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For
more than a decade, Larcen Principal and Senior Consultant Linda Gaddie
has worked with clients to help them succeed in their business goals.
We caught up with Linda, who is on the road meeting with Larcen clients
up to three weeks or more every month.
Larcen Vision: Can you describe the work you do at
Larcen?
Linda Gaddie: I provide all of the services
that Larcen offers: executive assessment, executive coaching,
strategic planning, team building, and new manager assimilation.
I have a clinical Masters degree in behavioral health as well
as an MBA, and in my role prior to Larcen I was a CFO. Because
of my business experience as a CFO, I have an understanding
of good business practice, have managed finance and accounting,
human resources, risk management, and technology services.
With the Masters in behavioral health, I understand the communications
and team issues that businesses face: human capital problems,
conflict management, team dynamics, and interpersonal difficulties.
I bring both perspectives to the services I provide.
LV: Do you have a particular business philosophy?
LG: I am passionate about the power of leadership to change
organizations. It’s
a mission for me, really – a personal mission. The way that I think about
my job is that leaders often don’t realize the level of impact that they
have on other people’s lives, but the impact of a leader is enormous. Leaders
affect people’s self-esteem, personal livelihood, families, and careers.
I believe that 99 percent of people in leadership roles have as their basic intention
to make their employees and organizations better. What gets in the way of accomplishing
those intentions is a lack of self-awareness, leadership skills, or a lack of
understanding of their role and its impact – not bad intentions.
LV: In your opinion, what is the definition of a good
leader?
LG: Great leadership is about getting the people around you excited
and passionate
about accomplishing the organization’s goals. It is about setting the highest
possible standards for performance and behavior – not because you want
to look good -- but rather because you believe in the capability of individuals
and teams to perform beyond their wildest imagination. People who really understand
leadership know it is not about themselves. It’s about making the people
around you successful and creating an environment where the people around you
can excel. And that includes your boss and your peers. True leaders are “other” focused.
It doesn’t mean you don’t have an ego, but great leaders focus on
making other people shine. And the paradox of that is that you are automatically
successful because other people become your champion.
LV: Is that something that can be taught?
LG: You can teach good leadership practices, and there are also
managerial skills that must be learned, such as planning, goal
setting, monitoring results, and
managing human resources. I developed a model for Larcen of a Leadership Academy
or boot camp, designed as a very structured, intense process of helping individuals,
especially those who are new to the role of leadership or who have not had a
formal process of development. I created the model because we often found people
who had been promoted to leadership roles from individual contributor roles and
they didn’t have the skills and the mental models to move into the job
of being a leader. We assess, teach and provide practice in the fundamental tasks
of leading a group – providing a comprehensive assessment, a year-long
intensive, action learning focused skill building – all for about the cost
of sending a manager to a 2-day off-site seminar.
LV: Who have been the major mentors or influences in
your life?
LG: I’m one of nine children and I see my parents as major influences.
In spite of the challenges of raising nine children, my parents were generous
in terms of what they gave to the community. I feel like I got a solid foundation
and I was privileged to get a good education. They instilled in me a very strong
work ethic and sense of what is morally right and wrong. In addition, a very
dear clinical psychologist friend taught me the lesson of perseverance in the
face of adversity. In my work at Larcen, I try to put those values to work. If
I can help someone use their role as a leader to be more effective, then I can
vicariously have a positive impact on companies and on individuals. Because of
the tremendous impact that leaders have, if I succeed at doing this, then I feel
I’ve helped to make the world a better place.
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