Focus Magazine - Fall 2011 - 50

5 QUESTIONS Kevin Kruse

5 Questions With…

John Baldoni

eadership is more than a job function. It’s also a state of mind that thrives throughout organizations, at all levels and in all roles. I turned to a true leadership expert to learn more about how leaders are shaped. John Baldoni is an internationally recognized leadership educator, executive coach, speaker and author of 10 books, including his newest, Lead With Purpose, Giving Your Organization a Reason to Believe in Itself. For more information, and to see John’s newest videos, visit www.johnbaldoni.com/.

JB:

e Great Recession was an example of failure of senior leadership. Now more than ever we need men and women of good intention who know how to lead from the middle. I have developed a new multi-module course on this topic that explores how leaders must see the big picture, act as responsible leaders, in uence across boundaries and leverage their presence in order to bring people together.

Now more than ever we need men and women of good intention who
know how to lead from the middle

Kevin Kruse (KK): So the age-old question: Are leaders born or made? John Baldoni (JB): Leadership is a choice. No one says you must lead. But when circumstances dictate people stand up and lead others. More typically we are selected to lead, put into positions of management and so we must exert a degree of bringing people together for common cause and providing direction as well as inspiration. KK: We're in a dynamic industry in a di cult economy. What's your advice to leaders in life science companies? JB: Every industry is in the middle of change. at is nothing new. What is di erent, particularly in life science is the rapid rate of change. Tune yourself to the trends shaping the industry. Network extensively. Prepare yourself for what may come next by honing your skills as well as being agile in both mind and spirit. KK: Most of our members are training managers or directors. How can they lead from where they are?

KK: Many people are frustrated with our government leaders in Washington. Do leaders ght for their position, or do they compromise? What's your view? JB: No one I know in the corporate sector is afraid of compromise, yet in Washington it has become a dirty word. Why? Because politics has become a money game where division becomes the foundation for raising funds. e disheartening thing is that our nation needs national leadership but too o en our elected o cials put partisanship ahead of citizenship. KK: Your new book is called Lead with Purpose, Giving Your Organization a Reason to Believe in Itself. Tell us a little about it. JB: When organizations succeed it is because they know what they do and why they do it. We say they have “purpose.” Purpose can be a driving force for an organization to achieve its intended results. A central challenge for leaders is to bring people together for common cause. at’s purpose. Purpose is the why behind everything within an organization. I

Kevin Kruse is the executive director of SPBT and co-author of the New York Times bestseller, We: How to Increase Performance and Pro ts through Full Engagement. Email Kevin at kkruse@spbt.org.

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Focus Magazine - Fall 2011

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