Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Some Impressionistic takes from the book of
Claudio Fernandez-Araoz
“It’s Not the How or the What but the Who“by Ramki – [email protected]
About the Author
Claudio Fernandez-Araoz is a Senior Adviser at
leading executive search firm Egon Zehnder and a
former member of its global executive committee. He
holds an MBA from Stanford and has previously
worked for McKinsey & Company. He is a global
expert on hiring and promotion decisions and
leadership development, and a frequent speaker at
major business gatherings. His advice has been
sought by the CEOs of several of the world's largest
companies and many governments. Fernandez-Araoz
is a regular lecturer at Harvard Business School, a
frequent contributor to HBR.org, and the author of
Great People Decisions: Why They Matter So Much,
Why They Are So Hard, and How You Can Master
Them
Prelude
At it’s simplest, It’s Not the How or the What But the Who is a guide to hiring, developing,
and retaining the right people. That seems like a fairly straightforward proposition, but if
you’ve ever had to hire people you know it is easier said than done.
But why is it so hard to find the best people for your organization? Araoz tells us the
challenges are many, “both internal (your unconscious biases) & external (organizational
and societal pressures).” So the first thing he does is help the reader identify those
obstacles, because there are “ unprecedented opportunities available if you can
overcome them.” And that’s exactly what It’s not the How teaches you how to do next:
To that end, later essays will teach you how to identify the best—the people who have the
right motives, qualities, and potential to help you excel—with effective assessment tools
and strategies and how to expertly develop the people you’ve chosen by encouraging
them to become more agile and versatile and putting them together in great teams.
Perhaps the most difficult decision leaders must make with regards to personnel is letting
go of the people who are holding you back. But why is it so hard. Araoz tells us it’s
because:
Three powerful psychological forces work against us: procrastination, loss aversion, and
compassion.
Prelude- continued
In other words, putting ourselves, our company, or other people in distress is
difficult, potentially risky, and unpleasant emotionally. But, Araoz reminds us,
“Tough decisions are what make you a leader.” Another difficult decision is
whether an open leadership position should be filled by someone from inside
the company or hired from outside it. In many cases, Araoz shows that it pays
big to hire an outsider, and that growth and success occurs in much smaller
measure when the company promotes an insider. How to insure that
whichever approach you take results in success? Don’t hesitate to thoroughly
vet insiders just as you would outsiders.
As I mentioned at the open of this review, in some ways, It’s Not the How or
the What But the Who is a simple hiring guide. But Araoz’s book stretches its
boundaries further than most, tackling sensitive issues like those that occur
within family businesses, and even delving into his considerations on how to
intelligently and objectively vote during a presidential election. Ultimately, it will
assist you—whether you are a leader or a participant—in making sound
assessments of the people you rely for your own ultimate success.
Tale of Two CEOsThey have different backgrounds
They lead different companies
United by two things
Extraordinary Leadership success
The relentless focus on talent
Committed to only hiring the best
Developing their brightest stars
Uniting them all into great teams
Result
They boost not only their own careers &
organizations but also society
Jeff BezosRoger Agnelli
Born in Albuquerque in 1964
Little Jeff’s childhood started on a sad note-his father left the family not long after he was born.
His mother got married to colleague of her Miguel Bezos – Jeff was adopted giving his last
name.
Jeff showed early interest in how things worked – turned parents garage into a lab
Experimented with electrical contraptions and other projects.
Launched his first business Dream Institute – educational summer camp for fourth, fifth and
sixth graders.
Fascinated by computers , went on study computer & electrical engineering at Princeton
University
That is when the idea of Amazon came to him- world wide web growing at 2300 % per month.
He drew up list of twenty potential products to sell on web & settled on books.
Quit the job 1994 & started working out of his garage with few software developers.
1990 – most of dot-coms went bust – Amazon flourished
Sales jumping from US $ 0.5 M in 1995 to US $ 61 billion out of dozen products by 2012.
The Company employs 88,000 employees – rated among top ten companies in the World.
HBR ranked Bezos as the best living CEO in the World ( and II only behind Late Steve Jobs)
Market capitalization US $ 153 B –Mar 2014
Amazon Country adjusted returns during that period were 12431 % ( 2012)
Industry adjusted returns were 12,266 % ( 2012)
Jeff Bezos- Amazon
“ I’ d rather interview 50 people & not hire anyone than
hire the wrong person “- Jeff Bezos
Born in Sao Paulo in 1959- Father Sebastiao had grown up in the interior of the state – 10 brothers
& sisters . Father had only one day of formal school – diligently studied mathematics at home with
a tutor.
Inventor of an amazing wood dryer and top exporter of Industrialized wood.
Rogen loved to visit his father’s factory in his early age – soaking in the technology, efficiency &
cleanliness.
Studied economics at FAAP Sau Paulo. Joined Investment banking of Bradesco Bank – 11 years
later at the age of 33 he was a GM of the capital markets unit.
He led more than 500 IPO’s of Brazilian companies – Involved in privatization of the country’s
steel, Telecom, Mining & energy Sectors. The result was he came to run Vale.
In 2000, Bradesco asked Agnelli to head the administrative council of Privatized Mining Co. in
which it had a major share.
CVRD ( Comapanhia Vale Do Rio Doce- known as Vale).
Got to know the people at the company, led a strategy study – year later was appointed Managing
President & CEO.
Less than one decade- Grandson of a poor immigrant lead one of the largest creations in
Corporate history.
Vale was the largest non-state owned company in Latin America & one of the 20 largest global
corporations . Fourth best CEO in the world – US $ 157 b market capitalization during his tenure.
2011 –income was US $ 23 B on revenues of US $ 59 billion – compared US $ 1 B on a revenue
of US $ 4 B in 2001. BCG confirms the company achieved highest productivity & profitability in the
world in 2000.
Country adjusted shareholder return were 934 % - Industry adjusted figure was 1773 %
Roger Agnelli- Vale
Amazon was start up ; Vale was an old, formerly a state owned company
Amazon was in a hot, new high-tech industry; Vale in a traditional ,
historic one- mining
Amazon was born in USA, by that times the most competitive, developed
nation on the earth; Vale is based in brazil, perceived at the time to be a
volatile, high-risk emerging economy.
Amazon grew originally and mostly in USA; Vale grew both organically &
through M & A & expanded around the world very rapidly.
Amazon is an extraordinary B2c company delivering incredible customer
service and now also sophisticated consumer electronics for personal
use: Vales is a classic B2 B, a producer of commodity raw materials for
industry
Contrast -Two companies
Both are incredible Leaders – amazingly bright, hugely ambitious, Strictly
disciplined in pursuing their well-crafted strategies.
