Leader or 1st Grade Teacher?
I read some of the excerpts from Paul O'Neill's whining memoirs of his [blessedly] short time in the Bush administration. Most people seem to be focusing their attention on the allegations of pre-9/11 Iraqi invasion plans, but I was struck by something much more relevant.
In this particular account (I tried to find a link, but couldn't), O'Neill made the following observations [considerably paraphrased]:
- Bush met with me once and I had a lot to discuss with him, and all he did was listen. It turned out to be a monologue.
- We were always frustrated because we never knew what Bush wanted us to do.
- When Bush attended cabinet meetings, he appeared to be "disengaged." He hardly ever asked any questions.
You know, I don't doubt a bit the veracity of O'Neill's observations. But what he obviously interpreted as weakness I see in a much different light. And I'm really surprised that O'Neill's background as a corporate executive didn't allow him to understand what he was observing.
It's called "leadership." Listening instead of talking. Expecting highly-paid, highly-qualified people to know their jobs and how to do them, to the point where you can focus on setting the vision, and they use their expertise to do the rest. Not getting so bogged down in the details that you can't set that vision.
O'Neill didn't want to work for a leader; he wanted to be back in the first grade.
Kevin, I think you're right, and I started to approach the issue from that perspective, but I don't really know too much about his tenure at Alcoa. I also think that the qualities of a successful CEO in the aluminum industry (which I tend to think of as a subset of the steel business, rightly or wrongly) are probably different than in other more dynamic industries. In a mature industry, where defense is the best offense, a detail-oriented, top-down approach is seen as the best way to not make mistakes...and not making mistakes is key to the business' success. It's sort of the difference between playing to win, and playing to not lose, if I may mangle a sports metaphor.
Posted by: Eric at January 13, 2004 08:41 AMAbout the publisher
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Instead of first-grade, I would actually say Alcoa. Having been a CEO, and a strong one at that, O'Neill's greatest difficulty seemed to be actually working for a CEO. I keep seeing so many quotes where O'Neill says he wouldn't have done such and such. Well, he wasn't ELECTED POTUS! He was selected to serve the man who was. I don't think that fact has yet registered with him. It really says something that Bush, who is known for his loyalty, had to fire the fool.
Posted by: kevin whited at January 13, 2004 07:46 AM