Lin-sights From Peter Drucker
In his latest column for Bloomberg Businessweek online, Drucker Institute Executive Director Rick Wartzman writes that even Peter Drucker would have been swept up by the phenomenon of New York Knicks bench-warmer-turned-global-sensation Jeremy Lin.
“That’s because ‘Linsanity’ offers some valuable lessons on managing information, innovation (or should I say, ‘lin-formaton’ and ‘lin-novation’?) and more,” Wartzman explains. Among them:
- Question assumptions.
- Make sure the person you hire fits the job at hand.
- Exploit changes in perception.
- Fix bad habits.
- Put the team first.
Elaborating on the last point, Wartzman asserts: “Lin has demonstrated another trait . . . that has immediately made him into a leader—indeed, the leader—of the Knicks: Time and again, he has tried to redirect the tremendous praise coming his way to his team and his teammates. Great leaders ‘think of the needs and the opportunities of the organization,’ Drucker wrote, ‘before they think of their own needs and opportunities.’”
“In a word,” Wartzman adds, “they display ‘lin-tegrity.’”