Day Four: Leadership - does it matter?

Okay so this was our first full day of course work and I'm reeling! Not just from the Napa Valley Sav Blanc which flowed copiously throughout the reception and dinner service, but because of the breadth of thinking we were exposed to today.

How to make leadership matter
The first session dealt with leadership - does it matter? Well, considering Standford attracts large intakes of students from all around the world with the ambition of becoming business leaders, and knowing that the university's mission is "to develop innovative, principled and insightful leaders who change the world", clearly the answer is yes. But even our course director, Professor Jim  Phills, asked, "How does it matter?" This in turn led to more personal questions; "How do I matter? How do I influence the performance of my organisation?"

Of the numerous ways participants listed as being their spheres of influence: initiatives, innovation, financial stability, impact, differentiation, operational efficiency, competitive advantage; the one that resonated for me was culture. I think Downstage has been very successful in changing its culture in two ways. 1) by moving away from a poverty mentality to prosperity thinking (the very fact I am at Stanford points to that shift, as the Board saw this as a strategic investment), and 2) the shift from functioning as a traditional theatre that employs interpreters of work to a contemporary company that responds to the needs of its diverse audience and those of its collaborative creators or originators of artistic work, our Presenting Partners. 

We can feel very proud of these cultural shifts.

Leadership and Strategy
We then investigated strategy and its role in effective leadership. What I got out this session was the directive to drop 'strategic planning' and start engendering 'strategic thinking' as integral to our company's culture and operational practice. This makes sense to me. It's a technique and one I hope to share with everyone on my return.

A strategic framework (or way of thinking) provides a structure for decision-making; strategic planning is a process which requires time and often doesn't result in an outcome. Our professor believes that the way to retain an entrepreneurial spirit is to engender strategic thinking and not spend time strategic planning - there's a big difference.

The strategic framework becomes a guide for decision-making and action. It stands as a good guide to operational choices. It is the pattern of goals, policies and actions that collectively defines the way an organisation positions itself. It involves choice, a commitment to take one course of action over another. It absolves an organisation from being all things to all people and it gives a company a competitive edge and creates an internal logic we all understand.


Industry Analysis
Professor Jesper Sorensen took these ideas further and asked us to test a framework for industry analysis. Many organisations have done SWOT analysis in the past, this prototype looks at the economic logic by testing a few clear principles, such as competitive advantage, scope etc.

We looked at two case studies over these sessions; a bank and a circus company. We used the diagnostic process to explore the logic driving these organisations and how this logic impacted their decision-making, especially in times of crises. The logic was psychological and emotional, as defined by the individual company's mission, and economic logic, as defined by its choice of strategy.

We asked questions like "what does success look like?" and "how are we managing success?" and came to the conclusion that "you don't know it's a mistake until you've made it!" So what's the thinking?
In the late afternoon we were treated to a walking tour around the campus along sweeping palm-lined walkways and courtyards. It is very beautiful; manicured gardens, architecturally designed sandstone buildings in the romantic "mission style", sculptures by Rodin (in fact Stanford boasts the largest collection of the artist's works outside of Paris). What strikes me is there is not a hint of vandalism or litter - anywhere!

At the chapel, which was destroyed during the 1989 earthquake and subsequently rebuilt, we are shown the line of time capsules that starts from the class of 1892. This is an old traditional university proud of its history and graduates.

We are the 10th intake of ENPLs and the first to inhabit the new Center for Business Innovation. This complex was built over the basket ball courts (which says something about the shift of gravity) and is state of the art educational design. The technology is outstanding. Our lecture room has microphones dangling from the ceiling so you don't even have to speak up! If I heard right, the Center was built with the support of one individual, a donation of USD 105 million. Just think what we could do with that kind of money in refurbishing  the Hannah Playhouse!

Dinner and study group and it's the end of the day and I'm ready to throw myself into bed. I read with intrepidation tomorrow's schedule - the Catalyst Outdoor Activity for individual and team building. You know what that means? The Redwood Forest! Yikes! Maybe I'll sleep in, miss the bus.... or at least remember to take my camera!