The Leadership Engine

Noel M. Tichy

1 EMMP: Central : A very good book to read.
The book "The Leadership Engine" by Noel Tichy, discusses how to build dynamic leaders at every level within an organization. The book focuses on fundamentals of winning organizations and the characteristics of these leaders giving insight into some of the greatest leaders stories. Noel Tichy has researched companies like General Electric, Ameritech, PepsiCo, Intel and Focus Hope.

The book is concise in its contents and is good for intellectual reading. Author has made his best attempt to present conceptually his thoughts about leadership engine by proving the facts that "winning organizations are teaching organizations". Senior leaders take direct responsibility for developing and teaching other leaders. Those leaders have great "teachable point of view" as composed by ideas, values and E3 (Emotion, Energy and Edge). Each of these leaders has their own style of teaching and the technique may vary based on the needs of the organization. Great leaders use stories to teach and communicate their ideas.

The term "Engine" as used by author, illustrates the dynamic potential of the winning organization to teach the leaders and develop future leaders. Noel says, "Many management theories don't buy the argument that leadership engine is the key factor in determining an organization's success. They assert that a winning culture, or efficient work processes, or any number of other ancillary attributes are the sine qua nons for success". But he believes that leadership takes precedence over everything else and one reason leadership take precedence is that leaders are the people who decide what needs to be done and are the one's who make things happen. To accept the fact as represented by author, the research should also include mid sized organizations and opinions of middle layered managers.

The ultimate test of success for an organization is not weather it can win today but whether it can keep winning tomorrow and the day after. The key ability of winning organization and winning leaders is creating leaders. One of the greatest quotes in the book was "Every person in a key position has to see himself or herself as a mini-CEO. They have to conceptualize what has to be done in the same way the CEO has. Then it cascades."

2 APPEALING AT THE BEGINNING
I read Tichy's ideas for the first time in a Harvard Business Review exhibit which he wrote to be inserted in an interview with Jacques Nassar, former CEO of Ford Motor in an issue from 1997/1998. That exhibit was so illuminating I went just right then to get a copy of the whole book in the library. I should've stayed with the exhibit in the magazine...

The CORE of the ideas of Mr. Tichy is superb. Really. Building a model (a triangle which is not, for one of the corners includes "emotional, energy and edge" and there's is not the sligthest reference in the book why these are bundle together) where he included values, ideas and the emotional side to introduce the discipline of the storytelling in the organization is a premier work intended to give a method to build those stories (World Bank, 3M, Ford and many other companies with a long tradition of strategic planning are working on this line, prefering it over conventional bullet lists, formats and charts but back in 1997, when Tichy's work arrived it was a weird idea).

BUT that's all! If you expect to learn here how to buid the "teachable point of view" (this is how Tichy christened his baby) forget it. At least an useful one. Many water has gone under the bridges since 1997 and there're many subsequent authors with better techniques to teach you to do so. Nevertheless, Tichy's work is a nice model to keep in mind when you build and use the strategic stories. But as a framework... and I've got that in the little excerpt of the exhibit in HBS.

Last, but not the least... the examples. And this REALLY bothered me. Rather than present the teoric foundations for his ideas, in order to let you to figure out how he get there and then let the reader to develop his own path (like Collins&Porras, Tichy's nemesis, did in "Built to last"), Tichy gives an harangue of two or three lines with his ideas and then throw at you a 3-pages example so tailored-made for the concept you wonder if he's not explaining a coyuntural practice in some organization which he happened to hear about or maybe witness now and then rather than give you some new insights about leadership. And that organization, 70% alongisde 250 pages or so, is GE, 20% is AliedSignal's Larry Bossidy (a GE insider) and the 10% are ocassional references to Ameritech or well-konwn leaders so suitable for the day-to-day environment of XXI century business like Martin Luther King and Winston Churchill. Of course you can learn from any leader, that's what metaphors are for, but it's risky at least to compare the deployment of some set of values and ideas in a company with somebody who broadcast alive in the middle of some war. HOW the leaders deploy their messages (not the build of the message, but the media and the selection criteria they used) is a major absence in this book. And when it comes to learn about diagnostics and measures for the performance of his idea, Tichy olimpically come down from the bronco saying "I think the value market is the best measure to keep track of the performance of the company in the long term". And thats's it: one line and a half and keep going repeated like a mantra (I wonder what does Tichy thinks about some market values like Enron' And by the way, Ken Lay wrote in the back of the book a very nice appraisal of this leadership method to succeed in the market...) Which means if you're CEO in a private held company, a non-profit organization, a multillateral banking institution like IMF, a public company far away from the S&P or Dow Jones or the local chamber of commerce, you can implement these ideas but for measures go to the nearest church.

