Entries Tagged 'Leadership' ↓

Second of the week and found an interesting one on leadership. Watch this one – Stanley McChrystal: Listen, learn … then lead http://www.ted.com/talks/stanley_mcchrystal.html.

Stick this one through for the moral of the story. Hint, it’s in the title.

Any suggestions for the next one?

My first TED video of the year, David Logan on tribal leadership. Very interesting. Trying to apply it, and torn whether it was a lesson in studying customers, being a product management leader or product management in general. Maybe all three. Regardless, some interesting views and I especially like the networking twist of introducing two people versus extending your own network.

What should I watch next?

UPDATE: I meant to link to this… For a view into Jim’s head on the product management tribe visit Where The Product Management Tribe Gathers

As product managers, telling your story in a way that resonates and is compelling is a constant challenge. Simon Sinek gives a great presentation “How great leaders inspire action” that you should watch.

Here is the link: http://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action.html

I did a reference call last week for a former colleague who is changing jobs. One of the questions asked of me was: “What motivates him?”. I had no idea. I know what motivates me. Money! All kidding aside, as cross-functional collaborators and influential leaders, what motivates your colleagues? And how can you use that in your day-to-day dealings? Or can you?

I would be remiss if I didn’t state, if you cannot answer this question for yourself, you are probably owed a little self-reflection time.

Reference: IBM | 2010 Chief Executive Officer Study

Lots of good bits in this survey. It is quite long though. Here are some of my favourite thoughts.

Standout CEOs expressed little fear of re-examining their own creations or proven strategic approaches. In fact, 74 percent of them took an iterative approach to strategy, compared to 64 percent of other CEOs. Standouts rely more on continuously re-conceiving their strategy versus an approach based on formal, annual planning.

Creativity is the most important leadership quality, according to CEOs. Standouts practice and encourage experimentation and innovation throughout their organizations. Creative leaders expect to make deeper business model changes to realize their strategies. To succeed, they take more calculated risks, find new ideas, and keep innovating in how they lead and communicate.

….. and many more ….

** Standouts are defined as: Long-term performance included four-year operating margin compound annual growth rate from 2003 to 2008. Short-term performance included one-year operating margin growth rate from 2008 to 2009. This allowed us to identify “Standout” organizations that were able to improve operating margins both long term and short term.

Reference: IBM | 2010 Chief Executive Officer Study

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I skimmed this article (Thanks Rose for sharing!) and happened across this quote from Michael Arrington, founder and co-editor of TechCrunch.

Product should be a dictatorship, not consensus-driven.

Reminds me of this quote:

“Consensus is the absence of leadership.” Margaret Thatcher

Product teams are looking for leaders and for product management to lead them.

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10 Must-Read Articles from HBR (PDF)
10 Must-Read Articles from HBR (Source)

Enjoy!

Anyone want to summarize one of the articles for the community?

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Next thing you know it has been 23 days since your last post. Oddly my subscribers have risen. Thanks for reading! There is lots going on in my life and reading and writing has sadly slipped below my capacity to process. I am hopeful that will change in November, but my travel schedule for the month is already pretty full. We shall see. Generally when I am lost for blog ideas I have a book review to do, but the current book (How We Decide by Jonah Lehrer) is a bit heavy and proving to be a slow read. The upside, I am learning lots about brain activity.

Random Bits:

1. I want to acknowledge a conversation I had a couple of weeks ago about authority vs. influence. His premise was that authority doesn’t exist. Authority alone is not enough to lead and that even in a position of leadership influence will still rule the day. I agree.

2. Regarding personas, I continue to see them not being used. You will lose the battle without them. Also try your best to ignore this post, except for the comments.

3. Regarding vision, I continue to see either no vision or poorly defined visions. You will lose the battle without a vision, largely because it is the key component to strategy. No vision, no strategy. Here is a good blog on product visions.

4. The price of your product is determined by the value it provides, not the cost.

5. Please visit my list of product management events. It is the most comprehensive list of events targeted towards product managers anywhere.

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