Brought to you by Jeff Thoren, DVM  

Great leadership seems easy to recognize, and it’s also pretty easy to tell when someone is lacking in leadership ability.  But what are the essential qualities of an effective leader?  This is a critical question both for selecting and developing team members, and for developing your own leadership capabilities.

“Leaders are people who leave their footprints in their areas of passion.” - Jonathan Byrnes

To be a great leader, you need to find what you really like.  That’s where passion, commitment, and integrity come from.  The most important underlying factor in leadership is whether a person has searched out and found a great match between what’s in his or her heart, which is what he or she really enjoys, and the work situation.

Here’s this month’s feature ...

The Essence of Leadership by Jonathan Byrnes

From -- Working Knowledge, Sep. 6, 2005, Harvard Business School

Highlights from the article:

• In a sense, great leaders have to be ambidextrous.  On the one hand, they have to be able to execute capably within the current business paradigm (management skills).  On the other hand, they must be able to reflect on the current paradigm, find ways to fundamentally improve it, and manage large-scale change to a successful conclusion (leadership skills). 
    

• The most effective teams have one person who constantly pushes the limits and another who constantly ensures that the organization doesn’t blow up.  Both individuals must have the capability to be ambidextrous.  Otherwise, they will not have the common understanding and mutual respect to come to agreement on an effective course of action.
    

• Leading paradigmatic change, however, is very different from day-to-day management.  You need eight essential characteristics:

1. A Capacity for Passion -- A burning drive to make things better.

2. Perspective -- The ability to see the “big picture” amidst day-to-day activities.

3. Creativity -- Seeing fundamentally new and more effective ways to do things.

4. Organization Skills -- Translating a broad vision into practical steps.

5. Teamwork -- Having the “greater good” at heart, both for the organization and for those you seek to lead.

6. Persistence -- Change takes time, persistence is what carries you through.

7. Open-mindedness -- A high level of tolerance for ambiguity and uncertainty.

8. Integrity -- Being genuine and motivated by your deeply held values to make your co-workers and your organization better off.  Without integrity, you’re simply promoting yourself, and people will not follow your lead.

• To be a great leader, you need a compulsion to operate at two levels: to be a great doer, and a great reflector.  Think about the definition of leaders, “people who leave their footprints in their areas of passion.”  It’s easy to focus on the first part, how to leave footprints.  But the real power comes from the second, working in your areas of passion.  If you’re doing what you really like, you almost can’t help but feel passion toward making it better ... and assuming the role of a leader.

For the full text article, go to ...
http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item.jhtml?id=4983&t=dispatch

Follow Your Heart

Deepak Chopra M.D. has encouraged his children to discover their unique ability and to find a way to exercise that ability in service to humanity.  In other words, he has encouraged them to find their purpose in life and to engage in activities that uplift and meet people’s needs.  What is your purpose in life?  Who are you here to serve?

Your heart will tell you what your purpose is and who you are here to serve.  You have to take time, reflect, and listen to your heart.  When you listen and discover, then you will find the most compelling reasons for living and being.  Find your purpose and live it fully.

Source: Joe Farcht -- Leadership Advantage Inc. 

“The most effective way of leading, over time, is to lead from the heart.” - Robert E. Staub III

“Life is like a field of newly fallen snow; where I choose to walk, every step will show.” - Denis Waitley

Next Month

Leadership lessons from Benjamin Zander, the world renowned conductor of the Boston Philharmonic orchestra.  Leadership is an art of possibility.

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