"Leadership is a combination of strategy and character. If you must be without one, be without the strategy." - Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf.
Society is cynical and much less tolerant and admiring of leaders. I returned to the UK this weekend (delayed after Bjork’s volcanic mishap) to vivid images of our scandalous government trying to wriggle its way back into power. And the bunch of tawdry ‘wanna be’s’ camping it up with their lying scripts and make-up to camera. Avoiding the hidden microphones. Embarrassing to say the least. It reminded me how rare real leadership is today. Jose Mourinho inspiring his team to beat Barcelona the other day. Ed Catmull getting the best out of his teams at Pixar. They are notable by their rarity. So (although the consultants wont tell you how to do this) if you want to be a leader you need to be able to answer these 7 questions - at least (or get your team to help you figure them out). You will also need a good dollop of charm, grace and design skill. Oh and creativity and imagination. And you must also believe that sleep is overrated. The Killer Questions.
I stumbled across a similar list of other key traits that someone sent me – I can’t credit them as I don’t know who originally wrote them but they are in the same vein. If you know who originally them let me know as they deserve the credit. They reminded me of the study done years ago that leaders need an iron will and humility to be a true leader. Enjoy the following 7 -
“An effective leader of a culture-driven organization will be recognizable by several traits. When others try to describe him or her, they think of the vision first. The leader is thought of more as a person devoted to a cause than as a manager running a company.” <!--pagebreak--> “He or she articulates and spreads the values of the organization in a way that is explicit rather than implicit, and his or her personal commitment to success is obvious and frequently verbalized.” “The culture-driven leader constantly demonstrates passion and energy for the work to be done and is not alone in doing so. In a culture-driven company, the style of leadership itself is emulated at all levels of the company.”
A calling. The leader must have a sense of purpose that is in aligned with the company's vision. The guts to make the calling personal. It must come from a real place. Otherwise, authenticity is missing and no one sees the leader “walking the talk.” The leader can't be an invention of the marketing department or the face of carefully scripted talking points. The leader has to be the author of the mission and feel a passion for it. A powerful enemy. If there's no one to fight, there's no job for the white knight. Having a dark force against which to fight creates a highly effective leadership goal. The thought or image of an enemy transforms competitors into dragons to be slain by all employees. You believe that you are one of the “good guys.” For workers, this makes coming to work every day more heroic and more of an adventure. An inner circle. Picking a core team is one of a leader’s most fundamental responsibilities. Unfortunately, it's not easy to find and select people who would join a mission. The normal recruitment process does not work nor does the personal address book of colleagues. You network and search for the right people, many of whom are found in unusual places and circumstances. Character and motivation are the two qualities that separate loyal, enthusiastic, workers from mere jobholders. Lots of people can put together good-looking curriculum vitae. Often, though, the best hire is someone who has experienced failure and has something to prove to themselves and the world. The possibility of failure. Working in a constant state of imminent crisis is not for the faint of heart. It can, however, create a company-wide sense that the organization and everyone in it are potential prey for an outside force. Without the risk of failure, everyone will grow complacent and corporate ego will become the silent killer. A sense of crisis keeps the enterprise in an energetic, startup frame of mind. An aura of mystery. A leader can't make everything appear too mechanical. To drive the passion of your company, you have to create some mystery around you. You need to appear in some small, humble way as different as those that look to you. Team members want to follow, but they need a reason. It has to work like pixie dust. The mission. The most important question to ask about corporate culture is whether workers think they're in a job -- or on a mission. A visionary leader is on a mission, and inspires his or her employees to feel that way, too. How do you begin to define the cause? It's a shame that the corporate mission statement went out of fashion, though it's easy to see why it happened. Too many such statements failed at their task. An effective vision has to be one that shakes up the status quo and starts a revolution. No one will ever be inspired by a puddle of ambiguity. Too many corporate mission statements were diluted into dullness by consensus and multiple levels of approval, making them utterly ineffective for rallying the troops. A mission statement, though, is the best leadership tool you can ever invent. In grassroots political organizations, the sense of being on a mission develops almost spontaneously, without central leadership, because enough people believe in the cause. A team with a purpose beats a team with a process any day.
Society is cynical and much less tolerant and admiring of leaders. I returned to the UK this weekend (delayed after Bjork’s volcanic mishap) to vivid images of our scandalous government trying to wriggle its way back into power. And the bunch of tawdry ‘wanna be’s’ camping it up with their lying scripts and make-up to camera. Avoiding the hidden microphones. Embarrassing to say the least. It reminded me how rare real leadership is today. Jose Mourinho inspiring his team to beat Barcelona the other day. Ed Catmull getting the best out of his teams at Pixar. They are notable by their rarity. So (although the consultants wont tell you how to do this) if you want to be a leader you need to be able to answer these 7 questions - at least (or get your team to help you figure them out). You will also need a good dollop of charm, grace and design skill. Oh and creativity and imagination. And you must also believe that sleep is overrated. The Killer Questions.
