Being An Architect of Meaning

For over a decade, I have been teaching students during our annual From Vision to Action Leadership Training ( http://www.chartyourpath.com/VTA-Leadership-Training.html ) that one of the key characteristics of a leader worth following is someone who is an architect of meaning. As I point out, every day people in leadership positions routinely confront paradoxes and wrestle with deep questions about the company’s brand identity, competitive advantage, and strategic direction. Often, they get asked such questions as “Who are we?” and “Where are we going?” They solve these challenges by building clarity at the macro and the micro levels of the organization, and helping people understand their role in the process.

One way of creating this depth of clarity is to routinely ask these three questions. First, ask “what do you do at our company?” because this will determine role clarity. Second, ask “What are your priorities? because this will determine goal clarity. And finally, ask “What do you do that matters most?” because this will determine mission clarity. As Kevin Cashman notes, “As you believe, so shall you lead.” I often translate this into “As they believe, so they shall follow.”

Jim Collins and Jerry Porras pick up on this same theme in their book, Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies, HarperBusiness, 1994. As they explain, “... we’re asking you to see the success of visionary companies - at least in part - as coming from underlying processes and fundamental dynamics embedded in the organization and not primarily the result of a single great idea or some great, all-knowing, god-like visionary who made great decisions, had great charisma, and lead with great authority. If you’re involved in building and managing a company, we’re asking you to think less in terms of being a brilliant product visionary or seeking the personality characteristics of charismatic leadership, and to think more in terms of being an organizational visionary and building the characteristics of a visionary company.”

As we all know, leaders work on the company while managers work in the company. As summer moves toward fall, we need more architects who design and then build visionary companies. If you need any help in doing this, feel free to call. I always enjoy a good challenge.

Geery Howe, M.A.Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer inLeadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational ChangeMorning Star Associates319 - 643 - 2257

Key Concepts to Being a Visionary Company

Recently, I wrote how this summer I have been rereading the book, Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies by James C. Collins and Jerry I. Porras. The foundation of the book revolves around four key concepts:

1. Be a clock builder -an architect- not a time teller.

2. Embrace the “Genius of the AND”

3. Preserve the core/stimulate progress.

4. Seek consistent alignment.

Back in 1994 when this was published, these were progressive concepts and they had everyone in executive offices thinking and talking. Furthermore, most of the same leaders were still processing the key material in the books, In Search of Excellence and The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. It was an exciting time for all involved.

Now in the summer of 2011, the above four concepts seem pretty simplistic, if not old news. Nevertheless, upon further inspection and further reading in the book, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap. . . and Others Don't, HarperBusiness, 2001, Collins states something that is very important and often missed. As he writes, “When I consider the enduring great companies from Built To Last, I now see substantial evidence that their early leaders followed the good-to-great framework. The only real difference is that they did so as entrepreneurs in small, early-stage enterprises trying to get off the ground, rather than as CEOs trying to transform established companies from good to great. In an ironic twist, I now see Good to Great not as a sequel to Built to Last, but as a prequel. Apply the findings in this book [Good to Great] to create sustained great results, as a start-up or an established organization, and then apply the findings in Built to Last to go from great results to an enduring great company.”

For many leaders in many different companies, the good-to-great framework is being put in place in a careful and thoughtful manner. Concepts like “who before what,” “confront the brutal facts,” and “ the flywheel vs. the doom loop” are all being explored and implemented. But from my perspective, more executives need to reread Built to Last because once the great results start happening and once there are regular short term wins, then all executives need to implement the above four key concepts from Built to Last in order to make the results consistent over time.

Our challenge this summer is to think beyond today and tomorrow. We need to think long term and study the above four concepts and then rigorously apply them throughout our organizations. Given the current economy, we need more people and companies positioning themselves for becoming an “enduring great company.” Now is the time to learn so we can constantly improve in the future.

Geery Howe, M.A.Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer inLeadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational ChangeMorning Star Associates319 - 643 - 2257

Rereading a Classic

In 1994, Warren Bennis, Distinguished Professor of Business Administration, University of Southern California, wrote the following advance praise for a newly published book called Built To Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies (Harper Business, 1994) by James C. Collins and Jerry I. Porras:

“In Built To Last, which will attain classic status in no time, Collins and Porras present a brilliant and lucid analysis and yes, a blueprint for organizational excellence. It should be required reading for all managers and leaders, corporate, government, not-for-profits.”

Looking back seventeen years later, Bennis was on the mark when he wrote that the book, Built To Last, would be a classic. It has been the foundation for so many other books including Collin’s subsequent books, Good To Great and How The Mighty Fall. Once you begin to explore the key concepts within Built To Last, you will see that numerous other authors have integrated the key concepts into their own work, too.

Given how influential it was to my own consulting practice, to numerous executives I have met over the years, and to many other authors, I decided recently to reread it this summer. So far, it has been an extremely positive experience. I have gone through it the first time and loved every page. I look forward to rereading it a couple of more times as I prepare for the Fall ’11 From Vision to Action Executive Roundtable on September 22-23 at the Coralville Marriott Hotel and Conference Center, Coralville, Iowa.

For all of us here today, I encourage you to join me in rereading Built To Last this summer. The book is the summary of a six-year research project at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. Collins and Porras took 18 truly exceptional and long-lasting companies - they have an average age of nearly 100 years and have outperformed the general stock market by a factor of 15 since 1926 and studied each company in direct comparison to one of its top competitors. In short, they asked the question, “What makes truly exceptional companies different from other companies?” and then discovered some very unique answers.

For those of you who are interested in rereading this classic, here is the link to a 1995 Inc. article by Jim Collins called “Building Companies to Last” which captures some of the key concepts: http://www.jimcollins.com/article_topics/articles/building-companies.html

Happy summer reading and do keep in touch with me about what got you thinking within this book and the above article.

Geery Howe, M.A.Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer inLeadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational ChangeMorning Star Associates319 - 643 - 2257