We are living in what some call unprecedented times. However, that doesn’t mean that what characterizes great leadership is unprecedented. There is a great plethora of advice on how to survive in the current economic climate. However,whether the economy is progressing, recessing or trundling along at zero percent growth effective leadership and management should look, feel and sound the same. John Adair(1) warns us against what he calls the 'newer is truer fallacy'. He reminds us that just because leadership ideas have been around for awhile doesn’t mean they no longer have currency. Leadership, Adair says, is ‘not a fashion statement’.
Of course, as leaders, our focus of attention and actions may need to be more flexible and fluid when the economic forecast is less than favourable for growth. However, the characteristics of great leadership will stand the test of time and circumstance.
Your organization may not rack up double digit profit margins, but great leadership and management will be the catalyst for not only surviving but thriving through tight economies. As leaders and managers, the milestones along the journey to your organization’s destination may change. In fact, aspects of that destination (where you were previously headed) may need reassessing and re‐evaluating in light of short, medium and long term economic influences. That doesn’t mean that as leaders, we frantically throw our hands and previous focus of attention up in the air while frantically wondering what the heck we should be doing instead.
Having a laser focus on goals and objectives is key in keeping the heart of your business beating while being flexibly aware and responsive to any economic blips that would adversely affect realizing those outcomes.
Adair says that some of the leader’s key functions are the setting, effectively communicating and evaluating and re‐evaluating objectives. Leadership, he says is the art of knowing the most advantageous times to focus on each and all of these activities. A high performing team and organization has clear, realistic objectives that are systematically reviewed along with a shared sense of purpose within an atmosphere of openness and the ability to build on experience and ride out storms.
When times are tough the tough get going. Experiencing less than flush economic times is not the time for a slackening of effective leadership competencies; instead the bar needs to be maintained and even raised. In his book,(2) due out this summer, Professor Michael Beer and colleagues at Harvard Business School strongly contend that there is still a need for uncompromising leadership.
As far back as 1985, Warren Bennis(3) and colleagues were advocating that great leaders were individuals who had a clear vision of the future state of their organization and were social architects by creating and communicating the shared vision, meaning and purpose for team members. Bennis also said the creation of trust was fostered by the leadership consistent implementation of that vision. Great leaders were both emotionally and self aware of their strengths and weaknesses.
Apart from the key attributes already discussed, Adair says that good leaders possess the ability to bounce back after setbacks (resilience); exude passion and zest for the organization and its goals (enthusiasm); have unwavering integrity; are both tough and fair and never showing favouritism; are emotionally accessible; have the moral courage to face and confront unpleasant situations; and
demonstrate a personal humility or lack of arrogance.
In 2005, Jim Collins wrote about the characteristics of not just good leaders, but great ones. What he called Great Leadership were the characteristics of an individual who demonstrated level 5 attributes. He says that being a level 5 leader was necessary for transforming an organization from good to great.
Having all the capabilities described within the five levels characterized not only a good leader but a great one.
In his research(4) Collins categorizes the levels as follows:
At level 1 the individual is highly capable and makes productive contributions to the organization through their talent, knowledge, skill and good work habits.
At level 2 the individual has all the level 1 skills and attributes as well as being a contributing team member by contributing to the achievement of group objectives while working effectively with others in a group setting.
At level 3 the individual is also a competent manager by virtue of the fact that they are skilled at organizing people and resources toward the effective and efficient pursuit of predetermined objectives.
At level 4 the individual brings all the competencies of level 1, 2, and 3 as well as being able to catalyze commitment to and vigorous pursuit of a clear and compelling vision while stimulating the group to high performance standards. At level 4 the individual promotes their own solutions.
The difference of a great versus good leader is the competencies inherent in the individual who demonstrates level 5 competencies. At level 5, not only does the individual demonstrate the competencies of level 1 through 4, they also build enduring greatness through a paradoxical
combination of personal humility plus professional will while drawing solutions from others.
