The Adventure of Leadership: An Unorthodox Business Guide

Peter Duncan reviews:

The Adventure of Leadership: An Unorthodox Business Guide
By Hap H. Klopp with Brian Tarcy
$17.95
Paperback, 206 pp
iUniverse, Inc.
June 2003

"It seems everyone knows how to manage. Few know how to lead." And with these words, Hap Klopp, the founder of North Face, a maker of quality outdoor equipment, is off on his adventure to explain what he sees as a critical need in business-the need for "passionate leadership."

Leadership is one of those concepts that resists a nice compact definition, yet it is essential to the success of any business. A company can have a great strategy or a great tactical operating plan, but without passionate leadership those plans are unlikely to turn into results. In his book, Klopp never "defines" leadership, but rather gives many unorthodox and memorable examples of good (and bad) leadership in action.

He writes of the importance of communication and how every decision - even the smallest and most insignificant that a leader makes - is watched and carries a message. What you spend time on and what you chose to address are the most powerful communication tools available. Leaders must lead by example, otherwise their words ring hollow. These points are illustrated with a tale of a North Face employee "discovering" the person working next to him at the painting party was none other than Klopp, the President of the company.

"Leaders understand the implications, ramifications and complications of their actions…Leaders know caring, passion and poetry. Leaders know people." This is not the view of a 'manager' who tends to be focused on producing things and directing people. Klopp and Tarcy bring this maxim to life in a story of how the owner of Kenyon's Market on Cape Cod exercised leadership to get his suppliers and others to come together to allow him to serve his customers following a hurricane. The tale makes one of the central points of the book, "The reality of the [leadership] job is that greatness only comes when others accomplish great things."

Creating a culture where people can flourish and accomplish great things is one of the critical concerns of leadership. You can't be beside every employee all the time. To grow a company must establish a set of informal rules that guide behavior and embody the values selected by the leadership. If a company wants its employees to act with honesty and integrity in all matters, then the leader must be forthright with employees in all interactions. Klopp relates how Boeing took full responsibility for the crash of a JAL 747, over the objections of Boeing's lawyers demonstrating an extreme example of leadership taking a stand to support a company's values. In a counterpoint story, Klopp tells of how one of his competitors, a ski racer, found out to late that the traits which brought success on the race course- a big ego and focus on himself- were dead wrong for leading a business. "He couldn't hold on to good people…When he tried to get others to help him out, no one would. In business…people remember."

Leadership is not an easy thing. Even for "natural" leaders, it takes a persistent effort, each and every day to encourage people to work toward the vision of the company. The small things matter as much as the large and overt. Klopp illustrates this point when telling of Stephen Wolf's turn around of Flying Tiger. For the bold and dramatic, Wolf "fired Pierre (the company French chef) and sold the company yacht", but he also parked right by the door so everyone could see his commitment in the long hours he put in to save the company. Wolf also posted his travel itinerary so all could see where he placed his priorities. Klopp's message: neglecting the little things can undercut your words and larger symbolic deeds.

Effective leadership is critical to achieving the organizational alignment necessary to realize a company's strategy. Effective leaders present the vision in a way that arouses the passion of the employees and demands a reaction. In the words of Klopp, "We wanted to make the plan, and the sacrifices necessary, so clear that those who were not in tune with it would quit recognizing it was time for them to move on."

The Adventure of Leadership is a great book to help inspire anyone trying to get results from their strategy. It is an easy read, as Klopp and Tarcy use simple stories to make profound points about what is required to be an effective leader. Klopp's passion and enthusiasm pour out with each example. In conclusion he states, "Leadership at its best is not a chore. It is a wonderful exhilarating adventure- a voyage fueled by human potential. It is frantic at times, almost manic- like a 100 yard dash rather than a stroll in the park. It is urgent. It is about tapping into the source of power inside each human soul and getting it to care about something you find important." Coupling that sort of leadership with a sound strategy is sure to drive a company to significant accomplishments like those Hap Klopp achieved at North Face.

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