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The 10 Truths about leadership
02-Dec-2010
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This week’s growth tip is derived from the book “The Truth About Leadership”. Here is our summary:
Make a difference.
Before you can lead others, you have to believe that what you do counts
for something. It is not a question of “Will I make a difference?”
Rather, it’s “What difference will I make?” Interestingly, the leader
who has the most influence over your people’s desire to stay or leave,
their commitment to the company’s vision and strategy, and how well they
do their job – is not the CEO - it’s their direct supervisor.
Credibility is crucial.
The believability of the leader determines whether people will willingly
give more of their time, talent, energy, experience, intelligence,
creativity and support. Only credible leaders earn the full commitment
of their people.
Core Values matter.
People want to know what you will stand for and not stand for. They
need to see alignment between your actions and the company’s values.
Focus on the future.
Being forward-looking is the quality that differentiates leaders from
individual contributors. Getting your people focused on a brighter
future is one of the leader’s unique roles. This requires you to spend
more time reflecting on the future, more time reading about the future,
and more time talking to others about the future.
You can’t do it alone.
It is not about you. It’s about the relationship between you and your
people. You must attend to their needs, and grow the capabilities of
your people if you want to accomplish extraordinary things. Rather than
thinking that you have all the answers, you need to ask them great
questions. This communicates that you believe in their abilities. Give
them choices. Give them discretion over how things are done.
However, you must then hold them firmly accountable for outcomes.
Trust is earned.
The level of trust others have in you will determine the amount of
influence you have. You have to earn their trust, and to do that, you
need to show that you trust them first. Trust comes first and following
comes second. Trust motivates people to go beyond mere compliance with
authority.
Challenge the status quo.
Great leaders are always associated with challenging the status quo.
Sometimes leaders have to shake things up. Other times they have to
overcome tough industry conditions. Whether your challenges come from
the outside or the inside, leaders make positive change happen.
Lead by example.
You can’t ask others to do something you aren’t willing to do yourself.
Leaders have only two tools at their disposal; what they say and how
they act. What you say might be interesting, but how you act is
crucial.
Leaders are learners.
The best leaders continually work on their personal development.
Leadership can be learned. It is an observable pattern of practices and
behaviors. Learn from your failures as well as your successes, and
always be open to better ways of doing things. You have to have a
passion for learning in order to become the best leader you can be.
Leadership comes from the heart.
You must be honest with your people about the current reality – even if
times are tough. However, it’s your obligation as a leader to
accentuate the positive. Leadership is not about wishful thinking.
It’s about determined doing. It’s not about telling others that they
need to solve these problems. It’s about seeing a problem and accepting
personal responsibility for doing something about it.
A final point. You will never be a great leader if you aren’t doing what you love.
To me, a leader needs to have Character, be Courageous, be an excellent Communicator, be highly Competent, show Compassion and be dedicated to Contributing back to society. I did not mean for them all to start with a "C" -- it just turned out that way.
I also want to underscore one of your points. Two weeks ago I was working with a six-person company and their number one issue was "a lack of a clear and well-communicated vision." I also heard from one of my clients at a Fortune 10 company that they just had a meeting with the CEO and all of the top people complained that their major issues was "lack of a clear and well-communicated vision." A great leader must, as you say, Focus the Future.
Lastly, I LOVE your point that a leader can't do it alone. Spot-on. In today's world things are just too complex and change too fast for anyone to survive, let alone thrive, with out learning to... ask for help!
Another wonderful post -- so appreciated -- thank you.
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| Date | 21-May-2012 |