At level 5 the individual demonstrates personal humility through:
•Demonstrating a compelling modesty, shunning public adulation; never boastful
•Acting with quiet, calm determination; relying principally on inspired standards, not inspiring charisma, to motivate
•Channelling ambition into the company, not the self; sets up successors for even more greatnessin the next generation
•Looking in the mirror, not out the window, to apportion responsibility for poor results, never blaming other people, external factors, or bad luck
While at the same time demonstrating professional will by:
•Creating superb results, a clear catalyst in the transition from good to great
•Demonstrating an unwavering resolve to do whatever must be done to produce the best long-termresults, no matter how difficult
•Setting the standard of building an enduring great company; settling for nothing less
•Looking out the window, not in the mirror, to apportion credit for the success of the company – to other people, external factors, and good luck.
During September and October 2008, The Company Agency Leadership Council (5) spoke to 14 leaders in business and public life about leadership in tough times. Respondents(6) were asked simple questions about the skills required by leaders in a downturn, and according to the report's authors "the answers provided fresh proof to the classic definition of good advice: common sense, backed by the authority of experience".
The following were the top 10 responses:
- Be clear
- Stick to Plan A wherever possible
- Learn to cultivate peripheral vision
- Seize the opportunities
- Be honest with yourself
- Tell it like it is
- Be visible
- Be tough
- Use confidence to create confidence
- Balance enthusiasm and experience
It’s easy to lead when it is easy to lead. In less than vibrant and predictable economic environments strong and effective leadership is key to not only surviving, but thriving.
From the leadership thinking and research of Bennis in the 1980s and 1990s to the research of Adair, Collins and the study done by The Company Agency Leadership Council in the 21st century, there is some consistency about what constitutes great leadership no matter what the economic conditions. In fact, as Adair reminds us, effective leadership is needed especially in downturns and turbulent times. One of his favourite analogies is that a leader is like the conductor of an orchestra (although he says that during fast‐changing circumstances it may be stretched to a leader of a jazz group). A key quality he looks for in a leader is the capacity to grow an organization in adverse conditions.
Let’s review what some of the key leadership competencies are coming out of the research and years of study done by Bennis, Adair, Collins and to a lesser extent, The Company Agency Leadership Council:
- the need to create a clear and shared vision and sense of purpose (Bennis, Adair, Collins)
- clarity in communicating the vision and objectives of the organization (Adair, Collins and the Company Agency Leadership Council)
- clarity, honesty and integrity of communication(7) at all levels of the organization as to the effects of whatever economic environment is being experienced (Adair, Collins The Company Agency Leadership Council
- the ability to build on experience, seize opportunities, and ride out storms while having peripheral vision (Adair, Collins, The Company Agency Leadership Council)
- constant review with an eye to any and all influencing external and internal factors (Adair, Collins)
- creating and evoking the highest standards by example‐ that is walking the talk (Bennis, Adair, Collins)
I don’t know about you, but I would rather work in an organization where:
•There is clarity about where we are going and how we are going to get there
•I and everyone else are being communicated with in an open and honest way
•Knowing that the high standards and ways of operating within the organization are honoured through example by the leaders and management teams
•Where the focus is on the collective ‘we’ instead of individual ‘me’s’ of the leaders
•Where systems, processes and procedures allow the organization to ‘turn on a dime’ in response to constantly reviewed influences of external and internal changes
•Where my contribution is valuable and valued by leadership who give credit instead of taking it for a job well done
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(1) John Adair’s book is entitled Not bosses but leaders: How to lead the way to success, Kogan Page (2000).
(2) HBS Professor Michael Beer’s et al book is entitled High Commitment, High Performance: How to Build a Resilient Organization for Sustained Advantage. In it he and his colleagues ask questions such as what it takes to build a high commitment, high performance (HCHP) system inside companies. What outcomes must such an organization achieve in order to sustain commitment and performance? What are principled choices its leaders must make if they are serious about building such a firm? What are the means for changing an average company into a HCHP company?
