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chapter 1

ANEW MODEL OF LEADERSHIP

There is measure in all things.

Horace (35 BC)

Leadership is essential to every business undertaking, and yet the fail­ ure rate for leaders in America's businesses is in the staggering range of 50-60% (Hogan et al., 1994). While such numbers are alarming, they are not unbelievable to anyone in touch with today's business news. Hardly a day passes without reports of some executive who has been forced to resign or has otherwise been removed from a leadership posi­ tion. Where else in an organization could we afford or allow such failure rates? How can it be that leadership-a subject that has been studied and written about for hundreds of years and is today the sub­ ject of over 16,000 books-still produces such disastrous results?

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MEASURE of a LEADER

Certainly part of the problem is that no consensus is available on the definition of leadership. After reading scores of leadership books, readers must ultimately draw their own conclusions about the meaning of leadership because little agreement exists on that subject. Even when authors do agree, the terms of leadership are described so broadly that the reader derives only a general sense of what one must do to become an effective leader. Therefore, the lessons that readers draw from lead­ ership books vary widely based on their own personal experiences, objectives, and prejudices.

Because leadership facts are so difficult to discern, most authors approach the subject inductively. That is, they glean anecdotes from ~- . individual histories and present them as universal truths. The leaders -they study are usually charismatic individuals who have achieved some level of fame. Since these individuals are often heroic or flamboyant, our fascination about what makes them different from the rest of us becomes the focus. This is a dangerous practice, because frequently the individuals studied are deeme~ effective in spite of some of their more defining characteristics rather than because of them.

Fortune magazine publicized annual listings of the 10 Toughest Bosses. It was an interesting list because so many of these indivi~uals eventually destroyed, rather than built, effective organizations. In some cases, it took years to realize the cumulative impact of this leadership style. Yet when the articles were written, the writers assumed that these individuals were effective leaders. Even today one can find books on leadership based on individuals who have since been discredited. For reasons such as this, an intuitive approach is not a very useful frame­ work for investigating leadership.

A more promising approach to determining the essence of leader­ ship would be to develop a testable hypothesis and then use data to determine whether to valfdate, reject, or modify it. Then we must gather ~ ~

data that validates or modifies our assumptions. Most leadership writers limit their premises to the success of the leader at his or her particular venture. Our contention is that this approach is too simplistic. It's pretty

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A NEW MODEL OF LEADERSHIP

much like saying that the only thing that counts is the bottom line, even when literally thousands of examples prove that this is not true. When it comes to leadership, how you accom lish success is ever bit as important as w at you accomplish. Richard Nixon and Kenneth Lay­ are two prime examples of this basic truth.

Jim Collins, author of the books Built to Last (2001) and Good to

Great (2000), offers one of the better exampl~ of the use of data to formulate his premises. Beginning with a more ~mplete and objective definition of great companies, he examined the leaders of these compa­ nies and developed several theories as to the cause of their perform­ aJ!Ce. The next step in this process is to collect data on leader behavior that validates these conclusions.

Unfortunately, like many leadership authors, many organizations use a simplistic view of leadership by only looking at the leader's results. Consider, for example, the tragic story of Charles Dutoit, the conductor of the Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal, who resigned his position at the peak, of his success. The tragedy was that the sym­ phony's board of directors was so satisfied with Dutoit's reputation and successes that they were unwilling to interfere with his management style. He had helped the orchestra achieve an international reputation furtlie quality of its performances. His musicians, however, reached this level in spite of his "harassment, offensive behavior and complete lack of respect" for them rather than as a result of his leadership style. Instead of helping Mr. Dutoit find a way to create followers, the orchestra's m~nagement chose to ignore the union's complaints. The result was a loss for everyone involved and a stain on the reputation of a conductor who would have been better served by a more insightful board (Le Monde, 2005). The outcome could have been significantly different had they helped Dutoit change his offending behaviors.

But a premature focus on leadership behavior can just as surely obscure what is really valuable. Managing behavior without knowing why that behavior really matters wastes everyone's time and energy. It also distracts people from focusing on the behaviors that do matter.

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MEASURE of a LEADER

So how is a person to know which leadership behaviors they should develop? We start by describing ~he outcomes that define leadership.

Producing results is the reason we study leadership in the first place. We want to learn how to replicate famous leaders' successes. Since results can be attained despite a 1:ader's behavior, we contend that the ultimate test of leadership is to be found in ho.w results are achieved via the followers' behavior. True leaders bring out the best in their people, whether that is defined by courage and heroism or by integrity and diligence. Leaders· are known both by the s~esses of their followers and by their followers' ~6nduct, or behavior. Successful people who use ineffective leadershf p practices are merely lucky. Compe­ tence .comes when successful outcomes are produced by values-driven, purposeful behaviors .

