THE INGREDIENTS OF LEADERSHIP:
Finding the Personal Power for Moving People and Organizations Into
the Future
By James E. Lukaszewski, ABC, APR, Fellow PRSA
The question every leader asks is, "How can I effectively move
the organization forward in some way everyday?" When loyalty
is at a premium and markets and workplaces seem so unstable, what
is the force that brings focus and forward momentum?
There are crucial behaviors important people, successful executives,
and true leaders use to move processes and people forward. These
behaviors are the key ingredients of leadership. The more of these
ingredients leaders take to heart, teach, and expect of others,
the more power they will have to achieve their objectives.
These behaviors or ingredients are simple, sensible, positive,
sincere, and very doable. You could call them the Be-attitudes of
Leadership because, you see, they start with "be," and
they are attitude-driven behaviors. Here are the top five ingredients:
1. BE POSITIVE
· Behave in positive ways.
· Teach others to have fun and celebrate some success every
day.
· Use positive declarative language.
· Eliminate negative words and phrases.
Example: In normal conversation, when someone says something with
which we disagree, we invariably respond by saying something like,
"You're wrong," or "It's simply not done that way,"
or some similar negative approach. You may explain what is correct
or how you really do things, but your listener is still dealing
with the insult or non-communication of your negative comment. This
makes it almost impossible to hear your constructive language. Negative
comments almost always put us on the defensive even though we have
important, positive, constructive things to say.
2. BE CONSTRUCTIVE
· Insist on constructive behavior.
· Seek to make and solicit positive, constructive suggestions.
· Seek out useful and challenging questions to answer.
· Critique the performance and achievements of others constructively.
Example: Ask anyone to criticize and critique your appearance, preparation,
proposal, presentation, personality, anything, and you're guaranteed
to get dozens of minor negative comments, most of which you couldn't
change even if you wanted to. In fact, most critiques are designed
to elicit negative, unhelpful information and are too little, too
late.
If you want constructive results seek and insist on constructive
suggestions. There will be very few, but they will be more useful.
If you are constructive and seek positive, constructive suggestions,
you automatically control and, therefore, powerfully manage how
decisions are made.
Constructive criticism is an oxymoron.
3. BE OUTCOME-FOCUSED (This means always focus on the goal.)
· Commit to generating and maintaining forward momentum.
· Focus on today and tomorrow.
· Recognize that the past holds very few important lessons.
· Select an achievable, understandable, time-sensitive, worthwhile
goal; then go for it.
· Work in the future tense.
Example: Focus on tomorrow and only take from yesterday, positive,
useful, constructive elements and ideas that can move the process
forward, promptly. Whatever you did with others on various projects,
problems, and situations before you read this article no longer
matters. Focusing on the future allows you to build tomorrow without
all the problems, and misunderstandings of the past. Applying this
single concept will cut the time you spend in any meeting you attend
or sponsor in half. A good portion of most meetings is spent explaining
to those who weren't at the last one what went on and what has to
get done. Then it's necessary to re-explain things because some
of the people who were at the last meeting have a different perspective
than you do, even though they were there. What little time remains
is finally used to get something done and move ahead (because everybody
notices that time is running out).
Outcome focus saves precious time, reduces mistakes and misunderstandings,
and acts as a positive force for moving ahead.
4. BE A FINISHER
· Do what you can.
· Focus on completion.
· Avoid endless and mindless projects.
· Break down the barriers to completion.
· Forecast and then overcome the institutional resistance
to completion.
Studies of management failure and management success show that
the ability to finish a few small but core projects can be the difference
between success and failure. Fortune magazine cites the failure
to complete their own projects and programs as the single most frequent
reason why CEOs are fired.
Most CEOs will tell you that when they analyze organizational to-do
lists, for every 100 projects there are only three to five deserving
or needing completion. For every 20 development concepts, only two
are worth the effort, energy, and expenditure, and half of those
will fail.
Start things you can and will finish. Terminate those things that
can never be finished. Off load those processes that take away the
time, resources, and key attention of your most valuable people.
5. BE RELENTLESS IN SEEKING POSITIVE, INCREMENTAL, PERSONAL IMPROVEMENT
EVERY DAY
· Break problems into solvable, doable parts.
· Resolve each increment of the problem promptly.
· Prepare to be lucky, but remember luck is limited.
· Watch for the big break.
· Crises occur explosively but are resolved incrementally.
Example: Everything we do, know, or create came into being incrementally
. . . recognizable increments usually occur in the correct order.
The most credible leaders and managers are those who relentlessly
and intentionally:
· Learn and grow every day.
· Help those they serve to achieve some positive incremental
progress every single day.
· Identify and talk about the positive increments that those
they work with, supervise, or lead achieve everyday.
· Assess what they've learned, then teach it to others.
Leadership is the strategic force that drives individuals, organizations,
cultures, and societies forward everyday. Leadership is the discipline
of being intentionally constructive with a relentlessly positive
approach to helping everyone.
For a more extensive discussion of all 11 ingredients of leadership,
go to http://www.e911.com/.
Click on "Articles and Monographs" and scroll down to
The Ingredients of Leadership.
James E Lukaszewski is a White Plains-based communications consultant
whose practice involves coaching leaders, usually out of some sort
of trouble or into the future. Check out his Web site at http://www.e911.com/
and e-mail him directly at jel@e911.com.
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