Why Did Hurd REALLY get fired by Hewlett-Packard?
When you see the outcome-the loss of shareholder value, the lack of planning in a successor, and the reasons given for the firing,-the sexual harassment complaint, the $20k in improper expense charges-it doesn’t add up.
So, now, we have shareholder lawsuits, continued scrutiny, and widespread doubts about the ability of the Board of Directors to make good decisions.
Who won here?
Hewlett Packard was known at one time for “The HP way”. Their Standards of Business Conduct” are inspirational, clear and well written. Since Hurd became CEO almost 5 years ago, he has enforced the Standards at a detailed level. After the scandal of Board members illegally going after leaks, he brought in an Ethical Officer, Jon Hoak, from his former gig, NCR to help improve the Ethical Enforcement at HP. This was serious stuff at HP even if it is not the standard in other companies. Could HP afford to keep him? He had turned around HP, improved their efficiency, raised their market value and their profitability, brought in a high functioning senior team-and they could be fine without him.
Obviously, the Board decided they could do without him, and he was gone. Maybe, there are no winners. Maybe, there was a lot more going on than we will ever know. Maybe, Ethics enforced at lower levels was applied to the top levels. Maybe....
“Eyes turn to the danger of deflation”
This is the LA Times headline of July 26, 2010-what does it mean to us, really?
Are prices going down, or up? For many small to mid-size manufacturers, material prices are going up and they are on allocation-they can’t get enough materials to produce what their customers are ordering. That sounds like a classic case for price increases, and sure enough, their prices are going up. They should also be hiring employees to turn out the work. Instead, with so much uncertainty about the future, businesses are working overtime and/or hiring temporary workers. They are afraid to put on full time staff. They are investing in productivity tools, especially in technology that allows fewer people to produce more products.
If employees’ jobs are uncertain, they are not going to invest in a new car or even new clothes for school. Consumers are keeping their spending low. That continues the pressure towards deflation. If many people are unemployed, companies can replace their workers with employees who will work for less. This is not happening across the board, but if you have noticed, there are a lot of young college graduates without jobs. They are taking paid internships at minimum wage, they are taking unpaid internships, they are free-lancing, or they work 2 or 3 part time jobs. This means the next year of college graduates will be competing against these young folks for the minimum wage jobs companies are offering. These consumers have no money to spend, and end up living at home. Good thing the new health plan says they can stay on their parents plans until 26 years of age.
So maybe, we do have deflation to fear. As individuals, we can support the economy by spending now on replacement purchases, and maintenance. Maybe you need your house repainted or a new roof. If you can afford to do it, now might be the time. Lots of contractors are looking for work. If you have extra work, hire someone to help. There are a lot of good people out there who need jobs.
When you offer a business opportunity to a man…. Is that different from offering the same opportunity to a woman?
A young woman I know told me quite excitedly about a new project that was posted at her company. The project manager was being hired from the outside and a team was to be created in the next 6 weeks to implement the project. We talked about what the jobs might be on the new team and whether she might want to throw her hat into the ring. It turns out that there was a lot of information she wanted to find out through back channels before she approached the decision-maker.
4 days later, I asked her what she had found out. Her natural pattern of connecting with her co-workers gave her the insight to know exactly who to approach to get the scoop on the new project. Further, she gathered all the information she could before putting herself on the line with a superior.
And then, she waited. She didn’t jauntily walk into the boss’ office and throw her hat in the ring. She kept looking for a moment when no one was around. By the end of the week, now 10 days after the project was announced, she still hadn’t said a word. With a little encouragement, she hung out until finally he was alone late Friday afternoon. Guess what, he had been waiting for her to seek him out.
I described this scenario to a Senior Partner at a top consulting firm. I asked him what he would think about this. He became very engaged in the conversation. It turns out his very large firm had held a seminar for management recently about gender differences, and one of the topics was how women respond to opportunity as compared to men. Men say “I’ll do it!” before they even know what it entails. Women will give him a list of reasons why they can’t take something on. In my friends’ experience, he thought the women just weren’t interested. Turns out, that was not true. When he asked them directly if they were interested in the job, they stopped and stared at him. Well, of course they were interested. They just needed to assess how they would do everything else they were responsible for as well.
Why is there such a gender difference? Maybe, it doesn’t even matter. As business leaders, we may just need to be aware and not misinterpret people’s reactions just because they are not our own.
Is it about you?
I spent a long time talking with a CEO this week about him. We talked about who he was, what was important to him, how he showed up in personality profiles. We didn't spend much time talking about how that worked with his people or with customers.
We do that with our products or our services, too. We talk about our stuff without knowing much about the audience. Then we can't figure out why one customer loves us and the next can't wait to get us out of the room. What's up with THEM?