(3) Warren Bennis is the founding chair of The Leadership Institute at the University of Southern California (USC), Los Angeles; a university professor; author of 27 books and hundreds of articles on leadership; advisor to four presidents.
(4) Jim Collins research spanned five years starting in 1996 and set out to answer one question, Can a good company become a great company and, if so, how? Most great companies Collins contends grew up with superb parents – people like Ceorge Merck, David Packard, and Walt Disney‐who instilled greatness early on. But what about the vast majority of companies that wake up partway through life and realize that they're good but not great? To answer that question, he and his research team looked for companies that had to answer that question, they looked for companies that had shifted from good performance to great performance‐and sustained it. They identified comparison companies that had failed to make that sustained shift. They then studied the contrast between the two groups to discover common variables that distinguished those who made and sustained a shift from those who could have but didn't.
(5) The Company Agency Leadership Council http://www.internalcommshub.com/open/managers/casestudies/coag.shtml
(6) In The Company Agency Leadership Council research the following business leaders included in the report findings were:
Richard Beck, VP, Group Communications Director, HSBC; Iain Ferguson CBE, CEO, Tate & Lyle; Karen Geary, Group Director of HR and Corporate Communications, The Sage Group plc’ Neil Golightly, VP Downstream Communications, Shell; Val Gooding, Former CEO, BUPA; Paddy Harverson, Press Secretary to HRH The Prince of Wales; Hugh Harvey, MD, Comet; • Jason Howard, CEO, Willis Re International; Francisco Lanzas, Chairman’s Office, Santander; • Simon Lewis, Corporate Affairs Director, Vodafone; Charles Miller Smith, Chairman, Asia House; Leo Quinn, CEO, De La Rue; David Richards, Chairman, Aston Martin; • Simon Walker, Chief Executive, The British Private Equity & Venture Capital Association.
(7) In an interview with Marge Lagace titled Uncompromising Leadership in Tough Times in February 2009 for the Harvard Business School Working Knowledge series of articles, Professor Michael Beer gives an illustration of this type of communication from his upcoming book High Commitment, High Performance: How to Build a Resilient Organization for Sustained Advantage. In it he considers the case of Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream where unexpected event coincided to create the most difficult period in the company’s history. Investments in the company's expansion took longer, cost more than anticipated, and expected profits were delayed. The price of butterfat, the key ingredient in ice cream, rose to a record level. The company could not raise prices because of aggressive discounting by its chief competitor. Revenue in one of Dreyer's new product lines began to drop. And one of its customers threatened to terminate its long‐term distribution contract.
Under these pressures from capital markets, most executives would begin restructuring and cutting costs immediately. Dryer's senior management began with honest and open communication. Gary Rogers and Richard Cronk had spent many years building an open team based culture, one in which they had made themselves accessible, so employees believed them. When they were prepared to announce their restructuring to the financial community, executive committee members were on airplanes to talk with every one of their 400 employees. Cronk observed, “We know our limits and
understand the law, but we tend to be very open with our employees, we communicate a lot." They reassured us," said an account executive, "by calling it straight? They informed us of their game plan and that they needed us? You looked and these [senior managers] and thought, you'd run through a wall for this guy."
The story does not end there. A 1‐800 number was set up so employees could call to hear CEO Rogers's pre‐recorded speech about the situation and his plans. The speech was honest and owned up to problems, but also was upbeat. Senior management continued to invest in the Dreyer Leadership University [DLU], demonstrating that they cared about employee development. Cronk and others in senior management thought this was an investment in the future that would pay off. "When people heard that we were investing another million dollars into the [culture] and DLU it created a high degree of comfort and confidence that we're focused on what really matters", observed the VP of Sales.
About Ruth Garrett MSc. PhD
is the President of Integral Coaching and Meditation, assisting leaders and organizations to achieve strategic aims and objectives, while aligning those endeavours to the goals and aspirations of the people involved.