of a leader - david irvine · the making of a leader | 6 5 after you get to people’s hearts, you...
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The Making Of A LeaderIt’s About Presence, not PosItIon
The Making Of a Leader | 1
Every leader in today’s world must wrestle
deeply with four fundamental questions:
1 What does it mean to be a leader in today’s world?
2 Where do you get your power to influence and to lead?
3 Why should people follow you?
4 What are you doing to prepare yourself to be a credible
leader?
The Making Of a Leader | 2
If you’ve been to a leadership development program lately, you likely learned a
lot about leadership practices and tools to help you be a better leader. However,
the only true measure of a leader is influence. If you can’t influence others
and inspire followers, you aren’t a leader. While leadership practices may
be useful and practical, if you want to influence people in today’s world, you
have to get to leadership presence. Great leadership cannot be reduced to
technique. Great leadership comes from the identity and integrity of the leader.
In today’s world, leadership is about presence, not position. Your very presence
is an attraction when you seek substance, depth, and strength of character.
The Making Of a Leader | 3
Here are twelve observations about leaders, and twelve ways to
become a transformational leader through the power of presence.
1 Leadership is about presence, not position.
While you may get promoted to being a boss, you don’t get promoted to
being a leader.
Because your power as a leader comes from your presence, not your
position, every person in your organization is a potential leader. In the
words of the late Margaret Thatcher, “Being powerful is like being a lady. If
you have to tell people you are, you aren’t.”
2 You aren’t a leader until someone says you are.
Leadership isn’t in a title. Leadership is the way you live your life.
The Making Of a Leader | 4
Holding a position of leadership is like having a driver’s license. Just
because you have one doesn’t make you a good one. You have to earn the
right to be called a leader. You aren’t a leader until you have followers.
Not followers in the conventional sense where we think of them as
subservient, submissive, or compliant. Leaders today have followers in
the truest sense: followers who engage, who listen, who are open to be
influenced, and who trust you.
3 Leadership means going where no one else has
gone.
If you aren’t embarking on new frontiers, you aren’t leading; you
are merely managing. If you aren’t traveling unfamiliar paths, you
haven’t gone far enough into the wilderness. One of the most powerful
ways to go where no one else has gone is to give your power to others.
Only secure leaders will do that.
The Making Of a Leader | 5
4 To lead, you have to make the connection.
Everyone communicates; very few connect. You have to get to the heart,
before you get to the head. “People don’t care how much you know,” my
father used to say, “Until they know how much you care.” Great
leadership is largely a matter of love. If you are uncomfortable with that
word, call it caring, because leadership involves caring about people, not
manipulating them. Leadership means caring about the worker as much
as you care about the task. Leadership is about seeking to be interested,
instead of attempting to be interesting. People buy in to the leader before
they buy in to the vision. With no connection, you can have no
influence.
Leadership is about seeking to be interested,instead of attempting to be interesting.
The Making Of a Leader | 6
5 After you get to people’s hearts, you have to get to
their unique gifts.
Everyone is talented, original, and has something to contribute. There
is an innate desire in all of us to make a difference. The task of a
leader is to help find that unique gift – both in ourselves and in
others - and help bring it forth in the world in a way that makes
a difference. You can tell what your gifts are by asking, “What do you
do well, that you don’t remember learning?” Discovering your gifts will lead
you to your passion, and passion will inspire you and the world around
you. When you, as a leader, tap into that unique ability, you won’t ever
have to motivate that person again. It’s inside every one of us.
6 Leadership presence comes in your roots.
A kind of bamboo tree in China is known to grow one inch in four years.
Then, in the fifth year, it grows a hundred feet. It needed four years
of roots to support the demand of a hundred feet of height. Like that
bamboo tree, your ability to bear the fruit of your influence will be in the
strength of your roots. It’s not the size of the storm that will determine
whether you break. It’s the strength of your roots, the character that
lies below the surface of what the world sees. Trust is the foundation of
leadership, and it’s strong roots that make you trustworthy.