Yes, it is critical that as leaders, we know ourselves. That might be described as step one. However, if we stop there, we miss the juice. The next step is how that resonates with the customer. Do we really understand how we come across? Do we do any research, ask for any feedback or evaluation? How many times have you listened to someone's presentation, and been turned off by their demeanor, felt bored or irrelevant to the conversation? Yet, the speaker thought they gave a great presentation.
Where do you get CONSISTENT feedback about how you are showing up? Do you have feedback partners within your organization? Do you have feedback partners outside-customers, vendors, peers?
What product or service does the customer really want? How do you find out? Do you ask them? Do the people within your organization have a template for what to say about your products and what to ask the customer? Do you do market research?
There is so much noise out there and everyone is working so hard to be heard, we can't take it for granted that what we did last year will get us heard now.
I challenge you to get feedback from 3 customers/clients this week on what you should stop doing, what you should start doing, and what you should keep doing.
Let me know how it works out.
Personal Mastery
How well do you know yourself? Can you predict or understand the behavior of other Members of your team?
I was talking with a CEO who is working with a new assessment tool for leadership style. If you have done personality assessments before, you may have discovered characteristics about yourself that may be a challenge to your success in your job. When you examine them carefully, you may find that this is the reason you struggle with parts of your responsibilities.
Well, my friend is very self aware. She knew most of what she heard in the personality assessment to be accurate. However, there was one thing new that she learned- that she was extremely focused when she had a goal. Not reasonably focused, not balanced, extremely focused. She had always thought that most people were that way, at least the people on her team. For her, once she set a goal, other things dropped out of her line of sight. Some of the members of her team didn't react that way, and had questions or comments that to her felt like they didn't get the goal. Now she understands that they don't immediately organize around goals, so she needs to give them time to process what they will have to do differently. Now, she can gauge the reaction and modify her communication style if she needs to. By using an assessment tool, the team can have a conversation around differences that are non-judgmental...leaders just have different styles that are neither better nor worse than the others around the table.
When we get a reaction that puzzles us from the people around us, do we examine what our part was in creating the dynamic? By working with personality profiles, we can open a discussion with our team about who each of us is and how that helps or hurts our organization. In other settings, we can stop the conversation and check in with others on what they are hearing and how it affects them. Ultimately, the more we know ourselves, and pay attention to how we affect the people around us, the better leader we can be for our families, our companies and the community.
It is complicated
Doesn’t it seem that we spend way too much time doing things that we don’t like to do and not nearly enough time on what we enjoy?
Or, we work really hard, but it doesn’t get us the results we seek?
There are so many ways to do things, yet we do them in the same way we always did them. It just seems easier, or faster or less complicated.
But, life is complicated. And, sometimes we need to get really clear about where to focus.
Working with a wonderful team at a growing entrepreneurial company I suddenly realized that while we were talking about strategy at the 30,000 foot level, it was not what they most needed to do. They didn’t need one more exercise in strategic goal setting, but rather to take one idea and peel it down layer by layer until every commitment and each step was on the calendar for all employees involved in making this project a success. This is a company that is always in such a hurry to put out the next fire, that customers who should have been ecstatic with the quality of their product, were left annoyed at small details that weren’t addressed.
Sometimes we just need to focus on execution. If it is not working take it apart and try doing it another way-stop suffering.
What’s in a Strategy?
In today’s Wall Street Journal Nov. 30, 2009, there is a front page article on Oracle CEO Larry Ellison’s decision to vertically integrate through its purchase of Sun Microsystems which makes hardware, something Oracle never did before. In fact, Oracle’s strategy for the first time in its 32 year history is to create a conglomerate of computer software, hardware and components like “TJ Watson Jr’s IBM”, Mr. Ellison said in September.
SO, what’s in a strategy? When do you hold ‘em and when do you fold ‘em? In Mr. Ellison’s case, it was opportunistic. He suddenly had access not only to Sun’s software, for which he originally bid, but the hardware and computer components business as well. Mr. Ellison began to think about the benefits today in vertical integration. Lots of other companies are doing it too. Companies that were selling off parts of the business to be more efficient only 2 years ago are selectively buying parts that they now want to control. SO, would that work for Oracle?
Well, guess what? Times and conditions change. We make certain assumptions about the world when we set a strategy. Assumptions like, the dollar is stable and the banking system can depend on the US market. Or, the basic commodities on which my company depends will be cheap and readily available. Or, I can count on delivery times from my suppliers. Efficient world markets and ready supply of commodities made this all true for many years. Now, that has been challenged and companies that could afford to focus on only what they excel at are now looking at gaining back direct control. Their assumption that we could depend on efficient markets is no longer certain. If they cannot deliver the correct product at the correct time at a fair price, they will not maintain their dominance in the market.
