Four Towering Conclusions About Leadership
All of the experience, thinking, testing and probing, interviewing, research, discussion, and observation that spawned my understanding of leadership also yielded four conclusions that tower over every other piece of knowledge.
The first towering conclusion is that people commit to other people, so anyone who wishes to lead, to win the commitment of others in order to create change, must become the kind of person who attracts commitment. It is more than a matter of learning skills or competencies. It is a matter of living a life. As one leader told me, “How wonderful would it be if you were known through your life as ‘Honest Abe’? How much could you do? Wouldn’t that be amazing, to have that reputation?”
The second towering conclusion is that a compelling insight about the needs or aspirations of a group of people is far more important to inspiring commitment than is a vision. Visions that truly compel are founded on such insights and are faithful to them.
The third towering conclusion is that reflection is not time away from the job of leadership but is an integral part of the job. Another leader said it best: “You have to reflect on why you are doing what you are doing…or you are lost.”
And the final towering conclusion is that, in order for a leader to inspire exceptional commitment from others, equal concentration on mind, heart, and spirit is not optional; it is essential. Understand it, feel it, surrender to it.
(This post is an excerpt from The Art Of Winning Commitment)
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Tags: Leadership, Winning Commitment
The second point, Dick. Wow, this is beautifully stated. Leaders can create visions but if those visions don’t connect with a felt aspiration, the entire commitment process is unplugged. And to state it in reverse, if the aspirations of people don’t find a visionary leader a very painful set of conflicts may well be on the way…
Dan´s last blog post…On Appreciation
Dick – maybe the Republican party should read your post to find out why they have no
leaders worthy of the American people. I’d like to corral most politicians and slap
them silly and then boot them out of office. Corporate CEO’s and high level management are right behind ‘em.
Now that I have that off my chest . . .
Deb Call´s last blog post…Playing with Imperfection
very cool, Dick. we are in the same business.
zak
Zak — Yes we are “in the same business.”
Deb — Geez, why don’t you tell us how you really feel?
Thanks for that refreshing expression! I am in absolute, full, complete agreement with you. Our Congress has become a place in which party loyalty trumps EVERYTHING, and so we are all in very deep trouble if we are expecting them to solve anything.
Dan — Thanks! That was, as I said above, a real “towering conclusion” from all of my years of work on leadership. It isn’t about vision. It is about penetrating insight.
Another thought in response to Dan. A few leaders that I interviewed recognized that leadership begins with an insight (although they did not say it that way), but also created a vision as a way of attempting to get others on the same page. A surprising number of them said something like, “I don’t give a damn about having a vision.”
So many wanna bees don’t seem to understand point two. Having followers who are loyal and willing is such an easier path to success that hard core tactics and strong arm demands. Nice list here Dick.
Fred H Schlegel´s last blog post…Open Innovation – Filing a non-patent
I happened to be finishing up a report for a client when I read your four points, Dick. I literally went back and changed part of the conclusion based on Point II before sending it off. The point not only fit; it was just friggin’ perfect.
Dan´s last blog post…On the Meaning of Self-Appreciation