ww ww ww .. LL ee aa dd ee rr EE xx cc ee ll .. cc oo mm

Robert WhippleThe TRUST Ambassador

ExcellenceL E A D E R S H I P

THE MAGAZINE OF LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT, MANAGERIAL EFFECTIVENESS, AND ORGANIZATIONAL PRODUCTIVITY

“Leadership Excellence is an exceptionalway to learn and then apply the best and latest ideas in the field of leadership.”

—WARREN BENNIS, AUTHOR ANDUSC PROFESSOR OF MANAGEMENT

Taprootof Trust

Taprootof Trust

Robert Whipple

ReinforcingCandor

Robert Whipple

ReinforcingCandor

The CredibleLeader

The CredibleLeader

http://www.leadergrow.com

ExcellenceL E A D E R S H I P

THE MAGAZINE OF LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT, MANAGERIAL EFFECTIVENESS, AND ORGANIZATIONAL PRODUCTIVITY

ROBERT WHIPPLE

Reinforcing CandorYou thus build trustand transparency . . . . . . . 3

STEPHEN R. COVEY

Taproot of TrustBuild a high-trust cultureon four levels. . . . . . . . . . .4

NOEL TICHY AND

WARREN BENNIS

Making Tough CallsUse mental frameworksto guide judgment . . . . . . 5

COLIN POWELL AND

OREN HARARI

Leading PeopleCharts and titles countfor next to nothing. . . . . . .6

JOEL HOOMANS

Strategic LeadersWe need to rethink how wedevelop our leaders. . . . . .8

STEPHEN M. R. COVEY

Building TrustEmulate the behaviors

of high-trust leaders. . . . . 9

BARBARA PAGANO AND

ELIZABETH PAGANO

TransparencyEnjoy the payoffs of being more credible . . . . 10

JAMES KOUZES AND

BARRY POSNER

The Credible LeaderSix actions help buildleadership credibility. . . .11

STEPHEN B. SAMPLE

Unromantic LeadershipLearn to appreciate themany complexities of leadership roles . . . . . . . .12

KEN BLANCHARD

Managing UpCatch your boss doingdoing something rightto increase trust. . . . . . . .13

WARREN BENNIS

Transparent LeadersCommit to candor andtruth to build trust. . . . . .15

PETER F. DRUCKER

The Way AheadTo survive and succeed,you’ll need better people policies. . . . . . . . .16

TOM PETERS

Pursuing ExcellenceAll real value flows from our creativityand initiative. . . . . . . . . . 17

PETER SENGE

Building VisionAspiration endures as

a source of learning

and vision building. . . . .18

JOHN C. MAXWELL

Golden Rule EthicsThis compass providesTrue North direction. . . .19

JOHN P. KOTTER

TransformationFour mistakes suggest

three key tasks for

change leaders . . . . . . .20

Wisdom in the Wind

Soaring at speeds up to 200 miles-per-hour, a golden eagle plies the wind on a roller-coaster flight, spreading its eight-foot wingspan to ride the thermals for hours on end. Wise leaders, too, exercise trust and candor in judgment.

SPECIAL EDITION

IHAVE BEEN READING ANDcontributing to Leadership

Excellence magazine for sev-eral years. There is no more convenient wayto keep up on the latest concepts from thetop thought leaders in leadership. I advo-cate that every company and educationalinstitution have at least one subscription topass around. Many groups obtain multiplecopies and use the articles as mind joggersfor their internal study circles on leadership.Today, organizations that endure will beones that continually hone leadership skills.

The need for excellent leaders grows moreurgent every day. I believe the mostcrucial shortage threatening ourworld is not oil, money, or any otherphysical resource. It is the lack ofenlightened leaders who know how tobuild trust and transparency. We areat an all-time low in terms of thenumber of leaders who can establishand maintain the right environment.The outrageous scandals of recent years areonly a small part of the problem. The realcancer is in the daily actions of the manyleaders who undermine trust with less visi-ble mistakes every hour of every day.

The current climate exacerbates the prob-lem. Many organizations have taken dra-conian measures in a desperate struggle tosurvive, eclipsing their ability to maintaintrust and transparency. This is a uniquechance to grow leaders who can make diffi-cult decisions in ways that maintain trust.

Thankfully, there are ways for leaders toengage in disruptive restructurings and stillkeep the backbone of the organization strongand loyal. It takes exceptional skill and care,but it can be done. The trick is to not fallvictim to the conventional ways of surgerythat have proven ineffective in the past. Yes,if you need to, you can cut off a leg in theback woods with a dirty bucksaw and abottle of whisky, but there are more pain-less, safe, and effective ways to do the job.

One tool is to be as transparent as possi-ble during the planning phase. In the past,HR managers have insisted that the risk ofprojecting a need for downsizing or reorga-nization might lead to sabotage or otherforms of rebellion. The irony is that, evenwith the best secrecy, everyone is wellaware of an impending change long before

it is announced. People find a void in com-munication intolerable. Not knowing whatis going to happen is a potent poison.

People are far more resilient to bad newsthan to uncertainty. Information freelygiven is a kind of anesthesia that enablesmanagers to accomplish difficult operationswith far less trauma. This works for threereasons: 1) it allows time for people toassimilate and deal with the emotionalupheaval and adjust their life plans accord-ingly, 2) it treats employees like adults whoare respected enough to hear the bad newsrather than children who can’t be trusted todeal with trauma and must be shelteredfrom reality until the last minute, and 3) itallows time to cross train those who will be

leaving with those who will inherittheir work. All three of these rea-sons, while not pleasant, work toenhance rather than destroy trust.

Full and timely disclosure ofinformation is only one of manytools leaders can use to maintain oreven grow trust while executingunpleasant necessities. My study of

leadership over several decades indicatesthe situation is not hopeless. We simplyneed to teach leaders the benefits of trustand transparency and how to obtain them.

IIddeeaass ffoorr BBuuiillddiinngg TTrruussttMy new book, Leading with Trust is like

Sailing Downwind, was written to help fillthis urgent need. It is full of ideas for creat-ing and maintaining trust within organiza-tions in good times and bad.

To learn these and other critical lessons,leaders need to study what works, yet theinformation tsunami is becoming more tax-ing all the time. The content shouting at usfrom many sources every moment is amajor leadership challenge. Making even afeeble attempt at balance in life is becominga distant dream rather than a reality.

That is why I love the compact articles inLeadership Excellence magazine. I can absorban entire issue on a short flight segment orby reading just 15 minutes each night for aweek. If you want to flourish as a leader,you need to continually tap in to the mostcurrent and relevant thinking on doing itwell. I hope you enjoy this issue of the mag-azine and will be interested enough to get asubscription for you and your team. LE

Robert Whipple is CEO of Leadergrow. bwhipple@leadergrow.com

W e n e e d m o r e o f t h e m n o w .

by Bob Whipple

Volume 26 Issue 1

Leadership Excellence (ISSN 8756-2308) is published monthly by Executive ExcellencePublishing, LLC (dba Leadership Excellence), 1806 North 1120 West, Provo, UT 84604.

Editorial Purpose:Our mission is to promote personal and organi-zational leadership based on constructive values,sound ethics, and timeless principles.

Basic Annual Rate:US $129 one year (12 issues)US $219 two years (24 issues)Canada add US $30 postage per year.All other non-U.S. add US $70 per year.

Corporate Bulk Rates (to same address)US $109 each per year for 5 to 25US $99 each per year for 26 and up* Ask about logo and custom editions andforeign bulk rates.

Article Reprints:For reprints of 100 or more, please contact theeditorial department at 801-375-4060 or emailcustserv@eep.com. Back Issues: (print) US$25.00. Permission PDF US: $50.

Internet Address: www.LeaderExcel.com

Submissions & Correspondence:All correspondence, articles, letters, andrequests to reprint articles should be sent to:Editorial Department, Executive Excellence,1806 North 1120 West, Provo, Utah 84604;801-375-4060, or editorial@eep.com.

Customer Service/Circulation:For information on products and services call1-877-250-1983 or email: custserv@eep.com.

Executive Excellence Publishing:Ken Shelton, CEO, Editor-in-ChiefLindsay Lowder, Asst. EditorNancy Low, Marketing ManagerAndrew Low, Business ManagerGeoff Pace, Sales

Contributing Editors:Chip Bell, Warren Bennis, Dianna Booher, Kevin Cashman, Marshall Goldsmith, HowardGuttman, Jim Kouzes, Jim Loehr, Tom Peters,Norm Smallwood

The table of contents art is a detail from WWiinnddRRiiddeerrss (image cropped) © Rod Frederick, andis courtesy of the artist and art print publish-er Greenwich Workshop.

For additional information on artwork byRod Frederick, please contact:Greenwich Workshop151 Main StreetSaymour, CT 064831-800-243-4246www.greenwichworkshop.com

Full view of table of contents art.

Copyright © 2009 Executive Excellence Publishing.No part of this publication may be reproduced ortransmitted without written permission from the

publisher. Quotations must be credited.

Excellent LeadersE . D . I . T . O . R ’ S N . O . T . E

2 w w w . L e a d e r E x c e l . c o m L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e

transparent flow of information thatleaders can use to understand what isgoing on.

Trust is built by a series of actionsor ratchet “clicks” that occur overtime. But, like the ratchet used to pullin the sail on a large sailboat, when thepawl holding the ratchet from rotatingbackward becomes dislodged, thespool can spin back to zero.

VViissuuaalliizziinngg tthhee RRaattcchheett EEffffeeccttTrust is similar to a bank account.

Between two people, there is a current“balance” of trust that is the result ofall their transactions to date. Whenthere is interaction (whether online, ina meeting, or with body language)there is a transaction—either a deposit(increasing trust) or a withdrawal

(reducing trust). The magnitude of thetransaction is determined by its nature.

It is easy for a leader to make smalldeposits in the trust account with peo-ple. Treating people with respect andbeing fair are two examples of trustbuilders. While making small depositsis easy, making a large deposit is hard.

As a leader, nothing I say can makea large deposit in trust. It has to besomething I do, and it often requires anunusual circumstance, like landing aplane safely in the Hudson River. Undermost circumstances, the trust balancewith people is the result of numeroussmall deposits (clicks of the ratchet)made over an extended period.

On the withdrawal side, with oneslip of the tongue, an ill-advised e-mail,or a wrong facial expression, a leadercan make a huge withdrawal. Becauseof the ratchet effect, a small withdraw-al can become big because the pawl isno longer engaged in the ratchet.

Here is an example of the ratchet

Reinforcing Candor

THE OBLITERATION OFtrust in recent years

has been alarming.Once lost, trust is difficult to rebuild.Leaders need to learn how to buildtrust consistently and prevent majortrust withdrawals. My model forbuilding trust has three elements:

1. Table stakes. These basic build-ing blocks of integrity must be presentto kindle trust. In poker, you mustante up table stakes to play. Things likebeing honest, being open, communi-cating, being consistent, and beingethical simply must be in play as tablestakes or the leader has no chance.

2. Enabling actions. These actionsbuild trust further once the tablestakes are present. Here are someexamples: following up, advocatingwell, being fair, and admitting mis-takes. These actions enable the leaderto withstand trust withdrawals thathappen as a result of ill-advised deci-sions or unfortunate circumstances.

Table stakes and enabling actionsare necessary but insufficient condi-tions for trust to kindle and endure.Without reinforcing candor, table stakesand enabling actions may build trust alittle, but their potency is blunted.

3. Reinforcing candor. This is theability to make people glad theyexpressed a concern with a leader’sinconsistency. Usually, people arepunished for expressing a concernwith the leader’s actions. When hightrust and transparency are present, theleader can set aside his or her ego andreinforce the person who challengesan action. Doing so creates a largetrust deposit and allows for futuretrust-building exchanges. When can-dor is not reinforced, people hide theirtrue feelings and do not challenge theleader, so trust is hard to maintain.Leaders who consistently reinforcecandor build a culture where trustgrows and deepens.

Trust and fear are incompatible;and in a culture that values candor,fear is suppressed. If people knowthey will be reinforced for bringing upscary stuff, they’ll do more of it. Whencandor is encouraged, it enables a

effect in a typical conversation: “Youknow, I have always trusted George. Ihave worked for him for 15 years, andhe has always been straight with me. Ihave always felt he was on my sidewhen the chips were down, but afterwhat he said in the meeting yesterday,I will never trust him again.”

All trust was lost in a single action(and it will take a long time before anynew deposits can be made). The trustaccount went from a positive to a neg-ative balance in a single sentence. Itwould be powerful if we could pre-vent the ratchet from losing all of itsprogress by reinserting the pawl backinto the ratchet during a serious with-drawal so that it only slips one or twoteeth. Reinforcing candor inserts thepawl and provides a magic power thathas unparalleled ability to build trust.

All leaders make trust withdrawals.Most people don’t feel safe enough tolet the leader know when they havebeen zapped, and so trust plummets.It may even go to zero or a negativebalance before it can be corrected (overmuch time and incredible effort).

Contrast this with a scenario wherethe individual knows it is safe to letthe leader know he or she has made atrust withdrawal. The individual maysay, “I don’t think you realize howpeople interpreted your remarks. Theyare mad at you.” If this candor is re-warded by the leader, he might say, “Iblew it this time, Bill. Thanks for level-ing with me.” Such an exchange stopsthe withdrawal in the mind of the em-ployee, and enables the leader to stopthe withdrawal for the population.

