Distinctions of Leadership (excerpt from an upcoming book by Bob Chapman, Ph.D.)

Cindy Trahan — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Distinctions of Leadership

BY BOB CHAPMAN, PH.D.

A business exists to create value. A key element to creating value is to reliably and predictably deliver results. Further value is created when businesses achieve results beyond what is expected and what competitors are achieving. This calls for leadership. Leaders are the source of an organization achieving significant results and creating value. That is, organizations achieve unexpected results, or that which was otherwise not going to occur, because of exemplary leadership.

Leaders create clarity of purpose, appreciation of shared values and an articulation of the future that engages and enables those in the organization to take actions that will lead to results. Leadership intervenes when the desired level or type of results will not occur absent some disruptions. Intervention that produces the results is evidence that effective leaders are present. Disrupting the status quo to improve performance is a leadership role.

Definitions of Leadership

We all know, of course, that there are many qualities and characteristics of powerful leaders in an organization. When executives and managers are focusing on a specific discontinuous change - something big enough to actually transform - there are particular aspects of leadership that must come fore and center in the being and acting of leaders.

I find that getting clarity on the definition of a word is a good place for me to start in developing a deeper understanding, and ultimately a distinction, in a field. This is certainly the case with leadership, and the kind of leadership that is required for strategic execution and transformation. Let’s look at the Oxford Dictionary definition[1]:

lead1 /li;d/v. (past and past part. led /lEd/)

1. cause (a person) to go with one by drawing them along. Show (someone) the way to a destination by preceding or accompanying them

2. (usu. lead to) be a route or means of access to a particular place. Culminate or result in. (lead someone to/to do something) be someone’s reason or motive for

3. to lead people to have or experience (particular way of life)

I would like to look at these definitions with you, and see what we can pull apart that will tell us more about leaders.

Cause or Source

The first word in the first definition gives us insight into leadership: a leader is “cause.” The leader is the cause or source of the strategic execution. Strategic execution and transformation begins with leaders. To look at this further, the definition of cause is: a “person or thing that gives rise to an action, phenomenon or condition. Reasonable grounds for a belief or action.” When we look at the definition of cause, we first see that it is “a person or thing that gives rise to an action, phenomenon or condition.” An intentional leader gives rise to actions.

If we look further, we see that this “rise” is not only an action, but also a phenomenon. Phenomenon is defined as a fact or situation that is observed to exist or happen, especially whose cause was not easily anticipated. Successful strategic execution is certainly a phenomenon, as it is not easily anticipated. In fact, the phenomenon of strategic execution occurs only through the intention and actions of leaders.

I particularly like that in the definition of cause, the word “condition” is used. What is transformed is the condition of the organization. The condition is changed so as to allow dramatic improvements in business results. The intention of the leader is to change the conditions in the business so that execution can occur, which in turn will further alter/improve the conditions in the business.

Leading by Example

Another element of leadership is that a leader causes a person (or organization) to go along with them by preceding or accompanying them. A leader must precede those in the organization in making changes. In other words, if a transformation is to occur, the leader must be intentional about involvement in that transformation. There is no hiding out for a leader in a transformation. Not only must the leader be involved in the change, but she or he must also do so in a public manner. How else can the leader “show the way to a destination by preceding or accompanying” the people in the organization?

Evokes Actions of Others

The second definition also gives us an insight into a leader’s role in transforming a business organization. The definition reads: to lead someone to/to do something. Leadership is about getting people in the organization to do something. In fact, it is getting the people in the organization to do something new that will produce a significant result. In leading a transformation, the people must act to produce a significant result and change the essence of their work and the organization.

Motivates Others

Let’s look at how the leader goes about getting the people in the organization to act; the definition continues, “be someone’s reason or motive for.” The leader is someone’s reason or motive for. People in the organization will act, based on the leader’s being their reason and motive for acting. For a person who has grown up in a company that has a command-and-control culture, it is unnatural to think about being a group of people’s reason and motive for acting. It is much easier to give a command or make an order. What is required for managers who have grown up in a command-and-control company environment (and most have) to make this change is a transformation of themselves, personally. That leads us to the third definition.

