Do we seriously need more of these?

  • Celebrity syndrome
  • Highest salary and stock options
  • Glamourous Costume & Iconic Branding
  • Short-Term Profits & spectacular « Coups »

 

From Superheroes to everyday Heroes.

Watch Herminia Ibarra, Professor of Organizational Behavior at Insead, debunk with « finesse », detailed research and humor the CEO Superhero myth.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MAcQwSX3No&fs=1]

Do We Celebrate the wrong CEOs?

« We still flock to the same few big-time celebrity CEOs for our wisdom on leadership and growth. What does that say about us as a business community? Maybe we’re over-valuing things that well-known CEOs do well (getting on magazine covers, talking about their next big moves, explaining short-term results) and over-looking what less headline grabbing but better-performing CEOs do well which is focus on building value long-term. Maybe it’s time to redirect our attention and start celebrating and learning from a different crop of CEOs. »

Read more at the Harvard Business Review Blog: The quiet CEOs, who get the work done, and well.

Who are these quiet CEOs?

They are less charismatic, almost invisible.

What if the time has come to honor and celebrate another kind of leadership?

What if it all started with leading by example, at home, at school, in politics?

Recently, I read in the Harvard Business Review an article about the Five Leadership Lessons from the BP Oil Spill, written by Gill Corkindale.

« Lesson 4: Leaders are there to serve their companies, people and communities.

. As with 9/11, ordinary people have shown remarkable leadership capabilities, volunteering to clean up the oil and help the stricken wildlife, without thought or care for their own health and safety. Unlike the elected leaders, they see the bigger picture and recognise that the environment and the livelihoods of local people are more important than corporate profitability or political manoeuvrings. »

It’s a good reminder that time has come for a more humble, ordinary leadership and for leaders and CEOs to connect with their soul and their heart, at the service of their companies, people and communities, and be at the same time the best-performers.

Is it an utopia?

How can we start this process of transformation? When are we going to stop waiting  for top leaders to « save » us? Could women play a major role in that transformation?

I strongly believe they could, « we » could. This belief is supported by facts and figures.

Here is an extract of a Letter to the Boss, written by Marcia Reynolds,  to be sent by every woman who is willing to advocate the critical contribution that women leaders can make to the workplace and to the world.

You can find a copy of this letter  at www.WanderWomanBook.com

« Have you read the news about the effect that female leaders are having on business and economic success? Studies in the United States, Great Britain, and France have proven that companies with women composing at least one-third of their leadership team make more money. In these countries, the more women on a company’s senior management team, the less its share price fell in 2008 during the economic downturn. In another study that spanned the last nineteen years, Pepperdine University found that the Fortune 500 companies with the best record of promoting women outperformed their competitors by anywhere from 41 to 116 percent. McKinsey also reported data in a global study indicating a significant increase in the financial performance of companies that have at least a third of their senior management team consisting of women than those organizations with few or no women at the top. A report released by Ernst & Young in the World Economic Forum in 2009, Groundbreakers: Using the Strength of Women to Rebuild the Global Economy, shared research that pointed to the need to capitalize on the contributions women make as leaders, entrepreneurs, and employees when moving the world’s businesses and economies forward.« 

Are the next women CEOs the anti-hero model that we so urgently need?

What are we waiting for?

Become an advocate for engaging and retaining strong and talented women.

« “It is in everyone’s best interest to bring qualified women into leadership positions, especially now when fresh perspectives are needed,” said Ilene H. Lang, president and CEO of Catalyst. “What is good for women is good for men, business, and the global economy.” When you help more women climb the corporate ladder, the results will be good not only for your organization but for the world economy as well.     Marcia Reynolds

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