The Essence of Leadership

What is more important, leadership or teamwork? Leadership or consensus management? Today we hear frequently about teams, team-building, and teamwork on the one hand and management by consensus on the other. Although both teamwork and consensus building are critical skills in a leader, neither are substitutes for capable leadership itself. Instead, both, as commonly practiced in business today, are an over reaction to past autocratic management styles.

What really is leadership? My working definition of leadership is: "Providing the capable oversight, guidance and governance necessary to direct a group a people in the successful attainment of a shared vision." Note that neither the words team nor consensus are mentioned in this definition. This in no manner diminishes the importance of these two criteria for the leader, it merely reflects the reality of what leadership is and is not. Leadership is by nature both action and individual oriented. Leadership is not the function of a committee or even of a group, although the best organizations benefit greatly from having a group of leaders. There is a popular cliché: Leaders like eagles do not flock, you must find them one at a time." Although this sounds catchy, it is not fully true. Leaders do not "flock," but they are not "loners" either.

To return to our initial question ... leadership, teamwork, and consensus are all important, all necessary. In order to have effective teamwork and productive, real consensus (not just everyone waiting for clues as to what the boss thinks before expressing their opinion), the organization must have a firm foundation of capable leadership. I would add, "strong capable leadership," although I know that at hearing the "word" strong, some will immediately equate that to authoritarian or tyrannical rule. However, whether one sees a team of horses in a parade pulling a heavy circus wagon or a string of huskies pulling a dog sled, the lead animal does not dominate the others, but it does provide the essential function of leading the team. After all, someone must lead. Over my thirty plus years of business experience, I have participated in many, many management committees (teams), but in every case the effectiveness of the committee was determined directly by the apparent or de facto leader. There is an old axiom that is very true: "The speed of the leader determines the rate of the pack!" No group outperforms its leadership, at least not for long.

Thus, effective and efficient leadership is provided by individuals, note the plural form of the word, but not individuals working individually. Rather, individuals cooperating in collaboration within a hierarchy. Now "hierarchy" has become another "dirty" word in modern organizational thought. However, the reality is that without some form of hierarchy, we have either chaos or stagnation. Due to the reactionary dismissal of hierarchy by many organizations today, stemming from a decades long disagreeable experience with corporate heavy-handedness, in many quarters no decision whatsoever can be made unless every team member and stakeholder is in unqualified consensus.

Is it any wonder we see such paralysis in the corporate world? Decisions that formerly required days or weeks to gather the necessary facts and reach a conclusion to action, now require months or even years, as the team waits to achieve "buy-in" by all parties, even where the facts point to an obvious and immediate conclusion.

More than twenty years ago, I worked as a director for a corporation in the energy business. We operated with a CEO and seven director level positions, all filled by strong individuals. It was not uncommon for our management meetings to become quite loud as those strong personalities vociferously championed their equally strong views. By the end of these boisterous sessions, we often had reached a natural consensus, but on occasion, we were more divided than when we had begun. In these instances, our CEO would make an executive decision, normally right then and there, based upon the facts as he had heard them forcefully debated.

Not everyone was happy with the outcome of such executive edicts, but we were never unhappy about the fact that he had made a decision, and more importantly, we all got behind his decision to get the job done as quickly and effectively as possible. Our form of reaching consensus in those instances was simple: full and open discussion, sometimes peppered with heated argument; a command decision; acceptance by all! As long as the issues and decisions do not compromise moral or ethical integrity, this remains the most efficient manner for organizations, especially businesses, to advance issues.

It is important to state that not all of the decisions reached in this way were right. Some over the course of time proved to be entirely wrong, as did an equal number of the decisions we reached through consensus of the entire management team. Contrary to popular belief, consensus is not a guarantee of optimal decision making.

This in no way means that good leaders act in a vacuum or as a "majority of one." In fact, just the opposite is true. The reason our management team at the energy company worked together so well was that the CEO, although vested with final decision making authority, was not an autocrat, but rather a consensus builder. Effective leaders understand the value of collaboration, and they actively and continuously seek to develop avenues of collaboration within their organizations. One of the methods by which highly effective and successful leaders encourage and foster collaboration is through building cooperative networks, both within and outside of the organization, but especially within the leader's own management team.

Leadership also requires vision, as I have said in the definition earlier, and vision is based upon aggressive, forward-looking strategy development. However, this too is a problem within our organizational cultures today, especially in America. A recent surveyi of 2,700 CEO's in nine countries reveals that American CEO's spend 22% of their time on strategic issues, 17% on fire-fighting crises, and 10% on work that they admit could be delegated. In contrast, their counterparts around the world are significantly more focused on the strategic issues confronting their businesses.

Today, more than ever before, our organizations need leaders who are flexible as to methods and techniques, but stalwart with regard to ethics, decisiveness, and vision. Such adept leadership will result in a collaborative organizational culture that in turn fosters teamwork and consensus.

