featured articles

Building a Leadership Brand
by Dave Ulrich and Norm Smallwood

The article is made available with compliments of John Clements Consultants. Further posting, copying, distributing is copyright infringement. To order more copies go to www.hbr.org or call 800-988-0886.

As part of the John Clements-Harvard Business School Publishing partnership, we are offering the following Harvard Business Review article:

How do some firms produce a pipeline of consistently excellent managers? Instead of concentrating merely on strengthening the skills of individuals, these companies focus on building a broad organizational leadership capability. It's what Ulrich and Smallwood--co-founders of the RBL Group, a leadership development consultancy--call a leadership brand. Organizations with leadership brands take an "outside-in" approach to executive development. They begin with a clear statement of what they want to be known for by customers and then link it with a required set of management skills. The Lexus division of Toyota, for instance, translates its tagline--"The pursuit of perfection"--into an expectation that its leaders excel at managing quality processes. The slogan of Bon Secours Health System is "Good help to those in need." It demands that its managers balance business skills with compassion and caring. The outside-in approach helps firms build a reputation for high-quality leaders whom customers trust to deliver on the company's promises. In examining 150 companies with strong leadership capabilities, the authors found that the organizations follow five strategies. First, make sure managers master the basics of leadership--for example, setting strategy and grooming talent. Second, ensure that leaders internalize customers' high expectations. Third, incorporate customer feedback into evaluations of executives. Fourth, invest in programs that help managers hone the right skills by tapping customers to participate in such programs. Finally, track the success of efforts to build leadership bench strength over the long term. The result is outstanding management that persists even when individual executives leave. In fact, companies with the strongest leadership brands often become "leader feeders"--firms that regularly graduate leaders who go on to head other companies.

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Addressing Attrition Issues through Talent Development
By Carol Dominguez and Paul Catiang

Given at the recently-held Contact Center Expo sponsored by the Contact Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP), this article explores Carol Dominguez’s take on how best to retain talent: by developing the leadership capacity of first-time managers and seasoned leaders. The John Clements President and CEO taps into various experts published by Harvard Business School Publishing and the Harvard Business Review.

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What Makes a Leader Tick?
By Art Tan

Arthur Tan, President and CEO of electronics manufacturing solutions company IMI, views leadership in a more global role and shares ideas on what the new breed of leaders is like. He discusses the dimensions of leadership, and what it would take for a leader to succeed in the 21st century. Mr. Tan also analyzes the global initiatives of IMI from this perspective.

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Where Have All the Good English Speakers Gone?
By Paul Catiang

Based on a presentation given by Guia Bengzon, Training Manager for Peoplesupport, this thought piece revisits the issues surrounding English proficiency issues, and how the language is the cornerstone to other aspects of outsourcing in the Philippines: the quality of customer service available, the country’s marketability as a global sourcing destination, and the country’s precarious status as a growing leader in outsourced voice operations.

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Sorting the Wheat from the
Chaff: Hiring for Retention
By Paul Catiang

Based on a presentation given by Haidee Enriquez of Advanced Contact Solutions, this article discusses retention strategies in the high-turnover environment of contact center operations. By revamping the recruitment process, retention can begin by focusing more on quality than quantity. Ms. Enriquez recommends a thorough analysis of job tasks, a profile for success within an organization, a refined selection and recruitment cycle, and further selection and development for success. The cost of turnovers gets higher and higher, and investing in top talents is the best course of action.

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Forward Philippines
By Tully Moss

Tully Moss, President of the Magellan Alliances, shares his concerns regarding the growth of business process outsourcing in the Philippines, particularly in the emerging sub-sector of knowledge process outsourcing. He delves into the pitfalls encountered by development programs initiated thus far, and suggests that changes be initiated at the grassroots level.

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