Archives For Leadership

12 Leadership Traits: #2 – Courage

November 1, 2013

Aristotle called courage the first virtue because it makes all of the other virtues possible. I believe it to be the most important virtue for leaders in the business profession, as well. Without courage, there is no effective leadership at any level. Without courage, there is no breakthrough innovation or radical transformation. Without courage, there is no resistance to the blurring of the ethical and unethical. The absence of courage will very likely place an organization on a quick pathway to oblivion when business conditions invariably turn difficult.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines courage as, “Mental or moral strength to venture, persevere and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty.” Let us use this description as the basis for our discussion.

If someone were to describe you as a courageous leader, what exactly would they be referring to? What actions or impressions would you have demonstrated to cause such a characterization? What odds would you have prevailed against or what doubts (yours or others) would you have overcome?

I offer the following likely explanations:

• You took risks that most others would have avoided. Perhaps a decision on a new product or service. Or an acquisition or merger. Or a change is business strategy. You stepped out of your comfort zone, took full responsibility, and made something happen based upon your intellect, insight, and strength of character. And your guts.

• You accepted conflict as a natural business occurrence, and you dealt with it forthrightly, candidly, and honestly. You didn’t ignore it or hide from it and thus exacerbate the problem. You didn’t let the conflict escalate until it boiled over. And in the end you made a decision, however difficult, and lived with the consequences.

• You constantly challenged the status quo. You kept asking “Why?” when others seemed perfectly content. You created a healthy tension to become more productive or more innovative or more forward-looking. You created a culture of excellence, adaptability, and a willingness to embrace change.

• You didn’t suffer from the cowardice of silence. You spoke up when others dared not. You raised difficult issues. You disagreed when you felt you were right. You provided tough guidance and counsel when necessary. You provided honest feedback in a constructive way.

• You developed people and then entrusted them to do their jobs. You empowered others and accepted responsibility when they tripped. You gave credit when deserved. You coached and mentored with candor and patience. You praised in public and corrected in private.

Everyone has the capacity to be courageous. It is a teachable skill, and as such is made better with practice and coaching. You too can be a courageous leader. Be under no illusion, however, that it always come easily, for leadership courage is often a lonely, gut-wrenching, nail-biting experience. It’s not always popular, and you will never always be right. Just understand that it’s all part of the package.

Still want to be a leader?

Of course you do. And good luck!

All the leadership traits I write about in this series of posts are clearly identifiable in my main character, Conor Rafferty, in my novel That Deadly Space. Find it on Amazon by clicking here.

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12 Leadership Traits: #1 – Ability to Communicate

October 28, 2013

The ability to communicate gives the prospective leader the opportunity to impart information, influence others, and direct others to action. Without this ability, a leader’s overall effectiveness is diminished.

Why, then, is this trait so critical to a leader’s success?

Good communication skills are more important than ever. Those who possess the ability to communicate skillfully and effectively are greatly needed in a world that is dynamic and changing, challenging and unpredictable, and often confusing and dangerous. Communication skills such as reading, writing, speaking, and listening are essential for a leader who wants to move his/her organization through the fierce, global competition that has become the norm.

Below are several reasons for the importance of communication ability in a leader:

• Inform. One of the primary functions of communication in business is to provide information. Whether the information concerns products, plans, or policies, a leader’s need to inform a diverse audience of employees, customers, and stockholders is crucial.

• Educate. Since education is an ongoing communication process, a leader who spends considerable time, energy, and capital in educating employees about plans, processes, and policies is a leader who is serious about success. The best leaders are very often also the best teachers.

• Clarify. Leaders are routinely required to communicate clarifying information that amends, rescinds, or elucidates previous information that had been provided to audiences either within or outside the company, or both.

• Persuade. A leader who has the ability to communicate persuasively has a significant advantage over others not nearly as skillful. Persuasion should lead to desirable action; action should lead to results. Note that the ability to persuade is far more than spin control or other superficial attempts at deflection or avoidance. Nothing difficult would ever be achieved without persuasive leadership.

• Motivate. An inspirational leader can motivate employees with his/her words and actions; that same leader can motivate customers and clients into taking action on proposals, products, or services. And while it’s true that motivation doesn’t last, neither does a shower, and that is why it’s a worthwhile daily practice.

Communication is a perishable skill, so the leader must maintain proficiency with diligent practice. Can an impressive ability to communicate be a differentiator for the prospective leader among his/her peers? Yes, absolutely! A leader can create great plans for an organization, but without the ability to inform, educate, clarify, persuade, and motivate, those plans will likely not reach maximum effectiveness.

For more on communications, both verbal and written, please see my Kindle eBook How to Become a Successful, Effective Communicator. Find it on Amazon by clicking on the link.

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12 Leadership Traits

October 23, 2013

Leadership has often been described as the ability to get others to follow willingly. Political, military, business, and religious leaders have been studied throughout history in an effort to identify the traits that contributed to their huge successes.

