Posted by Peter Samardak on Wed, Dec 16, 2009 @ 08:52 PM
Sports figures are often forced into a leadership role they do not want, nor can fulfill. I have heard some basketball players even make the statement, "I am not a role model. People shouldn't follow me." I can't remember who exactly made that statement, but I often think of business leaders, managers and current golfers who neither fit the role nor know how to maintain their leadership.
Recently, Bob Moffat, a former executive in IBM was arrested for insider trading and, having personally met him, I found him to be approachable, to have seemingly high values and to be driven. I guess the real question is, what does someone with high values look like? Is it a visual? Not hardly. Maybe that's it, he was so driven there was a fear of falling short of expectations. Maybe with the pressures of success, or the pressures of not failing were too much. Maybe it was simply greed and ego. Ego, its a funny dynamic which enters into everyone's life from time to time.
Once you start comparing yourself to others, you are either behind or ahead. I'm not sure at what time or age you reach a point where you are happy with you. I am sure Maslow identified it as self-actualization. However, it seems that today's mediocre leaders find excuses to blame everyone but themselves. Its always been somebody in their lives who caused them to do whatever it was. I remember a series on TV where "the devil made me do it." Guess what, its no excuse.
There is no excuse for harming others. There is no excuse for poor leadership. There is no excuse for not taking responsibility and not motivating others to excel. There is no excuse for letting people go because you could not identify the unique skills they had and capitalizing on that strength.
Leaders need to be able to synthesize the differences, turn it into an innovative driving force and then getting out of the way enabling those who are empowered to excel.
True global leadership is unique because it recognizes even some of the deep seated cultural differences which have existed and then turns it into a knowledge base driving excellence. Leadership is not easy. Nobody said it would be.
Posted by Sue Perlmutter on Wed, Sep 23, 2009 @ 09:15 PM
Reading all the recent banter about Kraft and Cadbury not only unleashes my undying sweet tooth, it also gets my cultural molecules spinning. This potential acquisition, written about almost daily in the past few weeks, involves far more than simply the wisdom of connecting two companies. For one thing, on a personal level, it arouses passionate debate by virtue of its connection to chocolate, that addicting and magical substance 
which has captivated us for centuries. Taste, so much a part of our emotional and cultural DNA profile, is significantly shaped by our surroundings, as any global marketing team will attest. Nations do, in fact, have their own very distinct chocolate preferences, some of them surprising. Judging from all the ruminations on the hugely nostalgic powers of Cadbury, and the attendant bashing of Hershey's, the brand Cadbury aficionados love to hate, the U.S. and U.K., never mind Kraft and Cadbury, could probably go to battle on this culturally sensitive matter alone.
Indeed, cultural preferences are at stake here, but so are corporate culture differences. How ironic, then, that Cadbury is now headed by Todd Stitzer, a "preppy New York lawyer,"* in the words of a Financial Times writer. Nevertheless, its company culture continues to run deep, and like so many organizations who entered early in the chocolate industry -- Fry's, Rowntree, and Hershey's as prominent examples -- its roots were philanthropic, perhaps further feeding into the nostalgia factor. Kraft, meanwhile, whose "tanks rolled on to Cadbury's well-tended Bournville lawns,"* is viewed as the U.S. behemoth ready to devour Cadbury's, despite recent rebranding efforts and cries to the contrary. There is a bright spot, though, and again, an ironic twist. Under Stitzer's reign, with one of the company's factories in Keynsham, England, about to shut down and move to Poland, and with Kraft promising to keep it open if the acquisition materializes, there are some in the U.K. now hoping the "white knight" from across the pond will in fact prevail.*
With rumors swirling about almost daily as to new tactics, potential suitors and sweeter offers, this emotionally and culturally infused topic will be one to watch closely -- perhaps with some "neutral" Swiss chocolate in hand.
*http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125245727048594365.html
*http://www.ft.com/cms/s/3/756b0108-a752-11de-9467-00144feabdc0.html
*http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/2554c0f2-a322-11de-ba74-00144feabdc0.html?nclick_check=1