I always thought of staff meetings as rather boring times. Sure there are things that need to be communicated, and items to be decided, but once these things are set up as regular occurrences, week in and week out, they tend to degenerate into rather unstimulating affairs.
But when I worked for Sohio, I spent some time working for Ron McGimpsey, who led the refining and supply side of the business at that time. And he showed me that the meeting -- in this case it was monthly -- was really an opportunity to teach and learn. John Browne also uses meetings in this way, and I think many great leaders do.
I recall one meeting we had with Ron, where we had wound up with a surplus of product in one part of the State, and had suffered on prices. Rather than just rueing the event, or chastising the manager who had erred, he took the time to say: OK, let's understand how we got into this mess, and how we get out of it, and most important, how we keep from having it happen again. And we worked together for an hour or so on this, as a group, until we all understood it deeply.
I thought: Now that was really valuable, that was something where we all walked away from what was a bad result with a good outcome.
And another time, where someone, perhaps it was me, was advocating that we take a strong position on methanol as a fuel for vehicles, and do so in a way which would have been public, Ron stopped and said that before we do that, let's understand why we have long taken a different position, and does this still hold, and if it does let's be sure we all understand the reasons for that position. But also, let's understand the difference between challenging our position internally and changing it externally.
It may seem to be a luxury to take time out to explain and teach in this way. I don't think so. Rather it is the way in which today's leader develops the future leadership of the company, and the way that a deep understanding of principles, strategy, and culture are embedded in the management. Done well, at all levels, it is as good a use of time as there is for a corporate leader.
About Leadership:
About Leadership is a series of 52 columns on corporate leadership - essential skills, leading teams, managing your career, the strategic and business practices to make a company and its leader distinctive from competitors. These columns will be of interest to people leading small and medium sized companies today, many of whom have not had much formal training in management skills and techniques; for the many people in big companies who aspire to senior management; and for anyone who thinks: Give me a hint, how can I do this better?