Water Cooler Assignment on Leadership Styles

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ONE CLOSE-QUARTER LEADERSHIP 7

ONE Close-quarter leadership

“Leaders go first. They set an example and build commitment through simple, daily acts that create progress and momentum. Leaders model the way through personal example and dedicated execution”

JAMES KOUZES & BARRY POSNER

For anyone in a leadership role the defining moment of truth is – “It’s YOUR call. What are you going to DO?” Becoming a fully paid-up member of the – ‘By my deeds ye shall know me’ school of leadership would seem, therefore, to be an indispensable qualification for leaders who consciously acknowledge the central nature of their role.

‘Say – do’ credibility, based upon the timeless obligation of leadership by example – and delivery – remains at the very root of leader accept- ability, influence and, ultimately, success. But it is not simply a matter of action for action’s sake. Even more so, true leadership is about as distanced as it can be from its grotesque parody – ‘macho management’. Too easily, under pressure for results, a leader can fall into the seduc- tive ‘activity trap’, in the often mistaken belief that ‘any action is better than no action at all’. Equally, the myth of urgency and the confusion about what is ‘urgent’ and what is crucial exerts its insidious pressure, as a leader may feel the presence of some sneaky ‘sword of Damocles’ hanging over his ever-vulnerable head.

Williams, Michael. Leadership for Leaders, Thorogood Publishing, 2005. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/waldenu/detail.action?docID=308984. Created from waldenu on 2021-01-24 12:54:37.

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Fear of failure, or ridicule, rather than the real demands of the situa- tion, so frequently become the arbiter of leaders’ decisions and actions – or the trigger for inconsistent and inappropriate leadership ‘style’. The influential findings of recent research by people like Jim Collins1 and, in the UK, by Jane Simms2 suggest that the key behaviours of currently successful leaders tend to be – strong professional will, but with personal humility, high self-discipline, a preparedness to confront brutal reality, a focused concentration on the business, strong communication, but also an absence of narcissism, and – a largely low-key, low-profile approach.

Such findings appear to be at odds with traditional perceptions of effec- tive leaders who are so often seen as – highly egotistical, ‘charismatic’, high-profile, colourful personalities.

As more rigorous research now seems to indicate, some of those narcis- sistic leaders, who set out to cultivate mythology about themselves, have their ‘brief, gaudy hour’ and may achieve short-term successes, while others may bring about necessary turn-around within their businesses. Yet, not too many of them leave legacies of long-term transformation and enduring success.

As Collins says: “…boards of directors frequently operate under the false belief that they need to hire a larger-than-life, egocentric leader to make a business great…”. In support of that view, Simms makes the point that, the emergence of so-called ‘low-key leadership’ is partly a reaction against the CEO celebrity boom of recent years, where ‘heroes’ can turn into ‘villains’ overnight, dragging their companies down with them. Enron, Parmalat, WorldCom, Martha Stewart Living, Omnimedia, Andersen Consulting and Equitable Life being recent high profile examples of top executive greed, or financial gross misconduct. Simms further states: “The greater focus on corporate governance is curtailing the power of the individual and humility is replacing the pre-Enron megalomania.”

This is not a plea for self-emasculating, over-compliant non-entities, but rather an acknowledgement of something capable leaders have always

recognized, namely that success in most walks of life – and especially

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so in business – is usually the result of well-led teamwork, rather than the star performance of one charismatic egomaniac. Kriss Akabusi MBE, triple Olympic medallist and CEO3, writing in Director, cites the Greek football team’s triumph, in the 2004 World Cup and comments “Greece demonstrated how teamwork could achieve far more than individual brilliance. Before the tournament began, the teams with flamboyant players were predicted to win. But as it progressed, it was clear that those teams who worked for each other were the ones winning the matches”.

Time and again, observation and research in the ten companies4

referred to in the introduction to this book, confirmed the ability to engage, mobilize and focus others’ brain-power, energy and commitment as being core activities of those in leadership roles.

Leading at close quarters

Engaging, mobilizing and focusing people so often means opening up possibilities for them that they may not even know about. More than that, it involves making them feel that they have no limits – or, as Benjamin Zander5 says: “taking them beyond the bloody impossible”.

