360 Summit

Hi, it's Tom Guarriello. Last night I was fortunate enough to be involved in an event that I wanted to talk about today. It was the 360 Summit, which was an event at the New York Stock Exchange sponsored by the WF360 organization, Susan Bird's organization. And I was invited by François Gossault to be one of 20 bloggers who attended the event and were asked to report our experiences of what happened at the event. It was a very interesting event. There were 200 C-level executives who attended the event, and so there's an awful lot to say, but the thing that I wanted to focus on was the issue of conversation and the importance of conversation in leadership. You know, we've gone through a period in which leaders were expected to know all the answers to a period in which leaders are seen as able— as being people who are able to engage their organizations, their entire systems, in meaningful conversations. Last night we heard from some very impressive leaders. The award winner last night— there is an award, the 360 Leadership Award, which is given every year. This was the 4th year of the 8 events that have been held. This is the 4th year that an award has been given out, and this year the award was given to Anne Lauvergeon, who is the chief executive officer of AREVA. And AREVA is the largest purveyor of nuclear power in the world, headquartered in France. And unfortunately, Miss Lauvergeon was unable to attend. She was in Brazil, called away on business. But there was a a short clip from a 60 Minutes presentation, a 60 Minutes segment that focused on Anne and her company. And there was also a presentation by an executive in her company who focused on the way in which Anne leads, and that is leading through conversations, getting people involved in conversations about important matters. Now, the more leaders are able to engage their system, their entire organization, in some form of conversation about the things that are important to the business, the more they will be able to appreciate the sentiments, the ideas, gather the ideas of the organization and become, uh, informed in the way their companies think about the issues that are critical to the business. And I think that women leaders are— I won't say uniquely qualified, but have an advantage in being able to engage in the kind of conversations that are so important in today's leadership toolkit. Remember, when leadership was seen as a heroic enterprise engaged in by strong, powerful people who were able to devise and to execute a singular vision of the future, that kind of divine right of kings, if you will, and even queens who emulated kings, the idea that that style of leadership, uh, did not— not only did not encourage conversation, it did not, uh, permit conversation. But today's leadership, the leadership that says, I, I lead, and I lead through looking at the entire range of situations and challenges that face us and that I can only see so much of that and that you, the rest of the organization, have a privileged position to see much of that landscape. That style of leadership, I think, is a style of leadership that women have an advantage of being able to understand and receive perspectives that are different from their own. And can integrate those perspectives in an effective way. So while there were many, many interesting highlights of last night's event, the takeaway for me is that once again, being able to lead great conversations is one of the things that distinguish successful leaders today, and that women are very well qualified in that aspect of leadership as well as many, many others, of course. But that aspect of leadership strikes me as one in which leaders— women leaders can lead the way in showing how to be able to have these kind of conversations that matter within organizations. So thanks very much, and thanks to everyone who was involved in last night's event. Particularly François for inviting me and Susan for once again putting together a great night. Take care and see you again soon. Bye-bye.