Organization Leadership, Fall 2010

Authors:

Samantha Arsenault, Ajoy Bhattacharya, Mary Fudeman,

Jessica MacLean, Scott Mogel, Jason White

© 2010 Team Kratos. All Rights Reserved.

Team Kratos Organization Leadership, Fall 2010

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 Great leaders exist in all types of organizations and inspire others in a myriad of ways.

While great leaders may share many common attributes, they each exhibit unique leadership

styles that have developed through varied experiences. The following profiles discuss these

different senior leaders and their respective leadership qualities that enabled them to be so

effective within their respective organizations.

Dan St. Onge began working as the Chief Operating Officer of Eagle Investment Systems

LLC in 2000, when Eagle was a small start-up company. Since then, Dan has been instrumental

in growing the company into an industry leading software provider with operations in seven

countries. The ability to transform a start-up company into a global business requires strong

leadership skills. Dan demonstratesdemonstrates these skills by “encouraging the hearts” of

others (Kouzes and Posner, 1995). He frequently conveys his gratitude towards employees by

commending them for a job well done and , helpinging thememployees to take pride in their

work. Every summer, Dan invites the operations team and their families to his lake house for

barbecuing, tubing and gamesfood, fun and games. His warm-hearted, friendly demeanor

encourages his employees to go the extra mile. Dan also demonstrates emotional intelligence

through self-regulation, empathy and social skills (Goleman, 2004). He is always in a great mood

and, greetsing everyone with a smile and friendly conversation. He Dan encourages his

employees to maintain a sustainable work-life balance. While Dan exhibits a high degree of

emotional intelligence, he struggles to enable his employees to act. Despite this shortcoming, he

is a great leader, dedicated to his work and humble about his contributions.

Frank Ollington is the Senior Vice President of the Product Supply Management group at

Genzyme Corporation. Frank’s group managess the distribution of two of the company’s

products. These products that were rationed when a virus in Genzyme’s Allston manufacturing

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facility shut-down production in the summer of 2009. When the company first became aware of

the drug shortage caused by the plant shutdown,, Frank quietly took control of the situation. He

assembled a small team to identify the issues, the people who needed to be involved, and the

long and short-term impacts of the supply shortage. Despite the tension and the uncertainty the

company has faced since the virus outbreak, Frank has exhibited self-regulation by remaining

calm, disciplined, and steadfast. Never seeking recognition, he constantly provides others the

opportunity to take on responsibilities and ensures that they are recognized for their hard work.

Frank gives employees room to be great. His door is always open and he is an incredible mentor

to people across the organization. During his tenure, he has fostered a familial environment by

building a foundation on respect, care, successing and encouragement.

Dr. Robert A. Brown became President of Boston University in September of

2005. President Brown has a Ph.D. in chemical engineering and has worked in research and

education for most of his careerlife. As a leader, Hhe excels at envisionsing thewhat future

changes that need to be made at the university. He constantly challenges the process with a

desire to make BU great through continuous improvement initiatives. An example of this is

President Brown’s ten year plan calledinstituted “Choosing to be GreatGreat,,” a ten year plan

which inspired a shared vision and establishesd a shared vision and goals for the universityBU

on its quest to becominge one of the nation’s leading research institutions. In his execution of the

plan, heThe plan enables others to act by encouraging collaboration between departments

throughout the university. This collaboration creates a competitive advantage for BUthe

university by offering a diverse curriculum and an abundance of opportunities for students.

across the university that extendextends beyond the walls of their respective departments. When

faced with challenges, President Brown remains calm and resilient instead of lettingand does not

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allow his emotions to get in the way. For example, when the economy declined, he ensured that

financial aid would be a top priority and took funding away from other departments to guarantee

that students would have enough financial assistance. President Brown demonstrates strong

professional will by his constant drive to improve BU, yet despite all of his successes he remains

humble.

