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Exceptional Leadership Inspires the Best Effort in
Others
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There is a steady stream being
written and taught about leadership these days. There are tips about
leadership, courses about leadership, books, retreats, and continuing
education – all focused on leadership. While all of this material is useful
and can certainly enhance one’s leadership knowledge, for the most part it
avoids asking and answering two questions:
1. Why does better leadership make a difference?
2. How does better leadership achieve those differences?
We all know we’re “supposed” to work to be better leaders, but why does it
matter, what impact does it have, and how does this all work?
Whenever I ask the “Why” question, the answers that come to the mind of most
people are something like “better leadership creates more productivity,
higher profits, lower turnover, greater job satisfaction, more loyalty… you
get the picture. But these responses bring us to the real question which is,
“How does better leadership create those things? How does being a better
leader lead to more productivity, higher profits, lower turnover, greater
job satisfaction, more loyalty?” It is the answers to these two questions
which elevate us from simply learning and understanding better leadership
principles to pursuing a course of action which transforms us and our
leadership abilities into something that really makes a difference.
I often suggest that my clients use their own experience as their best
example. Ask yourself when, during your career, you felt the most satisfied,
most productive, proudest, most focused, and most committed. When we reflect
back on those times, most of us would acknowledge that we didn’t feel like
we did because our “leader” had made a good decision, or that they had gone
through “leadership training” (That term is in quotes because leaders need
to be developed, not trained.), or that their leaders were efficient, met
their goals, or had success in the past. No, typically we felt the way we
did (satisfied, productive, proud, focused, and committed) because of what
we did – what we accomplished. It all comes back to us and how we felt. It’s
generally not about anything external – it comes down to our emotions. The
key to exceptional leadership, therefore, lies within our ability to relate
effectively with people and their emotions.
Imagine if everyone at work felt satisfied, productive, proud, focused, and
committed! What would the consequences be? The consequences would be that
everyone would create greater productivity, higher profits, lower turnover,
greater job satisfaction, and more loyalty! The key then, to better
performance, is helping people feel more satisfied, productive, proud,
focused, and committed. Notice the absence of any technical or intelligence
issues? Notice that we’ve haven’t brought up the idea of “motivating”
people? We haven’t touched on motivating people for one simple reason…
people can’t be motivated! Trying to motivate someone is analogous to
physically trying to get them to do something they don’t want to do. You
won’t succeed. What really works is when we’re self-motivated – when we do
something because we want to. When we’re inspired, we enjoy our work. We’re
productive and proud of our efforts. We remain focused and committed to the
task at hand. In short, we put forth out best effort.
Exceptional leadership, therefore, is leadership that inspires people to
give their best effort. Although, for a leader, being productive and having
good time management skills are important and necessary, they are not
sufficient. Having good judgment becomes increasingly important the higher
in an organization we rise, however it too is insufficient for truly
effective leadership. Exceptional leadership is about relating to people in
such a way as to inspire them to give their best effort – for themselves,
their organization, their community, their family, and/or their world.
How is this accomplished? The foundation of exceptional leadership – of
inspiring others – comprises thee areas - Effective Leadership Philosophies
(for yourself and your organization), Effective Purpose, Mission and Values,
and Effective People Skills.
* EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHIES
Leading by Example - Whether we acknowledge it or not, we always lead by
example. In our words (what we say or don't say), in our actions (what we do
or don't do), and in our expressions (what we show or don't show). The
things we do and say, during moments of “apparent insignificance”, make an
impression on those around us.
Servant Leader Philosophies - In our leadership workshops, I'll ask
participants who the most important person is to a company. The answer, of
course, is the customer. The question that follows next is, "Who is the most
important person in the company to that customer?" Most people get that the
person most important to the customer is the one they come in contact with -
the "frontline". The question that follows is the real key to a better
understanding of servant leadership. This question is, "What, then, is the
job of the manager of those frontline people?" The job of the managers of
the frontline folks is to make their job as easy and as effective as
possible so that the customer has the best experience possible! If this
leadership philosophy is adopted throughout an organization, it ends up with
an organizational chart that looks like an inverted pyramid. It is an
organization that acknowledges the importance of the frontline and reflects
the philosophy of service throughout.
* EFFECTIVE PURPOSE, MISSION AND VALUES
An organization which inspires the best effort in its people will attract
the kind of employees it wants and needs, and will retain them. It has a
Purpose, a Mission, and a set of Values that it lives by, it effectively
communicates them, and it measures its actions and decisions against them.
- Purpose is the "WHY" of the equation. It defines why we do what we do.
Each decision and policy should take the company closer to achieving its
"WHY". When a company has a clearly defined purpose it begins to act as a
magnet, attracting the kind of people who will further the purpose; people
who are like-minded. Not only will having a purpose attract the right
people, but it will also act to retain them.
- Mission is the "WHAT" of the equation. It defines what the company will be
doing to achieve its Purpose. A mission can be fairly narrow or be somewhat
broad. However, one that is too narrow can unduly restrict an organization
from considering opportunities that would otherwise be an excellent fit and
one that is too broad offers no guidance at all.
- Values are the "HOW" of the equation. Values define how the Mission will
be carried out in an effort to achieve the Purpose. They define the “rules
of the game”. Some of them will come to mind quite easily, things like
honesty, courtesy, kindness, and ethics. But some other important values
will only surface when brainstorming takes place - when different
perspectives and voices are heard.
* EFFECTIVE PEOPLE SKILLS
I’ll often ask clients or workshop attendees for the traits of the 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 and let me make my own mistakes,… and (Worst)
micro-managed, was overly demanding, poor communicator, mistrustful, …
What’s interesting is that in no case were the technical skills or the
intelligence of a boss either praised or condemned. All the notable traits,
both good and bad, had to do with people skills. The goal of effective
people skills is good Relationship Management. Relationship Management
encompasses the ability to develop others, inspire others, influence others,
resolve conflict, and build teamwork and collaboration.
CONCLUSION
The essence of exceptional leadership is the ability to inspire the best
effort in others. When people choose to give their best effort, satisfaction
increases, pride develops, innovation is born, productivity improves,
stability prevails, and profitability increases. The keys to a highly
performing organization are creating an inspiring environment and personally
becoming an exceptional leader. We can create an inspiring environment by
adopting effective leadership philosophies and clarifying a Purpose, Mission
and set of Values. We can personally become a more effective leader by
honing and acquiring effective people skills. Become a leader who inspires
the best effort in others.
About the Author
Michael Beck is President of Exceptional Leadership, Inc., a leadership
development and executive coaching firm dedicated to creating exceptional
leadership for higher profits and greater job satisfaction. Michael can be
reached at 877-977-8956 or mbeck@XLeaders.com, and you can learn more about
the company and these ideas at
www.XLeaders.com.
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