The Steve Bennett Leadership Basics - what Symantec can expect

The recent appointment of Steve Bennett as CEO of my former employer Symantec has got me reaching for one of my favourite books on the software industry – “Inside Intuit – How the Makers of Quicken beat Microsoft and Revolutionised an Entire Industry

Steve Bennett was CEO at Intuit for eight years . In that time he grew Bennett left Intuit in December 2007 after serving as president and CEO for eight years. revenue grew to $2.7 billion in fiscal 2007 from less than $1 billion in fiscal 2000. He also led Intuit to being in Fortune Magazine’s “Best Companies to Work For” list for six consecutive years.

One chapter in “Inside Intuit”, called The Bennett Basics, may give Symantec employees a clue to what to expect from their new leader.

Leveraging his 23 years at GE under Jack Welch, the chapter identified Bennetts key leadership principles;

Set A Tone – a leader’s personal intensity determines an organisation’s intensity.

Maximise an Organisations Intellect – take everyone’s best ideas and transfer them to others.

Put People First and Strategy Second – getting the right people in the right seats is crucial to the success of any strategy

Foster Passion – winners care more than anyone else

Reach For More Than What Seems Possible – when the leader stretches, the whole organisation stretches.

The Steve Bennett Basics of Leadership - what Symantec can expect

The recent appointment of Steve Bennett as CEO of my former employer Symantec has got me reaching for one of my favourite books on the software industry – “Inside Intuit – How the Makers of Quicken beat Microsoft and Revolutionised an Entire Industry"

Steve Bennett was CEO at Intuit for eight years . In that time he grew Bennett left Intuit in December 2007 after serving as president and CEO for eight years. revenue grew to $2.7 billion in fiscal 2007 from less than $1 billion in fiscal 2000. He also led Intuit to being in Fortune Magazine’s “Best Companies to Work For” list for six consecutive years.

One chapter in “Inside Intuit”, called The Bennett Basics, may give Symantec employees a clue to what to expect from their new leader and his playbook.

Leveraging his 23 years at GE under Jack Welch, the chapter identified Bennetts key leadership principles while at Intuit;

Set A Tone – a leader’s personal intensity determines an organisation’s intensity.

Maximise an Organisations Intellect – take everyone’s best ideas and transfer them to others.

Put People First and Strategy Second – getting the right people in the right seats is crucial to the success of any strategy.

Foster Passion – winners care more than anyone else.

Reach For More Than What Seems Possible – when the leader stretches, the whole organisation

Review of "Creating a Coaching" by Peter Hawkins

The concept of a coaching culture existing within an organisation has become a hot topic in recent years as the suppliers and buyers of coaching seek to move beyond the historical 1 to 1 coaching format and explore how coaching can impact the many as opposed to the select few.   However much of the discussion I have seen on coaching culture has lacked research and practical case studies and hence it has begun to take on the characteristics of other Holy Grails within organisational development that have come with great fanfare and gone with an embarrassed silence.   Peter Hawkins has taken the concept on in this book (Creating a Coaching Culture)and, through a combination of a well-structured framework, numerous case studies and his usually high standards of research and practical experience, has given CEOs, HR Directors and external coaches lots of practical ideas and models about creating a culture of open and honest dialogue within teams, functions and organisations and beyond to customers and stakeholders.   I personally really enjoyed the excellent deconstruction in the final chapter of coaching culture down to its rawest and most meaningful form  - that of better quality dialogue in day to day situations, be it in team meetings, performance reviews or in the corridor. My corporate clients will see more tangible value in the idea of better dialogue than they will in a something called coaching culture.   The book is an easy read and very engaging and has challenged me as an external coach to add more value to my corporate customers. I will be sharing the book with clients as they look to move beyond coaching being often one off engagements. I will also be recommending it to participants on the postgraduate programme on executive coaching that I lecture on as the best discussion and analysis of what coaching culture is and can be out there so far.   I finished the book feeling excited about the possibilities of coaching in organisations. Peter Hawkins has moved the discussion on coaching cultures from one of aspiration to one of possibility.

Presence - you have one but what is it? A Two Minute Blog

The context
A coaching client was told by his boss that he needed "more presence" in order to get to the next level of the organization.In this situation I had a suspicion that "more presence" was code from the boss for "be more like me". However there is no doubt we all individually bring something of ourselves every time we walk into a room, or attend a meeting, or interact with another person. We provoke some form of reaction in others. Peter Bluckert sees presence as "bringing who you are to what you do".

So what?
So what impact do you have on others? Do you bring energy or suck it away? Do you draw people towards you or put them off approaching you? Do you seem open or closed? One of us or apart from us?

Most of us will have two responses to the above questions. The first is that we kind of know the answers about our presence but are not 100% sure. The second is that how we are will depend on the situation.

The call to action
To really get a handle on your presence you have to ask others about it. You may know 70% but by asking others you will get validation on what you know and you will also probably hear a few things you are not fully aware of (nice things too!)

So go find 3 or 4 people you trust and ask yourself and them the following questions (borrowed from Dr. Geoff Pelham):


What is my presence?

What do I evoke in people?

What would extend my range?

Only by learning about how we impact others can we be intentional about how we show up to different people in different situations. It allows the possibility of range and repertoire while still being authentic to ourselves.

Be curious, be brave!