As a leader, you try to do the rightthing (from your perspective) daily. Ifan employee asks why you are doingsomething, you tend to become defen-sive and push back, which becomes awithdrawal. Reinforcing candor re-quires you to suppress your ego, rec-ognize the trigger point, and modifyyour behavior to create the desiredreaction. This is difficult to do becauseyou usually justify and defend youraction. It takes great restraint andmaturity to listen to the input and notclobber the other person. The moreyou practice, the easier this gets.

You can quickly build a culture oftrust and multiply the benefits three-fold by focusing on your behavior.Once you learn to reinforce candor,something magical happens: you gaingreater power to build trust. LE

Robert Whipple is CEO of Leadergrow and author of Leadingwith Trust Is Like Sailing Downwind and The Trust Factor.Email bwhipple@leadergrow.com.

ACTION: Learn to reinforce candor.

by Robert Whipple

L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e w w w . L e a d e r E x c e l . c o m 3

COMPETENCY CANDOR

I t b u i l d s t r u s t a n d t r a n s p a r e n c y .

degree of competence and confidence.When we become leaders, we en-

counter a new set of problems. Someare chronic, others acute. Many are ascommon to Fortune 500 companies asthey are to families, small businesses,and volunteer groups.

No leader can afford to forget thatpersonal and organizational integrityare closely intertwined—or to losesight of the mission and shared vision—the constitution of the corporation.

FFoouurr LLeevveellss,, FFoouurr PPrriinncciipplleessPrinciple-centered leadership is prac-

ticed from the inside-out on four lev-els: 1) personal (my relationship withmyself); 2) interpersonal (my relation-ships and interactions with others); 3)managerial (my responsibility to get ajob done with others); and 4) organiza-tional (my need to organize people—torecruit them, train them,compensate them, buildteams, solve problems, andcreate aligned structure,strategy, and systems).

Each level is “necessarybut insufficient,” meaningwe have to work at all lev-els on the basis of certainmaster principles.• Trustworthiness at the

personal level. Trustworthi-ness is based on character—what youare as a person—and competence,what you can do. If you have faith inmy character but not in my compe-tence, you still wouldn’t trust me.Many good, honest people graduallylose their professional trustworthinessbecause they allow themselves tobecome “obsolete” inside their organi-zations. Without character and com-petence, we won’t be consideredtrustworthy—or show much wisdomin our choices and decisions. Withoutmeaningful on-going development,there is little trustworthiness or trust.• Trust at the interpersonal level.

Trustworthiness is the foundation oftrust. Trust is the emotional bankaccount between two people, whichenables two parties to have a win-winperformance agreement. If two peopletrust each other, based on the trust-worthiness of each other, they canthen enjoy clear communication,empathy, synergy, and productiveinterdependency. If one is incompe-tent, training and development canhelp. But if one has a character flaw,he or she must make and keeppromises to increase internal security,improve skills, and rebuild relation-ships of trust. Trust—or the lack of

Taproot of Trust

IHAVE LONG ADVOCAT-ed a natural, grad-

ual, day-by-day, step-by-step, sequential approach to per-sonal and organizational develop-ment. My feeling is that any productor program—whether it deals withlosing weight or mastering skills—that promises “quick, free, instant,and easy” results is probably notbased on correct principles. And yetvirtually all advertising uses one ormore of these words to entice us tobuy. Small wonder many of us areaddicted to “quick fix” approaches.

Real character and skill develop-ment are irrevocably related to natur-al laws and governing principles; aswe observe these, we gain the strengthto break with the past, to overcomeold habits, to change our paradigms,and to achieve primary greatness andinterpersonal effectiveness.

Of course, we do not live alone onislands, isolated from other people.We are born into families; we growup in societies; we become studentsof schools, members of other organi-zations. Once into our professions,we find that our jobs require us tointeract frequently and effectively. Ifwe fail to learn and apply the princi-ples of interpersonal effectiveness,our progress slows or stops.

And so we must also acquire theattitudes, skills, and strategies for cre-ating and maintaining trustful rela-tionships. In effect, once we becomerelatively independent, our challengeis to become effectively interdepen-dent with others. To do this, we mustpractice empathy and synergy in ourefforts to be proactive and productive.

Early in my life, at age 20, I wasassigned to manage the work of oth-ers and to train men and women inthe principles and skills of effectivemanagement and leadership. It was ahumbling, frightening experience.

Like me, most people—once ontheir own—soon find themselves insome sort of “management” position.Often these responsibilities comebefore we are ready for them. But welearn by doing and by making mis-takes, and over time we gain some

it—is at the root of the success or fail-ure in relationships and organizations.• Empowerment at the management

level. If you have no or low trust, howare you going to manage people? Ifyou think your people lack characteror competence, how would you man-age them? You have to control them.But if you have high trust, you don’tmanage people—they supervise them-selves. You become a source of help.You set up a performance agreementso they understand what’s expected.You overlap their needs with theneeds of the organization. You haveaccountability, but they participate inthe evaluation of their performancebased on the terms of the agreement.People are empowered to judge them-selves because their knowledge tran-scends any measurement system. In low-trust cultures, you have to use mea-

surement because peoplewill tell you what theythink you want to hear.• Alignment at the orga-

nizational level. If youhave a low trust culturewith a control style, you’llhave a hierarchy withsmall spans of control.You will resort to “go-fer”delegation and prescribeand manage methods.

Your information system will gatherimmediate information on results soyou can take decisive correctiveactions. Your motivation system willbe the carrot-and-stick. Such primitivesystems may enable you to surviveagainst soft competition, but you areeasy prey for tough competitors.

If you have a high-trust culture,your organization can be very flat andflexible with large spans of control.Why? People supervise themselves.They do their jobs cheerfully withoutbeing reminded because you have anemotional bank account with them.You’ve got commitment and empow-erment because you have built theculture around a common vision onthe basis of bedrock principles, andyou constantly strive to align strategy,style, structure, and systems withyour professed mission (your consti-tution) and with the realities out therein the environment (the streams).

When you find something out ofalignment, work on it at all four levelsfrom the inside out on the basis of thefour master principles. LE

Stephen R. Covey is author of The 7 Habits of Highly EffectivePeople and The 8th Habit. Call 801-817-1776 or 1-888-576-1776. Visit www.franklincovey.com or www.stephencovey.com.

ACTION: Master the four principles of trust.

by Stephen R. Covey

4 w w w . L e a d e r E x c e l . c o m L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e

PEOPLE TRUST

Build trust on four levels .

to make adjustments. Resources, peo-ple, capital, information and technolo-gy must be mobilized. During thisphase, feedback loops allow for adjust-ments. Leaders need to oversee theexecution to ensure their calls producethe right results.

During all three phases, adjustmentscan be made (“redo” loops). Usingfeedback and adjustments, leaders canrevise calls to maximize results andoutcomes. In positions of leadership,the importance of judgment calls ismagnified by their impact on the livesof other people. The judgment callsthat leaders make can’t be viewed assingle, point-in-time events. Yes, lead-ers do, at some moment, make a call.But unlike umpires and referees, theycan’t quickly forget them and move

ahead to the next play. Rather, themoment of making the call comes inthe middle of a process.

KKnnoowwlleeddggee RReessoouurrcceessLeaders make judgment calls in

relation to those around them.Relationships are crucial sources ofinformation and must be managed toachieve desired outcomes. Leadersmust use their knowledge of self, thesocial network, and the organization.

The quality of your judgment callsdepends on your ability to get infor-mation that is relevant, meaningful,and timely; marshal resources; andinteract well with constituencies. Thisrequires four types of knowledge:• Self-knowledge: Leaders who make

good judgment calls can listen, reframetheir thinking and give up old para-digms. Self-intelligence is an awarenessof your values and aspirations.• Social-network knowledge: Leader-

ship is a team sport. There must bealignment of the leader’s team, the

organization and critical stakeholdersto create the ongoing capacity for goodjudgment calls. This is why cultivatingsolid relationships is crucial. Social-network intelligence involves gettingvalid data from your direct reports.• Organization knowledge: Good

leaders continuously enhance theteam, organization, and stakeholdercapacity at all levels to make judgmentcalls. Organization knowledge meansknowing how people will respond,adapt, and execute decisions.• Stakeholder knowledge: Good lead-

ers engage customers, suppliers, thecommunity and boards in generatingknowledge to support better judg-ments. This contextual intelligenceenables them to know the territory.

TThhrreeee JJuuddggmmeenntt DDoommaaiinnssWe identified three leadership judg-

ment domains:1. People: Leaders can’t set sound

direction and strategy or deal withcrises without smart judgment callsabout the people on their teams. Soundjudgments about people require lead-ers to: anticipate the need for key per-sonnel changes; specify leadershiprequirements with an eye toward thefuture; mobilize and align the socialnetwork to support the right call; makethe process transparent so it can bedeemed fair; make it happen; and pro-vide support to achieve success.

2. Strategy: When the current strate-gic road fails to lead to success, leadersmust find a new path. The quality andviability of a strategic judgment call isa function of the leaders’ ability tolook over the horizon and frame theright question and name the peoplewith whom they choose to interact.Good execution and good operationsaren’t enough to fix a business with aflawed strategy.

3. Crisis: During crises, leaders needto have clear values and know theirultimate goals. Crises handled poorlycan lead to the demise of the enter-prise. Errors made in crises aren’t anymore likely to be fatal than errors injudgment regarding people and strate-gy, but disastrous consequencesbrought on by bad calls at thesemoments often come quickly.

CChhaarraacctteerr aanndd CCoouurraaggeeGreat leaders are celebrated for

their judgment. Fortunately, judgmentis a skill that can be developed andrefined. Good judgment is not just amatter of intellect or of the ability tomake the right decision in an instant,but of character and courage:

L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e w w w . L e a d e r E x c e l . c o m 5

LEADERSHIP JUDGMENT

by Noel Tichy and Warren Bennis

THE ESSENCE OF LEADERSHIP IS THEability to make consistently good

judgment calls. Leaders are remem-bered for their best and worst calls,especially when the stakes are high,information is limited, and the correctcall is not obvious. In the face of ambi-guity, uncertainty and conflictingdemands, the quality of a leader’sjudgment determines the organiza-tion’s fate. What really matters is nothow many calls leaders get right, oreven the percentage of correct calls,but the actual number of importantcalls they get right. Effective leaderspinpoint the make-or-break decisionsand get most of them right.

RRiigghhtt CCaallllss WWhheenn IItt CCoouunnttss MMoossttHow can you make good judgment

calls when it counts the most? There isno one-size-fits-all way to make ajudgment call. Every organization hasdistinct problems, people, and solu-tions. However, leaders who have“good judgment” repeatedly makecalls that turn out well, largelybecause they master a process thatunfolds in three phases:

1. Preparation phase: This phaseincludes what happens before leadersmake the decision: sensing and identi-fying the need for a judgment call,framing the issue and naming the peo-ple involved in the call, and mobilizingand aligning the right people aroundthe decision. Faulty framing and nam-ing result in bad judgment calls.

2. Call phase (making the judgmentcall): There’s a moment when leadersmake the call, based on their views ofthe time horizon and the sufficiency ofpeople’s input and involvement. Thisis what leaders do in that moment.The critical domains are judgmentcalls about people, strategy, and crises.

3. Execution/Action phase: Once aclear call is made, execution is critical.You can’t walk away from a call: youneed to make it happen and continue

Making Tough CallsG r e a t l e a d e r s e x e r c i s e w i s e j u d g m e n t .

• Character provides the moral com-pass—it tells you what you must do. • Courage produces results, ensuring

that you follow through on decisions. No matter what processes you fol-

low, no matter how hard you try, with-out character and courage, you can’tclear the high bar of judgment. Youmay luck into making some good deci-sions and sometimes obtain goodresults, but without character andcourage, you will falter on the mostdifficult and most important questions.Character and courage are the bedrockof good judgment and decisions.

When we ask leaders to list the baddecisions they’ve made in their lives,many of them will say: “I knew in mygut what I should do, but I didn’t do it.”Having a set of standards or values isn’tenough. Even character isn’t enough.Having the courage to act on your stan-dards is part of what it takes to exercisegood judgment, and to be a good leader.When you make the call, make itclear—and explain the rationale.

SSttoorryylliinneess:: TTeeaacchhaabbllee PPooiinnttss ooff VViieewwWinning leaders—ones who contin-

ually make the best judgment calls—have clear mental frameworks to guidetheir thinking. They tell visionary sto-ries about how the world works andhow they envision results. They ener-gize and enroll people through stories.Winning leaders are teachers, and theyteach by telling stories. They develop ateachable point of view: valuableknowledge and experiences that con-vey ideas and values to energize oth-ers. This teachable POV is mostvaluable when it’s weaved into a story-line for future success. As a living story,it helps the leader make the judgmentcall and makes the story become realitybecause it enlists and energizes others.

Winning story lines address threeareas: Where are we now? Where arewe going? How are we going to getthere? The inspirational storylineboosts the motivation for change anddefines the goal. The storyline is nevercomplete, as it’s always being modifiedby the leader’s judgments. But withouta solid storyline, the leader’s judg-ments are disconnected acts that maynot mean anything on an emotionallevel. Storylines are necessary to moti-vate and energize everyone to moveforward and make things happen. LE

Noel Tichy (tichy@bus.umich.edu) is a professor at the Ross Schoolof Business, Univ. of Michigan. Warren Bennis is managementprofessor at the Univ. of Southern California, founder of USC’sLeadership Institute. They are coauthors of Judgment: HowWinning Leaders Make Great Calls (Portfolio).Visit www.usc.edu.