A manager who remains addicted to the safe and familiar and who consis- tently fails to look afresh – and objectively – at challenges, is hardly likely to inspire others to listen for the sounds that are more powerful than the voice that says “no”. That may be acceptable in businesses which unconsciously support the practices of ‘reverse Darwinism’ – survival of the weakest. It is not the mindset of a leader dedicated to creating an environment where people do what they are best at and continually excel in work they believe in passionately. Fundamental to such a mindset is the imperative of getting to know thoroughly – and engage fully with – each member of the team, in order to build trust and confidence and help them to deliver to the very best of their ability. This is essentially what

‘close-quarter’ leadership is about.

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There are infinitely variable and diverse approaches to close-quarter leadership, depending upon the circumstances and the people involved in a particular situation.This does not mean that it can mean all things to all people because, within the criteria of variability and diversity, the process of full engagement is paramount – but it is also a uniquely personal process. To that end, close-quarter leadership may involve delegation, challenge, developing ‘buy-in’, coaching, nurturing and/or directing, as appropriate, but the common threads of creating a climate for learning, improvement – and results – will include, variously:

• Setting and re-affirming direction, with as much emphasis on the ‘why’, as the ‘what’ and ‘where to’.

• Increasing others’ awareness of personal responsibility, role- commitment and ownership of results.

• Providing the stimulus to explore ways to think and behave differently and do things better.

• The opening up of opportunities for challenge and ‘stretch’, though new roles, job-enrichment, high-profile projects and testing assignments.

• Encouraging people to experiment or take initiatives and break from the past, where necessary.

• Empowering – and the often allied process of enabling – to build confidence and facilitate accountable action.

• Providing an environment where failure is acceptable, but where rapid learning from mistakes and the ability to recover and move forward are the expected norm.

• Perhaps, above all – active listening, directed feedback and regular opportunity for ‘quality’ dialogue.

• From the above close-quarter engagement – personal and professional growth of the leader, as well as the team members.

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Close-quarter leadership is about leading from behind, just as much as it is a matter of leading from the front. As the Marquis de Lafayette, one of France’s greatest ‘soldiers’ generals’, said: “I am their leader, therefore I must follow them”, meaning that he saw his role, as leader, as prima- rily that of someone responsible for doing all that he could, to enable his troops to excel and succeed.

Leading effectively at close quarters also means that the leader is, more often than not, there to serve team members – not merely be the ‘boss’ – in enabling them to cope successfully with the challenges of expected results. In such a context, the leader’s power base becomes essentially authoritative – the authority of expertize and competence – not simply authoritarian, while the major source of influence stems from behaviour, ‘style’, consistency and trustworthiness.

Leaders’ power, traditionally, is seen as having its roots, variously, in:

1. Positional authority – that of role, job, or status and the extent of authority conferred by superiors, in terms of available resources, budget, headcount and decision parameter.

2. Expertize – vested in a person’s competence, in-depth or specialist knowledge and skills, or particular – often unique – expertize and abilities.

3. Information – access to facts, data and information, often exclusive, or privileged, that enhance an individual’s influence and power, personally and/or professionally.

4. Relationships – so-called ‘referral power’, based upon cultivated alliances and connections with those in positions of power and influence, who are prepared to give ‘political’ support or sponsorship.

5. Commitment – people support and own what they create and the ‘territorial’ commitment that arises out of a sense of personal ownership gives a person power.

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6. Integrity – an individual’s trustworthiness, honesty and both personal and professional credibility give them ‘moral authority’, i.e. they are identified with possessing the moral high ground in a decision or event.

7. ‘Personal Power’ – arises out of an individual’s unique ‘persona’, presence and ‘style’ and the ways in which they influence, interact with, or dominate others. Includes ‘charisma’, vitality, raw energy, ‘dynamism’ and temperament.

