Cianbro's leader knew his direction at a young age

Friday, August 23, 2002

YOUR BUSINESS: Ashok Nalamalapu

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ashok Nalamalapu is president of iCST in South Portland. ICST develops custom software, provides contract software engineers and Integration Services. He can be reached at ashok@i-cst.com, www.i-cst.com or by calling 772-6898.
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Leadership is setting a shared vision, bringing talented people together and inspiring them to achieve a meaningful goal.

Most of us think that by having titles such as supervisor, president or owner, or by sitting at the head of the table, naturally we become leaders. In fact, our followers observe whether we are credible, capable and have the integrity, and only then they decide whether or not we are a leader.

Leaders come from various backgrounds and cultures. We don't need a formal degree to show leadership. There is a misconception that leaders are aggressive. On the contrary, there are silent leaders. They act in such a way that the people willingly follow them. Mahatma Gandhi said, "There go people. I must follow them, for I am their leader!" He did not have any formal authority or a title when he led 200 million Indians to their freedom.

People of different personalities can become leaders. There is no such thing as one leadership style being right and another being wrong. I know of a company, which was run by two people who have completely different styles of leadership; it seems both their leadership styles worked for the growth of the company. Successful leaders may be extroverts or introverts. In general, in the corporate world, facilitative leadership works better than authoritative leadership. Leadership using force or threat does not survive for long.

Leadership is a dynamic process, varying from situation to situation with changes in followers and situations. The challenge for a leader is adapting and responding to the situation while dealing with people of different styles. Good leaders study their own behavior and know themselves well.

A few qualities often found in great leaders:

Effective leaders have a definite purpose in what they do and they are very enthusiastic about it.

Young Peter Vigue grew up in extremely humble surroundings in Pittsfield, Maine. At 8, he pulled a wagon selling cold drinks to truck drivers. At 9, he shoveled driveways and delivered papers to houses including the Cianchette's. At a very early age he had to provide for himself and he knew that the only way to survive was to stay in school and work hard. It was a big motivating factor for him then. Vigue demonstrated leadership skills from the age of 7.

After working his way through Maine Maritime Academy, Vigue went after the big money at sea. Soon realizing that his responsibility to his young wife, family and community could not be fully realized from a distance or on a part-time basis, he returned home to Pittsfield and asked the Cianchette brothers for a job. Looking for more opportunity and personal growth than the confines of a ship could offer - and at 25 percent of his sea-going wages - he started working as a laborer at Cianbro in 1970. Today, he is the president and CEO of the same company leading about 2,000 people. He knew where he was going.

Superior leaders work harder than the team members.

Vigue says, "I have always looked at things in a very objective manner and I recognize my limitations, in that I had an average IQ, not overly intelligent, but always had the mindset that I could and would work harder than anyone else. I have a positive attitude in terms of viewing what some people would consider to be a problem as an opportunity. I never once said no to what I believed was an opportunity, even when it may have been disguised as extra hard work, having to travel away from home, working on holidays and nights, and doing a very unattractive nasty job that no one else wanted to do. People said I had a great attitude and what it took to be successful, and I got more and more opportunities. The only way to succeed is to apply yourself. It is pretty simple, a lot of hard work and desire to be successful."

Great leaders treat people at different levels with respect and fairness. They have a pleasing personality, are very cooperative with their team members and are approachable.

Vigue advises, "Young people can become leaders by differentiating themselves from their peers, and the norm. The real lesson is recognizing that it's not just a matter of intelligence or aptitude but the ability to get along with people. For many people it comes natural. To be able to develop it, you must recognize the value of working with the people, being part of a team, and gaining their trust and respect and you can accomplish great things. The ability to gain the trust, the respect, and work with people is massive.

"It is important to understand that we all have a responsibility to co-exist in this world. Particularly people in this country, think that none of us were pre-ordained to be Americans, to be healthy, to receive the opportunity, benefits that we have received. We were just lucky, privileged and fortunate, to be who we are, where we are, and to have our health, when many others in the world do not have these opportunities or good fortune, and to simply be grateful and understand that and not waste the opportunity."

Ethical leaders give high importance to integrity.

"Your word is your bond - regardless if you tell someone you are going to do something by signing a contract or with a handshake, it is a commitment that will be honored. We honor it," says Vigue.

Productive leaders are solution oriented. They do not spend much time in finding who caused the problem and why. They know that it does not help to worry about spilled milk.

Vigue says, "When we were rebuilding a bridge, there was an incident in 1987 and one of our people was killed. It was a real eye-opener. I went to his funeral. His little daughter comes to me and pulls on my coat sleeve and asks, 'Why did you kill my daddy?' That broke my heart. I had been through some bad, horrific experiences but never like that. I knelt down and talked to her, but I don't think she knew what she was really asking me. Regardless of what happened, in her eyes, I was responsible, and in my opinion, she was right.

"I believe that as a leader of a company we create the atmosphere for people working. We shut the company down and gathered a group of managers and workers to see that this never happened again. We went through an exercise and developed a new body harness. We learned from it and realized it all went back to: Every problem is an opportunity. It becomes an opportunity to improve, to get better, if you are willing to open up your eyes and acknowledge the mistake, but also say that we can improve and do better.

"Our company has worked over 43 million work hours since that day without a single serious injury from an elevated fall. We have become a national leader on safety."

Generous leaders believe in giving.

Vigue: "Give back from which we take. For us, it is more than just making money and more than just participating in the economy. We have a responsibility to participate in society."

The most important thing in leadership is to understand others' needs and act to meet their needs. Leaders constantly learn to improve. If we want to be superior leaders, it is important to strive to internalize these qualities. Let us make a positive difference on this world and our organizations by being effective leaders.

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