The United States just emerged from the longest and most extraordinary presidential campaign in its history. Unprecedented amounts of money were raised by the candidates and millions of people who had never participated in elections became engaged and to top it all three minorities (at least in politics) a woman, a black man and a Hispanic were serious contenders for the Presidency.
And at the end of it all, the first black man was elected President with more than 53% of the popular vote. While the victory of Barack Obama can be analyzed from various prisms, it is credited in part to his promise for a different kind of politics. Throughout his campaign, he promoted the idea of being able to give America a different style of leadership, void of pettiness, partisan bickering and self interest.
Many wondered what Barack Obama meant by this when he started running over two years ago. However, from the Democratic primary campaign, then to the general election, he demonstrated some attributes that led Fred Barnes of the Weekly Standard to write in the November 3rd Issue that "Obama put together one of the most impressive campaign operations of all time. And for a rookie candidate to make so few mistakes (and no major ones)--that's quite amazing". There must have been something different about him and his style or philosophy to have made his campaign operation so successful.
This paper will present the components of my outlook on life, people and organizations. It will also talk about my overall philosophy about leadership and the things or people from which I draw inspiration
Definition:
A leadership philosophy is a set of beliefs, values and principles that influence how we interpret reality. It is the way we understand leadership, our philosophy about life, and organizations that determines how we react to people, and events around us. Steven Covey describes the context in which we are called upon to utilize this philosophy
“Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our responses lie our growth and our freedom.” –
This quote clearly demonstrates what a leadership philosophy is supposed to do. The way in which we chose to respond as leaders to a stimulus is greatly affected by our understanding of what leadership is about. Outlined below are the values and beliefs that have and will continue to shape my thinking as well as the principles that guide my decision making.
Inspiring Values and Beliefs
Having been raised in a Christian home and culture, the Bible is a very significant source of my values and beliefs about life and about leading others. Values such as humility, compassion, honesty and love for your neighbor, usually determine how I respond to many situations. They assist me when faced with uncertainties and help keep me from deviating to unethical paths even when tempted to so. However, the one single value I pride myself with is tolerance. It enables me accommodate different opinions, perspectives and outlooks.
Guiding Principles
The One Minute Manager
I totally embrace the concepts outlined in the book “The One Minute Manager” by Ph.D. Kenneth Blanchard and M.D. Spencer Johnson. The three ideas promoted by this book are the need to establish clear-cut goals, the need to praise good performance, and the need to reprimand people when their performance fails to contribute to the attainment of commonly agreed goals. These ideas then transform into the three secrets of the one-minute manager, namely: one-minute goals, one-minute praises and one-minute reprimands. Beyond one minute and the effect becomes marginal. I strongly believe that a leader needs to be comfortable identifying good work, as well as mediocre work, and quickly doing something about it.
Personal Responsibility
I believe that people are ultimately responsible for their actions, be it in their personal lives or in public. Even though the Bible says sinners will go to hell and the righteous will inherit the kingdom of God, I hold a more moderate view of accountability. I like giving second or third chances because i consider failures as learning experiences
Decisiveness
One of the most important character traits I posses is decisiveness. When I have to make a decision, both in my personal and professional lives, I methodically seek out a lot of information. I can take more than two thirds of my time to gather and analyze information, and contemplate options, and then I make a very quick decision. I think that leaders need to demonstrate their ability to take control of situations and make difficult decisions, then rally others to that decision
To help me better crystallize my beliefs and principles, I have developed my seven pillars of leadership called Willars (the W for Wilson)
7 Willars of Leadership
- "Where there is no vision, the people perish". (Proverbs 29, vs.18)
Written over 2000 years ago, the Bible contains some very good passages that are in line with contemporary management theories. This passage in the book of Proverbs to me represents the most significant role of a leader. Formulating and communicating a compelling vision of the future can have dramatic effects on team member. Take the "I have a Dream” speech by Martin Luther King Jr. in 1963, it energized the civil rights activists of the 1960's and became the battle cry for the civil rights movement across the world from the 1970's and 1980's to this very day. His dream or vision of the possibilities open to black people in America has inspired scores of African Americans and other people of color long after his death.The first duty of a leader therefore has to be that of laying out their vision. In order for this vision to achieve its mission, it should be realistic and credible, well articulated, easily understood, and responsive to change. It also needs to be consistent with the organization's values.
Robert Greenleaf in Leadership Crisis writes that "It is the idea (vision) that unites people in the common effort, not the charisma of the leader”. This further underscores the importance of a strong vision in the philosophy of any leader. Going back to the presidential campaign, I think one other reason why Barack Obama was so successful is because his vision for a renewed role of America in the world resonated with the country and as a result made it easier for them to rally around him.
