Prime Genesis



Deploy Six Basic Elements of Leadership

In the Introduction, we quote Lao-tzu on the subtle art of great leadership:

The great leader speaks little. He never speaks carelessly. He works without self-interest and leaves no trace. When all is finished, the people say, “We did it ourselves.”[1]

Inspired by Lao-tzu and the idea of the leader who speaks little and with great care, we can break down the components of communicating leadership into a set of six basic elements that you should deploy deliberately and consistently to further develop your own leadership potential.

1. Listen and observe first.

2. Talk in order to listen and connect better.

3. Imagine the leaders’ or key stakeholders’ perspective.

4. Identify potential areas for leadership.

5. Lead through actions that communicate.

6. Carpe Diem.

Developing them further,

1. Listen and observe first.

Good leaders are good connectors. To establish strong connections, they listen and read situations effectively. Many new leaders land their new role on the strength of other more narrowly defined skills or accomplishments and may have had neither the natural tendency nor the opportunity to develop effective connecting skills.

Our position on this is adamant: you must cultivate listening skills and behavior, no matter where on the spectrum you fall naturally. As with most skills, you first recognize it as something you need to develop long term, and then you begin to practice it tactically. We recommend that you develop an ingrained habit of listening and observing first. Every time. Be sure to actively observe body language, facial expressions, tone of voice—all these communicate long before words are exchanged. Listen and observe as you go into meetings, conversations, and the like. Then, use that information to achieve a higher level of effectiveness.

2. Talk in order to listen and connect better.

Experienced communicators will talk in order to listen and to connect. They use a Socratic process, asking questions, or proposing possible ideas that create an environment in which key information or shifts in perspective will emerge. Connecting with the other person’s likely point of view and/or emotional potential is the critical goal. This is especially important and effective in tense or potentially conflictive situations: “Okay, let me see if I hear correctly what you are saying.” “Let me take a shot at capturing your position in my own terms. Let me know if I get this wrong.” The simple gesture of signaling that you want to work with that person to achieve an understanding brings down antagonism or opposition while inducing cooperation and increasing trust.

People exercise leadership by speaking deftly with a goal of connecting and helping shape the common view.

3. Imagine the leaders’ or key stakeholders’ perspective.

To condition the path toward leadership, you need to see things from the leaders’ broader perspective. Not just once, constantly. Work to understand, as well as possible, the team’s or the organization’s goals and objectives. These may be explicit, or they may not be. Actively frame your own work and the topics and issues that come up from that point of view. By connecting to the fundamental goals of the group, you are helping your team and key stakeholders accomplish their goals.

4. Identify potential areas for leadership.

If you understand the group’s and your leadership goals, you will find ample opportunities to help move things along in those directions. We encourage you also to remember that your actions communicate messages far beyond the surface. Take on more responsibility than asked. Help keep a colleague from going down a wrong path. In each case, take a good measure of the opportunity in terms of what you can do, whether there are risks involved, how it will shape your colleagues,’ subordinates,’ and superiors’ perspective of you in the short term, and how this can build their perceptions of you as a leader for the long term.

5. Lead through actions that communicate.

Here are a few ways of communicating leadership through action:

Work

If you can’t do the work you’re expected to be doing, it’s going to be difficult to get to where you want to be. Do good work. Do the right work. Do timely work. Hey, do work ahead of time! Don’t focus work on projects that don’t matter to the team, or when they no longer matter to the team.

It goes deeper than this though. Work has a stylistic, a social, yes a cultural dimension to it. Identify the organization’s, your team’s and your own cultural work values and be absolutely certain that your work is in sync with those values. In some environments creativity is at a premium. In others, speed and accuracy is. In others, consensus-based work sets the cultural standard. In others it’s work done outside the group that rallies energy. Find the culture view of the organization’s work and make sure that your career path is in alignment with it.

Insight

Leadership is often granted to those who show real insight (and display it in the appropriate way). There are many ways to show insight in ways that are important to the organization. Insight into any important aspect of the business will provide value. Teams constantly need leadership insight to help get past their challenges and to perform well. You will have opportunities on a daily basis to use your insight to help frame and to solve problems for your colleagues. But remember Lao-tzu: the great leader speaks little. Nobody appreciates a know-it-all.

Reliability

Reliability is a key feature for those who are promoted to leadership. But it comes in many forms and it’s important to know which are likely to be important to the leadership and to the company as a whole. Shrewd leaders know how to shoulder a seemingly annoying or unpleasant responsibility simply to communicate that they are willing to do what needs to get done to help the team achieve their goals. The message should be clear; you are able and willing and can be relied on when it matters.