In 2004, Ellen Zane became the first woman to lead Tufts Medical Center. After six years

under her leadership, Tufts has risen to one of the nation’s top ranked teaching hospitals for

quality standards. She achieved this status despite the loss of millions of dollars in revenue from

the 2006 cuts to Medicaid and Medicare and the subsequent nationwide financial crisis. Ellen

remains humble and encourages her employees to continue to work hard and strive for

excellence. She enables employees to take action and make difficult decisions; allowing the

hospital to be more efficient. For example, when forced to cut the liver transplant program, the

hospital developedhospital developed a successful affiliation with another nearby hospital to

facilitate the procedures. Through careful analysis, Ellen has outlined a process to achieve future

success with explicit objectives and a well thought out action plan. She models her vision

through her daily actions and uses her social skills to communicate her vision with employees at

regular town -hall style meetings and monthly management reviews. As a result, the hospital’s

leaders are prepared to properly execute the mission of delivering the highest standard of

service. Moreover, she inspires everyone to leave their mark on the organization just as she has

done.

Brian Light became the CIO of Staples Corporation in 1998 following a successful career

as a partner at Accenture. He continuously challenges the process, most notably in his efforts to

evolve the primary business model from paper intensive to paperless. Brian is extremely

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motivated; as evidenced in his persistence to complete the integration of the Corporate Express

acquisition amid numerous obstacles and setbacks. He makes use of monthly meetings to

communicate his vision and delegate responsibility to employees, thus empowering his direct

reports to act. Very rRecently, Brian challenged his employees to deliver projects faster and

empowered them to lead a restructuring effort across the organization. Through his example,

Brian reminds his employees to be warm and empathetic to others. When meeting new

employees, he typically puts his arms around their shoulders, shakes their hand and gives them a

warm welcome to Staples. While some employees may initially be taken aback, hHe makes

people feel at home and . He ensures that employees know that their contributions to the

company are important

Stefan Borgas became CEO of Lonza Biologics in 2004. Since his first day heHe has

evoked a leadership style reminiscent of Sergio Nacach of Kimberly-Clark (Anderson, 2009).

One A certain Lonza employee, Andreas Helm, a Lonza employee, described his experience of

meeting Stefan over a cup of coffee as informal and warm, addingadding, that “Stefan is

personable and approachable” (http://www.lonza.comHelm, 2010). During his term as CEO,

Stefan has transformed Lonza into one of the world’s leading supplierss of products and services

to a medical device and pharmaceutical companiesyies by challenging the process. Stefan has

endorsed numerous initiatives to develop innovative new products and groundbreaking

technologies, such as the world’s largest fermentation reactor. In addition to research and

development, Stefan has challenged the process by acquiring bio-products manufacturing and

technology companies to thus strengtheningstrengthen Lonza’s market position. Most of Above

all, Stefan is a creative thinkervisionary who is adept at inspiring a shared vision throughout the

company. Stefan has a gift of seeing the big picture and thinking outside the realm of

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conventional wisdom. He shares his vision for the organization through the Lonza intranet and

companywide town hall meetings. Through his communications, Stefan clearly outlines his

agenda in a manner that encourages all employees to become involved get on board. Stefan,

along with the other five leaders, embodies many common qualities of great leaders,. These

qualities several of which arewill be discussed in further detail below.

“The most effective leaders are alike in one crucial way: They all have a high degree

of what has come to be known as emotional intelligence” (Goleman, 2004: 213-214). All six

leaders exhibit most of the five attributes of emotional intelligence, but the three common

attributesmost striking are self- awareness, self-regulation and motivation. Self-awareness and

self-regulation enable a leaders to understand their emotions and manage them in stressful

situations. The actions and emotions of senior leaders are closely watched and emulated by

others in the organization. If a leader exhibits a calm, personable and good-humored demeanor,

other employees will, in turn, do the same. Motivation is one of the main driving forces behind

any leader’s success. One cannot advance to any level of senior management if onehe/she is not

intrinsically driven to achieve greatness. Furthermore, motivated leaders are never satisfied with

the status quo and are continually raising the bar and tracking results to achieve higher levels of

performance. Similar to self regulation, motivation permeates throughout an organization and

enables a company to flourish in a competitive global economy. In corroboration, with this last

point, Goleman writes that, “Emotional intelligence not only distinguishes outstanding

leaders but can also be linked to strong performance.” (Goleman, 2004: 214). This is

apparent in the way each of the six leaders hasve taken their organizations to a a higher level

through their ability to lead change. change within their respective organizations.