ACTION: Exercise wise judgment.

as they demand high standards.3. Don’t be buffaloed by experts and

elites. Experts often possess moredata than judgment. Elites canbecome so inbred that they producehemophiliacs who bleed to death assoon as they are nicked by the realworld. Small companies don’t havethe time for analytically detachedexperts. They don’t have the moneyto subsidize lofty elite, either. Thepresident answers the phone; every-one on the payroll visibly producesand contributes to bottom-lineresults, or they’re history. But as com-panies get bigger, they often forgetthings like all-hands involvement,egalitarianism, informality, marketintimacy, daring, risk, speed, agility.

4. Don’t be afraid to challenge thepros, even in their own backyard.

Learn from the pros,observe them, seek themout as mentors and part-ners. But remember:sometimes even the proscan become complacentand lazy. Leadership doesnot emerge from blindobedience to anyone. Ifyou have a yes-manworking for you, one ofyou is redundant. Good

leadership encourages everyone’sevolution.

5. Never neglect details. Wheneveryone’s mind is dulled or distract-ed, the leader must be doubly vigi-lant. All the great ideas and visions inthe world are worthless if they can’tbe implemented rapidly and efficient-ly. Good leaders delegate andempower others liberally, but theypay attention to details, every day.Paradoxically, good leaders under-stand that an obsessive routine in car-rying out the details begetsconformity and complacency. So,even as they pay attention to details,they encourage people to challengethe process.

6. You don’t know what you can getaway with until you try. Good lead-ers don’t wait for official blessing totry things out. They’re prudent, notreckless. But they also realize: If youask enough people for permission,

WHEN GENERAL COLIN POWELLmade the transformation from a

human being to phenomenon, I paidlittle attention, as I have little interestin celebrities. But then I found myselfon the same speaking platform withGeneral Powell. I was impressed withhim. Powell was witty, erudite, in-sightful, articulate and self-deprecating.So I decided to buy his book, MyAmerican Journey.

In his book, I found many gems ofwisdom.

1. Being responsiblesometimes means pissingpeople off. Leaders areresponsible for the welfareof the group, meaningsome people will get angryat your actions and deci-sions. It’s inevitable ifyou’re honorable. Trying toget everyone to like you isa sign of mediocrity: You’llavoid making tough deci-sions, confronting people who need tobe confronted, and offering differentialrewards based on performance.Ironically, by not making difficultchoices, by trying not to get anyonemad, and by treating everyone equally“nicely”, you’ll anger your most cre-ative and productive people.

2. The day people stop bringing youtheir problems is the day you stop lead-ing them. They’ve either lost confidencethat you can help them or concludedthat you do not care. If this were a lit-mus test, most CEOs would fail. One,they build so many barriers to upwardcommunication that the very idea ofsomeone looking up to the leader forhelp is ludicrous. Two, the corporateculture they foster often defines askingfor help as weakness or failure, so peo-ple cover up their gaps. Real leadersmake themselves accessible and avail-able. They show concern for the effortsand challenges faced by others—even

Leading PeopleLearn leadership lessons from Colin Powell.

LEADERSHIP WISDOM

6 w w w . L e a d e r E x c e l . c o m L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e

by Colin Powell and Oren Harari

decisions are crisp and clear. Theyconvey firmness and consistency intheir actions. The result? Clarity ofpurpose, credibility of leadership,and integrity.

15. Use the formula P=40 to 70, inwhich P stands for the probability ofsuccess, and the numbers indicate thepercentage of information acquired.Once the information is in the 40 to70 range, go with your gut. Don’ttake action if you have only enoughinformation to give you less than a 40percent chance of being right, butdon’t wait until you have enoughfacts to be 100 percent sure, becauseby then it is too late. Excessive delaysin the name of information-gatheringmeans analysis paralysis. Procras-tination in the name of reducing riskactually increases risk.

16. The commander in the field isalways right and the rear echelon iswrong, unless proven otherwise. Toooften, the reverse defines corporateculture. This is why leaders like KenIverson of Nucor Steel, PercyBarnevik of Asea Brown Boveri, andRichard Branson of Virgin keep theirstaffs lean.

17. Have fun in your command.Don’t always run at a breakneckpace. Take leave when you’ve earnedit. Spend time with your families.Surround yourself with people whotake their work seriously, but notthemselves, those who work hardand play hard. Herb Kelleher ofSouthwest Air and Anita Roddick ofThe Body Shop would agree: Seekpeople who have some balance intheir lives, who are fun to hang outwith, who like to laugh (at them-selves, too), and who have some non-job priorities which they approachwith the same passion that they dotheir work. Help the grim workaholicor the pompous pretentious “profes-sional” find jobs with competitors.

18. Command is lonely. You canencourage participative managementand bottom-up involvement, butleadership is the willingness to makethe tough choices. Too many non-leaders flinch from this responsibility.Even as you create an informal, open, collaborative culture, prepareto be lonely.

We hope these lessons help youalong the road to success. LE

General Colin Powell is former chairman of the Joint Chiefsof Staff and the author of Leadership Secrets of Colin Powell.Oren Harari is a professor at the University of San Franciscoand a consultant and speaker; harario@us-fca.edu.

ACTION: Make the tough decisions.

11. Fit no stereotypes. Don’t chasethe latest management fads. The situa-tion dictates which approach bestaccomplishes the team’s mission.Flitting from fad to fad creates teamconfusion, reduces the leader’s credi-bility, and drains coffers. Blindly fol-lowing a fad generates rigidity inthought and action. Some situationsrequire the leader to hover closely;others require long, loose leashes.Leaders honor their core values, butthey are flexible in executing them.

12. Perpetual optimism is a multi-plier. The ripple effect of a leader’senthusiasm and optimism is awe-some. So is the impact of cynicismand pessimism. Leaders who whineand blame engender those samebehaviors among their colleagues. Iam not talking about stoically accept-ing stupidity and incompetence. I amtalking about a gung-ho attitude thatsays: “We can change things here; wecan achieve awesome goals, we can be

the best.” Spare me the grim litany ofthe “realist.” Give me the aspirationsof the optimist.

13. In picking people, look for intel-ligence, judgment, and a capacity toanticipate, to see around corners. Alsolook for loyalty, integrity, a high-ener-gy drive to get things done, and a bal-anced ego. How often do ourrecruitment and hiring processes tapinto these attributes? Often, we ignorethem in favor of length of resume,degrees, and titles. What matters iswho one is today and what she cancontribute tomorrow. You can train abright, willing novice fairly readily,but it’s hard to train someone to haveintegrity, judgment, energy, balance,and drive.

14. Become a great simplifier, onewho can cut through argument, debateand doubt, to offer a solution. Effectiveleaders keep it simple. They articulatevivid, overarching goals and values,which they use to drive daily behav-iors and choices among competingalternatives. Their visions and priori-ties are lean and compelling. Their

you’ll inevitably come up againstsomeone who believes his job is to say“no.” So the moral is, “Don’t ask.”Effective managers believe: “If I haven’texplicitly been told no, I can do it.”

7. Keep looking below surfaceappearances. Don’t shrink from doingso just because you might not likewhat you find. “If it ain’t broke, don’tfix it” is the slogan of the complacent,the arrogant, or the scared. It’s an ex-cuse for inaction, a call to non-arms.It’s a mind-set that assumes (or hopes)that today’s realities will continue.Pure fantasy. In this sort of culture,you won’t find people who proactive-ly take steps to solve problems.

8. Organization doesn’t accomplishanything. Plans don’t accomplish any-thing, either. Theories of managementdon’t much matter. Endeavors suc-ceed or fail because of the peopleinvolved. Only by attracting the bestpeople will you accomplish greatdeeds. In a brain-based economy,your best assets are people. Too often,people are assumed to be empty chesspieces to be moved around by grandviziers, which may explain why somany top managers immerse them-selves in deal-making, restructuring,and management fads. How manyimmerse themselves in the goal of cre-ating an environment where the best,the brightest, the most creative areattracted, retained, and unleashed?

9. Organization charts and titlescount for next to nothing. Organiza-tion charts are anachronistic. If peoplereally followed organization charts,companies would collapse. In well-run organizations, titles are alsomeaningless. Titles mean little interms of real power, which is thecapacity to influence and inspire.People will commit to certain individ-uals who on paper possess littleauthority—but instead possess piz-zazz, drive, expertise, and genuinecaring for teammates and products.Non-leaders may be anointed withperks, frills, and positions, but theyhave little influence on other people.

10. Never let your ego get so closeto your position that when your posi-tion goes, your ego goes with it. Toooften, change is stifled by people who cling to familiar turfs and jobdescriptions. One reason that organi-zations wither is that managers won’tchallenge comfortable ways of doingthings. Effective leaders create a climatewhere people’s worth is determinedby their willingness to learn newskills and grab new responsibilities,thus perpetually reinventing their jobs.

L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e w w w . L e a d e r E x c e l . c o m 7

as a HR practitioner, consultant, andacademic, I find that people are largelycaught up in their titles when it comesto defining what they do and who theyare. However, titles can be misleading.They present us as a one dimensionalprofessional—a leader, manager, oragent of service. This is misleadingbecause in reality we occupy multipleroles. The situations in which we findourselves often dictate the most pre-dominant role—such as being aboyfriend, spouse, parent, follower,manager, leader, athlete, or pastor. Inreality, we’re often a simultaneouscomposite of several different roles. Aslife progresses, these roles change orshift in emphasis, and increase innumber, contributing to the complexi-ty of living. Our ability to read the sit-

uations and determine the mostappropriate role response is a majorfactor governing our performance.

The strategic process depends, in part,on our ability to decipher when eachrole needs to be leveraged according tothe context of the strategic imperativeand the environment, rather thanaccording to strict adherence to title orposition. In developing strategic agili-ty, the challenge is to fuse the threeroles of leader, manager, and followerinto one triune entity—the strategist.

The focus of the leadership role liesin developing unity and initiatingchange, innovation, and momentum.Leaders accomplish this role by pro-viding a vision of favorable future out-comes, establishing the alignment ofpeople and cooperation (despite theirdiversity) through the use of sharedvalues and a compelling mission, andby communicating in a way that cap-tures people’s hearts and minds.

The focus of the managerial role lies

Strategic Leaders

THE STUDY OF STRATE-gic management

and leadership is just100 years old, making it young in com-parison to fields like theology andmedicine. There is still time for us toreconsider how we teach these skills,and to identify more effective ways todevelop strategic management andleadership. Current strategic failurerates are alarmingly high—between 70and 90 percent, an embarrassing trackrecord for those of us who teachstrategic management or leadership.

Having wrestled with this problemfor decades, I conclude that to becomeexpert at something, we need to under-stand it, and practice it routinely.

One challenge we face in develop-ing strategic agility in managers andleaders is that we treat strategic man-agement and leadership as workplaceskills, not life skills. Most managers andleaders only use their strategic skillsfor annual strategic planning retreats.How can leaders excel at somethingthey practice only once a year?

The solution lies in treating strate-gic skills as life skills. More frequentpractice will enhance proficiency. Ifstrategy is defined as a plan of designedactions and goals that cause us to realizepreferred outcomes of choice in our future,then isn’t this skill just as critical toplanning a family vacation, purchas-ing a car, or investing for retirement,as it is for determining corporate posi-tioning? Developing managers andleaders means helping them find newways to practice strategy. Why notencourage them to put a strategic plantogether for their next vacation, theirretirement savings, the educationalplans of their children, their majorpurchases, or to play strategic games?

At work, we can regularly reinforcethese strategic skills by having leadersput together a strategic developmentplan for their own future as part of thereview process or by having themhelp direct reports with their plans.

Another helpful shift is to transi-tion our focus on positions and titles,to one of situational roles. In my roles

in controlling complexity with priority-setting and decision-making skills;problem-solving through measure-ment, monitoring results, identifyingdeviations from the plan, and propos-ing corrective actions; organizingthrough the development of structuresand systems that delegate authorityand maximize efficiency; and short-term planning, budgeting, settingtimetables, and aligning resources inaccordance with the desired outcomes.The role of the manager produces pre-dictability and maximizes results.

The focus of the follower role lies inexecuting the plan. This is done by exe-cuting service deliverables, learning onthe fly, innovating solutions, followingthrough on strategic initiatives, andproviding leaders with feedback fromthe customer. This is an incrediblyrewarding role as it provides a certaindegree of immediate gratificationwhich comes from satisfying the cus-tomer and fulfilling the mission.

The strategic process requires follow-er, manager and leader roles if it is toprosper. However, if these are treatedas exclusive roles that are tied to posi-tions, they are likely to conflict withone another—the managers trying toprovide order, consistency and stabili-ty, while the leaders frustrate theirefforts by producing change, innova-tion, and movement. Meanwhile, thefollowers are trying to serve customers—trapped between the contested inter-ests of the managers and leaders.

This often leaves followers confused.The strategic process cannot toleratethis contest and the distrust it creates.If viewed by position only, the CEOalways leads, the front-line manageralways manages, and the service agentalways executes and delivers the prod-uct or service. This narrow interpreta-tion of roles by position makes it hardto sympathize with the differing strate-gic coalition members, limits the versa-tility required by a dynamic strategicprocess, and lends to strategic strife orin-fighting. When viewed as situationalmindsets, these functional roles becomeinterchangeable elements of sympa-thetic focus that exist in all strategists.

If we reconsider the perspective weuse in developing strategic managersand leaders—treating these strategicskills as life skills and seeing them assituational roles rather than positions—we’ll produce strategists who can betrusted with our future. LE

Joel Hoomans is a consultant and professor of management and leadership studies at Roberts Wesleyan College. EmailHoomans_Joel@roberts.edu or call 585-594-6094.