As with any other form of leadership, those capable of leading for effect, at close quarters, will at some time draw upon all seven sources of power, be they ascribed, bestowed, derived, assumed, or otherwise acquired. In close-quarter leadership, especially, it is both the timing – as well as the appropriateness – of the use of leader power that is critical. Awareness of self and others, sensitivity and high empathy, the hallmarks of so-called emotional intelligence, emerge as crucial attributes in the exercise of power – especially in the conscious use of power, in whatever form – for optimal effect. Managing people, where communicating the right message – at the right time is critical to requisite understanding and commitment – to the achievement of goals – means that the most appropriate channels must be used to ensure:

• The message is transparent, resonant – and is fully registering with the receiver.

• The intended signal is clear and as free from emotional ‘noise’ and clutter as it can be.

• The respective quality of transmission and reception are ‘in sync’, so that the receiver hears and feels what he/she is intended to hear and feel.

• There is ‘buy-in’, not by-pass.

When the relationships are face-to-face and leadership is literally at close quarters, the challenges of clear, unequivocal communication are diffi- cult enough.When ‘transmitter’ and intended ‘receivers’ are regularly out

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of each others’ sight, the risk of miscommunication multiplies infinitely. Two tools which can significantly reduce the chances of communication going awry, but especially at close quarters, are:

1. The communication Stimulus – Response model which identifies the linkage between the nature of an interaction and the intended consequent outcomes of that interaction.

2. The Peak Communication concept emerges out of the idea of a hierarchy of communication and social intimacy, whereby both interpersonal payoff – and risk – increase, the further up the hierarchy we choose to operate.

In more detail, these two processes are described, respectively, in figures 1 and 2, below.

NATURE OF INTERACTION OUTCOMES OF INTERACTION

(Stimulus) (Response)

1. Cognitive Connects intellectually

The ‘factual information’ channel: Descriptive, interpretative, objectively evaluative, with no emotional ‘baggage’. Principal characteristics of this channel are – facts, logic, objective analysis and conclusion, rational thinking, realism

2. Emotional/affective Engages others’ feelings and needs

This channel involves the communication of values, feelings and emotions, e.g. – ‘passion’ for a business, or goal Principal characteristics are – subjectivity, personal feelings, beliefs, values and needs

3. Energy/inspiration Hooks hopes and aspirations

The ‘I-will-lead-you-to-a-better-world’ channel, which focuses on hopes of a brighter, greater future Principal characteristics are – personal/professional aspirations and ambitions, indicative of wishes for a better life

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FIGURE 1: CLOSE-QUARTER LEADERSHIP: STIMULUS AND RESPONSE – THE NATURE AND QUALITY OF INTERACTION

Focusing people’s thinking and actions lies at the heart of leadership and each of the four communication channels has its part to play in that process. Each channel, used with intelligence and developed awareness, invests communication, as appropriate, with factual authority, passion for a goal or rightful cause, a compelling vision of what is possible, or much needed fresh insights, when a solution seems impossible. Misused, or manipu- lated destructively, facts become distorted or corrupted, positive emotions succumb to cynicism, bigotry – or worse. Vested interests masquerade as moral principles and the fine line between vision and hallucination disap- pears, as fantasy assumes control and restrictive stereotyping stultifies creativity, innovation – and progress. Perhaps most important of all, is the recognition that these differing channels for communicating with others do exist and to know which to use – and when – for optimum resonance and impact, as a leader responsible for focusing people’s thoughts and mobilizing their contributory energy and activity.

Whereas the communications process depicted in figure 1 describes the messaging channels available in transmitting and receiving information and knowledge, figure 2, below, identifies the extent of interactive

NATURE OF INTERACTION OUTCOMES OF INTERACTION

(Stimulus) (Response)

4. Insight/wisdom Releases talent and potential

The channel of communication which focuses others’ sense of direction, purpose, goals and strategies Principal characteristics are – context and perspective, valid options/alternatives and the questions – ‘why?’ and ‘why not?’ and ‘how best to…..?’

