Leadership Lessons From Thomas J Watson, The Iconic CEO Of IBM
Thomas J Watson quit his first job as a teacher after just one day. He sold sewing machines. But at the end of his life, Thomas J Watson, the iconic CEO of IBM, was called the greatest salesman on the planet.
While this giant of business is long gone, his beliefs on leadership are badly needed today. If you’re managing a sales team, any kind of team really, or just yourself, Watson has something to say about how things can be better.
If you want to increase your success rate, double your failure rate.
Far too many leaders are playing it safe. If sales are stagnate, it’s time to fail – in other words, try new things. But Watson went further with his advice to increase failure, cautioning that we must never blame others for our failures. Watson saw failure as a result of inadequate planning and information on our part, and therefore, an opportunity to re-evaluate, learn and re-position.
Remove the stigma of failure. Challenge your team to step out of their comfort zone.
Really big people are, above everything else, courteous, considerate and generous – not just to some people in some circumstances – but to everyone all the time.
Indeed the most respected leaders are those who give people the time of day – and that means everyone, including, and especially, the receptionist and janitor. I will never forget the bosses I had over the years who respected me, even though I was the junior person. Treating people right will motivate them to work harder. Watson was the most powerful business person of his day, but he still took the time to smile and say hello.
Be courteous to everyone.
The essence of trust building is to emphasize the similarities between you and the customer.
This is something almost never done today. But to truly engage people in a business relationship, they must believe that we understand them – best accomplished by pointing out similarities and common ground. People tend to trust others who are similar to them. I have never purchased anything expensive from someone who didn’t listen to me and relate to me and my circumstances. Empathy, understanding and common values. These are the things which build trust. That, in turn, builds sales.
Establish commonalities between you and those you serve.
Nothing so conclusively proves a man’s ability to lead others as what he does from day to day to lead himself.
It’s not something we think about. But how we lead our own lives is a huge determining factor in how successful we are in leading our teams. Your habits, values, ability to take things in stride – all impact on how others will ultimately see you. And that has more to do with how effective you’ll be in your management and leadership career than anything else. Never underestimate how you see and treat yourself as an indicator of how others will.
Manage your own life as you would like your team members to manage theirs.
Don’t make friends who are comfortable to be with. Make friends who will force you to lever yourself up.
Friends and colleagues who respect and support us, but also challenge us – tell us we can do better, and give us a friendly kick in the pants, are those we need the most. Watson hated conformity. He built IBM into the powerhouse it became by always striving to be better. Today, we need to do the same with our lives and our teams.
Always reach for being a little bit better than you were yesterday.
Watson was a firm believer in training future leaders. He worked with others to create what is today Binghamton University in New York State.
Today, IBM is in decline and many say it has lost its way. They long for the heady days when its early pioneering leader was at the helm. Thomas J Watson left a legacy of sound management based on a few basic principles worthy of revisiting.
A falling out with a madman
Like all of us, Watson wasn’t perfect. During World War Two, he sold his machines to the Nazis, even receiving a medal from Hitler’s Third Reich. Watson began to second guess himself and would later return the medal which angered Hitler. Hitler told Watson he was never welcome again to set foot on German soil. It was during the war that Watson looked into what eventually became today’s computers. One month before he died in 1956, Watson handed over the running of IBM to his son.
