Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/58061
Great leaders understand that time is an investment, not an expense. "If you weren't already in a business, would you enter it today?" I think it's easy to just stay in the business you've always been in. But if you want to be in a high-performing company, you've got to make sure it's a good business. That changes all the time—and it changes even more dramatically in technology than in more stable sectors. If you want your company to grow, you also need to have talented and engaged employees who can delight customers. It's important to make sure employees stay engaged. We're quite pleased because our engagement as a company is at an all-time high. How do you measure something like that? We work with a consulting firm to survey our employees annually, asking them how it feels to be an employee of Intuit. The 50 questions boil down to about five that have been statistically proven to align with what we call employee engagement, which really is a surrogate for morale. We take it very seriously. The search for the right employees is something else you take seriously. At a presentation at Harvard Business School a few years ago, you noted that one of your top concerns for the future is attracting and developing key talent. What are you looking for in the people you hire? If we're hiring MBAs, we look for experience and track record. In addition, we look for graduates who meet our leadership model, which has five complements. The first is business acumen; the second is the ability to execute effec- tively. The third is the ability to build strong teams. Because we think leadership is about overcoming organizational inertia, the fourth centers around having the courage to lead change. The fifth is the ability to act as a role model of our operating values. In addition, what I look for personally is an understand- ing of the person's mindset. An assessment of the leadership profile will tell me about their skills, but I spend most of my time trying to learn how they handle challenge, how they overcome adversity, how they think. I think mindset is ultimately the single most important determinant of somebody's success. You've mentioned leadership a number of times, and leadership is a critical topic at business schools. What do you believe are the essential skills and characteristics of a top leader? I think there are three. The first is having the courage to 24 BizEd MAY/JUNE 2007 use judgment. Business rules never substitute for judg- ment, and business decisions are almost never black and white. Ninety-five percent of business decisions require qualitative assessment. The second is prioritizing how you spend your time. Great leaders understand that time is an investment, not an expense. Combining their skills with the proper allocation of their time, on the right priorities, is critical for leader- ship success. The third is building strong teams. A leader should have high standards for hiring employees—then the leader should grow their talent by teaching them how to fish, not by feeding them. As a member of the dean's advisory board at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, you get a chance to offer your input about management education. What advice would you give to business schools in general to help them create graduates who are truly prepared to go into business today? Graduates need to understand that an important part of leadership is learning. To turn out great learners and leaders, schools must help students be comfortable being vulnerable to what they don't know. Graduates also need to learn that, when they work with teams and employees, they need a shared vision of what suc- cess looks like. It's important to put this vision in writing—it often gets convoluted if it's only expressed orally. It's also important to facilitate constructive debate with your team about what success means. Business schools should create scenarios where students assess and diagnose internal and external environments, develop plans to achieve desired future outcomes, execute those plans effectively, and then assess and diagnose whether those outcomes are being achieved. What additional piece of advice would you give to business students right now as they're preparing to graduate and enter the working world? It goes back to what I said earlier. A person adds value to a company by being a content expert or a facilitative leader. I would tell students to be clear on how they add value on both of those fronts. Even more important, I would say, "Have a passion for your job, or you won't excel." The world is very competi- tive, so figure out what your passion is. If you want to have a great career, align it with your passion and then figure out how you can add value. ■ z