G2 On Leadership
Cutting ‘big government’
New Jersey’s new Republican governor, Chris Christie, has forced cutbacks in pay for teachers and superintendents, capped local property taxes, cut pension benefits for state workers, canceled popular public works projects and closed a $11 billion state budget deficit. In spite of these highly controversial initiatives and a blunt speaking style, his popularity in a heavily Democratic state is rising.What is the lesson here for other political leaders?
Excerpts from On Leadership, a Web feature exploring vision and motivation by Steven Pearlstein and Raju Narisetti. To see videos and read the entire panel’s comments, go to
www.washingtonpost.com/leadership.
40l(k)s will have to reveal fees
Administrative, investment charges to come to light
BY MARGARET COLLINS Employer-sponsored 401(k)
retirement plans will have to disclose fees that savers pay on investments and transactions by 2012, the Labor Department said. “Participants will be able to
understand the dramatic effect fees play in the returns that they get,” Assistant Secretary of Labor Phyllis Borzi said. The regulations, which will
apply to the plans by Jan. 1, 2012, will require companies to pro- vide investors information on administrative and investment fees charged to their accounts in their quarterly statements, the department said. Regulators and legislators
have been studying fees for 401(k) plans asmoreworkers use them to save for retirement. An estimated 72 million partici- pants have 401(k)-type retire- ment plans with assets totaling about $3 trillion, the department said. “Participants really haven’t
been confronted with the fees they pay,” said DavidWray, presi- dent of the Profit Sharing/401k Council of America, a Chicago- based nonprofit association of employers that sponsor retire- ment plans. While investors have been
able to get many details on fees upon request or by searching through paperwork, “the differ- ence here is some of that infor- mation is going to be given to you whether you ask for it or not,” Wray said. Participants new to the plans
must receive an explanation of costswhen first signing up for an account, the department said. The regulations also will require 401(k) providers to give partici- pants enough information to al- low cost comparisons with other investment choices and a Web site with additional details. “This rule provides uniform
disclosure toworkers aboutwhat they pay for investment options in their retirement plans,” Secre- tary of Labor Hilda Solis said. Fidelity Investments, the larg-
est U.S. provider of 401(k) plans, has been enhancing participant statements, its online presenta- tion of fees and its marketing materials to providemore disclo- sure, Beth McHugh, vice presi- dent of market insights for the Boston-based company, said in an interview. The newfeatureswill be ready
by the government’s deadline at the latest and “will go beyond the regulations,” she said. About 11million workers have
their employer-sponsored retire- ment plans with Fidelity, which manages $735 billion in 401(k) account assets, the firmsaid. Putnam Investments an-
nounced itwill start disclosing to participants this month more information online about the fees paid on each investment. — Associated Press
temMonday, it couldn’t make its traditional sales pitch to consum- ers:We’reMicrosoft, this product has “Windows”in itsname,geton board now! Instead, it had to ask some-
W
thing different: Trust us to build this platform. You’ve heard that before from
other companies. Smartphones might be the most interesting product of the electronics indus- try, but the flip side of that excite- ment is uncertainty. Buying into a new phone plat-
form amounts to placing an ex- pensive bet.The cost of the phone is the last of it; you also have to add in the cost of a required service plan you might not have otherwise bought, the cost of any apps you buy and—most impor- tant—the opportunity cost of not being able to switch to a better phone for two years without pay- ing early-termination fees. You have to think like a venture capitalist, but without the poten- tial payoff of riches down the road.
Sometimes the bet pays off.
Apple had never built a phone before launching the iPhone in 2007, but that venture has suc- ceeded beyond any sane expecta- tion. Google’s Android operating system didn’t reach the market until after theiPhonehadsecured an enormous head start, but it’s on its way to passing Apple. Sometimes a new phone ven-
ture sinks almost instantly. Mi- crosoft axed its Kin line of smart- phones less than two months after they arrived in Verizon Wireless stores. They still func- tion fine as phones, but they’ll never live up to their advance billing. In other cases, it takes time for
a platform to crumble — usually, after years of success tempt com- panies to slack off. Palm’s defunct Palm OS and Microsoft’s now- abandoned Windows Mobile come to mind. (When I unloaded an old Palm Treo on eBay, I was happy to make just enough mon-
PHOTOS BY EMMANUEL DUNAND/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE VIA GETTY IMAGES The Windows Phone 7, introduced byMicrosoft chief executive Steve Ballmer onMonday, will need a variety of newapps to be a success.
