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Leading:
The Art of Becoming an Executive
McGraw-Hill (1990) |
"Executives determine what is going to be run, managers do the
running." My thought was that those who can learn to become
executives will always find interesting and profitable work. But they have
to understand the attitudes and approach that make this possible. In order
to help this happen I wrote much of this book in case history format. In
that case, which is half the book, there are several continuing characters
whose careers are tracked, and a key person who teaches them along the
way. It is an easy read but it is packed full of useful concepts and
advice. Everyone is learning through real life cases. The book is divided
into two parts:
Chapter Content:
Part One:
The Principles of Learning
Executive Focus
Ten characteristics of an executive are listed along with descriptions so
they can be recognized. This is part of the "executive oath."
The second part of this section is "getting inside the executive
mind" which will help the reader identify what is real and what is
myth in that world.
Relationships
The ecology of an organization is as delicate and vulnerable as that of a
forest. How people get along, how they communicate, how clear the policies
are: these are the life styles of the forest. Stories are told to describe
how problems can be created as well as resolved.
Quality
Quality is the result of a carefully constructed culture that weaves
it into the fabric of the organization. In this chapter we talk about a
hospital and its expensive administrative problems such as accounts
receivable overdue, excess inventory, communication errors and such.
Management learns that they cannot assume everyone wants the same thing.
Finance
The "black holes" of finance can swallow a company or an
individual. This chapter shows how people and organizations fall into the
traps that deprive them of nourishment while burdening them with
unnecessary care. The fundamentals of finance are described in a glossary
format.
Part Two:
Five Variations of a Theme On Becoming a Leader.
Ed Kargston leaves his top management job to set up a small firm that
will develop executives for client companies. He is sent five bright young
over achievers and sets about helping them understand. They do this
through discussion; through videos of meetings; and through
experimentation. The chapters are:
A New Beginning
Ed decides to leave his company and form a new venture. His thought
process is reviewed to help us understand him better.
Organizing Kargston Associates
Ed finds that he has to do a great deal of things personally that
formerly were handled by some department on the other end of his internal
telephone line.
The Participants
Introducing the individuals who will participate in Ed's program. Each
of the three men and two women are profiled so the reader can relate to
them.
Class Introduction: "A Day at the Movies"
The class watches videos taken in each of the individuals area. They
discover that they may have been giving their people direction differently
than intended and that their executive skills are not as good as thought.
Elizabeth
She learns about arrogance and how it can appear that way to others
even though she was trying to be her efficient and cooperative best. She
learned to be herself rather than the "male type" executive she
had created.
Nick
He found in the video that his people thought he was only concerned with
money and the bottom line. They were prepared to dump people and do
unethical acts if necessary to make money. He had to look at the way he
communicates.
Anna
Doing very well in her company she discovered that she was a victim of the
"wonder woman" syndrome. She too had to go back and review the
way she was working.
Harold
Here we have a complete transformation from a man who knew everything
about his company to one who realized he knew very little. This is a trap
that grabs many who are quite smart and as a result have risen to a high
level in an organization. Because they have a great deal of experience and
rank they have quit listening very much. Harold learns fast and beards the
big boss to work on the source of the company's problems.
Alvin
After being challenged to create a Purchasing department that gets much
better results than the traditional system. This has to be done over the
dead bodies of those who work in the operation.
Graduation Celebration
Everyone comes to Ed's home to discuss the changes in their lives. One
thing they realize is that what happened to them was not the result of
vast technological change but of taking a realistic view of the way they
ran their lives. They needed to understand the characteristics of
leadership.
Guidelines for Browsers
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