What You Can Learn from South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford's Disappearing Act

An interesting headline caught my eye today in the New York Times:

Report: SC Gov Was in Argentina, Not Hiking Trail

The article is about the recent unexplained disappearance of South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, who was last seen at work last Thursday, and arrived back in the US just this morning. This came as a surprise to staffers and others who thought the governor was hiking the Appalachian Trail. He was actually driving around Argentina, according to the article.

What is interesting is not reports that the hard-working governor often takes time off alone as a way of coping with his high-stress job.

No, what is interesting is that his wife, Jenny, reportedly asked for privacy when questioned about his absence.

The idea that it's a private matter when a governor takes off for a few days without telling anyone is hilarious.

However, it brings up a serious point about one of the realities of the executive role:

Whether you're the chief executive of a state, or the chief executive of a small company, your actions -- even those one might think are private -- receive greater scrutiny because you are at the top of the organization.

Your behavior -- all of it -- really does matter. And your privacy is something that gets compromised in exchange for having power and authority over an organization. Or even an entire state.

This reality is never more obvious than when powerful people let their power go to their heads and act as if even outrageous behavior is invisible to the public.

This lesson is taught so regularly, one wonders why it doesn't stick, as former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, former New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey, former Tyco CEO Dennis Kozlowski and so many others prove that history repeats itself.

Over and over.

Leadership and power can change people.

It can make them feel isolated and alone, at the same time as their behavior will come under greater and greater scrutiny, and the line between personal and professional will disappear.

It apparently gives them amnesia for the mistakes of other leaders, as well.

The take-home message is that you don't have to learn from your own mistakes.

Learn from everyone else's.

Does GM Put Customers First, or Last? (And what that means for you!)

There was an interesting full-page ad in the Sunday, June 7, Philadelphia Inquirer.

It was a letter to General Motors customers from Frederick A. Henderson, president and chief executive officer of GM.

After apologizing for closing dealerships that may include the ones most local to the reader, Henderson urges prospects to shop for their next new car at GM.

Additionally, he writes:

"Over the coming days, months and years, we will prove ourselves by being more transparent, more accountable and, above all, more focused on you, our customer."

The problems of leadership that GM has had made me reflect on the key principles of business success outlined in Jason Jennings' outstanding book Think Big, Act Small, which I regularly recommend to everyone I know in a leadership position.

Henderson's letter is not specific about what GM will do to go way beyond just satisfying its customers. He stresses putting customers first, but, ironically (or perhaps tragically) he mentions that last.

GM customers will find it difficult to balance in their own minds the closing of their nearby dealership with the pledge by GM to take care of them in the future. After all, one example of GM taking care of them would be by keeping dealerships open.

As much as leadership is about doing the right things, many great books on leadership focus inward on leading the people who work for the company, not outward on how to create a phenomenal connection with the company's customers. And without customers, there wouldn't be a company to lead.

Jennings points out something very interesting in his presentations (you can download his PowerPoint presentations if you join his site at http://www.jason-jennings.com): Research suggests that many customers who leave one company for another indicate that they were "satisfied" with the company they stopped buying from.

Why do they leave if they're satisfied?

Because "satisfaction" is not enough.

It's a low standard.

It's the minimum that customers expect. Satisfied is okay. But okay doesn't keep people buying from you.

If you're aiming just to satisfy your customers, you will not have formed enough of a psychological connection with them to keep them.

Complete satisfaction is required to form long-term loyalty with customers.

And that requires a kind of leadership that focuses not just within on building a great staff with clear goals and the right people doing the right jobs, but a huge emphasis (and rightly so) on your customers.

Don't just walk around your company to see how things are going, walk outside the company to meet and really get to know the customers you have right now.

Ask yourself if they are the right customers for your business.

If they are, how can you deliver even better products or services to them and others like them?

If they are not the right customers for your business, who are the right ones, and how can you attract, convert and delight them?

The task of leading a company as large as GM is almost incomprehensible. But fundamentally it's about doing much more than an average job at delivering value to prospects and customers.

That is what each one of us has to do, no matter what the size of the company we lead.