Category: Leadership

Craig Weatherup: What’s your leadership model?

Retired CEO Craig Weatherup was addressing a group of finance undergraduates at the W. P. Carey School recently when he popped a question. "How many of you would profess to have a model or a definition of how you want to grow as a leader?" he asked. Three or four hands went up. "I think everybody should raise their hand on that question, and I’ll tell you why," he said. Weatherup himself has a model for leadership: a simple yet comprehensive set of attitudes and behaviors that have shaped him in his personal life and as the leader of people and organizations — often through periods of dramatic change.

Avnet CEO Roy Vallee talks about employee engagement

Avnet, Inc., a Phoenix-based global technology distributor, marks its 50th anniversary as a public company on the New York Stock Exchange today. To celebrate, CEO Roy Vallee will ring the closing bell. Vallee was a featured speaker at the 21st Annual Compete Through Service Symposium presented by the W. P. Carey School’s Center for Services Leadership. After the speech, Knowledge@W. P. Carey talked with Vallee about the Avnet story, and one of the key ingredients to the company’s success: employee engagement. In our next issue we’ll bring you a two-part podcast with leadership expert and management professor Angelo Kinicki on the topic of employee engagement. Today, let’s hear Vallee explain how Avnet cultivates engagement among its employees.

Podcast: LG executive Thomas Linton’s story of globalization and culture

Thomas K. Linton is the executive vice president and chief procurement officer for LG Electronics, based in Seoul, South Korea. Linton addressed the monthly luncheon meeting of the Economic Club of Phoenix on November 18. Drawing on 23 years living and working in Asia, Linton talked about working inside an Asian company — a story about globalization and culture.

Brad Casper: Managing strategy, structure, innovation and culture in multi-national companies

Until very recently, Brad Casper was the president and CEO of The Dial Corporation, a part of Henkel AG & Co. In that role he oversaw business operations of some of America’s most trusted consumer products, including Dial® soaps and body washes, Purex® laundry detergents, Renuzit® air fresheners, and Right Guard® antiperspirant/deodorants. Dial was the latest post in a career spent in packaged consumer products, managing major brands in fabric care, hair care and laundry and cleaning products. A resident of Arizona, Casper is a member of Greater Phoenix Leadership (GPL), serves on the Board of Trustees of the Global Institute of Sustainability (GIOS) at ASU and the board of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council (GPEC), where he co-chairs the International Leadership Council. On October 28 he addressed the Economic Club of Phoenix at their season opening lunch, where he talked about the multinational corporation. For companies that operate across national boundaries, the issues surrounding strategy, structure, innovation and culture are complex.

Pursuit of whose happiness? Transformational leaders and personal values

What does it take to be an effective leader of a corporation? What must a chief executive officer do to energize employees and inspire them to go beyond what is normally expected? How does a CEO motivate employees to truly commit to a company? Management experts have identified a concept known as transformational leadership as one important factor in motivating employees. Transformational leaders have a vision for their organizations and they express that vision passionately to their followers. They encourage their followers to forego self-interest for the sake of the larger group, whether it is a work team or the entire company. But a study of corporate leaders in China found that transformational leadership may not be enough if a key ingredient is missing: a CEO who holds the right internal values.

Message for new business leaders: Profit and personal gain alone are insufficient measures of succes

Recently a senior executive at a large financial services firm struggled to answer whether the client’s interests come first, reported Dean Robert Mittelstaedt of the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University in his remarks at the convocation on May 13, 2010. What has happened to respect for customers, commitment to organizational purpose and advancement, making the right decision even if it does not maximize short term profit, he asked. The global trend away from a focus on excellence and organizational success to a focus on personal success is "dangerous and destructive," he said. He challenged the graduates to measure success by the progress made in society and their organizations. Make that your ultimate goal and personal success will follow, he said. "Your leadership will differentiate you, your ethics will save you, and continuous learning will make you successful."