The business of great leadership
December 1, 2003 | 12:00am
What are the requisites of great leadership necessary for business corporations to flourish and for national economies to prosper? Great leaders must exemplify character, unimpeachable integrity, courage, wisdom, vision and decisive political will. A young reader e-mailed expressing the wish that the Philippines can someday have a leader who can inspire hope with the following qualities:
Self-reliant but not self-sufficient
Energetic but not self-seeking
Steadfast but not stubborn
Tactful but not timid
Serious but not sullen
Loyal but not sectarian
Unmovable but not stationary
Gentle but not hypersensitive
Tenderhearted but not touchy
Conscientious but not a perfectionist
Disciplined but not demanding
Generous but not gullible
Meek but not weak
Humorous but not hilarious
Friendly but not familiar
Holy but not holier-than-thou
Discerning but not critical
Progressive but not pretentious
When repeatedly asked why this writer has always enjoyed writing on business leaders, our response is not due to their financial wealth, nor their social prestige or their influence, but their leadership. Of all corporate leaders, we believe that the greatest in terms of positive impact on the Philippine economy and the most inspirational are the rags-to-riches entrepreneurs – rugged wealth-creators who overcame cruel odds, poverty and the country’s perennially turbulent socio-political conditions to establish vast enterprises. These self-made men and women do not only own wealth, but they possess the magic of having earned them within their lifetimes.
Biographies of tycoons and corporate chief executives have long been the staples of the business bookshelf – from the life of the world’s wealthiest billionaire Bill Gates, the rise to success of the greatest retailer Sam Walton, the rags-to-riches saga of Asia’s richest billionaire/taipan Li Ka Shing, the wisdom of the top investor Warren Buffet, the controversial socio-economic ideas of mega-speculator and Holocaust survivor George Soros, the career of the world’s most powerful media mogul Rupert Murdoch, the memoirs of former GE boss Jack Welch, to the biography of perhaps the world’s savviest marketing genius Virgin Atlantic Airways/Virgin Music/Virgin Group founder Richard Branson. B>
What about the Western business world’s foremost management theoreticians and practitioners, what are the biographies they recommend for lessons on great leadership? According to Inc. Magazine, most management gurus opted to recommend political biographies rather than corporate biographies. Tom Peters explained, "What is leadership, if not the complex and subtle use of power to bring about change? For my money, real leadership can be seen most clearly in political biographies."
Peter F. Drucker, world-famous book author and management consultant, chose the 1985 book The Men Who Ruled India by Philip Mason. He said, "Whatever their failings, the British rulers in India did something that had never been done before: They built an administrative structure designed to establish peace and justice in a huge country that had never had either. In so doing they created the first information-based organization, a model for today’s company. Top management – the highest leaders in the government – set the overall objectives. But they gave full operational responsibility to a handful of very young men appointed to run the districts. All of these district governors – few of them over 25 – were expected to inform top management every month of their performance, plans and goals."
He added, "You don’t need modern technology for such communication; in India, advanced technology was a quill pen, and telecommunications was a barefoot runner. But you do need a commitment to sharing information up and down the management ladder. That’s precisely the kind of leadership so many companies lack."
Tom Peters, world-renowned author and management consultant, shares this writer’s admiration for the best-selling American Caesar book on General Douglas MacArthur written by William Manchester. His other favorite leadership books are Charles de Gaulle by Don Cook and A Prince of Our Disorder by John E. Mack. He said, "Each of these political biographies is about a man who essentially transformed a nation. What you learn from them is the subtle complexities of leadership that are equally important in business – the highly refined use of personal relations, symbols, and knowledge to accomplish magnificent ends."
He added, "Three examples: When General Douglas MacArthur arrived in Japan after the Second World War, he knew that he should go unarmed; he knew what uniform to wear; he knew how to locate his headquarters vis-à-vis the emperor’s palace; and so on. And MacArthur’s years as an expatriate living in Asia taught him about the symbols of Japanese culture, thereby allowing him to get off on the right foot."
When Charles de Gaulle landed in France with the Allies, he virtually wrested control of the country from Eisenhower – for one thing, by hustling in bags of French currency instead of letting the Allies issue scrip. If you’re a good historian, you know that whoever controls the currency has much to say about the balance of power."
Tom Peters said on his third favorite leader, "Colonel T. H. Lawrence – Lawrence of Arabia – started from a position of pure powerlessness, only to gain control of a whole subcontinent through his astonishing knowledge of Arab culture. In the back of John Mack’s fine biography are Lawrence’s 27 prescriptions for dealing with alien cultures…"
Peters added, "We often expect our leaders to be plain vanilla: you can see that in the presidential races going on now. These leaders didn’t have a drop of vanilla in them. They were as awesome flawed as they were magnificent."
