What does it take to lead successfully today? Creating the right environment, building passion, seeking creative solutions, "tasting the drip," and social responsibility are among the keys, according to presenters at the Second Annual Wharton West Leadership Conference: Leading With Creativity and Conviction in San Francisco. "Leadership is more critical now than ever before in an unpredictable and fast-changing world," said Michael Useem, Wharton professor and director of the Center for Leadership and Change Management. Useem was joined by 11 top executives, co-host Wharton Professor Peter Cappelli, and nearly 100 business leaders for the intensive, 1-day program. Among the takeaways from the diverse presentations:

• Foster the right environment, not just individuals, to get high-performance: "Conventional wisdom says that to retain top employees, give them the right salary, benefits, and training, but the reality is that if you build the right environment, they will come…and stay," said Susan Annunzio, Chairman and CEO of the Hudson Highland Center for High Performance.
  
  Several conference speakers and participants repeated this concept of building the right environment. In particular, Vivek Paul, vice chair and president of Wipro Technologies, described how creating the right environment can result in meteoric growth. In 1999, Wipro Technologies set forth an audacious vision for the future: to be among the top 10 global technology service providers by 2004. To turn the vision into reality, between 1999 and 2004 Wipro grew revenues from $40 million to $1.3 billion, employees from 8,000 to 39,000 and clients, from 8 to 386. One of the strategies that Wipro introduced to achieve this remarkable growth was to create an internal, web-based distance learning program, which they called "World Campus," capable of providing courses to 1,000 employees around the world simultaneously. This virtual learning environment helped generate large numbers of highly trained employees that helped Wipro become a top technology service provider.
  
  
• Passion builds conviction and creates competitive advantage: Passionate leaders build conviction and trust within an organization. To illustrate this concept, John Barr, president of the Poetry Foundation and a published poet, spoke about his career as an investment banker. He described the "joy of starting things" from gas and electric clearinghouses to investment boutiques and, now, a newly endowed nonprofit arts organization. "For each venture, said Barr, I felt passionately that each of them should happen, and that gave me confidence that they would happen."
  
  For the executives and employees of Patagonia, Inc., a high-end apparel retailer, there is no lack of passion or conviction for the clothes they sell, the sports they support, or the environments they do them in. Their corporate mission says it all: make the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, and use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis. With just over $250 million a year in sales and no debt, Patagonia has learned to leverage its relatively small size by staying nimble and constantly innovating. "At Patagonia, our passion and goals are in alignment, which gives us a significant competitive advantage," explained Crooke.
  
  
• Seek creative solutions despite organizational constraints: Encouraging creative solutions to problems can be difficult enough without the added barrier of an organization's structure or entrenched culture. The leaders at the San Francisco Symphony and Kaiser Permanente are finding ways to let creativity in despite organizational constraints.
  
  Brent Assink, executive director, and John Goldman, president of the San Francisco Symphony (SFS), said creativity is an expectation in their artistic business, "but the systems, structures, and traditions of the symphony can inhibit individual creativity." To offset their organization's constraints, the SFS, under the dynamic leadership of Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas, has found innovative ways to foster individual creativity. Strategies include singling out musicians to be media stars, creating new channels for dialogue, and encouraging musicians to impress the audience rather then the music director or each other.
  
  Lon O'Neil, Senior Vice President of Human Resources for Kaiser Permanente described the challenges of developing creative, passionate leaders to respond effectively to shifting market pressures throughout the health care industry. O'Neil has advocated for bringing in people from other industries who know about change management, but he's found it difficult for people outside the culture to institute change. Therefore, he is focusing on training leaders inside the culture who can find creative solutions without totally disrupting the organization's hierarchy and traditions.
  
  
• "Tasting the Drip" and the importance of being present: Being present and knowing when (or when not) to seize an opportunity are two key characteristics that leaders must possess in order to function effectively. Belle Halpern, a former cabaret performer and actress, helped conference participants explore their leadership presence through song and storytelling. In one of her stories, called "tasting the drip," an actor reaches out and tastes the water coming from a hard-to-ignore drip in the ceiling without breaking character on stage. The takeaway for business leaders, said Halpern, is to be present, flexible, and most importantly, acknowledge what's really going on.
  
  Ann Livermore, executive vice president of the Technology Solutions Group at Hewlett-Packard underlined the importance of being present and aware when she described the 5 leadership characteristics HP values in its team leaders: a passion for customers, a willingness to collaborate across boundaries, a global mindset with an eye to local action, and the ability to leverage diversity. The final leadership quality most valued at HP is "fast enough," which Livermore defined as the ability to judge when sufficient information exists to make decisions and take action. "It's important for a leader to be able to recognize when they have enough information, and when they don't, and when they have enough but are scared. We look for leaders who know how to balance all three and make good decisions."
  
  
• It's not how you spend it but how you earn it: Whether it's profits or reputation, organizations are recognizing the need to pay attention to both sides of the coin to stay viable. In his presentation on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Aron Cramer, CEO of Business for Social Responsibility, described how CSR is no longer just about where a company puts its profits but also how it earns them. Michael Crooke, President and CEO of Patagonia, Inc., illustrated Cramer's concept of CSR with concrete examples. Patagonia has instituted a number of strategies to minimize the impact their business has on the environment from the materials they use in their products (organic cotton and recycled soda bottles) to the energy they choose to run their corporate offices (wind power).
  
  How an organization earns its money is one component of CSR, but another is certainly how it earns and keeps its reputation. For that, said Nancy Higgins, executive vice president of Ethics and Business Conduct at MCI, you need to institute a values-based code of ethics that empowers employees to make the right decisions at critical junctures. "Compliance programs alone will not help employees resolve situations not in the 'Rule Book'," said Higgins. She shared the nine guiding principles of MCI's values-based ethics program, which include setting the tone at the top, upholding the law, creating a culture of open and honest communication, and promoting substance over form.

These are just a few of the insights from the conference. For a detailed white paper on the Wharton West Leadership Conference, click here.

If you missed the West Coast Leadership Conference, there is still time to sign up for the ninth annual Wharton Leadership Conference in Philadelphia, Leading With Creativity and Conviction, on June 9, 2005. Contact Kathryn Pearcy at 215.898.5605 for registration information, or register online.

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This month's articles:

• In the Classroom
  What really motivates people? Forget the mission statements, and focus on what people value, says Professor Chuck Dwyer.
  
  
• Wharton School Publishing
  Self-made billionaire Jon Huntsman writes that his success is based on values he learned as a child in the sand box.
  
  
• Thought Leaders
  As Viagra, Cialis, and Levitra battle in the market for ED treatments, Professor David Reibstein looks at lessons about first-mover advantages.
  
  
• Thought Leaders II
  With Boomers reaching old age, Professor Olivia Mitchell looks at pension implications, and the CEO of The Hartford considers "Grey Power" strategies for meeting and maximizing an aging workforce.
  
  
• Senior Management Programs
  On a visit to India, Wharton Fellows ask, "Will we soon be speaking Hinglish?"
  
  
• Wharton Leadership Conference
  Leaders from Patagonia, HP, Wipro, and other companies offer insights on leading with "creativity and conviction."
  
  
• Education à la Carte
  Bring knowledge to your values.