better leaders make for better companies; here's why boeing
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�� August 2007 BOEING FRONTIERS
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Better leaders make for better companies; here’s why Boeing stresses leaders teaching leadersBy roBert sterling
Continuous improvement is critical to increasing Boeing’s competitiveness. That includes continuous improvement in leadership skills; in alignment with the company’s shared
sense of purpose and values; and in how readily the people of Boeing transfer best practices and lessons learned, said Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Jim McNerney.
“One of Boeing’s greatest advantages is its intellectual scale—the broad and deep range of experience that employees bring to the table. Among our challenges is to figure out how to mine those ideas and that expertise, apply them wherever they make the most sense across the entire company, and develop better leaders in the process,” he has said.
All around Boeing, the company’s leaders—including many without the formal “manager” title—are modeling the company’s leadership attributes (see box on Page 15). These attributes help em-ployees and their teammates grow personally and professionally. The attributes also help explain why leadership is linked to employee en-gagement, an environment that values employee ideas and contribu-tions—and continued growth for Boeing.
“Leadership development truly is about living the attributes and opening up our culture across the company,” said Julie-Ellen Acosta, vice president of Leadership Development. “The goal of every lead-er must be to create an atmosphere that gives all employees the chance to make a difference. That’s how people grow, and that’s why they’ll choose to remain with Boeing.”
The challenge, Acosta said, is ensuring this happens at every level. “Developing leaders requires a deliberate, one-company ap-proach, one that involves alignment and a lot of creativity with in-put from all areas of the company,” she said. “It also must have complete commitment from the top—and we do. Our senior lead-ership believes developing people is one of the most important jobs we have, and they’re as much a part of that as anyone.”
“When customers select our products and services, they choose
That’s how we grow
At the Boeing leadership Cen-ter near St. louis, people from around Boeing come to learn, understand, challenge and share ideas.BoB FERGuSoN PHoTo
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the innovation, design and craftsmanship of our people,” said Rick Stephens, senior vice president, Human Resources and Administra-tion. “The critical element is leadership—and the environment that leaders create for people. Leadership distinguishes us from other organizations.”
Stephens said that leaders must understand and use the tools avail-able for assessing, developing and evaluating people. These are key te-nets of the Boeing Leadership Model that are reinforced in the key HR processes and that hold leaders accountable for their performance.
“It’s important to understand our strengths as well as opportu-nities where we can improve,” Stephens said. “A successful leader must engage in discussions around difficult issues—such as an at-tribute where an individual may not be strong—yet come across as inspiring to help that person continually grow. We need to push our-selves to build an environment for success and longevity where ev-eryone benefits.”
WHERE IDEAS, RIVERS MEETThe confluence of three rivers—the Illinois, Missouri and Mis-
sissippi—is a fitting spot for the Boeing Leadership Center. At this location near St. Louis, leaders from across the company can come together to learn, understand, challenge and share ideas.
The BLC offers core leadership development and functional ex-cellence programs that are constantly reviewed and updated as nec-essary with input from all the business units and functions. Leaders, at every level, spend from a week to nine days building leadership skills through simulations, action learning and discussions.
The power of the BLC, Acosta said, is rooted in its teaching methodology: Leaders Teaching Leaders. The methodology literally means senior leaders are the teachers who share their challenges and experiences with participants. LTL also occurs outside of the BLC, through activities such as mentoring and informal leadership devel-opment discussions.
“LTL asks our senior leaders to participate as teachers, and that includes even our CEO. We’re not talking professional, academic fa-cilitators. LTL speakers are assessed and held accountable for how effectively they teach, and the expectations for these teachers are very high,” Acosta said.
Topics range from external to internal business challenges to dis-cussions of the leadership attributes and the Boeing Management and Leadership models. Participants grapple with real-life Boeing prob-lems and chart the course toward a solution the company can act upon, dispelling the notion that learning has to preclude working.
The overall goal, Acosta said, is to develop leaders faster and drive a consistent, one-company message across all business units. It also opens the culture throughout the company and brings Boeing closer together. “We’re working to bring the BLC experience to various re-gions, allowing more people access to the programs,” Acosta added.
While most people associate the BLC with curriculum-based pro-grams, it’s becoming much more. Recently, Integrated Defense Sys-
Leadership, in six pointsHere are the six Boeing leadership attributes.
A Boeing leader
• Charts the course.
• Sets high expectations.
• Inspires others.
That’s how we grow
tems’ Mark McGraw and Commercial Airplanes’ Beverly Wyse, both vice presidents on the 767 Tanker Program, brought together their teams for a week-long meeting at the BLC. The main purpose was to build team unity, air out frustrations and learn from one an-other to make the tanker program a success. McGraw said the team left with renewed energy, confident and determined.