Success is rooted in relationships, in the people around you.
Bezos & Agnelli recognize this fact, understand it, embrace it-Most
important trait they have in common.
They know that in order to succeed
“It is not the how or the what, but the who”
As Leaders …
Steve Jobs
The late legendary CEO of Apple had
many talents
Most important leadership trait was to
tolerate only “ A” players
He said part of his job is to keep the
quality people in the organization
Pioneer in grasping the vast gap between
the best & the rest in his field.
People worked with him found him to be
extremely tough but inspirational boss.
When you have great people , you don’t
have to baby them.
Jobs would never hesitate to get the
wrong people off the bus
He got rid of some people who did not
measure up to the requirement.
He did it in humane way
Nonetheless it has to be done and it is
never fun
CEO of Samsung from 1996-2008
Brilliantly transformed from semi conductor business to a monster global player in
consumer electronics
Through technology & manufacturing excellence , top-notch customer service,
innovation and marketing through talented people.
Resources to run a business successfully
Technology/skill, Capital
Information, Speed
PEOPLE
Except for capital-people are instrumental in developing, changing & utilizing the
other three.
People from different backgrounds can bring in new perspectives & opinions that
will challenge the existing & sometimes stubborn organization.
Talent acquisition needs to be done massively so there is enough probability to
succeed.
Samsung – the first Korean company to minimize the importance of academic
pedigrees in hiring & promotion decisions
People are top of his mind
Yun Jong-Yong
1. The Enemy within
Human’s are not
programmed to make
great people
decisions. The first
step is surrounding
yourself with the best
is to recognize- and
correct-your own
feelings
Leaders make major mistakes while making crucial people choices
Most leaders struggle to get people right – and if they say they don’t, they are not
telling the truth.
Jack Welch – Former CEO of GE said - “ Making great people decisions is
brutally hard “
He confessed as Junior Manger at GE , he probably got 50% of appointments
wrong, 30 years later, as CEO he was still wrong 20% of the time.
Why are people choices so hard ?
It is difficult to predict the future needs & to quickly and accurately assess
traits & skills
We have the wrong brain & wrong education to make these decisions right.
Human brains now are not significantly different than those of primitive hunters.
We are therefore thinking, acting , working, deciding on people today with a piece
of hardware that is 10000 years old.
Our decisions or choices are made with lower, unconscious parts of our brains –
based on similarity, familiarity and comfort.
We appreciate and trust people similar to us – that is fact of life.
Prehistoric Hardware; Victorian Software- ( 1/2 )
100 years ago the world was
More insular
Business less complex
Careers more stable
So this primitive , instinctive behaviour might not have been such a liability.
In the current context the success comes from highly connected, cross-
cultural, globally minded environment
Surround yourself with people who have diverse backgrounds and
complimentary skills and who properly challenge you.
Vast majority of Managers /Leaders have not received the proper education /
training on assessing others.
The 3 competencies rated most important in managing Human Capital
Managing Decision making process
Managing strategy
Managing innovation.
These 3 are least represented in the MBA courses
Prehistoric Hardware; Victorian Software- ( 2/2)
The next time your are about to bring someone into your
circle- whether it is team member, business partner, doctor
or nanny- remember that making people judgments is
extremely hard & can’t be done on automatic
Make list of what you know & ask yourself what other
information you need to know and make sure you are
surrounding yourself with the best.
So Sure, but So Wrong
Overconfidence in predictions is pervasive human bias that has a
dramatic impact not just on our financial or weather forecasts , but also on
our people decisions.
Leaders make major mistakes while making crucial people choices
Most leaders struggle to get people right – and if they say they don’t, they
are lying.
Jack Welch – Former CEO of GE said - “ Making great people decisions
is brutally hard “
He confessed as Junior Manger at GE , he probably got 50% of
appointments wrong, 30 years later, as CEO he was still wrong 20% of
the time.
Our brain is hardwired to make fast people choices based on similarity,
familiarity and comfort.
Daniel Kahneman calls it WYSIATI – “ What you see is all there is”.
System-1 – unconscious form of thinking – making stories out of limited,
unreliable, often irrelevant information.
System 2- Engaging in the conscious, deliberate, analytic thinking
So Sure, but So Wrong
Inertia overtakes all of us. In order to beat it , make formal
commitments, think like a trader and compassionately consider
long term consequences.
Inertia
Inertia
Research findings – If you have given choice to rehire some people in the
organization , Leaders want to hire only 50% -60% of the people.
Leaders thought 40% of the colleagues were not right for their jobs.
Most of us are bad & slow at getting the wrong people off the bus!
Richard Fairbank – CEO of Capital One – People spend 2% of their time in
recruiting & 75% managing their recruiting mistakes.
What is the reason ?
Procrastination- Want to avoid unpleasant things
Loss aversion- We know we do not have the right people around us, we
spend more time worrying about what we might lose than dreaming of
what we could possibly gain.
Compassion- We are social animals – we find difficult to create
situations that put other people in distress. – What about his feelings?
His future ? His family
We tolerate less than the best
If a colleague is not meeting your standards, be honest with him/her. Work
with them to improve , Check for alternate roles
Known Devils
Whether you are shopping for a house or deciding on your next
CEO, comparative judgments give you’re the best .
They are the best way to avoid appointing the wrong outsiders,
as well as those known devils who just are not right for the job
Known Devils – (1/3)
Different types of CEO’s succession
An insider promoted in a firm doing well
An insider promoted in a firm doing poorly.
An outsider hired to a firm doing well
An outsider hired to a firm doing poorly
Findings
Insiders did not significantly change their company’s performance
Similar people working in a similar way in the same company will
produce similar results.
With outsiders, the result was much more extreme
They added great value, mainly in the scenario 4 – An outsider hired
to a firm doing poorly.
But they destroyed the company in Scenario 3.
Most people conclude from these findings that is safer to promote
from within , particularly when you are doing well
Known Devils –(2/3)
Something to Ponder
When things are going well – we don’t word as hard to evaluate
insiders – not only in CEO’s succession but in all appointments.
Out typical approach is to look at likely internal candidates, analyze
their performance & promote the best.
We don’t consider or an analyze what the future challenges of the
role in question or the critical competencies required to face them
When are force to hire from outside , we write a proper job
description, consider large pool of candidates, grill them in well-
structured interviews, in-depth reference checks .
None of these are easy to do with people who are already there.
The right thing is to evaluate insiders similar to outsiders .
Look for opportunities to promote you top internal candidates while
also benchmarking against high-quality external ones.
Best appointments happen when those hiring consider a wide pool of
both insiders and outsiders.
