Leadership in the News

Why Don’t People Change?

By Brandon W. Jones on May 23, 2012 0

Isaac Newton was able to come up with some incredible advancements in the world of mathematics and science during his day. Some of those advancements were:

Newton’s Three Laws of Motion
The development of the infinitesimal calculus
The discovery of refraction of light
Newton’s Laws of Universal Gravitation

Do you think Newton came up with all these discoveries on his own? Did he have any information or knowledge to start from? Newton was quoted as saying,

If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.

Isaac Newton, Letter to Robert Hooke, February 5, 1675

Standing on the Shoulders Of Giants

As a leader in math and science, Newton understood the importance of learning from others. He took the knowledge he received from others and improved on it to make things better. He constantly studied the practices of previous scientists and mathematicians so he could come up with new discoveries. [Read more…] about Why Don’t People Change?

Should Leaders Be Paid Based On Performance?

By Brandon W. Jones on May 22, 2012 0

During the last few months, there have been a number of articles in the news about leaders and their compensation. In March, I did a post about an article that showed statistics stating that CEO compensation increase for new CEOs had only increased by 1.5% in 2011 compared to 11% in 2010. This was significantly down from past years even though their performance had improved and the performance of the company had improved.

I did a post about Carmelo Anthony because he was paid a high salary to help the New York Knicks become a top team and win a championship. The organization has not been as successful as expected since he joined the team and they have paid him a very high salary for results.

Once again there was an article in the news about compensation and performance. The Wall Street Journal article CEOs That Delivered The Most And Least Bang For The Buck by Joann S. Lublin and Dana Mattioli stated, “A Wall Street Journal analysis of compensation data for 300 top U.S. companies assembled by Hay Group found that while pay generally tracked performance last year, some CEOs delivered far more bang for the buck when it came to shareholder returns.”

The article went on to explain that although the results discussed in the March article showed that in many cases the compensation during the last year was equilivalent to performance, there were also companies that didn’t follow suit with compensation based on performance. The article explained the stories of four CEOs that were significantly underpaid or overpaid. The graphic above shows some of the statistics related to the performance and compensation based on the CEO.

Dishonesty: The Fall Of A Leader

By Brandon W. Jones on May 15, 2012 4

A few weeks ago I wrote a post about the CEO of Yahoo, Scott Thompson. He was in the news because he had only been with Yahoo for a short time and already was making major layoffs. Well, once again he has gotten himself into the spotlight. This time it is for his dishonesty.

Mistakes

Over the last few months since Scott Thompson took over as CEO, Yahoo has continued to struggle. In a recent regulatory filing, it was encountered that Scott’s resume erroneously said he had earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science when in fact he only had a degree in accounting. [Read more…] about Dishonesty: The Fall Of A Leader

How To Make It Through The Hard Times By Having A Vision

By Brandon W. Jones on May 11, 2012 9

Hitachi, the Japanese electronics giant, has been around for 102 years. Recently they went through one of their worst periods in company history. During the four year period from 2006 to 2010, Hitachi went through a company depression where the total losses equaled $12.4 billion. The losses were the worst in company history. The following two years they posted record profits. In 2011 alone, they posted a net profit of $4.35 billion.

So why did they go from having record losses to record profits? What happened to make them profitable? In April 2010, Hiroaki Nakanishi took over as the president of Hitachi. When he took over, he had been in the company for many years which gave him a lot of experience, but he didn’t adopt the previous leadership culture that led to the problems. With all his experience, he hadn’t allowed himself to grow into the same mold as all the past executives. He had a completely different thought process than all the previous leaders. The article Hitachi President Prods Turnaround in the Wall Street Journal by Daisuke Wakabayashi states:

Hitachi under Mr. Nakanishi has broken away from a plodding, risk-averse style of management, spinning off at breakneck pace its consumer-related operations in mobile phones, computer parts and flat-panel TVs to concentrate on selling big-ticket—and more profitable—power plants, rail lines and water treatment facilities.

While other Japanese electronics firms continue to suffer from losses in consumer products and the punishing impact of the strong yen, Hitachi—Japan’s largest electronics manufacturer—has posted a second year of record profits

Leadership Succession – Who Will Take Over After Warren Buffett?

By Brandon W. Jones on April 23, 2012 0

Recently, Warren Buffett announced that he has prostate cancer. “The disease was detected early, and the 81-year-old Mr. Buffett is otherwise in excellent health. His prognosis is good.” This diagnosis brought up many questions regarding what will happen to Berkshire Hathaway after Warren Buffett. Warren Buffett has been at the helm since 1963.

In the Wall Street Journal article, And Buffett’s Successor Is…, Jason Zweig explained, “But the news brought renewed attention to the question of who ultimately will succeed him. […] He has said the members of Berkshire’s board have chosen a successor whom they know and admire, as well as two backups.”

He went on to explain, “Yet he hasn’t disclosed the successor’s identity—even to the chosen person. Nor would he reveal anything during my brief conversation with him this past week. Publicly naming his successor wouldn’t just make it hard for Berkshire to change its mind later if circumstances warrant; it would demoralize the two backup choices and make them more prone to poaching by competitors.”

Warren Buffett’s momentary health scare brought to light the importance of having a leadership succession plan. Do you have a succession plan for your organization? Do you know who will replace you or the other leaders within your organization once you are gone?

The Why Of Leadership Succession Planning

As leaders, it is very important to set up a leadership succession plan for your organization because it allows you to get the right people in place prior to unforeseen personnel changes. When people retire, quit, get promoted, or move to another position, a succession plan allows you to have someone ready to take their place. The leadership succession plan allows you to groom someone to step in when someone leaves by preparing them for the responsibilities of the future position. [Read more…] about Leadership Succession – Who Will Take Over After Warren Buffett?

Was It A Good Leadership Decision For Yahoo’s New CEO To Have Layoffs?

By Brandon W. Jones on April 18, 2012 3

Scott Thompson, the new Yahoo CEO, held a conference call yesterday to report the first quarter earnings. He became the CEO in January, so it was his first time reviewing quarterly earnings with the shareholders. Since Scott Thompson took over, Yahoo’s stock value has lost 7% of its value. Yahoo, however, was struggling even before Scott became the CEO. Since he took over, Yahoo has not improved and continues to fall behind their competition. He is now being labeled as a struggling CEO.

Yahoo has many companies that are branches of their core business. Under Scott Thompson’s leadership, Yahoo will be shutting down or “transitioning” about 50 Web properties. In addition, Scott’s significant measures to reduce costs included his announcement earlier this month that Yahoo plans to layoff 2,000 employees. Yahoo also plans to have additional layoffs at some point in the near future. At the same time, when Scott Thompson became CEO, he was given the possibility of making $26 million this year if he performs well.

Leadership in the News

Standing on the Shoulders Of Giants

Mistakes

The Why Of Leadership Succession Planning

Get to Know Leadership Done Right!

Personal Development

Practical Leadership