New York Times Comments on Leadership

My lovely and talented wife is part of a "Leadership Academy" at Xavier University, her employer. This group meets monthly to discuss leadership topics relevant to the university and the world around them. I get the good fortune to read some of her materials. Their latest reading comes from several articles called "Corner Office," a series that the New York Times covers on Sundays where they ask a series of questions to CEOs of various businesses. Here are some thoughts I found to be interesting...

Gordon M. Bethune, CEO of Continental Airlines from 1994 to 2004, on hiring people:
"The really good people want autonomy - you let me do it, and I'll do it. So I told the people I recruited: 'You come in here and you've got to keep me informed, but you're the guy, and you'll make these decisions.'"

Meridee A. Moore, Founder of Watershed Asset Management ($2 billion hedge firm in San Francisco), on career advice:
"Find a mentor. It doesn't have to be a mentor who looks like you. They can be older, a different gender, in a different business, but someone you admire and respect, and attach yourself to that person and learn everything you can."

Cristobal Conde, President and CEO of SunGard, a software and I.T. services company, on time management:
"I need an hour and a half once a day to think....many topics or issues can only be dealth with in an uninterrupted format."

William D. Green, Chairman and Chief Executive of Accenture, on three things that matter:
1. Competence - being good at what you do, and focus on the job you have, not the job you want to have
2. Confidence - have to have enough desirable self-confidence to articulate a point of view
3. Caring - Nothing today is about one individual.

Drew Gilpin Faust, President of Harvard, on making people happy:
"You don't make everyone happy, but I believe that if people feel they were listened to, that their views were taken into account, that they had a chance to show you the world from their point of view, they're going to be much more likely to go along with a decision."