Leadership –
Taking the Higher Ground
Introduction:
We want to
finish the year on a hopeful note. It is
easy to focus on the what’s wrong, why it’s wrong and what can be done about
it. There remains a tremendous amount of
improvement, but by taking the higher ground we hope to explore those
leadership qualities that exemplify what can be so good and effective about
leadership and being a leader.
Over the
years we have tried in our Update articles to examine many different aspects of
leadership and management. At times we
focus on issues that directly apply to senior leaders, but always with aspects
that apply to lower level leaders also.
In this issue we want to focus on some basic tenets of leadership that
are applicable to all levels of leaders – first line supervisors through senior
managers and executives. We believe
there are two fundamental tenets that are essential to becoming an effective
and high performing leader: Self Awareness and Personal Integrity. Probably you are thinking, of course these
apply to everyone and are “a given”.
However, the business landscape is littered with cases where leaders –
and too often the well-publicized examples are CEOs – have destroyed organizations
and people by completely forgetting these fundamental tenets.
As a leader
– be it first line supervisor, middle manager or executive – you have
responsibilities to advance the organization and provide sound direction to
your subordinates. You directly or
indirectly also have responsibilities to the shareholders and suppliers. The goals of the organization, the
expectations of the shareholders and the needs and demands of the suppliers can
create conflict with your responsibilities to nurture and develop your staff
and your own self. Let’s take a look at
that self and all those potential conflicting pressures.
As a
reference we are going to use some work done by professors Panos Mourdoukoutas,
Ph.D. and Michael Soupios, Ph.D. of Long Island University who published The
Ten Golden Rules of Leadership. In
their book they looked at principles from ancient philosophers. We do not want to discuss ancient
philosophers, but do feel that a few of the rules provide the basis of what we
think is so important to developing strong and effective leaders at all levels
of the organization. Those rules are
“Know Thyself,” “Live Life by a Higher Code” and “Never Underestimate the Power
of Personal Integrity.” Now let’s look
at those questions we posed previously and see how these rules can help develop
answers to those questions.
Know Thyself:
Who are you?
What is your personal philosophy? What standards do you hold your employees to
and what standards do you hold yourself to?
Should you expect the same from yourself as you do from your employees
or should you expect more? As one might
expect, we are going to suggest that as a leader, one should expect more from themselves
to be a true leader. But, we’ve got some
thoughts before we get to any conclusion.
We are not
going to delve into a deep psychological dissertation or anything close to
that. But, we do think it is important
that you take a little time and think about this question. This can be a difficult task and it not
something that many are willing to spend time doing. One of the first things we do when we embark
on a leadership program (not a leadership training event), is to administer an
assessment. We have used both the DISC
and Myers Briggs instruments. These
instruments provide a framework to gain an objective perspective of one’s
personality. They also provide insights
into the range of profiles others may possess.
So the benefits are many. First,
gaining insight into oneself is essential.
What are one’s profile strengths as well as traits they struggle
with? This information creates awareness
and hopefully it guides an individual to leverage their strengths and be
cautious of those traits that they struggle with while attempting to improve on
them. It also provides knowledge on how
to deal with others who may have the same or different traits. With this as a baseline additional
self-examination can occur.
The Myers
Briggs assessments state:
Knowledge of type (your
personality type) can enrich your life in several ways. It can help you
·
Better
understand yourself. Knowing your own type helps you understand the assets and
liabilities of your typical reactions.
·
Understand
others. Knowing about type helps you recognize that other people may be
different. It can enable you to see those differences as useful and broadening,
rather than annoying and restricting.
You can use this knowledge as a tool in effectively communicating.
·
Gain
perspective. Seeing yourself and others in the context of type can help you appreciate
the legitimacy of other points of view.
You can then avoid getting stuck
in believing your way is the only way. No perspective is always right or always
wrong. Reading about type and observing yourself and others from the standpoint
of type will enrich your understanding of personality differences and encourage
constructive uses of those differences.
To give you
another perspective of the MBTI we are providing you with the MBTI Grid
illustrating the 16 types and linking them to perhaps the most significant
movie franchise. You may be able to
relate to one of these individuals/types.
More so,
with self-assessment information, the journey can begin. This is where values come in. In addition to one’s personality profile,
values are another important component in the puzzle of ‘Who are you?’ Once
again, introspection is essential here.