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 Besides emotional intelligence, there are other commonalities observed in leadership

approaches as well. These approaches are, seen inexemplified the contrasting by the leadership

styles locations of the six leaders on the Leadership Compass (The Leadership Compass).

Thorough analysis revealed that 50%half of the leaders used v“Vision as their main leadership

approach,” while the other 50%half used a“Analysis” as their main leadership approach. The

leaders that used vision as their primary approach arewere very idea- oriented and forward

thinking. They needed to think outside the box in order to stay one step ahead of their

competitors. These leaders valued innovation and the idea of possibility;, which inspiresd their

employees to be creative in finding a competitive advantage. This approach was not as prevalent

in all of our leaders as some approached leadership in a more analytical manner. These

Analytical leaders understandtood how to use past information effectively to make important

decisions that wouldto improve the future of their companies. They These leaders arewere

viewed as dependable and practical, which establishesd trust in their leadership from their

employees. Employees feellt confident that the companies’ needs haved been carefully examined

to create the best possible future. Although these approaches are very different, both seemed

areto be equally effective forms of leadership.

The Leadership Compass and the CIEME analysis helped to identify the different

leadership approaches of our leaders (Kouzes and Posner, 1995). Through the CIEME analysis,

we found that all of the leaders analyzed shared several similar characteristics. Some of our

leaders’ strengths lie lay in their ability to analyze, such as Dan St. Onge and Frank Ollington.

Others,, like such as Ellen Zane and Robert Brown, excel at creating a vision for their

organization. These differences do not preclude prevent any of thell of our leaders from inspiring

a shared vision for those within their organization. The lose leaders who tend to be more

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analytical have found themselves in roles which require an analytical mind. Though analytical, ,

for example, Dan St. Onge, the COO of Eagle Investment Systems LCC and Frank Ollington of

Genzyme Corporation . Both of these leaders, while analytical themselves, are able to inspire a

shared vision to those around them.  

Almost all of the leaders analyzed shared a strong ability to eEnable oOthers to aAct. As

Kouzes and Posner write in their article, “Leaders know that no one does his or her best when

feeling weak, incompetent, or alienated; they know that those who are expected to produce the

results must feel a sense of ownership.” (Kouzes and Posner, 1995: 182). The ability to enable

others involves many qualitiesaspects of an exemplary leader including: empathy, inspiring a

vision, and the ability to let others assume ownership of their work. Being empathetic allows

leaders to to understand when employees are feeling empowered and ; inspiring a vision makes it

clear to, so that employees know what they are working toward.s; and the ability to let others

assume ownership.  

Similarly, many of theour leaders demonstrated their willingness to challenge the process

in order toto achieve results. For example, Brian Light, CIO of Staples, is willing to challenge

the process and wants to make Staples a leader in an increasingly paperless world. This is ; a

clear deviation from the historic view of Staples as a leading the supplier of paper, printers and

other key supplies for a paper-based world.  Similarly, Dr. Robert Brown of Boston University

has been willing to challenges the process in the way that financial aid is distributed,

encouraging students who may have otherwise may not have been unable to afford an education

at Boston University. All  We have all been fortunate to see great leaders first-hand of our -

leaders who share many of the qualities attributes that Kouzes and Posner have found to be

critical for exemplary leaders.

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 Based on the common leadership qualities identified, it should come as no surprise that

all the leaders are regarded as Level 5 Leaders assince this type of leadership involves a

combination of many of the previously definedmentioned qualities. (Collins, 2005). According

to Jim Collins article, Level 5 Leadership, Level 5 Leaders are the most important factor in

transforming a company from good to great (Collins 2005). LThus, level 5 leaders recognize

when the status quo is not working and seek to challenge the process by changing the business

model. Some examples of this are, entering a new industry or shedding an unprofitable division.

