Sitting in the front row in the Bloggers Hub at The World Business Forum. Wired, ready to go and surrounded by 50 of the best bloggers on the planet. A bit intimidating. These are some of the most savvy social media folks around, smart thinkers, great writers and they type a lot faster than I do.
Undaunted, I’ve put on my Asset-Based Thinking lenses and will be viewing the conference with an eye towards how speakers address positive change and momentum. I’ll also be drawing on the energy and support of my fellow bloggers, which is substantial.
Here are some Asset-Based Thinking takeaways from the morning session.
Setting the Stage
Les Hinton, CEO of the Dow Jones Company summed up the past year with a quote. “If you ride through hell, you don’t stop.” He advised the audience to be vigilant and “keep on riding” since there are still challenges ahead. It’s not over yet. He was simultaneously optimistic about focusing on the future, the importance of small business, and sticking to what business does best: creating value!
Bill George and How Crisis Shapes Leaders
Bill George, from Harvard, delivered a personal and practical talk on “Leading In A Crisis” based on his excellent book, 7 Lessons For Leading In A Crisis. Overall, he’s concerned that the aftermath of the crisis may be worse than the “storm” itself because of the jobs issues. Bill believes that leaders have been too focused on saving jobs rather than creating jobs and that small business is the job creation engine that drives our future. Amen.
Bill also said this: “Crisis is the true test of a leader and great leaders never let a good crisis go to waste.” Only by meeting the crisis head on and looking deep into the eye of the storm can a leader see the opportunities on the other side. And great leaders actively learn how to “anticipate” crises and be ready.
His best Asset-Based Thinking advice was this: when facing a crisis one should lead by one's True North Values. The beliefs and values by which you lead your life should be the way you lead in your business. Another humbling thought. The career you have built over 30 years can be lost in 30 minutes if a crisis is not handled with leadership and integrity.
Bill Conaty and Making the Most of the Human Resource
Bill served as head of HR at GE under the legendary Jack Welch. Together they built a world-class company built on performance-based values. He underscored the need to have Human Resources move beyond being viewed as “pensions and picnics” to being positioned as a real business partner, employee advocate, and “trustee” of the company values (love the concept of a values trustee).
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