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By
Paul Deis, CEO, PROACTION
Article Summary – this article continues the discussion of how to create
high, sustained levels of engagement by those that
comprise an organization. Here, we discuss what true
leadership is, the behaviors that comprise it, and
how effective leadership is an essential, must-have,
management Best Practice for a sustained,
high-performance organization. Topics include:
Previous discussion of the essentiality of
engagement for generating a Best Practice
organization demonstrated its dependence on
effective, true leadership. So how does leadership
generate engagement? Are there specific aspects of
varying leadership methods and styles that lead to
high, sustained levels of engagement?
Research Validation of Leadership
The short answer is “yes.” Among the most
unambiguous research on the relationship between
leadership, engagement and sustained high
performance is work done over many years by the
leading consulting firm, McKinsey & Company. There
are three critical management Best Practices
validated by this research. Each of these
practices, on its own, leads to a clear outcome or
result to enhance the effectiveness of the
organization.
However, put together, each interacts, reinforces
and strengthens the others in a synergistic way to
substantially increase the power of their effect.
These three Best Practices are:
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Clear roles
– this means that everyone has a very clear understanding of what
they are working toward, the vision that drives
the whole organization, as well as its specific
aspect in their work area. They know what is
expected of them – when they are making good
progress and when not – and on their own, not by
“checking with the boss” every five minutes.
a
In this context, a person knows what skills can be
enhanced to good work result effect, and which may
be irrelevant. He/she can prioritize time
allocations in a way that makes sense and supports
high performance levels. |
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Inspiring vision
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When conveyed by an effective leader, the
organization’s vision brings alignment
between the vision, its details, and what
people are actually doing. A powerful
vision moves people beyond “motivation” and
“incentives” to inspiration – activity that
gives meaning to their life. A compelling
vision is a good answer to the question of
“what are we giving our life for?” |
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Open, trusting culture
– people cannot function effectively if they
have to constantly second-guess what they say
and do, fearful for reprisals, insults,
reprimands, or punishment.
If their co-workers are scheming for their
jobs, or there is withholding of information
to strengthen personal power positions,
there will be severely blocked flows of
information, communication and collaboration
that are essential to high performance.
a
Put another way – an open, trusting work environment
eliminates all of the thought, time and energy that
has to be devoted to simply protecting one’s self,
to second-guessing, gossiping, the grapevine (always
vigorous in dysfunctional cultures), and jockeying
for power. This time and energy can then be devoted
to the value-added tasks at hand, that advance the
individual effort, work team, and organization
towards its vision. Other efforts simply go in a
circle, in effect, degrading forward progress. |
The 6 Attributes of Leadership
There are many ways to look at, describe, and
otherwise convey the idea of leadership. In the
context of Best Practices, we can focus on those
characteristics that have been found in research
with hundreds of companies to be key factors in
generating sustained, high levels of performance.
Leadership in politics, sports, religion or other
areas have other aspects and characteristics in
those contexts. Here, we focus on behaviors by
leaders at every level in these high-performance
companies. This research has identified and
validated these attributes:
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Driven by Leaders
– There is usually an “unreasonable” aspect to
goals and targets that are set by these highly
effective, visionary leaders. It is important to
understand that these goals are not
completely unreasonable. They do require,
though, real focus, real effort, and for
everyone to grow themselves and the organization
in the process. The word “challenge” applies
here.
;
If goals are perceived as unattainable, most of
us give up before we even start. So there is a
delicate balance between pushing too far out,
and not far enough to stretch for. |
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Vision Driven
– these leaders consistently, repeatedly
articulate a compelling vision of the future –
what “there” looks like – around which
strategies, tactics, improved management
processes, systems and actions can be focused. |
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Highly performance-driven environment – these leaders create a strong,
intensely focused, energized work environment –
focused on results. In this context, clear roles
and high levels of accountability come into
play. People throughout the company work hard,
focused on goals they stretch for, feel
accountable for, and that involve some risk
taking. The result is growth – personal, work
team/group, and for the company. |
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Simple structures and processes
– if the path by which one’s efforts affect
movement towards the vision is complex and
convoluted, discernment of what and how to do
things is harder. Effective leaders simplify
organization structures for clear communication
and accountability. Management processes must be
understandable, workable, efficient and reliable
to be effective. Continuous improvements in this
area are part of this pattern of high
performance as they simplify and standardize
processes that provide communication and
direction at every level. |
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World-class skills
– Effective leaders at these high-performance
companies encourage their organizations to not
only do many things well, but to become
absolutely the best – world-class competence –
in at least one major functional area. There is
a consistent focus over time on continuously
improving, building skills and expertise at how
the company is managed. These skills and
competencies are seen as an essential part of
the company’s competitive edge. |
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Strong people systems
– There is a clear, consistent focus on
performance and motivation, not just assigning
people to jobs. It is understood that placing
the best people in the most critical positions,
then ensuring that they do well are essential to
success. As a result, there is considerable
thought and care put into knowing who the
organization’s people are, their strengths,
weaknesses, beyond just each manager’s direct
reports, but several levels down. Everyone
understands that building a “strong bench” is a
top priority. |
How a Leader Leads
Having established that having, and being an
effective leader is essential for sustained high
organization performance, and for engaging its
people in the purposes and vision of the
organization, the next question may well be “what
does a leader do that makes him/her a
leader?” When is a leader leading, and when is he
just “managing?”
