HHHP Director McCarthy Leads Seminar Session on Leadership
On November 6th, Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior and Director of the BU HHHP Dr. Jack McCarthy led a seminar session entitled “Perspectives on Leadership.”
McCarthy’s lecture began with a video clip of an iconic dance performance by Fred Astaire and Eleanor Powell from the 1940 Hollywood film, Broadway Melody set to the song, “Begin the Beguine.” McCarthy explained that, even though that dance is widely considered the greatest tandem dance performance in Hollywood history, Eleanor Powell was not a professional dancer. She had been a competitive tap dancer in high school, but as McCarthy described, that had been the extent of her experience. Fred Astaire had been assigned to work with Powell because his usual partner, Ginger Rogers, had a conflicting commitment with another movie at that time. McCarthy invited the Fellows to consider how Astaire, the most talented dancer in Hollywood at the time, succeeded in working with a relative novice to achieve such incredible results, and what leadership lessons could be learned from his example.
This discussion led to McCarthy’s description of the Johari Window, a technique that helps people to better understand their relationship with themselves and others. 
McCarthy explained that, through feedback and disclosure, we can reduce the “blind” and “unknown” areas—the information about ourselves that we do not know, and the information about ourselves that others do not know. Fred Astaire and Eleanor Powell had a contentious relationship, but they communicated well and built a shared vision of the performance they sought to achieve.
In addition to their effective collaboration, there were a number of innovative support mechanisms involving the stage and orchestra setup that were also instrumental in their success.
The seminar then continued with discussions about how trust and respect are required in order for feedback and disclosure to happen, and that leadership begins with values. McCarthy invoked the DWYSYWD principle—”Do What You Say You Will Do”—and emphasized that “the leader holds the brush that paints the picture of where we are going.”
The Fellows then engaged in a number of exercises designed to promote self-awareness and dialogue. They shared stories of when their leadership was tested, and then McCarthy described the case of CVS and its decision to discontinue cigarette sales—one of the most widely reported corporate social responsibility stories in recent memory—as an example of values-based decision making. He concluded by urging Fellows to be clear on their values and vision, and to articulate them in ways that will inspire others to want to join them. That, he emphasized, is the leadership challenge of today.