Leadership … what is it? Who needs it? My two favorite definitions are:
Leadership is getting things done through other people; and
Leadership is "creating meaningful change."
If you ever find yourself trying to either get things done through other people, or create meaningful change, or even both, then the following two studies have valuable lessons for you.
Good to Great
In the book "Good to Great," author Jim Collins and his team define a great company as a company that returns at least three times the average market consistently over a period of 15 years! Only 11 of the Fortune 500 companies met this criteria. His team studied these 11 companies, as well as 11 of their competitors who did not meet the criteria, and wrote the book about the eight key factors that all 11 great companies had in common … elements that their competitors did not. One of the key factors turned out to be the type of leadership style adopted by the CEO. There are lessons here for every leader of every size organization who wants to create a "great" company.
The Achieving Manager
In his study of over 16,000 managers in organizations with at least six levels of management, Dr. Jay Hall quantified a manager's success by defining a Management Achievement Quotient (MAQ), as:
MAQ = Level in Organization, Age.
So the higher the manager had risen, and the sooner this was accomplished, the higher that person's MAQ.
What was statistically significant was that the distribution of the 16,000 MAQ scores was not normally distributed, as expected but 14 percent of the scores were dramatically higher than all the rest. And the remaining 86 percent were linearly distributed.
So the upper 14% were defined as having a high MAQ, the upper 43% were labeled as having a medium or average MAQ, and the lower 43% as having a low MAQ.
The behaviors of the group were then studied, comparing the behaviors of those with a high MAQ with those having a medium or low MAQ, looking for what behaviors correlated with the MAQ scores. In order to study these behaviors, the managers were not asked to complete a self-assessment but instead at least three of their direct reports were surveyed. Again, there are strong lessons here for those that desire to move up the management ladder in their organization, or for those that want to identify and adopt behaviors that lead to effective management.
The Level Five Leader
In "Good to Great," Jim Collins identified five different levels of leadership:
Level FiveLEVEL FIVE EXECUTIVE
Builds enduring greatness through a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will.
Level FourEFFECTIVE LEADER
Catalyzes commitment to and vigorous pursuit of a clear and compelling vision, stimulating higher performance standards.
Level ThreeCOMPETENT MANAGER
Organizes people and resources toward the effective and efficient pursuit of pre-determined objectives.
Level Two
CONTRIBUTING TEAM MEMBER
Contributes individual capabilities to the achievement of group objectives and works effectively with others in a group setting.
Level One
HIGHLY CAPABLE INDIVIDUAL
Makes productive contributions through talent, knowledge, skills, and good work habits.
Note the first step in leadership is becoming a highly capable individual, being unproductive does not make the cut!
What was surprising to the team was that all 11 CEOs of the "great" companies demonstrated this unexpected blend of personal humility and professional will, yet none of the CEOs of the competition exhibited such a blend. They proceeded to clarify exactly how these qualities were demonstrated.
Professional Will
Personal Humility
? Creates superb results, a clear catalyst in the transition from good to great.
? Demonstrates an unwavering resolve to do whatever must be done to produce the best long-term results, no matter how difficult.
? Sets the standard of building an enduring great company; will settle for nothing less.
? Looks in the mirror, not out the window, to apportion responsibility for poor results, never blaming other people, external factors, or bad luck.
? Demonstrates a compelling modesty, shunning public adulation, never boastful.
? Acts with quiet, calm determination; relies principally on inspired standards, not inspiring charisma, to motivate.
? Channels ambition into the company, not the self; sets up successors for even greater success in the next generation.
? Looks out the window, not in the mirror, to apportion credit for the success of the company, to other people, external factors, and good luck.
To summarize, the level five leader is focused on the long-term success of the company, not his/her personal success, and takes responsibility for poor results, but apportions credit for excellent results.
The High Achieving Manager
This study found that there were four attitudes/behaviors that were correlated with the MAQ score
What motivated the manager, and how he/she dealt with power
Their belief system in their employees
The amount of employee participation they used in decision making
Their (two-way) communication competence
The following four charts show the results.
Note that the high MAQ managers were motivated by personal gain, but this attitude was secondary to sharing power and the good of the organization.
Again, it's worthwhile to point out that while all managers had some lack of belief in their employees, the high achieving managers had twice as many positive beliefs as negative, while in the other two categories the negative beliefs dominated.
It is interesting that there isn't much difference between the low and average managers on this item, but we see a huge difference between those two categories and the high achieving managers.
This particular result is the least surprising. Most people intuitively associate effective communication with effective management.
The achieving manager's study summarizes the results in the following chart:
The developer style is 92 percent effective, and is characterized by a person who is equally focused on customer results and employee participation. The style that is singly focused on results, with little regard for the employees is only 50 percent effective, and is labeled the "taskmaster." At the same time, the style that is singly focused on "happy" employees, identified by the manager who primarily wants to be liked, is only 38 percent effective. And the least effective style, only 15 percent effective, is the style that is dominated by self gain and use of personal power.
In "Leadership by the Book," Ken Blanchard provides two very descriptive terms that capture the essence of the developer's attitude. This is a person who is equally focused on "raving-fan customers" and "gung-ho employees!"
What's Next?
While an honest self-assessment can be helpful, to accurately identify your style requires an assessment by peers and employees. Such an assessment, based on external input, is called a 360 degree assessment. Regardless of how you identify your areas for improvement, improved results will depend on your ability to change. Reading books and attending seminars may increase your knowledge and awareness of more effective techniques, but only a change program pursued over time will get you on the course you seek.
Don Sando is the president of Achievement Partners, a company that specializes in Business Plan Execution. They work with entrepreneurs, small business owners, and medium sized companies developing and executing business plans, which includes improving processes and systems, employee productivity and management effectiveness. He can be contacted at www.AchievementPartners.com.
