Want to know what leaders do? Look it up on Amazon. Today there are 324,526 results that pop up. Where to start?
It seems that there are so many concepts about leadership that getting a grip on the central idea is a bit illusive. From “Lincoln and Leadership” to “Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun,” to “Good to Great”, everyone who wants to write a book on leadership has a different slant.
Yet, we all know what leadership is when we see it. When someone on your work team sees a new way of doing things and gets everyone to try it, that’s leadership. When a person fixes something that has been done wrong, is not quite right or has been broken for a long time, that’s leadership. Anytime someone stands up for a principle, that’s leadership. When someone makes a positive contribution and difference to an outcome, that’s leadership, too. Of course, leadership is also leading companies to new growth and sports teams to excellence. So, what is this we’re talking about?
After reviewing popular leadership models from many well-known sources, it is clear to us that people need a simple concept of what leadership is, something they can literally carry around in their heads, and, most important, apply to situations they face every day.
To fill that need, we’ve come up with what we call the Leadership Lens, and it describes actions that anyone can do to demonstrate leadership.
The Leadership Lens has three main parts.
1) Create The Fundamental Idea:
A leader’s role is to scan the environment, learn the “ground”, recognize opportunities, and from that, create a focused direction. The implication goes beyond the idea of a vision statement; a leader is the source of the vision, the set of eyes that is always looking for opportunities. Once that vision is clear in the leader’s mind, it has to be formulated in a way that others can see it as well. It doesn’t matter whether you are a shift manager in a fast-food restaurant or an admiral of a vast fleet, your leadership action is to spot opportunities, create a purposeful direction and communicate that tangibly and clearly to the people working with you.
2) Sets, Imposes and Aligns Operating Values, Practices, Principles:
A leader is the tone-setter and rule-maker of an organization. As we know from organizational climate research, management creates a feeling of what it is like to work in the organization based on the rules and practices the leader puts in place. This feeling of climate is a key to motivation. A leader figuratively puts the operating manual of the organization in place or changes what is already there to something more productive.
W. Morrell and S. Capparell’s study of Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton, Shackelton’s Way, depicts a leader who created a work environment where all crew members, regardless of role, had to perform menial tasks and, at the same time, where all were expected to be positive, cheerful and cooperative with each other. At the same time, a service supervisor will “run” his or her team with explicit expectations; it won’t be long
before maintenance techs learn what kind of behavior isn’t tolerated and what is rewarded. Even on a team with peers, a team member can enforce what’s “right” by setting an example and refusing to participate in the “wrong” behavior. That kind of behavior sends a message to everyone on the team.
The key here is that these operating practices and principles must be clear and consistently applied across the organization. When reinforced by management behavior, these practices and principles form the organizational climate. When that climate “feels good”, engagement and motivation drive performance up.
3) Demonstrate An Emotional Edge:
Every leader creates an emotional reaction in his or her followers, based on the level of commitment and dedication he or she overtly displays. The leader can demonstrate high moral values, boundless energy, steady and calm resolve, affection for employees or courage; there isn’t a right way to demonstrate an emotional edge.
What counts is how the leader shows up as a person, exposing his or her commitment, beliefs and energy. When a leader captures his or her employee’s or team mates’ attention and respect, their motivation will follow. The idea of emotional edge is completely subjective; it is one of those factors that you know when you see it. Who could not feel moved by Rudi Guiliani’s sense of command and compassion on September 11? Who could not feel impressed and excited by Steve Jobs’ announcement of another innovation? Even a night shift manager in an assembly plant can demonstrate dedication to quality by personally thanking his each one of his/her workers for a good night’s work.
These three elements and the more specific behaviors which further describe them, taken together, represent an easy to remember and describe model of what leadership is all about.
The Leadership Lens has three parts: Leaders have a Main Idea; they have rules and consciously create a work climate based on those rules; and they are “present”, showing up a people who are committed to outcomes. Our model is “portable” so people could carry it around with them in their memories and recall it
when they are faced with challenges.
Next time you watch someone who you think is a leader, look through that Leadership Lens to see what actions define them. Despite all those many theories and models, leadership can actually be seen all around, every day. You just have to know what to look for.
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