Surfing the Leadership Wave

Surfing the Leadership Wave

Surfing the Leadership Wave

By

Peter R. Ramsaroop, MBA

UNEDITED VERSION Contents

Acknowledgement

Preface

Chapter 1: The Art of Surfing - getting to the beach (setting a solid foundation) paddling out to the waves (endurance); jumping to your feet (timing); don’t let the wave make your choices for you (setting priorities); angling (directing your path); judging the waves (adaptive capacity); in the freedom zone (never fail, but don’t hold on) Where are you on the leadership wave?

Chapter 2;Choosing your Beach and Going Surfing - TheOcean is a wilderness, thriving on chaos, are you really ready for the 10foot waves of Malibu. Chaos, ambiguity and change: these are the difficult conditions in which true leaders thrive.

Chapter 3: Wiping Out–And Getting Back on the Wave– Don’t lose your head, losing focus, poor communication, fear, the loss of ethics, the lost spark, expect the unexpected and yes the bold new stroke.

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Chapter 4: The Terrorist Wave – are we prepared? George W. Bush, suddenly the leader; Robert Mueller, the man who saw no evil. Rudolph Giuliani, the blood, sweat and tears of a New Yorker. We all have to be able to prepare for this 10 foot wave. Israel, how do they keep surfing?

Chapter 5: The Technology Wave -Amazon endurance, the Apple of Steve Jobs eye, and David Pottruck goes digital,

Chapter 6: The Political Wave - Reagan Years – a great surfer; Al Gore – wipeout,

Chapter 7: The Business Wave -Oprah, still surfing every day, ,Jamie Dimon, Straight-Shooter.Enron/Worldcom – Rough WatersAnderson Consulting – 85 years

Chapter 8: The Global Economy Wave –European Union just got to the beach, China – are they learning to really surf?Soviet Unioncannot surf again, Cuba – surfing or floating; Argentina – are they alive?

Chapter 9: Leadership by Choice – Do I have the Courage? How Do I surf?

Chapter 10: Sources

Acknowledgements

I owe sincere gratitude to many individuals that have assisted me with writing this book. Dr. (Lt. Colonel, USAF) Detlev Smaltz, who helped me shape my ideas during the early stages of the book and contributed to the preface. My researcher, Yaacov Shulman who took my ideas, material and assisted me in the structure, research and editing of this book. I thank my company, EVOLVENT Technologies Inc., ( who funded the publishing of this book.

My many years in the United States Military have allowed me to work with many great leaders. Serving in Europe and then in the Persian Gulf War of1990/91, made me realize how important leadership was in executing the mission. Some individuals that I have worked with in the past come to mind, that I believe to be leaders and played a role in my career. Early in my career, I met Jack Simpson, we were both Captain at the time and realized that between the two of us, we could take our areas of responsibilities to a much higher level.His creativity, determination and early mentoring were a great inspiration to me. I credit him for teaching me entrepreneurship. General Chip Roadman, M.D. who vigorously encouraged (commanded)me to read and practice leadership principles at a very junior rank, preparing us for success as leaders. To Brigadier General Klaus Schafer, who I consider a great friend for his confidence in me during my military career in WashingtonD.C. A Captain, by the name of Robert (Bob) Hardie who has thought me, that leadership is earned. To my partner, Roger Stull, whose dedication to the leadership principles has allowed our company to far exceed expectations. Finally, to the former President of Guyana, the late Honorable Hugh D. Hoyte, who in the Guyana S.A 2001 National Elections, selected me to be a parliamentary candidate and more importantly, allowed me throughout the campaign to address the population, sometimes to crowds of over 90,000 at one gathering, on leadership principles for economic and social reform needed to reshape the failing infrastructure of my birth country. Finally a famous author, Dr. Marion Ball, who coached and mentored me in my first publishing effort “Advancing Federal Sector Healthcare – Model for Technology Transfer”, Springer-Verlag 2001.

A special tribute to my, my children, Dawn, Shawn, John II, my granddaughter, Alayah, my dearest Mom, Ena, and to my late father, Dr. John Ramsaroop I, who was by far my greatest inspiration.

Preface

This book is about leadership and for a wide and diverse audience. It will describe practical examples of the leadership wave and those who survive to surf another day. Many of us rode the dotcom wave, riding high, enjoying the surf, but didn’t see the thunderstorms coming. Anderson Consulting surfers were engulfed by a giant wave nicknamed “Enron”. AOL created the “Safe Surfin” to ensure parents teach their kids the dangers of the Internet. George Bush Senior was riding high in the polls a few months prior to the 1992 elections and loss. Al Gore realized that he could not surf again in 2004 after his 2000 wipeout. How do you assess your ability to surf the leadership wave as it relates to Business, Personal, Political, Technology and the Global Economy?

