At C-Level

Petraeus on Leadership

General David Petraeus and David Gergen spoke today at the Harvard Kennedy School on 21st Century Leadership. Naturally there was much about "The Surge," and how they were able to bring about such a radical transformation in thinking, particularly with a nation full of skeptics.  (OK, many nations full of skeptics!)  He made an interesting point: It is easier to bring about transformational change if you treat it like it's your last job. 

The reasoning is simple--if you can eliminate any career aspirations or ancillary goals, and focus on simply doing the right thing, you make better decisions and it's easier to build constituencies.  I recall reading that Petraeus quit voting some years back, not out of lack of civic duty, but so he wouldn't be swayed by Washington politics in the administration of his duty. 

It's a good lesson for executives.  It's too easy to let self-interest get in the way of bedrock integrity and unbiased leadership. If every manager could forget about his or her career prospects, bonus and job security, and focus singularly on building an enduring and successful company, then great things would happen.

And heeeeeeere's the President!

 

The American economy is in a shambles.  Trillions have been lost in the market.  Unemployment is at a record high.  And we're spending hundreds of billions of dollars on the problem with no assurance that it's making a difference.  So what does President Barack Obama do in the midst of all this?  He goes on the Tonight Show and yuks it up with Jay Leno.

And you know what?  It was a great move.  It inspires confidence that the guy most in the know is still relaxed and having fun.  It tells the American people that maybe things aren't so bad, and gives us hope that they will get better; that they are getting better.

CEO's take note.  Sometimes when times are darkest we have the urge to hunker down.  We want our people to see us working hard, burning the midnight oil to solve the problems.  Moreover, we want to wait until we have some good news to share before getting out in public or addressing the troops.  So what do our people assume?  Generally the worst.

You may or may not agree with Obama's politics and his economic principles.  But you have to admire his leadership style.  It reminds me a little of how Churchill was received in his first stint as prime minister, as World War II consumed Britain.  His political philosophy wasnt broadly accepted, even within his own party.  But no one questioned his conviction and his steadfast resolution, which is exactly what the country needed.

Similarly, when times are toughest, business leaders need a firm course of action, and they need to openly communicate it with confidence, resolve and good spirits.

Product Safety a Dangerous Issue

One issue to watch carefully is how the new administration directs the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).  With the dramatic increase in products purchased from China and developing countries, the Commission's job has gotten more difficult. Congress recently empowered it with tighter restrictions and more resources and authority to impose greater penalties. But the Consumer Product Safety Act of 2008 has the potential to create a bureaucratic compliance nightmare for the countless companies that manufacture overseas and sell in the U.S.  Beginning next week importers must certify that their goods meet all the requirements of the CPSC based on "a reasonable testing program."  If these conditions are not met, the shipments may be held up, sent back or even destroyed.

As someone who has run a business that manufactured in China, this strikes fear in my heart.  Already Customs can be a crap shoot, especially for smaller companies with limited resources.  Trying to make impossible retail deadlines with the specter of new testing and compliance procedures will bury more than one company.  Let's hope the compliance expectations are reasonable--safe, but not onerous or stupid.  (For an example of stupid, go to Walmart and look at the disclaimers on children's toys.  I bought a 5' diameter swimming pool recently that was recommended only for children 10 and older.  No wonder they are universally ignored.)

A better approach is to put the safety responsibility onto the retailer.  They make the decisions on what to import.  They carry big sticks.  And they have the resources to conduct appropriate testing.

If the Bush administration has been too lax, Obama is expected to lean the other way, especially in an issue like this that has strong congressional backing.  Who he appoints to head the CPSC, and the direction he provides them, will have a significant impact on the consumer products sector. 

No Debate

Suppose I had a job interview that went like this:

So Bill, what were your regrets at your last job?

You know, there are always regrets. But let me tell you about some of the good things I did there.  I introduced three new products, significantly expanded retail distribution and built a great team.   I don't regret those things a bit.

Why did you leave your last job?

We all leave eventually, one way or another.  But during my tenure we doubled sales every year, built an IP portfolio and created a licensing program. You might also be interested in my philosophy of managing people. I like to inspire them to do great things. I know it may sound corny, but (sniff, sniff) I believe in people. 

How does your experience relate to this position?

I'm glad you asked me that. My experience will help me a lot, and when I get the job, you'll see that. I will increase revenue and lower costs. The stock price will skyrocket and morale will be really high. That's what this company needs and that's what I stand for. From what I know about the other candidates, they're against all of those things.

