Who Says Elephants Can't Dance?
by Louis V Gerstner Jr

Do you ever remember going to the circus when you were young and being awed by the size of the mighty elephants that were usually staked to the ground in one of the grass areas near the main tent. Did you ever wonder how it is that a ten-ton elephant can be staked to the ground with something that would barely hold a 300-pound baby elephant.

It is easy to explain. Elephants really do have great memories, but they aren't very smart. When they are babies they are usually staked down. They try to tug away from the stake, maybe even ten thousand times, before they realise that they can't possibly get away. At that point, their elephant memory takes over and they remember for the rest of their lives that they can't get away from the stake.

We are sometimes like elephants. When we are younger some unthinking, maybe even unwise person says "you are not good at maths", or "he/she is not a leader", or "their team will never make the finals" and before we know it, zap, we have created a mental stake (or model) into our minds. Then throughout our adulthood we are held back by some inaccurate one-sentence stake put in our minds when we were young leaders.

The same can be said of organisations who also carry stakes that form part of their culture. Whilst many would advise to start over, this book by Gerstner is a story of someone who decided to remove the stakes and help the elephant to dance again.

Gerstner, former CEO of IBM, tells the story of his company's amazing comeback from 1993 to 2001. Challenged by customers and employees worldwide and product-service lines that defied integration, Gerstner implemented solutions to turn the company into the integrated business giant it is today.

His book discloses a multitude of CEO-level insights. An essential volume for anyone interested in wanting to remove the stakes that are holding their business back.

Here are some focus questions that will help you take what Gerstner shares in his book to integrate it more into your own business and organisation:

• How would you describe your organisation's culture (especially in relation to performance)?
  
• Do you see people using the hierarchy as a crutch?
  
• Do we preside or do we act?
  
• How active are we in getting everyone to focus on productivity?
  
• Do you, as a leader, make soft requests instead of bold requests?
  
• Does the organisation engender a culture of constructive impatience?
  
• Does your team have the vibe energy of high performance?
  
• How much management by process consumes what the organisation could achieve?
  
• What should our collective anger look like, and where do we need it to apply, rather than where we find it?
  
• How well do we persuade implementation and follow-up?

Gerstner's book is full of expressions that are designed to help you reshape how you think, and begin to remove your stakes.

People do what you inspect
Not what you expect.

Faith and Fortune is an antidote to the cynicism spawned by the scandals and excesses of the business world. Marc Gunther, who is also writer for FORTUNE magazine, has met some extraordinary business people who, shaped by their faith, are helping to change the way corporate America operates. The stories are about what religion and spirituality can teach business. Chapter titles include "What is a Spiritual Business?", "Can a big Company have a Heart?", "What does a Company owe its Workers?", and "What is a Spiritual Leader?"

Here is a sample of stories from the book:

Jeff Swartz, the CEO of Timberland, goes to great lengths to protect the health, safety and labour rights of workers who make clothes and boots for his company in the developing world.

Mike Volkema, CEO of Herman Miller, takes seriously the fundamental value that has guided this furniture company for more than 85 years - that every individual is unique, worthy and deserving respect. This value shapes the company's approach to design, its relations and its workforce and its deept commitment to the environment.

Barbara Waugh, a middle manager in Hewlett Packard, has organised networks inside the computer and printing giant to persuade the firm to develop technology to help the world's 4 billion poor people.

For more information visit http://www.marcgunther.com

"Many of us know inauthentic people - people who say one thing and do
another; people who think one thing, but do another. Authenticity is the
opposite of this. When we are authentic, we align our minds, our mouths, our
hearts and our feet - in other words, we think, say, feel and do the same
thing with complete congruence. This is how we become real: by ensuring that
what our minds think, what our hearts feel, what our voices speak and where
our feet walk are identical. Until we have the courage to think, say, feel
and do the same thing, in other words, until we are in alignment, we remain
inauthentic. Thus, alignment of our thoughts, words, feelings and deeds
result in our becoming authentic human beings." from the book Inspire
What Great Leaders Do, by Lance Secretan.

Words that matter

Wisdom The ability to discern or judge what is true, right, or lasting; insight.

Innovation A new device or process created by study and experimentation.

Quality Having a high degree of excellence.

Authentic success The progressive realisations of that you were meant to be and do.