Alumni& Patrick Cowden: A method of leading like this hasn’t been taught before
On Thursday, 5 June 2014, Patrick Cowden, an expert and a visionary in the field of leadership, shared his rich business experiences with members of the Alumni Club.
In the last thirty years, he undertook fifteen different roles in ten international companies. He introduced the members of the FELU Alumni Club to a method of leading by connecting, which is not taught by any other institution in the world. He believes that this way of leading is the leadership style of the future. Cowden, who says he has been shaped by the three most influential world cultures – the American, German and Japanese culture -, gained his knowledge by observing. ”I don’t have a university degree and everything I learnt I learnt through observation and through my own mistakes”.
And how is his vision of leading in the future different from the existing styles? Instead of changing processes, strategies and information technologies, and firing people, he advises connecting people. In his opinion, the main difference between success and failure in companies is in the connection between employees. In the future, he predicts a move away from current methods of leading.
”Respect, trust and gratitude are the values shared by all successful teams – from basketball teams to teams of managers. It is these elementary values which have crucial influence on their high efficiency”, Cowden adds that the closer we get to the business world, the more these values lose their meaning.
The expert with American-German roots believes that communication between employees and cooperation are the most important determinants of a successful organization. ”How to activate human capital to a full extent in every part of the organization is something all future leaders should ask themselves”.
Špela Bandelj, EFnews
Translated by Živa Furlan
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