Elephants can dance afterall huh? ...

Yes, my last blog was June 3, and I tell you it sure is helluva difficult to start writing again after that long spell. Trapped in a sort of writer's 'inertia' ( inertia is one of newton's laws that states the tendency of a body to stay at rest or continue its state of motion...). But I did some useful things ( I hope) like reading the above book that was re-published in paperpack edition in 2003. One of those interesting turnaround stories. I like Gerstner's style. Once duped as the biscuit salesman who turned around an IT giant. I like the memos he wrote, his management and leadership style. Especially his leadership style, and in his opinion, which I grossly agree, is the most important element of institutional transformation. He goes on to say that at the end of the day its all about culture and great institutions are the length and shadow of individuals. Great institutions are not managed, they are led he says. They are not administered; they are driven to ever increasing levels of accomplishment by individuals who are passionate about winning. The best leaders create high performance cultures, set demanding goals, measure results and hold people accountable. They are change agents, constantly driving their institutions to adapt and advance faster than their competitors do.

On personal leadership, he says its about visibility and about being both strategic and operational. Great CEOs roll up their sleeves and tackle problems personally, not hide behind staff, never simply preside over the work of others, visible everyday with customers, suppliers and business partners. Personal leadership to him is about communication, openness, and a willingness to speak often and honestly, and with respect for the intelligence of reader or listener. Leaders don't leave to others the delivery of bad news, don't hide behind corporate double-speak. They treat every employee as someone who deserves to understand what's going on in the organisation. Of course, passion....naaah I don't wanna bore you. Go read the book yourself, if you haven't... So, I have been keeping myself quite occupied actually. I also bought another book 'Ahead of the Curve' Two years at Harvard Business School by Philip Delves Broughton. I will write something about it as soon as I finish reading it... have a good rest folks and a great week ahead.