people through practices that range from patronizing to perverse.
    Over eighteen chapters within five major headings--"You, in Charge," "The Big Picture," "The Day-to-Day," "Communication," and "The Care and Feeding of People," this concise and highly readable work critiques the standard remedies offered by management gurus and offers practical, effective measures to create a productive workplace with engaged employees. The proposals are straightforward, sensible and contrary to much of what passes for the common wisdom.
    Each chapter discussion is followed by step-by-step recommendations to transform an enterprise chasing the elusive trio of alignment, accountability and execution, and without enduring the distraction and heartbreak of a failed “culture change” initiative. “The Company You Keep” will prove to be a book you won’t forget, one whose lessons can be employed throughout your career, and will serve you well as a manager and leader. You will nod your head, laugh, and most of all, learn.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBookBaby
    Release dateJan 15, 2014
    ISBN9781483515168
    The Company You Keep: Leading and Managing in the Era of Shareholder Value

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      Book preview

      The Company You Keep - BookBaby

      2013

      CHAPTER 1

      THE LEADERSHIP THING

      A short story.

      Because of a business connection, I was once invited to a party at the home of a fellow I didn’t know personally. In real estate parlance, the house made a statement, and in the course of the evening, my host—call him Joe—invited me to tour his impressive library. One section had two full shelves of instruction on the golf swing, written by teachers famous and obscure, living and dead. Another had five shelves devoted to books on leadership. Joe proudly told me that he’d read them all.

      At that moment, I had a very strong hunch about Joe: he wasn’t a good golfer, and working for him was no day at the beach.

      That he wasn’t good on the links was easily confirmed. I met several of his golf buddies and in good humor, and fully fueled, they ridiculed his game. It was even easier to get his measure as a boss. I asked one of his executives, So, what’s it like to work for Joe? What you do then is pay attention to the facial expression, the tone, and most importantly, what isn’t said. With those three data points, it’s easy to triangulate to the truth.

      That my intuition about Joe proved correct was no great feat. The golf swing and leadership have something in common: neither can be learned from a book, and the more you read, the worse off you will be.

      And there’s plenty to read. If you were to do a search of the term business leadership books on Amazon.com’s website it would yield well over 30,000 entries. Apparently, the deluge will continue until the facts of every significant historical event from Creation to Nine-Eleven—and the back story of every successful venture from the Dutch East India Company to Apple—have been deconstructed or mutated into proof of whatever point the authors are trying to make.

      Are you seeking a leadership role model? Scan the titles on the Amazon list and take your pick. Biblical? You can take pointers from Jesus, Abraham, or Muhammad (or all three). Political? Machiavelli to Gandhi, Washington to Clinton (Bill or Hillary). Military? Sun Tzu to Attila the Hun, Ulysses Grant to Colin Powell. Sports? John Wooden to Phil Jackson, Vince Lombardi to Bill Belichick. Business? A bevy of CEO superstars, including some subsequently fired or whose fabled companies are no more.

      You can also take cues from ants, elephants, squirrels, the Girl Scouts, and the captain of the Starship Enterprise.

      Apparently, a lot of people are searching for the leader within, and a lot of companies, too, as hundreds of millions are spent annually on leadership development. (A search of that term on the website yields over 38,000 entries.) And if you should choose (or are chosen) to go down the development path, what type of leader will you be? Again, the book titles offer an array of recommendations—far too many to list here—ranging from courageous and fearless to primal and tribal, spiritual and soulful to authentic and heartfelt, principle-centered and ethical to enlightened and organic, quiet and collaborative to exceptional and spirited. You get the picture.

      That so many books could have something to say seems rooted in the confusion of leadership with good management. Really, are active listening, praising subordinates, collaboration and celebrating wins examples of the former or the latter? Could you read these leadership books, apply the lessons, and become a better manager? Of course. "Manager development" is a sound idea, but we all know that managers are not necessarily leaders, no more than leaders are necessarily good managers.

      Referring to the Amazon list once again, this confusion has led authors to deconstruct leadership in a mind-boggling number of ways: agendas, dimensions, disciplines, drivers, imperatives, keys, laws, lessons, levels, obsessions, practices, principles, priorities, qualities, rules, secrets, skills, steps, strategies, strengths, and traits.

      But the journey to enlightenment and the secret sauce doesn’t need be so arduous and complicated. If your interest is truly in leadership and not management technique, I propose a short-cut to reality: leadership is about character, and within fully-formed adults, which are the majority of business executives I’ve encountered, character is neither developed nor inculcated, it is revealed. In terms of one’s ability to lead—you read it here—people are who they are. Yes, there are mid-life transformations owing to extraordinary experience but they are rare, and when was the last time you met someone whose character was changed by a book or a team-building exercise to encourage trust?

      You might think of it this way: with thousands of books and hundreds of millions spent annually on development programs, if leadership could be acquired through reading and application, why would it be in such short supply? True, there are many thousands of business leaders at the top of organization charts, but I think most lead only in the sense that they give orders and their followers obey. They are leaders because they are in charge, not the other way around.

      A litmus test: imagine that all the executives of your organization were brought into a room and told that the CEO position was up for grabs and the group had three options: retain the current boss, pick one from the ranks, or draft someone from outside. What would happen?

      Leadership is about character as revealed by deeds and behaviors that inspire others. Leaders inspire. They bring out the best in their subordinates, arouse in them a need to perform at a higher

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