However, before a leader can challenge the process they he/she mustneeds to have a vision of

where the company is heading headed in order to understand what changes need to be made. All

the senior leaders described in this paper have been instrumental in transforming their respective

organizations. One of the two main attributes of a Level 5 leader is professional will which

parallels motivation from the CIEME model. Transforming a company is no easy task, but rather

requires a strong drive to overcome obstacles and setbacks along the way. Humility, the other

main attribute of Level 5 leadership, corresponds with self-awareness and self-regulation.

Successful leaders are aware of their own mistakes and prefer to look in the mirror, rather than

out the window whento assigning blame for poor results. They also maintain a calm demeanor at

all times, especially during instability which typically accompanies change. Lastly, Level 5

Leaders empower employees in order to develop the next generation of leaders at the

organization.

Despite sharing leadership qualities, similar executive leaders may not always be as

equally effective if they switched organizations. This is evident in the case of Dr. Robert Brown

and Ellen Zane (see Exhibit 1) as demonstrated in Exhibit1. In his article, What Makes a

Leader, Daniel Goleman describes social skills as friendliness with a purpose in order to

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move people in the direction that you desire. While Dr. Brown and EllEllen Zane and Dr.

Robert Brownen both possess social skills on some level, Ellen ZaneEllen possesses this quality

to a much greater extent. Ellen Zane has a business degree and is known for her charismatic, no-

nonsense leadership style. Tufts Medical Center’s success largely depends on the relationships

that are established with outside entities such as insurance companies and philanthropic sources.

Part of her role is to serve as the hospital’s ambassador to these organizations in order to gain

financial support. She must engage in negotiations and demonstrate that her hospital produces

the highest quality of care possible. Ellen Zane is an accomplished persuader with exceptional

social skills. Conversely,With a degree in engineering, Dr. Robert Brown is known for leading

from behind the scenes. He is not a dynamic speaker and is not known for having an outgoing

personality. HeConversely, Ellen has a business degree and is known for her charismatic, no-

nonsense leadership style. Tufts Medical Center’s success largely depends on the relationships

that are established with outside entities such as insurance companies and philanthropic sources.

Part of Ellen’s role is to serve as the hospital’s ambassador to these organizations in order to gain

financial support. She must engage in negotiations and demonstrate that her hospital produces

the highest quality of care possible. Ellen is an accomplished persuader with exceptional social

skills. Dr. Brown strives to “move people in his direction,” as Goleman describes, by challenging

processes.  Financial contributions to Boston University are driven by the quality of academic

research and caliber of students. Dr. Robert Brown promotes these features by setting goals and

encouraging change that will elevate the university to one of the greatest research institutions in

the country. Due to the differences in their approaches, Dr. Robert Brown and Ellen Zane would

not be as effective if they switched organizations.

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 Some leaders may flourish in smaller organizations, while others may flourish inat larger

organizations. Dan St. Onge, while effective at Eagle, which is relatively small, lacks the ability

to enable his employees and would therefore struggle in a larger company like Lonza, led by

Stefan Borgus (See Exhibit 2). As alludedalluded to, As seen inthrough the analysis of the

individual leaders, leaders of larger organizations must have the ability to enable others to act in

order to manage efficiently and effectively. Stefan Borgas understands this and has transformed

Lonza into a nimble organization by empowering others. Ellen Zane, Dr. Robert Brown, Frank

Ollington and Brian Light have all excelled at enabling their employees, and their organizations

have thrived fromas employees takinge ownership of their work and involvement.

Just as an organization’s size can affectaffects the leadership style of leadership required

for successneeded, the position of the leader also mattersis important also. For example, Dan St.

