Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Topic: Leadership Practices

Reference: Caudron, Shari. “Profit-building Leadership Practices.” Workforce Management. Http://www.workforce.com/archive/feature/23/37/33/233736.php.

The summer is over and everyone is getting over casual pursuits and back to work. The topic of leadership always commands attention and given the current business climate, leadership is the subject of much conversation. To me it is an area that is often commented upon and little understood. Most people know leadership by what is not-not the quality of having been around a long time; not the quality of having been promoted or surviving a layoff; not even the quality of having benefitted financially from being in the right place at the right time, or simply the quality of being liked by the right people. True leadership has to incorporate the elements of vision, character, timing, analysis and execution conveyed in a package that inspires and enables action to happen through other people. The standard seems to be hard to articulate and even harder to observe in industry and in government. In the referenced article, the commentator reflects on the leadership qualities indentified in a 15 year study at the University of Michigan that correlate most directly to bottom-line results. The 4 major components are: “(1) The leaders make the company’s mission clear and compelling to everyone involved; (2)The leaders are not only close to the market, but also responsive to its needs; (3)The leaders are team-oriented; and (4) The leaders are consistent in their execution.” These elements seem particularly straightforward and hardly break any new ground in management theory. The genius may lie in their simplicity and the difficulty there is in keeping these elements balanced, on track, and consistently applied throughout organizations. Item #2 goes to the issue of timing and points to the difficulty most leaders have in staying attuned to the market and new market trends. The ability to adapt to new information and feedback in the market may be the biggest difference in perceived leadership effectiveness.  Also, # 4 showcases the need to work through people which makes consistent execution difficult to achieve. The companies that are able to achieve consistent execution through systems development, focus, and employee engagement are usually the best performers in their markets. This seems to be a good roadmap for where leadership should focus, improve, and resource in order to build profitability.  I see no reason to reinvent the wheel. Let me know your thoughts on building profitable leadership.

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