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opportunities open to us, in communicating and building productive relationships with others. Because of what are often felt to be personal risks – looking foolish, making mistakes, leaving oneself vulnerable, or being disadvantaged in some way – so many leaders (and others!) regularly miss the opportunities offered, when communicating at the highest levels of interaction. Frequently, our observations showed that fear of rejec- tion and other forms of social ‘punishment’, outweighed the potential benefits and advantages, for influencing others, to be gained by taking the risks involved, at levels 4, 5 and 6 in the ‘Communication and Interaction Hierarchy’. So often, the challenge to go higher and operate at ‘peak communication’ levels, to open up opportunities for productive synergy, was met with that most destructive of all rebuffs – ‘yes, but…’

By no means a 100% culturally dependent issue, a general reticence to move beyond level 3 – into areas of personal uniqueness – was met working with managers from the UK, the US, Canada, most of Western Europe and also with those from Eastern Europe. The exceptions to the pattern tended to come, in the main, from younger men and women, already in key leadership roles, from various national cultures, who were often MBA graduates from leading Business Schools, or were comparably well-quali- fied professionals. They possessed a refreshing directness, which sometimes needed ‘softening’, in order to persuade others to respond in the same ‘open’, clear terms, free from emotional clutter.

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FIGURE 2: HIERARCHY OF COMMUNICATION AND INTERACTION

The model’s origins are obscure, but it was extensively developed in the UK by David Gilbert-Smith, the Chief Executive of the Leadership Trust, together with his wife Janet, at Weston-under-Penyard, as one of several unique, ‘bespoke’ behavioural models, to provide context, focus and ‘shape’ to the powerful learning experiences, on the Trust’s many world- class leadership training programmes.

In day-to-day management, where leading teams – and individuals – at close quarters is a matter of course, the concept of an interaction ‘hierarchy’, indicating progressively closer profitable engagement between people, helps to orientate and focus leadership style. Level 6 in the hierarchy represents, for practical purposes, the area of greatest productive interaction between people. It is where synergy and shared ‘flow’ create the collective intellectual and emotional energy necessary for outstanding contribution and job performance.

Peak Communication

Values, Feelings and Emotions

Ideas and Judgements

Facts and Information

Gossip and ‘Grapevine’

Social rituals and cliché conversation

Source of maximum synergy and creative intellectual ’flow’

Areas of personal uniqueness

Basis of much of organisational culture

RI SK

v P

AY O

FF Interaction level

High

Low

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‘Peak communication’ – where people alternately share, stimulate and jointly build ideas and solutions together – also provides the necessary positive arena, that allows for constructive challenge and disagreement. Between leaders and supporters who regularly engage in dialogue, at level 6, there is an easy spontaneity which facilitates productive debate and the readiness to introduce and explore options and alternatives, as an automatic consequence of just being together.

Interacting at such a degree of closeness, where there is little or no serious emotional ‘baggage’ impeding dialogue, requires high levels of honesty, forthrightness and mutual trust, as well as commitment to achieving the task on hand. High mutual awareness and respect, and a preparedness to subordinate self-interest to the needs of the team, or group, are also critical elements in achieving the fruitful synergy so typical of level 6 communication and interaction.

The actual moments when peak communication occurs, whereby ideas are jointly built upon, developed and carried forward to the action stage, cannot be legislated for. Such synergy occurs naturally in relationships where there is little concern about recrimination, little fear of failure or threat of rejection. What can be learned, introduced and consciously practised are the tools and techniques that reflect a leadership mindset which is concerned to develop and use peak communication, as a crucial means of getting the best out of people.

Some of the main keys to creating an environment and climate, in which peak communication and close engagement become regular possibilities in a relationship, include:

1. Find the shared ‘connectors’ that are critical to both (all) parties – i.e. the important common concerns, hopes, fears and goals.

2. Focus attention first on the other person(s) and their ideas, wants, values and concerns.

3. Look at the other person – NOT through, around, or over them.

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4. Naturally match, or ‘mirror’, the other person’s body language and posture (this implies approval, responsiveness, concern and interest – i.e. positive reactions).

5. Use ‘we’ and ‘you’, not ‘I’ – centred words and phrases.

6. Use language patterns that match those of the others, without submerging your own identity.

7. Value and show respect for the differences that exist between you. Remember! synergy comes from diversity, not uniformity, so look for the complementary strengths.

8. Explore the differences between you to find the common ground and the best mutually acceptable way forward (where the route to progress is not mandatory).