ACTION: Rethink how you develop leaders.

by Joel Hoomans

8 w w w . L e a d e r E x c e l . c o m L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e

LEADERSHIP STRATEGY

R e - t h i n k h o w w e d e v e l o p t h e m .

leader without mutual trust. As WarrenBennis notes, “Leadership withoutmutual trust is a contradiction in terms.”

HHooww CCaann LLeeaaddeerrss BBuuiilldd TTrruusstt??Job 1 of any leader is to inspire trust.

Trust is confidence, born of characterand competence. Character includesyour integrity, motive, and intent.Competence includes your capabilities,skills, results, and track record.

With the focus on ethics, the charac-ter side of trust is now the price ofentry in the global economy. However,the differentiating (and often ignored)side of trust—competence—is equallyessential. You might think a person issincere, even honest, but you won’ttrust that person fully if he or shedoesn’t get results. And the opposite istrue. A person might have great skills

and talents and a good track record,but if he or she is not honest, youwon’t trust that person either.

The best leaders frame trust in eco-nomic terms. In a low-trust culture,leaders can expect negative economicconsequences. Everything takes longerand costs more because of the stepspeople need to take to compensate forthe low trust. When these costs arecounted, leaders recognize how lowtrust becomes an economic matter.

The dividends of high trust can alsobe quantified, enabling leaders tomake a compelling business case forbuilding trust, even making the build-ing of trust an explicit objective. Likeany other goal, building trust shouldbe focused on, measured, and trackedfor improvement. It must be clear thattrust matters to managers and leaders,that it is the right thing to do, and thesmart economic thing to do. One wayto do this is to make an initial baselinemeasurement of trust, and then totrack improvements over time.

Building Trust

TRUST IS DECLININGeverywhere—in

our personal relation-ships and in our culture and organiza-tions. Only half of employees trusttheir senior managers and leaders,and only 28 percent believe CEOs area credible source of information.

We are now experiencing a crisis oftrust and confidence in the financialmarkets. This compels us to ask: Isthere a measurable cost to low trust? Isthere a tangible benefit to high trust?And how can leaders build trust andreap the benefits of high trust?

Most leaders don’t know how toquantify the costs of low trust or mea-sure the gains of high trust. For many,trust is intangible. They don’t knowhow to assess the trust level or how toimprove it. Yet, the costs of low trustare very real—and often staggering.

One estimate put the cost of com-plying with federal rules and regula-tions—put in place due to lack oftrust—at $1.1 trillion (11 percent of thegross domestic product). The averageAmerican company loses 6 percent ofits annual revenue to fraudulent activ-ity. We see similar effects for the otherdisguised low-trust “taxes” as well.

When trust is low, in a company orrelationship, it places a hidden “tax” onevery transaction—every communica-tion, interaction, strategy, and decisionis taxed, bringing speed down and dri-ving costs up. Distrust doubles the costof doing business and triples the time ittakes to get things done!

Leaders who are trustworthy andoperate with high trust experience theopposite of a tax—a “dividend” that islike a performance multiplier, enablingthem to succeed in their communica-tions, interactions, and decisions, andto move with incredible speed. High-trust companies outperform low-trustcompanies by 300 percent!

The ability to create, grow, extend,and restore trust among stakeholders isthe critical competency of leadership.Fortunately, engendering trust is acompetency that can be learned andapplied. You can get good at it, measureit, improve it. You can’t be an effective

The trust transformation starts withbuilding credibility at the personal level.The foundation of trust is your person-al credibility. Your reputation is a reflec-tion of your credibility, and it precedesyou in any interaction or negotiation.High credibility and a good reputationenable you to establish trust fast—speed goes up, cost goes down.

I see four Cores of Credibility thatwork in tandem—Integrity, Intent,Capabilities, and Results. You can builda culture of high trust by clarifyingwhat constituents want and what youcan offer them. Then practice behaviorsthat build trust. Next, extend trust toyour organization. The combination ofthat credibility and behavior and align-ment results in a culture of high trust.

For example, Warren Buffett, thetrusted CEO of Berkshire Hathaway,completed an acquisition of McLaneDistribution (a $23 billion company)from Wal-Mart in record time. Thedeal was made with one two-hourmeeting and a handshake. In 30 days,it was completed. High trust yieldshigh speed and low cost.

BBeehhaavviioorrss ooff HHiigghh--TTrruusstt LLeeaaddeerrssEffective leaders use 13 behaviors to

build and maintain trust: Talk straight,show respect, create transparency,right wrongs, show loyalty, deliverresults, get better, confront reality, clar-ify expectation, practice accountability,listen first, keep commitments, andextend trust first. When you adoptthese behaviors, you make depositsinto your “trust accounts.” However,these behaviors need to be balanced(i.e., talk straight needs to be balanced byshow respect). Any behavior, pushed tothe extreme, becomes a liability.

You can always boost your self-trust(the confidence you have in yourself—in your ability to set and achieve goals,to keep commitments, to walk yourtalk), and your relationship trust (theability to create and increase the trustaccounts you have with others and toinspire trust in others).

The job of a leader is to extend trustfirst—not a blind trust but a smart trustwith clear expectations and strongaccountability. Trust determines thequality of our relationships, communi-cation, projects, ventures, services, andproducts. It changes the quality of pre-sent moments and alters the trajectoryand outcome of future moments. No-thing is as fast as the speed of trust. LE

Stephen M. R. Covey is the CEO of CoveyLink Worldwide801-756-2700 and the author of The Speed of Trust: The OneThing That Changes Everything.

ACTION: Experience the speed of trust.

by Stephen M. R. Covey

L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e w w w . L e a d e r E x c e l . c o m 9

LEADERSHIP TRUST

H o w t h e b e s t l e a d e r s d o i t .

to say so: “I can’t tell you that rightnow, but here’s what I can say.”Overwhelming honesty should bedelivered with respect and concern forothers. Followers should not be left towonder about hidden agendas. Whenleaders live this core value, not only istrust built, but also followers becometolerant of not having all the facts.

2. Gathering intelligence. In surveys,95 percent of leaders are unable to givethemselves the highest rating at under-standing of their own strengths andweaknesses. Asking others for theiropinions about something conveysrespect and shows that they are val-ued. It also promotes transparency as areciprocal agreement. When leadersask for feedback about their own per-formance and discover how othersperceive them, they are better able toalign their intentions with reality anddevelop a plan for improvement. Inorder to learn and grow, leaders musthave self-awareness, which, ironically,requires input from others.

3. Being composed. Effective andadmirable leadership requires compo-sure. Challenges, stressors, and obsta-cles are inherent in any organizationand in any leader’s path; how leadersconduct themselves during the good

times and the bad can beindicative of their character,competence, and, ultimate-ly, credibility. While the callfor transparency that buildscredibility urges leaders toreveal their true opinionsand emotions regarding rel-evant business issues, itdoes not allow for leaders toirresponsibly let it all hang

out. Followers expect their leaders to becomposed. And they are always watch-ing. Also, predictability builds trust.

4. Letting your guard down. Leaderswho keep in mind the spirit of authen-ticity while working hard to createmeaningful connections with their fol-lowers, demonstrating sincerity ofbeing, and revealing personal informa-tion that adds value to the context ofwork, will be practicing an importantpart of leadership transparency thatbuilds credibility. Doing so, however,requires maturity, self-awareness, anda heightened sense of how peoplemight perceive, dissect, and dissemi-nate the information that is revealed.And because authenticity or personaltransparency ultimately describes thequality of a relationship, leaders mustcreate opportunities to engage withpeople, allowing others to know them.

5. Keeping promises. When leaders

Transparencymatch their words and actions and dowhat they say they will do, they placea high value on their commitments.Promise-keeping in leadership is notalways clear-cut. Sometimes leadersare forced to reconsider promises anddisappoint followers. Those are timeswhen transparency is very important.When people understand the reasonbehind broken promises, they may bemore accepting of the consequences.

6. Properly handling mistakes. Howleaders handle mistakes may be moreimportant than getting things right thefirst time. Even with its inherentrisks—such as appearing weak, incom-petent, or otherwise less than perfect—confessing mistakes signals courage,accountability, and humility. Indeed,mistakes are an opportunity to visiblydemonstrate a commitment to honesty.

7. Delivering bad news well. Whensensitive, controversial, or potentiallyhurtful information is not deliveredwell, people can feel betrayed, angry,and indignant. Trust is destroyed, andrelationships suffer. For most leaders,delivering bad news is hard, and someeven opt for silence. Those on thereceiving end appreciate bad news thatis delivered promptly and with hon-esty, directness, care, and concern.

8. Avoiding destructive comments.In developmental assessments, 88 per-cent of leaders admitted they couldimprove in avoiding destructive com-ments, and 83 percent of their bossesagreed. Language that divides or isotherwise destructive can underminethe whole reasoning behind leadershiptransparency—to improve relationships,increase trust, and build a credible rep-utation. Leaders must model and re-ward language that does not employinappropriate blame or criticism, us-versus-them attitudes, or talking down.

9. Showing others that you care. Yourfollowers must know that you careabout them. This is done by develop-ing the followers, recognizing them,and seeking to know and understandthem. While showing care improvesmorale, quality, and productivity, youshould not show care for the organiza-tion’s benefit alone, as this narrowview devalues individuals. Build asocial contract that says, “Follow me,and I will help you succeed.” Whenthis contract is broken, the motivationbehind a strategy of transparency isput into question, and followers won-der about hidden agendas. LE

Barbara Pagano, Ed.S., and Elizabeth Pagano are co-authors ofThe Transparency Edge: How Credibility Can Make or BreakYou in Business. Visit www.transparencyedge.com.

ACTION: Enjoy the payoffs of transparency.

1 0 w w w . L e a d e r E x c e l . c o m L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e

LEADERSHIP TRANSPARENCY

P ra c t i c e n i n e b e h a v i o r s .

by Barbara Pagano and Elizabeth Pagano

WHAT DISTINGUISHES OUTSTANDINGleaders from good managers?

How are followers inspired to dig deepand commit to the cause and to theirleaders? The answers always come backto nine behaviors of transparency.

When leaders practice transparen-cy—a sort of “what you see is whatyou get” code of conduct—in waysthat show respect and concern bothfor the individual and for the commongood, amazing things occur. Organ-izations benefit from a more efficientprocess of decision-making and tacti-cal execution. As players are moreinformed, operations speed up, andproblems are identifiedmore readily. Leaders buildtrust and experience morefinely tuned collaboration.And both the organizationand the individual havehigher credibility.

A crucial element oftransparency is figuring outjust how open to be—justhow much to hang on theline for all to see. While there can betoo little transparency, there also canbe too much. When transparency isemployed without a keen understand-ing of the potential effects of revealedinformation, it can be unfair and irre-sponsible. Leaders must have artfulintuition to know people’s capacity toabsorb information and anticipatehow it might be interpreted and used.

Nine behaviors of transparency offerguidelines for building credibility:

1. Being overwhelmingly honest.Leaders think they’re honest, butmany followers say otherwise. In lead-ership assessments, over half of almost13,000 peers and direct reports felttheir leaders could be more honest andethical. When transparent leadersdecide not to share certain informationwith their followers—perhaps becausethey do not yet have all the pieces—the principle of honesty requires them

WWhhaatt IIss CCrreeddiibbiilliittyy??The root word of credibility is “credo,”

which means belief. Credibility is builton a set of beliefs or values. To becredible, leaders must first clarify theirvalues—the principles that are mostimportant; the deep-rooted, pervasivestandards that influence every aspectof our lives including our moral judg-ments, our responses to others, andour commitments to personal andorganizational goals. Values give direc-tion to the decisions we make; they areour personal “bottom line.”

Leaders are credible whenthey act in ways that areconsistent with their values.By being true to their val-ues, and using values toguide their actions, leadersinspire trust, faith and con-fidence. Leaders translatetheir values into a set ofguiding principles for theirconstituents. First, by communicatingtheir values leaders let people knowwhat is expected of everyone.Secondly, leaders understand theirconstituents’ values and build consen-sus based on a set of shared values.These shared values guide decisions.When a leader clearly communicatesshared values, the entire organizationis able to act consistently and credibly.

When employees believe their man-agers are highly credible, they feelloyal and committed; motivated andwilling to make sacrifices; proud to tellothers they are a part of the organiza-tion; and empowered as part of theteam. But when people believe theirmanagers are not credible, they feeluncommitted and disenchanted;inclined to leave; more motivated byfinancial, rather than intrinsic, rewards;and isolated and unsupported.

HHooww TToo BBeeccoommee aa CCrreeddiibbllee LLeeaaddeerrLeadership credibility is earned over

time. It is not granted with a title or aposition. It must be nurtured and de-veloped. You must strive to show oth-ers that you are worthy of their trust.

Six basic actions can help you buildand maintain your credibility:

Clarify your values. Values are thesocial principles that are most impor-tant to us, the standards by which we

The Credible Leader

OVER THE LAST 10 YEARS, WE HAVEasked more than 10,000 managers

to tell us what qualities they look forand admire most in a leader. In effect,we ask them, “What makes leaderscredible?” Most tell us that they wantleaders who are honest, competent,inspiring, and forward-looking. Wecharacterize these leaders as follows:• Honest leaders are truthful, trust-

worthy and have integrity. They keeptheir word and consistently matchactions with their words. Their behav-iors are consistent and above board.• Competent leaders are capable, pro-

ductive, effective, efficient, and thor-ough. They know how to get the jobdone. They have functional or techni-cal expertise, and the ability to usetheir knowledge to challenge, inspire,enable, and encourage others. Theyalso model exemplary behavior.• Inspiring leaders are uplifting, en-

thusiastic, energetic, humorous, cheer-ful, and positive about the future.They communicate a sense of energyand enthusiasm. They are excitedabout what they are doing, and theyshare their enthusiasm with others.• Forward-looking leaders are vision-

ary, foresighted, concerned about thefuture and have a clear sense of direc-tion and purpose. They know wherethey are headed and take others alongwith them on their journey.

