Leadership is a term of art. It has been defined and redefined over the centuries. Each leader has his or her unique leadership style and characteristics. The Reverend Martin Luther King once said: “A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.” This statement is a crystallization of what a leader must do to lead. Rudy Giuliani was once asked whether leaders are born or made. His response was that he believed that leadership is mostly a skill that people can learn. He indicated that the learning process begins when you are a child and sources of the “DNA” that leaders possess come from parents, friends, colleagues, teachers and clergy. Giuliani also believed that leadership can be honed by reading about great leaders. He believed that by reading about these great examples of leadership, one sharpens their understanding of how great leaders think and act. This article is inspired by, and loosely based on, Rudy Giuliani’s book: “Leadership”.Everyone’s accountable, all the time. As a leader, it is your responsibility to be accountable for your actions. These actions must be based upon your core beliefs. You as the leader set the tone. Leading by example is not only a platitude – it is a platform.
Are you up to the Challenge? For a business leader to remain effective, he or she must continually challenge themselves. For a leader to lead, everything must be questioned. The most dangerous “infection” a business can experience is the virus of success. Success breeds complacency. As pointed out by the authors of Built to Last, the truly successful business is one that has an unchanging core belief yet continually reexamines itself in light of the changing business culture. Long-term success requires a business leader to hold true to his or her core beliefs and, at the same time, continually challenge themselves to change and adapt to the environment within which the business exists. You must remain vigilant by continually examining each component of the business to determine whether or not that component is in line with its core beliefs and goals. Continually challenge yourself and the business to determine the relevance of everything undertaken.
Bright people debunking your logic test the consistency and validity of your ideas. Being a leader does not give you a corner on the market of ideas. Great leaders surround themselves with bright people who are not “yes men or women”. Tom Peters, one of our nation’s most prominent management gurus, advocates at a leader should surround themselves with contrarians. He believes that contrarians help an organization test and shine a bright light on the dark corners of those ideas. A leader needs the insight of bright people who can look at all aspects of ideas and plans from a contrary viewpoint. In this way they will assist you in honing and validating those ideas and plans.
A real leader leads with a true heart and an honest mind and will not deny a belief simply because it makes him or her uncomfortable. Being a leader involves, on occasion, making tough choices. The tough choices must be made if they are consistent with the core beliefs of the leader and, of course, the organization. It is easy to make decisions when those decisions are popular ones – the true leader, however, makes decisions that are tough. Be your own person. A leader is chosen because the business trusts his or her judgment, character and intelligence. Do not put your finger to the wind of opinion and do the popular thing if it runs contrary to the vision you have laid out and your core belief.
Every decision must be made for the benefit of the business. When a decision is made, the business and its interests must be paramount – above those of your own. This must be a template for every decision that is made. Inspire confidence. It is a leader’s job to instill confidence by believing in his or her own judgment. Lead with ideas . . . and ideals.
Prepare relentlessly! Rudy Giuliani, a student of leadership throughout history, made a very striking observation. He crystallized what he observed as a very important key to making a leader. He wrote: “Preparation – thus eliminating the need to make assumptions – was the single most important key to success, no matter what the field.”
The importance of meetings. Meetings are a way to coalesce ideas, a way to brainstorm and refine. Meetings, however, are meaningless unless they are well-organized, focused and short.
Set the tone early on. When you begin to move forward as the leader of an organization, it is vitally important to communicate your vision, organization and plan early and often. The opening tone you set will motivate, inspire and focus others. Start with small successes. Giuliani tells in his book of one of his earliest “small successes”. This success was with a group of people he referred to as the “squeegee men”. These were people in New York City who would jump in front of cars stopped for a traffic light and squeegee their windshield. After the cleaning, the squeegee men would pressure the drivers for payment. One of the first things Giuliani did when taking over as mayor was to crack down on these “squeegee men”. In a short period of time he was able to eliminate their harassment. This small, tangible, success was a building block for the many large successes that he experienced later in his administration.
Surround yourself with great people. Great leaders have great insight. Great insight comes from a variety of sources. The best source for great insight is surrounding oneself with great people. Too many leaders believe that they are “anointed” through their election or appointment to a leadership position. This lack of humility and failure of perspective is one of the single biggest flaws of a true leader.
