|
They'd have us believe winning is a matter of being well liked; colleagueship through the propinquity found in the intimacy radio. By 2014 even the nation's chief executive has learned a hard lesson: trying to please favorite factions pleases no one. In companies, that supposition can be fatal to both company and its employees.
An admiral once made the comparison between true leaders and amateurs in the saddle. "When things get tough you send for the 'sons-of-bitches' not the sycophants." Threats are asymmetric; competitive, economic. Competitive raiding and turnover are but a few of the nuit blanche fears shared by most CEO's. Yet the strength that matters most is not the strength of a company's fiscal wherewithal but the strength of character. In turn, that applies to character larger than ourselves or our company's largess. We live and work in a time of paradox; when hope and peril run side by side. Here are some musts for emerging leaders and sage veterans:
- Be yourself: soaring popularity isn't about reinventing personality to fit the daily temperature, but about being consistent with everyone, every day.
- Speak your mind, even if it will make someone uncomfortable: through the millenniums the greatest leaders spoke freely and shot-straight. People respond a lot better with direct talk in place of nuance and innuendo.
- Never be afraid to say "I don't know": one of the biggest shortfalls in corporate America and behind the D.C. Beltway is the failure of leadership to admit they don't know something. Why are we so conditioned to bluff our way through a situation as opposed to simply admitting we don't yet have the answer?
- Back the right warrior: cliques, old alliances and favoritism aren't criteria for building a great organization. The handful at the top of any leadership category set aside petty or "popular" decision-making to go right to the impact person who may sometimes be least likely based on old paradigms (looks, political currency, degree and such). Who can best do what you need done in the moment?
- No great leader can be afraid to stick their neck out: when you do, it may cause problems at first, but those short term barriers are far outweighed by the change they'll bring and the success never before realized.
- To consolidate power in your organization, you'd better put the right people in the right places: you may make a few enemies in this most important of all leadership qualities. But new "enemies" notwithstanding, the key-person network you create will take the company where it's never been.
- Never insist on complete control: it's a fatal flaw because often the best way to gain power is to share it. Churchill put it brilliantly: In war; resolution. In defeat; defiance.
In victory; magnanimity. In peace; good will.
Pulling off dramatic turnarounds or succeeding with a single radio market, winning is never coincidental nor can it be achieved without great leadership.
|
