November 2009

Leadership That Makes Sense

Sense-making is the most underrated attribute of leadership. In tough times, leaders often strive to appear tough: Slash this, stretch that; "What part of no do you not understand?" During booms, leaders often wax expansive and visionary - and wags are wise to remind us that there’s often a very fine line between vision and hallucination.

The greatest leaders, first and foremost, make sense. By that I mean two things. First, they actively seek to understand the world. They construct meaning, interpret events, connect dots, analyze situations, and explore what to do about it all. Like people working on a jigaw puzzle, they turn the pieces around and around until they fit. Second, sense-making leaders take the time to explain, not just to inspire. They know how to communicate their logic and they can tell a story about it, so that people say, "Yes, I get it. That makes sense." U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt's famous fireside chats were a superb example of sense-making leadership - the kind of communication that occurs when the facts are marshaled in service of clear meaning.

You'll find a lot of sense in the documents I've selected below-highlights of the recent thinking from my
Booz & Company colleagues.

Best regards,

Tom Stewart
Chief Marketing & Knowledge Officer

Thinking Ahead

Digital Highways: The Role of Government in 21st-Century Infrastructure by Roman Friedrich, Karim Sabbagh, Bahjat El-Darwiche, Milind Singh Next-generation broadband networks promise much faster transfer of information, services, and benefits throughout a national economy, promoting overall growth, productivity, and prosperity.download (1.3mb, PDF) >

Asia and the Global Economic Crisis: Accelerating Transitions, Expanded Opportunities by Andrew Cainey, Suvojoy Sengupta, Steven Veldhoen, Yurio Ogawa Despite the global recession, Asian economies, particularly in emerging nations like China and India, are exceedingly strong and growing stronger.download (295kb, PDF) >

Leadership Lessons and the Economic Crisis: Where We've Come from and Where We're Headed by Richard Rawlinson The financial crisis has discredited the leadership and management practices of financial institutions, triggering a wave of thinking and experimentation about what could and should replace them.download (255kb, PDF) >

The New B2B Marketing Imperative by Matthew Ericksen, John Jullens, Gaurav Kataria This study, jointly conducted by the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) and Booz & Company, finds that B2B companies are awakening to the need for greater marketing prowess and that those that develop it win increased market share.download (355kb, PDF) >

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