FIRST

Okay, so "The Garlington Report" was the first to call the Delta CEO announcement. That's a fact that a few have noticed.

For the record, however, we were factually incorrect on at least one specific: COO Whitehurst will not resign effective immediately. Timing is beside the point as conveyed to Fortune (go to http://money.cnn.com/2007/08/21/magazines/fortune/delta_boyle.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2007082117.) Talent at that level rarely hangs around for scraps left after the power gets divvied up.

We could be wrong, but in this case, it's nearly impossible to see how a guy who made over a million dollars with Boston Consulting Group prior to joining Delta would hang around in an unclear position. Particularly after what he was able to accomplish. Listen quietly and you'll probably hear the buzz of recruiters ringing through on his BlackBerry.

High achievers want to achieve; it's not always about money. In fact, when you have that much money, it's about higher levels of success, which can include money but that's rarely the only measure.

Oh, and here's a weird nagging detail: They've given the CFO, Ed Bastian, the additional title of President while the "new guy" becomes CEO. Does that have precedence in major companies?

Someone needs to trace the relationship between Bastian and the head of the pilots union more closely. That may be more revealing than what the creditors' influence indicates.

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Delta to name new CEO later today

ATLANTA (August 21, 2007) -- Delta Airlines will name current board member Richard Anderson CEO in an official company announcement later today, according to undisclosed source close to the company. Ed Bastian, current CFO, will be named president, and current chief operating officer (COO), Jim Whitehurst, will resign effective immediately. Daniel Carp will remain non-executive chairman of the board.

Naming a recently appointed board member raises questions about whether Anderson's candidacy was impartial when he joined the company's board. As The Wall Street Journal first reported earlier this month, Anderson was not present for interviews of internal candidates. This would suggest, at least perceptually, that Anderson was in it for the CEO job all along vs. the organization's long-term strategic interests. The same firm that recruited Anderson, Spencer Stuart, also recruited Carp, whom according to sources, led the search process.

This appointment also means Delta will lose arguably their strongest leadership talent responsible for turning the company around coming out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Whitehurst, a former BCG partner, is widely credited with some of the company's improvements in customer service and execution of the successful international expansion strategy. He is perhaps best known for orchestrating the Velvet Rope Tour, an effort to restore confidence among non-union flight attendants.

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Nardelli Hit Parade

It's hard to recall a more galvanizing executive appointment than Bob Nardelli being named CEO of Cerebrus' Chrysler. No lack of opinions or views. Here's mine: http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2007-08-06-chrysler-bob-nardelli_N.htm

Not many get that level of second chance, particularly after what he left in his wake at Home Depot. The original tag to this story was, "Failing Upward." The best unpublished comments range from "this type of buffoonery is bad for capitalism" to "what's the (betting) 'over under' on his tenure?"

What to watch: Will Nardelli learn from previous mistakes? Or more importantly, hone his leadership skills? One thing is for sure. He's not going to be successful driving his original love, a Dodge Dart. Eeesh!

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Delta Delay

Delta's search for a new CEO represents another delay. But not the type that leaves you in the Crown Room begging for a way out.

The challenge is two-fold: How to find someone to fill the chief post while keeping operations and the business moving continuously forward away from Chapter 11. The company says a decision isn't likely until at least the end of August when the board re-convenes. No lack of opinions out here on what they should or should not do. Some are informed while others, well...

Here's my personal favorite: "It's a cat fight to the finish between Paula Rosput (a current Delta board member and former CEO of Atlanta-based AGL Resources) and Marce Fuller, who used to run Mirant Corp. The fact that one of them (Fuller) is unemployed and the other semi-retired at a Seattle insuror makes it even more intense. Wake us when it's over."

According to an informal poll of search experts, the most likely option will be identifying a strong Chairman/CEO type along the lines of current CEO Gerald Grinstein. This person would then allow the two top internal candidates, Ed Bastian and Jim Whitehurst, to remain in their existing roles. Two other rumored contenders currently fit the bill but only one has experience operating a large airline. Daniel Carp currently serves as non-executive Chairman.

