May 11, 2012

Note to Government Leaders: Control Won’t Work Any More

I attended the annual dinner of the Atlantic Council in Washington, D.C. this week. There are significant challenges facing government leaders as a result of ease of communications, which is politicizing the world’s people. People today believe they can make a difference.

 

Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of the United Nations, said in his keynote address, “There is a deficit of leadership. Seldom, if ever, have our principles and shared purpose been more relevant…Power is shifting. The old order is breaking down and we do not yet know the shape of the new.

 

Let’s consider the implications of these comments. We observe a dispersion of authority, in fact a disdain for the establishments of business and government (remember that the two least trusted spokespeople today are government officials and CEOs). The means of production in media is now equal parts traditional, social, hybrid and owned as part of a clover leaf. The new expectation of radical transparency implies an exposure of process, not simply the delivery of end product or achievement of goals.

 

Here are a few guidelines for leaders in business and government:

1) Agility—When Vice President Joe Biden endorsed gay marriage over this past weekend, President Obama had to change his plan to advocate for the new social policy in a policy address to a major gay and lesbian group in New York City that Monday. He went on national television (ABC) and made the case for his evolving thought process. In short, go with the flow.

2) Establish a Road Map—You have to say where you are going. Every action has to be judged against a plan. The best plan is one that is vetted by the broader community (including NGOs) before implementation.

3) Do Fewer Things Better—One of the problems of President Clinton was the perception of a new policy initiative every week. By contrast, President Reagan had two or three policy mantras (lower taxes, less government spending, strong defense to outspend the Russians)

4) Principles Trump Rules—A set of organizational beliefs is so much stronger than strict rules. If you are a basketball coach, you want your players to be free enough to improvise when confronted with unexpected situations. If they have to look to the bench for guidance at every turn, they are not playing the game with sufficient initiative.

5) Accountability—Risk-taking and entrepreneurial behavior should be encouraged; failure in the pursuit of excellence is fine. But deliberate circumvention of the rules must be punished in a public manner.

6) Candor and Courage—If you make a mistake (Jamie Dimon and JPMorgan Chase) explain why it happened and how you have adjusted the system for the future. If you make a bad hire, end the relationship and get up the next day determined to do better.

The inversion of the traditional pyramid of authority, where all real power lay with elites, is a positive for society. Key to this development is social media, which should not be causing congenital discomfort. The new model of governance is more truly democratic, to paraphrase Lincoln (and David Weinberger), of the people, by the people and for the people. Those of us in public relations have an important role to play in this evolution of behavior by leaders, who are now responsible for strategic thinking and having the courage to explain the true situation.

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May 4, 2012

The Big 6-0

This is not about me turning 60 (though that comes in a few years).

 

While it seems like only yesterday we were celebrating our 50th anniversary, we are already knee deep in planning events for our 60^th this October.

 

In addition to a terrific, company-wide pro bono effort focused on alleviating hunger and poverty, a special dinner in Chicago with my parents and some of Edelman’s earliest employees and clients, and a book on my dad being written by former Edelman employee Franz Wisner (current plans have the first chapter released in October with the full book to be released in December), a big component of our upcoming milestone will be connecting with as many members of the Edelman family who have moved on as possible.

 

Edelman's alumni have been integral to the success of the firm and getting us to this point in our history.  They've also gone on to do some amazing things, both in our industry and elsewhere.

 

To help stay better connected, we have set up a Facebook group for our alumni and I hope everyone who has walked through our doors will sign up.  The group will provide a forum for not only sharing your Edelman memories, but also to keep in touch with former colleagues.  

 

We also really hope you will all share your favorite Edelman memory, which we will aggregate and publish around the New Year in conjunction with the launch of the book on Dan.

 

One of my favorite Edelman memories is the pitch for Fuji Photo Film’s Los Angeles 1984 Summer Olympics sponsorship.

 

In our bid to win the account we recruited top Sports Illustrated photographer Walter Iooss, Jr., who we thought should prove the merit of Fuji 35mm film by portraying American athletes training for and competing in the Los Angeles Games.  While Jody Quinn and I nervously fumbled with the slide projector and hoped none of the Japanese executives would trip over the power cord in our small conference room in the New York office of 20 staffers, Walter shared his pleasure with Fuji’s film and helped us win our breakthrough assignment, “Shooting for the Gold.“

 

So, all you Edel-alums, I hope you'll click here to join the group and share some of your favorite stories.   As an added bonus, we'll send you a copy of the book on Dan when it's published!

 

If you aren’t on Facebook, but are interested in receiving a copy of the book, provide your information here, or let me know and I will make sure you are added to the distribution list.

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April 27, 2012

Leadership Lessons from Coach K

I was one of forty people at a breakfast this morning in New York City with Duke University men’s basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski, alias Coach K. He was in town to see a few members of his USA Basketball team (Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul) and to do a bit of recruiting. Here are a few of his leadership lessons, with a bit of hoops celebrity chat added for good measure.

