Many of us aren’t too sure of that, actually. We see the accouterments of power surrounding many CEOs and other senior executives, behold with wonder how easily they enfold themselves in those symbols of knowledge and levers of control, and, further intimidated by the promotion and celebration of the myths of singular ability cloaking these rare individuals taught us by the modern leadership movement, we simply resign ourselves to our fate, and return to our normal routine, hewing wood and hauling water for our betters.
Indeed, in a recent post, I made a positive reference to a process by means of which Kellogg responded effectively to a sudden loss of its CEO by appointing a transitional holder of that post, who then mentored the designated successor through an accelerated development program to prepare him for permanent assignment as CEO.
The development program seemed thoughtful, and certainly was elaborate. It included membership in Kellogg’s board, as well as that of another company, on the presumption that the CEO position required steady familiarity and ease with others who are acclimated to the rarefied atmosphere at this level. This gave me some pause, and I think that in principle it is unwise and usually ineffective; double-hatting the CEO as manager and director tends to cloud – not clarify – corporate governance and strategic direction. However, Kellogg has done well enough by it, so, at the time, I passed fairly lightly over that aspect of their approach.
But I mention it here because the NYT published an item, today, that Kellogg’s board might want to note. It’s about some senior management teams that are using off-site meetings to engage in “teamwork” training of a new type: they’re donating an afternoon or a day of their time to charitable activities.
In so doing, some of these elite managers are evidently learning quite a bit that they find most eye-opening; as I read the item, I found their comments to be rather alarmingly so. Consider this quote from one of the senior managers of an outfit that spent a day helping Habitat for Humanity build a house (and, truthfully, good for them); one of their jobs was unloading a truck of roof tiles:
We actually had to figure out how to have kind of a bucket line, handing these very heavy tiles from one person to the next. That’s the ultimate team-building exercise.
Mind you, this is a member of top management. And the linked article has more such examples, including one in which volunteer work is touted for helping managers learn to “organize something and work with people.”
So, don’t despair. Clearly you shouldn’t be so intimidated about those folks on the top floor – and perhaps Kellogg’s board should reevaluate their attitude about this, as well. After all, if you can organize the unloading of a truck, then you can also very likely – in all seriousness – make it all the way to the top.
But, on the other hand, perhaps we should despair not about our own chances, but about the disturbing disorientation that seems to afflict so many who do work their way up, or who are parachuted in from other backgrounds and enterprises. This is an interesting subject – what kind of background does it take to be a good senior manager? – and we’ll take it up shortly.
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