Gives Meaning to People Being At Work

The third definition is, “to lead people to have or experience (a particular way of life)”. Organization culture is what gives employees a particular way of life at work. Changing organizational culture is creating a different, particular way of life at work, and clearly this happens only when a leader is involved.

What kind of leadership, then, is the key ingredient in the transformation of an organization? Leadership causes transformation to happen. Leadership leads people to do something. Leadership is reason or motive for. Leadership results in accomplishments of people throughout the organization.

Leaders in Action

Observing a leader at work can be a challenge, since often it does not look like they are doing much. They could be listening, thinking or simply watching others interact.

That said, I offer that what you will observe is leaders:

· Giving meaning and values to the organization;

· Altering the context in order to enhance probability of success;

· Clarifying and communicating the shared values of the organization;

· Making commitment a cornerstone of the organization;

· Clarifying the purpose of the organization and actions taken;

· Focusing everyone on the results to be achieved;

· Generating whatever is required to inspire others;

· Being intentional about actions; and

· Inspiring the organization to achieve results that otherwise were not going to happen

Giving Meaning and Values to the Organization

Organizations achieve results that were otherwise not going to occur because of the being and actions of a leader. Leaders alter the “being” of their part of the organization, giving others a different experience of what it means to be at work. Leaders get their own “being” from their foundational commitments as well as the commitments that they have made in regards to the business.

Altering Context

A leader alters the context and changes the culture of the organization so that the people are able to create or generate for themselves. This is the biggest gift, allowing people to “fish” for themselves. It is like the old saying, “Give a person a fish, they have a meal for the day; teach them to fish, and they have meals for a lifetime.” The impact of a leader is not only teaching people to fish but also creating the environment in which fishing flourishes.

Communicating the Shared Values

The shared values that are articulated and come to be appreciated by the people in the business come from the leader’s commitments as well. The values say what we believe in as an organization, what is important to us, and in what ways we can be counted on. Values for a leader will always have a couple of elements; one is doing what we say we will do. The second is results, or as one leader told me “Results, Results, Results”. It is not that leaders are not compassionate people who care about their employees’ safety and well-being. Most do care quite deeply. In addition, they appreciate that employees’ safety and well-being is intimately related to achieving excellent business results.

Establishing Commitment as the Cornerstone

Leaders have enormous commitment. This commitment is to the success of the organization. In turn, others express their own commitments, and over time, commitment is the common link for those involved in strategic execution and transformation.

Clarifying of Purpose for Organization and Actions

Leaders create clarity of purpose, based on the results that are needed and promised for the organization. A leader interacts with others so they are reminded of the purpose, inspired to act and motivated to take the appropriate actions.

Focusing on Results

The leader’s purpose is to assure that the results are achieved. This includes achieving the results using appropriate values and proper actions. If the results are not being accomplished, then the leader is not getting the job done. While that statement may seem harsh or judgmental, I invite you to think along with me as to what that statement makes available and possible to a person who is committed to being a leader. It puts in stark relief the reason for being of a leader and a measure that is most valuable.

Generating Whatever is Required to Get the Results

Generating is a key aspect of leadership. The leader generates what is required to have the organization or team get the results. When you watch a leader generating, it is evident that the person’s commitment to the team and results is so strong that he/she will keep innovating and inventing until a workable solution is found. The person will not settle for mediocrity or a defeat.

Even when the desired result is not achieved, the generative leader’s position is that time simply ran out before we could find the winning solution. A generative leader churns ideas and alternative solutions over and over, looking for an approach that will inspire the team to action and for a course of action that is likely to be successful. The question that the leader continues to ask is, “How can we best optimize the results, given that we own this situation and have access to a wide range of resources?” There is a commitment to get extraordinary results and if possible, to create a breakthrough.

