What's New, What's Not

It is one of the mantras of the new economy: Change is everything, and everything is changing. But is it true? We asked 12 business leaders, from various industries and from different generations, to pause and consider: What's really new -- and what's not -- in the new world of work? Has technology redefined competition? Are people-based companies forging a new notion of leadership? Is there a new way to do strategy -- or is strategy even necessary today? Their answers yield some new rules, some old truths -- and a chance for you to reflect on what has changed and what remains the same.

Andrall E.Pearson

Chairman and CEO
Tricon Global Restaurants Inc.
Louisville, Kentucky

There are two reasons why people leave their jobs: Either they don't feel appreciated, or they don't like their boss. But two factors have created a new competitive landscape: Today almost everyone can get another job; and more and more people can gain access to low-cost capital. In our business, it used to be clear who had the financial muscle to be on top. Now we're facing a wide range of well-financed competitors. So it's more important than ever for us to draw upon our entire organization.

That calls for a new form of leadership, one that moves from exhortation to execution. It's no longer enough to be an idea-driven leader -- you need to be a hands-on leader. I've certainly been guilty of the old style of leadership. I used to give uplifting speeches, but I would never get down to saying, "Here is what this means to you." These days, I spend a lot less time exhorting people to behave differently and a lot more time showing them how.

The benefits of this approach are so obvious, they make you cry. But you have to invest an enormous amount of time over an extended period. I spend at least half of my time out in the field, talking about leadership. But I'm not just talking. At Tricon, we're creating all kinds of mechanisms to help our people get involved in improving performance -- from a three-day leadership course that focused on problem solving to what we call "meetings in a bucket" at KFC.

As a leader, I'm asking questions and picking up ideas all the time. For example, at KFC, we were testing a new sandwich that's made with a Pepperidge Farm bun. I spent some time in KFC outlets, and everyone I talked to who had tried the sandwich loved the bun, but we weren't mentioning that new feature in our commercials. I simply made that connection and suggested that we add this information to our message. That's a kind of detail I would never have been involved in a couple of years ago. But that involvement makes a huge difference.

Andy Pearson has had no fewer than four careers. He has served as a senior partner at McKinsey & Co., as president and COO of PepsiCo, as a professor at Harvard Business school, AND as a partner in a management buy-out firm. As chief executive of Tricon -- which consists of Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and Kentucky Fried Chicken -- Pearson runs the largest restaurant chain in the world.

B. Joseph White

Dean
University of Michigan Business School
Ann Arbor, Michigan

There are two genuinely new conditions in the world today: Information technology and biotechnology have the potential to change society as deeply as the automobile did a century ago; and a movement toward self-reliance has emerged, with implications for everything from how we make a living to how we raise our children.

With changes of this magnitude, you can't just think about them; you can't just talk about them; you can't teach them in a classroom. That's why we're pushing students beyond the four walls of our school and into companies and nonprofit organizations around the world.

Take South Africa, for example. The most moving experience that I've had in recent years was a meeting with Desmond Tutu in Cape Town. I asked him, "What are your greatest concerns about the future of South Africa?" He said, "We have 30 million people living on hope. If the economy and the society don't deliver measurable improvements over the next five years, I don't know what's going to happen here." Now, if you're a 25-year-old student and you're looking for a challenge, then look no further: Archbishop Tutu just delivered it to you.

That opportunity reflects a fundamental difference between the current generation of businesspeople and the previous generation. There's a growing realization in our schools that business is the most powerful, most progressive social force in the world. If the dream 25 years ago was to join a big company and to pursue a career involving steady advancement, the dream now is to cultivate an economic entity that creates tremendous value, that provides opportunity for others, and that may even change the world.

Joe White was appointed dean of the University of Michigan Business School in 1991. He serves on the boards of several organizations, including Kelly Services, Cummins Engine Foundation, and the board of overseers for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.