The Heat of the Moment
Watch for passion in the candidate
Emotion can seriously impair judgment- it is like impulse buying & later regretted.
Impulse buying is due to stoppage of thinking & starting of the feeling.
We recognize that we have all undone unwise things in the heat of the moment.
How to avoid the dangers of the heat of the moment ?
Like speed-daters , create a checklist of the skills & attributes you want in the
candidate
Start the interview process
Review the check list as you meet people
If you are tempted to tweak the list, ask yourself - has the situation change
or am I being swayed by the people
Use an decision advisor as sounding board
Discuss your impressions with them & they will guide toward cool
detachment.
Ask yourself the question – How will I feel about my decision 10 minutes
from now , 10 months from now and 10 years from now.
Take some time off – sleep on decision for a reason.
The Decision Fatigue
As human beings we get impacted by “ Decision Fatigue” due to making poor
choices when our mental energy has already been depleted.
Judges are in fact particularly susceptible to this – it is found criminals were much
more likely to be granted leniency at the start of the day & right after lunch than
other times.
You are anywhere between two & six times as likely to be released if you are one
of the first 3 prisoners vs. last 3 prisoners.
Good decision making is not a trait of a person, in the sense that it is always
there. It is a state that fluctuates.
The more choices we make throughout the day, the harder each one becomes –
we look for shortcuts in two different ways.
Either acting impulsively without careful analysis
Or simply maintaining the status quo & avoiding choice.
How to overcome this ?
Make sure to schedule important interviews/ interactions at the right time .
Second avoid unnecessary or low-priority decisions
Great decision makers never schedule endless back-to back meetings – they
never work hungry
2. Outside Obstacles & Opportunities
External challenges can also prevent you from surrounding yourself with the best. It is
important to understand what you are up against- from shrinking talent pools to lying job
candidates- and use the situation to your advantage.
The Other GDP
Massive Talent crunch – 3 factors
Globalization
Companies reaching beyond their home turf & competing for the
people who can help them to it.
Number of Chinese companies moved from 8 in 2003 to 73 by 2012
and also Indian and South Korean companies.
Demographics
Hiring pools is staggering.
Sweet spot for executives between the age of 35 to 45
Demographic shift was affecting mostly USA & Europe
By 2020 many other large economics , including Russia, Canada,
South Korea & even China will have more people at retirement age
than entering the workforce.
Pipeline
Related & equally powerful , but much less known
Companies are not properly developing their pipeline of future leaders
in the way they need to .
The Other GDP- ( 1/2)
Globalization, Demographics & Pipeline will create unprecedented demand for the right
talent in the right place over the next decade.
The pace of globalization is going to be faster – the imbalance between old & young is going
to be dramatic.
How to confront these challenges ?
This presents an opportunity at both the individual & team or organization level
Make wise career moves, work on honing your skills and you will be in high demand
As Manager / Leader work hard to hire, develop and retain the best talent- you will be a
step ahead.
The questions you need to ask ?
How globalization will affect your company ?
IS there are threat due to demographics ?
What is the strength of the leadership bench ?
Are the red dot positions you need to work on the pipeline ?
New types of hires you will need to tackle a new geographic market, customer segment,
technology or strategy.
Who are your most strategic players ?
The most competent & critical
Which company or competitors will pose the challenge for you ?
How are you going to retain ?
The Other GDP- ( 2/2)
What is the difference between a typical performer & Highly
productive one ?
A star performer is about 40% more productive than the typical one
E.g.- A top life insurance sales person 240 % more productive than
the average one. Standout software developers or consultants
outperformed most peers by 1200 %.
Apple is nine times as productive as the average software engineer
at other technology companies.
The best blackjack dealer at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas keeps
his table playing at least five times as long as the average dealer
on the Strip
Nordstrom sells at least eight times as much as the average sales
associate at other department stores
Best transplant surgeon at a top-notch medical clinic has a success
rate at least six times that of the average transplant surgeon.
The Best & the Rest – ( 1/2)
The Best & the Rest – ( 2/2 )
Star performers are very few , yet
incredibly valuable.
Difference between the best & the
rest is huge & growing fast
Average Joes – typical candidates –
business cannot be successful.
Average bosses, companies,
colleagues & challenges make you
average.
Instead make sure the people above
& beside you can help you personally
move to the far right of the tail
Blissfully Unaware
A Typical Interview ( not the right Interview)
A conversation between two liars
Liar-1 – Interviewer – Painting an unbelievable rosy picture of the
company & job
Liar-2 – Candidate – Responds by explaining how great he or she is ,
giving the impression that the day he or she starts work it will be God
himself walking in.
Humans natural tendency is to believe you are much better than your are.
We exaggerate our strengths & play down on our weaknesses.
This is the advantage of boosting our self-esteem. But makes difficult for
others to accurately evaluate us.
360 degree reviews are very good tools to bring us closer to reality- but
this process is often infrequent, threatening, sugarcoated, or too late
You will always want to put your best foot forward – so consciously &
unconsciously play up your attributes while ignoring the faults.
Blissfully Unaware- ( 1/2 )
We are more positive when
We are assessing ourselves broad, ill-defined and ambiguous concepts, such as “
Managerial Competence”, because we focus on the components or interpretations
in which we do better.
We are taking on new projects or markets because WYSIATI ( what you see is all
there is) makes us ignore the many unknowns.
We believe we have nothing to lose, which means the unemployed and unhappy
are particularly prone to embellishment.
So check
For self-awareness & humility in any candidate . Look for 2 H- Hunger and
Humility in the person
Reduce the social pressure for overly positive self-assessments.
Do not discuss on compensation – the incentive is always on fit, not on monetary
rewards.
Give details about what you need- skills , behaviors & be candid about the
expected challenges . – Positives & negatives of the Job
This is will enable wrong people to opt out & vaccinate the eventual hire.
Tell the person to discuss the potential role and his or her readiness for it with
close, trusted friends.
Make sure to conduct smart reference checks.
Blissfully Unaware- ( 2/2 )
Reference Check
The reason for reference check is that some people, unfortunately either lie or
hide important aspects of their background on resumes & in social media profiles
& interviews.
Routine background checks can help you find more
Watching language also works- liars tend to use more expletives, third person
pronouns and complex sentences that truth-tellers.
Have a probing conversation with a variety of people who have worked closely
with the candidates.
Agree with the candidate on comprehensive & relevant list of people to call,
including former bosses, peers & subordinates .
Provide the referee with the right incentives
Stat the conversation by highlighting how important it is to have a reliable
reference
Emphasize that the referee’s comments will be kept confidential
Speak in person or over a phone and not on e-mail.