Servant leadership. A true leader realizes that he or she serves the organization. If a leader believes that they “rule” the organization, they will be an unmitigated failure. To paraphrase Psalm 19, great leaders ask to be free of presumptuousness. The servant attitude will place you in the right frame of mind to lead. It will give you the proper perspective and attitude. You will realize that you brief time at the head of the organization is one of service to the members.
Realize your weaknesses. A good leader realizes that he or she has weaknesses. No one leader has all of the traits and qualities needed for leadership. When a leader realizes this, they can balance their weaknesses with the strengths of others. I am not as good with budgets and financial forecasting. I am more of a big picture, idea man. I realized this shortcoming and, as a result, relied on the sound financial judgment of others to compensate. Leadership, therefore, requires the leader to be honest with themselves. Admit your shortcomings and be a leader by making sure you have a person or persons you can count on to fill the hole in your leadership void.
Motivate and Delegate. A great leader who surrounds themselves with talented people must take the next step by motivating those people to achieve. Allow the people you appoint to encounter challenges on a regular basis. Challenging talented people brings forth their true abilities and allows them to achieve great things. Create a sense of adventure in the job you task them. If highly driven people are not sufficiently challenged, they surrender to self-satisfaction and arrogance. Give them the vision of what you want to accomplish, the leeway to make it happen and the spark to ignite their passion for the project. Empowerment allows businesses to achieve great things. A team can achieve much more than an individual. If you delegate - and then empower the people you delegate - you show your true leadership character. Delegation without empowerment leads to the primary weakness of an organization – micro-management from the top. General George S. Patton once said: “Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.” As the Chinese philosopher Lao-Tzu once said: “When the best leader’s work is done, the people say, ‘We did it ourselves’”. This is a great picture of what a leader does through empowerment.
Reflect, then decide. It is often said that the primary difference between intelligence and wisdom is experience. Experience provides you with the underlying facts that allow you to reflect. Experience teaches you what you need to determine the best course of action. It gives you the basis for making a more informed decision. Woodrow Wilson said, “One cool judgment is worth a thousand hasty counsels. The thing to be supplied is light, not heat.” Experience teaches that we should:
1. Be reflective. Consider all your options before making a decision.
2. Be ready to pull the trigger. After considering the options and the counsel of others, the time comes to make a decision.
3. Early analysis. You must begin the process of decision-making by analyzing all of the options at the earliest possible moment.
4. Use creative tension. As pointed out earlier, the contrarians in your organization are very valuable. Use their contrary views, thoughts and ideas as a catalyst to making the right decision. F. Scott Fitzgerald said that the “test of first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function” – to make a decision.
5. Chart it, outline it, understand it. Most innovative thinkers understand the importance of reflecting before deciding. His “chart it, outline it, understand it” way of thinking helps a leader make the right decisions. This method of thinking allows a leader to: organize the steps to completion; factor in accountability; use creativity to solve problems and, think outside the lines and decide what’s best for the organization.
6. Establish priorities and stick to them. Once a goal is set, the steps to achieving that goal, within a reasonable time frame, must be established to provide a guidepost of achievement, a horizon of accomplishment.
Conclusion. Leadership is the most important ingredient that enables a business to achieve great things. In his book, Good to Great, James Collins underscores the importance of leadership in developing great organizations. A leader must possess many vital character traits. While no leader has all of these characteristics in equal measure, great leaders possess most of these core ingredients. Character, courage, compassion, vision, wisdom, conviction and doggedness are all aspects that a leader must draw upon if they are to lead an organization from “good to great”. Whether that “organization” is your family, or your business – you must be able to tap into these elements to achieve greatness.
I end with the reflections of Alexis de Tocqueville. de Tocqueville, a French writer, poet and historian, came to America to observe, first-hand, what made this country “tick”. He observed:
“I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers – and it was not there . . . in her fertile fields and boundless forests – and it was not there . . . in her rich minds and her vast world commerce – and it was not there . . . in her democratic congress and her matchless constitution – and it was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.”
About the author: Lewis is a Partner in the Tampa, Florida office of Butler Pappas Weihmuller Katz Craig, LLP. He has served as President of the Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel (2005-06) and is Past President of the Florida Defense Lawyers Association. Mr. Collins currently holds the position of President of Lawyers for Civil Justice
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