the art of leading

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Brains, Guts, and the Capacity to Act

By Stephen H. Baum

author of What Made jack welch Jack Welch

What allows a leader to take the steps needed to solve a problem or master a
difficult situation? What keeps the desire to act from being impetuous and
uninformed, as in “ready, fire, aim” behavior? The answer is that the
capacity to act effectively and decisively is a complex mixture of brain and
gut, a combination I call threads in thinking. It includes these qualities:

* An ability to distill a situation to its simplest dynamics; to
understand the issues and the consequences of doing nothing; and to
formulate a specific plan.

* Being extro-spective: seeing the business in the larger context of
the industry and in the marketplace; seeing a situation from a high-altitude
view and making sense of it on the ground.

* For opportunities, an ability to see the true benefits and risks,
which are not always obvious.

* Possession of a mental library of truly relevant analogies and other
mental models that can be applied to characterize the situation in a way
helpful for making a choice.

* An ability to identify valuable sources of advice, experience, and
wisdom (inside the company and out); to elicit information and know when to
do so.

* An instinct for calibrating the value of and motive for facts and
information people are giving you, the subtext of real agendas.

* An ability to discern both financial and nonfinancial impacts and
include them in the calculus (company reputation, morale, future business
options), then weigh the risks.

* An ability to anticipate issues and define a point of view so you
don’t have to do it for the first time under crisis.

* Being able to think a couple of moves ahead, as in chess, or as
Steve Kaufman put it: “the ability to look around the corner and see what’s
coming.” This ability and most of the others can be tested and developed.

It’s a tall order, but remember that no one starts out with all of these
abilities. You develop these threads and judgment only with experience. This
is done mainly through on-the-job training. Just remember how many of the
leaders we’ve been discussing failed in school, how many were far from the
top of their class, how none were rocket scientists. Only by working through
major challenges in the first place do you develop and nurture these
abilities until they become part of you and part of your instinct.

In the Eye of the Storm

Deciding that you must act, and then acting, is not as straightforward as it
seems. Circumstances will often make your decision to take action in the
first place very challenging. Remember [Read more →]

Categories : Action, Communication, Confidence, General Leadership, Loyalty, Personal Development, Proactivity, Relationships, Responsibility // Add Comment »

The August/September 2007 issue of Scientific American MIND Magazine has an extraordinary cover story: The New Psychology of Leadership. I didn’t even finish reading the cover before I had bought it. I had wanted to write about the relationship between psychology and leadership for some time now, so this came at the perfect moment. It is solidly backed by interesting studies, so I’ll be referring to this article and its sources more profoundly in future posts. For now I’ll outline its major points.

The gist of the article is this:

1. Leadership theory has evolved from Max Weber’s “charismatic leadership” to today’s “consensus” or “collaborative” leadership.

2. Personality traits such as charisma or intelligence aren’t prerequisites to being a leader.

3. Leaders must fit into their following and express their own agendas in terms of the group’s identity.

So basically, what the authors are saying is that groups select their leaders based on who represents them the most faithfully. If a group is characterized by people who firmly believe in equality, the someone who practices favoritism is not going to exert much influence.

This isn’t necessarily a grandiose breakthrough. What is important, though, is that this perspective is different from the “charisma and intelligence is enough” school of thought, which has been the strongest one for a long time. It also shows how regular Joe Schmoes like you and I can wield incredible influence, by being aware of a following’s traits and using them to communicate our own visions.

The complete article can be found at:
Scientific American Mind: The New Psychology of Leadership
Recent research in psychology points to secrets of effective leadership that radically challenge conventional wisdom

Categories : Communication, Goals, Loyalty, Relationships // 1 Comment »

Contradiction #6

Have a general vision
All leaders have a vision which they want to communicate, so that others will also share that vision. In fact, having a vision and the capacity to transmit it can be considered the defining element of what true leadership is. With that said, part of its effective transmission is the potential of resonating in a wide array of circumstances, time periods, and places. The Constitution of the United States is a great example of a timeless vision statement. Its content is true for practically most of humanity, since it covers basic human needs and rights. It is also written in a way which makes it nimble and able to withstand countless shifts of circumstances. It might be interpreted differently in different moments, but the content that is being interpreted remains the same. All that changes is the context.

