Solving_the_Leadership_Dilemma

{draw:line} Solving the leadership dilemma that is plaguing most large corporations: The Three Choices White Paper Published: June 2009 Abstract: Leadership is the single most important factor in determining the success or failure of an organization. Corporations are struggling to find leaders capable of navigating the waters of today’s corporate environment. The economy is in the doldrums. The chart below outlines how the current bear market compares to the three previous major downturns. The prevailing belief is that the challenges facing leaders are more complicated than they have ever been. We have made the transition from an agricultural society to industrial to technological and now to informational. We talk about things like how to survive in new economy and ethical leadership. It has led us to believe that being a leader is complicated. In reality, becoming a leader is not all that complicated. The clues are in the world around you. Introduction "Naturally the common people _do not want war: Neither in Russia, nor in England, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, IT IS THE LEADERS of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is TELL THEM THEY ARE BEING ATTACKED, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. IT WORKS THE SAME IN ANY COUNTRY." _ The basis of leadership is getting people to follow. There are whole books on the subject, but the basics have not changed for centuries. Picture the most difficult task you have to accomplish and compare it to this. How do you get the common people to go to war' It worked the same for Hitler as it did for Bush. It will also work the same for you. Determine the things that your organization holds dear. Create a vision that protects those things and shows a future where life for all is better. Last but not least find an enemy. If you can not find a legitimate competitor then create one. People work better when the challenge is tangible. Picture Muhammad Ali before a fight. He always found a reason to dislike his competitor. The Capability of the group We have all been on many projects teams in our career. Can you think of one where the thing that the group worked on did not get better' I can not. As a matter of fact, I have never worked with a team on a project that failed to improve the area of focus of the team. Group’s, especially diverse ones, have an amazing capacity to improve and perform. So how simple is that. Take any problem. Create a small group of diverse people and they will solve it. Companies have been doing that for years. So why are so many companies underperforming or in bankruptcy. Many of these companies are not a success. {draw:rect} One overstated theory that gets a lot of attention is “Get the right people on the bus” While it is true that having the wrong people on your team can be detrimental to performance. The reality is that it is pretty rare to have the wrong people on the bus. How many times do you see coaches come in and win immediately with what is basically the previous loosing coach’s players' It is the same with a new leader. You have to be successful with mostly the same staff. Groups tend to live up or down to expectations. Do not spend too much time worrying about who is on the bus with you. Once the team is moving in the right direction, it will be obvious who is not moving with them. The team can usually deal with this issue without your help, but do not be afraid to move on from an employee if that is the case. So why do so many companies fail when they have teams constantly working on improving' They just are not working on the right things The Right Thing {draw:frame} How you Choose to educate yourself' Understand as much about your industry as possible. Study the industry and your company’s role in it. Take the time to learn as much as you can about every facet of the business and how they work together. Manufacturing, sales, marketing, supply chain, accounting, even janitorial. The biggest opportunities always involve several of these groups and understanding who needs to get involved when is an invaluable leadership quality. Understand and value each part of the team’s contribution. The learning about self is just as valuable. Take a thoughtful and analytical approach to your strengths and weaknesses. Recognize that leaders have a diverse set of tools in their toolbox and that they are constantly working to improve their skills. Focus your learning, but do not be afraid to just read. Some of the greatest ideas come from unexpected sources. Who you choose to spend your life with' Women executives were asked,’ what is the biggest advantage that men have over women in the work place'’ The number 1 answer: A wife. Wives take care of tons of things that are time consuming. Half of which the average husband does not have a clue goes on. These are things that if they were there would take up time, energy and resources. When children are sick or have appointments. Who misses work' I guess that dry cleaning just mysteriously takes and picks up itself. Among women executives, it is not unusual that there husband has taken on these traditional wife roles. As important as taking care of all these details is, it is by far not the important role a wife plays to the executive. The most important role a wife plays is that they are there for you. To talk when you need it, support when you need it and sometimes to kick you when you need it. They are the person in your life who is always on your side. Support when you get down is invaluable. They are there to talk with about all the frustrations and challenges. When a person chooses to value something the results on there decisions are obvious. If you value family over work, then you choose jobs near your family. If you value Christianity, then you go to church on Sundays instead of watching football all day. It works the same in business. If you value ethics over making money then when someone asks for a bribe in order to give your company the big contract it needs. You will pass. Defining your values is the most important thing you can do for yourself. Defining your organizations values is the most important thing you can do for you company. Most organizations have a set of values on the wall somewhere. Pull them down; get your team to decide if they are still relevant then go out and live by them. Hold yourself and your team accountable to the agreed on values. Whenever hard decisions have to be made, use those values and the answer will be obvious. The Challenge {draw:text-box} The traits of leadership have fairly well defined: Intelligence, Integrity, Acheivement Drive, Maturity and Breadth. The trait model of leadership has lost favor in most circles because of its limits. But it’s very valuable not because it tells the whole story but because you do need these traits to be a successful leader. Think of them as like minimum requirements. Having them will not make you a leader, but not having them can be a serious impairment to your chances. The good news is there is a concept of enough. In other words you do not have to be the most intelligent, but you do have to be intelligent enough. Most of these traits are the things your parents tried to teach you. Luckily all can be improved. Once you have met these minimum leadership requirements, then the challenge begins. The challenge is to have the courage to lead. The courage to lead {draw:rect} Groups are a wonderful thing. They are what keep your company moving forward. A focused group working on the right things will have a profound impact on your organization, but I will let you in on a secret. To be a truly great organization it takes the Vision of a leader. The flaw with groups is that they tend to operate based on commonly held beliefs or culture. This is not in general a bad thing. Most problems can be solved that way. But to be great as an organization, it takes something different. It takes the individual contribution of leadership. Warren Buffett famously kept Berkshire Hathaway out of derivatives. Jamie Dimon got JPMorgan out of the subprime business before the meltdown. He did this when everyone around him was jumping in with both feet because banks were making money on these speculative investments. How many of us have the courage to take our group in the opposite direction than that of the masses. To stand in the face of all the dissenters and say this is the right thing for the organization. These moments do not come along often but they do come along. The test of a leader is not how they lead when the group agrees. It is how the leader handles the moment when they must stand alone. I can tell you that the hardest and loneliest place to be is standing alone against the group. Leadership is a heavy load and courage is not something easily found. This is why true leaders are so rare. Conclusion Leadership is not passive. It is not sitting on the sidelines but having the courage step forward. It is having the courage to be a leader. The leadership statement: Leadership is the ability to energize a group to work on the right things, but still have the courage to stand alone. See I told you it was simple. Anything that you can get down to one sentence is pretty simple. It is often said that leadership is a journey. I agree with that statement in so much as life is a journey. If you ever think you have it all figured out, then you are on the precipice of failure. You can never just rest on your laurels. Continue to strive to make yourself better, your life better, your organization better, heck make the world better. It turns out the same traits that will make you successful leader are the ones that will make you successful in life. Embrace the leadership journey.