Like I said, last week, I have decided to pass along my notes from the book The Leadership Challenge. So, here we go...
Preface
– Everyone's Business (they are referring, of course, to
leadership)
While
the content of leadership has not changed, the context has.
It's
human networks that make things happen, not computer networks.
Social
capital is amassed over years of investing in building relationships.
Special
interest lobbying tears at our sense of community.
Global
leadership means global understanding.
Create
wholeness out of diversity.
More
and more of us are on a quest for greater meaning in our lives.
There's
a growing yearning for a sense of higher purpose. How can leaders
provide a climate for people to bring their souls to work, not just
their heads and hands?
Weave
the innocence and wisdom of different generations into our workplace.
Good
leadership is an understandable and universal process.
The
most significant contribution leaders make is not simply to today's
bottom line; it is to the long-term development of people and
institutions so they can adapt, change, prosper, and grow.
We
need leaders who can unite us and ignite us.
Part
One – What Leaders Do and What Constituents Expect
Chapter
One – The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership
Business
is really all about people … making them feel motivated, empowered,
and trusted.
Getting
something concrete done got people over the 'I've heard it all
before' reaction. It was an essential preliminary to changing
attitudes and mindsets … Once the team had a few successes under
their belts, they had the confidence to move on to bigger projects.
You
can never stop communicating, nor do enough communicating with
people.
The
key is being able to align these two – personal and organizational
values – and being at home in your skin, and being honest with
yourself.
You
can't pay people enough to care.
Assume
the best in people.
(Be)
a model for how other leaders can get extraordinary things done in a
world of constant chaos and change.
Leaders
mobilize others.
Creative
people by nature want some sense of ownership. They want some sense
of empowerment and spirit.
To
get the most out of people, you need to see them on more than a
surface level. You really have to get to know
what makes them tick.
We
played a lot … it should be a fun place to work.
Figuring
out how to make things work … we developed a bond.
Mobilize
other people … to want to climb to the summit.
Leadership
is not at all about personality; it's about practice.
Guide
others toward peak achievements.
It's
your behavior that wins you respect.
Leaders
must first be clear about their guiding principles.
Exemplary
leaders go first.
Distinguished
by relentless effort, steadfastness, competence, and attendance to
detail.
When
people described to us their personal-best leadership experiences,
they told of times when they imagined an exciting, highly attractive
future for their organizations.
Every
organization, every social movement, begins with a dream.
Leaders
cannot command commitment, only inspire it.
People
must believe that leaders understand their needs and have their
interests at heart. Leadership is a dialogue, not a monologue.
Those
who lead others to greatness seek and accept challenge.
Whatever
the challenge, all the cases involved a change from the status quo.
Not one person claimed to have achieved a personal best by keeping
things the same.
Innovation
and change all involve experimentation, risk, and failure.
One
way of dealing with the potential risks and failure of
experimentation is to approach change through incremental steps and
small wins. Little victories, when piled on top of each other, build
confidence that even the biggest challenges can be met.
Leaders
learn by leading, and they learn best by leading in the face of
obstacles. As weather shapes mountains, problems shape leaders.
Exemplary
leaders enable others to act. They foster collaboration and build
trust.
Those
who are expected to produce the results must feel a sense of personal
power and ownership.
It's
part of the leader's job to show appreciation for people's
contributions and to create a culture of celebration.
Encouragement
is curiously serious business.
No
one needs to wait around to be saved.
Success
in leadership, success in business, and success in life has been, is
now, and will continue to be a function of how well people work and
play together.
Chapter
Two – Credibility is the Foundation of Leadership
We
asked constituents to tell us what they look for and admire in a
leader.
What
people most look for and admire in a leader has been constant. As the
data clearly show, for people to follow someone willingly, the
majority of constituents must believe the leader is: honest,
forward-looking, competent, and inspiring.
Leaders
are doing more than just getting results. They're also responding to
the expectations of their constituents, underscoring the point that
leadership is a relationship and that the relationship is one of
service to a purpose and service to people.
(Honesty
is) the single most important ingredient in the leader-constituent
relationship.
We
want leaders to be honest because their honesty is a reflection upon
our own honesty.
Regardless
of what leaders say about their own integrity, people wait to be
shown; they observe the behavior.
We
resolutely refuse to follow those who lack confidence in their own
beliefs.
Whether
we call (it a) vision, a dream, a calling, a goal, or a personal
agenda, the message is clear: leaders must know where they're going
if they expect others to willingly join them on the journey.
Leadership
competence refers to the leader's track record and ability to get
things done.
An
effective leader … must understand the business implications.
It
is highly unlikely that a leader can succeed without both relevant
experience and, most important, exceptionally good people skills.
We
expect (our leaders) to be inspiring – a bit of the cheerleader, as
a matter of fact.
We
all long for some greater sense of purpose and worth in our
day-to-day working lives.
In
times of great uncertainty, leading with positive emotions is
absolutely essential to moving people upward and forward.
Enthusiasm
and excitement are essential, and they signal the leader's personal
commitment to pursuing a dream.
These
key characteristics make up what communications experts refer to as
“source credibility.”
The
First Law of Leadership: If you don't believe in the messenger, you
won't believe the message.
Loyalty
is clearly responsible for extraordinary value creation.
Price
does not rule the Web; trust does. (remember this book was written in
2002)
We
may want newscasters to be cool, reasoned, and objective, but we want
leaders to articulate the exciting possibilities. Leaders don't just
report the news; they make the news. The dilemma is that leaders who
are forward-looking are also biased.
Leaders
have to learn to thrive on the tensions between their own calling and
the voice of the people.
Leaders
stay true to their principles whatever the situation.
People
first listen to the words, then they watch the actions … If people
don't see consistency, they conclude that the leaders is, at best,
not really serious, or, at worst, an outright hypocrite.
Align
actions with values.
