Top Leadership Lessons from 2012

It’s been quite a year for leadership lessons.  Any number of the major world events for 2012 could serve as a showcase for how to, or not to, be a great leader…..the London Olympics, Hurricane Sandy, Facebook IPO, Rover Curiosity lands on Mars.  Great leadership seems to grow from great vision, but basics like having a plan and respecting the competition are also key.  Here is a round-up of some of the top leadership lessons from 2012.

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• (Inc.com Dec 2012) 5 Biggest Leadership Lessons from 2012
• (Forbes Apr 2012) Jeff Bezo’s Top 10 Leadership Lessons
• (Forbes Sept 2012) 10 Leadership Lessons from Jeff Weiner, CEO of LinkedIn
• (CBS Moneywatch Apr 2012) Leadership Lessons from Blackberry’s Demise
• (Forbes Oct 2012) 4 Leadership Lessons from the Ryder Cup
• (Entrepreneur Oct 2012) Facebook’s Lessons in Leadership
• (Inc.com Feb 2012) 6 Lessons that Facebook’s IPO Can Teach Entrepreneurs

–Posted by Julie Yamamoto, Program Manager, The Greater IBM Connection

What Defines an Entrepreneur? – Thoughts from Billionaire Businessman Richard Branson

What is your definition of entrepreneur?

Speaking at an entrepreneur event in Egypt earlier this week with President Carter, he mentioned how President George W Bush had reportedly said “the French don’t have a word for entrepreneur.”

A quick Google will tell you that the word entrepreneur is a loanword from the French verb “entreprende”, which means “to undertake”. That sounds quite fitting, as entrepreneurs are always undertaking new challenges and coming up with new ideas.

Joseph Schumpeter’s definition is pretty good. “Entrepreneurs are innovators who use a process of shattering the status quo of the existing products and services, to set up new products, new services.” Peter Drucker was onto something too when he made the following definition in 1964: ” An entrepreneur searches for change, responds to it and exploits opportunities. Innovation is a specific tool of an entrepreneur hence an effective entrepreneur converts a source into a resource.”

But to me, being an entrepreneur simply means being someone who wants to make a difference to other people’s lives.

When making a start in business with Student Magazine, I didn’t even know what an entrepreneur was. All that interested me was starting a publication to protest against the Vietnam War – and having some fun along the way. If that meant becoming an entrepreneur, then that was fine too.

Over the years the nature of entrepreneurship has changed as new businesses have developed and the world has evolved. New innovative businesspeople will keep coming along and changing the game all over again. Here at Virgin, we intend to keep changing the game for good too.

So – what does being an entrepreneur mean to you? Look forward to hearing your thoughts.

5 Top Tips to Starting a Successful Business, by Richard Branson

Wildly successful businessman started writing for LinkedIn.com this year. In his debut post, he shares his insights on how to start a successful business. An entrepreneur and thought leader you can always learn from – get the five top tips he’s “picked up over the years” right here.

Business magnate/billionaire Richard Branson, founder of the 400+ company Virgin Group

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What would you add to this list?

3 Strategies to Dominate a Still-Scary Economy

Here’s how smart companies are facing the doomsayers with great ideas and fearless moves

By Geoff Colvin, senior editor-at-large, FORTUNE

Gloom has become a menace. The drumbeat of distressing news — Europe, the fiscal cliff, China — is enough to rob anyone of hope. It’s a nasty, insidious force that’s undermining the native optimism that buoys up businesspeople everywhere.

Resist! The reality is that even in today’s uncertain economy, some companies are winning big. Growth and success are always possible if we adapt to the times. Three strategies are helping smart companies dominate.

They manage for value — not for EPS, Ebitda, gross margin, revenue, cash, or anything else. That sounds obvious, but in difficult times, managers get seduced into value-destroying moves. For example, accounting rules say that R&D and marketing are expenses, so if you cut them — and they’re easy to cut — reported profit jumps. Who doesn’t want higher profits now? But in reality those costs are investments that pay off for years, so cutting them destroys value.

A company that understands that is Qualcomm (QCOM), maker of the chips that power mobile phones. In the recession its profits fell in 2008, then fell sharply in 2009 — yet the company increased R&D, sometimes substantially, every year through the downturn and beyond. The complaint that mindlessly short-term-obsessed investors punish such behavior just isn’t valid; Qualcomm’s stock has been surging for more than three years.