Have a specific vision
When you have and communicate a short and straight-to-the-point vision, prospective followers will remember it more easily. It also doesn’t confuse them. Think about it: do you remember 27 phone numbers more easily than 2 phone numbers? Also, a specific vision will allow you to gather a group of loyal followers. Face it: not everyone will be interested in joining your cause. But your vision, if specific enough, will attract a group of people who also believe in what you believe. That will not happen if you try to appeal to all of humanity. For example, as the manager of a manufacturing division in your company, your vision needs to be specific enough that the manufacturing people will feel identified with it.

Contradiction #7

Try to become a leader
This one is similar in some respect to Contradiction #1, from the first installment of this topic. If you are eager to communicate a vision and purpose to everyone out there that might be interested to listen to you, then that involves developing leadership skills. You will want to influence others so that they will share your goals and work toward them. For that reason, becoming a leader will be of the utmost priority. It will be the only reason to achieve it. Work on skills that will enable you to showcase whatever you’re trying to get across. Improve your relationship skills. Practice your motivation techniques. You will need that and more. Be mindful of the influence you might have on others, and try to improve the effectiveness of it.

Don’t try to become a leader
Many times, leaders become leaders as a side-effect of their eagerness to go out and turn something into reality. They aren’t consciously thinking about themselves as leaders, but just as messengers that want to get a message across. As a result, that energy and excitement boils over and infects other people, who are then willing to work toward the same goal. For this “messengers”, leadership just happens. People just automatically gravitate toward them as a byproduct of enthusiasm.

Contradiction #8

Go with your instinct
Your gut is very intelligent. Don’t you remember when you were in school (or perhaps you still are), and changed the answer to a question just to find out later that the original one was correct? That proves that many times your initial instinct is smarter than your logical reasoning. You have to admit: there are many things in life which we cannot explain logically, but just trust in its truth. Leadership is no different, particularly when making tough decisions, which is basically always. Learning to trust this gut instinct is part of learning to trust yourself. Learning to trust yourself is part of building self-confidence. Building self-confidence will make you a better leader.

Don’t go with your instinct
Your gut doesn’t always have all the information necessary to make a good decision about something. Therefore, your “logical reasoning” side has to gather that information, process it, and use it to arrive at an appropriate outcome. Instinct, if deprived of this information will not be trustworthy. A better way to go about it would be for you to at least plan a little bit. Leave as little as possible to uninformed decision-making.

Contradiction #9

Encourage agreement
A big part of leadership is the process of creating consensus among followers. In this particular time period, due to many advances in technology and science, effective collaboration is central to a leader’s job. Finding points of agreement fosters an environment of common aspiration. It contributes to the creation of a smooth ride toward the collective vision, instead of everyone rowing in their own directions, neutralizing the efforts of everyone else.

Encourage disagreement
Dissent is the only thing that will point towards areas of improvement. Having an organization exclusively full of “yes” people, who are merely trying to please you as a leader, will trump progress. Let’s be realistic: your organization has flaws. If nobody points them out, you won’t notice them, and therefore you won’t fix them. While many corporate meetings take place just to talk about how wonderful things are going, Bill Gates, one of the richest men in the world and leader of one of the most powerful and most effective organizations, is known to ask outright for dissenting opinions. This generates an environment of continuous improvement, where every stone is turned. You can start by not punishing people who point problems out. In fact, it might be a good idea to provide incentives for finding solutions to the problems they point out. Develop an attitude of constructive criticism and promote the creation of multiple points of views.