Examining one’s value system is challenging, but keenly important when
it comes to leadership. As part of identifying values, identifying their
origins is important. How did I get to
the point where these are my values? Where
did they come from? Research has shown
that one’s value system is created around 10 years old. The point here is this form of introspection
is difficult to do, but we consider it essential. You want to grow and be an effective leader,
but first you need to understand where some of what you expect of others comes
from – your values system.
With all
this said, what do you believe in terms of a moral compass and how you should
act? What are your worries and what are
your goals? We certainly can’t answer
these questions for you, but encourage you to spend some time thinking and
writing down these self inquiries. In
the context of proactive initiatives, journaling is an effective way to follow
along on your journey.
We suggest,
on a daily basis, recording how you react to the events of the day, how you
feel about the outcomes, what you might have been able to learn and do better
next time, and what you felt you did a good at dealing with. This can be accomplished in any manner that
is easiest for you. With technology as it is now, there are several options
available, and we can make recommendations if you would like. Journaling is an effective tool, takes a bit
of time and provides a wealth of learning and perspective as you explore and
implement your strengths and challenges.
Periodically go back through your journal and see if what you noted was
in fact you or was it what you would like to be or think you should be. Also, revisit your assessment
information/report if available and compare with your notes. These techniques provide benchmarks for you
as well as aid in your self-assessment/introspection and will pay huge
dividends.
Here’s
another thought in the context of self-examination. “What do people say about you when you are
not in the room?” We realize this may
not be the most ‘modern’ concept. Much
of today’s society minimizes the notion of worrying about what other people
think, but let’s put it in a leadership context. As a leader, you are essentially on
stage. You are being evaluated all the
time. Those you lead see you, place judgement and see both your strengths and
struggles. Their view may not seem fair
or accurate but it is how they see you. Remember perception is reality to those
perceiving. We believe one behavioral trait that is keenly important is
consistency. Inconsistent leadership is
essential like no leadership. But
consistency is tough to accomplish. Just
look at any politician and it’s readily evident that consistency is difficult. Again, if as a leader you are aware of the
importance of consistency, and you keep a quality journal, you will be able to
assess your behavior and adapt as appropriate.
Your
Standards: “Live Life by a Higher Code”
As a leader
you undoubtedly have expectations for your employees. Some may be as basic as getting to work on
time each day or following the company rules or completing the work assigned to
them. These are good but they certainly
are not really standards that will help the employees develop and grow and help
your organization grow stronger. Have
you thought about more in-depth standards that will benefit the employees, the
organization and in the long run yourself?
Let’s go
back to values. As part of a value
system, there is a ‘band-width’ around each value. What we are suggesting that living one’s set
of values or a specific value can have a range of standards by which several
individuals measure their adherence to the value. As examples, some values
include; cooperation, trust, dependability as well as many others. In the context of our discussion of
standards, different people most probably have different ideas of what the
standard of cooperation means; a band-width of understanding. What one person does and believes they are
cooperating may not be the same for another and most likely is not. We will
leave it to our readers to think about how this concept fits the other listed
values or their own values. In the
context of leadership and living life by a higher code, the leader must be the
example that he/she expects from their people.
If there is a high and low end of the bandwidth, the leader has to
aspire and behave on the higher end. In
here lies the issue, what is the higher end look like? We provide an example.
Let’s look
at it from an organizational perspective.
There are certainly company rules and maybe regulatory rules that an
organization must follow. However, those
are just that – rules. The rules impact
the operation but they alone should not define the character of the
organization. Much the same, there is
the letter of the law, but there is also the intention of the law. As a leader one has great influence.
How you
interact with your organization; how you treat your employees; how you behave
in front of them and away from them all influence the support and dedication
you will get from them. Yes, they have a
job to do and are expected to do that job but the atmosphere in which the job
is performed and the smooth functioning of them as a team is influenced by how
you behave. If you demand timeliness
from your employees but you yourself come and go at will sends a message that
you don’t really care about timeliness.
If you are a stickler for grammar and spelling in documents produced,
but you put out sloppy or grammatically incorrect memos to the team, it shows a
different standard for yourself. We
contend that as a leader in the organization you should have a different
standard for yourself. That standard
should be higher than what you hold your employees to. This actually goes back to a topic we wrote
about several years ago, Servant Leadership.
Leadership is not a privilege nor an entitled position to be taken
advantage of, or that has disproportionate benefits. Leadership is servitude to the people you are
responsible for as well as the mission of the organization. That means the standards by which you behave
and are the role model must be the high water mark and goal for those who you
lead.