Noel Tichy was director at mythical Crotonville GE Human Developing Center. And the book become for moments a "Thanks my sweet lord psalms choir" to Jack Welch. Who is, no doubt, the best known business leader worldwide today. And Tichy used his previous book (Control your destiny) about the great man to quote himself a lot of times as authoritative source. But with the teorics of the book, it is at least arrogant to place such an emphasis in this company. I mean, if "winning companies" are the ones who win today, tomorrow and the next day by the inheritance and labor of its present leaders, how Tichy knew it would be the case back in 1997? Jeffrey Immelt hasn't been appointed to the office and you simply can't know, even today, 5 years after the book, if Welch revolution will survive him. Tichy made an example of his method and of a "winning company" out of Coca Cola under Goizueta reign, and you can go to ask about all this revolution to his succesors, Doug specially. Welch might well become a sort of Tom Watson, the head of the company Tichy's beat to death every single opportunity he has to the point you wonder if they fired or offended him in some moment: if he couldn't illustrate some point in the book with some real practice, then he explain it by default showing HOW IBM didn't do this or that and ergo fell down... and GE sure has, no doubt, somewhere around the world, even if he can't prove that, but the wonderful market value of the company is enough proof. And by the way.... if you read "Straight from the gut" by Welch himself, you learn many of Tichy' affirmations about his practices are, to be candorous, descontextualized or mistaken.

In short, a very, very good idea with a very, very bad excution in a very, worse package.

3 They Can, They Do, They Teach
Noel Tichy's "The Leadership Engine" is a practical and easy to read book on leadership. His research is exhaustive and well documented; there are sixty pages of notes and bibliographic citations. Tichy's central theme is that winning companies possess a "Leadership Engine" that produces dynamic leaders at every level within the organization. He argues forcefully that winning is about leadership and that leadership is the key trait that distinguishes winners from losers. He defines winning as success in adding value, coupled with sustained excellence. For a company or organization to be successful it must have outstanding leaders at every level. In order to have those dynamic leaders at every level, the organization itself must systematically produce them.

Tichy insists that learning, teaching, and leading are intertwined and admits he is a proponent of transformational leadership theory. Elements of this theory are clearly evident throughout his book. Tichy is also resolute in his belief that leading IS teaching-"they can, they do, they teach"-this point is driven home numerous times throughout his book(1). Winning organizations are teaching organizations. Successful organizations have proven leaders who are both teachers and avid learners themselves. The author emphasizes on numerous occasions that leaders must have a teachable point of view and must create teachable moments for the right kind of learning to occur-the kind that transforms an organization. A leader's "teachable point of view" is a trinitarian view composed of: a) ideas, b) values, and c) emotional energy and edge(2). Ideas are the substance of learning and good ideas are teachable.

Tichy uses numerous real life examples from the business world and even the military to highlight his points throughout the book. His liberal use of relevant and true stories to emphasize the point he is making, is in itself, a subtle illustration of a key leadership trait-being a good story teller. Tichy insists that successful leaders are successful teachers because they use stories and share examples from their own personal life. The author's frequent use of stories makes the book interesting, even captivating at times and minimizes the possibility of the reader getting bored.