The Making Of a Leader | 7
7 A vision always precedes a plan.
The vision of the future is a powerful force. In his “I have dream” speech,
Martin Luther King did not proclaim having a strategic plan. While
plans may be necessary, it is dreams that inspire, uplift, and engage us. “If
you want to build a ship,” writes Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, “don’t herd
people together to collect wood, and don’t assign them to tasks and work, but
rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.” Whatever
your vision, live it well and you will inspire others to engage
with you.
The Making Of a Leader | 8
8 Leadership is about making a difference in people’s
lives.
The late Ray Nelson, owner of Nelson Homes, a successful building and
lumber company in Western Canada and long-time client and friend,
used to say, “It’s easy to make a buck; it’s harder to make a difference.” Leaders
are committed to adding value through service. It’s about what you give,
not what you get. You find yourself when you serve others. You respect
yourself when you chose service over self-interest.
9 Leaders inspire others with their sense of
ownership.
No one will ever think less of you for standing up and saying, “That’s
my responsibility.” You think like an owner when you clean up a mess,
even if you didn’t create it, when you turn off the lights in a hotel room
when you check out, when you take pride in your work, and when you
replace unearned entitlement with gratitude and service. Ownership
means bringing a generous spirit to everything you do. Ownership
asks consistently, “How can I help?” Nobody likes to be around people
who are irresponsible and who carry an entitlement frame of mind.
Ownership, on the other hand, inspires people.
The Making Of a Leader | 9
10 Leaders understand that activity is not the same as
results.
“Everyone on a team,” writes Collin Powell, former US Secretary of State,
“knows who is and who is not performing and they are looking to you as the
leader to see what you are going to do about it.” Results are the name of the
game. With no results, you can’t call yourself a leader. Just because you
are busy and you can get others busy, doesn’t make you a leader. You
have to hold up high standards, model the way, and ensure
accountability. You don’t take pride in doing something easy or in work
with no results. Leadership isn’t for people who are soft.
Just because you are busy and can get othersbusy, doesn’t make you a leader
The Making Of a Leader | 10
11 Leadership means being willing to stand alone.
If you don’t stand for something, you won’t have anything to stand on
to influence people. And when you stand for something, you often stand
alone. It’s lonely at times being a leader. If you are comfortable being in
the crowd, where can you possibly lead people?
12 Be a good gardener.
I learned a great deal of leading from my mother who was an avid
gardener. Plants won’t grow because you demand that they do so or
because you threaten them. Plants grow only when they have the right
conditions and are given proper care. Creating the space and providing
the proper nourishment for plants - and people as well - is a matter
of continual investigation and vigilance. But another reality about
gardening is that you really don’t have much control over the harvest.
Despite your best efforts, for a myriad of reasons, some plants simply
won’t make it. You can’t engage, inspire, or get results from everyone.
Not everyone will follow you. It’s a reality we all live with.
The Making Of a Leader | 11
Both are necessary to run an organization or a department. I once coached
a manager that was a great boss. He knew how to get the job done right
and produce results. But he wasn’t a leader. He was a passionate, committed
worker, but he didn’t know how to build a team, inspire his staff, or connect
with people. He burned people out, had a high turnover rate, and alienated
his employees. And over time, the results started dropping. It was helpful for
him to see the distinction between being a “boss” and being a “leader.” He then
could see that, while his ability to be a boss was important to the organization,
his inability to lead was a barrier. Although he made minimal progress in
leadership ability, our primary success was that he learned to be honest with
himself and his team about his inability to lead. As a result he could find - and
foster - leadership within his team. It doesn’t necessarily matter who the leader
is. What matters is that leadership is present.
The difference between being a “boss” and being a “leader” is the difference between being transactional and transformational.
The Making Of a Leader | 12
Any role, from customer service to senior executive, has both a transactional
element and a transformational element. The key is balance. If you have ever
worked in an organization that was “over bossed” and “under lead,” you will
know the consequences: low engagement scores, a lack of accountability, poor
morale, distrust, and silos.
