Michael Phelps

As I was heading to bed last night, I couldn’t decide whether or not to get up at 4:58 AM to watch Phelps go for his 8th gold of the Olympics. Having played a few hours of beach volleyball yesterday, I was pretty tired and actually fell asleep while trying to decide whether or not to get up and reset my alarm clock for 4:57 AM. I guess my decision was made for me. Oh well, I would see the results of his race on the Internet as soon as I woke up anyway.

Then, in the middle of the night, I woke up inexplicably. I glanced over at the alarm clock; it read 4:57 AM. This was clearly fate intervening so, blurry eyed, I turned on Zattoo, found a channel that was showing aquatics, and tuned in just as the 4x100MR was about to start.

I’m glad I did–what a race! Things didn’t start out too well for the US and the BBC commentator remarked several times that he didn’t think we were performing well enough to fend off the strong Australians in the anchor leg. In fact we had slipped to third place when Phelps dove in for the third leg. 100m later we were in first and Jason Lezak wasn’t about to give it up.

8 gold medals and 7 world records in 9 days. Michael Phelps, what a machine. Sure he’s genetically predisposed to swimming but it takes much more than that to accomplish what he has. Years of focused, intense practice; discipline to maintain perfect form even when exhausted; mental toughness to push harder even when there is nothing left; heart to persevere even when unthinkable success has already been achieved.

What I love most about his feat is that some of his golds came from team events. His fate rested not just in his hands but also in the hands of others who wouldn’t share the media attention, glory, or financial reward. Yet they all rallied around him and dug down deep–Jason Lezak, especially–to make it happen.

I’m glad I woke up to watch; I was inspired by the drive, dedication, and teamwork of those representing the USA.

CSR

We wrapped up this week with another case on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Once again there was a great deal of debate. Was the company genuine about providing environmental benefit? Or was it just looking to improve its image and, hence, its returns? If the latter, did it matter so long as the environmental benefit was realized? What is the purpose of a business? Should it try to satisfy all the stakeholders? Or should it focus on profits (a focus for which it is very efficient) and rely on its government to regulate it? Or should its consumers, suppliers, and employees “market regulate” it by not buying from, selling to, or working for it unless it acts in “good” interest?

These are tough questions and I don’t have an “optimal” answer worked out in my head yet. I continue to wrestle with the question of what is the best model. I love the double- and triple-bottom-line ideas but even they are problematic: how do you measure social and environmental benefit when weighing against easily measurable financial benefit? My inclination is to regard with skepticism unsustainable businesses that just kick off some money to CSR. Businesses that grow out of inherently sustainable ideas, however, are something else. When sustainability goes along with profitability instead of detracting from it, then we’ve got something that really works. But can every business be independently sustainable? If not, how can we ensure that those that aren’t sustainable are balanced by “surpluses” from those that are?

These questions have some impact on my job search as well. I sent in my first two applications yesterday to GE Energy. Their renewables segment is growing by leaps and bounds and I’m interested to learn more about it. Furthermore, such a large, global corporation could be an excellent platform on which to work toward my goal of helping to change the world. Or it could be bureaucratic, inefficient, and stymying at every turn. We’ll see!

While working on industry/company research and cover letters I have been making my way through my music collection in alphabetical order by artist. AC/DC, Air Supply, Alice in Chains, and Anne Murray were last week. I just finished B.B. King yesterday and am now listening to all of the Beatles’ albums in chronological order. Such good music! And the weather is gorgeous today so I’ll have to take a break from career strategy for some beach volley later on.

Oh and one more thing: Michael Phelps is a hoss. I’m waking up at 4 AM tomorrow to watch him [hopefully] go 8/8 in Olympic golds. What an inspiration.

Ethics

Is a company’s chief allegiance to its shareholders or should it also be held accountable by other stakeholders, including employees, the community, and the environment? Should ethics be defined by the net social value of consequences to actions, fundamental rights of individuals, social contracts, or predefined virtues? How important are values in an organization and, if they are important, how can they be defined and maintained? How “should” a company interact with NGOs that oppose it, especially when they’re “right?”

