Lessons from SCU's EMBA Module on Leadership

This past week I was back in California to facilitate the opening module on leadership for our EMBA program. We met from about 9:00 a.m. until about 10:00 p.m. on Thursday and Friday and until about 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. As part of that experience we held “fireside” chats with several outstanding and insightful leaders.

Rick Justice (EVP, Cisco) told us about his “10 Lessons for Leading in Good and Bad Times” but the bottom line, he exclaimed: “It’s all about the people. If you care about people, it will make all the difference.” He pointed out the importance of “hiring people different than you ... and more capable than you in a number of ways.” Rick also told us that you can’t be a great leader (or company for that matter) unless you’ve been through a crisis (– good news for any of us alive today!). I loved his final point – and a good balance to the previous observation – which is not to take yourself (or everything else) so seriously!

We were also joined by Sonia Clark (former HR SVP for Align Technology and Agilent) and Spencer Clark (former CLO, Cadence Design) who pushed us to think more intentionally, and use that focus to create the future. They also argued that culture rules and is usually more difficult to change than any individual’s behavior. They encouraged people to each out to those they admired as leaders and to ask them for advice and guidance. They believed that with few exceptions mentees had to find mentors – not the other way around – and that they were more than available for the genuine asking.

My final observation from the workshop/class. I had participants either prepare a “personal best leadership” case study or write a case study about how the "best leader they knew behaved." Individuals told their story in small groups, and the groups then summarized the lessons learned on newsprint. The newsprints were simply labeled “Key Actions.” When we reviewed the summaries it was impossible to tell which was which; in other words, the key actions from the consensus of the groups focused on personal bests with those from the groups focused on most admired leaders they were nearly identical. The people we most admire as leaders are the ones who behave the way people do when they are at their personal best as leaders. It would seem that these key behaviors (which we’ve identified as the Five Practices of Exemplary Leaders) are essentially the same whether we look at them from the viewpoint of the leader or from the constituent.

We do know what leadership looks like.

The adventures have begun

Most of you, I suspect, appreciate that it is challenging to make your way in a new place and Hong Kong has been no different for me. Indeed, I just returned from an unexpected six-hour trip outside the country because it turns out that my visa was not properly signed off when I arrived at the airport. So, I literally needed to leave the country and return and have my visa properly validated. I took an hour's taxi ride to the China Ferry Building and got on the boat to Macau. I got off this boat and went through immigration and turned around and went through immigration again and got on the same boat and returned to Hong Kong. Upon arrival I made certain that I my visa was stamped in all the right places! That was a three-hour roundtrip excursion, followed by another hour's taxi ride back to campus.

So, now I get to come into Hong Kong as a resident for the next four months, and also I can get my paperwork processed by the University’s HR Department (where this “surprise” mixup was first identified. Ask me why they didn't tell me that this sometimes happens?). Did I mention that earlier in the day it took three trips to the local bank and over an hour with the customer services agent before I could get an account opened?

Yesterday was the opening day for this academic year at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST or sometimes just UST), as well as the first day for their new President. I attended his welcoming remarks and was reminded about the cultures of higher education being more similar than different. There were only about 30 non-students who attended, besides the President and his senior administrative team (Deans and Vice Presidents must have been required). I don't know where were the faculty were.

I had a front row seat and listend attentively as the President expressed his hope that while the students refereed to UST as the University of Stress and Tension that it would become better known as the University of Success and Triumph. The ceremony began with a student dance team doing some hip-hop routine and concluded with the carving of a roasted pig by the President! There were food buffets for all the students... and new faculty, like myself. If you want students to attend, provide free food!

I also learned about the typhoon warning system for the campus. With a Category 8 they cancel all the classes, and I won’t tell you about what happens with a Category 10. Last year they cancelled classes on four occasions. This is a story I hope NOT to tell you about in the next four months!

Hope all is well.

Barry