Loichinger Advantage

All to often, we consultants try to create our own model for various aspects of leadership or management.  Sometimes, this works out well as we take a concept to a new level, or establish a contemporary spin on something that has a timeless quality.  Today I’d like to share my review of David Gergen’s latest book, Eyewitenesss to Power:  The Essence of Leadership.

I found David’s insights to be indepth, fair, objective and incredibily insightful.  His review was not only a collection of leadership ideas and concepts, but a targeted review of the leadership qualities of several of our most recent presidents - Nixon to Clinton.  Given his first hand experience within the white house staff’s, along with his personal and professional friendships with many of his colleagues.

Last year I was helping my son pick out his first car after his college graduation.  Ben had been hired for a sales position at a technology company in Denver.  What a great feeling.  As he was coming closer to his final decision, he was trying to decide between two similar cars, one with a navigation system, and one without.

For a bit more, he chose the car with the navigation system, and has the decision reinforced every day he travels to a new account or area of his sales territory.  With each contact, he has a roadmap of how to get to the important part of his day – meeting with his prospect or client.

I had the great privilege to help design and launch the 2009 Midwest Forum on Talent Management last week.  By all accounts - participant feedback, faculty dialogue and the engagement of our stakeholders - we started something big; something that will last.

Did the area need one more conference?  No.  Would we benefit with a range of practitioners together?  Yes!  Could we leverage multiple associations to focus on advanced concepts and practices?  Certainly!  Will we need to change things for next year’s forum?  Oh yah!  Should we let go of what had been done for years and look ahead to something fresh and creative?  Absolutely!

I was driving down the interstate to meet with a client.  The request had come days earlier – help coach the management team on how to address the performance of the employees they manage and coach, while building the strength of the managerial team.  While I had spent time preparing for the meeting, the drive to the client is where I my thoughts move from ideas to action and the need of my clients becomes much clearer.

Organizations have tried a wide variety of solutions to make training and leadership development stick, and only a handful of organizations have found the magic bullet.  Do they have more money and resources?  Maybe, but that’s not the reason for their success.  Have they hired the right training director?  Strike two. What do they know that the rest of us don’t?  Read on!