But that's all conventional wisdom. It's difficult to see how the board will just go with what's so obvious. Prior to Grinstein, there was Leo Mullin, the consummate outsider and McKinsey expert who inherited not only a flawed business model but also was forced to manage through 9/11. Some defend Mullin with great gusto, but we're not among them. It's a credibility thing. The last insider was a Delta original, Ron Allen, which, well, it's not worth turning that far back.

It's our view that the "new Delta" needs a fresh new leader, one that can continue the momentum, remain optimistic but accept a reality that no one else seems willing to: Sustained profitability for a large carrier in the current system is dreaming at best, living a lie at worst.

Would anyone like some peanuts? Okay, sorry, snack mix and complimentary beverage?

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Pay to Patter

'Rahodeb' here. Ok, not really. Anyone still scratching their heads after reading the latest on Whole Foods' CEO? We're moving quickly from the issue of pay to patter. Here are some observations for your own edification:

1.) Patter matters. Ironically, digital communication now has a longer shelf life than print. Emails, IMs, Yahoo chat room postings (who has time?), you name it. All subject to ready search and fast distribution.
2.) To update an old saying, it's never the (crime) indiscretion, always the (cover-up) trail. 'Rahodeb' not alone by any stretch. High time flat footed Baby Boomer executives caught up to the realities of new media. Taking this point a step further...
3.) Digital Dumb doesn't provide a free pass to decline participation in the electronic age. Information is moving too fast for some figures, such as New Jersey Gov. Corzine, to start thinking he can claim privilege and everything will go back to the way it was before. Distinctions between official and personal don't wash publicly.

Before the Whole Foods situation explodes into a Paris-like cable news frenzy, here's the key question that their board needs to answer: When the antitrust comments first surfaced, why did the CEO (or did the CEO) fire back on his own blog? Did he know then the extent of what we all know now? And if so, then does that represent an omission that was voluntary or one endorsed by a privileged source such as a lawyer?

Better yet...Take these questions/answers and then measure against the company's stellar performance and cult-like brand status. Then and only then can the "Fire Mackey?" be deliberately answered.

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Founder's Syndrome

Click here for the perfect summer read: http://www.foundread.com/view/curing-the-founders. Okay, maybe not perfect but entirely true. Take it from a founder who learned the hard way.

Inclusive Era Over Before it Started

Before anyone tries to stereotype the latest CEO casualty at Yahoo, they would benefit from taking a step back. Terry Semel's departure falls smack dab in between two widely claimed trends: Founders returning as CEOs -- insert Yang now in the CEO seat at Yahoo, Citrin at Vonage and Dell at well, you know -- and inclusive CEOs, which three Booz Allen consultants report at length in the latest issue of Strategy+Business (see link http://www.strategy-business.com/press/article/07205?gko=04dd3-1876-26242394)

In the Yahoo case, neither trend applies. It's time for the company to move away from its legacy and into areas that help grow and differentiate the business. There's no way a founder or long-time insider can accomplish turnaround on their own. Particularly in entrepreneurial companies, which Yahoo is despite their incredible rise as a brand.

Even Michael Dell, who no one would bet against, has turned outside for a rapid infusion of talent. What's the takeaway here? Performance rules. Always has, always will. Change means real change, not more of the same. Or heaven forbid, a call for "let's return to the basics."

Timeless Classic

Sometimes when you're beginning anew, it helps to consult pages from the past.

Following are excerpts from Stephen Covey's "Seven Habits of Highly Successful People," which was first published in 1989. The excerpts are not only applicable today but also quite telling about how much work remains to be done defining and applying leadership.

In many ways, Covey's original a-ha moments are just now beginning to play out on a wide scale. Leaders, companies and boards, beware. Keep ignoring these basics and be prepared to face the consequences.

"...If I try to use human influence strategies and tactics of how to get other people to do what I want, to work better, to be more motivated, to like me and each other -- while my character is fundamentally flawed, marked by duplicity and insincerity -- then in the long run, I cannot be successful. My duplicity will breed distrust, and everything I do -- even using so called human relations techniques -- will be perceived as manipulative. It simply makes no difference how good the rhetoric is or even how good the intentions are, if there is little or no trust, there is no foundation for permanent success. Only basic goodness gives life to technique.

