Leadership is demonstrated through a variety of styles and its outcome can have a tremendous impact. Chairman and CEO of General Electric (GE) Jack Welch’s leadership style empowered employees and transformed the organization. Chairman and Chief Executive of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg’s continuous goal evaluation style of leadership ultimately redefined Silicon Valley. Chairman Emeritus and former CEO of Southwest Airlines Herb Kelleher’s famous “servant’s heart” developed generations of leaders at the organization. Recently, Larry Merlo, CEO of CVS, made a bold move (of no longer selling tobacco products) that may have a lasting impact on the organizational culture of CVS.
As public servants, professional city managers are called to lead. Are there ways we can transform our individual leadership styles and the styles of those in our organization to create the spectacular? A quick refresher on leadership principles may provide fresh insight when observed through the perspective of the individuals previously mentioned.
- Jack Welch was given the infamous moniker “Neutron Jack.” During the dismantling of GE in the 1980s, rank-and-file employees feared him, but something incredible happened in the early 1990s. By many critical accounts, Welch transformed himself from a manager to a leader. He avoided getting “caught in the weeds” and empowered his employees to make key decisions. This personal transformation inspired GE’s stunning turnaround. Many analysts have hypothesized that GE’s success would not have been possible without Welch’s own internal makeover from a manager to a leader. Creating a vision and allowing people to display passion for their work nurtured energy, excitement, and inspiration. Empowering those in our organizations could have a lasting impact in our communities.
- One of the most effective ways to help people perform is to be goal-oriented and not afraid to reevaluate the goal. It starts with answering, “where are we headed?” Mark Zuckerberg started Facebook with the goal to creating an online directory. From 2004 through 2009, Facebook’s goal morphed from a directory service to connecting individuals. Today, its goal is giving people the power to share and make the world more open. By his own admission, Zuckerberg’s leadership techniques have evolved with his company’s changing goals. Continuously evaluating our organization’s goals can also lead to a similar reevaluation of our own leadership techniques.
- Herb Kelleher’s relentless focus on spirit and the pursuit of placing employees first became a hallmark of Southwest Airlines’ success. Kelleher said that leadership is derived not from a quantitative formula, but from the heart, “because [leadership is] a vast mosaic with thousands of little pieces that you have to keep putting in place every day. It’s not a programmatic thing. It can’t be. It has to come from the heart, not the head.” Kelleher’s philosophy, coupled with Zuckerberg’s changing tactics, produces a salient point. Our leadership tactics and techniques may change, but their inherent sources do not change.
- Larry Merlo demonstrated that leadership creates organizational culture and identity. Merlo recently noted that the store’s stated mission—reinventing pharmacy to help people on their path to better health—was not aligned with its $2 billion in annual revenue from tobacco products. As a result, CVS announced that all tobacco products would be phased out of its stores. Many observers believe that their emergence as a corporate leader in the pharmacy industry will have a transformative effect on its own employees. Is there something in your organization that needs to be removed to create a transformation in its culture?
Each of these leaders provides examples useful for improving and transforming our leadership skills. Empowering our teams, reevaluating our goals, having a servant heart, and removing unhealthy practices can create a culture that provides positive change in our cities and towns.
(Article submitted by Brian DeLatte, Assistant City Manager, Portland. If you would like to write an article for consideration, please submit it to Kim Pendergraft at [email protected]. Please keep the information to fewer than 250 words.)