The behaviors and actions of an effective leader, in
the Best Practice generating context fall into two
rough categories – personal behavior and
communication:
Personal Behavior - Key attributes of effective leadership behavior include:
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Self-knowledge
– displays a consistent alignment between what
is said, the values articulated and demonstrated
in behavior and principles – “Walks the Talk.” |
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Takes responsibility
– strong leaders step up and take responsibility
decisively, displaying courage when things don’t
go well or fall short. Blaming others is a clear
sign of weakness, and a lack of courage. |
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Leads by example
– understands that others “get” what is
demonstrated, what is implicit in actual
behavior and actions, not just words. This may
involve making a difficult decision in a crisis,
or by actions as simple as just being punctual, or
always following up when something is promised. The
leader is very aware that others are observing
his/her actions and will pay more attention to
the actions than words spoken. |
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Integrity
– effective leaders display and exemplify
honesty and integrity, demand it of themselves
and others, not only personally, but in official
company actions. |
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Creates more leaders
– sets processes in motion to empower,
strengthen and grow other leaders within the
organization at every level. This is a key
measure of leadership effectiveness as it is the
only real way to leverage a vision, and insure a
sustained level of high performance. Without it,
a popular “leader” may be nothing more than
charisma. |
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Takes people risks
– bets on growth, expansion in assigning people
to key roles, and projects.
When a person is assigned a role that
involves more than they have previously
done, there is an implicit statement of
confidence that helps people grow and
strengthen in their abilities. |
Leadership Communication - The communications, the messages generated by a good,
effective leader include these characteristics:
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Tells it like it is
– realistic, factual, no “mushrooming” -
important facts, including bad news, is not
sugar-coated or withheld. This produces a
feeling that “we’re all in this boat together.” |
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Makes change exciting
–
reinforces each win to create more wins. As
this strength grows, setbacks and failures
are easier to take, accept and move
through. A “spirit of adventure” energizes
the whole process, making it more exciting.
Key – all improvements are change.
There is no way to improve performance
without becoming OK with regular change.
a
Honda has a famous annual celebration of the largest
failure during the previous year. This is obviously
occurring in a spirit of fun – generated by the
company’s many wins. Which makes more changes
easier, which in turn allows more risk, which in
turn – you get the idea. |
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Compelling vision communication – this involves: |
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Paints a picture
- speaks in images, something people can
visualize. |
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Simple – no jargon.
Clear, unambiguous language is key. |
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Repeat, repeat, repeat
– the leader must consistently restate the
vision message. It is a thread that runs through
every key communication. |
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Deal with uncertainty and risk head-on – when risk and uncertainty are articulated up front, this
activates the inspirational aspect of challenge
in people. |
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Uses all mediums of communication – meetings, emails, memos, personal interactions. The same
vision, consistently articulated and conveyed in
personal statements in all contexts and
situations spreads it throughout the
organization. |
Leadership then, is clearly distinguished from
management, with its emphasis on detailed direction,
controls, punishments and reward systems. The drive
to achieve is something that comes from within each
of us,
and cannot be coerced very effectively, but is
called forth by inspiration.
Finally, while many of us have intuitively believed
these ideas for a long time, we now have hard-nosed,
empirical research which clearly and emphatically
validates that effective leadership is a requirement
for sustained high levels of engagement, and that
high levels of engagement are a requirement for
true, world-class, Best Practices high performance
levels.
We welcome your feedback and comments. Send us your
questions and we’ll answer them in a future
Newsletter. Please type in the address.
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Paul
Deis