These qualities are similar to whatcommunication experts define as“source credibility.” Researchers typi-cally evaluate people, such as news-casters, salespeople, and leaders, onthree criteria: their trustworthiness,expertise, and dynamism.

What we find is that, more thananything, people want leaders whoare credible, meaning trustworthy,honest, competent, dynamic andinspiring. Credibility is the foundation ofleadership. Upon this foundation, lead-ers build their forward-lookingdreams of a better future.

choose to live our lives. They guidehow we feel, what we say, what wethink and how we act. Values are oursource of energy and purpose. Theself-confidence required to lead has atits core two sources: knowledge andintegrity. Integrity develops as youlearn about yourself and your values.A unifying set of values guides youractions, giving you the self-confidenceto lead well in difficult situations.

As a leader, your task is to translateyour values into a set of guiding prin-ciples. Sharing your values lets peopleknow what is expected. When they areclear about your values, they can usethem as guides for making decisions.

Shared values make a difference inhow people feel and perform. Butbefore you can get others to accept aset of values, you must be clear about

what values you would likethem to share—about thebeliefs on which you basesuccess. To clarify your val-ues, follow three steps: 1)First, figure out what isimportant to you—whatyou stand for; 2) Next,translate those personalideals into a set of guidingprinciples for yourself and

your organization—articulate yourcore values, your beliefs, your “credo;”and 3) let everyone know what youstand for. Talk it over with your team.Encourage dialogue and discussion tobecome clear about what you stand forand about what others find important.Make sure that employees, customers,vendors and other stakeholders knowthe beliefs on which you base yourleadership philosophy.

Identify what your constituents want.Building any relationship begins withgetting to know those we want to lead.Learn their hopes and fears, their val-ues and biases, and what they want.You can then show them how theirinterests can be best served by aligningthem with yours. If you act in self-interest and ignore or not care aboutthe interests of your constituents, peo-ple will no longer trust you, and youwill lose your credibility with them.

Build consensus. Leaders show howindividual values and interests will beserved by agreeing on a set of commonvalues. Shared values motivate peopleto work together toward common goals:People feel more effective because theycare about what they are doing; theyfeel important because they are mak-ing a difference; they are more loyalwhen they believe that their valuesand the company’s values are aligned.

L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e w w w . L e a d e r E x c e l . c o m 1 1

LEADERSHIP CREDIBILITY

B u i l d g e n u i n e w o r k i n g r e l a t i o n s h i p s .

by James Kouzes and Barry Posner

important by how they spend theirtime, by the priorities on their agenda,by the questions they ask, by the peo-ple they see, the places they go, andthe behaviors and results that they rec-ognize and reward.

Leaders are role models. We look tothem for clues to how we shouldbehave. We believe their actions overtheir words, every time. If you askpeople to observe certain standards,then you better live by the same rules.Do what you say you are going to do.

Leaders show others how to behave.Others see what is expected by observ-ing what the leader does, not just fromlistening to what is said.

To better lead by example, take thesethree steps: 1) Audit youractions. People believe yourbehavior over your words.So, honestly assess how yourdaily actions demonstrateyour values, beliefs and pri-orities. 2) Set routines andsystems that reinforce yourvalues. Throw out routinesand systems that are incon-sistent with your values. In

their place, set new ones that reinforceappropriate actions. Reward and rec-ognize those who exemplify the val-ues. 3) Stage events to make a pointabout the values and priorities, partic-ularly in times of transition.

If you ask your constituents to obeycertain standards and then do not liveby the same rules, you will be called ahypocrite. If you are not among thefirst to show people the way, they willthink that you set a double standard.

Credibility is fragile. It is earnedslowly but can be lost very quickly.

QQuueesstt ffoorr LLeeaaddeerrsshhiippThe quest for leadership is first an

inner one to discover who you are andwhat you stand for. A credible leaderis one who steps out into theunknown, confronts self-doubt, suffersdefeat and disappointment andreturns to triumph from the learning.A person who gives us courage is onewho risks embarrassment and ruin,and yet succeeds in maintaining thestrength of conviction.

Leadership is an affair of the heartand the soul. We invite you to set anexample for others, take the inner jour-ney into your own heart and soul toexplore your values and convictions.LE

James M. Kouzes is the Dean’s Executive Professor ofLeadership, and Barry Z. Posner is the Dean, Leavey School ofBusiness, Santa Clara University. Email Jim at jim@kouzes-posner.com and Barry at bposner@scu.edu.

ACTION: Catch co-workers doing things right.

Shared values are the foundation forbuilding a productive working rela-tionship. Disagreements over valueslead to conflicts and false expectations.

To build consensus, seek agreementon a set of common values that inte-grates everyone’s core needs and helpsbuild team spirit and trusting relation-ships: 1) Identify the values peoplehave in common, and take the initia-tive to show your constituents the val-ues they share. Present your ideas astentative and invite their participation.Ask them for their feedback, and beopen to making changes. 2) Help yourconstituents to understand that we areall in this together and that we canmutually benefit by working to thesame set of standards. Enableothers to resolve their dif-ferences by looking for ahigher order value that willencompass their needs. 3)Write and publish a state-ment of shared values. Postthe shared values promi-nently. Publish them. Makea videotape about them. Putthem on the back of businesscards. Create symbols that will remindpeople of the core values.

Use your shared values as a foun-dation for building relationships. Ifyou withhold the autonomy to act onthe shared values, you tell people thatyou don’t trust them. By holding on topower, you lose credibility.

Communicate shared values withconviction. Enthusiasm, energy andcommitment begin with the leader. Togain the commitment of others, youmust communicate your values withconviction in memorable ways. If yourcommitment doesn’t come from theheart, your enthusiasm will be insin-cere. It will appear that you are tryingto sell people something that you donot believe in yourself.

Stand up for your beliefs. Leaderstake a stand. We follow people whohave confidence in their decisions.Confusion among your constituentsover shared value creates stress; notknowing what you believe leads toconflict, indecision and rivalry. If youstand up for your beliefs but do notkeep an open mind to alternatives andlisten carefully to feedback, you willbecome rigid and autocratic.

Lead by example. Leadership is nota spectator sport. Leaders don’t sit inthe stands and watch. Neither areleaders in the game substituting forplayers. Leaders coach. They showothers how to behave on and off thefield. They demonstrate what is

1 2 w w w . L e a d e r E x c e l . c o m L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e

UnromanticLeadership

by Stephen B. Sample

WHERE ARE TODAY’SWashingtons and

Lincolns? That is aquestion I hear from students in acourse on leadership that I teach withWarren Bennis at the University ofSouthern California. These studentsstruggle to find even a few living lead-ers they might look to as role models.

One of the most rewarding aspectsof teaching a class on leadership hasbeen the opportunity to watch brightundergraduates learn to “think gray”while holding firmly to their core prin-ciples. Thinking gray requires a gooddeal of effort to develop, but it is oneof the most important skills which aleader can acquire.

The essence of thinking gray is this:don’t form an opinion about an impor-tant matter until you’ve heard all therelevant facts and arguments, or untilcircumstances force you to form anopinion.

We might be far better off if wewere to appreciate the complexities ofthe realms in which leaders operate—in politics, industry, academia, andbusiness. Life in these realms requirescompromise, loss, and insult to one’sgood name.

I invite you to reflect on seven time-less principles:• True leaders have a well-developed

moral calculus. One myth is the notionthat good leadership always involves“win-win” propositions. True leadersunderstand that casualties are oftenunavoidable. Leaders face conundrumsregularly. The best ones learn to func-tion while fixing in their own mind amoral line that cannot be crossed. • Real leaders move people. Leaders

don’t merely draw throngs of admir-ers, they draw real commitment, get-ting other people to do what they arenot naturally inclined to do. Such lead-ers should be distinguished from peo-ple who are wise, popular, eveninfluential, but who don’t move peoplein a new direction. • Vision is essential but overrated.

Yes, leaders need a compelling vision,

LEADERSHIP COMPLEXITY

Real leaders do the hard work.

the last time you hugged your boss?”Of course, I’m really asking, “When isthe last time you caught your bossdoing something right?”

How do you respond to that morn-ing greeting? Oncken suggests thatyou quickly take your planned “to do”list and throw it in the wastebasket.Why? Because you know that nobodyin the history of the organization hasever been fired for saying “Yes, sir” or“Yes, Ma’am.” And besides, you havea picture of your family on your deskand you know how much they enjoyeating and living in the style that theyhave become accustomed to.

What Oncken feels this all comesdown to is the Golden Rule—”The per-son who has the gold makes therules.” Oncken says that one of thebiggest intruders on your discretionarytime is your boss. Given the impor-tance of your interaction with yourboss and the fact that the only personresponsible for recognizing your goodefforts is your boss, Oncken, too, issurprised at how little managementtraining focuses on influencing up.

One attempt to fill this void is thebook, The One-Minute Employee. I don’t

believe the authors, RaeAndre and Peter D. Ward,could decide, though,whether they were writinga spoof or a serious book.In the process, they missedat both ends. They perpet-uated the adversarial rela-tionship between managerand employee. They sug-gested that One-MinuteManagement was all about

manipulation, and that it was abouttime employees learned how tomanipulate their bosses.

This thesis badly misses the mainpoint. One-Minute Management is notsomething that you do to people—it issomething you do with people. One-Minute Management works best wheneverybody is involved in setting cleargoals (One-Minute Goal Setting); andonce goals are set, your people areaware that you will be wanderingaround the organization to see if youcan catch them doing something right(One-Minute Praising). And, if theymake a mistake when they know bet-ter, you will give them immediatefeedback but will not attack them per-sonally (One-Minute Reprimand). SinceOne-Minute Management is a systemthat needs to be shared, let me makesome suggestions about managing up.

One of the things I ask people con-tinually in my seminars is, “When is

IN JUST ABOUT EVERYseminar I conduct,

people come up to meand say, “It’s too bad that my boss isn’there.” They spend their time at semi-nars thinking about who should bethere besides themselves. My responseis simply, “There are people at workthis very day who are glad that youare here—so don’t miss it.” However, Ido not take lightly their need for learn-ing how to influence their boss.

While there seems to be a lot ofinterest in managing your boss (notetwo books: Christopher Hegarty’s Howto Manage Your Boss and William P.Anthony’s Managing Your Boss), thereis little training being done on the sub-ject. In fact, the only person I knowdoing training on managing your bossis a personal friend andcolleague, Robert Mezoff,who runs ODT Associated.I guess bosses just don’twant to pay money to gettheir people training onhow to manage them.

One person who hasemphasized the impor-tance of managing yourboss is William Oncken, Jr.In his well-known manage-ment seminar, “ManagingManagement Time,” he discusses theidea of managing up. The essence ofhis message is now available in a pop-ular book by the same name.

One of Bill’s concepts is that it seemsa waste of time for managers to gettime management training if they haveno discretionary time. He relates thisscenario: you decide to take Sundayafternoon to get yourself organized.You spend four hours setting priori-ties, putting things in an A, B, and Cpile, and really getting fired up andready to take on the week. You get upearly on Monday morning to get anearly start. At 8:30 a.m., your boss callsyou in and relates how he had sometime on Sunday to get organized. As aresult, he knows exactly what he wantsyou to do this week. In fact, it maykeep you busy for the next month.

One of the things I ask people con-tinually in my seminars is, “When is

Managing UpInfluence those around you.

by Ken Blanchard

MANAGEMENT INFLUENCEbut the myth is that a compellingvision is all they need. Many acade-mics, journalists, and commentatorshave remarkable vision, but few couldnegotiate the vision in the face ofunexpected contingencies. Similarly,many high-minded leaders becomeparalyzed when routine pressuresoverwhelm a noble vision. • Good leaders see things from a dif-

ferent perspective. Perspective is differ-ent from vision. Leaders need to seesituations from new angles and makenovel associations—even outrageousones—that others would miss. Leadersneed not be revolutionary thinkers, but they must recognize a good idea,even if somebody else brings it tothem. If they lack the ability to seethings differently, they will functionmore as managers. • The best leaders have both a radar

and a gyro-compass. Leaders with nogyro-compass are constantly driven off their intended course by the slight-est shift in sentiment among stake-holders. Leaders with no radar courtdisaster by moving forward blindly,trying to push people in a direction inwhich they are not ready to go. Thebest leaders develop both radar and agyro-compass. • Wise leaders can “think gray.” Most

people take a binary approach to life,instantly categorizing things as goodor bad, true or false, black or white.Effective leaders study the shades ofgray inherent in situations before mak-ing decisions. They may put off mak-ing a decision until tomorrow, whennew information might be available.They suspend judgment—not unlike ajudge considering all the facts in acase—before making a final decision. • Real leaders handle their own dirty

work. Shortly after my father movedour family from the city to a smallfarm, one of our riding horses broke aleg and needed to be destroyed. Ourneighbor’s wisdom was simple andprofound: “A man has to shoot hisown horse.” My father then dis-patched the horse. Leaders who expectothers to dismiss subordinates or con-vey bad news rarely earn the samecredibility and trust as those whocourageously do their own dirty work.

