From the CEO
Today, the patient is showing signs of life. There is a pulse and the mirror is fogging. Things turned out to be not as bad as people thought and the left-for-dead world economy is out of intensive care. And now? Now, the search is on for new ideas for the new world – ideas to replace, augment and even rehabilitate those that have fallen into disfavor. That is what The Korn/Ferry Institute’s Briefings on Talent and Leadership, a quarterly magazine, is all about; not to tell you what to think, but to tell you what to think about.
There’s a lot to think about in this issue. Not long ago, a young American military officer led a squad of heavily armed soldiers into the Shiite holy city of Najaf. The squad was soon surrounded by an angry crowd. Tension grew and the potential for violence escalated rapidly. The officer then held his rifle high above his head and pointed the muzzle downward toward the ground. Then he ordered his squad to do the same. “He barked, ‘Take a knee!’ and the soldiers sank to the ground in a non-threatening posture.” What could have been a deadly incident was diffused by the soldier’s leadership initiative. In “The CEO Whisperer,” we profile Warren Bennis, a thoughtful, modest man to whom the world’s top leaders turn when they need a coach. We recount how Bennis uses this powerful event, which took place at the beginning of the Iraq war, to spark classroom debate: Are leaders born, or are they made?
And, in “How McDonald’s Plans Ahead,” Briefings goes inside the leading global food-service retailer to illustrate how the company is as concerned with ensuring adequate succession as it is with evolving its menu from “super size” to salads and lattes. It is something the company learned the hard way. One CEO died in 2004, just before the start of a franchisee meeting. His successor fell ill shortly after and then passed away. These CEOs were architects of McDonald’s turnaround plan. In two years, McDonald’s had four CEOs. Perhaps this means that a board’s most important task is to select a company’s leaders and plan for succession.
In “Governing the Governors,” we explore corporate governance and explain that in times of turmoil, boards must understand their companies as never before. Harvard Business School Professor Jay W. Lorsch says, “One size doesn’t fit all. One company may thrive with a CEO who’s also a chairman; for another, it could be a big mistake.”
Throughout continental Europe, shifts in the labor market are challenging entrenched practices and forcing Old World countries to apply New World thinking or risk continued declines in competitiveness. In this inaugural issue, Adrian Wooldridge of The Economist writes about how continental Europe’s head start in recovering from the economic crisis is threatened by its chronic labor problems. While Europe may feel that its generous social policies have been vindicated by early signs of renewed growth, its pride may be short-lived if deep-seated ills are not addressed. In case any further evidence is needed for a flattening world, in “Building a Company of Entrepreneurs,” we review how one of Hong Kong’s oldest companies, Li & Fung Group, brings together Eastern family values with Western ideas of entrepreneurship to create competitiveness and growth. And finally, in “Leading in a Time of Crisis,” Briefings Editor in Chief Joel Kurtzman interviews Kenneth I. Chenault, chairman and CEO of American Express. Chenault shares personal insights about integrity, trust and achievable goals and how they are the foundations of leadership, especially in difficult times.
I hope you enjoy this issue of Briefings and that its content engages you and makes you think. Our aim for this magazine is nothing less than audacious: to provide great insights to help leaders lead.
--Gary Burnison, Chief Executive Officer, Korn/Ferry, International
