There is a steady stream being written
and taught about leadership these days. There are tips about
leadership, courses about leadership, books, retreats, and continuing
education - all focused on leadership. While all of this material
is useful and can certainly enhance one's leadership knowledge,
for the most part it avoids asking and answering two questions:
1. Why does better leadership make a difference? , and
2. How does better leadership achieve those differences?
We all know we're "supposed" to work to be
better leaders, but why does it matter, what impact does it
have, and how does this all work?
Whenever I ask the "Why" question, the answers
that come to the mind of most people are something like "better
leadership creates more productivity, higher profits, lower
turnover, greater job satisfaction, more loyalty. you get the
picture. But these responses bring us to the real question which
is, "How does better leadership create those things? How does
being a better leader lead to more productivity, higher profits,
lower turnover, greater job satisfaction, more loyalty?" It
is the answers to these two questions which elevate us from
simply learning and understanding better leadership principles
to pursuing a course of action which transforms us and our leadership
abilities into something that really makes a difference.
I often suggest that my clients use their own
experience as their best example. Ask yourself when, during
your career, you felt the most satisfied, most productive, proudest,
most focused, and most committed. When we reflect back on those
times, most of us would acknowledge that we didn't feel like
we did because our "leader" had made a good decision, or that
they had gone through "leadership training" (That term is in
quotes because leaders need to be developed, not trained.),
or that their leaders were efficient, met their goals, or had
success in the past. No, typically we felt the way we did (satisfied,
productive, proud, focused, and committed) because of what we
did - what we accomplished. It all comes back to us and how
we felt. It's generally not about anything external - it comes
down to our emotions. The key to exceptional leadership, therefore,
lies within our ability to relate effectively with people and
their emotions.
Imagine if everyone at work felt satisfied,
productive, proud, focused, and committed! What would the consequences
be? The consequences would be that everyone would create greater
productivity, higher profits, lower turnover, greater job satisfaction,
and more loyalty! The key then, to better performance, is helping
people feel more satisfied, productive, proud, focused, and
committed. Notice the absence of any technical or intelligence
issues? Notice that we've haven't brought up the idea of "motivating"
people? We haven't touched on motivating people for one simple
reason. people can't be motivated! Trying to motivate someone
is analogous to physically trying to get them to do something
they don't want to do. You won't succeed. What really works
is when we're self-motivated - when we do something because
we want to. When we're inspired, we enjoy our work. We're productive
and proud of our efforts. We remain focused and committed to
the task at hand. In short, we put forth out best effort.
Exceptional leadership, therefore, is leadership
that inspires people to give their best effort. Although, for
a leader, being productive and having good time management skills
are important and necessary, they are not sufficient. Having
good judgment becomes increasingly important the higher in an
organization we rise, however it too is insufficient for truly
effective leadership. Exceptional leadership is about relating
to people in such a way as to inspire them to give their best
effort - for themselves, their organization, their community,
their family, and/or their world.
How is this accomplished? The foundation of
exceptional leadership - of inspiring others - comprises thee
areas - Effective Leadership Philosophies (for yourself and
your organization), Effective Purpose, Mission and Values, and
Effective People Skills.
* EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHIES
Leading by Example - Whether we acknowledge it or not, we always
lead by example. In our words (what we say or don't say), in
our actions (what we do or don't do), and in our expressions
(what we show or don't show). The things we do and say, during
moments of "apparent insignificance", make an impression on
those around us.
Servant Leader Philosophies - In our leadership
workshops, I'll ask participants who the most important person
is to a company. The answer, of course, is the customer. The
question that follows next is, "Who is the most important person
in the company to that customer?" Most people get that the person
most important to the customer is the one they come in contact
with - the "frontline". The question that follows is the real
key to a better understanding of servant leadership. This question
is, "What, then, is the job of the manager of those frontline
people?" The job of the managers of the frontline folks is to
make their job as easy and as effective as possible so that
the customer has the best experience possible! If this leadership
philosophy is adopted throughout an organization, it ends up
with an organizational chart that looks like an inverted pyramid.
It is an organization that acknowledges the importance of the
frontline and reflects the philosophy of service throughout.
* EFFECTIVE PURPOSE, MISSION AND VALUES
An organization which inspires the best effort in its people
will attract the kind of employees it wants and needs, and will
retain them. It has a Purpose, a Mission, and a set of Values
that it lives by, it effectively communicates them, and it measures
its actions and decisions against them.
- Purpose is the "WHY" of the equation. It
defines why we do what we do. Each decision and policy should
take the company closer to achieving its "WHY". When a company
has a clearly defined purpose it begins to act as a magnet,
attracting the kind of people who will further the purpose;
people who are like-minded. Not only will having a purpose attract
the right people, but it will also act to retain them.
- Mission is the "WHAT" of the equation. It
defines what the company will be doing to achieve its Purpose.
A mission can be fairly narrow or be somewhat broad. However,
one that is too narrow can unduly restrict an organization from
considering opportunities that would otherwise be an excellent
fit and one that is too broad offers no guidance at all.
- Values are the "HOW" of the equation. Values
define how the Mission will be carried out in an effort to achieve
the Purpose. They define the "rules of the game". Some of them
will come to mind quite easily, things like honesty, courtesy,
kindness, and ethics. But some other important values will only
surface when brainstorming takes place - when different perspectives
and voices are heard.
* EFFECTIVE PEOPLE SKILLS
I'll often ask clients or workshop attendees for the traits
of the best boss they ever had and the traits of the worst boss.
Inevitably, I'll get answers like: (Best) respected my ideas,
worked to develop me, challenged me, listened, empowered me
and let me make my own mistakes,. and (Worst) micro-managed,
was overly demanding, poor communicator, mistrustful, . What's
interesting is that in no case were the technical skills or
the intelligence of a boss either praised or condemned. All
the notable traits, both good and bad, had to do with people
skills. The goal of effective people skills is good Relationship
Management. Relationship Management encompasses the ability
to develop others, inspire others, influence others, resolve
conflict, and build teamwork and collaboration.
CONCLUSION
The essence of exceptional leadership is the ability to inspire
the best effort in others. When people choose to give their
best effort, satisfaction increases, pride develops, innovation
is born, productivity improves, stability prevails, and profitability
increases. The keys to a highly performing organization are
creating an inspiring environment and personally becoming an
effective leader. We can create an inspiring environment by
adopting effective leadership philosophies and clarifying a
Purpose, Mission and set of Values. We can personally become
a more effective leader by honing and acquiring effective people
skills. Become a leader who inspires the best effort in others.
Written by Michael Beck, President of Exceptional
Leadership, Inc., a leadership development and executive coaching
firm dedicated to creating exceptional leadership for higher
profits and greater job satisfaction. Michael can be reached
at 877-977-8956 or mbeck@XLeaders.com, and you can learn
more about the company and these ideas at http://www.xleaders.com./
