Page 32 - How We Lead Matters

The Times They

Are A-Changin’

The Great Depression had a deep and lasting impact on my father, as it did
on most of his generation. When he became a successful entrepreneur in the
1970s and 1980s, he still carried with him the life experiences of his time. He
valued capital above all. Understandably so—in the 1930s, money was scarce
but employees were plentiful.
I’ll never forget the day in the early 1990s when we paid a visit together
to a class of MBA students at the Carlson School of Management at the
University of Minnesota.
At one point, with much hubris, my father asked if the students were
planning to apply for jobs at Carlson. There was a long silence.
One of them finally spoke up and said, “No.” Incredulous, my father asked
why. The student replied that he had heard that Carlson had a reputation for
not valuing its employees. My father went white. It was a brutal reality.
Jobs in today’s environment depend much more on brains than brawn.
The competition for talent can be fierce. On the surface it sounds simple: My
company sells hotel rooms, restaurant meals, and tickets on airplanes. But I
am really in the business of hiring the most talented people I can find to
ensure a differentiated experience for our customers. I am in a talent war.
In that classroom, I felt somewhat sorry for my very proud father, who
didn’t understand that the rules had changed. But who does when you’ve
been playing the game so brilliantly for so long?

Marilyn Carlson Nelson 15