On Credibility by Guest Lecturer Barry Posner

MBA Forum Turkey, April 2010

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What People Look For in Their Leaders

or Why would anyone

follow you?

Barry Z. PosnerVisiting Professor – Sabanci University

MBA ForumApril 24, 2010

“Only three things happen naturally in

organizations:friction, confusion, and

underperformance.

    

Everything elserequires leadership.”

Peter Drucker

Imagine someone walked into this room right now and said,

“Hi! I’m going to beyour new leader.” What would you

want to ask that person?

#1 -- “Who are you? “

#2 --“What are you going to do?”

2 reasons …why people would

follow you!

#1Because of who you

are

Arlene Blum

“As long as you believe that what you’re doing is meaningful, you can cut through the fear and exhaustion and take the next step.”

Ron Sugar

“Leadership is personal…Do the

people you lead know who you

are, what you care about, and

why they ought to be following

you?”

The most critical success factor for the top

three jobs in organizations?

“Relationships with subordinates”

Center for Creative Leadership

People don’t quittheir companies. They quit their

managers!

Supervisor’s Rating

Supervisor’s Rating

Likeliness to Leave

Likeliness to Leave

Excellent 10%

Poor

Spherion & Lou Harris Associates

40%

What do you look for and admire in a leader,

someone whose direction you wouldwillingly follow?

Person willingly followed must be:

__Ambitious__Broad-minded__Caring__Competent__Cooperative__Courageous__Dependable__Determined__Fair-minded__Forward-looking

_ Honest__Imaginative__Independent__Inspiring__Intelligent__Loyal__Mature__Self-controlled__Straightforward__Supportive

____ Ambitious

(aspiring, hard-working, striving)

____ Broad-minded

(open-minded, flexible, receptive, tolerant)

____ Caring

(appreciative, compassionate, concerned,)

____ Competent

(capable, proficient, effective, professional)

____ Cooperative

(collaborative, team player, responsive)

____ Courageous

(bold, daring, fearless, gutsy)

____ Dependable

(reliable, conscientious, responsible)

____ Determined

(dedicated, resolute, persistent, purposeful)

____ Fair-minded

(just, unprejudiced, objective, forgiving

____ Forward-looking

(visionary, foresighted, sense of direction)

____ Honest

(truthful, has integrity, trustworthy, has character)

____ Imaginative

(creative, innovative, curious)

____ Independent

(self-reliant, self-sufficient, self-confident)

____ Inspiring

(uplifting, enthusiastic, energetic, humorous,

cheerful, optimistic, positive about future)

____ Intelligent

(bright, smart, thoughtful, reflective, logical)

____ Loyal

(faithful, dutiful, unswerving in allegiance, devoted)

____ Mature

(experienced, wise, has depth)

____ Self-controlled

(restrained, self-disciplined)

____ Straightforward

(direct, candid, forthright)

____ Supportive

(helpful, offers assistance, comforting

Characteristics Key to Willingness

10% Ambitious41% Broad-minded27% Caring

58% Competent30% Cooperative33% Courageous32% Dependable13% Determined48% Fair-minded

71% Forward-looking

87% Honest28% Imaginative 5% Independent

68% Inspiring38% Intelligent10% Loyal14% Mature 5% Self-controlled34% Straightforward46% Supportive

Person willingly followed must be:

39% Ambitious44% Broad-minded22% Caring

54% Competent14% Cooperative21% Courageous38% Dependable28% Determined31% Fair-minded

72% Forward-looking

71% Honest15% Imaginative 4% Independent

78% Inspiring43% Intelligent25% Loyal22% Mature21% Self-controlled19% Straightforward26% Supportive

Person Willingly Followed Must Be:

(N = 126 HKUST)

36% Ambitious54% Broad-minded13% Caring

52% Competent20% Cooperative38% Courageous27% Dependable30% Determined30% Fair-minded

70% Forward-looking

55% Honest34% Imaginative20% Independent

63% Inspiring66% Intelligent 5% Loyal34% Mature20% Self-controlled13% Straightforward29% Supportive

Person Willingly Followed Must Be:

(N = 56 Sabanci U)

38% Ambitious56% Broad-minded 6% Caring52% Competent40% Cooperative22% Courageous22% Dependable25% Determined31% Fair-minded77% Forward-looking

55% Honest43% Imaginative12% Independent61% Inspiring70% Intelligent 2% Loyal13% Mature24% Self-controlled12% Straightforward32% Supportive

Person Willingly Followed Must Be:

(N = 109 MBA Forum)

Essential Leader Characteristics

Country Honest Forward-looking

Inspiring Compe-tent

United States

Australia

Canada

China

Japan

Korea

Malaysia

Mexico

Scandinavia

Singapore

South America

U.A.E.

MBA FORUM (Turkey)

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5% Ambitious33% Broad-minded19% Caring

62% Competent10% Cooperative10% Courageous48% Dependable38% Determined48% Fair-minded

71% Forward-looking

90% Honest 5% Imaginative 0% Independent

81% Inspiring23% Intelligent24% Loyal14% Mature10% Self-controlled33% Straightforward33% Supportive

IKEA Retail Leadership Team

China, Sweden, Denmark, England, France, Australia, United States

People Most Expect Their

Leaders To Be: Honest

Competent

Inspiring

Forward-Looking

#2Because of what you

do

People Most Expect Their

Leaders To Be: Honest

Competent

Inspiring

Forward-Looking

Components of Credibility

Trustworthiness

Expertise

Dynamism

LEADERS

Honest

Competent

Inspiring

Forward-Looking

= CREDIBILITY

Trustworthiness Expertise

Dynamism

CREDIBILITY makes a difference

With High Credibility:

Loyal & committed

Internally motivated

Proud of organization

Empowered

With Low Credibility:

Uncommitted

Financially motivated

Inclined to leave

Afraid & unsupported

First Law of Leadership

“If we don’t believein the messenger, we won’t believe

the message.”

Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner

What does leadership look like?

Just what is credibility behaviorally?

We know that someone is credible because they

(“fill in the blank”)

Leaders

DWYSYWD

Do What You SayYou Will Do

“It’s pretty funny,” said Joseph Knight, 10. “But it would be funnier if it rained.”

“If you read 5,000 books this Fall I’ll

spend the weekend up on the roof!”

“I was so happy that he kept his

promise,” Esther Zamora, 8, said, as she stared up wide-

eyed at Kramer, equipped with a

tent, lawn chair and some favorite

books.

Parents talked about how the

idea made their children more excited about

reading.

“He’s the best principal the

school has every had,” says

Debbie Lomedi, mother of

Selena Cervantes, 6.

“companies where employees strongly believed their

managers followed through on promises and

demonstrated the valuesthey preached were

substantially more profitablethan those whose managers scored average or lower.”

Tony Simons

Clap Your Hands

Let’s clap our hands.

Let’s see if the whole group can clap together in perfect unison:

“I ’ll count to three, and RIGHT on three, you clap. Okay?”

“The model we setwith our actions

is far more powerfulthan anything we say!”

Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner

People lead on the basis of what they say and what they

do.

DWYSYWDDWYSYWD

We follow them because of their

credibility!

People follow you because of your

credibility Know who you are Act consistently

with your values

The question is never “Do I Make a

Difference?”

The question is always “How do I

Make a Difference?”

Prepared forMBA Forum

TurkeyApril 24, 2010

© 2010. James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner. All rights reserved. Please do not reproduce or distribute without express written permission. Further information can be found at www.theleadershipchallenge.com