To focus on technique is like cramming your way through school. You sometimes get by, perhaps even get good grades, but if you don't pay the price day in and day out, you never achieve true mastery of the subjects you study or develop an educated mind...

Many people with secondary greatness, that is, social recognition for their talents, lack primary greatness or goodness in their character. Sooner or later, you'll see this in every long-term relationship they have. It is character that communicates most eloquently. Then there are situations where people have character but lack communication skills and that affects relationships as well. But the effects are secondary.

...What we are communicates far more eloquently than anything we say or do. We all know it. There are people we trust absolutely because we know their character. Whether they're eloquent or not, whether they have human relations techniques or not, we trust them and work successfully with them.

In the words of William George Jordan, "Into the hands of every individual is given marvelous power for good or evil -- the silent, unconscious, unseen influence of his (or her) life. This is simply the constant radiation of what man (or woman) really is, not what he (or she) pretends to be."

Fast forward to today. Try applying this timeless summary to your own behavior and spheres of influence. If that's too difficult, then use these words as criteria to evaluate the next leadership crisis that lands in the news. Chances are the aforementioned qualities will be either on full display or entirely absent.

True or False? Leaders, take the test

Following summarizes the leading true/false rules straight out of the executive leadership lab. From the candidate and search points of view. Ranked in order of most commonly heard, experienced and/or ill conceived.
1) Executive recruiters are my best source of career advice. False. Recruiters work mostly for companies, not individuals. While some do a better job helping individuals than others, their interests are not generally aligned with your own. Personal and professional networks account for more than 60 percent of all new jobs, while recruiters represent six to eight percent. As clear as this to some, actions tend to suggest otherwise. Anyone who says they work the client and talent side equally simply isn't telling the truth.
2) What I've accomplished to date will always apply. True with a caveat. Best summed up by the title of guru coach Marshall Goldsmith's latest book, "What Got You Here Won't Get You There." Everyone has special talents and accomplishments. Key is making sure those apply to potential new positions first, our own egos second. Fundamental rule but grossly overlooked in our transaction heavy culture.
3) What I do or offer matters more than who I am. Increasingly false. Particularly at the CEO and board levels. Character counts. According to another guru, Stephen Covey, nearly three-quarters of all leadership failures can be attributed to character flaws. That percentage is based on empirical research of more than 50,000 subjects cited in "The 8th Habit." Please don't make us cite the page number.
4.) Work with passion is a passing fad. False. Remember the old saying, "do something you love and you'll never have to work a day in your life?" Dreamy yet true over time. All the great ones exemplify work with passion. They don't necessarily love their jobs every day, but they generally do something that they like and/or believe in a majority of the time.
5.) The law of reciprocity applies more than half the time. False. A personal favorite. Taught at ad nauseam in the management schools and seminars, this rule is only true 20 to 30 percent of the time, not 50 percent, the generally cited figure. If you doubt this point, then consult any major figure who has to produce or generate revenue tied to himself or herself. The honest ones will vouch.

The New Economy is Here. Oh, wait, not that New Economy.

There are always more questions than answers for the thoughtfully uncertain. Lately, however, even that truism is out of kilter.

CEOs and boards are under attack. We get it. But why does that mean leaders have to fall back on their heels? Is it because they’re scared, paranoid, beholden to investors or all of the above? The Cs have every right to be scared but running scared is not an option. We desperately need more to step up and act more boldly and broadly. Rolling over isn’t going to cut it nor is "going green," the latest bandwagon movement.

If investors don’t hold under-performing companies accountable, who will? Self-governing boards? Government? Management? Ok, this isn’t a trick question. None of the above. Investors and those who genuinely want to see more value are the only ones with an ability to impact change. Minus a few exceptions, companies and their managers can’t be left to their own devices. And that’s just it. Managers don’t always make leaders despite off-the-shelf training tools and off-site pow-wows.

Is a PEG coming to a company near you? Major private equity groups, or PEGs for short, are scouring the pads for businesses flush with cash flow that they can load up with debt and then turn around and sell. That much we know. What we don’t really know is how they do it entirely. Largely because they’re private. Maybe that’s a good thing? For more on the talent repercussions, please visit http://www.pointofviewllc.com/views_and_news.html.

