Leadership: No One-Hit Wonders Need Apply
| posted by John Baldoni“What would have really pissed me off is if Jeff had said, ‘We’re just one hit away.’ He never said that…” That is Jeff Immelt talking about another Jeff -- Zucker of NBC Universal. “[Zucker] took all the right steps.” Immelt, CEO of General Electric, does not suffer fools lightly. But in the entertainment industry, foolishness at least in terms of lavish expenses, outrageous behavior, and over-inflated egos, is common place. Zucker is an accomplished television executive who has risen through the ranks at NBC and now heads all of the entertainment. NBC’s hit television shows have evaporated but Immelt is sticking with Zucker in part because the younger Jeff fits the profile of a GE executive’s “growth traits,” which, as reported by Patricia Sellers of Fortune, include “inclusiveness imagination/courage, expertise, external focus and clear thinking/decisiveness.”
The fact that Zucker understands that one hit does not guarantee success sets him apart from many in Hollywood, but also reveals that growth must be sustainable. One hit television show does not guarantee another. Zucker, according to Immelt, believes in a team approach as well as generating more good material. Easy to say, but hard to predict in the fickle world of Hollywood.
Zucker’s example is instructive for those of us not in the entertainment industry. Many executives may be content to shoot for the big score. You see this kind of behavior on Wall Street with investment bankers as well as with high performing sales folks. And in those environments, “shooting the moon” may be worth it, or even expected, but in day to day management going for the big score is not simply risky it can be foolhardy. A chief reason why is because going for broke puts everything else aside for one single target, and if that target is achieved, or missed, what happens next.
So when a manager is being considered for higher positions, here are some questions to ask him or her.
How do get your people to work as a team? The pro-forma reply will describe how the executive must set objectives and targets. The more insightful answer involves a degree of reflection, as it how he or she gets to know the wants, needs and desires of the team. Only then will a manager be able to pull people together to hit meet those objectives
What do you need to do to grow your skills to be promoted? The quick answer is to list qualifications or mention various jobs held. The savvy answer may be “whatever the organization needs” but balanced with a caveat “as long as I can be productive.” That is, telling a marketing guy he must have some engineering experience is ridiculous; that means going back to undergraduate school. However, the opposite is possible; giving an engineer a turn in marketing can be eye-opening and will tune an engineer to customer wants and needs. That insight may make him or her more qualified to take on general management roles outside of engineering or operations.
How do you overcome defeat? This question may throw the high performing folks; they may perceive that they have not failed. And maybe they have not in a current job. But understanding that setbacks occur in every project, including successful ones is vital. You want managers with resilience and staying power running the show. Those who get thrown off course by a roadblock are not leaders. Leaders find ways, and more often people, who can get around those roadblocks.
A common thread in each of these questions is self-awareness. Zucker, someone who has battled cancer twice and survived as well as achieved much in his career, certainly knows himself. An executive without self-awareness is doomed to invest too much in his own skills as well as his own ego. Self-motivation and self-determination are critical, but when they are so overpowering the individual cannot see beyond himself he is not ready for higher things. Coaching can help point out the blind spots, but seeing the blind spot and doing something about it are two different things.
And that’s where self-awareness must be transformed into self-initiative, that is, I will make the necessary change. Sometimes change involves stopping a destructive behavior, e.g. cutting people off or refusing to delegate. Other times it involves doing something, e.g. being a better listener or making an effort to encourage opposing points of view. Self-aware executives are not one-hit wonders; they are people who can take themselves and their teams to the next level.
Source: Patricia Sellers “Life Imitates TV” Fortune 5.14.07
John Baldoni • Leadership Author/Speaker • Baldoni Consulting, LLC • john@johnbaldoni.com • www.johnbaldoni.com