Secondly, the break-up of large conglomerates accelerated efficiency in the market. All the benefit from that has been incorporated in these new companies. Future growth has to come from something else. Each of these suppliers had to make a profit along that chain. By, integrating them, some of that profit and some of the redundancy (back office, overhead, etc) can be squeezed out at the same time as control gets tighter. This will benefit the new conglomerate and ultimately the customer.
Thirdly, a strategy is not written on a stone tablet. Many competitors exist in a given market with differing successful strategies. You do need to have a strategy and to take careful steps to execute that strategy. You do need to evaluate your success with a cold eye. If it is not working then you do need to figure out whether another strategy is likely to be better. That’s what Ellison did. Is he right? According to the Wall Street Journal Ellison said, “We’re really brilliant, or we’re idiots.”
“You can accomplish more in a crisis than in steady-state periods.”
In the Nov. 23, 2009, Los Angeles Business Journal, there is an interview with Ted Carver, Jr. the CEO of Edison International. He was talking about a time of crisis in California when the electricity prices were deregulated and the cost of electricity was turned on its head. He was asked what he learned from the crisis. He said, “In a funny way, you can accomplish more in a crisis than in steady-state periods. You don’t ever want to squander one of those opportunities to effect change and make a difference.”
For most business owners, the last year has been an “opportunity” to effect change. Headcount had to be cut. Capital expenditures stopped. New projects put on hold. 401k contributions halted. And, did I mention the number of people that had to be let go to keep companies afloat? For some whose businesses have been streamlined, and projects and people down-sized, this has produced a sense of relief. In general, most businesses have figured out by now how to stay profitable at these lower levels. However, walk into any business and you will find everyone working harder and longer.
SO, how do you find opportunity in all of this? In previous periods of disequilibrium, there were individuals who emerged as hugely successful because they took advantage of the changed circumstances. Those who have cash can buy businesses and property at reduced rates. Competitors may be weaker. Increasing marketing and improving customer service can retain customers and attract new ones. What about reaching out to new customers through social media?
As we get to the end of 2009, engage your team to reflect on what the world will look like in 2012. Don’t just think of 2010. Where will you need to put your resources? What will you need to let go of? What is one thing you will have to do differently? What have you been afraid to try, that you can’t wait any longer to see if it works?
Let me know what you decide.
Leadership Style of Working Mothers-Pt. 3
okay, last one.
They pick their battles
How important is it for the teenager to pick up his room? How important is it for the sales manager to fill in their call report. If it is important, she probably will come after the result in several different ways that engage, threaten, co-opt or punish to get the accountability.
They hold firm when they believe it is really important for their constituency (kids or staff or company objective)
When it is really important they will fight to the bitter end. You’ve seen the Mother whose kid has a peanut allergy argue about the snacks at pre-school. Or, the scientist who will not sign off on a bad lab sample, even just once. Be passionate about what you truly value.
They tend not to care who gets the credit.
Ronald Reagan said “you can accomplish much if you don’t care who gets the credit”. Moms don’t get much credit but they get a lot of blame. Deborah Tanner in her many books about the differing linguistics of men and women describes how all female groups don’t appreciate the woman who brags. The group is very conscious who does what and you will get rewarded for doing your part over the long term. So, from an early age, girls learn to work with the group for the goal and don’t go looking to get all the credit. Credit the group and the others who helped you succeed.
They can negotiate with 3 year olds.
How much patience and long term perspective does that take? Now, apply it to the work place and you see why some women seem to get ahead in our flat world, that now has less hierarchy, more cultural difference and instant feedback though social networking about how we are showing up.
Leadership Style of Working Mothers Pt. 2
SO, what else can we learn from working mothers?
They are used to emergencies
Kids throwing up all night and no sleep. Not enough cash to meet payroll. This too will pass.
They know how to ask for help.
There is so much to do to keep a household running, get the kids to school and have enough energy to focus at work, most working Mom’s get pretty used to groveling, begging, trading off favors, living with disapproval, living with compromise and asking for help-usually from other Mom’s. The controversy about working v. non-working Mom’s is way overplayed. GO ahead, ask for the help you need. That is not a sign of weakness, it is a recognition of real limits.
They adapt to change
The client just decided to change the ad campaign you had been working on for 2 months. The kid just decided turkey is poison after only eating turkey sandwiches for the last 3 months. SO, what else is new?
They pick their battles
How important is it for the teenager to pick up his room? How important is it for the sales manager to fill in their call report. If it is important, she probably will come after the result in several different ways that engage, threaten, co-opt or punish to get the accountability.