Without a doubt, one of the most important attributes of leaders from Sun Tzu to George Patton to Jack Welch is their keen ability to be in tune with their strategic environments. Management and leadership theories have come and gone like fads. Often these theories attempt to treat organizational symptoms rather than actual causes of dysfunction and ineffectiveness. Recently the unlikely field of life sciences and the work of Stuart Kauffman of the Sante Fe institute have shed new light on how organizations and leaders can be more effective by, in essence, becoming complex adaptive systems (CAS). Since Stuart Kauffman’s ground-breaking book, At Home in the Universe, the field of complexity and chaos have been useful lenses with which to look at any highly turbulent dynamic environments, to include the highly turbulent dynamic environments that business leaders find themselves in today. Effective leaders of tomorrow must ensure that organizations that they lead have enough slack resources to encourage experimentation as the foundation for innovation and ensure that they survive to ride the leadership wave another day.

In today’s dynamic environment, leaders that seek to bring their organizations into a state of relative calm and stability are setting themselves up for failure. While there certainly are some industries where equilibrium may be achievable (monopolies, oligopolies), they are the exception rather than the rule. Rather than seek out equilibrium, today’s leaders must constantly seek new organizational structures and processes even when their current structures and processes seem to be working just fine. In fact, to an effective leader, a situation where everything seems to be humming along just fine is a signal to start to look for new ways of getting the job done.

I have isolated seven leadership principles that work effectively for the experienced surfer and preparing us to be able to understand our environment, being prepared and foremost enjoying what we do.

On the Beach: Setting a Solid Foundation practice leadership, share your vision with subordinates, encourage dissent, build trust, plan, encourage risk, develop credibility, build relationships, build enthusiasm, show passion, motivate others, build momentum, create a vision, communicate, take care of people, motivate, compromise, communicate, delegation, build a team
be visible, align goals on all levels, counsel, reward, build coalitions

Paddling Out to the Waves: Endurance ego strength, integrity, optimism, energy, practical, sense of humor, open mindedcompletion factor, willingness to take responsibility, character and moral principles, courage, endurance, hard work, law of magnetism: who you are is whom you attract
law of the inner circle, motivated
Jumping to Your Feet: Timing is Everything sense of urgency, manage time, prioritize, initiative--not rushing, swift action
Don't Let the Wave Make the Choices for You: Setting Priorities law of priorities, have goals

Angling: Directing Your Path always keep learning, leadership lid, law of influence, law of buy-in, chart the course, plan, mental toughness, keep one's own counsel, people listen, don't tolerate, incompetence, manage risks, conviction, control, reward, waging war, ambition, be in charge, no tolerance of lack of morale, discipline, don't tolerate others with ambitions, expect continual improvement, law of E.F. Hutton
Judging the Waves: Adaptive Capacity be aware of your environment, unconventional solutions, flexible, respond to new challenges, innovate, mastering deep change, be a first-class noticer, tune in to the environment, vision–maintain a dream, thrill of challenge, constructive spirit of discontent, systemic thinking, direction, knowledge, awareness of the environment
In the Freedom Zone: Never Fail, but Don't Hold On

In presenting the analogy of surfing, I know how difficult it is to stay on the surfboard and be able to ride wave after wave, and most importantly being able to surf another day. Leadership requires constant attention to the environment, the politics, the human capital, and the vision.

Through out the book, I have focused on known individuals who either were or were not great leadership surfers. The book also is not intended to give "correct answers" but to demonstrate mature thinking in shaping one’s ability to ride the leadership wave to success.

About the Author:

Peter Ramsaroop is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of EVOLVENT Technologies Inc., ( a Falls Church, Virginia based Technology Company. He has served in the US Military including leadership roles in the Desert Storm Gulf War and now a retired military officer. He is also an active politician in Guyana, South America (birth country) with a goal of bridging the racial divide that stagnates the economy. ( Mr. Ramsaroop is the Senior Editor of the first federal sector healthcare book “Advancing Federal Sector Healthcare, Springer-Verlag 2001” with forewords by Senator Inouye and Secretary Principi.

Chapter 1: The Art of Surfing

I.The Art of Surfing

You can see the surfer prone on the surfboard, paddling madly toward shore as the hump of an incipient wave rises up behind him. As the wave lifts the surfer up and is about to swing him down into its declivity, he leaps up to his feet in an instant. Now he is surrounded by roiling foam. But the surfboard swings down and to the side, and as the wave curves over and its long humped line starts to foam, the surfer races before the wave, inches from the foam at his side, barely outpacing the crash of the wave. He is one small figure on a huge, elemental force of nature crashing toward the shore. Yet at this moment he is in sync with that powerful, overwhelming, awesome force. Racing before the wave, he even seems for that moment to be the master of the sea. That moment of power, of energy, of bravura performance is the essence of the sport–the art–of surfing.

