Lincoln and leadership

Outsiders can make the best leadersand also the worst

IN MAY 1860 the Republican National Convention met in Chicago, in the teeth of the wor t cri i ince the revolution, to choo e a pre i!ential can!i!ate"or, rather, a pre i!ent, ince the #emocratic $art% ha! plit a un!er& 'he can!i!ate inclu!e! two of the mo t e(perience! politician in America")illiam *ewar! an! *almon Cha e"but the !elegate bet in tea! on a one+term congre man who ha! faile! to win a *enate eat for hi native tate, Illinoi , an! who uffere! from !ebilitating !epre ion & Abraham ,incoln now regularl% top hi torian - li t of the greate t American pre i!ent & .ut he owe hi greatne partl% to the fact that he wa an out i!er on whom no en ible man woul! have bet& /e ma!e a erie of bol! move " uch a en!ing hip to uppl% 0ort *umter, thereb% forcing the *outh to fire the fir t hot of the civil war"that hi more e(perience! rival might not have ma!e& An! he gave a erie of nation+!efining peeche that nobo!% el e in the countr% coul! have !elivere!& It i no urpri e that the lea!er hip+cum+management in!u tr% ha embrace! the out i1e! figure of ,incoln& #onal! $hillip - tu!%, 2,incoln on ,ea!er hip3, bear the ubtitle 24(ecutive *trategie for 'ough 'ime 3& Nor i it urpri ing that *teven *pielberg- film, 2,incoln3, i boo ting the le on +from+,incoln tra!e& 4(ecutive are once again practi ing the 5ett% burg a!!re before their mirror an! rea!ing the boo6 that gave Mr *pielberg hi in piration, #ori 7earn 5oo!win- 2'eam of Rival 3& Mo t of thi i non en e& Mr $hillip u e ,incoln to illu trate well+worn no trum uch a the virtue of managing b% wal6ing aroun! 8,incoln pent a lot of time wal6ing aroun! battlefiel! 9& M 5oo!win- a!vice about 2team of rival 3 woul! pro!uce havoc in the average corporation& An% bo who imitate! Mr *pielberg- ,incoln an! roare! that he wa 2clothe! in immen e power3 woul! oon fin! him elf out of a :ob& 2'owering geniu !i !ain a beaten path,3 ,incoln once ai!, which limit what can be learne! from hi e(ample& .ut not all ,incolnolog% i to h& In hi new boo6, 2In!i pen able3, 5autam Mu6un!a, of /arvar! .u ine *chool, u e ,incoln to e(amine one of the livelie t !ebate in mo!ern management"whether in i!er or out i!er ma6e better bo e & .efore the financial cri i the con en u wa trongl% in favour of in i!er & .ut it i hifting, partl% becau e o man% in i!er ma!e a ha h of thing an! partl% becau e companie are ca ting aroun! for a wa% to reignite growth& In an annual tu!% of ;,<00 companie .oo1 = Compan%, a con ultanc%, calculate that the proportion of chief+e(ecutive po t going to out i!er ro e from 1>? in ;00@ to ;;? in ;011& In 4urope the hare went from 1>? to A1?& Bn November ;6th .ritain bro6e with prece!ent b% appointing a Cana!ian, Mar6 Carne%, to run the .an6 of 4nglan!& The better angels of our nature Mr Mu6un!a !ivi!e lea!er into two t%pe , 2filtere!3 an! 2unfiltere!3& 'he filtere! are 6nown Cuantitie D in i!er who have been ub:ecte! to a ucce ion of te t !e igne! to reveal their trength an! wea6ne e & 'he unfiltere! are enigma D out i!er li6e ,incoln who have never been te te! b% high officeE in i!er li6e )in ton Churchill who have fallen out of favourE or tran plant li6e Mr Carne% who have ma!e their reputation in alien organi ation & 0iltere! lea!er ten! to ma6e little !ifferenceD the other in i!er on the hortli t might have !one :u t a well& .ut unfiltere! lea!er can ma6e a huge !ifference, ometime for the better a ,incoln an! Churchill !i!, but more often for the wor e&

Another recent boo6 from the /.* table, )illiam 'horn!i6e- 2'he But i!er 3, reinforce Mr Mu6un!a- argument about the po ible a!vantage of unfiltere! lea!er & Mr 'horn!i6e e(amine eight bo e who e firm outperforme! the *=$ average b% more than ;0 time over their bu ine career an! fin! that the% were all out i!er who brought fre h per pective to their in!u trie & 7atharine 5raham of the )a hington $o t wa a wi!ow who ha! not ha! a pai! :ob for %ear , .ill An!er 85eneral #%namic 9 wa a former a tronaut, 'om Murph% 8Capital Citie 9 ha! never wor6e! in the me!ia before he too6 over a truggling televi ion tation an! )arren .uffett 8.er6 hire /athawa%9 i )arren .uffett& .ut for ever% ucce ful out i!er there are a !o1en failure D thin6 of Carl% 0iorina at /ewlett+ $ac6ar!, Fohn *culle% at Apple, .ob Nar!elli at /ome #epot, Richar! 'homan at Gero( or Feff *6illing at 4nron& Al #unlap leapt from compan% to compan%, cutting :ob an! boo ting hort+ term profit a he went, until the *ecuritie an! 4(change Commi ion force! him to put hi chain aw awa%& .oo1 point out that in ;00H+11 A>&H? of out i!e bo e were ac6e!, compare! with onl% 18&<? of in i!er & 'hi ugge t that it i be t to avoi! out i!er if thing are humming along fine& It i much ea ier to go from goo! to ba! than it i to go from goo! to great& .ut if thing have toppe! humming" if %our compan% i in cri i , li6e 5eneral Motor , or %our in!u tr% i being re hape!, li6e telecom "then %ou houl! loo6 for an out i!er& 'he tan!ar! metho! i to choo e a tar from another organi ation, but man% turn out to be !u! & Bne alternative i to appoint an 2in i!er+ out i!er3, uch a a high fl%er who ha left to !o omething el e& 'on% /all, appointe! to the ..C- top :ob to replace a man ou te! after <> !a% in the po t, fit that billD he wa a ..C man who left the corporation to run the Ro%al Bpera /ou e& Another option i to !raft in omeone to !o a enior :ob for a while before !eci!ing whether to give him the top lot& Mr Mu6un!a ugge t that %ou ta6e informal oun!ing from an% pro pective hire- colleague rather than rel% on formal interview & 'he rea on wh% companie ten! to bet on in i!er i not that the% thin6 the% might be 2clothe! in immen e power3 but that the% 6now what the% loo6 li6e in their un!erwear&