Patrick Harker
The Wharton School
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Q: Describe a situation where leadership and teamwork were critical to the outcome of a project in which you were directly involved.
A: We just completed the largest business-school fund-raiser ever. In six years, we raised more than $425 million. The campaign was the effort of an incredible team, but one that had to be directed. I took charge of it three years ago when I became dean. My challenge was to create an environment where everybody felt included. With this kind of campaign, the tendency is to reach out to senior people. I made it a priority to energize the next generation of alumni leadership.
When you seek out junior voices, two things surprise you: how much those young alumni have to say and how important it is. At the same time, so many of them -- people who have achieved extraordinary success -- feel as though they're not being taken seriously.
I've learned that lesson multiple times during my career, and it's about listening to what I call "the voice of David." It's actually a tradition in Benedictine monasteries. When a decision has to be made, the abbot asks each monk's opinion, starting with the youngest. The order is intentional. In the Bible, nobody listens to David. There were plenty of gizmos with which to fight Goliath, and David was dismissed as a punk kid with a slingshot. In the end, the kid was right. When I've made a good decision, it's usually because I've listened to the voice of David. And when I've made a poor decision, I haven't taken the time to listen.
In a position of leadership, everything that comes to your desk has been filtered. You have to make a conscious effort to go out and talk with people, and then listen and actively engage them. I spend more than half of my time outside the office. I might hang out in the MBA café or go to the Thursday pub night. Even little things matter. Does somebody always deliver your coffee to the office or do you get your own? One day, I was in line to buy a cup of coffee, and Mike Useem, a professor here, said to me, "You're in line? Good for you. That's the right leadership model."
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