These are the questions we are wrestling with in our Ethics & Social Responsibility class. The discussions, led by professor Michael Yaziji, have been scintillating and heated–just what you’d expect from a debate in such a diverse environment! My favorite question for contemplation so far has been:

“You are the CEO of a pharma company with the option to save hundreds of thousands of lives. This option will necessarily come at significant, long-term shareholder expense. What do you do?”

After much clarification of the question and the assumptions, it was clear that there was no win-win situation. You either saved lives and lost money or didn’t and made money. There was much debate. Obviously everyone wanted to save the lives, but did we have the right? Or were we obliged to run the company in the best interests of the shareholders? Many student responses relied on passing the buck to the owners: put it up for a vote and comply with the result.

I don’t buy that, however. To me, this question of whether or not to save lives is similar to a question of whether or not to save money (Hear me out before you condemn me for that statement!). If you choose not to save money you are, effectively, losing money. If you choose not to save lives you are, effectively, killing. When I frame the question that way, my course of action is apparent: I will save the lives.

It distills down to the same question faced by Nazi officers: do I kill because I have been ordered to do so by my shareholders/fuhrer? Or do I adhere first to my own principles? I am a principled human first and a CEO after. I may be fired for my decision but what good is being CEO if you can’t live with yourself? My goal would be to communicate upfront the values that would drive my decision-making in such a situation–transparency and honesty with the shareholders. Hopefully that would help ensure that I work for a company with similar values.

It seems like a theoretical, academic question, except that it was part of a case discussion involving a pharma company and its marketing of AIDS drugs in South Africa. What are your thoughts on such a dilemma?

Out-of-Town Visitors

On Sunday I had lunch with Will, a family friend who swung through town during his summer travels. Will is one of the most brilliant, accomplished people I know and it was great to spend some time with him. He is a Jefferson Scholar at UVA, where he just finished his second year. Three of his friends, also Jefferson Scholars, joined us at a little creperie along the lake for a couple of hours of great conversation and food. These kids were bright, worldy, multicultural, and nice, an outstanding example of what America can produce.

Last night I had dinner with Nathalie, a former housemate of mine in Houston. She is Swiss and was in town spending time with her family. Dinner–also on the lake–was very nice (Chantrelles are in season!) and it was great to catch up with Nathalie. Two years ago she helped start up a renewable fuels trading company that is growing and doing very well.

Meanwhile this week’s class focus on ethics and social responsibility has been very interesting already. It has been very philosophical so far with background readings on Kantian ethics, rights, and social justice. I’ll post a more detailed update later in the week.

Italian Volleyball

While I’m working on my career strategy all day I have some olympic coverage going on in the background. Because NBC won’t broadcast online to viewers outside the US, I have to be creative with my choice of media. Fortunately I found a web service called Zattoo that shows many international channels online. Right now I am watching USA beach volleyball on an Italian channel–che bella!

The Olympics Have Begun!

As we finished our last day of Stakeholder Managment today, our breaks were consumed by watching the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. Everyone cheered as countries represented in our class marched in. What fun–I can’t wait for the competitive rivalries to start once the events get going.

I was proud to learn that Rice is well represented in the Olympics: we have eight athletes and coaches representing their countries. Additionally, Rice’s president is there at the opening ceremony. Go Rice and Go USA!

Career Strategy Update: Objective and Industries

Following is another email that I just sent my Career Board today:

First, let me elaborate a little on my objective (Change the world through business leadership!) because I know it sounds cheesy. The premise is pretty simple: governments and NGOs are just some of the parties that can address some of the major challenges the world faces today. In a capitalist society, and in a global market-driven economy, I believe very strongly in the power of the business to address them as well. When I look back at the world-changing developments of recent history, many (most?) of them have come from private industry. Furthermore, my professional experience is in business so, if I want to change the world (and I do!), it makes sense for me to focus on this area.

