April, 1998 Volume 2, Number 7

Rhetoric Counts

Deanne N. Den Hartog and Robert M. Verburg of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam evaluate the presentations of company executives known for their persuasive style, including Anita Roddick of The Body Shop and Matthew Barrett of the Bank of Montreal. The researchers identify the rhetorical devices by which the executives communicate their strategy and vision to employees and the public:

Assertion: "What I hear are seductive voices calling us back to 'jobs and the economy.' Even the incoming premier of Quebec is saying as much. And the polls suggest the public agrees. I don't agree." (Barrett)

Alliteration: "What we do well at The Body Shop is communication with
passion because passion persuades." (Roddick)

Repetition: "The point is not perfection. The point is not even the rightness or wrongness of Levi Strauss's conscious stance. The point is that they took a conscious moral decision." (Roddick)

Inversion: "In today's banking, the rules of the game change every day. Our goal is to be not only 'game ready.' It is to be ready for any kind of game." (Barrett)

The master: "Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country." (John F. Kennedy)

Source: Deanne N. Den Hartog and Robert M. Verburg, "Charisma and Rhetoric: Communicative Techniques of International Business Leaders," Leadership Quarterly, Vol. 8, no. 4, Winter, 1997, pp. 355-391.

Mountains as Metaphors

In May and June, a group of recent graduates of Wharton's Executive MBA Program (WEMBA) are venturing on a "leadership trek" to the Himalayas. Their two-week trip to the Mt. Everest region draws on mountaineering lore to consider questions of personal and team leadership. Daily seminars along the trail consider such as questions as:

How have expeditions to Mt. Everest, Annapurna, K2 and other Himalayan peaks built the leadership and teamwork required to reach the summit -- and to retreat safely when good judgment suggests they should?

In the first American expedition to Mt. Everest, one group chose the unclimbed but riskier West Ridge, a second group the previously climbed but more certain South Col route. What motivated the teams to take such different approaches, and, in turn, what distinctive forms of leadership and teamwork did each require?

What went right -- and what went wrong -- on the fateful day of May 10, 1996 when three climbing expeditions, all nearing the summit of Mt. Everest, were hit by a violent storm?

As background reading for the WEMBA trek, organizers Edwin Bernbaum and Michael Useem have recommended several books, all of which contain enduring lessons for leadership whatever the setting:

Edwin Bernbaum, Sacred Mountains of the World. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998.

Arlene Blum, Annapurna: A Woman's Place. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books, 1980.

Maurice Herzog, Annapurna: First Conquest of an 8000-meter Peak. New York: Dutton, 1953.

Thomas F. Hornbein, Everest, The West Ridge. New York : Ballantine Books, 1968.

Jon Krakauer, Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster. New York: Random House, 1997.

For additional information, contact Edwin Bernbaum or Michael Useem.

Leading in Less Regulated World

In telecommunications, utilities, health care, and other industries, deregulation is radically changing the rules of competition. Recently privatized firms are facing much the same set of questions, and a new Wharton Executive Education program, "Becoming Market-Driven: Prospering in a Newly Deregulated Environment," asks: How can you best bundle and price products to reach customers? How can advertising and promotion be made more effective? How can managers be helped to think more strategically and better anticipate competitor moves? The program is offered on May 3-8 and December 6-11, and information on it can be viewed at <http://aresty-direct.wharton.upenn.edu/execed/course_listing.cfm> or obtained from Patricia Steele at <steelep@wharton.upenn.edu> or Peter Fader at <fader@wharton.upenn.edu>.

Conference: Leadership Capabilities

A one-day conference on June 18, 1998 in Philadelphia will examine the leadership capabilities required for company growth and performance. Sponsored by the Center for Leadership and Change and the Center for Human Resources of the Wharton School, the conference will gather human resource executives, leadership development managers, business consultants, and academic experts on best practices in leadership development and recruitment. Intensifying competition and globalizing markets are pressing companies to develop more leadership throughout the firm, and the conference asks:

• What are the leadership capabilities required?
• How do the capabilities differ among companies facing different markets and challenges?
• How are companies developing or recruiting the people they need for leadership and change?

Building the New Unisys: Leadership Challenges Facing a New CEO

Lawrence A. Weinbach, Chairman of Unisys Corporation and former CEO of Andersen Worldwide.

What Companies Are Doing to Recruit and Develop Top Talent

Alexander Kleinman and Derek van Bever, Corporate Leadership Council, The Advisory Board

Leadership Competencies that Produce Winning Companies

Calhoun Wick, Wick & Co.

Winning the War for Talent

Elizabeth Chambers, McKinsey & Company, and Jude Rich, Sibson & Company

Executive Turnover and Subsequent Financial Performance

Rakesh Khurana, Harvard Business School and Sloan School of Management, MIT

Managing a Corporation's Intellectual Capital: Executive Development as a Competitive Advantage

Sandra J. Price, Sprint Corporation

Searching for Leadership Talent on the Outside

Howard Fischer, Howard Fischer Associates International

"There are typically six full layers of management in between an infantry private and the colonel commanding his regiment" in the U.S. Marines. "But when the action starts, the layers collapse on an as-needed basis. Marines at all levels start making decisions in response to fast-changing situations, without so much as consulting the chain of command."

At the officers school, "the most-scrutinized quality is what the marines constantly and almost casually refer to as 'leadership.'" "It has no exact definition," says the school commander, Colonel John Lehockey. "It's our job to recognize it."

Source: David H. Freedman, "Corps Values," Inc. Magazine, April, 1998.