When leadership becomes a quest

[From the ezine of Leadership Wired]

The head of one of the nation's largest credit card issuers learned many lessons in a previous career as a management consultant that he now has the opportunity to apply in his own company.

Richard Fairbank, the chairman, president and CEO of Capital One Financial, shared some of these principles at a recent talk at the Wharton School (of the University of Pennsylvania). Knowledge@Wharton, the b-school's bi-weekly online resource, provided the following highlights in an article titled When Leadership Becomes a Quest.

People are your business's most important asset. "You can't find anybody in corporate America who doesn't agree with this, but their actions are inconsistent with that statement," Fairbank told his audience. An important part of a CEO's job—as well as that of any other leader—is recruiting and motivating employees.

Cast a compelling vision, but don't allow your desire to overshadow your humanity. People are more likely to work hard for and cooperate with leaders who are authentic. Fairbank says this involves "being vulnerable, being honest and showing your weaknesses as well as your bold dream."

Success isn't about an impressive title or large paycheck. Rather, "It's about having a dream, a quest," Fairbank said. "[My father] used to say that, 'It doesn't matter how big the quest is. What matters is how pure the quest is. You can own your own success by virtue of defining it as a quest.'"

People who work in a specific industry often don't see, or respond to, the changes taking place around them, according to Richard Fairbank, chairman, president and CEO of Capital One Financial. That's because the industry's conventional wisdom is so embedded in their brains that they don't notice how stale it has become. "There's an old Will Rogers saying that sums it up," said Fairbank, who gave a talk on leadership this fall at Wharton. "It ain't what he don't know that scares me. It's what he knows that just ain't so."

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