Is there a common thread? And if so, what are those traits?

I spent years as a leader in military and business organizations, and I have studied leaders from those with whom I have had direct contact to those past and present leaders about whom so much has been documented.

I encountered a number of truly outstanding leaders in the business world who were highly successful and widely respected, and who provided inspiration for organizations to achieve remarkable results. In the military, I encountered Marine Corps officers and non-commissioned officers who had been highly decorated combat leaders for their performance under the most stressful and terrifying conditions imaginable, and whose troops nevertheless followed them into that dark hole of battle. With political and military leaders, I’ve studied the likes of Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln, U.S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, George Patton, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Chester Nimitz, John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, and Douglas MacArthur, among others.

I’ve made it a point to learn about business leaders such as Jack Welch, Lee Iacocca, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Ted Turner, Herb Kelleher, Warren Buffett, and more recently, Mark Zuckerberg.

I have identified twelve traits that great leaders seem to demonstrate on a highly consistent basis. Some have strong traits that do not appear on this list and still others sometimes reflect attributes that are less than desirable, perhaps even lamentable, yet who succeed anyway. This list is not meant to be all-inclusive, such that every great leader embodies all twelve attributes. Rather, it is meant as a guide as to what I would consider the commonalities which are shared by many leaders who are clearly exceptional.

Please note that in future articles, I will take each of the twelve traits and elaborate further.

My twelve leadership traits are thus:

1. Ability to Communicate

2. Courage

3. Integrity

4. Discipline

5. Fairness

6. Unselfishness

7. Dependability

8. Vision

9. Assertiveness

10. Professional Competence

11. Judgment

12. Creativity

These are the twelve leadership traits that I have identified among the best of the leaders I have seen and studied.

Are you a leader? If so, how do compare your own self-assessed leadership traits to the above list? If you are preparing for a life of leadership, your possession and embrace of the above twelve traits would not guarantee you career success, since there are no such guarantees, but it would put you in good company.

Very good company, indeed.

All the leadership traits I write about in this series of posts are clearly identifiable in my main character, Conor Rafferty, in my novel That Deadly Space. Find it on Amazon by clicking here.

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Have Americans Lost Confidence in Business Leaders?

September 5, 2013

In a June, 2013 Gallup Poll (Confidence in Institutions), only 9% professed a great deal of confidence in big business, while 13% indicated quite a lot of confidence. In the same poll, 31% expressed very little confidence in big business. Ten years ago the value was the same at 31%. Twenty years ago, 28%; thirty years ago, 26%.

The values for small business were far better by roughly three times in a great deal and quite a lot categories, at 29% and 36% respectively. Only the military polled higher than small business. Americans trust small-business owners in the creation of jobs more than any other entity.

Though the results over thirty years don’t indicate a dramatic shift in the public’s lack of confidence in big business, there is clearly room for improvement. What drives this lack of confidence? What are the sources? Is it the seemingly endless number of highly publicized corporate scandals and criminality? Is it executive compensation? Outsourcing to foreign countries? Mass layoffs? Cutting of or reducing employee benefits? Greed as a primary operating principle?

It is all of the above, and probably more. At the heart of the matter, in my opinion, is executive leadership. Because of the relatively easy access to owners of small businesses, they are known by the public in ways that leaders of big businesses are not. Hence, small business owners are more likely to be accessible, accountable, and admired by the members of their communities when they conduct their activities with integrity and responsibility. If they act otherwise, they’re finished and they darn well know it.

Leaders of large businesses may not be well known to their own employees, much less the general public. They are mostly seen in newspaper or online articles when commenting on quarterly results or gaining millions in stock options or announcing a domestic plant closure or an overseas plant opening. Is it any surprise, then, that the public expresses low levels of confidence in business executives they know very little about, and who they assume know and care very little about them?

Then again, the general public knows little about the military leaders who are entrusted with the nation’s defense, yet they indicate very high levels of trust in those leaders. Why the difference? Why is one group trusted and the other, not so much?

Military leaders are seen as having the public’s well-being at the heart of what they do. They are generally regarded as unselfish, committed to a life of service where the demands are great and the sacrifices are many. Great military leaders are seen as ambitious, sure, but never at the expense of their troops. The American military has long served this nation honorably and skillfully, and its tradition of sacrificial service has earned it a place of special trust with the citizenry.

Business leaders should consider this difference carefully. No, the business profession is not the same as military service. But great leaders are great wherever they are, in whatever capacity they serve. And in all fairness, big business has also unquestionably served this nation well, in peace and war.

So, have Americans lost faith in business leaders? I think not. But public confidence is not improving, which reflects the need for business leaders to think anew how they are perceived by the public, and how that perception can be upgraded. The business leaders in the forefront on this in an honest, ethical, and assertive way will be noticed. And appreciated.

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What Do Good Leaders Have That Bad Leaders Lack?