Recession coming or merely another blip and dip in the gyrating global economy? Who knows. What we do know: The housing industry has a long way to go before hitting complete bottom, consumer spending continues to see-saw and the U.S. personal savings rate is negative. Employment, a lagging indicator, remains strong as does the stock market, a leading indicator. That combo. normally bodes well for growth but evidently not always. Could it be...we're in The New Economy that so many yammered about back during the Bubble?

April Pointe

Language and its ugly step cousin, communication, represent a true Catch 22. Never before have so many waxed on about the importance of these areas. Never before have so many come up short. Sorry, but we have to ask why?

The first reason is obvious. Effective use of language is not openly rewarded in the executive marketplace. It's one of those traits that everyone is supposed to have (insert the term "commodity") but so few do (insert "value.") The only time language and communication are rewarded usually comes at the ninth hour when someone wakes up to realize something has to be done.

The second reason is language and communication aren't taught effectively in schools. Colleges, b-schools, grammar schools, you name it. Few remain in command. When Strunk and White wrote their classics on style and grammar, not even these two masters could have predicted how email and the Internet would demote the value of language.

The next reason, and last one for Pointe purposes, is language and other matters of the executive brain have been largely outsourced to consultants, underpaid writers and other so called literary types called ghost writers, my personal favorite. Even political operatives such as Frank Luntz have emerged as experts. Too bad he couldn't have had more influence with the Bush administration. "Surge" ranks as one of the all-time worst word choices at a most inopportune time. On the other side, "war is lost" may be direct, but it's not what most would call a wise choice of terms.

Leaders, quit ignoring language at your peril. Read, write, listen and/or go to a seminar. Stop and think clearly before the next communication. Get outside help if you must. Your audiences may not clap loudly, but they will welcome continuous improvement.

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Hypocrisy Is Alive and Well

It’s fairly safe to conclude that Don Imus and Steve Heyer aren’t boyhood chums. Imus needs no introduction unless you’ve been under a rock for the past five days.

Steve Heyer is the outgoing CEO of Starwood Hotels. He was forced to resign recently after an anonymous letter was sent to the board accusing him of indiscriminate behavior with female employees.

Moving intros. aside, here’s why these two are worth examining in a leadership context.

Institutions dependent on the almighty dollar – in these cases, boards and advertisers – nearly always come off as hypocritical when controversy surfaces. The normal modus operandi is outrage first, action second. The action, however, nearly always exceeds the crime, particularly when the institution is caught red handed for having it both ways.

Don Imus generates $50 million in revenue for NBC and CBS radio. Yet one slip up, albeit major, now threatens to derail a 35-year career. Largely because, despite how it may seem on the surface, money comes first, principle second. Watching the firestorm erupt, you would have thought Don himself had burned a cross in Al Sharpton’s yard.

This is no defense of what Imus said. It was wrong. What makes it hypocritical is how advertisers are bailing out after benefiting for years off his routine, which featured far raunchier and incendiary comments than “nappy headed hos.”

Turning to another highly charged environment, corporate board rooms, the ouster of Steve Heyer confirmed what his track record had left before. Hard charging, acerbic, controversial and dismissing the status quo.

When an anonymous letter accusing him of misconduct surfaced, Heyer either decided to leave the company or was forced to resign, depending on how you want to read the situation. Perception ruled again with an iron fist. You’re guilty. And away he went.

Simple question: Why would the board hire someone who was essentially thrown out of his previous two jobs and then act surprised when controversy surfaced? Answer: Because when you’re fighting the “war for talent,” you’ll do anything to land a star performer who can generate higher returns, which Heyer did. Again, greed first, principle second.

Imus and Heyer are just part and parcel of this trend, which unfortunately is more of a continuous movie reel than it is an issue anyone is willing to address, much less accept.

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Dig deeper

Two crises, same common thread: Business leadership under attack.

In one corner of the ring punching and jabbing like life depends on it is David Neeleman, CEO of JetBlue Airlines. You would be, too, if your business had completely broken down for the world to see on Lover's Day, or what some have quickly labeled the Valentine's Day Massacre. "We've been JetBlued" has now entered the traveler lexicon. But that's another story.

