“Mother Teresa, CEO: Unexpected Principles for Practical Leadership” by Ruma Bose and Lou Faust (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, $21.95).
In front of the camera, Mother Teresa was usually shown working among the poor. What you didn’t see was the global entrepreneur who established Missions of Charity in 1950. Its multi-national operation spans 100 countries. Arguably the largest nonprofit in the world, it raised billions for humanitarian efforts. It was also built to last. Mother Teresa died in 1997; her work continues through 4,000 full-time staff and over a million volunteers.
Bose worked with Mother Teresa, CEO, for two years and learned eight principles of leadership. Whether you’re a CEO, a manager, an entrepreneur or a wannabe, applying these principles will guide your decision-making. These two frame your success mindset:
“Dream it simple; say it strong.” Forget the corporate buzzwords like quality and world-class service. What does your operation really DO? Missions of Charity “serves the poorest of the poor.” Saying it strong deals with making the dream part of your job’s daily routine. Executives, employees, those you want to recruit and your stakeholders must buy in.
“To get to the angels, deal with the devil.” In every business, you’ll come in contact with people who don’t share your vision or your methods. Leaders must decide where to draw their lines. Once drawn, the lines are immovable. Mother Teresa accepted donations from many people and organizations — not all were upstanding. All donors knew that she stood for serving the poorest of the poor and that their money would be used for that good.
“Pay attention to the janitor.” We all want to feel valued for what we contribute. Valuing people can change your life — and theirs. When you didn’t have a title and were trying to find your way in life and career, remember those who taught and encouraged you. You learned something from them. Where would you be if you were just another student or some trainee?
The next time you see a picture of Mother Teresa among the poor, think of how she built a business that changed lives. You can build one, too.
“The Idea Hunter: How to Find the Best Ideas and Make Them Happen” by Andy Boynton, Bill Fischer and William Bole (Jossey-Bass, $25.95).
What do Clarence Birdseye, Mary Kay Ash, Henry Ford, Ray Kroc, Steve Jobs, Walt Disney, Mark Zuckerberg and Warren Buffet have in common? Idea hunting. Each of them saw opportunities others overlooked. Then they turned opportunity into action and outcome.
The author’s I.D.E.A. (Interested, Diverse, Exercised, Agile) process provides the template for idea hunting. Here’s a look at it:
• Interested — Albert Einstein once commented, “I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.” Being interested in something makes you ask questions. It gets you thinking “What if … ” Interested cues an insatiable thirst for lifelong learning. It also points out that idea hunting is not a solitary activity. You need to pick the brains of others — which is why networking is so important.
• Diverse — Broaden your intellectual bandwidth. Diversity of interests spurs brain growth. If you read/do the same things and hang out with the same people, your knowledge becomes deep, but narrow. You always learn more from those different from you. Their perspectives and insights broaden yours. You see more.
• Exercised — Idea hunters don’t wait for problems to generate their ideas. They don’t rely on serendipity either. As Louis Pasteur pointed out, “Chance favors the prepared mind.” My friend Frithjof Bergmann, a philosophy professor, wakes up at 5 each morning and exercises his brain by thinking for an hour. At 6, he starts calling friends to discuss what he was thinking about. His numerous calls got me and keep me thinking, too.
• Agile — “Ideas are worth little unless they’re in motion.” An idea on its own is a skeleton. It takes on muscle when combined with input from others. You only get from what to how to launch with an open mind.
Good Hunting.
Jim Pawlak is a nationally syndicated book reviewer.
