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Fwd: Greatest leader secret

The world is full of people with opinions. Television, radio,
and other media are brimming over with commentators
making suggestions and offering seemingly authoritative
advice to government officials and corporate executives
about what they ought to do. At dinners and cocktail
parties — and around the water cooler at work — we talk
about what others should do or should have done, or the
flaws of our bosses.
In our jobs, we may give our opinion on an issue from a
functional or departmental point of view — in other words,
a limited perspective. Or we may give an opinion without
fully thinking about the issues and weighing the interests
of various constituencies that our boss has to consider in
order to make an important decision. We may do this
because we don't have access to additional information or,
alternatively, because we believe that broadening our
perspective simply isn't part of our job description.
This kind of opinion giving may be quite appropriate and
adequate in any number of situations, but it doesn't
constitute leadership. Leadership requires much more. It
starts with taking on a broader perspective in figuring out
what you truly believe should be done — that is, as if you
were an owner.
I Thought I Did a Good Job
Jim, a vice president of a consumer goods company, called
me to discuss a problem he was facing. He was a former
student of mine and was calling to seek advice. He had just
had a jarring experience, and he was trying to make sense
of what had gone wrong.
Jim had been working on the launch of an important new
product for his company. He was a key member of a
multifunctional launch team that was headed by the senior
vice president in charge of one of the company's key
divisions. The team was charged with conceiving of all
aspects of the new product's design, packaging,
marketing, and distribution strategy. This product was vital
to Jim's company, because the market share of several of
its core products was eroding, and senior executives
urgently needed to find new avenues for growth. They
thought that this new product would address an important
consumer need and reestablish the company's position in
the minds of its customers.
Each member of the project team was assigned one aspect
of the new product and its launch. Jim's responsibility was
to focus on the point-of-sale promotion for the product. He
felt this wasn't the most critical assignment, but — given
the importance of this project and the high quality of the
other team members — it was still a good opportunity.
After several weeks of work, he came up with a detailed
plan regarding display and placement for the product
within each retail context: grocery stores, drugstores, and
other consumer outlets. In addition, he developed
alternative point-of-sale materials to be used in some of the
regional product tests that were about to be conducted.
During this period, the project team met once a week, with
each member of the team reporting on his or her area of
responsibility. The senior vice president wanted every team
member to be aware of the plans for all aspects of the
launch. He hoped that team members would question each
other and learn about each other's assignments, and
thereby produce a more effective launch strategy.
Initially, Jim was very pleased with his work on this project.
"I thought I did a very good job," he told me. To come up
with the detailed plan, Jim had assembled a subgroup
comprising several of his subordinates. He felt great about
how things were going, which was why what happened
next was so disconcerting.

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