He Wants Subjects, Verbs and Objects

Everyone who has participated in the ITLP has had the opportunity to look back on their career and note the leadership lessons they have learned.  Today’s Tuesday Reading is a leadership journey in the form of an interview.  Recently, Richard Anderson, chief executive of Delta Airlines, was interviewed for the New York Time’s April 26, 2009 CORNER OFFICE column.

I think that you’ll enjoy and learn from Anderson’s learnings.  Some gems that caught my eye:

– be patient and don’t lose your temper.

– be thankful to the people who get the work done;  write hand-written thank you notes to them.

– be a problem-solver, not a problem-creator.

– do your job, be a good colleague and a team player;  don’t be overly ambitious, focusing on pay raises and promotions.

– hire people who don’t just have good resumes but who are good communicators and readily adapt to change.

– really get to know the people who you are considering hiring — make sure they fit into the culture;  have a strong set of values;  speak and write well;  and have both IQ and EQ.

– if it doesn’t have a subjet, a verb and an object, you aren’t expressing complete thoughts.

– you have to have situational awareness of everything that is going on around you.

– time management:  touch paper once, do your homework, return calls promptly, stick to your schedule, review (periodically) how you are using your time and reprioritize what you’re doing.

– meetings:  get the materials out ahead of time, make sure that they are to the point, start the meeting on time, hear everyone’s perspective, stay focused (no Blackberrys), if conversation becomes uncollegial, ring the bell (he has a bell).

– you have to execute.

A lot of good food for thought!

Have a great week.  .  .  .     jim