Fallible leadership

Former Google CEO, in a recent interview, admitted that he was too busy to see Social Network coming.

Former Microsoft CEO, at the turn of the century, admitted he too missed the significance of the Internet.

The Vatican, after years of floundering, decided to settle sexual abuse cases ( as of this edit, Pope Francis now personifies simplicity and humility).

In Japan, the advisor to the Prime Minister on nuclear issues resigned, saying “there is no reason for me to be here”.

Leadership fails too, as we do.  It’s just harder to publicly acknowledge it.

(yet in NY and S Carolina, politicians are trying to give their career a second life, with Clinton as role model).

There are forces at work, no matter who is in charge: innovator’s dilemma, creative destruction, perfect storm.  Mike Malone speaks about a new organizational model (core leadership team, and boundary-less around the edges) in ” The Future Arrived Yesterday”. Essentially, he speaks of being nimble, adaptive with a core group as curators of company experience and memories.

I would add to that: even within a core leadership team, I wouldn’t surround myself with a team of Yes men.

Look at Nixon. They had said Yes for a while, until they were asked to testify before Congress.

Then, we know what happened from there. Colson was conveniently born again while others went on to publish best sellers.

I’d rather agree to disagree, or went so far to appoint an office of “Devil’s advocate” within the organization.

Organization development often expounds the homogeneous unit principle (HUP) i.e. organizations grow best when members are ethnically alike. But when it comes to business, especially in current global climate, customers are found in every corner of the Earth 24/7. They are just a click away from your virtual doorstep. Who would you like to be your “receptionist” then? (SI model a few years back came from Russia, while Miss America a Muslim American).

Even Buddha himself , purported to be born in King’s Palace, walked among commoners to compare what’s on the ground vs what’s in the blueprint. Seeing so much “reality”, he turned inward, examined himself and found Enlightenment. Conversely, not everyone is on the path to Nirvana: dictators in the Middle East stay on and continue their personal enrichment.

Gaddafi not only surrounded himself with Yes men and his sons, he added an entourage of female bodyguards.

Talking about busy!

MCI taught me one lesson well: Reorganize even while the going is good.

I remembered management meetings on the East coast, right after I had just finished up a series of successful festival events on the West coast. No rest for the weary. And we discussed splitting up into three regions (instead of organizing along ethnic niche). Just to shake things up and cross-train our leadership team.

That same team now went on to do us proud: we were graced with meetings held all over the country, so all of us got exposed to the nuances of geography and zip code life styles. After all, we were a Mass Market organization: diversity, energy and can-do attitude.

I respect Eric Schmidt‘s forthrightness. Only it’s so ironic that I read his interview on LinkedIn Headlines, his competitor par excellence. Now only if LinkedIn Jeff Weiner would watch his rear view mirror. It’s not what you do that hurts you, it’s what you know you should do, but didn’t.