The Leadership Challenge

What Effective Leaders do?

Leaders mobilize others to want to get extraordinary things done in organizations.

Leaders transform values into actions, visions into realities, obstacles into innovations, separateness into solidarity, and risks into rewards.

Leaders create the climate in which people turn challenging opportunities into remarkable successes.

Kouzes & Posner, 2007, p.xi

Leadership

Definition of Leadership

Leadership is a relationship; it is about behavior not personality. Leadership is everyone's business; it is an ongoing process that can happen anywhere and at any time.

Leadership is the skill of influencing people to work enthusiastically for the common good.

Our Leadership Imperative

Great Leadership = Engaged Employees = Positive Business Outcome

Importance of Employee Engagement

The world's top-performing organizations understand that employee engagement is a force that drives business outcomes. In the best organizations, engagement is more than a human resources initiative -- it is a strategic foundation for the way they do business.

World-class organizations unleash their potential for growth by optimizing their employee and customer relationships. Organizations that have optimized engagement have 2.6 times the earnings per share (EPS) growth rate compared to organizations with lower engagement in their same industry.

Employee Engagement, 2009, p.1

Leadership Research

Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner conducted extensive research on leadership. Kouzes and Posner collected thousands of "Personal Best" stories. People were asked to recalled peak leadership experiences. Despite differences in stories, a pattern emerged. The “best leadership experiences” revealed that when leaders are at their personal best, they display key behaviors. Kouzes and Posner grouped these behaviors into five key practices.

The Leadership Challenge : Approach, 2009

Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership

When getting extraordinary things done in organizations, leaders engage in Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership.

Model the Way

Inspire a Shared Vision

Challenge the Process

Enable Others to Act

Encourage the Heart

Kouzes & Posner, 2007, p. 14

Ten Commitments of Leadership

The Commitments of Leadership are behaviors that provide structure and can be used as a guide for learning to lead.

Model the Way1. Clarify values by finding your voice and affirming shared ideals2. Set the example by aligning actions with shared values.

Inspire a Shared Vision3. Envision the future by imagining exciting and ennobling possibilities.4. Enlist others in a common vision by appealing to shared aspirations.

Challenge the Process5. Search for opportunities by seizing the initiative and by looking outward for innovative ways to

improve.6. Experiment and take risks by constantly generating small wins and learning from experience.

Enable Others to Act7. Foster collaboration by building trust and facilitating relationships.8. Strengthen others by increasing self-determination and developing competence.

Encourage the Heart9. Recognize contributions by showing appreciation for individual excellence.10. Celebrate the values and victories by creating a spirit of community.

Kouzes & Posner, 2007

Foundation of Leadership

Credibility is the foundation of leadership

Leadership is the relationship between the leader and the followers. In order for people to want to follow, there must be trust. Therefore, credibility is the foundation of leadership. Without credibility the leader's message will not be believed.

Over 20 years of research by Kouzes and Posner continues to validate that followers expect leaders to be honest, forward-looking, competent and inspiring.

Kouzes & Posner, 2007

Foundation of Leadership

Credibility Matters

If employees don’t trust and believe in their manager, they will not believe the message.

When employees perceive their manager has high credibility, they are more likely to:

Be promoters of the organization

Have strong sense of team spirit

Be attached and committed to the organization

Have a sense of ownership

See the alignment between their own personal values and the values of the organization

Kouzes & Posner, 2007

Foundation of Leadership

Credibility Matters

When employees perceive their manager as having low credibility, they are more likely to: Produce only when they are being watched

Be motivated primarily by money

Promote the organization publicly but criticize the organization privately

Feel unsupported and unappreciated

Kouzes & Posner, 2007

Foundation of Leadership

Credibility Matters

Employee know credibility when they hear and see it. Around the globe people describe credibility as:

They practice what they preach

They walk the talk

Their actions are consistent with their words

They follow through on their promises

They do what they say they will do

Kouzes & Posner, 2007

Leadership Practice: Model the Way

Titles are labels, they do not give you credibility, it is your

behavior that will win you respect. Model the way by:

Leading by example

DWYSYWD (Do What You Say You Will Do)

Ensuring your actions align with your values

“When people show you who they are, believe them.”— Maya Angelou

Leadership in Action: Model the Way

Commitment Number 1

Essentials of:

Clarifying Values

Find your voice

Affirm shared values

Taking Action

Write a tribute to yourself

Write your credo

Engage in a credo dialogue

Commitment Number 2

Essentials of:

Setting the Example

Personify the shared values

Teach others to model the values

Taking Action

Do a personal audit

Develop a routine for questioning

Put storytelling on your meeting agenda

Leadership Practice: Inspire a Shared Vision

Leaders awaken the passion in others by communicating a compelling vision of their followers. Inspire a shared vision by: Envisioning the future

Finding a common purpose

Listening to others

Identifying what is important to others

“A leader has the vision and conviction that a dream can be achieved. He inspires the power and energy to get it done.”

