The Leadership Challenge - Chapter 2
In chapter 2, Kouzes and Poser introduce a list of characteristics of admired leaders. The top four, as identified through their research, are honesty, ability to be forward looking and inspiring, as well as being competent in their field and position. As I was reading the respective paragraphs, I tried to think of people who displayed these characteristics. For example, Paul Wellstone always struck me as an honest person. I generally distrust most politicians, so this was a first for me. For the characteristic of forward looking, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates came to my mind. The products they envisioned and build would not have been possible without vision and the courage to venture into new arenas. When I think of inspiring leaders, Benazir Bhutto stands out. I greatly admire her ability to bring hope and energy to her country. Her death was a great loss. Kouzes and Posner define leadership competence as the leader's track record and ability to get things done. There certainly are many leaders in many companies who possess this characteristic. I thought of Will Steger and Ann Bancroft who would not have been able to master so many expedititions without their competence. This is obviously a very individual opinion about persons I preceive to be leaders and I am interested in hearing or reading your thoughts or examples of leaders.
In the section about compentence, the authors also mention what I believe is a key ability that every leader should posess: exceptionally good people skills (p36). While it might be implied in other sections of this chapter, it is only clearly written in this one line. In my opinion, while I find all these leadership characteristics important, the ability to work and get along with people, long term, and continously create a positive environment is the most important. As Kouzes and Posner state in their first paragraph (p27) of this chapter, "leaders don't get extraordinary things done all by themselves!"
Another important point the authors make is that the characteristics of the leaders represent the image of a company. On page 39, they look at credibility not only in the context of an individual leader but also in the business context of customer or investor loyalty. Just as employees who do not perceive their leader as honest or credible and therefore perform worse than possible, so can customers withdraw their business if an entire organization loses credibility. I thought of the very recent problems toy companies had with toys manufactured in China. Not only did the manager of one factory that had used low quality, lead containing paint commit suicide, which was a personal tragedy for people close to him but also had far reaching economic consequences for chinese and american companies alike.
A final point about this chapter. Kouzes and Posner also introduce two "laws of leadership". 1. If you don't believe in the messenger, you won't believe the message. 2. Do what you say you will do. Both these "laws" made me think of young children and how they have a keen ability to capture the essence of individuals and recognize if they do not practice these two behaviors. Adults have the ability to discuss, argue, allow, or ignore a lot of rhetoric and posturing and still somehow wiggle their way as or around leaders. Children are much more succinct and blunt when it comes to recognizing true leadership abilities. I wonder how children would have responded if Kouzes and Posner had done their research with 3 to 10 year olds instead of adults?
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Just a quick comment to this posting:
If the people you discussed inspired you and motivated you, and you believed and trusted them, then they are indeed leaders to you! What becomes a leader to one may not necessarily translate to a leader for all. It is, as you say, highly personal.
Posted by: Cheri Ptacek | January 28, 2008 06:35 PM