Cookbookish leadership doesn't work when you are following someone else's recipe.
Perhaps, a quote from Dr. Maxwell Maltz of the Psycho-Cybernetic Foundation, about the need to focus our internal energy to make the changes we desire, says it best… "Trying to implant a goal that is incongruent with the self-image is like trying to plant grain by dropping seeds on rock hard bone-dry ground. This happens when a person tries to make a goal that they are not. No one can consistently out perform his or her self-image. No one can long overcome it with willpower. No one can sneak past it and perform in an incongruent manner. The bottom line is that you cannot 'do' things without 'being' the kind of person who does those things. You must 'be' to 'do.'"
Something that works well for a leader in one company is not easily replicated in another.
Many leaders are rejecting benchmarking--the practice, promoted by many big consulting firms, of adopting the best-practices from high-performing companies such as General Electric Co. Leadership transition does not happen by simply taking someone else's leadership approach and using it as a template in one's organization.
When Jacques A. Nasser, Ford Motor's ex-CEO, quickly implemented a General Electric-style performance evaluation system in the late 1990's, the new forced-ranking system resulted in a $10.5 million settlement of two class action suits with the company slipping into a crisis management mode of operation. By attempting to copy Jack Welch's performance management system without a clear understanding or building the foundation for implementation, Nasser and Ford experienced unintended consequences that sent the company reeling.
At Enron, CEO Jeffrey Skilling meant to encourage risk-taking through a new peer-review system (adapted from his former consulting firm employer) where a performance review committee (PRC) ranked more than 400 vice presidents, directors and managers. The decisions of the PRC greatly affected the bonus and stock option grants of the person being reviewed. In practice, the management evaluation system bred a culture in which people were afraid to get crossways with someone who could screw up their reviews.
Just like at Ford, Enron's copied employee evaluation system rewarded highly competitive people who were less likely to share power, authority or information-which undermined any teamwork or institutional commitment and created unintended corporate consequences.
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