Marilyn Carlson Nelson and Curt Carlson – A Contrast In Leadership Styles

Marilyn Carlson Nelson retired in 2008 as CEO of Carlson Companies, a multi-billion dollar international company. Her story is an interesting one though since she is the daughter of Curt Carlson who lead the company in its early days. While one might think being the CEO’s child would have helped her to quickly move up the corporate ladder, Ms. Nelson’s experiences were just the opposite.

Ms. Nelson’s early leadership challenges came when working for her father’s company which clearly operated in the male dominated good ole boy tradition where only men were leaders and women worked in supportive roles. While Ms. Nelson was very successful at the company in various leadership roles, her chance to lead the company did not occur until she left the company, proved her leadership abilities at other organizations, and returned to eventually become CEO.

What’s even more interesting is the contrast in leadership styles between Ms. Nelson and her father. In many ways, the contrast is a clear example of the clear differences that exist between past and present approaches to leadership. Let’s examine some of these differences.

The first difference and likely the most prevalent is the general view of employees and their roles in the successful operation of an organization. When Carlson was run by the elder father, employees were viewed as a resource which was easily replaceable. This approach was based on a premise the external workforce was plentiful and employees better perform well since they were lucky just to have a job.

In contrast, Ms. Nelson’s approach to leading people is very different. Her approach is clearly to view employees as human capital, a valuable resource needed to make the company profitable. Since employees are highly valued in this new culture, the company benefits in two primary ways. First, the current employees are more valued and are more likely to have job satisfaction. Second, prospective employees are more likely to be drawn towards the company when considering their career choices.

The second difference in leadership styles between Ms. Nelson and her father is the view of chain of command at the company. Mr. Carlson, used to a very autocratic approach, lead with a strong allegiance to the chain of command. In other words, one must work through their chain of command before discussing any matters with someone in management higher in the chain.

Ms. Nelson’s approach is very different in that she values collaboration more than chain of command and looks to a stronger team approach to solving problems. Her view is more around making the most effective decisions with each member of her management team providing their specific area of expertise.

The last major difference is more around the influence of stereotypes and there influence of leadership styles. Mr. Carlson, had a very limiting view of women. For years, the company’s external benefit plans only covered men and not women. While the company did create a private plan to cover some of the single women in the company, it was clear Mr. Carlson’s view included stereotypes where women should only stay in the home and take care of their husband. As a result, opportunities for women were limited and leaders at Carlson did not view women as potential leaders.

In contrast, Ms. Nelson’s approach has revolutionized the company and changed the culture to become more inclusive. In fact, women now make up forty percent of the executives at Carlson. One can bet that prospective female employees are now motivated to work within Carlson and contribute to such an inclusive work environment.

This blog entry is based on an internet article written by Jennifer Pellet for chiefexecutive.net (Pellet, Jennifer. Posted 10/8/2008. An Upside Down Career Path to the Top, Retrieved October 29, 2009 from http://www.chiefexecutive.net/ME2/Audiences/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&tier=4&id=E34BB7DCFFD6411AA2FBC1E87F2E2812&AudID=AE720E7DE3FE473693930869A5157C27).