1) Push Talented People—“You fight coaches who change your limits. A good coach makes sure you never stop looking bad, until eventually you look good because you have improved.” He told a story about Kevin Durant, star of the Oklahoma City Thunder, who had played poorly in a World Championship contest leading up to Istanbul. While looking at the tape, Durant had his head down, not looking at the screen. After the tape session, Coach K told him that he should have been paying attention. Durant said that he had been, but that he was shy. Coach K responded that he had to be the leader of the team. Durant went on to have three terrific games. 

2) Provide Structure but Enable Improvisation—“I like a motion offense. You have a structure but you are always able to improvise.” He said that you can inspire a group to do things they could not do alone. “I will show you how to cross the bridge but a teammate helps you do it; that builds a bond that lasts forever.”

3) Build Relationships and Culture—“I always asked my Olympic players about their wives or girlfriends. I knew about their personal situations.” He mentioned his former player, Bob Brown—now a two star general—who is responsible for integrating the artillery with the infantry, creating a new culture and way to fight for the U.S. Army. He quoted Brown as saying, “Five percent of what we do is to be sure we shoot on target. The other ninety-five percent is to create a culture that leads to team effort.”

4) Continuous Improvement as a Leader—“Get outside of your bubble. I have coached for 37 years, the last 32 at Duke. But when I took on USA Basketball, I had to raise my own game. As an older leader, if you stop learning, you are not going to be effective.” He took the World Championship coaching job when Jerry Colangelo, general manager for the U.S. squad, told him, “It won’t be the same as the 2008 Olympics. That’s good.”

5) Identify the Internal Leader—He selected Jason Kidd as his internal leader for the 2008 U.S. Olympic team; he has appointed Chris Paul to do the same for the 2012 team. He also spoke in advance to Lebron James, Kobe Bryant and Dwayne Wade. They are the “alpha dogs” who are expected to lead by example. Kobe Bryant, in the first practice for the ’08 team, took no shots, just played defense and rebounded, to make it clear that he was willing to sacrifice personal glory for the greater good.

6) Make Sure Top Performers Have Input—It has to be “our” game plan, not just the coach’s plan. He used the example of defending Argentine star Manu Ginobli.  Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade and Jason Kidd all had ideas that improved Coach K’s initial approach.

7) Adapt Your Coaching to Your Team—For the Olympic team, he encouraged his assistant coaches to do much of the instruction. He did not yell even when the team underperformed. When the lead shrank to two points against Spain in the gold medal game with eight minutes to go, he did not call any specific plays. Kobe Bryant said, “We’re OK coach,” then proceeded to make five shots in a row. Meanwhile, he is very directive and animated on the Duke sideline because “that group has not crossed any bridges yet.”

8) Develop Standards for How to Interact—He focuses on personal behavior, looking each other in the eye during a personal critique, always telling each other the truth and having no excuses. Other commitments include never being late to practice, respecting our opposition and never having a bad practice.

9) You Can Win by Looking Strong—You can create an environment which inspires your teammates to perform better. He gave the example of showing game tape to the 2010 World Championship team. He stopped the tape just after Kevin Durant made a spectacular basket, showing a freeze frame of him exulting. This show of confidence sparked a 10 point run by his team that put away the game.

10) Legacy as Goal—Once you have made it to the top, you need to continue to inspire yourself to put in the hours of preparation and training. He has adopted the idea of LEGACY for the 2012 Olympic Team because for two-thirds of the players it will be the last time they will compete against the world.

As he concluded this morning, he remembered his mother, who worked as a cleaning lady in order to make ends meet at home. He has established a foundation to give scholarship money to talented underprivileged kids seeking to go to college. The Coach K fund will send nine students to college this year. He also spoke about his education at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He is so proud of the revival of the armed services, which are “now the most respected institutions in our country.” For a man of 65, he is full of energy and determination. Now, I will have to root for Duke next season.

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April 20, 2012

Earning License to Lead

I am delivering the keynote address at the Marquette University College of Communications this morning in about an hour. I had a marvelous discussion over dinner last night with Dean Lori Bergen, who has brought energy and verve to this Milwaukee-based institution. She made a profound observation about the core values of the school, the emphasis on community service and giving unselfishly of oneself. As we drove to dinner, she opined that the ethos at many schools is what you can learn in four years that will enhance your marketability and future compensation. Not so at this school, based on my chat with five students over drinks at Johnston Hall; Taylor Trovillion, for example, worked as a Congressional aide as part of her semester in Washington, D.C. at the Aspin Center and now is out to change the world.

 

The essence of my message this morning (see full text attached) is that companies must move from License to Operate to a new standard, License to Lead. My rationale for this assertion is that License to Operate, the freedom to sell products, raise necessary funds and make profit, is not sufficient in the wake of the Great Recession of 2008-9. Trust in business has been eviscerated by the failure of huge enterprises central to the global economy. The keys to the car were then handed over to government, which now has proven itself incapable of rational decision-making given the obsession with ideological purity on both sides, driving the car into the ditch last summer (both in the EU and the U.S.). We are now observing an unprecedented dispersion of authority, from the Arab Spring to the Facebook rebellion against debit card fees at Bank of America. The least credible spokespeople are now government officials and CEOs, the most credible are academics, employees and a person like yourself. The bottom is on top.