Copyright 2005 by John Di Frances

John Di Frances is an internationally recognized organizational legacy expert and professional speaker. www.difrances.com

---

What Kind of Leader Are You?

You are a leader if someone is following you. This could be as simple as one person watching you and following your example and encouragement, to being... Read More

Communication Skills & Leadership - Organizational Communications Processes in Leadership Activity

"Sooth 't were a pleasant life to lead, With nothing in the world to do But just to blow a shepherd's reed, The silent season thro' And... Read More

Leadership is About Growing Others - Its Not About You!

"Before you become a leader success is all about growing yourself. Once you become a leader success is all about growing others." Jack Welch (1935- ) Former... Read More

Managing Monsters in Meetings - Part 7, Personal Attacks

Personal attacks hurt people, mar communication, and end creativity. If they become part of a meeting's culture, they drive the participants into making safe and perhaps useless... Read More

Ten Qualities Of A Great Leader - Plus 1

Great Leaders are optimists first and foremost. Their tendency is to interact according to Henry Ford's observation, "whether you think you can or think you can't -... Read More

Act on Some of the Facts

Making any decision without having all of the information and facts beforehand can be very tough. I spoke with a young man recently and he told me... Read More

Reinventing Failure: Designing Success

I am fascinated by problems. I like to think of myself as a solution oriented individual. However when problems creep into my life as they always do... Read More

Building Teams and Teamwork

A tight knit team is a group of competent individuals who care deeply about each other and are fiercely committed to their mission. They are highly motivated... Read More

Managing Monsters in Meetings - Part 5, Dominant Participants

While dominant participants contribute significantly to the success of a meeting, they can also overwhelm, intimidate, and exclude others. Thus, you want to control their energy without... Read More

5 Tips to Help You Win Big & Become a Village Hero

A few years ago, I returned to my impoverished village in Haiti. Many in the village came to see me-the tiny and diseased child they didn't expect... Read More

What Kind of Leader Are You?

There are literally millions of words written and spoken each week on enlightened leadership yet the fact remains that low morale, high stress and job dissatisfaction continue... Read More

Premature Articulation

Ask anyone about what makes a good leader and they are sure to put the ability to communicate high on the list of necessary skills. Yet all... Read More

Character Traits of Extraordinary Leaders

When people make a decision (either consciously or unconsciously) to follow your leadership, they do it primarily because of one of two things: Your Character or your... Read More

The Essence of Leadership

What is more important, leadership or teamwork? Leadership or consensus management? Today we hear frequently about teams, team-building, and teamwork on the one hand and management by... Read More

Leading In The Face Of Disaster

The date was Saturday, April 11, 1970, the time 13:13 CST. The event to take place was to be one of NASA's finest hours; the launch of... Read More

C4 Leadership: Taking Your Leadership (and your Life) from Good...To Explosive!

Chances are if you're interested in this post, you're looking for a few tips to take your leadership and/or your life, up a notch or two. Read... Read More

3 Aspects of Developing Leadership Skills

Everyone knows that great leaders are made, not born. However good that statement sounds, we still want to know how we "make" or turn people effective leaders.... Read More

Career Advice for Business Leaders: Empowering Others

Many potential leaders in business sabotage themselves and their organizations out of fear of empowering others. In 21st Century Leadership: Dialogues with 100 Top Leaders, Lynne McFarland,... Read More

A Lasting Leadership Lesson: How One Leadership Talk By George Washington Saved The Revolution

A Lasting Leadership Lesson: How One Leadership Talk By George Washington Saved The Revolution (And Our Fledgling Nation) From Catastrophe.Leadership lessons come in many guises. One unforgettable... Read More

Leadership - Passion, Purpose, Profit - Its Not That Hard

Go to any educational institution, look at airport bookshelves, shopping centres and open your eyes to the myriad of products available today and you could be forgiven... Read More

Weakness, Struggle, Fear, Knowledge, Growth, Courage, Leader

Theodore Roosevelt was one of the most remarkable men in the history of the world. As a boy he wanted the boldness of his father. As a... Read More

Why the Squirrel Kept Winning!

I had the good fortune (or misfortune depending on your climate perspective) of living in Minnesota for ten years. The Summers were beautiful, Fall was spectacular with... Read More

People Problems -- Understanding the Dueling Paradigms

You've spent the last 12 years riding your technical skills up the corporate ladder.Now the payoff -- you're a manager.Congratulations.You get the perks: Big title. Big paycheck.... Read More

Building Future Leaders

As a whole we spend a lot of time filling our minds with various forms of self-improvement.Believe me this is good for us!However, I think what's equally... Read More

The Goals of Leadership Coaching and Partnerships

Webster's Dictionary describes a "partner" as an ally or an association built around common interests and goals.A partnership denotes a joint venture, a relationship built on equal... Read More

Be the Samurai Sword

Relationships are constantly facing crisis. Everywhere we look people are in dispute with one another. Companies are in dispute with one another. Countries are even in dispute... Read More