A company like Exxon-Mobil, for example, has a profound ability to change the world. As one of the world’s largest energy producers and global employers, everything it does or doesn’t do has serious consequences for the world’s energy, environmental, and social challenges. It has the power to change the world for the better—or for the worse. Consequently, it is crucial that Exxon-Mobil’s leadership “get it right.” I am not so presumptuous as to contend that I have all the answers about what is “right” or that I am qualified to take over as CEO of Exxon-Mobil tomorrow. However, I consider it my duty to give it my best shot.

Thus my strategy is as follows:
1. Identify industries that have the greatest potential to change the world.
2. Match those industries with my interests and background. About which industries am I most passionate? To which industries can I offer the most value with my own skills and experience. For example, I believe biotechnology can be a world-changing industry but it is not a great match with background.
3. Learn more about my target industries with industry analyses, analyst reports, and conversations with contacts in those industries. Validate my understanding of the industries and what I would bring to each one. Study the business system(s) of each industry and identify the specific activities that are most interesting and/or offer the greatest opportunity to change the world.
4. Identify and target specific companies that are most interesting within each targeted business activity. Criteria include: innovation, financial performance, market performance, quality of work life, quality of leadership, opportunities for learning/mentorship, and geographic location/travel.
5. Market myself to targeted companies by networking, on-campus recruiting, and unsolicited applications.

I am currently in steps 3 and 4, depending on the industry. I have also subsumed my nanotechnology interest under green energy and commercial space operations. The more I learned about nanotechnology, the more I confirmed that my interests in it were almost exclusively insomuch as it relates to these other two industries. My status for each of my remaining three target industries is as follows:

Green Energy: Step 4
The sub-industries that interest me most are:
Renewables (solar, wind, tidal, geothermal): technology development (e.g. nanotechnology thin-film solar cells), device manufacturing (e.g. wind turbine manufacturing), operations (e.g. wind farm development)
Distribution: technology development (e.g., nanotechnology high-efficiency transmission lines or high-capacitance residential power storage)
Vestas (world’s largest wind turbine manufacturer) and AES (a power generator/developer that includes renewables in its portfolio) recruit on-campus for their leadership development programs. Shell, which has more green energy in its offering than it used to also recruits here but I just don’t get a great “vibe” from them in terms of fit. In Step 4 I am identifying all of the other companies to target as well.

Technology: Step 3
I am most interested in revolutionary web software companies, not IT services companies, but I am still in Step 3, identifying exactly which business activities and sub-industries to target proactively.
Google recruits on-campus and is definitely on my list. Amazon may sign up too. British Telecom has also contacted me and motivated me to open up a little to technology companies outside of my web software scope. They are looking for global leaders to help them expand their concept of “the 21st-century network” worldwide and are offering what sounds like a very appealing leadership development program.

Commercial Space Operations: Step 3
I am still validating this industry to understand whether I should target it or not. It is very nascent, which is both exciting and challenging—there are no industry reports, for example. I have contacts in NASA and NASA contractors but I really need to talk to people IN this industry and they are hard to find. Using online networking tools I have generated some contacts at the Space Island Group and am cold calling this week. If anyone has other ideas about how to learn more about *commercial* space operations, I would love to discuss.

My Career

With less than four months (Yikes! How did it pass so quickly?!) left on the program, our thoughts have turned toward our post-IMD careers. Many of us are looking to continue paths that we already started, many are looking for radical changes, and many are seeking something in between.

As this is an integral part of the IMD experience, I will keep my readers (especially those future-IMDers) posted on my progression as I move from a high-level, general strategy to something more focused, to [hopefully] offers, to selecting my next move.

I am pursuing my career search using a corporate model. I am the CEO of my search (I’m also the product that I will eventually be marketing.) and, as such, I put together a Board of Directors to help advise me. The Board consists of one VC, one pilot, two consultants, two entrepreneurs (This is how I’m classifying you—let me know if I’m off the mark.), three CXOs, a banker, a doctor, and a lawyer—I think that provides adequate diversity! The Board members are spread around the US and Australia but I have some informal advisors in Europe as well.