It is easier to solicit the whole-truth when you can hear hesitation or emotion in a
person’s voice or see it on his or her face.
Help the referee to avoid frequent biases. Avoid broad questions
Be specific about the job, knowledge & challenges
Bad Candidate , Great Reference
None of the above systems work well
What we need is Selective Aristocracy – a group
of 3 top-notch assessor per decision to give you
valuable input.
Bad assessors not monkey; they are monkey’s
with machine guns, randomly killing candidates all
over the place .
And if you let the into your process, it is not a
democracy , it is anarchy
The Problem with Democracy
Models of organization for people decisions
Dictatorship- Company leaders unilaterally decide who is hired , fired, staffed
or promoted
Benevolent Monarchy – King or Queen still rules, but ostensibly in the group’s
best interest.
Democracies- Where all interested parties seem to have a say or vote or
extreme cases veto power
Three Filters Eliminate almost all Wrong Candidates
Three Filters Eliminate also Eliminate 3 of 10 top candidates
The Problem with Democracy
How to form Aristocracy ?
First look for people who truly understand what is needed to succeed
in the role & organization for which you are hiring .
Aim to have 3 outstanding interviewers
Second choose only people who are motivated to conduct a thorough
assessment & make good decision either because they will benefit
from it or because they take great satisfaction in helping others.
This is one of the greatest differentiators between great interviewers
and terrible ones.
Finally make sure everyone has been trained in the best assessment
techniques, including structured interviews & reference checking.
Candidates you select – ensure there is match in values with the organization-
conducting multiple interviews, Checking references
Tracking HBA ( Hiring Batting Average) – ensure top talent spotters would stay in
the rotation, worst sat at the bench.
After six months of hire the employee is evaluated by the Managers on the
performance- Below, Meet or Exceeds expectations.
The company calculates the accuracy of HBA of each interviewer.
If the manager had approved ten candidates and six months later, 8 of them are
performing at or above expectations, his or her HBA would be 0.8 and he or she
get to stay involved in the talent acquisition.
Four great benefits
It separates wheat from the chaff among your interviewers- the “Vice-gods’
from the “monkeys with machine guns”
Second , it fights inertia , forcing you to review your people decisions early,
before the bad ones have time to fester.
Third it prompts interviewers to up their game- Accountability
Finally it motivates managers to stay in closer contact with new hires- even
coaching & mentoring them
Hiring Batting Average
Start Measuring your own
HBA- make it a habit
Review all the hiring or
promotions decisions you
have participated in the
past five years, mapping
your opinion of the person
against their actual
performance.
If you are involved in an
interview and the
candidate is selected –
mark in your calendar to
check whether your initial
assessment was accurate
– 6 months later.
3. The Right People
To find the best , you have to
look in the right places,
consider the right number, &
effectively assess them on the
right attributes &
competencies- from motivation
to EI, portability to leadership
skills
Survivor to CEO- Pedro Algorta
Pedro Algorta’s story is an unbelievable one.
On October 13, 1972, he was one of 45 passengers on a twin-engine turboprop
plane that crashed in the frozen Andes.
The impact instantly killed 12 people; five died from their injuries the next day.
And that was just the beginning of a 72-day ordeal -- one of the most dramatic
survival stories of the past two centuries.
It has been chronicled in several books and one movie, Alive, but I’ll briefly
recount it here.
The days were bitingly cold; the nights frigid, and endless.
There was no food, other than wine and chocolate, which the group rationed for
a few days.
Through a small transistor radio, the survivors heard that they were only
expected to last 72 hours and that, although search-and-rescue teams
canvassed the Andes for 10 days, they had ultimately been given up for dead.
Soon, the group started to discuss the unthinkable – eating the flesh of the
frozen bodies around them. Eventually, with broken glass, they cut a small piece
from one corpse, then ate it, one by one. Somehow, Algorta and 15 others
survived for more than two months before they were rescued.
Survivor to CEO
Why did Algorta excel?
Because he had all the hallmarks of someone with high potential – that is,
the ability to adapt and grow into different and increasingly complex roles and
environments.
What to look for when assessing the potential ?
First, the right motivation. High potentials have great ambition and want to
leave their mark, but they also aspire to big, collective goals and show deep
personal humility.
We then consider four other traits:
Curiosity: a penchant for seeking out new experiences, knowledge, and
candid feedback and openness to learning and change
Insight: the ability to gather and make sense of information that suggests
new possibilities
Engagement: a knack for using emotion and logic to communicate a
persuasive vision and connect with people
Determination: the wherewithal to fight for difficult goals despite challenges
and to bounce back from adversity
Survivor to CEO
The extraordinary capacity of the human being to overcome the
most adverse situations. When one is almost defeated or dead, we
build up strength from adversity to continue fighting for life. We go
deep into our most basic instincts and gather strength to live.
We were ordinary people. Anyone, under similar circumstances
would have done the same, and eventually survived. And once you
have overcome your mountain, you have another one to climb.
Ordinary people can accomplish extraordinary objectives.
We couldn’t have survived individually. Survival was team work,
which needed each one of us to be OK. You need to work for the
team and for you.
There were no absolute leaders. Different leaders emerged
according to different circumstances. You have to find your
authentic leadership style. Not all leaders are alike. One thing is to
be a hero, another is to lead.
Leadership Lessons from a plane crash- Pedro Algorta
The final walk, as a group objective. The need to live
focused on surviving day by day. One day at a time.
We didn´t have all the answers. We wanted to live, we
worked to survive, but we were not sure we were going to
make it.
Our enormous capacity to recover. Our resilient capacity.
After this ordeal, we have all lived ordinary lives. How we
managed. The need to put it in a backpack and look
forward.
The different perceptions. The ordinary out of the
extraordinary. For 35 years this ordeal was not an issue for
me."
Leadership Lessons from a plane crash- Pedro Algorta
Stanford University Study- Tracked 4 year old year children
through high school – Placing a tasty Marshmallow in front of
them & tell them they have a choice- They can eat it
immediately or wait about 15 mins. And get an extra
Marshmallow to enjoy-Results for Resistors
More socially competent , personally effective, , self- assertive &
better able to cope with life frustrations.
Less likely to freeze , regress or become disorganized when
under pressure.
Embraced & pursued challenges in the face of difficulties.
Self reliant & confident, , trustworthy, dependable, initiative
Still able to delay gratification in pursuit of their goals.
More academically competent, better able to put their ideas into
words, to use respond to reason, to concentrate and to make
plans & follow through. Eager to learn
Marshmallow Kids- Impulse Resistors
The best employees & executives are what talent management experts call
“portable”—able to effectively transition from one role, company, industry, or
country to the next.