 

In order to achieve License to Lead, I suggest that businesses pursue the following course:

1) Principles-based Leadership Replaces Rules-based Leadership—We need to be seen as having an operating credo, not simply obeying the law but operating in a smart zone beyond minimum public expectation and legal strictures.

2) Take On Issues of the Time—If you are a brand, emulate the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty, which connected deeply with women by becoming an advocate for female self-image. If you are a corporation, explain why fracking is good, what chemicals are being put into the ground and then recovered for proper treatment. How you do what you do is now everybody’s business.

3) Radical Transparency—Establish benchmarks for performance, then go public with the results. Hold your executives accountable not just for financial metrics but for social ones, such as environmental standards or proper supply chain practice.

4) Employees First—Instead of the usual practice of communicating first to Wall Street, regulators and media, talk first with employees because trust is built from inside out.

This is a substantial makeover of corporate behavior. It needs a revolutionary leader. That person should be the Chief Communications Officer. The inspirational programs at Wal-Mart, GE, Starbucks, Unilever and several other companies are led by Chief Executives advised by CCOs, who are also central to the execution of the change management. The CCO needs to replace the Chief Legal Officer as the primary advisor to the CEO, because status quo (License to Operate) must not be continued.

 

So off to a quick shower and then my speech. Tell me what you think of my thesis.

 

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April 13, 2012

Leading from the Front

I have had a whirlwind tour of the US this week, from San Jose to Chicago to Oklahoma City and finally back to my home in New York City. Some CEOs operate best from behind their desks, focused on the numbers and proper implementation of strategy. Nothing wrong with that approach, but I prefer to be on the front lines, meeting with clients, visiting with colleagues and trying to win new business. Here are my guiding principles for running a PR firm:

1) Get Your Uniform Dirty—Lead pitches for new business. Don’t just come in to talk about the expertise of your firm, or your commitment of senior talent and your management philosophy. Get engaged in the creative, fight about the ideas and be involved in the strategy. Ask for the business because you deeply understand the client’s challenges, not just for the money.

2) Trust Your Senior Team—Have a robust debate on the way forward. Know the facts based on personal observation (meaning that you have been to the market and have a point of view). Give the operator the decision rights unless you fundamentally disagree with the call.

3) Be the Top Person on a Few Clients—You have authority, not simply from the CEO title on your t-shirt but based on the value you add to the clients’ business. Unless you are advising on social media strategy or on messaging, you are a diplomat and manager, not a player/coach.

4) Keep Your Media Contacts—I had drinks with a senior editor from The Economist in New York City last night and while at the bar, he introduced me to a top editorial writer at The Wall Street Journal. Similarly, I had lunch with a long-time friend who moved from the WSJ to Bloomberg Businessweek. Reporters expect you to have story ideas; you can return to your roots as an account executive.

5) Make Speeches at Universities—I am giving the keynote at the Marquette University PR conference next Friday (the topic of my next blog post) which will give a further explication of the new role for public relations in a society lacking trust in traditional institutions. I loved my experience at the Newhouse School last May (several of the students contributed to my speech). We should have opinions and expose them to scrutiny.

6) See the Staff—Don’t just deliver the usual sermon from the mount when you visit an office. Go out for drinks after work (my favorite stop this year was Tokyo, where Ross Rowbury, our manager, and his folks really got me going after the second beer) and really talk with the team.

7) The Little Things—I buy t-shirts and sweatshirts for the children of my senior leadership team. I got a kick out of a picture sent to me of a teenager sporting a Columbia University sweatshirt out on a sailboat with her dad in New Zealand. A Stanford hat for a 10^th grader in India was also a big hit.

8) The Non-Profit World—I am an active board member in the Children’s Aid Society, the Atlantic Council, the Ad Council and the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations. I go to events at the Council on Foreign Relations. You must continue to challenge your world view through exposure to thought leaders. You can also learn from a teenager from the South Bronx who tells you what it is like to be the first child from her family ever to go to college.

9) Meet Potential Employees—I keep a list of people whom I would like to join Edelman. On a trip to China in December, I had a breakfast with Cindy Tian, a senior executive at a competitor. She is now vice chairman, public affairs, Asia, at Edelman. Note that the courting sometimes takes years; Tom Mattia, soon to be chairman of Edelman China, had talked with me for a decade before finally succumbing. Somebody referred to me as gum under your shoe; I take that as a compliment.

10) Have Fun—I love what I do. I get a thrill out of a SAP story placement in Fortune, which started at a lunch last summer with a top editor. I went with clients to an Oklahoma City Thunder NBA game on Wednesday and am going to the Yankees home opener today. But I had the most fun staying home last night with my youngest, watching our beloved Chicago Bulls beat the Miami Heat in overtime, exchanging high fives as Kyle Korver sank a key three pointer. Remember, family first, always.

My hero is Teddy Roosevelt, whose approach to life is best captured in this quote,

 

“The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.”

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