Bootstrap Leadership Blog

Here’s some recent data on the concept of women leaving (and returning to) the workforce.  In the June edition of the Harvard Business Review, Sylvia Ann Hewlett, Laura Sherbin and Diana Forster conducted a survey in 2009 using the same questionnaire they used in 2004 to examine the choices women make about their career paths.  Interestingly, the results of the two surveys were quite similar, despite one of the worst recessions in recent memory.

In 2004, in a robust economy, 37% of highly qualified (top performing) women said they were “offramping” – voluntarily leaving their jobs for extended time periods.  In 2009, the researchers found that, for the most part, off-ramps and on-ramps are here to stay; 31% said they had taken an off-ramp, and for those who did, they’re staying out of work longer – up to six months longer. 

In the 2009 survey, the researchers found that, of the 31% of women who had off-ramped, 40% re-entered the workforce in full-time jobs, 23% came back for part-time roles, and 7% became self-employed.  Perhaps most interesting, 30% had not returned at all to the workforce. 

The authors hypothesize that the nonlinear path is not a luxury for boom times, but the way many women want to structure their careers, regardless of the economy.  All of which left me wondering what these results might look like in another 5 years… of the choices, I’d bet on the self-employed number going higher and higher.  What do you think?

30 million people worldwide have read it.  Your father or grandfather probably had a copy of it on their shelf.  It was published in 1936, and yet, when released as an iPhone app in February, it immediately became the top-selling paid business app in the iTunes store.  A new edition (only the second since the original publication) will hit stores next year.  What is it?  How to Win Friends and Influence People, by Dale Carnegie.  Carnegie’s brainstorm of business advice has been translated into 47 languages, and is the most successful business book in history (by far).  In 2009 alone, it sold 300,000 copies – this for a book that is 74 years old! 

So who was this guy, and how did he tap into the mother lode of business counseling?  Born in 1888, Carnegie had virtually no business background when he wrote the book.  He was raised on a pig farm in Missouri, and moved east to become an actor in his early twenties.  He didn’t make it as an actor, so he tried selling trucks and writing western novels (neither of those ventures worked, either).  What did seem to stick was a class in effective business speaking that he began to teach at a Harlem YMCA in 1912 – a class that would form the basis for the book.

Carnegie knew a thing or two about marketing, for sure – in 1919 he changed the spelling of his name from Carnagey to Carnegie… probably to match the spelling of another pretty famous entrepreneur at the time.  Carnegie just intuitively “got” the relationship between public speaking and business success (these days, we’d call that connection “executive presence”).  Lots of prominent business people seem to have benefited from the connection.  Warren Buffett, for one, says that the course “changed my life.” 

The core elements of How to Win Friends and Influence People are Carnegie’s 30 principles of success, which are as applicable in one’s private life as they are in the business world.   Essentially, it’s a book about self-confidence, and how self-assuredness and poise makes us effective as people.  The 30 principles are all pretty basic themes: “let the other person do most of the talking” or “the only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it.”   But actually, that’s what makes the book so charming (and yes, so effective). 

Sometimes the best advice really is the basic stuff.  Carnegie himself used to tell audiences – “I’ve never claimed to have a new idea.  I present the obvious – because the obvious is what people need to be told.”  Sounds like good coaching to me (clearly, Carnegie would be an executive coach today – or maybe Dr. Phil). 

Everyone who has ever written a business advice book owes a debt of gratitude to Dale Carnegie.  Now, if they could only out-sell him!  This tells you something about the power of his simple ideas… sound, basic advice never goes out of style – something we might all remember as we look for ways to influence in our own lives.     

Last year, I joined my brother Scott and three (new) friends – Doug, Paul and Rob – on a weekend climb of Mt. Baker, in northwest Washington.  Aside from a great experience (we reached the 10,778 foot summit and returned safely), I took away several leadership lessons that reminded me of how often leadership translates to everyday life. 

# 1 – Leadership starts with credibility.  All of us have successful resumes in the real world, but when it comes to climbing, Rob had the most knowledge and experience, and therefore was the clear choice to be expedition leader.  On all climbing related decisions, we followed his direction and deferred to his judgment.  Without question, this made the climb easier and less stressful.

# 2 – The team needs shared goals and mutual accountability.  While we were all focused on the same goal (reaching the summit), we clearly understood the main objective – getting back down the mountain safely.  Every decision was made with the safety in mind, and we shared responsibility for each other’s well-being on the rope.  Perhaps it was being literally roped together for 10 hours, but we were all keenly aware of the concept of “team” throughout the climb.

# 3 – Leaders need to be flexible, and listen to feedback.  Rob did a wonderful job of making judgment calls as weather or snow conditions changed, and was receptive to feedback throughout the climb.  At one point Doug and Scott made a route suggestion on our downhill trek that Rob quickly accepted, and at all times he “listened” to the tension on the rope from weary climbers (OK, that was mostly me) to take a breather at times.  The rope, in fact, was a beautiful metaphor for feedback, teamwork, signals for assistance, and shared accountability.  When you’re literally hooked together as a team, you don’t have much choice but to cooperate and support one another!

# 4 – It takes mental and physical energy to succeed.   Leaders need to be in tune with their teams regarding both mental and physical energy.  In this case, our task was mostly physical – waking at 12:30 am to head for the summit in the dark, climbing non-stop for nearly 10 hours, ascending and descending 14,200 total feet in 28 hours on little sleep, etc.  But the real challenge was controlling emotions and staying focused mentally – in fact, it helped to make much of the final push in the dark with just our headlamps, as it kept us focused on “one step at a time” (another metaphor for short-term wins).  Again, we all did a great job of keeping each other’s spirits and positive energy high. 

# 5 – Nothing beats accomplishing a goal with others.   Had one of the team not summitted, we wouldn’t have approached the excitement and satisfaction we felt that morning.  The fact that we put everything aside for the team, sharing equipment, food and energy, and helping each other to the top made the experience one to remember for all of us.  Accomplishing a challenging goal with others is what leadership is all about. 

I’ll take away some awesome memories of this weekend – but the biggest is the power of teamwork.  If you get a team of people together who really want to help each other succeed, there’s almost nothing you can’t do!