The first emails I sent to my Board members (mid-July) contained variations of the following information. It is general and ambiguous, but it is a starting point. Although I have limited my Board to 10 members, I would certainly welcome comments and criticisms from the rest of my readers. My opening position:

My objective: to change the world through business leadership! I hope to do this by obtaining an influential general management position (with an entrepreneurial element as well!) at a company with the potential for significant global impact.
Skills I bring: founding and leading organizations, communicating and persuading diverse stakeholders, and global perspective, having lived in three countries and speaking three languages
Experience: 7 years in entrepreneurship and general management with software companies serving diverse industries and geographic markets around the world

By definition, general management is awfully . . . general! So my challenge has been to refine my career search to focus on just the areas where there is the greatest fit. After a significant amount of thinking about my strengths, motivations, goals, and experience, I have decided to target the following four industries:

Renewable Energy (solar, wind, geothermal, tidal, etc.) – I am familiar with the energy industry through having served it with software my whole career; now I see it as an industry with the potential to change the world—for the better!
Commercial Space Operations (space industrialization, exploration) – I have lived in the shadow of space exploration my entire life and it has always been a passion of mine. With the growing number of companies participating, I see opportunities to contribute without working for bureaucratic government organizations.
Nanotechnology – I am specifically interested in nanotechnologies that support renewable energy (carbon-walled nanotubes that transmit electricity over vast distances with little attenuation, for example) and commercial space operations (incredibly light, strong materials that make reusable launch vehicles more practical, for example). Although I have no background in nanotech, Rice is very strong in this area and should provide significant networking opportunities.
Web Software (Internet portals, applications, etc.) – I remain enamored of IT and its ability to change the lives of millions practically overnight. Given my background, this is probably the “lowest-risk” search strategy, but I am committed to pursuing the others with equal gusto.

Geographically I am targeting the USA (Houston, Austin, San Diego, or Silicon Valley), Italy, the UK, or Switzerland. I am open to the right opportunity that is based anywhere, and I anticipate significant travel, but these are my ideal “home bases.”

Daniel Day Lewis

Blogger’s note: I no longer use the term “Redskins” but am leaving my prior references intact in the spirit of learning.

In between rewriting my PPIN (a 20-page paper that defines everything I stand for and analyzes my past to understand why) and pounding my way through the 20 cases we have to prepare for this week’s course on stakeholder management, I had the opportunity to watch some movies this weekend.

Friday night I revisited a movie I hadn’t seen since pre-school: Howard the Duck. I was looking for something to have on in the background as I caught up on some emails so I didn’t want anything too intellectual–no worries there! This movie was just as bad as I remember it but it did bring back some memories.

Saturday I threw on Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay which was almost as bad. Again, though, I just wanted something for the background while I cooked and putzed around.

Saturday evening I settled in for a Daniel Day Lewis fix. I never really knew who he was until I saw Gangs of New York, in which I found his portrayal of Bill “The Butcher” Cutting absolutely riveting. When I saw There Will Be Blood (for which he won the Oscar for Best Actor) several weeks ago I was reminded of how much I admired his acting so decided to procure his other movies. Saturday night I watched The Last of the Mohicans and this evening I just finished My Left Foot, for which he also won Best Actor. Daniel Day Lewis only seems to surface every few years but, when he does, it is a performance worth watching.

I was glad to have some time this weekend to watch some movies–one of my favorite pastimes. Also, congratulations again to Washington Redskins greats Art Monk and Darrell Green, who were officially inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame this weekend. Hail to the Redskins!

2007

At long last I have finished my chronological tour through American popular music. The 2000s ended my journey with more of a whimper than a bang so I really don’t have much to say about them. Here are a few thoughts, though:

Although I’m no great fan of Mariah Carey’s, it is impressive that she has now been cranking out hits for almost 20 years.
I’m glad that the fad formula of female vocalist + Ja Rule groaning/grunting in the background came and went pretty quickly.
There are still a number of great rock/alternative songs that aren’t making it onto Billboard’s charts.

Now that I have completed this musical tour and, at the same time, played through all of Jimmy Buffett’s albums (35 years worth!), I almost don’t know what to listen to next. However, the weather is great, which means I need something to pump me up for some beach volley. I’ll just start at the top of the alphabet. Next up: AC/DC!