|
Leadership:
Today's "Tip" is actually a quote from author Dr. Robert
Jarvik. I think it's a great quote because he captures
the essence and effect of leadership. It start's with
vision and ends in results.
Unfortunately, many of today's business, political,
religious, and family "leaders" are anything but leaders.
They have no vision beyond their own self-interest, and
they do not create an environment in which others soar.
Development Dimensions International, a global human
resource consulting firm, identified several telltale
signs of leadership failure. Almost all of them related
to poor people skills. Some of the stronger indicators
were impulsiveness, imperceptiveness, and a dependency
on others for approval. One of the strongest indicators
of leadership failure was arrogance. As the former head
of Russia, Boris Yeltsin said, "You can build a throne
with bayonets, but you can't sit on it for long. "
Other people mistakenly think leadership is all about
expertise. Not at all. Time and again, you'll find
the best leaders aren't necessarily the ones who possess
the most technical knowledge.
All you have to do is look at the economy to know that.
You can ask five different economists to explain what
is happening in the economy and what advice they would
give you, and you'll get five completely different and
contradictory answers.
The folks at the "Fort Worth Star-Telegram" proved that
back in 1997. They even reported their results in the
September 29 issue of "Business Week. "Scott Fagerstrom,
the newspaper's deputy business editor, enlisted the help
of Rusty, a 1700 pound bull, and the help of several
expert stock market analysts to make his point.
In January Rusty was placed in a corral broken into
100 squares, each with the name of a company on it.
Rusty was allowed to let the chips fall where they may.
Based on the bull's droppings, Scott Fagerstrom made
imaginary $10,000 investments into each of the following:
Comp USA, Craftmade, GTE, Harken Energy, National
Semiconductor, Summit Bancshares, and United Heritage of
Cleburne.
How did Rusty fare? At the end of August, his portfolio
outperformed the pros' by 11% and the Standard and Poor's
500-stock index by 20%. Obviously, expertise did not
guarantee the effectiveness of the "expert's" leadership.
No, LEADERSHIP, REAL LEADERSHIP STARTS WITH VISION.
That's how Steve Jobs recruited John Scully to take over
Apple Computers. He planted a vision in Scully that
Scully later planted in others.
At the time, Scully was destined to lead up PepsiCo.
The clincher came when Jobs asked him, "How many more
years of your life do you want to spend making colored
water when you can have an opportunity to come here and
change the world?"
Many people would argue that the best CEO (maybe not the
best person) of the 20th century was Jack Welch, the
former chairman of General Electric. When asked for his
thoughts on leadership, he echoed the same sentiment.
Leadership starts with vision. Jack said, "With leadership
the question at the beginning and at the end of the day is,
'How far can we take this. . . how big can we grow it. . . and
how fast can we get there'?"
With the vision in place, LEADERSHIP IS EXHIBITED IN A
RELATIVE LACK OF FEAR. Leaders aren't terribly afraid
of change, the competition, or the difficulties that lie
ahead. They've got so much passion that they don't have
much time for fear. As August Busch, head of Anheuser
Busch said, "We do not know the meaning of the phrase
'It can't be done'. "
And it is this relative lack of fear, this abundance of
passion, this all-out belief in the vision that turns on
everyone else. Michael Eisner, head of Disney, commented
on that. As the top dog at Disney, he said 18 presidents
report to him, and inevitably the person with the strongest
point of view carries the day. In other words, the
strongest point of view influences where everyone else
will go in the company.
Finally, for today's Tip, LEADERS MAKE THE IMPOSSIBLE
HAPPEN. Not by themselves, of course. But they make
the impossible happen by letting their passion ignite a
spark in others, and then they give others the boost
they need to make it happen.
Successories summed it up this way, "By the strength
of the leader's commitment, the power of the team is
unleashed. "Or La Rochefoucauld wrote, "Nothing is so
contagious as an example. . . (Leaders). . . never do great
good or great evil without bringing about more of the
same on the part of others. "
Leaders make the impossible happen by giving the
needed boost, just like the catapults on a jet aircraft
carrier. When I've worked with the military, they say
it takes a lot of guts to take off in a jet aboard an
aircraft carrier in the middle of the ocean. They know
if the F14 Tomcat depended solely on its own engines,
its destination would be the deep blue under instead
of the wild blue yonder.
To give the fighter planes an extra boost, the carrier
has catapults that accelerate the airplanes to take-off
speed. After that, the Tomcat will achieve, on its own,
speeds faster than the speed of sound. But it needs
that boost. And so do the people around you if you're
going to be a leader.
You may not have the official title of leader, and
you may not have a designated position of power, but
you can be a leader at work or in your community,
church, or family. You can make a positive difference.
Indeed, you should be doing so. It starts with your
vision, your relative lack of fear, and your ability
to make things happen by giving others a boost.
Action on Leadership:
Lots of people live without vision. They don't look
beyond quitting time on Friday or their next vacation.
Well that's survival, but it's certainly a long ways
from being a peak performer or being a leader.
If you don't have a vision that you can easily
articulate in 25 words or less, this is the week to
get one. Think about it. Write it down. Try it out
on a few trusted friends. Get their feedback. If it
isn't initially understandable to them, simplify it
and give it another try. A well-stated vision will
put your life on track and help you lead others.
More articles:
For additional information on the topic of leadership, click on any of the
following:
|
