Christian Anschuetz - Executive Portfolio and Blog

3rd Brick Layer from the Left

I was recently reminded of the power and importance of culture in determining the effectiveness of an organization.  My reminder came, ironically, while attending a leadership course in Orlando where the primary instructors were members of the Disney Institute.  The purpose of the Disney course was to teach, among other things, leadership excellence and the role of culture in driving superlative employee engagement and performance.

Whether you love or hate Disney (hard to imagine anyone hating Disney), one can not deny that they have an incredibly powerful and profitable business.  From just over $6B in 1991 to over $36B at the end of 2009, it is a company that knows both how to grow, and how to create a customer experience that keeps them coming back for more.  And both of these things create great returns for investors.

Despite their business acumen, however, I found the curriculum of the Disney Institute to be less inspirational that I had expected.  A great portion of the "class" was educating attendees on how great Disney was, and despite the promise of also hearing about the problems and challenges that would normally accompany such a large firm, the bulk of the course seemed more like a Disney sales pitch than a real course on either service excellence or leadership. 

One section of the course covered the importance of culture in determining a firm's performance.  This portion of the class, while certainly important, was taking far too long to get to the point; which was, in a nutshell, that culture can be designed such that it supports consistent delivery of exceptional quality service.  50 minutes into this discussion I excuse myself for a quick break.

As I head to the water fountain I see a man in the hallway working on his computer.  The only thing noteworty about this gentleman was the shirt he was wearing; two Latin words spanned his chest - Semper Fidelis.  As I walk by I simply say, "Semper Fi Mac".  He quickly and enthusiastically answers back.

Two Latin words.  A three word greeting.  From there it turned into a 30 minute discussion of "when were you in?", "what units did you serve under?", "do you remember Camp Upshur?", etc.  In an instant I was connected to this guy in a manner and on a level that people that work together for 30 years in corporate America never experience.  It quickly occurs to me that this is the definition of compelling culture.  That two people completely unknown to each other connect and share with great pride distant memories of a common organization is something that Disney could only imagine possible.

As the conversation closes, I mention why I am in Orlando and how the instructors at Disney could well learn from the Marine Corps.  His response fascinated me.

"I consider myself the 3rd brick layer from the left, for I fought on the Barbary Coast.  I bled in Nicaruaga during the Bannana Wars.  I was there for the Civil War and both Great Wars.  And I was one of the last to leave Saigon.  I am forever part of the Corps, and the Corps is forever part of me.  To this day I believe that, as others did before me, I laid the bricks that future Marines will walk and build upon."

Replicating the strong and forever binding culture of the Corps is probably not possible in the corporate world.  Nonetheless, I think organizations can design their culture that creates not just great outcomes, but that also creates great teams.  Great teams consist of both productive and enthusiastic employees.  And all this greatness results in superlative service and, in almost every imaginable case, profitability.

The key to success?  Great people and a culture that binds them together.

Now, go build it.

 

Truth-Tellers Wanted

We have all probably heard that it is always a good idea to have at least one staff member that is a truth-teller; that person that always says it like they see it.  I was reminded of inadequacy of this statement while listening to a gentleman that was visiting this old concept when an attending member of the crowd spoke up and strongly disagreed.  The audience member's response was that he would always keep the truth-teller, and fire the rest.  He had no time nor place for anyone but those that spoke the plain, and sometimes painful truth.

Now here was a man I could understand and relate with.

The point?

Every leader needs to surround himself / herself with truth-tellers.  And once that not insignificant feat is accomplished, must work to ensure that the environment, the policy landscape, and the leader's very actions support ongoing and continuous honest and direct discussions.  For feedback is often hard to both give and receive, but we must learn to accept it, be thankful for it, and thus promote a clear tolerance for even those, and perhaps especially those facts that are the hard hear.  For not knowing the truth is almost always more painful and dangerous in the end than knowing the facts upfront

Truth-tellers wanted.  Liars, misleaders, and those that spend more time "managing up" vs. leading need not apply.

Embrace Your Inner Maverick

The best leaders challenge the concept of "business as usual" and drive positive change.  Often this change comes with great discomfort as both firms and individuals rarely embrace transformation, especially when established norms are tested.  As a result, many leaders that challenge an organization's "conventional wisdom" are often labeled maverick. 

If you are part of an organization and are willing to critically examine the status quo, even if it is with the sincere interest of creating positive outcomes, you too may be called a maverick.   If that happens, welcome the title.  Embrace your inner maverick.  Take pride that you have the courage to challenge the "elephants" in your firm.

The Power of Belief

Long have we heard about the power of the human mind. Many believe the power so great that we can even heal ourselves by willing it.  Most certainly attribute a wide array of benefits by simply thinking, or visualizing, the desired outcomes; from sports to academics the technique of visualization is widely practiced.

