20% of the information that gives you 80% of what you need to know
A summarized extract from a series of internet articles by Peter Grazier
Most managers find it not so hard to get proficient in technical aspects of their work, in operations and in processes. But they often struggle with people related matters such as interpersonal communication, handling conflict, motivation, resistance to change etc because this has never been part of the curriculum in most universities other than in superficial ways.
President Bok, former President Rudenstine, incoming President Faust, members of the Harvard Corporation and the Board of Overseers, members of the faculty, parents, and especially, the graduates:
I’ve been waiting more than 30 years to say this: “Dad, I always told you I’d come back and get my degree.”
I want to thank Harvard for this timely honor. I’ll be changing my job next year … and it will be nice to finally have a college degree on my resume.
I applaud the graduates today for taking a much more direct route to your degrees. For my part, I’m just happy that the Crimson has called me “Harvard’s most successful dropout.” I guess that makes me valedictorian of my own special class … I did the best of everyone who failed
Read the full, brilliant speech here
from a 1998 article by Peter M. Senge of MIT
Know Your Purpose
We can start by inquiring into what we mean by mission anyway. It is very hard to focus on what you cannot define, and my experience is that there can be some very fuzzy thinking about mission, vision, and values. Most organizations today have mission statements, purpose statements, official visions, and little cards with the organization’s values. But precious few of us can say our organization’s mission statement has transformed the enterprise. And there has grown an understandable cynicism around lofty ideals that don’t match the realities of organizational life….
A previous article in this blog suggested that leadership is not about one magical trait or highly moral attribute – or a set of specific skills. It is many things – arising from a complex personal toolkit. One of the many “things” that a leader has to deliver are results – Dave Ulrich of the University of Michigan and consultants Jack Zenger and Norm Smallwood in the US have argued that it is not enough to gauge leaders by personal traits such as character, style, and values…
Here’s a list of 8 things all executives need to think about – irrespective of rank, sector, type of organization, nature of work. These things will make or break you – just a question of time – depending on how you react. The choice is yours…
Giving honest feedback to colleagues or subordinates is not easy; in fact it is for most managers a very difficult thing to do. Why is this the case? Well, managers feel they might say something too harsh, or too negative; the person receiving the feedback may react strongly; and relationships may suffer. So the temptation is to avoid giving feedback, to walk away, to not confront. The result: unresolved issues, below-the-surface resentment or discontentment….
It is rather naive to refer to leadership as if it may be the same in every kind of situation. There are so many definitions and so many ways of looking at this topic – one way to get a good overview of all the perpectives on leadership is to understand the “Leadership Cube”..
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