Other companies manage for value in other ways. Intel (INTC) launched billions of dollars in new plant construction when its industry was on life support and credit markets were traumatized. Coca-Cola (KO) never let up on brand building. Those companies are thriving.

They keep developing human capital. Every company claims that “people are our most important asset,” but few mean it. In tough times most companies slack off on leadership development. Training costs money, and moving high-potential managers into developmental assignments feels like a luxury that can wait for better times. But the best-performing companies know that human capital truly is a business’s most valuable asset, the scarcest resource, no matter what kind of business it is. Look at highflying IBM (IBM), No. 1 in our latest ranking of the world’s top companies for leadership development. It hasn’t even considered cutting back its Corporate Service Corps, which sends teams of promising employees around the world to work with local organizations on local problems. Former CEO Sam Palmisano liked to observe that calling IBM a hardware or software or services company was wrong in each case. “We’re a people company,” he said. Or consider General Mills (GIS), prospering in the fiercely competitive food industry. Its famously demanding leadership culture hasn’t wavered, and the company ranks No. 21 on Glassdoor.com’s new list of the 25 companies where it’s hardest to get hired.

They get radically customer-centric. Most companies don’t even know what that means. They have no idea how much money they make or lose with each customer, and they don’t craft genuinely different offers for different customers or customer segments based on those customers’ needs. But top-performing companies do.

Amazon (AMZN) is the reigning champ, achieving its long-declared goal of being “Earth’s most customer-centric company”; the stock just keeps climbing. In a much different industry, Wells Fargo (WFC) has become America’s most valuable bank, with a customer-centric strategy since 2003. Wharton professor Peter Fader notes that “the average Wells Fargo household has over five different bank products, roughly twice the industry average.”

These three strategies are a bit contrarian in today’s world. Following them demands courage. Fear not. They work. Be brave, adopt them with enthusiasm, march confidently into the gloom, and smile.

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Have a trick you want to share? Let us know.

Contemplating a Major Career Change? 4 Things to Consider

In a job market as volatile as today’s, it’s more important than ever to do your homework. Read how banker Kelly Lynch prepared for, and then made, her life-altering move.

by Lydia Dishman, Fast Company

Author Lydia Dishman

Kelly Lynch spent 15 years of her career in equity trading and then private wealth management. When the economy tanked in 2008, Lynch was one of the few in the banking industry who still had a job. That didn’t stop her from worrying. “I started to lose interest [in finance] years ago and had always dreamed of working in sports,” she tells Fast Company. While she grappled with leaving when so many others were unemployed, Lynch admits,

“I worried I was letting a more fulfilling career pass me by.”

For a while she tried to break into the business while still holding down her day job. “Working full time left little energy toward making a real change,” she explains. So early last year she gave her boss 3 months’ notice, then left to focus on getting a job in sports; today, she is assistant athletics business manager at University of California, Berkeley.

Lynch is one of thousands of U.S. workers who’s contemplated a career shift, even in the wake of a wobbly economy. A study conducted during the depths of the recession found that 43 percent of workers said they’d take less pay for more meaningful work according to The Kelly Global Workforce Index. The Bureau of Labor Statistics finds people taking the plunge in droves. The median number of years a person is with an employer is just over four.

This trend towards shorter job tenures goes hand-in-hand with volatile times that demand regular adaptation to risk to succeed at reinvention. While some members of Generation Flux make it seem easy to be fearless (hello danah boyd), the more cautious-minded find change a scary prospect. Especially with bills to pay, mouths to feed (your own counts!) and finite funds.

So Fast Company talked to the folks who navigated the turbulent waters (or helped others do it) and emerged on the shores of fulfillment. Here is their best advice.

Risk and Reward: Shift to a Startup

Joanne Wilson, the angel investor known to many as simply Gotham Gal, has mentored hundreds of entrepreneurs over the years. Her best advice before making the leap: “Park your tush at General Assembly (or an incubator/co-working space close to you) and start meeting other entrepreneurs.” Wilson maintains that those smitten by the idea of starting a business can get a better read of the landscape and the marketability of their idea by attending pitch events and making connections with other entrepreneurs.

Those conversations could lead to collaborative efforts with founders of other startups, which Wilson says is key to understanding whether you are really cut out for helming an early stage venture. Building a company is “a drudge,” she reminds entrepreneurial hopefuls. “If something sparks then you can jump ship and eat ramen until you’re profitable.”

