“Leadership in Communication” series
Leadership - Stu Reed, executive vice president, Integrated Supply Chain, Motorola
Dimensions of leadership
According to Stu Reed, executive vice president, Integrated Supply Chain, Motorola and winner of the IABC 2007 EXCEL Award[1], administrative leadership, operational leadership and transformational leadership are the three dimensions of the leadership journey that every leader passes through.
At the beginning, leaders tend to focus on administrative tasks as the primary means of exhibiting leadership. They manage performance by focusing on the main objectives that must be accomplished and putting talented people in roles that have a direct impact on business objectives.
In operational leadership, leaders focus on managing the many different variables that are in play in a large organization. They learn to lead through periods of operational adversity and challenge. They know which questions to ask—and which not to ask—to take the operation to the next level.
In transformational leadership, leaders focus on moving the organization forward very quickly. The goal is to address major gaps and challenges with solutions that can be developed and applied quickly. The organization is motivated to higher and higher levels of performance with the ultimate end goal of becoming recognized as a best-in-class organization.
Qualities of an effective leader
Reed defines an effective leader as a person who is able to create a compelling vision and explain it to employees in a way that enables them to clearly understand how they can contribute to the organization's success. Other vital qualities of an effective leader are modeling a good work-life balance, embracing diversity, seeking top talent and having fun on the job.
Leadership—sharing and learning
It is obvious from his commitment to coaching and mentoring that Reed is passionate about sharing his leadership experiences. Among the areas he emphasizes are: leadership characteristics, career challenge, work-life balance, diversity, lessons and advice.
He continues to develop and expand his leadership capabilities through experience and learning from other leaders. One of his favorite ways to learn is to "steal shamelessly, but legally”—adopt best practices—from other leaders as illustrated below.
- Importance of meeting timeliness – A former colleague at IBM understood the impact of a person walking into a meeting five minutes late. As a result, Reed emphasizes the importance of arriving on time for meetings, and does so himself.
- Using your calendar to commit – Jack Welch of General Electric emphasized the importance of one-on-one conversations with staff and others. Reed has adopted this practice and is committed to meeting regularly with his team members one-on-one.
- Operational excellence – Another former colleague at IBM emphasized the importance of operational excellence to meet the organization's objectives. Reed also believes that operational excellence is critical to achieving best-in-class performance.
Changes in leadership style
“A pivotal leadership experience for me was when I was assigned to lead a small, brand-new team in IBM procurement. To some extent there was little clarity about who worked for whom. One of the key challenges of the job was to get things done through people who were not reporting to me. I learned a lot about using influence instead of reporting relationships to make things happen regardless of the circumstances or situation.”
Stu Reed, executive vice president, Integrated Supply Chain, Motorola
During the time that Reed served as a leader in IBM's supply chain, he was rated highly for driving the system and software needs. However, he realized that he needed to do more in the area of communication to help his team reach the next level of excellence. Based on that experience, he put more emphasis on communication strategy early on when he joined Motorola. Today, Reed continues to emphasize the importance of communication at all levels, and of delivering a consistent message to all audiences.
A key theme for ISC communication is “straight talk”—respecting others and eliminating excuses. Using straight talk, team members are given the freedom to express their opinions directly. Straight talk also creates an environment where people are accountable for their actions. Reed walks his own talk, which helps reinforce the credibility of what he expects and asks of others.
“A leader can only continue to be motivated when he likes what he is doing. You have to know yourself. You have to truthful to yourself about who you are and who you want to be."
Stu Reed, executive vice president, Integrated Supply Chain, Motorola
Challenges leaders face
According to Reed, leaders face three major challenges:.
- Adapting their leadership style to lead people from different backgrounds and cultures.
- Managing people who are making decisions based on personal circumstances rather than the facts.
- Managing in a matrix organization—the flatter the organization gets, the more you need to manage people who do not report directly to you in order to get things done.
Given the increasing speed of information transfer, Reed believes that future leaders will face greater challenges. Great leaders will distinguish themselves by managing information flow effectively. These leaders will be able to quickly prioritize information, articulate it for and to the right groups, and decide how to act on it.
[1] Since Stu Reed was named the IABC 2007 EXCEL Award winner he has transitioned from his previous role as executive vice president of Motorola’s Integrated Supply Chain to a new role as president of Motorola’s Mobile Devices business.
“Leadership in Communication” series – Table of Contents
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