The Leadership Engine is an outstanding, well organized, and very readable book; and not just a book, but a useful handbook as well. Tichy includes a 99-page workbook with practical exercises designed to both help the reader assess his or her own leadership and to help the reader develop a "Leadership Engine" in his or her own organization. The workbook is what sets this leadership book apart from the thousands of others in this crowded category. Noel Tichy has accomplished what he set out to do-convince us that winning organizations are teaching organizations. However, for the student of leadership, there is no new ground or profound insights in this book and consequently, I am not convinced that it deserved its Business Week "Book of the Year" honor.

NOTES
(1)Taken from the oft repeated jest by George Bernard Shaw that, "Those who can, do-those who can't, teach." This quote does not appear in Tichy's book.
(2)Tichy defines "edge" as the courage to see reality and act on it.

4 Business Success is people dependent - Develop Great People
I find this book to be much more than a how-to book on developing strong leaders. I find the examples and templates to be an excellent framework for your team members and employees to develop their mission, objectives and people development.

There are formal leaders and informal leaders in every group. You can't succeed without both understanding the objectives, risks, strengths and weaknesses of the situation.

Noel Tichy has been a leading consultant to many of the big name corporate leaders and companies. From GE, Coca Cola, Mercedes Benz Tichy takes you through his experiences, to provide practical, sound advice that you can pick up and begin to use immediately in you business.

I have personally utilized many of the concepts with my employees together in meetings or individual coaching sessions to identify their development strengths and weaknesses or dealing with difficult coaching moments. The format and style have been easily accepted and used again by my team leades on their own.

I highly recommend the book for all leaders, of any level to develop yourself and your team. You will find this book to be a ready reference over and over for succession planning, business planning and performance evaluations of your leadership team each year.

5 "Winning Organizations are Teaching Organizations"
"A major part of my job has always been figuring out what works and what doesn't. Several years ago, however, the great disparity between the track records of the corporate winners and losers prompted me to step back and specifically tackle the broader question: Why do some companies succeed while others fail? The answer I have come up with is that winning companies win because they have good leaders who nurture the development of other leaders at all levels of the organization. The ultimate test of success for an organization is not whether it can win today but whether it can keep winning tomorrow and the day after. Therefore, the ultimate test for a leader is not whether he or she makes smart decisions and takes decisive action, but whether he or she teaches others to be leaders and builds an organization that can sustain its success even when he or she is not around. The key ability of winning organizations and winning leaders is creating leaders" (from the Introduction).

In this context, Noel Tichy divides his book into ten chapters. After defining what he means by 'winning' in Chapter 1, in the rest of the book, he talks specifically about what winning leaders do that makes them winners and how they develop other winning leaders at all levels of their organizations. In order to help reader, he emphasizes following 30 main themes that emerged in the book:

* Winning is about leadership,

* Leaders have ideas, values, energy and edge,

* Without leaders, organizations stagnate,

* Leaders manage through times of change,

* Leaders make things happen,

* Leaders are revolutionaries,

* Great leaders are great teachers,

* Winning leaders make teaching a personal priority,

* Winners have a 'teachable point of view,'

* Winning leaders draw from their past,

* Leaders' stories reveal their teachable points of view,

* Everyone has a usable past: Leaders just use theirs better,

* Winning organizations are built on clear ideas,

* Leaders make sure the ideas are current and appropriate,

* Ideas are the framework for actions at all levels,

* Winning organizations have strong values,

* Winning leaders live the values-privately and publicly,

* Values are a key competitive tool,

* Winning leaders are high-energy people,

* Winning leaders create energy in others,

* Times of transition: Teachable moments,

* Winning leaders never take the easy way out,

* Categories of edge,

* Edge isn't cruel, it's honest,

* Winning leaders portray the future as an unfolding drama,

* Winners' stories create scenarios for success,

* Leaders' stories are dynamic and motivating,

* Winning leadership is about building for the future,

* Success is achieved by developing other leaders,

* The best leaders know when it's time to leave.

