Amex CEO Gains Insights From Napoleon
April 10, 2008 5 Comments
I was reading USA Today yesterday and ran across an interview with American Express CEO Kenneth Chenault. I really enjoyed his response when asked to characterize leaders who do well:
The best definition of leadership to me is summed up in a quote: “The role of the leader is to define reality and give hope” – by Napoleon.
(No need to harass Chenault about his management style, he goes on to say that he does not want to end up like Napoleon).
My take: You may not like what Napoleon did, but it is hard to deny that he was a great leader. His quote really does define the essence of leadership. It nicely captures many of the characteristics that I think are critical for good leaders:
- Deal with the reality of the world. I’ve always loved Jack Welch’s quote: “Deal with the world as it is, not how you’d like it to be.” Many executives think they can impose their will on the rest of the world. Unfortunatley, this makes it very difficult for the people who work for them who must operate within the constraints of the real world.
- Engage your employees. Walt Disney really understood the importance of motivating the people in his organization. He captured it well in this quote: “You can design and create, and build the most wonderful place in the world. But it takes people to make the dream a reality.”
- Provide a clear vision. Leaders are involved in only a small fraction of the decisions within their organizations. So they need to make sure that the myriad of other decisions will collectively drive the organization in the right direction. They can’t be wishy-washy. As Newark’s Mayor Booker said: “Life is about focus. What you focus on, you become. If you focus on nothing, you become nothing.” If people know where they are going, they are more likely to get there.
- Maintain a sense of purpose. It’s not good enough just to have a vision; leaders needs to make sure that their organizations have a strong sense of purpose. And it needs to be clear to their employees and customers. As Howard Shultz, founder and Chairman of Starbucks, has been quoted as saying: “Customers must recognize that you stand for something.“
The bottom line: While Napoleon’s quote is a great guidepost for leaders, I don’t condone adopting his practice of resolving conflicts with a coup d’état.
About Bruce Temkin
I think there is a slight flip in this Bruce, and its not mere philosophy. The leader, the people in the company, and the customer co-create reality between them. You might extend the metaphor in any number of ways. Objects, object-relationships, lens-of-perception etc. all help create the sense or reality that the company represents, and the the customer experiences. Perhaps one of the most powerful contexts for that Napoleon comment is that leaders (and the top mgt team) define the “lens” through which the world is perceived. Great breakthrough does not come from seeing the world through the same “lens” as your competition.
Paul: Excellent comment. Great leaders do take a lot of input from their surroundings (employees, customers, trends, environment, etc.). This post dealt more with what leaders did with all of this information: create that clear picture of the future that compels the organization to move in a common direction. I like your comment on the “lens.” Great leaders do define the lens by which the world is perceived. But can they succeed in the long-run if that lens does not: deal with the reality of the world, engage employees, provide a clear vision, and maintain a sense of purpose?
Bruce, Paul,
enjoyed the post and the subsequent comments.
I believe you’re both right. The leader defines the lens and thereby the manner in which the team should view reality.
We all live in the same reality but not experience the same reality. Life is to be interpreted. Some leaders would have us interpret life as battle, while others would have us interpret it as a surch for synergy and harmony. They are both talking about the same reality (there is only one), but those 2 teams will reach their goal in totally different ways. If the journery is at least as important as the goal, then the manner in which we approach, and thus the reality as defined by leadership, is crutial in how excited we aer to get up in the morning and go to work.
By the way, coup de etat is a viable option, we did it in the 1776, hope it never happens again.
Thanks for the opportunity to share.
Rudy Vidal
willtheybuyagain.wordpress.com
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