Standing Still Is Not An Option: Leadership Inspiration From Robert F. Bruner

STANDING STILL IS NOT AN OPTION

Leadership Inspiration From Robert F. Bruner

FACULTY MEMBER AT THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA Darden School of Business since 1982, Robert F. Bruner served as the eighth dean of the Darden School and the Charles C. Abbott Professor of Business Administration from 2005 to 2015. Darden flourished during his tenure, exploring new frontiers in globalization, technology, diversity, sustainability, and entrepreneurship and innovation.

Bruner returned to the faculty in August 2015 after completing his second term as dean and was named University Professor and Dean Emeritus. In September 2022, Bruner announced that he would retire from Darden in May 2023.

A firm believer in Darden’s mission to improve the world by developing responsible leaders and advancing knowledge, Bruner spent much of his tenure circling the globe. For 10 years as dean, he traveled more than 150 days a year to meet with donors, prospective students, alumni, recruiting partners and the media.

During his travels, Bruner found time to write — and to write some more. “Among business school deans, he is one of the leading social media mavens, a prolific and astute blogger and tweeter,” wrote CNN Money/Fortune and Poets & Quants, a media outlet dedicated to graduate business education, which named Bruner “Dean of the Year” in 2011.

A voracious reader and a gifted communicator, Bruner has authored or co-authored more than 20 books and 400 case studies. From 2006 to 2015, he wrote more than 270 blog posts for his ever-popular Dean’s Blog, in which he commented on current events and business topics and offered lessons on both leadership and life. His Twitter feed, @Bob_Bruner, also brimmed with content. “I entered academic life because I love to teach and write,” said Bruner.

This book is a compilation of some of the leadership lessons from Bruner’s insightful blog.

AMONG BUSINESS SCHOOL DEANS, HE

ONE OF THE LEADING SOCIAL MEDIA MAVENS, A PROLIFIC AND ASTUTE BLOGGER AND TWEETER.

POETS & QUANTS, UPON NAMING BRUNER “DEAN OF THE YEAR”

IS

I ENTERED ACADEMIC LIFE BECAUSE I LOVE TO TEACH AND WRITE.

UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR, DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION AND DEAN EMERITUS

1949 Born in Chicago, Illinois; raised in Racine, Wisconsin

1971 Graduated with a BA from Yale University

1974 Received an MBA from Harvard University

1993 Promoted to full professor

1982 Earned his DBA from Harvard University and joined Darden the same year as an assistant professor

2005-2015

Served as eighth dean of Darden

2015 Named University Professor and Dean Emeritus

2023 Retirement from Darden

ROBERT F. BRUNER

INSP RE

HONESTY, RELIABILITY AND TANGIBLE demonstrations of one’s values are manifestations of integrity. Making progress on anything important is not a matter of giving orders: One must communicate, engage, enlist and inspire others.

OTHERS

GET A LIFE

HIGH-PERFORMANCE PROFESSIONALS

must have a renewing life outside of the workspace. You can’t sustain a high rate of intensity without a break. This varies for everyone, of course. But the formula should include some kind of exercise, family or community-oriented engagement, and some strictly personal break time. Everyone has his or her own path to renewal.

STANDING STILL IS NOT AN OPTION

CHARLES DARWIN GOT IT RIGHT:

The ability to adapt is the key to survival in a world of relentless change. While he was writing about evolutionary biology, his notion is nonetheless relevant to businesses and other kinds of organizations. History is replete with examples of firms that failed to adapt to change. … Many organizations in society today suffer from ills owing to an inability to change with the times: these include some religious institutions, governments, unions, and yes, universities. As Darwin vividly showed, adaptation is never easy. But for many organizations there is no alternative. Standing still is not an option.

STEP FORWARD OFTEN

LEADERS STEP FORWARD OFTEN.

This is a path for people who take personal initiative, think critically, respond well to novel, new demands, and work well with others.

BE WILLING TO TAKE RISKS

SENSIBLE RISK-TAKING IS ENCOURAGED and rewarded. Most managerial dilemmas are tactical in nature. As tempting as it may be, it’s always dangerous to let tactical decisions define your strategy. You must have in mind a general path forward, even at the risk of closing some doors (or opening others).

