Page 112 - Leadership Secrets of Hillary Clinton

LISTENING TOURS

common was the belief that they needed a strong network
for advice and support. For example, when Anne Mulcahy
was asked to move into the CEO role at Xerox, she was
inheriting an organization that had lost market share and
whose sales were at a dangerously low point. One of the first
things she did was to meet with her top 100 managers to
gain their insights, and then she picked up the phone and
called Warren Buffett, whom she didn’t know personally,
and asked for his advice as well. Based on their collective
input, she put together a business development strategy that
she was confident would be successful, and it was.
The lesson here is that you can’t figure it all out and do it
all by yourself. You need to have contacts to call upon, both
inside and outside your organization. And then you need
to have the courage to ask for their help. Now, I realize that
this is easy for some of us to do, but, believe me, it’s not so
easy for everyone. I know of many leaders who want to seek
advice or ask for support, but just can’t make themselves
pick up the phone and make that call. They fear that the
other person is too busy, or that the person will say yes to
be polite, but then won’t follow through, or—even worse—
they are afraid that the other person will think that they are
less confident or competent because they asked for help.
But, does this really happen? Think of a time when some-
one asked you for help. How did you feel, and how did you
respond? Most people feel flattered and will help as much
as they can.

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