Contradiction #10

Try to be flawless
In a competitive environment, which most areas have, the person or organization who has the fewest flaws and commits the fewest errors will win. The athletic world is a great example of this. The difference between 1st and 2nd in a 100-meter race might be fractions of one second. That means that at some point in the previous 10 seconds, one of them saved that tiny fraction by being more efficient in performing a specific action. That action might have been a 1-degree difference in the angle of the torso. Note that it doesn’t mean that the 2nd-place runner was bad. It just means that the 1st-place runner committed fewer errors. Strive to be perfect in every way possible by attending to every potential area of improvement, big or small.

Don’t try to be flawless
A flawless leader does not exist. Everyone has strengths and also weaknesses. Striving to continuously improve in the personal, professional, mental, and spiritual levels is always worthy, but there will always be something new to learn. When you try to be too perfect, you will frequently find yourself being too careful also. This will impede necessary risk-taking, at the expense of many learning opportunities. Leadership, as you know, entails risking failure to find success. When you do fail, just pick yourself up, learn what needs to be learned, and go on your merry way. Being too careful will not let you do that.

Categories : Confidence, General Leadership, Goals, Loyalty, Personal Development, Relationships // 3 Comments »

There’s a pretty widespread consensus, I would say, about how the Mafia is, basically, bad. What I’ll talk about in this article will not try to prove the contrary. I agree with that opinion: organized crime is absolutely detrimental to society and should be totally shut down. But, like it or not, many Mafia Families have been very successful organizations, wielding a lot of power and money. A big part of that political and economic power has been due to the use of force and violence, which is not a desirable factor. But another significant part is linked with certain leadership tactics and qualities. In the following days I’d like to point out and explain what I believe are the top 10 tactics that everyone should learn from the Mafia. As in the business world, there have been ‘bad’ and ‘good’ leaders in the Mafia and in organized crime in general. The ‘bad’ ones can teach us what not to do, while some ‘good’ ones can teach us qualities that anyone who aspires to exercising influence on others should want to develop.

Before I go on, let me clarify what I mean by the term “Mafia”. Today, the word is used to describe any type of organized crime group. The original sense referred to the organized crime groups of Italian, mainly Sicilian, origin. The Mafia isn’t one general umbrella of crime groups. It’s more of a classification that consists of many Families. Unless specified otherwise, this article uses the Italian Mafia as its focus. So let’s see what are the top 10 things leaders can learn from the Mafia, starting with loyalty:

Loyalty is priceless

Mafiosi hold loyalty in a very high pedestal. Those who aren’t loyal will pay dearly (read: DIE). But apart from violence, many leaders in the Mafia have been famous for creating intense loyalty among their Families through the implementation of various tactics. I believe two are worth mentioning:

The first one is to respect to be respected. This may be seen as a variation of the famous Golden Rule: do unto others as you would like others to do unto you. If you want others to look up to you with a sense of respect, then start respecting them. In the Mafia, people who disrespect their peers suffer the consequences, because they are seen as unworthy of recognition. The legitimate world also works like that. You don’t believe me? Then go out and try to get a promotion after insulting your boss. Or perhaps insult potential costumers and see if they’ll buy from you. It’s human nature to mirror the attitudes of others.

The second way that Mafia leaders garner loyalty is by taking care of their people. That creates a sense of trust and gratitude among the crewmembers that is likely to be repayed with loyalty. Haven’t you noticed what happens when a supervisor treats employees as disposable objects and doesn’t care for their lives? That attitude creates animosity that eventually leads to reduced productivity. They’re unhappy. They want to get rid of that boss. But when employees feel cared for, they usually are much more effective. Mafiosi have their own ways to care for their people. They may give lavish gifts or donate a variety of things. But there are many ways that you can demonstrate care and concern for your followers. Details such as asking about loved ones or talking about common interests are usually enough for people to feel cared for. Another way may be by publicly defending them. The most effective, though, is a show of trust. When people feel trusted, they feel that you think highly enough of them to count on you. Garner loyalty by trusting others, taking care of them, and respecting them. Loyalty is priceless: Mafiosi know it, and you should also know how to get it from others.

Categories : General Leadership, Loyalty, Mafia // 2 Comments »