Being Intentional

Organizations achieve transformations only when their leaders are intentional about the success of the transformation. This means dealing with the discomfort associated with leadership and transformation.

Inspiring Others to Achieve Results

During strategic execution, a leader gives rise to belief in needed actions and assists others in generating the needed actions. A leader assists the organization in achieving what was otherwise not going to happen. A leader accomplishes results through inspiring others to act. Without this kind of leadership, there is little chance that a transformation will be achieved. With this kind of leadership there is enormous possibility that the transformation will be achieved.

Consequences of a Leader in an Organization

The word consequence is defined as the “effect or result”. When we look at the effect or result of a leader in a business organization, the first place we should look is business performance. That is, performance to deliver the specific, measurable outcomes for which the team and organization exists. The consequence of having a leader goes far beyond what may be initially apparent. These effects or results are lasting impacts that go beyond the tenure of the leader.

Altering Context

In basic terms, the result that an organization is achieving is determined in part by the context. If there is a desire to improve the performance, the context must be altered. If the context is not altered, there will likely not be an improvement in performance. As an example, in a client company there is a large manufacturing facility that has achieved extraordinary business results. The results were far beyond what was considered predictable, and to some, what was beyond possible. Nonetheless they accomplished the extraordinary. Part of this accomplishment was teaching them to see context and notice the impact that context was creating.

Communicating

Communication is how the leader impacts and influences others. Leaders create an environment of open, honest and complete communication. Leaders often communicate even when employees do not like what is being said; that is, the leaders are dealing with challenging and difficult topics. Effective leadership communication can, from time to time, evoke a comment from employees like “TMI – too much information”. While complaints like this may be heard, leaders know that they must over-communicate in general and about the difficult issues in particular.

The core component of leadership communication is listening. The quality of the leader’s listening is directly related to the effectiveness of that leader as a communicator.

Upward communication from those in the organization is essential for effective communication as well as success in execution and transformation. The evidence of effective upward communication is the openness of individual employees voicing concerns.

Energizing Organizations

Leaders energize their organizations. A leader creates energy through developing additional leaders on the teams and in the organization. Leadership is given to the people. The empowering, challenging, honoring, etc. remains with the people long after the accomplishment is achieved. They take it with them. It stays even after the leader moves on.

Improving Organizations

Leaders improve their organizations. Leaders demonstrate what is needed for the organization or team to be successful, and instill in the people a sense of confidence that they can be successful in a variety of circumstances.

Those in the organization grow in terms of their understanding of the technical aspects of the work. They grow in terms of their appreciation of what will satisfy the customer and increase financial performance. People grow in terms of their self-confidence and resourcefulness, and in terms of their willingness to try something new to see if it improves performance. Teams and organizations improve their capability and capacity to perform the value-adding actions that will improve the overall performance.

This leaves lasting impacts and impressions on the organization. Leaders leave organizations in much better shape than they found them.

Developing Other Leaders

Leaders develop other leaders. A leader provides the source for the development of others in the organization. When a leader is around, people flourish. There is appreciation of the importance of bringing other people along. It is essential to a leader that he/she appreciates the importance of helping develop other people as leaders; a leader can only move as fast as he/she develops others.

Another part of this development is modeling what it looks like to be a leader, as well as the actions that are needed from leaders. Leaders develop others through modeling and setting good examples.

Engaging and Enrolling Employees

Organizations create value by engaging employees to provide desirable goods and services to customers. The desirability of the goods and services is reflected in the customer paying an attractive amount, which in turn results in profitability and value for the business. While this is simple and straightforward in concept, it is quite another matter to achieve in practice. It requires leadership to engage and enroll employees in acting in a manner that creates value for customers as well as the organization.

Empowering Employees

The biggest gift the leader gives to the people is the capacity to generate possibility and translate that into meaningful action for themselves. This includes being able to see the current context and how that context is playing out. Being able to see the current context enables individuals to see what is missing and to look at inventing what would give a more powerful future than is currently available.

