Leadership…or Something Like It

by Judy Boggess

Leadership. It's a word you see everywhere and a behavior you wish you saw more of. I recently spoke with a retired school official about leadership, and he offered this: "Leadership fails when people don't do what they are told."

He was confused. Failures of command are a symptom of poor leadership and offer little in the way of improvement. By the time a "leader" shouts, "I don't want the little people to make any decisions!" leadership has been lost, with little hope of return. We all have such anecdotes. At the same time, we're familiar with the sense of accomplishment that accompanies having someone we respect in charge. What do we know about how that works? Or how we can be a part of the covenant that creates both leaders and results?

Understanding

Let's begin with the covenant. A leader understands goals and has the capacity to plan the steps needed to accomplish them. Others' efforts are necessary to complete the individual steps; the terms of engagement begin there. Success requires identifying the correct goal, knowing the steps — including which ones to skip — and having a clear understanding of the human dimension that will ultimately carry out those steps.

Let's consider that human aspect of the covenant more carefully. Compliance isn't necessarily indicative of success in this realm, although it may represent movement in the right direction. Eliciting the best performances from those who are needed to accomplish the goal is the real reason for the covenant.

When workers put forth their best efforts, what can leaders offer in return? Good faith, respect, commensurate rewards and a chance to do it again are the best compensation a leader can offer and represent the backbone of success.

Image and Inspiration

Leadership also involves image and the ability to inspire. In another day's informal survey about leadership, my 16-year-old son offered me a gem. I asked him to give me an example of a leader. His response was quick: "MacGyver." I was mystified. He rolled his eyes and explained that MacGyver was a TV detective who could escape from seemingly impossible situations with boundless ingenuity and resourcefulness. I was still mystified. Then he added, "He got the crooks and made a mullet look good." So, by my son's definition, a leader succeeds by getting the job done despite unpleasant circumstances — and looking good regardless of hairstyle.

Remember the Obvious

Know your customer. This pointer may seem obvious, but think back. Were there times when you ignored or took for granted a person or organization, and it came back to haunt you later? Leaders know and care for their core customers, because they recognize that the impression they make on a customer today will dictate the tone of their relationship with that customer in the future. Leaders also know to be mindful of both paying and non-paying customers, as both are critical to the success of plans and aspirations. In many settings, the non-paying customer is a boss, a senior leader or an adviser. Remember that their faith in leadership efforts and their investment in reputation value cannot be underestimated.

What Makes a Leader? What Breaks One?

Does expertise make a leader? To answer this, let me share one of the best of the worst examples of leadership that played out during my career of watching newly designated executives: the "manager" who shamelessly listed her 15-year-old, irrelevant research papers to some 300 perplexed line managers and workers from another field of endeavor altogether. To say the least, most present were less than impressed.

We shouldn't assume that an executive title and expertise — however related or unrelated — will inspire support and best efforts. The expertise that counts most is the ability to bring out the best in others. My favorite leader never asked for details, never scolded and never behaved in an offhand or high-handed way. In meetings, we reported that we were doing our best — and then left with the internal conviction that we would up the ante before the next meeting.

Free Advice Can Be Costly

Bad advice is a leadership killer. Promoting the resident empath may seem like a good idea, but rewarding those who trade in the weaknesses of others will ultimately cause more harm than good. Be wary, too, of those who offer advice out of context. Even if they offer keen insights gleaned from prior experience, your lack of confidence will be apparent and it's likely that the advice won't be applicable in the new context.

Here are four sure paths to being a poor leader — even if "expert" or "executive" is in your title. To stay on course, avoid:

• Diverging from the mission

• Persecuting the "little" people

• Gouging your core customers

• Resting on the laurels of non-relevance

Listen to the siren song.

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Judy Boggess is a Visiting Fellow at the Department of Design and Environmental Analysis at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y.