Replacing Leadership Emc

Replacing Leadership EMC

In 2003, when EMC, a Massachusetts-based information infrastructure provider, began its corporate transformation five years ago, EMC saw a potential issue and opportunity in reduction of future talent and leadership resources. To keep pace with the company's growth, like most global companies, EMC faced the knowledge management challenge of preparing young managers and up-and-coming executives to replace retiring top-level Baby Boomers. With EMC’s continue double-digit growth, they anticipate in 2008 and 2009 the number for leadership talent is going to have to grow by 20 percent. EMC projected a need for another thousand leaders over the next couple of years to keep pace.

To ensure future EMC leaders across the globe are infused to the right corporate culture, the company has created its own corporate university, EMCU. This university not only offers professional and personal development courses, but EMCU also has a leadership program that mentor, develop, train and educate key talent in different skills and tools, in transformational leadership, knowledge management and understanding of EMC organizational culture. EMC also established a leadership organization talent review, which helps them identify capabilities and skills of employee that would help achieve high goals and results. EMC internal efforts were increased by their partnership with Teacher's College Columbia University. EMC, working with Columbia to identify and isolate the attributes and criteria that make its high potentials unique to those of other companies and to determine how those strive for qualities result or translate into learning programs. EMC identified five essential leadership capabilities: leading people; strategic agility, change, and innovation; collaborating in a complex environment; customer and results focus; and global execution. The leadership development curriculum is built around these capabilities. These skills, tools, and training of new leaders will mitigate some of EMC concerns regarding the issue of replacement leaders. What may give EMC the edge is its focus on distinct leadership capabilities. EMC has narrowed down exactly what its up-and-comers need to know, and how it's going to deliver it to them. EMC can provide the leading-edge technology training the company need to compete while also creating the leaders EMC needs to sustain their aggressive growth goals."

The success of this program has been positive. Being an EMC employee with first hand knowledge, EMC University has been nothing but a positive asset for EMC. EMC University has provided variety of opportunities to their employees to refine and develop their professional, organizational, and interpersonal skills and to broaden their understanding and abilities to apply the tools to become better leader when the opportunity arrives or presents itself.

Replacing Leadership Yahoo!

In the past six years, revenue increase nine-fold, creating 30 billion in shareholder value, and expanded growth in talent resources from 3,500 to 12,000. And yet investor lack of confidence in Yahoo!’s comeback, after 18 months of lackluster performance, and a 30 percent plunge in stock price, Yahoo!’s, Terry Semel step away as CEO, but will remain as chairman in a non-executive role. Now was the time for Yahoo!’s Board members to find new executive leadership, to step in with different skills and strengths, and drive the company to realize its potential. For Yahoo!, to realize this potential, the new CEO will need to posses the dynamic leadership skills and character, and knowledge and understanding of Yahoo organizational culture and organizational behavior, to be successful.

In mid 2007, Yahoo board members replace CEO, Terry Semel, with Jerry Yang, co-founder of Yahoo!. During Yahoo!’s annual investor relations meeting, Director Ed Kozel, speaking on behalf