There have been so many books written on this subject (a recent google search on "leadership books" had 687,000 pages) that it is easy to get confused on what Excellent Leadership is, please know that I won't be solving that on this blog. However, in this update, I will a) Simplify a few things regarding leadership, b) dispel a few myths and c) suggest a few key aspects of excellent leadership.
In the area of simplification, I like what John Maxwell said in one of his books on the subject (I have read so many of his books, I can't place the quotes - sorry) when trying to define what it means to be a leader, he said this; "a leader has followers!" That has stuck with me since that second, and I believe this to be the truest definition I have ever seen. Most of us know people in leadership positions, who have grand titles, but in reality aren't leaders at all - just people with titles and ideas that nobody wants to follow. Mr. Maxwell correctly suggests that if you are in a position of leadership and you look behind you and there is nobody there, you are not a leader.
In the "leadership arena" there are many myths that I run across often and I wanted to discuss a few of them today;
- To be a great leader, one must have a "touchy-feely approach to their followers." This is absolutely false, but, I don't want anyone to read this as coming from a cold-hearted narcissist, who only wants people to do as he says. Instead I want to suggest that there is a higher calling of leaders. In order to care about those who are "followers" you must care first about the outcome of the company/organization - if it fails, they will be negatively impacted and it won't matter how many times you said you cared, the question will remain - did you really? Having said that - understanding and caring about what is important to those you lead is a must if you are to lead effectively. As Bob Burg points out in his blog, there is a "Monetary Value to Feel Good Employees" .
- All great leaders work more than anyone in the company! What, how is this in the "myth" part of the blog??? Though it isn't uncommon for great leaders to also be work-a-holics, this isn't always a must for a great leader, and I would even suggest that the best leaders get their companies to a place where they are not having to drive the success of their team any longer (sure hope that proves true in my life). However, great leaders will do "what it takes" and in small growing companies, sweat is usually the most important resource and needs to be a focus. Having said that, there is a danger of a leader who continually is over-worked (another blog all-together).
- Great leaders always succeed. This is the biggest one of all, there could be nothing more from the truth. If you doubt that, study up on the failures of great leaders, there are likely more failures then successes. Having said that, there are sometimes real reasons that people in leadership fail (and/or their companies do). Lisa Petrilli recently blogged "5 Reasons Visionary Leaders May Fail to Execute" and I believe it is a great read!
- Excellent leaders lead as an overflow of "why" they do what they do. Please take 18 minutes to watch this video from Simon Sinek if you have not doe so before, it is foundational to great leadership. If you are a leader asking people to follow you to reach an "end" and it isn't attached to a greater "why" purpose, you will most likely be required to surround yourself with people who will ruin the journey, even if you do find the "end" you want. To me, that isn't worth the journey, though I realize that to some it is.
- Excellent leaders concern themselves with the wants and desires of their followers, either through direct communication or by a systematized method of communication through other leadership (necessitated by size of the organization).
- Excellent leaders establish priorities and focus on them in the workplace. This is by far one of the most important and misunderstood key principles. The reason I say misunderstood is because just because someone does this at work, doesn't mean there is a carryover to their personal life. That is why there are so many great leaders who have had a personal life that is the exact opposite. They disregard family and all things that should be valued in their personal life, while maintaining the highest level of professional efficiencies imaginable. Their company grows to huge profits, while their personal life is crumbling around them. I am not suggesting that these individuals be commended for this, but instead that one who fails in a successful personal life issue, isn't discredited from being a great leader in business, as well as conversely, that one who is a great leader at work, be automatically respected in other arenas as a result of that success (which happens way too often).
- Excellent leaders ask for, accept and apply criticisms. This is an absolute! To be a great leader, you must be willing and able to hear where you aren't succeeding and to work toward growing successes in the areas that you are failing in. However, a leader doesn't create an environment that encourages this type of feedback, all they will receive is what their employees believe they want to be told, leading to certain failure.
- Excellent leaders execute. Not all leaders execute, but the excellent ones do, and will not accept anything less.
- leaders focus on WINNING FOR THEM...sorry, had to put in the plug.