ey on the sale to recover the costs of the now-useless Palm pro- grams I’d bought years ago.) Prior to Windows Phone 7’s
launch, the most uncertain smartphone contender was Palm’s webOS. This sleek, multitasking oper-
ating system looked like a break- through when it debuted on Palm’s Pre smartphone two sum- mers ago. But less than a year later, without any significant hardware or software advances and with flagging support from third-party software developers, Palm’s project appeared to be circling the drain. Now that HP has bought the
company, its prospects look brighter, but only ifHP’s financial backing helps it ship a reinvigo- rated lineup of phones with up- graded software that sell well enough to renew the interest of programmers. Windows Phone 7 faces the
same basic obstacles, although in some aspects Microsoft seems to be off to a better start than Palm. It has lined up the likes of Dell, HTC, LG and Samsung to build devices running this software, ensuring that its success won’t rely on the virtues of a single phone design. And with both
AT&T and T-Mobile selling Win- dows Phone 7 models, it’s not requiring that customers all like one carrier—although its failure to build in support for the CDMA wireless technology of Sprint and Verizon still sets this project back. But WP7’s software selection
seems even more unsettled than Palm’s did when the Pre launched. Inits favor, count the programs
from such name-brand sources as Twitter, eBay, Netflix, EA, Slacker and Amazon’s IMDb that Micro- soft showed off Monday at its launch event inNewYork. Others are on the way, such as Four- square’s upcoming app. And one of the most important mobile applications, Facebook, comes built into Windows Phone 7. (Note that companies that rush
to ship software for new phones face risks of their own: Yelp quickly shipped an app for webOS but now seems to suffer from developer’s remorse.) But then consider all the
nameswehaven’t heard from yet: Evernote, Dropbox, Kindle, Yelp andPandora, tonamea fewpopu- lar on the iPhone and Android that have yet to announce WP7 plans. Quantity counts as well as quality, and here Microsoft will
inevitably start out light-years behind the iPhone and Android. Microsoft might brag about “thousands” of apps in the works, but I would be surprised if a four-digit number of apps were available when the first WP7 phone, AT&T’s $199.99 Samsung Focus, shipsNov. 8. ForWindowsPhone 7 to secure
a viable share of the market, that will have to change. Microsoft will have to work with the tenaci- ty of a Chilean miner at getting developers to write apps for these phones — presumably, after they’ve already put in time on separate iPhone and Android programs. Windows Phone 7 buyers also
have to trust that the company will keep plugging away at its own software, adding such miss- ing features as copy and paste (promised for early next year),
visual voice mail, video confer- encing and voice text input. For all of those obstacles, how-
ever, Windows Phone 7 seems a safer bet than this season’s other mobile product launch: Research InMotion’s PlayBook tablet com- puter. That device represents RIM’s first venture into a new category of hardware, and it doesn’t run on the same operat- ing system as RIM’s BlackBerry phones, which itself was just up- dated.
Windows Phone 7 has one oth-
er thing going for it: Microsoft doesn’t have any other options left. Either this platform survives, or the company gets shut out of the most exciting part of the computer industry.
robp@washpost.com
EZ EE
KLMNO John R. Ryan is president
of the nonprofit Center for Creative Leadership, a top- ranked, global provider of executive education.
In his compelling study ofmodern
presidential leadership, “Eyewitness to Power,” David Gergen (writing in 2000) said the 1980 presidential race between Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter and John Anderson was “the last truly good one the country has had because all three candidates provided clear choices for the electorate. . . . Eachman ran as the genuine article, and people knew what they were getting.” We’ve had some fine public servants since
then, but Chris Christie’s rising popularity points to a lesson that all politicians would do well to remember:Many Americans feel it’s been too long since they’ve seen politicians who aren’t afraid to say what they think and act on it, even if itmeans risking their political future. Right now Christie is governing like he
doesn’t care about a second term Dan Barrett is a Coro
Fellow, in a nine-month leadership training and public affairs program.
Let’s remember that Christie has only been
in office for about ninemonths. It’s far too early for us to tell if this popularity will hold or if his fiscal house-cleaning has simplymade himthe flavor of themonth. Either way, one lesson that politicians should take away fromall this is the importance of sticking to one’s campaign message and following it through to its logical conclusion. Staying true to your word fires up your base and provides the opposition party with considerably less fuel to douse you in.