“BCA wanted to learn about working with the military, and IDS wanted to learn about BCA processes. We found IDS’ perception of themselves matched BCA’s and vice versa. This brought us clos-er together discussing our differences and our common ground, something the BLC naturally fosters, since meetings are not frag-mented like at a hotel and the atmosphere is about leadership. I’d encourage other programs to do the same,” McGraw said.
LEADERS AND THE ATTRIBUTESWalt Ketts, a senior manager, Program Support, IDS General
Procurement in St. Louis, has his hands full with his job and a multifunctional team of 32. Thus, developing his leadership skills around the leadership attributes has proved invaluable. “Much of
• Finds a way.
• Lives the Boeing values.
• Delivers results.
Julie Acosta, vice president, leadership Development, teaches a group of senior managers in a leaders Teaching leaders ses-sion recently at the Boeing leadership Center. Acosta engaged participants around living the attributes while reinforcing how strong leadership and employee engagement are paramount in opening the culture to drive growth and productivity..BoB FERGuSoN PHoTo
It’s our futureActions cited in this story show how employees are applying concepts of the Boeing Management Model to support the company’s business strategies. Here’s how.
• Leadership: Employees model the Boeing leadership attributes.
To learn more about the Management Model, visit http://bmm.web.boeing.com on the Boeing intranet.
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Nhan PhamGlobal PartnersCommercial AirplanesRenton, Wash.Nhan Pham leads by example, and his teammates and customers know what they get each day he comes to work. Pham believes in owning the attributes.
Pham serves as a project manager who works with the 737 program on work transfers and kitting strategies. Pham is not a manager, but that doesn’t prevent him from leading and setting examples. “My role is to see people stay focused and to ensure we stay on course, and I lead by example,” Pham said. “I do my best to foster openness. Everybody’s input is of value.”
Pham works with peers and many suppliers, with the goal of bringing everyone together. For starters, he believes it all begins with basic lead-ership, coming to work on time and giving the best effort possible.
“It’s doing what you say you’re going to do, and that lends itself to stability, credibility and reliability—overall trust,” he said. “It’s important to deliver results or at least do what you say.”
A big part of Pham’s responsibility is to inspire others, including sup-pliers, in what he called “setting a positive influence to drive a path towards what is best for Boeing.” Pham said that requires compiling facts and charting a course that takes supplier input into account. In the end, it often helps suppliers understand their role and why it’s critical they’re lean and more productive.
“Things progress well if you truly own the attributes,” he said. “Not only do they help you to lead more effectively, but they make you better at what you do.”
Model behaviorPeople across Boeing demonstrate how the leadership attributes transcend job titlesNonmanagement team leads are making a difference all across Boeing through modeling the leadership attributes. Their actions remind everyone that leadership is about action, not about title. Here’s a look at some of these individuals.
my time is spent helping guide, inspire and set the direction,” he said.“I think the leadership attributes are a well-integrated set of
principles that can be applied to any situation you can encounter at work,” said John Tracy, senior vice president of Engineering, Op-erations & Technology. “You can find a lot of answers right there if you dig into them and make them a part of your leadership style.”
All managers and executives will be measured against the Boeing leadership attributes in 2007, and that metric will factor into compensation decisions during Salary Review in 2008.
To help the team truly understand and live the attributes, Ketts has developed some unique tactics. “My status report meeting is a good example,” he said. “I have each attribute listed with the issues where we’ve performed well and where we still need to improve. As a team, we stay on top of all aspects and have robust discussions.”
Ketts said modeling the attributes and discussing them helps the team stay focused, pull together the big picture and understand the
direction Boeing is trying to go. “It’s a consistent and common mes-sage they can follow,” he said. “It’s not just about finding a way. It’s about promises made, promise kept; that’s resonated with the team.”
Ketts also uses his weekly report to stay connected to his counter-parts in BCA and break traditional barriers that might have separat-ed them in the past. “As part of the Global Sourcing [companywide growth and productivity] initiative, I share my reports with my BCA colleagues to identify opportunities to leverage Boeing’s scale and ensure we speak to our suppliers in one voice. It makes a difference when Boeing presents itself as one company to a supplier.”
MORE CHANCES FOR GROWTH While it’s true that opening the culture and developing leaders
with greater velocity is a mandate to those in management, overall success is about engaging and growing all employees. Indeed, the leadership attributes apply to everyone, regardless of title.
Nhan Pham, a project manager in Commercial Airplanes Global Partners, said he believes that the key to successful leadership is to take personal ownership of the Boeing lead-ership attributes.Will WANTz PHoTo
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Sue AckermanGlobal PartnersCommercial AirplanesEverett, Wash.No one would question Sue Ackerman’s leadership skills. She’s held differ-ent positions, including a recent role as the Program Management Leader on the 747-8. She has never held a management title, but her actions demonstrate leadership.
