Barry Posner's and my new book, 'The Leadership Challenge', emphasises the importance of leaving a legacy and examines exactly what behaviours leaders must adopt in order to have a lasting impact. It conveys our thoughts on four relevant areas of leadership - significance, relationships, aspirations and courage - and the sometimes surprising conclusions we have drawn. For instance:
- leaders need loving critics;
- leader should want to be liked;
- leaders can't take trust for granted;
- leadership is about service and sacrifice;
- failure is always an option; and
- good leadership entails liberating the leader in others.
The following article explores some of the above contentions, as well as outlining the key practices and commitments essential for successful leadership
The importance of leaving a legacy
Although we have taught leadership skills for decades, the true importance of a legacy occurred to us relatively recently. Having reflected, reviewed key lessons we had given, and gained feedback from research and interviewees, it became clear to us that leaving a legacy is important to good leaders.
But by a 'legacy' we do not mean accomplishments such as profits made, empires built etc: rather, it is about what you have contributed to making the world a better place. Think of the legacy Dame Anita Roddick has created with Body Shop - tapping a hitherto almost unknown consumer desire for non-animal-tested, natural, organic beauty products, and fundamentally changing an industry.
Although her example is currently something of an exception, leaving a good legacy is about to become a far more universally important issue. It is about sustainability - but in an even broader sense. For the individual leader, there is the emotional payback of having done something worthwhile.
Even students should be asked what they expect their legacy to be. There is no 'right' answer, of course - it's not a mathematical problem - but it's never too early to start the internal dialogue, just as you should also never stop asking the same question of yourself.
Leadership is about service and sacrifice
Another key belief, that good leadership is about service and sacrifice, might initially seem to have no place in the corporate world. However, further examination should disabuse readers of that idea!
In our view, if you were to classify leadership as a business-type 'activity' it would probably be as a service industry. And in a service industry you have your constituents - your customers, but also your suppliers, employees, peers and board - all of whom must be satisfied if you are to command their loyalty. They must be confident that you will anticipate their needs almost before they do. That may mean subordinating your needs to meeting theirs.
Much has been written about the importance of a vision. And I stand by the importance of a leader being visionary. But to assume, effectively, that you are brilliant enough to divine the future all by yourself is inane. The best leaders listen, and are able to hear the whisper, "Here are my needs: if you fulfil them I will be loyal..." almost before it has been articulated.
A leader must be liked
Another possibly counter-intuitive tenet of ours is that it is important for leaders to be liked. How, you might ask, is that possible when you have to make unpopular decisions, eg redundancies, restructures, saying 'no' to proposals? And even where people lose their jobs through no fault of their own?
Yet research evidence shows that people who like their leader perform at a higher level. The dynamic is a bit like that in a family. The leader is the parent, who has to set rules, do and say things that are unpopular, and take actions for the benefit of the family as a whole. As long as they command respect, parents are still loved by their children.
However, where an unhappy outcome is the direct consequences of a leader's decisions, I also strongly believe that the leader - popular or not - should admit it to themselves and others. They should say, "I'm sorry, I screwed up. As a result we are all going to have to suffer." Further, where culpable for the circumstances, they should also take a pay cut. Rewarding people who perform badly is not appropriate in an organisation - and the rule applies from top to bottom.
Failure is always an option
'Failure is not an option' is one of the dumbest clichés ever uttered. In fact failure can be used as a positive in business - and without compromising good risk management. Failure is always an option, because anything new is more likely to fail than succeed. The more you innovate, the more you risk failure - with new products, drugs and initiatives. It's why scientists talk of an 'experiment'.
To use the possibility of failure positively, you have to say "let's embrace consequential learning and actively experiment - on the understanding that we're more likely to fail than succeed."
But, for good risk management, you also have to follow the wise maxim, "Never test the water for depth with both feet." You do your experimenting on a small scale. After all, risk management is not about never doing anything new, it is about doing it incrementally.
Liberate the leader in others
In any organisation there is a constant tension between freedom and constraint, and 'liberating to lead' has always been one of my personal management missions. My way of liberating leaders within the organisation is to increase their freedom by:
- giving them a bit of education;
- increasing their latitude - offering several options, rather than the one instruction;
- stretching them beyond their current capacity - showing confidence in their ability to grow;
- supporting them;
- opening doors - giving them access to helpful people and useful information; and
- stepping out of their way - to avoid being a barrier to their growth.
An observable set of skills
Finally, we would like to explode the myth that only a lucky few can ever understand the mystery of leadership. In fact, good leadership simply involves an observable set of skills and abilities, which we have codified into five essential practices, each practice requiring two related commitments.
View The five practices and 10 commitments of exemplary leadership.
Author: Jim Kouzes, who with Barry Posner also wrote the best-selling 'The Leadership Challenge', is past chairman emeritus of leadership development firm The Tom Peters Company, having previously been (variously) its president, chief executive officer and chairman.
Jim Kouzes, who with Barry Posner also wrote the best-selling 'The Leadership Challenge', is past chairman emeritus of leadership development firm The Tom Peters Company, having previously been (variously) its president, chief executive officer and chairman.
Email: jim@kouzesposner.com
Further information:
'A Leader's Legacy', by Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner, is published by Wiley imprint Jossey-Bass.
This article was published by the Finance and Management Faculty (Issue 141, February 2007).