Can your leadership handle the hotdog?
Posted by Jason Remillard on Tue, Jun 29, 2010 @ 02:24 PM
In another recent posting of mine, I had mused about what BP could learn from our industry when we talk about issues like major security breaches, exposures, outages, etc. In essence, it was about – what is your communications, recovery and customer service plan in the event of an emergency.
Flash forward a few weeks and now looks like BP has a new figurehead in place of Mr. Hayward. I don’t know much, if anything about either gentlemen, but I do have this
concept about leadership and if they should be the ‘front man’ for the company. This is a challenge in many founder-oriented companies and I would offer has been an issue for many years.
The core question, put simply is: Can this person hand out hotdogs? As a concept, look at this person and could you see them behind the grill at the company barbeque (you have those right?), cooking and handing out hotdogs. He/she could also be cutting the cake, handing out ice cream, etc.
Skip past the mechanics of the operation for a second and look back through your past..
Can this leader ‘serve’ his employees with honour and dignity? Can she say thank you back, “No, THANK YOU!” to someone who says thanks for the crispy meat item. Does this person instil the true emotion of caring, thankfulness and appreciation for the people that make them possible?
In my career, its unfortunate to say, I’ve only met a few. The biggest claim to fame I suppose is the good Dr. Eric Schmidt when he was the CEO @ Novell.com. It’s a long story, but involves a couple of newly hired guys (me and another guy from Toronto), sushi and a mansion in San Francisco. Eric (I have a hard time not calling him Mr.) eschewed everything that a leader should be, and that I will always carry with me – both as a goal, and as a role model. Can I see Eric handing out hotdogs and saying thank you? You betcha, and this would be why he, and others like him are the leaders they are today.
Sit back and look at yourself. Maybe your board has said ‘you’re not the right guy to be front facing’. Maybe you ARE more of a techie. Or perhaps you are a gogetter sales gal without an appreciation for HR or Finance issues. It’s ok!
Again, I suggest you look at yourself, or your current leader, or the leader of the company you’re thinking of joining, and ask the simple question: Can he handle handing out hotdogs?