Leadership and culture.070201

Copyright Mark Leslie
Leadership and Culture
Mark Leslie
mleslie@leslieventures.com

Values and Culture
 Values
 A statement of what is supposed to be important around here
 Sometimes an ideal or optimistic statement
 And, by implication, what is not important
 If it works, a guide to inform both tactical and strategic business
decisions
 Culture
 The character of the organization
 What everyone knows about how things get done and what is
important
 Pervasive in every nook and cranny of the work life
 “Values” is talking the talk
 “Culture” is walking the walk!!

The Buck Stops Here
 Culture flows from the top (CEO) down
 Decisions
 An expression of values
 Process
 How the organization works
 Character
 Personality
A new CEO = a new Culture

Proprietorship vs. Stewardship
 Fundamental issue of leadership style
 Proprietorship is about “ME”
…and what you can do for me today
 Stewardship is about “US”
…and what we can build together for the
future

When I want to know what
France thinks, I question
myself.
-- Charles DeGaulle, 1966

“A leader is best when people barely
know that he exists. When his work
is done, his aim fulfilled, they will all
say, ‘We did it ourselves.’”
--Lao-tzu
(sixth-century B.C. philosopher and founder of
Taoism)

Be Visible, Be Invisible
 Be Visible
 There is a large part of leadership which is public (and mostly obvious)
 MBWA
 Many and varied public meetings
 Be exceptionally accessible
 Be Invisible
 The real work of leadership is behind the scenes, OFTEN ALONE
 Leadership is creating an environment where:
 people can independently apply their intellect judgment and energy
 …to advance the vision and goals of the organization
 …and achieve a personal sense of accomplishment in their work
 It is NOT “management”, which is accomplishing complex tasks through
others.

“Glamorous” is the Opposite of
Leadership
 Don’t get confused -- It is not about “ME”
 A Leader must always think of others and put them
first
 You can be a comrade to your followers, but you can
never be one of them
 When you are doing the “glamorous things”, you are
just doing your job on this team
Warning of Danger:
GLAMOR IS SEDUCTIVE…

If You Are Loyal to One, You
Are Loyal to None
 A leader must be loyal to the mission
above all else
 A leader is responsible for the well being
of ALL of his people
 A leader is the keeper of fairness and
equity in the organization

The Further You Are from a Problem
the Less You Know About It
 Trust those on the front lines – the really
do know more than those “back home”.
 The first line manager knows less about
the specifics, and THE NEXT manager
knows even less.
 When you get to the top you don’t really
know anything about anything anymore!
 You trade situational knowledge for
judgment, experience and perspective

The Higher Up you Get, the Fewer
Decisions You Should Make
 Everyone “offers” you the decision
 What is the impact of the decision
 Have they thought about it?
 Are they, more or less, in the right quadrant?
 What is the downside?
 Allowing others to make decisions has real
meaning to them, and develops their
judgment and maturity

The More Power You Give Away, the
More You Have
 You empower individuals by giving them
 Knowledge;
 Authority; and,
 An acceptable margin of execution error
 “What I know that you don’t know makes
me more powerful than you.”
 A leader has the power to level this playing
field!!!
 And diminish politicization of the organization
 Empowered individuals will be loyal to the company and
loyal to the leadership
 A loyal empowered workforce is a force multiplier for the

Know Thyself
 We all want to know everything, and be best at
everything
 It is a hallmark of great leaders that they know their own
 Strengths (the easy part) and
 Weaknesses (the hard part)
 Likes
 Dislikes
 Augment your weaknesses with other peoples strengths
 If possible find others to do the things you don’t like
 Check to see if your self-assessment is shared by others

Trust and You Will Be Trusted
 The first level of trust is based on the “fair
play” that is visibly exercised
 Great leadership comes from a deep
sense of trust between the leader and the
led
 As a leader, you MUST take the first step,
you must trust first!
 You may occasionally get disappointed, but
the payoff is greater than the cost

Confront the Issues Directly,
But be Thoughtful, Gracious and Caring
 There are many tough things that you need to do
 Firing one of your executives who is a friend
 Negotiate hard deal
 Go after a competitor
 Reduce your work force
 But you can do all things with caring and grace
 Treat each and every person (and company) you
meet with dignity and respect
 And…, you never know when you will run into them
again…

The Truth, the Whole Truth, and
Nothing but the Truth…
 A key job of leaders is to “Fix Broken Stuff”
 If you do not know what is broken, you can’t fix it
 Everyone wants to tell you what they think you want
to hear…
 … in a way that will make them look good…
 You must find a way to convince people that you
need to know the truth…
…and you must always “Honor the
Messenger”

Listen to Everyone, but Trust
your Own Judgment
 Each business is complex and unique
 There are no formulas, fads and gurus with quick and easy
answers
 Be genuinely open, listen constructively and learn
 Hold your opinions in abeyance while you collect information –
this is counter intuitive to all we have learned. It is very hard to
do!
 At the end of the day, trust your own judgment
“If something does not seem to make sense…
…it most probably isn’t sensible”

There is Life after Death
 In the course of events there WILL BE black days
…days so black that all you will see is despair
 Everyone will be looking at you!
 Communicate candidly and directly
 Be calm and show them a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel, but
not false hope
 Focus on the things that you can do to make a difference
 Overcoming adversity together forges teamwork and trust
 Dark days are “leadership opportunities”
 When things are great, remind people that there will be dark days
again

Only Those Who Are Both Paranoid
and Courageous Will Survive
 You never know where and how the world
might change
 Great companies make transformational
changes
 You may have to put your whole company at
risk in order to save it
 You need the courage to stay the course
in spite of many who tell you otherwise

There is No Finish Line…
 Building a great company is like building a
cathedral
 those who start it hopefully will not see its
completion
 Each accomplishment is a prelude to the
next challenge
 The IPO is not a “harvest”, simply one
step on the long road

If you want a friend…
…Buy a dog
ROXIE

Values and Culture make it
worthwhile
 We spend more time “at work” than any other single
activity in our life
 Since the outcome of our efforts is not always
predictable, the quality of the daily experience is very
important
 Values and culture define the character of the company
 Values and culture permit us to do our work with
integrity, and to conduct business in a civilized and
honest environment
 Values and culture help the organization to recruit the
best, the brightest, and the principled
 Values and culture do NOT sap the competitive
capability

Leadership and culture.070201

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Leadership and culture.070201