- Define your cause. What really is the thing that defines the mission you are on.? What is the cause you are leading? Really. (And can you answer the so what question? Why does the world really need us? And why? Really? Can you write it clearly by the following rules?
- Establish your focus. If you spent most of our time focused on just 3 things to get this mission done what would they be and why? And If you only had time for 1 what would that be and why?
- Mitigate your risk. What are the biggest single reservations you have and why? And what is the answer to that reservation? If there are no more than 3 reservations then go back to question 1. Aim higher.
- Closing the gaps. What are the 5 principles you are applying to every decision on the choices you make every day? Do they get you to your mission? How did you calculate them?
- Clear and present value. On a scale of one to ten (or in ascending order of importance) how do you weigh, rank and display the value of People, Process, Technology. Can you explain the relationship between them to your people? Would they understand, buy-in and follow your logic and you?
- Speaking Clearly. What is your definition of Innovation? (Well, every conveniently abstract word you use actually. These words can kill.) List and define the top 20 words in frequent use and get everyone to tell you their definition. Then start again with question 1 – write them down.
- Mastery of your subject. If you could know ONE thing that you didn't know, what would that be? Would that change any of you answers?
I stumbled across a similar list of other key traits that someone sent me – I can’t credit them as I don’t know who originally wrote them but they are in the same vein. If you know who originally them let me know as they deserve the credit. They reminded me of the study done years ago that leaders need an iron will and humility to be a true leader. Enjoy the following 7 -
“An effective leader of a culture-driven organization will be recognizable by several traits. When others try to describe him or her, they think of the vision first. The leader is thought of more as a person devoted to a cause than as a manager running a company.” <!--pagebreak--> “He or she articulates and spreads the values of the organization in a way that is explicit rather than implicit, and his or her personal commitment to success is obvious and frequently verbalized.” “The culture-driven leader constantly demonstrates passion and energy for the work to be done and is not alone in doing so. In a culture-driven company, the style of leadership itself is emulated at all levels of the company.”
A calling. The leader must have a sense of purpose that is in aligned with the company's vision. The guts to make the calling personal. It must come from a real place. Otherwise, authenticity is missing and no one sees the leader “walking the talk.” The leader can't be an invention of the marketing department or the face of carefully scripted talking points. The leader has to be the author of the mission and feel a passion for it. A powerful enemy. If there's no one to fight, there's no job for the white knight. Having a dark force against which to fight creates a highly effective leadership goal. The thought or image of an enemy transforms competitors into dragons to be slain by all employees. You believe that you are one of the “good guys.” For workers, this makes coming to work every day more heroic and more of an adventure. An inner circle. Picking a core team is one of a leader’s most fundamental responsibilities. Unfortunately, it's not easy to find and select people who would join a mission. The normal recruitment process does not work nor does the personal address book of colleagues. You network and search for the right people, many of whom are found in unusual places and circumstances. Character and motivation are the two qualities that separate loyal, enthusiastic, workers from mere jobholders. Lots of people can put together good-looking curriculum vitae. Often, though, the best hire is someone who has experienced failure and has something to prove to themselves and the world. The possibility of failure. Working in a constant state of imminent crisis is not for the faint of heart. It can, however, create a company-wide sense that the organization and everyone in it are potential prey for an outside force. Without the risk of failure, everyone will grow complacent and corporate ego will become the silent killer. A sense of crisis keeps the enterprise in an energetic, startup frame of mind. An aura of mystery. A leader can't make everything appear too mechanical. To drive the passion of your company, you have to create some mystery around you. You need to appear in some small, humble way as different as those that look to you. Team members want to follow, but they need a reason. It has to work like pixie dust. The mission. The most important question to ask about corporate culture is whether workers think they're in a job -- or on a mission. A visionary leader is on a mission, and inspires his or her employees to feel that way, too. How do you begin to define the cause? It's a shame that the corporate mission statement went out of fashion, though it's easy to see why it happened. Too many such statements failed at their task. An effective vision has to be one that shakes up the status quo and starts a revolution. No one will ever be inspired by a puddle of ambiguity. Too many corporate mission statements were diluted into dullness by consensus and multiple levels of approval, making them utterly ineffective for rallying the troops. A mission statement, though, is the best leadership tool you can ever invent. In grassroots political organizations, the sense of being on a mission develops almost spontaneously, without central leadership, because enough people believe in the cause. A team with a purpose beats a team with a process any day.
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