Caring About Others

Our friends Mark and Roberta Linsky stopped by for a few days to visit us on their way to Vietnam. I made them pay for this stopover by being guest speakers in my leadership seminar. Actually the price was minimal and the pay-off was great – for them and the students.

Roberta, recently retired as the SVP for Worldwide HR at Logitech, explained that is was “easier to be a leader in good times than in bad times,” and that the latter requires even “better leadership.” She made the point that “success is never final.” Mark, who retired from HP some years ago and is now quite active with a number of local and national volunteer organizations, reiterated this point when he explained that “every leader fails and that’s why they get better.” He went on to maintain that “feedback is a gift” and that you can’t really develop yourself, or your organization, without knowing how you are doing against some mutually agreed upon objective.

Mark maintained that “learning is a continual process” and that it is, or certainly should be, something that everyone is interested in. This was especially true in working with volunteers, because the task of leading them was making sure that you (a) didn’t waste their time and (b) made the experience and contribution relevant for them.

Leaders fail, asserted Roberta, not because they don’t have the skills for the job (although this is sometimes true) but most often because of ego issues – such as not listening, not caring about the interests of others, being arrogant, and the like. Respect for people, both Mark and Roberta agreed, was crucial to the success of leaders and constituents will never forget how they have been treated and appreciated (or not). Making certain that people can work together is generally a function of the clarity and consensus that exists around key goals and objectives.

Finally, the students had a number of questions for them about how they managed their own relationships (marriage and family) amidst demanding careers. They pointed out that you had to really care (love) the other person, be interested in their needs and support their choices, make tradeoffs, and have a long-term perspective (especially when it came to any sense of “balance”).

All the best,

Barry