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  • Collaborative Leadership for Harvard

    In naming Drew Gilpin Faust its first female president, Harvard University is choosing a candidate who has never led a university. What Faust brings to the table, however, is scholarship and collaborative leadership. In Harvard’s news release and in countless news stories about the appointment, the adjective collaborative appears.

    Faust is the dean of the Radcliffe Institute of Advanced Study, the smallest of Harvard’s schools. Her collaborative approach appealed to the search committee which wants to heal the wounds of a campus divided by her predecessor, Larry Summers. Besides his controversial comments about women’s aptitude, Summers has been accused of having a controlling leadership style.

    Increasingly, organizations seek collaborative leaders. Dictating policy without inviting input into decisions is old news. Creating value requires putting aside titles and hierarchy. Real-time collaboration tools such as instant messaging and spontaneous web and videoconferencing support this shift by encouraging people regardless of title or function to solve problems, brainstorm and create value on the fly. I know one software company CIO who has ruffled some feathers by using IM regularly with people several levels down. But the organization’s culture is catching up with her collaborative leadership style.

    For any manager wondering whether collaborative leadership enhances careers, the story of Drew Gilpin Faust should provide at least a hint.

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  • Ahmet Ertegun

    I’ve been thinking about Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun, who died December 14 after falling backstage at a Rolling Stones concert. He was known as a music mogul who profited enormously from rhythm and blues stars including Ruth Brown and Ray Charles and rock and roll greats like The Stones and Led Zeppelin.

    If there’s something called the collaborative personality, Ertegun undoubtedly had it. The son of the Turkish ambassador to the United States, he was comfortable rubbing elbows with diplomats, royalty and financiers. But he was equally at home drinking bourbon with musicians, hanging out at recording studios and punk rock dives, writing songs, and even performing. According to Wikipedia, Ertegun wrote many classic blues tunes including “Chains of Love” and “Sweet Sixteen” under the pseudonym A. Nugetre (Ertegun backwards).  Also, Ertegun shouted the chorus for Big Joe Turner’s “Shake, Rattle and Roll.”

    As he became increasingly successful, Ertegun could have easily embraced hierarchy and the trappings of position. He could have insulated himself from the trenches. Following his passion for music, however, Ertegun effortlessly crossed boundaries and broke down barriers by moving from one scene to the next. One moment he was cutting a deal with a power broker; the next moment he was heading to a dive so he could mingle with up-and-coming artists.            

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