GO WHERE WILL YOU YOUR DO BEST

SPOKEN PLAINLY, THIS PRINCIPLE seems obvious, hardly a slap-the-forehead insight. Yet in my decades of working with students, alumni and searchers of all kinds, I observe how slowly people come around to this conclusion.

WORK

IT IS BETTER TO START WITH THE end in view. That way, the steps to get there tend to define themselves.

DARE

DREAM TO

BUSINESS NEEDS DREAMERS.

Think of Steve Jobs, Walt Disney, Edwin Land, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison and the host of creative people who imagined fantastic alternatives to the way things used to be. … Business is a necessary part of creating that world. … Dream about a better world, and then shape a vision for others to follow.

THOMAS EDISON SAID THAT VISION

without execution is merely hallucination. Therefore one should always seek to connect vision with action.

THE CAPACITY TO SAY “YES”

YES! SAY

TO LEADERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

THOSE FEW

WHO

SAY “YES” HAVE TENDED to do so repeatedly. The top-performing professionals I’ve known — CEOs, government officials, top university administrators, technologists — got where they are not by mulishly resisting new responsibilities, but by saying “yes” to an invitation to lead when everyone else said “no.” Usually, saying “yes” began at an early age. This planted the seed of leadership and built confidence. Maybe there was the election to office of a club during school years. In the military and business, one’s willingness to accept assignments helps to broaden one’s scope of awareness and familiarity with the varieties of challenges with which leaders must deal. By then, saying “yes” has become a habit.

is one of the most important distinctions between the attributes of leaders and followers.

SERVING IS ALWAYS ABOUT OTHERS, a crucial value of great leaders.

TRUST THE

A

GREAT TEACHER

ONCE TOLD

ME that teaching is like sending a letter with an imperfect address; you never know when or where the message will be delivered. You must trust the process of learning to deliver the meaning that you seek.

LEARNING ENTAILS DISCOVERING things for yourself, making sense out of ambiguous business situations and usually conflicting bits of information. Life poses a host of questions and very few answers. Getting on with life means figuring things out for yourself and making your own meaning about things.

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GOOD READING ENGAGES

an argument of some kind, an argument that takes a while to unfold. Such reading deepens or challenges one’s point of view and often entails a surprise. The problem is that we don’t do enough serious reading. We’re awash in snippets of arguments, word-bites and opinions that have no grounding in the facts.

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CREATE A COMMUNITY OF INTEGRITY

HIGH-PERFORMANCE

ORGANIZATIONS

take integrity seriously — they talk about it regularly, often starting with the CEO. It is never too early or late to talk about integrity.

DON’T BE TEMPTED INTO BEHAVIOR

inconsistent with the best values. Anxiety can take you down paths you will regret. Treat everyone fairly. Represent yourself honestly. Help others.

TAKE ACTION

THE “MIDDLE” SEEMS TO BE WHAT

every executive wants to avoid these days. There is ample research on business strategy that suggests the middle is to be avoided for fear of being stuck in it. The conventional view is to see the “middle” as the problem. I see things slightly differently: The problem is not the middle; it is allowing your firm to get stuck at all. How you see the problem has big implications for taking action.

ONE NEEDS TO MAKE DECISIONS and take action, often in concert with other people.

AT A CASINO, HANGING OVER THE ROULETTE

table, there was a sign that said, “You must be present to win.” This meant that you could not place your bets and then leave the table to get a drink or see a friend, and return later to pick up your winnings. You had to be present when the winnings were declared, in order to get them. So it is at Darden. You must be present to win.

WHAT DOES “BEING PRESENT” MEAN?

It means being mindful: self-aware of your state of mind and your impact on others. And it means being socially aware of what’s going on around you. Mindfulness is one of the top attributes of high-performing leaders.

YOU MUST BE PRESENT TO WIN

HANG ON HANG IN THERE

CONTINUITY MATTERS;

DOMAIN

KNOWLEDGE

matters; and persistence matters. You can’t have much impact on the world around you if you are constantly on the move. Therefore, my advice is not “move out, move away, move on.” Rather it is “hang on, hang in and make a difference.” Dive into the challenges faced in your community. Make an in-depth study of your industry and your company’s products and services. Volunteer to help with anything. And invest deeply in building relationships within your firm — and not just with your bosses or peers; but start with the humblest employee in your space.