Personal
Integrity:
Integrity
defined:
The
quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness.
"he is known to be a man of integrity."
There are
several examples of leaders who demonstrate high levels of integrity. Some of them include Abraham Lincoln, Martin
Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi and Mother Teresa.
To illustrate both the quality of integrity, and how complex real life
situations can be, we provide a few brief descriptions/case studies.
Colin Powell
(excerpted from a paper authored by Hale C. VanKoughnett U.S. Department of
State, titled Integrity: The Foundation of Leadership
On his first day as Secretary of State, a crowd in the Department
of State main lobby gave him an unprecedented welcome. This greeting was
because of his status as a war hero and respected leader. During his tenure at
State, he was sidelined from White House decision making concerning the Iraq
War. Some believe that Powell surrendered his integrity when he did not make a
stronger case against invasion—or resign—rather than support a position with
which he did not agree. One can also posit that he was either loyally
supporting his Commander in Chief or attempting to remain on the inside to
influence policy. But no matter how one feels about his actions regarding Iraq,
it would be very difficult to argue that Powell proceeded with an eye toward
personal gain. I, therefore, do not believe that this incident calls into
question his integrity. Powell’s emphasis on leadership, training, increased
staffing, and accountability made him a respected figure at State long after he
last passed through the lobby of the Harry S. Truman Building.
Regarding
Abraham Lincoln (excerpted from Lincoln’s Honesty by Gordon Leidner of Great
American History, reprinted from Washington
Times Civil War Page on February 20, 1999. Copyright 1999 by New World
Communications, Inc.
By the time Lincoln was president, statements he had made
previously, such as "I have never tried to conceal my opinions, nor tried
to deceive anyone in reference to them," and "I am glad of all the
support I can get anywhere, if I can get it without practicing any deception to
obtain it" had become a source of strength for him as a leader.
Everyone, even his bitterest political opponents, knew
exactly where they stood with Lincoln. Because he didn't have to waste time
convincing his opponents of his sincerity, he was able to devote his energies
to solving political issues and winning the war.
Lincoln as commander in chief was honest and straightforward
with his generals, always telling them directly what he did and did not
appreciate about them. An example of his candor is the following excerpt from a
letter to Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker in early 1863:
"I have placed you at the head of the Army of the
Potomac. Of course I have done this upon what appear to me to be sufficient
reasons, and yet I think it best for you to know that there are some things in
regard to which I am not quite satisfied with you. I believe you to be a brave
and a skillful soldier, which of course I like . . . I have heard, in such a
way as to believe it, of your recently saying that both the army and the
government needed a dictator. Of course it was not for this, but in spite of
it, that I have given you the command. Only those generals who gain successes
can set up dictators. What I now ask of you is military success, and I will
risk the dictatorship."
Finally, in search for the reason Lincoln was so adamant
about honesty, a quote by one of his closest friends, Leonard Swett, is
revealing:
"He believed in the great laws of truth, the right
discharge of duty, his accountability to God, the ultimate triumph of the
right, and the overthrow of wrong."
The concept
of Personal Integrity dovetails well with our earlier articles of this year regarding
Authenticity. When we overlay leadership
on these concepts we can see how they all fit together resulting in effective
leadership.
Our first
article of 2015 introduced the relationship between Values, Power and
Consistency in the context of leadership authenticity. Our second article provided real life examples
of authenticity or lack of it. Realizing
that we had more questions than answers we highlighted the questions as
follows:
·
Can
authenticity be taught or even learned?
·
How might
one actually teach authenticity?
·
Does it take
practice to achieve authenticity in leadership?
·
How would
one know if they are making progress or can one even achieve an end point?
·
Is there an
end point?
·
What are the
measures along this journey?
With this
article, we reinforce the self-awareness and introspection component that we
addressed in the last two articles on authenticity, but now we are tying in the
concept of living one’s beliefs and values with integrity. But how does that translate into something we
can tangibly suggest that should be done differently? As expected there is a wealth of writing on
this subject by scholars and practitioners.
As an example one practitioner suggests.
“The root of all integrity
judgments is a sense of consistency or congruence between seemingly disparate
elements. To have integrity means that things fit together in a coherent form.”