9. Constantly build upon what the other person is saying and help them, in turn, to add value to your ideas. Remember the positive role of – “Yes, and…” and the destructiveness of – “Yes, but…”

Emotional intelligence – the basis of close-quarter leadership

Both our own research – and that of many others in the field – has confirmed the central importance of emotional intelligence in leaders’ behaviour and the development of leadership style. Just as there are measures of cognitive intelligence (IQ) so, in emotional intelligence, there is the parallel yardstick of EQ, which is defined as:

‘The capacity for recognizing our own feelings and those of other people, for motivating and energizing ourselves and others and for managing emotions effectively, in ourselves and in our relationships.’

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Given that definition, the importance of high EQ in close-quarter leader- ship, especially, becomes clear. Observation suggests that very emotionally intelligent managers and leaders, typically:

• Generate positive emotions in their relationships with others.

• Sense and discern the important underlying issues in interactions.

• Readily create a climate of goodwill.

• Build sound relationships through awareness, empathy and consistency.

• Exercise influence, through personal and professional integrity.

• Get things done, through the engaged commitment of others.

High EQ does not equate with stifled or suppressed emotion, neither does it mean that those possessing it are naturally ‘soft’ and lacking in what Tichy6 calls ‘edge’, which is the ‘steel’, essential to taking necessary tough decisions. What seems to mark out those with high EQ, as being different, is that they can – and do – use considerable cutting edge, whenever they need to, but they use their steel constructively and positively, without rancour and not as ‘punishment’. Typically, they:

• Have clear principles and values and stick to them.

• Exercise strong self-discipline in their judgement and decisions.

• Are manifestly consistent and honest.

• Challenge and disagree, but in a spirit of enquiry, exploration, progress – and learning.

• Can be creatively abrasive, in order to provoke new/different thinking and action.

• Engage in critical conversations and searching dialogue, to establish shared meaning and commitment prior to taking decisions.

and, in so doing, engage others – even in disagreement, or conflict – in peak communication.

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As Dr Mike Bagshaw7 of the Consultant Group ‘Trans4mation’ states:

“These emotional competencies have been shown to have a positive effect in business performance, over and over again. And organiza- tions are beginning to sit up and take notice.”

Perhaps in the spirit of ‘Who cares wins’, Bagshaw and his colleagues have developed a useful emotional intelligence mnemonic – C.A.R.E.S., which has high relevance in close-quarter leadership.

Summarized, but especially from a leadership standpoint, the concept C.A.R.E.S. takes the following form:

C – Creative tension

This is a process of managing the inevitable pressures and tension between the situation as it currently is – and how we need it to be. It involves recognizing that many of the tensions surrounding necessary change are both inevitable – and legitimate – and identifying the most constructive, productive ways, to work through them – not dismiss them as irrelevancies – to manage today better, in order to get to an envis- aged tomorrow.

A – Active choice

It means making decisions where there are several options available to us and where there are consequent competing risks and doubts. Choosing one course of action usually means that we are forced to forego others and rejecting some advantages that we prefer. Emotionally intel- ligent leaders appear to be able to come to a decision – involving risk and choice – and move on, without hankering after what has been lost.

R – Resilience under pressure

What so often lowers group morale, motivation and the will to overcome adversity, is not so much the difficulties facing the group as the leader’s perceived attitude towards the challenge and his/her ability and resolve

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to deal with it. Nowhere, in leadership is this more immediate – and apparent – than when leading a team at close quarters.

E – Empathic relationships

Empathy means having the capacity and readiness to step into other people’s shoes and see things from their point of view, with their perspec- tives and priorities. Empathy – like awareness of self and others – lies at the root of emotional intelligence and would seem to be a critical factor in successfully engaging closely and meaningfully with others.

S – Self awareness

This means being aware of how we feel and react in different situations. It is about knowing our strengths and our weaknesses and acknowledging the things that we both like and dislike about ourselves – especially in our dealings with other people. Self-awareness is not about self-obses- sion, nor is it self-consciousness. Rather, it is the necessary, realistic foundation to self-confidence and the preparedness to learn, develop and move forward in life – and as a leader.

An important distinction about emotional intelligence is that it can be learned and enhanced which, arguably, differentiates it from cognitive intelligence and so-called IQ.

