Managing Leadership^®

Among the many great hopes pinned on the MBA is that attainment of it suggests meaningful things about one’s knowledge, ability, and character. That is not an overstatement of the regard in which it is held.

While it is fair enough to assume that someone who has completed such a program can be expected to know what was taught in it, his or her ability to apply that knowledge cannot be assumed with equal confidence, despite all the hyped-up internships, case studies, and role-playing exercises.

Moreover, many MBA programs have jumped on the leadership bandwagon, and presume to “teach” leadership and to “make” leaders. The best that can actually be laid at the doorstep of the MBA in this respect, however, may be ambition and some degree of self-discipline.

Let’s just stipulate to this: many holders of MBAs are indeed talented managers and even, according to the popular understanding of the term, leaders - and ethical ones, at that. But not because of their MBA. Something else in their background led to their development of these abilities, and to the character which possession of them implies. If you want those abilites and character, you need to look deeper than the MBA alone.

Otherwise, you may get only knowledge and disciplined ambition. As Warren Buffett famously observed, you want intelligence, energy, and integrity in your managers; and if you don’t get the last one, the first two will kill you.

Of course, you have to look somewhere - use something as a discriminator - but if not the MBA, then what? Please consider the following, from a comment on Tuesday’s post made by Cam Beck, of ChaosScenario:

I couldn’t think of a group of people I’d trust more with my life - or my business.”

Wouldn’t you love to be able to say that about your managers? Cam is speaking of a readily identifiable group of people immediately prepared to step into management roles at organizations of all types and at all levels. It is quite a simple matter to distinguish and verify a person’s assertion of membership in this group. And, in case you think we are talking about MBAs after all, note the balance of the quote: “MBA optional.”

For what group of people would an MBA be optional as preparation for a career in management - not to mention as an indicator of success? Cam is referring to the military.

He makes the significant point that people who have honorably completed tours in the military are not only likely to have learned management skills to an unparalelled degree - they have also self-selected from the pack for some of the most important qualities that organizations seek. Chief among these is the desire to work as part of a team to pursue worthwhile objectives that transcend individual ambition.

I must say that as a military man, myself, and an observer of organizations of all types all around the world, I am hard-pressed as well to find a more reliable indicator of management talent and character than the military. But there are a couple of things about this: For one, the supply is far from sufficient to meet the demand. And, for another, who says there aren’t other comparably valuable and reliable sources of management ability?

Are there? Might there be other distinct and readily identifiable groups of people whose readiness to step in to management positions is strongly indicated by their membership of those groups? This, by the way, largely rules out educational programs - we need to be talking about experience, here.

Could a work history in certain not-for-profit outfits fall into this category? How about other volunteer activities, such as membership in community organizations? Are there other callings or even, simply, industries that convey this sort of information?

Can we come up with ways to help organizations relegate the MBA to a more appropriate value: helpful, perhaps - but optional?

Tomorrow we’ll look at evaluating managers from another angle. Please do drop in for that!

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Today’s tip: Speaking of optional, might the MBA - or education, generally - actually be simply ineffective as an indicator of future performance? Please see this fascinating post on the topic by Tyler Cohen of Marginal Revolution. Be sure to view the comments, also.

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