Inspirational Leadership
I recently attended a Semiconductor industry meeting where one of the speakers referred to the incredible leadership displayed by Bob Noyce. Bob was a founder of Fairchild Semiconductor and later Intel Corporation. He was a pioneer in developing the integrated circuit and, in many ways, was instrumental in creating Silicon Valley. I had the privilege of meeting Bob in the late 80’s when he was President of SEMATECH. He was, without a doubt, the most impressive person I’ve ever met. He had incredible “presence” based on his intelligence, articulate way of framing issues, exceptional poise and overall sense of competence.
It’s been reported that another Intel legend, CEO Andy Grove, found Bob’s nice guy attitude irritating and believed that his leadership style was ineffective. Andy, known for directness in finding fault, had a fiercely competitive and highly demanding leadership style. According to Richard S. Tedlow in “The History and Influence of Andy Grove”, this created a “pressure cooker” environment within Intel. Interestingly, just as both Bob and Andy were successful with dramatically different leadership styles, it’s clear that both highly stressful and more constructive cultures can lead to corporate success.
The difference between these cultures is in the secondary or unanticipated consequences of using conflict and criticism to motivate performance. Along with higher pressure, you also get defensive behaviors – including unwillingness to volunteer new information, unproductive time spend on CYA activities, attempting to win points in meetings at others expense and heightened politics where alliances are used to avoid personal exposure and shift blame.
High expectations, personal accountability, fast decision making and aggressive action are universal requirements for business success. The fundamental question, however, is whether that pressure is derived primarily from a negative, external stimulus or from a positive, internal drive to succeed. When leaders create a culture of open communication, cooperation and rational discussion of business problems, they are leveraging people’s internal drive to learn and achieve. They are leading based on logic and respect. They are motivating based on appealing to the intellect and positive emotions. They are inspiring us to our best. And along the way, they are getting the benefits of improved productivity and decision making.
For additional details, see a white paper at:
http://www.strat-edg.com/files/Inspirational_Leadership.pdf