Who are the magnificent men and women of wisdom, guts, will, character and vision – who shall rise above the cacophony and lusty political cries of the partisan May 2004 elections, who can transform Philippine society and totally overhaul our national economy?
This is a summary of the speech delivered by the writer before the Rotary Club of Downtown Manila on Nov. 28 at Century Park Sheraton Hotel. Thanks for all your messages sent to wilson_lee_flores@hotmail.com or wilson_lee_flores@newyork.com or wilson_lee_flores@yahoo.com or P.O. Box 14277, Ortigas Center, Pasig City.
Self-reliant but not self-sufficient
Energetic but not self-seeking
Steadfast but not stubborn
Tactful but not timid
Serious but not sullen
Loyal but not sectarian
Unmovable but not stationary
Gentle but not hypersensitive
Tenderhearted but not touchy
Conscientious but not a perfectionist
Disciplined but not demanding
Generous but not gullible
Meek but not weak
Humorous but not hilarious
Friendly but not familiar
Holy but not holier-than-thou
Discerning but not critical
Progressive but not pretentious
Biographies of tycoons and corporate chief executives have long been the staples of the business bookshelf – from the life of the world’s wealthiest billionaire Bill Gates, the rise to success of the greatest retailer Sam Walton, the rags-to-riches saga of Asia’s richest billionaire/taipan Li Ka Shing, the wisdom of the top investor Warren Buffet, the controversial socio-economic ideas of mega-speculator and Holocaust survivor George Soros, the career of the world’s most powerful media mogul Rupert Murdoch, the memoirs of former GE boss Jack Welch, to the biography of perhaps the world’s savviest marketing genius Virgin Atlantic Airways/Virgin Music/Virgin Group founder Richard Branson. B>
Peter F. Drucker, world-famous book author and management consultant, chose the 1985 book The Men Who Ruled India by Philip Mason. He said, "Whatever their failings, the British rulers in India did something that had never been done before: They built an administrative structure designed to establish peace and justice in a huge country that had never had either. In so doing they created the first information-based organization, a model for today’s company. Top management – the highest leaders in the government – set the overall objectives. But they gave full operational responsibility to a handful of very young men appointed to run the districts. All of these district governors – few of them over 25 – were expected to inform top management every month of their performance, plans and goals."
He added, "You don’t need modern technology for such communication; in India, advanced technology was a quill pen, and telecommunications was a barefoot runner. But you do need a commitment to sharing information up and down the management ladder. That’s precisely the kind of leadership so many companies lack."
Tom Peters, world-renowned author and management consultant, shares this writer’s admiration for the best-selling American Caesar book on General Douglas MacArthur written by William Manchester. His other favorite leadership books are Charles de Gaulle by Don Cook and A Prince of Our Disorder by John E. Mack. He said, "Each of these political biographies is about a man who essentially transformed a nation. What you learn from them is the subtle complexities of leadership that are equally important in business – the highly refined use of personal relations, symbols, and knowledge to accomplish magnificent ends."
He added, "Three examples: When General Douglas MacArthur arrived in Japan after the Second World War, he knew that he should go unarmed; he knew what uniform to wear; he knew how to locate his headquarters vis-à-vis the emperor’s palace; and so on. And MacArthur’s years as an expatriate living in Asia taught him about the symbols of Japanese culture, thereby allowing him to get off on the right foot."
When Charles de Gaulle landed in France with the Allies, he virtually wrested control of the country from Eisenhower – for one thing, by hustling in bags of French currency instead of letting the Allies issue scrip. If you’re a good historian, you know that whoever controls the currency has much to say about the balance of power."
Tom Peters said on his third favorite leader, "Colonel T. H. Lawrence – Lawrence of Arabia – started from a position of pure powerlessness, only to gain control of a whole subcontinent through his astonishing knowledge of Arab culture. In the back of John Mack’s fine biography are Lawrence’s 27 prescriptions for dealing with alien cultures…"
Peters added, "We often expect our leaders to be plain vanilla: you can see that in the presidential races going on now. These leaders didn’t have a drop of vanilla in them. They were as awesome flawed as they were magnificent."
Who are the magnificent men and women of wisdom, guts, will, character and vision – who shall rise above the cacophony and lusty political cries of the partisan May 2004 elections, who can transform Philippine society and totally overhaul our national economy?
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