Anyone who thinks that AK isn't in touch with former CEOs and vice versa, is deluding themselves.
Get ready for the imminent RTO announcement for everyone, managers as well as non-managers.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/we-need-leaders-so-get-back-to-the-office-remote-work-b6756b9e
By: Louis V. Gerstner Jr.
April 25, 2024 1:17 pm ET
It is time to deflate the hot-air balloon known as remote work. We have lurched, in an almost lemming-like way, from a view that work is done five days a week in an office to the fantasy that it is perfectly acceptable to stay home two, three or even five days a week.
I recognize that there are certain types of work that don’t require regular attendance in a communal location. This includes coders, writers, data-entry personnel and many others. The class of employees for whom working in a solitary setting is highly detrimental is people who aspire to lead or manage others in an academic, nonprofit, governmental or business institution. One learns how to manage and lead principally by watching others demonstrate how—or how not—to do so.
As a young associate at a consulting firm, I had a wonderful mentor with whom I worked closely. I was in his office frequently and grew increasingly curious about why he had two inboxes. I eventually asked him about it, and he answered that one contained items he knew were of high priority and would require his personal attention. The other contained items he thought would either disappear on their own or get taken care of by others.
This was a crucial lesson that became an important pillar of my approach to personal management. Time management may be the most underrated capacity of great managers. Controlling your own time well and not permitting others to dictate how you spend it is one of the determinants of successful leadership. Watching others is really the only way to develop a command of this essential practice.
Another skill you can’t learn sitting at home is motivating others to reach for success. Leadership involves getting people to do things they otherwise wouldn’t. This requires articulating and continually reinforcing an external purpose and a visceral sense of teamwork. It isn’t a cold digital process; it is a human and at times personal connection with all the members of your team. It manifests itself in immediate and constructive feedback. None of us are born with these skills, nor are we conditioned or trained to do them well. Watching others who have successfully developed this leadership capacity is, in my mind, the singular way to learn it. There are, of course, many other skills that are learned “on the job” principally by watching others demonstrate them. We also learn a lot by failure—not only our own but that of others.
Think about the crucial skill of managing meetings well or preparing compelling documents. This frequently applies to new CEOs, who suddenly must manage boards of directors. A new executive who never had the chance to watch his predecessor will often find this aspect of the job challenging.
Years ago, I gave a talk to business students. One of them asked me a pointed question: “What is the one thing that keeps us from rising to the level of CEO, a position we all aspire to?” My answer wasn’t what the students expected. Talented, highly motivated people fall off the career track, I said, because they fail to work continually on expanding and improving their managerial skills. It’s a lifelong pursuit.
America desperately needs leadership today. Those who aspire to be part of the solution and tackle some of the great challenges we face should get their butts into the office and learn how to manage and lead others.
Mr. Gerstner, retired chairman and CEO of IBM Corp., is chairman of Gerstner Philanthropies.