• For the purposes of tliis-book, we contend that the leader's role is to establish the conditions under whjch all performers wi11 choose to ·-execute the mission, vision, and values of the organization. Here the .,.. leader is not so much Pygmalion, the mythical Greek sculptor, but Aphrodite the goddess who turned Pygmalion's statue into Galatea, a living, breathing being. The leader gives animus to the organization, not just form. (.$ffr•,+/ ~.J/vc.J,<~

,,,

A New Model of Leadership

We propose a different model to identify effective leaders. Just as we do not look at the moon to determine its importance but rather at its effects, such as on the tides, the earth's crust, the earth's wobble, and the time of rotation, we look at the _followers to determine the quality ( the effect) of leadership. We are not examining leadership in terms of a person's position in the organization. We are discussing the effect that any one person has on the behavior of others. Leadership is a daily activity in every walk of life. In business, we simply have more opportunities for deliberate practice and evaluation in a more controlled setting. Businesses can truly be a school for leaders. For that reason we begin with a simple statement of our premises.

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A NEW MODEL OP LEADERSHIP

You are a leader only if you have followers. While this seems obvi­

ous, its i~plications are not. It suggests that the focus of any study of

leadership should be on the relationship between the leader and the

followers, not just on the leader. And to do this effectively, we must examine closely the followers' reaction to the leader. Follower behavior, 12ot leader be_havior, defines leadershiQ.

Our model posits .f8ur criteria of the followers' behavior that define.

l~dershi~ ( ~~) ,. ~ I. l:2llowers deliver discretionaryQehavior directed<~ o-,J''

t.£_ward the leader's goal~; - · ~

2. ~ollowers make sacrifices for the leader's cause; (1P~)

3. Followers tend to reinforce or correct others so t.h,at they also conform.to the leader's teachings and example;

4. Followers set guidelines for their own personal '-,v-t$~.{l..l behavior based on their Eerceived estimate of that ( \o l ~ ..VW-- which the leader would approve or disapprove. ~

Th@riterion suggests that the most effective leaders are those who g~t more out of the followers than the followers are required Jo give. In essence, the individuals donate some of their time and energy toThe leader's cause. Th~criterion states that the follower is willing to make sacrifices ~nee the leader's cause. This implies a commitment to the leader and his cause and is another example of a voluntary choice rather than a forced on!.

- Th~riterion talks about the relationship the followers have with each other as a result of the leader's example. They agree that the leader and his objectives ~re worthy enough that they will be suppor!­ ive of, rather than com etitive with one another. And, finally, the fourt criterion is about the followers' relationship with the leader. The follower and the leader respect each other for what each contributes to the cause.

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MEASURE of a LEADER

We will have much more to say about these four criteria later as we develop the measures of leadership.

The Difference Between a Leader and a Great Leader

Most of the leaders studied in leadership manuals are charismatic personalities. Unfortunately, this approach leads to the assumption that the secret of leadership is native to the person. However, much of lead­ ership is to be found in context. Would Churchill have been considered a great leader without World War II? Probably not. Yet Churchill did not change his personality so much as did the situation, which called forth different responses from both Churchill and his followers. In a historical sense, we judge the greatness of a leader by three factors:

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1. The magnitude of their impact. Leaders such as Jesuscand Mohammed have been judged by the vigor and growth of their message and by the per­ vasive influence of that message. When others base their life decisions on the example or teach­ ings of a leader, one of the conditions of greatness has been met.

2. The duratiop o their im act. Great leaders pro­ duce discip es who extend their message and example well beyond thefr immediate temporal role. How long the leader remains a significant influence to others is a significant part of the leader's legacy. Leaders such as Jack Welch, for­ mer chairman of General Electric, may be judged as great by their contemporaries but leaders' legacies depend on how people in the future recount their stories. Napoleon and Caesar have been studied across the centuries and have been emulated in fields far beyond the military. Only time will tell whether leaders such as President George W. Bush, psychologist B. F. Skinner, or Microsoft's Bill Gates will have had a greater effect on our society.

