General, author says old leadership must evolve or else

Feb 28, 2010 — The Arizona Daily Star

Dale Quinn

Feb. 28, 2010 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- Retired Gen. Tony Zinni sees a crisis in leadership. From the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and a botched response to Hurricane Katrina to a collapsing housing market and auto-industry bailouts, Zinni presents a case of widespread leadership failures in both the public and private sectors.

In his book "Leading the Charge: Leadership Lessons from the Battlefield to the Boardroom," Zinni examines these trends and crises. He examines characteristics of effective leaders from military, political and business perspectives and discusses the new challenges they face.

Zinni was commander in chief of U.S. Central Command and was a special envoy to the Middle East. He is the board chairman for BAE Systems Inc., an international defense, security and aerospace company.

Zinni will speak at the University of Arizona March 14 at the Tucson Festival of Books, in a talk to be broadcast by C-SPAN.

He shared some thoughts on the state of leadership during a telephone interview from his home in Williamsburg, Va.

On what prompted him to write the book and what he wanted to achieve in writing it:

While discussing a previous book he had written, Zinni said he repeatedly came across people who made comments or asked questions about an overarching collapse in leadership.

"There is really a sense that all our leaders in every aspect of society are failing us," Zinni said.

In writing the book, he said he tried to focus on leaders who have been successful and what they do differently from those who have struggled. Zinni mentioned Gen. David Patraeus, who oversaw coalition forces in Iraq, and Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin brand, as examples of effective leaders.

When the crisis in leadership emerged:

"I use the trigger point as the collapse of the Soviet Union, because it unleashed all these other things," Zinni said. Since then, he said, political and business leaders haven't adapted to a rapidly changing environment.

Today's leaders are dealing with tremendous diversity in their work force and rapidly changing technology, he said. Younger generations have a different approach to the world.

Essentially, Zinni said, leadership techniques that worked in the past just aren't effective any more.

Leaders now must have a broader base of knowledge and an ability to work with rapidly changing technology, Zinni said. They must get out in front of a crisis and communicate clearly with their employees and the public.

How lessons in the battlefield can translate to the business world:

"I don't care what field you're in, if you're in it long enough you're going to face a crisis," Zinni said.

Leaders in the military and business worlds tend to make the same mistakes, the main one being denial that a crisis has emerged, he said.

Denying that a problem has come up doesn't make it go away, and it tends to get worse with age. Also, Zinni said, during a crisis leaders have a tendency to shift blame or start feeling sorry for themselves. "You've got to be the leader, you've got to take responsibility," he said.

Does effective leadership vary from large global organizations to small businesses?

The primary characteristics of effective leadership hold true regardless of an organization's size, Zinni said. Even small businesses are having to deal with global forces, he said. A family-run business is having to deal with international suppliers and new technologies that it didn't have to deal with in the past.

"Even small businesses are affected in much of these ways -- thinking more strategically from a broader perspective," Zinni said.

On hope for the future:

"I still think the majority of leaders are struggling," Zinni said. When President Obama came into power, Zinni said, there was hope he might usher in a new era of effective leadership. But so far there haven't been many signals that is happening, Zinni said.

And with millions of Toyota vehicles being recalled for quality issues, Zinni said a company that appeared to have effective leadership has fallen from grace. That's not a good sign for leadership in the future, he said.

"I think they fell into what everybody else is doing," Zinni said.

Contact reporter Dale Quinn at 573-4197 or dquinn@azstarnet.com

Newstex ID: KRTB-0014-42426220