Ackerman has had many customers, but one of her major roles is to project manage the 747 Working Together Team, which includes 20 key suppliers and Boeing leaders as team members. That means helping to bring to-gether the 747 program members and suppliers to build unity and embrace Boeing’s strategic direction.
“We charted a course and inspired the members of the team,” she said. “In some ways, it involved tearing down barriers to build relationships and work together as one team. In the process, we engaged in open and honest dialogue. This included bringing suppliers together that might have been competitors in the past.”
In the end, Ackerman credited her manager and the job experience for helping expand her scope. “You have to get out of your comfort zone and grow. If you’re not willing to do that, your opportunities will be limited.”
Oscar Portillo and Steve RichardB-1 program team leadsIntegrated Defense SystemsLong Beach, Calif.Oscar Portillo and Steve Richard are leaders in every sense of the word despite not holding the title of manager. As team leads, they work with teammates daily in coaching and advisement roles and foster an open environment, building trust and commitment.
“I always follow through on issues no matter what,” Portillo said. “When I’ve said I’m going to do something, I take action.”
As part of this, Portillo conducts weekly meetings to discuss “hot-button issues.”
“This is a chance to allow the team to candidly share feedback about any issue that’s of concern,” he said. “Hot-button issues go on our SharePoint Web site as action items that we can track and ensure they’re being ad-dressed.”
Both Richard and Portillo acknowledge the challenges of leading, par-ticularly without an official title. But neither makes an excuse and both understand that it’s the actions they take that affect others.
“I’ve had some rough times being a leader,” Portillo said. “You don’t just show up and expect people to listen to you. You have to earn that trust and give people a reason to believe in you. In our meetings, I make it a point to encourage everyone to lead and take charge. Everyone’s input counts, and I want to make sure they know it. Leading takes commitment, that’s for sure.”
Neither Steven Richard (left) nor oscar Portillo, team leads on the B-1 program in long Beach, Calif., holds a management title. But both embrace the leadership attributes and have a keen interest in helping their colleagues, and themselves, to grow and be successful. kEN GRAEB PHoTo
Sue Ackerman (right), program management leader for 747-8 Global Partners, discusses topics with Gary Desilet, 747-8 Global Partners Fuselage integrated Product Team lead, during a recent staff meeting.GAil HANuSA PHoTo
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For more learningThe Boeing intranet offers employees multiple resources for leadership development. Here’s a sample of what’s available.
• Boeing Education Network broadcasts (http://lead.web.boeing.com/ben/ben.html) and Learning Center CD-based courses (http://learningcenter.web.boeing.com/cfm/lc_curricula.cfm). Many cover management-related topics.
• Development and rotation programs. These programs give em-ployees from all levels opportunities to learn new skills and develop their capabilities. http://humanresources.web.boeing.com/index.aspx?com=28&id=9
• Formal and informal mentoring opportunities. These opportunities can help maximize employees’ leadership potential. http://globaldiversity.whq.boeing.com/mentoring/index.html
• Harvard ManageMentor. This resource covers an array of leadership topics. http://leadershipcenter.web.boeing.com/harvard_managementor
• Leadership attribute self-assessment. Assess yourself or ask others to rate you. http://humanresources.web.boeing.com/published/28/docs/Self_Assessment.xls
• Leadership attribute suggested reading list. This list offers books that support each of the six leadership attributes. http://humanresources.web.boeing.com/published/28/docs/BBR_Boeing_Leadership_ Attributes.doc
Understandably, leadership development might seem to affect only Boeing managers and executives. The good news, Acosta said, is that the BLC will begin offering opportunities to non- managers in 2008. A planned leadership development program for nonmanagement program leads is in the works. Also, a foun-dational course to teach supervision for newer managers is being designed and may also provide opportunities for nonmangers.
So what can a nonmanager do to improve his or her leadership skills? Quite a bit, said Jane Sharpe, a curriculum strategist within Leadership Development.
“All employees should assess themselves against the leadership attributes, and the best way to do that is through frank, open dis-cussions with their managers,” she said. “This helps identify ar-eas that need improvement and can be part of your [Performance Development Partnership]. Demonstrating the attributes will im-prove your own job performance, and for that it doesn’t matter who you are or what your job title reads.”
Perhaps the most important aspect, Sharpe said, is that studies show more than 70 percent of development takes place on the job and not in a classroom. Employees need to focus on activities and projects around their jobs that offer a chance to develop new skills and challenges. Employees should also take advantage of mentor-ing, formal or informal.
Employees with questions should contact Leadership Development through its site on the Boeing intranet, at http:// humanresources.web.boeing.com/index.aspx?com=28&id=1. That page also features an expanding array of resources. n
Attendees at a recent leaders Teaching leaders session at the Boeing leadership Cen-ter listen intently. The lTl course reflects the philosophy at Boeing of company leaders teaching employees. PETER GEoRGE PHoTo