Most people assume that the best hiring strategy is to find the best
performers in a given field and get them on your team, but Harvard’s Boris
Groysberg has found that, like those calves from better farms, most people
aren’t so portable.
One of the best ways he demonstrates this is with a study on equity research
analysts moving between Wall Street investment banks.
You would expect high portability in these situations: Making such a move,
they continue operating in a similar environment, analyzing the same
companies in the same sector, working with the same clients.
They don’t have to sell their house, move to another state, buy a new house,
look for new schools for the children, or help their spouses cope and adjust to
a move.
What could be easier? Yet Boris has found that while star equity research
analysts who stay at one firm continue to shine, the performance of those
who move declines quite dramatically in the following year and remains below
previous heights even after five years.
Fat Calves & Falling Stars- ( 1/4)
Talent is much less portable than we think, because performance isn’t just one P; it is
built on five
Processes, Platforms, Products, People, and Politics—and most of those you
can’t take with you.
Where you come from and where you go to matter. While cattle from fertile farms don’t
gain as much weight at regular farms, the survivors of poor environments flourish.
Likewise when a star executive moves to a weaker firm, his or her performance is likely
to lose its luster; if the person moves to a stronger firm, by contrast, he or she will keep
shining.
Think about it in practical terms: Should you only embrace candidates from
outstanding firms like McKinsey or Goldman Sachs, as many companies do? Or would
you be better off following a more counterintuitive strategy and finding the true talents
who have managed to thrive at weaker firms?
Teams are important too. When people move together, they tend to do better than
when they move alone.
In addition, some types of role are more portable than others: COOs are much less so
because their job requires lots of internal knowledge and many relationships; CFOs
and other functional experts are usually better positioned to move. You must check for
how well an incoming star will fit into your industry given its dynamics, into your
organization given its culture and strategy, and into your team given the personalities
on it.
Fat Calves & Falling Stars- ( 2/4)
Perhaps the biggest key to finding portable talent, however, is
another P, potential—the ability to adapt and grow into increasingly challenging
roles and business environments.
Although today’s best H.R. practices tend to focus on experience and competency
fit (making sure that someone’s abilities match those required for the job), in
today’s volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous world, that’s no longer
enough, because the job itself is so likely to change.
First, the right motivation. High potentials have great ambition and want to leave
their mark, but they also aspire to big, collective goals and show deep personal
humility.
High potentials also have four other traits:
Curiosity: a penchant for seeking out new experiences, knowledge, and
candid feedback, and an openness to learning and change.
Insight: the ability to gather and make sense of information that suggests new
possibilities.
Engagement: a knack for using emotion and logic to communicate a
persuasive vision and connect with people.
Determination: the wherewithal to fight for difficult goals despite challenges,
and to bounce back from adversity.
Fat Calves & Falling Stars- ( 3/4)
If you want to keep your calves fat and avoid falling stars, reject
the myth of the executive who thrives at all times and in all
places. Instead, consider how portable your candidates really
are.
Understand how the five Ps have played into their performance.
And, most important, check that they have the potential to
embrace and excel through unrelenting change.
Fat Calves & Falling Stars
Professional success used to depend on experience, knowledge, & skill. But things have changed
in recent decades.
First, knowledge has become as rapidly obsolete as universally available.
Second, we live in an increasingly uncertain and volatile world where, even the past has become
unpredictable. And, finally, business has become more global and diverse.
In this new normal, experience and knowledge are less relevant, while the abilities to learn and
adapt, to be resilient and to connect with others are ever more crucial.
You should look for candidates who have followed non-traditional career paths.
Look for people who have shown the penchant for personal disruption
When making senior appointments, look for two things:
Readiness for the job
Readiness is about the fit between the requirements of the position and the candidate at
that particular stage in his or her career. It rests on critical competencies and cultural fit.
And, in my view, non-linear job changes can tell a lot about several powerful emotional
intelligence-based competencies — flexibility, adaptability, empathy, organizational
awareness and relationship management — that differentiate stars from average
performers in new roles.
Potential for further development.
Disruptive moves can also tell you a lot about potential because they show a candidate’s
curiosity, insight, inspiration and determination, which in turn indicate a search for
learning and challenge. In fact, I’m usually worried when I don’t see major job shifts on
candidates’ resumes. It could suggest they’re not seeking growth and that they’re not
fully prepared for a leadership transition.
Unconventional Resumes
One of the most dramatic examples seen on this, at a national level, is that of
Japan.
It is discovered young Japanese executives had higher potential than the average
in the global database.
While senior Japanese executives had lower-than-average competence. Why
weren’t these leaders living up to their promise?
It’s due to the extremely limited degree of job- and career-shifting in Japan, not
only across companies but even within them.
Of course, there’s nothing wrong with a perfectly linear career if you are still
proactively growing and learning and successfully performing at ever higher levels
of complexity.
But as Nitin Nohria and Boris Groysberg have shown, Leaders are not as portable
as we might assume
Employers — and recruiters — know this.
So it’s important for all aspiring executives to think about disruption in the context
of their careers and to consider job changes that prove an ability to master new
companies, sectors, cultures and strategies.
You’ll be measured against people who already have.
Unconventional Resumes
Imagine that you light a thousand identical light bulbs – same make
Leave them on until they burn out
Inevitably , one will last longer than all others
It is very difficult to predict which one it would be
Some people think the same is true of executives, including CEO’s
Luck is the reason a few outperform ??
Yet they are held up as shining examples for the rest of the people
Leadership is not based on luck
Jim Collins saying “ Whether you prevail or fail, endure or die, depends
more on what you do to yourself than on what the world does for you “?
The right leaders can help company make its own luck.
Then the question is how to separate the Skilled one from the lucky one ?
Going back to Bulb analogy, Identify the best CEO’s , Managers & staff
without burning through them all ?
Light bulbs & CEO’s- (1/2)
First need to consider
Intelligence, Values, Key indicators of potential , EI, Portability
As per Egon Zehnder there are 8 Leadership competencies
Strategic Orientation –Thinking long-term & outside one’s own area. Requires business awareness,
critical analysis & conceptualization of information in a way that defines the next steps. High
performers challenge the current direction and propose new long-term direction.
Market insight- Understanding the market in which the business operates, including the competition,
suppliers, customer base and regulatory environment. High performers segment the market and
anticipate where it will go, based on understanding the drivers and the competition.
Results orientation- Focusing on delivering & improving measurable business results. High
performers improve the way things are done based on a thoughtful, calculated approach to risk.
Customer impact- Serving and building value-added relationships. High performers cultivate
relationships and anticipate the customers’ needs from their own perspective
Collaboration & Influencing- Working with and influencing those outside one’s functional area to
create a positive impact on business performance. High performers facilitate collaboration and
partnerships.