Nothing But Net(working): Shifting to a Dream Job

Lynch found both professional and collegiate sports to be a very small, competitive industry filled with folks who had advanced sports management degrees, strong alumni networks and years of experience. So Lynch sat herself down and made lists of her transferrable skills and noted what she could add by taking classes. Her financial services background could potentially land her in an operational role but she took accounting at a local community college just to refresh her resume.

Meanwhile, she networked through “a handful of friends who knew somebody somewhere.” Informational interviews and meetings followed and eventually landed her the Berkeley position. “I couldn’t have done this without taking a different perspective on the power of networking, and doing networking the right way,” she says. “Don’t be afraid to ask your work contacts or friends to put you touch with someone who’s in a field that interests you.”

Social Responsibility: Shift to the Nonprofit Sector

Not long ago, Nancy Lublin of DoSomething.org wrote a manifesto for people using the recession as an excuse to break into the business of changing the world. “News flash: We’re not a bunch of dummies in Birkenstocks,” wrote Lublin, who proceeded to give readers a dressing down about every misconception from corporate experience (“When was the last time you built a brand with a budget of zero?”) to perks (“Not-for-profit people work crazy hours too–without the promise of overtime pay or the possibility of a car service to take us home at 10 p.m. when we finally turn the lights off. FYI: We turn those lights off by ourselves.”)

Alice Korngold, who’s been consulting, training, and placing executives on nonprofit boards for decades offers a few words of wisdom. “Consider skills-based volunteering, and nonprofit board service,” as well as reading relevant books that connect corporate and nonprofit organizations.

Sharpen Your Pencil: Shift to Graduate School

Andria Krewson left the Charlotte Observer in 2009 after a 24-year tenure. At the time, Krewson observed journalism going through a “sea change” so she signed up for a certificate through the University of North Carolina’s journalism school. After trying her hand at freelancing and landing a gig as a political correspondent for the Columbia Journalism Review, Krewson still felt she wanted to earn her graduate degree–online.

“As rigorous as an on-campus program but designed for working professionals, [UNC’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication] launched in August 2011 and I leaped at a program that offered the ability to keep working while getting a master’s,” she says.

While the media industry continued to shrink, Krewson kept building freelance work in line with her studies. “I had two good clients and increasing confidence because of classwork and supportive fellow students reinventing for the digital world,” she says.

Krewson cautions, “Lots of online programs exist now, and not all programs match the rigor of ‘real’ school.” As for making the investment, Krewson adds, “In the worst case scenario, I’ll aim to put off grad-school loans until I retire,” which she admits may be a long time coming. “Knowing that also made the investment in more education important,” she adds.

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Are you contemplating a big career change? Tell us how you’re preparing.

Running Your Own Business? Take a Vacation Anyway

- from Forbes

As a business owner, it can be really tempting to work all day, every day. Forget about weekends or vacations—it’s up to you to keep your business running 24/7, to continually improve, and to expand your reach to new customers. Attending to your growing business can make it difficult to walk away, even for a short summer vacation.

Think you can’t take a vacation? Think again.

Sure, you can probably get more done when you do everything yourself, but taking a break can be restorative. Nervous about how things are running while you’re away? Use these dynamite ideas and quit worrying.

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How do YOU handle vacation time away from work? Share your best tips!

Greater IBMer Jolene McKenna – Triumph over Trials

Entrepreneur Jolene McKenna

Jolene McKenna spent just over 30 years at IBM, learning far more than can be covered in one short story. Though she can count many successes in her decades at IBM, which she called a “virtual classroom,” there was always, in the back of her mind, another dream to fulfill.

And then, 12 years ago, Jolene got the kind of life-changing personal news that made her rethink the way she wanted to spend her time and live the rest of her life. Read how Jolene triumphed over her own trials to start living her dream of being a solopreneur, and bringing her hard-won wisdom to others, here:

When did you work at IBM?

I was hired in March 1980 and I retired the end of April 2010. Thirty years and 30 days.

What led you to join the company?

I was a single parent and had just moved to Colorado to be near my parents and sister. With a high school diploma I wasn’t certain what kind of job I could get but I had experience doing payroll, bookkeeping, and order entry using computers, so when a third-shift computer operator job opened up I was hired as a supplemental employee.

I was thrilled when they called me before my first day and asked me to meet with the site manager. He offered me a full-time position instead.

