THEME

“This is a journey of self-discovery, to find a sense of your own underdeveloped
leadership capability and your ability to change.”

INTRODUCTION:

Most leaders fail or succeed on their ability to know and understand the people they work with. You get results of your efforts through other people. Leaders who focus on themselves and are insensitive to others fail because there is a limit what one person can do by themselves. To be effective as a leader, you have to be sensitive to each person and to what they are telling you and understand their motivation.

Insensitivity to others is cited as the PRIMARY reason leaders fail. The ability to understand other people’s perspective is the most glaring difference between those who succeed as leaders and those who fail.

“In listening to others and making people feel strong and capable and at the same time giving them some control over their own destiny, will allow for successful leaders to transform others into leaders themselves.”

THE LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE

“The greatest reward only comes from the greatest commitment”.

THE FIVE FUNDAMENTALS OF EXEMPLARY LEADERSHIP:

Challenge the Process
Inspire a Shared Vision
Enable Others to Act
Model the Way
Encourage the Heart

CHALLENGE THE PROCESS:

• Those who lead others seek and accept the challenge—they don’t sit idly by waiting for fate to smile upon them
• All leaders challenge the process
• Leaders are pioneers willing to take risks
• Leaders innovate and experiment
• A leader’s primary contribution is in the recognition of good ideas
• Leaders are learners—constantly learning from their own mistakes, failures and successes

INSPIRE A SHARED VISION:

• Leaders have visions and dreams of what “could be”
• Leaders have conviction to make things happen
• Leaders live their lives backward—they envision the result before they even begin
• Leaders do not command a shared vision—they inspire it
• Leadership is a dialogue not a monologue
• Leaders help others to see the exciting possibilities that the future holds
• Leaders forge a unity of purpose
• Leaders communicate passion through vivid language and an expressive style
• Leaders ignite the spark of inspiration through enthusias

ENABLE OTHERS TO ACT:

• Leaders develop cooperative goals
• Leaders seek integrative solutions
• Leaders build trusting relationships
• Leaders focus on gains rather than losses
• Leaders share information and resources
• Leaders always say “we”, not “I”
• Leaders Increase interactions
• Leaders empower others to see beyond their own limitations
• Leaders Listen, Listen, Listen
• Leaders make honest connections with other people
• Leaders make heroes of other people

MODEL THE WAY:

• Leaders model the way through personal example and dedicated execution
• Leaders are clear about their beliefs
• Leaders are relentless, steadfast, competent and goal oriented
• Leaders produce many small wins and elicit confidence based on those which strengthens commitment to the long term future
• Leaders do what they say they will do—they not only talk the talk, but walk the talk
• Leaders have focused beliefs that guide their choices every day
• Leaders promote high levels of loyalty by setting an example through their own commitment to their beliefs
• Leaders foster pride in themselves, in others and in the company
• Leaders encourage ethical behavior
• Leaders behave with a sense of uniqueness and pride
• Leaders exemplify that values are more about deeds than words

ENCOURAGE THE HEART:

• Leaders encourage those they lead to carry on despite frustration and disenchantment
• Leaders demonstrate genuine acts of caring
• Leaders show people that they can win
• Leaders consistently link rewards with performance
• Leaders make sure people benefit when behavior is aligned with cherished values
• Love of one’s job is a leader’s best kept secret
• Leaders have a deep faith in the human capacity to adapt, grow and learn
• Leaders don’t command and control—they service and support
• Leaders deeply care about others
• Leaders describe feelings of inspiration, passion, elation, intensity, challenge, caring, and kindness—and yes, even love

THE TOP FIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF ADMIRED LEADERS

Honesty—consistency between word and deed
Forward-looking—ability to envision the future
Inspiring—enthusiastic, energetic and positive
Competent—having a winning track record
Fair—showing no favoritism

DEFINITION OF LEADERSHIP

“The art of mobilizing others to ‘want to’ struggle for shared aspirations”.