This does not mean changing your personality – nor doing a DIY ‘spin- doctor’ job, to re-invent yourself – yet again! As Jo Maddocks (8) of JCA (Occupational Psychologists) says: “The important question is – how can I be more effective? The answer is NOT to change who you are, but to learn how to manage yourself and your relationships better.”

Many successful leaders, in interview, during the ten-company surveys, stated that they never stop learning about leadership and management. Most cited seemingly small incidents, that occurred during the course of the working day, as frequently being the richest sources of their contin- uing learning and growth as leaders. One senior Dutch banker made

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the point that simply remembering to say ‘thank you’, using the person’s first name and looking them in the eye, as he said it, had given a signif- icant ‘lift’ to his relationships with his team members and colleagues.

An Austrian manager, in a major Italian insurance group, said that, for him, asking people for their recommendations on important issues and solutions, rather than simply telling them what and how to do their jobs, had been a very necessary and critical learning experience. Other respondents made the point that their key learning, as leaders, centred around often quite simple issues such as:

• Always keeping promises made and therefore only making commitments that they knew they could and would keep.

• Stating clearly “this is what we have to do” – NOT – “they have decided we have to…”

• Being prepared to take the blame and say to their own staff (and others) “Sorry, I got it wrong”.

• Asking their team members – “What do you need me to do, to help you to…..?”.

• Not asking their people to do things that they, as the manager, were not prepared to do.

• Not ‘cherry picking’ the choicest jobs for themselves and delegating the dull ones to their staff.

• Ensuring that team members received due acclaim and praise publicly and not ‘stealing’ the resultant kudos, for themselves, as the manager.

• Regularly creating opportunities for mutual feedback, dialogue and coaching, and actively managing people’s performance.

• Encouraging reverse coaching, i.e. – team members coaching their boss on key issues.

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• Where conditions allow, taking time out to ‘walk and talk’ with team members, using the outdoors as a conducive medium for discussion about sensitive or ‘difficult’ matters.

• Despite obvious time pressures, consciously making themselves more available to their people.

• Leadership by example arose time and again, as a key learning point, typified by the comments of a top investment banker from Chicago who said – “If I failed to walk the talk, just once, my team would never let me forget it. If I did it a second time, I’d be dead, as their boss”.

Observations in the ten companies repeatedly confirmed the simple fact that leadership is not about slavishly following some theoretical ‘style’, or fad, but recognizing what is under our noses and dealing with it intel- ligently. The leader with high EQ is someone who picks up more readily, more deftly and with greater acuity, than others:

• Sensitive, urgent or significant issues that need to be dealt with and should not be ignored.

• Areas of potential conflict that need to be carefully surfaced and resolved.

• Less than obvious connections that suggest opportunity or productive potential.

• Gaps in communication and relationships that either need to be leapt over – or effectively filled.

• Veiled, subtle, or hinted at interactions that, if sensitively developed and progressed, could prove to be winning connections or relationships.

As Cooper and Sawaf 9 state in their excellent book – Executive EQ:

“Emotional intelligence is the ability to sense, understand and effec- tively apply the power and acumen of emotions as a source of human energy, information, connection and influence.”

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EQ is, in effect, the basis of the emotional ‘alchemy’, so critical in close- quarter leadership, that is about:

1. Going the ‘extra mile’ – and more than halfway – in initiating, building, or mending relationships.

2. The readiness to embrace uncertainty – particularly productive uncertainty, in taking decisions.

3. The preparedness to move out of ‘comfort zones’ and to take risks, in order to move things forward.

4. Using intuition, or ‘sixth sense’, in going against the rulebook, or convention that is no longer appropriate and realistic.

5. Expressing necessary constructive dissatisfaction and a readiness to change a state of affairs.

6. The courage to go first into the ‘land-of-I-don’t-knows’, that lies beyond known, familiar territory.

7. Leading in a spirit of exploration, experimentation, creative innovation and enterprize.

As Maya Angelou says: “To live is not just to survive, but to thrive with passion, compassion, some humour and style.”

Leaders with high EQ and ‘Cutting Edge’

Leaders can lead – after a fashion – simply by downloading habitual ways of thinking and acting, but their influence and achievements are likely to be, at best, mediocre. Rarely, however, will they initiate the necessary breakthroughs, to move their worlds forward. Even less will they exploit and capitalize upon them. They are likely, too, to lose the plot as leaders – because they probably won’t even have recognized it in the first place.

