Libby Trial Reveals "Inner Workings Gone Bad"

How would you describe the "inner workings" of your organization or team?

Commenting on the Scooter Libby trial and guilty verdict, a USA Today reporter observes:

"...the trial offered a rare glimpse into the inner workings of the White House.
It showed Cheney's eagerness to discredit a war critic, the Bush administration's policies on talking to reporters and its strategies for dealing with a crisis."

I take the term "inner workings" to mean the unoffical ways that things get done in organizations.

In healthy companies and teams, these inner workings are positive forces. For example, FastCompany.com ran an article on "working the grapevine" that argues that company grapevines, or informal communication networks, can be used positively to communicate messages through companies. And we all know "go-to" people in our companies; those seasoned experts who don't have position power, but whom you can always count on for advice or support. Informal mentoring relationships is yet another example of an unoffical but healthy method of achieving goals in organizations.

In unhealthy organizations, inner workings are devious and self-serving. The grapevine is used to spread malicious information and make others look bad. Communication is indirect. Rather than speak candidly about difficult subjects, people allow rumors and backstabbing to flourish. People jockey for position by developing cliques and favoring those who share their views or are "good soldiers".

What are your company's "inner workings?" If reporters were covering the inner workings of your company or team, what would they say? Are they healthy?

What Makes a "Champion" Business Leader?

What separates good leaders from great leaders? And does the business world have truly great leaders - those legendary, "championship" leaders who are the Tiger Woods and Michael Jordans of their professions?

In today's issue of USA Today, an article by Erik Brady shows that elite athletes share common threads. (Article: Soul of a Champion) In this first of a series of articles profiling "champions", Brady focuses on the sports world. I couldn't help but wonder - what makes a "champion" leader in today's business world? Do the world's legendary athletes and the world's legendary leaders share common traits?

The article quotes Patrick Cohn, a sports psychologist and president of Peak Performance Sports in Orlando Florida. He lists four "mental and emotional characteristics common to champion athletes."

• Competitiveness (I'd add the word "healthy" to competitiveness)
• Confidence
• Composure (under pressure)
• Focus

It can be argued that these traits - or competencies - also distinguish good leaders from those who are exceptional. Who in modern business fits this profile? The first person who comes to mind is Jack Welch. In modern politics, I think of Arnold Schwartzenegger (who also happens to have been a very successful businessman and athlete). Martha Stewart may not have been popular with everyone who worked with her, but she certainly built a business empire with confidence and competitiveness. And after her arrest and imprisonment for securities violations - kept her composure and stayed focused as she ran her empire from jail.

If we had to define these four traits in terms of behaviors that "champion leaders" demonstrate, it might look something like this:

Competitiveness: Willing to do whatever it takes - without compromising ethics or sacrificing others - to achieve success. Taking smart risks and bouncing back quickly from failure. Constantly surveying the competitive landscape, knowing where you stand relative to the competition and anticipating competitors' next moves.

Confidence: Self-motivated and driven internally. Standing by decisions, yet comfortable admitting mistakes and failures. Unafraid to make unpopular choices and disagree. Standing up for beliefs. Staying the course even when faced with obstacles.

Composure: Staying cool under pressure. Controlling behavior and actions when faced with stress. Able to function effectively - or even perform better - in tense situations.

Focus: Always keeping sight of the goal and taking purposeful action to achieve that goal. Able to rally others around a common goal. Eliminating roadblocks, obstacles and distractions that get in the way of success. Knowing when to stay the course - and when to change direction.

How do your company's leaders stack up against these traits?

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