You should have heard me shouting from the top of my lungs as I traveled home on the diagonal highway, knowing that I had a good job, good pay, good benefits so I could take good care of my son. This happened just a month after my son’s 2nd birthday.

What were some of your job titles in the IBM years and some of your more interesting duties you were charged with as an IBMer?

As a computer operator, the system programmers were wonderful mentors who were willing to share their knowledge with us. This is where I learned the lesson, “You don’t have to know everything — you only need to know where to find the answer”. I performed most of the responsibilities within Systems Management Control (SMC) –  Change Mgt, Problem Mgt, Recovery Mgt, Configuration and Asset Mgt., to name a few. These gave me a deep understanding of the IT processes that made the difference between good service delivery and great service delivery.

My management career began in 1987. I managed personnel, finance administration, facilities, and VM development. In 1989 I accepted a move to Rochester, New York as one of the Eastman Kodak IBM transition managers. This was one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences of my career.

Again, the best memories were the people. Since most of the Kodak transition team were on temporary assignments from Colorado and Kentucky, we became family for each other. We played volleyball on hot summer days, watched the Kentucky Derby, went to football games and rooted for the Broncos, even though we sat in a sea of blue Bills fans.

I met my husband while on this assignment. And my son loved Fairport, so I was able to work out a permanent assignment in Rochester and we made it our home for the next eight years.

During this time I led many technical projects and was proud to have received IBM’s Technical Achievement Award for a key technical project I led with other IT professionals. When my son left for college, my husband and I moved to Colorado. There, I was asked to mentor younger employees and help improve IT delivery processes for the West Delivery Center. This led to my most satisfying experience at IBM: I led a team of process architects and over time created a team responsible for the process standards not only for the West Delivery Center, but soon for the Americas and ultimately at the global level.

Guess what? The most satisfying part of this job: the people. Before I retired, this small team of process experts was a team of 122 professional serving clients around the world and leading global standards for ITIL, and obtaining ISO certifications at the global level – keeping pace with HP, our closest competitor at that time. I attracted people that loved to make other people’s job better by improving the processes, organization, systems and skills development. But what I really loved was developing the people and teams. In 2007, I received the IBM’s People Leadership Award, which meant the world to me.

Why did you decide to leave the company?

I loved my job and my team and I had the support to pursue executive opportunities. My life took a significant turn about 12 years ago when I was diagnosed with Hepatitis C which I had contracted from a blood transfusion during the birth of my son. The virus had caused damage to my liver.

Facing the reality of battling and living with a chronic illness caused me to rethink how I was spending my time and if this is where I would want to be if my quality of life would be altered. I happened to come across a book called Soul Mission, Life Vision by Alan Seale. The biggest message I got from his book was to get involved in volunteering to experience what you love doing and how you can best serve others. I turned my attention to create other interest outside of work and I became very involved with my church and other volunteer activities – and I adopted a new puppy. These things really helped me prepare for the transition out of the corporate world and living my dream on my own terms. I decided that I would retire on my 30th anniversary and pursue my dream of being a management consultant to help these solo entrepreneurs achieve their dreams.

I have customized one of my offerings to help people that have experienced similar life-changing news and ask “Now what?” I call this Triumph over Trials and my passion is to help these individuals get back in the driver seat of their life.

What did you want to do after your IBM career? What are you doing today?

I became what is known as a solopreneur. A business owner whose primary service is centered upon their own skills and capabilities. Specifically I am a business coach who serves goal-oriented solopreneurs. Building your own business is a daunting task and there is so much to learn, decisions to make, and transformations that are essential to be successful. My mission is to help these brave souls on their journey to experience both personal and business success. I teach them how to get clear about their goals, get realistic on how to achieve those goals, and help them live in their zone of genius by hiring the right people to help them succeed. Ultimately, I help them create their own Unique Business Blueprint that guides them on their entrepreneur journey.

Can you differentiate for us between an entrepreneur and a solopreneur?

The onset and growth of entrepreneurs has created many different forms of the -’preneur’ suffix that describe the type of entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs are people who see an opportunity and create a business, assuming full risk and reward. A solopreneur is simply someone who sees an opportunity to utilize their own talent and skill (solo), to build a business that delivers a value clients are willing to pay for. Being a solopreneur can be lonely and stressful; they typically don’t go after investment capital but build their business from the bottom up.

Leveraging the support of other skilled professionals can make the difference between the solopreneur success and failure. One unique trait I have discovered about most soloprenuers is they are driven to serve others by sharing their gifts to serve a need in the world in such a way that they can make a living or create wealth.

