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Corporate Financial Group “The new standard in corporate and executive services” Jesse Amarillas Rene Henriksen Alex Rene Chivarsky Senior Vice President– Senior Vice President– Financial Advisor Wealth Management Wealth Management UBS Financial Services Inc. 2029 Century Park East, Suite 3000 Century City, CA 90067 855-246-3599 ubs.com/team/corporatefinancialgroup ©UBS 2015. All rights reserved. UBS Financial Services Inc. is a subsidiary of UBS AG. Member FINRA/SIPC. 7.00_Ad_8x10.5_JP0112_CenturyCity KORN FERRY BRIEFINGS ON TALENT & LEADERSHIP IN THIS Features ISSUE 4 34 Overcoming CEO LETTER Self-Delusion You Think You’re This, Rosy Self-Deception May But You’re Probably That Be Our Default Mode 42 Filling in Your Blind Spots The Self-Aware Leader 6 Power of Purpose 10 Activist Investors The Icarus Take On the Board Syndrome 14 Meets the Wearable 26 LEADERSHIP Revolution Five to Watch 18 “It doesn’t take long to run out 62 of fingers and toes if you’re INNOVATIONS Farming? John Deere counting all the crises that are Has an App for That happening and that we monitor...” Letitia A. Long, Ret. Director, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency 70 IN REVIEW How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses and Geeks Created 56 Global Leadership the Digital Revolution Six Expert Perspectives René Milot René 72 by 50 PARTING THOUGHTS “Lion & Mouse” Ebola Staying Ahead of the Virus in Africa ON THE COVER: COVER: THE ON 3 Gary Burnison Chief Executive Officer Michael Distefano You Think Chief Marketing Officer Joel Kurtzman Editor-In-Chief You’re This, But You’re Creative Directors Robert Ross Probably That Roland K Madrid Marketing and Circulation Manager Stacy Levyn Project Manager BY GARY BURNISON Tiffany Sledzianowski Web Comm. Specialist Edward McLaurin he lecture hall at a prestigious university was nearly full, and every eye was trained in my direction. When I invited ques- tions after my presentation on leadership, a young man in the back Contributing Editors Trow called out, “What’s the one thing I need to know so I can get your Chris Bergonzi job one day?” Sitting with his arms folded, his baseball cap on backward, he David Berreby grinned at me. Lawrence M. Fisher Victoria Griffith There is one important quality—the foundation on which all other leader- Dana Landis ship development becomes Stephanie Mitchell Christopher R. O’Dea possible—the “secret ingre- P.J. O’Rourke dient” that answered the stu- Glenn Rifkin dent’s question: self-awareness. Adrian Wooldridge Most people can’t really see themselves, and so they assume they possess qualities that may not really be there. Perhaps Board of Advisors they think they’re great com- Sergio Averbach municators, when in fact they Cheryl Buxton often leave people scratching Dennis Carey their heads. Or they unknow- Joe Griesedieck Robert Hallagan ingly come across as arrogant Katie Lahey or aloof. In other words, they think they’re this, but they’re probably that. Byrne Mulrooney Many people aspire to leadership, but not everyone will (or should) become a Indranil Roy Jane Stevenson leader. Some lack the critical skills. Others are technically competent, but ignore the softer side of inspiring and motivating others. Too often, leaders fail to address their blind spots—those areas in need of development to make them better leaders. And the higher up they go, the bigger those blind spots can become, because most followers will only tell the leader what they think he or she wants to hear. It’s like climbing a pyramid: the track gets narrower as you reach the top. At the pinnacle, there is no one to your left or right—you’re all alone. If you aspire to leadership, you must be open to and actively seek out feed- back and input from others. Otherwise, you’re going to become lost in a mirage of self-perception. The world around you will quickly become an optical illusion in which truth is distorted. If that’s the case, your myopic view should carry the warning: “Objects are closer than they appear.” What you think is only a distant possibility or a small impediment that can’t possibly impact you is actu- 4 BRIEFINGS FROM THE CEO ally gaining on you! Only by relying on the vision of others—especially their perception of you—can you gain a clear picture. It’s a real danger when your distorted view substitutes for reality—especially because no one wants to give you the “bad news.” To illustrate this concept for the students, I shared one of my favorite business parables: A new CEO was holding his first “town hall” meeting with employees, taking to the podium with a command-and-control style to show everybody that things were going to change. As the CEO spoke, he no- ticed a man in the corner who wasn’t paying attention. He wasn’t dressed like the rest of them. He wore jeans, a T-shirt and a baseball cap on backward. (I glanced at the student in the back row when I said that!) “Only with self- Wanting to make an example of this man for his laxity, the CEO called him out and asked him how awareness will you much he made a week. The guy shrugged and said about $400. The CEO reached in his pocket, pulled know your strengths out about $1,000 in cash, and told the man he was fired. When the man took the money and left, the and admit to your CEO noticed his sly grin. Other people were smiling, too, but no one said anything. After the meeting, the weaknesses.” CEO called one of his senior vice presidents over. “I sure made an example of that guy.” he said politely. “The way I asked it, though, I guess I “Yeah, he was surprised,” the SVP replied. “By was showing off.” the way, that was Johnny, the pizza delivery guy who Here was a mouse, pretending to be a lion. But brought us lunch. He certainly appreciated the tip when the mouse goes out in the jungle, he’s going to you gave him.” see just how inadequate his self-perception is. Moral of the story: Leaders who lack self-aware- When we shook hands, I gave that student ness cannot see themselves accurately, let alone some parting advice: “To see tomorrow, you must those around them. perceive the reality of today. Similarly, to lead others As I explained to the students, those who aspire to you must, first, accurately see yourself. Then who become leaders have to start by looking within. Only knows—you just might become a leader after all.” with self-awareness will you know your strengths and In this issue of Briefings we build on the above- admit to your weaknesses. Only by first knowing your- mentioned theme of self-awareness. Adrian self can you let others see who you really are. When Wooldridge, the management editor of The Economist they see the real you, they can choose to follow you. and a regular Briefings contributor, discusses self- It’s a rare leader who truly motivates people and knowledge and leadership going back to ancient inspires them to the point that they become eager times. Larry Fisher, also a frequent contributor to followers—getting up at 4:30 in the morning without Briefings, writes about the way leadership styles differ an alarm clock just because they can’t wait for around the world. Glenn Rifkin, our contributing another day. This is the type of leader who can help editor, takes a look at how Teresa Amabile, a pro- others see what is possible for themselves and their fessor at the Harvard Business School, thinks about organizations—and then turn that belief into reality. leadership, creativity and self-knowledge. After my lecture, several students stopped me Self-knowledge is an important concept for with questions. The last was the student with the anyone aspiring to lead or do something creative. We baseball cap, now in his hands instead of backward hope this issue of Briefings adds to your own store- on his head.