The 2006 Leadership Excellence Summit
"Perspective of Leadership: The Importance of Team-Building, Alignment, Planning and Communication"
|
Walter P. Havenstein President, Electronics & Integrated Solutions BAE Systems |
|
To illustrate the importance of ethos in a company, Havenstein explained that he would use a case study of a company that would ultimately become part of BAE.
Havenstein started at Sanders, a Lockheed Martin Company, in 1999. He spent the first 60 days on the job talking to customers about their experiences with Sanders. The results weren't good. One customer even told him that whoever was in charge of his company must be asleep at the switch.
Shortly after, Havenstein went to a leadership breakfast meeting where the topic was attrition and how it could be improved. The first sign of discord was the fact that no functional or line vice-presidents or human resources personnel were in attendance. After two hours of listening to people discuss how to improve the attrition rate, someone finally asked Havenstein what he thought. He responded by asking them, "given all that you've said, why do you stay?"
All gave the same answer - they stayed because what they do at the company was important. This answer fascinated Havenstein because if they honestly believe in the message of what they do then that's all that's needed and the message is what they should be focused on.
He made the group a promise. If they kept believing in the message then he'd worry about the money. This led to the slogan "we protect those that protect us" that became their battle cry. This statement was the basis for everything that they did. For example, failing to meet a commitment wasn't just about losing money. It was about failing a real person who wore a helmet and fought for their country.
The message is that you need to understand why people work for your company instead of the company next door. Knowing this made all the difference to his company. Havenstein said that he realized how important it is to understand those who you're in charge of leading because this leads to ethos in your company and this makes all of the difference.
Although Sanders was later acquired by BAE, his current company, the slogan "we protect those who protect us" has remained the same. BAE has gone from the worst, its Sanders days, to one of the best. This would not have been possible without ethos.
In line with the theme of the Summit, Havenstein explained his three dimensions of leadership. These are the lines of business, the people who are responsible for capturing and executing the business, sites, having a safe and a nice environment for people to work, and functions, which are technology based and capability driven. Without these three, good leadership is impossible.
Havenstein concluded his presentation by explaining that BAE has adopted the "Meerkat Attitude." He explained that in groups, meerkats always look in different directions. This is how they protect themselves. This should be how a Board of Directors works. They should constantly be looking at all angles in order to protect themselves and their employees.
Meerkats respect elders, teach the young, cooperate with each other, share, communicate and contribute. This is how BAE aims to be. BAE has gone so far as to adopt the meerkat as its mascot. Each new employee is told of the meerkat attitude that the company subscribes to. This is a way to ensure that each employee knows what he's working for and knows what the company values. It's how you maintain ethos, and this is perhaps the most important thing.
Walter P. Havenstein is the President of Electronic and Integration Solutions, the major defense electronics business within BAE Systems. With headquarters at Nashua, New Hampshire, E&IS designs, develops, produces and supports electronic systems and subsystems for military and commercial applications. Havenstein leads 19,000 employees in 19 U.S. states (and Washington, DC), the United Kingdom and Israel in providing defense, civil and commercial customers with products and services in the areas of electronic warfare, intelligence systems, networked communications, avionics and engine/flight controls and sensor systems.
A 1971 United States Naval Academy graduate, Havenstein served for 12 years in active duty in the Marines and completed service with the Marine Corps Reserve in 2001. In more than 20 years with the defense industry, he has served in program management, business development and executive positions with ITT, E-Systems, Raytheon and Lockheed Martin before joining BAE Systems in November 2000. BAE Systems is a transatlantic defense and aerospace company with 80,000 employees worldwide.