Leadership is getting things done through other people; and
Leadership is "creating meaningful change."
If you ever find yourself trying to either get things done through other people, or create meaningful change, or even both, then the following two studies have valuable lessons for you.
Good to Great
In the book "Good to Great," author Jim Collins and his team define a great company as a company that returns at least three times the average market consistently over a period of 15 years! Only 11 of the Fortune 500 companies met this criteria. His team studied these 11 companies, as well as 11 of their competitors who did not meet the criteria, and wrote the book about the eight key factors that all 11 great companies had in common … elements that their competitors did not. One of the key factors turned out to be the type of leadership style adopted by the CEO. There are lessons here for every leader of every size organization who wants to create a "great" company.
The Achieving Manager
In his study of over 16,000 managers in organizations with at least six levels of management, Dr. Jay Hall quantified a manager's success by defining a Management Achievement Quotient (MAQ), as:
MAQ = Level in Organization, Age.
So the higher the manager had risen, and the sooner this was accomplished, the higher that person's MAQ.
What was statistically significant was that the distribution of the 16,000 MAQ scores was not normally distributed, as expected but 14 percent of the scores were dramatically higher than all the rest. And the remaining 86 percent were linearly distributed.
So the upper 14% were defined as having a high MAQ, the upper 43% were labeled as having a medium or average MAQ, and the lower 43% as having a low MAQ.
The behaviors of the group were then studied, comparing the behaviors of those with a high MAQ with those having a medium or low MAQ, looking for what behaviors correlated with the MAQ scores. In order to study these behaviors, the managers were not asked to complete a self-assessment but instead at least three of their direct reports were surveyed. Again, there are strong lessons here for those that desire to move up the management ladder in their organization, or for those that want to identify and adopt behaviors that lead to effective management.
The Level Five Leader
In "Good to Great," Jim Collins identified five different levels of leadership:
Level FiveLEVEL FIVE EXECUTIVE
Builds enduring greatness through a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will.
Level FourEFFECTIVE LEADER
Catalyzes commitment to and vigorous pursuit of a clear and compelling vision, stimulating higher performance standards.
Level ThreeCOMPETENT MANAGER
Organizes people and resources toward the effective and efficient pursuit of pre-determined objectives.
Level Two
CONTRIBUTING TEAM MEMBER
Contributes individual capabilities to the achievement of group objectives and works effectively with others in a group setting.
Level One
HIGHLY CAPABLE INDIVIDUAL
Makes productive contributions through talent, knowledge, skills, and good work habits.
Note the first step in leadership is becoming a highly capable individual, being unproductive does not make the cut!
What was surprising to the team was that all 11 CEOs of the "great" companies demonstrated this unexpected blend of personal humility and professional will, yet none of the CEOs of the competition exhibited such a blend. They proceeded to clarify exactly how these qualities were demonstrated.
Professional Will
Personal Humility
? Creates superb results, a clear catalyst in the transition from good to great.
? Demonstrates an unwavering resolve to do whatever must be done to produce the best long-term results, no matter how difficult.
? Sets the standard of building an enduring great company; will settle for nothing less.
? Looks in the mirror, not out the window, to apportion responsibility for poor results, never blaming other people, external factors, or bad luck.
? Demonstrates a compelling modesty, shunning public adulation, never boastful.
? Acts with quiet, calm determination; relies principally on inspired standards, not inspiring charisma, to motivate.
? Channels ambition into the company, not the self; sets up successors for even greater success in the next generation.
? Looks out the window, not in the mirror, to apportion credit for the success of the company, to other people, external factors, and good luck.
To summarize, the level five leader is focused on the long-term success of the company, not his/her personal success, and takes responsibility for poor results, but apportions credit for excellent results.
The High Achieving Manager
This study found that there were four attitudes/behaviors that were correlated with the MAQ score
What motivated the manager, and how he/she dealt with power
Their belief system in their employees
The amount of employee participation they used in decision making
Their (two-way) communication competence
The following four charts show the results.
Note that the high MAQ managers were motivated by personal gain, but this attitude was secondary to sharing power and the good of the organization.
Again, it's worthwhile to point out that while all managers had some lack of belief in their employees, the high achieving managers had twice as many positive beliefs as negative, while in the other two categories the negative beliefs dominated.
It is interesting that there isn't much difference between the low and average managers on this item, but we see a huge difference between those two categories and the high achieving managers.
This particular result is the least surprising. Most people intuitively associate effective communication with effective management.
The achieving manager's study summarizes the results in the following chart:
The developer style is 92 percent effective, and is characterized by a person who is equally focused on customer results and employee participation. The style that is singly focused on results, with little regard for the employees is only 50 percent effective, and is labeled the "taskmaster." At the same time, the style that is singly focused on "happy" employees, identified by the manager who primarily wants to be liked, is only 38 percent effective. And the least effective style, only 15 percent effective, is the style that is dominated by self gain and use of personal power.
In "Leadership by the Book," Ken Blanchard provides two very descriptive terms that capture the essence of the developer's attitude. This is a person who is equally focused on "raving-fan customers" and "gung-ho employees!"
What's Next?
While an honest self-assessment can be helpful, to accurately identify your style requires an assessment by peers and employees. Such an assessment, based on external input, is called a 360 degree assessment. Regardless of how you identify your areas for improvement, improved results will depend on your ability to change. Reading books and attending seminars may increase your knowledge and awareness of more effective techniques, but only a change program pursued over time will get you on the course you seek.
Don Sando is the president of Achievement Partners, a company that specializes in Business Plan Execution. They work with entrepreneurs, small business owners, and medium sized companies developing and executing business plans, which includes improving processes and systems, employee productivity and management effectiveness. He can be contacted at www.AchievementPartners.com.