This is what Tichy refers to as the ‘ultimate failure of leadership’ – the lack of acuity, focus and disciplined edge, and the failure to recognize

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and respond effectively to the real challenges of their environment. He cites Arnold Toynbee’s 10 example of nations and societies failing, or succumbing, once they have reached a ‘condition of ease’ and have lost the will, cutting edge and self-determination to face reality and deal decisively with it.

Leaders of high EQ, with the necessary will, focus and ‘steel’, give the organization the speed, decisiveness, boldness and raw energy to break the boundaries of conventional wisdom, add necessary crucial value to the business – and its people – and move them forward. Their economic decisions will focus on where to invest time, money and resources for optimum payback and where – and how best – to add value to the business. Their ‘people’ decisions, aligned to the needs of the business, will face the realities of people’s jobs, contributions, careers and futures. In Jim Collins’ terminology, they will face the brutal facts, as disciplined leaders and, using a combination of professional will – and personal humility – they will get the right people on the bus, in the right places. Equally, they will get the wrong people off the bus, to set the right standards, take the right actions and start to achieve outstanding results.

Successful leaders who commit to – and deliver – outstanding results, do so as a result of the effective leadership and management of their teams. They understand that their route to success is, inevitably through engaging, focusing and mobilizing others’ brainpower, horsepower and commitment.

Leadership is about taking people beyond what they thought they were capable of – and creating jobs, roles, relationships and an environment whereby people can excel in work that uses and extends their talents, and about which they feel passionate. To do that, leaders need to engage closely and fully with those whom they are charged with managing and leading. In becoming effective close-quarter leaders, managers, more than at any other time, will be leading by example and will be exercising power and influence which are highly personal, as much as they are professional and authoritative. Such engaged, close-quarter leadership relies for its

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impact and success upon consistently clear, resonant communication. Necessarily, this involves:

1. Recognizing and appropriately using all the right communication channels, at the right times.

2. Understanding, acknowledging and using all levels of the ‘Hierarchy of Communications’ and being able to operate, at will, with others at so-called ‘peak communication’ levels, to stimulate necessary productive interaction and creative synergy.

The most important clues about what to change, or improve – and how best to do it – are there, day-to-day, right under our noses. Developing the necessary discriminatory perceptiveness, acuity and the ability to ‘sense’ when, or when not, to intervene, is central to professional and personal growth, as a leader and manager. It is a matter of developing the right mindset, as well as the right skills. It is essentially a selfless, not a narcissistic process, where the main focus is upon the team and its members, the organization and the results that are critical to ensuring the future of the company.

Change the leadership mindset – and you change the whole business.

As Rijkman Groenink, Chairman of ABN AMRO 11 the highly successful global bank, says:

“Effective leaders are leaders with the strength and courage to change themselves, to grow, while retaining their essential self. If its leaders have the ability to change and grow, so will the organization.”

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Chapter one references

1. Collins, J. Good to Great, Random House Business Books

2. Simms, J. Leadership – Low Profile Bosses, Director, Vol 57, No. 7, 2004; Institute of Directors

3. Akabusi, K. Letter, Director, Vol 58, No 1, 2004; Institute of Directors

4. 10 Companies in US, Canada, (food) Western Europe, (Wood pulp, Chemicals, pharmaceuticals, banks, insurance, electricity, service). Eastern Europe, (service, pharmaceuticals) Author’s collaborative research, 1998-2004

5. Zander, B. Lanseer Productions, BBC TV, The Works Living on one Buttock

6. Tichy, N. The Leadership Engine, Harper Collins, 1997

7. Bagshaw, M., Trans4mation Consultants, So what is EI? Wiltshire Business, October 2003

8. Maddocks, J., JCA Occupational Psychologists, Emotional Intelligence, Wiltshire Business, October 2003

9. Cooper, R. K. & Sawaf, A. Executive EQ, Perigee, 1998

10. Toynbee, A, quoted in Tichy, N. Ibid

11. ABN AMRO Chairman’s statement on management development document

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