Rowley Associates

Background

How self-aware are you? Self-awareness is a critical component of leadership. It affects the impact you have on others, your ability to read those around you, and whether you see opportunities as a threat or a challenge. 

To help our clients become more self-aware we often ask them to diagnose the leadership style of other famous, or infamous, leaders. The idea being we see things in others before we see them in ourselves and, using another leaders achievements, temperament, background and approach provides a mirror with which to diagnose our own style – warts and all.

Try it yourself. Spend a few minutes familiarizing yourself with Booker’s achievements, personality, strengths and vulnerabilities and then use this information to diagnose her leadership style. You will have chance to compare your insights with ours at the end of the ‘analysis’.

If you want to take the exercise a step-further take our leadership diagnostic to compare yourself with some of the best in the business or call or email us for a free consult.

On The Couch

Cory Booker is one of the new breed of African American politicians, highly educated, articulate, media savvy and post-racial. As Mayor of Newark New Jersey he has been praised for his deep convictions of social justice, fairness and reform. 

Booker was born in Washington DC in 1969. His parents, Cary Booker Sr. and Carolyn Booker were amongst the first African-Americans to hold executive positions with IBM. Both were actively involved in the civil rights movement of the 1960’s and 1970’s. Booker often talks about the influence his parents had on his reasons to run for public office.

At school Booker was described as a gregarious, well behaved, bright and even tempered. He received a full scholarship to play football at Stanford University in California. He supplemented his studies with roles in student government and volunteering at a crisis-counseling hotline. It was whilst working at the hotline that he took a call that proved to be a turning point in his life. He took a call from a person threatening to jump off a building. Booker reflected, “I remember having this profound conversation about why he shouldn’t jump, and it was almost a gift to me. I’ll never forget the power I felt when he touched hands for me to pull him over. And at that moment, I realized, ‘What am I doing? I don’t want to be a football player. I want to get back to the business of making connections with people through my work”. (1)

Booker left Stanford having won a Rhodes scholarship to attend Oxford University in England. During his time in Oxford he caused some consternation when he joined a Jewish student group. Booker, a Baptist, said at the time he would become more Christian by learning about other religions. Despite calls for him to be dismissed Booker showed his organizational skills and leadership by becoming the group’s president and increasing the numbers of non-Jewish students who joined the organization.

In 1998 he returned from England and, after spending a short time working with the disadvantaged, he ran successfully for a seat on Newark’s Municipal Council, defeating a 16-year incumbent and well-entrenched councilman. Over the next few years Newark’s residents saw Booker stage a 10-day hunger strike to protest over the dangerous conditions of Newark’s neighborhoods and run for mayor (2). The Mayoral race was divisive. The incumbent Sharpe James accused Booker as not ‘being black enough’ and the contest was summarized as ‘a case study in the nationwide clash pitting reformers vs. the establishment, the afflicted vs. the comfortable, the politics of ideas vs. the politics of dirty tricks’. When the votes were counted James beat Booker by .06%. (3)

In 2006 Booker ran again for the office of mayor. On Election Day he won with 72% of the vote. Newark has never been the same since. Since taking office Booker has focused his efforts on tackling Newark’s three main problems – violent crime, poverty and poor education. His vision is to make Newark, ‘America’s leading urban city in terms of safety, prosperity, and the nurturing of family life’. (5)

Booker’s leadership has focused on transparency, accountability and accessibility – he takes ‘Management by Walking Around’ to the extreme and can often be found on the streets of Newark meeting and listening to local constituents at 2:00 in the morning. He also is known for his fierce loyalty to people on his team.

In 2009 President Obama offered Booker the chance to head the White House Office of Urban Affairs Policy. Booker declined citing his on-going commitment to Newark, New Jersey. “For a mayor – to manage change, to make an impact. This is an enviable position to be in if that’s your goal and your dream.”

In November 2009 Booker was named one of US News & World Report best American leaders. (6)

Your diagnosis – some questions to consider:

• How does Booker’s leadership style compare to yours? How might he be like you? How are you different?
• Are your convictions as deeply held and as widely communicated as Booker’s. Are there any business beliefs you have that you would go on the equivalent of a hunger strike for?
• What are Booker’s strengths? For example does he provide a compelling vision of the future; does he live his values and beliefs; how do you imagine he handles conflict – how do you?
• Would working for someone like Booker bring out the best in you?
• Can people trust you will do what you say you will do?

Our Diagnosis of Booker’s Leadership Style

Diagnosing Booker’s leadership style using our model of conviction and connection identifies him as an extreme C2 Leader, with exceptionally high conviction and extraordinary connection skills (7). Using our leadership diagnostic he would score very highly on items such as ‘talks about his most important values and beliefs’, ‘demonstrates a sense of power and competence through communication’, ‘articulates a compelling vision of the future’, ‘is able to manage resistance to change’ and ‘people believe working for Booker brings the best out in them’.

Looking at Booker’s style in more detail his leadership behavior can be defined as Manage: Direct-Lead. This approach stresses leadership, energy, power and expertise balanced with collaboration and support. Leaders who are strong in these behaviors communicate the message ‘I am a strong, competent, knowledgeable person on whom you can rely for effective guidance and leadership’. This leader is likely to be very confident (both in his own capability and that of his team); and realize that ‘the team’ approach is one of the most effective ways of getting things done. This leadership style inspires respect, obedience and support from others.

References

(1)    Headden, S. (2006). ‘The Guy in the Thick of it’. US News.com, April.

(2)    Segal, D. (2006). ‘Urban legend’. Washington Post, July 3rd

(3)    Huffington, A. (2002) ‘The Madness of Newark’s King James’, Salon.com, Nov. 4^th.

(4)    Kennedy, R. (2008). ‘Sellout: The Politics of Racial Betrayal’. New York: Pantheon, 240p

(5)    Cave, D (2006). ‘Pledging to Revive Newark, a New Mayor Goes to Work’. New York Times, July.

(6)    Gilgoff, D. (2009). ‘Knee-deep in Newark’s Revival’. US News & World Report, November, p48

(7)    Rowley, A. R. (2007). ‘Leadership Therapy: Inside the Mind of Microsoft’. New York: Palgrave: MacMillan, 243p