Sophia Yeung is a Coro
Fellow, in a nine-month leadership training and public affairs program.
I’d argue that assuming
the viewpoint of Joe Six-Pack ismost valuable in the analysis of this case. Showme that these policies work, that something can finally fix our economic crises on state and national levels, and Imay be willing to cut back on pensions, pay teachers less and — hell, while I’mat it — even cut back on themenus in children’s homes. I amwaiting anxiously to see if all of these sacrifices are worth it.
Marshall Goldsmith is an
executive educator, speaker, coach and best-selling author.
While thesemay be
“traditionally” unpopularmoves, they are clearly not unpopular in New Jersey (at least for now).Many Americans believe that their government is unnecessarily wasting taxpayer dollars. The average government employee is nowmakingmore than their counterpart in the private sector. Unlikemany private-sector employees, government employees have often been given very rich pensions and near-lifetime job security. Some who were private-sector employees are now unemployed and angry about these discrepancies. I have been very impressed with the
commitment and work ethic of the government leaders that I have worked with in the past. Many Americans do not sharemy positive views when evaluating the dedication of their government’s employees. The fact that any “anti-big-government” politician is popular today is hardly a surprise! Read the polls.
A former U.S. Senator and
Washington State attorney general, Slade Gorton served on the 9/11 Commission.
In times of deep troubles
about which there is a high degree of public consciousness, leaders like Chris Christie can make tough decisions and gain at least temporary popularity.Winston Churchill is the perfect example. Such decisions aremuchmore difficult when the dangers are either obscure or distant. Under those circumstances only the bravest of leaders, unafraid of losing their offices, will speak out. And even the Christie approval is likely to be temporary and to disappear with the crisis. Churchill is also the best example here, thrown out of office immediately after he wonWorldWar II.
Windows Phone 7 is a big gamble, for both Microsoft and consumers
ROB PEGORARO Fast Forward
hen Microsoft intro-
duced its Windows Phone 7 operating sys-
After traveling to 39 states during the past
two-plus years to engage Americans across the country, it has become clear tome that the people can handle the truth and the biggest deficit we have is a leadership deficit.
The federal government, as well asmany
state and local governments, has grown too big, promised toomuch and becomemore disconnected withMain Street America. Gov. Chris Christie has tapped into these conditions and is capitalizing on them. His efforts will be controversial and are by nomeans perfect; however, he understands that the status quo is unacceptable and unsustainable.
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2010 Former comptroller
general of the United States DavidWalker is president and chief executive of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation.
HELP FILE
Q: I can’t run the old Cardfile programinmy copy ofWindows 7 (64-bit). Is there anyworkaround?
A: I was not aware of this issue until getting an e-mail or two from readers, then seeing how many other users had the issue. It does, in fact, exist: Cardfile, an exceedingly simple info- management programincluded with Windows 3.1 and other old releases, doesn’t run in the 64-bit version of Windows 7 (the most common one on newcomputers). One remedy is to install a
third-party replacement, AZZCardfile (
azzcardfile.com, $29.95 shareware). If you’d rather not buy extra
software, an oldMicrosoft tech- support note suggests a few workarounds to extract data from Cardfile—but the simpler one requires access to a machine that can run the Cardfile program.Good luck with that in 2010. The overriding lesson here is,
So it can offer consumers more options,Microsoft has lined up a variety of manufacturers, including Dell, HTC, LGand Samsung, to make devices that will run Windows Phone 7.
sadly, not a newone: Don’t let your data stay locked up in a programthat’s long since been abandoned by its developers. There’s also a lesson for PC
manufacturers:Making the 64- bit edition of Windows 7 the standard on home computers is a serious mistake when that version delivers fewreal-world benefits but can inflict painful compatibility issues on users.
Q: I just got an iPhone 4. Is it too late formeto get a free case from Apple?
A: It’s too late to get a free case without any effort—Apple ended its giveaway programin early September, a fewweeks ahead of the schedule it had announced in July. (In case you didn’t pick up a
paper, turn on a TV or go online around that time: Apple launched this free-case program to deal with complaints from users who said the iPhone 4 loses reception when held with a hand over a gap between the device’s two antennas.) But the Cupertino, Calif.,
company says it will continue to give free copies of its “bumper” case to customers who call for help with iPhone 4 reception and request a bumper case to deal with the problem.
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