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"Best Place to Work" CEO shares perspective on values in business

In October 1999, E&SL brought James Blanchard, head of the Georgia-based Synovus Financial Corp., to speak at Emory on "Tending the Heart of a Business." Synovus placed at the top of Fortune's "100 Best Companies to Work for in America" this year.

Blanchard spent an afternoon with students and an evening with business and faculty leaders discussing the values guiding his leadership and the principles of making a corporation a great place to work. Named "most respected CEO in the state" by Georgia Trend in 1997, Blanchard explained that treating his 10,000 employees with dignity and respect is not a means to an end but an end in itself. It is, he explained, a "noble calling...as well as a great business strategy."

Tending the heart of Synovus means, he said, three things: communicating to each employee his or her intrinsic worth, offering employees the opportunity to make a difference, and providing them with the change to be part of a winning team. Toward these ends, Blanchard helped create the Leadership Institute at Synovus. The leadership process begins before an applicant is hired. Candidates for jobs are carefully screened in an effort to ensure that everyone in the "Synovus family" will enter with an eagerness to work and strong moral sensibilities.

Once hired, employees are placed into one of three permeable categories: emerging, executive/organizational, or top level executives.

Headed by Stephanie Alford, the Institute offers employees and managers two to four weeks of intensive training sessions each year. Sessions include systems thinking, personal development, servant leadership, communications, and strategic leadership planning. Former Ethics Center associates Andy Fleming and Steve Olson currently serve as consultants and trainers/facilitators for the Institute. During training sessions, the most promising emergent leaders are handpicked for higher levels of management.

Blanchard emphasized the importance of servant-leadership for those being trained for top-level positions. "The more power you give away, the more power you have," he stated. Supervisors who "salute the flag while kicking the dog" are not wanted in the Synovus family. And the greatest barrier to being both a successful business and a great place to work? Arrogance. While excellence is expected at Synovus, arrogance will not be tolerated. Not only does it violate the values chain, it also makes a poor business strategy. Lack of humility has been the downfall of numerous corporations and executives in the twentieth century. "You can violate these rules [of humility and integrity] for a season, but the trap door will eventually open up," Blanchard warned, "and you'll fall through."

[ Posted by Stacia Brown at February 1, 2000 09:55 AM | More Public Events articles ]

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