BEING A LEADER: ONLY FOR THE COURAGEOUS!

Bill Fitzgerald, Principal with FitzDrake Search, is like a brother to me. Our friendship started when we partnered through Pepperdine University’s Master of Science in Organization Development degree back in the late eighties and has continued to grow from there. One of the brightest and most pragmatic people I know, Bill has a long list of writings and publications behind him. One of these is a synopsis of a recent article titled ‘What It Means To Lead’ that he has graciously allowed us to include on our blog. Enjoy!

“Now more than ever our country, our institutions and our communities yearn for exceptional leadership. Whether it’s the failing banking system, the rising cost of health care, shrinking state budgets or the fact that we are fighting two wars, the solutions we seek will require acts of leadership from many. 

This article presents a very pragmatic way to think about leadership that can empower many to lead. Everything we read in the popular press tells us that exceptional leaders are in short supply. A way to address this shortage is to have a clear picture of what we need and expect from our leaders. This will make hiring leaders easier and will also provide a road map for developing future leaders. With this as our guide, we may actually find there are more leaders among us than we realize!

To understand what it means to be a leader, it helps to define the specific tasks, or the “work” required to be successful as a leader. The “work” associated with being an effective leader can be referred to as the “7 C’s. The 7 C’s are highly interrelated and provide great insight into how effective leaders spend their time and attention.

1. Establish Clarity

Clarity of purpose is typically part of an overall strategy. An effective leader crafts a clear statement of purpose that defines a reason for existence that goes far beyond self interest or economic gain. It is a statement that speaks to a higher level calling and comes from the heart, not the head. It is a statement that resonates with customers and consumers and motivates employees to excel. 

2. Gain Commitment

Once there is clarity, the challenge facing all leaders is how to build commitment. Commitment cannot be legislated if what you seek is intellectual and emotional engagement. It involves being informed, involved, making a difference and having skin in the game.

3. Ensure Coordination

Coordination is about getting key stakeholders all pulling in the same direction. Effective leaders understand the systemic nature of organizations and know how to leverage their full potential by ensuring alignment and being “hands off”.

4. Build Capacity

Building capacity is how you create the capability to deliver results on a sustained basis. This notion of Capacity comes from the late Joel Henning and Jim Meselko. This involves building business literacy, having access to key information and resources, having choice and choosing accountability.

5. Facilitate Change

Effective leaders understand the dynamics associated with change and how to manage change to achieve their desired outcomes. They do this by building alliances and reducing resistance.

6. Demonstrate Confidence

Effective leaders demonstrate a confidence in themselves which gets expressed as respect for those around them. This is based on a set of beliefs and assumptions about people and organizations that are apparent in all of their interactions. These include a true belief in people, operate from a presumption of good will, make courageous choices, acting fully out of integrity, share enthusiasm about possibilities.

7. Apply Competence 

Competence as described here is not usually considered in discussions of leadership. Competence is the application of whatever technical or business skills are necessary to achieve results. First is context, wherein effective leaders bring or quickly acquire business, technical or industry knowledge that enables them to be effective. Second is the fuel, that is highly effective leaders also have a passion for results. 

The work associated with being an effective leader can be daunting. Being a leader is a demanding role that requires hard work and sacrifice. Stepping into a leadership role is a choice one should make with eyes wide open. Those who have already made this choice can use the 7 C’s to assess their own performance and identify areas to improve upon. Anyone in the position of needing to hire a leader can use the 7 C’s to assess potential and make a more informed decision. In either case, the 7 C’s outline a way of behaving that can lead us to the outcomes we hope to achieve.”

Thank you Bill for these powerful insights. If you truly take the foregoing to heart there is no doubt that you will be better able to lead your organization through these extremely trying times. Your people and organization are counting on you for just this! The question I want to leave with you is “What do I need to say no to in order to say yes to being an even more powerful leader?”.