- Crystallize the vision in a slogan or mantra
Many organizations are confronted with the problem where employees do not know the direction in the company is headed. Since there are no clear, bright shining goals, it is often difficult for them to choose between several options which one best serves organizational interests. Therefore, the second most important thing a leader must do is communicate the intent of the vision to the team in clear and concise language so that everyone understands. This is known as strategic intent. In this way, employees always have a common frame of reference when faced with making a difficult choice in a crisis. When Jeffrey Immelt took over from Jack Welch as Chairman and CEO of General Electric, he immediately communicated his vision for the company. Welch tended to grow GE though acquisition, Immelt choose to grow the company through innovation. To crystallize this, Jeff Immelt dropped the 25 year old company slogan “We bring good things to life" and replaced it with "Innovation at work" clearly communication the new direction the company would take.
- Pick the right people, not the best people
The word "best" is identified with competition, with wining, with individual achievement, all good attributes. However, my idea of leadership makes me sought for the right people. The word right goes along with moral values, responsibility, greater good, and integrity. Therefore, in picking my team, I want people who are right for the job in terms of cultural fit and emotional intelligence. The best skilled person might not necessarily share the same value system as the organization. Also, the particular job might require someone who has certain traits or qualities that are not be the best but which are very useful in accomplishing the task at hand. In the Television show called 24 that is broadcast on News Corps’ FOX network, consider Jack Bauer's role in CTU. To some, he is the best person at stopping the bad guys before they strike the United States, but the case can be made that he is not always the right person. He usually gets the job done but at the end of the day his methods are very questionable.
- Give Unto Cesar what belongs to Cesar
I am a believer in performance based rewards. These can be formal with trophies and gifts or as informal as a sincere word of thanks from the right person at the right time. The power of such rewards comes from the fact that someone actually took the time to notice the good work, sought out who did it and took time out to express their appreciation. Research by Dr. Gerald Graham revealed that most American workers prefer personalized spur-of-the-moment recognition from their bosses versus any other kind. It is however important to formally recognize certain types of outstanding work. For Rosabeth Moss Kanter, this has the effect of creating role models or heroes and also communicates the standards the company is promoting.
- Ask not why, but why-not
In their book Conquer the Brain Drain: 52 Ways to Pump up Productivity, Judi Moreo and Fiona Carmichael make the point that the greatest challenge facing today's managers is how to capture the creativity of team members as well as unleashing the resulting mental energy. I think one way to make this less challenging for these managers would be to make it okay to challenge the status quo. Just like the Greek philosopher, Socrates believed that true knowledge was derived from true dialogue and systematic questioning; the leader has to encourage managers and their team members to question popular convention and dare new styles, to have a why-not mindset. If there is one thing that is built-in to creative and innovative endeavors, it is risk. They are inherently risky and therefore have significant chances for failure. However, organizations that want to outperform their competition must be ready to accept failure because great ideas are sometimes born from such circumstances. This therefore calls for the leader to effectively communicate to the team that it is ok to fail as long as the lessons are learned. Looking at the history of General Electric since 1896, the company has had such remarkably continuity in part because new leaders consistently abandoned the most treasured ideas of their predecessor and changed the company's course. The transition of power at GE from Jack Welch and Jeffrey Immelt is a good example. Given that the only constant in every organization is change, I believe that managers have to be comfortable managing change and innovation especially in this very uncertain world
- Empower Them
I believe that an organization is most productive when all its employees are empowered to make and take decisions on their own, when authority is devolved down to all levels of the organization. This idea is most associated with Rosabeth Moss Kanter. In her book "When Giants Learn to Dance", she argues that large companies need to liberate their employees from stultifying hierarchies if they are going to be able to “dance” in the flexible, fast-changing future. In this light, employee empowerment seems a logical step for a leader if he/she effectively defines his vision and then lays out the strategic intent behind it in a slogan or mantra, on which these empowered employees can fall back on to guide them in their actions.
- Keep Communication Lines Open
If it wasn't clear from the previous Willars that i don't appreciate bureaucracy, I'll make it more evident. I believe none of the above Willars would work well without open communication lines in organizations. Conventional management theory would decry this kind of organization in the fear that the leader would be flooded with too much information or requests thereof which in turn would make the leader less effective. But I think that if the leader defines their vision, picks the right people, and empowers them, they will have less "need" for him/her around them and this will give the leader more time to focus on emerging opportunities.
This is a working document and as I encounter challenges in my professional and personal lives, there will be additions or subtractions to this philosophy. This will be guided by Reinhold Niebuhr's Serenity Prayer
"God, give me grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, Courage to change the things which should be changed, and the Wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.
Notes
Bob Nelson: 1001 ways to reward employees
Judi Moreo & Fiona Carmichael: Conquer the Brain Drain: 52 Ways to Pump up Productivity,
Robert Greenleaf, Leadership Crisis
Rosabeth Moss Kanter: When Giants Learn to Dance
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