— Ralph Lauren

Leadership in Action: Inspire a Shared Vision

Commitment Number 3

Essentials of:

Envisioning the Future

Imagine the possibilities

Find a common purpose

Taking Action

Determine the something you want to do

Picture what you will do next

Survey your constituents about their aspirations

Commitment Number 4

Essentials of:

Enlisting Others

Appeal to common ideals

Animate the vision

Taking Action

Record you shared vision

Breathe life into your vision

Expand your communication and expressiveness skills

Leadership Practice: Challenge the Process

Leaders are always looking for ways to innovate, grow and improve. They are risk takers that recognize and support good ideas and learn from their mistakes. Challenge the Process by:

Searching for opportunities

Experimenting and taking risks

Learning from your mistakes

Encourage and promote good ideas

"Don't be afraid to challenge the pros, even in their own backyard."

— Colin Powell

Leadership in Action: Challenge the Process

Commitment Number 5

Essentials of:

Searching for Opportunities

Seize the initiative

Exercise outsight

Taking Action

Treat every job as an adventure

Question the status quo

Send everyone shopping for ideas

Commitment Number 6

Essentials of:

Experimenting and Taking Risks

Generate small wins

Learn from experience

Taking Action

Conduct postmortems

Conduct pre-mortems

Strengthen resilience

Leadership Practice: Enable Others to Act

Leadership is a team effort. Great leaders can accomplish remarkable things by enabling others. They reinforce and support others, making each person feel talented and a vital part of the team. Enable Others to Act by:

Sharing power with others

Offering support

Knowing when to be a coach and when to be a team member

Building a culture of collaboration

Good leaders make people feel that they’re at the very heart of things, not at the periphery. Everyone feels that he or she makes a difference to the success of the organization. When that happens people feel centered and that gives their work meaning.

— Warren Bennis

Leadership in Action: Enable Others to Act

Commitment Number 7

Essentials of:

Fostering Collaboration

Create a climate of trust

Facilitate relationships

Taking Action

Show trust to build trust

Say we, ask questions, listen and take advice

Get people interacting

Commitment Number 8

Essentials of:

Strengthening Others

Enhance self-determination

Develop competence and confidence

Taking Action

Increase individual accountability

Offer visible support

Conduct monthly coaching conversations

Leadership Practice: Encourage the Heart

Great leaders celebrate accomplishment and milestones, show appreciation for excellence and build group esprit de corps. Encourage the Heart by:

Recognize contributions

Link performance with rewards

Celebrate the values and victories

Personalizing recognition

“Leadership is not so much about technique and methods as it is about opening the heart. Leadership is about inspiration of oneself and of others. Great leadership is about human experiences, not processes. Leadership is not a formula or a program, it is a human activity that comes from the heart and considers the hearts of others. It is an attitude, not a routine.”

— Lance Secretan

Leadership in Action: Encourage the Heart

Commitment Number 9

Essentials of:

Recognizing Contributions

Expect the best

Personalize recognition

Taking Action

Find out what is encouraging

Stop by for a visit

Develop a winner’s attitude

Commitment Number 10

Essentials of:

Celebrating the Values and Victories

Create a spirit of community

Be personally involved

Taking Action

Plan a celebration today

Reinforce core values in your celebrations

Enjoy yourself

Summary

During these tough times, it is critical to continue to invest in building better leaders. An investment in the development of exemplary leaders will enable the organization to meet of the current and future business environment.

References

George, B. (2008, November 19). Failed leadership caused the financial crisis. Retrieved September 21, 2009, from US News and World Report website: http://www.usnews.com/‌mobile/‌articles_mobile/‌failed-leadership-caused-the-financial-crisis/‌index.html

Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. (2007). The leadership challenge (4th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Wiley Imprint. (Original work published 1945)

The leadership challenge: Approach. (n.d.). Retrieved September 21, 2009, from John Wiley & Sons Inc. website: http://www.leadershipchallenge.com/‌WileyCDA/‌Section/‌id-131055.html