This document discusses lessons in leadership from David Murphy's experience as an accidental CEO. It covers topics like defining a vision and true north, being a chief talent officer, creating clarity and alignment, leading change through communication, being credible and authentic, showing humility and empathy. Murphy emphasizes developing others as leaders and putting the team's success over your own with the mantra "we > me". The document provides advice, examples and perspectives on effective leadership.

1. Lessons in leadership from an
accidental CEO.
David Murphy
Founder & Serial Thought Provoker
wikibranding
@wikibranding

2. What is leadership?
@wikibranding

3. Vision?
@wikibranding

4. Inspiration?
@wikibranding

5. Communicating?
@wikibranding

6. Influence?
Zealotry?
@wikibranding

7. Creating
followers?
@wikibranding

8. “If we each hire people who are
smaller than we are, we shall
become a company of dwarfs.
But if we each hire people who
are bigger than we are, we shall
become a company of giants.”
David Ogilvy
@wikibranding

9. My leadership ethos.
Leaders create more leaders to
achieve things that matter.
@wikibranding

10. More simply stated…
we > me
@wikibranding

11. Lessons in leadership.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Define true north.
Be the Chief Talent Officer.
Forge clarity and alignment.
Lead change through actions (and communicate incessantly).
Be credible and authentic.
Show humility and empathy.
@wikibranding

12. What is your true north?
@wikibranding

13. “Management is doing things right. Leadership is
doing the right things.”
Peter Drucker
@wikibranding

14. Leading towards true north.
What you want employees to do:
Management
How they can do it better:
Direction
Why their work has meaning:
Leadership
@wikibranding

15. My true north.
I believe in the power of empathy.
I believe in curiosity.
I believe in collaboration.
I believe in accountability.
@wikibranding

16. What is your company’s true north?
“Become a $125 billion company
by the year 2000.”
“Help people save money so
they can live better.”
@wikibranding

17. “If your enterprise went away, who would care?
What un-fillable hole would it leave?
You have to answer that question otherwise
someday you will go away.”
Jim Collins
@wikibranding

18. Why does your company exist?
“Ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and
gentlemen.”
“To organize the world’s information and make it
universally accessible and useful.”
“To make people happy.”
“Opening the highways for all mankind.”
@wikibranding

19. Be the chief storyteller
Stories convey meaning.
And meaning trumps
information every time.
@wikibranding

20. The hero’s journey – a path towards
true north.
Drawn from analysis of mythology across cultures
and time:
“A hero ventures forth from the common world…
confronts obstacles and adversaries…
wins a decisive victory…
and returns with the power to help his fellow man.”
@wikibranding

21. Chief talent officer.
@wikibranding

22. CFO asks CEO: “What happens if
we invest in developing our people
and then they leave us?”
CEO: “What happens if we don’t
and they stay?”
Peter Baeklund
@wikibranding

23. The main job of a CEO is
developing talent.
Jack Welch
@wikibranding

24. In a survey of FTSE 100
CEOs, 68% put talent as
their number one priority.
Strategy was the top priority
for 9%.
“The Secrets of CEOs”
@wikibranding

25. Developing talent.
Anne Mulcahy, the
CEO credited with
turning around Xerox,
personally reviewed the
top 30 executive
positions and ensured
that at least two
candidates for each
position had been
identified.
@wikibranding

26. My talent scorecard.
Ethical
Empathetic
Curious & Imaginative
Clear
Collaborative
Adaptable
Problem solver
Results oriented
@wikibranding

27. The case for diverse leadership.
Diversity and inclusion is intrinsically
linked to a company’s innovation
strategy.
Surrounding a problem with a range of
perspectives and experience can
accelerate fresh thinking.
In a 2012 Forbes Study of 300
senior executives worldwide,
75%
agree that workforce diversity
and inclusion helps drive
innovation.
@wikibranding

28. Feminine leadership traits.
Successful companies and leaders are
moving away from traditional structures to be
more flexible, collaborative and nurturing.
In a survey of 64k people across 13
countries, 66% agreed the world would be a
better place if men thought more like women.
Selflessness
Empathy
Cooperation
Communication
Nurturing
@wikibranding