In the other corner, not really jabbing but taking wide swings is Ken Lewis, CEO, Bank of America, which has been singled out for peddling credit cards to illegal immigrants. The company would tell you otherwise. What made the program highly controversial were 24 percent APR interest rates on cards marketed in Los Angeles' Hispanic community. Whether the immigrants were legal or illegal misses the larger business point.

The easy conclusion to draw here is obvious: CEOs under attack for their company's performance and bad behavior. How each has handled their respective crises, however, bears further examination. So do exploring the sum of their experiences, the forgotten variable often overlooked when reporting about monolithic companies.

Neeleman is a devout Mormon with nine children. His first experience in business was observing his grandfather's convenience store, where if a product sold out, he would run down to the nearest supermarket and buy more of the item in demand. A self described sufferer of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), Neeleman dropped out of a college to start a travel agency. He then founded an airline which was subsequently sold to Southwest Airlines whose CEO at the time was Herb Kelleher, an entrepreneurial legend in his own right. According to a previously published profile in Fortune magazine, Neeleman was fired after about five months on the job. By the time he started JetBlue in 1999, it's safe to say that he had experienced just about every up and down (no pun intended) an airline executive could experience.

Now juxtapose this personal history with Ken Lewis, the iron clad CEO of Bank of America, which has witnessed incredible growth under his watch. Lewis joined what was then NCNB in 1969 as a credit analyst and worked his way up to the top job through grit and determination over 30 years. No small feat in its own right.

Ok, interesting personal histories. But what's the point? We are framed by influences, events and experiences that create who we are. Leaders, however, are held to a higher standard. Hence the term, “leadership.” It's their responsibility to help others adapt and respond to change, which often rears its ugly side through crises.

Applying this rule to the Neeleman and Lewis examples, who do you think is more suited to lead?

The short answer is we won't know for awhile. JetBlue has to re-earn the trust and confidence of customers, which is no easy task with or without a "bill or rights." Bank of America seems to have weathered its storm despite not appearing to be forthright and visible on the controversial credit program.

Neeleman has chosen a star-driven public profile, appearing on the David Letterman show and in other countless formats to answer criticism. Other than an op-ed on the Wall Street Journal’s sympathetic editorial page, Lewis has remained relatively tight lipped like a good banker always is taught to be. Different strokes for different folks. Savvy public relations can only provide air cover for so long.

The harder answer to the leadership suitability question generally requires digging deeper beyond the surface, which regrettably, our attention spans do not allow. Whether Neeleman and Lewis meet some unknown threshold may make good news, but it doesn't produce any lasting lesson. A far more productive exercise would be if more business leaders could apply their core values, assuming they have some, to the issues at hand. Then we might get somewhere on the trust and confidence meter.

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In the News

Following is an excerpt from a recent USA Today piece that quotes yours truly. For the full article, please go to http://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/management/2007-02-02-comeback-ceos-usat_x.htm. Dell is more about namesakes reclaiming their brand than boomerang CEOs. But why quibble.
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Dell joins ranks of once-hot trend: Boomerang CEOs

By Del Jones, USA TODAY (All Rights Reserved)

Does Michael Dell signal a new era of the "comeback kid?"

When he was rehired late Wednesday, Dell became the first so-called boomerang CEO to be brought back to rescue a Fortune 500 company since 2005. Dell, 41 and founder of the PC maker (DELL), replaced Kevin Rollins, 54, who was Dell's hand-picked replacement two years ago.

Boomerangs used to be common. From 1999-2003 an average of 10 former CEOs were brought back each year at the largest 1,500 companies, so many that it prompted Ohio State assistant finance professor Rudi Fahlenbrach to co-author a study published last November called "The Market for Comeback CEOs."

But there were no boomerang CEOs at Fortune 500 companies in 2006 and just two in 2005 (at TJX Cos. and First Data (FDC)), says Leslie Gaines-Ross, chief reputation strategist at Weber Shandwick...

