Archive for 2009
The Myth of the Great Personality
Why Leadership is NOT Driven by Charismatic Personalities
A few years ago I took on some new leadership initiatives. It was the first time I was genuinely excited to try to be a better leader. I had recently been at a leadership conference and spent most of my time observing a great leader as he shared his story and taught on how to lead. I left inspired to increase my leadership capacity.
Later that week, I shared my excitement with a family member, pointing out some of the ways that “model leader” had grown his organization. My relative was quiet for a minute and then said, “Well sure, if you have a so-and-so in your organization, and he is just as dynamic and charismatic as so-in-so, then of course you are going to grow.”
I heard the same hogwash at a leadership event I attended with leaders from my church. They echoed the same sentiment. “We can’t grow like that church grew because we don’t have so-and-so, the great dynamic leader.”
It drives me crazy that people tie their expectations of effective leadership to the amount of charisma found in their leaders (or in themselves!).
Here’s a secret for you:
Great organizations are not dominated by charismatic, dynamic leaders that “pied-piper” everyone into drinking their kool-aid and getting in step with where the leader wants to go. Great organizations are lead by people like this:
- Humble, self-effacing leaders: humility is the hidden jewel of an indicator as to the greatness of a leader. It isn’t the only indicator but it is the price of admission. Pride and bravado are tools of the weak – humility and appropriate smallness are tools for the strong.
- Focused, detail oriented, target driven leaders: great leaders keep their eye (and the eye of the organization) on the ball. They know that targets need to be constantly remembered. They continually bring people back to what really matters and help them see the forest AND the trees.
- Steady, innovative leaders: many people believe that great leaders ride in on their white horses and make sweeping, fast paced, changes. While some leaders may pull this off, most great leaders understand that incremental innovation over a long period of time will trump wholesale changes made quickly. The exception to this rule is when the organization is on the brink of failure. In turnaround times, sweeping changes and fast pace trumps a lot of things. But the vast majority of the time, steady, innovative, progress in the right direction is key.
I understand why some people don’t buy this. The dynamic, charismatic personality is so often the one we want to be the great leader. We pull for them. We cling to them. The problem is our beliefs that this personality is needed to lead, and it keeps us from stepping up and leading as we need to ourselves.
Keep moving forward,
Greg
p.s. Don’t just take my word for it. Here’s a really smart guy that thinks the same thing.
p.p.s. Speaking of incremental innovation. This is the last Friday Morning Memo you will receive. Next week you will have a whole new way to start the week.
[We've been innovating at Kanon Clarity. We aren't quite done yet, but I think you will like what we've been up to... See you next week]
Meetings are death (unless they are done right)
Ever feel like the meeting you are in is going to last forever, accomplish nothing, and drain you of the remaining energy that you have to make anything REAL happen?
We've all been there but what to do about it? I stumbled upon this great article about how to plan better meetings while surfing Alltop yesterday:
http://www.greatleadershipbydan.com/2009/04/10-no-bull-tips-on-how-to-lead-team.html
Read it, do it, and quit boring people to death with your current meeting culture.
Keep moving forward,
Greg
Why I love Monday mornings…
Monday represent a lot of things for a lot of people. In our culture today it seems that Mondays mean an end to something good and the beginning of something bad. Just last week I was watching people tweet and update their facebook status with: “how can it only be wednesday?” or “TGIF tomorrow!”
Don’t get me wrong: I love the weekend. I love being with my family and friends and having some downtime and watching lacrosse games and relaxing.
But what’s so wrong with the week? During the week we get to build something, create things, add value, serve other people, lead things, etc.
Monday is the promise of a weeks worth of opportunity. Monday is potential.
Now it’s time to use that potential and go do something with it.
Keep moving forward,
Greg
p.s. If you need some inspiration check this out.
Common Greatness
Heard of Susan Boyle?
If you haven’t heard of Susan Boyle you probably haven’t watched news the past two weeks. If you have, you know that she has come out of nowhere and taken the world by storm with her performance on Britain’s Got Talent. More than 30,000,000 people have watched various YouTube versions of her performance in the past 14 days.
There was a philosopher in the middle ages that said, “God has hidden the greatness of men from themselves lest they be filled with pride”. Susan Boyle’s greatness was revealed and it took the audiences breath away.
You may not be an overnight success like Susan Boyle. You may not be performing in front of the world. But are you aware of your greatness? Within each of us is greatness that is waiting to be revealed to the world that is around us.
So the question is, where can you focus your time, talent, and treasure to reveal yours?
Keep Moving Forward,
Greg
The Leader Free Zone
Why some organizations don’t grow
Have you ever been in an organization that just doesn’t grow? Some organizations seem destined to stagnation which eventually leads to decline and death.
On the other hand, some organizations are full of life. Growth is second nature to them and they excel consistently year after year.
I’ve been in both and I don’t like organizations that don’t grow.
What’s the difference?
The growth or lack of growth in most organizations is directly attributable to the growth or lack of growth of it’s leaders. Read the rest of this entry »