Finally, he says that "Organizations that have a Leadership Engine win because they have leaders at every level who teach others to be leaders. Teaching and learning are at the heart of these organizations."

Highly recommended.

6 Leader as a Teacher
The name "LEADERSHIP ENGINE" in my opinion is very apt. In a train the Engine is the one which pulls the train with all the coaches towards the required destination. Similarly it is the Leader who pulls the organization with all the people towards achieving the Vision. Assume a train with all coaches as engines, how easy it will be for the first engine to get the combined pulling power of all the other engines and can reach its destination much faster and quicker. Also if any one of the engine has a problem there are the other engines to support. Similarly it is easier for a Leader to lead Leaders than lead followers.
The main theme of the book is that all great business leaders-whether CEOs, managers or at whatever level they are ,they must not only be committed to improving their own leadership ability, but also must be committed to teach others to be leaders as well.

The authors by giving examples of various real life leaders, proves that successful organizations win because they are run by people who cultivate leaders. Markets, products, and technologies come and go but a company that continually produces leaders at all levels will stay and grow.

According to the authors, leaders who develop other leaders have teachable points of view in the specific areas of ideas, values, emotional energy , edge and leaders embody their teachable points of view in living stories for people to easily understand and remember. Winning leaders also have well-defined methods and teaching techniques.

The book also consists of a "Handbook for Leaders Developing Leaders." located at the end of the book which provides guidelines that you can use to improve your own leadership abilities and develop other leaders in your organization.

After reading the book I am tempted to form a new definition of CEO - Capacity to Energize the Organization and form a Quotient called the CEO Quotient where leaders will be measured by their ability to energize others.

7 One to add to your library.
Good thought provoking read, but could have used more examples from ordinary leaders versus Fortune 500 CEO's. For a small business owner or someone who wants just to be a better leader, there is some application but mostly in generalities not specifics.

8 Reved on hype
Mr Tichy's book has a catchy title and an interesting cover. It also has..no, that's about all it has. Books containing anecdotes about leadership always run into the problem of being unoriginal. The combustable metaphor cannot save this book from being quite pedestrian. Try 'the art of leadership' if you want a book that hits quick and leaves a scar of wisdom

9 Mostly filler in here
There are some good ideas in this book, particularly the E3. However, the author filled the book with long and boring anecdotes. This book could have easily been written as a pamphlet and saved the reader time and money.

10 Leadership for lightweights
Even for an audiobook, this book is long-winded and insubstantial. There are no good ideas to be found here. There's nothing inherently wrong with the concept of creating leaders at every level of an organization, but his thesis does not reveal anything profound about leadership. And Tichy's examples don't seem well-chosen: he's obsessed with Jack Welch and GE. His treatment of Howard Gardner's Leading Minds is particularly bad considering that Leading Minds is a leadership classic. For those dissapointed with this book (as I was), I suggest Leaders: The Strategies For Taking Charge by Bennis and Nanus. It provides very good strategies for building a compelling vision for your company.

11 It Can Be Done
The subtitle suggests the book's objective: To explain "How Winning Companies Build Leaders at Every Level." According to the authors, there are certain "fundamentals" common to winning organizations: "First, leaders with a proven track record of success take direct responsibility for the development of other leaders. Second, leaders who develop other leaders have teachable points of view in the specific areas of ideas, values, and something I call E-cubed -- emotional energy and edge....Third, leaders embody their teachable points of view in living stories....Finally, because winning leaders invest considerable time developing other leaders, they have well-defined methodologies and coaching and teaching techniques." Together, these "fundamentals" create the central metaphor in the book: a machine.

As a "machine", an organization consists of separate but interdependent parts; requires lubrication and fuel as well as constant maintenance; and functions best when utilized to serve the specific purposes for which it has been designed.Almost half of The Leadership Engine consists of a "Handbook for Leaders Developing Leaders." In it, the authors provide a cohesive and comprehensive answer to the question "How to create a Leadership Engine?" One useful approach to the "Handbook" is to think of it as a "super" hardware store and you have an empty toolbox. Examine everything available. Select only what is most appropriate for your own organization. Then work with others to assemble the "machine" your organization needs. In doing so, you and they are providing leadership. Your shared obligation is to involve as many others as possible, helping them to become leaders also. If help is needed along the way, it is reassuring to know that the authors have created the equivalent of an operator's manual to help ensure maximum performance of your organization's "leadership engine." Whenever it's time for a "tune-up", you will have the guidance you need.

