In a recent piece in Newsweek Cisco Systems CEO John Chambers was asked, “How are you a different CEO today than you were in 1995, when you first moved into the corner office?”
His answer is worth sharing with you:
When I started, I viewed my job as three main areas: vision and strategy of the company, development and recruitment of the team to implement that vision and strategy, and the need to communicate all of the above.
Within about four or five years I realized there was something that many of us do not understand when we take a leadership role: culture. Great companies have very strong and great cultures. A huge part of a leadership role is to drive the culture of the company and to reinforce it.
The other thing that has changed dramatically is [a shift] from command and control to collaboration and teamwork. It sounds easy to do, but it’s hard, because you are trained that way in M.B.A. school, in law school. Around 80 to 90 percent of the job is how we work together toward common goals, which requires a different skill set.
Shaping, reinforcing and modeling a strong, positive, open culture. This is the job of not only the CEO but also, collectively, of the senior leadership team.
Top teams need to include in their strategic discussions (1) what the current culture is, (2) what what they want it to be, and (3) how they are, individually and collectively, drive–or retarding–the organization’s transformation to that desired state.
As regards the team/collaboration piece, a manager’s capacity must include the willingness to let go of control and involve others. Nothing new or surprising but, for many managers, it’s still a tough adjustment to make.
© 2010, Ian Cook. All rights reserved.
About Ian Cook
Ian is an experienced presenter, group facilitator and executive coach. Through his keynote presentations, highly interactive workshops, and custom-designed team-building practice, he helps his clients leverage their investment in their managers and teams. 