The following table helps to make the distinction between a “boss” and a
“leader.” Any leader with experience and wisdom understands that there isn’t as
clear a delineation as is outlined below. A great leader will also be a great boss,
and a great boss will also be a great leader. With maturity comes integration.
But we find it helpful to separate them to understand them.
The Making Of a Leader | 13
Boss - Transactional Leader - Transformational
Position Presence
Facilitates Animates
Strategy Inspires
Enforces Vision
Manages Performance Mentors People
Administration Connection
Supervision Service
Policies and procedures Values and Principles
Bureaucracy Accountability
“In front of computer” “In front of people”
“Knowing” “Learning”
“Time Teller” “Clock builder”
CONTROLLING UNLEASHING
The Making Of a Leader | 14
Take a look at the preceding table and ask a few
questions:
• How is the level of integration and balance in your organization between
these two accountabilities?
• How is the level of integration and balance in yourself?
• What are the consequences, both positive and negative, of your current
perception?
• If you would like to be more transformational, what is your strategy for
developing your leadership capacity?
The Making Of a Leader | 15
Earning Credibility Through Character
Strategies To Develop And Strengthen Your Authentic
Leadership Presence
Ten years ago we began researching leaders as we prepared to write a book on
the topic. We asked hundreds of people in a wide range of organizations, one
question: “What do you want from your leaders?”
Their answers boiled down to a single response: “We want our leaders to get
past the gimmicks, the fads, the flavors of the month. We want our leaders
to be honest. We want our leaders to be real.” As we began writing a book
about “real leadership,” we discovered that “real leadership” is preceded by
being a “real person.” Then your leadership, your capacity to impact and
influence others, comes from the strength of that realness. It is about presence,
not position. Our writing then shifted from being a book about leaders to a
very personal book, a book about being a real human being. That first book,
entitled, Becoming Real: Journey To Authenticity, preceded the next book, The
Authentic Leader: It’s About PRESENCE, Not Position. In that book we found and
interviewed authentic, “real” leaders that were identified as such by their direct
reports and colleagues.
The Making Of a Leader | 16
In our work developing leadership capacity and cultures in organizations
across the continent for more than 25 years, we have identified twelve
fundamental strategies for increasing your credibility and ability to influence
by strengthening your authentic presence. The good news is that you don’t
need a title to lead or to apply any of these strategies. You can begin to lead
where you are, with or without a title.
1 Earn Trust Through Accountability
We define accountability as the ability to be counted on. Accountability
makes integrity real, by doing what you say you are going to do, acting
ethically in accord with your values, and making your actions public.
Integrity breeds self-respect and self-trust, which in turn leads others to
respect and trust you. Leadership starts with being a credible person, a
person of strong character. Make it a point, from this day forward, to act
accountably by never making a promise that you don’t intend to keep.
Make this promise to yourself and others, and you will earn credibility
through character, not title.
Leadership starts with being a credibleperson, a person of strong character.
The Making Of a Leader | 17
2 Inspire Others With Ownership
Owners take responsibility for their lives and the world around them.
You’ll never hear an owner say, “That’s not my job.” Deflecting
responsibility is not in the repertoire of an owner. Beginning today,
decide to be an owner by deciding, once and for all, that all blame is a
waste of time. No one will ever think less of you for standing up and
saying, “I’m responsible for that.” Ownership turns you into a “force of
nature.” George Bernard Shaw, the Irish playwright, philosopher, and co-
founder of the London School of Economics, described the power of
ownership when he said, “This is the true joy in life, the being used for a
purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being a force of nature
instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining
that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.”
The Making Of a Leader | 18
3 Connect with those you serve.
Managers manage. Leaders connect. If you want to be a transformational
leader, you will need to connect. You connect by being committed to
bring value to those you depend on and those who depend on you. You
connect by being committed to serve those around you. You connect
when you listen, when you call people by their name, when you sincerely
show interest, when you treat people like people, not like a number.
