Human Resources: Thought Leaders

Thought Leaders
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Thought Leader: William J. White on HR's Role in Helping Individuals Navigate a Successful Career

William J. White is currently Professor at the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science at Northwestern University. His newest book "From Day One: CEO Advice to Launch an Extraordinary Career", served as the basis for this interview with HR.com's Karen Elmhirst.

William J. White was named 2001 Professor of the Year and received the 2004 Northwestern Alumni Association Excellence in Teaching Award. Prior to joining Northwestern, Bill spent eight years as Chairman and CEO of Bell & Howell, where he was responsible for stewarding corporate resources, values and talent. He also served as a Senior Executive at Hartmarx, Mead and USG. He is currently a member of the Board of Directors of Reader's Digest, Intermatic Corporation and Forest One Inc. His newest book, "From Day One: CEO Advice to Launch an Extraordinary Career", served as the basis for this interview.

KE: Bill, what was it that led you to write this book?

WW: I am now in the faculty at Northwestern University and the impetus for this book really came from my students. After counseling them on their careers, they would frequently ask me what books they should read when they could no longer come to me and ask questions. A number of us did a survey of books that were available in the marketplace and found a lot of books on interviewing, and a number on resume writing, but very few were specifically written for the new recruit. So, I wrote down much of the advice that I had been giving to students over the years as well as ideas that people had given me.

KE: I notice that you dedicated your book to a Harvard professor who died in the 60's. Why?

WW: Georges Doriot was a legend, even when I was in school. He had an impact on so many lives. His thought process had inspired all of us to make a contribution to whatever endeavors that we chose to follow. He never wrote a book, he never even wrote down any of his notes from his lectures. A number of us got together years ago and published what little cryptic notes we each had taken from his lectures.

KE: In your book you talk about the problems associated with "leading with ambition." In your estimation, what percent of successful leaders put their organizations first?

WW: Based on a study done by Spencer Stuart, "Nearly ninety percent [87%] (of extraordinary successful executives) were described as being concerned about the careers of their subordinates as much as or more than their own careers." What we see in the major media, on TV, and the radio and the talk shows about climbing over everyone and beating everyone up and stabbing them in the back as the way to get ahead is not the way to have a successful career. This idea of thinking about others, being a servant leader if you will, is actually the way to build a successful career, even though these types of leaders don't get written about as much as the others.

KE: Let's talk about HR's role in helping individuals launch an extraordinary career. We are seeing a lot of companies focusing attention on this. We have invented this term "on-boarding" and many companies are structuring this first few months, up to one year - to provide greater support to new employees in the hopes of launching them successfully. Based on your experience and your interviews with other CEO's, what's the first recommendation that you would like to make to help someone help someone else launch successfully?

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Karen Elmhirst is a Senior Analyst with HR.com focused on learning and leadership. She is also co-host of our weekly Thought Leader Live interviews delivered via webcast each week. For a complete listing of our Thought Leader interviews,
click here.

Karen has over a dozen years of experience as a sales and marketing executive in various industries including recruitment and training; work as a communication coach, a writer, and editor. Karen graduated with a business degree from the University of British Columbia.

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Thought Leaders - September 7, 2006