Or

“The ability to initiate and manage coordinated cooperative activity in achieving business objectives”.

The key phrase above is ‘want to’. This implies intrinsic motivation which is what really raises motivational performance. Intrinsic motivation must be present if people are to do their best. To instill intrinsic motivation, leaders tap into people’s hearts and minds, not merely their hands and wallets. True leaders inspire their people to see their work as a source of fulfillment not just a source of income. Using pay and extrinsic motivation alone can create dependence on expensive reward systems.

If behavior occurs in the presence of a great deal of external pressure—either positive in the form of monetary inducements or negative in the form of threats or sanctions—people are likely to conclude that the external forces both caused the behavior and were, in fact, necessary to produce it……external control erodes intrinsic motivation.

TRADITIONAL ORGANIZATIONAL CLICHÉ = “What gets rewarded gets done”.

INTRINSIC MOTIVATIONAL ORGANIZATIONAL CLICHÉ = What is rewarding, gets done”.

The basic challenge to leaders is to figure out what is rewarding to people. A leader has to ask the question—what makes an activity or a job enjoyable?

• People enjoy an activity because of the pleasure they derive from the experience and the pleasure they derive from using their skills

• They enjoy doing something because the “doing of it” is enjoyable and the positive reinforcement they derive from it makes them want to repeat it

• The opportunity has to exist for them to “outdo” themselves—challenge themselves

In order for leaders to get the best from others and to get them to “want to” perform at their best, there has to exist opportunities:

• To solve problems
• Make discoveries
• Explore new ground
• Reach difficult goals
• Figure out how to deal with some external threat

In order to accomplish the above, leaders have to give power away. Remember that power is not something you accumulate—it’s stockpiling has no use. Power increases exponentially as it is shared with others. The more people who you lead have power, the more effective will be the organization and the more member satisfaction there will be. Power equals ownership.

The challenge to leaders is:

• Know what others can do
• Recognize what others find personally challenging

Leaders, in describing their lifetime personal best experience, always include the following:

• The character of the experience as “challenging, rewarding and exciting”
• The passion as “dedicated, intense, committed and determined”
• The inspiration as “uplifting, motivating and energizing”

Leadership bests also are filled with “stress”. But leaders are significantly different than others in the fact that they are not debilitated by stress but are challenged and energized by it instead. Stress accompanies change and the pursuit of excellence and leaders are always pushing the envelope.

Leaders must create the sense of commitment, control and challenge. People need to believe that they can overcome adversity if they’re to accept the challenge of change and deal with the stress associated with it. Leaders do 3 things to help people cope with stress:

• Building commitment by offering more rewards than punishment—more positive reinforcement than negative
• Build a sense of control by choosing tasks that are challenging but within the person’s skill level
• Build an attitude of challenge by encouraging people to see change as full of possibilities

In order to affect change:

• Pick one major project per quarter
• Implement one smaller improvement every 3 weeks
• In your weekly meetings, ask people what bugs them about their job
• At least 25% of weekly staff meetings should be focused on improving the process
• Make “idea gathering” part of your daily, weekly, and monthly routines
• Commit yourself to focusing on the 3 top organizational roadblocks and clear them out of the way
• Stay alert to ways of constantly improving the process
• Go find what needs fixing—“if it ain’t broke—break it”

CLOSING

If we are to become great leaders, we must learn to depend on one another and create a powerful synergy through interdependence. We must build bridges of understanding and partnership combining our strengths for the good of the whole. All it takes is for all of us to have the heart to care enough to make a difference.

ASSIGNMENT

1. Write your own personal vision statement which is a unique image of the future for
yourself.

2. Once you’ve written it, then try drawing it, find a picture that resembles it or a symbol
that respresents it.

3. Then post this symbol, picture or drawing at your desk to remind you everyday of
where you are going.

“If you don’t know where you are going, you might not get there”.
-Yogi Berra