Yesterday was Bosses Day and in honor of that I’m going to share some information on bosses—BIG bosses.
These days’ people are incensed with executive pay packages on and off Wall Street.
For years there has been much talk about pay for performance, but I haven’t seen any strong connection—have you?
And certainly not this year.
But the recession doesn’t seem to have slowed down CEO compensation at all and I’m not even referring to Wall Street.
You’ve probably never even heard of the 5 most highly compensated CEOs, unless you are unfortunate enough to own the stock or work or been laid off from the companies. The 5 are Eugene Isenberg, chief of Nabors Industries, Michael Jeffries of Abercrombie & Fitch, Brian Roberts of Comcast, John Faraci of International Paper and James Stewart of BJ Services. Ugh.
By now you all know that those poor mistreated boys and girls at what used to be Merrill Lynch are getting their bonuses, perhaps if they get over their embarrassment they will start spending and give the economy a real boost.
And then there’s Ken Lewis, the beloved CEO of B of A—the bank we love to hate.
You probably read that Kenny is “stepping down” and has agreed (under duress) to forego his 2009 salary and bonus and repay a whole million dollars. In case you were actually impressed with this, please note that he will walk away with a $53 million pension plan.
That’s on top of everything he’s made (I refuse to say earned) previously.
The NY Times had an interesting article that explains that Lewis isn’t incompetent, he just can’t lead. But from where I sit by the time anyone makes it to the corner office of a corporation the size of Bank of America should be able to do it all.
Some of the articles I’m sharing today refer to CEOs, but the advice in them can be tweaked to apply to any level in both professional and personal arenas.
First, Steve Tobek, who writes The Corner Office for BNet offers some great thoughts entitlement, which he says has been around for decades. The cure is empowerment backed by accountability. Bull’s-eye, Steve!
Next is a great offering from McKinsey on re-energizing your team. It talks about how to overcome fear, denial and the need to learn and change—emotions that teams at all levels are facing.
Finally, an article in Success caught my eye when it made a case for using volunteering to connect with stakeholders. “Several experts actually claim that incorporating volunteering into the corporate culture is the management tool of the 21st century.”
For people who love blogs and crave a variety of ideas, viewpoints and opinions carnivals are like potato chips—you can’t read just one.
But unlike potato chips, blog posts don’t get stale, so return as often as you like before (or after) the next Carnival goes live November 1 at Dan McCarthy’s Great Leadership.
This month’s host is Becky Robinson at Leader Talk.
Ever wonder how the posts are chosen? The answer is by the blogger—each of us chooses a recent post that we feel brings exceptional value to you.
There is an enormous amount of practical advice in these posts; useful whether you are in a classic ‘leadership’ role, raising kids or in the most important role of all—leading yourself.
Scan down the list and cherry-pick the ones that will be most useful to you immediately; then read those whose descriptions pique your interest.
One last note. Please some back and share the links of those you found to be of the most use.
(You can find other carnivals in which Leadership Turn has participated here.)
When discussing or reading about leadership you hear a lot about EQ, AKA, emotional intelligence and SQ, AKA, social intelligence, but what do they really mean?
Social intelligence refers to your knowledge and understanding of other people’s MAP.
To learn more, watch this interview with Daniel Goleman, prolific author and renowned psychologist. Start learning how to use emotional and social intelligence to improve your team’s performance as well as your own, both professionally and professionally.
I have some great links to add to those I gave you last Saturday.
Another article from McKinsey shines a spotlight on managers’ need to “master the disciplines of uncertainty,” because it isn’t going away any time soon.
The market may have torpedoed you and me, but it’s done far less damage to the corner office. “Compensation for top executives at many of the nation’s largest publicly traded firms was essentially unchanged last year, even as the stock market plummeted.” Why are we not surprised?
What has changed? An article in the WSJ Online tells us that COO positions are going the way of the dodo bird because CEOs want to be closer to the action and more involved in day-to-day operations. But Jay Galbraith says, “One unspoken reason COOs’ numbers may be falling may be simple fear. As the pressure on CEOs heats up, at least a few simply don’t want such an obvious successor in place.” Again, why are we not surprised?
Economics is one of the few business area that make my eyes glaze over; not from boredom, but from an inability to understand it—believe me I’ve tried. Last week I said that How Did Economists Get It So Wrong? is a must read to understanding what happened to the global economy. For those who wish to dig deeper, two new books on the oft-maligned John Maynard Keynes were reviewed in Business Week (they do understand economics:). “John Maynard Keynes ought to be named Man of the Year. Governments around the world have successfully, if messily, resurrected many of his insights from the 1930s to thwart economic collapse. Foremost is his idea that easy money and government spending can rescue an economy in free fall—with credit frozen, businesses panicked, and consumers paralyzed.” I’m sure this won’t be popular with the free market crowd.
