The Journey to Authentic Leadership

AITP March 11, 2010

Victor M. Font Jr.

The Challenge

Imagine for a minute that you have to prepare a resume where you can’t highlight the college you attended, what degrees you hold, your work experience or the project achievements you have had up to this point. The only data you can put on your resume pertains to who you are as a leader and what you have demonstrated. How would the resume read?

Background

• Senior IT Executive, 25 years’ experience– Entrepreneurial ventures & start-ups

• Bayonne Computer Center, Inc., Vice-President• SGL Data Systems, COO

– Consulting:• SB Thomas• Bell Communications Research, Inc.• NJ Special Olympics• AT&T Consumer Sales• JP Morgan

– Corporate management and leadership• Warner-Lambert• Pfizer• CARQUEST

Industries:• Accounting• Automotive• Banking• Engineering• Finance• Human Resources• Insurance• Learning Mgt• Legal• Manufacturing• Medical• Payroll• Pharmaceutical• Retail• Supply Chain

Warner-Lambert

• First corporate position: Technical Manager• Led matrixed teams of up to 30• Delivered projects on time and on budget• Consistently exceeded customers’

expectations

Feedback is a Gift

• Anonymous 360 review process• Victor is…

– Arrogant– Condescending– Makes me feel stupid

“We judge ourselves by our intentions. Others judge us by our behavior. We don't see our behavior; others don't see our intentions.”

—Anonymous

Reality Check

Other peoples’ perceptions are your reality

Charm School

• Center for Creative Leadership, Greensboro, NC• Leadership Development Program

– Feedback-intense learning experience, including hands-on activities to enhance leadership capacity

Dr. Jim FarrFounding Director

Servant Leadership

• Modern movement launched by Robert K. Greenleaf in his 1970– Supported by James Autry, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey,

Peter Block, Peter Senge, Max DePree, Larry Spears, Margaret Wheatley, Jim Hunter, Kent Keith, Ken Jennings and others

• Achieve organizational results by giving priority the needs of their colleagues

• Qualities: listening, empathy, healing, awareness, persuasion, conceptualization, foresight, stewardship, growth and building community

Servant Leadership is Nothing New

“The king shall consider as good, not what pleases himself but what pleases his subjects.”

—Chanakya (c. 350–283 B.C.), advisor and prime minister to Emperor Chandragupta, from his book Arthashastra

“And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: ”

—Matthew 20:27

“And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all.”

—Mark 10:44

There is an Easier Way!

I should have just listened to my wife…

Pfizer

• Hank McKinnell, former Chairman and CEO of Pfizer, Inc. says that each individual in an organization needs to “find a way to lead.”– Advocate for Servant Leadership

• The Leading Edge, Personal Situational Leadership• Sharpening the Edge, Team Dynamic Situational

Leadership• Strategic Organizational Leadership, Villanova

University

The Leadership Compass

“Just as a compass points toward a magnetic field, your True North pulls you toward the purpose of your leadership. When

you follow your internal compass, your leadership will be authentic, and people will naturally want to associate with

you. Although others may guide or influence you, your truth is derived from your life story and only you can determine what

it should be.” – Bill George and Peter Sims, “True North: Discover Your

Authentic Leadership”

Pfizer Leadership Survey

• > 2,500 C-Suite Level, SVPs, VPs, and Exec Directors

• What is the single most important leadership attribute ?– Vision– Leadership Style– Communication– Self-Awareness– Compassion

Leading: Discovering the Essence of Leadership

• Facilitated by Steve Buchholz in spring 2006

• Over 30 Participants flown to Sandwich, UK

• Leadership style: Visionary and Coaching

• Wrote my leadership framework

Linkedin Question

How do you define your Leadership Framework?

Chris, Senior Global Director for EMEA

“I break my framework down into four areas: Providing Direction

Allocating Resources Building Capability

Know where you are”

Steve, VP Solvents Marketing

“…its the clear statement ( published to measure actions ) of the cultural values and living those values on a day to day basis.”

David, Chief Technical Officer and Vice President

“The concept of empowering the right people to lead at the right time is fundamental to the professional and personal satisfaction of the individual members of team. It also promotes unity and teamwork within the entire organization.”

Sue, Vice President, LRN

“Our organization has a set of core values and related behaviors that we call our ‘Leadership Framework.’ We believe that everyone in an organization has the capacity to be a ‘leader’ and leaders are those individuals who exemplify ethical behavior, and make principled decisions and not pragmatic ones. Our performance assessment process completely integrates not just evaluation of performance, but evaluation (including self-evaluation) of whether performance is principled and consistent with our Leadership Framework.

