Collaborative Leadership

Emerging Leaders Programme for Times of India Group

20-23 November 2008

Prof. Roger Lehman

INSEAD
Fontainebleau and Singapore

The Apple iPod story

Source: Morten Hansen, INSEAD

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 iPod a combination of existing pieces

Apple as Masterful Collaborator

External Internal
• 1.8 inch drive (Toshiba) • Architecture
• Hardware blueprint (PortalPlayer) • Hardware engineering
• MP3 decoder controller (PortalPlayer) • Display
• Codec (Wolfson • Design
• Lithium battery (Sony) • User interface
• Power management (Linear Technology) • Scroll wheel
• Basic software (Pixo)
• iTune software (Soundjam)
• Interface controller (Texas instrument)

“This was a highly leveraged product from the technologies we

already had in place”
Rubinstein, head of hardware at Apple

Source: Morten Hansen, INSEAD

iPod had tight collaboration across

three units inside Apple
Rubinstein Steve Jobs

Hardware Software Design

Source: Morten Hansen, INSEAD

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 Fast:
Time to market was 8 months!

iPod iPod
Team Introduced
Launched

March 2001 Nov 2001 Xmas

8 months from concept to introduction

Source: Morten Hansen, INSEAD

Amazing success: iPod/iTunes a

$10bn business in 6 years
Growth of iPods sold … .. has become a $10bn business

Source: Morten Hansen, INSEAD

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 Sony’s Connect Story

Source: Morten Hansen, INSEAD

Sony had all the pieces in-house

- How hard could it be?

Source: Morten Hansen, INSEAD

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 Sony had all the pieces in-house
- How hard could it be?

“We can do this in nine months. We got the

product, hardware, software.”

Executive Philip Wiser telling

Howard Stringer (U.S. head) in 2003

Source: Morten Hansen, INSEAD

Hard!
Rivalry among 5 groups in Sony in
2003

PC Walkman Sony Music Sony Music Sony

Japan Japan Japan US Electronics
US
Own music Own music Own online Own online Own online
player player music music music

Source: Morten Hansen, INSEAD

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 Hard!
Rivalry among 5 groups in Sony in
2003
“It’s impossible to communicate with everybody when
you have that many silos.”
Howard Stringer, Sony CEO

“Sony has long thrived on a hyper-competitive

culture, where engineers were encouraged to outdo
PC each other, not working
Walkman together”
Sony Music Sony Music Sony
Japan Japan Japan US Electronics
US
Own music Own music theonline
Own Wall Street
OwnJournal
online Own online
player player music music music

Source: Morten Hansen, INSEAD

Connect launched 2004, a flop, taken

off, re-launched, terminated 2007
A Long, painful decline in Sony audio

Note: audio sales includes all audio products

Source: Morten Hansen, INSEAD

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The Transformation of Mr. Olympia

7 Time Mr. Olympia Champion

From Terminator

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 • In 2003 Arnold becomes governor
of the world’s 8th largest economy
• “I think the message from the
governor is consistently one of
cooperation and finding common
ground.” (Democrat Assemblyman, Feb 2004)
• June 2004, he meets resistance
re: his budget and declares war and
battles with his “opponents”, … the
democrats who have a majority in
State assembly and are blocking his
$103bn budget
• Positions himself as the “lone hero”
battling the liberals in California
• 2004 - Speech to 5000 at the
Republican convention
I don’t know what the definition of “girlie man” is. As
opposed to his being a “he-man”? I can’t think of a
way to have the he-man and the girlie men join • 2005 - Called for special
hands around the capital and sing “Kumbaya”. election, all 4 of his proposals
soundly defeated

“I was a little worried about whether Arnold thought • Approval rating went from 60%
he was elected God or elected governor.” in Jan 05 to 33% in September

John Burton, California Senate President and Democrat

• What to do???
 come back stronger with more ammunition?
 increase the pressure?

Enter…..

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The Collaborator
Defeated, the governor abruptly apologized and turned
benign, like the reprogrammed hero of “Terminator 2”.
The Economist, November 1, 2007

Arnold’s Actions

 Replaced his Republican chief of staff with a Democrat

 Erected smoking tent in courtyard of state house

 2006 - One of the most productive legislative sessions in decades

 minimum wage
 aggressive law to lower greenhouse gases
 huge bill to improve California’s roads, bridges and school buildings

 December 2007 - approval rating of 57%

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From Terminator to Governator
to Collaborator
“He began as an action hero, attempting to solve the
State’s problems single-handed.”

“When he ran into opposition, he turned nasty….”

“…like the reprogrammed hero of ‘Terminator 2’…

a new political trail , which he calls post-partisanship…
It means rising above…to tackle the problems..”
“It is a splendid notion.”
The Economist, Nov. 2007

What defines a collaborative leader?