OK, but what skills do you bring to the party?

What do I bring to the party?  You know, when I was a kid, we used to have birthday parties in my back yard. My mom would bake the cake from scratch. We'd reuse the candles until they were worn out. Mom grew up on a farm, and her brother Edwin had a crewcut. He married a woman whose cousin used to shoot pool down at Louie's. One time I met a guy named Louie while we were eating pie at a neighborhood diner. He asked me what I thought about the future. I'm sure he made less than fifty thousand dollars a year. That's why I'm right for this job.  I can relate to people.

Uh, thanks.  Do you have any questions for me?

Yes.  But the good news is, I have even more answers. I can promise you this--I'll have an answer to your marketing questions. I'll have an answer to your finance questions. And I'll even have an answer to your operations questions. If there's one thing I will bring to this position, it's answers. No question about that.

So, do you think I'd get the job?  Then why do we let candidates off the hook when they all make it standard practice to  barely acknowledge the questions in a debate?  There has to be a better way.

Brand USA

Interesting research from Anholt-Gfk Roper and its Nation Brands Index report, which measures the world-wide public perception of countries as if they were brands.  More bad news for the U.S.  Despite leading the world in familiarity with 91%, we're only seventh in brand image.  In first place is Germany (talk about a turnaround!), followed by France, the UK and Canada (and we thought they could only beat us in hockey!).

The survey solicits responses to questions about the countries in six categories: Exports, Governance, Culture, People, Tourism and Immigration/Investment.  The overall ranking averages these six scores.  The United States' best showing ws in Exports (second behind Japan) and Immigration/Investment (uh-oh, we might take a dip there).

Clearly this country needs a repositioning.  Anecdotal research indicates that our old one--"We are better than the rest of the world at everything except hockey" is suffering from wearout and lacks believability, especially since the Olympics. So we need a formal brand repositioning exercise.

First we'll need to identify our target audience.  Russia's definitely out.  China too.  Same with the Axis of Evil, which I think we permanently offended.  We can't count on Europe anymore, not even the UK with Tony Blair gone.  And Iraq could go either way.  Maybe Africa.  Or Mexico, if we can just get the border guards to lighten up.

We'll need to update the creative brief:
Brand Strategy: We'll send other countries money and lots of other stuff for free.
Benefit Statement: You can take our money and stuff and still hate us.  We don't mind.
Core Competencies:  Good movies.  And Michael Phelps.

And of course, we also need a new agency.  Now if Crispin Porter can turn around Microsoft, then the USA is the perfect client for them.  Think about the parallels: Bill Gates makes products that help 90%  of us every day, then he gives away billions of dollars to worthy causes and we still call Microsoft "The Evil Empire" and laugh when that wolf-in-sheep's-clothing guy from Apple is condescending to the poor PC chump.  Sounds familiar, huh?

Quick, someone see if Jerry Seinfeld is available.  A little buffing up the old image and we'll be back on our way to brand dominance. 

The Deficit for Dummies

Pardon the headline. But most busy executives find it hard to take time to dig through the details about stuff like the deficit. Well, here’s a 10-minute explanation of federal  revenues and spending that makes it all surprisingly simple and clear. It’s brought to you by none other than chartmaster extraordinaire, Ross Perot, and his very useful site: www.perotcharts.com. (Try not to think about them being presented by a longer-than-long-shot presidential candidate with big ears and a squeaky voice.)

It’s a timely issue, since the administration just informed us that the 2009 deficit would be an all-time record $490B, plus some potential added military costs for Iraq and Afghanistan. That's $80B higher than the February forecast, and will bring the cumulative publicly held deficit up to what ... $6 trillion?  But that's just the here and now. What the charts make clear is that we’re rapidly approaching a very dangerous tipping point. The first of the 80 million Baby Boomers turn 65 in 2011, and that’s when the structural Social Security and Medicare costs really start to hit the fan. Combine that with a continually extending lifespan and the country’s economic structure as we know it is going to have to change in a big way.

This is particularly demoralizing in a presidential election year, when American voters are barraged with promises of increased benefits and decreased taxes. That's campaign arithmetic and it won't add up. No one wants to hear about reality until we’re waist deep in it and looking for a lifeline. So take ten minutes for a quick tutorial, then draw your own conclusions.