"Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier."
The ripple effect of a leader's enthusiasm and optimism is awesome. So is the impact of cynicism and pessimism. Leaders who whine and blame engender those same behaviours among their colleagues. I am not talking about stoically accepting organizational stupidity and performance incompetence with a "what, me worry?" smile. I am talking about a g-ns ho attitude that says "we can change things here, we can achieve awesome goals, we can be the best." Spare me the grim litany of the "realist"; give me the unrealistic aspirations of the optimist any day.
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me, realizing a Statapult Catapult costs $260
New BB project: "Let's not"
HUGE SAVINGS!! SUCCESS!
I'm a MBB great shot with THE STATAPULT® CATAPULT.
Will that help?
Right now we know who's ruining the company. Period.
Most black belt work on fake projects.
Collins also had a good comparison between the rock star ceo and servant leader ceo. The rock star guy has a huge mirror in his office. All the people really doing the value added work are behind the mirror, where he can't see them. Meanwhile, he looks in the mirror and says I'm the reason this company is so successful, in spite of those buffoon worker bees we have. On the other hand, the worker bees see only the backside of the mirror but know the rock star is staring in the mirror admiring himself while paying no heed to them.
The servant leader ceo has a huge window in his office. He looks through the window and see the worker bees who are making the company successful and knows they are the reason for the success. He looks at himself as a good and caring learning who provides vision and leadership but can't take all the credit himself. Meanwhile, the worker bees look through the window and the good ceo and know that they are the reason for success but the leader is providing the right environment.
So...what kind of leaders do you see in 3M these days?
Great leaders recruit and develop people, who then deliver the results. Some years ago, I read the jim collins book from good to great and loved his comparison of rock star ceos, who make it all about themselves and believe they are the reason for success, vs. Servant leaders, who provide the vision and coaching but create a collaborative environment and know that it's the people who will determine if the enterprise is successful. Mike's hands off approach to the layoffs (saying it's a BG decision) shows he is not a servant leader and probably a bumbling rock star at best. If he were really a rock star, he'd be playing in dives in maplewood and such and not the big stage.
Another big part of leadership is creating an environment where people take calculated risks AND where failures are brought forward and learned from. Highly doubtful any leaders in 3M these days want this type of environment, because a failure makes THEM look bad so just play it safe (which is why competitors are keeping 3M from any real organic growth). I had a leader who fit this "learn from our mistakes" atmosphere. I was lead engineer on a project and we had a hose that turned out to be the wrong long term choice of material for the pipeline contents. One of our techs got sprayed on the leg when handling the draining process and got a chemical burn. I felt terrible but the leader said "hey, a bunch of us walked by that hose everyday, including me, and saw it but didn't intervene." He used it as an genuine learning experience and it helped us have better prejob safety reviews before the next experiments. Today, that leader would flog and shame the project engineer, require the tech to take 8 hours of online safety training, and pretend it wasn't his fault because he didn't order the hose. He'd probably get a promotion for being such a tough guy. I'm sure some of you either have or had one of the better leaders, but I see none of that these days but people want to blame others and never blame themselves for walking by a hose about ready to burst.
Regarding JWMI - that was sarcastic? Right?
I graduated from Jack Welch Management Institute (JWMI) with an MBA. I was promptly hired by 3M as a black belt.
Several on this site are of the opinion that Welch's practices contribute to widespread damage to corporate America.
I disagree.
- A $100,000 investment in GE shares in the year 2000 (near the end of Welch's tenure) had lost about 80 percent of its value as of the year 2022.
- Welch reduced basic research investment and closed or sold off under-performing businesses.
- On the other hand, to make up for this, he rewarded those in the top 20% with bonuses and employee stock options. 80% of employees received negligible raises.
I agree with Colin Powell’s assertion regarding optimism; however, there must be numerous arrows in one’s quiver to meet or exceed mission objectives. Individuals cannot become leaders unless they have decision-making authority coupled with associated responsibility.
The general also said, “Leadership is solving problems. The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them.”
I have worked in larger organizations and much smaller ones. Never have I seen a reluctance to engage on substantive issues. The result? Sit and wait for someone at the top to intervene or go radio silent because speaking up does nothing to resolve issues.
The “managers” at 3M take virtually no risks. One said to me, “ I’ve been at 3M for over 20 years and I have no intention of leaving.” Translation… “Do not expect me to rock the boat or really work to solve problems. My pension comes first.”
Cowardice and disgraceful!