Grab a cup of coffee (or a beer it the sun is over the yardarm) because I have 4 superb items for you today.
First up is McKinsey’s Economic Survey one year after the official meltdown. You may have to register (it’s free), but it’s worth it.
Next is a must read article from Paul Krugman, a New York Times columnist and professor of Economics and International Affairs at Princeton University in which he explains, as Bruce Nussbaum says, “how economists, especially the math-based, market-manic Chicago-school economists, have hurt the US and much of the rest of the world.” The title is How Did Economists Get It So Wrong? and it’s a must read.
Third is an interview with Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of Goldman Sachs. Blankfein talks abut management and how Goldman survived the financial crisis—this is not your typical imperial Wall Street CEO. You have a choice between a video of the interview or the transcript.
Most of you know that I write a feature every Thursday called Leadership’s Future; it’s the outgrowth of articles written by CandidProf, who guested regularly last year, and is written around education, kids, parents and Millennials.
The trouble is that I find far more articles than I can write about, so today I’m giving you links to the best of them. I hope you take the small amount of time necessary to click through and read them, because they are important to y/our future.
First is a question that has been asked for decades and still has no real agreement. Do advanced degrees in education make for a better teacher or just a higher paycheck? But below the surface of this question lurks a larger problem—what happens when the schools conferring the degree has a second rate, or worse, program?
Next is an article about “effortful control” in toddlers and the value of guilt, or what the kids call “a sinking feeling in the tummy,” with a link to the actual study. The researcher also spells out the substantial difference between guilt, doing something bad, and shame, being a bad person—guilt is productive, shame is destructive.
Third is Boston Public Schools has reinstituted their Parent Academy after killing it earlier this year in the midst of budget cuts. Call it a parent engagement project and they are sweeping the country. The one in Boston cost between $50-100K, a cheap price for getting parents actively and positively involved in their kids education.
Last is an update on an article that CandidProf wrote last year regarding the dismal graduation statistics resulting from tying funding to college recruiting. Now the results are starting to show. “The United States does a good job enrolling teenagers in college, but only half of students who enroll end up with a bachelor’s degree.” Only Italy has a worse record; pretty sad. Be sure to read the comments for a number of interesting views.
Hopefully you’re not laboring today, at least not at work.
There’s no football, so other than eating what is likely the last BBQ of the season and indulging in too much beer you might be a bit short of entertainment.
Never fear, just click the link and settle in for some great viewpoints on leadership, management, employee interaction and other pertinent subjects at September incarnation of the Leadership Development Carnival.
You’ll not only find my favorites, Wally Bock, Steve Roesler and Jim Stroup, but a host of excellent writers and downright smart people.
It doesn’t matter if you agree with what they say (I often don’t), but agree or not you will learn and that’s the real value—oft times you will learn more from those on a different side of the subject than from those with whom you agree.
Click around the carnival and then come back and share what impressed you most or what set your teeth on edge.
Have you ever registered to receive McKinsey reports? It’s free (my favorite price) and it’s valuable (my favorite requirement). I like it because I choose the categories I want and am not inundated with stuff I don’t want.
Today there are only two, because both are heavy on the meat, which requires more time and thought to digest and make use of.
The first is a global survey on how executives dealing with the recession as opposed to the thoughts and feelings of middle management. It makes for fascinating reading and offers up some interesting surprises.
The second discusses better ways to utilize frontline managers. “Instead of administrative work and meetings, they should focus on coaching their employees and on constantly improving quality.” Notice it says ‘instead‘, not ‘in addition to’, a not-so-subtle point that is missed by many higher level managers and executives. McKinsey also set up a discussion forum on Facebook and the author responded here.
The second one is an article you’ll probably be hearing a lot about. No matter what you think of the content, the question is whether John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods, should have stepped into the political wasp nest of healthcare. After youread the article, be sure to click the comment tab at the top and scan through some of them. Interesting reading.
Entrepreneurs face difficulties that are hard for most people to imagine, let alone understand. You can find anonymous help and connections that do understand at 7 cups of tea.
Crises never end.
$10 really does make a difference and you’ll never miss it,
Yesterday was Bosses Day and in honor of that I’m going to share some information on bosses—BIG bosses.
Some of the articles I’m sharing today refer to CEOs, but the advice in them can be tweaked to apply to any level in both professional and personal arenas.
For people who love blogs and crave a variety of ideas, viewpoints and opinions carnivals are like potato chips—you can’t read just one.
