About the obsession with detail by great leaders.

From the book: "Allan Leighton on Leadership".
See further for more posts about this book.

Following testimony from Allan Leighton explains about his first meeting with Rupert Murdoch and the obsession with detail to be found in truly great leaders.

Allan Leighton: "The voice on the other end of the mobile phone is friendly, but immediately comes to the point. "Allan, it’s Rupert. l’d like to meet with you tomorrow to discuss your joining the board of BSkyB."
"Id love to see you," I replied, doing my best to hide my amazement at the call from this business icon who, until then, I’d never met. "But I’m going to be in Hull visiting an ASDA store."
"Fine, I’ll see you there," came the reply. Then he added, "Is it OK if I get there at lunch time?"

Rupert Murdoch, the most powerful media baron in the world, immediately put a line through his obviously frantic schedule to walk the aisles of a supermarket in northern Britain. He had made a decision about the BSkyB board and wanted to act on it immediately. His action that day encapsulates everything I admire about good leadership -seizing the opportunity, focusing and getting the job done.

But when Rupert walked into the ASDA supermarket that day, much to the shock of all the store staff who recognised him, the first thing he did was not to bend my ear. Instead he strode over to the newspaper display. Seeing that the Sun, the flagship title of his publishing empire, had sold out he picked up his mobile and phoned the then editor, David Yelland.

"I’m in an ASDA in Hull, it’s lunchtime and there are no copies of the Sun," he barked. "Find Out why."

You can only imagine the head-scratching at News Corporation’s HQ in London’s Wapping. What could Rupert Murdoch, presumed to be safely ensconced in his London base, possibly be doing at a supermarket in Hull counting, or more to the point not counting, copies of tabloid newspapers? But it isn’thard to guess the effect.

You could call this an obsession with detail! And it certainly is. Whenever I visit a store or a depot, I never fail to pick up the phone to the office with a question for the man or woman who is responsible for something that isn’t quite right. Not only does it get the problem sorted — and fast — but it also lets everyone know I don’t miss a thing. It’s also part and parcel of getting things right for the customer.

Leadership Lessons from an Allan Leighton book

I am immensely enjoying a paperback I bought in an ASDA store in the UK a few weeks ago: "Allan Leighton on Leadership".

I hadn't heard of Mr. Leighton before, but I understand he is a popular turnaround CEO in the UK, having worked for Mars, The Royal Mail and ...ASDA.

He interviewed a series of CEO colleagues and asked them about all sorts of leadership issues, which he compiled in a book. What made me buy the book was the fact that also Rupert Murdoch was among the CEO's who were interviewed by Leighton.

Here are a few leadership ideas from Mr. Murdoch taken from the book from Allan Leighton:

Leighton: "Incidentally, one very useful trick I've learned from Rupert Murdoch is to use meetings as a way to keep people on their toes. He (Mr. Murdoch) reckons that he is given so many papers and board minutes to wade through that he may not always have time to read them all. Instead, he will simply flick to, say, page 56 and focus on a detail that no one has really considered. Quite nonchalantly, he will then refer to the item and ask a detailed question. Of course, unless the rest of the executives have taken care to be exceptio0nally well briefed, they are left open-mouthed and floundering. It's a very clever, effective way to ensure that everyone consistently stays on the ball."

Rupert Murdoch about communication:
"Build a reputation for openness, honesty and good ethics in a company. You must have that and do everything you can to stamp out any politics that might be going on behind you."

Rupert Murdoch Leadership Lessons:
- Keep in touch with details
- Get involved
- Capitalise quickly on changing opportunities

James Murdoch (son of) Leadership Lessons:
- Be inclusive, but at the same time decisive.
- Constantly change and show a willingness to change.
- When everybody says we're crazy, that's when we feel best about our direction.

Leighton: "Rupert Murdoch clearly loves new technology and anything that enables him to open up entirely new markets. His approach shows a passionate engagement with the newspapers that created his empire, and a clear-sighted acceptance of the necessity and inevitability of change. When I spoke to him, he talked generally about technological innovation, and then specifically about how it is affecting, among other things, politics and the reporting of politics."

Rupert Murdoch: "The internet will have a huge role in the political process in future. At the last election, people set up websites, usually to oppose something and News Corporation's MySpace could play a terrific part in the next one. The whole thing about sites like MySpace is that people contribute every word. It can be hugely powerful at spreading stories that otherwise might go unnoticed. For all that, newspapers are still going to be around, very strong and very influential for a long time. In Britain we consider ourselves to have the best quality daily and we certainly have got the most successful Sunday newspapers. At the very least we will be the last ones left standing."