True leaders have mud on theirclothes. The dirt often obscures theiraccomplishments in the moment, andfew are widely revered in their ownday. Yet their work endures. LE

Steven Sample, president of the University of SouthernCalifornia, is the author of The Contrarian’s Guide toLeadership (Jossey-Bass).

ACTION: Learn to think “gray”.

L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e w w w . L e a d e r E x c e l . c o m 1 3

ple are wrong, are really covering up“not OK” feelings about themselves.

Now when you don’t feel goodabout yourself there are two strategiesyou can use. One is to hide and hopenobody notices you. The other is tomove out into your environment andtry to control it. The great dictators ofall time—Hitler, Mussolini, Alexanderthe Great—were people who didn’tparticularly have a lot of self-esteem. Ifyou attack people who don’t feel goodabout themselves, they will think theyare in a win-lose power struggle andthey will work hard to defend theirposition. They fear losing control. Sotry to catch your boss doing somethingright and increase your chances ofhaving a win-win relationship.

The “leave alone-zap” strategy isoften used by dedicated employees.When I was teaching at the Universityof Massachusetts in the School ofEducation, I used to do a session enti-tled, “Why do humanistic teachers get

fired? Because they’re stupid!”I know case after case of good, well

meaning people who wanted to dogood things for children and ended upgetting fired from their jobs becausethey attacked the power structure with-out any attempt to build any personalrelationships. For example, they wouldgo into their classroom and find thatthe chairs were bolted down in rows.If they couldn’t move the chairs into acircle, they would move the kids outonto the lawn into a circle in perfectview of the community and the princi-pal. The principal would say to him-self, “Oh, no, not another one of thosehumanistic types. I’m going to have toget rid of that person.” Then the teacherwould be sitting in a teachers’ meet-ing, and the principal would say, “Wehave to increase the supervision of thelunchroom.” Our humanist friendwould reply, “What are you saying? Ithink we need less supervision ratherthan more.” Then he or she would gointo a teacher’s room where a teacherwas collating exams and attack theteacher for giving exams: “Don’t youtrust the kids?” With these kinds of

the last time you hugged your boss?”Of course, I’m really asking, “When isthe last time you caught your bossdoing something right?” My experi-ence is that most people manage theirboss the same way their boss managesthem. If your boss does somethingright, you say nothing. After all, he orshe gets paid enough! Then if yourboss makes a mistake, you are imme-diately on that boss’s case. In otherwords, most people manage their bosswith a “leave alone-zap” managementstyle. The unfortunate part of the“leave alone-zap” approach to manag-ing your boss is it can hurt your career.

Every time you give negative feed-back to somebody, whether it be yourboss or not, you take something fromyour relationship. If you have nothingin your human relations bank withthat person, you are drawing on avery thin account. Before you start“beating on your boss,” see if you cancatch him doing something right orapproximately right.

Some people say, “I don’t want topraise my boss because I will beaccused of ‘buttering him or her up.’”Not if you remember one of theimportant steps of One-MinutePraising—be specific. If you went toyour boss and said, “Boss, you’re thegreatest person I ever worked with. Itell my wife every night how lucky Iam,” your boss will know you areinsincere. But if you truly catch yourboss doing something right andexpress your appreciation in specificterms, you will not be misread.Suppose you say to him, “You know,that follow-up memo you wrote to meafter our meeting yesterday was reallyhelpful. I used it with my peopletoday, and I just wanted to stop by tosay thank you and tell you how muchI appreciated your taking the time.”

Another reason why catching peo-ple doing things right is necessarywith bosses, particularly ones whohave high control needs, is that topmanagers who are problems in orga-nizations are usually coming from alife position of “I’m OK—you’re notOK.” In the book I’m OK-You’re OK,Thomas Harris was really talkingabout a life position. How do you feelabout yourself, and how do you feelabout other people? He and EricBerne and others who worked in thefield of transactional analysis felt thatthe most healthy life position is “I’mOK—you’re OK,” but the most dan-gerous life position is “I’m OK—youare not OK.” The people who act likethey are always right and other peo-

confrontation tactics, humanistic teach-ers were usually shown the door.

CCoonnsseeqquueenncceess ooff NNoott MMaannaaggiinngg UUppAn example of not managing your

boss well is illustrated in Robert Red-ford’s movie, Brubaker. In that film,Redford took over as warden of a prison.Initially he went in as a prisoner just tosee how bad the setup was. Once hebecame the warden, he started chang-ing the structure to make it a betterhuman organization. Before he tookover it was a brutal place for people.

Throughout the change process,however, he never did much to man-age his bosses who were politicalhacks. Every time they asked him todo something or not do something, hewould essentially tell them it wasagainst his values, and he would fightthem every inch of the way. Finallythey had enough of this and fired him.

The last scene in the movie is anemotional one. Brubaker comes out ofhis living quarters, and there is a carwaiting for him. As he is about to getin the car, one prisoner who hadopposed his changes in the prisonapproaches him and says, “Brubaker, Iwant to tell you that you were right.”Then he starts to applaud. While he isapplauding, all the other prisoners areacross the prison yard listening to thenew warden who is up on a towerwith a megaphone shouting, “We’regoing to get this place straightened up.This is no country club . . .”

The prisoners, hearing the big fel-low clapping for Brubaker, slowly turnaway from the screaming new wardenand walk across the yard givingBrubaker a hand. As the car pulls outand circles the prison yard, Brubaker isgetting a standing ovation from theprisoners, and yet he is gone—he hasbeen fired. He is out of the system. Hewas right, but he’s out. With a personlike the new warden, they’ll never goback to where they were before. Thisscenario has resulted too many timeswhen people do not understand thepower and how they can influence up.

One of the key factors in influencingup is to develop enough of a relation-ship that you can engage in a dialoguewith your boss without being seen as athreat or out to do him or her in.Remember the Gold Rule—the personwho has the gold makes the rules—and you can take the time to learn howto manage up. LE

Ken Blanchard is the author of the One-Minute Manager seriesand chairman of Blanchard Training and Development. Call 1-800-728-6000.

ACTION: Catch the boss doing something right.

1 4 w w w . L e a d e r E x c e l . c o m L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e

Transparent means, in addition to theliteral “capable of being seen through,”“without guile or concealment; openfrank candid.” But recently, transparen-cy has acquired new implications. Nowseemingly no president, CEO, mayor,school official, or police chief can makea public pronouncement without usingthe word, usually with the implicitpromise that his or her statement istrue and motives pure. We want ourleaders to be open and honest abouttheir dealings. We want to be confidentthat our leaders are telling us the truthin matters that involve our nationalsecurity, the safety of their products,and the state of the economy. We wantto believe that our government agen-cies are transparent and honorable,without secret prisons or secret agen-

das that reflect special interests ratherthan the public weal. We want to believethat, but we often do not. Despite thepromise of transparency on so manylips, we often have the sinking feelingthat we are not being told all that weneed to know or have the right to know.

But at the same time, a countervail-ing force is making transparency lessdependent of the will of leaders. Thedigital revolution has made trans-parency inevitable, worldwide. TheInternet, camera-equipped cell phones,and the emergence of the blogospherehave democratized power, shifting itaway from the high-profile few to thetechnology-equipped many.

In the past, we often had to wait for acourageous whistle-blower before welearned an organization’s secrets. Nowa company’s most incendiary internalmemos may be disclosed by an anony-mous blogger without ties to any news-paper or television stations, but withinside knowledge, who can reach mil-lions of readers. Anyone with Internet

Transparent Leaders

AS SOMEONE WHOhas devoted much

of his life to the studyof leaders, I find myself talking abouttransparency—and thus about trust aswell—whenever I talk about leader-ship. Transparency encompasses can-dor, integrity, honesty, ethics, clarity,full disclosure, legal compliance andall that enables us to deal fairly witheach other. In a networked universewhere competition is global and repu-tations can be shattered by the click ofa mouse, transparency is often a mat-ter of survival. As stakeholders, weincreasingly clamor for transparency,but what are we truly asking for?What is the promise of transparency?And what are its risks? How shouldleaders think about transparency?

Trust and transparency are alwayslinked. Without transparency, peopledon’t believe what their leaders say.Many of us have lived with the sensethat the government has been keepingthings from us, and many mistrust theexplanation that our leaders must doso because the truth would empowerour enemies. Many of us believe thelack of transparency is the real enemy.

Ubiquitous digital technologymakes transparency all but inevitable.More of our experience is being storedelectronically and powerful searchengines allow this swelling archive tobe mined in a matter of seconds byanyone with Internet access.

The new technology is emancipat-ing millions of people who once livedin isolation within the confines of theirvillages, and it offers all of us endlessnew possibilities. At the same time, thenew technology has ramped up theambient level of anxiety in daily life aswe increasingly live roped to our per-sonal digital assistants, cell phones,and other beeping, glowing devices.

Paradoxically greater transparencybrings bewilderment as well as enlight-enment, confusion as well as clarity.We are uneasily aware that the presenthas no shelf life. We know more thanever, but feel less in control. Our worldseems simultaneously more anarchicand more Orwellian, more and less free.

access can take on the most powerfulinstitutions on earth without makingany significant financial investment andoften with little or no fear of reprisals.

The ability to access sympatheticWeb sites and to blog is especially liber-ating in countries with repressive gov-ernments that can clamp down onnewspapers and television stations farmore readily than on the etherealInternet. In such places, blogs can betantamount to a digital resistance move-ment. A compelling posting on a blogcan recruit thousands of readers to itspoint of view; each of those readers cansend the message to thousands more,and soon the cry is heard worldwide.

By their nature, blogs challengehierarchies, introducing an outsider’sor non-elitist’s voice into the conversa-tions at hand. When those voices arewise or even simply contrarian, theybenefit the organization by challengingits dominant assumptions, preventingtunnel vision, and reminding the pow-ers that be that they don’t have a lockon all useful truths. Because the tech-nology behind blogs includes creationof an index, the opinions and informa-tion they contain are easy to access—areal plus in a world in which we arealways at risk of being swamped by atsunami of undifferentiated data.

Knowledge is still power. But asknowledge becomes widely distrib-uted, so does the power it generates.The very idea of leadership is changing,as power is democratized. At suchinfluential workplaces as Google, lead-ership rotates within small groups ofengineers. As greater openness demys-tifies what leaders do, we are likely tosee less time and money spent on cost-ly, time-consuming executive searches.Leadership may come be seen as a rolethat moves from one able individual toanother as projects come and go. Andshould leadership become a transitoryrole, one likely and welcome result willbe a drop in stratospheric executivecompensation—one of the most corro-sive artifacts of corporate life today.

The new transparency is no doubtchanging us. With its millions of intru-sive cameras, its constant potential fortrumpeting past indiscretions throughcyberspace and its other discontents,the new reality is forcing us to adapt.We’ll have to be more wary and find away to lower the blinds in our glasshouses, if only in our minds. LE

Warren Bennis is a founding editor of Leadership Excellence,chairman of Harvard’s Center for Public Leadership, and coau-thor of Transparency with Daniel Golemen and James O’Toole(JosseyBass). Visit www usc.edu.

ACTION: Apply ways to be more transparent.

L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e w w w . L e a d e r E x c e l . c o m 1 5

LEADERSHIP TRANSPARENCY

B e o p e n a n d h o n e s t a b o u t y o u r d e a l i n g s .

by Warren Bennis

defeating and expensive.The first need is for a people poli-

cy that covers all those who work foran enterprise, whether they areemployed by it or not. After all, theperformance of every one of themmatters. So far, no one seems to havedevised a satisfactory solution to thisproblem. Second, enterprises mustattract, hold, and make productivepeople who reach official retirementage, become independent outsidecontractors, or are not available asfull-time permanent employees. Forexample, highly skilled and educatedolder people, instead of being retired,might be offered a choice of continu-ing relationships that convert them

into long-term “inside outsiders,”preserving their skill and knowledgefor the enterprise, yet giving them theflexibility and freedom they expectand can afford.

The model for this comes fromacademia: the professor emeritus. Heremains free to teach as much as hewants, but gets paid only for what hedoes. Many emeriti do retire altogeth-er, but about half continue to teachpart-time, and many continue to dofull-time research. A similar arrange-ment might well suit senior profes-sionals in a business. But for people in operating work—sales or manufac-turing—something different needs tobe developed.

3. Outside information. Surpris-ingly, the information revolution hascaused managements to be less wellinformed. They have more data, to besure, but most of the information soreadily made available by IT is aboutinternal matters. The most important

The Way Ahead

WE CAN ALREADYsee the future

taking shape. But Ibelieve that the future will turn inunexpected ways. The greatestchanges are still ahead of us. The society of 2030 will be very differentfrom today’s society and bear littleresemblance to that predicted bytoday’s futurists.

The next society is close enough foraction to be considered in five areas:

1. The future corporation.Enterprises—including many non-businesses, such as universities—should start experimenting with newcorporate forms and conducting afew pilot studies, especially in work-ing with alliances, partners, and jointventures, and in defining new struc-tures and new tasks for top manage-ment. New models are also neededfor geographical and product diversi-fication for multinational companies,and for balancing concentration anddiversification.

2. People policies. The way peopleare managed assumes that the work-force is still largely made up of peo-ple who are employed by theenterprise and work full-time for ituntil they are fired, quit, retire, or die.Yet, two-fifths of the people whowork in many organizations are notemployees and do not work full-time.Today’s HR managers also stillassume that the most desirable andleast costly employees are youngones. Older managers and profession-als are often pushed into early retire-ment to make room for youngerpeople who are believed to cost lessor to have more up-to-date skills. Theresults are not encouraging. After twoyears, wage costs per employee forthe younger recruits tend to be backwhere they were before the “oldies”were pushed out. The number ofsalaried employees seems to be goingup at least as fast as production orsales, meaning that the new younghires are no more productive than theold ones. Demography will make thepresent policy increasingly self-

changes affecting an institution todayare likely to be outside ones, aboutwhich present information systemsoffer few clues.

