You might have questions like:

• How can I keep good people in my company?
• How can I create high-performing teams?
• How can I improve weak performers?
• How do I keep my people motivated and committed?
• How can I encourage talented women at my company?

I lead one of the most diverse departments in our business unit, both in respect to gender, ethnic background and professional career path. I had to manage engineers on the hardware and software side, product developers, marketing specialists, design & usability specialists, and financial analysts. Right now I am teaching a bunch of engineers how to think like a business person, a marketer, and a software designer. I have been told I am better than most with this.

I learned the most after the restructuring of IHS, when our team when from more than 60 people to less than 20 and from launch-preparations to pure R&D within 2 weeks. This was hard on the individuals, and I had to get everybody on board quickly and effectively if the team was to survive the looming next budget challenge. Getting a clear idea where we were heading, what every single team member had to contribute, and how we would win again was crucial.

In 2001, Whirlpool conducted a 360 Degree study of my performance. Here are some relevant results about me (remember that this report was done before some of the most intense learning periods around the restructuring of my whole business unit, and beyond). A rating of (1) meant total absence of a skill, (5) meant a rolemodel:

I am rather proud of this score. First, I and my primary manager had a lower rating than my peers and direct reports. Secondly, there was no rating below 3, which means I am at least in the top 30% range in developing and attracting talent. Further confirmation was given to me when I was formally recognizued for my people leadership skills.

The area I worked on the hardest to improve was "communications". This one by experience is the lowest for the majority of leaders, especially in a geographically and culturally diversified workforce. I got much better at it, introducing departmental and personal blogs and wikis to capture thinking and decision making in 2002, having a weekly "all-hands" conference call, and getting to know my own areas of improvement. The formal recognition is a rather good indicator that I got much better at this critical skill.