Leaving a Legacy of Leadership

Evidence that a leader has been present in an organization is that people talk about her/him long after they are gone. People remember sayings and actions. They are aware that being in contact with the leader touched their lives. They openly talk about how much they wish the leader were still here, as well as how much they learned from that leader. Tom Stephens, the former CEO of MacMillan Bloedell, LTD, is a good example of this. Long after he left Vancouver, people in British Columbia still talk about his accomplishments. Even people who were not particularly his admirers now talk about what he did as being the right thing and something that few, if any, from British Columbia would have had the courage and clarity of direction to pull off. Part of this was the outrageous results that Tom achieved; along with the way he challenged many myths. The irony is that he was not actually outrageous by most standards, but rather was focused and passionate. In that environment, it was thought of as outrageous.

Leaders create a legacy of leadership not only with their own accomplishments, but also with the accomplishment of those whom they bring into the organization. Joel Staff is a good example of this. He has “retired” twice – from National Oilwell and Reliant Energy, Inc. In both cases he had identified, developed and, with the board’s agreement, selected his replacement. In both cases his replacement was an exceptional talent who was set up well for success.

Research Data

A recent article in the McKinsey Quarterly [2] provides useful research-based validation of the importance of a leader in intervening in the performance of a business. In this study, the authors concluded that “an organization is much more likely to improve its current performance and underlying health by using a combination of complementary practices, rather than any one of them alone”. The authors conclude that there is a base case of practices which account for at least fifty percent of the success found in their data. These base case practices are:

1. Accountability – design organizational structures, create reporting relationships and develop evaluation systems that require people to take responsibility for the results.

2. Clear direction setting – the future is described as broad, stretching aspirations that are meaningful to employees.

3. Culture – a performance culture that emphasizes openness and trust among employees and creates an environment of challenge.

What Does NOT Make a Leader

Pretending

You may remember the line from an old rock song “Yes, I’m the great pretender”. Pretending that someone is being a leader and providing leadership is a foolish act. Those working for the “pretend leader” usually see the situation for what it is long before the peers or the boss of the pretender.

A particularly unworkable form of pretending is denial. That is, ignoring the data and pretending that you do not see the pretender.

Another tip is if you find yourself talking about a leader’s potential (unless they are young or new to the role), chances are you are dealing with a pretender. The concept of potential does not occur when describing a person or business that is producing good results.

Focusing on Personal Attributes

The unfruitful discussions about leadership often start with characteristics of the person, e.g.:

· Our CEO should look like he/she just walked out of Hollywood casting (e.g., Geena Davis, George Hamilton, etc.).

· Our senior executives should all be MBA’s from Harvard University, London Business School or INSEAD.

· Our CEO’s must have done a tour of duty in our largest production facilities (e.g., plants, mills, mines, refineries, etc.).

· Our leaders must have a low golf handicap.

· An effective leader must have charisma, be a terrific presenter, etc.

While it is common to talk about personality and personal traits of a leader, it is of little value. Both practice and the research demonstrate a poor correlation between personal characteristics and a person’s effectiveness as a leader.

Giving the Title

There has been an interesting increase in the use of the word leader in job descriptions and names of management teams in companies in the Western world. This is our regional leadership team…this is our lead geologist…she is our group leader. While the use of the title “leader” has increased, I see little evidence that the number of leaders or the effectiveness of leadership has actually increased. That is because being called a leader and being a leader are worlds apart.

Conclusion

Leadership is a key ingredient in success of strategic execution and transformation. Leadership causes transformation to happen. Leadership leads people to do something. Leadership is reason or motive for. Leadership results in accomplishments of people throughout the organization. Leadership perpetuates the development of others as leaders.

[1] Oxford Compact Dictionary

[2] Keith Leslie, Mark A Loch, and William Schaninger. “Managing Your Organization by the Evidence” The McKinsey Quarterly. 2006 Number 3.

24-Sep-09 2:00 PM

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Distinctions of Leadership (excerpt from an upcoming book by Bob Chapman, Ph.D.)