Judgment

Senior leadership usually uses this word in making decisions about important promotions and opportunities. Does this person have good judgment? Is this what would be said about you? Why? Why not? The important part of judgment is knowing the framework with which the organization values decision making and being thoughtful about how any given situation might fit in with that framework. Good judgment might be perceived differently in a small start-up than in a highly structured and conservative organization. All in all, being thoughtful about implications is the hallmark of good judgment. A calculated but big risk, that was well understood, may well be considered excellent judgment in some organizations, even if it fails. As Lao-tzu says, the great leader never speaks carelessly.

The word judgment often connects to relations with people. Leaders lead people, and have to make decisions and take actions with and about people. Even if you are not formally managing people, you are invariably involved in helping assess people and their work. Good judgment manifests itself in these informal ways long before anybody might ask you to be a manager.

Energy

People underestimate the importance of energy for leadership or for the health and success of a team or organization. The leadership is often tied in directly to the energy effects a person produces. Pay close attention to how you affect other people’s energy. Pay attention to people who somehow generate energy in meetings and interactions. It is surprising how many talented people stumble in leadership roles because they fail the energy test. Take the test. Take it every day. Some tips:

Energize the group by talking up targets and goals.

Never spare kudos to individuals—praise everything good.

Be sparing of negative comments and pep talks, but use them as appropriate.

Make sure the team finds ways to celebrate successes.

Be attuned to negative moods in individuals or the group and seek to find what may be causing it.

Watch your own moods and find ways to turn them positive.

Humor

Look for ways to use humor to bond and energize the group. A common failing among leaders or potential leaders is a lack of self-deprecating humor. Done with care, this can help turn a hierarchically tense, guarded, and wary group of employees into a genuine team. The opposite—humor at others’ expense—is counterproductive, and, sadly, common among people in leadership positions. If that’s the way your humor runs, learn to redirect it. It will just get you in trouble. Since we’re talking about getting in trouble, be careful about the humor that comes out in more informal situations, especially if drinking is involved. Steer yourself out of trouble, and help your colleagues do the same.

Conflict

Conflict is part of life, and certainly part of organizational life. Conflicts can freeze teams and cripple organizations. Groups almost inescapably have moments of internal conflict. A key sign of a leader is someone who can help the group handle its conflicts better. A leader helps people make sense of the conflict and see paths to resolution. Avoid taking sides but give the underlying causes their due, once a fair articulation of positions has taken place, create an atmosphere of respectful possibility. It is delicate work. As Lao-tzu says, the great leader works without self-interest and leaves no trace. If you’ve been doing your homework (listening, connecting, and understanding both the individuals and the group’s goals) you will have the tools to help shift the group to a better place. The group will say, as Lao-tzu predicts, “we did it ourselves.” Often without fully realizing why, the group will look to you for leadership as a result.

Avoid needless conflict yourself. A tendency to get into and mishandle conflict can absolutely collapse your career. However, there is such a thing as necessary conflict. Look for ways to allow all to keep (or regain) dignity and feel like what happened was fair and professional.

Inspiration

Successful leaders know how to tap into concepts and language that inspire people. Values and goals inspire people. Personal passion and commitment inspire people. Family, humanity, and personal connection inspire people. Inspiration is the difference between a team that comes in, does its work, and checks out versus a team where people derive significant personal satisfaction from their work and the success of their team. The building blocks are the individual relationships you have with your colleagues. You can begin to activate inspiration long before you’re in a position to set goals for team members and challenge them to successes.

6. Carpe diem.

Sooner or later, a key leadership opportunity will emerge. You will need to act decisively. If you’ve been preparing for this, you are likely to recognize the opportunity. Think in advance about how you would respond to situations where there is a lot at stake.

When there is a lot at stake, many of us behave differently than we usually do, often to our detriment. Impulsive or panicky behavior is typical. A deep-seated fight-or-flight response can kick in. Generally speaking, neither one is best suited for the occasion. Consider carefully how you typically respond and what you can do to make sure that you respond the way you want to. Answering certain questions can help you get ready in advance. Are you prepared for a change in responsibilities? Are you willing to undertake a certain amount of risk or discomfort? How can you give yourself time for composure? Finally, how can you move from your own volatile feelings to the core elements of leadership—listening, connecting, understanding, and goal setting—and make sure that you are communicating these things even in the midst of this situation?

It’s best to end with Lao-tzu:

He works without self-interest and leaves no trace. When all is finished, the people say, “We did it ourselves.”

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[1] Paraphrasing the 17th verse of the Tao Te Ching by Lao-tzu.

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NEW LEADER'S 100-DAY ACTION PLAN

Tool 1A.03

Six Basic Elements of Leadership

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