This is a superb piece of work.

12 A dissapointing, simplistic approach to complex issues
I grew increasingly bored and disappointed with this book the more I read. Early in the book, Tichy seems to say something important, and I read with great interest. Quickly my enthusiasm waned, as I realized that many of those he cites as exemplary, such as Eckhard Pfeiffer at Compaq and Dick Notebaert at Ameritech, are not the great success stories he makes them out to be. Pfeiffer was booted out of Compaq and Ameritech is now merging with SBC. Perhaps it's an occcupational hazard with authors of business books that they risk seeing their best examples of success go down in flames shortly after their books are published. In any case, this one is skippable.

13 Reasonable points plus a ton of filler
I learned some interesting points, such as some ideas on how a leader can increase his company's focus on growing people. But the 2 long cassettes were also full of platitudes and unnecessary, non-illuminating anecdotes. This is a "thin" book padded out to seem "thick".

14 A super book
This is the best business book that I've read in time, the ideas are universally aplicable

15 A compelling work that validates the value of military vets
Those former military officers and NCOs, especially from the U.S. Marine Corps will read about very familiar values and traits essential to leadership. As a former active duty Marine officer and now reservist, it is refreshing to see that our valuable leadership skills and values are ready made for the leadership application described by Mr. Tichy. The private sector and Business Schools for the most part lag far behind in understanding true leadership and the value of developing people at all levels. The work place would be a much better place for all, and American business even stronger if quality leadership was emphasized a lot more. This book should be on the required reading list for corporate management and on the U.S. Marine Corps, Commandant's Reading List.

16 Thought provoking and really useful
This is one of the better books written on the subject of how companies/organizations create and sustain a competitive edge. The authors do a good job convincing me that leadership, whose impact is difficult to measure, is in fact the lifeblood of any successful company. They thoruughly helped me with my own leadership.

17 Practical, great stories/examples, easy read, good format
The GWU/Richmond book club gave this book a thumbs up. It was easy to read, but full of clear examples of the leadership qualities under discussion. Leadership was demonstrated not just as a quality of the top execs, but for all levels. The handbook at the end was occasionally simplistic, but overall very usable & useful. Worth your investment of time and money.

18 Throughly Enjoyed the Book
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I found the message clear and understandable, as well as applicable to my job. The countless interviews with true leaders of winning companies were especially interesting and informative. I got dozens of ideas for my job from the book and have started to implement them just as the book suggested. Sometimes I have found management discussions abstract, vague, theoretical or not directly applicable; but this one was just the opposite: clear, focused, practical and right on target. I highly recommend it.

19 I read the book now I am buying it and the audio tape
This book has cemented in my mind that all of the other management techniques are usless if you cannot be a true leader. If you are ready to make a real change read this book. Then read it again.

20 Simple and to the point.
A refreshing look at an important element in management is given in this book. Stripped of jargon, the book offers insights gleaned from real leadership situations of successful corporations. What was especially useful were the appendices as they provide a guide for the rejuvenation process of a corporation.

Perhaps, one area that Tichy and Cohen could look into is that of the educational arena, where even tested business practices have not been entirely successful in turning school management around.

21 Excellent!
Great indepth information about our leading edge corporate leaders. The concept of E3 is one that will help shape the thinking of our next generation of leaders. This is the best business book that I have read. The stories are practical and riveting.

22 A Fresh Perspective
Tichy and Cohen have done an excellent job at moving past the buzzwords, platitudes and drivel that make up 80% of most leadership books. They effectively distill their philosophy down to concrete, actionable steps. Well written and meaty.