Peer to Peer Magazine

VERY GOOD LEADERSHIP LESSONS FROM VERY BAD LEADERSHIP • If your direct reports do exactly what you pay them to do, will the results be what you want? Or do you ask them to make a choice between doing what’s best for the organization and maximizing their annual bonus check? • How do you know What’s Going On Out There? Are you confident you’re receiving accurate, unfiltered information that gives you an accurate picture? Next: Decide how much time you’ll need to invest in each of these responsibilities to do a good job at it, and how often you’ll need to invest it. These things don’t happen by accident, they don’t happen by hoping they’ll happen, they don’t happen through good intentions, and they certainly don’t happen because you explain what you want once, in a broadcast e-mail or all-hands speech. Effective leadership takes time. Which means your next step is to look at your appointment calendar, to find it. Chances are, you won’t be able to because your calendar is filled with appointments already, and your to-do list is similarly full of tasks that urgently need your attention. That’s why they pay you the not-as-big-as-Hayward- got bucks. Find the time. Decline appointments that don’t need your attention, or delegate them to a direct report whose judgment you trust and who deserves the visibility. Delete tasks whose importance is minimal regardless of their urgency . . . or delegate them as well if they can’t just go away. Find the time, and use it to lead more effectively. Hayward needed to go because he has made it clear, repeatedly and publicly, that he didn’t understand his job. If we learn from his mistakes, we get at least some benefit out of the deal. Since we’re all going to pay the price for his incompetence, it seems only fair. ILTA GW ONLINE WITH SHORT-TERM RESIDENCIES IN ALEXANDRIA, VA Master of Professional Studies & Graduate Certificate in Law Firm Management Invest in the Future with a graduate degree created by a partnership of The Hildebrandt Institute and the GW College of Professional Studies. Meet a growing need in legal management for highly skilled and adaptable leadership professionals. Develop Strategic Leadership and Management Skills. Gain business and legal knowledge from a faculty of legal consultants and professors of management. Expand Career Options in a program format designed for working professionals in the legal field. Information Sessions Tuesday, Sept. 21 1:00 pm ET Online Tuesday, Oct. 12 1:00 pm ET Online Rsvp Today! 1.800.JOIN.GWU nearyou.gwu.edu/lawfirm Bob Lewis is president of IT Catalysts, a consultancy specializing in business agility, IT organizational effectiveness, and the integration of IT into the enterprise. His most recent book is Keep the Joint Running: A Manifesto for 21st Century Information Technology. You can find him online at www.itcatalysts. com. For more information about his book, visit www. amazon.com and search for “Keep the Joint Running.” 35437 www.gwu.edu/gradapply THE GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY/ AFFIRMATIVE ACTION INSTITUTION CERTIFIED TO OPERATE IN VA BY SCHEV. Peer to Peer the quarterly magazine of ILTA 43

• Cover