THANKS TO ALL WHO RESPONDED. I'VE CONSOLIDATED THE RESPONSES I'VE RECEIVED
BELOW. LARRY
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I train only senior executives around the world in workshops on LEADERSHIP
AND ETHICAL DECISION MAKING. If you are going to train sr.exs. in fiscal
decision-making, hr, tqm/qc/mbo, et al then Ethics (Management ethics)
should be high on their priority list.
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In a previous position I set up a series of 'briefings' six times a year for
our exec's - I had professors from the university, Senior Govt officials
from relevant areas, Exec's from different companies - although not direct
competitors, etc come along tal k about their business issues, significant
govt policies, trends in management. This turned out to be a very
successful series - mainly because the CEO got very in to it. Whenever a
'guru' was in town we sponsored part of their costs so that we go a separate
session, or we sent our managers along - the CEO then built some of the
ideas from these 'briefings' into performance contracts.
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Being very simple-minded, and with many years of experience at different
levels, I say:
* Find a way to remind themselves DAILY that they don't really run
things
* Examine the pay structure to be sure there isn't too much difference
between the highest and lowest levels
* Remember that in corporations these are only roles; they have
nothing to do with the value of human beings
* WALK AROUND, as Tom Peters suggested
* Involve as many people as possible in ALL decisions
If these are included, all the rest will fall into place.
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Two HBR articles may be of value to get to the "gut" issues in top
management challenges; The classic "REAL WORK" by Zaleznick (reprinted in
a late 1997 issue) and Pffeffer's current article "The Smart Talk Trap".
These both focus on bridging the gap from formulation to
implementation-(academics will recognize their own work environments as
well!). Should stimulate some discussion of their current battles to make
things happen.
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The leading-edge folks I know are into "action learning" as the main
mechanism for senior exec development.
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I think the question of content depends on the evolution and rate of change
in the specific industry(ies), whether the company(ies) sells to consumers
or other businesses (B2B), and the background of the people themselves. The
company's culture, esp. its emphasis on continuing education and development
of personal skillsets, would also have significant impact on the specifics
of my recommendations.
But I can make some general comments. The fact that the folks in the
program will come from line backgrounds suggests that a primary focus should
be on industrial organization, esp. the Austrian school (most line folks
I've met are like accountants: they think that price is the ONLY way to
compete), marketing (segmentation and the development of vertical markets),
and strategy (esp. the development of sustainable competitive advantage).
Some basics about effective reward systems would also be a valuable topic.
Harvard's Mike Jensen is in the early stages of developing what he calls the
PAM (Pain Avoidance Model) to explain why people often make self-destructive
choices. Depending on the timing of the needs of your friend, know more
about that model would be, I think, very useful, as it would enhance
executives' ability to understand why seemingly left-brain managers make
dumb choices.
I'm assuming that people skills, PC literacy, and e-Commerce knowledge are
givens. If not, they need to be.
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Larry Peters asked: Any thoughts about content (or process) that would add
value to senior-level line managers in a development program of this sort?
And Saludos Esteban asked: What would be the one conference/seminar focused
on the practical side for executive development that you would recommend?
Dan Booth and I have been struggling with the same issue for four or five
years. We now have one answer that is based on 360 feedback. I have done
some preliminary validation studies on it and the results look good. This
summer I will be doing a more complete validation study on it
If you would like to see a paper-and-pencil version of one of the opening
exercises, please go to
http://perdue.ssu.edu/~fmshippe/comtenle.htm.
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What would be the one conference/seminar focused on the practical side for
executive development that you would recomend?
Larry Peters asked: Any thoughts about content (or process) that would add
value to senior-level line managers in a development program of this sort?
Executives may not need a practical side. Look at
http://www.thinksmart.com
Linkage hosts the annual LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE. 2000 will mark
the 5th year that this successful learning forum has taken place. The '99
keynote line-up included thought leaders such as:
*Warren Bennis
*Peter Senge
*Ken Blanchard
*Howard Schultz (Starbucks)
*Anita Roddick (The Body Shop)
*Candy Albertsson (BP Amoco)
Best-in-class organizations presented case studies for benchmarking,
including:
*BP Amoco
*Motorola
*PepsiCo
*American Express
*Proctor & Gamble
*J&J
*Hewlett-Packard
This conference will take place again June 11-14, 2000 at the Grand Hyatt,
in Washington D.C. For more info on Linkage or this conference, check out
our website:
www.linkageinc.com r call 781-862-3157.
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