One reason is that informationabout the outside world is not usuallyavailable in computer-useable form. Itis not codified, nor quantified. This iswhy IT people, and their executivecustomers, tend to scorn informationabout the outside world as “anecdo-tal.” Moreover, many managersassume, wrongly, that the society theyhave known all their lives will remainthe same. Outside information is nowavailable on the Internet. Managersmust ask what outside informationthey need, as a first step towarddevising a proper information systemfor collecting relevant informationabout the outside world.

4. Change agents. To survive andsucceed, organizations will have tobecome change agents. The mosteffective way to manage change suc-cessfully is to create it. Grafting inno-vation onto traditional enterprisesdoes not work. Becoming a changeagent requires the organized aban-donment of things shown to beunsuccessful, and the continuousimprovement of every product, ser-vice, and process. It requires theexploitation of success, especiallyunexpected and unplanned-for suc-cess, and it requires systematic inno-vation. It also requires seeing changeas an opportunity, not as a threat.

5. Big ideas. Once again we see theemergence of new institutions andtheories. The new economic regions—the European Union, NAFTA, and theproposed Free-Trade Area of theAmericas—are neither traditionallyfree-trade nor traditionally protec-tionist. They attempt a new balancebetween the two, and between theeconomic sovereignty of the nationalstate and supranational economicdecision-making.

And then there is the upsurge ininterest in Joseph Schumpeter’s pos-tulates of “dynamic disequilibrium”as the economy’s only stable state; ofthe innovator’s “creative destruction”as the economy’s driving force; andof new technology as the main, if notthe only, economic change agent—theantithesis of earlier economic theories.

The central feature of the next soci-ety will be new institutions, theories,ideologies, and problems. LE

Peter F. Drucker is the founder of The Peter F. DruckerGraduate School of Management and a highly respected management thinker.

ACTION: Take action in these five areas.

by Peter F. Drucker

1 6 w w w . L e a d e r E x c e l . c o m L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e

CHANGE PREPARATION

G e t r e a d y f o r w h a t ’ s n e x t .

2. Leaders do! If you don’t knowwhat is going on, if you don’t knowthe shape or even the location of theplaying field, if you don’t know thenature of the rule book or even ifthere is one, then in the immortalwords of My Old Man, “Thomas, don’tjust stand there. Do something.” It’s acute phrase. But it’s far more pro-found than that. If you don’t knowwhat’s going on, stop thinking. (Itwon’t do you much good.) Try some-thing. See what happens. That is, untilyou let fly the new system, new prod-uct, new procedure, or whatever, youhave no idea what is going on.

3. Leaders re-do. If something goesawry, the typical big company shootsthe messenger and aims to make sure

this aberration never occurs again. Inthe process, the possibility of rapidprogress is severely diminished. Inshort: “Do it right the first time” isstupid, a snare, a delusion, an abomi-nation. Consider two superstars thatdon’t give a second thought to whathappens the first time (or the 21st).Namely, Sony and Microsoft. They“do” fast. And they re-do even faster.The Sony-Microsoft approach isremarkable—and an all-too-rare trait.Most either flog the tepid first versionuntil they look like idiots. Or retreat—deciding that the failure means theyweren’t supposed to be in the marketin the first place.

4. Leaders convey a grand design. Aleader “sets the tone.” That’s obvious.The leader is also chief architect—notnecessarily chief strategic planner.The architect model suits me better:she or he sets out the general designparameters, lets us know what

Pursuing Excellence

WE FALL BACK, INthese crazy and

chaotic times, on thecommand-and-control model of lead-ership—a model that no longeraccords with how dynamic leadersactually operate. We seek shelter inthe fantasy of a leader who has theanswers, who promises “change” or“success” or “profits” in exchange forpatient “followership” or “obedi-ence.”

But in an age when all value flowsfrom creativity and initiative, wemust imagine and embrace a modelof leadership that is loose, open, andinnovative.

We ask leaders to be “good stew-ards” of the assets they inherit. But inan age when permanence is a danger-ous delusion, we must instead askleaders to challenge the legacies thatthey have inherited, to create entirelynew value propositions—and then toget out before they get stale.

Here are 10 traits of leaders:1. Leaders create opportunities. I

was reading an article in a newsletterfrom an educational organization.The title sent me into a big rage. Itsuggested that excellent (educational)institutions “transform people.”Nonsense! Nobody “transforms”anybody else! Instead, we createopportunities for people and thenencourage them to apply their latenttalents to grasp those opportunities.Leaders do not “transform people.”Leaders instead construct a context inwhich Voyages of Mutual Discoverycan take place. Leaders provideaccess to a portfolio of WOW Projectsthat challenge people to express theirInnate Curiosity and to visit (or cre-ate) places that they (and their lead-ers) had never dreamed of. Andwhen the voyage bears fruit, leadersapplaud like hell, stage “photo ops,”and ring the church bells 100 times tocommemorate the bravery of theirfollowers’ explorations. As a leader, ifyou don’t have the nerve to encour-age people to redraw the map or tocreate a new map, you should not beleading anyone anywhere.

she/he thinks about quality, abouttolerating well-intended and energeti-cally pursued failures, about innova-tion, about logistics performed toperfection. Call it core values. Call itessential philosophy or our charter orconstitution. I call it the design specs.The essential stuff we care about, theway we intend to live and make ourmark, and the stuff we won’t compro-mise on. The stuff that is the essenceof our character. Most conglomerateshave proven unmanageable. Butthere’s one that seems to work. That’sthe Virgin Group. Founder-CEORichard Branson fits the ChiefArchitect model to a T. He says hewon’t launch a new product unlessit’s “cheeky.” It also has to be of highquality and affordable. Branson setsthe design specs. He embodies (lives)the design specs. So, too, Welch’s per-formance fanaticism and talent obses-sion at GE. Iacocca’s pugnaciousness,in a time of great darkness atChrysler. Churchill’s determination.Gandhi’s persistence and unshakablephilosophy of non-violence.

5. Leaders make mistakes. Andthey make no bones about it. Anotherthing that hangs on the wall of myVermont writing studio is a quote byDavid Kelley, founder of IDEOProduct Design: “Fail faster. Succeedsooner.” Next to it hangs a saying bythe extraordinary photographerDiane Argus, who told her students:“Learn not to be careful.” In placidtimes, leaders may well have theanswers. In turbulent times, leadershave the best questions that encour-age (note the root word: “courage”)others to undertake those voyages ofmutual discovery. And the essence ofprocess: allowing people to screw up.Screwing up is the essence of tryingnew stuff. If you try new stuff, youscrew up. If you try a lot of new stuff,you screw up a lot.

6. Leaders nurture other leaders.The honors here go to leader-icono-clast-political-activist Ralph Nader. “Istart with the premise,” he said, “thatthe function of leadership is to pro-duce more leaders, not more follow-ers.” I suspect that “the leader asstrong man” times are past. That thetechnology is changing too fast. Italked to Bill McGowman, de factofounder of the telecom upstart MCI.“The ‘chump-to-champ-to-chump’cycle,” he lectured me “used to bethree generations. Now it’s about fiveyears.” Staying power, historicallymostly fantasy, is now total fantasy.Therefore, I will offer a new guideline

by Tom Peters

L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e w w w . L e a d e r E x c e l . c o m 1 7

COMPETENCE POTENTIAL

D e s i g n , d o , a n d r e - d o .

low) to the amount of introspectionthat might go on. Simple fact: Hugebureaucracies think too much and acttoo little. “Scapegoating” is a big partof this debilitating, paralytic process.

9. Leaders take breaks. Thedemands of leadership at any levelcould fill our waking hours thriceover, especially these days. And attimes, 18-hour days are a must. Butbeware of burnout. Beware, in partic-ular, of your unawareness of burnoutand the unwillingness of thosearound you to point out that you area zombie. This is not a homily about“work-life balance.” I leave that toyour spouse or preacher-priest-rabbi-shrink.

This is a warning: Stress may kill.Literally. It surely killseffectiveness! Antidote?That’s up to you. A fewdeep-breathing breaks,a two-minute-eyes-closed meditative stints,can be invaluable dur-ing the day. So, too, along holiday—and theoccasional four-dayweekend. Such breaksare essential, and youprobably need someactive coaching-inter-

vention to pull them off.10. Leaders do stuff that matters.

Sometimes I think that all “leadershipliterature” stinks—including much ofthe stuff I’ve written. Too much of thefocus is on tactics and motivation(and, frankly, manipulation). All ofthat misses the point: Leadership forwhat? From King and Gandhi andJefferson—to Bill Gates and SteveJobs and Richard Branson—leaderslead because they want to get someparticular thing done. They want todo stuff that matters.

Steve Jobs aimed to change theworld with an “insanely great” (histerm) idea about what a computercould be. Staying with the tech indus-try, you could say the same aboutMichael Dell. So, too, Larry Ellison(Oracle). Or, in the world of financialservices, you could point to CharlesSchwab and Ned Johnson (Fidelity).Those and other great leaders are notmerely great at leading. They aregreat at inducing others to take noveljourneys to places of surpassingimportance. LE

Tom Peters is founder of tompeterscomany!, and has beenhailed as the guru of gurus for management. This article isadapted from his book, Re-Imagine! Business Excellence in aDisruptive Age (DK). Visit www.tompeterscompany.com.

ACTION: Assess your progress excellence.

for leaders: Leaders don’t create fol-lowers! They create energized,autonomous leaders. Leadersthroughout the organization, startingwith inspired youth at the bottom,help others discover new worlds.Encourage leaders who invent newworlds. Leaders who outstrip anddethrone their putative leaders. Imean that everyone is responsible formaking-defining her own way.Everyone is charged with overturn-ing today’s beliefs. One can no longerdepend on the big corporate fuzz ballto nurture them for 30 or 40 years. Oreven 5 or 10 years. Everyone is arenegade, innovator, and leader.

7. Leaders are great performers.FDR claimed, “It is necessary for thePresident to be thenation’s No. 1 actor.”Amen. Is this a plug fordisingenuous behavior?No. If a leader attemptsto induce risk taking, sheor he must embody risktaking, even if she or heis a naturally reticentperson. As one of myfriends put it, bluntly,“Look, Tom, leadersaren’t allowed to havebad days, especially onbad days. Leaders must exude theenergy and confidence that willembolden others to act in the face ofperil. It’s that simple. And that hard.”Every move by the 24-year-oldsupervisor, as well as the President ofthe United States, is scrutinized anddissected as to what it portends tothe organization’s (and individual’s)future. Hence: Act accordingly!

8. Leaders accept responsibility.It’s simple: Leaders take responsibili-ty—visibly—for the decisions theymake and the outcomes that ensue.(The spectacle of senior officers fromgiant, formerly high-flying compa-nies “Taking the fifth” on national TVhas not been inspiring.) At any level,at any age, in any position of respon-sibility: To play the “blame game”destroys the credibility of the blamer-leader faster than any other singleact. Does this mean that retrospectiveanalysis of things that go awry isinappropriate? Of course not.

On the other hand, I’ve argued for20 years that “a bias for action” is thesingle most significant positiveattribute a successful enterprise—public or private—can have. A “biasfor action” does not suggest thought-lessness about the past. But it doessuggest that there is a limit (relatively

NEW LEADERSHIProles require new

leadership disciplines.Three of the most critical are buildingshared vision, surfacing and challeng-ing mental models, and engaging insystems thinking. These disciplinescan only be developed through a life-long commitment. And in learningorganizations, these disciplines mustbe distributed widely because theyembody the principles and practicesof effective leadership.

How do individual visions becomeshared visions? A useful metaphor isthe hologram, the three-dimensionalimage created by interacting lightsources. If you cut a photograph inhalf, each half shows only part of thewhole image. But if you divide ahologram, each part, no matter howsmall, shows the whole image intact.

Likewise, when a group of peoplecome to share a vision, each personsees an individual picture of the organization at its best. Each personshares responsibility for the whole,not just for one piece. But the compo-nent pieces of the holograms are notidentical. Each represents the wholeimage from a different point of view.Each member offers a unique per-spective for viewing the whole image. So, too, is each individual’svision unique.

When you add up the pieces of ahologram, the image becomes moreintense, more lifelike. When morepeople share a vision, the vision be-comes a mental reality that peoplecan truly imagine achieving. Theynow have partners, co-creators; thevision no longer rests on their shoul-ders alone. Early on, people may sayit is “my vision.” But, over time, asthe shared vision develops, it becomes“our vision.”

FFiivvee VViissiioonn--BBuuiillddiinngg SSkkiillllssThe skills involved in building

1 8 w w w . L e a d e r E x c e l . c o m L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e

LEADERSHIP VISION

BuildingVisionNew roles for new leaders.

by Peter Senge

The knowledge base of medicine isconstantly changing, but the softsubjects—especially those that haveto do with intangibles—turn out tobe of enduring value.

The Golden Rule makes the intan-gible tangible. You need to imagineyourself in the place of another per-son. There are no complicated rulesor loopholes.

Of course, not every ethical situa-tion can be solved instantly by usingthe Golden Rule. Sometimes thehardest part of asking “How would Ilike to be treated in this situation?” isidentifying who might be affected bythe situation and how they might beimpacted. But if you give the mattersome thought, you can almostalways figure it out.

