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Exceptional Leadership Inspires The Best Effort In Others
By Michael Beck, Sat Dec 10th
There is a steady stream being written and taught aboutleadership these days. There are tips about leadership, coursesabout leadership, books, retreats, and continuing education –all focused on leadership. While all of this material is usefuland can certainly enhance one’s leadership knowledge, for themost part it avoids asking and answering two questions: 1. Why does better leadership make a difference? , and 2. Howdoes better leadership achieve those differences? We all know we’re “supposed” to work to be better leaders, butwhy does it matter, what impact does it have, and how does thisall work?
Whenever I ask the “Why” question, the answers that come to themind of most people are something like “better leadershipcreates more productivity, higher profits, lower turnover,greater job satisfaction, more loyalty… you get the picture. Butthese responses bring us to the real question which is, “Howdoes better leadership create those things? How does being abetter leader lead to more productivity, higher profits, lowerturnover, greater job satisfaction, more loyalty?” It is theanswers to these two questions which elevate us from simplylearning and understanding better leadership principles topursuing a course of action which transforms us and ourleadership abilities into something that really makes adifference. I often suggest that my clients use their own experience astheir best example. Ask yourself when, during your career, youfelt the most satisfied, most productive, proudest, mostfocused, and most committed. When we reflect back on thosetimes, most of us would acknowledge that we didn’t feel like wedid because our “leader” had made a good decision, or that theyhad gone through “leadership training” (That term is in quotesbecause leaders need to be developed, not trained.), or thattheir leaders were efficient, met their goals, or had success inthe past. No, typically we felt the way we did (satisfied,productive, proud, focused, and committed) because of what wedid – what we accomplished. It all comes back to us and how wefelt. It’s generally not about anything external – it comes downto our emotions. The key to exceptional leadership, therefore,lies within our ability to relate effectively with people andtheir emotions. Imagine if everyone at work felt satisfied, productive, proud,focused, and committed! What would the consequences be? Theconsequences would be that everyone would create greaterproductivity, higher profits, lower turnover, greater jobsatisfaction, and more loyalty! The key then, to betterperformance, is helping people feel more satisfied, productive,proud, focused, and committed. Notice the absence of anytechnical or intelligence issues? Notice that we’ve haven’tbrought up the idea of “motivating” people? We haven’t touchedon motivating people for one simple reason… people can’t bemotivated! Trying to motivate someone is analogous to physicallytrying to get them to do something they don’t want to do. Youwon’t succeed. What really works is when we’re self-motivated –when we do something because we want to. When we’re inspired, weenjoy our work. We’re productive and proud of our efforts. Weremain focused and committed to the task at hand. In short, weput forth out best effort. Exceptional leadership, therefore, is leadership that inspirespeople to give their best effort. Although, for a leader, beingproductive and having good time management skills are importantand necessary, they are not sufficient. Having good judgmentbecomes increasingly important the higher in an organization werise, however it too is insufficient for truly effectiveleadership. Exceptional leadership is about relating to peoplein such a way as to inspire them to give their best effort – forthemselves, their organization, their community, their family,and/or their world. How is this accomplished? The foundation of exceptionalleadership – of inspiring others – comprises thee areas -Effective Leadership Philosophies (for yourself and yourorganization), Effective Purpose, Mission and Values, andEffective People Skills. * EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHIES Leading by Example - Whether we acknowledge it or not, we alwayslead by example. In our words (what we say or don't say), in ouractions (what we do or don't do), and in our expressions (whatwe show
or don't show). The things we do and say, during momentsof “apparent insignificance”, make an impression on those aroundus. Servant Leader Philosophies - In our leadership workshops, I'llask participants who the most important person is to a company.The answer, of course, is the customer. The question thatfollows next is, "Who is the most important person in thecompany to that customer?" Most people get that the person mostimportant to the customer is the one they come in contact with -the "frontline". The question that follows is the real key to abetter understanding of servant leadership. This question is,"What, then, is the job of the manager of those frontlinepeople?" The job of the managers of the frontline folks is tomake their job as easy and as effective as possible so that thecustomer has the best experience possible! If this leadershipphilosophy is adopted throughout an organization, it ends upwith an organizational chart that looks like an invertedpyramid. It is an organization that acknowledges the importanceof the frontline and reflects the philosophy of servicethroughout. * EFFECTIVE PURPOSE, MISSION AND VALUES An organization which inspires the best effort in its peoplewill attract the kind of employees it wants and needs, and willretain them. It has a Purpose, a Mission, and a set of Valuesthat it lives by, it effectively communicates them, and itmeasures its actions and decisions against them. - Purpose is the "WHY" of the equation. It defines why we dowhat we do. Each decision and policy should take the companycloser to achieving its "WHY". When a company has a clearlydefined purpose it begins to act as a magnet, attracting thekind of people who will further the purpose; people who arelike-minded. Not only will having a purpose attract the rightpeople, but it will also act to retain them. - Mission is the "WHAT" of the equation. It defines what thecompany will be doing to achieve its Purpose. A mission can befairly narrow or be somewhat broad. However, one that is toonarrow can unduly restrict an organization from consideringopportunities that would otherwise be an excellent fit and onethat is too broad offers no guidance at all. - Values are the "HOW" of the equation. Values define how theMission will be carried out in an effort to achieve the Purpose.They define the “rules of the game”. Some of them will come tomind quite easily, things like honesty, courtesy, kindness, andethics. But some other important values will only surface whenbrainstorming takes place - when different perspectives andvoices are heard. * EFFECTIVE PEOPLE SKILLS I’ll often ask clients or workshop attendees for the traits ofthe best boss they ever had and the traits of the worst boss.Inevitably, I’ll get answers like: (Best) respected my ideas,worked to develop me, challenged me, listened, empowered me andlet me make my own mistakes,… and (Worst) micro-managed, wasoverly demanding, poor communicator, mistrustful, … What’sinteresting is that in no case were the technical skills or theintelligence of a boss either praised or condemned. All thenotable traits, both good and bad, had to do with people skills.The goal of effective people skills is good RelationshipManagement. Relationship Management encompasses the ability todevelop others, inspire others, influence others, resolveconflict, and build teamwork and collaboration. CONCLUSION The essence of exceptional leadership is the ability to inspirethe best effort in others. When people choose to give their besteffort, satisfaction increases, pride develops, innovation isborn, productivity improves, stability prevails, andprofitability increases. The keys to a highly performingorganization are creating an inspiring environment andpersonally becoming an exceptional leader. We can create aninspiring environment by adopting effective leadershipphilosophies and clarifying a Purpose, Mission and set ofValues. We can personally become a more effective leader byhoning and acquiring effective people skills. Become a leaderwho inspires the best effort in others. About the author:Michael Beck is President of Exceptional Leadership, Inc., aleadership development and executive coaching firm dedicated tocreating exceptional leadership for higher profits and greaterjob satisfaction. Michael can be reached at 877-977-8956 ormbeck@XLeaders.com, and you can learn more about the company andthese ideas at www.XLeaders.com.
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