July 11, 2013

We’ve all seen examples of bad leaders, whether political, business, military, or other. They’re hardly in short supply, and their blundering often results in staggering losses for, among others, investors, taxpayers, or employees. Businesses teeter and sometimes fail, commitments are made but not kept, and ethical and professional standards may be compromised for expediency or self-interest. Meanwhile, others directly or indirectly suffer because of the misguided actions (or inactions) of poor leaders. On the other hand, good leaders seem to be able to navigate the sometimes stormy seas with a clear head and a steady hand, all with an evident focus and sense of direction.

So what’s the difference? What do the good leaders possess that separate them from the others?

Good leaders have many differentiating qualities, to be sure. The big difference, in my opinion, does not necessarily reside in the sheer number of personal or professional qualities that a good leader may possess. Instead, it’s more the extent to which that leader can call upon and utilize those qualities at the right times and in the right dosages. Is it professional competence? No, bad leaders are often very technically savvy. Is it personal integrity? No, some bad leaders are upstanding citizens in virtually every way. Well then, could it be assertiveness? No, bad leaders are often the loudest, most obnoxious, most in-your-face people that can be found.

Then what separates the wheat from the chaff?

I would suggest the following, with the caveat that this list is hardly all-inclusive. It is, however, based upon my own experience as a business leader and a military officer:

  • Ability to communicate. Good leaders are good communicators. They can persuade, convince, cajole, and inspire with their words and their body language. When conditions sometimes go from good to bad, they communicate even more rather than retreating into a shell. They speak the truth, always, even when it’s hot, hard, and unvarnished. They have credibility and they are trusted because their actions always follow their words.
  • Courage. Good leaders are smart and energetic and focused, but they are also brave. They take calculated risks where others hesitate. They keep driving and pushing, especially when the obstacles seem insurmountable. They don’t make excuses.
  • Vision. Good leaders can see opportunities where others see only problems, if indeed they see anything at all. Good leaders have a mental image of what it is they want to create, what it will take to create it, and the benefits that will derive from it. Drive, focus, and discipline may follow, but it all starts with a vision.
  • Unselfishness. Good leaders are not without personal ambition, but they are also not so consumed with their own success that they fail to share the credit with others. The unselfish leader will typically enjoy a level of support in an organization that the selfish leader will never recognize or benefit from.

Being a leader isn’t an easy calling. It’s often hard and lonely and stressful. But the rewards and the satisfaction are great. Possession of the above traits alone won’t guarantee that you’ll be a good leader. But without them, your ability to separate yourself from the others will be considerably more difficult.

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Leadership Roles – The Importance of Mentoring

April 23, 2013

Most successful leaders consider the development of people as a key leadership function. Aspiring leaders need guidance and role models if they are to effectively grow into their own leadership roles. Mentoring provides an established leader an opportunity to influence and teach an understudy by sharing knowledge and wisdom that has been accumulated over years of experience. Thus the mentor can not only reinforce the established practices, core values, and overall culture of the company, but can also challenge the understudy to see and think in new and different ways.

The benefits to the understudy are numerous. Broader knowledge, enhanced critical thinking, and an expanded professional network are but a few of the potential gains. Once the understudy has developed over time and assumed a leadership role, at some point the former pupil will likely become a mentor and pass along the value of their own experience. A culture of continuous learning is thereby established where corporate memory and corporate ideals are shared, reinforced, and retained.

Speaking of benefits, the mentor can reap a significant return for the time and effort spent in further developing more junior associates. Below are several of those rewards:

  • It can sharpen the mentor’s skills. The understudy should be expected to question everything, and in so doing the mentor will be expected to provide thoughtful, reasoned answers. Thinking about and answering questions concerning virtually every area of the business will challenge the mentor. Additionally, the mentor will be dealing with someone who is presumably younger, and who can perhaps bring a fresh perspective to problems or opportunities that the mentor may not have previously considered.
  • It can provide solutions to existing problems. A mentor who tasks an understudy with a specific business problem to delve into and then propose solutions for are not only developing the skills of the understudy, but bringing about a potential resolution to an existing obstruction.
  • It can retain the top leadership talent in the company. Retention and succession planning are important for any organization. Developing home-grown talent and then creating the right conditions for enticing them to stay is a very cost-effective way to build and then keep a leadership team.
  • It can be personally satisfying. If you believe that what you get is in direct proportion to what you give, then having an active role in the personal and professional growth of others will be immensely satisfying. Giving of ourselves is one of the greatest gifts we can offer. Seeing the results of those mentoring efforts giving rise to the blossoming of a successful, competent leader will indeed bring great fulfillment.

Leadership mentoring involves many things, but ultimately it is all about performance. Not just results, not just career progression, but performance. A leader can enhance the performance of an understudy with coaching and direction, to be sure, but that mentoring relationship has the potential to improve the mentor’s own performance, as noted above. Adding bright, motivated, energetic young leaders to the management team can also benefit the senior leader with an improved performance of the organization as a whole.

Leaders have a large stake in mentoring, for the good of everyone involved.

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