In other words, being a leader is exhibiting the core values of an organization”

Dave, President and CEO

“We simply define leadership as ‘What goes around comes around.’

…every action we take as individuals or as a business has a predictable consequence…

…the qualities of listening, empathy, awareness, persuasion, and stewardship…will produce predictable positive consequences that ultimately allow…employees to be successful in both our personal and professional lives.”

William, Brand Manager - Senior Design Executive, Denim Expert

“Leadership is the pursuit of excellence each day.”

Andy, Intel

“Great question and perhaps even more fundamental is ‘what is leadership and how is that different from management…’

…For me leadership is about working outside of the box and changing yours and others worldviews to shift what they think is possible and appropriate, and how they can achieve it…

…Management is all about execution inside the box within the realm of what is deemed possible today.”

David, Vice President, Development

“1. Know yourself first and foremost.2. Identify your principles.

3. Stick to them.

…principles: Honor, Integrity, Respect. And, to be clear, this is more about behaving with integrity and giving respect to others...honor is something only you can

decide for yourself if you have been following the right path or not.”

Jim Gulnac, Protégé

• In transition plastics industry Six Sigma GB–Hickory/Lenoir area, North Carolina

• I am not sure if I could answer that “interview question”

• Sent him my leadership framework as example• Received draft framework to review• Jim understands authentic leadership

Authentic Leadership is…

Centered on five key areas– Knowing your authentic self – Defining your values and leadership principles – Understanding your motivations – Building your support team – Staying grounded by integrating all aspects of your

life

The Journey

Leadership is the capacity to take others to a place they would not go by themselves; not by the power of your position, but by

the strength of your example.

The essence of Leadership calls for being both a pathfinder and a steward.

Pathfinding

• Understand the business context in which you are operating– Determine what leadership actions are needed

• Go to the balcony, take a broad view of the business landscape, and set a strategic direction for yourself and for those you influence

• What Challenges Face Me?– Assess your present situation– Define your leadership mandate: seven key actions I need to

focus on– Prioritize the actions

• Where do I want the business to grow?

Stewardship: Authority or Leadership?

• By virtue of your title and responsibility you are in a position of authority– This does not make you a leader– Two benefits: compliance and attention

• Leaders create a committed followership– What do you want your example to be?

• What makes up your example?– Persona is our outward manifestations. Includes our appearance,

manners, verbal ability, demonstrated competence and titles– Character is our essence, the core of who we are. Essence is about

one’s purpose, values, beliefs and visions• Integrity is the “integration” of Character and Persona

Why Should I Follow You?

• Employees don’t follow blindly– Educated, street smart and organizationally savvy

• Use of their discretionary energy depends on their commitment to their leader

• Leadership development is growing the person to grow the leader– Cannot separate the development of who we are

as individuals from leadership

Growth Strategies

Questions Discoveries

Am I aware of My Leadership Essence? Essence Profile

What Is My Reason For Leading? Purpose

For Whom Do I Set An Example? Constituency

What Will I Stand For? Values

How Will I Walk My Talk? Example

To Whom Do I Go For Advice? Leadership Board of Directors

What Strengths Do I Bring To My Role? Distinctions

Is Anything Getting In The Way? Derailers

How Do I Want To Be Remembered? Legacy

What Goals Do I Need To Set For Myself? Goals

How Do I Communicate My Leadership Aspirations To Others? Leadership Framework

Effective Leaders:

• Articulate vivid, over-arching goals and values• Drive daily behaviors and choices among competing

alternatives• Visions and priorities are lean and compelling, not cluttered

and buzzword-laden• Decisions are crisp and clear, not tentative and ambiguous• Convey an unwavering firmness and consistency in our

actions, aligned with the future picture they paint• The result: clarity of purpose, credibility of leadership and

integrity in organization

I Am This Kind of Leader

The Leadership Trust

• Founded by the late Dr. Jim Farr and Dr. Holly Latty-Mann in 1998

• Current President/CEO– Graduate Duke University School of Medicine– PHD in experimental psychology– Post doctorate in clinical psychology– Executive Professor of Leadership at the Wake Forest

University Babcock Graduate School of Management• Located in Durham, NC

“Victor, you clearly have your arms around this thing called leadership…”

Are You Up to the Challenge?

Imagine for a minute that you have to prepare a resume where you can’t highlight the college you attended, what degrees you hold, your work experience or the project achievements you have had up to this point. The only data you can put on your resume pertains to who you are as a leader and what you have demonstrated. How would the resume read?

Coming Soon: The Book

• Author: “Principles for Maturing Your System Development Life Cycle: The Ultimate Guide to the SDLC”

“…lot’s of books out there to tell you where you should be but not many to tell you how to get there.”

—Larry Zucker