Was this a long-term dream of yours – something you always knew you wanted to do?

I remember when I was 12 years old and a family friend explained that he had started a management consulting company and I hounded him for details. I told my oldest brother later “I’m going to be a management consultant”. I remember thinking when I started working at IBM saying, “If you have to work, why not create an evironment where you can do your best and have some fun?” This still drives me today and is at the heart of why I do what I do. What is great about helping solopreneurs is they have such a drive and passion for what they do and I help them carve out a path (their blueprint) so they can be successful.

What do you find most satisfying about the work you’re doing now?

I change people’s lives. People come to me because they feel overwhemned and realize they need help in getting past the barriers that are blocking their growth. I love it when I help shift my clients’ energy from distracting, avoiding and self-critical to having powerful confidence in what they want to achieve, knowing the next steps and get revved up to take action.

More than that, I give them the tools that will help them sustain that positive energy and continue to make improvements to their business. I get real excited once their business is stable and we work on coming up with ways to innovate and create new possibilities for their business.

What is a typical day for you, in this role? What happens, what does it involve?

Time management is one of the biggest challenges for a solopreneur. It is easy to get distracted and do the things that are exhilarating and creative versus a balance to move the business forward while sharing your unique value with clients.

Generally every week I try to allocate 60% of my time to my clients or marketing my business, 20% of my time managing the business, 10% improving my business and 10% improving my skills. I schedule my week based on when I am at my best to focus on that activity. For instance, I use Monday morning to update my expenses and finances, Thursday afternoon I focus on my skill development. Working with clients (which is the only revenue generating activity) is a sliding scale. If my calendar isn’t fully booked then I am working on getting clients by attending networking events, following up with prospects, sending out notices of new offerings, etc.

Even though we manage our own calendars, being an entrepreneur is not a 9-5 job. Many networking activities take place in the evening or weekends. My client sessions range from 1/1 sessions to create plans and design solutions, phone consultations and email to support them in making progress to their plans. I use a methodology that guides them in getting clear with their mission, goals and actions and we work together to make incremental yet powerful changes that helps them achieve their goals while making the best use of their time and their money so they have the energy to do what they love.

What did you take from your time at IBM that you were able to carry forward and apply to what you’re doing now? Life lessons, career lessons, best practices, etc.?

When my first manager at IBM sat down with me to do my development plan he asked me what I wanted to achieve in my career, he told me that his job was to help me set goals and obtain them. No one had ever asked me what I wanted to do before, I thought you just worked to earn a living. I totally embraced his offer for help and this probably had the biggest impact during my career and even now as this is my passion to help others identify and achieve their goals.

The works of W. Edward Deming guided me through my career – one of my favorite quotes of his is “It is not enough to do your best; you must know what to do, and then do your best.”

The last thing that I took with me from IBM is gratitude. I worked for IBM during an amazing era where technology changed the world and IT Services was growing. IBM was my virtual classroom where I received the greatest education and experiences, worked with some of the best people on earth, and traveled to locations I never would have seen on my own, Amsterdam, Argentina, and Brazil to name a few. Leading the way with virtual teams gave me the opportunity to work with people from every corner of the globe. I tell stories all the time to my clients about lessons I learned from my mentors and peers at IBM that still serve me today. These are the things I will always treasure.

What do you like to do in your spare time?

Having calendar flexibility is one of the rewards of being in business for yourself, but it takes discipline to make sure you don’t lose yourself in your business. Making time for the other aspects of my life is an essential must-have for me.

When I left IBM, I rewarded myself by buying a vacation property in Colorado. Managing the rental property was my first business venture, my guests can enjoy a lovely place to experience the Rocky Mountains and it is my getaway. I love to hike and snowshoe in the mountains.

I started a neighborhood book club, which has given me an opportunity to get to know more of my neighbors and read books that I might never have selected on my own. I am very active with my church, teaching Bible studies, being a confirmation mentor, and helping with volunteer leadership. I still love to travel, I have been to Greece, Turkey, and Germany, and have a long list of other destinations on my list.

My son lives in New York City so I love to visit him, and he is my ambassador to the city. My husband and I have two little dogs that get us out for a walk every day. One of my greatest joys is gardening: planting, nurturing and reaping the fruits of my labor… mmmm mmm – those garden fresh tomatoes cannot be beat!