Michael Dell is a true comeback kid at one year younger than Steve Jobs when Jobs returned to Apple in 1997 to begin his iPod curtain call and oversee a stock rise approaching 2,000%. Jobs is also an atypical boomerang CEO because most leave again within three years, or just long enough to right the company and line up proper succession planning.

It won't be easy for Michael Dell to mimic Jobs, says Jeremy Garlington, who runs an executive leadership consultancy. Unlike Apple, Dell is in an industry "racing to the bottom of the commodity barrel. No one will bet against Michael Dell, but even he would have to admit that a turnaround could take a long time," Garlington says...

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Earth to Michael Dell and Phil Kent

Ok, one name is quite familiar and speaks for itself. Michael Dell will have his hands full trying to turn Dell Computer around. The Apple Steve Jobs analogy is apt but lacks one key detail: Jobs didn't make it all the way back the first time around. It was only later on a second better timed tour of duty that he got Apple back on track. Does anyone remember John Sculley?

Phil Kent is the CEO of Turner Broadcasting, which runs The Cartoon Network. Their promotional brilliance around a sketch called, "Aqua Teen Hunger Force," (no, we're not making this up) caused quite the terror shock yesterday in Boston. Some light boards featuring the characters were mistaken for bomb devices by local authorities. Springing into action, Kent and Turner issued a long winded statement apologizing for the screw-up, which was obviously bungled by a third-party marketing vendor that no one was managing properly. The vendor's employee mug on cable last night being led out of his residence said it all.

It's an odd situation to say the least, but anyone who recalls the H-P spying case from last year will remember how the same type of vendor arrangement was blamed at the outset. Different issue entirely with thankfully less harmful of an outcome. If Kent is with it, he'll go on "The Comedy Show" with Jon Stewart and the Boston airwaves and take his lumps. No way out of this one without some action, sincerity and self deprecating humor that toes the line. One last question: Did anyone think about picking up the phone and calling the Boston police chief to apologize and lend support? These "devices" were evidently in place for weeks, according to callers to a local radio call-in show. Amazing...

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The HD Roller Coaster

Get ready for a wild ride following last week's abrupt resignation of Bob Nardelli as Chairman and CEO of Home Depot. This one makes no real business sense so chalk it up to the powerful personalities involved. Hard to see how the "new guy" fits over the long term...

Following is an excerpt from last week's mainstream coverage (Atlanta Journal & Constitution, 1/4/07):

Management experts say Nardelli's driven personality overshadowed his accomplishments at Home Depot. Sales doubled under Nardelli, to more than $81.5 billion, and earnings per share rose more than 140 percent.

"At some point, he turned himself into the story, and there's an old rule in crisis situations: You don't let yourself become the story," said Jeremy Garlington, an Atlanta-based executive coach and managing partner of Point of View LLC. "Under Nardelli, Home Depot had record profits and record revenues, but the stock price was stagnant. It doesn't make sense from a business standpoint ... but business often comes down to personalities and relationships, not figures."

Two Quintessential Americans, One Common Theme

The Godfather of Soul and the Accidental President may not have had much in common, but both will be remembered for their unique contribution to pop culture and leadership. Can you say the same?

Legacies have a way of separating the truly thoughtful leader from the not so thoughtful. Lasting, living and otherwise. How we're remembered is always impacted by what we're doing in the present -- even when the outcome is not entirely clear.

Here's an excerpt from Gerald Ford's strongest political foe turned world ambassador, former President Jimmy Carter: "An outstanding statesman, he wisely chose the path of healing during a deeply divisive time in our nation's history...One of the most admirable public servants and human beings I've ever known."

That may be an understatement. Ford will be most recalled not for falling down the stairs, which he did, but for pardoning Richard Nixon, which closed the final chapter of Watergate or so it seemed at the time.

During the same era, James Brown, who died on Christmas Day, was lighting it up as a soul and funk singer. His greatest legacy may best be summarized through the song lyric, "I Feel Good." Or Get up...Get on Up."

Get on Up, indeed. Leaders everywhere should heed this call and determine what they want their legacy to be -- preferably before it's handed to them.