Developing organizational capability Developing the long-term capabilities of others and the
organization as a whole. High performers provide constructive behavioral feedback in a long-term
career context.
Team Leadership- Building effective teams in one’s immediate organization. This applies to virtual or
cross-functional teams, whether or not there is a formal leader. High performers build empowered
teams that can develop and deliver on goals.
Change leadership- Transforming, aligning and energizing an organization. High performers create
change leaders to propagate a new message
Light bulbs & CEO’s- ( 2/2)
Outstanding Vs. Average
Globalization makes the world flat – Cultural
differences still abound.
How to read & assess people from diverse
backgrounds ?
Does it take different abilities to lead successfully in
different countries ?
Can we transplant people from one culture to
another ?
How to preserve Company’s Ethos across markets
while still acknowledging local customers?
National cultures have distinct values, which in turn
create different behaviors.
Reading People around the World –(1/2)
There are many ways of mapping these , but the model developed by ………….
Model developed by the Dutch Researcher Geert Hofstede
Power distance
Reflects willingness of weaker members of organizations to accept an unequal distributions of
power.
It is quite high in Latin America, Africa, Asia & the Middle East
It is very low in Anglo & German Countries
Individualism
Measures the degree to which the person is distinguished from the group
North America & Europe are high individualistic.
Asia, Africa & Latin America have much stronger collectivistic values
Uncertainty Avoidance
Indicates tolerance for ambiguity
It is quite high in Latin America, Many southern & eastern European countries & Japan &
lower for Anglo, Nordic & Chinese Culture
Masculinity
Scores the distribution of roles across genders
Japan & Several European countries rank as highly masculine, while Nordic countries are
much less so.
Long-term Orientation
Whether people focus on distant rather than immediate outcomes.
It is high in East Asia, moderate in Europe, and low in the Anglo countries , Muslim world &
Latin America
Reading People around the World- ( 2/2)
4. The Bright Future
Surrounding yourself with the
best doesn’t stop at selection.
Your stars need the right
integration, development,
coaching, and promotion if you
want them to truly shine.
In USA along more than 1,00,000 people are waiting for the body parts they need
to live- but they also face a significant chance of organ rejection, since the body’s
immune system is built to fight off any foreign presence.
When new person joins your team / takes a new role, there are similar threat of
rejections- strategies for success are the same.
Imperatives for successful hire
To find the right people ( Healthy organs)
Ensure they fit into your organization ( compatibility)
Properly support their integration
Encourage the new person to meet with everyone who will play a role in their
success
Outreach should be in five directions
Up ( to you & other bosses)
Across ( to peers)
Down ( To subordinates)
Out ( to clients)
In ( to personal contacts , family members & friends)
Accelerated Integration
Saying by Lyle Spencer- “ You can train a turkey to climb a tree, but I’d rather hire
a squirrel”
Find Squirrels – that is people whose experience, knowledge & skills make them
perfectly suited for the role
Having said this don’t discount the turkeys that show potential- with right support,
some can indeed learn to climb as far & as fast.
When training people in your team to do bigger & better the competencies
required are :
Strategic Orientation
Market insights
Results orientation
Customer impact
Collaboration & Influencing
Developing organizational capability
Team leadership
Change leadership
Also concentrate on EI – Self Management, Relationship management
Teaching a Turkey to climb a tree- ( 1/2)
To Develop people around you
First make sure they really want to improve and have a
strong vision of the desired future.
Help your people objectively asses their strengths & areas
that need improvements.
Find the gaps between their “ Real selves” and their “
Ideal selves” – 360 degree feed back
Develop a learning agenda or action plan to close those
gaps.-Highly focused & practical
Don’t try to change too much at once.
Encourage people to work on specific behaviors & set
incremental goals
Encourage your learners to relentlessly practice their new
behaviors
Teaching a Turkey to climb a tree- ( 2/2)
As a leader who wants to be surrounded by the best, you need to
get your people inspired about improving themselves, especially
when it comes to Emotional Competencies- to understand where
they stand and where they fall short of ideal; to develop a cleverer
change plan; and to persevere in practice.
Turkeys can’t learn to climb tress all by themselves
Teaching a Turkey to Climb a Tree
Japanese Professionals had higher potential than the global average , but
lower competence.
Great raw material, but a poor final product.
Japan flawed refinement process.
Country’s educational systems & culture give its managers a jump-start in
their careers , but lacks developmental process there after.
Giving people bigger jobs with fancier titles & larger salaries won’t make them
better. More complex assignments will.
In ANZ – employee identified as high potential is promoted, the company
makes sure it is not the same job on a larger scale.
Companies like GE, Unilever & McKinsey do the same
For your team members , you have to make sure they have access to similar
opportunities.
Six leadership passages described by Ram Charan in Leadership pipeline.
Managing Self to Managing others to functional Manager; from Functional
Manager to Business Manager; then to Group Manager ; then to enterprise
Manager.
Growth from Complexity
Potential should trump seniority and that- when it comes to the
jobs that help leaders grow most- complexity always beats size
Growth from Complexity
High growth companies had executives with higher ratings in all 8 key
leadership competencies.
First one – driving performance through Customer impact
Second one – Collective competency matters more than individual stars
Third one – Companies with different strategies excelled with different
types of Executives at different levels.
Lesson from this
Focus on developmental efforts
Understanding & building on each person’s spiky strengths.
Ensuring that team members have skills that complement each other,
making the whole greater than the sum of its parts
Training your leaders in competencies that match their career stage
and your team, unit or organization’s broader goals.
Normal temptation is to try to make everyone good at everything , but it is
fool’s errand , because it requires a huge amount of time & investment to
make everyone good at everything.
Finding Alignment
As a Leader you should be disciplined about aligning your people
development practices with your situation & goals.
Aim to cultivate a balanced team & to build everyone’s unique
strength to the highest levels of mastery
Finding Alignment
Capuchin Monkeys & Equal pay
TED talks – Frans De Wall
Two Capuchin monkeys are kept in side-by-side cages.
Each monkey is given the same task to complete: handing the experimenter a
rock. Their “pay” is a slice of cucumber.
The first time a monkey completes the required task he is recompensed with a
small chunk of cucumber and eats it without a kerfuffle.
But when the experimenter starts paying one of the monkeys in grapes (which
the monkeys like better than cucumbers and is obviously regarded as a better
pay), the monkey who was being paid in cucumbers goes bananas and
protests over the unequal pay.
He ditches his second chunk of cucumber at the scientist then pounds the
table and rattles the walls of his cage in protest of the pay disparity.
