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Berlitz for the Boss: Where to go to pick up the tools for coping with the increasing pressures of being at the pinnacle - Training

Chief Executive, The, Dec, 2001 by Dale Buss

It'S not as if Lee Fisher has never been humbled: He was defeated in an election for governor of Ohio, and as head of one of the state's largest human-services organizations, Fisher regularly feels the sting of high-profile criticism. But the president and CEO of Cleveland's Center for Families and Children recently traveled all the way to Colorado for one of his most intense lessons in humility.

That's where trainers at a CEO "crash course" blind-folded Fisher and three other class members. Then they were guided by four other classmates on a half-mile hike through the woods. Once they reached a clearing, the exercise in dependency and trust continued as the group of eight playacted the removal of a piece of "radioactive waste" using a ball, a bucket, and bungee cords, while Fisher and the three others remained blindfolded.

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"I had no choice but to entirely let go and listen to others and trust them to perform the task," says the 49-year-old Fisher. He experienced the outdoor role-playing and other revealing episodes while enrolled in Leadership at the Peak, a five-day program offered by the Center for Creative Leadership. "It gave me insight on what it's like to be someone at the lower level of an organization who is being instructed to do something but isn't always being told how to do it or the purpose behind it," he says.

Immersion training for CEOs is popular these days; in some circles, it is de rigeur. Witness the buzz generated by a new outfit called the CEO Academy. Its first session in June 2001 was attended by high-profile chiefs including Conseco Inc.'s Gary Wendt and taught by luminaries such as Merck & Co.'s Raymond Gilmartin. Other forms of training packaged for CEOs are delivered in more conventional classroom settings. Leading business schools, executive-education start-ups, and other entities are all developing their own vehicles with a common aim: give CEOs, especially new ones, more tools for coping with the increasing pressures they face.

"In the past year to 14 months, the number of programs that have arisen to focus on leadership issues for the people at the top has really grown," says Kevin Taylor, founder of ScheduleEarth Inc., a Ft. Lauderdale, FL-based firm that operates an executive-education Internet portal. "I'm seeing more CEOs willing to go outside what has been their comfort zone to take advantage of the programs."

Some executive-education experts criticize the trend toward such training. "It's a place to pick up some nuggets from people and do some networking. But is this going to change the landscape of CEO preparedness? Only if you also think that one day of lessons is going to change your tennis game," says Noel Tichy, a University of Michigan professor and developer of executive programs for GE, Ford Motor, and others.

But executives like Richard Kendall are glad they participated. He put in the nine weeks during three years that are required to graduate from Harvard University's Owner-President Management (OPM) program. "In retrospect, I appreciate the ability to energize, be exhilarated, and be inspired," says the former CEO and now consultant to Global Financial Press, part of St. Ives PLC. Among the actions Kendall took after his graduation was an overhaul of Global Financial's banking relationships.

Such glowing evaluations are typical because of the benefits CEOs derive from being in a group made up of only peers, instructors say. They often find that they learn more from dealing with fellow attendees in informal settings than from classroom work. "A lot of the issues CEOs have they don't want to talk over with their boards because they want to appear that they're on top of things. Talking to consultants about such issues isn't the same thing as being in conversation with your peers," says Jack Weber, an instructor in "Creating the Future: The Challenge of Transformational Leadership," offered by the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business.

However, colleague intermingling comes with some drawbacks. CEOs must be prepared for slings and arrows. Some courses even begin talking about the ability to handle criticism before CEOs arrive. Leadership at the Peak, for example, requires participants to have surveys filled out by people close to the CEO, such as board members and subordinates. It's similar at the Darden School. "The CEO gets the chance to confront the reality of that data," says Brandt Allen, associate dean. "A lot of them have to confront things that are pretty personal."

Once the program is underway, honest peer evaluations are a big component. "The instructors urge you not to participate in a conspiracy of politeness where you focus so much on not hurting someone's feelings that you don't give them anything instructive," says Fisher, about the Leadership at the Peak approach. "It's safe because you don't have to work with these people come Monday."

Some executives find baring themselves productive. "The people who got the most out of it were those who were willing to roll ugly pieces of their history onto the table," says Frank Martin, CEO of Martin-Harris Canstruction Co. in Las Vegas, and a recent American Management Association-course grad.

Business Services Industry

Berlitz for the Boss: Where to go to pick up the tools for coping with the increasing pressures of being at the pinnacle - Training

Chief Executive, The, Dec, 2001 by Dale Buss

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