29. The gender diversity challenge.
“Women can lead just as effectively as men.”
The 2013 McKinsey
study on gender
diversity in companies
around the world
demonstrates the need
to continue breaking
down the barriers that
prevent women from
assuming senior
leadership roles.
77%
50%
C-level women (strongly agree/agree)
C-level men (strongly agree/agree)
“With equal qualifications, women have much
more difficulty reaching top management.”
93%
62%
women (strongly agree/agree)
men (strongly agree/agree)
@wikibranding

30. Be clear & forge
alignment.
@wikibranding

31. Is everyone
moving in
the same
direction?
@wikibranding

32. Clarity and alignment.
Set focused and consistent priorities.
Seek alignment, not consensus.
Drive line of sight goals deep into the organization.
Provide resources to support the team.
Instill accountability with clear metrics of success.
@wikibranding

33. What clarity looks like.
Championed by CEO, Alan Mulally
Rationalized product lines
Sold non-core brands
Eliminated geographic silos
Instilled collaborative leadership
“Profitable growth for all.”
@wikibranding

34. What clarity looks like.
Championed by CEO, Jeff Immelt
Aggressive revenue targets
Divisional contribution targets
Doubling of R&D support
External communications
Executive bonus metrics
@wikibranding

35. Be credible.
@wikibranding

36. Leadership has
but one face.
@wikibranding

37. “The ultimate measure of an
individual is not where they stand
in moments of comfort, but where
they stand during times of
challenge and controversy.”
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
@wikibranding

38. Traits of a credible leader.
Words and actions in sync – no hypocrisy.
Honesty and candor.
Perseverance.
Consistency in good times and bad.
@wikibranding

39. Lead change.
@wikibranding

40. The change agent’s mantra.
Why?
Why not?
@wikibranding

41. The change agent’s mantra.
Why = challenge the status quo.
Why not = imagination and courage.
@wikibranding

42. The
th
20
row principle.
@wikibranding

43. Are there
cookies
outside?
He championed
the business
strategy.
CEO inspires
from on high.
Another new
direction?
Her Division
stands to gain
more budget.
Sounds like more
work and fewer
resources.
Not another
lucite block!
He sees an
opportunity for
a promotion.
@wikibranding

44. What the 20th row wants to know.
“What’s in it for me?”
“What do you want me to do differently next week versus what I was
doing last week?”
“What will leadership do differently to support me?”
Are you fully committed, or is this another in a series of “missioncritical” slogans?
@wikibranding

45. Lead change.
Make clear what needs to happen – and why.
Align priorities, resources and rewards.
Have zero tolerance for senior managers who are not on board.
Lead by example – never stray from true north.
Communicate incessantly. Then communicate even more.
@wikibranding

46. Flex different leadership styles.
Pacesetter
Empowering
Supportive
Coaching
Authoritative
Democratic
Goal:
Clearly and
quickly define the
expected
standard of
excellence.
Mobilize team
toward a
common vision,
but let them to
define the path.
Create
emotional bond
and sense of
organizational
belonging.
Develop people
for the future.
Fix an
immediate
problem.
Consensus through
participation.
When to use:
When team is
motivated and
skilled, and the
leader needs
quick results.
When team
needs new vision
(not explicit
guidance) and
energy.
In times of
stress, when
team needs to
heal or rebuild
trust.
To help people
build lasting
strengths that
make them
more
successful.
In times of
crisis, or to
control a
problem
employee when
all else has
failed.
When team must buy
into and have
ownership of a
decision or plan.
Behaviors:
“Do as I do.”
“Come with me.”
“You matter.”
“Try this.”
“Do this, now.”
“What do you think?”
Keep words and
actions in sync.
Define a clear
true north.
Demonstrate
unwavering
support.
Give consistent
and helpful
feedback.
Take charge.
Be sincerely open to
team’s ideas.
Consistently
communicate
and reinforce.
Invite others to
tailor and
internalize.
Have their back.
Make time to
listen and help.
Celebrate those
who embrace
and succeed.
Hand reins over
to others to lead.
Source: “Leadership That Gets Results”, Daniel Goleman’s HBR study, 2000
Be a loud and
visible
advocate.
Be clear and
decisive.
Show personal
accountability.
Challenge to help
refine, not refute.
Support.
Follow up and
check in.
@wikibranding

