CEOs must master three essential attributes, realistic optimism, subservience to purpose, and finding order in chaos. One's capacity in each determines their ability to cope with today's business environment. Justin Menkes More Quotes by Justin Menkes More Quotes From Justin Menkes Leadership means realizing potential-in yourself and in the people you lead.... The leader and followers cocreate their identities and performance. Justin Menkes leadership mean people What great executives do is not magic. Their performance is made possible by specific, identifiable skills. Justin Menkes magic We frequently hear how essential it is for someone to think "outside the box," but what actually determines one's facility for doing so? In other words, what skills make someone a creative thinker? Typically, creative thinkers can view issues from multiple perspectives, define problems in several different ways, and anticipate likely obstacles. Someone's aptitude for these skills determines how well he or she will perform as a creative thinker. Justin Menkes perspective creative thinking We often say that someone has exceptional political or social savvy, but what specific cognitive skills allow these people to handle interpersonal situations so effectively? Typically, socially skilled people are exceptional at recognizing underlying agendas, anticipating the probable effects and likely unintended consequences of a chosen course of action. These specific capabilities determine one's "people smarts." Justin Menkes smart political people Most people define "street smarts" as some innate ability to make savvy decisions, or one that has developed as a result of a person being confronted with very challenging circumstances in the past. I think another common term that is used is one who has amazing "business acumen." But, whatever we call it, it is always associated with some mysterious ability, only a few possess, that allow them to make better decisions than the rest of us. Justin Menkes smart past thinking There is a common misconception that intelligence is synonymous with IQ. "Intelligence Quotient" or IQ was originally built to predict the academic aptitude of schoolchildren, and is nothing more than a measure of the skills needed for academic success. Intelligence, however, is a much broader concept that encompasses a person's level of skill for any of a number of subjects. Justin Menkes misconception academic common Business schools need to help students learn how to thrive under pressure. To understand themselves and their psychological vulnerability that might inhibit their ability to be effective in roles that involve ongoing complexity and duress. Preparation is essential. Justin Menkes preparation helping school I was working with an extraordinarily successful company that was doing a CEO succession, and the board was discussing the threats to the business. They were enormous, despite the company's strong market position. I then realized that there were no longer just turn-around periods for companies in trouble, that now variables that could drastically effect any business's profitability were not going to go away. Justin Menkes going-away strong successful The principles that make someone a master in the chief executive role deal with whether or not they can thrive in an environment of ongoing duress, and teach others how to do so. Justin Menkes teach thrive environment There are certain principles, all of which center around building systems and practices that teach workforces how to internalize and master these three attributes, that are realistic optimism, subservience to purpose, and finding order in chaos. Its important to note than one never fully masters them, the pursuit lasts a lifetime, but it is a very gratifying pursuit. Justin Menkes optimism important purpose The central premise of great leadership is recognizes that fundamental fact, that not of us are fixed entities, and taking responsibility for making sure that we bring out our people's best selves. Justin Menkes great-leader taking-responsibility responsibility One of the capabilities, which seems to be the most difficult for aspiring leaders to maste is realistic optimism. It requires one to recognize that our experience of life is largely up to us, that our situations, good or bad, are largely due to our ability on a moment-to-moment basis to capitalize on opportunity. Those that approach life as if it is largely outside of their own control, or that others are largely to blame for their circumstances, generally find growth elusive. Justin Menkes optimism leader opportunity Once an individual is given a taste of the gratification that comes from triumph, and the tools to bring it about, they will spend a lifetime in its ongoing pursuit. Justin Menkes gratification individual lifetime Often people freeze under severe pressure, but that says nothing about their ultimate capability- only their level of preparation. Justin Menkes ultimate preparation people In the past there was not much social acceptance of men taking a primary care taking role at home. That has changed, and along with it, the opportunities for mothers to take on more demanding executive roles. Justin Menkes acceptance mother home Executive Intelligence , and its evaluation are very must about one's ability to think under pressure. Given the evolution of global business, this is more important today, and it's going to stay that way. Justin Menkes important today thinking Executive Intelligence is about the specific skills one must have in order to succeed in senior leadership positions, i.e. the ability to evaluate underlying assumptions, recognize the likely emotional reactions of individuals, or sense a misstep and make appropriate adjustments. Justin Menkes senior succeed emotional Very little attention is paid to improving the decision-making skills of both individual executives and the organizational benchstrength as a whole. Often we find that this is overlooked because there is a common assumption the business executives have all the requisite cognitive skills they need when they come to work for the organization. The problem with that perspective is that it overlooks the fact that thinking skills can be learned and improved at any time during the course of a persons lifetime. Justin Menkes perspective attention thinking Knowledge is the accumulation of information whereas intelligence is one's ability to process information to render good decisions. Justin Menkes good-decision ability decision In a business setting, one's intelligence is crucial. Many problems faced by today's executives are unique and ill-defined. So, one's ability to analyze information and render a decision based upon the probability of success is imperative. What it comes down to is that all the knowledge in the world is useless if one has no means of processing and applying it. Organizations run on the brainpower of their people. Justin Menkes unique running mean
