Thinking about Leadership, Part One
Next week, it’s our big conference, and what we will see are the results of a hot and growing Internet advertising market – more exhibitors and attendees, more press, more bankers, and most importantly, more competition. None of these, especially the increased competition seems ready to abate any time soon. What separates those that survived the down times and have achieved success today? What keeps those in other industries on top year after year? Many things do of course, such as a solid product strategy and a discipline of education. One of the bigger ones and the topic of this two part issue of Digital Thoughts is leadership.
Success doesn’t depend on, nor is it guaranteed by, solid leadership but greatness and enduring success almost always seems bound with great leadership. If any industry knows this it’s the mortgage bankers, who just a week ago held their 92nd annual convention and expo. It isn’t where you would expect to find insight into leadership, but when you realize that they see themselves as not just an instrumental piece to the economy but shepherds of the American Dream, you can see why they might make leadership a key theme to their conference.
Ultimately, we want the same – to succeed like the mortgage banking industry has in times of prosperity and hardship, becoming not just a multi-billion dollar industry but also a multi-trillion dollar one. That’s why it is never too early for us to start thinking about leadership. It’s something that you can influence regardless of the state of the market, and one that will help make the most out of any market state. For today’s article on leadership we share thoughts from four individuals who spoke at different sessions during the mortgage bankers conference, the first of whom has more than earned his stripes – both figuratively and literally – former Secretary of State and four-star general, Colin Powell.
Seth Godin and Guy Kawaski on the docket draw crowds. General Powell commands respect, and after hearing him speak you understand why. Unlike the other speakers throughout the show that covered the same topic, his perspective is unique, having been molded by real combat and the ever-looming threat of future combat. He isn’t what you expect when you think of someone talking about leadership. He isn’t a CEO of a large company with a reputation that precedes him, nor is he an executive coach to one. Yet, he is as much a leader and an expert on leadership as anyone. When he speaks, you listen; you feel the integrity, the sincerity, and the perspective that comes from someone where leadership involves life and death, not release dates and earnings reports. When he speaks, you get a sense of what he stands for and how he would act in various situations, his actions engendering a feeling of trust. And, that is exactly how he describes leadership.
Being a good leader means having a vision and conveying that vision to the “troops.” There is more to it than that, and it sounds simple enough, but its importance cannot be overstated. You can’t lead if you don’t have followers. As Powell says, “Leaders don’t get things done. Followers do.” That is why he emphasizes both the importance of conveying the vision to every member of the team and ensuring that the followers are equipped to achieve the mission. The followers should have the proper education, constant training, and understand their accountabilities. A good leader, according to General Powell, must act as a role model for his team, i.e. be selfless and do the right thing. One who can do this – set the vision, enable the followers, and do the right thing, will find him/herself with followers who will go wherever they goes. They will sign up for whatever the leader has chosen, even if out of curiosity because they have built together a relationship bound by a bond of trust.
Andrew Bennett, who spoke during a different session, framed leadership in more conceptual terms by highlighting the difference between motivation and inspiration. Motivation implies acting on another body; it’s often fleeting, whereas inspiration implies helping people motivate themselves. Self-motivation is lasting. He, too, stresses the importance of the vision but looks at the mission of a company with respect to cause and legacy, i.e. how does the company’s actions make life better and framing that in terms of how the world could look if we pursue our cause to the fullest. Inspiring others comes not from focusing on what we want to have. It comes from values-driven behaviors and focusing on who we want to be. Inspiration comes from experiencing the cause. Take for example his story of a medical device maker whose productivity and quality started to decline. Management called an all hands meeting. Rather than give a speech they simply brought in patients whose lives depended on their product. They left understanding why they do what they do. And, this change in behavior occurred without direct criticism. Here is his rule of thumb – say five good things to one bad thing; nothing destroys motivation and productivity like unnecessary criticism.
If you stop now, know that good leaders make people feel better and more productive when they are around. The people they lead know what to do, where they are going, and what role they play in getting there. These are themes that will immerge again as we continue our exploration on leadership, viewing this topic from the two other lenses. Join us for Part Two as we discuss creating an environment for leadership to occur and realizing the need for solid leadership in an environment of change and uncertainty.