47. Show humility.
@wikibranding

48. The business case for humility.
Of 1,435 Fortune 500
companies surveyed by Jim
Collins, only 11 achieved and
sustained greatness–garnering
stock returns 3X the market’s–
for 15 years after a major
transition period.
All 11 had a Level 5 leader at
the helm.
@wikibranding

49. The humble leader.
Displays a genuine dedication to
the WHY (bigger than the CEO).
Candid, honest and authentic.
Learns from mistakes.
Hires people bigger than them.
Offers praise – never seeks it.
Hero in the call
center.
Leader
Embraces “we > me.”
@wikibranding

50. JC Penny’s Ron Johnson did many things
right. So why did he fail so spectacularly?
@wikibranding

51. Case study: The soft skills matter.
Johnson did a lot of the right things:
He fired all the senior executives and
brought in a new team.
He took the sales staff off commission to
create a culture of collaboration and
teamwork.
Focused on the customer experience by
banning discounts and introducing “fair and
square pricing.”
He prioritized long-term innovation and
ignored quarterly results.
At the end of the day, Ron Johnson wasn’t an
empathetic communicator to make himself a
more sympathetic leader.
Huffington Post
Johnson tried to make a conservative corporate
culture jump too far, too fast without first energizing
employees at all levels to truly believe.
Business Insider
Wall Street Journal Market Watch
@wikibranding

52. Why leaders fail.
Lose their feel for what’s going on in a market.
Do not confront reality.
Become insensitive to external constituencies.
Don’t get things done or deliver on commitments.
Tolerate poor performance among direct reports.
Ram Charan
@wikibranding

53. Lessons in leadership.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Define true north.
Be the Chief Talent Officer.
Execute through clarity and alignment.
Lead change through actions (and communicate incessantly).
Be credible and authentic.
Show humility and empathy.
@wikibranding

54. “Any Given Sunday”
@wikibranding

55. We > Me.
wikibranding
WikiBranding.net
linkedin.com/wikimurph
@wikibranding
@wikibranding

56. Thank you.
@wikibranding

57. About today’s speaker.
David has helped create successful marketing and branding strategies for some of world’s best-known
companies, including Ford, Toyota, The Coca-Cola Company, Sony, Dell, P&G, Mattel, United Airlines,
Hilton, Callaway Golf and Applied Materials. He is passionate about inspiring teams to embrace new
marketing, media and digital innovations.
He is President - USA of WPP's Team Detroit, the new model for the full-service advertising agency, giving
marketers access to the breadth of WPP’s talent, ideas and tools. Team Detroit masters the intersection of
business and almost everything imaginable – technology, digital media innovation, pop culture, design, big
data, social trends – locally and globally.
David Murphy
President – USA
Team Detroit
David’s career spans entrepreneurial start-ups, leadership roles at global agencies and client-side
marketing management. He co-founded Barrie D'Rozario Murphy, subsequently named “Best Small Agency
in the U.S.” by the American Association of Advertising Agencies. Before BD’M, David’s leadership
experience included serving as President of Saatchi & Saatchi in Los Angeles, President/North American
Managing Partner for Young & Rubicam in Irvine, and Worldwide Client Service Director at Ogilvy & Mather
in New York. He also led marketing communications at Aetna Healthcare.
David has earned numerous EFFIE awards from the American Marketing Association, as well as the
“Anthony Bucci Award for Excellence in Communication Ethics” from Duquesne University. He serves on
the Dean’s Advisory Board for the University of California Irvine's Merage School of Business and is a
frequent lecturer at Chapman University’s Internet Communications Program.
David was born in Pakistan, lived in Ireland, and has journeyed to more than 35 countries. He is a graduate
of Duquesne University. His passions include mountain biking, running, scuba diving and any moment he
can steal away on his boat, Murchu. David’s greatest accomplishment has been helping raise two
wonderful young ladies.
@wikibranding