the art of leading

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By, Dr. Anthony F. SmithAuthor of The Taboos of Leadership
People have paid me a lot of money over the years to answer the following
question for them: How do I become a great Leader? I will often answer them
with the following questions:

Q: How do you become a great parent?

A: Do great parenting, day in, day out, over a sustained period of time.

Q: How do you become a great consultant?

A: Do great consulting, day in, day out, etc.

So, how do you become a great Leader? You guessed it, do great Leadership,
day in, day out, over a sustained period of time!

The field of Leadership Development, with its plethora of books, seminars,
courses, videos, and executive coaches, has become a billion dollar
industry. Unfortunately, I believe that much of what is embodied within the
industry is simply misleading and deceptive. Books such as ‘Leadership for
Dummies’, ‘The Idiots Guide to Leading’, and ‘Leadership Made Easy’, all
capitalize on the fact that many want to be a leader, but few are actually
able, or want to put forth the effort required to really become one. (How
would you feel about a book entitled “Brain Surgery for Dummies”?) At one
point, we need to get real about leadership. Like diet programs that claim
you can eat all you want and still lose 20 pounds in a week, leadership
“products”, make similar claims, and therefore resort to oversimplified
theories and falsehoods that invite leader want-to-be’s to consume anything
that looks like a magic pill to Leadership. Well, unfortunately, there are
no magic pills to becoming a Leader, just like there are no magic pills to
losing weight, getting fit, making a million dollars, or shaving 10 strokes
off your handicap in golf. Simply stated, becoming a Leader occurs when one
exercises the arduous process of effective Leadership, day after day, week
after week, and year after year.

Q: So, what is Leadership you ask?

A: Leadership is a process (not a position) whereby an individual works
through a series of iterative stages by;

Stage 1

* creating a vision,

* establishing an objective and set of goals,

* setting direction,

Stage 2

* and following through by intentionally seeking to influence followers
(both established and potential),

* to perform the various tasks needed to realize the vision,

* to their full potential,

* for as long as possible,

Stage 3

* until the vision and goals are realized.

One can look at this definition as a “check-list” to Leadership; Do I have a
vision; a picture of a desired end state that is compelling to others? Are
people performing to their full potential? Who do I need to help me realize
this vision? Am I intentionally seeking to influence people to perform their
best? What else needs to be done, and who should do it?

Now, I realize individuals may find themselves at various points in a given
stage, before they choose to engage in the process of leadership. For
instance, one may be working in a division, or an organization, that already
has a clearly established vision, set goals, etc. In such a case, assuming
that the individual agrees with the vision, the leadership process begins at
Stage 2. We all must realize that part of the difficulty of leadership is
that some people are great visionaries, but lack the competence and EQ to
influence others to rally around their vision. Others, may not be great
visionaries, but are very influential and inspirational to those around
them.

What I have observed in my years of studying leaders, is that very few have
all the gifts and talents themselves; what many of the great ones do have,
is a self awareness of what talents they do have, and the self confidence
and security to surround themselves with others who can compliment them, and
compensate for their own lack of skills.

In closing, let me make one point clear; it is my intent to encourage as
many people as possible to exercise leadership as often as they possibly
can, for as long as they can!

When people are lost because they lack a “vision”, and you happen to “see”
an end goal that they can not see, then at least exercise Stage 1 of
leadership. By doing so, it doesn’t necessarily mean you will emerge as
their “leader”, but you will have engaged in “leadership.” If one of your
colleagues is not performing to their “full potential”, intervene and
intentionally try to influence them to raise their performance. Remember,
human performance is nothing more than the function of one’s skill and will
to perform a task; therefore, if one is not performing to their potential,
it is either because they lack the skill, or the will, to do their job.
Figure out what is impeding their performance and try to either coach them
to build their skills, or inspire, challenge, and motivate them to raise
their will to perform. Let’s be clear;

Everyone can not become a leader, but every one can engage in a lot more
leadership!

When I wrote my book, The Taboos of Leadership; The Ten Secrets That No One
Will Tell You About Leaders and What They Really Think (Jossey Bass, 2007),
I was accused by some that by “revealing” the un-savory aspects of
leadership, I was discouraging many from wanting to lead. Unfortunately,
they missed my message. As I state in my book, if we are serious about
trying to build the Skill and Will of future leaders, we owe it to them to
disclose the truth, as difficult as they may be, so that they may be better
prepared to engage in leadership, day in, and day out, over a sustained
period of time, thus increasing the probability that one day they will
indeed become great leaders themselves.

Leadership is the one and only path to becoming a leader.

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