Mr. de Waal said if both monkeys get cucumber as a reward they are happy
to repeat the task up to 25 times.
‘But if you give one grapes, which is a far better food, then you create inequity
between them,’ Mr. de Waal said.
Equal work deserves Equal pay
Capuchin Monkeys & Equal pay
When it comes to people – to attracting, retaining & motivating
them- pay is also important.
People expect to be equally compensated for the work they
provide.
We are driven by 3 essential things
Autonomy- the freedom to direct our lives
Mastery-The desire to achieve excellence in what we do
Purpose- The knowledge that what we do is in service of
something bigger than ourselves
Money will never motivate the wrong people to do right thing.
Incentivize all the right people you have picked with the
opportunity to play independent roles on your team, to master
their skills, and to pursue broader team, organizational or social
goals.
Capuchin Monkeys & Equal pay
5. Teams That Thrive
The best get even better when
they work together. As a
leader, it is your job to build a
diverse, effective, committed
group capable of achieving
collective greateness.
In 1990’s working in the Buenos Aires office of Egon Zehnder their Argentine executive
search practice soared, recording the highest per capita financial performance in the whole
firm for five consecutive years.
But we all know what happened in 2001. By the end of the year, Argentina’s economy had
collapsed.
It was the largest sovereign debt default in world history, and GDP fell by some 30% coupled
with a 300% currency devaluation.
Over 12 days, five different presidents took control of the country. One bank lost more
money in a few weeks than it had accumulated over the previous century.
There were companies with losses larger than their sales, and one month the number of new
cars sold in the country was lower than the number of cars stolen! As you can imagine, that
was not an easy time for me. No one in their right mind was looking to hire a search
consultant.
As soon as I finished, one of our Dutch partners, Sikko Onnes, stood up and said: “Claudio,
if I understand what you are implying, you are totally wrong. Our partnership has benefited
from the extraordinary contribution of your office for well over a decade. Now it’s the time
for us to support you. Your only job is to go back to the Buenos Aires office and tell every
single member of the consulting and support staff that they all have our full and
unconditional support.”
The whole group then stood up and applauded. I tried to thank Sikko, but I couldn’t
because I was in tears. What I felt then, from my colleagues, was unconditional love.
A Culture of Unconditional Love
Thanks to Egon Zehnder’s corporate culture, it’s something I get at work every single
day, and it’s what encourages me to give my absolute best in return, now for 28
years. Any firm that wants to not only hire the best talent but also pull them together into
strong and lasting teams can’t do so without fostering a compelling and inspiring
culture. That’s how you overcome challenges, and keep your mission going in your
absence.
All serious research, all respected business thinkers, and all great leaders confirm this
point. As Peter Drucker put it, “culture eats strategy over breakfast”. Just take a look at
Southwest Airlines, the company which saw the greatest value expansion in the S&P
500 between 1971 and 2001. Herb Kelleher — its CEO for 35 years — once said:
“Given enough time and money, your competitors can duplicate almost everything you’ve
got working for you. They can hire away some of your best people. They can reverse-
engineer your processes. The only thing they can’t duplicate is your culture… Do you
know the difference between strategy and culture? Well, when Napoleon was in Paris in
a room with all his generals around a table, discussing how to attack Russia, that’s
strategy. But what makes a million men march to Moscow, that is culture!”
Of course you still need to hire outstanding performers with great potential; appoint them
to the right roles; identify, retain, motivate and develop your brightest stars; and build
great teams fit for the purpose. But you can’t make the mistake of ignoring culture. If you
do, you’ll achieve very little, and it won’t last long. Your people won’t go as far as they
could, or they will leave.
A Culture of Unconditional Love
Two basic compensation models
Eat-What-You-Kill – in which people pay directly reflects the
business they generate and the work they produce for
customers. – Equitable & economically logical
Lock-Step- in which people’s pay is unrelated to their
personal contribution & instead varies according to some
pre-established formulae related to years of service etc.
Lock-step is non- existent in USA firms
Professional service firms follow an eat-what-you-kill system .
Few Lock-steps - Law firm Watchtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and
Mckinsey
The key to out-going the eat-what-you-kill model – rigorous
people process & strong culture
Lone Wolves Starving
6. The Better Society
Once we have all surrounded
ourselves with the best in our
own personal & professional
lives, why not extend the
practice to our organizations,
institutions & nations? That is
where great people decisions
matter the most .
Best Practices for CEO succession
Start Planning early, ideally when CEO takes charge, but never
later than 3 to 4 years before he or she expects to leave
Create & maintain a clear outline of what you need from the CEO
role, informed by the Board & detailing all the required
competencies,
Regularly assess your leaders against it.
Build your internal bench – identifying, assessing & developing
potential CEO candidates & benchmarking them against the best
external talent.
Look externally for more candidates- Planned succession approach
Consider both insiders & outsiders
Executive search firm can add great value in this.
Board to conduct periodic emergency succession drills- since 50%
of CEO successions are unplanned.
Robust transition process
Russian Roulette at the top
Without the right people on the top & the right mix of board a company
cannot succeed.
Clear strategy , Alignment of the board on critical challenges like the
company should go public, pursue a big takeover or a merger, or make
smaller, more targeted acquisitions etc.
Knowledge of the board about the inside knowledge of the company is key
to the quality of board composition.
Unexploited talent – Women on the board
A true leading board should move from compliance & certification to true
Leadership, adding real value through their vision & judgment.
Get right people on the board – create a profile of the ideal candidates
There is no need for line experience or exposure industry- what is needed
is exceptional proven competence in key areas that other boards
members don’t have.
Healthy mix of insiders, who provide critical company knowledge to the
board, and outsiders who offer different perspectives. Leverage cultural &
gender diversity for the team to be effective
True Leading Boards.. (1/2)
Board candidates should also be formally assessed not just on experience
and cultural fit. But also on four specific board competencies.
Two are related to judgment
Results orientation ( A strong focus on long-term value & a willingness
to challenge the status quo)
Strategic orientation ( an ability to help shape & implement corporate
strategy by raising key issues & providing relevant advice & counsel)
Two others reflect Values & Behavior
Collaboration & Influencing ( an openness to teamwork & robust,
rigorous debate)
Integrity & Independence ( a desire to take principled action, even at
personal risk, for the good of the company).
Prepare your best people to be great directors by taking on work that
either involves macro strategy & other broad issues.
In USA alone there are more than 12,000 public companies offering more
than 100,000 opportunities for board service.
True Leading Boards.. (2/2)
Companies need different types of people leading the charge, depending
on where they stand.
In early stages to create a vision of sustainability –Strong change
leadership & influencing skills
From Vision into action successfully & profitably – Result orientation &
commercial acumen.
