DDI’s Talent Management Intelligence

Diary of a Reformed Workaholic

By Rich Wellins, Ph.D.

I was a workaholic. Perhaps I still am although I feel I have slightly better perspective than let’s say 10 years ago.

The advent of technology some say means we are all working extra hours with what could best be called addiction to e-mail. In fact, it is estimated that those entering the workforce today will spend 10 years of their life doing e-mail (not all business of course).

On the other hand, I recently took a round trip flight from Pittsburgh to Boston and back. About 50 people were on both flights, most I would assume were on business. Both flights were during normal working hours. I walked down the aisle on the flight to Boston and was struck by the people not working. I love to fly, in part, because I catch up on work. So, the scientist in me (I have a Ph.D. in psychology) decided to do a more formal count by walking the aisles two times on each flight with my own “mental calculator.” 

The results:

• 22% - you guessed it: on-line games or crossword/puzzles
• 16% - reading books: when I was able to see, they were not business books.
• 15% - dead asleep
• 11% - reading, newspapers and magazines – I will give some deference to the fact that reading the Wall Street Journal is work.
• 11% - engaged in conversation with their seat mates (some looked like business chats, others, not work).
• 11% - Actually seemed to be working—computer.
• 9% - Headphones or doing nothing but listening or watching video (I doubt they were business podcasts).
• 5% - In a Zombie-like trance

A nation of workaholics? Perhaps not.

Rich Wellins is senior vice president at Development Dimensions International (DDI).

A Skill in Short Supply

By Mike Hoban

What do you consider to be the most important leadership trait for a CEO to have? Is it “Influencing Skills” or “strategic decision making?” Or perhaps “business acumen” or “talent management” is at the top of your list of CEO right stuff.   All are likely found on the success profiles or job specs of many Chief Executive positions. How about the proven ability to run a large operation with P&L responsibilities? I think one could make a case for any of the above and I’m certain that there are many senior leaders out there working in assignments to develop those skills because the senior talent review team in the organization has deemed those skills or experiences as “must haves” for aspiring CEOs.   

Indra Nooyi, Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo and Fortune magazine’s #1 Most Powerful Business Woman, has another view.

In an interview published in Fortune magazine a few months back, Ms. Nooyi stated her point of view. Call it interesting. Call it even a little provocative. She said:

“The most overrated skill is ‘running a business.’ To me the single most important skill needed for a CEO is strategic acuity.” 

She went on to say that former PepsiCo CEO Roger Enrico had once said “I can get operating executives to run a business. But I cannot find people to help me reconceptualize PepsiCo.” Agreeing with her one-time mentor, she said. “That skill is in shortest supply.”

“Strategic Acuity” is an interesting coupling of words and it’s the first time I’ve seen it articulated as an executive competency. In the physical world, acuity is about sharpness and clarity of perception or vision.  One definition refers to a capacity to “discriminate fine details of objects.” We can speculate – as Bloggers do - about what it means in relation to a business.

With all of the possibilities and choices available to an organization, Strategic Acuity can mean the ability to clearly see a pathway to success, a pathway that is likely to be not apparent to most others. It’s an intellectual quality (“reconceptualizing”) but it’s more than that. I think there is also an EQ (Emotional Quotient) component that compliments the IQ component in Strategic Acuity. EQ capabilities such as Empathy and Social Skills (Goleman) help focus that clarity of vision to provide meaning and context to the myriad nuances of human interaction involving customers, markets, employees, etc. In the business world, there is no Snellen Chart of different sized letters which help us to gauge visual acuity, so context, insight and measurement become all the more important for executing Strategic Acuity. No wonder Nooyi says it is a skill in short supply.

Of course, that’s not to say that experience running a business is not important…

Mike Hoban is a senior consultant for Development Dimensions International (DDI).