On Topic: Robert Gates says, give credit where it’s due

Robert Gates thinks we could use a few more good leaders to coax us back out and up. To perk us up and boost confidence.

After all, these are stressful times, right?

Oil prices plummet, as if down the side of a steep mountain, to at-the-pump prices not seen here in Iowa in a dozen years, the state's ag department says.

And it's dragged the world's markets over the side with it. Looked at your portfolio lately? Over the past couple months I've been battered between Kubler-Ross's first two stages of grief - denial and anger.

Meanwhile, consumers are asking car dealerships for SUVs and trucks. The number of small and normal-sized cars that sit unwanted on sales lots continue to swell, creating a sizable inventory backlog - and forcing greater markdowns on their price tags - according to WardsAuto.com.

As if those prospective buyers - suffering from some form of selective amnesia, I assume - can't imagine the price of gasoline could ever possibly rocket back up.

And the Wall Street Journal cites New York analytics company Cornerstone Macro giving us 50-50 odds this country is in a recession right now.

Yes, I know the stock market is not the same thing as the economy. But you see my point as to why more than a few might want to bury themselves in their beds and wish for better weather.

In his book, 'A Passion for Leadership,” Gates thinks we could use a few more good leaders to coax us back out and up. To perk us up and boost confidence.

Sadly, though, many organization heads don't know what to do, he writes. Some 'self-satisfied and smug institutions,” resistant to change, are 'moving obliviously toward mediocrity and irrelevance.”

The former U.S. secretary of defense, Texas A&M University president and College of William and Mary chancellor suggests some tips we've heard before but certainly bear repeating.

For one thing, too many bosses, especially ones new to the organization, show up on Day One certain they know everything, shooting emails to all corners to signal a whole new direction.

But what they end up doing, Gates says, tends to 'scare the hell out of people.” The employees in turn concentrate on 'keeping out of the way - lying low - and keeping their jobs.”

What they should do instead, Gates advises, is listen. What better way to accurately gauge the situation then to ask the people who've been there a while?

Staying with his micromanaging-is-bad theme, Gates also endorses the concept of empowering your troops.

'Generals develop strategy,” he notes, 'they don't hover over captains and lieutenants to see if they are doing their jobs on the front lines. There is a reason for the military chain of command … .”

Oh, and there's this: Never skip an opportunity to give credit where credit is due.

'Too many bosses,” Gates contends, 'when congratulated by higher-ups for some accomplishment, are content to take all the credit for themselves. The real leader will give credit to those who did the hard work that made success possible.”

But remember Gates worked in the CIA for 26 years and in 1984 advocated bombing Nicaragua. He's no Pollyanna when it comes to the tough decisions.

Thus, he warns that smart leaders continually must evaluate those around you and lower down on the corporate ladder: '… empower the strong, try to help those who show promise despite shortcomings and get rid of the deadwood.”

And for those who want to institute change - often we have no choice - he cautions the process should be viewed not as a sprint but a marathon.

As I said, we've heard this stuff before.

But there must be a reason why people keep delivering the same message.

' Michael Chevy Castranova is enterprise and Sunday business editor of The Gazette.