And there are such heady moments in the career of every leader: whether political, economic, technological or business. The many hours of management, organization and planning coalesce at the moment that leaders and their organization come up onto the wave.

Case in point: an executive's company is making all the right moves: instinctual decisions, lightning fast pacing of trends and the company's success reaches phenomenal levels.

Case in point: an office-holder moves together with the mood of the public; and is swept into higher office and there puts their policies into effect smoothly, with intuitive brilliance, and the approbation of the public flows along with them.

Case in point: a woman becomes the CEO of a failing business. Within a few years, she has turned the business around. She is in control of a huge conglomerate and has executed the correct moves to keep it productive, profitable, ever-growing and forward-thinking.

All of these leaders are riding the wave.

But then there are the failures as well. Just as surfers can rise too soon and watch the wave pass before them as they float dead in the water, some leaders rise to their moment too soon, and watch as exactly nothing happens. Or a surfer can pop up a moment too late, and find a brutal wave, the one that they were going to ride victoriously, crashing down upon them without mercy. Or as the surfer may find him or herself shooting straight to the shore, for a mere brief moment upon the wave. Or they may ride the wave and then, because of the wave's turbulence or their own misstep, lose their balance, wipe out and remain bobbing in the water as the wave rides before them, without them. Similarly, leaders can flub the moment of the wave, rising too late to the occasion, not riding the wave correctly and so quickly ending their exhilarating moment of success, or suddenly being overturned by the powerful forces that they are attempting to ride.

What can the sport of surfing tell us about why leaders either ride the wave or are thrown by the wave? What can we learn from surfing that will give us insight into the dynamics of leaders in all fields: industry, war, economics, technology, and politics?

There are many aspects of leadership that have been discussed by previous authors. For the purpose of this book, I have isolated seven key leadership aspects that I believe in and correlated them to the art of surfing:

(1) on the beach (setting a solid foundation);

(2) paddling out to the waves (endurance);

(3) jumping to your feet (timing);

(4) don't let the wave make your choices for you (setting priorities);

(5) angling (directing your path);

(6) judging the waves (adaptive capacity);

(7) in the freedom zone: never fail, but don't hold on.

Let us take a look at two brothers, Dick and Maurice, who opened a restaurant and parleyed it into one of the most successful restaurant enterprises in the country. They were successful–but to a point. When a man named Ray Kroc approached them with a vision of franchising their restaurant business across the country, they didn't share his vision. In fact, they sold him the exclusive rights to their restaurant in 1961 for $2.7 million dollars. The name of the restaurant was McDonald's. The vision of these two brothers, the extent to which they were prepared to be leaders, was limited. And so they got off the surfboard long before they had ridden to the end of the wave. They failed in "paddling out to the waves," for they lacked endurance. They failed in "jumping to your feet," because when the magic moment came, they did not even recognize it. They failed in being "on the beach," for they never established their vision.

Or there was the case of Shakespeare's Coriolanus, a man with strong military skills and moral integrity, who failed, nevertheless, because he could not be a leader of men, a leader sensitive to the desires and needs of his followers. He failed at being "on the beach," for he never established rapport with his followers.

Here is a brief description of the seven aspects of surfing and leadership that I believe will help you become a better leader in whatever field you are in:

One.On the Beach: Setting a Solid Foundation.

A surfer first chooses the conditions that will allow him/her to reach a peak experience.

(a)They look for the type of beach that will produce the large, smooth waves that can produce the most successful ride. A leader knows that before taking any steps forward, they must have already prepared the ground by bringing key members of the organization to their way of thinking, and must have planned their steps in detail.

(b)Once the surfer has chosen a stretch of beach, they must examine it for hidden dangers, such as dangerous currents. The surfer must be aware of rip tides and other anomalies that can unexpectedly appear. The leader must also choose the safest environment and, even there; maintain a constant awareness of sudden, often unexpected and unseen dangers.

(c)The surfer chooses a surfboard, with the knowledge that different surfboards have different characteristics, strengths and weaknesses. Leadership also demands that a person honestly assess their own strengths and weaknesses and choose that style that best exemplifies their abilities. “If you want to know why people are not performing well, step up to the mirror and take a peak” – Ken Blanchard.

(d)The wetsuit is what keeps the surfer warm. A leader must create emotional warmth in his followers. It is not enough to lead with commands or by persuading the mind. One must also persuade the heart.

Two.Paddling Out to the Waves: Endurance.

(a)The most grueling aspect of surfing is paddling. It is difficult, unpleasant, and frustrating–but it gets the surfer to the waves. A leader too may find that the majority of their time is spent not on the thrill of success but on the endurance and strength required for constant of purpose and unremitting effort.