“More expansive definitions of
integrity suggest that not only is integrity defined by internal consistencies
(such as word/deed consistency), it is also defined by the external consistency
of those actions with either individual moral frameworks or community moral
frameworks.”
Again, like
everything we write about there is no silver bullet answer or magic answer that
applies to all. The process is holistic and an ongoing journey. But, we truly believe that even though there
is no straight line path to excellent leadership there are things that a person
can do to straighten the path while achieving positive results along the way.
You have heard us say that we don’t believe in “to do” lists, so we are going
to provide some techniques that have proven effective throughout our
careers. The difference between these
techniques and “to do” lists is every person must contextualize the technique
for themselves, but we hope that the sequence provides the framework along with
a commitment to self- assessment along the journey.
Suggested Techniques
to consider
This is
typically not a straight forward endeavor, but is worth doing.
- Participate
in a formal personal assessment. In some
cases, use different instruments and compare the findings. Consider a 360-degree assessment in which you
get feedback from your boss, your peers and your subordinates. Gives you different perspectives. (360-degree assessments are
provided by the Center for Creative Leadership, and we have the certification
to administer them as one of the tools in our leadership workshops)
- Identify
your values that includes:Common understanding of what is and what is not a value
- What should our organization, company, team stand for?
- What should be the values by which we operate?
- What do we want our customers to say about our organization when we are not in the room?
- How do we want our employees to answer the question, "What's it like to work here?"
- What are our organization's priorities in terms of which behaviors are rewarded and which are punished?
- As leaders, what can we do that will demonstrate the future state?
- Do any of
the organizational expectations conflict with my internal views? How do I or should I reconcile this conflict?
Define each value specifically for you – what does it mean to you?
How am I going to live each value on a day-to-day basis?
What is the expected outcome or measure?
An example for the value of Respect is provided below:
Respect is fundamental to my value system. I am very specific about what Respect means
to me. It includes:
• Showing
appreciation for others
• Being
open to other’s ideas and their validity
• Treating
others as I expect to be treated
• Showing
consideration for individual differences
• Treating
our people with fairness without favoritism
• Providing
for individual growth by recognizing needs
• Providing
recognition for accomplishments
In my day-to-day endeavors, respect sets a standard for how I
interact with each other. It establishes
a positive, productive, and open work environment. In our future, the value of Respect enhances
relationships with my coworkers, clients and vendors.
4. Periodically review your assessment result reports and make adjustments
5. Routinely review your journal – look for patterns
6. Be very conscious of your interactions with others – especially your subordinates – and try to sense how you are being perceived/accepted. Is there a positive or negative vibe in the interactions? This may be impacted by the type of discussion you are having, but still you need to be conscious of the interaction. Talk with and not to people.
Summary:
Our focus in
this article is on introspection and trying to understand your personal values,
your moral compass and the importance and impact of personal integrity. It builds on our previous two articles which
focused on Authentic Leadership. We are
trying to take this to a more personal level so that you, our readers, can
focus on your own self and how you live your life and interact with people at
all levels. The techniques we suggest
will aid you in your business and your personal life. You could well find that once you understand
yourself you are not in harmony with what is expected by your
organization. That of course will lead
you to making hard decisions; but we suggest that being at peace with your
moral compass and your personal integrity is much more important in your
life. As always, we ask for your feedback
and suggestions. We try to write these
articles to cause you to think and to, we hope, eventually lead to stronger
leadership skills regardless of the industry or business.
Looking forward to 2016
While we continue our quest for answers to some of the most perplexing leadership issues, we are also probing ways to support and enhance the quality of leadership. One of the biggest leadership challenges to Executives and CEOs is getting honest, truthful, candid, objective, qualified inputs and feedback, in a safe, non-threatening environment, to help in sorting out issues, ideas and problems and strategies.
We also recognize that living at the top of an organization is a lonely place to be. Decisions impact employees, clients, customers, families, stockholders, and stakeholders. Leadership is a difficult role, constantly requiring assessment/feedback, adjustment in style, methods and measures. In addition, objective input prevents narcissism, builds and retains effectiveness and authenticity as a leader, and ensures ongoing support of those being lead.
With this said, in 2016, we will be introducing “The Inner Circle.” The Inner Circle is a resource to senior executives, on their terms. The Inner Circle can be a sounding board, a place where CEOs can solicit our thoughts, assessments, and insights on issues, as well as individualized coaching, mentoring and/or assistance. We will say more about this in the coming year. Best wishes for 2016!
