Phil McKinney: HP’s Corporate Thought Leader
Can you work in a large corporation and still be a thought leader? Definitely!
One great example is Phil McKinney, who in his “day job” is the vice president and chief technology officer for Hewlett-Packard’s (HP) Personal Systems Group.
He is responsible for long-range strategic planning and research and development (R&D) for all of the company’s PC product lines, including displays, mobile devices, notebooks, desktops and workstations.
Besides this, Phil is a highly sought out speaker on creativity and innovation and its impact on business, industries, economies and society.
He creates his own original insights that he shares through his communication platforms – his talks, his blog, his podcast, Twitter, Facebook and his LinkedIn group.
In short, Phil is a great example on how to be a corporate thought leader.
There is no doubt that his efforts as a thought leader takes time and thus requires buy-in from Hewlett-Packard. You might have difficulties getting a similar permission to develop into a thought leader.
Let me help you on some arguments for this.
Can a thought leader help create a better image for your company in the chosen area of the thought leader and beyond? Can this help attract better partners? Can it help attract better employees? Can this help create better overall business opportunities?
My answer is simple. Yes, it can. Phil McKinney is a great example.
The questions you need to consider are: What you can learn from Phil? How you can make something like this happen in your organization?
Hi Stefan,
Interesting article from Phil McKinney. What I learned so far is that CEO’s generally think in terms of Return On Investment (ROI). What Phil is stating is motivational on the behavioral side.
There is a tendency for successful CEO’s to repeat exactly that behavior that made them successful to begin with.
Making a change in the organization either has to go through a business case approach (higher overall productivity, retention of employees, etc.) or through a leadership development program build around the organizational needs / Vision, Mission, Strategy.
Rgds, Hajo.