Where have all the leaders gone?
By Cindy Solomon
The messages of hope and leadership
that are being celebrated with the 40th
anniversary of the “Summer of Love”
are in stark contrast with the avalanche
of negative political messages and
ethical business quandaries depicted
on our 24/7 news stations. I find myself
thinking wistfully of a time when strong
leaders were plentiful in business, in our
communities and on the world stage.
It was a time when Lee Iacocca, Martin
Luther King Jr., Bobby Kennedy, Rosa
Parks, and Jonas Salk demonstrated
vision, determination and positive
messaging that motivated their
organizations and admirers
to do great things.
As I speak to clients and friends, we all lament the lack of true
leadership in our lives. I began to ask myself, what is it we’re
really longing for? What is it that differentiates a great leader
and why does it seem so vitally important for us right now?
When we face uncertainty, doubt or fear, we seek friends or
mentors who exhibit strength, courage and the ability to help
us manage difficulties with ease and determination. We look to
them to reaffirm that we can “do it” and bolster confidence in
our ability to achieve a positive outcome. In a world of global
terrorism, uncertain financial markets, constant innovation
and unprecedented global competition, is it any wonder we’re
longing for leaders to guide us?
Let’s start with what differentiates great leaders. In my 30 years
of experience working for and with leaders, I’ve discovered a
simple formula that can be learned by anyone who is willing to
devote the time and effort to improve their skills.
By interviewing thousands of people, I’ve uncovered four
essential leadership elements or steps: Engage, Inspire, Enable
and Reward. These apply when you’re searching for a great
leader to work for, recruiting talented job candidates to your
organization, or fulfilling your own aspirations to become a
great leader.
Great Leaders Engage, Inspire, Enable
and Reward
Your ability to embrace and implement these four steps is the
difference between good and great.
Engage
Engagement is based in our ability as leaders to communicate
an organization’s vision into applicable, actionable and
behavioral goals. Helping teams connect emotionally with that
vision may sound easy, but it’s one of the most difficult tasks for
a leader. It requires you to articulate clear organizational goals
and correlate steps that your team can take to achieve them.
For example, one of your goals might be to “increase customer
loyalty.” That might translate into “reduce wait time on the
phones,” or “return calls within 24 hours,” or other behavioral commitments that are easy to execute and measure. Once your
team understands how their behaviors contribute to achieving
the organization’s goals, you have true “Engagement.”
Inspire
When have you felt most inspired? Was it when you worked
toward a goal you felt emotionally attached to? Was it when
you had a meaningful role in achieving that goal and your
talents and skills were recognized and appreciated? Inspiration
can come in many forms, but it always involves empowering
individuals so their behaviors and efforts have a direct impact
on achieving goals. Don’t get discouraged if the going gets
tough. In most projects, it will. Constant communication and
dialogue about your goals, successes and challenges is vital to
inspiring your team to greatness.
Enable
The definition of “enable” is to: make able; give power, means,
competence, or ability to; to make possible or easy; to make
ready or equip. Too many leadership activities today are wasted
on managing tasks rather than leading and enabling people.
Leaders need to manage administrative and operational
activities, but did you know great leaders spend over 80
percent of their time coaching, training and developing their
teams? What percent do you spend? Most leaders tell me, “I
don’t have enough time to coach or develop my people.” If that
is the case, then why do they need a leader?
This concept of “performance management” isn’t as
complicated as the name implies. In fact, it’s not really “management” at all. It’s certainly not a once-a-year initiative
during performance reviews, just as someone can’t excel on
the PGA Tour by going to the driving range once a year. Think
of it as “Performance Enablement,” the essence of leadership.
Take a few moments each day and talk with your team about
how to improve their skills and achieve your goals. Two-minute
conversations about performance can have an enormous
impact, helping your team members to learn, grow, be
challenged AND succeed. That’s great leadership.
Reward
The moment I mention “reward,” most people think of
financial rewards. Surprisingly, when surveys ask: “How do
you keep your most valued employees happy and productive?”
employees usually rank money lower on the list than rewards
that don’t cost the organization a penny (see sidebar).
Salaries and incentive plans must be in line and within
reason, but other “rewards” are essential to staying engaged
and excited in a workplace. Think about how you like to be
rewarded. Ask ‘How can I reward each player on my team for a
job well done?’ Then put your plan into action. It’s that easy!
In developing these steps, I realized how many of us have the
motivation but lack the coaching to achieve our potential as
great leaders. What better way to celebrate our involvement
in the PBWC community than to help one another! What if
we rallied our peers, awakened our teams and enlisted our
mentors to Engage, Inspire, Enable and Reward?
The time is now to mobilize! Together, we’ll not only become
the leaders we hope to work for one day, but embark on a
journey that develops future generations of great leaders.
I look forward to meeting each of you great leaders soon! |
As seen in the
Fall 2007 issue of PBWC Connections
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