Elephants

Hey Mike,

Glad you started the book. I should have mentioned that I skipped part II of the book as you said it is dry. The good stuff is in parts I, III, and IV. Good comment Mike on the cash flow thing, I also find it important the more accounting work I've been doing.

I'd like to stick to talking about part I for right now to give everyone a chance to read. But I want to point out Gestner's first email to the entire company on page 78-79. Notice the language he is using. The very first all company memo that Gerstner sent out is a great example of bringing emotions into the workplace. In the memo Gerstner says, “I am acutely aware that I arrived at a painful time…I know it is painful for everyone…I will do everything I can to get this painful period behind us …, so that we can begin looking to our future and to building our business.” This a great example of using empathy in the workplace because Gerstner makes the experience collective by using words such as “us,” “everyone,” and “our.”

My theories of leadership if boiled down to one concept is that in order to be an effective leader you must bring emotions into the workplace and display empathy. Kind of counter cultural in terms of the idea of leaving emotions out, but great leaders throughout history have motivated through emotions. I can get into all types of Freudian discussions on why this true from reading from my class but I'd like to hear what you guys think of this thesis. In addition, what would it look like for a Christian to bring emotions/empathy into the workplace? Would it look any different than a non-Christian leader?