You connect when you bring the best out in others, when you create a
safe place to take risks, when you are present. Make it a point to learn to
connect. You can’t – and won’t – lead without this capacity.
4 Connect with your voice.
You strengthen your leadership presence, your capacity to influence,
when you connect with your voice, and when you inspire others to find
theirs. Voice has to do with your passion, your unique gifts and talents,
your personal vision, your values, your commitment to serve. How often
have you been at work and realized that some vital part of you didn’t
come with you? What happens to your soul when your voice does not
find itself in what you are doing? Connection to your voice, to your
authentic essence, gets to the heart of engagement. Connection to your
voice gets you to true influence.
The Making Of a Leader | 19
5 Seek Personal Transformation.
You cannot guide others where you have not been. You earn credibility
as a transformational leader by investing and engaging in your own
transformational journey.
Ways to set up transformational opportunities:
a) Set out on adventures. What adventures (either
internal or external) have you embarked on lately?
What have you done recently to put yourself in the
position of a “novice?” Where have you traveled to
unfamiliar territory?
The Making Of a Leader | 20
b) Embrace challenges. People of strong character
find a special attractiveness in difficulty, since it is
only by coming to terms with difficulty that they can
realize their potential. Seek to find the opportunities
in all challenges. Victims and entitlement mind-sets
never inspire anyone.
c) Embrace the darker side(s) of your nature.
What worries you? What makes you anxious?
What upsets you? What gives you a strong negative
emotional reaction? Name it. Claim it. Learn from it.
Experience what you are avoiding. And… appreciate
your fullness beyond the darkness.
The Making Of a Leader | 21
d) Make room for reflection and stillness. Make
time for daily solitude, silence, and the space to
attend to the voice within. Spend time in nature.
Create a sanctuary in your life. Take a sabbatical - a
time to step away and reflect - on a consistent basis:
annually, weekly, daily.
e) Build a community around you. Who leads you
to your authentic voice? Who supports you? Who
holds you accountable? How would you describe
your community?
f) Be willing to stand alone. Leadership means being
willing to stand apart in order to impart. You can’t
lead by being part of the crowd. Leadership is, at
times, lonely. If you haven’t felt lonely as a leader,
you haven’t gone far enough in your development.
The Making Of a Leader | 22
We’re as passionate about personal development as we are about leadership
development, because we know that being a better person makes you a
better leader. Leadership is about inspiring others to be the best they can be.
Leadership is a commitment to fulfill your natural, authentic potential. People
will follow you when they are inspired by your realness and sincerity, by your
genuine caring, your competence, and by your character. This all adds up to
authentic presence. When you work on your presence, you prepare yourself to
be a credible leader. It’s a life-long journey.
Leadership is about inspiring othersto be the best they can be.
The Making Of a Leader | 23
We began by asking what it means to be a leader and where you get your
power as a leader. We challenged you to examine why people should follow
you and what you are doing to be credible as a leader. After observing and
researching leaders for more than a quarter century, we have found that your
ability to lead does not necessarily come from pristine clarity about your
answers to these questions, but by your willingness to wrestle with the answers
in the spirit of inquiry, and in the acceptance of being uncertain. Your capacity
to influence and inspire others does not come from an illusion of certainty, but
from the depth of humility. Not knowing is being human, and vulnerability,
an expression of being human, is what gives a leader a degree of credibility.
By seeking substance, depth, and strength of character through the struggle of
uncertainty, your very presence becomes an attraction. Leadership then shifts
from being a destination to be achieved to a life to be embraced. It’s a journey,
not an endpoint.
The Making Of a Leader | 24
If you need any support on the journey, regardless of your
title, we’d love to hear from you. Please visit:
davidirvine.com
© 2013 by David Irvine. Permission to reprint and circulate is granted.
The Making Of a Leader | 25
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