Are you
February 2014 
Recommended Reading
 
By Edgar Schein

Asking others, not telling them, develops more followers and attains great results. A must read for any leader. Click here to learn more or to order Humble Inquiry.

 What We Can Learn

From Mark Zuckerberg

Greetings!

Facebook is in the news - it is 10 years old and there are some lessons we can learn from its leadership - enter Mark Zuckerberg. No matter what your view of Facebook (positive, negative or neutral), it has come a long way from when it was a mere idea within the dorms of Harvard. I find the most exciting aspect of this story is the strong leadership of its Founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg.

 

Last month I asked the question "Are Leaders Born or are they Made"? As chronicled in a HBR blog last week, Zuckerberg has been strong on developing company culture and ensuring everyone is aware of it. One of the Company's mantras is "Move fast and break things." To me, this means let's take risks and play offense, not defense. To accomplish this extraordinary feat of growth, he has had to add the right people to help him lead the way. When we step back and objectively look at the situation, Zuckerberg has done an astounding job of leading his company.

 

How should we measure leadership performance? It is all about being effective and effectiveness can be measure on many dimensions - also known as Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). The most publicly visible indicator is the stock is up significantly (appx $20) from its IPO price. Early bets from those 'in the know' were predicting Facebook would fall on its face - going the ways of MySpace. Recently Facebook reported 2013 results arguably an excellent performance.

 

Recently Zuckerberg was interviewed on the Today Show and he displayed humility, determination and focus (oh, and did I mention maturity?). Watch this short 6-minute interview and draw your own leadership conclusions.

 

Now I'll go back to my original question - "Are Leaders Born or are they Made"?

 

As one of my readers Becky pointed out last month, "I believe that leaders are usually made but from the day they are born! They're shaped into it throughout their upbringing and they are usually conditioned and driven to succeed and lead."

 

Does this sum up for Mark Zuckerberg's leadership growth?

Let me know your thoughts.

Member News - Vistage
Unfamiliar with Vistage? As a Vistage Chair, I work with CEOs, Business Owners and Key Executives to increase their effectiveness and enhance their lives. We meet monthly in peer groups and also have one-to-ones resulting in more authentic leaders, higher-quality decisions and better results. We are joined by world class speakers and subject matter experts from across the US to present half day in-depth explorations of C-Level business topics. From time to time I'll mention special achievements of Vistage Members. Hope you find this section of the newsletter of interest. -PH

 

David Blittersdorf, a Member of Vistage since 2006, was first a wind measurement guru and after 22 years stepped down as CEO of NRG Systems to start-up AllEarth Renewables, a company dedicated to the development, manufacture and deployment of residential-sc ale, grid-connected renewable energy systems - in particular, the dual-axis, ground-mounted AllSun Tracker. This product is designed to produce 35-45% more energy than standard roof-mounted solar systems, thereby making it more valuable.

 

AllEarth Renewables recently was in the news with the announcement that a new, easy shipping configuration of its AllSun Tracker won "Top Products of 2013" from Solar Power World and was also one of eight products to win "2013 Top Products" by Electrical Products and Solutions.  

 

"We take a lot of pride in our company's engineering and lean manufacturing.  This palletized tracker system was designed with our growing network of nationwide solar installers in mind, allowing them to both get our tracker quickly and make their installation jobs easier," said David Blittersdorf, president and CEO of AllEarth Renewables.

 

In August 2013, David hosted our monthly meeting in beautiful  and we had a special tour of his 10MW, four-turbine Georgia Mountain Community Wind Farm, another one of his renewable energy projects. David has such a passion for renewables. look at this photo of our members' visit - what a gorgeous view. We could see all the way to New York State.

 

Some think peer advisory groups are all work - not always!

 

AT OUR JANUARY MEETING, we had the privilege of acknowledging Jean Horstman's 5 year Vistage membership aniversiary. As CEO of Interise, Jean told us of how the organization has changed since she first became a Vistage Member. From a fledgling organization of 2.5 people, it has now grown to over 15 full-time staff and 40 contract instructors, and now reaches 500 entrepreneurs in 37cities a year. By the end of 2014, over 2500 small employers will be in the Interise network. Collectively, businesses that availed themselves of Interise's "StreetWise MBA" program during the recession created jobs at 10 times the rate of the private sector as a whole.

 

As one of Interise's graduates said:"The 'StreetWise MBA'™ is the most exciting, informational and eye-opening program I have ever participated in. The benefits for me and my company have been immeasurable. I can now move forward in growing my company with direction, poise and confidence."

Laurie Cote, President & CEO

 

Congratulations Jean on your stellar leadership!

 

I hope you've found this newsletter helpful. If you'd like to learn more about The Holberton Group and our executive coaching and business advisory services, or whether a Vistage Peer Advisory Group can help your organization, please send an email to [email protected].

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