Leading So People Will Follow -- 6 Vital Traits (Boiled Down To 1)
Anyone who knows me knows my deep love for leadership books. Leadershipis certainly one of my favorite and most frequent topics. So I was honored by the invitation from fellow Forbes contributor Erika Andersen to read and review an early copy of her new book, Leading So People Will Follow, available for presale leading up to its Oct. 9 launch.
It is critical that successful executives learn to lead so that others will follow.
How do you lead so others will follow? All the character strengths in the world won’t matter if there’s nobody willing to go where you lead. Andersen begins her book by noting that we all desire and even crave good leaders, and this has been true since the earliest beginnings of time.
Armed with this knowledge, Erika, a renowned business strategy coach whose company Proteus International has counseled Fortune 50 companies such as GE, PriceWaterhouseCooper, Discovery Networks and Time Warner Cable TWC -0.29%, went to work on cracking the code.
Based on research and observation she’s distilled the secret to leading with excellence to six foundational traits:
- Far-sightedness
- Passion
- Courage
- Wisdom
- Generosity
- Trustworthiness
These traits are very close mirrors of the 7 Non Negotiables that my company, Fishbowl, and I use to direct our own growing company. You’ve likely heard me discuss them before. I am particularly taken by the trait Erika refers to as “far-sighted.” Leadership experts Jack Zenger andJoseph Folkman refer to this strength as “has a strategic perspective,” and in research have demonstrated that every top-line leader (yes every one of them–100%) has this trait. The ability to look beyond the current circumstance to see the ultimate possibilities and eventual outcome is a strength that every great leader possesses and that every aspiring leader should do all within their power to learn.
If you think about it, the other strengths in Erika’s focus – passion, courage, wisdom, generosity, and trustworthiness–are essential character traits that become more possible and more meaningful as they emerge naturally and logically from the ability to take a far-sighted view. If there were just one trait a leader could learn that would make the single greatest difference in their effectiveness, in their company’s ability to succeed, and even in the success of their personal career, it would be the ability to always keep their sites on the ultimate goal. For example, when a question or a difference of opinion emerges, how many executives have the ability to genuinely and immediately focus on the facts of “How much will this matter in 5 days?” (sometimes even in 5 minutes). “How much will it matter In 5 months? In 5 years? To the ultimate success of the company?”
Any individual who can pause and consider these answers will be well on the track of gaining a strategic perspective. Furthermore, with this perspective in mind, the traits of passion, courage, wisdom, generosity and trustworthiness (patience as well!) are the natural follow-ons, as they are necessary elements on the ensuing path to success.
This format and process maps within our experience and thinking at Fishbowl as well. It is a process much like this that has allowed our company to surmount the impossible and to continue to set and achieve new “impossible goals.”
Clearly this essential trait, followed by its companion strengths, has been the secret weapon for many strong leaders and firms. For example, Erika tells the story of CBS CBS +1.13% executive Nancy Tellem (Forbes contributor Ken Sweet wrote recently about Tellem here) who once presented a proposal to fellow CBS executives about a change in programming she wanted the firm to pursue. It was clear she believed in her proposal strongly from a far-sighted point of view and that she was passionate about it, but there was no “kick” in her presentation to imply that their thinking was flawed if they didn’t agree with her, or that her path would be the only smart choice.
Yet in the responses that came to her, there were definite “kicks” – while the other executives in the room were also passionate, their passion was a knee-jerk reaction that came through as saying, in effect, “that’s a dumb idea, and anybody who agrees with it is dumb.” In this case, as a truly effective leader, Nancy was the one executive in the room who was able to demonstrate her commitment to her vision without dismissing or belittling anyone else. Her position prevailed.
How do your own leadership skills measure up in these key areas, and particularly in #1? Would you rank yourself as strong, exceptionally strong, or as needing growth in strategic perspective? Where do you stand in the other five areas Erika brings forward as the additional critical keys?
With that scorecard in hand, the exercises in Erika’s book can take every prospective leader further forward than where they are standing today. As an important parting thought — my own best strategy as a leader has been to invest the significant part of my own leadership effort in the process of teaching others to lead. This strategy has helped to ensure that the principles I value are the principles others will also use to guide and govern their teams. In this respect, it is possible to create an organization with a growing number of leaders. The approach has led to a rhythm and cadence that allows us to work together fluidly. We have many leaders, many growing leaders, and little to no need for followers in a model like this.
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