Be Accountable

September 2009

LaVerne H. Council

Corporate VP & CIO

Johnson & Johnson

This top global leader, who manages information technology for over 250 of J & J's operating companies worldwide and oversees a budget of over 1.9 billion dollars, credits Millie (her mom), for giving her a real sense of right and wrong. "That's guided my career," LaVerne, the youngest of four children, recalls. "My mom was the hardest working woman I have ever met, a firecracker and a survivor, plain and simple.

From State Farm, (her first job out of college), where she began as a programmer and met her husband, to her current assignment as CIO managing an organization of over 4,000 employees, LaVerne's ability to focus and be accountable and creative has led to key leadership roles in today's competitive marketplace.

LaVerne's Strategies for Leadership

See the potential in people.
"I am a 'coach.' Most of my team would say I challenge them but I am fair. I see the potential in people, and I believe in that. I want to get them to do things they might not have aspired to. A key part of leadership is to inspire and motivate – take employees to the next level, recognize and congratulate them, and move them on to the next business challenge."

Make your current job, your favorite.
"I try to make all my jobs my favorite. I get a job and try to make it the best it can be. I remember when I did inventory to make money while I was in college. It was late at night, it wasn't glamorous, but I learned something from it. All of these learnings from working at different jobs help build a diversity of experience."

Spend some "think" time.
"I try to spend some time, what I call 'think' time, just reflecting on the organization. I want to make sure that I am giving what I should be giving – the insights that the company needs. I do put other people's needs first, and I find that when I do that, the organization runs a lot more efficiently, and people know that I am engaged in what is important to them."

Be focused and accountable.
"I work on keeping my focus by harnessing my energy through people and my own capabilities. I focus or direct my energy with a real keen sense of what needs to happen. My word is my bond. When I say I'm going to do something, I am going to do it. I understand failure and I accept it. But, I learn from it, and am still accountable to the people I have engaged with."

Be creative.
"It is more important for me to bring something fresh to a task than to stick with what has already been done. I don't necessarily believe that my way is the only way, so I am constantly pushing myself to think outside the box, learning from others, looking at how people have done things and trying to apply their models to something new."

See the humanity.
"At J & J, employees, contractors, and vendors are expected to adhere to the tenets of our Credo. Fair and equitable treatment of employees is part of that code. Yet, at times, leaders seem to be held to a different standard. What frustrates me the most is that people won't allow leaders to be people. They try to put us into a paradigm – in my case, as a woman leader – as an African American, woman leader. They think you are playing with a different set of values and priorities than they are. And you aren't. I think in this day and age, we should be past that, and see the humanity in people."

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Strategy For Success: Don't Get Played