'Tis the Season

'Tis the season to evaluate and plan. Here are 10 tomes to help advance the process:
1. Clutter. Get rid of it. Any and all extraneous material or paper. Chances are there's another copy somewhere anyway.
2. Eliminate cliches once and for all. "Talent management" seems to have pushed aside "leadership development" to no avail. "War for talent" should be erased for eternity. But that's another story.
3. Coaching vs. advising. It seems as though everyone is a coach these days. Sigh. How many can honestly say that they consistently provide selfless advice and service? Tough question with no perfect answers.
4. Don't discount 2007 as an off election year. It's make or break time on a host of matters, most of which centers around a War that no one wants to acknowledge but wants to go away.
5. Change or Else. It's our adopted theme for the coming year so please hold us to the fire. Right now it's somewhere between a seminar/speaking topic and new partnerships and affiliations. Stay tuned for more in the coming year.
6. Dancing with the Transformation Stars. We're desperately in search of figures, executives, etc. who have demonstrated successful transformation from one profession or station to another entirely new field or endeavor. Key criteria: They lived to tell about it.
7. True success. Hint: Try defining success on your own terms and see what you come up with. Answers may startle you.
8. Embrace fears or insecurities instead of running from them. Easier said than done but critical. Far too few practice this one.
9. Laugh, think and cry. The late great Jimmy Valvano (former basketball coach for N.C. State University for you non-sports types) had it right with his daily motto: Laugh, think and cry and your day will be complete. Tissues, anyone?
10. Finally, instead of worn out resolutions, try this exercise: Where are you going to create the most value next year? For whom and with whom?

Attention: Executives in Transition

If you're someone going through career or job change (hint: all of us at any given time), following are some not so subtle tips on how to manage transition:

1.) Clarity is leadership. Be absolutely clear with your intentions even if you don't know what they are. Taking time off? Fine, do so with a stated purpose and specific time frame. Periods of transition are the last time to be unclear about what you're trying to accomplish.
2.) Lose the money obsession. Now, this isn't to say leave money on the table, or in BellSouth's case, forgo a lucrative severance package for an unproven opportunity. That's not the point. De-emphasize money on your list of considerations. Most motivation driven solely by money ends up wreaking havoc later.
3.) Help and serve others. The natural tendency during uncertainty is to focus on Self at all costs. But this is bone-headed for multiple reasons. Help others, and new paths will unwind. Don't become over-isolated or consumed with reflection.
4.) Passion and purpose. Passion and purpose are two of the most widely cited yet misunderstood variables of job and career change. Yes, you need to get excited about what you do everyday. But that doesn't mean passion is a cure all. "Life's purpose" also is a career myth. What we're doing today is purpose for all intents and purposes (no pun intended.)
5.) Career? What career? Consult any successful figure. Chances are they'll tell you while they may have had a career in the conventional sense, it never seemed that way because they were pursuing something much more meaningful.

These tips are brought to you by Jeremy Garlington, managing partner of Point of View, LLC. For more information, please visit www.pointofviewllc.com or reach him directly at 404-606-0637. Thanks for reading. Good luck managing your transition.

Hot Air

So it's August, the doggiest days of summer. Many have either been on vacation or are headed that way. Here's an advisory: Beware of hot air, the leadership kind. At last check, there was a lot of talking going on without much action.

First, however, we have to recognize the grand exceptor, Warren Buffett, for his gift to the Gates Foundation. It is absolutely without compare. Buffett's stamp of leadership was taking the action without much fanfare, while at the same time, demonstrating wit, self awareness and humor.

The lesser mortal CEO crowd unfortunately can't say the same. Whether it's back dating or springing forward options, executive pay hangs around their neck like an albatross. But instead of thinking through various dimensions, some fire back with inane comments such as these: "We have an enterprise that stands tall among corporations here in America...The last thing you want to do is withdraw into a fetal position on some of this stuff."

Fair enough. But leaders don't spit out defensive speak. They calibrate and act according to their audiences' will, which is fed up with single dimensionality. If you don't mean what you say or aren't willing to accept views from a multitude of voices, then shut thy mouth. We won't even go there with politicians. To borrow some Yoda speak, political leadership in an election year, you will not find. Leadership may be a journey. But it's not an bottomless pit where words replace action. Never has, never will.

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