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A NEW MODEL OF LEADERSHIP

3. The '!,Umber o(followers. The number of people who follow a leader is siinificant to this distinction. Fame and notoriety are indicators of the numbers of people who have been impacted by the words or example of a leader. Notoriety is a reflection of the immediate impact of the leadees message. Fame, however, is a function of the universality of the leader's message. So the real test is how long a leader's message influences the behavior of a signif- icant number of people. •

Greatness as a leader assumes effectiveness. Since greatness is such a fragile designation when we speak of leadership, we will limit ourselves to talking about effective leaders in this work. While we may occasionally refer to people that history has denoted as great leaders, our focus is on anyone with the opportunity to lead others in any venture or cause, regardless of its magnitude, duration, or societal impact. d"y'

0.,J.Jn"irt:f!liMI~ L Leaders Are Found Everywhere

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The stories of great people tend to blind us to the abundance of leaders. When we eliminate the three factors that determine greatness from the equation, it is possible to see leaders all around us. In every organiza­ tion, we see individuals who are not in positions of authority but whom others look to for guidance and approval. Hence, many organizations have both a fqrmal organization chart that describes how information and decisions ;llould flow and an informal way to get things done that describes how things actually work. An organization chart is a manage­ ment tool, not a device that locates leadership.

Such situations highlight the fact that leadership requires no hier­ archal position. Joan of Arc was a peasant; Martin Luther was a simple monk; Moses was a refugee from justice; Lenin was a scholar; Jesus was a carpenter; Mohammed was an attendant of caravans; Gandhi was a small businessman; and Martin Luther Kihg was a preacher. A promi­ ~nt position in a hierarchy simply provides a platform and an arena to exercise leadership skills, but the hierarchal position is not necessary to

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~tEASURE of a LEADER

the practice. Most notable leaders emerge into public consciousness from a position of authority, but this only speaks to the visibility and scope of influence, not to the nature of leadership itself.

It is true that many individuals meet some of the criteria for a great leader but have forfeited their claim to greatness because of their cause and the way they abused the confidence of their followers. Hitler, Stalin, and Osama bin Laden are all examples of how one can adopt all the forms of leadership, but still fail at the substance of the positioJl. The followers of these people were manipulated to sacrifice themselves to a perverted cause. These leaders' pursuit of power and their causes exact­ ed a very high price from their followers, turning them into terrorists and murderers. We will not attempt to discuss these examples but their legacies illustrate the lethal power that the vision of a leader can exert.

The Role of Management in Leadership

The durability of the leader's vision is dependent on the quality of management. The leader does not have to personally provide this man­ agement but its absence means that the leader's accomplishments will not endure. Because of this, one role of a leader is to ensure the quality of managemen,1 A leader must be involved in management to th~ extent necessary to ensure that systems and processes are in pla~ that will outlive personalitie~, so that the leader's legacy survives successive management changes. •

In effective organizations, leadership and management are comple­ mentary. To some, the differences between management and leadership are n~ces, but to a trained observer they are substantial. Both func­ tions must be fulfilled for the organization to thrive. The more explicit one's understanding of the differences, the more effectively one can learn to fill either, or both, roles.

Focus on the Model of Leadership, Not the Leader

One of the challenges for managers is learning how to be leaclers. Many mistake the form for the essence. It is normal for people to imitate

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A NEW MODEL OF LEADERSHIP

others who are successful in their chosen field. So a manager will look to prominent, successful leaders as role models. All too often, however, they copy the very behavior that is an impediment to rather than the cause of their model's success. This is certainly the case in sports. M2il fans, for example, e ect coaches to be disciplinarians. Their examples are people such as Vince Lorn ardi, Bear Bryant, and Bobby Knight. When a team is losing, the fans tell each other ( and if they have a radio progr3:m, they tell the coach) that the coach isn't tough enough. When a coach is fired, one of the criteria for the replacement is that he must provide discipline for his players. Yet Jlear Bryant, for one, clearly stated that he ~~ ~ot tough and that toughness in dealing with his players was not the secret of his success. Ijis secret of success was getting the elayers to want to give their best (Grier, 2000). All too many overlook this secret of success because they are seduced by what they see, even though what they see is only a small sample of the leader's behavior.

Most of us, at some time in our careers, have worked for a person who was promoted even though he was incompetent. This occurren ' ~ ~- is so common it is calleq The Peter Principle (Peter and Hull. 196~) a phrase made popular by the book of the same name popular in 1970s. Yet it is rare for that person to know this about himself. As far s 1:fe is concerned, his promotion was merited. The fact is that few man agers use a yardstick for success that is more complex than the numbers on the bottom line. True leaders, however, know that the bottom line is only the beginning of the process for determining their impact. Lead­ ership is all about how people react to what we say and do.

When we recognize and measure the effect of our actions, we gain knowledge about what we must cliange so that we can make a different impact. Our Model of Leadership provides an objective way of corre­ lating leader behavior and organizational effectiveness. Just as looking to the North Star permits a captain to guide his ship into port, observing the behavior of the followers permits leaders to continuously develop thcirsk1lts. •

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