The Art of Leadership
By Mark W. Sheffert
March 2002
If I had a dime for every minute I have spent in board rooms and in the “corner office” discussing
leadership, I could probably pay for Minnesota’s budget deficit (no, no … put the phone down, Jesse … I’m just kidding!). Let’s just say that my experiences --- good and bad --- have led me to develop a
few opinions on what leadership is … and isn’t.
Now I realize that the business icons, academicians, writers, and self-anointed leaders out there
all have their own definition of leadership. I have read those definitions over the years and found them
to be … interesting reading. But, I have developed my own definition after watching and working with
some great leaders (as well as some dismal ones). I’ve come to the conclusion that leadership is: “The
ability of the leader to create a vision of some future state of the organization; to have the passion to
lead the organization, and; the ability to acquire and direct the key resources of the organization
toward achieving that vision.”
When you match this definition with specific examples, many great business leaders come to
mind --- Andrew Carnegie, Thomas J. Watson Sr., Sam Walton, and Jack Welch, to name a few. These
leaders have become famous for their big-picture visions, passion and commitment, and relentless
pursuit of maximizing efficiency and productivity. They were more than good executives --- they were
masters of the art of leadership.
Creating a Vision
Let’s start with the vision thing. What do leaders really do? John P. Kotter, retired Harvard Business
School professor, answers the question this way: “They don’t make plans; they don’t solve problems;
they don’t even organize people. What leaders really do is prepare an organization for change and help
them cope as they struggle through it.”
Organizations cannot remain static to succeed; they must change constantly to adapt to a
changing world. Leaders stay ahead of this change by creating a vision that describes an organization’s
culture, business system, or organization in terms of what it should be in the future, then effectively
articulate how this goal will be achieved to affected constituencies.
Most people seem to think that developing a good vision is somewhat theoretical, but it isn’t.
It is a laborious, time-consuming process that begins with accumulating and analyzing lots of
information. And, contrary to popular opinion, leaders who develop and articulate grand visions
don’t always have to be 140+ IQs. Rather, they are typically big-picture strategic thinkers who
understand risk and are willing to take chances. Like Vince Lombardi said, “I tend to believe in
catching stars, and I’m willing to take my chances on the hernia”.
A vision for an organization does not have to be particularly brilliant or even original, but
what’s important is that it can be effectively and efficiently translated into competitive actions. Bad
visions are typically strategically unattainable. For instance, if a company has always been able to only
achieve a small share of the market but now states they are going to become the market leader, that’s
not a vision --- that’s delusion.
Obviously one of the greatest challenges a leader has is articulating that vision to all the
organization’s constituency groups, such as customers, stockholders, employees, or even voters, in
order to influence them to work toward the achievement of the vision. John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther
King Jr., and Ronald Reagan were all effective communicators who were not necessarily born great
communicators, but certainly learned how to do so.
Having the Passion
In my opinion, Vince Lombardi exemplified passion for leadership more than anyone else. His
thoughts on passion can be summed up in this quote from a speech about leadership that he gave to
groups of business people:
“The strength of your group is in your will --- in the will of the leader. The difference between a
successful person and others is not in the lack of strength, nor in the lack of knowledge, but rather in
the lack of will. The real difference between people is in energy. It is in the strong will, the settled
purpose, and the invincible determination.”
Leaders possess many qualities that comprise passion, like commitment, loyalty, pride,
dedication, competitiveness, and integrity. These qualities rub off on their organizations and help them
fulfill their vision.
Directing Key Resources
Leaders have the ability to acquire and influence the key resources of their organization, which Peter
Drucker defined as people, capital, information, time, equipment, and space (and who am I to argue
with the guru of management?).
People: The greatest resources in every organization walk around on two feet. It’s not the
assets like property, plant, equipment, furniture, or computers that make the difference between
a company winning or losing in the marketplace. Rather, it’s the company’s people who make
the difference; people have the power to build, stagnate or destroy the value of a business. Leaders are good at motivating people to be productively engaged in their jobs. And they know
their people can stretch beyond the requirements of their jobs to help the overall organization
achieve the vision.
Capital: Capital is one of the most important resources because it supports the other key
resources. Leaders recognize that without an adequate capital structure, their organization will
fail. Also, leaders understand capital is needed to offset the element of surprise in the
unpredictability of business and to allow them to take advantage of new opportunities to
accomplish their vision.
Information: If you compare Microsoft’s market value versus its book value, you can see
there is value in information. Even if they are not managing the world’s largest software
company, leaders know that information is a very valuable intangible asset and one of their
organization’s key resources. Leaders know which information they need to serve as bench
marks. They constantly analyze key indicators that tell them whether or not they are
progressing toward the achievement of their vision, and insist on getting the information they
need to make informed decisions.
Equipment: Whether their equipment makes computers, cookies, or cabinets, leaders know
how what equipment resources their organization needs to be effective and efficient and see to
it that the organization gets it. They understand the capacity of their equipment, what new
equipment they will need to achieve their vision, and what it will cost them. Before they invest
into new equipment, leaders consider where their real “value added” is and whether or not they
would be better off outsourcing it. Leaders know how to put their resources behind what they
do best.
Space: Leaders know how their organization’s space relates to the fulfillment of their vision.
This affects the decisions they make about where their space should be located, how productive
their space is now and what it needs to produce in the future, and what hidden costs they can
afford to absorb.
Time: Managing time is a key characteristic of leadership. Leaders don’t allow their
organizations to get bogged down by analysis paralysis. They are willing to take calculated
risks. They know when it is time to be opportunistic or when to pull back because they stay
close to their customers. To a leader, time is not an enemy; it can be an ally. Leaders realize that
to change the current state of the organization into to their vision of the future, it will take
time. Therefore, they tend to be more measured in their steps. That’s not to say that because
they have patience, they don’t have passion; it’s just that they are realistic about what it will
take to get there from here.
As you can see, leadership is not just a single quality, but it is an intangible characteristic made
up of many qualities. While none of us can possess all of the needed talents that go into leadership, the
silver lining is that we can strive to develop a mix of those qualities that will make us leaders.
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