Leadership Is Not an Ego Game; Leadership Means Responsibility; Leadership Means Service to Others.

How do you assure effective leadership and ethical

behavior?...hire the right leader!

A fact, not highly publicized, is that the best business leaders learned their skills through trial and error at some point in their careers and at someone's expense.  Don't let your organization be a training lab.  Hire an experienced leader with a solid successful track record.

A WORTHY LEADER HAS THE DESIRE TO SERVE, NOT DOMINATE.

A PRESCRIPTION FOR WINNING: Businesses are not that different from each other - business is really simple. No matter what the technology, product or market “it’s all about people.”

A leader's job is to put the best people on the biggest opportunities and the best allocation of dollars in the right places. Transfer ideas and allocate resources and get out of the way. This type of leadership allows for an increased span of control, less overhead and quicker decision making.

In each case we focus on:

• team building
• change management
• cost reductions
• introduction of new products
• expansion of markets and market share

Extensive training and dedication to “Lean Manufacturing and Lean Enterprise” provides clients with operational excellence and continuous improvements that meet and exceed customer expectations.

WHAT WORKS AND WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO GET IT DONE? 

These are the basics that work every time:

1) IT'S ABOUT A TRACK RECORD OF SUCCESSFUL, PROVEN LEADERSHIP

INCREASED OPERATING PROFIT BY 74% AND IMPROVED SHAREHOLDER VALUE BY $135 MILLION THROUGH SALE. A major restructuring was completed for a $155 million international manufacturer of electromechanical and electronic sensors over an 18 month period. Manufacturing operations in U.S., U.K., Caribbean and China.

INCREASED SALES FROM $17 MILLION TO $102 MILLION, INCREASED PROFITS FROM $2 MILLION TO $16 MILLION AND IMPROVED SHAREHOLDER VALUE BY $183 MILLION THROUGH AN IPO.       Organic growth for a manufacturer of environmental capital equipment accounted for 50% of the increase, while 4 small international "bolt on" acquisitions accounted for the rest over a two year period. Manufacturing and engineering facilities were located in the U.S., Puerto Rico, England, Wales, Germany, Italy, Poland and the Ukraine.

INCREASED SALES BY 42%.  Sales were improved at a $108 million international wire and cable manufacturer over 18 months by adding new products which allowed expansion into the power generation and telecommunications markets.

ACHIEVED A MARKET CAP GAIN OF $183 MILLION.  Successfully completed an IPO on the NYSE for an international capital equipment manufacturer.

RESTORED PROFITS WITHIN SIX MONTHS AND SAVED $30 MILLION INVESTMENT FROM BANKRUPTCY.  Saved an $82 million national construction staffing company from bankruptcy. The company had incurred losses of $26 million over the previous two years.

2) IT'S ABOUT EXECUTION OF THE PROVEN BASICS

1. Strategy:         clear and focused
2. Execution:      flawless and timely
3. Culture:           performance and ethics based
4. Organization: fast, flat and highly motivated
5. Growth:           organic with small "bolt on" acquisitions
6. Innovations:   industry transforming
7. Talent:             keep it and develop more
8. Leadership:   experienced and committed

3) IT'S ABOUT SELF DISCIPLINE AND A COMMITMENT TO YOU

• Track Record: more than one successful turnaround
• Speed: identify key problems, develop key solutions, deliver on time AND on budget
• Communications: clear and frequent to board of directors and all employees
• Fitness: physical and mental
• Travel: heavy and anywhere it takes

THREE ATTRIBUTES LEADERS MUST REINFORCE DAILY:

§ SPEED

Whether you execute or not, your competitors will. Speed is the product of an open organization. No organization can gather enough data to make risk free decisions. Almost any action is preferable to prolonged inactivity, born of indecision.

§ SIMPLICITY

Eliminate excess layers of vice presidents who stand between the CEO and the front line managers. Every layer is a bad layer. The world is moving at such a pace that control has become a limitation. It slows you down. You’ve got to balance freedom with some control, but you’ve got to have more freedom. Bureaucracy is terrified by speed and hates freedom and simplicity.

§ SELF CONFIDENCE

The root cause of bureaucracy’s ills: bitterness, turf battles, in-fighting and pettiness rampant in too many organizations is insecurity…Self-confident leaders produce simple plans, speak simply, and propose big, clear targets. Tough decisions have to be made face to face, not by email or memo.

Remember:

• Business is simple. Don’t make it overly complicated.
• Face reality
• Don’t be afraid of change. Embrace change
• Fight bureaucracy
• Use the brains of your workers
• Discover who has the best ideas, and put those ideas into practice

As soon as companies start to grow large, they have a tendency to become bureaucratic wastelands. They move too slowly, think too slowly, and, more importantly, act too slowly. As they get larger, they go

• From speed to control
• From leading to managing
• From winning to conserving what they have won
• From serving the customer to serving the bureaucracy

THE ART OF LEADERSHIP by J. Donald Walters published by Crystal Clarity, Publishers. (condensed overview by Henry N. Huta)

Leadership Qualities

• Genuine leadership is supportive, not coercive.
• It's about leading not driving.
• Leadership means involving others
• Leadership means understanding that people are more important than things

Leadership Is Not an Ego Game

• Self-importance in a leader is self-defeating
• The spirit of a group reflects the spirit of its leadership
• Ego is an aid if its energy-flow is toward the job to be done, rather than upon itself

Leadership Means Responsibility

• See leadership not in terms of glamour, but of responsibility
• Be concerned with action, with getting the job done
• Be as ready to accept responsibility for failure as well as success

Leadership Means Service

• See leadership as only a job like any other.
• Leadership means giving service, not receiving it.
• Humility is more important in a leader than any medal for achievement.

Leadership Is Intuition Guided by Common Sense

• Be concerned with what will work rather than with mere opinions, even your own.
• Be more concerned with truth than with being thought of as right.
• A wise leader convinces not by the mere outward authority of his position.

The Importance of Flexibility

• Be willing to admit your mistakes.
• Remember, truth alone wins out in the end.
• Don’t make too many rules, lest they destroy the spirit of your enterprise. Be open to other points of view; they might prove better than your own.

The Need for Action, Not Talk

• Don’t waste so much energy in planning that you have none left over for acting.
• Action generates creativity.
• Almost any action is preferable to prolonged inactivity, born of indecision.

Giving Support

• Allow subordinates to learn from their mistakes
• Invite their support; don’t commandeer it.
• Never assign any job that you would not be willing to do yourself.

A place of business reveals the general attitudes of its workers; their happiness or unhappiness, their confidence or frustration. A leader who truly leads will create in his subordinates the most constructive possible attitudes, and will ensure the best possible long-range results for their labors and the success of the enterprise for the shareholders.

If you are dissatisfied with your company's performance and are considering a leadership change, please e-mail us at info@archfield.com