DuPont CEO Ellen Kullman's Four Principles for Moving Ahead during Turbulent Times
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=2273
Here are the four principles without all the detail in the article:
The first principle: Focus on what you can control. Kullman realized she needed to shift the company's attention from what was going wrong to the immediate action required to protect DuPont's financial position as revenues fell dramatically. "Last October, I saw a lot of people who looked scared and didn't know what to do," she said. So, she directed DuPont's management to "figure out those ... things we can do something about, and get about doing them."
The second of her leadership principles for the crisis has been to "adopt a new trajectory by rethinking your business model." For DuPont, that meant "getting people to think differently" about a business model that had always measured success based on plant capacity and capital investment: "We invent, we build, we make, we sell," Kullman said. The change has involved developing service-based models providing new ways to engage with customers and monetize products. Although it is difficult to get people who are very successful to embrace change, she has found that they are willing to try new models when markets are in disarray and when there's uncertainty about what will work in the future.
Kullman's third crisis leadership principle: Communication is key. "I'm a firm believer that there is a direct correlation between growth and the success of our communication. When we have an aligned team that understands" very clearly what the goals and the tradeoffs are, "that's when things can absolutely happen," Kullman said.
"The first step is really getting their attention, and that's a very hard thing to do with all the noise" in the world today, she said. But getting through to employees is vital because their natural tendency is to "hunker down," hoping the crisis will pass and "everything will go back to normal."
The last of her four crisis leadership principles is to maintain pride around the company's mission. "There's nothing like a bad economy to get people confused about what their mission is. They start thinking their mission is to reduce cost. That's a tactic, that's not our mission,' Kullman said.
During informal weekly meetings with employees, Kullman said she was amazed that the "number one question was about whether we are going to stick with our mission." She quickly realized that "people are scared [and] people want direction." Making sure that people understand the mission -- and linking their daily activities to the company's broader purpose -- is essential to reducing fear, maintaining morale and keeping employees motivated, Kullman said.
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=2273
Here are the four principles without all the detail in the article:
The first principle: Focus on what you can control. Kullman realized she needed to shift the company's attention from what was going wrong to the immediate action required to protect DuPont's financial position as revenues fell dramatically. "Last October, I saw a lot of people who looked scared and didn't know what to do," she said. So, she directed DuPont's management to "figure out those ... things we can do something about, and get about doing them."
The second of her leadership principles for the crisis has been to "adopt a new trajectory by rethinking your business model." For DuPont, that meant "getting people to think differently" about a business model that had always measured success based on plant capacity and capital investment: "We invent, we build, we make, we sell," Kullman said. The change has involved developing service-based models providing new ways to engage with customers and monetize products. Although it is difficult to get people who are very successful to embrace change, she has found that they are willing to try new models when markets are in disarray and when there's uncertainty about what will work in the future.
Kullman's third crisis leadership principle: Communication is key. "I'm a firm believer that there is a direct correlation between growth and the success of our communication. When we have an aligned team that understands" very clearly what the goals and the tradeoffs are, "that's when things can absolutely happen," Kullman said.
"The first step is really getting their attention, and that's a very hard thing to do with all the noise" in the world today, she said. But getting through to employees is vital because their natural tendency is to "hunker down," hoping the crisis will pass and "everything will go back to normal."
The last of her four crisis leadership principles is to maintain pride around the company's mission. "There's nothing like a bad economy to get people confused about what their mission is. They start thinking their mission is to reduce cost. That's a tactic, that's not our mission,' Kullman said.
During informal weekly meetings with employees, Kullman said she was amazed that the "number one question was about whether we are going to stick with our mission." She quickly realized that "people are scared [and] people want direction." Making sure that people understand the mission -- and linking their daily activities to the company's broader purpose -- is essential to reducing fear, maintaining morale and keeping employees motivated, Kullman said.