Onge, as Chief Operating Officer, does not possess the same skills as those of a visionary like

Stefan Borgas, CEO at Lonza (see Exhibit 2). Leading a large pharmaceutical company like

Lonza,Lonza requires creative thinkinga vision. The biotech industry is constantly evolving and

its leaders must be able to envision the future and think outside the box in order to stay ahead of

the competitioncurve. Stefan clearly fits the visionary moldthis mold as a leader, as demonstrated

by histhe Leadership Compass analysis. When he came to Lonza in 2004, he He hasd a vision of

how ofto transforming Lonzathe company into a market leader,ing supplier to the

pharmaceutical, healthcare and life science industries which which involvesed several strategic

acquisitions and heavy investment in research and development. Stefan shares his vision with all

Lonza employees in a manner that inspires everyone and enables them to make decisions that are

consistent with his vision. Dan St. Onge would not be successful as the CEO of Lonza. since Hhe

is not a visionary like Stefan Borgusin the same manner as Stefan and . As the Chief Operating

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Officer, Dan his leadership style is defined falls to the west location onf the leadership compass

assince he is extremely analytical. Dan St. OngeHe is able to recognize great ideas, but he is not

the one who conceives the actual vision. Instead, he acts in a supporting role by providing

planning and resources to execute the vision. While Dan is Although a great an outstanding

leader in his role at Eagle, Dan St. Onge but would not be as successful in Stefan Borgas’ role

since he is not a visionary and struggles to enable others to act.

Some leaders possess qualities that would transfer successfully to other organizations or

positions. For instance, both Frank Ollington of Genzyme and Brian Light of Staples have

qualities that are compatible in both their organizations (sSee Exhibit 3).. Both leadersBoth

leaders can inspire a vision that employees can follow. Additionally, both leaders have an open-

door policy and employees feel welcome to seek mentoring or to openly discuss issues that are

present in current work situations. Frank Ollington and Brian Light show qualities of integrity

and self-regulation. TheyBoth leaders have expressed, in words and actions, their vision for

employees to feel enabled to take on challenges and responsibility. Overall, both leaders have

many similar leadership qualities that would allow them to transfer to each others organizations

successfully.

All of the leaders analyzed in this paper demonstrated that they are Level 5 leaders and

possess several other common leadership qualities in regards to emotional intelligence,

leadership approach and the five pillars of exemplary leadership. Most of the qualities examined

can be transferred to any company regardless of industry or size; however, a lack of certain

qualities such as social skills or enabling others would prevent a leader from achieving success at

a different organization. It’s not surprising that the leaders analyzed share so many common

qualities, because as explained by the article, The Practices and Commitments of Exemplary

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Leadership, “They’ve (the qualities) stood the test of time, and they’re available to anyone,

in any organization or situation, who accepts the leadership challenge.” (Kouzes and Posner,

1995: 179).

Works Cited

1. Anderson, M. (2009). Kimberly-Clark Andean: Creating a Winning Culture. Stanford

Graduate School of Business. Case: OB-72

2. Helm, Andreas. Lonza Graduates 14 November 2010

http://www.lonza.com/group/en/company/c1/people_portraits/graduates.html
3. Goleman, D. (2004). What Makes a Leader. Harvard Business School Publishing.

4. Kouzes, J. & Posner B (1995). The Practices and Commitments of Exemplary Leadership.
Jossey-Bass

5. Collins, J. (2005). Level 5 Leadership. Harvard Business School Publishing.

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Legend:

Represents an
interchangeable attribute between
the leaders being compared

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 Works Cited

1. Anderson, M. (2009). Kimberly-Clark Andean: Creating a Winning Culture. Stanford

Graduate School of Business. Case: OB-72

2. Helm, Andreas. Lonza Graduates 14 November 2010

http://www.lonza.com/group/en/company/c1/people_portraits/graduates.html
3. Goleman, D. (2004). What Makes a Leader. Harvard Business School Publishing.

4. The Leadership Compass, Exploring Your Approach to Leadership. City Year Academy

5. Kouzes, J. & Posner B (1995). The Practices and Commitments of Exemplary Leadership.
Jossey-Bass

6. Collins, J. (2005). Level 5 Leadership. Harvard Business School Publishing.

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