From this to progression and proactive sustainability – leaders need
outstanding strategic & commercial orientation to anticipate future needs-
drive motivation & long-term relationship
Sustainability becomes a virtuous circle.
When you pursue it, you get the smartest, most creative , passionate &
principled people.
These people create a shared value for all
The people should work for the company because the loves its values &
the sense of empowerment they get.
As per Chouinard – “ Hire great people and leave them alone “
Sustainability- the Virtuous circle
Great people decisions first start with a wide pool of candidates – insiders
& outsiders.
The second important aspect is making great people decisions is to
carefully assess candidates against the most relevant competencies for
the role/job.
Part of the challenge is to choose people who are similar & familiar and
make us feel comfortable.
In the book Indispensable : When Leaders really matter – variety of case
studies from Abraham Lincoln to Winston Churchill to show how a single
individual at the right place in the right tie can save or destroy a country.
Two categories of leaders
Filtered Leaders – mostly Insiders whose career followed a normal
progression
Unfiltered Leaders – Were either outsiders who had little experience or
got their job through exceptional circumstances.
Highly filtered leaders achieved little change
Unfiltered ones had the most impact .
Electing Country Presidents
Singapore & Jamaica
Singapore & Jamaica were identical twins until 1965.
Both countries are subtropical islands of similar size & population.
Both very weak economics with low per capita income.
50 years later – Singapore has become one of the most competitive
nations in World- Per capita income > $ 60,000- 4th highest in the World
Jamaica remains a third world state, with a per capita income < $ 7,000.-
101st Place .
Singapore – extraordinary evolution- started with as a benign dictatorship
& evolved through the decades to a much more open & democratic
country.
No natural resources- It thrives because invested in talent passionately
with consistency both in private & public sector.
It was due to the extraordinary leadership with a clear vision- Mr.Lee Kuan
Yew.
He brought best in each year’s crop of graduates into government.
He did not look at just academic results, but also imagination, quality of
leadership, dynamism- especially character & motivation
Singapore & Jamaica- (1/2)
In few years
Public sector instituted massive scholarship programs
Rigorous assessment practices focused on potential.
Extensive training & development
Exemplary rotation & milestones courses.
Outstanding promotions, recognition & salary benchmarking practices
to private sector
Resulted in High-Quality, forward thinking public leadership – made
Singapore more attractive to Private sector & talent.
Investing in top Talent, Singapore’s political & public leaders have created
a social & economic miracle, overcoming both the country’s difficult
history.
All other nations, including those that are much favored, should strive to
do the same .
Singapore & Jamaica- (2/2)
The Pope
The Pope has more than 4,000 bishops reporting to him, who in turn lead
some 400,000 priests, who tend to more than one billion followers. I
In such an organization, few things are more important than making great
appointments.
Choosing a successor to Pope is a great challenge.
One positive sign is the pope’s wise choice to retire at 85, acknowledging
that he no longer has the “strength of mind and body” to do the job in such
a rapidly changing world.
Age inevitably erodes decision-making skills and particularly the fluid
intelligence that enables us to solve problems not encountered before.
Appointing his successor is a much more complicated & challenging
decision.
The pope’s job is vastly different than the ones done by cardinals, just as
the CEO role is nothing like those of C-Level executives.
The pope is alone at the top, with no peers and no day-to-day boss (other
than God, who happens to be a master delegator).
How to Pick up the next Pope- ( 1/3)
He has to decide on all sorts of complex issues, in an volatile global environment,
facing enormous pressure. Meanwhile, there is a fixed pool of candidates: the
cardinals who make up the selection committee. (It’s an unusual process in which
the recruiters are the potential hires and the direct reports choose their own future
leader!)
But the cardinals need to consider the right criteria.
Three quarters of Catholics live in the developing world, while two-thirds of the
electors (and candidates) come from Europe. But this is a side issue. What matters
are the factors that best predict leadership success.
Considering candidates for CEO roles, my primary concern is the
person’s potential to perform well in larger, more complex roles. There are three
central indicators.
The first is the right motive.
Does the candidate display the proverbial paradoxical blend of fierce
commitment and deep personal humility?
Is he really committed to building lasting greatness and to make our world a
better place, for truly selfless reasons?
While most cardinals should hopefully satisfy this criterion, of course some will
do it more than others
How to pick up the next Pope- (2/3)
Four key leadership assets:
Curiosity,
Insight,
Engagement, and
Determination.
Does the candidate proactively seek new experiences, ideas and knowledge,
soliciting feedback and staying open to learning and change?
Can he gather and make sense of a vast range of information and discover new
insights that, when applied, transform past views or set new directions?
Is he good at connecting on an emotional level with others, communicating a
persuasive vision and helping others stay connected with the broader organization?
Does he seek self-awareness, demonstrate empathy, and inspire commitment?
Finally, will he have the strength to persist in the face of difficulties and the ability to
bounce back from major setbacks or adversity?
Last, but not least, I look at the candidate’s ability to make great appointments.
This is even more important in the Catholic Church; given its flat structure, huge
reach and geographic spread, delegation is essential.
“The most important leadership skill is, clearly, the ability to make great
people decisions, to put people in the right seats and to rigorously take them
off the bus when you have to.”
How to pick up the next Pope- (3/3)
Take Away
It's a cliché that it is "people" who make the difference when it comes to top
companies, but like a lot of cliches, it's probably true.
As Southwest Airlines' Herb Kelleher once said:
"Given enough time and money, your competition can duplicate almost
everything you’ve got working for you. They can hire away some of your best
people. They can reverse-engineer your processes. The only thing they can’t
duplicate is your culture.”
As author Claudio Fernández-Aráoz makes clear, the way to start creating that
great culture is "with you, the leader, using it as a filter for hiring", and this
book aims to help in that process.
As he explains, this is unsurprising. We are still hardwired to make decisions
according to four Fs: Flight, Fight, Food and Fornication. In caveman times, when
deciding "Can I eat that thing or is it going to eat me?", relying on others was
important, and looking for similarities natural. But what was once an effective
strategy is seriously limiting. We appreciate and trust people similar to us, yes,
but:
“You cannot be successful in a highly connected, cross-cultural, globally-minded
environment if you seek support only from others exactly like you. You need to
surround yourself with people who have diverse backgrounds and complementary
skills, and who properly challenge you.”
To Sum up…
Recognizing your failings
Understanding external challenges
Assessing and selecting the best
Helping your stars shine
Fostering collective greatness
Making great people decisions where they
matter the most.
“ Hire for Potential & Just not experience
Mail your comments to ramaddster&gmail.com
