Leadership matters

Yesterday, I was fortunate to be invited to the corporate offices of Works Computing Inc. for a roundtable discussion with Mark Hurd, HP Chairman & CEO. Mark has been with HP since early 2005 and since then has strategically focused on establishing HP as a world leader in technology.The conversation included leaders from finance, higher education and small business.

Mark graciously outlined his strategy for moving HP to a top performer. What was clear was that “leadership matters.” Our administrative team will tell you that I often use that statement with them and Mark Hurd exemplifies that with high quality leadership; high performance follows.

I learned about the number of applications HP once had and how in order to reduce that number Mark assigned process owners who looked at all aspects of an application from bottom to top focusing on efficiency. Accountability by process owners, while not stated by Mark, was implied and that accountability must have been intense and consequently resulted in a much more efficient system and reduced applications.

As North Branch Area Public Schools begins its second year of implementing its strategic plan with me leading that effort, the conversation I was a part of yesterday, affirmed my belief that leadership matters…that accountability with directly assigned leadership is essential for results.

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