A proven Leadership Structure and Foundation as described by Warren G. Bennis, On Becoming a Leader, 1989
1. Leaders Create Passion.
Managing the passion/dream consists of:
- communicating your passion
- recruiting meticulously
- replacing yourself
Corporate vision operates on three levels: strategic, which is the organization’s overriding philosophy; tactical, which is that philosophy in action; and personal, which is that philosophy made manifest in the behavior of each employee.
Managing your passion
My passion is:______
How I communicate my passion:_____
“The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant.”
Max DePree, CEO Herman Miller, Leadership Is an Art
2. Leaders Learn to Fail.
Not afraid to make mistakes and admit it when you do. Encourage and discuss failures at all Executive meetings
Embracing error
● Recent failure: _____
● Things that I learned, and plan to do differently: _____
“Failure is not the crime. Low aim is.”
John Wooden, former UCLA basketball coach
3. Leaders Ask For and Trust Brutal Feedback.
Having someone in your life who will tell you the truth.
Encouraging reflective backtalk
● People I can totally trust: _____
● Truths that I have learned: ____
“I never know what I say until I hear the response.”
Norbert Wiener
4. Leaders Create Dissent and Challenge Perceptions.
Having people around who have contrary views. Having people around as “variance sensors” who can tell you the difference between what is expected and what is going on.
Encouraging dissent
● People who are reflectors (mirror my opinions and desires) …
● People who are compensators (have complementary views of the organization/team)
● Level of dissent that I tolerate. Low- –Medium–High
“(Leaders) must have someone handpicked for the job of dissenter.”
D. Verne Morland “Lear’s Fool: Coping with Change
Beyond Future Shock”, New Management
5. Leaders Give their Power Away.
Being optimistic and having faith and hope in your staff. Obstacles are simply opportunities waiting to happen.
1. Give your power away
2. Follow it
3. Support it
The Nobel Factor
● Obstacles that block my progress.
● Opportunities that can counterbalance the barriers
“I can’t die. I’m booked
George Burns, Comedian
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6. Leaders Accept and Manage the Pygmalion Effect.
A unique characteristic of superior managers is the ability to create high-performance expectations that their subordinates fulfill. Less effective managers fail to develop similar expectations, and therefore, the productivity of their subordinates suffers, and subordinates often appear to do what they believe they are expected to do.”
The Pygmalion Effect
● Expectations of myself.
● Expectations of my subordinates/team members
J. Sterling Livingston “Pygmalion in Management”, Harvard Business Review
7. Leaders have “The Touch.”
Having a sense of where the culture is going to be— where the organization must be if it is to grow.
The “Touch”
● Recall a time when, in your opinion, you did your very best as a leader of other people. Your experience can be in your present or previous organization, volunteer work, community service, etc. Choose the one you believe is your best.
● What did you do? What were your leadership actions?
● What enabled you to be your personal best?
“It’s not as important to know where the puck is now as to where it will be.”
Wayne Gretzky, NHL Hockey Player
“We know what happens to people who stay in the middle of the road. They get run over.
Anewim Bevan, British Politician (1897-1960)
8. Leaders Envision and Shape their Legacy.
The manger has his/her eye always on the bottom line; the leader has his/her eye on the horizon.
The Longview
● What is the Longview? What does the future look like?
● What will occur? For yourself? The industry?
“In a time of drastic change, it is the learners who inherit the future. The learned find themselves equipped to live in a world that no longer exists.”
Eric Hoffer quoted in Vanguard Management
9. Leaders Engage all Stakeholders.
Balance the competing claims of all the groups with a stake in the organization.
The need for stakeholder symmetry must not be lost in the colorful glories of the kaleidoscopic vision.
Stakeholder Symmetry
● Who are your internal stakeholders?
● Stakeholders Degree of influence/impact…
● Who are your external stakeholders?
● Stakeholders Degree of influence/impact…
“Every decision at my desk is influenced by some, and at times many, of the following: the possible impact on public opinion; the reaction of environmental groups; the possible impact on other action groups – consumers, tax reform, antinuclear, protesters, pro recreational vehicles, etc.; the constraints of government – DOE,, EPA, OSHA, ICC, FTC, etc., etc. – and the states and the municipalities; the effect on inflation and on the government’s anti-inflation program; labor union attitudes; the OPEC cartel. Oh yes, I almost forgot, the anticipated economic profit, the degree of risk, the problem of obtaining funds in a competitive market, the capability of our organization, and – when there is time- the competition.”
Thornton Bradshaw, former President of Arco
10. Leaders are Exceptional Influencers.
Creating alliances with other organizations/teams whose fates are correlated with your own.
Strategic alliances & partnerships
● My crucial alliances and partnerships are:
“Leaders think globally, and act locally.”
Author Unknown
“Leaders see the world globally, and they know it is no longer possible to hide.” Warren Bennis, On Becoming a Leader
About the Author
Dr. Moskal, an architect of organization-wide change for over 35 years, specializes in Leadership Coaching, focusing on helping leaders manage change by modifying individual behavior and creating extraordinary teams. Bill, most recently, was the managing partner with IRI Consultants to Management for fifteen years responsible for the Organization Development division. From 1979 to 1986, he was Corporate Director of Organization Development with Henry Ford Health System. He also served as Assistant Superintendent for the Peaceful Integration Project with the Archdiocesan Schools in Detroit, Michigan, an Associate Professor at Oakland University, and an Adjunct with Seaton Hall University and International College of Naples (Hodges University).