The Golden Rule is a win-win phi-losophy. Some people believe that inorder for them to be winners, otherpeople must be made to lose. Theysee everyone as an enemy, or theyprey on the pain of others in order to

win. The appeal of“vice funds” comesfrom the idea ofinvestors makingmoney from someoneelse’s weaknesses. Iwonder how the fundmanager would feel ifhe discovered peoplewere working hard toexploit his personalflaws for their profit.When you live by theGolden Rule, every-

body wins. If I treat you as well as Idesire to be treated, you win. If youtreat me likewise, I win. Where is theloser in that?

The Golden Rule is a compasswhen you need direction. The GoldenRule does more than just give peoplewins. It also has internal value foranyone who practices it. Televisioncommentator Ted Koppel says,“There’s harmony and inner peace to be found in following a moralcompass that points in the samedirection regardless of fashion ortrend.” In a world with much uncer-tainty, I think many people are seek-ing direction. The Golden Ruleprovides direction. It never changes,even as circumstances do. It givessolid, predictable direction, and bestof all, it actually works. LE

John C. Maxwell is founder of the INJOY Group. This article is adapted with permission from his book, There’s No Such Thing as “Business” Ethics (Warner). Visitwww.injoy.com or call 1-877-225-3311.

ACTION: Adopt the Golden Rule.

THE GOLDEN RULE ISthe closest thing to

a universal guidelinefor ethics. I know that not everyone islooking for a simple guideline to liveethically. Some people choose to lie,cheat, and steal. But people whodesire to find a standard of ethicalbehavior to live by can find it in theGolden Rule.

The Golden Rule is accepted bymost people. Can you imagine some-one saying, “Please treat me worsethan I treat you”? No, everyonewants to be treated well. It is reason-able to desire good treat-ment from others and to treat others well. It isdifficult to justifydemanding better treat-ment from others thanwe give. What can webase it on? Wealth?Political affiliation?Personal beliefs? No mat-ter what criteria youuse—whether it’s wealth,talent, ideology, national-ity, or race—it cannot belogically supported.

One of the first rules in humanrelations is to seek common groundwith others. That’s a good guidelinewhether you are exploring a newfriendship, meeting with a client, orteaching a student. Comparing simi-lar experiences and discoveringshared beliefs can pave the way forsuccessful relationships. The GoldenRule can be used to create commonground with any reasonable person.

The Golden Rule is easy to under-stand. Former Saturday Review editorNorman Cousins observed: Thewords “hard” and “soft” are used bymedical students to describe the con-trasting nature of courses. Courseslike biochemistry, physics, pharma-cology, anatomy, and pathology areanointed “hard,” whereas subjectslike medical ethics, philosophy, histo-ry, and patient-physician relation-ships are labeled “soft.” But overtime, what was supposed to be hardturns out to be soft, and vice versa.

Golden Rule EthicsBehavior you can live and thrive by.

by John C. Maxwell

ETHICS GOLDEN RULEshared vision include the following:1. Encouraging personal vision.

Shared visions emerge from personalvisions. It is not that people only careabout their own self-interest-in fact,people’s values usually includedimensions that concern family, orga-nization, community, and even theworld. Rather, it is that people’scapacity for caring is personal.

2. Communicating and asking forsupport. Leaders must be willing toshare their own vision continually,rather than being the official repre-sentative of the corporate vision.They also must ask, “Is this visionworthy of your commitment?” This ishard for people used to setting goalsand presuming compliance.

3. Visioning as an ongoing process.Today, too many managers want todispense with the “vision business”by writing the official VisionStatement. Such statements almostalways lack the vitality, freshness, andexcitement of a genuine vision thatcomes from people asking, “What dowe really want to achieve?”

4. Blending extrinsic and intrinsicvisions. Many energizing visions are extrinsic, focusing on achievingsomething relative to a competitor.But a goal that is limited to defeatingan opponent can, once the vision isachieved, easily become a defensiveposture. In contrast, intrinsic goals—such as creating a new product, tak-ing an old product to a new level, orsetting a new standard for customersatisfaction—elicit more creativityand innovation. Intrinsic and extrin-sic visions need to coexist; a vision solely predicated on defeating anadversary will eventually weaken an organization.

5. Distinguishing positive from neg-ative visions. Many organizationsonly pull together when their sur-vival is threatened. Similarly, mostsocial movements aim at eliminatingwhat people don’t want; thus, we seeanti-drugs, anti-smoking, or anti-nuclear arms movements. Negativevisions tend to be short-term andcarry a message of powerlessness.

Two sources of energy motivateorganizations: fear and aspiration.Fear, the energy source behind nega-tive visions, can produce extraordi-nary changes in short periods, butaspiration endures as a source oflearning and growth. LE

Peter Senge is a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Chairman of the Society ofOrganizational Learning. Visit www.solonline.org.

ACTION: Aspire to something great.

L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e w w w . L e a d e r E x c e l . c o m 1 9

work is still to come.4. Looking for villains in all the

wrong places. The perception thatlarge organizations are filled withrecalcitrant managers who resist allchange is unfair and untrue. In mostorganizations, people at every levelare engaged in change processes.Often managers bring issues to theattention of senior executives. In fact,the biggest obstacles tochange are often vice presi-dents, directors, generalmanagers, and others whohave the most to lose in achange. So, you need tobuild a guiding coalitionthat represents all employ-ees. People often hear theCEO cheerleading a changeand promising excitingopportunities. Most peoplewant to believe that; too often theirmanagers give them reasons not to.

TThhrreeee KKeeyy TTaasskkssThese four mistakes suggest three

key tasks for change leaders:1. Managing multiple time lines. To

create a sense of urgency and avoiddeclaring premature victory, leadersmust communicate that meaningfulchange takes years. At the same time,they create shorter-term wins andremind people that change is urgentprecisely because it takes so long.Only short-term results with an effec-tive, aligned vision offer high odds ofsustained success.

2. Building coalitions. Leadersmust win the support of employees,partners, investors, and regulators formany initiatives. Since you are likelyto meet resistance from unexpectedquarters, building a strong guidingcoalition is essential. There are threekeys to creating such alliances.• Engaging the right talent. Building

coalitions means assembling the nec-essary skills, experience, and chem-istry. The best partners have strongposition power, broad experience, highcredibility, and real leadership skills.• Growing the coalition strategically.

An effective guiding coalition needs adiversity of views and voices. Once acore group coalesces, the challenge is

Transformationhow to expand the scope and com-plexity of the coalition. It often meansworking with people outside.Leaders must know where and howto build support. That may mean giv-ing others credit for success, butaccepting blame for failures. It meansshowing a genuine care for individu-als but a toughmindedness aboutresults. Getting results is the bestway to recruit allies.• Working as a team, not just a collec-

tion of individuals. The more you sup-port team performance, the healthierwill be the guiding coalition. Duringchange, leaders need to draw onreserves of energy, expertise, andtrust. Real teams are built by doing realwork together, sharing a vision and

committing to a goal. 3. Creating a vision.

How do you build avision? Many peopleassume that vision-build-ing should resemblelong-term planning:design, organize, imple-ment. But defining avision of the future doesnot happen according toa timetable or flowchart.

It is more emotional than rational. Itdemands a tolerance for messiness,ambiguity, and setbacks. The half-step back usually accompanies everystep forward.

Day-to-day demands pull peoplein different directions. Having ashared vision does not eliminate ten-sion, but it does help people maketrade-offs. The alternative is to bogdown in I-win, you-lose fights. Leadersmust convey a vision of the futurethat is clear, appealing to stakehold-ers, ambitious yet attainable. Effectivevisions are focused enough to guidedecision-making yet are flexibleenough to accommodate individualinitiative and changing circumstances.

Producing change is about 80 per-cent leadership—establishing direc-tion, aligning, motivating, andinspiring people—and about 20 per-cent management—planning, bud-geting, organizing, and problemsolving. In most change efforts, thosepercentages are reversed. We contin-ue to produce great managers; weneed to develop great leaders. LE

John P. Kotter is an award-winning expert on leadership at Harvard Business School and a frequent speaker at topmanagement meetings. He is the author of The Heart ofChange, What Leaders Really Do, Matsuhita Leadership,Leading Change, The New Rules, and other works. Visitwww.JohnKotter.com.

ACTION: Engage in the four tasks.

2 0 w w w . L e a d e r E x c e l . c o m L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e

CHANGE TASKS

M a s t e r t h r e e k e y t a s k s .

NO ORGANIZATIONis immune to

change. To cope withnew technological, competitive, anddemographic forces, leaders havetried total quality management,reengineering, restructuring, mergersand acquisitions, turnarounds andtransformations—yet few of theseefforts meet their goals.

Four mistakes cause most failures: 1. Writing a memo instead of

lighting a fire. Too often leaderslaunch their initiatives by calling ameeting or circulating a report, thenexpect people to rally to the cause. Itdoesn’t happen that way. To increaseurgency, gather a key group of peo-ple for a day-long retreat. Identify 25factors that contribute to complacen-cy and brainstorm ways to countereach factor. Develop an action planto implement your ideas.

2. Talking too much and sayingtoo little. Most leaders undercom-municate their change vision, andtheir efforts to convey their messageare not convincing. An effectivechange vision must include not justnew strategies and structures butalso new, aligned behaviors on thepart of senior executives. Leading byexample means spending more timewith customers, cutting wastefulspending at the top, or pulling theplug on pet projects that don’t mea-sure up. People watch their bossesclosely. Inconsistent behaviors fuelcynicism and frustration.

3. Declaring victory before the waris over. When a project is completedor an initial goal met, it is temptingto congratulate all involved and pro-claim the advent of a new era. Whileyou should celebrate results, don’tkid yourself or others about the diffi-culty and duration of transformation.Once you see encouraging results ina difficult initiative, you are only sixmonths into a three-year process. Ifyou settle for too little too soon, youmay lose it all. Celebrating is a greatway to mark progress and sustaincommitment—but note how much

by John P. Kotter

For 25 years, our three monthly magazineshave been the source for the best and

brightest insights from all the top consultants,coaches, authors, and executives.

Use our FREE Development Tools:

• Personal Excellence Plan, an easy-to-useguide designed to help you create and imple-ment vision, mission, goals, and priorities.

• Excellence Worksheet, the perfect way tobring Excellence into your personal study or team meeting.

Team Leadership($10/month)Leadership Excellencebrings together the bestthinking in the world, fromall the top practioners, in atime-effective format.

Leadership Excellence■■ 1-year (12 issues) $129■■ 2-year (24 issues) $219■■ 3-year (36 issues) $269

Master of Excellence Leadership Package• 1-year Leadership Excellence• Your choice of 1-year Sales & Service

Excellence or Personal Excellence• 20-Year Instant Consultant leader-

ship library CD• 3-book package on leadership*

■■ $329 (save over $150)**

Self Leadership($8/month)Personal Excellencefocuses on seven dimen-sions of personal devel-opment and leadership.

Personal Excellence■■ 1-year (12 issues) $99■■ 2-year (24 issues) $129■■ 3-year (36 issues) $199

Sales/Service Leadership($5/month)Sales & Service Excellencecovers seven dimensions ofsales, marketing, and serviceexcellence.

Sales & Service Excellence

■■ 1-year (12 issues) $59■■ 2-year (24 issues) $99■■ 3-year (36 issues) $139

PERFORMANCE SYSTEM

Please start my membership!Please sign me up for the item(s) checked.

Name ___________________________

Company_________________________

Address __________________________

_________________________________

_________________________________

Phone ___________________________

Email ____________________________

■■ Visa ■■ MC ■■ Amex ■■ Disc ■■ Bill me

# ______________________ exp. _____

Signature _________________________

20-Year InstantConsultantCD archive: com-prehensive,searchable data-base of the best

ideas and strategieson management,

leadership, and produc-tivity. Instantly access the perfect articlefor your presentation, meeting, or per-sonal study with over 3,200 articles bybest-selling authors, leadership experts,coaches, and consultants.

CD or Online Access:

■■ $199

*Books may be different than shown. ** For Canadian and International subscriptions, add $20 U.S. postage per year—all three publications include Leadership Excellence, Sales and Service Excellence, and Personal Excellence.

Recent contributors include: Marshall Goldsmith, Jim Collins, Tom Peters, Anne Mulcahy, Warren Bennis, Michael Porter, Margaret Wheatley, Patrick Lencioni, and many others!

Recent contributors include: Tom Hopkins, Jim Rohn, Dianna Booher, Oren Harari, DebbieAllen, Adrian Gostick, T. Scott Gross, Brian Tracy, Jeff Thull, and many others!

Recent contributors include: Laura Schlessinger, Tony Alessandra, Tom DeCotiis, KurtDuNard, Bob Davies, Marshall Goldsmith, Wayne Dyer, Peter Block, and many others!

Fax this form to 801-377-5960, call 1-877-250-1983,

email custserv@eep.com or visit www.LeaderExcel.com

Get StartedToday!

“Sales and Service Excellence is crisp, succinct, and actionable—a nice change fromHarvard Business Review, whose articles are interesting but too academic to be useful.”

—PETER G. BALBUS, CEO & MANAGING DIRECTOR OF PRAGMAXIS

“Personal Excellence is the only reading you’ll need to do for continual self-improve-ment both personally and professionally!”

—SHARLENE HAWKES, FORMER MISS AMERICA, AWARD-WINNING ESPN BROADCASTER

LEADERSHIP

Leadership ExcellenceCelebrating 25 Years of Excellence