3 Behaviors (and their tensions)

Reframe Success as Bigger Goals

(yet find room for own agenda)

Be Inclusive
(yet decisive)

Be Accountable
(yet demand accountability in others)

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 3 Behaviors of Collaborative Leaders

1. Reframe success as …yet preserve your own agenda

“bigger goals”

• shedding desire to push exclusively for your own individual

success and your own agenda above all else
• “It’s the success of the enterprise that counts, and not the
success of the individual”. (Level 5 leadership)
• “We have no room for those who put their personal interests
ahead of the interests of the firm’s and it’s client’s.” Goldman Sachs
• It doesn’t mean sacrificing own agenda but it does mean that
some aspects of your agenda may have take 2nd place when
there is a conflict.

3 Behaviors of Collaborative Leaders

2. Be inclusive and open …yet remain focused and decisive

to others opinion

• be open to other (dissenting) perspectives

• hear the voices that are “silent” and typically not “heard”
• practice “inclusive” vs. “exclusive” approach to decisions
• recognize that inclusive does not mean consensus… usually
there will be some who are not pleased with your decision
• practice “Fair Process” … the decision may not be “fair” but the
process can be
• there is a time to be decisive and a time to take a stand
• “He still retains the capacity, also rare in presidents, of being
able to sympathize with and grasp the motivations of his
rivals.” (New York columnist David Brooks re: Barack Obama)

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 3 Behaviors of Collaborative Leaders

3. Be accountable for your …yet hold the others accountable as well and
demand that also hold themselves
self and your agenda accountable

• hold yourself and all others accountable for the final outcome
• emphasize WE are all accountable for the outcome
• be aware of the “social loafing” phenomenon - people tend to
contribute less in a group setting… they can more easily hide
• “If the company did poorly, it was always someone else’s fault.
Sales blamed product planning, product planning blamed
engineering, engineering blamed finance. Tokyo blamed
Europe and Europe blamed Tokyo.”
(Carlos Ghosn, 2002)

•“I made it clear that every number had to be thoroughly

checked. I did not accept any report that was less than totally
clear and verifiable, and I expected people to personally commit
to every observation or claim they made. (Carlos Ghosn, 2002)

Social Loafing

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 What personal factors block collaborative behaviors?

Personal factors
• Fearful of losing
• Big ego
• Power hungry
• Arrogant
• Distrusting
• Defensive
• Insecure
• Blaming attitude

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 3 Barriers that Block Collaboration

1. Blocking orientation Own goal becomes absorbing; no room to

see the bigger picture, larger goals, or
toward the bigger goal other’s perspectives

• Fear of “losing”; compromise is not an option

• Fear of humiliation - has taken a public stand and feels exposed
• Ego too large - narcissism
• Power - hungry - don’t want to “share” the success

“I never liked team sports because if we won, it wasn’t my win. In

individual sports it is very clear who wins and who loses and why… no
one else to blame or praise… just yourself. The glory of the win. The
agony of the defeat. It’s all yours alone… you don’t have to share it”

3 Barriers that Block Collaboration

2. Blocking inclusiveness Not willing to involve others in exploring

options, solutions and making decision

• Know best - unable or unwilling to learn from others

• Sense of superiority - need to be the only one with ideas
• Arrogance - may be a defense against anxiety, but nevertheless
blocks collaboration
• Distrusting of Others - basic view that people have to earn your
trust. This basic distrust makes inclusive behavior much more
difficult

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 3 Barriers that Block Collaboration

3. Blocking accountability Does not step up and take individual

accountability and responsibility and also
does not hold others mutually accountable

• Blaming others - looking out the window instead of in the mirror

when things go wrong
• Can never be wrong
• Defensive
• Does not firmly hold others accountable

“I have absorbed my defeat and I have learned my lesson.”

Arnold Schwarzenegger, 2006

For Consideration:

1. How Collaborative are you?

- What are the key factors that inhibit your being more
collaborative?

2. Given these data, how do you develop and coach leaders

in your teams to become more collaborative?

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 Co-opetition

Traditionally business has been seen as “war”

 making a killing, capturing market share,
outsmarting the competition, fighting brands,
beating up suppliers and locking up customers
 “It is not enough to succeed. Others must
fail”. Gore Vidal

But, business today talks about working with

suppliers, establishing strategic
partnerships, even with competitors and
listening to customers
 Mutual success vs. mutual destruction
 “You don’t have to blow out the other fellow’s
candle to let your own shine” Bernard Baruch

Co-opetition - A New Mind-Set

Business is cooperation when it comes to

creating the pie and competition when it comes
to dividing it up
 if fighting to the death destroys the pie, there will be
nothing left to capture (e.g. in the 1990 - 93 price war within the US
airline industry more money was lost than had been made since the
Wright Brothers)

 BUT… this doesn’t mean that you ignore your own

self interest - it isn’t very smart to create a pie that you
can’t eat

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