Brought to you by Jeff Thoren, DVM  

Leadership is plural.  Success is not associated with just one, but with many leaders working in concert with each other.  One person may have the top title and the official authority, but their effectiveness is often a function of the quality of all the other people who stand beside them to exercise leadership.

In this excerpt from Confidence: How Winning Streaks and Losing Streaks Begin and End Rosabeth Moss Kanter shares how leaders build winning streaks by bringing out the best in others.

Here’s this month’s feature ...

How Leaders Build Winning Streaks -- by Rosabeth Moss Kanter
From -- the Harvard Business School ’s Working Knowledge - September 27, 2004

Highlights from the article:

• Self-confidence is not the real secret of leadership.  The more essential ingredient is confidence in other people.  Leadership involves motivating others to their finest efforts and channeling those efforts in a coherent direction.  If the people in charge rely only on themselves as heroes who can rescue any situation, while focusing on other people’s inadequacies, they undermine confidence and reinforce losing streaks.

• Leaders of organizations in success cycles are a little like rabbits, constantly reproducing.  In winning streaks, the number of leaders multiplies along with the momentum of the streak.  The reproduction process involves finding and empowering natural leaders, regardless of their titles or levels.  The more leaders reproduce themselves, the more likely it is they will emerge, paradoxically, with heroic accomplishments.  Nelson Mandela claimed he was just an ordinary man who had to rise to extraordinary circumstances, and his speeches are filled with praise for others.

• Leaders find the best people they can, ensure their preparation, put them in the right positions, and give them a game plan.  After that, winning is up to the players on the field.  It is their leadership that matters.  The actions of many leaders seizing the moment create the margin of victory.  When people have confidence in one another, they are willing to lead and be led by the team.

• Confidence is enhanced when people are held accountable and accept responsibility for performing to high standards.  Leaders keep the mirror of accountability polished and clear by:

1. Fostering straight talk.  Leaders squarely face reality through open discussion and communication focused on learning and improvement instead of finding fault and placing blame.

2. Communicating expectations clearly.  Constantly repeating the standards to everyone and clearly articulating goals and priorities directs attention both to grand visions and to the details of execution, which ground visions in daily tasks.

3. Making information transparent and accessible.  Widespread access to abundant performance data helps ensure that people get the information they need to guide their own performance and hold others to high standards.

• The mission statement for leaders has three imperatives: 1) to ensure accountability, 2) to cultivate collaboration, and 3) to encourage initiative.  These imperatives define the three cornerstones of confidence.

For the full text article, go to ...
http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item.jhtml?id=4388&t=career_effectiveness

The Ten “Little Ways” of Great Leadership

True leaders, whether in the “corner office” or the ground-floor reception desk, have cultivated and demonstrated adeptness in the “little ways” of leadership.  The end result being that people always feel better, more challenged to be their best selves, after having interacted with these leaders.  Here are a few key traits that true leaders demonstrate, regardless of whether their leadership role is formally recognized or not.

1. They’re present.  You don’t feel unseen, unrecognized, or unheard in their presence.

2. They listen.  They don’t just remember talking with you, they remember what you said.

3. They speak mindfully.  They’re aware that their words have an effect on others, so they speak consciously.

4. They encourage.  They encourage others to take risks, to pick themselves up after making mistakes, to take their skills to the next level, and to pursue their dreams.

5. They’re honest.  They don’t say one thing in public, while doing something more self-serving in private.

6. They’re humble.  They know that while the short-term benefits may appear great, the long-term costs of arrogance are high.

7. They persevere.  They know that failures and difficulties are not ends, but simply doors to pass through on the way to greater wisdom and skillfulness.

8. They’re courageous.  They don’t let their fears and uncertainties stop them from persevering, from pursuing their dreams, from building their skillfulness, or from speaking honestly.

9. They’re thoughtful.  They recognize others’ achievements, follow through on their promises, and close the loop on communications.

10. They’re respectful.  They always treat others respectfully and expect the same in return.

Source: The CEO Refresher ... brain food for business: http://www.refresher.com/!jswlittleways.html

Next Month

You’re undoubtedly familiar with cognitive intelligence (or IQ) and maybe you’ve even heard of the importance of emotional intelligence, but there’s another kind of intelligence that leaders in the best performing companies are able to promote throughout their organizations ... moral intelligence.

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