the essence of leadership…

Effective leadership elicits excellence from people.

It's not so much about what we do or what we've accomplished as much as it is about who we are and how we do what we do.

Effective leadership starts with becoming mindful of how we're perceived by others and acting in a way consistent with who we are; in other words, acting in integrity.  If we act the way we feel a leader "should" act, we may initially be effective, but eventually our facade breaks down and our "act" is revealed.  In order to be perceived accurately, a leader must communicate cleanly, have a set of values which act as a compass, and be transparent as an individual.

A leader who has developed these traits, skills, and competencies can then be effective in developing a team as coach and mentor, influence the thoughts and actions of others, be inspiring, and garner the respect necessary to resolve conflict as it arises.

This foundation of leadership is critical because when leadership is not effective, the result is not simply a neutral outcome.  Ineffective leadership often results in a swing in the opposite direction.  In other words, the opposite of excellence is not average performance, but rather an organization of apathy.  Too many companies are filled with people who, after becoming disillusioned, become apathetic – just showing up and going through the motions.

While certain aspects of exceptional leadership are related to personal skill development, most of our effectiveness as a leader comes from shifting our focus to those around us and by enhancing our ability to elicit excellence from them.

Some of the dynamics which will either bring forth excellence or suppress it relate to:

• How we communicate and expect others to communicate
• How we develop ourselves and the people around us
• How we deal with difficult people and resolve conflict
• How we develop (and communicate) our vision and create one within others
• How we live by our philosophies and our values