Few things illustrate a point better than a story, or in this case, a joke. As evidence, I give you the following bit of humor called One Marine:

A large group of Taliban soldiers are moving down a road when they hear a voice call from behind a sand-dune. "One Marine is better than ten Taliban".  The Taliban commander quickly sends 10 of his best soldiers over the dune whereupon a gun-battle breaks out and continues for a few minutes, then silence.

The voice then calls out "One Marine is better than one hundred Taliban". Furious, the Taliban commander sends his next best 100 troops over the dune and instantly a huge gun fight commences. After 10 minutes of battle, again silence.

The voice calls out again "One Marine is better than one thousand Taliban". The enraged Taliban Commander musters one thousand fighters and sends them across the dune. Cannon, rocket and machine gun fire ring out as a huge battle is fought. Then silence.

Eventually one wounded Taliban fighter crawls back over the dune and with his dying words tells his commander, "Don't send any more men, it's a trap. There's actually two of them."  

While this is intended to be humorous, make no mistake that United States Marines believe they are that effective, that fearsome. They work, train and fight with the unshakable conviction that they are an irresistible force. And while many factors contribute to this real ferocity and effectiveness on the field of battle, the belief in themselves, their undeniable certainty in their strength and prowess, is core to the reality they create; namely, that they are the most revered and feared (by their enemies).

This post isn't about the Marine Corps though.  It is about the power of belief. Imagine if we successfully instilled such strong convictions in our colleagues in the workplace.  Imagine if the people we worked with truly believed they were a force in the marketplace and that they were the very best at what they did. 

Imagine the results.   

When Great Isn't Good Enough

Some time ago I sat with Jim Collins, the author of Good to Great, at a round table to discuss what qualities differentiate a good Chief Information Officer (CIO) from a great one. Given the task to list the most critical five differentiating traits, the group of 12 CIOs set to work. A few minutes later Jim queried the table.

The technology leaders gave their responses; good communicators, business acumen, technical proficiency, governance and the ability to align with the business, and other similar responses were listed as the key ingredients for that great CIO. Awaiting my turn, and happy to go last, I presented an alternate vew, namely that the qualities that result in a great CIO are no different than those necessary for a great CEO, CFO, COO, and so forth.  Or more specifically, vision, self-awareness and the ability to meaningfully connect with people and rally an organization around a common goal is what makes great executives.  Is it not obvious that the best CXOs are the best leaders?  And isn't great leadership based on the same fundamental traits and principles regardless of position or role within a firm?

If you have read Good to Great you know that Jim deliberately shies away from claiming that leadership is core to moving a firm from good to great. Only Jim could tell us why that is, but I suspect that he feels the term leadership is too soft, too ambiguous to attribute to greatness. Or, perhaps it is partially a marketing move, as shelves are filled with tens of thousands of books on the topic of leadership.  What I do know is that Jim and I had a spirited conversation on the topic.

As I left the discussion I bade farewell to Jim. This great author and mind shook my hand and said that he was sorry to hear that I was unable to make a subsequent discussion so he could "disagree with me some more".

In that, Jim and I were aligned.  

264,228 Results & So Little Leadership

I recently went to Amazon and did a search on the topic of leadership and was returned 264, 228 results. And while I did not refine the search further to weed out non-sequiters like Sarbina, the Teenage Witch #21, it was a search only within the book category. Add relevant video and audio offerings and that 200k+ number is probably pretty accurate as to the number of products Amazon offers that focus on and around that one word, leadership.

But with so much focus, why does it appear as though there are so few great leaders in the corporate world? Clearly we create volumes of products to help us understand leadership and what it takes to become a competent leader. There are courses, seminars, and motivational speakers on the subject. Corporate press releases extol the virtues of their leadership as explanation of their success.  The press dedicates many of its pages to the topic.

But does anyone think we have an abundance of great leadership? Not I.

While we do have great leadership in many businesses, there is nowhere near enough. This is anything but a controversial statement. What may be more provocative, however, is that I believe that the reason we don’t have more and better leadership is that we ignore the fundamentals. After all, how much can be written about “setting the example” or “leading from the front”?

A lot I would say.

Thus there is more to come.

Leadership and Information Proliferation

Leadership and information proliferation are not two topics that intuitively go together. Here on this blog, however, I will spend some time discussing both. Why? Because one I am greatly passionate about. The other represents a growing problem for individuals and firms alike. Ironically we need more of the former to get less (or at least control) the latter.

As I readily admit I am new to blogging. Fortunately I am not new to either of these topics. Even better I am passionate about both. I hope that this combination of passion and knowledge make for interesting reading material.